ZAP – Chapter 93: Eugene fights the Divine Beast (2nd Part)

— “Was the difficulty a bit too low?” 

The one that showed up while saying this was a creepy little girl wearing a bright red robe like blood.

Dungeon Master, Anemoi Babel. 

She landed lightly onto one of the Hydra’s heads. 

“Gaaaaaah!!!” 

The Hydra raised an angry roar and tried to bite the Dungeon Master. 

But the Dungeon Master simply shrugged her shoulders. 

“Good grief, what a troublesome child. I am basically a god in the Zenith Tower, you know?” (Anemoi)

The Hydra couldn’t reach the Dungeon Master as if there was an invisible wall there. 

(So it is not like Divine Beasts have to absolutely obey the Dungeon Master, huh…) (Eugene)

That was a bit unexpected. 

The Hydra shook its head to drop the Dungeon Master, but Anemoi-san didn’t pay it any heed. 

“What…” (Robert)

President Robert, and the other high rank explorers and 12 Knights were confused here. 

“Eugene-kun, who is that child…?” (Robert)

“That’s…” (Eugene)

The Dungeon Master announced it before I could answer the question of President Robert. 

“There’s a lot of people who are meeting me for the first time, I guess? I am the Dungeon Master of the Zenith Tower, Anemoi Babel. I am always observing you all.” (Anemoi)

““““““?!””””””

““““““…””””””

It was half people who were surprised and half people who seemed to already know. 

That said, everyone probably shares the same question.

(Just what is her objective?) (Eugene)

It is rare for the Dungeon Master to show up in front of others. 

Especially introducing herself so boldly like this. 

The horde of monsters turned docile like puppies after the Dungeon Master showed up. 

The only one growling in a bad mood is the Hydra. 

“Now then, the ones here are all brave and outstanding explorers. You are bravely facing this challenge despite understanding the danger of being surrounded by monsters. That’s why I am thinking of giving you a reward.” (Anemoi)

*Snap!*

She said this and snapped her fingers.

— “A Trial of the Gods will begin on the 1st Floor of the Zenith Tower… Is that really okay, Dungeon Master~?” 

The Voice of the Angel echoes in the dungeon. 

Or more like, it is the voice of the angel from Floor 100, Rita-san. 

But what bothered us was what she said. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” (Robert)

“I don’t know either.” 

I couldn’t answer President Robert’s question. 

The Trial of Gods happens every 100 Floors. 

That should be the rule of the Zenith Tower. 

“Eugene-kun!” 

“Eugy!” 

“Eugene!” 

The horde of monsters got docile after the Dungeon Master showed up, so Sumire and the others came here. 

Anemoi Babel continues speaking. 

“Did you know? The Zenith Tower currently has 1,000 floors but, in its initial days, it only had 100 floors.” (Anemoi)

““““““?!””””””

The adventurers there all get surprised.

Of course, I was as well. 

“The special ticket that allows you to go to the Divine Realm after fighting Divine Beasts 10 times. The tower of trials that the Major Goddess Althena-sama proposed. That is the beginning of the Zenith Tower. That said, it was dubbed the Tower of Death since everyone that challenged it died without being able to reach the peak though.” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master continued speaking. 

“The Destiny Goddess-sama that took over the management of the tower was troubled. She proposed ‘How about making the Zenith Tower not only be a place where you take trials but also one where you can train in?’. This is how the number of floors in the Zenith Tower continued increasing, making the monsters stronger bit by bit as you go up the floors to train the explorers. For the sake of bringing in a new member of the Divine Realm by creating a new legend at the end of that journey. This is how the 100% death rate was kept down at 40%. Well, the heart of the Goddess-sama pained seeing the people with bright futures die.” (Anemoi)

The explorers listened in silence. 

“The former Dungeon Master Notos was ordered to lower the death rate. The ones that die are mostly rookie explorers that are not used to the Last Dungeon. That’s where the Resurrection Drop was implemented for the weak explorers until they reach Floor 100 to keep the risk of death to the bare minimum. That’s how the safest Last Dungeon of the world, the Zenith Tower, took form.” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master spoke until there and sighed.

She seemed to be saying all this with disinterest, but I felt like displeasure peeked in her face every now and then. 

Time of complete silence continued for a while, and the Dungeon Master spoke again. 

“Don’t you think that’s way too lukewarm?” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master’s voice didn’t try to hide her disdain one bit. 

The air is stinging and painful most likely because of the mana contained in the voice of the Dungeon Master. 

Sumire held my arm tightly.

Airi grabbed the opposite arm. 

I looked once again and Sara had pushed Sumire away and was holding my arm instead.

Sumire was pushing Sara, trying to get my arm back. 

What are you two doing? 

“You seem to be having fun.” (Robert)

“You could say that…” (Eugene)

President Robert looked baffled at us. 

“Now then!” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master clapped.

*…Zuzuzuzuzuzuzu*

The mana and miasma in the surroundings of the Hydra gets thicker -to the point of being suffocating.

“From here on, I am thinking of having Divine Beasts appear in the Zenith Tower irregularly and with no prior thought. In other words, you will be able to take the Trial of Gods with much ease. Of course, the ones who have defeated a Divine Beast even once can go all the way to Floor 100 with the dungeon elevator. If you win 10 times, congratulations, you are in the Divine Realm. Isn’t this the offer of a lifetime☆?” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master said this nonchalantly, as if she was talking about the weather. 

But I could only feel dread from the Hydra that continued releasing mana right before my eyes.

“That’s an awfully abrupt change in rules.” 

Right in front of the Dungeon Master.

Just barely outside the attack range of the Hydra, a mage with robes the color of autumn leaves fluttering showed up with Teleport. 

The one in charge of the Lykeion Magic Academy and king of the Dungeon City, Principal Uther. 

“Oh, you have shown up. The root of all evil -the one who turned the Last Dungeon into the lukewarm self that is today.” (Anemoi)

“That’s quite the accusation. The previous Dungeon Master told me he wanted to borrow my smarts, so I simply gave him advice.” (Uther)

“So it seems. That’s why I am thinking of bringing back the rules of the Zenith Tower to how it was before.” (Anemoi)

“…To the Tower of Trials of the mythological era that had 10 Floors? That’s the difficulty when the mortal realm had Demigods and Great Spirits roaming everywhere, you know?” (Uther)

“Isn’t it fine? The Divine Beast will leave after a certain period of time, so no biggies.” (Anemoi)

“So you are serious. You are going to reset the history of the Zenith Tower until now?” (Uther)

The voice of Principal Uther is not the usual aloof one, but one that is extremely vexed. 

“That’s right.” (Anemoi)

“Can’t you rethink it, Anemoi Babel-dono? I heard that the Destiny Goddess-sama doesn’t have any big gripes towards the management of the current Zenith Tower through the angels.” (Uther)

This is the first time I see Principal Uther this distraught. 

“I know.” (Anemoi)

The reaction of the Dungeon Master was cold in contrast. 

“Then…” (Uther)

“The Goddesses have eternal lifespan contrary to us, right? 100 years have gone by and not only is there no one who has reached Floor 500, but even Floor 300. That means the current way of doing things is wrong. It must be changed. Fortunately, there’s outstanding explorers here who have cleared Floor 200. I am sure the people here will be able to defeat the Hydra and get through the Trial of Gods.” (Anemoi)

The explorers are gathered here to stop the Stampede that threatened the Dungeon City…

So even that was part of the Dungeon Master’s plan?

“But a lot of them will die. You know that the party of the Crimson Witch, Rosalie-sama, was wiped out aside from her when they fought the Hydra, right?” (Clair)

The 1st Knight said heavily.

“Of course. And Uther-kun there resurrected them, right?” (Anemoi)

“But a lot of them suffered psychological damage and quit being explorers…” (Uther)

“It can’t be helped. That was their limit.” (Anemoi)

“That’s true. They themselves chose to do so. But the Trial of Gods this time around is way too sudden…” (Uther)

The words of Principal Uther sounded like a last confirmation…

“I have no intention of changing my plans no matter what you say. The Zenith Tower is my dungeon. I am the rules.” (Anemoi)

The last warning of the Dungeon Master. 

“Got it… Then, we can’t choose our means here. I -Uther Mercurius Pendragon- shall take the challenge with all my strength.” (Uther)

The Principal was holding a big staff I haven’t seen before by the time I noticed. 

There were tens of magic circles of varying sizes around him. 

“We will be able to see the Principal going serious…” (Sara)

“The strongest mage of the continent, King Uther…” (Airi)

As for me, I have never seen the Principal fight seriously. 

“Uther-sama!” (Clair)

The 1st Knight Clair-sama stood right in front of the Hydra with sword in hand as if to protect Principal Uther. 

“King Uther, I have left the remaining monsters to the S Rank explorers!” (Abram)

“Let’s defeat the Hydra together!!” (Isolde)

The ones who declared this with strength were the 4th Knight and leader of the 12 Knights, Abram-sama, and the 7th Knight, Isolde-san.

“Hey, Eugene-kun, we…” (Sumire)

“We should help out in defeating the horde of monsters so we don’t get in the way of the 12 Knights.” (Eugene)

“Alright! Then, I will go, too.” (Airi)

“No, it is dangerous, so please stay on standby, Airi.” (Eugene)

“Why, Eugy?!” (Airi)

“Why, you ask…” (Eugene)

It would be serious trouble if something happened to the future Empress! -Is what I was going to say, but the Dungeon Master spoke before me. 

“Speaking of which…you have already gotten through Floor 400, right, Uther-kun? The strength of the Divine Beast is proportional to the record of the challenger, so if you join the challengers, the strength of the Divine Beast will be set to Floor 500. Is that okay with you?” (Anemoi)

“…Aren’t rules tagged after the fact unfair?” (Uther)

The magic circles around the pumped up Principal Uther began to crumble and fall to the ground. 

“I simply forgot to say it. Sorry☆.” (Anemoi)

Even Anemoi-san seemed a bit awkward about this. 

“Explain the rules and declare the beginning of it!” (Anemoi)

The Dungeon Master shouted and the Voice of the Angel rang in the 1st Floor.

— “Oka~y. That said, Dungeon Master-chan explained almost everything though. A temporary Trial of Gods will be taking place in the 1st Floor. There’s no limit to the people, but the condition for participation is that you have gotten through Floor 100. The strength of the Divine Beast is set to be proportional to the person with the highest record. It is the 1st Floor, so it is possible to use the Resurrection Drop. However, you can’t be resurrected if you get eaten, so please be careful, okay~?” 

Rita-san’s voice is as lax as usual. 

Is what I thought, but it suddenly switched to a serious one. 

— “Now then, explorers, the Trial of Gods will begin—” 

“[Group Teleport].” 

Principal Uther teleported everyone within the barrier of Floor 1 to outside of it. 

The location is the training grounds of the academy. 

— “Eh?! Wait, wait! I am in the middle of giving the signal to begin! Please come back~.” 

The flustered voice of Rita-san rang in the Zenith Tower.

“Uhm…Principal Uther, is that okay? If you get out from the Trial of Gods in the middle of it, it will be judged as ‘escaping’ and you lose the right to challenge it…” (Clair)

The 1st Knight Clair-san asked the obvious question.

“Umu, if you run away after the announcement to begin is given, you are disqualified from the Trial of Gods, but if you get out from the domain in this fashion before that happens, it will be treated as postponed instead of disqualified. I call it a hidden rule.” (Uther)

Principal Uther said in a smug fashion. 

“S-Such a method…” 

“I didn’t know about it.” 

It seems like it was the first time the 12 Knights and the S Rank explorers heard about this and were surprised.

“That’s impressive. The principal knows everything.” (Sumire)

“Yeah. It seems like we will be able to rethink our plans before a Trial of Gods if we use this rule.” (Eugene)

I nod at the admiration of Sumire. 

— “Hey, please come back quickly~. I have to stay on standby the whole time~.” (Rita) 

I heard the sad voice of the Angel-san. 

“By the way, the former Dungeon Master told me this method is troubling for the angels, so to not use it as much as possible. Or more like, they asked me to not spread it.” (Uther)

Principal Uther said with difficulty. 

“““““““““………”””””””””

Everyone made questionable faces.

“I feel bad for Rita-san…” (Sumire)

“Yeah…” (Eugene)

Managing floors 100 and below is already a lot of work to begin with. 

*Clap! Clap!*

Principal Uther clapped.

“Time to make a plan! Everyone, please gather!” (Uther)

The 12 Knights and S rank explorers and above begin to gather. 

“Oi, you come here too, Eugene!” (Uther)

Principal Uther called me.

“Me? Won’t I be a bother?” (Eugene)

I am A rank and from the Normal Department. 

“You are the only one who has fought the Hydra from close-by, so we can’t make a plan without hearing what you have to say.” (Uther)

“I see.” (Eugene)

I of course have to cooperate if that’s the case. 

I also join in the circle of the S rank explorers. 

Sumire, Sara, and Airi had followed by the time I noticed. 

I could see the faces of President Rebecca and Kayle-senpai as well.

President Robert is of course there as well. 

(The 12 Knights that are the guardians of the Dungeon City, the S rank explorers, and the academy students of the Legendary Hero Department…) (Eugene)

The one leading them is…

“Now then, let’s make it… The plan to subjugate the Divine Beast with the full force of the Dungeon City.” (Uther)

Principal Uther is grinning with a bit of that usual impish demeanor. 

■Comment Response: 

>What does the Dungeon Master plan on doing? 

-Looks like she wants to increase the frequency of the Trial of Gods. 

A Dungeon Master dedicated to her work. 

>I am waiting with excitement for the 3rd volume!

-Thank you very much. 

I am currently in the middle of writing it.

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