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Tl: Sam

…

“I’ll take care of the rest. Please escape to the upper levels while you still can.”

“Ah, yes!　Thank you very much!　I will not forget this favor!”

　The five explorers bowed to me as they headed for the upper level.

　The density of magic essence is much lower in the upper layer than in other layers, so strong monsters do not come close to the upper layer. It is said that strong monsters do not like to be in spaces with low magic essence.

　So, as long as we reach the upper level, we should be safe for the time being.

　Now, as I was thinking about clearing out the remaining Labyrinth Magicians, the explorers suddenly screamed.

“Uwaaaaa!”

　I turned my eyes in a hurry, and to my surprise, a Labyrinth Magician had appeared to block their way.

　And he was no ordinary Labyrinth Magician. It was a Labyrinth Magician with jet-black robes, a higher level of Labyrinth Magician, the Black-robed Magician.

「No way!　It’s a black-robed magician!」

「That’s a monster that only exists in the deeper levels, right?」

「It’s quite abnormal for such a thing to be in the middle layer!　What the hell is the Dungeon Management Bureau doing!」

「Shachiken, keep up the good work!」

「That guy, even the great Kensei-sama can’t even hit him.」

『Kiki ……』

　The black-robed sorcerer reaches out to one of the explorers.

　The power of the magic he uses is nothing compared to that of the Labyrinth Magician. The first thing you need to do is to find the right place.

“I won’t let you!”

　The one who raised her sword in the air was Hoshino.

　She was fighting to protect the explorers while I was fighting. Being on their side, she was able to follow them right away.

「Yui-chan appeared!」

「Keep it up!」

「No, Yui, that’s not good enough. Can you beat the monsters in the depths!」

「Come on, Shachiken!」

「First streaming incident, I guess. Thanks for your hard work.」

「Hey, hey, don’t be too rude to Tanaka. He’s a man of action.」

“…… Hoshino!”

　I cut down the remaining Labyrinth Magician that attacked me in an instant, kicked the ground as hard as I could, and ran at the speed of sound. But before I could get there, the black-robed sorcerer’s magic hit Hoshino.

“Ah …….”

　The magic circle appears around Hoshino’s body.

　The black-robed magician’s specialty, “dimensional magic”.

　The black-robed wizard uses a nasty magic that sends itself to another space to avoid attacks or sends the opponent to the depths of the dungeon to attack.

　Hoshino was hit by one of these magic attacks.

　Soon she was sent to the depths of the dungeon. This dungeon has been confirmed to have a deep level, so she will probably be sent there.

　If that happens, she will not be able to return alive.

　Hoshino’s face was dyed with despair as she realized this.

“No…….”

　Hearing her disappearing voice, I kicked the ground with enough force to create a large sinkhole.

　I put away my business bag, grabbed my sword with both hands, and approached the black-robed sorcerer at high speed.

『Gii……！』

　Sensing danger, the black-robed sorcerer’s body becomes transparent.

　It seems that he is trying to escape to the back dimension. There, ordinary attacks won’t reach him. The rest of us can watch from a safe distance.

“Did you think you could escape from me ……?”

　I grip my sword tightly with both hands and swing it down as hard as I can.

　If you swing the sword at high speed, you will first hit a wall at the speed of sound. If you go beyond that, you can create a shockwave.

　Then, if I swing it even faster?

　When I was 20 years old, I wondered this and swung the sword in my free time.

　I swung, swung, swung. When the sword became completely invisible to the eye, and there was not even the sound of the wind cutting through the air, my sword succeeded in piercing the dimensional wall.

“Tanaka-style kenjutsu, dimensional slash.”

　With a strange sound, my sword plunged into the dimensional wall and slashed at the shoulder of the black-robed magician behind it.

　The black-robed sorcerer, perhaps not expecting to be slashed himself, shouts in surprise and pain, 『Gear ……!』

I swung my sword as hard as I could.

I swung my sword as hard as I could and sliced the black-robed sorcerer in half along with the dimensional wall.

　The black-robed sorcerer, whose robes were cut in two, dissipated and vanished on the other side of the dimension. With this, I defeated all the monsters that had attacked me. But,

“Tanaka ……san ……”

　Hoshino’s fading voice enters my ears.

　Despite defeating the black-robed sorceress, the magic circle surrounding her had not disappeared.

「Why hasn’t the magic been lifted!?　didn’t he defeat it!」

「Defeating him doesn’t necessarily mean the magic is lifted, unfortunately.」

「As I recall, the magic of the black-robed wizard can’t be stopped once it’s activated. …… We’ll just have to make sure it doesn’t hit her.」

「It’s too nasty not to be sent away right away. You’re just going to have to watch.」

「I heard they have a habit of attacking your friends from behind when they’re trying to help you somehow.」

「Yui!　Don’t go!」

「Oh, seriously? Can’t he save her?」

「I’m starting to feel sick.」

「[Sad news] Tanaka can’t save the girl, lmao」

「You antis, you’ve got to be kidding me.」

「Tanaka, please do something!　Do something!」

　Hoshino’s body is disappearing. Soon, she would be sent deep into the dungeon.

　I imagine every possible pattern and think of the best move I can take right now.

　……This is it. It’s the only way.

　I take a recovery potion out of my pocket and toss it to the explorers.

“Use it and head up immediately!　As long as you can get to the upper levels, you should be able to make it!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll …… do this.”

　I approached the fading Hoshino and touched her trembling body.

　The magic circle that surrounded Hoshino also clings to me. I’m going to be the target of this transition.

“What are you doing, Tanaka-san?　At this rate, you too ……”

“I promised you, didn’t I?　You promised me I wouldn’t be alone until I got out of here.”

”—-!”

　Hoshino holds her mouth as she looks like she’s about to cry.

　I hold her up as she loses strength in her knees and almost collapses. I’m not sure if this will be called sexual harassment, but it’s an unavoidable situation, so I hope you’ll forgive me.

“Ehh, um, thank you for saving us!　We will never forget this favor!”

　The rescued explorers salute me.

　I nodded in return. Then my body rapidly became transparent …… and soon my vision turned black with a strong floating sensation.

　Thus, Hoshino and I were transported to the depths of the dungeon where the anomaly was occurring.

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