Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 3 Chapter 26   How to defeat jellyfish.

“Maintain the barrier only around Kitahara and gather everyone else.”

I pulled out the tentacle that was still stuck to my hand and was about to throw it outside the barrier, but I hesitated and placed it nearby.

“What about extermination!?”

“Continue with that. However, Miyano, please consider conserving your energy so that you can act immediately afterward.”

With that, we formed a circle and gathered, placing the mobile phone I had in the center to start our discussion.

“It’s this one. The monster in the desert.”

“Although we do have some sandy areas here, it’s not exactly a desert, is it?”

“Why would something like that be here?”

“I don’t know. But the reason doesn’t matter at this point.”

I probably think someone brought it here, but there’s no confirmation, and there’s no need to tell them about it now.

“The worst part is that they absorb magical energy to divide and regenerate. Normally, they appear in areas with low magical energy, like desert-type dungeons, so they’re not that threatening. But now the location is here. Well, I think you’ll understand once you see them.”

“How do we deal with their absorption and division? That candy, isn’t it a condensed form of magical energy?”

“As a possibility, yes.”

Saying that, I presented the tentacle I had just pulled out to everyone.

“A tentacle?”

“The one you were doing something foolish with earlier, right?”

Calling it foolish, huh? There’s a proper reason behind it, but well, to those who don’t understand, it might seem foolish.

“Yeah, but there’s a reason for such a foolish act. They’re all connected.”

While showing the tentacle, I explained what I had confirmed earlier.

However, because I rushed the explanation, I didn’t provide enough details. As a result, when I mentioned that they were “connected,” Miyano and the others exchanged glances and tilted their heads in confusion.

“Connected, you say?”

There’s no point in rushing through the explanation and failing. So, to calm down, I took a deep breath before responding to Miyano’s question.

“Yes, that’s right. Asada was searching for it, but there’s probably a boss. It’s connected to all the jellyfish and collects the magical energy gathered by its minions.”

“So what? Does that mean it’s pointless to exterminate these creatures?”

“Well, that might be true, but that’s not what I’m trying to say. What I mean is, if we can find the boss and utilize the connection it has with its minions, we can exterminate them all.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It is.”

I was able to find the connection between the boss and its minions. Extermination itself should be possible without any failures.

I don’t know what will happen afterward, but for now, it’s important to break through the current situation. We can think about what comes next later.

“Moreover, there’s no other viable option. It might be possible to proceed deeper into the dungeon and destroy it as a whole, but even if we run from here, it would take several days. Besides, we can’t make any progress if we don’t deal with these creatures somehow.”

The core of the dungeon is known based on the actions of past adventurers, but to destroy it, we would have to travel for several days.

Furthermore, with that method, we would have to escape the dungeon after destroying the core, but these jellyfish would keep following us. Miyano and the others won’t be able to sustain their magical energy and stamina for that long.

Especially Kitahara, it would be quite challenging for them to maintain the barrier while continuously enduring attacks.

Additionally, during such a process, these jellyfish would likely multiply to an unmanageable number.

“But, earlier you mentioned looking for abnormalities, yet we found nothing, right?”

“Probably because of the location.”

“Location?”

“We are around here. We first encountered the jellyfish here, and their numbers increased around this area. Considering what Miyano mentioned about the increasing numbers in this vicinity—”

I manipulated the mobile phone screen and brought up the map of the dungeon, pointing at it with my finger.

“Probably, this is how the enemy distribution looks like. And… here.”

The screen size is a bit small for five people to see clearly, but everyone’s eyesight is fine, so they should be able to see sufficiently.

Most likely, the source of the anomaly is here. It’s the direction where the number of enemies is increasing. It’s a classic setup to have the boss at the center of the circle, right?

It’s almost certain that there is a boss, but we don’t know exactly where it is.

Based on the distribution of enemies we’ve seen so far, it’s likely to be in this direction.

However, if it’s not hiding in some kind of nest, it should be at the center, where it collects the magical energy absorbed by its minions.

Even if it’s hiding in a nest, the jellyfish would spread out from that location. So, I think it’s not wrong to focus on the direction with more enemies when searching.

“So, if we can find it and stab it with this knife, I can use the ‘connection’ I mentioned earlier to curse it.”

Saying that, I took out the knife and placed it in front of Miyano and the others.

“A curse?”

“Yes. It’s about triggering a backlash in the opponent’s magic and cursing both the magic affecting them and the spellcaster.”

Cursing is not my specialty, but it doesn’t mean I can’t use it. It’s a simple technique, and there are tools for it as well.

I have used curses against Kudo, a top-class adventurer, in a previous school competition. However, what I’m going to use this time is even more powerful than that.

Although it’s not my specialty, if I use it, I’ll also suffer the consequences of the curse.

As the saying goes, “If you curse someone, you dig your own grave.”

Indeed, that’s the truth. The curse I inflict on the enemy will also sink its fangs into me.

Moreover, what I have this time is a specially crafted item even more powerful than what I used on Kudo. It might turn out to be quite dangerous.

“Oh, speaking of which, you mentioned being able to use curses, right?”

“I’ve learned to do various things that seem possible. However, I’m an amateur. Moreover, to enhance the effectiveness, I use unorthodox and chaotic methods, so if I perform this curse, it will backfire, and I won’t be able to move properly for a while.”

“Wait a minute! Backfire? Are you okay?”

“I’m not okay. But I have no other choice.”

However, even if I know that something might happen after it’s done, I have no choice but to proceed. Otherwise, I won’t be able to protect them or escape from this dungeon.

So, I’ll accept being knocked down by my own curse to some extent.

You know what they say, right? “If you don’t die, it’s cheap.”

Upon hearing my words, Miyano and the others twisted their expressions, but they remained silent, seemingly understanding the situation.

Seeing their reactions, I let out a small smile and began preparing to cast the curse.