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145 – Third Stratum – The Realm of Vampires and _____

The third stratum – the realm of Vampires is comprised of two areas.

A moonlit great forest, and the house full of immortals that appears after you get out of the forest.

「Alright…! Come at me, Vampires!」

Shouted one among the Adventurers that entered the third stratum.

The voice belonged to the Hero of the Cursed Sword Herv.

Apparently, the Hervor party will be the leading party this time.

Let’s go over the Hero of the Cursed Sword Hervor again.

She’s twenty-eight-years-old this year, she entered the top ten when she was eighteen and is a heroine who continues to reign in the top ten.

She has Tyrfang, which is a Demon King-slaying cursed sword passed down from generation to generation, slung around her, but she rarely ever uses it.

Healthy, tanned skin, a toned body as if sculpted by artists, and ash gray hair that is groomed by her party members. Her pale bluish-gray eyes clearly portray her emotions at the time.

A Hero who loves head-to-head contests of strength.

She has an endless array of other nicknames ranging from Superhuman, Power Obsessed Warrior, Bare-Handed Giant Killer, etc.

I can count the number of times she’s pulled out the cursed sword. One when she fought an exceedingly strong Demon King and another famous battle when she fought an Ancient Dragon who was the Dungeon Master of a recommended Clear level 5 Dungeon.

In other words, she only uses her bare hands to deal with anyone who isn’t as strong as that.

「Sister Herv, the floor is muddy. Please be careful.」

It was the Hervor party’s Summoner, Margret. A woman who seems like an heiress from a good upbringing. In fact, she is the second daughter of the owner of a certain large company.

The Warrior Alba, from my former party, once called her a School committee chairman type. I didn’t really get it, but it seems to be a concept familiar to those who graduated from the School.

I think it’s meant to imply…that she’s a serious mediator or something.

Herv may be the leader, but she’s not the type to give out detailed orders. It’s thanks to Margret that there is a semblance of coordination in the party.

「Yeah, might make it hard to walk.」

「There’s fog as well, please try not to stray too far from your allies.」

「C’mon, Maggie, it’s not like I’m a little kid or somethin’.」

「I am well aware of that. What I am uneasy about is Sister Herv’s tendency to run out ahead of the party that I know all too well.」

「…Ahah hah…」

「Please refrain from averting your eyes.」

「I’m just being vigilant of our surroundings. Y’know, like a leader.」

「Ufufu.」

「If you’ve got somethin’ to say, say it.」

With the loss of their Fencer, the Hervor party has four members remaining.

The Hero of the Cursed Sword Hervor, the Thousand Form Summoner Margret, the Roaring Gunner Emeline, and the Rock Crushing Martial Artist Amelia are all fine and healthy.

「Urgh… I hate this… Not only is it dark, but it’s also foggy, damp, and slimy… Why couldn’t we do the realm of werewolves?」

「Were you listening, Em? Big Sis was worried about it. Trading blows with a pack of vicious werewolves would certainly have been exciting! But werewolves aren’t that rare of a race and they don’t have regeneration abilities, right? If it’s the Vampires from the hardest Dungeon, I’m sure we can look forward to a great fight!」

Emeline, who seems to dislike the third stratum’s environment, looks like a gaudy and timid woman at first glance.

But if you look at her chosen weapon, that impression will be blown out of the water.

It was a cannon that would easily exceed the weight of a large man. Its size wouldn’t look out of place if it were on a trolley being pushed by several people.　　　　　　　　　　　　

As a matter of fact, it is a weapon with a handle and trigger that was made for a single person to use from the start.

It’s a Magic Tool.

Much like the Fairies and Spirits, it is equipped with the mechanism to absorb Magical Energy from its surroundings.

Since Dungeons are completely made up of Magical Energy, it is everywhere.

While there is reload time to consider, she doesn’t have to worry about running out of bullets.

The power of cannonballs made of Magical Energy is by no means inferior to the real thing. It probably surpasses it due to the Magical Energy put into it.

Its poor handling, which could be considered the weak point of this large cannon, is solved by Emeline’s superhuman strength and endurance.

「I heard her, but I can’t help complaining about things~. I don’t have blind love towards Big Sis like you do, Ames.」

「Hey! I-I’m not…! It’s not like that, right Big Sis?!」

Amelia’s Job makes her have a similar fighting style to Herv.

She completely approves of how she challenges foes directly with one fist and the way she drives back the enemy.

「Ah hah hah, I love you all, too.」

At Herv’s words, Margret went「My oh my.」with a hand to her cheek, Emeline just went 「Yay.」in response and Amelia’s face went bright red.

Every time, first-rate Adventurer converse happily while never letting their guard down for even a moment.

They are used to it, so even when they are concentrating on the Clear, their individual personalities just come out unreservedly.

Although voices can be added in post, there are many who enjoy these kinds of natural interactions.

As one would expect, this becomes difficult to do once the battle starts.

「At any rate, where are they? Speaking of Vampires, they’re a species that transcends humans, right? Don’t tell me you’re all scared and hiding from us, huh?」

They’ve been walking for a while and there have been no attacks, so Herv calls out in provocation.

It’s easy to tell that she’s itching for a fight.

「I’m sure they’re afraid that they can’t win against you, Big Sis.」

Amelia joined in as well. If this was someone who just mimics the leader, there would be an opening to take advantage of, but Amelia is not just a follower.

She kept a sharp eye on her surroundings, looking for any enemy that might jump out at her at the provocation.

This forest area is one that, if you’re not careful, you can get lost and never find your way out, but Aerial, who is a contractor with the main Wind Spirit, has a firm grasp of the surroundings. He can confirm the geography with Spirit Magic that expands his senses and lead the way directly to the building.

「If you think about the previous two strata, it’s possible that even the third stratum has unknown traps. So please calm down, Sister Herv and Amelia.」

「That’s what I’m waitin’ for. ‘Cause there’s been a whole lotta nothin’ so far, my boilin’ blood’s startin’ to cool down over here.」

Herv responds with a boring voice at Margret’s chiding.

But her boredom ends there.

「Hervor. You’d better get that blood boiling again…because your prayers have been answered.」

At Aerial’s words, everyone went into their battle stances.

「Welcome, welcome, inferior beings.」

Out from the mists came a Vampire in a dress. Her face was covered by a veil and her eyes were hidden behind a mask.

Her golden hair and outfit suggest that she is the Vampire Queen Carmilla, but her height and breast size are different from her.

The Impaling Daughter Haagenti.

She bowed elegantly and then gave a ghastly laugh.

「What business do you have with us tonight?」

「I’m here to kick all of yer asses.」

「Fufufu, what a lively woman. I wonder if you’ll allow me to sink my fangs into that beautiful skin of yours.」

「If you can beat me, do whatever you want.」

「How lovely.」

Haagenti snapped her fingers. At that signal, the battle began.

The rustling of leaves signals the attack of bat Demi-Beasts and several figures came out from the fog…Vampires.

「I am the Hero of the Cursed Sword Hervor! Don’t get hunted too easily, Vampires!」

「I am Haagenti. I am called the Impaling Daughter, but rest easy. I only impale ugly men.」

「Hey now, don’t say something so cold! You don’t plan on getting beaten without using your full strength, do ya? Impaling or whatever, just do everything that you can!」

Haagenti’s shoulders twitched at the way Herv talked as if Haagenti was assuredly going to lose.

Of course, she was angry.

「…It is impossible to not respond in kind to such an enthusiastic request.」

Haagenti crosses her arms behind her back. Her dress is designed to have her back exposed.

She extended her nails and deeply pierced her exposed skin and pulled her arms back as if to rip her skin open.

The fresh blood crawled on her skin and even scattered in the air, but they never hit the ground.

Two giant whips grew from her back.

Seeing that, Herv smirked and beckoned her.

「Come on.」

「I’ll be a little rough.」

In the next moment, the whips disappeared.

No.

They were swung at the same time to get Herv from the left and right.

The whipcrack sound of the sound barrier breaking can be heard.

Haagenti is gentle to women and violent towards men.

She normally swings her whips in order to instakill male Adventurers. And she has two of them.

Herv grabbed onto the two high-speed blood whips and held them under each arm.

She had a happy smile on her face.

「Well, well, aren’t these fas…t!」

「I’m honored to receive your praise.」

Haagenti’s attack was twofold.

Holding on to the whips, Herv’s arms are naturally in an occupied state.

Haagenti made the whips return to their source, her body, causing her to move towards Herv at incredible speeds. She succeeded in hitting her defenseless abdomen with a kick.

「Nice one. What’s next?」

It isn’t strange for an average person to have their body ruptured by that kick, but Herv was perfectly fine.

Instead, she wraps her arm around Haagenti’s waist…and constricts her.

「…Guh!」

「Hey, out of pure curiosity, if I bisect a Vampire perfectly in two, which will you regenerate from?」

「Why don’t you try it and find out? If you can, that is.」

「Hm? Oh…interesting. So that explains the Impaling part of your title.」

Blood drips from Herv’s arms and abdomen as she’s holding on to Haagenti.

It seems that the Impaling Daughter turned her own blood into a thorn shape and clad herself in it.

「Well then, I’m gonna crush you now.」

Herv’s grip strength didn’t loosen up at all.

Haagenti’s body starts to creak.