Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

153 – The Realm of Dream Demons and Temptation 1 Part 1

「A thought just occurred to me.」

In the Safe Room connecting the fourth stratum to the fifth stratum.

The Gale Hero Ewan opened his mouth to speak.

A Safe Room is a modest square space with a Dungeon Clear Recording Stone installed on a pedestal at the center.

Then there are two doors. So long as you are within this space, you are safe. No Monster shall attack you…so goes the setting.

You can also purchase Avatar Repair Potions from the shelf in the corner of the room.

The one who answered Ewan, the thirteen-year-old young boy with hair as green as fresh leaves, was Aerial.

「And what would that be, young Ewan?」

「In the Realm of Dream Demons, the Floor Boss battle is just beyond that door.」

「Yes, when Fenix and his allies Cleared it, it was set up like that.」

「Dream Demons can be said to be Monsters that are the natural enemy to those who are unable to Resist. Considering that Ms. Panacea isn’t with us currently, there is no member that can dispel the effects of Charm.」

The departure of the White Sorcerer Panacea from the party is the reason that Ewan was recruited into the 1st ranked party.

「Hmm. If you have any ideas, please share them with us.」

Ewan paused for a moment before speaking.

「What if…we were to fire off spells at the same time that we open the door?」

Everyone there stared at him, mouth agape.

Even I, watching them through the screen in the video room, reacted the same way. But a smile crept on my face soon after.

Sure, if all you care about is winning, that’s certainly one way.

A strategy where you take out all the enemies before you get affected by Charm.

「Ahaha, Mr. Ewan, tha-Ahaha. That sounds great! I’m sure it’ll be fun.」

Wraith was holding his stomach and laughing heartily.

Ewan looked offended for a moment, but that was all.

「It’s not that funny, Wraith. I’m sure there are people among the audience who grapple with the same question.」

「No but, it, heh, it really is that funny!」

「For goodness sake… Well, let’s leave it at that. More importantly, Ewan.」

「Yes?」

「Opinions like that are important. No matter what anyone else decides, it’s a great thing to be able to think for yourself about what is best.」

「Th-thank you very much.」

「Now then, think about it a little more. Why is it do you think that we didn’t openly praise that plan of yours?」

「Is it because…」

For a moment, Ewan was conscious of the camera.

He continued in a somewhat quieter voice.

「…it is undesirable in terms of entertainment?」

There is that too.

Opening the door and immediately firing off spells, Clearing the stratum just like that is nothing more than dull.

It’s just that…

「No, the audience has nothing to do with this. It is because it is an act that crosses the line drawn by both Adventurers and Monsters.」

「…Adventurers and…Monsters…?」

「Let’s look at it from the Monster’s point of view. If they only thought purely about winning, wouldn’t Safe Rooms actually be thought of as hindrances?」

「……Ah.」

He’s right. If all Monsters needed to do was just defeat the Adventurers, then there would be no need for a non-aggression area like the Safe Room.

Of course, what lead to its establishment was due to Dungeon Clears becoming a form of entertainment.

But more importantly, the Monster side has followed that rule to the letter.

Never breaking the rule, they don’t attack the Adventurers in the Safe Room.　

「Your plan is to open that door and decimate them while they cannot attack us in this room. No matter how effective or efficient that may be, it cannot be said to be the deeds of the courageous.」

You should do whatever you can to win.

But that plan just now was in strict violation of the rules.

I’m sure he would have come to the same conclusion too if he thought about it, but he blurted out the first idea that popped into his head.

Ewan hanged his head in shame.

「I’m sorry, I…」

「No, it is good to have an open mind. You were just thinking of a way to progress without losing any allies, right? That is a noble sentiment. However, if you are a Hero, you must think swiftly and deeply about everything.」

「Yes, sir…!」

Gripping his fists tightly, Ewan gives a strong answer.

「Well, there is something to that plan of everyone firing off their spells when they enter the room. There will probably be people who will get charmed because of the timing, but we just need to take them down quickly.」

Aerial gave a bitter smile to Wraith’s words.

「It would be great if we could Clear the stratum like that.」

「Aw man, but I saw in Fenix’s video that this place was full of ridiculously cute Dream Demon babes. I don’t think I can bring myself to cut them down, man…」

The one talking is the Warrior Hamill from the Scathach party.

He’s someone who feels like a friendly and cheerful brotherly character.

He’s a man who is constantly straddling the line between taking it seriously and not. His relaxed nature is said to be both his charm and sometimes his weakness.

「Ahaha, you’re such a gentlemen Hamill. If they are beautiful even without makeup, all the more difficult it gets.」

「Yes! Exactly, man.」

「So, would you like to remain here?」

Aerial says in a calm, but harsh voice.

The smile on Hamill’s face froze.

「N-no… I’ll do it. I’m an Adventurer, after all.」

Aerial smiled and laughed at Hamill’s reply.

「Well said! Alright then, shall we?」

After saying that, the Adventurers take a step out the door.

They didn’t use their revival rights.

Eleven Adventurers are invading the fifth stratum.

The remaining Adventurer’s Jobs are as follows:

In the Aerial party there’s the Hero Aerial, the Samurai Masamune, the Wizard Michelle, the Alchemist Louie, and the Hero Ewan.

The Hervor party was totally wiped out.

In the Scathach party, there’s the Hero Scathach, the Hunter Suuri, the Magician Theo, and the Warrior Hamill.

The Wraith & Fran team has the Hero Wraith and the Destroyer Fran.

Among them, those that have the Magical Energy to Resist Charm are the four Heroes and Michelle. Followed by Louie and Suuri.

Fitting of Masamune, Theo, and Hamill’s Jobs, they don’t have much Magical Energy.

I should be able to say the same for Fran, but in her case, her abilities are still unknown.

I wonder if Charm will actually work on a particularly strong Destroyer.

「Welcome back, master~!」

Greeted all the maids.

Dream Demon magic truly is troublesome.

Protecting allies who cannot cope with Charm very well in a short-term decisive battle is a basic strategy.

Fenix and co. did the same as well.

「This is…most impressive.」

Masamune clutches his forehead. It seems the Charm is making him dizzy.

「Shall I report this to Pan?」[1. TL Note: ‘Pan’ is what Michelle calls Panacea.]

「…Michelle, please spare my life.」

Masamune is Panacea’s husband, after all.

「I don’t see the Floor Boss.」　

Said Wraith, who froze every single Dream Demon in his field of vision as soon as they waved at him.

Having seen the Fenix party’s Clear, he probably thought that it would still be effective now.

These Dream Demons are beautiful women who don’t wear a mask, have horns, bat wings, and a tail.

This tends to make scenes of them receiving enough damage to defeat them hard to swallow for the audience.

In that regard, Bella’s ice attack, trapping them in ice, finishes them off without giving off an extreme impression.

「Did they…change their organization?」

Scathach turned into living lightning with Thunder Domain and ran around the café-looking interior.

Within a moment, all the remaining Dream Demon’s Avatar scattered and turned to Magical Energy particles.

Boasting such overwhelming oppressive power is the trademark of a Hero’s magic.

「Hey uhm… hear me out, yeah? I got nothin’ here.」

It was Hamill.

「Well, we defeated everyone. Except for the Floor Boss at least.」

Answered Wraith, but Hamill shook his head.

「No not that, like, from the very beginning, there was nothing. I didn’t feel anything. Do ya think-」

Seeing how flustered Hamill is, everyone strengthened their vigilance.

「Theo…!」

「Right away, Leader! By the by, I, too, have felt nothing! Now let’s see, what do we have here?」

「Fran…also seems to be fine.」

「Mm.」

Charm should easily affect those with little Magical Energy and low magic resistance.

Yet, those three weren’t targeted in the first place.

Why is that?

It’s not because the Adventurer’s reactions were too fast.

In fact, there was one person who felt dizzy.

「Aah, could it be…」

Wraith had a smile on his face, but it was different from his usual relaxed one.

In the next moment, there was a deafening sound.