ROS – Chapter 25 – The Second Irregularity

Sora suddenly looks back.

“───────!” (Sora)

What’s this presence?

The atmosphere inside the dungeon has changed.

This heavy oppressive feeling… It’s coming from the direction of the boss room.

“Oh~ I’m growing green beans~” (Ingenmame)

‘Huh, Sora-san?’ (Rika)

『Sora?』

『What’s happened all of a sudden?』

『Look over here~!』

『The camera is this way, lol.』

『Huh, did something happen?』

Sora squinted his eyes.

Still, they’re quite far…

*Haa… haa… haa!* (Adventurers)

Several adventurers come running.

Their bodies are covered in wounds, and they looked desperate.

“Please, help us!” (Adventurers)

“The boss came out of the room!” (Adventurers)

“We can’t defeat something like that!” (Adventurers)

“It’s absurd! There is definitely something wrong with it!” (Adventurers)

“Magic doesn’t work on it, and its attacks aren’t magic either!” (Adventurers)

Finally, they notice me.

As they look at my face, they let out small screams.

“Hiiii──!!” (Adventurers)

“Why!?” (Adventurers)

“This can’t be true…!” (Adventurers)

『Wha…!?』

『These are high-level adventurers!』

『Huh, they are a party of people who can usually defeat a lower level boss…』

『I know! They are a solid party that cleared 100 lower levels before!』

『Ehh… those same people were desperately running away from a lower level boss?』

『Maybe the situation is quite bad?』

“Step into the barrier, please.” (Sora)

“Huh…” (Adventurers)

“Hurry up.” (Sora)

They entered the barrier with caution in response to my serious voice.

It seems like they felt relieved despite being wary of me because Ookami Rika and Ingen-san are with me.

They seem unnaturally afraid of me…

“Oh, um, Sora-san…? What’s going on?” (Rika)

“I can’t see the magic, but I can sense it.” (Sora)

There is a dense concentration of magic, but I can’t visualize the flow or measure its strength.

But I can feel it.

This is not just magic.

This boss… also possesses curse power.

Moreover, without a doubt, it’s incredibly strong.

The adventurers are shouting.

“The boss is coming! We have to run from here!” (Adventurers)

“…! Sora-san! Let’s escape! Ingen-san too!” (Rika)

“Eh, what?! But we just created the field for the beans…” (Ingenmame)

I stop them from leaving the barrier and trying to escape.

“This feeling from Sora-san… it’s like the Tokyo Bia Dome…!” (Rika)

『Sora’s aura is different…!』

『It’s like he is in serious mode…』

『Is it that bad…?』

『For real?』

『Wait, what’s the situation?』

An intense concentration of cursed power.

It doesn’t seem to be a youkai or an evil spirit…

“Stop──” (Sora)

Upon hearing those words, everyone’s feet come to a halt.

Even without the need for cursed power, they understand the meaning of those words instinctively.

“Don’t leave the barrier.” (Sora)

*Zudooooonn*

A heavy vibration ran through the dungeon.

A voice echoed.

It was a voice they were familiar with.

“Sixth technique…” (Sora)

“No way…!” (Rika)

『Seriously…!』

『A Sixth technique!』

『What the…!?』

『Is it that bad!?』

“Val, Gravito.” (Sora)

“As you wish.” (Val)

“Really, you’re so rough with people…” (Gravito)

Val readies their shield.

Gravity unfolds its gravity magic.

“It’s coming────” (Sora)

Everyone present holds their breath.

“────Hah!” (Val & Gravito)

“<Narukami Juukyou>¹” (?)

In an instant, the dungeon was filled with countless lightning strikes coming from the depths of the darkness.

They traveled in irregular trajectories, making it impossible to predict their destination, and all of them were incredibly fast.

All that immense power was unleashed towards the barrier.

It had already surpassed the realm of magic.

“Second technique, <Curse Layer Wall>” (Sora)

“<Magic Disaster Shield>” (Val)

“<Gravity of Stars>” (Gravito)

*Peta peta* Gravity stomped on its foot.

I deploy the wall, and Val’s shield helps reduce the curse power as much as possible, while the gravity magic tries to slow down the force.

『Countless lightnings…!』

『Can’t seeee!』

『Whoa! The screen is going crazy…!』

『This is too dangerous…!』

『How can we even defend against something like this?』

『This is incredible…』

“Amazing…” (Someone)

A large cloud of dust filled the air.

When the rain of lightning stops, the walls are deeply scraped, and there are holes in them. They can’t help but imagine what would have happened if they were outside the barrier at that moment…

“It’s payback time… Sixth technique…” (Sora)

In an instant, an intense concentration of magic is released.

“<Divine Thunder>!” (Sora)

*Vyun!* A single massive thunderbolt is fired.

Unlike the indiscriminate small lightning strikes before, this attack is a fast and straight single bolt.

『Huh!? He is doing it too!?』

『What is this battle…!』

『Both sides are unleashing powerful attacks without even seeing each other!?』

『This is amazing!!』

*Bang!* 

A sound echoes.

“Did it hit…!?” (Rika)

『Did it work!?』

『Stop with the flags!』

『No… I’m getting scared by the sudden use of Sixth technique…』

『This is giving me goosebumps…!』

『Is this for real…?』

『So the Sixth Art is lightning, huh…』

『Why is it lightning, though…?!』

“…” (Sora)

Hmm… this is how it is huh?

It’s more troublesome than I expected…

By the way, I never heard anything about this kind of thing being in the dungeon.

Usually, I leave these kinds of matters to my fellow onmyojis.

During the Heian period, there were requests that I absolutely should not accept.

Requests to make a copy of someone, read someone’s heart, or possess a powerful being.

These were expressly forbidden by the Emperor himself.

『If you were to become an enemy… no one would be able to defeat you.』 (Emperor)

“Everyone, I did mention there’s someone I’m wary of, right?” (Sora)

『Come to think of it, earlier…』

『Huh, you don’t mean…?』

“…it’s myself.” (Sora)

The dust settles, and finally, the boss reveals its form.

It is… a faintly colored Ueno Sora.

＊

Sakuya, who was managing the stream, quickly contacts someone.

“…! Katsu-san, it’s an emergency.” (Sakuya)

“(Huh, what’s wrong? I was just struggling with cooking the crab…)” (Katsu)

“I need you to go help Sora.” (Sakuya)

“(Huh, Sora-kun!? …Got it. Where is he?)” (Katsu)

＊

The atmosphere at the Dungeon Management Center was laid-back.

“Well, ever since Anzai Miho’s miracle, it’s been pretty quiet, huh?” (Employee)

“Ahaha! That’s right, haven’t you heard? There hasn’t been a single irregularity since then!” (Employee)

“Wow…! It’s been years since this happened, hasn’t it? What a miracle!” (Employee)

“Yeah, it’s really nice that we can relax like this… It’s been a weird year, hasn’t it?” (Employee)

They look through the graph of the past year.

It shows a sharp increase in the occurrence rate of irregularities and reports that the danger level is rising.

“It suddenly became strange around a year ago…” (Employee)

“Come to think of it, streamer Sora-kun also started his activities around a year ago. He’s only become popular recently though.” (Employee)

“No way, it couldn’t be because of him, right?! Hahaha!” (Employee)

“Please, don’t joke about that. It’s impossible for one person to make the dungeon suddenly become so active.” (Employee)

Before the two carefree staff members continue chatting, the director stands in front of them.

“You guys… you don’t understand the dungeon at all.” (Director)

“Huh, Director!?” (Employee)

“S-Sorry… we won’t get distracted anymore!” (Employee)

Giving the two a stern look, the director sighs.

“Listen, the fact that there haven’t been any dungeon irregularities for a long time means…” (Director)

Based on his experience, the director knows.

He knows about past occurrences of irregularities and their levels of danger.

This is just like an earthquake.

“The next one will be a massive one.” (Director)

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Plot twist~ Turns out Sora might be the one indirectly causing all the irregularities to happen. Btw he never once mentioned there were a sixth technique, which is why people were surprised.

No wonder the adventurers were so cautious of him lol, they were fighting Sora’s doppelganger. Tbh quite impressive that they even survived the fight.

Also, Sakuya, what is Katsu supposed to do when the pro adventurers couldn’t do anything lol. Guess we will find out soon. Things are getting interesting xd

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Footnote:

1. Raw is “鳴神呪響”. Narukami is something related to thunder and I have no idea what Juukyou means.