“W, What the heck is going onnnnn — !”

Being carried on the Ogre’s back, the girl screamed in bewilderment.

She couldn’t understand the situation she’s in. It’s odd for a human to be carried upon by an ogre in the first place.

The ogres essentially are mankind’s enemy. There are individual differences, but they are violent by nature. They are superior in terms of physical strength when comparing it to humans too. With just a swing of their arm, humans can easily become blood bags.

She’s on the back of the Ogre being carried, but it doesn’t look like she’ll become a meal for it.

And that’s not the only odd situation going on. First of all, it seems that the ogre is seriously trying to run away from something.

The thing the ogre is running away from is a Wilderness Worm.

A Wilderness worm has been confirmed to be found outside the wall and is generally a large monster. It’s a subspecies of the sandworm that can be found living in the desert, and it can bite through the tough grounds of the wastelands. Its territory is quite wide and she’s sure two Wilderness Worm can equal the rampart.

It seems that even if the Ogres are of a higher standing in the ecosystem, it can’t help but also be a prey to the Wilderness Worm.

I see now, I Serena am once again getting smarter!

“Ah, no no! What is going on! Ne, What is going on here!?”

She asked as she grabbed onto the ogre’s horn, though of course no answer came.

She then recalled what happened earlier. She was attacked by the Red Winged Demon, collapsed and was puzzled as to why those two saved her. Those two called out to that being known as “Zeku” and asked it to carry her. This Ogre’s name just might be that “Zeku”.

As she held onto Zeku’s horn, she turned around.

The Wilderness Worm, fearsome and yet majestic.

Its overall length is about 10 times the size of a regular human, and could almost be 2 times in diameter. Its fang from its mouth easily crus.h.i.+ng the wasteland solid grounds. Ah no, it’s spreading around its drool, or is it possibly a strong acid? With that, it easily penetrated the rocky ground. That’s more logical.

Extremely scary.

It took a considerable amount of willpower to endure not wetting myself. How can I even do so on the back of the ogre that is carrying me while escaping? It’ll be very rude to wet the back of the Ogre. Humans are logical beings. Hold on, be patience.

Aah, but this might just be the end. The Wilderness Worm is slowly catching up to us. In just 10 seconds it could latch on and bite me to death. Thinking so, tears spontaneously flowed.

Aah, Father, Mother, Master and lastly Kyosuke. Please scold this stupid and incompetent Serena in front of her grave!

Gripping the horn and she brought herself closer to the nearest ear.

“”OOOOOOooriAAaaaaaaa――――――!!””

At that time, a blue sh.e.l.l struck the flank of the Wilderness worm

Jindai High 2-4’s “Demon King” inaugurated cla.s.s rep Ryuzaki Kunihiro, is
greatly troubled.

I am presently in the newly established “Strategy Room”. It used to be Kogane’s personal room but since there was a bit of room left, chairs and desks were brought in. Lately, I’ve in here like a permanent resident in the Strategy Room. Of course, it’s not like I’ll abandon my position.

On top of the desk is a map of the dungeon up to the 11th floor and a list of all the cla.s.smates. These past few days were spent investigating the dungeon and starting to understand the particular structure of it. Until now, students have been forming groups with their own friends and exploring the dungeon on their own but for the sake of optimization, parties are being formed.

Matching the party, how reliable one is in the party and if one of the students can use recovery magic.

Also there are those who are the vanguard type and those who are the magicians… etc etc, to be evenly split.

Understanding each student’s personality, I didn’t struggle so much in the composition of the team but naturally the cla.s.smates burst into dissatisfaction. But at last Akai said “Then die?”, thus forcibly putting pressure on those dissatisfied.

Of course it’s not like those students who are bad with each other are in the same team. I tried as much as possible to make sure the team composition was a.s.sembled based on cooperation. Each group had one student to relay the instructions. If problems were to arise in a party, then they’ll be rearranged.

It’s a headache inducing task.

“How did the teachers managed to change cla.s.s daily, with more than 40 students in a cla.s.s sometimes…..”

I muttered as I’m still greatly troubled.

The remaining people are the Kitchen staff Sugiura, the Kitchen garden staff Kano and others, who already held position at the base. As a general rule, no one is an exception to the rule of shouting their dissatisfaction. Even if it’s the Queen Akai or Inugami. Akai simply stated “Nope, I’m doing base defense……”, but that job is based on a rotation and entrusted to the party a.s.signed. In the end, she also had to join in the exploration.

Akai is, well it’s fine. Sak.u.ma is in the same group and Kagoi (gargoyle) is a.s.signed as the vanguard so it’s a balance of both war potential and human relations. Last is the recovery user Hakuba. With the war potential considerably high, this party is temporarily the strongest group now.

The problem are the others. The other day there were problems with Kogane and his other followers, Was.h.i.+o and Hakuba, group. Moreover, the two girls along with them, k.u.mosaki and Kikino, have a very high amount of hate. For that reason, their party a.s.signment has been exceedingly difficult.

Lastly is, well its Inugami. There’s not a single person who is compatible with her who is deemed as a delinquent.

And of course there’s no one who can act as a buffer to that beside Sak.u.ma, who is already limited with Akai, who was dissatisfied before.

Excatly at that time, Kon Kon, as the door is knocked.

“Ryuzaki-kun, it’s Sak.u.ma”

“Aah, come in”

Gachari, as the door opened and Sak.u.ma entered. Not having the usual heart throbbing clothing on, she wore a coat like clothing to cover her upper area. She’s also covered her ‘suggestive’ body figure and wore a skirt, but some of the male students now prefers what lies past the skirt hem.

“Just came back from the exploration? That was quite fast, isn’t it?”

“Asuka-chan wanted to finished it quickly and pushed us forward.”

The girls had requested to explore the newly found 12th floor.

I knitted my brows and stood up.

“Here it is. The map of the 12th floor. Looks like there’s a lot of small type monsters there”

“It’s mainly monsters that can hide from the Wight King….that would be my first choice to do too”

She presented a written report, detailing no hards.h.i.+ps from the monster they encountered in the center. Well, in any case Akai would not go all out but she is the top in the cla.s.s in terms of war potential. They would probably not even face an unexpected difficulty, even if a strong monster were to appear.

“Are there no other problems?”

“……….”

I asked while viewing the report. Sak.u.ma just slightly showed an ambiguous smile.

“…….It’s not from our group but, on our way back, the other kids were…..”

“A split amongst each other?”

“Un. It’s Kogane’s group.”

“Again……”

With a loud sigh, the report is placed on top of the desk.

The most endowed in magical abilities, Kogane Yos.h.i.+ki. If he were to get along with the cla.s.s, he would become an essential war power. Thinking so, I put him in a group but didn’t think the problem would be this deep-rooted.

Kogane has been tossed back and forth between different groups. Wherever I placed him, dissatisfaction always arised. Comparing to Was.h.i.+o, who can be placed into a group with another student acting as the buffer to the dissatisfactions, Kogane has no one.

Kogane is impossible. With his actions seen until now, that may be the reason why.

“Honestly”

Kyuu as Sak.u.ma tugged her coat collar and turned her head.

“I also wont be comfortable with being in the same group as Kogane…..because it’s still frightening.”

“Yea, I understand…..”

She was a.s.saulted by Kogane in the dining hall.

a.s.saulted might not be the corrected wording. However, that matter was obviously an overkill. An introverted literature girl such as Sak.u.ma receiving such a shock from that experience, it’s natural for her to say so. It’s a good thing Utsurogi Kyosuke stepped in during that time. For if he did not jump in, the wound may be deeper.

“Anyways, I understand. I’ll think about what to do with Kogane”

“U, un. By the way……”

Sak.u.ma glanced her eyes towards the corner of the strategy room. I also turned there.

Over there is an exact human size coffin. I muttered 『Aah』 and smiled bitterly. That’s right, this guy is also a pain in the neck.

“It’s fine. In the first place this guy is”

“Etto, o, ok…..? Umm, then, I’ll be on my way to lunch….”

“If Utsurogi is back, can you call for me?”

“E, i, its fine….. I’ll come get you myself”

Sak.u.ma made a small smile and left the strategy room. I once again heaved a heavy sigh.

Comparing to the days when I was a rotting “lizard”, everyday is fulfilling and having something worth doing. But the anxiety has increased by 2 or 3 times. The cla.s.smates who understand are secretly supporting in the background in place of Goubayas.h.i.+ in consideration of what he undertook.

This cla.s.s has a mountain of challenges. It’s been fine so far with this cla.s.s but with any eventful thing happening, it can change the current circ.u.mstances. I have to somehow maintain that.

And so Ryuzaki walked towards the corner of the room where the coffin was placed. Snores could be heard so he kicked it with all his strength.

“”OOOOOOooriAAaaaaaaa――――――!!””

A big jump kick from our running approach. It has no special name to it but it was the most optimum blow for an entry. The strength of the blow is strong due to the special training we’ve undertook, along with impacting it horizontally, which caused the worm’s balance to greatly crumble.

As Rin and I landed, we took on the Jeet Kune Do stance. Glancing towards them, the girl, who is on the back of the ogre, eyes widen in surprise. The Ogre, in comparison to Goubayas.h.i.+, is on the shorter side. However, the Ogre is just as surprised as the girl.

“E, etto, you are……”

“Just a Skeleton pa.s.sing by”

As I said so, I faced towards the Sand Worm.

“………”

But immediately afterword I snapped my head back.

“You can understand me!?”

“Hiiii! A talking Skeleton!?”

“Don’t reply back in such a surprised voice!”

The girl, while strangling the ogre’s neck, trembled as if frightened.

She doesn’t look like a j.a.panese. Her eyes are blue and with golden colored hair with a peculiar ahoge bouncing back and forth. She’s holding onto a spear-like item, wearing gauntlets and metal boots.

“Yuuup, fantasy-like clothing……”

Rin muttered.

“Hiiiiiiii! A talking Slime!?”

“She’s able to recognize me as a Slime! This girl is amazing!”

“A, no um, um no, no um, about monster’s ecology I’ve s—s—studied……ettto”

No matter how I look at it, what she’s saying to how she’s speaking does not match each other. She’s speaking like a mechanized doll but somehow it seems that her words when speaking to us is automatically translated. I don’t know if this is part of a monster’s ability or an automatic comprehension ability given to us when we reincarnated.

But it’s necessary for us to get information. So I once again took posture as the Worm stood vigilance while staring at us.

Exactly at that time, Tsurugi finally caught up behind us.

“Utsurogi, Rin, sorry for being late!”

“Aaaah!? A knight came! I’m saved, I……..”

“Mu, You can understand me! Sorry, but look after my head!”

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!? The head! The head aaaaa!!”

Tsurugi tossed her head but the girl fainted with bubbles foaming out her mouth. Just before the head barely fell, the ogre caught it.

“Utsurogi-kun, she fainted!”

“Tsurugi, you didn’t have to do that just now……”

“Wh, what!? What did I do wrong this time!?”

The confused and headless public morals committee member asked while unsheathing her sword.

The girl who fainted soon began muttering as if having a nightmare.

“U,uuu……That monster is a Wilderness Worm…..It spits strong acid from it’s mouth and for it to withstand the pressure of being underground, it’s sh.e.l.l is twice as strong as…….”

“This girl is amazing!”

“Munya, Munya….. I can’t eat anymore Father…..”

“What? A Wilderness Worm?”

Rin’s questioning is quite plausible at this time but this girl in a dreamy state of mind is doing so at the wrong place! The Wilderness Worm’s drool drips as it began threating us. The hanging drool plopped onto the wasteland ground, Jyuuu as it landed with smokes rising.

“As it’s sh.e.l.l is tough, seems like we’ll need to concentrate our aim”

“Aah, even our kick didn’t seem to leave a single crack”

“Utsurogi, I’ll create a crack using my sword. I’ll leave the rest to you”

As she said so, Tsurugi vigorously ran as she kicked the ground.

If Akira was here, he’d possibly scold us for our reckless actions. We don’t even know the full extent of this thing’s ability. However, we both decided to support that idea.

The Wilderness worm aimed at the running Tsurugi. It’s giant frame easily wriggling, with a diameter of 3 meters, as it’s large mouth opened to swallow the girl. Meanwhile, I ran the opposite direction Tsurugi ran and as soon as I was behind it, I held my hand aloft.

“Strike”

Hearing those words, Rin understood the next technique to be used.

“”Spike!!!””

At the same time the solidified hand struck, Rin stretched to form a thorn like shape. However, the tough sh.e.l.l didn’t receive a single wound.

“Kuu!”

“Utsurogi-kun, extend your arm!”

“A, aah! I got it!”

As I leapt, I swung my right arm. Byunn as Rin changed into a whip like shape while extending. But it’s not just extending. It carried along my right arm, from the elbow joint to the radius and ulna, with plenty of force. Understanding her intentions, the extended arm struck the tough portion and hooked on.

“………….!!”

The Wilderness Worm, unhappy with this, began twisting its body, changing its target from Tsurugi to us. However, comparing how fast the large mouth closed in, Rin quickly rewound her body. My body quickly reconnected with the right arm that’s latched onto the Worm. We’ve now boarded the Wilderness Worm upper body.

During that time, Tsurugi flanked around the worm.

Preparing her sword in the right hand, she performed an excellent kendo’s 〝thrust〟, piercing the Worm’s body. It was a perfect thrust that aimed at the location between the sh.e.l.l.

The Worm didn’t thrash in pain at all. Comparing to a human, it’s probably like a small needle p.r.i.c.king the skin. But it seems that the sword is unexpectedly deep, as blood flowed down the blade. The blood is green too.

“Utsurogi, Rin, its up to you!”

Tsurugi said as she leapt and took her distance from the Wilderness Worm.

“Yosh, let’s do this Himemizu!”

“Osshshaaa!”

With my right hand reconnected, Rin extended Byuuurn again towards the blade’s handle along with me.

“Let’s pull it out the sh.e.l.l! Sounds good!”

“Yea!”

The sword acted as a lever, with a small gap wide enough between the sh.e.l.l. Rin and I thrust our hands in between and use strength from our entire body.

“””Ooooooooryaaaaaaa!!””

This surely caused a considerable amount of pain. The Wilderness Worm Batan Batan thrashed about. Even so, we paid no heed to it and continued to stand firm.

Beri, Beri as the sound of it loosening made and soon after it came unstuck from the twofold sh.e.l.l of the Wilderness Worm. Inside, the soft green flesh is exposed. I removed more of the sh.e.l.l and with the extracted sword, I thrust the sword into the green flesh again.

Fushyaaa as the sound is made together with blood spurting form the green flesh.

“Kyosuke, are you ok!!”

“Utsurogi, Himemizu, Tsurugi!”

“Reinforcement has arrived debu!”

Akira, Gofunkawahara and Ok.u.ma arrived. Those three are together with the Ogre holding onto Tsurugi’s head, while also being preoccupied with the girl on it’s back, and soon turned their attention to the Wilderness Worm and us.

“Good timing! Akira, let me borrow your power!”

“Got it! Himemizu, switch!”

“OOkaay–! Fusion, release!”

While holding onto Tsurugi’s sword, I jumped off the Wilderness worm’s body. Rin released the fusion and fell to the ground Zururi. As I freefall, Akira simultaneously flew upwards in my direction and soon enveloped my entire body in fire. Fire spurted throughout my body, acting as thrusters, allowing us to float in midair.

“Akira, we’re aiming at the portion where the sh.e.l.l came off. Let’s roast the insides!”

“Roger that. There’s less risk than aiming for the mouth too”

The Wilderness Worm, enraged due to its sh.e.l.l ripped off and the pain, violently let loose a spray of its strong acid. And that’s when we decided to strike at its opened spot.

Casting aside Tsurugi’s sword (a shriek could be heard too), we placed both hands facing each other. Supplying both magic and fire, a ma.s.sive sphere of fire is created. With the fire sphere growing by the second, it increased in both power and energy.

“Prominence!”

And we took a pitching stance with our breathing in unison.

“”Baaaaaaaaaa―――――llllll!!!””

Thus, like the time with the Wight King, another explosion happened here. Just like the sun’s radiance imitated by the fire sphere, it fired in a straight line towards the Worm’s body, cras.h.i.+ng into the exposed flesh. Soon afterward, the intense explosion roasted the insides of the Wilderness Worm.

Having a tough sh.e.l.l backfired on it. Its twofold sh.e.l.l has great insulations and with the exploding energy affecting everything, it easily became charred. Raising its last shriek, it slowly collapsed to the ground. For a moment, it twitched piku piku, but soon stopped moving in the end.

I slowly descended towards the ground, Akira canceled the fusion.

“Uuuuun………”

Rin called out in a bitter voice.

“Of course Akira get to deal the finis.h.i.+ng blow……”

“Don’t feel bad about it Himemizu. With your great hand to hand combat and driving it into a corner, a fire specialization form could easily finish it off. It’s the standard form change tactics.”

“It’s not like I don’t know, but I just get the constant feeling like I lost my place in line at a delicious place”

She appealed as her lips formed a pouting shape using her whole body to form it like 「3」to express her feelings.

“Oi, Utsurogi, what’s with this girl, why she fainted”

“Hm, ahh. Tsurugi’s freshly severed head was the finisher for that”

Gofunkawahara pointed at the girl who’s foaming at the mouth and eyes as white, to which I answered. Tsurugi’s head, held by the Ogre, became embarra.s.sed.

But still, who is this girl and the Ogre? And while we all inclined our heads, Ok.u.ma stepped forward. Tayun as his belly shook.

“……….”

“……….”

Ok.u.ma silently glared at the Ogre, with the Ogre returning the gaze back at Ok.u.ma. And for a short while, the wasteland hushed.

Suddenly, Ok.u.ma slapped his belly, Supaaan as it resounded.

The Ogre’s eyes widen in surprise and gently laid the head of Tsurugi and the girl to the ground. It then decided to splendidly take a side chest pose. It’s emphasis on the Ogre’s magnificent chest thickness showed and immediately after it performed an abdominal and thigh pose followed by a double biceps to display his muscles. Rin pechan pechan as she pseudo clapped, in addition to Tsurugi showing admiration.

While Ok.u.ma nodded his head, he naturally slapped his belly and furthermore placed emphasis on his slacked chin’s flesh.

And for a short while, a symphony of muscles and flab rapport continued, as everyone else had trouble understanding.

And finally, Ok.u.ma turned towards us and spoke

“This guy is Zeku. He’s one of Goubayas.h.i.+’s comrade debu.”

“You understood all that from just that!?”

I shouted, acting as a proxy for everyone sentiments.