We pressed on through Floor 10 of the Minato Ward Dungeon, heading straight for the boss room in the deepest depths.
As expected, no ordinary slimes appeared along the way. Instead, Metaslas showed up at intervals, and I managed to pick them off as we advanced.
"—!? Leveling Junkie Bro-kun! There's another one! This time, let us—!"
"No! Leave this to me! I insist! Absolutely! Leave it to me! Mayurin-san, please step back!"
"But—!?"
"It’s fine! I’ll be okay! Just trust me!"
Every time we encountered a Metasla, Mayurin—who was accompanying us—tried to step forward, but I desperately held her back and faced the monster myself.
"Uoryaaaaaaa!! Get wrecked!"
I unleashed a Flying Blade imbued with Mighty Blade, obliterating the Metasla.
For the record, the skills I was currently using were Fighting Spirit, Berserk, the first stage of Blood Vengeance, and Indomitable Spirit to boost my stats. In addition to Mighty Blade, I had layered Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds onto my Sword Aura. With the automatic additions of Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons and Slime Killer, my damage multiplier sat at a comfortable 86.4x.
Actually, I wasn't currently receiving support from Hinata-san’s Bless or Holy Bless. However, since Seeker wasn't active, I had more than enough raw stats and damage to defeat a Metasla with ease.
That said, since I was using Asceticism, my experience multiplier was still at 6x.
Why wasn't I using Seeker?
It might seem strange. I’d use it if I could. However, using Seeker to fight a Metasla makes support from Holy Bless mandatory. The problem was the MP cost. Even for someone like Hinata-san, who possessed the Saint skill, Holy Bless cost 25 MP per cast. It might have been one thing if we were fighting a swarm of Metaslas at once like before, but when we were only encountering them one by one, she would run dry instantly if she used it for every single fight.
I had brought several beginner heal potions and mana potions just in case... but since I also needed Hinata-san to restore my HP, the consumption rate of Holy Bless was simply too heavy to ignore.
With the fight against the Metakin looming, I wanted to conserve Hinata-san’s MP so we could challenge it in peak condition.
"Is everyone alright!?"
To maintain the facade that I was fighting specifically to protect everyone, I turned back and asked with a touch of theatrical concern.
"Leveling Junkie Bro-kun...!! Y-Yeah, I'm okay...!!"
For some reason, Mayurin-san nodded with a look of deep admiration, but I couldn't let my guard down. She tried to snatch the Metaslas away from me at every opportunity, so I had to keep a close eye on her.
By the way.
The people currently accompanying us were Mayurin-san, Ikegami-san, and the rest of their five-man party.
And then there was...
"Leveling Junkie, you’ve been doing all the fighting for a while now. You really should rest for the next encounter."
It was Arnold Oishi-san and his five party members.
The other Special Crisis Case Explorers had parted ways with us back at the Staircase Plaza. After everyone had congratulated me for some reason, they had contacted their coordinators and headed back to the surface. It was decided that while a single Metasla might be manageable, facing multiple Metaslas or the Metakin was too dangerous for them.
On the other hand, Mayurin-san and her group had been asked by their coordinator, Urara-san—who, coincidentally, was the same coordinator as ours—to assist us. Realistically, if the Metakin turned out to be too strong for me to handle alone, having Mayurin-san there would significantly increase our chances of escaping safely.
As for Oishi-san and his group, I wasn't entirely sure why they had joined us. They didn't seem to have contacted their coordinator, but when I mentioned going to the boss room, Oishi-san had volunteered: "If you're going that far, we'll act as your guides."
To be honest, the map for Floor 10 of Sladan is on the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki, so I didn't really need a guide... but once he went as far as saying, "In the unlikely event we have to run, we'll serve as the rear guard," I couldn't bring myself to turn him down.
Oishi-san was an explorer specialized in defense. Even though he had previously suffered an injury from a Metasla that took three months to heal, he hadn't been taken out in a single hit. In fact, based on the stream footage I'd checked, Oishi-san had taken the Metasla’s charge head-on and withstood it multiple times.
Having someone like that with us in an emergency was honestly reassuring. Plus, Mayurin-san had been all for it, saying, "Heh, sounds good. They can be meat shields in a pinch. Let's bring 'em along."
I didn't actually plan on using Oishi-san and his group as meat shields, obviously.
Anyway.
Oishi-san told me I should rest, but I shook my head. "I'm fine. I can still keep going. Leave it to me!"
"No, but... if you're exhausted before we even reach the boss room, aren't you putting the cart before the horse?"
"It’s fine. I'm a Special Crisis Case Explorer, after all. I know when to pull back...!"
I will not give up on experience points until the very, very last second!
"Hmm... if you put it that way... Alright. But please, don't overdo it. If it gets tough, don't hesitate to say so."
"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Oishi-san!"
The journey continued smoothly after that.
I defeated Metasla after Metasla after Metasla. Even if it wasn't my full multiplier, an income of 9 million experience points—six times the base 1.5 million per kill—was absolute bliss! The brain juice was already overflowing, putting me in a state of 3000x sensitivity. Every time the experience points entered my body, the sheer pleasure made my vision go white.
While I was advancing in that state of extreme euphoria, Ikegami-san suddenly spoke up.
"Still, isn't something strange?"
I wondered what could be strange. As I tilted my head, the handsome swordsman Ikegami-san spoke with a wary expression.
"There are twelve Special Crisis Case Explorers here, so why haven't the Metaslas tried to run away? When we were the ones fighting them before, they tried to bolt immediately..."
"Ah, now that you mention it, that is odd."
"It's creepy, isn't it?"
"Something might be happening."
Tamaki-san, Ashitaba-san, and Hondo-san nodded in agreement with Ikegami-san. Oishi-san, who had been listening, also nodded with a grim face.
"A change in monster behavior... huh. We might need to hurry a bit."
Wait. Come to think of it, did I forget to tell everyone about the maximum aggro from the Mark of Death...?
As cold sweat began to trickle down my face, I felt a heavy gaze.
"............"
Hinata-san was staring intently at me. Aren't you going to tell them? her eyes said.
I hesitated. If I told them, they’d realize I was using Asceticism, and she’d probably get mad and tell me to fight seriously...
As I was agonizing over it, the stream chat started moving.
『Eh? Do they seriously not know?』 『The reason the Metaslas aren't running is because of that, right?』 『Yeah, it can't be anything else.』
"!!?"
Wham!
The viewers were about to post unnecessary comments on Hinata-san’s drone, so I thrust my palm in front of the drone’s camera to block it.
『Whoa!?』 『What the hell are you doing, Junkie Bro!?』
"Leveling Junkie Bro-kun? What's wrong?"
"Takeo-kun? Did something happen?"
Mayurin-san and Ikegami-san asked. I quickly composed myself. "No, I thought there was a monster, but it seems I was mistaken."
"Anyway, let’s hurry forward with caution...!" (serious face)
"Yeah, you're right."
"Right, let's do that."
We hurried forward with cautious haste!
A short while later...
"Hey, hey, this is getting a bit much...!"
"He's right, it's about time you swap with us! Leveling Junkie Bro-kun!"
As we drew closer to the boss room, the encounter rate with Metaslas climbed higher and higher. By now, we were running into them every time we turned a corner. Perhaps feeling a sense of crisis at the increased frequency of combat, Ikegami-san and Mayurin-san suggested swapping out.
Now, what to do?
Well, the answer was already decided. There was no way I was swapping. Every single Metasla, down to the last one, belonged to me!
...Is what I wanted to say.
"Takeo-kun! At this pace, I might run low on MP before we even reach the boss room!" Hinata-san said as she finished off another mana potion.
Even though she wasn't giving me support magic, I was getting a Heal about once every two battles. If the encounter rate with Metaslas kept increasing at this pace, Hinata-san’s concern was no exaggeration. If possible, I wanted to challenge the Metakin while Hinata-san’s MP was full...
"—!!"
With a heavy heart, I made the gut-wrenching decision to prioritize the future Metakin over the Metasla right in front of me.
"I'm sorry, everyone! Could I ask you to take this one?"
"—!! Leave it to me!"
Mayurin-san nodded vigorously and leapt forward with shining eyes. Following her lead, Ikegami-san and the others began to charge.
And as for the Metasla they were facing—
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
It fled with terrifying speed.
"Ah."
『Ah』 『Ah』 『Ahhh』 『Of course that happened, lol.』
Ah... yeah, well... you see?
I forgot that if I'm not the one using Asceticism, this is what happens.