As soon as I slotted in the Core Crystal, I ducked to the side of the door, staying alert for any immediate attacks or area-of-effect bursts. It hadn't happened during our previous visit, but there was no guarantee the mechanics wouldn't change.
It was better to be safe than sorry.
"...It seems fine."
"Yeah. Even though it's our second time, it doesn't look like they've updated the spawn to attack instantly."
"True. But we still need to be careful."
"Well then... shall we head in?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
After confirming there were no surprise attacks, we stepped into the room where the ogre waited, our hearts brimming with resolve.
The master of the floor sat in the center of the room, illuminated by our Light. Despite the intimidating aura emanating from its rugged, massive frame, it also seemed to carry an air of profound sorrow....Wait, what?
"..."
"..."
The three of us and the ogre stared each other down in silence. We knew from the previous battle that the ogre wouldn't enter a combat stance until we closed within a certain distance, but since we couldn't be sure if its behavior patterns had changed for the rematch, we didn't let our guard down.
While remaining wary of the ogre’s movements, we began dispersing light magic sources and glow sticks to secure our field of vision.
"...Alright. For now, this should be enough light."
Between the light magic and the glow sticks, we managed to achieve a decent level of brightness; though still dim, the light reached all the way to the corners. The illuminated area was wider than last time, and the room felt brighter overall, likely because the light magic was shining down from near the ceiling.
At this rate, I probably won't need to set up the floodlights near the entrance.
"True. With this much light, it shouldn't interfere with the battle."
"We really owe it to light magic. It saves us a lot of trouble setting up light sources."
"That said, it is magic derived from the dungeon. There might be magic nullification spaces, so we can't be overconfident. It's better to assume it could vanish at any moment."
"O-Oh. Right."
I offered a word of caution to Hiiragi-san, who was in high spirits thanks to the convenience of light magic. As long as light magic—or rather, our abilities as explorers—was derived from the dungeon, we couldn't rule out the possibility that the dungeon possessed the means to nullify it.
That was exactly why we couldn't afford to be careless or overconfident; we needed the ability and the mindset to escape even without relying on our explorer skills. People might say I was over-preparing, but it was better than living with the constant anxiety of being defenseless. I suppose that mindset is what led to those training sessions with Juzo-san and Genya-san...
"Alright. Now that preparations are complete... shall we go?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
With our combat preparations finished, we began walking toward the ogre at the center of the room.
Just like last time, the ogre made its first move once we had closed the distance to about the halfway point. Ignoring us, it turned its face toward the ceiling and let out a Roar. Honestly, I briefly considered decapitating it while it was mid-howl... but I decided against it.
The ogre's Roar echoed through the room, the reverberations vibrating against our eardrums.
"It's as noisy as ever."
"Well, I'm sure it's meant to be an intimidation tactic."
Frowning at the volume of the Roar, we waited for the long-winded cry to subside. If I hadn't known this Roar was what summoned its subordinates, I might have attacked already, given how long it was taking.
But no matter how much time passed, the Roar didn't stop.
"...Isn't it a bit long?"
"...It is."
"...It's quite long, isn't it?"
However, once the Roar exceeded thirty seconds, we started to grow weary of waiting. In the previous battle, the subordinates had appeared almost as soon as the ogre roared, but this time, no matter how long we waited, they didn't show up.
In fact, the ogre, which continued to roar, was starting to show signs of panic... it gave off an air of being genuinely troubled.
"Ah, it took a breath."
The ogre, having roared for about a minute, must have finally found it difficult. It seemed to steal a quick glance at us while catching its breath. Yeah, I know. It's my imagination—just my imagination. We didn't see anything.
Then, the ogre put every ounce of strength into its gut and let out a Roar even louder than the first.
"...Ah."
Perhaps the ogre's desperate Roar finally reached them, as the head of a bear began to emerge from beneath the ogre's feet... though it was only one.
Furthermore, the two ears atop the big bear’s head were drooping. It didn't look like it had appeared full of vigor in response to the call; rather, it looked dejected, as if to say it had been summoned against its will.
"..."
The entrance was so unexpected that we could only stare in speechless silence.
However, the real stars of the show here were the ogre who called and the summoned big bear.
"..."
"..."
They stared at each other in silence as if protesting the summoning method... As they stood there gazing at one another and eventually gave each other a small nod, a sense of tragedy seemed to hang over them.
...Wait, what? Why has it turned out like this?
"..."
"..."
Both sides were ready for combat, facing off near the center of the room to strike down their opponent.
However, if a third party had been there to observe, they surely would have testified that it was a scene of monsters burdened with a tragic aura facing off against explorers radiating a sense of reluctance.
Why did things turn into such a mess?!
Explorers facing monsters. Normally, this would be a scene where explorers bravely challenge a powerful foe. But the reality was us holding our weapons with heavy hearts, while the ogre and its kin faced us with tragic determination.
Both sides looked like they were about to ask if we really had to do this.
"..."
"..."
The silence stretched on as both sides stared each other down. Because of the atmosphere—where neither side wanted to make the first move—a strange stalemate continued.
But we couldn't stay like this forever.
"...Yuji, Hiiragi-san. I'll handle the ogre, so can you two take the bear?"
"...If possible, I'd rather take the ogre too."
"Me too..."
The ogre was in high demand... or rather, it was simply hard to strike the big bear while it was making such tragic faces and groans. If this was intentional acting, then the ogre and big bear were truly star performers.
However, since someone had to do it, we had no choice. And so...
"..."
"...Fine, I'll do it."
As a result of our silent posturing, I—unable to bear the silence any longer—reluctantly raised my hand to slay the big bear. Since I was the one who suggested this "venting frustration" hunt, I had to be the one to draw the short straw... sigh.
"Then I'll pull that one away a bit. I'll leave the ogre to you."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Leave it to us."
"Leave it to me."
I moved slowly to the right from their perspective, luring the big bear away. Sensing my intention, the other two moved in the opposite direction to widen the gap.
As a result, a 2-on-1 and a 1-on-1 formation naturally formed.
"..."
"...Grrr, gugah, gugagah."
"...This is so awkward."
The big bear glared at me as we faced off, letting out tragic, stifled groans. Was it just my imagination that its eyes looked watery? I couldn't help but feel like I was doing something incredibly wicked.
After a few seconds of staring each other down, the big bear moved.
"Gaoooooh!"
Letting out a Roar filled with a tragic ring, the big bear launched a reckless, headlong charge at me. I could practically read its thoughts: I may not win, but I'll get at least one strike in!
But honestly, this kind of charge was nothing more than a telegraphed attack.
"..."
I briefly flashed a look of pity toward the big bear, then shifted my center of gravity to the left and prepared for a side jump, intending to decapitate it with a single strike after dodging. I thought all I had to do was evade the big bear as it charged foolishly, but...
"Gah!"
"...!"
Just before the point where I would have evaded with a side jump, the big bear suddenly changed its path. With a sharp step in, it swung its right forepaw wide and extended its sharp claws in a diagonal slash, launching a read-ahead attack at my planned evasion point. Startled by the sudden shift, I hurriedly aborted the side jump and forced power into both legs to leap upward instead.
I managed to narrowly avoid the attack by jumping over the charging big bear.
"...Ugh."
"...Why, you little—!?"
There was no trace of the tragic aura from before. As I landed awkwardly from the forced evasion, it snorted at me with a gaze that seemed to say, "Tch, the prey got away."
I felt a surge of anger at the big bear for faking tragedy to launch a surprise attack, and at the same time, shame welled up within me for my pathetic display. What happened to not being careless or overconfident in the dungeon? To be deceived by the opponent's atmosphere and appearance... am I an idiot?!
"Yuji! Hiiragi-san! These guys are acting pathetic to lure us into letting our guard down! Watch out!"
"I hear you!...Though it seems your warning was a bit late, Daiki. This guy's already shown his true colors."
"Monsters that use psychological warfare are the worst."
I issued a warning that the ogre was likely faking it too, but it was already too late. While neither of them was injured, they had been split up even though they were supposed to be standing together.
It seemed we had fallen hook, line, and sinker for the enemy's trap. I'll have to schedule some retraining on our combat mindset later. Or rather, if Juzo-san found out about this... yeah, let's not think about that for now. More importantly...
"I don't care how much you cry and scream anymore. You're not getting any sympathy from me."
"Gugah."
Having calmed my heart, I let my expression go blank and muttered to the big bear that I would kick its ass without mercy. In response, the big bear snorted with a gaze that seemed to say, "What's an idiot who falls for a disguise like that talking about?"
That look made me exceptionally irritated....I won't even let you get out a final word.
"..."
"Gugah."
With Shiranui held in my right hand, I began walking toward the big bear with a casual stride, closing the distance. Wary of my actions, the big bear bent its forelegs and took a low stance, ready to pounce. The distance between us shrank until the big bear was just about to leap.
And then...
"It's over."
Just before the big bear could pounce, I stepped in with everything I had and swung Shiranui. The blade bit into the big bear's neck without the slightest error, and with a stroke that felt no resistance, I severed the head in an instant. Because of the speed of my full-power step-in, the big bear couldn't keep up with the movement and showed no reaction, seemingly unaware that its head had been removed.
I dashed past the side of the big bear without killing my momentum, leaving the area before blood could spray from the neck. Immediately after, the big bear's head fell to the ground, and a massive fountain of blood erupted from the cut, creating a crimson pool all around.
"...Whew."
Maintaining zanshin, I glanced at the big bear's remains while checking on Yuji and Hiiragi-san. They had already brought down the ogre and were cleaning the blood off their weapons.
"Hey, Yuji! Hiiragi-san! Are you hurt?"
"We're fine. Neither of us took so much as a scratch."
"I see, that's good."
Though we were caught off guard by the surprise attack, it seemed those two had also made it through safely. Well, including myself, the fact that we were careless enough to be ambushed made this battle a pathetic performance. Still, for an ogre to team up with its subordinate and put on a tragic act to lower an explorer's guard... that was beyond unexpected. Could this psychological warfare be an anti-explorer measure against those who, despite having obtained the crimson gem, get greedy and try to farm the ogre battle? If it’s a high-probability rare drop, it wouldn't be surprising for corporate explorer parties to try and farm it.
While we were confirming each other's safety, the particleization of the ogre’s and big bear’s remains began.
"Oh, something dropped. Wait..."
"Only one crimson gem... huh."
"No drop from the big bear that Kokonoe-kun defeated, I see..."
The item that dropped was one we already had: the crimson gem, which served as a passage permit to skip the ogre and go to the floor below. In other words, it was a duplicate.
Sigh. I started this fight as a way to relieve stress, but I never imagined it would end up piling on more instead. If the drop had been something rare, it might have been a nice distraction... I guess this was my punishment for trying to vent my frustration.
Venting your frustration really isn't a good idea, after all. I ended up getting my comeuppance for it anyway.