Floor ????——
〈Wake up, Danjon no Hakaisha.〉
Omariro slowly lifted his head, grabbed his staff, and used it to support himself. As the surroundings around him became clear, he noticed he was standing atop the surface of a stormy sea, with nothing but thunder and wind in the distance.
〈You used to be a Destroyer. Let's see how much you still have left in the tank.〉
Water creatures resembling humanoid sharks formed from the waves, holding tridents. They began to attack Omariro, who erased them with a clap.
〈Impressive. But I need more.〉
This time, a giant crab formed, attempting to crush Omariro with its claws. Omariro evaded the attack, using a light blast to evaporate it. A glowing path lit up, directing Omariro through the storm.
As he walked through the storm, flashes of memories appeared in the clouds. Dragons. Mysterious floating entities. Students. An explosion of purple energy. And a strange, six-eyed silhouette, its eyes piercing straight through Omariro.
Omariro pushed past the storm, where he emerged to find a swamp, with fish-headed creatures advancing on him with harpoons. One attempted to stab him in the gut, but he blocked, breaking the spear in half and using his bow to eradicate the first wave of fish.
The second wave lunged at him, but he easily stopped them in place with bindings, slashing them all with a barrage of blades.
〈Good. But this is nowhere near what I want. Show me the *REAL* you. Otherwise, I cannot see you as worthy. Show what your kids have failed to witness. Not the man. The Destroyer I know.〉
Water serpents slithered through the swamp waters, wrapping around Omariro's body. The old man broke free, turning them all into mere puddles.
〈I see. You might need some…motivation.〉
A watery image appeared, showing the first floor, along with the rookies and Gakuto.
Floor 1—-
Zaria hastily examined the gates around the sealed door, her nerves frantic. "Okay. Which one of these is the next gate? We don't have no time to waste."
Rika pointed to a nearby unlocked blue gate. "Try this one!"
The group walked to it, and a UI appeared.
〈Floor Level: *3.* Only *1* Gender May Enter.〉
"One gender?" Nonoka questioned. "Is this Sea Beast sexist or something?"
"How do you kids want to play this?" Gakuto asked. "I can lead the dudes in, but if you girls think you've got a chance, I say go for it!"
Zaria pointed to herself. "We'll go. It's our responsibility. And besides, you'll have to drag this…creature…along with you."
She pointed to Han, who avoided her gaze. "We'll do our best to get the seal. This is our Master we're talking about."
Zaria entered the gate with no hesitation, and Nonoka followed her. Rei jumped in as well, while Rika turned back to Gakuto and Sōshin. "Please wait for us, Mr. Gakuto."
"No worries, I'll be here!"
She jumped through the gate as well. Gakuto turned to Han. "Hey, kid. Is it me or are the vibes with your group kinda dead?"
"Not dead," Han clarified. "Just dead to me. That stunt I pulled as a Herald basically burned any bridges I had left with them, and that was after Kagoshima."
Gakuto put a hand on Han's shoulder. "Then why'd you do it? Why take on such a risk?"
"To make up for the first time," he admitted. "Recently, I've started to see myself as the liability, so I thought if I could stop even one of the Heralds from hurting my friends, I'd take it. The only way to do that was to convince them I turned, because the Nurse was linked to me."
Han stared right at Gakuto. "And there's even worse ones than her. When I was a Herald, she shared some stories about them with me. The Fourth, who can manipulate reality with his speed. The Third, who can chain entire armies with inescapable metal. And even the First, their blade and executioner."
He wiped the tears out of his eyes.
"I already had to sell my soul just to stop the Seventh, while my Master suffered to put the Sixth away. What will I do when problems get worse? They won't listen to me now, because they hate my guts. That's without taking the Mujinsha into account…"
Sōshin put a hand on Han's shoulder. "Don't worry, Friend Han! They can't stay mad forever! And if they do, I'll make them forgive you!"
"How?"
"There's always a way! Just have faith! Besides, Friend Omariro is their front and center. And he still believes in you!"
"Oh. Well. I guess…"
Gakuto turned to the portal. "No use sulking. Now, we wait for them to return. Hopefully in one piece."
Floor 3—-
Zaria, Rika, Rei, and Nonoka landed inside an aquatic museum. Immediately, they noticed they were on the ceiling. Zaria attempted to jump down, but she landed back on the ceiling.
"The hell? Gravity ain't working right or something?"
〈Rule: Harness the *Reflection.*〉
"Reflection," Rika noted. "Do they mean the floor? Well technically, this is the floor."
Rei looked at the floor hanging over their heads, which reflected the girls. The reflection showed a spiked wall. "Hey! That might be an obstacle!"
Nonoka laughed. "Pfff. It's probably a bluff. There's nothing here."
She reached out to touch the space in front of them. "See?"
Sure enough, her hand came away bleeding, and she shook it. "Ow! Shit! Shit!"
Rika sighed. "Here. I'll heal you. Just took another few months off your lifespan, though."
She touched Nonoka, and the wound healed. "Thanks. Did not expect an invisible trap floor. Not only is this Sea Beast sexist, but she's also cruel."
Zaria used the reflection to walk around the spiked wall, not even pausing for a moment. "C'mon. We've gotta hurry."
Using the reflection above them, they walked around the museum. A guillotine trap emerged in the reflection, and Zaria immediately ducked.
"Everybody down!"
The girls ducked, crawling past the guillotine. After they made it past a certain point, they appeared on the ground, with the ceiling now sporting the reflection.
"Finally, off the damn roof," Nonoka remarked. "She does some crap like that again, we're gonna have an issue."
The girls began walking again, but the reflection started phasing in and out, forcing them to pause with each step. Zaria analyzed for a moment, forming her spear. "Hold it."
A harpoon gun appeared, and Zaria quickly began to spin her spear as the harpoon fired. The other girls noticed a clinking sound as the dart bounced off Zaria's spear.
"Great instincts, Zaria!" Rei complimented.
Another harpoon gun appeared behind them, which Zaria caught wind of. "Rei, form your shield!"
Rei did so, allowing the dart to bounce off and the girls to continue walking. They eventually made it to a lunchroom, where the reflection disappeared.
〈Phase *1* Complete. Now beginning Phase *2.*〉
"We doing phases now?" Nonoka questioned. "Great."
A sleepy orc was busy sitting at the table nearby, drinking ale from a tankard. Zaria prodded him with her spear. "You. How do we get the seal?"
The orc opened his eyes, batting her spear away. "Humans. You dunno how to ask politely, do ya?"
"I want an answer."
He got up, stretching. "Well, calm your happy ass down. There's no rushing the next trial. My name's Kei. One of Mistress Leviathan's Escorts."
"I don't care."
Rika put a hand on Zaria's shoulder. "Bestie, please don't provoke the orc."
He snapped his fingers, and runic bluish-black armor appeared over him, along with a double-bladed javelin. "Come. This way."
A tunnel opened inside one of the walls, and Kei flew through it, with the girls racing to catch up. At the end of it was a blue-skinned humanoid, sitting inside a seaweed domain.
"The actual hell is this?" Zaria demanded.
"Simple. Unlike that brutish Earth Beast you faced, the Sea Beast prefers more logic and reason. That's what you're doing here."
〈Rule: *Sway* the Merman.〉
"No way…" Nonoka realized. "This isn't why the rule was to send one gender, was it?"
Kei stabbed his javelin into the ground. "Convince him to hand over the seal. Then, you can leave the floor. Not everything in dungeons is fighting, you know?"
"And we can't just rob him?" Zaria suggested.
"No."
Rika turned to the group. "No worries. I got this!"
Rika walked over to the merman. "Hi! Uh. My name's Rika. We really need that seal you have. Can we get it?"
"Hmm. For free?"
"Yeah…?"
"Nah," he refused. "You want this seal, I need something worth my time. How about you? It's pretty lonely around these parts. Mind if I take you on a walk around Floor 7?"
"Ahem. What?"
"You heard me."
Rika quickly backed away. "Zaria! Please go talk to him!"
"Me? Forget that shit! Nonoka, you do it!"
"No, no, no. Rei can handle that."
Rei shrugged. "Okay!"
She walked over to the merman. "Hi! I'm Rei Hayama! What about you? What's your name?"
"They call me Nagisa around these parts," he replied. "You look a little odd, Rei. How old are you?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "The only thing I can remember before I met my friends was being trapped by a large dragon boss!"
"Ahh," he noted. "So you're a dungeon chick. Don't look like one of the Endless, but you're pretty cute."
〈Sway: ↑〉
Rei scratched her head, nervous. "Erm, thanks?"
Nagisa got up, towering over her. "Tell me. What brings you here, Rei? Looks like you're a girl with a purpose."
"Here to save my Master, of course!"
"Master. Would this Master be named Nyugawa, by chance?"
She nodded.
"Interesting…"
The girls watched, hopeful.
"Rei's good at this," Rika realized. "I never knew she was such a talker!"
"Of course she is," Nonoka remarked. "All the girl does is socialize. I wonder where she gets it from."
"None of us know," Zaria admitted.
Rei extended her hand out. "May I have the totem?"
Nagisa looked her up and down. "Hmm. I need something in return. Nothing in life is free, you know."
"Okay! What are your conditions?"
"Kiss me right now," he ordered.
"Absolutely not!" she declined, in a sweet tone.
〈Sway: ↓〉
"Fine," Nagisa shrugged. "A hard one to get. Let's try something else. You know how to cook? Like special dishes?"
"Yep!"
He led her over to a kitchen table and stove, where various ingredients from squid, to shrimp, to crab, and even shellfish were waiting, along with bags of rice. There was seasoning to the left of her.
"I want you to make a proper dish out of these," he explained. "As a merman, I gain strength from the seafood I eat."
Rei gave him a thumbs-up.
"Sure thing!"
The others watched as Rei began cooking, chopping up ingredients and seasoning them as she went along. She grabbed a pan and put the raw dish in a pot, flipping and shaking it in rhythm.
"Mmm," Nagisa noted. "Smells good."
〈Sway: ↑〉
Meanwhile—-
Omariro trekked through the swamp, annihilating water beast after water beast. He tossed a merman into a nearby tree as a floating water orb rose from the swamp.
〈I see glimpses of my Master still in there. If you want my help, you must show everything. After all, you cannot stop Behemoth as you are.〉
"Power not free," he warned. "Only when needed."
〈And that time is now.〉
An armored Escort appeared, holding two javelins in his hands. "Omariro Nyugawa!"
Omariro turned around. "Hmm."
〈Rule: *Don't* Hold Back.〉
"You wish to leave?"
He spun his javelins around hard enough to cause powerful storms.
"Then become a monster once more. Or your students will never see the light of day."
More memories flashed through the storms. Screams. Fire. Kids running. A terrifying presence stalking through the land. Omariro stared at them. "Past."
〈But can it still become the present?〉
The Escort watched as Omariro turned toward him, closing his eyes. Once he reopened them, they were glowing purple.
"Jugen-Daraku: Danjon Hakaisha."
BOOM.
——-