When Ais saw Hayasaka Ai and her group emerge victorious, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Watching them fight with such desperation, it was as if she was seeing her former self. Although her heart hadn't changed—the desire to become stronger still remained.
"Haha! We won!"
After finishing off the remaining two rabbits, Hayasaka Ai plopped right down on the ground, her clear laughter echoing in the empty cavern.
"Mn! We won!"
Katou Megumi was also very happy. She hadn't expected to change so much, so quickly. It had only been two or three days since she arrived in this world. Katou Megumi felt a sense of anticipation for her future life, and a rare, cute smile involuntarily appeared at the corners of her mouth.
"Megumi, you've improved a lot too!"
Seeing Katou Megumi's reaction, Hayasaka Ai was also happy and praised her. Katou Megumi's change was the greatest. Although she was still calm as water most of the time, when she entered the dungeon, her expression showed a bit of excitement. And for an ordinary high school girl, she had such a great talent for combat. In just two trips to the dungeon, she had already reached the third floor. Hayasaka Ai was very clear about her own situation. She had practiced martial arts, learned kendo, and close combat was, of course, something she had studied and practiced for a long time. So, upon coming to this world's dungeon, she was able to put her skills to use quickly. But Katou Megumi was just an ordinary high school girl. From their
"girl talk"
night, she had learned that Megumi was in the
"go-home club."
A key point was that people sometimes seemed to unconsciously forget about her. Sometimes she would be in class, and the teacher would skip right over her during roll call, as if she wasn't even a student. This had been a headache for her since she was a child. But because of this, Katou Megumi had gradually become more and more placid, always facing these things calmly. Of course, deep in her heart, she also had a small wish to be a
"main character."
This was a thought that everyone shared.
The three of them soon sat down together. After two consecutive battles, they naturally needed a short rest.
"Why don't we just train on this floor today? The manual says the fourth floor has new monsters."
"And the deeper we go, the stronger the monsters get."
"Even the goblins on this floor are a bit stronger than the ones on the first floor."
Hayasaka Ai's brain didn't rest. She flipped through the adventurer's manual, thinking about these problems. And she shared what she had learned with her teammates.
"Kanao, what do you think of the monster strength on this floor?"
Hayasaka Ai remembered that since entering the dungeon, Tsuyuri Kanao hadn't made a move at all, always just standing guard for them. Even someone as thick-skinned as her couldn't help but blush a little. We're all in the same Familia. It's not right to always let her stand guard and not fight. Her strength won't grow that way. Only through practice could one reap rewards.
"Too weak..."
Tsuyuri Kanao said softly. To be honest, for her, the Tsuguko of the Insect Hashira, these monsters were still too low-level. They posed no threat at all. If it weren't for Hayasaka Ai and Katou Megumi, she would probably be heading even deeper. However, as someone accustomed to following orders, she had accepted Lord Lin Feng's command to listen to Hayasaka Ai. Plus, she... quite liked this
"family."
So, she guarded them without complaint.
"Ah, this..."
Hearing Tsuyuri Kanao's words, Hayasaka Ai and Katou Megumi weren't very surprised. As expected, she was just too strong.
"Then... Kanao, just how strong are you?"
Hayasaka Ai tried another way to ask. She wanted to get a sense of Kanao's true strength, just to have a baseline.
"I don't know... But Sister Shinobu said... that my current strength is enough to defeat one of the Twelve Kizuki's Lower Moons on my own."
Hayasaka Ai and Katou Megumi were confused. They knew who
"Sister Shinobu"
was, but... Twelve Kizuki? Lower Moons? What was that?
"The Twelve Kizuki are the twelve strongest demons created by Muzan Kibutsuji."
Kanao explained further. But Hayasaka Ai and Katou Megumi still couldn't picture her specific strength. However, they understood
"twelve strongest demons."
If they were the strongest, what more needed to be said?
"Ahem! Kanao, you're just too strong!"
"No... I want to avenge my sister. I want to resurrect my sister..."
Tsuyuri Kanao's voice became a little dejected, but her expression still didn't change much. Hearing her talk of revenge and resurrecting her sister, Hayasaka Ai and Katou Megumi's hearts ached for her. They both had their own wishes and desires. But compared to Kanao's... hers was much, much heavier.