Chapter 406: Will the Crimson Mountains Erupt? (Patreon)

After the Goddess Festival, the adventures naturally started up again.

Today's goal was to head into the true "Deep Floors": 58th Floor, guarded by the Monster Rex Balor. They would break through the region known as [Crimson Mountains].

Of course, that was only a goal. Chances were they wouldn't actually pull it off.

Still, some expedition down the line would surely manage it.

After several more days of travel, they finally reached that familiar, color-shifting meadow, the place the Dungeon herself called the [Entrance to the Real World].

Now, between heaven and earth, a bridge of piled-up giant stone blocks had completely linked up with the colossal Crimson Mountains standing at the end of time in the distance. All they had to do was walk up it.

After their earlier expeditions, Isagi, the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia had, in a sense, already "cleared" this place.

Still, the long climb up the stairs toward the Crimson Mountains was endless and a little boring.

Couldn't there be an Elevator or something? A cable car would do.

Sure, he and Ais could just accelerate and fly over, but…

Who knew how much time passed. To Isagi it felt like ages before the group finally reached the giant crater before them.

It was truly enormous. From far away, the Crimson Mountains seemed to hold up the sky, their height impossible to estimate.

Up close, the crater was so vast it defied belief. It could have held the entire world, or been an endless ocean. No matter how far he looked, he couldn't see the other side.

And looking down, there was a city inside the Crimson Mountains.

But forests, ice fields, deserts and other terrain were jammed abruptly into it, which made it hard to make any sense of the place.

The Dungeon had probably gotten confused again. She still couldn't recreate the true scenery of the surface world.

After all, she had never seen it herself.

"Let's go."

This time, they didn't split up.

Now that they had reached the true Deep Floors, everyone had realized how terrifying the place was, from Riveria and the rest of the Loki Familia to Ottar of the Freya Familia.

The Goddess of Beauty's warriors still did whatever they pleased, but their long stretch in this special Dungeon had given them at least some team spirit.

Down here, being alone could be truly frightening.

They searched along the rim of the crater for a while. At long last, they found a path leading down.

It was another ruin-like entrance made of piled boulders. The gate had collapsed, and beside it lay remains that looked like a giant's bones.

As they drew closer, they found themselves surrounded by lush green trees and the wreckage of stone buildings. It looked like a country or city that had vanished from history.

The road gradually widened, and the scenery was less jumbled than it had looked from above the crater.

When Isagi looked up, he could still see the sky, ever shifting in color.

But as they pressed on, the sky slowly drew away. For some reason, that brought a sense of relief, like being able to breathe again. Until then, the air had felt oppressive and stifling.

The Monsters along the way didn't slow the group down much.

Given everyone's strength now, ordinary Monsters were a piece of cake. Even when they ran into a named boss, a roadside elite mob like that posed little threat.

For some reason, Isagi had a feeling the Dungeon had turned "gentle" again here.

Maybe it was just his imagination.

Or maybe she was deliberately lulling them, hiding her dangerous side so they'd let their guard down.

They walked on for a long while.

Isagi checked the time. Nearly ten hours had passed since they left the crater, so he decided to make camp on a patch of flat ground nearby.

This place had probably been a town once. Ruins of broken houses lay scattered all around, and bones were buried in the soil. Human bones, animal bones, Monster bones? Who knew.

The group quickly split into three teams. One would prepare food, one would pitch the tents, and the last would stand guard and look around for anything edible.

Mushrooms, fruit, maybe even wild greens.

Monsters in the Dungeon couldn't be eaten. But as a complete "ecosystem", the Dungeon had naturally growing plants and animals, plenty of the former and few of the latter.

Some of them were edible, and Riveria, Tiona and the others were old hands at finding them.

Besides, Isagi's special Dungeon didn't affect these "gifts of nature". Maybe the Dungeon herself didn't know how to make them special.

Everyone quickly settled into their roles. Once the defensive barrier went up and the campfire was lit, Isagi took a pot and focused on making his curry.

As the group grew, cooking had become a bit of a chore.

It was different from the old days, when it was just him and Lefiya. Two people could eat anything, a stew or a meat broth thrown together in an iron pot, and be perfectly satisfied.

What mattered most was the quantity. The quantity!

Now he had to make curry for a dozen-odd people. With the size of his pot, that meant repeating the process at least four or five times!!

"By the way, does the Crimson Mountains ever erupt?"

"?"

While cooking, Isagi asked Ais beside him. Whatever else she was, the girl had once gone on an expedition with her Familia and fought Balor, so she had experience crossing the [Crimson Mountains] region.

The Dungeon of that time was surely different from the present one, but some things probably hadn't changed.

For example—

"Erupt?"

No, it never had.

Otherwise, any adventurer inside the Crimson Mountains would be as good as dead. With the lava rising, there would be nowhere to hide. They'd have to get out, and that would mean another endless journey.

"The Dungeon wouldn't go that far."

"Right."

That was what Isagi thought, anyway.

Probably.

She wouldn't go that far… right?

At worst, something like a [Monster Party] might erupt from inside, with a flood of Monsters surging up from the depths.

Besides, the Crimson Mountains before them weren't a normal volcano to begin with.

What kind of volcano has a forest inside?!

And there was something else, visible even to the naked eye. Not far off, there was even silvery-white snow falling. That was clearly…

"Hey, do you guys feel a bit cold?"

Suddenly, Finn spoke beside him, puzzled.

The Pallum's thumb had suddenly gone numb, a bad omen.

Snow?

Inside the Crimson Mountains? Even if they had just seen terrain like an ice field, how could there be "snow"? And it looked like it was getting closer…

…