With no more monsters coming, the tide turns quickly.
Hikari meets up with us, and now that Chris can move, we move towards Sera and Rurika.
And I infuse the dog golem with magic energy and send it to Siphon’s party.
It doesn’t take us long to finish the monsters in this room, in part because we pay no attention to the materials.
“Sora…?”
Ash sees us, and sits on the ground. He’s been fighting for a long time.
Mia and I start casting Heal, and Hikari and the others treat the wounded with potions.
Guardian Sword entered with forty members, but ended this battle with twenty-eight.
It would’ve been even worse if we didn’t come running and if we didn’t treat them, so they thank us.
I put the monsters we beat in the Item Box, and Ash asks that I do the same with theirs. It sounds like he’s doing it as a way to thank us for helping them, but I’ll give these back to them later.
“You really saved us.”
Says Jake, now that things have settled down.
“What should I say… Actually, didn’t you think to escape with a return stone?”
I ask what’s on my mind.
“We wanted to, but luck wasn’t on our side. The ones who had them were the first to go.”
According to Jake, the monsters suddenly appeared and killed the two people with return stones.
People who tried to retrieve them were also killed, so they fought, and were successful in turning the situation in their favor, but when monsters started spawning one after the other, they were pushed until they were fully on defense.
And just as they were running out of energy and healing potions, and were going for an all or nothing attack, we arrived.
I wonder if they couldn’t do that before they ran out of potions, but I think their numbers started going down before they made that decision, and they probably hoped that if they kept taking down monsters, they would stop spawning eventually.
If they were going for that desperate option, they might as well live a little longer and hope that another party or that allied clan got here.
“So thanks. We would’ve been wiped out if you didn’t show up.”
Says Jake with a deep bow.
He also says that them moving to the wall wasn’t intentional, the monsters pushed them there.
I guess if they were going to escape or withstand that, it would’ve made more sense to move to a passage, not a wall.
Then…
“They probably did that on purpose, so we couldn’t disarm the trap.”
Jake noticed it too.
Yes, the switch was on the other side.
“I-is it over…”
Siphon and the others are here.
They grimace when they see this disastrous sight, but quickly recover.
“Thanks for sending that thing to get us. Yuno was reaching her limit.”
“…Then let’s get away from here. I think it’s fine now, but who knows.”
The trap could activate again. It’s a dungeon, so who knows what might happen.
We go through a passage, and then stop to rest. It would be hard to just keep moving like this.
We’re asked if we’re going back with a return stone, but we say we’re going to keep going, and they ask if they can come with us.
They have no disposable items, so they buy some from me. And since there’s less than a day to go before we reach the staircase, they might as well come with us.
We cook, and listen to them again while we eat. Apparently this was one of those traps that activates when someone gets near them, so it took them completely by surprise.
“We didn’t think we were being careless.”
Says Ash with a strong tone. It could’ve been us who triggered it, so I say nothing.
It’s not just me, Hikari, Rurika, and Orga are always careful about that sort of thing, but that’s because we’ve come across a lot of nasty traps.
We keep watch tonight, and the members of Guardian Sword sleep like logs after that fight that must have felt like it would go on forever.
And as I watch them, I think about what to do about the forty-eighth floor.
It looks like Siphon feels the same way, so we talk while keeping watch.
“Thanks Sora. I won’t forget this.”
◇ ◇ ◇
After we reach the forty-eighth floor, they use a return stone to leave.
But Jake, along with the other survivors, thank us before leaving.
It seems like it’s over, but they have trouble ahead of them. There’s the families of the deceased, and they’re going to have to explain what happened.
“Should we go back too?”
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Thanks for the treat.