Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society
chapter-247

I instantly recognized the being that appeared in front of us. It was incredibly difficult not to, given his humongous size. On the other hand, he was extremely thin! Long serrated tail that stretched out backwards and forward-facing eyes. He was…

[A ray! You’re a ray!]

[I’m the king of all who hides, the king of all who protect their lofty leagues by hiding! I am the Hermit King!]

[Ah, an electric ray! Plene, it’s dangerous. Go back to the mansion!]

[You! Listen to me!]

As I coincidentally knew the characteristics of an electric ray, I quickly summoned Peika and infused her into my body, and glanced at Plene to motion for her to leave. However, Plene shook her head helplessly.

[It won’t open. I can’t go back!]

[No one can escape from me! I am the Hermit King, appearing only when my victory is assured, leaving no prey behind!]

[Gaze activates! Your movement speed falls slightly. You cannot open your inventory. Your health and mana recovery speed decreases slightly. When being gazed at by your enemy, you will not be able to use Return!]

[Damn!]

Was the Gaze skill something all worlds’ enemies could use!? Being stared down by his eyes, I couldn’t get myself to calm down. There was no choice but to fight him. Before he attacked, I quickly called Sharana and Ruyue.

[Protect everyone, Sharana, Ruyue!]

[Leave it to us!]

Almost immediately afterwards, the electric ray shot out pale blue lightning from his entire body.

[Pay the price for your impudence to this king!]

[Peika!]

[I can handle this much!]

As we were underwater, his lightning spread to all sides the moment it was released. We were instantly enveloped by his lightning, and I grit my teeth and endured it with Peika’s power. At the same time, I felt something strange.

[… Isn’t this guy weak?]

[I think so too!]

His attack wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Of course, it was partly because of Peika’s power as a lightning elemental, but Peika was still just an elemental while our opponent was a world’s enemy. It was strange that we could take on his attack so easily.

When I turned around, Ruyue and Sharana seemed to have also held on by freezing and strengthening the air bubble Lotte, Plene, and Licorice were in. The fact that the lightning’s power spread by being underwater instead of concentrating in one place also seemed to have helped, but still…

[Now that I think about it, Gaze skill’s effect was weak too Its effect is probably proportional to the user’s power. Not to mention…]

Even if the Hermit King was a hermit and was an expert in hiding as he said, why would he have stayed hidden all this time on Earth?

Now that I thought about it, the Mariana Trench was close to the Philippines. Right.

Philippines. Until not long ago, there was a terrifying monster there.

“The Lava King was looking for you.”

[You met the Lava King, Hero!? B-But there is no way he knows where I am!]

He bit the bait.

“You were hiding from him!”

[I was concealing myself! I was not hiding from the other kings because I was afraid!]

As I thought, he was hiding from the Lava King. Afraid he would be discovered if he moved, he hid in the Mariana Trench, which was the deepest place on Earth!

I had considered it when I heard Lotte speak. Although the five kings shared the same goal, it seemed their relationship wasn’t particularly good. If a king had to hide in fear of another king, this couldn’t be the only case.

Now that the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but laugh. I could understand why he appeared so grandly. We must have been the first humans he saw in a long time! Not to mention, since Earth’s Hero, who was his main target, appeared in front of him on his own, he must have been extremely happy.

The Hermit King seemed to have noticed what I was thinking, as he spoke in an uncomfortable tone.

[Earth’s Hero is so arrogant. If we knew you were so foolish, we wouldn’t have all needed to come!]

“Stop talking shit and come!”

I didn’t even need to provoke him, as he immediately released another powerful lightning attack. Though I didn’t know exactly where to attack, I charged towards his body and shouted.

“How are our reinforcements!?”

[We’ll have to give up, Dear Husband! Even the closest team needs 2 hours to come!]

I took the Hermit King’s lightning directly and pondered as I endured it. Rather than enduring his attacks for 2 hours, although it might be dangerous, it was better to go on the offensive and aim for his life. Since I couldn’t open my inventory, I had to fight with just the few potions I had on hand. It was impossible to hold out for two hours with so few potions.

[Show me the power of a Hero!]

[Damn right I will!]

After replying to the Hermit King, I used Weapon Swap to equip my crossbow and shot dozens of bolts towards him. He seemed surprised at the invisible attack, but just as I expected, the bolts had little effect.

[Is this it!?]

[I bet it stung more than your lightning!]

I didn’t expect much from my attack in the first place. The crossbow was good for attacking the unexpecting enemy in their vitals, but even if I shot his eyes, the bolts couldn’t even leave a scratch. Rather than doing damage, it only made him angrier.

Even if the Hermit King seemed weak, it didn’t change the fact that he was one of the five kings. It would be a different story if all members of Revival were here, but it was indeed difficult to take him on just by myself. If I used Overlord already, I would certainly lose.

However, if I could force him to let his guard down, it was undoubtedly possible for me to defeat him alone. And to force him to let his guard down…

[Dear Husband, I’ll join you!]

[I hate getting wet, but… I hate seeing Hero getting hurt even more.]

[I, I’ll sing too!]

“Just make sure you don’t get injured! Ruyue, protect Licorice and Plene! Sharana, protect Lotte!”

[Un!]

[Understood!]

With the elementals’ help, Licorice, Lotte, and Plene charged into battle. To block the lightning the Hermit King was releasing even now, Ruyue protected the air bubble Licorice and Plene were in, and Sharana enveloped Lotte’s body with her wind to allow her to freely move underwater without getting wet. Though they couldn’t nullify the Hermit King’s lightning entirely, it was still better than receiving his attack directly.

As Licorice could use powerful magic in all elements, she could perform better than I can against worlds’ enemies. Similarly for Lotte, as long as she wasn’t beaten by the Hermit King’s lightning, she could deal great damage to the electric ray with her power of fire.

On the other hand, it was hard for Plene to do anything against him. It was unknown how much her songs could affect the Hermit King. However, it seemed she had something in mind, as she started to sing with a resolute face.

[Lalalala~]

Her voice flowed out of the air bubble strengthened by Ruyue’s power without any resistance. I had expected this much to happen, but what I didn’t expect was what happened next. Her voice didn’t travel far and stayed close to us. This strange scene made even the Hermit King stop attacking. The effect of Plene’s singing was then notified through a message.

[Siren’s ‘Song of Blessing’ resounds. Your speed increases greatly and your resistance to the enemy’s magical attacks increases. Your chance of receiving critical hits decreases, while your chance of dealing critical hits increases.]

[This is… a buff!?]

I was surprised even though I was experiencing it directly. To think that sirens could use buff type skills. I had always thought Plene specialized in drawing in mobs and using curses and debuffs, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

When I looked behind me, Plene was making a proud expression as she continued singing. I would need to compliment her later. Though, I’d also need to complain why she didn’t tell us about it earlier.

[What a beautiful song. What a beautiful woman!]

“He’s coming!”

He was releasing lightning once again! I jumped in directly and used Weapon Swap to equip Chaotic Spear.

“Peika, focus on defense for now!”

[Okay!]

Lotte, who could now move as if she was flying thanks to Sharana’s power, was charging towards the Hermit King from the opposite side. Seeing as how her face was heated red, it seemed she would breathe out fire the moment she reached the Hermit King.

I also rushed forward, aiming for the Hermit King’s eyes which had been bothering me for a while. Although his lightning became fiercer and took away my health, that much pain didn’t faze me in the slightest.

“Let’s see how strong your eyes are!”

[You think I’ll let you!?]

The Hermit King snorted and trembled. Immediately, I stopped my charge. He had disappeared completely.

“I can’t detect him.”

I thought it was an invisibility skill, but that wasn’t it. I couldn’t feel his presence at all. Lotte, who was rushing forward from the opposite side, also stopped with a confused look. Hermit King, to think he had an ability like this!

[Good, that’s the expression I like to see! I’ll first swallow your woman along with her singing!]

His voice rang out from afar. He wasn’t aiming for me, but rather Plene and Licorice!

“Damn, is it teleportation!?”

The giant ray opened his mouth. Before it shut and swallowed Licorice and Plene, Licorice spread her arm out. Immediately, a pillar of ice appeared from the bottom of his mouth to the ceiling.

[Kuaaaaa!]

The Hermit King howled and spat out lightning, but Licorice worked with Ruyue and had already escaped from his range.

[Elemental, move!]

[I was going to!]

“Kuk!”

He was charging towards Licorice and Plene again! I used Divine Speed and shot out the Chaotic Spear in my hand. The target point was his eye!

“Die!”

[How laughable!]

The water resistance caused the spear slowed down even more than I expected, but it thankfully struck the Hermit King before he could dodge it.

However, even though the spear had penetrated deep into its eye, the Hermit King didn’t seem too affected by it. It made sense. No matter how much I strengthened it with my Heroic Aura, compared to his giant eye, it was like a toothpick.

[Kuhaha, what did you do!? I was expecting much more from you, but in the end, you’re just a human!]

“You better fix that impatient personality of yours first!”

I sneered at him and clenched my fist. Following Peruta Circuit’s energy, connecting my fist and my spear, my mana ignited chaos flames and burned his eye’s inside.

Chaos flames were flames in the end. As they couldn’t be easily ignited underwater, this was what I had thought of. As it relied on high class techniques like Peruta Circuit and Mad Typhoon, its effect was indeed excellent.

[Kuuuuk!]

“Good, chaos flames work!”

In the past, I couldn’t take out chaos flames as the opponent was the Lava King. This time, however, the opponent was a underwater monster. Fire was perfect for cooking fish! After being confident in the amount of chaos flames I ignited, I pulled back on my hand slightly and retrieved the spear. This strange flame that didn’t lose out to the Hermit King’s resistance continued to burn wonderfully.

[I see, this flame won’t go away until I kill you, Hero…!]

He seemed to have realized what he was dealing with as he turned to directly face me. Blue lightning repeatedly crackled around him and diffusing into the surroundings. An overwhelming amount of mana that I had felt from the Lava King before was gathering within him.

[This is the power of a king! Despair!]

[I will not let Hero get hurt!]

Before the Hermit King released his lightning, Lotte’s kick struck his tail. Kick!? I doubted my eyes for a moment, but Lotte was indeed flying through the water at an incredible speed and continuously kicking his tail.

Immediately afterwards, about half of his tail was severed. The Blaze Queen’s focused attacks had been strong enough to annihilate a part of a king’s body. The problem was the Hermit King’s response.

[Fine, I’ll kill this annoying bitch first!]

The lightning building up in his body instantly shot out towards Lotte! Although Lotte shot back and Sharana cast a barrier of wind around her, the Hermit King’s lightning couldn’t be stopped.

Damn, even with Divine Speed, I couldn’t get close enough to her! Although I had gotten used to moving underwater, the Hermit King’s lightning was still faster than I could reach my hand forward…!

[This ray!]

Almost as if she read my mind, Licorice reached her hand forward in my place. Sucking in Licorice’s boundless magic power, pillars of ice appeared everywhere and slammed down on the giant ray’s body. However, these pillars couldn’t stop his lightning, and blue lightning struck Lotte.

[Kuuk!]

“Lotte!”

[It’s okay, it wasn’t a direct hit!]

My heart dropped, thinking I might lose her, but Sharana’s confident shout calmed me down. However, Lotte was still incapacitated from the attack.

This was my mistake. Although I had attacked with chaos flames, Lotte was hurt because I underestimated his lightning. In exchange for injuring the king, Lotte was taken out of fight. It was simple to see that we were at a disadvantage.

Thankfully, the Hermit King’s affinity with water didn’t seem as high as the Lava King’s affinity with fire, as he couldn’t recover his injuries through contact with water.

[I will show you why this Hermit King is so fearful!]

However, with these words, the Hermit King’s presence disappeared once again. In that instant, I realized his secret.

I became certain.

I could defeat him!