Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 108

Chapter 108: The Seraphim’s Struggle

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Heaves, no. Heko. I followed behind the Seraphim piloted by Heko as we advanced through the dungeon. Previously, Seraphim had only been able to move by walking, but this time it could run using wheels.

Wheels extended from the soles of Seraphim’s feet, letting it close the distance in a burst of speed, retreat rapidly to open the gap, or drift around to an enemy’s back. When traveling long distances steadily, it adopted a semi-crouched stance like one would when skiing, and an additional wheel-mounted support bar extended from the backpack.

Now that it was officially made for two riders, the torso cockpit had been expanded all the way into the backpack area. They must have calculated the average width of dungeon corridors to arrive at this size. Its height and width hadn’t changed, but it was now a bit more short and stocky.

It also had additional armaments. Along with the close-combat heat knife and stake gatling gun it already had, turrets were now mounted on its shoulders and backpack, and there was a gun barrel hidden inside the armor of its left arm. Maybe because it had gotten heavier, its loadout had been shifted away from melee combat toward defense and ranged battle.

The turrets seemed intended for dealing with enemies that circled to the sides or rear. Well, it was obvious that, rather than making a robot engage in delicate hand-to-hand combat, it was better to focus entirely on attacks that took advantage of its mass or on mechanical assaults using firearms.

Conventional firearms from before the dungeons appeared were almost useless. The reason wasn’t just physical force but the new element that had emerged on Earth—magic power.

To imbue a manufactured product with magic power, its maker had to be an awakened individual capable of wielding magic power.

As a result, mass-produced factory weapons were not very effective against either dungeon monsters or awakened individuals. The Seraphim, made by Heko—a production-type awakened—was one of a kind. Some parts were ordered from factories, but she explained that she overcame the problem by personally handling the final assembly stage.

“After all, the Seraphim’s problem is its ability to keep fighting. Now that I’m the pilot, I can replenish the magic power of Seraphim by consuming food, but stillL Carrying ammunition and maintenance supplies for Seraphim is putting a big burden on my item box.”

“I see.”

Among awakened individuals, Heko’s item box capacity was probably among the larger ones. She could easily pass the item box capacity tests the ‘police’ had used on me before. Even so, she couldn’t keep fighting endlessly in the Seraphim. Not just because ammo would run out, but even more so because…

“The cost of ammunition is ridiculous.” 

Claire said.

“Seraphim can’t be used for magic stone mining. It’s just not profitable.”

“Ugh… Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t have it made for that purpose in the first place, and we’re making plenty by applying the technology developed for it in other ways, right?”

“Yes.”

Consoled by Claire, Heko looked pleased.

At some point, I had climbed onto the backpack to ride along them. It seemed designed to carry a person for rescue purposes if needed. Even if Seraphim entered travel mode, the passenger would be safe as long as the passenger held onto the safety bar. Of course, if it made a sudden sharp turn in the middle of a fight, I’d be thrown off, but as an emergency cargo carrier, it was perfectly stable.

This dungeon was entirely made up of waterways and the paths running alongside them. The paths were wide enough for the Seraphim to move comfortably. However, monsters attacked from the waterways. 

It started with slimes crawling up from the water’s surface, followed by Jumping Darts that suddenly leapt up to strike. As its name suggested, this monster impaled themselves into their targets.  Then, there was Archer Fish that shot 【Water Bullets】from the surface, and Angler Sahagin, a subspecies of sahagin, one of the standard humanoid aquatic creatures.

There were also Angler Mermaids, a subspecies of the classic mermaid, and even White Crocodiles, that looked like monsters from urban legend. Against monsters that came up onto the path, the Seraphim was overwhelmingly strong, but it struggled against types that attacked from the water’s surface at range.

It seemed hard to align the stake gatling gun, its strongest weapon, with targets because the water surface was lower than the path, making the angle difficult. That said, by the time we passed the fortieth floor, the bullets from the turrets and the left arm vulcan gun were already becoming ineffective.

“Seraphim is not effective as the frontline unit anymore.”

Claire muttered.

“The ammunition won’t last. If we want to save some for emergencies, it’s time to switch.”

“Ugh… That’s disappointing. I should be able to go further.”

“Well, it’s just a compatibility issue.”

“We really should develop guided rounds with better flexibility and reliability.”

“If you’re getting too deep into it, that would make me the one in the way, you know? I will become obsolete.”

“You’re not supposed to say that. I want to dive into the dungeon with you, Claire.”

“…Thanks.”

I could only hear her voice, but… Was Claire embarrassed? As the daughter of a tycoon who had never known freedom, perhaps working alongside Heko was her only taste of it.

“Then, shall I take the front from here?”

“-! Yes, please.”

“Claire, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all!”

She was definitely just covering her embarrassment. Listening to Claire’s slightly raised voice, I climbed down from the Seraphim and stepped forward. I didn’t actually need to, but for their sake, I made it look as though I was using a support skill.

All right, time to get to work.

“Jiro-san, what about your weapon?”

“I don’t need one.”

My fists were enough. If the enemy came close, I just had to punch it. If it attacked from the water, I would simply punch toward it. As long as I returned before sinking, there was no need to get wet. 

The enemies here couldn’t injure me anyway, and even if they did, my automatic recovery skill, 【Regeneration】, would heal me instantly. There was no need to study their attack. I could just keep pummeling as we moved through the dungeon.

“S-Ranks are ridiculous.” 

Claire muttered.

“No, this is just Jiro-san being amazing. Ah, Dungeon Oji-saaaan.”

The auto-translation device we were using this time also had a communication function, so I could hear the two of them talking even from a distance.

Was this really that incredulous? No, I remembered that with my support, both Tougo Shimazu and Piroane had moved like this too. Hmm. Maybe there were still too many people who didn’t understand the value of support skills.

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