The Boy Who Fell to the Lowest Level of the Dungeon, Becoming the Strongest and Returns to the Surface After 10 Years~He Just Wants to Live a Quiet Life, but His Childhood Friends Who Have Risen to Prominence Won’t Leave Him Alone~ - Chapter 28: Someone Who Is Outside the Bounds of Human Reason

“I came because it was noisy.”

Having defeated Gorea, Tina and her companions are finally heading to Scar’s main camp.

A person appeared before them, looking down from the sky.

“Who dares to stand in my way?”

“””…Ah!”””

With that cold tone of voice, Celia and the others intuitively understood.

(“””He’s not an ordinary person…!”””)

They feel that way as they achieve accomplishments in various parts of the royal capital.

The person’s aura must be quite something.

And among them, Jura was the only one who knows the person’s true identity as she speaks while sweating profusely.

“Could it be… Schuma?!”

The figure floating upright in mid-air is an unprecedented shade of white.

Her long, pure white hair, the same color as her skin, spreads gently around her.

From her floating appearance and atmosphere, she seemed like a being outside the realm of human reason.

This is the boss of “Scar”──Schuma.

“Hmm. Do you know me?”

“Unfortunately, I’ve been invited before.”

Jura probably got the information at that time too.

“Hmm. But──”

“…Tch!”

“It has nothing to do with me.”

Schuma looked down at them with apparent disinterest as she lightly moved her hair.

In response, Jura suddenly raised her voice.

“Everyone! Dodge!”

“──Scatter.”

In the next moment, a beam of light is emitted from Schuma’s hair.

It captured the place where Jura and the others were and cracked the ground.

“You dodge it?”

From the dust cloud, Jura and the others appear.

It seems like the avoidance just barely made it in time.

However, when they turned around, they couldn’t help but shudder.

“””…Tch!”””

Due to a momentary beam of light, the building in the back had disappeared…

If they think about what would have happened if they had been right, it sends chills down their spine.

“W-What…!”

“What would it merge with to become like this…!”

To the flustered Celia and the others, the one who had collapsed answered.

“Heh, the boss’s fusion monster is the ‘White Dragon’!”

“””…!”””

The one who opened his mouth with a pained expression was Gorea.

He’s not in a state to get up, but he’s somehow managing to move his mouth.

In contrast, Jura’s face was tense.

“The White Dragon, you say…!?”

The White Dragon is an S-rank monster residing in the Asterla Dungeon.

As the name suggests, it has a beautiful white appearance and possesses supernatural powers.

The ecology is unknown, but like in the legends, they seem to serve something and come and go deep within the dungeon.

The existence of the White Dragon is something even Jura has only heard of.

There shouldn’t be any records of the subjugation.

“Are you saying you fused that?!”

“Hahahaa!”

To the clearly anxious Jura, Gorea spoke while spitting up blood.

He must have been really upset about his defeat.

“Now that the boss is here, it’s all over for you guys!”

The limit should have been reached, but Gorea provokes the opponent until the very end.

That appearance was nothing short of miserable.

However, Gorea is not entirely wrong.

The S-rank, which stands apart from the A-rank and below, possesses a strength of an entirely different dimension.

However──

“Just regret it as much as you can!”

“Shut up.”

“Gah…!”

Such a Gorea is pierced by Schuma’s long hair.

The one who pierced through was the heart, and Schuma delivered the final blow.

“What!?”

“Aren’t you comrades?!”

Leone was surprised, but Schuma responded with complete calmness.

“He is just a pawn. Those who lose have no value.”

“””…Ugh!”””

This is why she is the boss of “Scar.”

She truly sees them as nothing more than pawns.

Celia and the others felt like they were facing the “purest of pure evil” for the first time.

However, there’s no turning back now.

“If you still seek revenge against the royal capital──”

“I’ll just take you down here!”

Celia and Leone turn straight around.

Jura, followed closely by Tina in the back, also followed.

“Because this big sister also likes the royal capital.”

“I will support you with all my might!”

They intend to defeat Schuma here.

Knights, academy, explorers.

If each of their top leaders gathers and considers their strong bonds, these four can be said to be the elite few at the pinnacle of the royal capital.

The battle between those four and Schuma is initiated by Tina.

“Power to everyone!”

She takes out the special weapon “Fairy Papillon” and enhances it.

In response to that, Celia and the other two scattered in different directions.

“Yaaaaaaah!”

“Hmm.”

The one who immediately launched a close-range attack was Leone.

With the dual swords “Griffon” that manipulate the wind in both hands, she is the only one on the girls’ side attempting to approach from the air.

It’s a preemptive strike that utilizes mobility and quick thinking.

However──

“Light.”

“Guh…!?”

Schuma’s means of attack is all of her long, flowing hair…

Each one becomes a highly lethal weapon, trying to pierce Leone.

No matter how she looked at it, Leone was at a disadvantage.

Celia was the next one to take care of that.

“Then I will freeze it.”

She sheathed the sword, which she didn’t even remember drawing, with a sharp click.

She drew the sword and unleashed the sword technique.

She performed a series of actions in an instant.

Then, a lot of ice spikes flew from Celia.

The target is Schuma’s hair.

“Weak.”

“What!”

However, it doesn’t reach Schuma.

While lightly deflecting Leone’s melee attacks, she shot down the ice thorns with another beam of hair.

While easily handling the two who are famous even in the royal capital, Schuma still maintains a cool demeanor.

Even so, Celia smirked.

“The main choice is not me, after all.”

“…!”

In the next moment, a flash of flame runs right beside Leone, who has distanced herself slightly from Schuma.

Their main attraction──Jura’s dual pistols.

“Don’t underestimate my skills, okay?”

With a loud bang, the fireball hit its target perfectly.

It seems that Schuma couldn’t see because Leone passed so close to her side.

This is also thanks to Jura’s sniping skills and the bond between the four of them, which allows for such coordination.

“Yoo.”

Leone descends on the ice path created by Celia.

The four immediately turned their eyes to Schuma.

“I really tightened the screws… but, I wonder how it will turn out.”

Earlier, she fired a massive fireball at Gorea.

It seems that something with equivalent power has now increased its penetration by narrowing its range.

Including Tina’s enhancements, the firepower is the strongest it has ever been.

However, a voice soon emerged from the smoke.

“Don’t let me down.”

“””…!”””

Schuma brushed away the smoke with a whoosh of her hair, and even in her expressionless face, a hint of sadness emerged.

“Is this the best you all have? Is this what the capital city is like, so insignificant?”

“…Ugh!”

“Should I take it into my hands? You’re starting to hesitate.”

The reason Schuma allowed the attacks to go this far was to understand the strength of their top forces.

It seems that she wanted to personally verify the power of the capital she was about to acquire.

However, the interest in them faded within Schuma.

“Don’t disappoint me too much.”

“Everyone, get ready…!”

Schuma’s hair shone with a golden light, and the four of them braced themselves.

However, in front of Schuma, they were far too trivial.

“I am not free either.”

“””…!!”””

The beams of light, as numerous as the strands of hair, attack them all at once.

Each one has the power to burn the flesh, and just touching it would likely tear the body apart.

It’s not just a minor commotion.

“Tina-chan, are you okay!?”

“Yes! Jura-san, please think only of yourself!”

“I know!”

Each of them cares for the other, but they can’t offer any help.

Everyone is doing their best to dodge.

“Isn’t it sticking?”

“””…Ugh!”””

And then, when the attack stopped for a moment, they held their breath.

In just a matter of seconds, the buildings in the area exposed to the beam had completely vanished.

Overwhelmed by that immense power, Tina couldn’t help but speak out.

“If only my big brother were here…”

However, Schuma answered that.

“That person will not come.”

“Huh?”

“My strategist set it up. You should discard any futile hopes.”

“Th-that kind of thing, there’s no way I’d fall for it──”

Tina tries to resist, but she inadvertently retracts her words.

Including those around them, they couldn’t help but think so.

(“””No, he didn’t seem like someone to be easy to get caught…”””)

It’s an utterly thoughtless act about Elta.

They are quite vulnerable to methods like scams and deception.

“Ugh…”

Then, the girls turn around once more.

They thought that they really had no choice but to solve it themselves.

However, Schuma has already lost interest and would never allow that.

“Let’s end it.”

“””…Ugh!””

The white hair that was floating in the air stood up even more, fluffing out.

It seems that white light is gathering from around, accumulating energy.

This time, feeling a life-threatening crisis, Jura instinctively raised her voice.

“This is bad! Everyone retreat!”

“I’m not gonna let that happen.”

To the girls who were trying to turn their backs, Schuma shot two beams of light.

Then, a wall of light forms, blocking their left and right sides.

“””…!”””

Of course, if they touch the light beam, their body will be severed.

Forbidden to move left or right, Schuma is gathering an enormous amount of energy.

As if a dragon were breathing fire.

“This is…”

“We have no choice but to join forces.”

In a situation of despair, they readied their weapons.

Since there was no way to escape, they fortified their defenses.

S-rank monsters and A-rank monsters’ magical armor.

They understand the performance difference.

Still, there was no other option but to do so.

──Unless someone helps.

“It’s over.”

Even with weapons in front of them, they involuntarily close their eyes.

For the first time in their life, they fell into a fear so despairing.

In such a situation, they are still very much the girls their age.

“””…Ugh!”””

They wished for the same thing as nature.

They had just resolved not to rely on him too much, but when the time came, they ended up depending on that boy after all.

(El-kun…!)

(Elta…!)

(El…!)

(Big brother…!)

“Sleep.”

The massive energy of Schuma is unleashed.

It approaches them while gouging the ground that is not grounded.

The energy that would mean instant death upon contact──didn’t hit.

“””…Huh!?”””

The massive wind pressure from behind canceled it out.

At the same time, they hear a voice coming from the same direction.

“That was close!”

“””~~~Ah!”””

What they heard was a voice lacking in enthusiasm.

However, a voice that reassures them more than anything else.

“Everyone, I’m sorry for being late!”

The one who appeared was the person they wished for in their heart.

The boy──was Elta.

“Big brother!”

“El-kun!”

“Really, seriously…”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Elta puts his hands together and says, “I’m sorry.”

“I overslept a bit.”

Elta had been drugged with sleeping pills by Callum.

Indeed, even A-rank monsters sleep for half a month. It’s a dark chemical developed by “Scar.”

However, Elta got up.

Such a boy made Schuma’s eyes widen slightly.

“…I see, it’s you.”

In contrast, Elta glances up at Schuma.

“Could you let everyone go?”

It’s just like when he returns to the ground.

As if recalling the time he helped Tina.

The eyes that peeked out were not the least bit intimidated by Schuma.

“They’re my precious people.”

───────────────────────

Afterword

Finally, Elta-kun has come before the heroines who were being cornered!

You made them anxious. ( “ºДº”)ﾉ

The subtitle “Someone Who Is Outside the Bounds of Human Reason” might actually refer more to Elta-kun than Schuma…?