When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 72



Only Noblemtl

◈72. Ingenious Fish Hunt

I continued to give advice to my party based on my experience clearing dungeons for many years.

“Everyone, hold on tight to your weapons. And stay calm and wait so that you won’t be surprised by whatever comes out. Those are the two things we can do right now.”

Even if it’s such basic advice, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Because the way to deal with monsters that appear in a dungeon completely changes.

For now, not knowing what would pop out of here, all I could do was hold onto my weapon and wait.

So everyone followed my advice and waited for about 10 seconds.

[The monsters “Fishmen” have detected your presence!]

As the message was delivered, something began to swarm around us.

It was fast. And it was hard to judge its shape. It was approaching by swimming under the water that was up to its knees.

One of the fish-men, who had been approaching so quickly like a school of piranhas smelling blood, leaped up to the surface.

-Kyaak!!

The fish-man that rose to the surface of the water looked more like a fish with limbs than a human.

His whole body was covered with fish scales, and he held a spear in each hand.

Kagang!

I blocked the spear thrust at me with the iron hammer I had been holding.

Then, he swung his hammer with the strength greatly enhanced by the ‘Blasphemy!’ skill.

Towards the fish-man that attacked me and then quickly hid under the water.

slam!!

The noise of the hammer hitting the surface echoed loudly.

but-

‘… … I didn’t feel the impact. I missed it.’

The blow that was struck with all the power of the skill only caused a surge of water in vain.

Before I could even contemplate the feeling of emptiness, another fish-man soon stabbed me with a spear.

-Kekek!

“… … !”

I quickly dodged the spear tip.

Then he swung his hammer at the fish-men who were fleeing underwater again―

‘Damn, again… …!’

This time too, I ended up hitting only the hard surface.

The reason was that their shadows kept appearing distorted due to the water.

If you hit the water as it appears, they will avoid it and run away.

“Eww!!”

Meanwhile, lower-ranked knights were falling victim to the attacks one by one.

Luciana, who was watching the scene, said.

“I think I need to activate my domain skill. The tranquil primordial forest.”

“A quiet primordial forest… …?”

I already checked Luciana’s information window a long time ago, so I knew what skill it was.

Surely, if you use that skill, the fish will not be able to escape under the water.

Because the entire forest will be summoned here, filled with water.

however-

“No, that won’t do.”

I shook my head firmly.

That was why the huge weakness of that skill came to mind.

“You said no? But if we keep doing this—”

As Luciana continued speaking, the fishman stabbed her with his spear again.

She quickly countered the fish-man that jumped out while avoiding the spear.

“Keeek!” Only after the fish-man screamed and ran away did Luciana pick up the broken tail.

“If we continue like this, there will be great sacrifices. It looks like the monsters only become faster in water, so in order to slow their movements, we need to activate area skills to evaporate or freeze the water.”

“Well, would they really become dull if the water were gone?”

“……yes?”

“Look more closely at the legs attached to those torsos.”

After hearing my words, Luciana looked at the fish people again.

The legs of the fish-man race, which are very similar to those of humans.

Judging by the structure and amount of muscle in the leg, it was probably not for decoration.

“The area skill you have consumes an enormous amount of divine power. But what if you activate it to eliminate the water and their speed doesn’t decrease at all?”

“ah.”

“I don’t know what will come out from the second floor, so save as much divine power as possible.”

Elodie, who had been listening to our conversation from the side, joined in.

“Or how about flying up first and thinking about it? Monsters won’t be able to jump that high into the air.”

“That won’t work either. We couldn’t bring the mounts into the dungeon. Those with flight skills or items can fly, but the few who can’t must stay on the ground. It’s already overwhelming, but if only a few people are left, they’ll fall victim to the schools of fish even faster.”

“Then is there any other way?”

Judging by the way he furrowed his brows, it seemed as if he was asking if there was some other better way to do it, which was worth continuing to oppose.

Of course, no suitable strategy had come to mind yet.

But when I calmed down and thought about it, something vaguely seemed to come to mind.

“Luciana, can you use the skill ‘Persistent Thorns’ now?”

“Yes, you can use it… but it won’t be of much help right now, right? It’s a skill that summons thorns to capture specific targets. Even if you capture one or two with that, there are just too many of them—”

“How about using it in a different way?”

I whispered to Luciana what I had in mind.

As I continued speaking, a look of surprise gradually appeared on her face.

Luciana, who heard the whole plan―

“It probably would work. No, it would definitely work!”

He expressed his delight.

Without further hesitation, she activated the skill, “Persistent Thorns (S)” as I said.

Knock knock knock… Knock knock knock… … .

As soon as the skill was activated, the sound of something wooden growing could be heard from the floor.

And not long after that―

Thud!

As the name of the skill suggests, ‘thorn vines’ sprouted out through the ground.

Luciana has only used those tough thorns to capture a couple of enemies so far.

But now that she had heard the new skill I had suggested, she was stretching out its strands, overlapping them like a tangled web.

-Kegegege!?

The monsters flared their gills in confusion at the sight of thorny vines tangled in the air.

Meanwhile, the tangled strands of thorny vines formed a giant net that covered the monsters’ heads.

-Kekek!!

-Kyaaaaak!!

-Keeeek!!

The monsters were flailing about like a school of fish caught in a net.

But the more I struggled, the more I became entangled in the thorny net.

Is this the state of mind of fishermen who catch fish from their nets? It was quite a satisfying sight.

“Ah, from here on out, Elodie and I can handle it. The waiting time has almost run out, so we can use the soul bonding skill again.”

Dionyx, who was flying nearby, said this and activated the skill “Soul Combination (S)” together with Elodie.

The dream demons that returned to human form when the skill duration expired were reunited with the beasts again.

They spread their four wings simultaneously and flew up from that state.

Then he shouted to those below.

【【Avoid it if you know how!】】

When they heard that shout, the group all retreated.

The only thing that can’t be avoided are the fish caught in the net.

The combined demons then activated ‘that skill’ that I was familiar with.

Thud thud thud!!

Concentrated magical powers poured down from the air towards the school of fish.

Each and every one of them is sharpened like a needle, and has the penetrating power of a bullet… … .

The skill that the dreamers just used, “Pouring Punishment (S)”, was a skill that caused the magical powers to pour down like heavy rain.

Thanks to this, the fish placed within the skill’s area were literally flattened.

‘I know this isn’t the right sentiment for a time like this, but… it’s cool. It was a pain in the ass when I dealt with it myself.’

I suddenly remembered the past when I had a hard time protecting my head with the Nerebloka shield to block that skill.

In front of the magnificent sight of bloody magic pouring down, I was able to briefly immerse myself in memories of that time.

* * *

A garden filled with the fragrance of all kinds of flowers.

A tea party for the nobles was taking place under the warm sunlight.

The host of the party was Count Netelon van Kart, who was always the center of attention.

A man who is loved for his handsome appearance, smooth speech, and witty behavior… … .

Because of this, people did not notice that he was a completely different species of human from themselves.

‘The Pope has cleared the first floor of the dungeon.’

The four returnees who first came to this land representing those who were erased. One of them is Netelon.

He was enjoying a tea party while disguised as ‘Count Kart’ for the mission, and soon he looked in the direction of the dungeon.

“Hmm… … .”

Since he was the one who created the dungeon by sowing the Elcapist seeds, he could clearly sense the energy of Nickelus that entered the dungeon.

So even though Nickelus could tell that fact right away when he first entered the dungeon, he wasn’t that surprised.

It was also he who planned to kidnap Argelio in order to lure Nickelus into the dungeon.

What surprised him was something else.

‘It’s faster than I thought… … ?’

I thought it would take a little longer to get through the first floor, but my expectations were wrong.

In the end, Netelon had no choice but to admit it.

That he had greatly underestimated the power of Nickelus, the last apostle of the god.

Even when I used that stupid Duke of Freeburn to release the Elcapist seeds into the banquet hall, Nickelus handled the situation well… I thought it was just a coincidence.

It was believed that the Duke of Freeburn had made a mistake that prevented the Elcapist from sprouting properly.

So, in a fit of anger, I used my skill to secretly assassinate the Duke… … .

‘I guess it wasn’t luck.’

Nickelus has skills.

Netelon decided to just admit it.

‘I wanted to relax a bit before meeting him in person… … . Does that matter? Even if you have some skill, you won’t be able to easily get through the second floor anyway.’

Even if it wasn’t the first floor, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with what was prepared on the second floor.

Because what was there wasn’t just a simple monster.

“Netelon, what are you thinking about?”

While he was lost in his thoughts about Nickelus, the lady who was enjoying a tea party with him asked him this with a captivating smile.

Netelon answered, putting down the teacup he was holding in a neat and orderly manner.

“I was thinking about a school of salmon swimming against the current. I thought it would be quite difficult… … .”

“That’s an interesting thing to say. How bizarre.”

Hahaha, a cheerful laughter erupted from the tea party members.

It was a peaceful time, with nothing out of the ordinary appearing.

* * *

When the fish were sufficiently crushed by the pouring punishment, the dreamers unlocked their skills.

【【I think I caught everything. But the water is red. I feel uneasy about going down.】】

“If you wait a little bit, the monster corpse and blood will disappear on their own.”

I said so and motioned for them to come down.

This isn’t just a saying, in reality, if you kill a monster on each floor of the dungeon, its corpse will disappear on its own.

Even the blood turns into ashes without a trace.

Let’s wait a little as I said. The fish’s charred carcasses disappeared, and the red blood they had spilled into the water also disappeared cleanly.

After that, I looked back at the group and asked.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is safe.”

Luciana quickly looked over the articles and answered me like this.

I nodded toward her.

‘Thank goodness. This time, I quickly came up with a strategy.’

Elixir production was also halted due to a shortage of materials, so it could not be brought in.

It would have been difficult if there were many casualties, but it was really fortunate.

However, it seemed that everyone’s anxiety was not completely eliminated.

One of the knights asked with a somewhat anxious tone.

“Will the monster appear again?”

“no.”

I shook my head and continued.

“If several monsters come out at once like this from the beginning, no other monsters will come out later. The entrance to the second floor will probably appear soon.”

Luciana looked at me curiously after hearing my explanation.

“How do you know so much?”

“… … .”

“It’s just like you’ve been to the dungeon many times… … .”

“… … Oh, the second floor entrance has been created. Just go in there. But before that―”

I quietly pointed, pretending not to hear Luciana’s question.

A treasure chest appeared in the middle of the first floor at some point.

“Should I open that?”