Chapter 404: Dungeon Finished, Joyful Material Harvesting
After Asagiri obtained the new Persona, a notification sound rang out from the Eye Icon APP on his phone, as well as the phones of Yuuki Asuna and the others.
[Completed one of the core hidden main storylines of "Game": "The True Meaning of Death". Exclusive hidden rewards will be obtained after clearing the Dungeon.]
"The hidden quest is completed..."
Yuuki Asuna let out a sigh of relief.
The moment she relaxed, her legs could not help trembling slightly, and an uncontrollable look of fatigue appeared on her face.
The process of this Dungeon had been too long.
Apart from that one night in the dense forest area, there had been almost no time to rest.
In the snowfield and lava areas, even if they did not encounter monsters, the overly harsh extreme environments would slowly wear down the Players' stamina and mental power.
When they entered the Pure White Palace to support Asagiri, they had already depleted a considerable amount of stamina and mental energy, and they were not in peak condition at all.
Alatreon, Fatalis, and the Black Dragon.
These three forbidden level Elder Dragons were not easy to deal with, and each possessed ultimate moves that could not be dodged and covered the entire field.
If not for Kaguya Shinomiya and Asagiri acting as the main tanks to block in front, plus the Black Particles barrier that Iwanaga Kotoko had condensed by consuming a large amount of mental power, when those three monsters unleashed their killing moves, magic type Players like Fujiwara Chika, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Yamauchi Sakura, whose defenses were not outstanding, would have been instantly killed.
Moreover, besides those three monsters, there had also been a Blackwatch Commander present.
He had been possessed and controlled by a Nyx Incarnation, had a very high degree of Blacklight Virus infection, possessed terrifying physical fitness and self healing abilities, and could even release mental pressure that forced them to face death directly.
At that time, if Ruiner Nergigante had not been attracted by the power fluctuations emitted from the battle and directly intruded to attack the Black Dragon, the outcome would have been hard to say.
After all, although Asagiri still had two trump cards, Sacrifice and Mark of the Pointer, unused, he had already used the Supreme Magic Bullet once. Combined with the act of summoning three Personas simultaneously while fighting and breaking through his limits, his stamina and mental power had already been pushed to the edge.
Even if his physical injuries were healed, it was hard to say how much combat power he could still exert.
"Evacuation point..."
Iwanaga Kotoko scanned the surroundings and saw that the location of the previous pure white throne had now turned into a white pillar of light.
She walked over slowly and tentatively touched the pure white pillar of light with her hand.
A prompt immediately popped up in the Eye Icon APP.
[Evacuation will take place in five seconds.]
"Evacuation can be completed without mobile phone confirmation... Well, that makes sense."
Iwanaga Kotoko realized that completing the evacuation from this Dungeon did not require clicking confirm in the Eye Icon APP.
The prompt that popped up on the phone was merely a notification.
Whether the other four evacuation points were like this was hard to say, but setting the central evacuation point this way was quite reasonable.
After all, facing three forbidden level monsters plus the Blackwatch Commander possessed by a Nyx Incarnation, it was truly impossible to keep a mobile phone intact during the battle.
"Evacuation can be completed from here."
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's words, Asagiri first nodded.
But immediately afterward, he looked toward the corpses of Alatreon and Fatalis, his eyes revealing an inexplicable excitement and anticipation.
Noticing his expression, Yuuki Asuna, who was standing nearby, could not help feeling a chill as she spoke with a look of disgust.
"We're about to clear the Dungeon. Surely you don't still want to eat, right?"
"Eat?"
Fujiwara Chika, upon hearing this, showed a cute and dazed expression as she looked curiously at Asagiri.
"You eat things?"
"Well, if I don't eat, who's going to replenish the nutrients I'm lacking?"
Asagiri first replied confidently.
Then he gripped the Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance in his hand and looked at the corpses of Alatreon and Fatalis, his voice filled with joy that arose spontaneously, like a hunter facing a harvest.
"After the subjugation is complete, of course it's time to carve materials."
"Carve hard!"
...
Twenty minutes later, Yuuki Asuna looked at the huge heart in her hand that was still beating incessantly, her expression slightly complicated.
"It can actually be carved..."
[Fatalis's Undying Heart (Gray Quality, Unidentifiable): The Undying Heart from within Fatalis. Even if Fatalis's life has passed, this heart will beat forever. Perhaps the near immortal life and power of Fatalis stem from this. Carrying this item to clear the Dungeon will grant the special item "Condensation of the Undying Heart". Consuming it will significantly improve physical fitness, cure all illnesses and defects within the body, and one can also choose to obtain the extraordinary power to control lava.]
[Note: This material cannot be placed into the Player's inventory.]
"Of course. Otherwise, wouldn't the subjugation have been for nothing?"
Asagiri cut a reverse scale shimmering with a strange light from beneath Alatreon's neck.
After holding it in his hand, he also saw a prompt pop up in the Eye Icon APP.
[Alatreon's Primal Reverse Scale (Gray Quality, Unidentifiable): A reverse scale condensed with the primal power of Alatreon. Carrying this item to clear the Dungeon will grant "Source of Alatreon's Power". Consuming it will significantly improve physical fitness, significantly increase resistance to elemental attacks, and it can also be fused with equipment.]
[Note: This material cannot be placed into the Player's inventory.]
Unlike in the Monster Hunter game, most of the materials cut from the bodies of Alatreon and Fatalis were not deemed valuable by the system.
Only these two items, the Primal Reverse Scale and the Undying Heart, were certified materials.
"So, there is actually a step for carving materials after subjugating monsters..."
Iwanaga Kotoko looked at the remains of the two monsters, a thoughtful look appearing in her deep purple eyes.
"Not being able to put them in the inventory means they must be carried at all times before clearing the Dungeon, which will affect movement."
"Furthermore, if different Player squads join forces to subjugate them, there might be conflicts over distribution rights."
"Hmm... It seems subjugating monsters in the peripheral areas to collect materials, then reaching the evacuation point to clear the Dungeon, is the normal route for this Dungeon."
Kato Megumi asked in a soft tone upon hearing this.
"Then, should we stay for a while longer and collect more materials before clearing?"
"No need."
Asagiri shook his head and spoke indifferently.
"The three strongest monsters on this island have already been subjugated by us. Perhaps there are existences on the same level as Fatalis, the Black Dragon, and Alatreon, but don't forget, this is ultimately a world under Blackwatch's control."
"Although some members within Blackwatch have begun to feel suspicious, as a whole, it is still under Nyx's control."
"What if it brings troops to attack again?"
"Besides, there are other Players on the island. The risk is too high, the returns are uncertain, and we are all exhausted."
"Let's just clear it now."
"Hmm, alright. Then..."
Kato Megumi looked around, and finally cast her gaze toward Kaguya Shinomiya.
"Shinomiya, you go first."
Kaguya Shinomiya frowned slightly, shook her head, and spoke in a calm tone.
"I count as a warrior class. Let the fragile mage classes withdraw first."
"Still being stubborn?"
Asagiri did not coddle Kaguya Shinomiya at all and directly exposed her tsundere nature.
"Multiple fractures, internal organ damage, severe internal bleeding. You can barely stand right now, can't you?"
"You're on the verge of breathing your last, yet you still don't forget to save face and be stubborn. You really are something else."
"I can still hold on. Let them go first..."
"Alright, alright."
Before Kaguya Shinomiya could finish, Asagiri walked over, extended his right hand, gently stroked her left cheek, and smiled.
"In the time you spent gasping for air, you could have already withdrawn."
This sudden display of intimacy caused Kaguya Shinomiya's pretty face to flush.
Asagiri's action of stroking her left cheek with his right hand reminded her of the peace of mind she had felt when her mother lulled her to sleep during her childhood.
"Th-then, alright."
Kaguya Shinomiya responded in a low voice, blushing.
It was unclear whether she had truly listened to Asagiri's words, or if she was simply trying to hide her shyness.
Regardless, she walked over, reached out to touch the pillar of light, and after five seconds, her figure disappeared, completing the clearance.
...
[Congratulations, "Player" Utsunomiya Asagiri. You have cleared this Dungeon.]
[In this Dungeon, your special bonus actions were: killing one of the Nyx Incarnations, killing the forbidden level monster "Fatalis", killing the forbidden level monster "Black Dragon", killing the forbidden level monster "Alatreon", collecting Blackwatch member logs, and killing the monster "Furious Rajang".]
[Dungeon clearance rating: S+.]
"We're back..."
Upon returning to the real world, to the spacious living room in Iwanaga Kotoko's home, the injuries Kaguya Shinomiya, Yuuki Asuna, and the others had sustained in the Dungeon were healed.
The members of the two squads looked at each other, and the atmosphere became somewhat inexplicably complicated.
"Kaguya."
Yuuki Asuna looked toward Kaguya Shinomiya, revealing a slight smile, and spoke in a gentle tone.
"We'll just take Fatalis's Undying Heart. You can handle the distribution of Alatreon's reverse scale."
"No need."
Kaguya Shinomiya raised her hand to tuck her black hair behind her ear.
Her sitting posture was dignified and proper as she replied in an equally gentle tone.
"Although it appeared to be a joint subjugation, you were the ones who contributed the most effort. It should be left to you."
"How can that be? Without you, we wouldn't have been able to successfully subjugate them."
"Besides, you were the one who withstood the attacks of the three monsters together with Asagiri at that time, and you were so severely injured..."
"At the end of the day, you were the ones who obtained the clues for the hidden mission. The fact that we could complete the hidden mission together and gain bonus points is already an extra reward."
"But..."
"You two saints, can you please stop for a moment?"
Seeing Kaguya Shinomiya and Yuuki Asuna defer to each other, Asagiri leaned lazily on the sofa and spoke with a chuckle.
"There's no need to be so polite."
"It might look like two Player squads, but we are family with strong bonds. There's no need to argue over such a small matter."
.....
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