Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

And like that, the two of them took their time creating items and preparing skills that were slow to activate . And when they were ready, they opened the door and stepped inside .

It was a large room, and the ground was all sand that it looked like a desert . And in the far back of the room, was a throne made of rock and sand . And there was the king . He had a larger spear than any of the soldiers and wore golden armor under a red cape .

In spite of them being invisible, the spear tapped the ground the moment that they walked in . And then soldiers started to rise out of the sand .

“If they are soldiers...we are the castle . ‘Install – One Night Castle’!”

Just as Marx activated the skill, large walls rose up and surrounded them, forming a fortress .

Marx activated even more skills, and just like when he defended them against the devil monsters, vine and rocks created a barricade . In the meantime, Izu started setting up cannons in Marx’s fortress .

“We usually don’t need it because of Maple’s Machine God . But I can use it now!”

“And we have soldiers too . ‘Remote Install – Water Army,’ ‘Remote Install – Flower Cavalry . ’”

As they were still just traps, they activated when the monsters got close . They were one time use and the effect didn’t last long . However, since they were against sand soldiers, they were useful in erasing the advantage of numbers .

“I’m good at defending... You take care of the boss . ”

“Alright . A gift of cannonballs!”

Izu used Fay to strengthen the balls and the cannons . And then cast ‘Recycle’ on the balls . Because of this, they would be able to reach the back of the room easily, and be able to denote multiple times . A very rare type of cannonball indeed .

“All cannons, fire!”

The numerous cannons that lined the fortress fired at once . They flew with precision towards the throne, covering it with explosive flames .

“Woah... A-are you really a crafter?”

“Uh, yeah? I can do a little attacking now, that’s all . ”

“A little...?”

“This is no time for talking . It’s still quite alive . ”

“...Well, it is a boss . But...”

“Yes, I prepared for that . ”

Izu took out more cannons and bombs from her inventory, while Marx continued to remotely set up traps in order to keep the soldiers away . The bombs knocked them down and pushed the battle line back, increasing the area that Marx filled with traps .

“Alright... Let’s keep moving closer . ”

“Yes, I’m ready . ”

“‘Change . ’”

While the cool down time was long, it was a skill that changed the position of two traps . The reason that the cool down time was so long, was because this was more than just a useful skill .

The trap that had pushed through the soldiers and stopped in front of the king . It was obvious which trap it would be traded with .

“Oh, you’re an easy target when you’re this close . ”

Yes, they had traded places with ‘One Night Castle . ’ And just like that, the cannons were all directed at the king, and a huge load of bombs rolled down towards the throne .

The immense amount of traps and the fortress itself now blocked all of the summoned sand soldiers behind them . And so they just unloaded their inventory of bombs over the king as if they meant to empty it completely .

“I should at least be able to bind him...”

Their base had incredible defenses and was now right in front of it . This was bad for commander-type bosses . Marx then bound all four of his limbs, but it still thrust its spear out . However, he was then covered by so many bombs that the explosion reached the ceiling . And with that, he turned into sand and disappeared .

“That wasn’t as hard as I expected?”

“Really... Maple Tree is weird . Ah, the medal . ”

“Hey, I got one too . In that case, I can spend the second day just trying to reunite with the others and building the base . ”

“Oh, right . I have to meet the others...”

It was then that they were surrounded by light and sent back to the field they were in . Of course, this meant that they would be surrounded by monsters again . Or so they thought . But the monsters weren’t there . Instead, they saw Mi holding balls of fire, and Misery, who focused on healing her . Also, there was Chrome, who had likely been surrounded by the monsters a moment ago .

“Oh, you really are here, Izu . You seem to be okay . ”

“You were fine too, Marx . What a relief . ”

“Uh, yeah... A lot happened, but we were fine in the end . I guess?”

“And you also seem to have won a medal...?”

“I got the notice too . Does that mean you two did it together?”

“We made a surprisingly good team . ”

“Yes...we did . ”

It was a pleasant surprise . And they smiled at the fact that they had acquired the medals . The three had been waiting here for Marx after the Mark Tag had suddenly stopped detecting him in this area .

“I’m glad I was able to find Chrome . Now we can go to Maple . ”

It was here that Chrome explained why he was there to Izu . And so Izu decided to go with them . There was no harm in being with a lot of people .

“I feel bad for getting a free ride . So you can have some potions . I’m sure Mi knows how special they are . ”

“Yes, thank you . We’ll take you to Maple as soon as we find Shin . I don’t mind . ”

“Thank you . It will be a great help . ”

“...Hey . Sorry to have to tell you now...but what looked like Shin’s tag has just disappeared . ”

“What? I didn’t think he would die so easily...”

Mi knew how strong he was and couldn’t help but be suspicious . But if he wasn’t dead, there was only one other explanation .

“Maybe...he entered a dungeon?”

It was something that Marx had just experienced himself . And it turned out that his guess was right .