Danma: Danganronpa, but Monster Hunter!

"Ais is alright with my training, but as for you, forget about it." Flame carefully pulled the coffin bag closed.

"Huh? Why can Ais but I can't?" Tiona pouted.

"Because you just changed your routine, insect, stick."

This time, Blazing Flame rolled his eyes in reality, and drawled out each word as he complained:

"Although I don't know how well you've mastered the Insect Glaive, I don't want to get hit by a Kinsect with it."

The Insect Glaive is actually much more dangerous than weapons like the Greatsword, because it can hurt people not only with the Insect Glaive itself, but also with the Kinsects that can fly around, freely attack and collect essence for combat!

Other weapons, even the most dangerous light and heavy crossbows and bows, at least have some traceability, but the hunting insect is truly an unpredictable creature if you're not careful.

But if you're accidentally hit by a severing predator... it can really kill you.

"Uh..." Tiona immediately shrank back a little guiltily, secretly glancing in the direction to the side, clearly having been hit where it hurt by Flame's words.

Because of her past proficiency in using the Twin Blades, she had no problem controlling the Insect Glaive itself and some of its derivative Insect Techniques, including the Flying Round Slash, the Four-Hit Combo, the Dragon Slash, and the Iron Insect Silk Jump.

But as for manipulating the predator...

That would be a complete mystery; basically, it would be a matter of releasing something and then taking it back.

"Did I hit the nail on the head?" Flame looked down at him.

"Hehehe..." Tiona scratched her head shyly.

"Hey my foot!" Flame raised his hand, as if to strike hard, but Tiona immediately jumped out of bed and ran out like the wind, leaving only one sentence behind.

"I'll go find Ais first! We'll meet at the entrance later!"

"This girl..."

Reluctantly, Lieyan lowered his hand. After thinking it over carefully, he gave up the idea of ​​continuing to wear the fiery attire.

This is just for this one time... so let's just equip the Rock Dragon set properly.

Otherwise, what if you accidentally get killed by a slicing kinetic insect that flies in from nowhere by a newbie teammate...

He died with his eyes wide open in disbelief!

Chapter 69: The Twentieth Floor, the Ganesha Familia (Bonus Chapter for 1500 Followers!)

"Alright, let's go!!"

With a double-headed giant spear, about three meters long and with a straight, thick shaft, slung over her shoulder, Tiona waved her other arm and shouted excitedly. At this moment, Ais's gaze was drawn to the object on Tiona's waving arm.

The object, like a tiny arm shield, lay quietly on Tiona's arm. It was a mix of brown and green, and like a firefly, its light flickering with each breath.

That was undoubtedly a living creature.

To be precise, it should be described as a giant insect.

"Tiona, this is..."

Upon seeing an item she had never seen before, Ais, filled with curiosity, moved closer to Tiona, shoulder to shoulder, her golden eyes fixed on the tea beetle with great interest.

"This is a hunting insect that fights alongside the hunter along with this weapon; this one is a tea beetle."

Tiona gestured towards the double-headed giant spear slung over her shoulder, and with a slight flick of her arm, the enormous worm, which seemed to have an RGB breathing light strip inside its body, automatically detached from her hand, popped out a pair of pale blue wings, circled once in mid-air, and then landed back on Tiona's arm, returning to its original small, shield-like state.

"Oh oh oh!"

Ais's eyes sparkled, and she made a surprised sound like a little girl. But in the end, sixteen-year-old Ais was still a little girl.

The orc guarding the gate of the clan's territory kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, straining his body to pretend that nothing unusual had happened.

He was also an insider from Flamefire Village, but like Grace, he returned during the clan's expedition and joined the second army of the expedition.

Flame gave him an apologetic look, like a helpless old father watching over his two naughty daughters. The orc seemed to have imagined this scene as well, and for a moment he couldn't help but chuckle, but fortunately he managed to keep his expression straight.

"Alright, alright, stop showing off for now. Once we get to the dungeon, we can find a secluded spot and do whatever we want. For now, let's disguise ourselves a little."

Wearing a floor-length cloak that completely concealed his equipment, Flame set an example by his own actions.

"Yes, Flame is right, Ais, let's go!"

Tiona nodded vigorously, grabbed Ais's hand, and ran towards the chalk tower located in the center of the city.

Thanks to the adventurers' awe of the Loki Familia insignia prominently displayed on the Flame Cloak, and the living name cards of the blonde swordswoman and Tiona, who possessed the title of Great Severer, the three of them still entered the dungeon smoothly even though it was a crowded morning with adventurers flocking to it. During this time, no one even approached them in the slightest.

However, some people were curious about Tiona's new equipment, but before they could speak, they were glared at by their companions and scolded in a low voice, so they fell silent.

Leaving aside Tiona and Ais, even Flame now looked completely used to it.

After all, he placed the Loki Familia's emblem on his most conspicuous cloak precisely to prevent other adventurers from coming into contact with it.

While it might sound a bit inappropriate to say it like that, the Loki Familia's infamy is actually quite useful in some ways...

Upon entering the dungeon, Ais became slightly excited, as if something had been activated. Tiona smiled and pulled Ais's little hand, running towards the passage leading to a deeper part of the dungeon.

Since none of the three had their usual weapons, they decided to explore the twentieth floor of the dungeon as a precaution.

【The Great Tree Maze】.

"A tree-like maze reminiscent of tree bark, with irregular patches of glowing green moss on the ceiling and walls, creating the illusion of wandering into a secret forest... and overly enthusiastic monsters..."

Flame, somewhat helpless, leaned on his hunting horn and watched as Tiona and Ais swept away the small group of monsters that had so warmly welcomed them, as if cutting melons and vegetables. He sighed slightly.

The battle ended too quickly. He had just put down his backpack and raised his hunting horn, barely managing to collect two notes, when Tiona and Ais had already perfectly coordinated to take down all the monsters.

Before he could even react, the battle was over.

It's over! It's all over!

"Sure enough, a structure like this, one side bigger than the other, is a bit difficult to use." Tiona pouted, her heavy double-headed spear spinning rapidly in her hand like a windmill, whipping up a whistling wind.

In mid-air beside her, the tea-colored golden beetle fluttered its pale blue wings and hovered in the air.

In the battle just now, this Tea Gold Beetle displayed astonishing agility, like a fighter jet dogfighting in the air. After being released by Tiona, the Tea Gold Beetle began to attack on its own, and in just a moment, it used its sharp mandibles to dismember two dragonfly monsters the size of one-handed swords.

That's outrageous, but what's even more outrageous is Diona herself.

Swinging a hundreds-of-kilograms-weight insect wand around in one hand... Compared to the AI-evolved insect hunters, the performance of high-level adventurers is more terrifying.

"Me too... This sword is a bit difficult to use."

Ais, standing to the side, echoed, pursing her lips as she looked at the rapier in her hand, its sharpness fully revealed and radiating a faint glow after it was drawn from its sheath.

This was not the Despair Sword that she usually used, which possessed the property of being indestructible. Rather, it was a slender sword that Gubernius gave her as a substitute during the repair of the Despair Sword.

Although this substitute longsword is also of excellent performance, it is very different from Ais's usual Despair Sword in terms of attack range and weight, especially in terms of strength.

The sword is long and thin, and its strength isn't particularly high, making it even more extreme than the Sword of Despair. Not only must one constantly be careful about the angle of attack, but one must also try to use thrusting attacks as much as possible.

This feeling of being forced to use weapons cautiously made Ais feel extremely awkward, and she was hindered at every turn.

Simply put, it's very inconvenient to use.

But she understood that this was probably some kind of warning or advice from the forging god, telling her to use weapons carefully and to take better care of them.

To be honest, Ais really couldn't refute that point...

Lieyan wanted to complain, such as about the definition of "not working" and other things, but just as he was about to speak, footsteps sounded behind the three of them from the direction of the entrance to the upper level.

A group of adventurers emerged from the cave staircase from which the three had come.

They dragged huge cargo boxes, wore complete protective gear, and moved without a single flaw, demonstrating their exceptional strength.

The weapons worn by these people bore the emblem of an elephant's head.

The Ganesha Familia!

Chapter 70: Reap What You Sow.jpg

"It's a group from the Ganesha Familia..."

"Yes, they must be here for the monsters to be tamed at the Monster Festival."

Tiona and Ais exchanged a quiet conversation, then, seeing the massive black iron crates being towed by the adventurer group, they pulled Flame aside to make way.

Seeing this, the blue-haired female adventurer leading the Ganesha Familia nodded in acknowledgment. Without exchanging words, she led the group through the cleared passage towards the deeper part of the dungeon.

"Let's go too, and avoid the Ganesha Familia's group."

The two teams passed each other and went in different directions.

The three-person team advanced, and every monster they encountered along the way was pierced through the throat and slashed through the body by Ais, who charged out like lightning, leaving behind magic stones and dropped items. Seeing this, Tiona temporarily stopped attacking.

"Flame, you're not curious at all... I heard Ais say before that you have the ability to have precognitive dreams. Could it be that you've seen something like this through precognitive dreams before?"

Looking at Tiona, whose big eyes were blinking as she approached, and Ais, who seemed to have perked up her ears not far away because she had heard something interesting, Flame thought about it carefully.

To be honest, he didn't really have much of an impression of this monster festival.

One issue is that memories become blurred due to the passage of time.

On the other hand, it seems that the most noteworthy plot points in this Monster Festival are all on the Hestia Familia's side. On the Loki Familia's side, it seems that Loki and Ais just happened to pass by and were conscripted to help the Ganesha Familia and the guild clear out the escaped monsters.

Hmm, it's a plot that doesn't really concern me.

"I've never seen such a scene in my precognitive dreams; I just think that things that don't concern me don't need to be investigated too deeply."

Lieyan smiled faintly, his smile serene and holy, like a monk who had seen through everything in the world.

After experiencing two things—wanting to slack off only to have the Hundred Dragons Night Parade happen, and wanting to rest only to have the expedition team return early, causing him to return to Flamefire Village ahead of schedule—Flamefire had seen through the nature of this world: the more you want to rest, the less you can actually rest.

Don't spout nonsense like "festivals include rest" or "work-life balance."

Ha, how naive!

Lieyan was willing to bet that if he really became interested in this damn monster festival and went to take a look that day, it would be a miracle if nothing happened to him!

But this time, he wasn't fooled!

He refused to believe that anything could happen to him if he didn't try to slack off!

Monster Festival? What monster festival? He needs to train!

I've made this vow, and I absolutely won't back down!

Flames burned within him, his heart filled with fervor and passion.

Moreover, watching others tame beasts is nothing compared to riding a dragon yourself. With the time I would spend watching others tame beasts, I could go to an abandoned shrine, beat a parasol bird to its knees, tie it to a flying insect, and use it as a temporary mount. Wouldn't that be wonderful?