The little rabbits either turned into ordinary pieces of meat, or were pierced by needles and appeared in a state that had to be blurred out - they vomited blood and twitched and convulsed constantly.
----Revolver air shotgun "Alwus".
This artifact was created to suppress the excessive destructive power and impact of gunfire and electromagnetic cannons, while still achieving lethality. Hajime used sublimation magic to create a tiny, fragile, disposable treasure chest, replacing explosives and placing it within the Alwus. The treasure chest collapses upon impact with the hammer, releasing compressed air that forces shotgun needles into flight. This is the principle behind the Alwus's launch. The needles are coated with a potent poison from the Abyss.
"Hey, what are you daydreaming about? Kill them quickly. The snow on the ceiling in this area could cause an avalanche, so be careful of the noise and impact."
Like a seasoned SWAT team member, Hajime was very serious in slaughtering the bunnies using reasonable and minimal necessary movements.
Seeing him like that, Guanghui and others especially screamed loudly.
““““You, you devil aa ...
Their belief that Hajime would regain his original gentle personality had been thrown out the window, but at least their shouting didn't cause an avalanche.
After that, Hajime and the others continued to advance while slaughtering a large number of rabbits. After passing through the sea of blood and corpses created by the rabbits, they were already three hundred meters away from the entrance of the [Ice Cave].
"No, that's why I said it was definitely a monster."
Hajime put on a poker face and walked ahead alone.
The Bunny Massacre seemed to have severely impacted the female members—especially Shizuku, Suzu, and Shia, as their constant nagging was too much for even Hajime to handle.
According to Hajime, the bunnies seemed to possess a magic that drained away heat energy. The moment they entered the heated space created by the air zone, the heat was drained away. Hajime caught one and tried it, and sure enough, if one wasn't careful, their body heat would be naturally drained away without them noticing.
In other words, those little rabbits rely on their appearance and actions to arouse a desire for protection to get close to their prey, unknowingly taking away a large amount of heat energy and forcing the prey into a dangerous situation where they freeze to death. They are quite ferocious monsters.
"If you can't resist the allure of cuteness and hold it in your arms, you'll die in just a few minutes, you know? In the end, they even try to win by sheer numbers... They may look cute on the outside, but they're demons on the inside."
Perhaps it was revenge for being called a devil, Shizuku and the others looked away guiltily when they heard Hajime say that.
"Besides, judging from the time they first approached, didn't you notice? They entered the effective range, right? Yue and Tio should have noticed it, right? Then help me, but I ended up fighting alone."
"...Yeah, because I was busy comforting Shia."
“I’m sorry, Master. Seeing Shia with tears in her eyes makes me feel guilty… Since you are already fighting, I think I should just leave it to you!”
"Leave it to me! And Shia, how long are you going to keep trembling?"
Shia's entire body was shaking. She saw how ruthlessly Hajime attacked the little rabbits, not hesitating at all, and saw how many rabbit ears had been torn off...
"What can I do? I understand, but seeing Hajime-san tear off the rabbit ears without hesitation and throw them away, I couldn't help but feel sad."
Hajime's expression looked as if he was defeated by her. He stood beside Shia and stretched his hand towards the rabbit ears.
"Animals are animals, and Shia is Shia, right? Shia is my only rabbit, so there's no reason for me to hesitate, right?"
“…That’s true, hehehe.”
Xia's expression suddenly fell. She was really easy to talk to.
A sweet air began to fill the air around them, and Kaori pouted.
“Hmph… Seeing this, I can really feel that Shia has been accepted by Hajime.”
"Then let's work hard too, Kaori. We'll all be like Shia soon."
"Okay, let's do our best."
Kaori's fighting spirit burned with excitement, but Yue scoffed and replied:
"...Kaori, do you know the saying 'a futile effort'?"
"What does that mean!? Tell me!?"
Perhaps wanting to punish Yue's cheek, Kaori stretched out her hand with a whoosh, but was slapped down by Yue.
Whoosh! Snap!
Watching the recent frequent attacks and defenses, Suzu, who was walking behind, smiled helplessly and said to Shizuku beside her:
"If this keeps going on, Xiang Xiang and Tio-san might actually join Hajime-san's harem. This is something I couldn't even imagine back in Japan. Nagumo-san is truly amazing. Shizuku-shizuku, right?"
"..."
Shizuku didn't answer for some reason. No, she didn't seem to hear Ling at all.
She had a thoughtful expression on her face, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
Was she looking at her playful best friend, or was she...
"Shizuku-chan?"
"W-What is it? Ling."
"Ah, um, nothing much... Are you okay? I thought you looked a bit dazed."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I'll focus."
Suzu peeked at Shizuku's expression, and Shizuku answered with her usual smile.
"..."
At the back of the group, Guanghui's expression was a little distorted. His face was difficult to describe, as if he was about to show his displeasure, but he seemed to unconsciously restrain it.
"Oh my god, that Kaori is back again. She's always quarreling, isn't she? Kouki."
"Huh? ...Yeah, that's right. Earlier, she was on the side trying to mediate."
Seeing Ryutaro's stunned look when he suddenly spoke and patted his shoulder, Guanghui was stunned for a moment, but then smiled.
Kouki narrowed his eyes in a nostalgic manner, while Ryuutarou wiped away the slight worry in his eyes and said with a bright smile, "That's right."
At this moment, Tio, who had been walking ahead to gauge the wind's direction, wary of the gradually growing stronger and colder wind, spoke.
"Hmm~ What a nasty wind, kind of annoying."
There was a T-shaped road ahead. Even from the sidelines, one could see a strong storm blowing from right to left. It would probably be difficult for an ordinary person to even stand.
He walked to the edge of the corner and checked the compass's instructions.
"The road is... to the right. Looks like we'll have to go against the wind—Tio."
"Understood."
Tio responded with perfect tacit understanding. If it were simply dealing with the storm, she would be more suitable to deploy the barrier than Yue. After all, Tio was from a family that relied on wind magic to fly. If it were limited to wind magic talent and skills, Tio would still be superior to Yue.
However, just before Tio was about to cast her magic, someone stopped her.
"Wait a minute, Miss Tio! Let Ling do this job!"
Although she came here voluntarily, she left behind a dark history of jumping off a cliff and even cried out in front of the little rabbit (although it was because of Hajime's actions). She seems to be worried about the fact that she has not achieved anything so far. Her fighting spirit is high and her eyes are strong and powerful.
I saw that she was holding two new weapons pulled out from the leather holster at her waist. At first glance, they looked like rectangular metal rods.
Her new artifact is the "Twin Iron Fans," a divine artifact designed specifically to enhance barrier techniques.
It's a specialized weapon that harnesses blood and magic power, a weapon that only Ling can activate. Durability and the ability to omit the cast are standard features, and through sublimation magic, all defensive spells advance by one level.
In addition, after the iron fan on the right activates the old barrier magic, the iron fan on the left can add various effects to achieve the use of compound magic.
In addition, it also has the function of slowly absorbing natural magic power and storing it, as well as the function of reducing magic power consumption. Compared with the hand-refined artifacts previously distributed by the kingdom, its performance is incomparable.
Hajime glanced at Ling, confirming that her eyes were clear and sincere, and nodded in agreement to her request.
"Before actual combat, it's necessary to familiarize yourself with its use."
"Well, since the master said so, Ling, I'll leave it to you."
Tio smiled and encouraged her to make full use of the results of her training. Although Ling was a little nervous, she still responded with a smile.
There was a snap, and the two iron fans opened.
"Arise—'Double Iron Fans.'" The activation keyword, designed to omit the chant, rang out, and the plain iron-colored fan glowed orange. The handle of the iron fan shone brightly, the light spreading to the main and middle bones. (Editor's note: the name of the fan bone.)
"Alright, then, I'm going to begin—"Sacred Scatter"!!"
Ling only chanted the name of the magic and gently waved the iron fan.
At the same time, a translucent barrier emitting a pale orange glow appeared in front of Hajime and the others. The barrier drew a gentle curve forward, and ripples of light spread outward from the center.
——The highest level of light attribute compound defense magic "Holy Severance: Dispersion".
This magic has an additional property to "Holy Severance" and can disperse the energy of the object it touches.
Activating "Holy Spell" as easily as a basic spell can unleash its full power, have additional effects, and consume only intermediate-level magic power.
The results of the training have indeed been proven.
Ling maintained her barrier, unfazed even as she entered the path of a violent storm. She didn't block the wind; she redirected it. The wind's deflection dispersed its force, transforming it into a gentle breeze that drifted aside.
"Oh, well done, Suzu."
"...Yeah, it's really good."
Ling received praise from the two great magic experts. Even though she relied on the superior performance of the artifact itself, Ling's magical skills were still guaranteed by the two geniuses.
A strange "Hey" sound involuntarily came out of Ling's mouth.
Although she was very happy, she had to concentrate at this moment, so she tried hard to suppress her joy...but she couldn't help but blurt it out, so she made that sound.
So Ling, with a smug look on her face, walked ahead, dispelling the storm while moving forward smoothly with everyone else.
After a while, light was faintly seen ahead.
Hajime narrowed his eyes and stared ahead.
“…Is that it?”
The view suddenly becomes wider and the space becomes more spacious.
What appeared before Hajime and the others was a vast, isosceles triangle-shaped space, its highest point perhaps reaching two hundred meters. The ceiling wasn't made of snow, but simply ice. Regardless, this was a mysterious place resembling a temple.
A huge crack can be seen on the inner ice wall, and many icicles that glow faintly like crystals stand around the crack, as if luring people into the darkness within the crack.
Shi checked the compass and saw that the needle was pointing directly at the crack. The feeling from the compass also told Shi that the direction was correct.
That's right, that's one of the seven great mazes, and it's also the final one.
The entrance to the [Ice and Snow Cave].
"Ah, the wind has died down. I'll put away the barrier."
"Holy Absolute: Dispersion" vanished as if melting away. Just as Ling had said, the moment they entered the temple-like space, the wind died down.
It was so quiet here, it was almost as if all living things were holding their breath.
“It seems we’ve arrived, but… Hajime-san!”
"Yeah, I know. Something's coming, everyone get ready to fight!"
Shia wiggled her rabbit ears, her eyes narrowing as she sensed the presence of multiple creatures deep within the dim cavern. Hajime seemed to sense it too, and he immediately warned everyone.
Yue, Kaori, and Tio acted naturally, but there was a tense atmosphere among Kouki and the others.
Then──
““““““Squeak, squeak, squeak!!”””””””
Six monsters suddenly jumped out with very shrill cries.
The monster looked like a gorilla covered in white hair, but was over three meters long. Unlike gorillas, it walked on two legs. If we had to use Earthling knowledge to name that monster, then...
"Bigfoot?"
Yes, just as Hajime said, the monster's appearance is like the UMA (Unknown Animal) that often appears in paranormal programs.
The Bigfoots approached with the force of breaking the ice on the ground.
Hajime thought to himself, "If I could catch one, I'd definitely become famous." But he still said, "But I have to kill it anyway," and pulled out his Donar.
Then, Kouki leaped forward as if to get ahead of Hajime.
"Here we go! Shizuku! Ryuutarou! Rin!"
"Alright! We must conquer the Great Dungeon this time! Go for it!"
"Leave the defense to me! Shizuku-chan, let's go!"
"Alright, I'd like to test more as well. Nagumo-kun, will you leave this to us?"
Hajime shrugged and retreated to the wall with Yue and the others.
This was a rare opportunity, and like Ling, Hajime wanted to confirm the performance of his modified artifact. As a technician, he began to observe Kouki and the others.
"Shizuku-chan and Suzu-chan, please don't push yourself too much!"
"come on!"
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