Cliche Chapter 266-268: Juggernaut!

*BOOOOOOOM!*

Asfi covered her ears with her hands. The deafening explosion brought back memories of the Great War that occurred half a year ago. Once the tremors settled down, she fixed her glasses and glanced in the direction of the explosion.

“What should I do?”

Chasing the Xenos Siren or investigating this random explosion.

“Xenos is more important.”

The surface world will become chaotic if someone saw a talking monster. She had seen a fair share of chaos in the Great War, which swallowed the former Captain of the Hermes Familia.

Now, the question was where to find this Siren?

“It will make no sense for a monster to go in the direction of an explosion this big.”

Perhaps she was annoyed by doing this task alone or her lack of understanding of the Xenos that made her severely underestimate Ray’s intelligence. She headed in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, Ray remained in the small safe room with her wings wrapped around her head. Despite being so far away, she felt like the explosion happened in her head. Having sensitive ears wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Unfortunately, her wings also blocked the terrifying roar that followed the blast.

‘What are they doing now? Are they going to blow up this place to find me?’

Ray shuddered at the thought of being blown up into pieces.

‘Humans… are as evil as Gros said.’

The gargoyle had warned everyone on numerous occasions. She might not be here if she trusted Gros. The dark, humid cave stole her usual cheeriness, filled her heart with dreary.

She pushed herself and got up. She took careful peeks around, trying to see or hear any sound of the blue-haired woman.

‘The human is gone. I… Should I go to the surface or back to the village?’

She found herself in a dilemma. This had been the closest she had ever been to the surface. After all, she first spawned in the forest on the 24th floor. Lyd and other Xenos found her on the 21st floor.

She floated in the air and flew forward. As selfish as she felt, she decided to continue towards the surface. Being able to see and fly in the sky once will be more than worth sacrificing her life for.

What she didn’t know was the obstacle in her path ahead. She was heading to the very place where Asahi and his party were gathered.

***

(Right after the explosion.)

Hearing the explosion, Jura chuckled heartily. The monster tamer was hiding behind another adamantite gate, using his monsters to control the situation. The Evilus had placed multiple gates in their masterpiece dungeon, which were separated by a network of intertwining tunnels. Anyone without a map had no chance of coming out on the other side.

“Oh man, I wanted to see them despair.”

Jura waved his whip, smiling like a maniac. A hellhound had been hiding underneath the pile of Inferno Stones. It executed Jura’s command and brought forth the biggest explosion to ever happen inside the dungeon.

“I wonder how Astraea will react when the Guild delivers the mutilated limbs of those pretty girls.”

Just at that moment, a roar thundered through the dungeon. Jura turned stiff, pupils shaking in shock. A level 4 adventurer like him had cultivated instincts beyond ordinary people. Right now, those instincts screamed danger.

“A new monster?”

Jura wanted to go out and tame this menacing presence. But being the coward he was, he decided to send one of his bugbears hidden in the tunnels.

The towering bear heard the “voice” and charged toward the pile of debris.

A shadow flashed over the bear’s head, chasing it through the passage.

***

Asahi frowned after hearing the roar.

“Juggernaut, huh.”

The guardian that spawned to stop the destruction of the dungeon. A juggernaut from the 15th floor wasn’t enough to raise his attention.

He glanced behind, confirming everyone’s safety. The wind barrier bore the impact and cut down the debris as well. Ryuu kept looking in the space blankly, seemingly the most shaken out of everyone.

Asahi waited for Alise or someone else to step up and comfort the elf, but no one did. His fellow adventurers pulled out their weapons and looked to their front.

“Oh come on,” Asahi said and approached Ryuu.

His footsteps snapped Ryuu out of her stupor. The wind barrier startled her. Her gaze drifted to the adventurers, and she sighed in relief. The illusion she saw wasn’t real.

“Thank—”

Before she expressed her heartfelt gratitude, Asahi pulled her in his embrace and rubbed the back of her head. The elf couldn’t find it in her to push away her savior, so she let Asahi comfort her. The gentle rubs made her cozy. She felt as if she returned to the time she used to laze under the oak tree’s shade in her village. The unreal warmth coming from Asahi made her reluctant to leave. Alas, the thudding sounds coming closer every moment had to be addressed.

“Okay now?” Asahi asked in a soft voice, ignoring the incoming monster.

“Y-Yeah.”

Ryuu squirmed out of the hug and bowed her head. Without waiting for Asahi’s answer, she dashed toward her friends.

[—Ryuu: Affection +21]

Asahi chuckled at the marginal increase in affection.

Kaguya gave her a short hug, making Ryuu even more flustered.

“K-Kaguya.”

“Thank god Asahi-kun set up the barriers for us. That pack of Inferno Stone was enough to kill us several times over.”

The black-haired swordsman was relieved to come out alive out of the explosion. Asahi’s sharp instincts saved their lives this time.

Asahi shook his head. “We can talk later. Let’s get rid of this problem first.”

Alise scratched her head. On one hand, she was grateful to Asahi for bringing Ryuu back to her senses. On the other, Asahi and Ryuu’s intimate hug triggered something inside her.

“Captain, you heard our junior. I’m not letting Evilus walk away after this.”

Just then, the bugbear walked into the cave.

A monster that shouldn’t even be on this floor. As Kaguya got into her quickdraw stance, the bugbear froze in its tracks, and its head rolled on the ground.

“What?” Alise raised her voice. “A trap—”

Her voice died when a pair of crimson eyes peered from the dark ceiling, socketed in a bony skull reminiscent of a dinosaur.

“What in the world?” Alise muttered, feeling something off about this monster. A monster on the 15th floor shouldn’t be strong enough to trigger her instincts like this. “An irregular?”

Sometimes, the dungeon monsters strayed from their designated floors and evolved beyond their limits. The guild called them ‘irregulars.’ Alise thought of juggernaut as another irregular monster.

Rika toggled her smartphone and hovered it over the monster with her telekinesis. The bony, nearly fleshless monster was gripping the ceiling with the claws of its feet. The fang-like claws stretching from its six-fingered claws glittered an ominous purple. A bone tail over four meters extended from its base. It looked oddly disproportionate whether it was thin and long arms, or the legs that bent backward.

“Juggernaut,” Saeko whispered. “It’s here.”

She unsheathed her katana with a grin. The shell-like armor of juggernaut stood no chance against the weapon forged by her beloved.

Shiori cast the Storm Fort spell on the weak adventurers. “Girls, please step back. This monster can only be fought by first-tier adventurers.”

“She is… correct,” Alise acknowledged and ordered the adventurers to step back. “Lyra, Naza, form a defensive line with Ryuu. Kaguya, we’re helping Saeko.”

Alise yelled orders.

Shiori activated the appraisal skill of her special glasses.

Juggernaut Lv. 35

—Designated Title: Child of Calamity

—Race: Monster

—Class: Dungeon Guardian

Attributes:

—Strength: 120

—Dexterity: 125

—Constitution: 100

—Defense: 100

—Charm: 3

—Mana Power: 95

Skills:

[—Anti-Magic Shell (Unique): The monster’s shell can nullify and reflect magic spells.]

[—Condemned (Curse): The monster becomes weakened outside its territory.]

[—Fading Light (Curse): The monster’s body and soul will scatter after a short period.]

The glasses upgraded by Klyscha came in handy at these times.

‘Klyscha-sama, can you show this status to everyone?’

(On it.)

Asahi also received the information and blinked in amazement. Nobody told him about Shiori possessing these new glasses.

‘Child of Calamity. What an edgy name.’

*Crack!*

Juggernaut broke the smartphone shedding light on its ugly body and skirted around the darkness.

Rika sighed at the loss of her smartphone. Well, she had saved Asahi’s pictures on the cloud, so this didn’t mean much to her. She raised her rifle and shot at the juggernaut.

The juggernaut easily evaded the bullets and dashed toward Saeko, trailing a purple blur.

Saeko met the razor-sharp claws with her sword. The brute strength pushed her back a few meters. Saeko expected it as there was a massive difference between their strength.

Rika clicked her tongue and stowed her rifle. This was a battle for close combat fighters. She also knew what Asahi wanted juicy Excelia out of this thing, so she retreated to Asahi’s back.

“Aa-kun, fight this thing!”

“Saeko, let me solo this shit!”

Even at this moment, Asahi was thinking of earning Excelia. Saeko heard the order and performed a swift triple-slash at the juggernaut’s torso. It blocked the attacks with its bony forearm. The first slash tore its shell like a piece of paper while the following slashes dug deep into its flash. The sensation of cutting flesh made Saeko grin.

Asahi appeared between Saeko and the juggernaut. “We can summon more later if you want. Let me fight this one.”

Saeko wiped the grin off her face and nodded meekly. “...Okay, husband. It has high attack and agility. Its defenses are lacking in comparison.”

“I know, dear. Go and guard the others.”

Asahi caressed her cheeks with telekinesis and sent her off to others.

The juggernaut tracked Saeko with its crimson eyes. It was intimidated by Saeko’s strength, finding her a threat.

“Hey, it’s rude to stare at someone else’s woman. Go, find your own.”

The juggernaut growled. Its reverse joints creaked, and it sprang forward. Its long claws drew a purple arc at Asahi’s chest. Asahi grabbed its bony wrist midair and squeezed.

Grayfia felt deja vu at the scene. Something similar happened to her brother, and the end result was bad. Not for Asahi, but for his opponent.

Asahi let out a disappointed sigh. “I thought it would be stronger than this.”

His words baffled Alise and Kaguya. They barely tracked the juggernaut’s movements, but Asahi precisely caught the juggernaut’s claw. Its three meters tall frame towered over Asahi, looking as it would crush him under its feet.

The reality was different.

The juggernaut struggled with every bit of strength, yet it couldn’t free itself.

The comical sight almost made them shout, “You are the freak here!”

The juggernaut’s glowing eyes flickered. For the first time, it felt an urge to hide from something. It had killed countless monsters and humans in its life. The dungeon didn’t spawn a new juggernaut, as it absorbed the guardian after it finished its job. It carried some memories of its past selves, mainly the suffering and pain it afflicted on the ones harming its mother. In its numerous lives, it had never met someone as intimidating as this human who barely reached its chest.

The dungeon shook its wall, roaring at its child. The juggernaut got its senses back and swung its other claw in retaliation. Asahi caught that as well and restricted its legs with telekinesis.

“Might as well improve my telekinesis.”

With its limbs restricted, the juggernaut could only shoot its massive tail. Asahi tilted his head to dodge the tail. He pushed down the hard bone tail with telekinesis and stepped on it.

Within a few seconds of suppressing the monster with brute mental strength, he heard the chime.

[Telekinesis ranked up to C.]

“Time to finish.”

The juggernaut struggled. Nothing worked. It looked at the grinning human with quivering eyes in its socket. It realized the human was just playing around.

The survival instincts unbefitting of a guardian grew in its heart.

Fear.

Shock.

Pain.

All kinds of emotions flowed through its heart. However, another dungeon roar cleared the emotions. Its eyes darted around, searching for a way to escape this crisis.

It was then the juggernaut picked a noise far away. The faint sound of someone trudging through the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Asahi was musing over the changes in the juggernaut.

‘Maybe Ren’s statement about a talking monster wasn’t wrong.’

Speaking of Ren, the man just breathed his last moments under the pile of boulders.

Asahi freed the juggernaut and shoved his fist in its ribs. Several broken ribs fell off as it flew into the dungeon.

“Should’ve used more strength.”

It was hard to find the perfect balance. He lacked complete control over his body as his strength kept growing every day.

He also picked up the incoming steps from behind and turned around. Looking past the girls, his eyes met with Ray.

The Siren knew coming here was a bad call, but the scent of her kind attracted her. The scent came from a blue-haired girl standing between the humans as if she belonged there. Nothing separated her from others in the group. The girl looked just like a human, yet she carried the scent of Ray’s kind.

Ray’s golden feathers with blue tips suddenly twitched. They worked as a sensor to danger. Her head snapped, and she met a pair of golden eyes.

‘Pretty.’

Even his face fascinated her. Lost in trance, she felt urges to approach him and submit to his orders.

Asahi’s locked Monster Tamer class worked wonders on the Xenos, showing even more power than it had on a human monster hybrid like Rini.

The juggernaut seized the opportunity to launch a stealth attack on Asahi.

Ray’s eyes widened. “Behind you!”

She didn’t stop with a warning and shot forward to stop the juggernaut.

Asahi sighed. Turning around in the blink of an eye, he punched the juggernaut’s head, cracking it all over. Asahi pummelled down the juggernaut until its head burst into white fragments of bone.

—You earned 7509.50 XP for killing [Level 35 Juggernaut]

“More XP than Monster Rex.”

He decided to farm some juggernauts later and whirled around. Ray crashed into him. He gently held her shoulders and took a few steps to disperse the momentum. Ray flapped her wings, panicking to find herself so close to a human.

Asahi used his headpats to calm her panic.

‘A beautiful harpy who can talk.’

Ray calmed down and looked up at him. Her sharp, droopy ears trembled, this time in excitement. The wave of warmth made her intoxicated. She even disregarded the hostility coming from Alise and others, lost in the care of Asahi’s hands.

“Junior… That’s a monster.”

Asahi pushed Ray away and looked into her blue eyes. She had no bloodlust like the monsters. He just couldn’t deem her a monster just because she had feathery wings attached to her limbs and had talons like a bird. He wasn’t particularly into monster girls, but this girl’s innocent vibes tugged at his “pure” heart.

“She isn’t,” Asahi said, denying Alise’s accusation.

‘She is like the version of Harpy I wanted to see. Not those foul hags.’

“It’s a harpy!” Shiori approached and lifted Ray’s wings. She rubbed her face in the golden feathers. “Soft… what a lovely creature. Dear, why didn’t you tell me about them?”

“I didn’t know. What’s your name?”

As the headpats stopped, Ray found herself in the center of everyone’s attention. The purple-haired girl had a bright smile as she snuggled with her wings. Ray couldn’t sense any malice from her or the man before her.

‘They’re good people.’

She believed in her instincts.

“...Ray,” Ray muttered her name, staring at the floor to hide. “I’m a Siren.”

“So you’re the one that man talked about,” Natsumi said and explained the difference between Siren and Harpy.

Technically, Harpy and Siren only had one difference in this world, which was their abilities. Harpies shot feather projectiles while Siren attacked with sound waves.

Shiori nodded her head. “Adorable name.”

Rini walked up to Ray and patted her head with a soft smile. “Onii-san won’t harm you.”

“Are you...” Ray stopped when the adventurers approached with their weapons ready. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around Asahi.

Kaguya halted everyone and warily looked at Ray. “Asahi-kun… I don’t like this. It must be a new species to lower our guard.”

Asahi frowned. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand their wariness. He just couldn’t let them kill an innocent girl without hearing her side of the story. He was partial when it came to the matters of beautiful girls. Besides, if Ray was a threat, his instincts would have warned him.

“Didn’t you hear her talk?”

“I did.”

“Hold on just a moment,” Asahi said and put on his appraisal glasses.

Ray Lv. 30

—Designated Title: Xenos

—Race: Siren

—Class: Songstress

Attributes:

—Strength: 40

—Dexterity: 95

—Constitution: 75

—Defense: 70

—Charm: 30

—Mana Power: 60

Skills:

[—Monster Biology (Unique): The monster becomes stronger by eating other monster’s magic stones.]

[—Soundwave (B-Rank): The monster can shoot soundwaves.]

[—Enhanced Hearing (C-Rank): The monster can pick up sounds inaudible to normal humans.]

[—Siren’s Song (D-Rank): The monster’s songs have a calming effect on the listeners.]

“Xenos.”

An unfamiliar word.

(I know about them, my love. Do you want to hear it?)

‘Just tell me if they’re good or bad.’

He was going to figure the rest out by himself.

(They just want to survive in the dungeon and dream of living peacefully on the surface.)

‘That’s enough.’

“Kaguya, Alise, tell me if I’m worthy of your trust?”

Alise kept her embarrassment suppressed and nodded her head. She wouldn’t have beaten the monster without losing an arm or two. Even then, some of them would’ve died. On top of that, he saved them from the explosion. How could she not trust him?

Kaguya smiled. “You just saved our lives. I’m not an ungrateful bitch who who will betray her savior. Am I wrong, girls?”

The adventurers blushed and denied it together. Putting their trust in Asahi was the right choice.

“Then, let me deal with Ray.” He patted Ray’s back. “Ray, what do you want now? You can leave or come with us to the surface.”

“I…”

Ray was overwhelmed to the point her voice won’t come out. Seeing the surface world was her only dream ever since she spawned. But when given the choice, she couldn’t help but remember her warm family.

“We won’t force you,” Rini said in a soft, comforting voice. Ray was like her past self when she first met her onii-san. She had struggled to accept the change in everyone’s behavior. How nice they were. She believed Ray was going through something similar.

“Surface… I want to go.”

“Alright.”

Asahi agreed. He’d learn more about Ray after dealing with the pieces of shit hiding in the caves.

*Ding!*

[Ray: Affection +19]

‘It’s totally not wrong to pick up girls in the dungeon.’