Brave Soul of Evil Supremacy

We continued through the dungeon and arrived at an open space.

The space was about the size of a gymnasium. The floor was lined with numerous panels with patterns similar to arrows, and at the far end of the room, we could see a door leading to the next floor. There is also a staircase next to the entrance, which seems to lead to the basement.

"Oh, we have arrived at the first gate!"

'The Abyss of Alteriore' is a dungeon with a riddle to solve. This is the first room to solve a riddle.

"What is this floor? What's with the strange shape?"

Nagisa looked around the big room with alarm.

There were no monsters, no treasure chests... At first glance, there was nothing in the room but a door and a staircase, but the panels on the floor had a strange presence.

Yes... this was the room with the 'moving floor' trap that appears in many games and manga, including Doraemon.

If the player gets on this panel, he or she is swept away in the direction of the arrow, and cannot move at all while moving.

If the player gets on the correct panel, he or she can reach the goal, but if he or she gets on the wrong panel, he or she will fall into a pit... such is the structure of the trap room.

"Hmm... I'm not good at using my head. Where do I start to get to the door?

"No, this is the first riddle. It's not that hard. First look at the goal panel and follow the arrows backward to the starting point..."

"Then, here it is, desu~no"

"Ei~!"

"Ah!"

Urza and Monica were on the panel before I could finish explaining.

"Whoa! Don't get on the panel by yourself!

""Aaaahhhhhhhh!?""

I reached out for them in a panic, but I couldn't grab them.

Their tiny bodies were being swept away in the direction of the arrows on the panel. Faster than I had imagined.

"Fast, it's so fast, desu~no!"

"Whoaaaaa! This is kind of fun!"

The girls were moving around the room, unable to resist the direction of the arrows, but they seemed to feel comfortable with the situation.

Like children riding a roller coaster for the first time, they reacted in the same way.

"Goshujin-sama! How do we stop this, desu~no!?"

"No, it won't stop until it reaches the goal... Ah..."

"Hyuuwaaaaaaaaaa!?"

Urza falls into the pit at the end of the line.

She screamed like a Doppler effect... and then the sound of water sloshing was heard.

"Ahhhhhhhh! I'm soakedddd!"

A soaking-wet Urza came running up the stairs leading to the basement.

There was a small pool under the pit, and if she fell in, she would be damaged by water.

"Aaaa... I'm so slippery and naughty now, desu~no... This is a service cut, because it reveals the unevenness of my body, desu~no..."

"What's uneven about your body? More importantly, Monica..."

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

When I looked in the direction of the high-pitched voice, I saw that Monica was still moving on the panel.

Monica is moving at high speed through the room... but there is a pit in the direction she is moving.

At this rate, Monica would also fall down. She would fall down and take water damage from the pool.

"That's not good...!"

It is good that Urza is tough, but Monica is still inexperienced. Even damage from traps can be fatal.

"Monica!"

"Monica-chan!"

I and Aeris shouted.

But... Monica, on the other hand, swung her right hand while being swept away by the panel.

Her right hand released a serpentine sword. The blade, connected to a wire, extends with great force and thrusts into the ceiling.

"Eii~!"

Monica's body flies through the air.

Leaning on the sword stuck in the ceiling, she leaps into the air like an American hero in the shape of a spider.

"Hyannn!"

Monica, who had taken a huge leap, falls on her back to the floor.

Although she fell down awkwardly, she made it to the goal point, which is right next to the door.

"I-I made it... Ahh, that was so much fun and scary..."

"Hey, hey, are you kidding me?"

Is she getting some kind of blessing or something?

It's like hook shots from The Legend of Zelda, not Doraemon.

Seriously, Monica arrives at the finish line absurdly, and I drop my shoulders.

"I see, so that's how we're going to get there!"

On the other hand, Nagisa nodded her head in admiration.

A bad premonition runs through my mind. Before I can call out to her to stop her, she starts to move.

"Here we go!"

Nagisa jumps, kicking the floor and leaping over a few tiles.

She pulls out her sword and points it downwards.

"Aomi Itto-ryu―freeze wave!"

A blue slash is released from Nagisa's sword.

A rippling water-like effect is released, and the impact lifts Nagisa's body.

"Haa!"

The force of the slash lifts her up, and she pulls another sword from her waist. This is the dagger she uses to dismantle monsters.

Nagisa thrust the dagger into the ceiling and, using the strength of her arms and the spring in her body, flew to the goal.

"Well... I guess I made it too!"

Nagisa did not fall down as badly as Monica did, but landed on both feet with flying colors.

Not once did she step on a panel... completely ignoring the purpose of the traps set up in this room.

"Urza is going too, desu~no! Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

Once again, Urza jumps on the appropriate panel and falls down the pit. The sound of water came from underground.

She falls down, comes up, and jumps on the panel again. It's a pushy strategy, like a child who doesn't understand the rules of the game.

"...Use your heads a little. You guys."

I stand there at a loss as my friends try to solve the puzzle in a way that has nothing to do with solving the puzzle.

I don't know why... it's not my fault, but I'm starting to feel a bit empty.

"Well, uh... that panel goes this way, and this panel goes that way..."

In such a situation, only Aeris can solve the puzzle properly.

She calculated the direction and order of the panels and figured out where to get on to reach the goal.

Seeing her solving the puzzle as the dungeon creator had intended, I was so moved that I hugged Aeris.

"Aeris! I knew you would do it!"

"Kyaa! All of a sudden, we can't do it here, you know...!"

Aeris squeals happily and wriggles her plump body in my arms.