After receiving Celestia's confident duel challenge, I returned to the Demon King's Castle and urgently summoned my females.
Ugh, Celestia's confident expression just now… I don't know what she's prepared, but she must be very sure.
And it just so happened after Cecilia stabbed me in the back; it was obvious she had a handle to kick me out!
If it weren't for that, even if I lost the duel, there were many ways to cover it up… but the timing was so inconvenient… What to do?
I feel like I can't just get away with this.
Do I have a brilliant idea?
"…That's it! Let's go to the Cursed Mountains!" Just as I was worrying about how to prepare for the duel, the Cursed Mountains suddenly popped into my head, and I slapped my thigh and shouted.
That's right!
The Cursed Mountains!
Although it's a disgusting place teeming with deformed monsters, the experience points there are off the charts! Even after deducting travel time, it's enough to level up 1-2 levels!
Right now, just one level away from breaking through, even spending four days around Radia wouldn't be enough to level up even once.
But what if it's that place with the overflowing experience points…!
"…The Cursed Mountains, you mean…"
"There…uh…" …Huh?
My females' reactions are a bit strange.
Why?
"Uh…I mean, the experience points there are incredibly plentiful. Um, didn't Liz go there once with me?"
"Ah, um…that's true…"
"…Isn't it a bit dangerous, Master? That's the world's largest Tser contamination zone…"
Ah, they're worried about the danger.
I remember they did say that the higher you go up the mountain, the more dangerous the monsters become, right?
Hmm…but even so, when I was a complete newbie and knew nothing, I wandered around near the foot of the mountain…?
Why do they all look uneasy…is there something they're worried about?
"…Celestea should be unable to leave Master anymore…so there's no need to worry so much?"
"Yeah…I thought so too, but she looked so confident. Just in case, we should be fully prepared. Besides, leveling up can't hurt, right?"
"Uh, yeah…that's true…wait. Master." Lisbeth and Claire, listening to me with uneasy expressions, exchanged glances, then turned slightly and began to whisper…
"…What should we do, Lisbeth? It's still…"
"Yeah, yeah. Leveling up isn't a bad thing after all…what are they talking about? Is there really something there?"…Master. Even if we go, we can't climb too high. If we say we should stop,
we should stop immediately?"
"The higher you go in the Cursed Mountains, the more dangerous it becomes. Even if you want to continue, please stop, okay?"
"Uh, um? Ah. Okay, I understand. Although duels are important, life is more important…"
Faced with the females' repeated warnings in an atmosphere that brooked no refusal, I nodded somewhat awkwardly.
......
"Master!" "Finish her off!"
"Die, you bastard!!!"
"Eee ... "…Whoosh…" I finished off the enraged, raging madwoman, the Flower Enhanced Version, with a swift strike of my blade.
Good heavens, even though she's on fire, she's still yelling and unleashing a combo?
Completely different color from the ones I saw at the foot of the mountain.
What on earth is this crazy Flower?
While this one is also a Flower, it's true, as Lisbeth and Claire said, all sorts of strange creatures start appearing as soon as we climb a little higher.
Even with Claire's buffs and Lisbeth's magical support, it would still be difficult to catch more than one at a time, right?
Especially with Claire's buffs, which are close to the Battle Aura level, even though she can deal more damage to monsters, some are still quite durable.
This is terrifying.
Luckily, I haven't encountered groups of more than three after wandering around for most of the day, so the numbers aren't too high… But we're not even halfway up the mountain yet. What level will they reach if we actually climb to the summit?
"…Master. Further up…"
"Ah. Okay." "It's definitely starting to get tough. Let's observe as we go down." Honestly. When I first came to Esendia, I thought I was being incredibly foolish by walking around the outer edge of the mountain range… I never expected that the monster levels would change so drastically after only climbing less than halfway up.
I'm actually glad I went around to the foot of the mountain.
If I had crossed this mountain when my level was low and I hadn't yet mastered my demon form, I probably would have been in serious trouble.
"...I remember you said this was the place where an abnormally large-scale dungeon outbreak couldn't be stopped?"
"Yes. That's right. The kingdom has summoned heroes many times to try and conquer it, but all attempts have ended in failure."
"Dungeons that collapse because they can't be conquered in time experience a qualitative change in the scale of monsters and demon forms they release."
"The number of monsters in a normal dungeon is fixed, and even if some escape, it remains within a certain range… but after a collapse like this, they start to pour out endlessly." "Furthermore, the monsters here are so powerful that multiple attempts to conquer them have failed... By the time the kingdom, which underestimated their size, tried to take them seriously, it was already too late." I see.
Hmm...the monsters are generated internally?
...Could they be connected to somewhere and teleported here?
"...Wait, so one day this place might become overrun with monsters...?"
"No. We managed to complete the seal. Many priests and heroes worked together to set up a seal on the ley lines around the mountains to limit the concentration of Taser."
"The higher the concentration, the weaker the seal, and the stronger the Taser concentration and the monsters become. Of course, some special monsters appear regardless of location, so even being in the lower foothills isn't safe." "There are even randomly appearing monsters. The experience points are plentiful, but that's probably why people are afraid to come here, right? My luck is ridiculously good. All the monsters I've encountered are just manageable.
Hmm… this place is much more dangerous than I imagined.
I need to reconsider whether I should stay any longer…
"...Huh?" Just as I was feeling a growing unease, a giant footprint, seemingly recently made, appeared on the ground.
This is… a footprint? Not human, but a strange shape I'd never seen before… Good heavens. More than twice the size of my horse's hoofprint.
Although my horse's hooves are already much larger than those of ordinary horses. For a footprint to dwarf it… for some reason, staring at that footprint stirred a strange unease…
"...No. I should go down the mountain." "Even if the experience points are tempting, there's no need to risk my life.
I've already gained a lot of experience points at this point, and I should be able to make up for it by clearing out the monsters around Radia in the remaining time.
Although I don't know how much stronger Celestia has become, she's only been training for a little over a week. There's no way she could recover to her peak level in just a few days.
If all else fails, I'll use Wind Release: Oral Sex Technique to awaken her memories of mating with me and cover it up. Hmm. That's it… The most urgent thing is to get away from these unsettling footprints. I'm definitely not chickening out.
Seeing the huge footprints inexplicably made my heart pound. I led the females to hunt down a few more monsters and finally escaped the Cursed Mountains.
......
"…Oh dear. You actually didn't run away and came out obediently. Commendable."
"Haha. What do you mean by running away? How could I?"
"Giving you time was clearly to let you deal with your assets and prepare for your escape." "When I arrived at the lord's castle, more prepared than when we first dueled, Celestia greeted me with such arrogant words, a smile of complete nonchalance on her face.
Wow… what exactly did she do during her seclusion? She's become so confident in just over a week?
So arrogant, just like her ill-mannered daughter!
"You seem quite confident. Are you so satisfied with your seclusion?"
"Of course. Even I'm surprised. I've been reminded of past memories for a long time. Hehe…"
Past memories… could it be her peak level…?… Pfft, I'd better prepare my Wind Release: Talk-no-Talk Technique beforehand?
"You didn't run away, so you seem to have made some preparations?"
"Yes. I leveled up because I was scared, and I prepared seriously. It shouldn't be as easy as you think, right?"
"Heh. Just based on the level you gained in those few days… hehe." "...If Celestia hadn't become so strong, I would have taught her a lesson with my Сock today.
That's too arrogant!
Celestia.
Although I was startled by your footsteps and only stayed in the Cursed Mountains for less than a day, I still got a real amount of experience points, you know?
Leveled up from 24 to 26?
Thanks to that, the adventurer card I updated at the guild office this morning was...
......
Name: Shimo
Guild: Beast Paradise
Level: 26
Ethel Possessions: 586700
HP: 1032/Strength: 483/Magic: 55/Agility: 411
Skills: [Back Kick] [Shattering Strike] Special Items and Achievements: Guild Master of the Divine Beast Hero Devourer Extermination Guild – Beast Paradise
......
That's it.
My stamina has surpassed 1000, and my strength is approaching 500.
Although the only skill listed on the card is Shattering Strike, I've secretly memorized a few others.
Plus, with my enhanced ice resistance equipment, it won't be easy for you to beat me, right?
"Alright. Shall we begin? I'm going to mount you, lower your stance."
"...As you wish, Lady Celestia." Celestia, seemingly unaware of my silent clenching of teeth, approached without hesitation and instructed me to lower my stance.
As my previously quiet females shifted slightly backward, I immediately felt the large, soft buttocks of the married woman press against my waist.
Really. Last time during the duel, she frowned reluctantly, saying she didn't want to ride me, but today she seems eager to duel without any restraint.
...Don't think that's all. Today, I'll make sure your ass won't be able to sit on a chair for a while.
With a slight unease about Celestia's strength, I once again carried three women to the duel location.