Chapter 89: Salamander’s Lair [I]

Disguise Master paced behind him. They were in the Outer Zone now, and he’d said he was meeting up with a friend to help her stream.

’Which means he’s meeting up with Yui Ichinose.’ She trailed behind him. Was it because he was cheating on her Boss with this girl?

No, if he was then he wouldn’t blatantly carry her along.

’But what if he wants me to keep it a secret?’ Both fists clenched… if it was that then she would beat him up then report. ’So what if he stood up for me at Goro’s place?’

The thought made her cheeks redden though she managed to hide it. She really liked it but she didn’t let that change her image of men.

’Whatever, he’s just a stupid man.’

Koya turned around to look at her face… They were almost at the meetup building he’d decided with Ichinose and he wanted to clear up the air a bit.

“So can you not appear on the stream?” Koya asked and Disguise Master blinked at him.

“Huh?”

“I’m going to be helping her out with some monsters in front of her viewers and it would be complicated to explain why I have a maid following me around. So if you could keep a distance and keep yourself hidden while you’re following me, it would be appreciated.”

Disguise Master looked at his face and blinked.

“Is that all?” She asked and then nodded. “Affirmative.”

Before his eyes, Disguise Master pulled out a cloak over herself and she became invisible to the human eye. He could still see her with Sensory but she wouldn’t appear on the drone’s camera.

’Is it weird that I feel a bit jealous about not getting one of these?’ He thought as he walked off to the building where the hive was.

The rotting remnants of the hive were still on the ground and it smelt really bad, however he could see Ichinose with her hands on her waist leaning on a building.

The moment she saw him, her eyes lit up and she waved at him to come over. Koya did exactly that and as he came over, she hugged him first of all

“Hey, I’m glad you could make it.” She said with a smile and let go shortly after. Disguise Master who was situated a bit away gritted her teeth at them.

’Why is she hugging him? That man is the property of my Boss, regardless of if I don’t like it, she’s being too close.’

But then again the one who was allowing it was Koya so he was the one to blame… she was about to bring out one of her needles and stopped as Ichinose took several steps away and brought out her drone.

“You got a new one?” Koya asked. This didn’t look like her classic drone which was like a big pod.

“Of course, as a streamer you have to keep your equipment top notch.” Ichinose replied with a bit of a laugh as she enabled it through the glasses.

The pod drone flew into the air and a compartment opened at the sides, letting out a radial-like thing that could serve as wings for it.

「Stream is starting…」

The stream started and the instant they saw that Koya was on the camera, the views spiked once more.

「OMG KOYA’S BACK」

「Yo his eyes are RED now??」

「GLOW UP IS INSANE」

「He looks so much hotter wtf happened」

「I NEED HIM」

“Hehe, like all of you requested.” She pushed her side against Koya, holding his hand as if they were in a relationship. “I brought Koya-kun onto the stream, and we are going to raid the most spammed place that all of you suggested yesterday.”

She took a deep breath… even she didn’t like the sound of it, however it was too much to pass up on. She needed this to be the biggest stream right now.

“Salamander’s Lair.”

…

A fresh wave of heat hit Koya’s face as he stood at a large entrance into the ground. The sides of the hole were a sizzling red and Koya felt sweat form on his face as he looked back at Ichinose.

“Are you sure your followers aren’t trying to kill you?” He asked as the woman put on some heat resistant suit.

The whole process of putting on the suit over her clothes was a bit erotic though and he could see her breasts press against it as she fumbled for the zipper.

“Well, it can’t be that bad.” Ichinose said… She hadn’t made any prior research about it, she only knew about the fact that it was dangerous.

“It is that bad.” Koya said seriously and looked at the hole again. It was one of those few points in the Outer Zone discussed in the manga.

It was similar to a Broodminder Hive except underground and even their regular Salamander soldiers packed a whole lot of a punch. ’But then again, it serves as good training.’

The whole structure was covered by a fence and a few Awakened were situated outside the fence to guard the place.

One could only be let in if they had official identification since this was part of the official route.

“Well, I’m not weak either.” She brought out a short sword, a replacement for her dagger.

Since she had killed that Order assassin with her ability, she had been working on it several times and now she was comfortable with using a shortsword to kill her enemies. “So shall we go?”

“Sure.” Koya said and before she could say anything, he leapt into the hole.

Ichinose sighed and brought out a helmet, placing it over her head and then taking hold of a grappling hook.

“Wait up.” She said as she shot the grappling hook down.

It tore through the air before it bore into one of the edges and then she leapt downward, the drone casually floating downward behind her giving everyone enough view of her going down into the cavern.

「This place looks TERRIFYING」

「Nah why Salamander’s Lair of all places」

「She’s gonna die fr fr」

「RIP Ichinose 💀」

「Koya better protect her」

She slowly reached the ground and as her boots touched it, they produced a bit of steam from the ground and then she looked at Koya.

“Are you sure you don’t want one of these suits?” She asked while showing off the all black suit with the helmet. “The temperature here is really hot and I don’t want you to get sick.”

“No worries.” Koya said, inhaling the hot air. “I don’t feel a thing.”

He was currently using Pain Resistance… The deeper one went into the lair, the hotter it became and it would help him rank up the skill.

’No pain, no gain.’

“Well if you say so.” She said while bringing out a radar device. “I bought it from KCAC, it’s a monster radar to detect how many monsters are in here.”

“How many can you pick up?” Koya asked as they began walking… With each step they took, the ground was letting off steam.

“Well about 50, 60, 100.” She reported. “There could be a lot more. The scanner can only pick up a hundred monsters at a time, and a group of them are diverging to our location.”

She immediately kept the radar and took the short sword out to be on guard and then looked at Koya.

“Didn’t you bring a weapon?” She asked and Koya looked at his storage ring before summoning one of the Hereto Mana Daggers into his hand.

He had gotten it from raiding the thieves band alongside that gold, however he hadn’t used it until now. The dagger had a golden hilt with several gems on it and the steel was so sharp that the light of the place glinted off it and Ichinose couldn’t help but swallow as she saw the dagger.

It was beautiful.

’I want it.’

“Koya-kun, where did you get such a beautiful dagger?” She asked while reading the chat comments to get if they knew where it was from.

「WAIT IS THAT A HERETO DAGGER??」

「Bro those are high-tier weapons, there’s only like 12 pairs in existence and they’re worth MILLIONS. He’s lucky to even have one even if it’s not a complete pair. The craftsmanship alone is museum-quality and they channel mana perfectly without any loss. If he had both daggers they’d be worth enough to buy a mansion in the Luxury District of Omni City.」

Ichinose’s eyes went wide.

’More money.’ She thought before catching herself. ’I have to stop that. I can’t let him see that I’m eyeing his dagger.’

“Nowhere much. Keep focused on where the monsters are coming from.” He said and they remained silent for a bit.

The monsters were supposed to be coming from straight ahead or underground… That was where Salamanders expertly used to handle their opponents, however the cavern above their heads suddenly opened up and Koya watched as two black clawed hands aimed down to snatch his head.

He leaned to the side and dodged the grab. At the same time, Ichinose turned invisible and avoided her own attack.

To the Salamanders, it meant that Koya was alone and they began emerging.

The first one fell from the top and landed on the ground… It was just like in the manga except seeing it was a whole lot scarier. The creature stood nearly seven feet tall on its hind legs, covered in obsidian-black scales that had an inner red glow like cooling lava.

Its elongated snout was filled with jagged teeth, and its eyes burned with literal orange fire. At the end of its thick muscular tail, flames flickered and danced like a living torch, casting dancing shadows across the cavern walls.

Three more Salamanders dropped from above in succession, landing with coordinated precision that spoke of pack intelligence.

They spread out in a semicircle, cutting off escape routes with tactical awareness. A fifth one emerged from a side tunnel, completing the encirclement.

Their tails all ignited simultaneously, the flames growing brighter and hotter as they prepared to attack and they moved like predator… circling him like wolves stalking prey.

“A whole squad huh?” He looked at them and one puffed its chest, expanding its throat like a balloon. Koya could see it was about to breathe fire so he reached Mana Mode and brought his own hands out.

In an instant, crimson fire burst from the Salamander, shooting through the air to engulf Koya.

However he fought back with his own blue flames, overpowering the red flames and burning the head of the Salamander completely to ash.

「BLUE FIRE?!」

「Only Kagutsuchi heirs can produce blue flames wtf」

「Is he related to them??」

「That’s thousand-degree fire minimum」

「KOYA OP」

One of the Salamanders crossed through the smoke and slashed at him, cutting through and reaching him with claws extended.

However in that split instant, Koya covered his hand with mana and just parried the claws without a single problem, making the monster stagger back mid-air then he stabbed the dagger through the monster’s chest, the blade sliding between scales, killing it at once.

As he drew out the blade, another Salamander threw a wheel of flames at him. The spinning disc of fire carved through the air with a high-pitched whistle.

However Koya dodged it by going through the center hole and threw the dagger at the Salamander, pouring mana into it.

The mana made the dagger glow in a brilliant gold as it streaked through the air and burst the head of the Salamander apart, leaving the dagger embedded into the ground.

「That throw was CLEAN」

「He’s gotten so much better」

「He’s way stronger than during the Academy attack」

As Koya rushed to retrieve his dagger, Ichinose finally made an appearance… She was invisible to the Salamanders and held the short sword tight in her hand.

’I need to show off too.’ She thought while performing the chant she had learned at the academy and gathered mana in her blade.

Anything she touched became invisible and though a singular powerful strike was great, she wanted to do more so Ichinose had practiced… Alongside reading her perverted manga and taking luxury massages, she had practiced a special skill.

While she was invisible, she burst forward and made a crater on the ground. However since she was invisible, the crater simply appeared and no sound followed.

That was how her ability worked… She streaked in the direction of one of them that was nearing Koya who had just picked up his dagger and though it was invisible, her short sword had turned into a white streak.

’Phantom.’ She thought as she closed the distance and slashed forward with her might. ’Slash.’

What followed was an invisible slash that curved through the air and sliced the Salamander into two all of a sudden.

It was so quick that the stream couldn’t register it… the creature’s upper and lower halves separated cleanly.

Ichinose let out a deep breath and the glow continued.

The thing with Phantom Slash was that she had to build momentum first and after building momentum, she gritted her teeth and slashed again.

The beam projected outward and slashed the arm off another Salamander cleanly.

’Fuck I missed.’ She thought as she flicked it again, this time in a thrust and it bore through the chest, punching a hole straight through.

She had to force more mana into her weapon alongside the momentum she’d already built up to establish a powerful slash or stab strike, but the problem with long range was that she didn’t actually excel in that regard so she regularly missed.

Another Salamander had pinpointed her location from the strikes and its tail came down on her like a flaming whip.

However Koya intervened at the right time and cut through it completely with his dagger, letting the severed tail fall to the ground where it continued burning.

“Be aware at all times.” He lectured her as he moved forward.

The remaining two Salamanders from the first group charged simultaneously from opposite directions, their movements coordinated.

Koya kicked off the ground, using Speed Blitz to appear between them mid-leap… He spun horizontally, the Hereto Dagger trailing blue fire as it carved through both their necks in a single rotation.

Their heads hit the ground before their bodies collapsed but three more Salamanders dropped from the ceiling…

These ones were larger, with thicker scales and brighter tail-flames that burned white-hot.

The lead one opened its maw and a torrent of flames gushed out like a flamethrower. Koya dodged left, but the stream followed him, scorching the ground in a line. He channeled mana into his legs and launched forward, closing the twenty-meter gap in a blink.

The Salamander tried to bite down but Koya jammed the dagger upward through its lower jaw, the blade bursting out the top of its skull. He ripped the weapon sideways, tearing through bone, then kicked off the corpse toward the second one.

This Salamander was smarter and swung its tail in a wide arc, creating a wall of fire. Koya ducked under it, feeling the heat singe his hair, and stabbed upward into its belly.

The creature screamed and tried to claw him but he twisted the dagger, channeling mana through the blade.

The Hereto Dagger glowed brilliant gold and the Salamander’s entire torso exploded from the inside out, raining gore across the cavern floor.

The third one tried to flee back up to the ceiling but Koya grabbed its tail, yanked it down with enhanced strength, and slammed it into the ground so hard the impact created a crater.

Before it could recover, he stomped on its head, crushing the skull beneath his boot with a sickening crunch.

Ichinose appeared again when he was done and let out a sigh.

’He’s really strong.’ She thought. She was glad and she looked at the top corner of her glasses… Her breath got caught in her chest as the interface glowed.

「👁: 1,042,133」

’1 million viewers?’ She thought and tried to remain composed… This was even more than her average 100k or her highest views which had been 400k, not all of her subscribers were viewers after all.

She looked at Koya and her eyes shone.

’He’s it… My ticket.’

“You should be more careful. What if you hurt yourself?” Koya asked with genuine concern. “Salamanders aren’t easy creatures.”

「Aww he cares」

「I want Koya to worry about me like that」

「She’s so LUCKY」

「Ship them honestly」

「He’s so protective 🥺」

“I have the ability to protect myself thank you very much.” She knelt down next to one of the corpses and used her shortsword to carve out a hole in the Salamander’s head, retrieving the core

She was trying to foster more drama and that would keep people on the stream.

“And I certainly don’t need you to protect me.”

Koya blinked and then he chuckled, making her eyes twitch. What was he so happy about?

“Well you see, we’ve been found out.” Koya said as several cracks spread across the ground beneath them. The ground collapsed and Ichinose screamed as she fell below. Koya fell as well, however he didn’t do anything and just folded his hands as they fell through the cavern.

There was a crystal layer beneath them with several crystals pointed upward like spears, however they weren’t falling there but in a wide enough hole between them.

They passed that layer and Ichinose had practically lost her voice screaming and seeing that Koya wasn’t even going to try to help her… she held her grappling gun.

The heat was intense here and her suit was getting uncomfortably hot.

Koya’s hair was dancing around in the hot wind however he still had a small smile on his face and then they saw real ground.

It was a clearing of some sort and she shot her grappling hook at the wall, letting it strain and slow her descent then she landed on the ground softly.

Koya on the other hand landed strongly and created a crater that almost kicked her off her feet.

She held her ground and let go of the grappling hook, retracting it while looking around. This place was full of different kinds of gems embedded in the walls. It was a practical gem mine.

“Where are we?” She asked. The sheer heat in the air made her skin even hotter and she could now feel some of the heat penetrating her heat resistant suit.

“The real Salamander’s Lair I guess.” Koya said from beside her. His shirt had burned away completely revealing his toned upper body, and she found herself mesmerized by it.

She wanted to touch those muscles.

“And I’m guessing that’s the leader.” He pointed forward at a large Salamander with wings on its back. It was similar to a dragon but with several tails that were each ignited with fire.

The creature was easily fifteen feet tall, with scales that gleamed like polished obsidian and its wingspan stretched thirty feet across. Each of its five tails writhed independently, the flames at their tips burning white-hot and steam rose from its nostrils with each breath.

“Well, fuck.”

ROOOOOAR!

The Salamander’s roar brought forth a wave of heat that completely eviscerated them and the drone.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep