chapter 120 - Dungeon Exploration 3

"Wait, what if the Monarch mistaken for being Ashborn?"

Rias was worried that they became a target by the monarch this early when their power is still weak. Ryuu just shook his head and explained.

"No, I doubt they'll mistake the shadow monarch for her since she doesn't have an Ashborn fragment."

"How can you be sure?"

Rias asked.

"I'm certain. However, they've already likely sent something to us that we should be prepared for."

They soon found themselves deeper and arrived at the level of the dungeon where they were greeted by a slightly stronger monster.

"Oh a triceratops with lightning magic"

Ryuu stared at the triceratops that had a behemoth of a body that was bigger than elephant producing electricity within it's horns viciously looking at them.

"Who's going to fight it?"

Ryuu asked his lover since he doesn't need to fight it and wanted to let her lover do the job. He planned on reviving it by letting it join the hivemind and reviving it since anyone in the hive could borrow the main collective skill of the body. 

"You girls know what to do!" 

Justine excitedly rocks paper and scissors to see who gets the chance to fight it. Trese decided not to join them and let the girls have the kill. Rias and Erza joined in.

"I won! Hahaha let's have some fun!"

The tomboy won the game giving a smirk before turning her attention the to monster that was bind by Ryuu.

"She's oddly Enthusiastic? Was Justine always like this?" ( Kanae )

"Yeah…she likes to fight when given the chance. I remember fighting her when we're younger."

Justine grinning at the triceratop monster who gave a strong exhaled, ready to kill her the moment she approached it. She cock her arms back, equipping her gear before using [ Shundō ] to vanish and appear close to make a one inch punch pushing the monster back several meters before the monster stands back up and uses its horn to attack.

"She's fast and strong."

Erza commented, impressed by the sheer power and skills that Justine was displaying compared to how she had been fighting till now and pummeled the monster and took the lightning head on as it was far too quick to evade using [ Shundō ].

"That's a bit reckless, don't you think?" (Rias)

Rias was taken aback how Justine didn't even budge and kept his assault without stopping. 

"Why didn't she evade the attack!?"( Kie )

"The lightning was too quick for her to dodge and she seemed confident in her endurances."( Shinobu )

"But I think it's still reckless."( Trese )

They continue to watch as Justine keeps moving while being electrified using her [ Aura ] to shield herself. Justine then grabbed the horns of the monster before showing shit eating grin.

"Gotcha!"

Justine clenched her fist before concentrating her strike the punch the head of the monster shattering it's skull and killing instantly. It was strong enough to not explode into smithereens. 

"She's tough to last that long while being electrified."

Rias said after seeing she was able to tank the lightning attack like it was nothing. Ryuu nodded and being proud at the ability of his lover since he's the one who helped to this point.

"It's because she has an [ Aura ] protecting her."

"Aura."

Rias and Erza wondered what kind of power it was. 

"We'll explain while we continue our journey but long story short it's basically touki. For now, you did amazing work!"

Ryuu walked up to the monster and took some meat before calling for Trese to test out something. He is unsure if it would work considering she only has Darkness magic but it wouldn't hurt to try. 

"Can you see a shadow lingering at the corpse?"

"Yeah? I forgot to mention earlier but every monster corpse seems to leave a shadowy essence. At first, I thought it was Aura but it seem wasn't the case"

"That's probably their soul."

Lucifer mentions she is able to see souls quite easily and even manipulate them if she wishes.

"A soul? I've seen dead spirits before but not like this."

Trese has been exposed to the supernatural in her old world but her experience differs to what she is seeing.

"This place has a different rule, we can't use our standard here. Anyway, try manipulating the soul and resurrecting them within your shadow?"

Ryuu said.

"I could try."

Ryuu guided her in using her powers as Trese could feel the soul and soon her shadow envelope itself into the corpse of the monster.

"Arise."

At that moment, an Ethereal shadow appears having bits of bluish tinge within them and everyone takes a step back raising their guard in case it attacks but surprisingly it lowers its head in front to Trese. 

"Oh it works!"

Nezuko exclaimed witnessing the towering shadow looking down on them while Trese was baffled that it actually works. She caresses the shadow, feeling how solid it would be if the creature was real. 

"You have Shadow Binding skills. Try telling it using your mind to head into your shadow."

Ryuu suggested while she only nodded and instructed the shadow monster horn to head inside her shadow. Unsurprisingly, the monster listened and absorbed into her shadow where it lay dormant. 

"Now you have your own summon like sandelmo."

Sandelmo, the fire elemental that Trese summoned via her phone that was currently left within her home as it was impossible to summon him through the dimensional barrier. 

Afterward, Ryuu added the monster into his [ Hivemind ] after taking some meat to cook later. He was interested in what the dinosaur meat would take after cooking them. 

They dived deeper into the dungeon finding some armored Tyrannosaurus Rex that had thick plated carapace that protected it from their attack. 

"Once we're done here, I'm going to cook some Dinosaur meat!"

Ryuu exclaimed while using Hammer fist and amplifying with [ Aura ] allowed him to easily tear through its armored plating as it roared fiercely.

Once he was able to rip the armored plating, he immediately shapeshifted and sliced its neck cleanly with his shapeshifted Blade.

The Armored sub dragon slowly falls into the ground with a loud thump. Ryuu had fun and found something interesting. 

The stronger something is, the harder it is to control their blood. He tried expanding its blood and bones to kill it causing the creature to die from inside.

Once he's done, Trese extracted the shadow into her personal army while Ryuu did the same, reviving the Tyrannosaurus Rex after he acquired a level of meat from it. 

The group headed deeper into the dungeon slaughtering more monsters and finally arrived at the Mid boss. 

"C Rank venom wyvern?"

Ryuu saw the creature noticing the poison that it was spewing. They stared at the shrieking enormous creature producing viscous and miasmic poison that could prove fatal to anyone that dared fight it unprepared. 

"I'll fight since I'm immune to poison."

Shinobu said and no one argued with her logic. She took out her Zanpakuto that still hadn't been able to turn into a Shikai but slowly got closer. 

"Butterfly Dance - Caprice."

She used [ Koku Shundō ] to leap into the hair before charges towards the Venom Wyvern that pierce through its thick body and shriek in pain before frantically flapping its wings pushing Shinobu back and was hit by its tail.

Fortunately, she was able to block it, thickening her aura but still pushed back by the sheer force of its whip-like tail.

"I've fought some wyvern before and it's really troublesome when they're in the air."

Erza shared her insight watching Shinobu fight.

"I haven't fought one but stray devils that fly do take extra effort."

Rias said understanding how battle experience is also needed in order to get stronger. 

"Shinobu-chan, be careful!"( Kanae )

"Are you alright!?"( Mitsuri )

"Why didn't that monster die from her attack?"( Nezuko )

She saw them a few times and didn't immediately die from her attack. They're Rank doesn't determine their true abilities since quantity is different from quality. This is why Ryuu thought it would be better to start easy to let them get the feel of it. 

"Ryuu, did something wrong happened?"( Kie )

"The Venom Wyvern uses poison and it'll obviously have a high resistance and tolerance against poison."

Ryuu explained without removing his attention on the fight. Shinobu quickly recovered, analyzing her mistake and evading the attack of the monster. Even if she's immune doesn't mean she'll let it soak her clothes in poison.