Chapter 73: Leveling Grounds for the Chosen of Pleasure — A Chance Encounter with Ais-tan!

They climbed down the long staircase toward the dungeon's upper levels, passing quite a few adventurers along the way.

However…

Most were in groups. Some were obviously stronger, judging by the high-end gear they wore.

It wasn't hard to distinguish.

Compared to them, Shirakawa—who carried no weapon—and Lili—carrying a massive pack—stood out.

They looked like rookie adventurers.

The dungeon was a womb for monsters. When slain, they turned to black ash, which returned to the dungeon and birthed new beasts.

A cycle of life.

The upper floors didn't radiate a strong sense of life force.

But stepping into the dungeon gave Shirakawa a powerful impression—it felt like a living nest. From an adventurer's perspective…

The endless stream of monsters was a perfect place to gain experience and grow stronger.

It was just a pity he couldn't bring his Chosen of Pleasure into the Danmachi world. Otherwise, he'd already have a full Familia.

Shirakawa didn't dwell on it.

He was still paying attention to whether his identity as a Chaos God would trigger any dungeon anomalies.

Following Lili, they arrived at the first floor—a pitch-black cave-like space dimly lit by faintly glowing luminous fruits on the walls.

...

For Shirakawa, venturing into the dungeon was a new and curious experience. What were the monsters and floor bosses like in terms of strength?

Naturally, he wanted to know.

Without concern for Lili's presence, he summoned the [Holy Sword: All Things of Creation]. Its crimson blade radiated a violent aura.

He unleashed mana through his Holy Sword Wielder Profession.

Using it like a detection spell, he scanned a 100-meter radius—and instantly locked onto several low-level goblins.

Extremely weak monsters.

He'd hunted far more in the Goblin Slayer world. But given this was a beginner zone, suited for level 1 adventurers…

The strength didn't seem excessive.

"If I really am heading down the evil god route… maybe I could build a subspace mobile fortress and bring my Chosen here?"

"This would be a great place for leveling them."

That thought flashed through his mind.

It was still a ways off, though. For now, Shirakawa only had basic authority as the God of Pleasure. He still lacked many Circle:

The Circle of Gluttony (for gourmet indulgence)

The Circle of Carnality (for ultimate desire and depravity)

The Circle of Paramountcy (for power over others)

The Circle of Vainglory (for the pursuit of glory and recognition)

and The Circle of Indolency (for false paradise and rest)

[Note: It's Slaneesh Six Circles of Seduction from Warhammer 40k]

To sum it up—

In Danmachi, he was the newly born god of chaos, yet righteous pleasure.

However…

As he wielded the [Holy Sword: All Things of Creation], Shirakawa could sense goblins spawning from the dungeon walls around him.

Their numbers were rising sharply.

"Is the dungeon rejecting outsiders?"

That seemed like the most likely explanation. He canceled his [mana release] ability, relying only on the stat boosts granted by his godhood.

His physique alone was over thirty times stronger than a normal adult male.

Even without using [mana release] or other profession-based skills, Shirakawa estimated that his strength was enough to walk freely on the 60th floor of the dungeon.

"Interesting!"

"..."

Lili, who followed behind as his supporter, had no idea what Shirakawa was thinking. As she stared at the weapon he summoned, radiating intense energy, she struggled to maintain her expression. Her pupils contracted slightly. If she wasn't mistaken… this was an extremely powerful magic sword?

His gear looked completely ordinary, yet he could suddenly produce such an expensive-looking weapon. More importantly, she hadn't sensed it on him at all...

Could it be a unique skill?

Normally, if she encountered a powerful adventurer, Lili would never dare harbor any ulterior motives. But even she failed to notice the effect of the Circle of Avidity.

Under the ring's influence, she ignored the danger.

The only thought left was that she could probably make a lot of money off Shirakawa to fulfill her own goals. And then, monsters appeared ahead.

Their low growls caught Lili's attention. A large number of goblins were closing in. She looked at Shirakawa and reminded him, "These are the lowest-tier monsters."

"..."

But he didn't need the warning.

With raw physical ability alone, Shirakawa burst into motion at a speed invisible to the naked eye. With a casual sweep of his sword—

His attacks, infused with a soul-level sharpness, sliced through the goblins as easily as cutting threads.

The goblins, once attempting a group assault, were cleaved in half and instantly disintegrated into black ash, leaving behind small, fingernail-sized magic stones.

[You successfully killed Goblin (Lv1), EXP +100.]

[You successfully killed Goblin (Lv1), EXP +100.]

[You successfully killed Goblin (Lv1), EXP +100.]

"That's a pretty generous amount of EXP."

Shirakawa didn't care much. He casually tossed a sack to Lili, leaving the crystal collection to her. This whole bait tactic thing really wasn't bad.

The so-called Circle of Avidity, unless the wearer had an unshakable will, would gradually corrupt them with greed. Lili was no exception.

Eventually, she would fall into the void of desire.

"..."

The short battle left Lili stunned. Though goblins weren't strong individually, their sheer number would trouble even a Level 2 adventurer.

To eliminate them so cleanly in an instant—what kind of power did he actually have?

She hurriedly took the sack from him.

Though he didn't speak, it was obvious: she was to collect the dropped crystals.

"My gut feeling was right…"

Watching Shirakawa continue slaying goblins, Lili diligently picked up the magic stones. Occasionally, one would just… slide into her sleeve and into her own pocket.

With so many on the ground, taking just a few shouldn't be noticeable, right? Besides, this was just the start.

As they went deeper into the dungeon, monsters would grow stronger and drop more valuable stones.

She kept confirming Shirakawa wasn't watching her. He was fully focused on the hunt. Still, Lili kept a cautious mindset.

For every four stones she picked up, she would secretly pocket one.

With such large quantities, Shirakawa probably wouldn't notice. And if he kept going deeper—

Just imagining it…

Lili couldn't wait. Maybe she could continue teaming up with Shirakawa until she earned enough to leave the Soma Familia, continuing as a supporter—

Make enough money for the rest of her life.

She hadn't realized yet that the Circle of Avidity had already planted a seed of corruption in her. What began as a plan to escape her Familia had evolved into a desire for wealth and luxury.

"Shirakawa-sama, floors 1–5 mostly spawn weak goblins. If you want stronger monsters, we need to head deeper."

Lili's eyes gleamed.

She pulled out a dungeon map from her bag. While lower floors changed, upper-level layouts stayed relatively stable.

Pointing ahead, she said, "I'll lead the way. I've got maps of the upper floors..."

"..."

With the Circle of Avidity granted to Lili, Shirakawa could clearly sense her shifting mindset.

Her thoughts had changed.

But that was exactly what he wanted to see. If she ever started leaning toward the unknowable side, then he'd step in to stop it.

He cleared the goblins around them.

No mana needed.

Just raw stats and weapons were more than enough.

Shirakawa smiled and said, "Sure. The monsters on this floor are pretty dull. Let's hope the ones deeper in are more interesting."

"Then let's go!"

With a map in hand and Shirakawa as powerful as he was, Lili, even as a supporter, took the lead confidently.

[Prerequisites met. Would you like to unlock the new Profession: Supporter?]

"..."

Shirakawa ignored the new class. Right now, the only thing that interested him was the adventurer role from the Konosuba world.

There, he could learn all skills without changing classes—but the SP cost was high.

Still, with his proficiency system, cost was never a problem.

Reaching the second floor of the dungeon, they again faced large groups of goblins. But with no resistance, they advanced smoothly.

It was easy.

The dropped magic stones already filled Lili's bag. She switched to an empty one. Her stealing ratio also increased—

Now it was three-to-one.

"..."

Shirakawa noticed everything, of course. But his main concern was unlocking more Chosen of Pleasure candidates and gaining stats.

By the time they reached the fifth floor—

The dungeon's environment clearly changed. The tunnel walls were now made of dirt. Glowing moss helped visibility.

The monsters also changed. Clown imps, dungeon lizards. Their numbers were large, but Shirakawa mowed them down effortlessly.

Then—

"What's going on?"

A loud disturbance ahead made Lili freeze. If she remembered correctly—

There shouldn't be a monster like this on the fifth floor.

Looking through the dark tunnel, a large, brown-furred, two-legged monster emerged.

Driven mad by pursuit, A Minotaur charged toward them, horns gleaming with a bull's fury.

Its stomps made the ground shake.

"What… what is that monster?!"

It radiated power she'd never seen. Lili instinctively backed away, her large backpack weighing her down.

But to Shirakawa, the Minotaur was all too familiar. A 15th-floor monster—Minotaur.

Not that strong.

What stood out…

Was its timing. In the original storyline, this monster escaped during the Loki Familia's expedition return.

"Could I actually run into Ais Wallenstein?"

"..."

Watching the Minotaur charge toward them, Shirakawa wasn't alarmed at all. For a Level 1 newbie—

This would usually be instant death.

Still, getting a chance to test the strength of a 15th-floor monster in advance—was like a gift delivered to his doorstep.

With a powerful push from his legs, Shirakawa moved so fast that only an afterimage remained. The ground beneath where he had stood shattered like a spiderweb.

"…"

Even Lili, who had been fully focused, couldn't catch the movement. Let alone the Minotaur, whose strength wasn't particularly remarkable—it couldn't react at all before Shirakawa appeared right in front of it.

Driven by instinct, the Minotaur threw a punch.

But what met it was only a flash of red sword light—cleanly severing its upper body in two.

Blood gushed out.

Once it was completely dead—

It disintegrated into black ash and returned to the dungeon. All that remained was a fist-sized magic stone, which landed on the floor with a crisp clink.

"That… that's it?!"

Lili, who had only ever supported low-tier adventurers before, had never seen a Minotaur up close. It was powerful enough to make her tremble in fear.

And yet…

She stared in disbelief at Shirakawa ahead. The battle ended so fast that she didn't even know how to feel.

He was strong.

At least the strength of a Level 3 adventurer. Especially the speed and decisiveness of the strike—it was no different from how he handled those large groups of goblins earlier.

Such a powerful adventurer, and yet she'd never heard of him in Orario. Maybe he came from somewhere else? Lili couldn't figure it out.

But she was sure—

She could make a lot of money by sticking with Shirakawa!

She ran over to collect the magic stone dropped by the Minotaur, smiling with admiration. "Shirakawa-sama, you're seriously amazing!"

"You just took down such a strong monster like it was nothing!"

"I just got lucky."

What Shirakawa meant by "lucky" was naturally his invitation to the Dimensional Chat Group. If he weren't bringing a supporter and ventured in alone…

With his base stats and holy sword alone—

He could handle down to floor 40 with no problem. As for deeper floors, like bosses, those would require mana-based skills.

If only he could use Explosion Magic freely…

It'd be a breeze to deal with.

The only thing that might pose a challenge would be the black dragon in the 59th floor's deep labyrinth—the final unresolved mission out of the Three Great Quests.

Even Zeus and Hera Familia couldn't take that monster down.

That one might be tricky.

But speed-running the dungeon wasn't his plan. The deeper the floors, the more complex the environment. Not to mention the massive ripple effect that would come with slaying the black dragon.

The dungeon—

Was essentially the training ground for candidates blessed by the God of Pleasure. Blitzing through it all would be boring.

Lili quickly shook her head, sounding earnest. "I don't think your strength is just luck. You must've worked really hard!"

She was desperate to build a closer connection.

To become short-term partners—and earn as much valis as she could from him. But Shirakawa could read her thoughts easily with just a glance.

He lightly shook his head, not paying it any mind.

And then came the sound of faint footsteps from the darkness ahead. A tall figure with long golden hair emerged, wearing armor crafted from an unknown material that accentuated her perfect form.

She carried a rapier in hand.

Under the dim glow of the luminous moss, her goddess-like beauty and heroic aura stood out unmistakably.

Ais Wallenstein.

A senior member of the Loki Familia and a Level 5 warrior known as the "Sword Princess" in Orario. Under the faint light—

Her cold, beautiful face was clearly visible.

She scanned the battlefield, noticing the remains of the earlier fight. There were no signs that the Minotaur had escaped via another tunnel.

Which meant…

The monster from the 15th floor had been dealt with—by Shirakawa right in front of her. And without much evidence of a fight.

With her combat experience—

She instantly realized the most crucial point: the battle had ended almost instantly.

More importantly, Shirakawa's face was unfamiliar. The weapon in his hand radiated a power even she found overwhelming.

"A weapon forged by a god?"

Ais didn't ask directly. She wasn't good at conversations to begin with. And since it was her fault the monster had escaped—

Her face showed no emotion.

She said in a cold, calm tone, "Apologies. That monster escaped during our expedition. Sorry for the trouble."

"It's fine."

Shirakawa thought her personality matched his impression of her. Despite her cold exterior, Ais was a bit of an airhead.

Just because he happened to run into this plot development—

Didn't mean he needed to force a connection. He passed by Ais with Lili in tow.

"What's the name of your weapon…"

Unable to hold back her curiosity—

Ais Wallenstein finally asked in her usual emotionless way, "It's… very special."