Sitting on the horse carriage that Cell provided for us, Neptune and I rode for half a day before reaching Tennessine .

What awaits us was an extremely tall tower, with the shadow of the tower covering the wilderness .

The top of the tower couldn’t even be seen as it rises up above the clouds .

“This is Tennessine?” (Ryouta)

“That’s right . ” (Neptune)

“So we’re going up instead of down?” (Ryouta)

“Is this your first time seeing a dungeon that’s not underground?” (Neptune)

I nodded lightly .

“I see, well it happens from time to time . ” (Neptune)

“Is that so . ” (Ryouta)

It’s not like I’m particularly surprised or anything .

I mean it’s true that the dungeons that I’ve been into were all going downwards .

But that doesn’t I did not exclude the possibility of it not going upwards .

I looked around my surroundings .

“There’s nothing around us . Not even a village?” (Ryouta)

“They haven’t developed anything of that sort yet, since this place is under the rights of several places, and it depends on the investigation to determine . ” (Neptune)

I see……… By the way, what are the monsters and drops like?” (Ryouta)

“I don’t know about the drops . ” (Neptune)

“You don’t?” (Ryouta)

Neptune wryly smiled .

“As I said before, it depends on the results of the investigation right?” (Neptune)

“We have to know at least what they drop . ” (Ryouta)

“The monsters here are stronger than me . I might have won the first time, but I let my chance slip by . ” (Neptune)

“Stronger than you…… . . And your first time?” (Ryouta)

“You’ll understand once you head inside . And just to let you know again, they’re stronger than me . ” (Neptune)

He repeated the same words twice .

Afterwards, he went onward with a serious face .

“Do keep your guard up . ” (Neptune)

“… . . Got it . ” (Ryouta)

I know the strength of Neptune, as he is famous because of it .

But to say that to this dungeon .

I gave up thinking about it, and looked forward to going into the dungeon .

“I’ll leave the carriage to you . So for now, I’ll try to clear the first floor, but I have to head back soon immediately after clearing, okay?” (Ryouta)

Since I have my promise of meeting Plumb.u.m everyday .

“You got my words, leave it to me . ” (Neptune)

Neptune sent me off, as I walked into the dungeon by myself .

Tennessine, first floor .

The outside is shaped like a tower, and obviously the inside does too .

The interior has pile of marbled stone bricks stacked symmetrically, and there are gaps that indicate that they’re windows .

This might be the first time going into such a bright dungeon .

It’s not a bad feeling .

Well then, what would the monsters——–

“Eh? Didn’t you say that you’re not following, Neptune?” (Ryouta)

“…… . ” (Neptune)

I saw Neptune marching towards me .

“Wait a minute, there’s another entrance over there——” (Ryouta)

My instincts kicked in immediately as I jumped to the side .

The Neptune who was marching towards me threw a punch at me .

Baaaam! The sound of air exploding could be heard from where I was earlier .

The explosion of his fist made a hole in the floor .

“What the h.e.l.l are you doing Neptune!” (Ryouta)

“…… . ” (Neptune)

“Don’t tell me……It’s not the real one?” (Ryouta)

Being confused, Neptune once again charged towards me, releasing the same punch towards me .

This time however, I threw a punch at him as well .

————-!

An unheard shockwave blasted throughout the dungeon, and Neptune and I were blown three steps away from each other .

We were equal .

This reminded me of when I first met him in the pub .

It was similar to the time when he moved and threw a punch at me .

At that time, both of us were equal .

“But now, we’re still equal…… . . ” (Ryouta)

Since then, I have powered up .

In contrast, Neptune should’ve capped at where he was .

But right now, he’s far stronger than before .

Especially when his strength is similar to mine .

The word [fake] appeared at the back of my mind .

Since the movements are similar, it might be a Doppelganger of the person, just that the power is overwhelmingly higher than the original .

I set up a barrage of fire using my normal bullets, then installed a trap using the Flameless Bullet .

But he managed to escape from my trap, and even rushed towards me with tremendous speed .

Baaam!

I guarded the fierce punch that was coming after me, which caused me to fly away, but before that, I grabbed onto his arms as well and swung, then threw him backwards using the momentum .

Neptune was sent flying towards the walls of the tower, which caused the towers to crack .

Then, amongst the dust and rubble, Neptune emerged .

“He’s unscathed huh . ” (Ryouta)

I was kinda amazed .

There was dust all over him, but no injuries whatsoever .

“How about this!” (Ryouta)

I fired the Speed Up Bullet on myself .

Accelerating myself by 10X, I rushed towards Neptune .

Avoiding his slow motion heavy punch, I grabbed onto his throat and dragged him across the ground like a train .

Once I reached the walls, I fired the Growth and Infinite Lighting Bullet relentlessly at zero distance .

“Will that work?” (Ryouta)

This would kill a Dungeon Master cla.s.s numerous times .

However, it doesn’t seem like he was that injured, as he further counter attacked .

Though he looks tough, it doesn’t mean that it’s not working .

And it’s not like he has anything special .

It’s just the strongest adventurer, Neptune, but x2 .

I still have my acceleration effect .

I grabbed onto his arms again in slow motion, then judo flip him onto the ground, making his arms and legs opened up into a [大] word . Then, I fired the Trash Bullet on all four of his limbs .

With the bullet which even I can’t move it, it landed on Neptune’s limbs, preventing him from moving .

He tried tossing around, but it was fruitless .

Then, mounting on him, I continued to fire more bullets at zero distance .

When my speed effect almost wore off, I finally defeated him, and something dropped .

What dropped was .

“It’s Matsutake . This is my first time seeing it in this world . ” (Ryouta)

Getting to meet such a strong opponent today, and it dropping a high quality food .

In a sense, it’s amazing to say the least, but then again it doesn’t really fit .

I guess it does make sense in this world .

I picked the Matsutake up .

“So more are coming huh . ” (Ryouta)

Having to painstakingly defeat one of them, three more appeared from far .

All three closed the distance by rushing towards me .

Usually I would escape from a 3 v 1 battle .

“Repet.i.tion!” (Ryouta)

But, I used Repet.i.tion .

It is only used when I’m fighting against an incredibly strong opponent in which I have not figured out a way to defeat them effectively yet .

“Hmmm, this sure is a troublesome dungeon . ” (Ryouta)

I’m also curious as to why it was Neptune that I’m fighting . Better ask him once I head out .