I, Sakudaira Keisuke, somehow ended up befriending the arrogant Demon Lord Spellvia in the deepest part of the dungeon.
"So, Spe-san, what do we do now?"
"Just Spe is fine ♡"
Spe (now stuffed full of pastries and grinning ear-to-ear) wagged her tail happily.
"Well… I want to leave this place with you, Keisuke, but I'm still sealed."
"Who sealed you? When?"
"Long ago… another hero summoned from another world."
So a previous hero had trapped her here with an [Absolute Barrier], an unbreakable spherical prison.
I used Appraisal just to confirm.
Absolute Barrier
→ Cannot be destroyed by any physical or magical means.
…But it never said anything about storing it.
"Hey, Spe. You want out of here with me, right?"
"More than anything!"
"Then how about you just hop inside my bag?"
The Hero's Bag has already swallowed monsters, poison, corpses, and an entire unbreakable barrier-wrapped skeleton.
A Demon Lord shouldn't be any different.
"Wait… you're saying the seal can't stop me from being stored?"
"Exactly. The barrier stops things from breaking it or dragging you out. It says nothing about vacuuming the whole damn thing."
Spe's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Do it, Keisuke!"
I flung the bag wide open.
GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
A howling wind exploded out.
The glowing Absolute Barrier began sliding toward the bag, Spe inside it included.
BZZT!
"Oof! It's pushing back!"
As expected, direct pull failed.
"But what if I store the barrier itself?"
Spe blinked twice. "Come again?"
"We don't break the seal. We eat the seal."
Like how the bag once slurped up that viper's acid mid-sounce, maybe it can swallow the entire "unbreakable" prison.
"Ready? STORE!"
GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
The Absolute Barrier folded like wet cardboard, shrinking, twisting, and vanishing into the bag, Spe and all.
"[Absolute Barrier] stored."
"[Demon Lord Spellvia] stored."
Success!
Then the level-up spam hit like a machine gun.
"Sacred Weapon leveled up."
"Sacred Weapon leveled up."
"Sacred Weapon leveled up."
…× seventy-plus times.
"OKAY I GET IT, SHUT UP ALREADY!"
When the announcements finally stopped, I checked the status.
Hero's Bag (Lv 103)
Unique Skill: ■Box
Derived Skills:
Monster ■Box
Magic ■Box
■Garden (Miniature World)
Level 103 before even leaving the tutorial zone.
I have zero frame of reference, but that can't be normal.
Time to let Spe out.
A small black cube popped out of the bag.
I caught it and smirked. "I choose you!"
Click.
Dazzling light poured out, and the massive Fenrir stood before me again, eyes wide.
"The seal… it's really gone… I'm free…"
She threw her head back and howled with pure joy.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FREEDOOOOOM!!"
The entire dungeon shook. Tears the size of softballs rolled down her cheeks.
"Keisuke… thank you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart."
"Anytime. That's what friends do."
"Then from this day forward, I swear to be your familiar and stand by your side forever!"
She gently pressed her nose to my forehead. Light flashed.
Her gigantic wolf body rapidly shrank and reshaped.
Standing there was a silver-haired, purple-eyed beauty with fluffy dog ears, a swishing tail, and… zero clothes covering her absurd curves.
"Wha—why human form!?"
"A familiar takes the shape most suitable to serve her master~"
"S-serving!? Clothes! Now!"
"Pfft, fine." Poof. She turned into an adorable palm-sized puppy and hopped onto my shoulder.
"From now on, I, the arrogant Demon Lord Spellvia, shall snuggle with my master and annihilate all who oppose us ♡"
I'm sorry, what did you say?
Suddenly, her tiny nose twitched.
"Strong magical signature nearby."
"Monster?"
"Could be human, monster, artifact… my nose never lies. Shall we investigate?"
"Obviously. I also want to see what level 103 actually does."
She guided me through the tunnels until we found another pile of bones.
Another hero. Same faint magical trace as mine.
"Spe… are there more like this around here?"
"Plenty. This floor is basically a landfill for discarded summoners."
I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug into my palm.
"Then show me every single one. We're taking them all home."