Chapter 158
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Kobolds and the Underground Labyrinth
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"Uwaaaaaaaa!!!"
A grotesque lump of flesh: rotting, festering crimson meat pieced together in a heart shape, topped with bones and entrails, then sprinkled with beast blood! It was the stuff of nightmares crawling out from the tormented dreams of boys suffering the curse of solitude!
"Sinister abomination!"
Elise pointed her mace accusingly and rebuked it.
Yet the grotesque abomination didn't flinch. It pulsed vigorously like a whale's heart. Thump thump. That throbbing hammered my head like drumbeats, and memories from the past crashed over me!
Father! Father, father!!!! Chicken legs!!! How could you hog four all by yourselfㅡ!!!! Eating greedily in front of the kids, what the hell are you doing!!!!
"Is that the cause? Definitely the first time I've seen anything like that."
"...What the hell is that? Twisted lump of flesh? Is that why the blackie's losing it?"
"Seems like it. Hmm, in that case, no forgiveness."
"Looks fucking disgusting. Gotta burn it."
Claudia and Winia's everyday reactions fueled my madness.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"
At the peak of excitement, I charged with my sword raised high.
This irresistible impulse! It was calling to me! I had no idea why, but it would regret summoning me! That fucking thing was now as good as dead in my hands!
How dare it mess with my head!
Holy Enchant activated!
"God of Order!"
Elise's prayer echoed. -Patsutsut! Claudia overtook me, dashing forward with her curved sword blazing with radiant light gripped in both hands.
Fire Bolt (Lv. ?)
-Hwaruk!
-Hwaruk!
Winia chanted her spell and unleashed a Fire Bolt. She too was a seasoned adventurer versed in violence. Seeing her calmly fire off magic at such a cursed-looking monster put my mind at ease.
-Chwajajak!
The sacred curved sword tore into the lump of flesh, leaving afterimages like sparklers enjoyed with friends on a summer night. Chwak! Impure blood splattered along the trail of light. The splashed blood sizzled with a chiik and evaporated immediately, white smoke rising like mist.
Halo manifested above head!
"Holy Light!"
Elise, now with a ring of light above her head, kicked off the ground. She barreled in like a main battle tank and slammed her raised mace into the protruding, eye-like organ. Thwock!Thwock, thwock! The crushed eyeball oozed out like mush!
"Thrust!"
I finally reached it and thrust my sword in with full force. Puk! In an instant, the blade sank all the way to the base. Despite its horrific appearance, its durability wasn't that high. Overwhelming visuals, but actually just a pushover?
Regaining my confidence, I debated activating Weakness Exploitation. Kinda ambiguous... No. Thinking about it, wasn't this a 4 vs. 1? No matter how grotesque, the lone one is always the weakling against numbers.
Certain of victory, I stabbed repeatedly like a maniac.
"Guys! We gotta pool the power of friendship!"
"Got it!"
And so the four of us beat the tar out of it. My frenzy-granted attack speed buff made my strikes even more ferocious. I even reversed my grip on the sword to hack away at the flesh mound.
At this moment, with our four friendships united as one, we were invincible!
-Juruk!
Vigorously slicing into the flesh brought the entrails spilling out.
"Nice! Winia!"
I signaled Winia. She rushed up and rammed her staff forcefully into the gap where the guts had spilled. The light of her light magic vanished into the darkness of the innards, but soon her incantation rang out, illuminating the chamber.
Fire Breath
Direct flame burst into the core! -Hwaruruk!
"Fire Breath!"
-Hwaruruk!
Flames lashed straight into its innards! The grotesque abomination's pulsations quickened. Was it feeling pain? If the bastard could talk, I'd ask how it felt to have its entire gut roasted in an instant.
This evil monstrosity!
"I'm your deathㅡ!!"
I immediately unleashed the ultimate technique of the Execution Sword Style: Phantom Sword Dance, shredding its hide. Puk, puk! Elise swung her mace, chwajajak! Claudia carved off chunks, hwaruk! Winia hurled a fireball.
The overwhelming abomination could only throb under our onslaught, offering no real resistance. It didn't even have a mouth-like organ to scream with—it simply died in silence.
What kind of creature was that?
The more I swung my sword, the more the impure throbbing that had tormented my mind faded away. Two things were now clear: it had messed with my head, and it was dying.
I couldn't stop slashing.
Soon enough, the grotesque abomination was reduced to a massive pile of food waste.
Killing a completely defenseless opponent was a breeze. What can I say—it's the power of our gathered friendship. With no real attack options, it was hopelessly outmatched.
"Hah... hah..."
Only then did my breath come heaving out.
Claudia approached me as I slumped down.
"Katt. You okay now?"
"...Yeah. My head feels clear now. Thanks for worrying."
"What the heck was that..."
No more ominous sounds echoed. The endless past memories that had plagued me no longer surfaced. The only lingering question was why it had called to me. Unfortunately, now that it was dead, I'd never know.
"Anyway, what the fuck is this piece of shit? Looks just like the blackie."
This bitch.
"I... have no idea. This is definitely the first time I've seen such an abomination. The church never taught anything about something like this."
Elise's expression was grave as she examined the corpse.
At any rate, the battle was over.
We rummaged through the body for post-battle processing.
Gotta strip anything of value, right?
"...Now that it's dead, it just looks like an ordinary garbage heap. What is this thing."
It was literally just a mashup of all sorts of organs and meat. Was this even a monster? Flipping it over revealed a few tentacle-like organs. Nothing else noteworthy.
Hoping for something to loot, Claudia and I stirred through the guts. We sliced open intestine-like things and shoved bones aside as we worked. The more we searched, the deeper the mystery grew.
Even in an isekai fantasy world, could a monster like this exist naturally? It seemed like a total deviant without even basic biology, like a sea cucumber or sea squirt thug.
For something like this to be here meant someone with a purpose had placed it... Just what was its true nature?
A failed artificial monster?
A demon summoned from another realm?
A devil summoning?
A flesh golem-like artificial undead?
"Winia. Feel any magic or anything?"
I asked the mage first.
"Not at all. More importantly, blackie—your head okay now?"
"Better than ever. Looks like this bastard was the culprit. No more sounds since we killed it."
"Good."
At any rate, nothing seemed worth taking. Half-rotten bones, guts, and meat chunks—what else was there? Winia said it looked useless too, so probably no value.
I pocketed a few small bone fragments as souvenirs in my bag. Elise, finding nothing special, extracted one half-smashed eyeball and tucked it into her pouch.
"...Look over there."
At Elise's words, the party's gazes turned. What she pointed to was a stone door. Sure enough, a stone door embossed with bizarre carvings.
Was this abomination guarding the door?
"You've piqued my interest. Wanna check it out? Katt's recovered, and this monster wasn't particularly strong. I think we can go deeper. Kinda makes my heart race, y'know?"
Claudia said, caressing the stone door.
"...Well, we've come this far—we can't just leave empty-handed. I'm curious too. But blackie, your head's really fine, right?"
"If that's everyone's opinion, I'll join as well. I wish to witness the ugly truth hidden here."
The party's consensus leaned toward exploration.
I figured the real prize was beyond that door anyway.
Not to mention, we'd scored good loot from those sewer cultists after physically devouring their friends. And this place reeked of even more suspicion. Suspicious vibes meant money.
Whatever it was, the truth hidden here seemed to hold immense value. This was a sure thing. Adventurers were coming down from above anyway—it was only a matter of time.
We'd just seized the opportunity first.
Being this deep, we might even find a treasure room or queen's chamber.
"Alright. For the justice of this world, we gotta explore."
I nodded and pushed the stone door. -Kurur... It ground open slowly with its characteristic rumble, and we entered the next room.
Next room, I guess. This dark passage didn't seem particularly special. We proceeded cautiously. A massive underground labyrinth... Judging by the structure, this was the deepest part, with earthen underground facilities above.
Kobolds were originally underground dwellers, so they'd occupied both areas.
So when did the cultists start extending their influence? Probably quite a while ago... Was it related to the dungeon's recent discovery? No clue.
And so we wandered the labyrinth relying solely on Winia's light magic. No more of those creepy hooded Kobold Warriors in sight.
"How far does this go? Fucking endless."
"A scale like this underground... I can't believe it."
We'd walked quite a distance, yet no end in sight. Was this truly an ancient labyrinth? Ominous thoughts crept in, but at the same time, I grew curious about what treasures might lie dormant here.
"Hold up. Be quiet."
Claudia spoke up.
"Faint sounds... Kobolds?"
I clamped my mouth shut and followed her gestures. Sounds meant the path led somewhere. We trailed silently behind Claudia.
The passage wound around, and from midway, moisture seeped in... Maybe underground water nearby.
"Sounds like it's around here..."
Claudia halted. I strained my ears too. -... Definitely something.
"Winia, you hear it?"
"Shut up for a sec."
Winia spat, dimmed her light, and perked her ears. Elise did the same. Then Winia walked toward the wall.
"Whatcha doing?"
-Tok tok.
She started tapping the wall with her staff.
What? Morse code?
The bizarre action continued for a bit.
"Morse code?"
"...Blackie. I said shut up."
"..."
"Blackie sulking?"
"No."
"Watch closely, blackie."
-Tok tok.
Winia tapped the wall again while sliding sideways, just like before. Tok tok. Tok tok. Tap tap. What was I supposed to see? It really seemed like legendary emergency comms—Morse code.
"Feel something?"
"Morse code?"
"Dunno what Morse code is, but totally on-brand for blackie to miss it."
If not Morse, then what!
"The sounds are different, right?"
"There, blackie—sis gave you the answer."
Different sounds?
"Don't tell me... a secret door?"
"That's what I think."
Se, secret door!
"Secret door!"
Unbelievable!
"So there's a room beyond this?"
"Probably. Blackie, wanna give it a push?"
"Hell yeah!"
I placed my hand where Winia indicated. A secret door here... Unbelievable. Even in the dark, it looked like a normal wall to my eyes. I pushed with a bit of force.
-Swish.
And it actually opened!
"Gasp!"
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
Oh my god!
We hurried inside the secret door. It was obviously vast—and bright.
...Bright?
Looking up, the ceiling was studded with all sorts of glowing minerals, each twinkling in eerie hues. A mesmerizing sight, like gazing at the night sky.
As I admired the "sky," Winia murmured softly.
"...Kobold Queen."
What.