Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 028
Chapter Title: Black Sorcery Fortress #3
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Sir Gottwald said he'd guide us all the way to the secret warehouse.
For reference, Knight Sir Gottwald was a man with a slender face and long hair tied back.
But we couldn't afford to take him lightly—he was a whopping level 16.
“Sir Knight, at level 16, how much Ether have you invested? At least a hundred million, right?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Hehe, I'm just curious what it takes to earn that much Ether.”
“Oh, I see. You must be wondering because you're heading into Colonel Raiden's treasure vault.”
Zzzt-.
Sir Gottwald narrowed his eyes and scanned us over.
“You've got your eyes on Colonel Raiden's treasures, haven't you.”
“I'm after knowledge, not treasure.”
Hermit snorted derisively.
I'm not after treasure either—it's just an errand for Sister Germain.
Hammer, following behind, chimed in too.
“I'm in it for the money. Running a party isn't cheap.”
Anyway.
Hearing Sir Gottwald's stories made me suddenly crave riches too.
If we play our cards right in that warehouse, we could strike it rich in one go, right?
But the deeper we descended the stairs, the stranger the atmosphere grew.
We must've gone down a dozen floors or so already, heading underground.
And still no end in sight.
“Chung!”
“On guard—no anomalies!”
The guards we occasionally ran into only amplified my unease.
Normally, guards protecting a treasure vault would watch the outside for intruders.
But the ones we met were facing inward, swords pointed underground, not toward the surface.
‘The setup isn't to block outsiders—it's to stop escapees from inside.’
Hermit glanced around sharply.
“I had a hunch. That deep bottomless pit near Rabadon City...”
“Correct. This black fortress was built atop that pit.”
Sir Gottwald halted abruptly.
The stairs ended.
Instead, an enormously deep chasm yawned before us.
“This black fortress isn't to keep intruders out. It's to protect the Empire from what's in this pit. And you're about to step right into it—.”
How deep could it be?
Just in case, I pulled my all-purpose tool, the Fragment of the Stone Man, from my satchel and tossed it in.
“......”
No matter how hard I strained my ears, no sound of it hitting bottom.
Is this for real?
“Wait!”
Shk-.
Hermit drew a book from her pointed hat.
「Long ago, a shepherd searching for a lost sheep discovered a deep pit.
Ten days later, he returned muttering only, ‘We must seal the hole,’ before blocking his own eyes, ears, and nose.
Afterward, the villagers tried filling the pit with corpses and refuse, and it became known as the bottomless pit, while the village was named Rabadon, meaning Pit Village.」
「Title: Folk Tale Near the Great Wall, Author: Estelle」
Thud-.
Hermit closed the book and finished her explanation.
“It's been nearly 300 years since this pit was found, but its secrets and mysteries remain unsolved.”
“So, Hermit, what the hell did that shepherd go through in that darkness?”
“How should I know?”
No way!
What did he see!?
I'm dying to know!
Just then, Hammer tied a rope around his waist and exhaled sharply—ha-!
“Colonel Raiden uses a demonic hellhole like this as his personal storage? That's what it takes to be one of the Empire's Four Legends!”
“Hey, Hammer, I've got a question. What's this ‘Empire's Four Legends’ thing?”
“What? Yor, you're an imperial citizen and you don't know about the Empire's Four Legends?”
“Hehe, keep the story short, please.”
“It refers to the four heroes who subjugated Dragon King Degaros. That's what inspired me to become an explorer!”
Dragon King Degaros—what's that?
I wanted to ask, but it sounded like another long tale, so I held back.
I tied my own rope around my waist—.
And we slowly rappelled down into the pit.
Ssssh-.
Soon, it felt like ants crawling into my nose, mouth, and ears.
I knew this sensation all too well.
“Ugh, fuck, this is ‘night’!”
It reminded me of being left alone at Mischanic University.
“Damn it! Why is night here when we're not even past the Great Wall...!?”
“Urgh—. I'll get the Ether Torch!”
Fwoosh-.
Hermit pulled a torch from her pointed hat.
Didn't she say one of those costs a million Ether?
We'd already burned through a million Ether.
At that, Hammer steeled his resolve.
“Yor, your wish came true. Where there's night, there's Ether.”
“Oooo!”
Suddenly, motivation surged through me?
We descended for a good while until we spotted a ledge on the opposite wall.
My darkness-adapted eyes made it look like a cave entrance, covered in footprints.
“I'll jump over and check it out.”
Hyat-cha!
I leaped across with all my might and latched onto the ledge—thud-.
Then, up top, I pulled rope from my satchel, tied it to a throwing knife, and hurled it toward the cliff where the party dangled.
Whip-! Thunk-!
“Got it. Seems solidly anchored, so come over slowly.”
“Whew, having a thief makes exploring so much easier!”
The party members crossed over by riding the line I'd set—upside down, like ants on a thread.
“Hammer, looks like a cave here. No traps that I can... sense.”
With my darkness-adapted eyes and trap-detecting nose, I scanned the surroundings.
Ahead lay a horizontal cave tunnel with a faintly sour smell.
“So, Yor, which way do we go?”
The cave was riddled with holes like Swiss cheese.
So many holes it was creepy.
“My map doesn't show paths here, so you'll have to lead us.”
With the precious Ether Torch burning.
Better to decide quick.
“The wide hole over there.”
“What's your basis?”
Basis?
Hammer's question left me speechless.
I'd just picked at random.
But admitting that would make me look like that shepherd boy.
I'd finally been building trust with the party.
Couldn't afford to look dumb here.
“Look here—this hole's the only one with moss growing. Means it's habitable for lifeforms, so that's our way.”
Pure bullshit.
But Hammer nodded in satisfaction, and Hermit and Felix didn't object.
We entered the mossy cave hole—and something felt off.
“Am I the only one seeing spiderwebs?”
“Nah, they're as thick as ropes.”
If these were real spiderwebs, it'd mean massive spiders.
Clatter-.
Plenty of discarded bones scattered around too.
Leftovers from giant spiders' meals?
“Mu-gyaak!”
Then Hermit tripped with a scream.
She hadn't noticed the pit at her feet.
The problem was, as she fell, she yanked hard on a spiderweb—.
Slosh─.
And that ripple traveled all the way into the dark depths.
“Everyone, draw weapons and battle stations—!!!!”
Veteran Hammer signaled like he'd been waiting.
Felix drew his sword and lightly slashed the web holding Hermit.
“Jeez, always causing trouble right away.”
“I-I didn't...”
“Not the time to fight, you idiots! Incoming!”
Hammer yanked out his massive hammer and bellowed.
His eyes weren't darkness-adapted, so he couldn't tell.
But mine clearly saw it.
Clack-clack-clack-.
Ssssh-sssshhh-.
Spiders surging like waves in the churning darkness.
Or... could you even call them spiders?
“...Human...!?”
Their forms resembled humans, but spider legs sprouted haphazardly from sides, heads, legs—like humans and spiders forcibly mashed together.
Red eyes bulging grotesquely all over their bodies!
“Sa... save me... it hurts... my whole body hurts...”
“Euugh—they're actual humans!”
“Yor! At that stage, there's no saving them! Mercy killing is the humane path!”
Hammer's words snapped me to attention.
“Fuck!”
I cursed and hurled a throwing knife.
Pop-!
It struck a human in the head.
“Uuuugh...”
—Kieeeek...!!!
The human body shuddered violently, then its skin ripped open as a massive spider burst from inside.
These bastards were spiders using human bodies like hermit crab shells!
“Ugh, fuck, that's gross!”
A spider the size of my torso leaped straight at me.
It moved so fast it was already on my shoulder!
—Kieeeek!
“Get off me, you shit!”
I thrust a throwing knife into its belly as hard as I could.
Clink-!
No deep penetration—just blocked by a hard shell.
Crunch-!
Then it bit my shoulder.
“Owowow!”
The Double-Edged Sword engraving doubled the pain.
It hurt so bad tears welled up.
—Kieeeek!!
But the spider screamed instead, thrashing and collapsing.
My blood—laced with Serpent's Blood poison—had invaded and eaten it from within.
Fuck yeah, Sabrannik forever!
Next time we meet, I'll gather a pile of stones for him!
“Insect shits are all toast!”
I immediately smeared blood on my throwing knives.
Then flung them everywhere—each hit dropping spiders screaming.
—Kieeeek-!
—Kiek!
“These spider bastards are dying happy!”
Wonder if there's a pest control gig like Cesco in this world?
I'd be filthy rich if I took it up now!
“Angrath's Flame Wheel!”
Then Hermit thrust her staff forward.
A spinning ring of fire formed at the tip—like a Catherine wheel—.
Blazing hot, it rolled forward fiercely.
Fwoosh-.
Fwoom-.
“Gieeeek!”
“Uwaaak!”
Humans, spiders, and webs burned to ash in an instant.
I'd felt it many times before, but magic really was bullshit.
[+500 Ether]
[Parasitic Spider Shell: Extremely tough. Too hard to process.]
500 Ether per one?
Fuck! These things are a goldmine!
I gleefully scooped up the Ether.
Clatter-.
Then something from the spider debris pile stuck to my hand.
“What's this?”
It was a statue resembling a stone Buddha.
Except it had eight arms.
Zzt- my head buzzed.
[—That's the Eight-Armed Matron Statue—.]
[Blessed One, give it to me—.]
[In return, I'll give you Legs of the Serpent—.]
Sabrannik?
Must be because night had fallen here—signal's coming through.
‘More importantly, this is the Eight-Armed Matron Statue…!?’
‘The item Sister Germain wanted me to find, popping up just like that…!’
Talk about lucky—!!!
The moment I tucked the statue into my Black Satchel—.
My body froze stiff.
“Uh...?”
My eyes caught enormous legs squeezing through the narrow cave toward us.
A body tall enough to touch the ceiling, blotting out my entire view.
Yet—eerie—no footsteps at all.
“Hehe, Ether.”
“Hey Felix, doesn't the roasted spider smell tasty?”
“Hammer, don't say weird stuff.”
Hermit, Felix, even Hammer hadn't noticed its approach.
Only my Black Eye could see it.
I yelled desperately.
“BOSS MONSTER—!!!!”