Clash for Head of House (3)
"What are you doing, not paying attention?"
I caught the mana blade Ter had hurled at me.
Crack!
"I get that you're excited with the target right in front of you, but charging ahead defenseless? Really?"
Spinning sharply in my palm, scratching at my skin, the attack writhed until I closed my grip and crushed it.
"When something's sitting out in the open like that, suspicion should be your first instinct. Right?"
"Ah... right. You're right."
Ter was stammering. Scratching at her head, she answered me with a dazed face.
What's wrong with her?
The girl had suddenly gone off. Like someone who'd taken a massive shock and gone blind to everything else, she couldn't find her footing at all.
Ter was a scout-type, the one responsible for watching monster movements in a dungeon and keeping the party safe — and she'd been the top of her class at it. There was no way a flimsy trap this obvious should have worked on her.
I'd have to look into that later.
"Fall back."
I pushed Ter behind me and took a combat stance. Scattering mana through the air to detect the hidden enemies, countless presences lit up within the cavern.
Just counting roughly, there had to be a good hundred of them.
On the ceiling, the walls, even the floor. Invisible, but clinging to the area around the gem like a dense net.
Brain Bugs.
Bug-type monsters no bigger than a fingernail, yet carrying enough mana to smack down most monsters. Having lived by storing the mana the Connector gave off, they bared their fangs at us for stepping into their habitat.
Now that they'd registered us as enemies, there was nothing strange about them attacking at once. I'd half-expected this, and was fully prepared to draw up my mana and respond — but then I thought better of it and held back.
Wait, isn't that down to double digits now?
Fwoosh!
A flash brighter than the stars but weaker than the sun stitched its way across the cavern. Soft motes of light, like those that illuminate a dark night, lit up the interior before blinking out one by one.
Ting! Pwoom!
A sound like plucking the strings of an instrument passed by, followed by explosions popping all over like bursting balloons.
"The monster swarm guarding the Connector has been dealt with. It's safe now — please come in."
She wiped them all out in that time, huh.
I'd planned to secure the out-of-it Ter's safety first, then sweep the rest myself — but before I could even step in, Yuri had charged ahead. The gloves on her hands shimmered with a pale silver light, and nothing remained where the monsters had been but scorched ash.
"Not bad. Now I get why Ter brought only you along with me and left everyone else on standby."
"That's high praise indeed. I only had my opening because you secured Lady Ter's safety, Lord Solis."
Having finished speaking, Yuri quietly stepped aside. Clearing the path to the gem, she placed a hand on her stomach and bowed with formal courtesy.
"Lady Ter, this way. Please retrieve it and let's be on our way."
"Mm-hmm."
Ter finally came back to herself at her words and moved forward to claim the Connector.
Something's off. Why isn't that thing showing up?
It had been smooth to the point of being yawn-inducing, but I didn't let my guard slacken. Because those monsters had only been the opening act.
The gem's true guardian was something else entirely. I spread mana through the cavern trying to pinpoint its location, but no further presence made itself known.
At this rate, maybe grabbing the thing and hightailing it out of the dungeon was one valid option?
I was weighing the possibilities, planning to simply secure the Connector first when—
"Fufu."
"!"
A soft laugh sounded beside me, and I whipped my head toward it. A faint smile had appeared at the corner of Yuri's mouth, which had held a perfectly uniform expression until now. Her eyes were fixed squarely on Ter and the Connector.
"Wait—!"
I reached out to stop her, a beat too late.
"Huh?"
By the time I noticed, Ter's hand was already on the Connector.
Fwoooosh!
Dazzling light swallowed the cavern whole. My vision blurred at the edges, and my consciousness went flying off somewhere far away.
By the time I came to, nothing but pitch-black darkness was waiting to greet me.
...
Where am I?
Ter blinked like a goldfish gulping at the surface. Unable to make sense of her situation, she fumbled in confusion like a machine glitching out.
The scenery had changed. The damp floor of the cavern she'd been standing on moments ago was gone, and hard concrete now sat underfoot.
An abandoned building? Why am I in a place like this?
In place of the lightless cavern, a broken fluorescent light flickered overhead, casting a ghastly atmosphere — it felt like a ghost might pop out at any moment.
I remember touching the Connector...
Retrieve the item sleeping in the dungeon, and prove your right as head of the house. She had worked hard to faithfully carry out the Elder's instructions, and with Yuri's and Solis's help, she'd succeeded in obtaining it without a hitch. But the instant the item hit her palm, she'd blinked — and found herself tossed into this place.
The Connector she'd secured wasn't in her hands either.
This is a problem. Did I get separated from them?
If her memory was right, she hadn't made it out of the dungeon. She was in a place where a monster ambush could come at any moment.
I need to link up with the others as fast as possible.
Quickly making her decision, she hurried her steps. She moved cautiously, scanning her surroundings with meticulous care.
Step, step.
Huh?
That was when she heard footsteps in the distance. Ter hastily hid behind a wall and fixed her gaze on the source of the sound.
A woman?
There stood a gaunt woman. Dressed only in a thin white slip and walking barefoot across the tile, she moved with a gait that somehow felt familiar as she stepped into a room with an open door.
Why would a person be in a place like this?
The only ones who had entered the dungeon were Solis, Yuri, herself, and Yupi. No one else could get in at all.
Which left one possibility.
That's a monster.
Ter concluded that the woman was a monster disguised to lure in humans. That frail, haggard figure paired with a lovely face was engineered to trigger protective instincts — Ter herself had nearly let her guard down and called out to her.
If it were Solis, he'd have pounced and grabbed her hand before anything else.
That pervert had stamina to spare, after all. And even if he were ambushed, he was skilled enough to shrug it off easily, so she wasn't worried about him.
I have to avoid her at all costs.
Self-preservation first. Preparing for the unknown, she intended to keep her strength in reserve — her priority was rejoining the party, so she decided to leave the woman be and hurry off to scout elsewhere when—
Creak, creak!
"Hnn... ahh."
A stifled moan leaked out from the room the woman had entered. A wet, viscous sound of something sticky clinging and peeling away, and the dull rhythm of flesh striking flesh, resonated together.
Hold on. No way. It can't be.
Ter doubted her own two ears. It was a sound that absolutely should not exist in a dungeon, so she dismissed it — surely the fatigue was making her hear things.
Slap, slap!
"Uuu, stop it already..."
"What's she mumbling about now?"
"Less talking, more sucking."
It only grew clearer the longer she listened. And then an unfamiliar man's voice joined the mix, shaking her senses apart.
...This is insane.
She took a step forward, then pulled back, over and over. Her feet, drifting without destination, couldn't find their footing.
Ugh, come on!
In the end, unable to contain her curiosity, Ter crept toward the door. She'd told herself it was impossible, that it had to be a misunderstanding — and holding her trembling breath, she poked her head toward the open gap in the door, and—
Tap, tap, tap!
"Ahk, that's amazing. More...!"
It was an unbroken chain of things that defied all common sense, things she could hardly believe.
"Hah, hah... it feels like my mind's melting."
"No matter how many times we do this, I never get tired of it."
In the room falling apart around them, the only intact thing left was the bed — and on it, the woman from before was surrounded by men she didn't know.
"Come on, hurry up and squeeze him tighter. You want to be done with this too, don't you?"
"...Yes."
Naked, the men handled the woman's body like an object. Rough hands seized her chest, and they moved against her with the relentlessness of beasts. The others pressed themselves toward her face as well, compelling her to service them.
"Mmph. Mm."
"Good girl. If only you were this obedient all the time."
Even as distaste showed on her face, the woman dutifully worked to satisfy their desires. Her movements were practiced yet somehow hesitant — and in them, an attitude of utter resignation showed through, clear as day.
What is tha—
Ter watched the scene with bated breath. Her mind had gone white; she couldn't even process what she was seeing. And that was when—
Grab!
"Mmph!"
Someone seized her from behind. They pinned both her arms and covered her mouth, leaving her unable to make a sound.
When did they get behind me?!
Ter panicked at the presence of the stranger who had approached without a whisper of sound. Only after registering what had happened to the woman in the room did the fear come flooding in.
What if the same thing happened to her?
No — I won't let it!
Her heart plummeted. Bound in place, Ter startled so badly she yanked her mana up in a rush, drawing out her Divine Artifact in an instant and leveling its muzzle at the suspicious figure holding her from behind—
"Shh. Quiet."
"...Solis?"
The familiar voice brought her calm rushing back. She lowered the artifact in her hands and turned around — and there, just as expected, stood that dependable tanned blond man she knew so well.