The Undertaker's Sword Dance
The party leader was disappointed.
To travel was to hope, however vaguely, for something new. It might mean craving a short rest or yearning to savor a world unlike one's own. An escape from daily routine. A lively adventure.
In that sense, climbing the Tower's floors was much the same. The only real difference was the need to stake one's life on the outcome.
Kieeeek!
Jason, now drenched in sweat, swallowed hard and sliced through a goblin with his blade. The reckless green monster's head flew off in a single stroke, spraying hot blood.
“……Haa.”
Jason exhaled sharply and moved again without pause. Goblins were nothing to an experienced warrior like him, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming. He'd thought the dungeon seemed light on monsters for its size, but apparently they'd all gathered here.
They're still pouring in.
More goblins flooded from the corridor the raid team had entered and from every other passage. Whether they had some command structure or were simply drawn by the noise no longer mattered.
By now the hall was packed with the creatures, and a shaman in the rear had begun casting spells.
Colorful lights flickered into existence one by one around the goblin shaman's staff.
Jason wanted nothing more than to kill the caster quickly, but his hands were full. As he struggled to hold back the tide, he shouted at the mage in a desperate voice.
“Intercept!!!”
The mage had been handling the goblins spilling from various passages. She frowned, stretched out one hand, and began her incantation. A fireball swelled in the air before her, then detonated.
“Fireball.”
The blazing projectile tore through the air, incinerating the green monsters in front of Jason before colliding with the shaman's spell.
BOOM!
The impact weakened both spells, canceling them out in a small explosion that sent black ash billowing upward. The shaman, now coated in soot, glared at them with bloodshot eyes and began preparing its next curse.
They're holding on over there too.
Kemel dodged an orc's axe and glanced toward the guild leader's son and the mage on the opposite side. It was reckless to shift his gaze mid-battle, yet he still found an opening to decapitate the orc before him and immediately engaged the next monster.
His sword, clashing against the orc's double-bladed axe, glowed with a blue aura. The gap in skill wasn't wide enough to end the fight instantly, but he was more than capable of landing decisive blows whenever the frenzied orc warriors charged.
Whenever other orcs tried to exploit his blind spots, a whip of water lashed out from behind to harass them. Sometimes waves formed in midair; other times droplets appeared along the path of their axes, disrupting their swings.
The spirit mage's support wasn't flashy, but it made the knight's movements far easier. Their side was certainly faring better than the group being overwhelmed by the goblin wave.
Still, they won't collapse right away.
Kemel had worried at first, but the others were holding their own. Jason and the mage siblings were too talented to lose here. That was precisely why he, a knight, had joined what should have been a safe raid. The situation had simply turned unfavorable.
If only goblins and orcs were the problem, the four of them could have handled it easily.
The real issue is—
Kemel looked with a heavy heart at the troll rampaging in the center of the hall. It was a monster rarely seen on the lower floors, one that usually appeared only midway through the middle levels.
Every time its club slammed down, the ground cratered. Whether it struck an expensive statue or another green-skinned head, anything in its path was pulverized by the overwhelming force.
Had Kemel been standing there, his skull would have been shattered in moments. Precisely because he could make such a clear self-assessment, he understood the situation perfectly.
It's a monster.
After severing another orc's neck, he gazed into the distance at the girl who seemed to be dancing with the beast in the middle of the battlefield.
The Undertaker. Liz.
The girl from another world slipped past the falling club as if brushing against a breeze, leaving sword wounds on the troll's ankle, wrist tendons, abdomen, thighs—every vulnerable spot she could reach.
Her movements were a sword dance that a knight who had devoted his entire life to the blade could never hope to match. They flowed like a solitary dance, elegant yet calculated, instinctive in their evasion. Even surrounded by monsters, she somehow shaped the environment to her advantage.
Look—the troll, lured by her motions, had just smashed the head of its own orc subordinate.
Beautiful.
Even while distracted by the sight, Kemel's fight against the orc warriors became much easier. It wasn't that the monsters had weakened. Rather, his own realization, the mirror of his soul, had begun to shine brighter.
The more his eyes filled with admiration, the stronger the blue light on his blade grew.
Uwooooooh!
The troll seemed irritated by how I kept dodging its club. Given its massive size, its roar from deep in its lungs was impressively loud.
While it was agitated, I darted in and stabbed its ankle again. The giant-like creature staggered, but it quickly overcame the pain and charged at me.
BOOOOM!
Its club smashed into the marble floor, which exploded like a bomb. I twisted my head to avoid the flying debris and looked at the troll's snarling face.
The ugliest bastard in the room twisted its wrist and swung again without hesitation.
CRASH!
After shattering the wall behind me, it swung its club relentlessly, mixing in bare fists and kicks. No breathing room at all.
Yeah, it's definitely a troll.
This is ridiculously tough. True to its reputation as a stamina monster, it never tires and keeps rushing in. The ankle tendon I'd torn open earlier had already stopped bleeding and was nearly healed.
That was why it charged without the slightest hesitation.
CRAAAASH!
The club swings were just the bonus. With its overwhelming stamina and strength, a battle of attrition would definitely favor the troll. I could dodge comfortably for now, but a single solid hit would retire me on the spot.
The only saving grace was that the dim-witted monster wasn't smart enough to target the other raid members.
Hmm. No choice, then.
This wasn't going to end at this rate. I lured its swings toward the orc warriors, creating openings, and made my decision.
Even after resolving myself, a pang of sadness hit me. I guess I'm still human after all.
For a brief moment I gazed at Excalibur (No. 3) with fond eyes—it had only been used for a single day—then raised it to meet the incoming club.
CRAAAAACK!
A tremendous noise erupted from the superb steel blade.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The relentless sounds echoing through the hall were neither the ring of a blacksmith's hammer nor the clash of equally matched knights. It was a brutal duel between a green-skinned giant and a tiny girl, the difference in size cruelly apparent.
Whenever the troll swung its club—far larger than the girl's body—Liz angled her sword against it as though following some prearranged choreography.
CRASH!
Sometimes the impact rang out like a hammer driving a nail, carrying the threat of imminent shattering. Other times came a sharp screeeech as the massive stone club met steel.
Uwoaaaaah!
Monster and girl continued their frenzied duet, each sound a different expression of raw power. Usually the troll struck first with its club, but occasionally the girl would slip deep into its reach and slash with her blade.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sounds of destruction repeated endlessly. Even after more than ten minutes of this symphony, the slender sword that looked so fragile next to the club stubbornly refused to break.
It was such a beautiful yet savage encounter that even the explorers and monsters locked in their own life-or-death struggles throughout the hall couldn't help but steal glances.
……Crack.
But all things must part eventually.
Sparkling fragments fell from the blade that had endured the violent storm. The knight who had been staring intently at the monster and girl's duel stiffened.
They might look like sparkling starlight, but they were shards of a broken sword.
The weapon had finally reached its limit. If he, a mere witness, had noticed, its owner—the girl—must have realized long ago. No, she had probably known even before they clashed.
Yet the smile on her face, drenched in the monster's blood, was far too bright to suggest resignation.
The watching knight suddenly understood.
……CRACK!
The girl danced like a performer, wielding her sword with the steady devotion of a blacksmith swinging his hammer. What seemed meaningless or excessive to others was something she had been doing for a long time.
After countless repetitions and refinements, the result was not a one-sided fracture of her blade.
CRAAAASH!
Liz brought her sword down at a single point. The cracks that had reached their limit spread across the steel, shattering it into pieces at the exact moment the monster's weapon also began to collapse.
CRRRRACK!
Through the split rock, the troll's eyes widened in shock.
“Keeeeemeeeeeel!!!”
In that instant, Liz shouted.
The knight who had watched her the entire time understood his role. In a flash, he glanced at the shield and sword in his hands, gripped the shield tighter with his left, and hurled his steel blade with his right without hesitation.
Whoosh—whoosh!
The sword spun fiercely through the air. The girl thrust her upper body directly into its path.
While the muscle-brained warrior was still thinking no way with a flicker of unease, Liz caught the flying sword as naturally as flowing water and landed at the troll's feet.
The enraged troll swung its fist, but she elegantly evaded and closed in. What should have been a club strike became an empty hand clutching only stone fragments.
She dodged that too, then severed every one of the thick fingers.
KWAAAAAH!
The troll thrashed in fury, but its leg tendons had all been cut. It collapsed on the spot. Even as it flailed its massive arms and fists in resistance, the result was the same.
Before it could recover, every tendon in its limbs had been severed. The troll could only lift its head and glare at the girl.
The petite woman smiled cruelly.
Slice.
Red blood gushed from the troll's throat.