Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Antiros's Laboratory
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Antiros was a mage who yearned to cross the forbidden line and encroach upon the sacred domain of the Creator.
Thus, he left the continent, built his laboratory here in the Blood-Soaked Land of Kuberin, and immersed himself in chimera research using his knowledge of magic and alchemy.
He had dabbled in forbidden magic to create new life forms.
The results were the motley crew of chimeras now showing hostility toward Carlyle.
Beasts, monsters, and even humans.
The chimeras Antiros created were combinations of body parts from all sorts of creatures, giving them truly bizarre and grotesque appearances.
“He who… trespassed upon… Father’s domain…”
A chilling voice flowed from the mouth of a chimera with a human head.
“Shall be punished… by death.”
Those words were the signal.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
“Grrrrrrrr!”
The chimeras charged at Carlyle all at once.
“Ugh.”
Without looking back, Carlyle dashed toward the laboratory entrance where the reconnaissance team members were waiting.
“Y-Youngest!”
A startled Begman shouted.
“Faster! Hurry!”
Kudo’s shout was also heard.
*Shwick, shwish!*
Several tentacles shot out, aiming for Carlyle’s back.
*Whoooosh!*
*Thud!*
An arrow whizzed past Carlyle, narrowly missing him, and pierced the chest of the tentacled chimera.
It was Marder’s covering fire.
“Don’t stop, keep running! I’ve got your back!”
Marder shouted while continuously firing arrows to cover Carlyle.
Thanks to him, Carlyle not only managed to shake off the pursuing chimeras but also safely escaped the laboratory and reached the narrow passage where his comrades were waiting.
Carlyle spun around, gripping Grimungandr and steadying his stance.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
A chimera that had rushed into the narrow passage leaped at Carlyle.
*Slice!*
As Grimungandr traced a black arc, the chimera that had pounced on Carlyle was sliced in two and collapsed.
“We’ll fight them here.”
Carlyle said to his comrades after dispatching a chimera for all to see.
“From here, we’ll only have to face a couple at a time.”
Luring the chimeras into the narrow passage to take them on one by one.
This was the way to conquer Antiros's Laboratory with a small force.
* * *
After an hour-long battle, the expedition team succeeded in killing all the chimeras.
“Heh heh! I was so tense because they were chimeras, but they weren’t so tough, were they?”
Russell grinned, a triumphant smile on his face.
A pungent smell of urine wafted from him.
Thanks to the rain before entering the dungeon, his wet pants weren’t obvious, but the smell was impossible to hide.
“Why don’t you change your pants before you talk, you coward.”
Begman chided Russell.
“You really let it all out.”
“Private Russell, what on earth do you usually eat for it to smell so bad? Are you sure you’re eating the same rations as us?”
Marder and Kudo also frowned and moved away from Russell.
“But are chimeras usually this weak?”
“I’m not sure.”
Carlyle answered Russell’s question.
“This is my first time seeing chimeras too, so I don’t know for sure… but maybe it’s because they’re failed experiments?”
“Failed experiments?”
“For chimeras created by a brilliant mage who dedicated his life to them, they’re too crude, aren’t they?”
“Hmm.”
“Still, he probably couldn’t bring himself to kill his own creations, so maybe he used them as guardians for the dungeon.”
“I-I see.”
Although he spoke as if it were a rough guess, Carlyle was actually correct.
The guardian chimeras of the laboratory were Antiros’s early works—to put it nicely, prototypes; to put it bluntly, failures.
No matter how consumed by madness a mage might be, it was unlikely he’d want to create such low-class, grotesque monsters that operated solely on instinct.
‘Antiros’s true masterpiece is something else entirely.’
With that thought, Carlyle walked past the chimeras’ corpses and entered the laboratory’s interior.
“There’s a body here. A skeleton, though.”
Kudo discovered a skeleton presumed to be Antiros.
Seeing it dead while sitting at a desk piled high with magical materials, wearing a robe, it was clearly Antiros.
Although he had crossed into the forbidden realm and dabbled in the prohibited magic of chimera research, his passion for his work seemed genuine.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been immersed in his research until the very end of his life.
“Let’s take what we can. These are valuable magical materials. They won’t help in battle right now, but we can sell them to mages for a good price later.”
At Carlyle’s words, Begman, Kudo, Marder, and Russell began sweeping Antiros’s belongings into the large sacks they had brought.
“Where are you going?”
“Just going to look around a bit.”
“Won’t it be dangerous?”
“It’ll probably be fine.”
“Alright. Be careful. If you see anything that looks dangerous, don’t touch it. But you already know that.”
Begman readily allowed Carlyle to explore the laboratory’s interior alone.
Lacking any magical knowledge himself, it seemed he had no choice but to trust Carlyle.
‘Where was what, again?’
Carlyle walked on, trying to recall the layout.
* * *
Inside the dungeon, besides the central laboratory, there were a total of five other rooms.
‘This is the study.’
Carlyle walked right past Antiros’s study.
He knew all too well that there was nothing special inside besides magical materials.
‘This is the freezer.’
He also passed by the freezer where biological materials needed for creating chimeras were stored.
He had no desire to see with his own eyes a horrific place where the bodies of all sorts of monsters, animals, and even humans were preserved.
‘The treasure vault. This place is worth looting.’
Carlyle stopped in front of the third door.
*Click.* He opened the door to reveal a room where dozens of gold bars and jewels, as well as various artifacts, were neatly arranged.
Carlyle didn’t even glance at the gold and jewels, heading straight for the display case where the artifacts were exhibited.
Money?
Of course, it was important, but right now, it was a useless resource.
He couldn’t fight the Butcher Tribe with gold bars or jewels.
‘What’s in here?’
Carlyle’s gaze swept over the items stored in the display case.
Even Carlyle didn’t know exactly what items were stored here.
In the game [Overlord], the items that appeared in Antiros’s Laboratory were completely random.
The list of stored items was as follows.
- Iron Fortress
- Large-Capacity Subspace Inventory
- Bow of Silence
- Ranger’s Spirit
- Adaptive Camouflage Suit
- Lesser Mana Amplification Bracelet
“Huh?”
Carlyle’s eyes lit up as if he’d hit the jackpot.
“An Iron Fortress and a Bow of Silence? And an Adaptive Camouflage Suit too?”
The items stored in the treasure vault far exceeded Carlyle’s expectations.
[Iron Fortress]
A mystical brick imbued with ancient magic.
Classification: Blunt Weapon (Brick)
Grade: Legendary
Durability: 10 / 10
Effects:
- Absolute Defense
[Iron Fortress] was an item specialized for siege warfare, specifically for defense, and was considered A-rank in the game [Overlord].
Although it had the disadvantage of being passive, only activating when a castle or fortress was under attack, it was no exaggeration to say that there was no item more useful for defending a specific area.
For instance, in a desperate situation like the one at Bowden Fortress, [Iron Fortress] would be as powerful as a mighty army.
‘The capacity… is one ton.’
The [Large-Capacity Subspace Inventory] was an item that allowed one to carry up to one ton of items regardless of volume, so its usefulness needed no explanation.
“I can’t believe a Bow of Silence and an Adaptive Camouflage Suit would drop as a set in a low-level dungeon like this.”
Carlyle muttered to himself in disbelief.
[Bow of Silence]
I’ll put you to sleep without a peep.
Classification: Weapon (Bow)
Grade: Legendary
Durability: 8,000 / 8,000
Effects:
- Rapid Fire
- Silence
- Snipe
Special Note: Its range is only about one-third that of a typical bow, making it unsuitable for mid- to long-range engagements.
The [Bow of Silence], despite being a bow, was an item specialized for close-quarters combat—by ranged weapon standards.
However, its unique [Rapid Fire] effect dramatically increased an archer’s attack speed, and [Silence] significantly reduced the sound of the arrow’s flight, making it possible to assassinate enemies without a trace.
Furthermore, activating the [Snipe] effect allowed for mid- to long-range attacks like a normal bow for up to three shots, somewhat offsetting the disadvantage of its short range.
[Adaptive Camouflage Suit]
A mystical camouflage suit that blends in with the surrounding environment.
An extremely useful item for scouts, spies, thieves, and others whose primary missions are reconnaissance and infiltration.
Classification: Clothes (Top and Bottom)
Grade: Mystic
Durability: 500 / 500
Effects:
- Environmental Adaptation
‘What are the odds of these two dropping as a set?’
He couldn’t even recall seeing a post on the community forums for [Overlord] where the [Bow of Silence] and [Adaptive Camouflage Suit] had dropped as a set.
‘I should give this to Evangeline.’
With that thought, Carlyle picked up the [Lesser Mana Amplification Bracelet].
It seemed like a fitting return gift for the [Whisper of the Earth] he had received, didn’t it?
[Ranger’s Spirit]
Ran-ger! Spi-rit!
Classification: Footwear (Combat Boots)
Grade: Mystic
Durability: 3,818 / 5,000
Effects:
- Mountain Traverse
[Ranger’s Spirit] increased movement speed in mountainous terrain, so there couldn’t be a better item for Carlyle, who served in the reconnaissance team.
Judging by the considerable wear, the old and infirm Antiros must have worn them when traveling through the mountains.
‘Used boots are a bit…’
Despite his reluctance, Carlyle took off his combat boots and shoved his feet into the [Ranger’s Spirit].
*Squeeze.* The [Ranger’s Spirit] shrank slightly to fit Carlyle’s feet, providing a comfortable fit.
‘It’s been 200 years. The athlete’s foot fungus should be gone by now, right?’
Carlyle prayed desperately that the old Antiros hadn’t had athlete’s foot, then called his seniors from the main laboratory.
“You can put it in here.”
Carlyle opened the [Large-Capacity Subspace Inventory] so his seniors could put their sacks inside.
“I-Is this that subspace inventory thingamajig?”
“Yes.”
“Magic truly is amazing.”
Begman clicked his tongue in amazement.
“And Corporal Marder?”
“Yeah?”
“You should take that bow and camouflage suit.”
“M-Me?”
“They’re artifacts optimized for a reconnaissance team archer, so they’ll suit you best, Corporal Marder.”
“Shouldn’t we report to Sir Helen first?”
“We found this place thanks to my information, so I believe the ownership rights belong to me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What does it matter? No one’s going to come check, and as long as we keep our mouths shut, it’ll be fine.”
“W-Well, that’s true.”
“Don’t refuse, just take them. You might not get another chance to own something this valuable in your entire life.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Marder glanced at Begman before taking the [Bow of Silence] and the [Adaptive Camouflage Suit].
Carlyle scraped up all the gold bars, jewels, and various miscellaneous items—junk items—from the treasure vault, stuffed them into the [Large-Capacity Subspace Inventory], and then led his seniors to the fourth room.
‘This is the real prize.’
*Click.* The fourth room’s door opened.
“Is this… some kind of hatchery?”
Kudo said this because the fourth room contained eggs of various sizes.