Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Abandoned Mine
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Deciding to investigate the abandoned mine, Carlyle and his party rode donkeys up the Merell Mountains.
The path was steep and narrow, making it quite perilous, but there was little cause for concern.
Everyone except Evangeline was physically fit with excellent reflexes, and traveling by donkey meant it wasn't particularly strenuous.
Moreover, since they were riding donkeys, there was no physical burden to feel in the first place.
“Butler, where are we going?”
“There's a mine the dwarves abandoned. It seems there are still plenty of minerals buried there, so we're going to investigate.”
Carlyle answered the hatchling's question.
“Dwarves? Oh, those short ones?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
The hatchling narrowed its eyes, lost in thought for a moment.
“I need dwarves, too.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“Dwarves are a very useful race for us dragons. They're good at building nests, crafting works of art, and they have lots of gold and jewels, don't they?”
“Don't tell me…”
Carlyle stared at the hatchling, dumbfounded.
“Are you saying you're going to kidnap dwarves and force them into labor?”
“That's right.”
“How can you even say that?”
“Why not?”
The hatchling retorted as if it saw no problem.
“That's a crime, you know?”
“Then is a tiger eating a deer a crime?”
“That's just the law of nature. What do tigers and deer have to do with this?”
“It's the same for us. It's natural for dragons to raise dwarves. It's been that way since ancient times.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Us taking dwarves and putting them to work is the same as humans eating cows and pigs. You just don't get it, Butler.”
“So, you're saying dragons are the natural predators of dwarves?”
“Exactly.”
“That's strangely persuasive…”
“It's not strangely persuasive, it's the natural order of things.”
“Isn't that just for animals? Dragons are intelligent beings.”
“Are humans intelligent for raising and working animals like dogs and horses?”
“...You have a point.”
Carlyle couldn't refute the hatchling's words.
It claimed it was the law of nature, and he had no real logic to counter it.
“Then could there be a dragon there?”
“I doubt it.”
The hatchling replied to Carlyle's concern as if it were impossible.
“If there were a dragon, would it have left the dwarves alone? It would have made them dig up all the gold in the mine to decorate its nest.”
“Ah, right.”
“I don't know why the dwarves left, but it wasn't because of us.”
Carlyle felt a little relieved at the hatchling's words.
After all, in this world, the one creature you should never encounter, never make an enemy of, was a dragon.
***
Arriving at the abandoned mine, they saw a small village that looked as though it had once been inhabited by dwarves.
Of course, the village was also abandoned and in ruins.
The mine entrance had collapsed, but clearing it was not difficult.
“Please leave it to me!”
Evangeline summoned her Titan and cleared the rocks blocking the tunnel.
Inside, the mine was surprisingly bright.
Mana stone lamps installed on both sides illuminated the tunnel, allowing Carlyle's party to enter without any trouble.
“Let's ride this instead of walking.”
Kudo pointed to a cart commonly used in mines.
With tracks laid on the ground, they could travel through the mine quickly by cart without needing to walk.
Moreover, befitting a cart made by dwarves, it was equipped with a mana stone engine and could move automatically with a few simple controls.
Clack, clatter!
Carlyle's party rode the cart, advancing deep into the mine.
The mine was incredibly deep.
Even after riding the cart for several tens of minutes, there was still no end in sight.
“Just how far did they dig?”
Carlyle was amazed by the dwarves' tenacity.
After about two hours on the cart, they reached a massive underground cavern.
In a space large enough to fit several small villages, there were not only dwarven living quarters but also mountains of various rare minerals.
Among them were many that appeared to be the highest-grade mana stone ores; the value of the raw stones here alone was astronomical.
Furthermore, the tools and equipment the dwarves had used were also quite valuable.
“They must have packed up all their minerals and equipment before leaving. I wonder what happened.”
Just as Carlyle muttered, looking around.
“Young Master.”
Evangeline pointed nearby.
“This is…”
Carlyle suddenly noticed several hundred statues resembling dwarves and tilted his head in confusion.
The dwarves who should be here are gone, and only statues that look like them remain?
“Could it be that the dwarves who were here were turned to stone?”
“That's impossible.”
Wilson shook his head as if to deny it.
But Carlyle thought otherwise.
Slowly, Carlyle examined the statues' expressions.
Every single statue wore a look of great shock or terror.
‘What kind of madman would make statues like this? These are the faces of people right before they were turned to stone.’
As soon as Carlyle came to that conclusion, a slithering sound came from deeper within.
Sssssssss...
“Young Master!”
Maranello called out to Carlyle, wary of what lay ahead.
“I know. I heard it too.”
Carlyle slowly drew Grimungandr.
“It seems there's something here.”
“What the hell is it?”
“Dammit! Some vacation this is!”
Kudo and the others also drew their weapons, preparing for the impending battle.
Soon, long, writhing things crawling on the ground revealed themselves.
“Snakes…?”
They were snakes.
The snakes, with their iridescent scales, all had gray eyes. They flickered their crimson tongues ceaselessly, baring their long, sharp fangs.
“Hiss! Hisssss!”
The snakes lunged at Carlyle's party.
“You dare, you mere snakes!”
Just as Wilson was about to cleave a leaping snake in two with his axe.
Pssssst!
Venom sprayed from the snake's fangs.
“Ugh!”
Startled, Wilson quickly dodged the venom, but he couldn't avoid it completely.
Crack, creak.
The hem of Wilson's clothes, splattered with venom, turned gray and then crumbled to dust.
“It's petrifying venom! Everyone, fall back!”
Maranello stepped forward.
“Hissssss!”
What seemed to be thousands of snakes rushed at Maranello, spraying venom.
However…
Flash!
Swoooooosh!
A blade of wind, like a harsh winter gale, swept across the ground, wiping out the snakes in an instant.
In a moment, the thousands of snakes lay scattered in pieces, reeking of blood.
He hadn't used a weapon.
In Maranello's hand was only the feather duster he usually carried.
‘He really is amazing.’
Watching Maranello's back, Carlyle understood why he was called the Grim Reaper of the North.
To think he could annihilate so many monsters with just a swing of a feather duster…
But the dead snakes were not the party's only enemy.
Sssssssss...
A massive figure slithered out of the darkness and glared at Carlyle's party.
It was not a human being.
It was a monster with the body of a snake, the torso of a woman, and a head of small snakes instead of hair.
“Th-That's!”
Evangeline cried out in shock, recognizing the creature.
“You know that monster?”
“A G-Gorgon… an ancient demon.”
“A demon?”
“Y-Yes, I've seen it in a magic book. It's one of the generals of the demon world. If you make eye contact, it turns the opponent to stone…”
“Everyone, look away!”
Carlyle roared before Evangeline could even finish her sentence.
***
“Aargh!”
“Ugh!”
At Carlyle's shout, everyone turned their heads and retreated.
Just as Evangeline had said, they had no desire to become statues like the dwarves for the simple reason of making eye contact.
This demon called a Gorgon was a creature even Carlyle didn't know.
After all, no demon named Gorgon had appeared in the game [Overlord].
“I have waited a long time.”
A hissing voice, like the flicking of a snake's tongue, came from the Gorgon's mouth.
“After hundreds of years of waiting, you have come. The ones who will free me from this dark cavern.”
“What are you talking about?”
Carlyle replied, hiding his body behind a dwarf statue.
“Us, free you? We didn't come here with that intention.”
“I shall be freed by the blood of the living. Using your lives as a stepping stone, I will be released from this place.”
“Hmm.”
Carlyle couldn't fully grasp the Gorgon's meaning.
The only thing certain was that this demon was the one who had turned the dwarves into statues.
‘No wonder the dwarves wouldn't abandon a perfectly good mine and run.’
Carlyle now understood why the mine had been abandoned and nodded to himself.
With a monster like that appearing, even the dwarves, a warrior race, would have been annihilated.
“Come out from your hiding places. Hiding will not help you escape.”
Sssss...
From all around, small snakes emerged and surrounded Carlyle's party.
There seemed to be tens of thousands of them.
“Hoho.”
Maranello let out a hearty laugh.
“I know not why an ancient demon is lurking about, but it seems your luck is quite poor.”
“Luck…?”
“To have met this old man of all people... I'd say your luck is very bad indeed.”
Maranello did not turn his head or his back, nor did he close his eyes. He met the Gorgon's gaze directly.
“You'll turn to stone too, Maranello.”
“I will be fine, Young Master.”
Maranello replied to Carlyle's words as if it were nothing.
Seeing him unafraid of the Gorgon, it seemed a warrior of Maranello's caliber had no fear of a demon's magic.
“What an arrogant, impudent old man.”
The Gorgon's two eyes glared at Maranello.
Flash!
A gray flash flared, and a petrifying beam enveloped Maranello.
But nothing happened.
“Th-This can't be…”
The Gorgon was utterly astonished.
Far from turning to stone, Maranello was still looking at it with a faint smile.
“Hoho. Is this all you have? For an ancient demon, you rely on cheap tricks.”
Slowly, Maranello reached his hand into the air.
A giant scythe appeared.
The scythe, which looked like that of a grim reaper, was a Succession Sword bestowed upon the vassal Maranello by the Sigmund Family.
Its name was [Grim Reaper].
It was the weapon of a reaper that had claimed the lives of tens of thousands of barbarians.
“I try not to hold this ominous thing unless absolutely necessary, but this is not a battlefield, and you are not human, so I suppose this doesn't break my vow.”
Gripping the Grim Reaper, Maranello slowly approached the Gorgon.
“If you're an ancient demon, you should have stayed quietly crumpled up like one. What did you expect to see, crawling out into the world? Hohoho.”
A chill ran down its spine.
Despite its pride as an ancient demon, the Gorgon froze.
It was overwhelmed by Maranello's crimson eyes and the murderous intent glinting within them.
“This old man shall reap that worthless life of yours.”
In the blink of an eye, Maranello closed the distance to the Gorgon.
“……!”
Just as the startled Gorgon tried to react to Maranello's movement.
Swoooooosh!
Maranello swung the massive scythe at an imperceptible speed, dozens of times.
Carlyle couldn't count exactly how many times Maranello had swung the Grim Reaper.
In truth, all Carlyle saw were afterimages.
Thud, thud, thud.
The Gorgon crumbled, chopped into dozens of pieces.
It was an unreal sight, as if it had been made of dozens of pieces from the very beginning.