The Cockatrice's Fall

"Haneul," I said.

It was too late to run now. Either the monster died, or we did. One or the other.

"Run with everything you've got. Get over there and grab the shield."

Haneul's body trembled violently.

"Remember what I taught you?"

During our journey, I'd taught Haneul a lot. I was supposed to teach her swordsmanship, but my shallow foundation had its limits. Instead, I'd passed on my knowledge—everything an Ironclad needed to do.

"...Yes."

"Lift your shield. No matter what happens, don't let go! Raise the shield!"

Though she'd originally dreamed of becoming a two-handed sword user, Haneul had learned how to handle a shield.

"Hic... sob... Yes! I'll run! I'll go fight!"

Haneul wiped away the tears streaming down her face and stared at the petrified Roa for a long moment. If we didn't fight now, everyone would die. We wouldn't be able to save Roa either.

Haneul broke into a desperate sprint. I gripped my saw blade and charged straight at the cockatrice.

"Uaaaaah!"

Please look this way.

"You fucking chicken-headed bastard!"

The cockatrice turned its gaze toward me. I felt my entire body freeze over. The pressure was no joke. I wanted to run away immediately. The monster before me was powerful enough to kill humans without effort.

Explorers who fought monsters. Explorers who ventured into dungeons. Explorers were the ones who waged war against creatures like this.

"Krrroooook!"

"Goddamn it!"

I couldn't even swing my saw blade once before I was sent rolling across the ground. The cockatrice had simply flapped its wings and kicked. I couldn't get close at all. The size difference was one thing, but the creature's entire body was saturated with the curse of petrification. Even brushing against its skin would turn you to stone. Its beak or claws might not petrify you on contact, but they'd tear your flesh and snap your bones. Which wasn't exactly "fine" in any other sense.

"Awooooooo!"

A wild battle cry rang out. It was one of the cavemen warriors.

"Uwooooooo!"

A masked caveman warrior charged at the cockatrice, crude stone knife in hand, aiming for its eye. The cockatrice's left eye had already been blinded by Roa's crossbow bolt. The warrior leaped like he had wings and swung his stone blade. But the attack only barely grazed empty air.

The warrior who rolled across the ground to break his fall stared at me intently. From behind came a young woman's voice.

"Haaah!"

Haneul, who had somehow managed to gather her equipment, had entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠combat stance. She let out a battle cry and swung her tower shield. The cockatrice's serpentine tail took the impact and screamed. The enraged cockatrice spun around and unleashed lightning-fast kicks at Haneul. It was like being clawed by an angry fighting rooster.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Shield... raise your shield... shield..."

Haneul muttered something under her breath as she blocked the cockatrice's attacks without much difficulty. Once you succeeded in defending, there was no damage. Ironclads had skills for handling shields. Even a level 1 Ironclad wielding a two-handed shield could endure fatal blows. It was because of their excellent equipment.

Taking advantage of the moment Haneul drew its aggro, I launched a spell.

"Poison Arrow!"

The arrow of venom struck the cockatrice. Its massive size made it nearly impossible to miss.

"Krrrooooooo!"

But by the same logic, the poison had a hard time taking effect. No matter how much venom you poured into something that large, its physical abilities would barely decrease. The cockatrice exhaled a petrifying breath as if clearing its throat.

A glass bottle filled with silvery liquid flew in from behind me.

"Potion Explosion!"

The alchemist's potion explosion unfolded. A shockwave spread out, carrying a bone-chilling cold that reached all the way to my toes. It was Maya's Evaporative Potion. Maya was breathing heavily, her face pale. She'd recovered, though a little late.

"Maya!"

The evaporative potion unleashed a thick cloud of intense cold. A freezing wind whipped around alongside the chill. It didn't hit the cockatrice directly, but Maya's evaporative potion pushed back the petrifying breath with air pressure.

That's right. It was hard to dodge the petrifying breath, but you could generate wind to blow it away.

Arin hurled a Wildfire Potion.

Boom! Boom!

The potion exploded like a fragmentation grenade, spraying sparks of flame. The cockatrice thrashed in agony as it was engulfed in fire. While we poured on damage, the cockatrice turned its head toward us. But it couldn't approach.

A massive tower shield had appeared in front of it.

"Krrrooook!"

The cockatrice let out a monstrous roar and attempted to body-slam. The pressure was like a massive truck barreling toward you. Even watching from a distance made me anxious, yet Haneul didn't retreat a single step while holding the tower shield. Instead, she thrust it forward.

The cockatrice collided with the tower shield.

Thud!

The cockatrice staggered from the impact. On the other hand, Haneul—who had stopped the cockatrice—had her knee bent at a grotesque angle and was reeling. Her joint was shattered, bone jutting out.

"..."

With her teeth clenched, Haneul glared at the cockatrice. A fighting spirit that refused to break no matter what!

In that opening, I closed in behind the cockatrice.

"Die!"

I swung my saw blade and severed the snake-like tail. The saw blade's jagged teeth ripped the cockatrice's serpentine tail out by the root.

Swish!

The exposed red muscle of the severed tail glistened obscenely. Hot blood gushed out like a fountain from the stump. The saw blade turned crimson. White flesh from the cockatrice clung between the saw's teeth.

While the cockatrice staggered, the masked warrior made his third attack attempt. His target was still the eye. This time was different. The cockatrice was in chaos. It had no room to dodge. The primitive stone knife burst the cockatrice's right eye. Black fluid poured from the torn socket.

"Krrrooooooooo!"

The cockatrice went mad with pain and rampaged. It had finally lost both eyes.

In the meantime, Maya and Arin took turns throwing potions.

"Potion Explosion!"

"Potion Explosion!"

Boom! Boom!

Potions exploded relentlessly from left and right. The essence of mysticism—containing the power of flame and cold—was unleashed in the form of explosions. The cockatrice staggered as if struck by an invisible hammer. Its injuries multiplied. Its beak was scorched, its claws frozen and shattered. Pus from burns oozed between its feathers, and both eyes had burst, losing their sight forever.

But the cockatrice did not fall. It was still breathing. It could still easily kill humans.

The masked warrior tried to attack its leg with his stone knife and nearly got kicked flying. The cavemen tried to surround it by moving around, but it was impossible to restrain the movements of a monster whose entire body flowed with the curse of petrification.

"Huuu..."

Haneul groaned in pain. Her ankle, bent at an unnatural angle, began to swell badly. The party's tank was in danger. She wouldn't last much longer. We needed to end the fight as quickly as possible and regroup.

I mobilized every means available.

"Hey! Mind if I borrow some of your friends?"

It probably didn't mean much, but I asked the cavemen for permission. They gave no reply. That was as good as tacit approval.

I chanted a spell toward the numerous cavemen corpses littering the ground. The secret art of reviving the dead. Necromancy.

"Animate Skeleton!"

The seven cavemen corpses instantly had their rotting flesh slough off, rising as pure white bones.

It was probably better for their friends if they came back to help in the fight rather than just lying there as corpses. The cavemen shrieked something, but I had no idea what it meant. I'd return them after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠using them. Probably fine.

"Grab the cockatrice!"

Skeletons were undead. They weren't affected by the petrification curse. The skeletons stretched out their bony arms and clung to the cockatrice's legs. But the cockatrice didn't seem to feel their weight at all and continued rampaging as if nothing happened.

*This is an Undead. Various traits applicable to undead are in effect.

*This has No Intelligence. It does not fall into confusion and cannot assess its current situation on its own.

Damn it. Only ten kilos each. Even if all seven of them clung on, it wouldn't be much different from one person hanging on. No choice then. I'd just have to use the fact that they were immune to the petrification curse to annoy it as much as possible.

The skeletons crawled across the cockatrice's body and settled in various places like weights. The cockatrice rampaged to shake off the clinging skeletons and spat out petrifying breath, but—

"Corpse Rot!"

I decayed one of the cavemen corpses rolling on the ground to create corpse gas. The corpse gas pushed back the petrifying breath. The cockatrice, its body already in tatters from the potion explosions, inhaled the poisonous corpse gas and staggered, losing its balance.

The masked warrior charged in furiously and slashed one of its legs. It wasn't a fatal wound, but it was enough to collapse its stance.

Finally, the cockatrice fell to the ground.

"Iyaaaaah!"

I let out a battle cry and leaped forward with all my strength. I put power into the saw blade and brought it down on the neck of the cockatrice lying on the ground.

"Krrroooooooook!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The skeletons threw their bodies to block the cockatrice's struggles. They were torn away mercilessly like broken marionettes, but they succeeded in hindering its movements.

I stomped on the cockatrice's head with my foot and began sawing.

"Die! Just die already!"

A tingling sensation ran through my fingertips. The sound I'd heard back when catching chickens in the countryside echoed. The cockatrice flapped its wings in resistance until the very end, but its strength was already completely spent. Poisoned, burned, frostbitten, fractured, blinded. Skeletons were still clinging to it. I'd used every means available.

Thud.

I felt the saw blade touch the ground. I kicked the mangled cockatrice head away with all my might.

Roll, roll...

Blood poured out like a waterfall from the severed neck. The cockatrice head, now missing both eyes, rolled pathetically across the floor.

I slowly sheathed the saw blade into the back scabbard. The decapitated cockatrice no longer moved.

"Kiyoooooot!"

The few surviving cavemen let out victory cries. Even seeing it with my own two eyes, I could hardly believe it. We had won.

"Haa... fuck."

It was our victory.

"Is everyone alright?"

The dwarf Dungeon Seeker brothers, Bori and Doran, shook their short legs vigorously as they ran across the battlefield. The mysterious power of the Seer Lantern had the ability to heal wounds. The Dungeon Seekers, who had been twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do against the cockatrice, finally had work to do.

"Start with Haneul. Then take care of the rest, please."

"Understood!"

Bori came running toward me, his Seer Lantern glowing with red light. Among the party members, the one with by far the most severe injuries was Haneul. It had been an incredibly dangerous moment. She had nearly become permanently disabled. It was true that tanks were fated to always carry injuries, but that didn't mean getting hurt was okay.

"Haneul. Can you move?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm even still alive. So dungeon exploration is always like this, huh?"

Having regained some composure, Haneul even managed a small smile.

Bori spoke in a serious voice.

"The Ironclad's wounds have exceeded what the Seer Lantern can heal."

"Heh. Then what should we do?"

"First, we need to take her to a quiet place and have her rest as much as possible."

Haneul gulped down the water I handed her.

"Listen while you drink. The battle isn't over yet."

"Haa. Yeah. Those things are still out there."

I glared at the horde of monsters lurking beyond the darkness. A swarm of giant spiders with long white fur. Dozens of eyes gleaming in the dark. Unpleasant compound eyes glistening with black light. White hairs sprouting between their legs. Silent and stealthy, yet fast and lethal hunters of the cave.

Thanks to us pulling a massive amount of aggro, it felt like every monster in the dungeon had gathered. It was only natural after throwing that many potions and even using necromancy. Thanks to the Dungeon Seekers' healing, we had regained our mobility.

I lifted Roa's stone statue onto my back and gathered the party members.

"It's good to see you all in one piece again."

"You too, Hajun."

"...Me too."

I pointed beyond the darkness. The giant spiders that had gathered in droves. They weren't rushing in because they were wary of the cockatrice's corpse, but there was nothing strange about them attacking us at any moment.

"I'd love to celebrate our reunion, but the situation is shit right now, so we don't have a choice. We need to deal with those spider bastards and head home."

"But with our strength, we can't win against the spiders."

Maya spoke quietly. Only seven cavemen had survived. Excluding Roa, our party consisted of four humans and two dwarves. Both in numbers and individual ability, we were at a disadvantage against the giant spiders. The cavemen were already preparing for a desperate last stand, raising their weapons and shouting something at us.

"Bori. Go stop those primitives from getting themselves killed."

"Ah. Yes..."

After leaving the cavemen in Bori's care, I spoke to the party members.

"I'll be honest. At our current level, we can't defeat the spiders, nor can we shake them off."

For a moment, Maya's expression changed strangely. Something had occurred to her.

"Don't tell me... you're suggesting we use the cavemen as bait and run?"

The gazes of the remaining party members flew toward me and locked on. Surprisingly, not a single explorer criticized Maya's idea. It was a matter of life or death. Because it was a decision directly tied to survival, even cruel choices that would normally be hard to make became possible.

If I hadn't been here, using someone as bait wouldn't have been a bad option. After all, I'd survived thanks to a bait strategy before. But situations always changed. Changing environments. Given resources. The cards I could use. Mobilizing every possible method to produce the best result—that was the correct attitude for a roguelike gamer.

"No. That's one way, but I'm going to try a different gamble."

"...A gamble?"

"Why? You all know there's no answer with the standard approach, right?"

Some looked anxious, while others placed their hopes in me. I briefly explained the plan.