Chapter 268
Chapter 268
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 268
Chapter Title: A Hundred Legs, Ten Thousand Poisons (18)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Excellent meal!”
With El’s resounding voice as he polished off his plate clean, the meal came to an end. At one side of the table, Legion was guzzling water after devouring the defense stew to his heart’s content, his belly puffed up like a balloon. On the other side, Lloyd was downing strong liquor to cap off the dinner.
“Here, everyone take one of these.”
I pulled out the totem [Pupil of the Night Sky] from the leather pouch and handed one to each member of the group.
“Pull the knot to adjust it to fit your wrist, so make sure it’s snug.”
Everyone except Lloyd stared at me with puzzled expressions. When I urged them on with my eyes, they cautiously slipped on the totems.
But when nothing happened, their faces grew even more confused. After tightening Roshanak’s loose bracelet to fit perfectly, I approached the lamp hanging on the wall and pinched out the wick with two fingers.
-Hiss...
As the flame at my fingertips flickered out weakly, the first floor of the inn plunged into darkness in an instant. The sun had already set.
As the surroundings turned pitch black,
“Gasp...”
“...Whoa!”
Exclamations and gasps finally erupted.
“Master, what is this?”
“My vision is so clear!”
El and Roshanak shouted one after another. They were looking around in wonder in the darkness. It was no surprise. Vision adapted to darkness and vision unbound by it were entirely different. Though colors weren’t distinguishable, everything else was discernible without any restrictions.
“It’s a totem I made for this dungeon conquest. It’s not perfect, but it provides a fairly convincing night vision. Just be careful not to break or snap it, and the effect will last until you take off the bracelet.”
“Wow...”
“The mana consumption is about a pinch of salt, so no strain at all.”
“I can’t even feel it.”
Of course not. I grinned and looked at Roshanak.
“Just in case, if danger strikes, infuse the bracelet with mana and throw it. It’ll explode with Night Light, blinding the enemy with a flash. Naturally, it’s best if that never happens... but preparing for the worst isn’t a bad idea.”
“Aha! It has that effect too!”
“Of course, you’ll need to close your eyes, and shout a warning to those around you. Everyone gets hit by the flash.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Master.”
El nodded vigorously, clutching his bracelet. The Night Light’s glow wasn’t that intense, so it wouldn’t be a massive flash, but an explosion in the dark dungeon would paralyze the monsters’ vision.
Of course, it wouldn’t work on creatures whose eyesight had degenerated... but the blast damage would still affect them, so it wasn’t useless.
“Couldn’t you add something else? Like lightning magic...”
“That’s not my specialty.”
“Hmm...”
Roshanak shrugged. Cheeky kid. Just like when he was much smaller, I gave him a light flick on the forehead and smiled.
“What we need now isn’t lightning magic—it’s ‘hell training.’”
“Ow!”
“You know tomorrow’s the last day, right? You need to master moving in perfect sync with El by then to survive in that dungeon.”
“I can handle it alone just fine...”
-Smack!
“Ow!”
“If you were strong enough to conquer the dungeon solo, Catarina wouldn’t have assigned you Iron Fist Richard or whoever.”
“T-That’s...”
“Until tomorrow.”
“...”
“By tomorrow, you two need to fight as one.”
“...”
“You’re my secret weapons—don’t forget that.”
At my words, El and Roshanak glanced at each other for a moment. It wasn’t their usual look of mutual disdain.
Not exactly friendly, but there was a faint hint of camaraderie? A far cry from their old bickering days.
“Got it, Master.”
“...Understood.”
I trust you, you little mutts.
* * *
The dungeon interior, devoid of even a speck of light, was silent. As if no living being breathed within. The only thing occasionally breaking the stillness was the slow drip... plop... of water droplets falling to the floor.
Among the bizarre, twisting stalactites that resembled writhing tentacles, faded, shattered bone fragments were draped.
The human skeletons, clearly once people, seemed to harbor lingering spirits, emitting eerie whispers with every gust of draft.
This horrific space reeked of death and silence.
The one cloaked in darkness like its own flesh bore the name Angulata...
-Creeeak...
If fully unfurled, Angulata’s body would stretch longer than the cavern itself. Was it merely long? No.
Angulata’s torso alone surpassed twice the length of an average human male. And that wasn’t all. Encasing each segment of that long, massive body was a shell thicker and harder than a knight’s armor, gleaming with a brown luster.
Angulata wasn’t invincible. Beneath that sturdy shell lay fragile flesh and blood, vulnerable to piercing pain.
However.
Since claiming this cave as its domain, no one had glimpsed inside Angulata’s shell. No weapon had pierced it.
It was only natural. No matter how strong an ant, it couldn’t scratch human skin—mere humans couldn’t wound the great Angulata.
Impossible.
-Kiririk...
Angulata began to slowly uncoil its rounded body, wriggling. Its bright yellow eyes and long antennae on its red head swiveled, scanning the surroundings. With each movement, the ten thousand legs along its elongated body rustled—rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat—in unison.
After wriggling a few more times, Angulata hissed in irritation, then began dripping venom from the glands under its jaw, one hundred poisons in sequence.
-Sizzle...
The ancient bone fragments couldn’t withstand the venom and began melting away. Dripping it slowly like saliva, Angulata snapped its head back, jaws agape...
-Queeeh!!!
It vomited something up.
-Thud!
A brown, mucus-covered form shot out, rolling precariously between stalactites before tumbling over the cliff edge. Angulata’s antennae waved toward the abyss for a moment, then stilled.
-Kiririk...
Relieved after expelling the irritant, Angulata slowly coiled back up like a ball. Each shift cracked stalactites and splintered bones.
Fully curled, it tucked its head between its coils. As its ten thousand legs ceased twitching with its breaths, the cave fell silent once more.
Centipede monsters like Angulata never ceased hunting unless in full hibernation.
But with no prey here, semi-hibernation was necessary to endure. It had ambushed a group of humans recently to sate itself...
Compared to its endless hunger, it was a paltry snack—barely enough, and one indigestible oddity had been mixed in, costing more energy to regurgitate. Semi-hibernation until the next meal was wise.
This place was far colder than its original Black Cave habitat. It could hibernate now, but hadn’t because its belly wasn’t full enough.
Angulata needed to eat its fill. For ‘that’ purpose, at least.
Thus, the next prey...
-Drip...
-Plop...
Whatever it was, Angulata wouldn’t let it escape.
* * *
“How’d it go today?”
“I don’t usually like the phrase ‘did my best,’ but...”
“But?”
“This time, it fits perfectly.”
“Good work, Karl.”
I smiled and patted Calisto’s shoulder. Seeing his smile too, the final training had gone well.
“You too, Lloyd—thanks for your hard work.”
“Just the usual, nothing taxing.”
“Hahaha, I see.”
Lloyd had always handled El’s training, after all. His lack of complaints suggested he was satisfied with the results. A relief.
“You’ve been preparing all day yourself, Sir Theodore...”
Calisto looked apologetic, but I waved it off emphatically.
“No. I didn’t make the lunches myself—just picked some decent ones from the market and portioned them out.”
Indeed. Per info from Catarina and my own intel, the dungeon cave was longer and more complex than expected, potentially extending the conquest. Without sunlight, fatigue set in faster and stamina recovery slowed, so while the kids trained, I’d stocked ample lunches.
Too much for me to cook alone, I enlisted fishermen’s help to select skilled shops for packed meals. Just in case, I’d stuffed my subspace with emergency rations: biscuits, jerky, dried fruit.
“Alright, then—everyone finish weapon maintenance cleanly tonight and hit the hay early?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes!”
Their responses rang out strong. The kids didn’t look as worn as yesterday. Growth in such a short time? I’d have worried if they were still beat today. Good kids. As El and Roshanak turned toward their rooms, I called after their backs.
“Don’t forget baths! Once in the dungeon, it’ll just be cat licks.”
“Yeees-!”
“Got it-.”
Watching them half-listen as they climbed the stairs, Legion on my shoulder tilted his head.
「Theo. Cats. Don’t. Wash.」
“...Yeah, that’s a thing.”