Mine Cleanup (4)
Bone fragments exploded in every direction. As expected from Melissa. The sheer power to turn the swarming skeletons charging from all sides into nothing but scattered shards…! Emboldened by the sight, I too rushed forward and swung my sword at one of the oncoming skeleton soldiers.
Crack! It felt less like a clean cut and more like I’d simply smacked it. Still, I managed to bash its skull and send it flying. Even though this was only a temporary sword, at this rate the blade would wear out before the enemies did.
Skeletons wielding pickaxes poured in without end. “Ruines!”
Whoosh! At that moment, Liz hurled a mace from the large bag she was carrying. Heh, now that’s a weapon choice worthy of a blacksmith. I caught the mace and immediately began smashing the nearby skeleton soldiers to pieces.
“Thanks, Liz sis!”
“No need to thank me!”
Indeed, a steel club was far more effective than a sword right now. The skeletons couldn’t withstand my mace strikes at all. Not that they could move much anyway, pinned down by Melissa’s storm of greatsword swings. Even when they barely slipped past her to target our rear, my mace came down without mercy.
“You bastards! Rot in hell already!”
“Ahaha! Kid, you might actually have the makings of an inquisitor. You should aim for the temple’s knight order someday.”
I lightly ignored Janice’s nonsensical comment. Come to think of it, even Liz was busy swinging her hammer against the skeletons, yet Janice was just standing in the back watching like it was someone else’s problem.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Miss Janice, why don’t you do something too?”
“Sorry, but I’m a non-combatant.”
“…….”
I really wanted to give her a good flick on the forehead. Pushing that urge aside, I expanded my gigaam. When I spread out my senses, it seemed fighting had broken out behind us as well. But with Selena and Angelica’s skills, I doubted they’d have much trouble. Indeed, the presences of the monsters were vanishing at a rapid pace.
“This feels too sloppy to be a proper enemy ambush.”
“Maybe they’re testing our strength?”
“Who knows. If there’s a commander leading these monsters, then……”
That was when it happened.
Crrrrack!
“Huh?”
The ceiling let out an ominous groan as it split apart, and a pile of rocks came crashing down right above Janice’s head. Without a second to think, I wrapped my arms around her waist and rolled us both sideways.
“Ugh!”
“Ouch!”
Rumble!
Boulders poured down with terrifying force. If I’d been even a moment slower, we would’ve been crushed into meat paste. Janice stared at me with wide eyes, then noticed my bloodied elbow and gasped.
“A-are you okay?”
“Just scraped it a bit while rolling.”
“But… Damn it. Come here.”
“?”
Janice rummaged through her backpack. With practiced hands, she applied ointment to the wounded area and wrapped it neatly with bandages. She claimed to be a non-combatant, yet she had skills like this? I looked at her again and thought to myself.
“Thanks for saving me.”
“I-it was nothing.”
But more importantly, the collapsed rocks had completely blocked the path behind us. In other words, our retreat was cut off for now. We couldn’t expect any immediate support from Selena or Angelica’s group either.
“So it really was a trap after all.”
“Well, I figured it wouldn’t be that easy.”
“Ruines! Are you alright?”
At that moment, Selena’s voice echoed from the other side. She sounded unusually restless. I let out a small chuckle and replied.
“I’m fine. Everyone here is safe.”
“We’ll look for a way back too. What will you do on your end?”
“Looks like we have no choice but to push forward……”
The tunnel ahead was shrouded in thick darkness, almost as if it were inviting us in. Even without using my gigaam, I could sense monsters swarming everywhere.
“In this situation, we have to keep moving. The longer we stall, the more monsters will gather.”
“That makes sense, right?”
“Y-yeah… I guess……”
Maybe she was regretting following us after all. Liz broke into a cold sweat, her face pale with fear.
“Liz sis.”
“Y-yes?”
“You looked really cool earlier.”
“……Ahem. Then shall we keep going?”
Luckily, a little praise seemed to help. Liz always lacked confidence compared to her actual strength and skill. Besides, since she knew the mine’s layout better than anyone, a lot depended on her.
“The wind is blowing from this direction, which means there must be an open space at the end… So it’s best if we head this way. What do you all think?”
“Seems reasonable. I’ll follow your lead.”
“Yeah. Not bad for a blacksmith. You actually used your head.”
“Hah?”
The tension had eased a little, enough for even some silly banter. Though judging by the way Liz’s hammer was trembling, she seemed a bit annoyed. I just hoped Janice’s tightrope-walking antics would succeed until the very end. If she failed, I was washing my hands of it.
Clatter. Clatter.
“They’re coming.”
After walking for some time, the familiar rattling of bones reached us again, accompanied by a murky aura. This time, there were quite a few of them. And not only that—this was…!
Screeech—
I urgently shouted toward Liz.
“Liz! Raise your shield!”
“Y-yes!”
Liz slammed the large shield she was carrying down in front of us. Janice and I quickly ducked behind it, while Melissa pulled her cloak forward and held her greatsword up like a shield. Then she drew up her mana to the limit. A thick barrier-like wall seemed to envelop her body.
Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh!
A barrage of arrows came flying right after.
“Ugh!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of arrows embedding into the shield was chilling. If we had walked in blindly, we’d be porcupines by now. An arrow that whistled past my face sent a shiver down my spine.
But the truly terrifying part was something else.
“I’ll take care of the archers first. Please advance slowly.”
“?”
Boom!
Melissa kicked off the ground and shot forward. Wait, arrows are still flying?! Regardless, she began smashing the skeletons apart like a vengeful demon. She shoulder-charged the front line of pickaxe-wielding skeletons, then swiftly ‘hunted’ down the archers holding bows.
The rest of us stared blankly at the scene before speaking up.
“S-should we get moving too?”
“Y-yeah.”
“I’m strictly rear support…!”
I couldn’t tell if she was scared of the monsters or of Melissa. Since people are usually the scariest things around, maybe it was the latter?
We hurried after Melissa as she swept through the tunnel. Any remaining skeleton soldiers in our path received a mace to the face. Crack! Even when arrows flew our way, I could read them in advance with my gigaam and react accordingly. The progress was smoother than expected.
So this was the true power of a knight? Seeing the realm I aspired to reach right in front of me—and right beside me—filled me with renewed emotion.
How far had we pushed through the tunnel? At some point, the atmosphere shifted noticeably.
“We should stop here for a moment.”
Srrrng!
Melissa sheathed her sword and halted. Wondering what was going on, I poked my head out, and both Liz and I were left speechless at the sight before us.
“Whoa!”
“W-what the heck is this place……”
It had a completely different atmosphere from the tunnels we’d been in before. A wide-open plaza with countless entrances branching off. We were only peeking out from one of them.
“A dungeon……”
“Pardon?”
“This isn’t just trying to turn into a dungeon.”
At that moment, Janice muttered in a grave voice. It was a complete departure from her usual playful tone. Well, seeing such a bizarre space would probably do that to anyone. Eerie bone fragments were scattered all around the plaza, and grotesque structures were embedded in the walls like decorations. Most striking of all was the circular formation in the center of the plaza, inscribed with unknown characters…….
…….
Ssssss!
Suddenly, something rose from the center of the plaza. It had an entirely different aura from the monsters we’d faced so far. For starters, its equipment was on another level. It wore plate armor that seemed to prove it had been a knight in its ‘previous life,’ and it wielded a two-handed sword with a chillingly sharp edge. Should we call it a skeleton knight? The aura it gave off was so extraordinary that I unconsciously swallowed hard.
The skeleton knight was clearly looking up at us with its empty eye sockets. Specifically, it was staring at Melissa, the knight among us.
“Miss Melissa, this is obviously a trap.”
“It seems so. Therefore, you must consider your next move. Ruines. Miss Liz. And……”
“…….”
Melissa stared at Janice for a long moment before slowly stepping forward. With each step, the heavy clank of armor echoed throughout the plaza.
“Melissa sis!”
“If you’re worried, watch closely. See how these things fight.”
“B-but…!”
“Ruines. Let’s stay calm for now.”
Even Liz was trying to soothe me out of concern. I took a slow, deep breath to settle my nerves. Then I focused.
Vrrrrrm!
At the very least, this was something I could do. I spread out my gigaam and began scanning the entire plaza. As expected, it wasn’t an ordinary space—there was a strange energy lingering. However, I couldn’t sense any other enemies or monster presences. For now, the only overwhelming presence was that of the skeleton knight standing in the center of the plaza.
…….
Srrrrk.
“Ugh.”
The moment it looked our way, my breath caught in my throat. It was clearly just an empty skull with no eyes, yet its gaze felt terrifyingly sharp. For an instant, my entire body froze stiff and I couldn’t think at all.
Srrrng!
“……!”
Both the skeleton knight and I turned our gazes at the same time. At the end of our line of sight stood Melissa, who had drawn her two-handed sword.
“What is your purpose? Depending on your answer, I may have to cut you down.”
“…….”
“If you have no intention of answering.”
Whoosh!
Melissa leveled her sword. The skeleton knight slowly raised its own blade in response. It was like watching a true knightly duel with real blades. The tension was so thick it was hard to even breathe; I couldn’t look away.
And then, the next instant.
Clang!!
Melissa’s sword collided with the skeleton knight’s blade.