Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 177: Concert of Frenzy

As we pushed deeper into the Snake Nest, we managed to hunt a significant number of snakes.

However, so far, only slightly larger snakes had slithered out; no proper monsters capable of providing a substantial amount of experience points had appeared yet.

"We might have gathered plenty of snake skins, but at this rate, there won't be much profit beyond that."

"It seems we need to go deeper."

"It's already been about four hours since we entered. If we go any further, we'll have to prepare to camp."

The choice was whether to stop here and head back out or keep going.

"Let's go in."

"Understood."

"I suppose we should follow the leader's lead."

We decided to push further in. Since we hadn't gained much other than snake kills, we needed to head deeper to secure a greater profit.

"But is it just me, or are the corridors getting cruder the further we go?"

"You're right. The interior is gradually becoming more primitive."

At the entrance, it felt like snakes had moved into a man-made basement. But as we progressed, it shifted to look like humans had merely left traces inside a natural snake den.

"A change in terrain means the types of monsters appearing will change too. That's not a bad sign."

"True."

Just as Ulysses said, since the surroundings had changed, it felt like something other than ordinary snakes was about to crawl out.

"There are quite a few of them in the room at the end of the right corridor."

"Are they approaching?"

"No, they seem to be waiting."

"What's their size?"

"About the size of a human."

At Kairan's words, Maximus snorted and grinned.

"Finally, they've crawled out. It was getting hard to even see their faces."

If they were human-sized snakes, they were likely either Nagas or Lamias. Primitive Lizardmen were definitely larger than humans.

"They seem to be aiming for an ambush, so let's strike first."

Ulysses struck the floor with his wooden staff.

Thump—!

Instantly, Thorn Vines began to sprout from the floor. The vines grew and stretched forward in a straight line, attacking the monsters waiting for us in the room at the end of the hallway.

"I feel them being snared. They'll break free soon. Let's go kill them."

"Let's move."

This is why long-range binding skills are great. Once you pinpoint the enemy's location with a detection-type Ability, you can immediately bind them and move in for a one-sided beatdown.

"Kieeeeee!!!"

"They're Nagas!"

Humanoid monsters with snake heads were writhing, caught in the Thorn Vines. The durability of the Thorn Vines wasn't particularly high, so some broke free quickly, but even those were stumbling, unable to react fast enough due to the debuffs from the thorns.

Crunch!!!

As soon as we reached the room filled with Nagas, Maximus crushed the head of the lead Naga warrior with his mace.

One fell instantly with its head shattered, followed by Kairan, who swiftly swung her daggers to rip a Naga's head off.

"Their regeneration is high, so you have to cut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off their heads to kill them!"

I shared the information I read through my Identification Eye with the party.

These bizarre creatures were slower and weaker than Lizardmen, but they possessed overwhelming regeneration and venom. Simply crushing their heads wasn't enough to kill them. You had to completely separate the head from the body to consider them truly dead.

"It's not over! More are coming!"

As soon as Kairan finished her shout, Lamias began flooding into the room. Perhaps because they were slightly smaller than Nagas, they squeezed through every crack and hole in the room.

The cries of Lamias can drive a person mad. It makes it impossible to focus on combat because it's so distracting. Like Nagas, they also carry venom; if bitten, one must suffer through terrible fever, pain, and auditory hallucinations.

It was best to kill them quickly.

"Whoa! It's crawling with snakes!"

Ulysses unleashed Thorn Vines at the lunging Lamias to bind them instantly. At the same time, he cast a few sorceries, silencing their unpleasant cries. It seemed he had blocked the Lamias' voices with a curse.

"There are more of them than I thought! Nagas are coming in through the opposite entrance again!"

"You should have expected to kill dozens once you disturbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a snake den!"

"They keep crawling out of the hole in the right corner! We have to block it!"

Nagas and Lamias crawled in without pause. They lunged at us as if they had been starving for a long time without any human visitors.

"These things are troublesome!"

"Die!!!"

Without answering, Maximus shattered their heads to rob them of their mobility, and then Kairan, Chloe, and I cut off the heads of the fallen Nagas. Beside us, Abram and Ulysses were dealing with the Lamias.

It was simple repetition, but the sheer volume made it feel chaotic.

"There are too many corpses in the way!"

"One moment! I'll clear them out!"

As I quickly gathered the scattered Naga corpses into my Subspace Pocket, Kairan, who was pulling off a Naga's head, suddenly snapped her head up and stared into the darkness at the end of the opposite corridor.

"Oh no. More are coming. A massive swarm."

"What? How many?"

"A lot. Quite a lot. A hundred? I don't know. They're all big. I think they're Lizardmen."

If they were large, they were likely Lizardmen, just as Kairan said. They were numerous and hunted humans with overwhelming physical prowess.

"Abram, a Barrier!"

"I'm already casting it!"

Abram, who had been killing Lamias, hurriedly cast a Barrier toward the room's entrance. There was another entrance on the opposite side from where we entered, and the Lizardmen were attempting to come through it.

"Kuaaaaaa!!!!"

Bang!!!

The large lizards slammed their weapons against the Barrier. While Abram steadily held them back, we finished off the Nagas and Lamias and tucked their corpses into the Subspace Pocket.

Once Abram dropped the Barrier, we would have to engage in a second round with those hulking lizards.

Naturally, no one looked tired. If anything, they looked excited. It seemed everyone had been starving for a real fight. It was then that Joshua, who had been quiet until now, began to move.

"Is it finally my turn to step up?"

"What? What are you planning all of a sudden?"

"This is a festival! It's time for me to enjoy myself too!"

Just before Abram released the Barrier, Joshua pulled out a snake he had caught earlier from his pouch.

What was he doing? I could have stopped him, but I decided to watch a bit longer.

"Now, kill each other!"

As Joshua commanded them to kill each other, Ulysses shouted in horror.

"Quick! Cover your ears! It's a bizarre melody!"

"That damn clown! Don't use wide-range skills out of nowhere!"

Joshua cut off the tail of the snake he had pulled out, put it in his mouth, and began to blow. The snake, with its tail severed, emitted a grotesque sound while vomiting blood and flesh. Ulysses immediately waved his hand toward us, casting a curse of auditory impairment.

With our ears blocked, we witnessed an unbelievable sight.

As Joshua began to play the severed snake tail like a wind instrument, the Lizardmen gathered outside the Barrier to kill us began to plunge their weapons into one another.

A feast of fratricide unfolded. The Lizardmen were killing, biting, and devouring each other. That frenzied heat spread down the corridor, and as if infected by a rage virus, all the Lizardmen filling the hallway began to run wild in madness.

Before we knew it, Joshua had stepped outside the Barrier, dancing like a jester as he pulled out a second snake and severed its tail.

At that moment, Maximus gripped his mace and lunged at Joshua. He wasn't driven mad by the performance; he simply wanted to stop the music.

"Hahaha! You're crazy! Don't worry! The effect of the frenzy won't reach my precious audience! I've already calculated everything! Don't be so angry! You're not within the range of effect! Aaaah!"

As Maximus tried to crush his head with the mace, Joshua scrambled to dodge the attack and shouted in terror.

Wait, I couldn't hear any surrounding sounds because of the silence Ulysses had cast, so why could I hear Joshua's voice? It wasn't just his voice; his performance was also clearly audible.

Even with my ears covered, I could hear Joshua. It seemed his sound was the type that bypassed all defenses. If that was true, it meant there was no way to block his song.

Realizing this at the same time I did, Ulysses lifted the curse of auditory impairment. He realized it was pointless.

"I've lifted the curse. Can everyone hear?"

"Yes, we can."

"I don't understand. What kind of Ability does he have? To transmit sound through a curse... it means trying to block his attack this way is useless."

It meant he could transmit sound using his Ability even if someone covered their ears or was deafened by a curse. Unless Joshua was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠killed, his performance couldn't be stopped. I suppose one has to show this level of eccentricity to earn a Platinum Badge without any combat skills.

"Dammit. You rotten clown. Explain yourself before you use something like that!"

"Sorry, sorry! I got too excited, I couldn't help it!"

"Shit. Hey! Porter!"

"Yes?"

"I can't go on with a selfish clown like this. What is this? What if he just starts acting out on his own?"

"Maximus is right. Joshua's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠behavior just now was a bit much."

Chloe nodded in agreement with Maximus. Ulysses then clicked his tongue as he looked at the dead Lizardmen.

"The corpses are too damaged. There's nothing left to salvage."

"...."

"Ahaha... Oops. I guess I got a bit too excited on my own. My apologies."

As the party's reaction turned cold, Joshua's expression darkened rapidly. He soon dropped the severed snake tail on the floor and laughed awkwardly.

"Since we've clearly seen your ability, Joshua, please be more careful next time."

"I understand. I just get so high when I see blood."

"And Mr. Joshua. It's dangerous, so please don't step outside the Barrier."

"My apologies for that too, Mr. Inquisitor."

"Since he apologized, let's move on. A person can get a bit excited."

"Tch."

"Maximus. Don't be so sharp. You're making everyone uncomfortable."

"Fine, I get it. I'm just saying it's dangerous."

At Chloe's words, Maximus finally relaxed his expression.

That man certainly has a temper. Still, Maximus wasn't wrong, so someone had to give Joshua a piece of their mind. Since Maximus has such a foul personality, he's excellent as a disciplinarian; I should just pair the two of them up.

"Let's at least recover what's left of the corpses. Lizardman hides fetch a decent price."

"Let's pick out the ones with intact bodies."

We gathered the corpses of the Lizardmen scattered in the corridor.

"But Joshua. At this point, isn't that basically hypnosis?"

"Oh, no! It's definitely different from hypnosis! Hypnosis eventually breaks from external shock. But my music pulls out and heightens an individual's emotions, making them fight of their own volition. So it doesn't break until I stop playing or they die in battle! Hahaha!"

"...A terrifying man."

"Please, never use that technique on us."

"Oh, of course! I can't use it anyway! Because of the chain."

Because of the Spirit Chain I had placed on him, Joshua couldn't attack us even if he wanted to. You could say I held his leash. In fact, I could have ended the previous situation just by pulling the chain, but I let his performance continue out of a desire to see his ability properly.

"Still, we managed to salvage a few."

"Let's take these and call it a day."

"That would be wise. If we go further, more dangerous things will appear."

"By more dangerous things, you mean..."

"The Gorgon. I think it's watching us."

"Then could it be... this raid was also..."

"The Gorgon likely sent them."

I already knew about the Gorgon through Olivia. If Medusa was the final boss of the Snake Nest, the Gorgon and the Serpent were the mid-bosses.

And of the two, I knew the Gorgon was particularly intelligent. While the Serpent took the mid-boss spot through sheer physical power, the Gorgon possessed many special techniques.

The first of those abilities was likely the power to control snakes, and the other was the gaze Kairan had just felt.

The Gorgon's eye was tracking us. Tonight, the snakes would likely target and attack us all through the night.