Chapter 180: Crisis Breeds Another Opportunity
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180: Crisis Breeds Another Opportunity
“....”
Gorgon stared into the darkness.
For some time now, someone had been glaring back at it.
Gorgon’s role was that of a chief of staff—detecting targets across a vast area, analyzing their strength, and deploying monsters accordingly. It was arguably the monster with the sharpest intellect in the Snake Nest.
It was also Gorgon who controlled the monsters produced by the Serpent to attack adventurers. To ensure that Medusa, who slumbered in the deepest part, did not have to act personally, Gorgon controlled every situation from the middle.
To achieve this, it required the ability known as ‘Gorgon’s Eye,’ which could oversee more than half of the Snake Nest.
But now, that ability was being blocked.
It could see nothing.
In the thick darkness, there was an existence glaring back at it. That thing had to be the one interfering with its detection.
‘Who are you?’
Gorgon continued to stare at the entity watching it. The moment it looked away, the enemy would surely launch an attack through some unknown method.
This was a hunter.
Not a human.
A half-elf?
Gorgon slowly began to unravel the target’s identity.
“Female. Half-elf. Hunter.”
Soon, Gorgon had perfectly identified the target glaring at it. It also gained a vague understanding of the hunter’s ability.
“She has fixed the target of her hunt upon herself. It means a duel to the death.”
That was an ability that functioned as both detection and a jammer against detection.
Indeed, there was a reason Kairan had remained awake, staring into the darkness alone. Even when Sion went to rescue the engineer from the Empire, Kairan had continued to watch the darkness at the end of the hallway.
By doing so, she blocked Gorgon’s vision while simultaneously observing Gorgon itself. It was a technique that could only be used because Gorgon had observed Kairan first—a unique ability of Kairan’s designed to reverse-track and kill detection-type ability users.
To be the prey and the hunter at the same time.
That was Kairan’s method.
“Ridiculous.”
However, the opponent was Gorgon. Furthermore, this was the Snake Nest.
Nothing was more dangerous than fighting on the enemy’s home ground, and Kairan knew this well.
“I’m breaking off here.”
“Is it already coming?”
“It has figured out my identity. Its head works much better than I expected.”
“Can you handle it alone?”
“I can. I don’t need help.”
“I’ll allow Kairan’s departure. Even if you die, I’ll resurrect you in a Golem’s body, so fight however you wish.”
Kairan separated from the group.
While they were setting out to rescue Jack, she had continuously petitioned Sion. She wanted to take down Gorgon alone. Sion had initially refused her request, but after hearing the conditions she proposed, he granted permission for her to hunt Gorgon solo.
“Is it really alright to let her go like that?”
“She said she could do it. We have to trust her.”
In response to Abram’s question, Sion expressed his trust in Kairan. Maximus, who was running ahead, then asked Sion a question.
“Hey, Captain. You were having some kind of conversation with the hunter earlier. Mind if I ask what it was about?”
“It’s nothing much. She just said she’d show me something interesting.”
“Something interesting?”
“Yes. Kairan has a rather peculiar ability.”
“I’m curious to see what it is!”
“You’ll be surprised when you see it, Joshua.”
Sion smiled. There was a specific reason he had entrusted the solo hunt of Gorgon to Kairan.
‘To think she had Polymorph.’
Among Kairan’s abilities was ‘Skin Stealing,’ which allowed her to don the skin of a hunted target. If she used this, she could take Gorgon’s skin and sow chaos among the snakes of the Snake Nest.
However, there was a condition: the hunt had to be performed alone. That was why he had sent Kairan to face Gorgon by herself. Sion believed she could take it down.
“Lizardmen ahead!”
“They’ve finally crawled out!”
“I’ll bind their legs!”
Ulysses fired Thorn Vines, sweeping through the pack of Lizardmen, and Sion immediately activated his Demon Eye toward them.
“Kieeeek!!!!”
The Dragon Eye of Suppression, which was even more effective against targets he had killed before, was activated. Every Lizardman caught in Sion’s gaze fell into a state of panic and shock, becoming confused.
“Good!”
With the Lizardmen unable to move, Maximus dove straight into their midst. With his innate strength and exceptional combat sense, he began to run wild among the confused Lizardmen, smashing their heads.
“Hahaha! Now this is a fun situation!”
“Joshua! What are you doing now?!”
“I’m going to boost everyone’s morale this time!”
Joshua laughed as he picked up a dead Lizardman’s corpse, pulled out its tendons, and began to pluck them. As his ability activated, the tendons became strings, and Joshua’s performance pierced into his comrades’ ears.
“Crazy...!”
The Song of Frenzy manifested, and the party’s aggression surged to another level. Realizing he could now perform movements that were previously impossible, Sion immediately pulled weapons out of his inventory. He felt as though he could now properly handle a short spear, a weapon he had lacked proficiency in.
“Joshua! Keep playing!”
“You got it!”
From the rear, Joshua continued his performance using the corpse, while Ulysses poured various debuffs onto the Lizardmen. In the vanguard, Maximus and Chloe cut down the Lizardmen like madmen, while Abram and Sion followed behind to clean up the survivors.
“It’s over. So, where is the rescue target?”
“He should be around here.”
Having fended off a wave of monsters, Sion and the party moved quickly to find Jack.
However, there was another problem.
Twitch.
A larger number of monsters than usual had left the Serpent’s nest. Gorgon, who was linked to it, gave no response. Something alien was crawling through the nest.
“The scent.”
She flared her nostrils and sniffed. The distinct gamey smell of creatures raised on milk was wafting through the nest.
The owner of the nest, having deduced the situation without difficulty, stood up and stretched.
“Filthy monkeys.”
It was the scent of humans. The scent of those trifles, which she hadn't smelled in a long time, made her mind even more murky and damp.
“A hole has been pierced.”
This was an opportunity. The fact that humans had entered this place meant a hole had opened in this closed space. And a hole meant a path to escape had been created.
The owner of the nest, who had been imprisoned for so long, quickly left her quarters.
*
Meanwhile, Kairan had driven an arrow into Gorgon’s eye, robbing it of its sight. In exchange, her stomach had been pierced. Death was approaching her.
“Ha... Hahaha....”
Yet Kairan laughed, coughing up blood as if she felt no pain. Climbing onto the head of the snake bastard that had been glaring at her since last night, she tore away its scales with her hands and drove a dagger into its bleeding flesh. She couldn't help but laugh.
This was the thrill of the hunt.
She was never satisfied unless she flayed the face of her kill. That fetish of hers had given birth to her current ability.
Skin Stealing was activated.
Coughing up blood, Kairan crawled into the dying body of Gorgon. Like a Skinwalker stealing an adventurer’s body. Like a parasitic wasp laying eggs in a host.
She slowly entered Gorgon’s dying form. She merged her own fading life with the dying life of Gorgon, transforming into a new existence.
It was akin to molting. Casting off her past self and being born anew, Kairan became one with Gorgon and began to heal. Her pierced stomach was filled as it merged with Gorgon’s body, and her wounds were erased as they became one.
At the same time, the chains bound to her soul unraveled.
This was why she had set out to hunt Gorgon alone. Her life-or-death gamble had succeeded.
Sion did not know. He didn't know that Skin Stealing possessed such a power. He didn't know that if one stole a skin and fused themselves with the slain target, they became a new being.
Sion was unaware that because it was like being born anew, all previous contracts or oaths would be completely nullified.
“There is no such thing as a perfect ability. If you fail to realize this, you will meet your death. Every ability has a loophole. If you survive, take this as a lesson.”
Kairan laughed. She had been waiting for an opportunity, and she had seized the perfect one.
Kairan harbored an extreme hatred for humans and elves. That was why she had come to the Labyrinth City. She had killed countless adventurers inside the Labyrinth. In the Labyrinth, it wasn't strange for anyone to die. Often, not even a corpse remained.
She could kill what she hated as much as she wanted. This elite hunter with an exceptional ability preferred killing humans and elves over monsters.
The hatred for the human who had raped her mother, combined with the loathing for the mother who had abused her and cut off her ears, had led her to hate everything.
In particular, fueled by a murderous intent toward the human man who had tried to use her by shackling her soul, she decided to kill every human who had entered the Snake Nest.
That was why she chose Gorgon. Having absorbed the body and abilities of the snake with the highest authority in the Snake Nest after Medusa, all that remained was to join Medusa in hunting down the six Platinum Badges and the Imperial rat who had sneaked into the nest.
“It’s been a while since I’ve hunted.”
The murderer had returned. The madwoman who had acquired Gorgon’s body began to approach Sion.
*
The Malice of the Labyrinth seethed.
To punish the sinner who had handed the 5th Floor over to humanity, it had sent down two venomous serpents as judges. It would be difficult for him to return alive.
There wasn't even an ally who could enter this place to help. Sion would lose all his comrades and would have to struggle just to survive.
It would be good if Sion died. It would also be fine to inflict a fatal wound and break his spirit. That was the stage that had been set from the beginning.
[You should never have left the 5th Floor.]
A pitch-black silhouette smiled in the darkness.
“Ugh, the smell... Where are we?”
“Hahaha! I don't know! I really don't know!”
“If we enter the 5th Floor directly, we might die in an instant. We have to take a detour.”
“And this is the place you chose?”
“The entrance to the Snake Nest has opened. We can get to the 5th Floor through here.”
“Haha! Look at this! It’s sticky!”
“Don't touch just anything.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! See? I’m perfectly okay!”
“Sigh... This is why Undead are such a pain.”
The three fools sent by Demon King Erphin, Nihala, and Morto of the 7th Floor appeared in the Snake Nest.
Now that all the actors had gathered in the Snake Nest, the festival would finally begin.