Chapter 185: Strategic Retreat
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Strategic Retreat
Skills were merged into the two Demon Eyes.
Night Vision and Synesthesia were integrated into the Demon Eye of Identification, while Predator's Sight was combined with the Demon Eye of Insight.
This slightly reduced the strain of using my abilities. The stifling pressure in my chest eased a little.
Should I give it a try?
If you asked whether merging the abilities had drastically changed my vision, the answer was not really. After all, I hadn't actually activated the Demon Eyes yet.
I wonder what it’ll be like when I turn them on.
To satisfy my curiosity, I activated both the Demon Eye of Identification and the Demon Eye of Insight simultaneously.
In an instant, the surrounding landscape was rendered in an entirely different light.
As both eyes activated at once, an absurd amount of information flooded into my mind.
The Demon Eye of Identification provided information about things I didn't know.
With Night Vision and Synesthesia added to the mix, every dark corner became transparent. Simultaneously, sounds and smells were visualized as colors and shapes, hitting my brain with an overwhelming torrent of data.
"This is insane...!"
The Demon Eye of Identification allowed me to grasp not only information about the people in the room but even the events that had transpired within these walls.
In particular, seeing sounds and smells through Synesthesia made the world look fundamentally different.
And when I added the Demon Eye of Insight to the mix, the transformation was complete.
"Ugh..."
"Are you alright? You're bleeding from your nose!"
"I'm fine. Whoof."
I deactivated the Demon Eyes. I couldn't use them for long.
My brain's processing capacity couldn't yet keep up with the sheer volume of information the Demon Eyes provided.
What would it be like in combat? If the opponent's physical abilities were equal to or lower than mine, I could toy with them.
I'd be able to toy with them perfectly. Of course, that was assuming I could keep the eyes active for an extended period.
Once I get used to these eyes, I might even be able to kill opponents stronger than me.
My reaction speed had already become sharp enough to rival a typical Platinum Badge adventurer.
As a result of the grueling, death-defying training I'd done with the Villainesses in my dreams, I had reached the point where I could snatch arrows out of the air.
If I could push this reaction speed to its limit, taking down a Platinum Badge might actually be possible.
This is crazy.
If I could just maintain the Demon Eyes for a long time, I could probably clear the 6th Floor right now and head straight down to the 7th.
"With this, preparations are fin—"
"What is it?"
"The Gorgon has detected us."
Just as I was about to take a rest, the Gorgon's gaze locked onto me.
But the moment the Gorgon saw me, the Predator's Sight engraved into my Demon Eye of Insight nullified its detection and, in reverse, revealed the Gorgon's location to me.
So this is what Kairan saw.
I could faintly see the wounded Gorgon coiled up, its tongue flickering.
It seemed the snake bastard had been resting, just like us.
It looks flustered.
When I reverse-detected it and blocked its vision, the Gorgon seemed extremely panicked.
I had its position. It felt like we could easily hunt it down if we struck now.
"I've pinpointed the Gorgon's location. It looks wounded. Shall we move quickly and take it down?"
I asked the party for their opinions. The Gladiator Brothers immediately agreed to my proposal. It seemed they were quite bothered by the fact that they hadn't been able to kill it earlier.
In the meantime, Joshua had also woken up.
"How's your condition?"
"There's still a bit of pain in my arm, but... well, it's not bad! That was a great performance!"
"That means you can move."
I wanted to rest, but we could rest more comfortably once the Gorgon was dead.
Even though I was currently blocking the Gorgon's vision, the master of the Snake Nest and the egg-laying monster were still roaming the area.
We needed to kill the Gorgon before Medusa and the Serpent could regroup with it.
"Since we've specified the location, let's strike immediately and kill it."
"We're killing the Gorgon and then escaping, right?"
"Yes. We should do that this time. Let's rest outside the Snake Nest entirely."
The team members agreed to my suggestion. We immediately packed our gear and opened the entrance to the room where we had been hiding.
The plan was to handle the Gorgon quickly and get out.
"Huh?!"
Maximus, who had stepped out into the corridor first, let out a short cry and was sent flying as if he'd been struck by something.
It happened so fast that we were caught off guard, and in that split second, something lunged toward Chloe.
"Kuaaaah!!!"
"Why is there an Insect-man here?!"
Was it possible for monsters other than snakes to appear in the Snake Nest?
From what I'd heard from Olivia, only snakes appeared in the Snake Nest.
That meant these weren't native monsters of the Snake Nest; they were monsters that had entered from another location, just like us.
And if my guess was correct, these were...
The ones who merged the souls of the Gorgon and Kairan...!
There were three monsters.
One looked like an Insect-man, a bug-type monster with the compound eyes of a dragonfly, the mandibles of a locust, and a hard carapace that looked like it would never be pierced by a blade.
Behind it was a female-type monster with a flower bud on her head, appearing to be an Alraune, a high-ranking species of Dryad.
Finally, there was a modified Imp draped in a pitch-black robe, reminiscent of the Saint in Black.
All three were bipedal humanoids, and humanoid monsters generally possessed high intelligence.
The creatures spoke the human tongue.
"Kiha!!! Finally found you!!!"
The modified, enhanced Imp burst into a mad cackle as it pressured Chloe. Chloe activated his ability to kill the enhanced Imp, and in an instant, the Imp's body was shredded by Chloe's sword.
Did he kill it?
"Oh no!!"
He hadn't.
The Imp's body, which had been ground into mincemeat, wriggled and immediately came back to life.
It didn't die even after being completely shredded?
"It's immortal!! It's the Curse of Immortality!!!"
Ulysses shouted.
An Imp afflicted by the Curse of Immortality. I didn't know exactly what kind of curse that was, nor did I know how to deal with it.
One thing I was certain of was that Chloe's left arm had been torn off by the Imp.
"Maximus!!! Dammit! Ulysses! Take care of the Imp! Joshua, look after Maximus!"
Ulysses fired Thorn Vines at the Imp that was pressuring Chloe. If he could just buy us some time...
"Ah."
As soon as Ulysses fired the Thorn Vines, the Alraune standing in the back opened her closed eyes and reached out toward the vines.
"Wither."
In an instant, one of Ulysses's most reliable skills vanished.
The Thorn Vines completely withered away at the Alraune's command, and the Insect-man who had sent Maximus flying swung its hand like a blade toward the panicked Ulysses.
Boom—!!!
"I've got it!"
Abram stepped in to block the Insect-man approaching Ulysses.
The problem was that the Imp, having taken down Chloe, was now rushing toward Abram.
Ulysses, who had fallen back onto his rear, shouted at me.
"They feel like monsters from the 7th Floor!"
My mind went blank at Ulysses's cry.
Monsters from the 7th Floor?
Why the hell were 7th Floor monsters up here?
The bigger problem was that if I deactivated the Demon Eye of Insight to fight these bastards, the Gorgon would pinpoint our location.
After my thoughts stalled for a moment, I started cranking my brain again.
What was the best way for us to get out of here?
With our frontliners, Maximus and Chloe, down, there was no way to win.
Since we couldn't win, we had to prioritize survival.
A way to get out of the Snake Nest alive.
"Ha, dammit. Jack."
"Yes...?!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't take you with me anymore."
"Huh? Uh, wait—!!!"
Stab!
"I'll bring you back to life later."
"You... you... crazy..."
I slit Jack's throat.
To be honest, Jack was nothing more than dead weight who provided no help in combat.
Since his level was 0 and he had no abilities anyway, Jack's resurrection cost wouldn't even exceed 100 gold. No, I could just put him in a Golem's body. Then I could put Jack to work without much expense.
Dead weight stored in the Inventory.
Joshua was in a state where he couldn't use his abilities.
Ulysses was overwhelmed by the Alraune after his Thorn Vines were neutralized.
Maximus had been ambushed and sustained a fatal wound to his chest.
The only ones left were Abram and Chloe.
"Cough...!!!"
"Oh no!! Chloe!!"
Scratch that. The only one properly left was Abram.
Chloe had also died from the combined attack of the Alraune and the Imp.
Being a Platinum Badge didn't mean everyone was as strong as someone like Moira.
Even among Platinum Badges, there was a hierarchy of strength.
Chloe and Maximus were quite capable warriors, but if you asked if they were at the top tier of Platinum Badges, the answer was no. They were actually on the lower end of the Platinum rank.
They were merely strong enough to have reached Platinum.
They weren't the type of monsters who could slaughter their way through mysterious creatures presumed to have come from the 7th Floor. If they had been capable of such a feat, they wouldn't have struggled so much against the Gorgon in the first place.
What if the real monsters—like the Saintess before her death, the Tower Lord, or Moira—had been here?
They probably could have killed those three easily.
But our party didn't have anyone of that caliber.
Joshua and Ulysses were supporters who couldn't handle close-quarters combat at all.
Abram, who was the strongest among us, was holding out against two of them, but it was clear he would fall once that Alraune, who was currently standing still, joined the fray again.
What if Kairan had been here?
She was exceptionally strong, even among our party members.
If Kairan had been here, she probably would have noticed their presence in advance and responded.
Maximus wouldn't have fallen so pathetically to an ambush.
I felt like we could have succeeded in the hunt if Kairan had been here.
I shouldn't have sent her to the Gorgon alone.
Because of my misjudgment as the team leader, the situation had snowballed.
And this was the result.
I had to make a decision quickly.
I was in the position where I had to make the calls as the leader of the team.
Even if the situation spiraled to the absolute worst, it was my job to drag my teammates back up to the surface by any means necessary.
Even if everyone died, I couldn't let their corpses be lost in the Labyrinth.
I've reached the point where seeing someone die doesn't affect me anymore.
Should I say I've become composed?
Rather, seeing death makes my head clear.
What I need to do is becoming obvious.
In the end, I am a porter.
The only person who can shoulder everything and escape the Labyrinth.
In this situation, it was actually easier to untangle the knotted mess if everyone except me died.
"I'm sorry, Maximus."
"Wa-Wait...!"
I slit the throat of Maximus, who was already fatally wounded from the ambush.
His breath stopped quickly.
Without Chloe and Maximus, fighting was impossible.
There was only one way left.
"Hahaha! You. You're the same kind as me!"
"It's how I've survived. Now, Joshua. You know, right?"
"Fine. Fine, fine. I admit it. Without frontliners, it's over. See you up there."
"Let's do that."
I snapped Joshua's neck.
Another party member died.
Three left.
I approached Abram from behind as he struggled against the 7th Floor monsters.
"Surely you aren't..."
"We have to get out alive."
"Ha. The look in your eyes has changed. Have you thrown away your humanity for the sake of survival?"
"Because I have to live."
"It's the right way..."
Ulysses offered himself.
He, too, accepted death.
Thud.
I pierced his heart, sending him off in one go.
I placed the corpses into my Subspace Pockets.
Jack, Maximus, Chloe, Joshua, and finally Ulysses.
Everyone was in my Inventory.
"Huff... huff..."
"Abram."
"Cough... Have you given up...?"
"We don't have the strength to take those things down."
"Whew... I understand. I admit it..."
Abram exhaled his final breath, and I stabbed him in the back.
"What's this? A betrayal? Did you think we'd spare you just because you killed your comrades?"
As I retrieved Abram's corpse, the Imp asked with a smirk.
I didn't answer him.
I immediately activated the Ring of Intangibility.
"Huh!?"
"He's running away!!!"
Of course I'm running.
What else can I do?
If you can't win, the best move is to flee.
Just you wait. I'm bringing the Tower Lord.
I'll bring the grown Helena and Freya, too.
If we can't do it ourselves, I'll just bring everyone and beat the crap out of you.
Above all, I'm the only one who can open and close the entrance to the Underground City and the Snake Nest.
If I close the entrance, those bastards will be trapped here.
Then they'll either have to go back down or wait in here until I return.
Go have fun with the snakes.
I had no intention of letting them go back down.
As soon as I got out, I would send my comrades' bodies to the Church for resurrection, and then I planned to return with even stronger allies.
I'll kill all three of them and take their souls.
I don't despair over a single defeat.
I've already experienced failure several times.
I won't fall into despair or frustration over something like this.