Underworld Cleanup (2)

The auction was temporarily suspended, and the VIP guests along with the other invited attendees agreed to remain at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Grand Ducal Palace while our party recovered the Dragon Jade.

So we had no choice but to find it. While Caesius was busy wiping out the enemy, Freya, Clara, and I were diligently searching for the underground warehouse where the Dragon Jade was kept.

"...Why is this path like this?"

We'd already come back to the same place several times. It felt like I'd seen this spot about seven times already. I'd even left markers so we wouldn't get confused, but no matter how far we walked, that paper with the smiling sun drawn on it always showed up.

That childish drawing was Freya's work. Not mine.

"I've seen this face way too many times already."

Freya said, slightly furrowing her brow.

"I guess we're directionally challenged."

"It's not that we're bad with directions — this is a maze..."

Though what kind of maze it was, I had no idea.

I'd said it lightly, but it was actually a serious problem. Even with Clara here, we were still getting lost. The path was so complex I was starting to develop a genuine hatred for mazes.

"We've seen this marker seven times already..."

I frowned without realizing it, trying to figure out what to do. That was when Clara, who had been carefully observing our surroundings, spoke up quietly.

"...I get it now."

"Huh?"

"......Sorry. I should have figured it out sooner. I only just worked it out..."

"I didn't say anything... More importantly, you really figured it out?"

"...Yeah."

Clara nodded.

So the reason she hadn't said a word through seven loops was all buildup for this.

"...A maze that keeps bringing you back to the same place requires carefully analyzing the path patterns. That's why it took so long......"

"No, you did great."

She'd identified the types of paths, figured out how they looped back here, then verified her theory by walking through it seven times. While Freya and I weren't thinking about any of that, Clara had been calculating it all and found the answer.

...Looks like Freya and I were pretty useless.

"...This way."

Clara took the lead, and Freya and I followed. And instead of ending up in the same place again, a completely new path appeared — I cheered.

"Nice work, Clara!"

"...Nice work?"

"Of course!"

Obviously it was. Freya and I had just been walking around without noticing a thing.

Clara scratched her cheek, her face slightly flushed from the praise. With her low self-esteem, even simple compliments got this kind of reaction.

Well, at least she's not misinterpreting the praise.

Compared to the beginning, she'd come a long way.

Following the path Clara guided us down, we never looped back to the same place again. Just as I was thinking we'd be out of this maze soon, Freya spoke up as if she'd discovered something.

"Everyone, wait a moment."

I looked at her questioningly at the request to wait, but Clara seemed to understand why. She drew a dagger from behind her back and said:

"...Enemies."

Freya smiled faintly.

"There's a gatekeeper. Looks like we're on the right track."

Seemed so.

In that case, this useless porter will just hang back while you two fight hard...

My plan to slip into the background since I had nothing to do fell apart immediately.

I was slightly startled by the message announcing a boss monster's appearance.

This isn't even a dungeon, so why is there a boss monster...?

I didn't have time to think about the reason.

"KUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO───────!!"

A roar that felt like it would rupture my eardrums accompanied the appearance of a massive creature.

It was a giant monster with a bull's head and a human body.

Having confirmed the boss's appearance with my own eyes, I understood why there was a boss monster here from the message itself.

A labyrinth that shared the organization's name.

This maze itself was a dungeon...?!

Most dungeons emerge above ground, but occasionally there are ones underground — the type called subterranean dungeons. Apparently the royal family of Sha Jar had established their shadow organization atop this underground dungeon, using the labyrinth's paths to safely store treasures obtained through illegal means.

The puzzling part was how they'd managed to tame a boss monster...

"Look, that's a contract mark."

"...They put a slave contract on a boss monster."

The proof of the contract appeared where Freya pointed. They must have subdued the boss monster and forced a contract on it. It would have taken a tremendous amount of effort — but then again, their backer was the royal family.

"KROOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

The moment it bellowed, an inexplicable weight pressed down on my body. It felt like someone had stacked iron weights on my shoulders.

A debuff...!

I wasn't the only one who felt it — Freya and Clara both slightly furrowed their brows. Against a brute like that, we needed a warrior, but the problem was Erinn wasn't here. And calling Caesius wasn't an option either — she couldn't just track us through this maze instantly.

Ultimately, the people here would have to handle it.

"...Allen, give the orders."

Clara said this as she gripped her dagger and settled into a stance. Freya glanced at me once and nodded as well.

Minotaur. Few people wouldn't recognize the name of one of the most famous monsters from Greco-Roman mythology, but I'd never encountered one while playing Dungeon in Evil.

So I didn't know the exact strategy either. However, there was one thing that set me apart from everyone else here.

I could see its entire status. Previous bosses had permission issues or something that prevented me from viewing their status, but this time the boss monster's status was visible.

That meant the Minotaur was fortunately a weaker boss than the Lizard Lord.

Its Strength and Vitality were exceptionally high, while its Agility was relatively low. Its Intelligence in particular was practically rock-bottom. An Intelligence of 10 was a number you'd only find in a particularly dumb beast.

The contractor was... Barman? Don't know who that is.

Its traits included the debuff ability it just used on us, plus HP and MP recovery — and the HP recovery level was especially high.

In that case...

"We need to press hard. Its HP is high and its wound regeneration will be unusually fast."

"So either hit it hard enough to kill it in one go, or keep attacking without letting up."

"Exactly."

Freya nodded, and Clara spoke as if she understood.

"...Got it."

At the same time, the Minotaur moved. Swinging a massive club with arms far thicker than a human's, it charged at us. It looked extremely fast to me, but apparently not so much to these two.

"I'll go first, Clara."

"...Okay."

Freya calmly took the initiative.

"I call upon the Great One — grant this lamb a blade of salvation."

Five sacred swords appeared around Freya. Then the five blades plunged toward the Minotaur from different directions.

CLANG!!!

The Minotaur swung its club and blocked two of the swords, but the three that came from completely different angles sank straight into its back.

Simultaneously, Clara kicked off the ground and charged in at high speed.

"UOOOOOOO!!!"

The Minotaur roared once more. Instantly the weight pressing on my body intensified further, and another message appeared announcing the debuff had been applied again.

...This is bad.

Looking at how the weight stacked, the debuff itself seemed to be a stackable type that could accumulate multiple times. Every roar put us at a greater disadvantage — and worse, it reduced stats by a "percentage" rather than a fixed amount.

Clara's movements were still fast, but clearly slower than when she'd first charged in. Even so, still more agile than the Minotaur, she drove her dagger into its forearm, then used the rebound to spin and leap high into the air.

So the name I gave her is reflected in the messages too... real-time patch, huh.

Anyway, Clara's newly drawn dagger sank straight into the Minotaur's cheekbone. She'd been aiming for somewhere else, but the creature had jerked its head hard, so it landed there.

"KRAAAAAA!!"

The Minotaur let out not a roar but a scream of pain. Judging by the name Venom Fang... it had probably injected a deadly poison in an instant. Indeed, the pierced cheekbone turned blue, then began rotting black. Having been poisoned, the Minotaur would choose one of two options.

Either recover immediately and continue fighting, or take us out quickly and then recover.

And it chose the latter.

"KROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Another roar crushed down on us. How many times could this thing stack? Don't tell me there's no limit?

Then if it just stacked from the start, it'd be an invincible boss.

Stack it about ten times and people would be crawling on the ground. Maybe that's why its Intelligence is so low. It has to be dumb enough not to realize that for the balance to work.

After about three stacks, even Clara seemed heavily affected. She was scowling in a way that was unlike her. Especially given her high Agility stat, it might hit her harder.

Looking at Clara's reduced stats, it seemed each stack reduced current stats by about 20 percent. It was a truly enormous debuff. The silver lining was that it was based on current stats, not maximum.

"If the debuff keeps stacking, winning will be tough..."

"...This is getting annoying."

Saying that, Freya released her divine power.

And remarkably, the weight crushing my entire body lightened dramatically.

Right — debuff cleansing was originally a cleric's job. I'd completely forgotten.

"...You could have done that sooner."

"...I forgot for a moment too."

The cleric herself forgot?

"You can keep doing that, right?"

"Yes."

Then there was a clear method.

"Freya, every time it roars, focus on cleansing. As long as Clara doesn't get outpaced, we'll be fine."

"Understood."

"Clara, keep using the poison approach like before!"

"...Okay."

Clara moved swiftly with her newly lightened body. The Minotaur saw the faster Clara and roared again, but Freya now immediately activated Cure to remove the debuff.

Once more, a dagger laced with venom stabbed the Minotaur. This time she struck its side, and the Minotaur screamed in agony before swinging its club wildly.

BANG!! KRAANG!! BANG BANG!!!

It was thrashing because it couldn't keep up with Clara's movements — but the problem was Freya and me.

"Whoaak!!"

"Kyaah!"

The club swings were so powerful they threatened to collapse the floor, throwing us off balance. And the club meant for Clara was now endangering us as collateral.

"Freya! Barrier!!"

"Ah, okay!!"

THWOOOM!!

Fortunately the barrier blocked the club just in time. A second later and Freya and I would have become pancakes together.

Clara is...

Amazingly, she was dodging every wild club swing while stabbing her venom-laced dagger into various spots.

"Freya, at this rate it's going to try to run and recover. We need to hit it while it's disoriented."

"...I understand. Pin it down or kill it outright."

"Can you do it?"

Freya smiled brightly.

"I can do both."

She immediately prepared a prayer.

"O Great God of Life, there is one here who seeks Your judgment."

Freya knelt where she stood. When she demurely clasped her hands together, divine power shone brilliantly and flowed forth. If not for that exposure of hers, she would have looked like a true saintess.

"Please deliver Your verdict."

BOOM!!

The surrounding air seemed to change. And then I was quite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surprised. It wasn't just a change in the air — the entire scenery around us had completely transformed.

"...What the."

A golden scale that looked ten times larger than a person stood there. On one side of the scale sat the Minotaur, and on the other lay a heart of unknown origin.

Beside the scale stood a man with the head of a black jackal, and a man whose entire body was blue, holding something like a thin scroll-book.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Where is this..."

"Shh, Allen."

Freya cautioned me to be quiet.

"In a courtroom, one must maintain silence."