Immovable Barrier (4)
The adventure party was talking in front of the entrance.
"Shouldn't we get the hell out of here while we still can?"
Lude, one of the members, said. A faint unease had begun to take root among them. The unidentified passage those two had just gone into looked like a dungeon no matter how you sliced it, and they had the distinct feeling they'd gotten mixed up in something far from ordinary.
Dungeons were treasure vaults where ancient ruins slumbered. Whatever dangers lurked inside, they were also greedy traps that made countless adventurers dream of striking it rich overnight. They'd never imagined that what their client was looking for would turn out to be a dungeon.
The real problem was that the woman escorting their client, Ron, was a far more formidable fighter than any of them had pictured. That single strike — a massive blast of sword aura that had carved every last orc into pieces — was a spectacle they had never seen in their lives. There was no guarantee the two of them wouldn't come back out and kill every last witness to keep their mouths shut. Plenty of nobles were lunatics who'd stop at nothing to get what they wanted. A flicker of regret crept in: maybe they'd been too blinded by gold, too hasty in taking on such a vague commission.
That young master didn't seem like that kind of person, but...
Sien stepped in.
"Hey, are you out of your damn mind? Run? We haven't even gotten the rest of our pay yet. What kind of bullshit is that?"
"You saw her — she's no ordinary fighter. If she decides to shut us up for good..."
"If that was the plan, she would've killed us before they even went in. You think they'd leave us standing here perfectly fine?"
"Maybe they just don't know the way back, so they're having us guide them first, and then they'll—"
"You idiot. Scared of your own damn shadow."
Sien smacked Lude across the back with her bow for nothing but doom-and-gloom. Of course, it was all just hypothetical. The alternative was abandoning a client before the job was even done — the kind of scum move that would also leave them walking away without even their seventy gold.
They decided to wait a little longer. Then a squealing cry reached their ears. Orcs were appearing around them again, one by one.
"Ah, those orc bastards again."
Was there a tribe settled somewhere near this canyon? Rodin and the others, already sick of this, started to prepare for a fight — but their expressions slowly went blank. The orcs in their field of vision just kept multiplying, without end. A handful became ten. Ten became dozens. And dozens became...
"..."
Orc hordes filled the entire area. Between the undergrowth, along the cliff tops — even then they kept coming, until the mass of them looked like nothing less than a green tide.
"Th-this is insane."
Not a single one of them could comprehend what kind of impossible thing was happening. They just stumbled backward, faces drained of color, not even thinking to raise their weapons. Strangely, an orderly atmosphere hung over that vast sea of orcs — like a well-disciplined army, waiting for the command of the leader who drove them.
Grrrk.
A low, distinct sound rang out through the silence. That savage cry, which stirred terror all on its own, made Rodin and his party tremble. One side of the green tide seemed to part, a path opening — and from within it, something walked out slowly. A massive orc, easily twice the size of the others, its entire body sheathed in knotted, bulging muscle. Staring at it, Rodin muttered in disbelief.
"...It's a King."
A King. A being capable of gathering and commanding monsters that should have been incapable of forming any alliance. Only now did they understand how so many orcs could be gathered in one place. Sometime, somehow, the worst kind of mutation — one that could trigger a Monster Wave — had been born among the orcs of the Tyrell Mountains.
The Orc King's eyes, gleaming a wet, blood-red, turned toward them. They were brimming with killing intent, as if it would charge in and tear them apart at any second. There was no way to fight that monster. They all understood that instinctively, without needing to try. Orcs surrounded them on every side — there was only one place left to run. Rodin looked at the dungeon entrance beside them and forced the words out.
"Arma, magic..."
Arma, who'd been half-dazed, snapped back to herself and began preparing a spell. The plan was to throw something — anything — that might make it hesitate for even a moment, then flee inside. There was no other way. She poured everything she had into drawing up her mana. The power swirling and gathering around her bloomed into flame.
KHAAARGH!
The Orc King charged at them, its massive feet pounding the earth. At the same time, a fireball the size of a person tore through the air and hurtled toward it with ferocious force.
BOOOOM!
"...Run inside!"
Everyone spun around and sprinted for the dungeon entrance. But it was useless. The fireball Arma had thrown didn't even slow the Orc King, let alone damage it. It burst through flame and smoke, closing the distance in an instant — before any of them had taken more than a few steps.
The Orc King's first target was Arma, the one who'd cast the spell. Rodin, right beside her, threw himself in the way on reflex — and was rammed aside, sent flying into the cliff face.
"...Ah."
There wasn't even time to cast a defensive spell. Watching that enormous fist swing toward her, ready to burst her body apart, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced for death.
That was the moment. A massive blade of sword aura flew from inside the dungeon entrance and slashed the Orc King.
...KRAAAH!
It let out a scream of agony, clutching its bleeding arm as it staggered back. Arma slowly opened her eyes. The other party members looked toward the entrance the sword aura had come from. From within, Ron and Ashel walked out, unhurried.
...What the hell is all this?
I stepped out of the dungeon at an easy pace and stared at the scene unfolding before my eyes, utterly baffled. Countless orcs covering the canyon. I hadn't even been inside for half an hour, and in that time the outside had gone to complete shit.
That's... an Orc King?
Looking at the massive orc howling with its arm slashed by Ashel's sword aura, I pieced the situation together.
Its level was 72. Even for a King, that was on the high side. Running into another Orc King — something that almost never happened — this Mystery hunt was going to be a mess right to the end, wasn't it. But it was a level Ashel could handle without issue, so I wasn't particularly worried.
"Take care of it."
"Yes, sir."
At my word, Ashel immediately started toward the Orc King. There was something in her bearing that suggested she meant to make up for not being able to face the statue Guardian in the dungeon.
I turned my gaze to Rodin, who'd been slammed into the wall to the side. Blood was pouring from his entire body in gouts — he was barely clinging to life.
"Captain!"
The party members, who'd been standing there stunned, came running toward us a beat too late. They pulled Rodin out of the wall and laid him on the ground. Arma hurriedly reached toward his wrecked body. A green light enveloped him. She seemed to be pouring healing magic into him, but Rodin's eyes were slowly losing focus, like a man about to die.
"N-no...! No!"
I watched her pouring magic into him, tears streaming down her face — then I pulled something from my coat. I knew well enough that surviving in a world like this meant not handing out kindness freely, living selfishly. But that didn't mean I was going to ignore people dying right in front of me.
"Move aside."
I took out a Scarlet Potion and examined Rodin's condition. His chest was caved in — that was clearly the fatal wound. I poured the potion over it.
The caved-in wound slowly knitted itself shut. From the bones within came a low, crunching sound.
Effect:Reconnects torn flesh and mends severe internal trauma
...I'd heard you were supposed to set broken bones properly before using it. Was it really okay to just dump it on like this?
The worry crossed my mind, but soon Rodin's complexion eased and his breathing evened out, returning to normal. The other party members stared blankly at the sight, then hurriedly offered their thanks.
"Thank you, young master! Truly, thank you...!"
"That's enough. Keep an eye on his condition."
Having done what I needed to, I turned my gaze to the side. Off to one side, Ashel and the Orc King's battle was in full swing.
KRA-KRA-KRAKOOM!
...The exchange was so fast I could barely even follow the blows. The only way I could describe it was this: every time Ashel and the Orc King collided, the ground around them was torn up and the trees were swept away entirely. The shockwave even reached me all the way over here. Seeing Ashel actually fight properly for the first time, I was reminded all over again that she was a monster in her own right. Between Bellebagora and a Guardian well over level 80, the things we'd run into had just been so absurd that she'd never had a chance to really shine.
Against Ashel's sword, which came on like a storm, the Orc King couldn't even get its bearings — it just kept spilling blood. If Ashel were actually going all-out, it would already be dead by now. In the seventies and eighties, a nine-level gap was that enormous. But she wasn't using her Racial Trait right now, so this wasn't her full power. The fight was dragging on longer than I'd expected, but I figured it would be over soon enough. I folded my arms and watched.
And then, in a single instant—
KRAAAAAH!
The Orc King let out a thunderous roar, as if preparing for a final clash — then suddenly veered and charged straight at me. Ashel, caught off guard, was a beat late getting behind it... but it was already right on top of me.
Oh, you son of a—
In the blink of an eye it was right in my face. I used a Mystery immediately.
Immovable Barrier
An invisible, transparent barrier unfolded between me and it. Its fist stopped dead in front of me, and the ground beside where I stood exploded from the impact.
"..."
An attack that would have shattered a massive boulder in a single blow didn't so much as jolt me. I stood there with my arms still folded, looking at the bewildered Orc King with indifferent eyes — while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. That was the last of it.
SHRAAAK!
Ashel's sword, catching up in an instant, took the Orc King's head.