Chapter 49

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 49

Chapter Title: Underground Ruins (2)

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Why the hell is he doing this all of a sudden? What makes him so confident? Lena's right here. Does he really think he can take down an intermediate adventurer?

Putting aside my shock, I put some distance between me and Hiro first. From fighting alongside him yesterday, I knew he was a swordsman. If we opened up enough space, had Lena unleash her magic, and I fired my arrows, we could take him down easily.

"Lena!"

In a labyrinth, attacking a fellow party member without provocation was grounds for immediate suppression. Before I could even signal her, Lena—who must have started chanting the moment she saw Hiro's status—cast Fireball, unleashing a barrage of fireballs.

But the instant Lena finished her chant and the flames erupted from her staff, Hiro dodged with startling speed. The spell slammed into the spot where he'd been, and Lena clicked her tongue before starting her next incantation.

And instead of closing in on us, Hiro widened the gap even further.

"......! ■■■!"

From Hiro, who was pulling away, came some incomprehensible, eerie language. Then, thick black smoke began pouring from whatever he held in one hand. I loosed a few arrows to pin him down, but he scoffed and swatted them all away with the sword in his other hand. Damn it. Level 1 [Archery] wasn't cutting it?

The smoke quickly spread throughout the room. This didn't feel good at all.

"Fire Arrow!"

Hiro had paused to deflect the arrows, and Lena seized the opening to fire off a spell even faster than before. Fiery arrows streaked toward him in red trails. At that speed, Hiro gave up on dodging and muttered more of that eerie chant instead.

"■■...."

Wasn't that the green barrier the skeleton mage from yesterday used? The smoke earlier, and now this shield... Could he use magic all along? Or did he pick something up in these ruins? That thing in his hand was the prime suspect.

"Hiro! Let's talk this out. Why the sudden attack?!"

I called out to buy time, stowing my useless bow. Of course, I drew the dagger at my waist.

"Hate dialogue events."

"....?"

What the hell? Events? From the way he's been talking since yesterday, this guy seems like he's from Earth too...

"Hiro, put down whatever you're holding and... Gah!"

"Ian?! Khk!"

Just as I tried to reason with him, agony hit me out of nowhere, and I collapsed to the floor. Lena, who had been quietly chanting from behind, let out a sharp gasp, vomited blood, and crumpled.

Damn it, this familiar sensation... Poison? [Poison Resistance] was reacting, so yeah, poison. But on top of that, some other shitty feeling... A curse?

"Perfect! Pattern broken!"

From the way he was cheering like an idiot, he was definitely the cause. The smoke that filled the room earlier was my guess. Even knowing didn't help in this sealed space...

At least the poison was manageable with [Poison Resistance]. The real problem was the curse. I pulled holy water from my pouch to deal with it quickly. Multiple curses, but none felt high-level, so my holy water should recover me somewhat...

"Recovery pattern!"

As I pulled out the vial to drink, Hiro spouted more nonsense and snatched a stone from the floor, hurling it at me with terrifying speed.

I tried to dodge, but my curse-slowed body couldn't, and the stone smashed the vial. Shit, do you know how much that cost?!

At least applying it would have some effect, so I hurriedly smeared the spilling holy water on myself. While pretending to rub it in, I massaged parts of my body out of Hiro's sight. Good, [Heavenly Touch] was activating a bit. Not instant, so I couldn't fix everything, but it might suppress the curse at least...

"■■!!"

"Fuck, this is insane..."

I was desperately trying to handle the curse, but another eerie sound came from Hiro. Bracing for whatever spell this was, the corpses scattered on the floor began to twitch, spawning zombies and skeletons.

This is madness. Necromancy now? Lena! What the hell is Lena doing?

"Guh! Khk!"

I glanced at her for urgent help, but veins were bulging all over her body, and she was vomiting blood. Damn... Come to think of it, the curse had been hitting her hard too. Poison and curse at once? And the blood—looks like her magic got forcibly canceled, causing mana backlash...

Fuck. This is why parties need a priest.

"Nice! She's groggy!"

Noticing me worrying about Lena, Hiro drew his sword and charged at her. Shit... this is bad!

What do I do? At this rate, Lena's done for first. She's fumbling for a potion, but too slow. Damn it, damn it, I need to draw his attention somehow...

"Hey! Hiro, you bastard! Where you going?! Attacking a weakened girl? Cut your dick off, asshole!"

I tried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to provoke him desperately, but he glanced my way, sneered, and ignored me. That fucker?

"Idiot. Who falls for that? Taunt pattern once..."

...That fucker? Fine, he won't bite on 'that level'? Alright, fucker, time for some real Korean hospitality.

"Huuuuh..."

I took a deep breath. Hiro, wary of Lena's potential magic, had drawn his sword and approached cautiously, not too fast. Even you, if you're human, can't help but snap at this.

"You mother-fucking son of a whore! You act all cool spitting out otaku bullshit while reeking of having no friends—think that makes you edgy? Only your mom would buy that crap! Oh wait, you probably don't even have a mom, so no one does! Go yap at those corpses you summoned instead! Bet they won't treat you like a friend either! Hell, are your parents in there? So lonely without them you raised 'em as zombies and call 'em 'mommy'? Makes sense with your ugly-ass face—zombie parents fit! When you jerk off alone, do you fuck the zombie, or make the zombie fuck you? With your tiny dick, you'd probably beg the zombie to... "

-Halt.

Huh, a skill? I just vented with some feeling and got a skill?

"You bastard!!!"

I'd sensed it from the skill acquisition, but yeah, provocation successful. His face twisted in fury as he gripped his sword, turned, and closed the distance in a flash. I'd aimed for this, but it worked better than expected.

I'd drawn his attention successfully—maybe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too successfully. His playful demeanor vanished, replaced by rage-filled snarls as he charged. The scary part? Even seeming to lose reason, his sword path stayed mechanical—emotionless, precise, targeting me perfectly.

"Kuh!"

I rolled desperately to dodge the sword, but as I did, a kick flew at me. I tumbled away, got up, but something grabbed me from behind.

"Grroooar..."

"Fuck off, you zombie shit!"

The undead, slowly multiplying, had crept up. I slashed my dagger, smashing the nearest zombie's skull, but more skeletons and zombies closed in.

"Die!!!"

Distracted by the zombie, Hiro thrust his sword straight at me.

Now! With him seeing me grabbed and berserk, off-guard!

[Sensory Block] skill. My bread-and-butter, the dutiful skill that let me handle equals or superiors as long as it worked. He's human, not undead without sight, so blocking vision should panic him.

"What?! My eyes!"

As expected, the skill landed perfectly. I'd worried about a barrier or counter-magic, but it went through. The problem was...

"What?! Guh!"

His reaction showed vision blocked successfully, yet his sword swung precisely at me—full speed, unwavering!

Panicking, I failed to dodge fully, and my arm got slashed. Instinctively blocked with my armored arm, but the guard shattered, sending excruciating pain through it. At least it didn't sever.

"Argh!"

"My eyes! My eyes!"

My scream mixed with Hiro's panicked voice. Terrifyingly, despite his panic—no time to even feel pain—his sword kept coming, precise and unrelenting.

What the... Like undead sensing life force, is Hiro detecting me some other way?

I hastily canceled [Sensory Block] on him, then applied it to the encircling undead to block their life-sense, freezing them and breaking free. Escaping the attack, my shoulder got nicked by his blade tip.

"Agh!"

The agony nearly made me [Sensory Block] myself, but I held back desperately. Mid-battle—no end in sight—wasting a skill on this pain was stupid.

"Ha! Skill wore off!"

I canceled it, dumbass. Wanted to retort, but stayed silent. Shit, but his skill was superior. The method that beat stronger foes before wasn't working...

Small mercy: I felt the [Regeneration] skill activate, slowly healing my wounds. Not instant, but it'd staunch the bleeding at least.

"Spew XP and die, trash mob!"

Still flippant tone, but his sword showed no hesitation. As if never blinded, it targeted my neck precisely, unchanged.

I swung my dagger desperately, deflecting the neck strike. Strong recoil in my hand, but master-level [Massage] from [Heavenly Touch] boosted my grip strength—no dropping it.

Problem was... I could feel it. His swordsmanship outclassed mine.

Of course, nowhere near Alensia's. But better than me. Thanks to spars with her, I could parry somewhat...

"What's wrong? Taunt me more like before! You #@$@!"

I tuned out his curses—weak shit anyway. But even cursing excitedly, his sword path didn't waver an inch.

Barely parried again, ducked another slash, but my cheek got cut this time.

Damn it. Ordered a new sword from Miranda, brought dagger and bow—no longsword. My swordplay sucks anyway, and shorter reach made it hopeless.

"Cough up experience and die!"

Damn... hopeless.