Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Descending Alone
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The very evening Iris mentioned the word "rune," we mounted our horses and headed toward the mountain ridge where a newly discovered dungeon had been found. Our party consisted of Iris and me, Lize and Erika—four in total.
Claudia stayed at the castle, insisting that at least one person needed to guard the city.
After riding for about an hour, we arrived at the entrance of a cave revealed amid a collapsed mountainside.
Iris tied the horses to nearby trees, then used a scroll to erect a barrier that prevented monsters inside from sensing us. She approached the cave mouth and drew her sword.
"Rune wavelengths were detected, but no internal exploration has been done. That's our job. Stay alert—no telling what's inside."
Lize and Erika drew their own weapons. Lize's were twin daggers embedded with blue gems the color of her eyes, while Erika wielded a katana etched with intricate patterns.
It wasn't a change from the mods; those were the original NPC weapons.
'Japanese company and all.'
Brenark 4's setting was ostensibly Western, but no players griped about katanas showing up in a game made by a Japanese company in Japan.
Besides, across the entire Brenark series from 1 to 4, blade-type weapons weren't particularly strong, so they never sparked controversy.
Even in player-made tier lists, the best you could hope for was one or two scraping mid-tier 3 at most, with the rest dumped in tier 5—trash tier.
"I'll take point."
Iris gripped her longsword firmly in one hand and thrust the torch in her other ahead of her as she stepped forward. Lize followed right behind. I was third, with Erika bringing up the rear.
She sure knew how to separate business from pleasure—Lize shut her mouth the moment we entered, transforming into someone completely different from before.
The cave seemed larger overall than what I'd seen in the game. Then again, considering the boss here and its sheer size in the lore, the boss room had to be massive.
'My neck's already starting to ache.'
Just thinking about tangling with that thing for ages made the back of my neck throb. I sighed inwardly and followed Lize.
"......"
The only sounds echoing through the cave were the clank of armor. Iris, Lize, and Erika were all clad head to toe in silver full plate armor.
Now they really looked the part of knights. Sure, underneath they were just in white sleeveless tops and dolphin shorts—no underwear even—but I decided to ignore that.
Naturally, I was in my usual cloth shirt and leather pants. I'd tried wearing armor once, just in case, but it made rolling impossible.
Not that it was harder to roll—it straight-up wouldn't activate, like when your gear exceeded your carry weight and your character just pitches forward without moving.
I tested it over and over, wondering if it made sense, but my body would just wobble briefly without hitting the ground.
Hell, I couldn't even run. Claudia laughed and said I needed to build stamina when she saw me waddling around, but knowing why, I couldn't crack a smile.
So I ditched it.
'I'd sooner go naked than give up rolling.'
Priorities were clear.
"Halt."
Iris stopped. Ahead lay a vast cavern. I recognized it instantly—this was the path to the dungeon's boss.
"Too open. Lize, stick to my side. Newbie, stay by Erika. We'll move in pairs."
Lize stepped up beside Iris, and Erika took position next to me. They were on edge, elements faintly leaking from their weapons.
Unlike the three advancing cautiously, weapons ready for anything, I just pretended to scan the surroundings.
The trash mobs here were nothing special. And even if they weren't, the knight captains would handle them without me lifting a finger.
One boss here was enough to drain my mental energy.
"Erika, where's the rune reaction coming from?"
Erika glanced down at the necklace hanging around her neck—a green-glowing pendant humming softly.
"Deep underground from our position. Assuming it's a straight path without twists, it'll take just over an hour at this pace."
"Straight line for an hour? That means at least two hours to get there. Round trip's five hours gone."
"And more if monsters show up midway."
No sooner had she spoken than Iris wreathed her blade in wind, Lize bloomed ice flowers on her daggers, and Erika engulfed her weapon in flames—all at once.
Something covered in uneven black-and-gray scales was approaching from the distant passage. Lize and Erika recoiled with disgusted yelps at the sight.
It was a centipede the size of a man.
Dozens of pairs of legs writhed grotesquely, all sheathed in scales. Antennae on its face twitched nonstop. Its back plate was scaled too.
And it wasn't alone—five more identical ones crawled up behind it.
"Ew, I never imagined something like that would show up here. What the hell is this place?"
"...It's creepy. No, really creepy."
Lize and Erika shuddered, channeling elements into their blades. Ice crept over Lize's body, while Erika's sword blazed, illuminating the area.
'Can't bring them along later when I grab that spellbook.'
Later dungeons were packed with actual man-sized insects, not just centipede-lookalikes.
Those were infamous for traumatizing players directly, not just characters. The devs even posted an NPC up front to warn about the bug swarms ahead.
But depressingly, one spellbook I needed was there. Without that, I'd never glance twice.
"Quick cleanup. Newbie, stay back."
Iris, unfazed by the ugliness, whirled a vortex around her sword and charged. Lize and Erika groaned in disgust but followed, one with ice, the other flames.
—Crack!
One strike shattered the lead centipede's head.
It thrashed wildly, joints spasming, before curling its legs and dying. The others met the same fate—weapons barely grazed them, and they burst or severed.
"Huh?"
Despite their horrific looks, they dropped so easily that a baffled sound escaped Lize. She'd clearly not expected one-shots.
The reason? Raw spec difference. This was a level 20 dungeon, while the Silver Dawn knight captains were late-game bosses.
Trash like this was pure overkill for them.
"Not surprised this time either, newbie."
Iris, who'd neatly diced the centipedes, turned to me. I couldn't see her face under the helmet, but I could guess her expression.
"You know something about this dungeon?"
Her voice held subtle anticipation. I answered flatly.
"Yeah, a bit."
"Really?! Wait—why didn't you say anything till now?!"
"Need your help later. For now, I can handle it solo."
I scanned the walls for the large crack. Walked toward the cavern center until a stalactite loomed nearby, then stepped three paces right.
The three watched, utterly confused.
"Oh, you guys shouldn't be here—go stand over there."
"...?"
They looked baffled but retreated to the passage where the centipedes had come from. Figured obeying me cost nothing.
Once the knight captains were safely back, I sheathed my bloodied sword in my gut. Lize had already blabbed about its special ability, so no one batted an eye.
I let it suck blood to the limit, then drew it. The blade gleamed vicious red.
"Newbie, why use that all of a sudden? And why make us stand here?"
"Can't have you getting caught in it too."
"Caught in it? Newbie, what do you—"
—Rumble rumble crash!
Before Iris finished, the cavern floor groaned and began collapsing. The section near their passage sank first, ripping apart left and right.
They startled, trying to reach me, but a gap several times man-height had already yawned between us. Even knight captains couldn't leap that without a run-up.
And the fissure widened by the second, racing toward me as the collapse accelerated.
Iris shouted urgently.
"Newbie! Not again...!"
"It's fine, it's fine. I won't die. Trust me?"
"This isn't about trust! If you knew, you should've—"
Before she finished, the last bit gave way, and I plummeted. The silver armor of Lize, Iris, and Erika vanished in an instant.
"Just follow the path down! I'll wait below!"
I yelled up as I fell, though the roar might've drowned it out.
'She'll chew me out later for not warning them.'
No helping it.
This boss required precise gimmick execution—more people meant agro bouncing everywhere, dragging it out. Worst case, accidents.
I wasn't risking that. Their help could wait till phase 4, after clearing all gimmicks.
'Time to prep.'
I'd been falling for what felt like over ten seconds when I spotted a water puddle below. Calmly, I readied a falling attack.