Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Lightning in the Dark
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The situation was growing more and more twisted.
It seemed the Mazoku bastard who’d set foot here to plant the mines was still clinging to his tenacious life.
It had been almost two weeks since I demanded the high-ranking Mazoku withdraw from the Akilliptus Forest Zone, which meant this bastard had survived inside this dungeon for over two weeks.
The Mazoku were creatures that could sustain themselves without eating or drinking. Furthermore, as long as their core organ, the 'nucleus,' wasn't destroyed, they could theoretically regenerate their bodies indefinitely. So, perhaps it wasn't so strange.
However, ordinary low-ranking Mazoku started around level 20 and rarely exceeded level 30 at best.
But to have survived for over two weeks in a dungeon where even trash mobs were well over level 40 suggested this one was a rather skilled Mazoku.
After all, this dungeon's difficulty was so high that an ordinary low-ranking Mazoku wouldn't last two days, let alone two weeks.
“We track him down now. Now that we know a Mazoku is alive in here, we can't let it live.”
“You're right. If we leave him be, there's no telling what he'll do with the Mutants in this dungeon.”
“This dungeon is clearly high-level. A Mazoku that survived in a place like this is likely to be of a considerable rank. It'll be tougher if we give the near-dead bastard time to recover his strength. We begin the pursuit immediately.”
“How did you know he was near death?”
“The Mutant was too weak. Unbelievably so, for something created by a Mazoku skilled enough to survive in this dungeon.”
Indeed, the Mutant, made by weaving two giant spiders together, had been blown to pieces by a single one of Trian's arrows.
“He probably doesn't have the strength left to craft a Mutant with any precision. But the Mazoku are creatures that recover their strength over time, even without eating. We have to track him now.”
Trian emphasized his point once more and walked past the spider Mutant's corpse toward the door on the opposite side.
From his resolute attitude, it was clear he would go after the Mazoku alone if we disagreed.
Rireu and I ran after him with our heads bowed, unable to bear being in the same room as the shattered spider corpse.
The spider's body, its acidic blood splattered everywhere, was melting the floor and the very webs it had created, an unavoidably nauseating sight for anyone who looked.
It was a scene for which the word 'disgusting' felt inadequate.
“We're picking up the pace.”
Without delay, Trian opened the door to the next room. There, too, the signs of battle were evident.
For an elven ranger armed with vast experience and superior senses, tracking a wounded Mazoku was not a difficult task.
Unlike his previous cautious approach, he now pushed the pace to a point that felt somewhat reckless.
“Hah… dammit, haah…”
I tried my best not to show it… but my breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Fortunately, Trian's keen senses didn't miss my labored breathing. Before opening the tenth door, he glanced between me and Rex.
“Get him.”
Fuck, I'm already dying here, what's he telling me to lift now?
As I was dazedly looking around, a thick arm suddenly hooked around my waist.
I was hoisted onto the giant orc's shoulder like a sack of luggage.
No, I'm a general for crying out loud, I should have some dignity…
“Do something about that garbage stamina of yours. You're a burden to everyone around you. And you call yourself a soldier.”
“…”
If I could do something about it, I would, you bastard.
I clenched my jaw, unable to keep from getting pissed off at that typically arrogant elven way of speaking.
No. Calm down. I can get angry after we catch the Mazoku and get out of this dungeon.
“Let's go. Keep up.”
Annoyingly, there was a huge difference in speed between me running on my own and being carried like luggage on Rex's shoulder.
While it had previously taken us about thirty to forty seconds to cross a room, after Rex slung me over his shoulder, that time dropped to as little as ten to twenty seconds.
…And I, too, had to admit that being on Rex's shoulder was far more comfortable than running on my own two feet.
My stomach ached a bit from his hard shoulder muscles, but it was much better than having trembling legs and being out of breath.
I hated myself for feeling comfortable on these ridiculously broad and solid shoulders.
“How are you running so well?”
“Pardon?”
I needlessly picked on Rireu, who was keeping up with the archer and the barbarian's pace without any trouble.
‘Strictly speaking, you're not a physical class either. How are you keeping up with a ranger and a barbarian going all out?’
“Why?”
Rireu looked up at me with her big, innocent eyes and asked back, as if she didn't understand my question.
“…Never mind.”
I couldn't bring myself to be grumpy with her anymore when she asked back with such a pure expression.
Haaah. I should have been born an elf.
They're beautiful, they live long, they're naturally agile, quick, and flexible. They have good stamina, keen senses…
What riches and glory was I hoping for, choosing to be human?
“Stay sharp. We're very close.”
While I was regretting my foolish past choices, Trian issued a low warning without breaking stride.
Thanks to the Mazoku having cleared out traps and monsters over the past two weeks, we'd managed to cross more than sixty rooms without encountering a single one, having precisely picked the rooms it had passed through.
I had no idea how he so uncannily found the Mazoku's trail and chose the right door every single time.
…If only Trian could do something about that arrogant mouth of his, he'd be the perfect soldier.
“Halt.”
Having crossed nearly eighty rooms, we all stopped in our tracks at Trian's sudden command.
For Trian and Rex, this was barely a workout, and they showed no signs of sweat. Rireu, however, had beads of sweat on her cheeks and forehead, and her robe was quite damp.
“…A Mutant.”
Trian pressed his ear to the door, then took up his longbow and moved behind Rex. Rex pressed himself flat against the wall right next to the door and set me down behind him.
“Stay against the wall like me. You're in the line of fire.”
Rex spoke to Rireu, who was reaching into her sweat-dampened robe to pull out her staff.
“Ah, yes.”
Clutching her staff tightly, Rireu pressed herself against the wall behind me. In her hand was a small, one-handed staff made of a gnarled branch wrapped in bright blue thread.
She began to mutter something in a voice so low I could barely hear it. Soon, sparks began to erupt from the tip of her small staff.
“Ready.”
said Trian, who had backed away to the opposite wall, his bowstring drawn with an arrow nocked. He was in a perfect stance to fire the moment the door opened.
“…”
Rex nodded silently, gripping his axe with his mechanical arm and the doorknob with his other.
Three fingers on his mechanical prosthetic hand were extended. Just before opening the door, he signaled the timing to Trian by folding them one by one.
Three.
Two.
One.
The moment all the prosthetic fingers were folded, the door flew open with a loud thud.
Simultaneously, a tremendous amount of poison flooded out toward the entrance. It seemed the enemy was aware that we were right outside the door.
I didn't know what the dozens of liters of venom were made of, but it melted nearly a meter of the dungeon floor, creating a huge pit. If Rireu or I had been standing in the doorway, not even our bones would have been left.
*Fwoosh!*
An arrow shot from Trian's longbow flew past the threshold where the venom had just passed.
From behind Rex's broad back, I heard the sound of flesh and bone splitting. I couldn't see properly from my position, but it seemed Trian's arrow had found its mark.
“Hold.”
Trian, who had a view of the room from a distance, ordered us to wait.
With another arrow nocked, he moved his feet quickly to assess the situation beyond the doorway, then let another arrow fly across the threshold.
*Fwoosh!*
With the sound of the air being split, a huge mass of flesh collapsed to the floor.
Something had definitely died.
Rex, gripping his axe with both hands, poked his head slightly past the doorframe to get a view.
As if it had been waiting, venom shot toward his head, but Rex, with his excellent reflexes, immediately pulled his head back behind the wall.
“Eleven o'clock! Another one!”
Rex, having peeked into the room to check the situation, shared the information in a loud voice.
As soon as he heard Rex's voice, Trian quickly changed his position and fired his bow.
About three arrows flew across the threshold. The sound of flesh and bone tearing was heard three times in a row. It seemed to be the same target.
“Tough bastard.”
Three of Trian's arrows struck the mass of flesh squarely. But there was no sound of anything collapsing.
The sound of squelching footsteps from beyond the wall sent a chill down my spine.
“…Tsk, Rireu!”
The reason Trian called for Rireu instead of me was simple.
We were currently in a standoff, exchanging blows with the enemy through a small doorway.
In a situation like this, where every shot could be fatal, it was crucial to launch an attack into the room and then quickly hide behind the doorframe.
He must have judged that my sluggish movements made me ill-suited for a fight centered around a small doorway.
“Ah, yes!”
Rireu was concentrating her focus on the tip of her staff, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice, so her response to Trian was a beat late.
Rex pulled his body back slightly from the entrance, making space for Rireu to hide. She then ran past me and Rex and pressed herself flat against the wall by the door.
The moment she was in position, she peeked her head past the threshold, likely intending to visually confirm where to strike with her lightning.
“…Wait, what are you doing!”
The problem was that Rireu's movements were nowhere near those of an expert.
When Rex had carefully peeked past the door, only half of his head had been exposed. But when Rireu leaned in to confirm the enemy's position, her shoulder and the tip of her foot were both exposed beyond the frame.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?! What do you think you're doing, exposing so much of your body…?!”
Horrified by the mage's clumsy movements, Rex yanked her back by her robe.
A torrent of venom immediately followed, aimed precisely at the spot where Rireu's foolishly exposed shoulder, head, and foot had just been.
“Have you never had basic military training?! When exposing yourself to an enemy waiting beyond a doorway, you must minimize your exposure! Keep your shoulder pressed tight against the wall, and only stick half your head through the gap…!”
“Dammit, this is why desk jockeys are useless! Rireu, get your head in the game!”
The two veterans, armed with vast experience, shouted at her in unison. For them, who had survived countless trials and tribulations, Rireu's clumsy move was simply unforgivable.
“…But, I saw its exact location!”
Perhaps it was the adrenaline of battle, but unlike her usual self, Rireu spoke confidently without shrinking away from the two soldiers berating her.
Was this the same young elf who had nearly lost her life to the Tauros not long ago, collapsing to the ground and bursting into tears? I was inwardly amazed at how much Rireu had changed in such a short time.
“I can burn it down this time.”
“….Make a mistake and you die. Don't forget that!”
Seeing the conviction in Rireu's eyes, Rex decided to trust her one more time.
“For now, focus on keeping your shoulder tighter against the wall! If you expose yourself like that again, I might not be able to save you.”
Even as he said this, Rex grabbed a handful of her robe with his large hand, ready to pull her back instantly. The loose robe clung tightly to her body, but she didn't seem to mind.
She seemed focused only on the electricity gathering at the tip of her staff and the target beyond the door.
“*Hoo…*”
Rireu took a deep breath, then once again poked her arm and face past the threshold.
It was a movement that exposed more of her arm and face than necessary. One wrong move and her face and body would melt away with a foul stench.
Naturally, it was a clumsy movement that was far from satisfactory for the seasoned veterans who had spent so long on the battlefield.
“Tsk…!”
So, the moment Rireu exposed herself past the threshold, an arrow unleashed by Trian grazed past her hair.
The sharp arrowhead, having brushed against her blonde hair, struck true, embedding itself in the bizarre mass of flesh that had been ready to spew poison at any moment.
The fleshy mass, struck by the arrow, lost its balance and staggered, causing the foul venom that should have been aimed at Rireu to spray across the ceiling instead.
“Lightning Strike.”
Even as an arrow grazed the tip of her ear and deadly poison erupted like a fountain before her eyes, Rireu did not flinch.
The small light gathered at the tip of her staff expanded in an instant. The surroundings were engulfed in light, and the air began to heat up.
In stark contrast to the clumsy movements she had just shown, the pure white lightning she unleashed was so beautiful and intense that no one present could find fault with it.