The Second Sin (3)
Thorough preparation is essential when raiding a dungeon.
Internal maps, party members, potions, necessary gear—the list goes on. Spending at least a full week on prep alone is common sense. Safety first: that was the process Evan always insisted on following. He had done the same when clearing games; how much more so in reality?
That was how it was supposed to be…
“This is the place.”
Evan lifted his head with a distinctly unsettled feeling. The forest had grown dim with the setting sun. A steep cliff face. A single stone door hung there in isolation.
“Here lies the ancient dungeon.”
The entrance to the ancient dungeon. Their target for this raid.
Coming to a place like this with zero preparation…
Lee Han-ol, you’ve really become a total tough guy, haven’t you?
No, but aren’t these kids completely fearless?
Evan glanced at his companions. Lapis and Super—future Sins—and Arthur, the Full Moon Knight. A thoroughly unfamiliar combination. Their lack of fear made sense. From birth they had never once felt the lack of talent. Their skill alone was top-tier. Lapis was growing every single day, and Arthur had recovered his aura. At the height of his prime he would have been as strong as “Innocence,” the one who ruled the Knight Kingdom. Even now he was hardly lacking. Barely half his peak strength, and he had still wiped out every heretic they met.
Ugh! Just thinking about it gives me the chills.
Right now they were reliable allies. Truly fortunate.
Evan scanned the area around the door. The claim that heretics mainly came and went here did not seem false; the entrance was well-maintained. Several traps for driving off beasts stood nearby. However…
Why torches like those of all things?
They clearly had no sense of aesthetics. Violet flames. Anyone could see they looked ominous.
…Should we just not go in?
Evan seriously considered it. Should they turn back even now?
“Wow, that’s super cool.”
Lapis poked the violet torches with her finger. The violet flames paid her no mind.
“Can I roast fruit over them?”
“Absolutely not. You’ll get hurt.”
“Does she look like she’d get hurt?”
Super pointed at Lapis as if she could not believe what she was hearing. Lapis was covered in blood. None of it was her own. Evidence of the monsters she had casually slaughtered on the way here. Even mid-tier monsters had met the same fate. She had toyed with them until she got bored and discarded them. A predator. Young as she was, Lapis was already nearing completion.
Hmm. Good thing I put her in my debt early. Otherwise this could have gone badly. Honestly, she was terrifying. He was grateful she was not an enemy. He simply did not show it.
“Lapis. Just hold on a little longer.”
“Okay…”
Evan soothed Lapis with practiced ease, then turned his head toward Arthur.
“Have you ever been to this dungeon before?”
“I have not.”
Arthur shook his head.
“I usually killed them before they could hide.”
…That was a little scary. He wouldn’t kill us if we mess up here, right? Nah. Arthur was a knight of principle. Once he owed someone a debt, he would never harm them no matter what—unless they tried to kill him or touched his little sister. Would Evan be crazy enough to do either of those? Of course he planned to leave well enough alone. His own life was precious.
“And you, young master?”
“This is also my first dungeon.”
“Then stay close behind me so you stay out of danger.”
Shing.
Arthur drew his sword.
Fwoosh!
Silver aura blazed along the blade, gleaming like liquid mercury. It flashed and swept like a thunderbolt.
Rumble—!
The door was simply sliced clean through. At the brutish method, Evan could not help glancing at the holy knight.
There’s a button right next to it…
…Do modern holy knights open doors like this?
“Follow me.”
Arthur strode inside with imposing confidence. Or rather, he tried to.
“Please wait a moment.”
“?”
Evan stopped him. An ancient dungeon. Minimum difficulty mid-to-high or above. Not low by any means. On top of that, a place the heretics used as a base. It was bound to be full of traps. One mistake and they could get separated from Arthur. That must never happen. Not because he was scared—just in case.
"Transmute"
Thud!
Evan planted his staff on the ground. Mana spread outward and the earth gathered. A basic elemental golem. He shaped it into a small dog form. Mini Golem Dog. A golem usable for scouting.
“Charge.”
Yip!
The golem barked like a real dog and entered the dungeon.
Crunch!
A mace dropped from the ceiling and crushed Mini Golem Dog flat.
“…….”
“…….”
Oh shit that scared me.
Startled, Evan calmed his racing heart. Why so vicious?
Meanwhile Arthur stood silent for a moment. He clearly had not expected a trap like that. Having a strong body was supposed to spare the head from suffering, but wasn’t this going too far?
Tsk tsk!
Evan clicked his tongue and tapped the ground with his staff again. Instantly Mini Golem Dog was restored and re-entered. This time the trap did not react. Still he did not let his guard down. After a short interval he sent it in once more.
Crunch!
The trap activated again. Time elapsed so far?
About two minutes?
A five-minute cooldown. That was generally the trap cooldown time installed in upper-tier dungeons.
…Upper-tier? That’s a bit scary.
Would it kill them to make it easy? Still, suggesting they pull back now felt awkward. Lapis and Super’s eyes were sparkling. Backing out here? That would put a scratch on a man’s confidence.
R-right. I’m a tough guy after all.
Retreating would also damage his pride. He at least needed to come out with one or two usable artifacts. Ah, of course he planned to make Arthur do the actual work.
“That should be confirmation enough.”
Evan turned to Arthur.
“Let us enter.”
“……Did you already know about the traps and check them deliberately?”
“An obvious thought. There was no chance of there being none.”
Arthur wore an expression of incomplete understanding, but he did not press further.
“Let us enter.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“……Understood.”
Arthur nodded obediently.
The dungeon raid proceeded smoothly. The foundation of any raid is information gathering. In that regard Evan was thorough to a fault.
—Enter.
—Re-enter.
—Deploy multiple units.
—Confirm reaction only above a certain height.
Like an alchemist conducting an experiment, he grasped and analyzed everything meticulously. No emotion showed in his eyes. As if this sort of thing was nothing at all.
Remarkable.
Arthur marveled. Experts largely fell into two types. One relied solely on innate talent. The other pursued thorough analysis and efficiency, stacking the time called effort.
Thorough analysis and efficiency. The most troublesome type to face as an enemy.
Evan belonged to the latter. Did that mean he seemed talentless? Hardly.
He overflows with talent as well.
There was no fixed way to rank an alchemist’s skill, but rough estimates were possible. Transmutation speed and the grade of potions one could create. Evan’s transmutation speed was far faster than that of an alchemist from the Alchemist Tower Arthur had once seen.
A type who possesses both talent and effort?
It was enough to understand why his skill was so outstanding at such a young age. Reaching that level in a single year. Even Arthur, a genius among geniuses, had never witnessed such speed. Yes. That much could be chalked up to talent.
However…
He is far too practiced.
Evan had claimed this ancient dungeon was his first. Yet he was excessively skilled. The awkwardness one expects from a beginner? Completely absent. If anything, Arthur was the one who looked like the novice.
—Step back. That is a trap.
—What?
—The pattern that appeared on the floor. A distinguishing mark for installed traps. A pattern only they can recognize.
Evan was a veteran. He had cleared dungeons like this countless times, so of course. Unaware of that, Arthur began sprouting a different misunderstanding.
Could he have been accumulating experience for a long time already?
In preparation for dungeon raids? That was too extreme a conjecture. Evan was a duke’s son—the second son at that. Naturally he would cherish his own body. Even if he did not, the family itself would never leave such precious talent alone.
Then… in preparation for something like this?
That was pure speculation. Alchemist. Was that not a support class rather than a combat one? Even thoroughness had its limits. Or else…
If he had been targeting this dungeon from the very beginning?
A chill ran down Arthur’s entire body. That would make sense. He had prepared thoroughly with this single dungeon in mind. Sufficient justification.
Approaching me was all for this as well?
Arthur was famous as the heretics’ nightmare. Evan could not have been ignorant of that. He had even known Arthur’s own plans. If everything had been for this purpose…
…Terrifying.
Arthur stared at Evan’s back. Just how far had he laid his board? What was he aiming for? Only one possibility came to mind.
…That rumor might be true.
Dead Resurrection. Alchemy’s taboo. The forbidden act of restoring a deceased soul and body, defying the laws of the gods. If he was gathering research materials to commit the taboo, and in the process sweeping away the heretics…
What kind of materials are here that would…
—Grrrrrrr!
At that moment.
Crunch!
The small golem leading the way was crushed. Evan slowly raised his head. They had arrived at a wide cavern. It seemed primarily a place for offering prayers. A structure that seemed to encircle a statue at the center. Yet it was far from ordinary.
—…Intruders, are you.
A statue whose face could not be recognized. A black living thing coiled around the statue, tail swaying as it glared at Evan’s party. A pitch-black snake. Bat-like wings sprouted from its back, and two arms that should never have existed hung awkwardly from its body.
“……A chimera.”
Arthur muttered the name of the creature. Chimera. An artificial lifeform created by fusing two or more living beings. The black-snake chimera’s red eyes flashed.
—Unbelievers who do not trust in the god. For what purpose have you visited this place?
Arthur’s instincts sounded the alarm.
Dangerous.
Chimeras were famous by their very existence. Even the ones he knew of were like that. Front of a lion, rear of a snake, middle of a goat and ram blazing with wicked knowledge and ferocity. A famous chimera. The one hunted by the Knight King who now led the Knight Kingdom, “Steadfast White.” It was said he could not win head-on and had to use wisdom to take it down. If this chimera was of the same caliber? Hunting it with only half his prime strength recovered would be impossible for Arthur. He could not even begin to guess what power it was hiding.
…It looks like it just finished feeding.
Corpses filled the cavern. Every one of them wore black robes and remained in prayer posture. Strangely, only their necks had been cleanly severed. As if the snake had eaten nothing but the heads. Its belly seemed full. It did not charge immediately.
Finish it in one blow.
Shhk—
The instant Arthur’s hand reached for his sword hilt—
“That snake. It’s a chimera that parasitizes shadows.”
Super opened her mouth.
“Aura, holy power, mana—none of them work. It only dies to the same kind of shadow creature. In exchange, its durability is so weak it dies in a single hit.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have my ways.”
Super tilted her chin up haughtily. Arthur’s brow furrowed. What nonsense was this in the middle of combat?
“Whether it works or not is something you learn by cutting. Stand ba—”
“If it parasitizes shadows, does that mean anything works?”
Evan spoke. He regarded Super with the same emotionless eyes as always.
“Even if it is an inanimate object like a weapon?”
“……It should. But do you have something like that?”
“Yes. Fortunately.”
He did? Something like that? Super and Arthur were still wondering when—
—Answer, unbelievers!
The enraged black snake scattered red light from its eyes and charged.
—How dare you visit the nest where this sacred life is born!!!
Kyaaaaaaah!
The black snake opened its maw as if to swallow everything. In an instant its body and mouth swelled large enough to fill the entire cavern. Just as Arthur was about to swing his sword—
Evan spoke first.
“Number Two.”
Wriggle!
The shadow at his feet writhed.
“Block it.”
Crunch!
In that moment a liquid-monster-like golem burst from Evan’s shadow. Number Two slammed the charging black snake from below. Black snake flesh sprayed like blood. Before it could resist further, two hands seized its face and wrenched it brutally apart.
Riiiiip—!