Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Dullahan
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Thirty minutes had passed since Arthur's group entered the dungeon.
Considering the battles that take place in a dungeon, thirty minutes was a normal amount of time, just like the other groups. However, considering the members of this particular group, there was no way it should have taken them thirty minutes.
The top student, the second top student, and the protagonist were all in there, and it was taking them as long as anyone else?
If anything, that made no sense.
Which meant there was only one reason it was taking this long.
The event I knew about was in progress.
"The people who went in this time are supposed to be much stronger than the others, but it's taking them a really long time...?"
Yui, who had been standing quietly beside me, was the first to speak up.
"Maybe they're having a wild time together."
Dungeon sex.
A man could dream.
The darker and gloomier the place, the more the mood heats up.
"Wow..."
It was a joke.
Just how innocent was this girl to blush at a joke like that?
"More importantly... could you please let go of my tail now?"
"Why?"
"My tail is starting to feel hot..."
I stopped stroking Yui's head and switched my target to Luna's tail, which was fluffier and more satisfying to touch.
I didn't have a fidget spinner or anything, and just standing around doing nothing was too boring, right?
Fiddling with something like this with my hands made it less dull.
"But seriously, don't you think something might have happened?"
"There's probably a Demonic Human in there right now."
If my memory served me right.
"What...? Isn't that a huge problem?"
"What's so huge about a mere Demonic Human?"
No, actually, wouldn't it be better if more Demonic Humans showed up at the academy?
We came here to get stronger, so the more powerful opponents we face, the faster we can grow.
Those battle-crazed aliens from that world where they collect dragon orbs might be insane, but it's been proven that fighting strong opponents is a fast way to train.
"Sigh... If it bothers you that much, I guess I have no choice."
I took a sack of flour out of my inventory.
"Alright, let's get in there!"
"Wait a moment...!"
"What."
"If you do that here, everyone inside will die too."
"People don't die that easily."
The best thing to watch after a fire is an explosion, right?
That bald guy survived just fine back then.
The kids inside are stronger than him, so they'll manage to survive on their own.
"...If you blow that up, won't our reward money go up in smoke too?"
"Everything these days is about the reward money disappearing."
Why was she so concerned about my money?
"Sigh... So you're saying we should go in? That's really inefficient."
"How about we tell the professors?"
"You think they'd believe us when there's no sign of anything unusual?"
Well, if some gloomy demonic energy were seeping out, maybe.
But since they were using the magical tools the professors had set up inside, those guys would never know what was happening in there.
They'd probably just think everything was working fine.
The professors were monitoring other groups right now anyway, so they wouldn't go in for us over something so uncertain.
"Besides, this is our responsibility."
"For some reason, everything you're saying today makes sense."
"Everything I say always makes sense."
When have I ever been wrong?
Following my lead has never ended in failure.
"Um... then how about we rescue them and ask for a bigger reward...?"
"Oh! Yui. That's a nice idea!"
They were the last group to go in anyway, so it didn't really matter if we just went in now.
"We're going in right now!"
I strode confidently toward the dungeon entrance.
In the novel, a barrier was set up to prevent anyone from getting out.
So here's a question.
If you can't get out from the inside, does that mean you can't get in from the outside?
In the novel, no one tried to go in until after Arthur dealt with the necromancer and came out, so there was no way to know.
So, is such a thing actually possible?
In my past life, there was glass that allowed you to see out from the inside, even if you couldn't see in from the outside.
To use a familiar analogy, if you tint a car's windows, you can barely see inside from the outside, but you can still see out to some extent, right?
It works on a similar principle.
But would a necromancer really have set it up to let intruders in?
In my opinion, he would have welcomed it.
Given the nature of the necromancer class, people who wander in without a clue are perfect for turning into corpses.
If it were me, I would have even put up an illusionary welcome banner and greeted them with open arms.
"Luna, Yui. Do you feel anything?"
"Hmm... I don't really feel a barrier or anything. But I do feel like my body is getting heavier the further we go in."
"I don't feel anything at all."
In reality, we had no trouble entering the dungeon.
It was so smooth, in fact, that I even began to wonder if the event was happening at all.
But as we ventured a little deeper, it became clear that the event was indeed underway.
"What is... all this?"
"Whoa! Skeletons!"
One might typically imagine undead as zombie-like corpses.
But surprisingly, that's not the case.
Necromancy is simply the art of controlling already-dead bodies, and what are the chances of those bodies still having flesh on them?
They're all skeletons.
If a fleshy corpse were to appear, it would have to be from someone who died recently and was buried nearby, and why would something like that be in the middle of the academy?
"These aren't... the monsters that are normally here, are they?"
"If the professors have a morbid hobby of collecting corpses, it's not entirely impossible."
The deeper we went into the dungeon, the more bones were scattered about.
Unlike the skeletons at the entrance, these were even armed with things like rusty armor and old swords. Seeing them all collapsed on the ground was a clear sign that many battles had taken place.
As we neared the deepest part of the cave, we heard the clash of swords.
It seemed the battle with the necromancer had already begun.
We quickened our pace and went further inside, where we saw a light so bright it was hard to believe we were in a cave.
It was Arthur's light magic.
The one clashing with Arthur was a headless knight in massive armor.
The knight was swinging a greatsword as large as its body with a single hand. It was so strong that Arthur, even with the help of the heroines, couldn't think of attacking and was completely focused on defense.
"Khahaha!! What do you think of my masterpiece, the Dullahan!!"
And behind them, the necromancer who appeared to be the Dullahan's master was dancing with glee.
"What is that thing?"
In the original story, it wasn't a headless knight called a Dullahan, but a samurai-like warrior who used a longsword, if I remember correctly.
And it wasn't that big either.
I was wondering why the guy who'd consumed a fortuitous encounter hadn't shown up, but it wasn't that he didn't show up; he couldn't.
"Well then, since we've reached our destination."
I once again took a sack of flour out of my inventory.
"Allahu—!"
"W-Wait a moment!!"
"N-No...!!"
This time, Luna and Yui grabbed both of my arms to stop me.
"What now."
"You might be fine, Sir Luke, but we'll die!"
"That's right! I don't want to be blown to bits in a place like this!!"
"Huh? I just can't do it outside, right?"
"Could you please just not do it at all...?"
"Please...!"
Tch. Can't be helped.
I simply moved along the dungeon wall toward the necromancer.
People are surprisingly oblivious to their surroundings when they're focused.
Wasn't he just overjoyed watching that Dullahan thing he summoned?
Arthur and the heroines were in the middle of a battle, so their surroundings wouldn't even register in their vision.
As long as we didn't step into the middle of the battlefield, there was no way we'd be discovered, even walking around so openly.
Or so I thought.
"Who-who are you! When did you get in here!!"
"I'm spotted! Might as well hit him with a serious punch!!"
"Gahhh!!"
What good is a strong Dullahan?
Not when its master is this pathetic.
I approached the fallen necromancer and brandished the greatsword I'd pulled from my inventory.
"I'm Dick!!!"
"W-Wait...!"
No time for waiting.
I sliced his head off.
[ Level Up! Check your status! ]
[ Level Up! Check your status! ]
[ Level Up! Check your status! ]
[ Level Up! Check your stat.... ]
When fighting a summoner, you're supposed to hit the main body. They were taking so long because they were foolishly attacking the summon.
Now that I'd killed the necromancer, the Dullahan should disappear soon.
"Guh... not yet...!"
"What are you talking about? Just die already."
The necromancer I thought was dead suddenly shot up and started chanting some kind of spell, so I kicked him in the head. His detached head flew off and slammed into the dungeon wall.
Now the Dullahan should be disappearing any second now.
"Why isn't it disappearing?"
The necromancer must have accomplished something with that spell he chanted before he died, because even though the summoner was dead, it didn't disappear and remained as it was.
'Seriously? I cut his head off, and he revives just to cast a spell and dip? What kind of bullshit is that, fuck.'
This is so damn annoying.
"Fuuuuck!"
Getting screwed over like this is making me angry.
Maybe I actually have anger management issues?
"Wh-what! When did you get in here!?"
They seemed to have only just noticed me, too busy fending off the Dullahan, but it was too late.
My mood had hit rock bottom.
To vent this stress, I needed an explosion, one way or another.
"If you want to live, put up your own magic shield or figure something out!!"
"Wait, Sir Luke!! If you set it off in here, you'll get caught in it too!!"
"Eek!!"
Yup, too late~
By the time Luna and Yui called out to me, the inside of the dungeon was filled with a cloud of fine powder.
Some games have explosion attributes. If I'm lucky, I'll live, I guess~
Despite the protests of those around me, I pulled out a match.
"Allahu—!"
-BOOM!!