Chapter 87: The Ruined Laboratory
Chapter 87: The Ruined Laboratory
I grabbed the creature by its hair and lifted its head, its hollow eyes glaring up at me. As if a glare from the likes of you could do anything. The look was so irritating I wanted to smash its head in with a single blow, but there were other priorities.
Since I knew nothing about the Ruined Laboratory, I needed to squeeze every last drop of information out of this thing. I immediately activated my Third Eye.
『The monster before you can be classified as one of the Dead. Unlike ordinary undead, however, these beings possess physical bodies and emotions. When ancient Hall Plain was at the height of its prosperity, its Residents’ arrogance reached its peak, and they conceived an experiment. It began with the idea that they would become gods and create a new kind of human…』
After scanning the rest of the information that flooded my mind, I gently let go of its hair. Thump. As its head hit the ground, I slowly raised my foot.
“Vivian.”
“Yes.”
Vivian answered my call calmly. Her gaze toward the Dead was indifferent. Of everyone in our party, only Vivian had maintained her composure from the dungeon entrance until now. Considering the turbulent life she had lived, something like this seemed to be nothing to her.
“Do you remember anything about this laboratory? Anything at all would be helpful.”
“Hmm…”
Vivian wore a thoughtful expression for a moment, then glanced at the creature before speaking.
“I don’t remember the details. But I think these are people who were experimented on.”
“Experimented on?”
She nodded once or twice at my question. By now, the entire party was focused on her words. The creature that had appeared with such bravado at the start was now completely forgotten.
“Yes. There was a time long ago when not only magic engineering but also alchemy was quite advanced. I think I vaguely heard something about a laboratory being established to create new humans back then.”
“And?”
“I don’t know. I think it was shut down and buried for some reason, but I can’t remember clearly. The one you see here is probably one of the poor humans sacrificed in those experiments.”
“I see.”
Vivian concluded her explanation neatly. I brought my raised foot down with full force. With the sound of a skull cracking, the hallway was instantly stained with blood. I looked down to check on the creature; it was killed in a single strike and no longer moved.
The others wore impassive expressions. However, seeing this side of me for the first time, Jung Hayeon and Shin Sangyong stared at me, dumbfounded. They had only ever seen my quiet demeanor, so they seemed shocked by my decisive action. Ignoring their reactions, I turned my head toward Sol.
“Ahn Sol.”
“Y-Yes…”
Sol answered in a timid voice. But when I furrowed my brow, she quickly lifted her head. She had learned from experience that once we were in the field, I was different from my usual self.
“You’ve practiced your Divine Spells to some extent, right?”
“Shackles, Protection, and Cure…”
Sol’s voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke. Holy Strike would have been extremely useful here. I clicked my tongue in regret and turned away. Sol moved her lips as though she had more to say, but I had no time to listen to her mumbling just then.
“We’ll proceed farther inside now. Be prepared for traps or ambushes. Our primary objectives are to secure a retreat route and explore the building from this corridor. And Jung Hayeon-ssi?”
“Yes.”
“Can you maintain the Light magic constantly?”
“I can. But if I do, I won’t be able to use Double Casting.”
Rapid Incantation and Double Casting. Had she learned nearly everything a Mage needed? Rapid Incantation alone was more than enough in any case. I nodded and moved forward without changing the formation.
*
“Come forth, Queritatus! Screaming Fatality, ruler of the 14th Legion!”
“—Cone of Water!”
A magic circle appeared, and a shriek like a wail from the deepest abyss filled the hall. It was Vivian’s Chimera Beast Summoning. At the same time, cone-shaped masses of dark-red water thrust up from the blood of the Dead covering the floor. That was Jung Hayeon’s work.
Annoyed by the mages constantly firing spells from the rear, the Dead were relentlessly pushing forward. My defense was so tight that some of them, crowded in the back, finally began to circle around. I immediately raised my voice.
“Ahn Hyun, the Dead are massing in your direction. Ahn Sol, Shin Sangyong-ssi, support him.”
“Ugh, again? Dammit! What the hell are these things?!”
“Understood, Leader. —”
Hearing Ahn Hyun’s shout as he frantically swung his spear and Shin Sangyong’s calm reply, I let my sword hang loosely to my side. The sensation of slicing through something like tough muscle traveled up the blade. It seemed one had tried to take advantage of the moment I turned my head.
“Graaaaaah!”
I had succeeded in making it flinch by slashing its shoulder, but the creature was persistent. Even with one arm dangling, more than halfway severed, the Dead swarmed me without end. It seemed that, like the Deadmen I’d encountered in the Rite of Passage, their heads had to be destroyed to stop them.
However, it was too much to ask the others to aim for their heads. The Deadmen had been slow, making their heads easy targets, but the Dead were different. With human-like bodies and much more agile movements, they charged relentlessly. Trying to find an opening to pierce their heads was an unreasonable demand at their current level.
The section of the formation held by Ahn Hyun and Yoojung was steadily being pushed back, but they were holding. All the support from Jung Hayeon, Shin Sangyong, Ahn Sol, and Vivian was concentrated on those two. Meanwhile, I was handling the largest number of the Dead alone, without anyone’s support.
My sword danced. Having reached the pinnacle of Unity of Sword and Self, every path of the blade carried an extraordinary intent. I caught the hand of a Dead with the flat of my sword and gently redirected it. Its hand struck the face of the innocent creature beside it. I obligingly cut down both as they stared blankly at each other.
With every swing, two or three of the Dead fell to the floor, but their spots were immediately filled by others. I had already taken down more than thirty of them by myself, yet their numbers showed no sign of dwindling, which was starting to get on my nerves. We were fighting in the first-floor hall of the laboratory against a force that felt twice as large as the hundred Landmoles we had fought before.
“—Shackles!”
As Ahn Sol chanted her spell, I heard the sound of something collapsing to my left. I wanted to turn my head to check on the others, but stabbing my sword down the throat of a creature lunging at me with its mouth wide open was the priority.
“Hnngh! Uungh!”
I could hear Yoojung’s heated moans as well. It was a rather suggestive battle cry, but whenever she made sounds like that, she always performed up to my expectations. A chaotic melee like this suited Yoojung better than Ahn Hyun. As though answering my faith, the exhilarating ring of her blades became my accompaniment as I accelerated my own sword.
Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
That did not last long either. Wearing a bored expression, I continued cutting them down. Each stroke sent a Dead’s head flying before it fell to the floor. It could not be helped. My swordsmanship and Stats were currently so high that there was no advanced technique worth using.
During the latter half of my first run, I had fought desperately every day. In battles where the slightest carelessness meant death, there had been no room for boredom—only an unbroken succession of thrills and tension. Having grown accustomed to that life, the battles I faced now felt like children’s games by comparison.
In any case, after we finished this expedition and regrouped, I planned to apply for an official clan, so there was no longer a need to hide my abilities. The fact that a group of Year 0 Users had discovered and cleared two dungeons in less than two months was already enough to draw significant attention.
Right after applying, I planned to leave the city for one final expedition. I expected our application would be approved while we were at the Cave of Screams. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t approved by then. The chances of that were low, and if we added the Cave of Screams to our list of achievements, I was 100% confident we would be approved.
When the time came, hiding myself again would be pathetic and foolish. There was a time for everything. Rather than hiding indefinitely, revealing my ability while I had momentum would raise the clan’s value and attract talented people. That was far more profitable.
“Huh…?”
While lost in thought, I felt my sword cut through empty air. Startled, I lifted my head and saw that the Dead, which had been charging relentlessly just moments ago, were now hesitantly backing away. Since they were beings with emotions, it wasn’t strange for them to feel fear, but why all of a sudden…?
In that instant, I realized my mistake. The fight had been so tedious that I had been thinking about future plans, and in my distraction, I hadn’t paid attention to the swordsmanship I was displaying. I had been acting, trying to fight while leaving as much room as possible, not revealing the swordsmanship I had mastered. But while I was distracted, my body had reflexively unleashed the techniques that were second nature to me.
As a result, a mountain of corpses now lay before me, each dispatched with clean, flawless strokes. I turned my head, worried the others might find it strange, but thankfully, my fears were unfounded.
“Phew. Vivian saved us.”
“Haaah…”
Yoojung and Ahn Sol wiped away cold sweat while staring into the air. Following their gazes, I saw a being radiating terrifying pressure. It was Vivian’s summon: the Screaming Fatality, ruler of the 14th Legion. A magical beast commanding a legion in the teens was apparently quite powerful.
The party probably thought the Dead were terrified of the summon, but the eyes of the creatures were mostly fixed on me. In any case, thanks to Vivian stepping in at the perfect moment, I let out a sigh of relief and reorganized our formation.
“Huff. Huff. S-Sol-ah. Heal me while we have the chance.”
“Healing? Drink a potion first.”
As he had some difficulty in close combat, Ahn Hyun was breathing heavily as he grabbed onto Ahn Sol. Sol quickly handed him a potion and began to mutter a spell.
The battle entered a brief lull. Jung Hayeon still looked fine, but a hint of fatigue showed on her face after unleashing so many spells. Most notably, her move to entangle the paths of the Dead by piercing their legs with Cone of Water had been a brilliant one.
I hadn’t seen Shin Sangyong fight, but since he had supported Yoojung well enough to keep her from being injured, his performance must have been solid. What would have happened if I had come here with only the kids, without meeting these two? I chuckled at the pointless thought.
Vivian, who had been staring at me blankly, spoke in a small voice.
“Soohyun. Soohyun.”
“What is it?”
“What should I do?”
She pointed a finger toward the air. She, too, was a skilled fighter capable of wiping out the Dead in an instant. When we first left the city, I had given her a heads-up: don’t step in recklessly, and be considerate so the others could build up their skills. I had told her to only use her true strength when she judged that things were getting truly difficult.
It seemed her judgment this time was a little different from mine. I thought we could have held out a bit longer… But since the creature was already summoned, sending it back would be awkward, so I had no choice but to give a slight nod. At my response, Vivian’s face brightened. It seemed she had been unsure herself.
A moment later, a cold smile spread across her face as she commanded her summon.
“What are you doing? Queritatus, wipe them all out. Don’t leave a single one.”
As though answering Vivian’s command, Queritatus released a scream that shook my entire body. I watched with interest as it emitted a dark mist. Since its Class had not appeared during my first run, I was very curious. If raised well, two Chimera Alchemists might even stand shoulder to shoulder with the powerful Secret Class, Spirit Summoner.
While I was lost in these thoughts, the mournful screams of the Dead filled the hall. The others seemed to have adapted to some extent, as they no longer winced at the brutal sight. In fact, the aggressive Ahn Hyun could be seen occasionally cheering the summon on.
And just like that, it took Queritatus less than two minutes to wipe out the remaining Dead.