Surprisingly Cozy

"Surprisingly cozy."

Yujun murmured.

The cave was a little damp, but it wasn't particularly cold. For a mountain frozen solid from crown to root, it was warm—cool, and nothing more.

Why?

The place wasn't completely sealed off from the outside. Wasn't it strange that the temperature here alone was different?

"I feel like I might actually live."

Paranet said it while shaking himself from head to toe.

"You don't even feel the cold."

"That is true, Master. And yet ice keeps lodging between my bones. The inconvenience is no trifling matter."

"Ah. That could happen."

Paranet was undead. He moved as though alive, but he was nothing like an ordinary creature; there was no warmth in his body at all. He froze in moments, and ice caught between the joints of his bones and refused to melt.

Tapagol was the same. Unlike before, when he had creaked with every motion, the moment he entered the cave each of his joints moved with a new ease. Watching the two summons, Yujun found it strangely fascinating.

It hits me all over again. This really is a fantasy world.

Even after stepping inside, Yujun kept his detection magic active.

Feels like my senses have gone numb.

With his senses refusing to work, he couldn't tell whether it was an effect of the cave itself or some manner of barrier. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They hadn't been severed entirely, though. He could still feel presences that weren't far off.

"You too?"

Yujun asked Manuela.

"Yeah. Feels like my senses got cut off. It's suffocating."

When he asked, Paranet and Tapagol seemed to be in the same state as Yujun and Manuela. Scouting whatever lay ahead in the cave was impossible.

Well. Doesn't matter.

The passage was wide. All four of them could walk abreast without it feeling the least bit cramped. It didn't seem artificially carved, yet the floor was flat and the way broad, so pressing onward was no great hardship. They walked for a long time. No matter how far they went, the end of the cave never came into view—and far from reaching it, they found nothing at all.

Yujun sighed and spoke.

"First cave I've ever seen with absolutely nothing in it."

"Right?"

Even with the Eagle Eye Scouter equipped, he couldn't find anything unusual. It was no different from the large, commonplace caves of Earth.

"Master. Another path seems to have appeared over there?"

"Hm?"

At Paranet's words, Yujun turned his head. Just as the summon had said, a passage barely wide enough for a single person waited there, and the slope was severe. Step into it, and he would drop straight down. With his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠senses partly sealed, he had no way to check ahead.

Yujun propped his chin on his hand.

"Want to take a crack at it?"

"Shall I go and see?"

Paranet volunteered.

"You're too big for it. You're enormous as it is, and you're wearing armor on top of that."

"This one is in possession of Space Movement, Master."

"We don't even know if there's space on the other side. How were you planning to use it?"

Yujun focused on the Unidentified Egg. A thin hum rose—vmmm. Sure enough, the closer he drew to the sloping passage, the faintest bit stronger the vibration grew.

"We'll just go this way. Paranet, once we're all through and I call you, come by Space Movement."

"As you command."

Having given the order, he leapt into the new passage without a moment's hesitation. Manuela and Tapagol followed.

Yujun slid for a long while after jumping in. He descended at speed, yet his sturdy armor didn't take so much as a scratch; if anything, the earthen floor gouged deep wherever the armor met it. At some point the feet that had been falling without end touched solid ground, and he quickly stepped clear. Not long after, Manuela and Tapagol landed where he had been standing.

As he looked around, Yujun's eyes widened a little. A scene rather different from the one above had opened before him: a smooth marble floor, and walls that weren't rough at all, formed of a peculiar material he had never seen in his life. The space gave off a luxurious air.

"Did someone used to live here?"

Dried jerky was heaped high on a table of joined wooden planks. Beside it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sat a bed that looked soft, and a standing lamp shedding a muted glow.

"Bit too luxurious for furniture stuck in a cave like this."

At Yujun's words, Manuela nodded in agreement.

"Must be somebody with money."

"A player, I'd bet. A monster wouldn't decorate a place and live in it."

It was cozy, and quietly tasteful besides. Hard to believe a monster of no great intelligence had prepared it. A monster wouldn't have owned a mana standing lamp like that to begin with.

"There's a door over there, too."

Manuela pointed at an iron door with her index finger.

"Before we head out."

He wanted to see what else the room held. Behind the scouter, Yujun's eyes moved quickly—flipping up the bedcovers, digging through the pile of jerky, inspecting every corner around the lamp.

"Tapagol. You find anything?"

"Nothing. Not here."

"Good. Let's go."

The iron door was made to open only from the inside. That raised the question of how anyone got into the room at all, but there was probably a method of some kind. When he opened it, the interior of that same ordinary cave spread out once more. The difference was the presence of living things—and quite a lot of them.

"Paranet."

"Yes."

"Go take a look."

"......Me?"

"There's no one I trust more than you, Paranet."

"Then I, Master's loyal retainer and the great Death Knight, have no choice but to step forth."

Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, Paranet took the lead. As the undead strode along making a racket, the creatures hidden all around began to show themselves. A lion's torso. A goblin's face. Enormous bat wings upon the back. Truly revolting monsters. They seemed to be chimeras, and yet they possessed a power beyond any comparison with the chimeras he had faced before.

Astonishingly, one of them gave voice and made its will known.

"Do not trespass upon our domain. Ignore this warning, and you will not escape a dreadful end."

Paranet snorted.

"A warning, from a lowly monster? You had only to keep quiet and turtle where you were. Why step forward and court your own death? Pathetic beyond words."

"Incomplete being, alchemist, and clumsy skeletal warrior. Further approach will not be tolerated. This is the final warning."

"......Erk."

Paranet turned to look at Yujun.

"How is it that they know of me?"

"Maybe they looked into your mind. Scanned your brain and read your memories."

"Oh, come now. The jest goes too far."

"I'm not joking. I didn't hand them anything about you, so what else would it be?"

In truth Paranet had no brain, so the claim was nonsense. Even so, he seemed to swallow Yujun's words whole.

"H-hiek......"

Startled, he began to hiccup. Yujun understood well enough. For a near-immortal undead summon, the most frightening thing of all would be an ability of the mental-attack sort. Paranet, brave for one brief moment, slipped straight back into coward mode.

"M-Master. I beg your aid."

"I gave that order because I trusted you...... Haah. Nothing for it, then."

When Yujun let out a deep sigh, Paranet's head shot up.

"No! I shall do it myself!"

"Oh? You will?"

"......Ah. Yes."

He had secretly expected Yujun to stop him, and he looked faintly flustered—but he didn't let it show any further. He strode forward.

"Come at me, you disgusting things!"

"You have crossed the boundary. You will be regarded as an enemy."

"Regarded as an enemy."

A low hum. A small wave rippled outward, and right on its heels—

"Gah!"

Paranet went down with a heavy thud. For whatever reason, once he had toppled he could not get back up.

"S-something is wrong, Master!"

"What?"

Yujun asked, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"My body will not obey me!"

He shouted it, and in fact he couldn't so much as twitch a finger. The chimeras approached the fallen Paranet at an unhurried pace. They seemed to think the prey was already in hand, and they were exceedingly leisurely about it.

"Paranet. Try a skill."

"Yes! Uh—hm? It will not activate!"

"That so?"

So they were sealing skills as well. Skill Seal certainly existed as an ability in the War of the Gods, but it was difficult to obtain, and its conditions of use were extremely strict. It was not a skill that triggered so casually.

Besides, Skill Seal only seals skills. It shouldn't stop someone from moving altogether.

It might not be Skill Seal at all. More likely they had stacked skills, or it was some ability he didn't know.

Not bad.

That a mere chimera could use an ability like that was interesting.

"Master! At this rate I perish! Please save me!"

Catching the scent of unsummoning, Paranet cried out in desperation. One of the chimeras lifted a foot high, about to smash his skull.

Yujun moved.

In a span no longer than an instant, he was already standing before the chimera that had meant to kill Paranet. The sword moved several times. Long lines of blood were drawn across the chimera's body, and a moment later it split into pieces and lost its life.

"Oh. Twice?"

He had known the chimeras that appeared were no ordinary beings, but he hadn't expected his level to rise twice. The moment he understood how much experience they yielded, greed settled into Yujun's eyes.

"Exterminate. Exterminate."

"Lord Genus's command will be fulfilled."

"The insolent intruders will be punished."

The chimeras spat lines that seemed assigned to each of them and activated their skills. The same wave that had incapacitated Paranet shot toward Yujun as well. It reached him in the blink of an eye. Faced with it, he merely tilted his head a fraction—but the chimera's ability was nothing to take lightly. The wave bent its course and flew straight at his head. It felt like facing a guided missile.

That was when it happened. The wave suddenly skidded aside and missed.

Oh. This is nice.

An ability activating in real combat for the first time. He could have dodged well enough as things stood, but the cloak had saved him the trouble.

There was not only one wave. Three came flying in at once.

In that instant, the waves writhing toward him like snakes stopped dead. Only then did the chimeras show panic for the first time.

"Plan Two. Accept damage to the base and annihilate the enemy."

"Complying."

Those are chimeras, aren't they? Why are they imitating robots?

"Thousand-Pound Drop...... not a body slam—Body Slam Thousand-Pound Drop!"

Able to move at last, it seemed, Paranet blasted one chimera away with a body slam. The chimera did not fly. Instant death—because it was utterly pulverized on the spot.

It was truly one shot, one kill. If Paranet landed a body slam fused with Thousand-Pound Drop, even Yujun couldn't swear he would come out intact. It was not a force a chimera could withstand. When even Paranet, whom they had suppressed once already, felled a chimera with ease, the rest could not hide their bewilderment.

On top of that, Manuela's curses poured down. The chimeras' physical stats dropped by a percentage, and their bodily regeneration and mana recovery speed plummeted. Her curse ability was on a level none could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠match. Unless one possessed perfect immunity to curses, there was nothing to do but be caught.

Then chimeras even larger than the ones before appeared. Their shapes were similar, but their bulk and the mass of their muscle were overwhelming beyond any comparison.

"Annihilate."

"By Lord Genus's command, annihilate the enemy."

At their appearance, Yujun was delighted.

An experience-point festival.