Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Intruders
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'A guest has arrived.'
Erzsebet, who had used the strange magic tool Eugene gave her to draw out blood and craft a simple bed of blood before retiring on it, sensed a living being entering the barrier she had set up.
To conserve her blood as much as possible, she had opted for a simple alarm barrier instead of one to block enemies' approach, so the intruders had probably entered without any hindrance.
"Grooo..."
"Hng..."
Looking to the side, her master was sleeping with some strange scrap of cloth stuck to his face even in slumber, right next to a cute Red Demon Tribe girl wearing a similar scrap over her face.
"Warm flames..."
The Red Demon Tribe girl kept rolling toward the high-grade flames her master had lit, drawn to what she had named the 'Incinerator' magic tool, but trapped in her sleeping bag, she could only wriggle cutely in place.
'No need to wake the master.'
Instead of rousing the two soundly sleeping figures, she lightly deployed a barrier beside them to prevent any intruders from slipping past her unnoticed—though that was unlikely—and headed toward the direction the intruders had come from.
'Time to try out the weapon my master bestowed.'
With that, she equipped the treasure her master had handed her in one hand. A treasure that spewed infinite blood. For Blood Demon Tribe members, it was truly the ultimate prize.
A master who handed out such items without a second thought... At first, she had harbored some resentment after her essence blood was thoroughly drained and she was forced into a master-servant contract. But that discontent melted away like snow upon receiving this treasure.
The Blood Demon Tribe's ability to manipulate blood was extraordinarily powerful. With blood, they could regenerate wounds, craft various blood-forged armaments and tools, even heal others—it was a near-omnipotent power.
But blood magic had one fatal flaw: regardless of the spell's scale, it always consumed a fixed amount of blood.
Whether unleashing a devastating spell to slay foes or crafting a small bed for a brief rest, the blood loss was the same. Thus, Blood Demon Tribe members had always lived frugally, rationing their blood.
'But with this tool...!'
It was low-grade blood she'd never seen the likes of before, but blood was blood. She could manipulate it fully with blood magic, and it was more than sufficient for light spells like the bed she'd made for sleep. With this, she no longer had to live in poverty, scrimping on blood!
So...
"I suppose I should earn my keep."
Erzsebet grinned broadly, gave the [High-Pressure Cleaner] in her bosom a pat, and went out to meet the intruders.
-Click!
"Damn it! Again!"
"Everyone, fall back!"
As the scouting party cautiously advanced, scrutinizing the floor and walls, the lead paladin stepped on a trap trigger. Boulder hurriedly blocked the shooting blades with his shield, but the timing was off—the paladin who triggered it was impaled and skewered to death.
"...Damn it!"
Losing yet another paladin, Boulder vented his frustration.
"What kind of messed-up traps are these?!"
They were veterans. They had hunted countless demons, and in that life, they had plenty of experience breaching trap zones like this. But...
"How can there be zero traces?!"
Ordinary trap-laden areas inevitably bore fine scratches from installation, mechanical devices, or traces of demonic energy. After the first paladin triggered a trap, they had pressed forward with a trap-detection specialist at the fore, searching for signs... but...
"Nothing! There's absolutely nothing!"
The outer passages were spotless, dust-free, and this corridor was equally pristine—no scratches, no anomalies. The searching paladin found no traces either. But the moment they relaxed and advanced, a trap of immense power struck.
"Does this make any sense? No demonic energy at all. That means these are purely mechanical traps, not magic...!"
If traces had been erased by magic, mana or demonic energy residues would linger. But there were none! This was absurd!
"Pattem. What now? Pull back?"
"Hm..."
Having already lost three paladins, the group raised the option of retreat to their leader, Pattem. No pointless pride here—rationally, pushing on would only increase casualties.
They were a scouting party, after all. Officially sent to verify if a dungeon had truly appeared.
"Hasn't the scout been enough? With this structure and these trap levels, it's definitely a dungeon, right?"
Boulder's raised voice drew quiet nods from the silent paladins. A structure like this in the forest's heart was suspicious enough; traps of this caliber inside made it highly likely a real dungeon.
And even if not, pushing further might rack up paladin losses instead of waiting for the mighty heroes—so the paladins subtly aligned with Boulder, awaiting Pattem's call.
'...But we haven't found Baikal.'
Yet Pattem couldn't broach retreat, sensing their mood. Officially, this scout was to confirm a suspected dungeon's existence. But his orders were different.
No real dungeon would exist, so recover the Holy Relic 'Baikal' lost by Hero Rox and return. That was the true mission.
"Guests without an invitation."
"...!!!"
"A demon?!"
As if to resolve their dilemma, a white-haired demoness appeared from the passage depths, utterly silent.
"No panic—form up!"
The paladins and hero didn't let their guard down despite her being alone; the moment they spotted Erzsebet, they drew weapons and arrayed in formation. Meanwhile, Pattem eyed the passage from which she'd emerged.
'She avoided the traps coming here too. So then...'
From entry, Pattem had kept signaling Mori, who was hidden. Now, he signaled her visibly.
-...Swish...
Mori, shadowing them concealed, confirmed the signal and slipped past Erzsebet stealthily.
Clocker
A pair of shoe-shaped Holy Relics that drastically reduce the user's presence and render the body transparent. Near-zero direct combat utility, but supreme efficiency for infiltration and assassination.
Empowered by the Holy Relic, Mori passed beside Erzsebet with presence minimized.
"Hm?"
-Splash!
'...!!'
"Hm. Nothing?"
But as Mori brushed past, a sharp blood spike erupted from the floor, narrowly grazing her.
'Insane. She faintly read my presence even with the Holy Relic?'
Narrowly avoiding a hole in her head, Mori soundlessly panicked and hastily slipped past before another attack.
"You there, demon. Do you know about the humans who came here two days ago?"
Pattem, slightly rattled himself, spoke up to draw her attention, fearing she'd target Mori again.
"Hmm... Humans from two days ago?"
Thankfully, the demoness ignored the fleeting oddity and turned to the investigation team blocking her path.
"Well... I don't bother remembering every rude intruder."
"Hmph. Acting like nobility, you lowly wretch? We heard there's a black-haired man here too—where is he? One of your underlings?"
Signaling the paladins to prepare behind him, Pattem donned gloves (Berto) from his bosom while continuing. Reports said the black-haired half-breed took 'Baikal'. They needed him. If Mori found and retrieved it inside, great, but...
"Black-haired man... You mean my master?"
"...Master?"
But the silver-haired demon's unexpected reply made Pattem pause in confusion. Master? Was that half-breed her master?
"...Thought you looked somewhat capable, but you're insane."
Pattem scowled at the woman calling a despised half-breed—shunned by humans and demons alike—her master. But in that instant, not from her body, but from the unidentified elongated staff, blood exploded violently.
-Kwa-gaga-gah!!
"...!!"
"Humans are as rude as ever, past and present. Time for some education."
"Everyone, brace...!"
As Pattem urgently shouted upon sensing doom, a massive crimson wave engulfed them.
'...Gotta pee.'
I woke from sleep to a sudden urge, tousling my messy hair and blinking groggily around. Rio was wriggling in slumber nearby, but Erzsebet was nowhere in sight.
'Did she go to the bathroom too?'
A bit puzzled, but the urge was pressing, so I scrambled out of my sleeping bag and moved away from our spot.
'No bathroom here...'
No facilities meant handling it nearby. But not too close to where we slept—Rio might wake—and ideally farther off.
"Hoo..."
I found a shadowy corner a bit removed from camp and took care of business. Tomorrow, I'd scour the [Shop] for a toilet or something. Couldn't keep doing this...
Current Pollution Level: 94.1%
...Why'd this pop up? My pee raised the pollution? Erzsebet had sucked up all the blood, dropping it by 5%, and now this...
'Just clean it up...'
I hadn't planned to leave it. Plenty of cleaning tools—easy fix.
'[Pollution Check]'
-Swish...
Muttering the keyword inwardly, the polluted spots in the dark corridor glowed brightly—where I'd just peed. A cleaning game system feature I'd thought of while clearing traps earlier; now dirty areas were easy to spot.
'Kinda awkward seeing my own pee glow so clearly... Hm?'
Feeling queasy, I drew the [High-Pressure Cleaner] to wipe the urine traces when something odd caught my eye in the [Pollution Check] vision.
"...What the hell."
In the corridor I'd cleaned spotless before bed, midway, were what looked like human footprints glowing as pollutants.
'...Creepy.'
Did Erzsebet step in dirt? She was blood-wrapped, seemed clean. Still, now that I'd spotted them, they bugged me. Might as well clean while at it.
[High-Pressure Cleaner (Lv. Max)]
-Kwa-gaga-gah!!