Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Attack Squad (2)
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When burning trash with fire, do you know what you have to be most careful about?
First and foremost, you need to ensure the flames don't spread elsewhere. If the fire spreads, it could erupt into a blaze at any moment and claim lives.
And next, the most important thing is to properly sort the trash you're burning. Among trash, there are types that explode on contact with flames, and others that spew toxic substances while burning.
And right now...
-Tssshhh!!
The flames bursting from the [High-Pressure Cleaner] in Rio's hands are incinerating all sorts of pre-prepared trash. And the acrid smoke billowing from those flames begins to blanket the dungeon's interior thickly, as the entrance is firmly sealed.
"Hmm. Not a bad method. Direct flames can be blocked with plenty of magic... but dealing with smoke like this is tough."
Watching the thick, choking black smoke pouring out from burning all sorts of trash and something called plastic? as Eugene had ordered, Erzsebet deemed it pretty good.
At first, Eugene's proposal had been for Rio—teleported in via [Fast Travel] once the heroes entered—to set fire from the outside and attack the enemies. But the flames from Rio's [High-Pressure Cleaner] were ordinary fire, not infused with mana.
Such flames could be easily handled by the raid party, which included multiple mages—simply dousing them with water magic or smothering them with earth magic.
But if they sealed the entrance completely and lit the fire like this...
"Rio? Make sure that mask the master gave you is on tight."
"Yes!"
Erzsebet confirmed Rio was properly wearing the strange mask-shaped magic tool their master had given her, then helped stoke the flames higher.
"Cough... Doesn't it smell kinda weird?"
"You too? Me as well..."
The raid members following Fallen, who was leading from the front, began coughing one by one.
When they first entered the dungeon, they were a bit thrown off by the spotless, clean corridor greeting them—completely unlike what they'd expected. But an odd smell, unfit for such a hallway, had only grown stronger.
"Kinda like something burning..."
"...This is...?"
A few quick-witted ones among them realized the source of the smell wafting in, paled, and reported to Fallen.
"Hmm. The burning smell's coming from behind, not ahead... Any contact with the entrance guards?"
"No response."
"Hmph..."
Fallen's expression soured at the mages' report.
'We definitely finished scouting the dungeon's surroundings.'
To prevent any rear ambushes, they'd thoroughly checked for any lurkers around the dungeon before entering. No traces of demons anywhere nearby, so they'd left only minimal guards and pushed in...
'Ones trained in proper stealth? Or maybe they came down from the air undetected... or spatial transfer...? Nah, that can't be. Teleporting living beings is tricky.'
Pondering what he'd missed, Fallen issued orders to the raid members awaiting his command.
"Double the rear guard. Watch for ambushes from behind. That burning smell means flames might come—mages and priests, prepare to extinguish fires and cast flame protection spells."
"Yes, sir!"
What was done was done. Self-reproach gnawed at Fallen for losing valuable troops to his misjudgment, but he bolstered the rear guard anyway. If the entrance team had fallen, demons could appear from behind at any moment.
"...Cough..."
Their advance slowed even more as they warily guarded the rear, creeping forward slowly. But the number of coughing members kept growing compared to before.
"Something's off. Priests—any toxins in the air?"
"Hmm... Divine power detects faint toxins. Not severe, but to be safe, purification magic..."
"Hold for now. Conserve priests' divine power. It's crucial against demons."
As the coughing spread, Fallen sensed something amiss and had the priests check the air. They detected faint toxins.
They could cast purification right away, but Fallen held them back. Priests' divine power was vital for healing wounded, smiting certain demons, purification, holy flashes, and more—it had to be saved.
Instead, as he was about to task priests and mages with toxin analysis, a suspicious sound reached his ears.
-...Thud.... Thud....
"...Everyone, halt!"
The most perceptive Fallen stopped the others cold. The raid members froze, drawing weapons in unison.
"Mana reactions ahead... Over twenty!"
The mages detected mana signatures, so Fallen tabled their condition for now and braced for enemies. Heavy sounds echoed through the dark passage, and soon massive golems emerged.
"Golems... Everyone, you know how to handle them?"
"Yes, sir!"
The beasts looked intimidating at a glance, but no raid member feared mere golems.
Golems had overwhelming destructive power from their size and mass, but destroying the core rendered them helpless—a fatal flaw making them easier prey than their threat suggested.
"Time for some fun!"
Fallen, who'd smashed plenty before, eagerly charged the lead iron golem, slamming his fist into its central body—where the mana-emitting core sat.
-BOOM!!
The massive metal frame crumpled pathetically, flying back farther than its bulk suggested. But as Fallen grinned mockingly, he sensed something off and flexed his fist repeatedly.
"...Huh? What? That felt all wrong..."
-Groooan....!
".....Huh?"
Without doubt, the iron golem Fallen assumed should've shattered rose with mechanical groans. His eyes sharpened.
"Empowered by the dungeon? But the aura's just like a regular golem..."
-Groooan....
"This one too."
-BAM!
As Fallen gauged the feel by clenching and unclenching, he swung at an approaching stone golem. It flew harder than the iron one, exploding like it'd taken a bomb, shattering to pieces.
-Clatter clatter...
"Hah."
Yet amid the wreckage, the fragments somehow protected the core and began regenerating, drawing a tongue-click from Fallen.
"Never seen golems like this. Mithril ones, maybe I'd get it—but iron golems... or even stone?"
"Gah... What the hell are these things?!"
As Fallen faltered, bewilderment spread among heroes battling other golems.
The bodies were standard golems as they knew, but striking the white metal-or-stone armor over the mana core did nothing—the core wouldn't break.
Tricky to shatter, sure, but the heroes weren't losing to golems...
-Thud!
"Grooo...?"
One stone golem punched down at a hero, but its fist shattered instead. It recoiled.
"Tch. Dumb rockhead. You know how tough I am, even if not quite Fallen-level?"
A bit rattled but pushing the golems back effortlessly, another hero with body-hardening powers boldly took the hit bare-handed and advanced.
Confident a mere rock golem couldn't scratch him.
"Groooan...."
The retreating stone golem, at the hero's advance, seemed to get an idea. It reached for its core and pulled something out.
-Whoosh!
"Ha! Swing away. You'll just break your arms...!"
-Clang!
"Pierce!"
The cocky hero took the attack head-on, only to bite his tongue with a grotesque crunch and collapse. In the golem's hand: a bloodied round object.
"Groaan!"
"Ryan! Damn it, a stone golem killing a 2-star hero...!"
A comrade who'd watched cried out Ryan's name, vengefully smashing the golem—which this time shattered completely, core and all, staying down.
"Urgh... Mages! Bind the golems' feet. Their defense is insane!"
Meanwhile, Fallen—who'd smashed two golems hiding cores with [Robot Vacuum Cleaners]—issued orders.
'Strange armor protects the cores. Doesn't fully absorb impacts... but this ain't normal.'
As he analyzed from watching fragments reform rapidly, spotting the round core cover—a voice came from empty space moments ago.
"...Told 'em to use those as shields, but they're weaponizing them."
"...?!!"
The voice from clearly empty space.
Hearing it, Fallen instinctively lunged beast-like toward the source, smashing down with his fist—situation be damned.
-BOOMMMM!!!
"...Skeleton?"
But a skeleton that popped from thin air blocked his punch, shattering instead.
"...Shit. Almost died..."
A man in bizarre garb muttered something, then undead poured out around him like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Necromancer!"
"Wh-what?! No death aura at all, yet this many undead...!"
Priests and heroes, expecting no undead without necromancer death aura, panicked at the horde appearing right before them—not from ground or subspace.
-Rumble rumble rumble...!
"Not that! Don't attack—evade! Full defense, everyone!"
But veteran Fallen grasped the real threat the instant undead appeared: not them, but the ominous surging mana flow.
Issuing orders, he naturally lunged to snap the necromancer's neck—but a weird metal object blocked him.
[Ladder (Lv. Max)]: A foldable ladder for climbing to high places to clean. Can extend its length!
-Clang!
"What the...!"
"Extend, ye like Nyo-i!"
"?!?!"
With the man's playful words, the odd metal blocking him—the [Ladder]—rapidly expanded, shoving Fallen aside mercilessly.
"You...! Necromancer!"
His beastly senses kicked in; he kneed the ladder aside, regained footing, and lunged again at the sudden man—the necromancer. But the man vanished as abruptly as he'd appeared.
And then...
"Bl-block it!"
-BOOMMMMMM!!!!
A massive explosion erupted.