Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Those Two Are Troublemakers, Though...(3)
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I was too careless.
Normally, Dry listens well to what I say and just stays near the main body, sucking up Desmond's energy without wandering off. I never imagined it would act on its own like this. Especially not at a crucial time like this!
'Damn it. I should have remembered that Dry's mind is just like a child's!'
Children are naturally curious and poke around everywhere. Even though Dry is usually obedient and well-behaved, kids' actions are inherently unpredictable. When Dry mentioned wanting to go outside, I should have anticipated it might sneak out on its own.
"Master!"
"What now!"
The moment I was about to urgently dispatch people to search for Dry outside, an elf who had been patrolling the outskirts of the forest came rushing into the ruins. Of all the times, the one on patrol right now bursts in like this. No way...
"I-it's the enemy! A large force of demons is approaching the dungeon!"
"...Fuck."
What shitty timing, like it was scripted. The enemy shows up just as Dry heads out. This is...
"...All elves, assemble! Head to the forest outside the dungeon right now and find Dry and Lil—bring them back by any means necessary. Red Demon Tribe, deploy the monsters as we planned!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Lilith! Hurry and go lay down illusions! Erzsebet! You head out too and join the search for Dry!"
I hurriedly sent the elves out to search for Dry and Lil, while having the remaining personnel prepare to meet the enemy.
'Damn it. This wasn't part of the plan— the elves weren't supposed to go outside like this...'
Life never goes according to plan, huh? My head was already starting to ache, and I began worrying about Dry and Lil running around out there. Well, Dry is just an avatar, not the main body, so even if the avatar form dies, Dry itself won't...
But Lil is different. Wait, Dry might have a child's mind, but why did Lil go out with it?
'...Damn it.'
My heart felt heavy. Has calling me 'Daddy' every day made me grow attached to Dry? I wanted to go out of this damn ruin myself and join the search.
You cannot leave the cleaning area before the cleaning task is finished!
Just in case, I headed to the entrance and reached out toward the outside of the ruins, but the annoying system message popped up, and my hand was blocked by an invisible barrier, unable to go any further.
I vented my frustration by kicking the innocent ruin wall, then sent something else outside instead.
-Whirrr...?
None other than the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner (Lv. 3)] equipped with a camera function. I couldn't go out myself, but I could scout the enemy and maybe spot Dry first through the camera, so I sent the camera-equipped [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] outside.
'Dry. Please be safe.'
I hoped it hadn't already run into the enemy and gotten taken out...
"Gaaah!! Those crazy bitches for real!!"
The werebeast, looking almost like a porcupine with arrows embedded all over its body from Lil's harassing shots, yanked them out one by one while glaring hatefully at the elf—no, high elf—darting between distant trees.
"Got...!"
A werepanther swiftly moving atop the trees tried to pounce on the high elf from above, but the branch she stood on writhed and suddenly dropped low. This allowed the high elf to duck and evade the ambush, releasing her drawn bowstring to punch another hole in the werepanther's body.
"Sacred Tree-sama is the best!"
No matter how nimbly Lil could move through the forest, perfectly defending against this many foes was tough. But Dry's support made it possible.
-Pffft!!
"Gurk...!"
"You bitches...!!"
Finally, one werebeast that had been relentlessly peppered with arrows and battered by thick tree trunks, leaving it bruised black and blue, could no longer hold out and collapsed. Then, roots rising from the ground bound its body tight like the Grim Reaper collecting a soul, dragging it straight underground.
Those corpses would become nutrients for the forest.
'Tch. Useless bastards...!'
Lun, the werebear leading the werebeasts in place of the deceased tiger beastmen who fell to the ambush, seethed with rage as he watched the cowardly demons cowering behind shields even while his werebeasts diligently pursued the enemy.
"You idiots...! How long do you plan to hide behind the shields!"
Forgetting how they themselves had howled and charged ahead first, Lun stormed up to the demons hiding behind shields, grabbed one by the collar, and snapped its neck.
"H-heok...!"
"Lead the charge and fight! I'll kill any cowards who fall back!"
Treating the ordinary demons—who weren't even dungeon minions—as disposable fodder, the werebeasts stopped their reckless charges. Instead, they seized the demons' shields to block arrows or used the front-line demons as arrow fodder to pressure Lil.
"Eek... Sacred Tree-sama. My legs hurt. My fingers too."
Lil, who had been leaping between trees and firing arrows like mad for hours already, made a pouty face as the demons' movements grew rougher and whispered to Dry.
-Grrgl...
"Uung..."
Dry also sensed that Daddy's lunch in its stomach was almost gone. At this rate, all the power from the lunch would vanish.
Should they run? Its own body was just an avatar, so damage didn't matter, but Lil, who had been following it around, would be in danger...
"Damn... speaking of which, where did those Garden of Curses guys go? Did they get taken out too?"
"Over there... that half-breed... ahem. The woman leading them stared somewhere and then they all headed off together."
"What?"
In the midst of the chaos, the Garden of Curses members had vanished without a trace. They had been lurking quietly and ominously among them, so the demons had momentarily forgotten about them. When they remembered and hurriedly scanned the surroundings, the half-breed woman leading them and her group were gone.
And at that moment...
"...What the hell is this bitch?"
-Whirrr...
Through the camera of the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner (Lv. 3)] I had sent toward the forest.
A woman's figure appeared before the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner], which was roaming the forest haphazardly, seeking out contaminants via its sensors.
And that too...
'Black hair?'
'My head hurts...'
The half-demon who had been leading the curse soldiers—demons afflicted with the dungeon master's curse, having lost their minds—toward the ordered location without regard for the enemy, suddenly sat down clutching her head in pain. Each one scattered around her...
"......"
The chilling aura emanating from the curse soldiers standing guard around her was rotting the surrounding grass bit by bit, accelerating her headache.
'What... was I doing? Ah. Kill... must kill...'
She couldn't even remember her name. Or how she ended up here.
The only thing in her mind was the voice of the one who had cursed her. Her master's voice.
'Go. Go kill your kin. Wear their resentment. And be complete.'
Curse soldiers. Soldiers forged by curses.
Among countless curse spells, this one was notoriously vicious. It began by placing the curse of the curse soldier on a host that would become the mother body.
Then, as the host donned the curse and committed 'kin-slaying,' the curse deepened. By killing kin and bearing their resentment and karma, the curse amplified, devouring the host's reason and memories while granting immense demonic power and strength in return.
The dungeon 'Garden of Curses' was a horrific garden of such curse soldiers. And among them, she was special—the dungeon master, who despised half-breeds, had coincidentally cursed one with the 'curse soldier' spell.
'This much resentment...!'
The curse soldier's curse accelerated with each kin-slaying by its host. And it grew stronger based on the resentment and karma of the slain.
Half-breeds, born between incompatible demons and humans, had lifetimes of accumulated resentment and karma from discrimination—perfect catalysts for the curse... no, the spell.
'You're my greatest masterpiece.'
In the process of completion, the master had even bought expensive magic tomes from the dungeon merchant to forcibly implant magical knowledge, endlessly forcing her to slaughter fellow half-demon kin to create the ultimate curse soldier.
That was the true nature of the half-demon leading the other curse soldiers.
Just one more. One more half-breed bearing immense karma. Kill that, and she would fully lose her reason, becoming a faithful curse soldier obeying only her master's commands.
And before her...
-Whirr...
".......?"
Something appeared.
Even as the surrounding earth and trees naturally rotted from the curse's aura, this unidentified object—alive? Golem?—approached slowly without rotting, emitting strange mechanical whirs.
Before such potent curse energy, anything short of special metal like mithril would corrode, yet this thing plowed through the rotting soil as if devouring the traces, steadily closing in. The [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] continued forward.
"Curse Fire."
-Boom!!
Without curiosity about what the object was, the half-demon instinctively cast magic at the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner]. Her master had ordered her to mercilessly kill any approaching being except those he exempted.
And...
-Whirrr...
As the dust cleared, the unscratched, sleek [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] cleaned the scorched earth from the spell's aftermath and slowly approached the largest contaminant detected by its sensors.
"Curse Fire. Disaster Bomb. Curse Ray."
-Boom! Bang! Pop!
The half-demon mechanically unleashed spell after spell. But the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] approached her even more mechanically, steadily.
"......."
An unidentified something closing in endlessly. Normally, one would retreat to gain distance. But...
'My head... hurts...'
A faint remnant of instinct—not yet fully consumed by the curse—in her ink-black mind halted her steps. Just like how she had been sitting there complaining of headaches earlier.
And then.
-Tap.
The [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] touched her body. On her skin, covered in horrific curses and resentment.
-Whirrrrrr!!!
Then, the suction port on the [Robot Vacuum Cleaner] began operating more fiercely than ever.