Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Necromancer
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"Ifrit.."
Elfriede, gripping a short staff, chanted a spell.
Then, a fireball the size of a soccer ball appeared in front of her face, soon flying rapidly toward the clustered thieves.
It was the offensive spell that was Elfriede's specialty, the third-circle Fireball.
Roar, boom-!
"A m-magician! There's a magician who uses fire! She's blasting spells without long chants!"
"Damn it, fuck! This was supposed to be a secret hideout! How did they find us!"
The thieves who barely dodged the fireball scattered in all directions, shouting.
"Boss! What do we do!"
Some of them looked to me for orders. Seizing that moment, Delphina drew a needle-like, sharply pointed long sword and accelerated toward me in an instant.
"You're the boss, huh! I've been running into big, black-haired guys like you a lot lately!"
Whoosh!
The sharp sword tip sliced through the air, hurtling toward my nape at ferocious speed.
Seeing her hesitate not one bit about stabbing a person's throat, she truly was a natural-born killer worthy of Silver Tier.
"Eek, shit!"
I barely bent my waist to dodge the attack.
Screech!
Delphina's blade grazed past my head; I felt a faint heat as it passed over my hair. If I'd been stabbed by that strike, I'd probably die without even screaming.
"Hoh? Dodging my quick thrust? Not bad, thief boss!"
Swish, swish.
Delphina kept thrusting her sword at me relentlessly.
"Quit playing around, Delphina. I want to finish this quick and rest. Fireflies -."
And Elfriede, setting fires here and there.
"Then, I'll start chanting my spell tooo."
The nun in blue priestly robes began chanting a strange incantation.
Finally, the taciturn female fighter engaging the thieves in one-on-one combat.
I had no clue what was happening, but it was a desperate crisis.
If I got caught by these guys now, I'd be pinned as the thief guild boss with no way out.
And excuses like "This was part of an undercover investigation..."? No way that would fly with this world's barbaric, slapdash laws that wouldn't cater to my convenience.
"Disband! Disband as ordered! The thief guild Hydra is completely disbanded as of today!"
At that moment, Big Joe, the massive man battling the fighter, bellowed loudly. The thieves scattered in response.
"Run!"
"You think we'll let you escape? The spell's already complete. Domain of the Barrier -!"
The nun with the drawn-out voice struck the floor with her prayer beads—boom—and a bluish, soap-membrane-like film spread from the ground.
Bubble bubble..
It soon expanded massively, completely encircling and trapping us.
"A barrier! A barrier! This shitty barrier! I've seen plenty like it in rich folks' vaults!"
"You shouldn't lump it with those cheap magical devices."
To escape the barrier, the thieves swung their daggers. But despite looking like soft soap film, it was incredibly tough, stretching but refusing to break.
Shit, are we all getting captured and purged like this?
As I panicked,
Pop-!
A sharp sting like a needle piercing a balloon rang in my ears. For some reason, the barrier itself burst with a bang.
The one who revealed herself afterward was Luna.
Luna, who had studded a thick Silence Totem with semicircular protrusions, shouted loudly.
"Thieves! We're here too! Hassan, Hassan is right here! We came to help! Don't you dare cut in line!"
"M-my barrier spell...?"
"Stick my enhanced Silence Totem in it, and no barrier can hold!"
Luna's Silence Totem had become an excellent piece after the obsidian interior upgrade last time. It looked just like a goblin's club.
No wonder anything stabbed with that couldn't budge.
"...Now's our chance! Escape!"
The thieves swiftly fled through the broken barrier.
"Damn it, they're all getting away! I'll grab you at least!"
Delphina kept thrusting her sword at me. I was barely dodging her attacks, but if this continued, I'd probably end up with a blade through my heart.
Pew.
Seeing her sword pierce a pillar like a bullet, it was easy to imagine what it'd do to my soft body.
Fuck, this is what they mean by a life-or-death crisis.
Should I just come clean and say I'm Hassan—right at that moment I was thinking that.
Screeech!
Something sharp flew in from somewhere and collided with Delphina. She stopped attacking me and raised her blade high to block it.
"Grk! What the!?"
Clang clang clang..
A sharp metallic clash echoed, followed by a thud-! and an explosion of something.
"Damn, that... sword aura!"
Delphina growled incredulously at what had flown at her. Emerging from the blazing flames was Hippolyte, clad in red fluttering cloth armor.
The golden necklace around her neck gleamed in the firelight.
"Cutting in line is a no-no. The thief guild is mine. You Calcutahicks."
Hippolyte smirked confidently, while Paranoya, hiding behind her, piped up boldly.
"The fearsome Gold Tier adventurer! It's reassuring to have her on our side...! I-I'll cheer from here...!"
Delphina spat in frustration at the sight.
"Elfi! Do something about that woman! She chased us all the way here!"
"Chased you? We were heading to the dungeon here ourselves."
"Ifrit!"
As Delphina and Hippolyte bickered, Elfriede chanted a short incantation; the fireball grew near her face and scorched toward Hippolyte.
Roar.
If that hit, her body moisture would evaporate in an instant.
"Short chant for a spell this strong. Impressive."
But Hippolyte cleaved the incoming fireball in two with her sword, like splitting a watermelon.
Roar, roar boom! Boom!
The perfectly bisected Fireball ricocheted to Hippolyte's left and right, each causing massive explosions that scorched the surroundings with even hotter heat.
Flames blazing everywhere, people screaming all around.
It was hell itself.
"Damn.."
Elfriede spat a short curse and prepared another chant. Hippolyte addressed her.
"You're a formidable magician. But you should stop. A fire mage can't beat me. It just makes my blood run hotter."
The one who lunged at Hippolyte then was the taciturn China-dress fighter who hadn't spoken once.
Flash.
Clean left and right straight punches.
Hippolyte dodged from right to left without excess motion and said,
"Fist fighting arts, huh. Fine, I'll meet you with the same."
Hippolyte sheathed her sword at her waist and faced her barehanded. Seizing that brief moment, the fighter's sharp roundhouse kick flew in.
"Sharp. Good form."
Hippolyte lightly tilted her head back to dodge the high kick aimed at her face, then grinned, baring her sharp fangs, fists clenched.
"Dodge."
She thrust her right hand forward, unleashing a straight punch. It really felt like it was fired.
"...!"
It was so fast that the Silver Tier fighter, thinking she couldn't dodge, raised guards with both hands to protect her face.
Flash-! Thud, clang, boom!
But even with the defense, the taciturn fighter was sent flying, bounced off the floor, crashed into the wall, and collapsed.
"Told you to dodge, not block."
"Cough.."
"I'll chant a healing spell!"
The blue-clad nun shouted urgently at her blood-spewing comrade.
But in that gap, Hippolyte kicked off the floor and closed in at invisible speed, chopping the nape with her hand blade, knocking her out.
Flash.
"--!"
The female monk flipped her eyes white and foamed at the mouth without a scream.
"Edwin!"
Seeing that, Delphina turned her back to me and assumed a stance to charge Hippolyte.
"Damn it, no one said she'd be this strong! There's no way a Gold Tier outclasses us this much!"
Hippolyte laughed leisurely amid the flames at those words.
"You Calcutafrogs. Didn't you take the term 'hero' too lightly? You lot couldn't even take down that idiot Actaeon."
"Damn it -!"
I was shocked too.
Hippolyte was fucking strong for real.
Guess I took the word "hero" lightly as well.
So that's a Gold Tier adventurer.
My goal felt even farther away somehow.
More than that, she'd weaken dramatically at night. But she seemed unaffected by level drop. Was there a reason?
Anyway, it was a relief that attention on me had lessened. I quickly dove for my precious club, the Terror crusher, on the floor.
Right then, a stinging sensation like a bee sting raced up my nape.
Turning my head, I saw Luna in the distance, swinging a massive club at the fleeing thieves.
"Voodoo of Thief-Catching-!!"
"What the hell is she saying! Someone shake her off!"
"Shut up!"
Her bone helmet hid her expression, but she didn't seem normal.
With fires raging everywhere, maybe Luna's unique mania had kicked in.
"Hassan, where's Hassan! You rotten thieves!"
Swing, swing-!
Luna kept swinging the huge club left to right, right to left. Just as one of the thief executives was about to get smashed,
"Ugh, ugh, someone help me up!"
"Hehe, Voodoo of Silence-!"
Whoosh, smack.
The moment Luna raised her massive club, a stone flew from somewhere and smacked the back of her helmeted head.
"Hngk!"
"Now! Dodge quick!"
It was one of the thief guild executives who hadn't fled yet. He'd thrown the stone to save his comrade.
"Hueeh...."
Hit by it, Luna collapsed, twitching spasmodically.
"Hueeeh.."
She looked unconscious. Big trouble. Shoving aside complicated thoughts, I chose to slap her cheeks and check for concussion.
Luna's health and safety were my top priority, after all.
"Luna, Luna, wake up! Snap out of it! Luna, get up! Passing out here is bad!"
But no matter how much I shook her, Luna showed no sign of waking. Probably knocked out by the unexpected blow.
Should I check her pulse? Massage her awake? Right then,
Swoooo.
A cold wind blew from somewhere, extinguishing the raging flames around.
The chilling sensation cooled my blood, sending shivers down my spine and raising my hair.
"The fire... went out...?"
Hippolyte, facing Delphina, reacted first. She clicked her tongue at the fading flames around.
"Tch-."
Elfriede, tending to her fainted comrades, reacted second.
"My flames of karmic fire... going out...?"
Elfriede said in disbelief as her flames extinguished.
Her flames were notoriously hard to put out, and I knew that better than anyone.
That's why her magic terrified me.
But all those flames lost power as if snuffed out.
Moreover, a strange chill swept through the dark, vast cavern, cooling the air.
Crack, craaack..
Ice was forming—not a normal situation.
Is Nox-nim about to appear?
I removed Luna's helmet to check her face. No sign of that. What the hell? What's about to happen? As I panicked,
Rustle.
Amid the chaos, something lying down rose.
Crunch, craunch..
It twisted grotesquely, as if forcibly realigning broken joints and bones.
-Grrruuuh.....
It was none other than Ismail.
Ismail, the thieves' boss.
I'd clearly shredded his body with a dagger. Even finished with a mercy kill, confirming his pulse had stopped completely.
Yet that guy was rising right now.
-Grrooo....
Drip, drip.
Seeing the bleeding corpse stand, we all froze, speechless.
...Fuck, why the hell is that bastard getting up?