Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: 5th Floor. The Reason Memories Are Memories
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The massive white behemoth thrashed about.
As the wall of waves created by its movements surged toward them, Albert thrust out the sword in his hand and slashed downward.
The knight slipped through the shallow gap split by his sword strike, but the others had no choice but to take the full brunt of the wave with their bodies.
The criminals were swept away by the water pulling them back to its original position.
"Gaaahhh! S-save me!"
"Grab me... Glub!"
Those who still had all their limbs intact could at least endure by just getting dunked, but the ones missing legs were helplessly dragged under the alligator's feet without a trace.
There was no time to even react.
The hunters, still dumbfounded and unable to grasp the situation, wore blank expressions.
"Get it together—! It's our turn next!"
At the knight's shout, the group finally snapped out of it. Clutching their weapons with trembling hands, they gritted their teeth, desperately searching for anything to hold onto to avoid the next wave.
But a massive monster that had already gone mad wasn't about to wait for them.
The creature, armored like a moving fortress, shot forward at tremendous speed.
Its target was its former master—the cruel one who had abandoned it and now sought to take its life as well.
"Wha... what the hell. Why is this thing coming at me..!"
The man who had become its target wore a look of utter disbelief as he desperately threw himself to the side.
Crash! Scraaaape—
The sound of chains scraping the floor rang out alongside a dull impact, but seeing the alligator's maw sweep past where he'd just been standing made it feel like a miracle.
But it was too early to relax.
The reptile's completely feral eyes were tracking him as he rolled across the ground.
"Get up!"
As the behemoth began to move again, rough hands grabbed his shoulder and yanked him upright.
The knight hauled him to his feet and hurled his sword at the alligator's eyes. He wasn't hoping for much, and true to that, it didn't achieve anything grand.
Just a single blink. A fleeting opening.
But that brief moment was enough to let him stand and regain his stance.
The axe shot forward. Borrowing the force of gravity and centrifugal momentum, the blade came crashing down with maximum power onto the ruler of the sewers.
Thud—
"Th-this crazy... It won't even stick?!"
The knight had leaped to retrieve his sword, buying time with this strike, but its effect was minimal.
As the axe bounced off like it had struck well-tanned bullhide, he cried out in shock.
His Strength stat was low, but it should've at least chipped away some damage. The man realized his calculations were off.
And the price for that—
Crunch—
His vision spun, and agony tore through his shoulder as muscle ripped apart.
"Gaaaaahhhh!!!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Albert scowled deeply at the scene unfolding before him, his hand frozen on the holster containing a single scroll.
And for good reason—there was nothing he could do.
He wanted to save the young man whose arm had been bitten by the Sewer King, but what could a mere knight like him accomplish against that monster?
'He was a promising lad... but this is the end, huh.'
A summoner with powerful summoned beasts of his own, the young man had followed Albert's crash course in swordsmanship remarkably well despite being a total novice.
His basic physique and physical condition were excellent, and his battlefield ingenuity and command occasionally surprised even Albert.
With ambitions of becoming a hero to boot, Albert desperately wanted to save him—but he wasn't a superhuman.
He couldn't even fathom the sheer power that colossal body, akin to a moving fortress, could unleash.
'This gap...'
His gaze instinctively drifted to the portal in the drainage channel.
No, it had veered slightly past it, so it probably wouldn't hit the portal directly.
Rumble—!!!
A short scream echoed, soon buried by the cavern-shaking vibrations and spray of water, fading into nothing.
The Sewer King thrashed its body with full force to tear apart the prey in its jaws.
The power was so immense that the channel seemed on the verge of collapse, making it hard to even stand.
"No choice... Everyone, follow me..!"
"K-knight sir! Look at that!"
Regrettable as it was, those who could be saved had to be.
Just as Albert decided to abandon the rescue and escape the channel while the alligator was distracted, one of the survivors who hadn't been swept away blocked his path.
The one who interrupted Albert was Dave, the burly blacksmith with a bushy beard and round eyes.
Dave pointed at the man clamped in the alligator's jaws.
Albert couldn't hide his shock.
"Grrrrraaaaaahhh!!!"
The chainmail caught in those jagged teeth had long since shattered under brute force, and blood sprayed from his shoulder on the verge of being torn clean off.
Dislocation and fractures were a given.
Yet with his remaining arm, he painstakingly drew a scroll from his holster.
Flash—Pop—!
Tearing the scroll unleashed a golden transparent sphere enveloping him.
It was a powerful protective scroll that briefly shielded the user.
Thanks to it, he escaped the vicious bite, but the situation remained dire. Cracks spiderwebbed across the sphere near the teeth, threatening to shatter at any moment.
Just before it fully broke.
Another scroll torn in half.
"You fucking bastard..! I'll roast you from the inside!"
Supreme Fire Magic ⟨ Flame Storm ⟩
The immense mana embedded in the scroll whipped up a storm. The massive flow converged on him, surging into the Sewer King's maw—
Whoosh—Rumble—!!!
Sparkling flames. A slowly swelling blue blaze. Then a white inferno that bleached his vision.
Vast heat filled the cavern, instantly vaporizing the water and blasting the air with massive steam.
The stench of cooking meat mixed chaotically with foul steam.
As his senses numbed from the explosions, he wondered if he was dead.
"Gah... Hah... Hah... Hah..!"
"Urk, bleeech!!!"
As the eternal instant ended, ragged breaths and retching filled the air.
"What in the..."
Albert finally regained his wits amid the chaos and looked around, speechless. He didn't even notice the heat searing his armor.
The water had evaporated completely, exposing the channel floor. The ceiling dripped molten stone. The behemoth lay charred black.
And from its maw stumbled the man, clutching his half-torn arm dangling loosely, face deranged as he staggered out.
"You..!"
"Not over yet."
"How... It's charred black like that, there's no way it's still—"
Albert fell silent.
It moved. A normal creature wouldn't just survive—let alone move—in that state, yet the madness in those eyes showed no sign of fading.
Even the mythical Bell of the End hadn't been this terrifying.
The seasoned knight Albert didn't even notice himself swallowing hard.
"Wanderer."
As if answering his murmur, a woman appeared from nowhere.
Holding a blood-forged greatsword, her beauty shone through even with her eyes covered—like a mystical purple rose gliding forth.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Half-Moon Slash The massive greatsword sliced through the air, tracing a beautiful arc. The thick alligator hide tore long and clean, like scraping parchment with a blade.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Full-Moon Slash Without losing momentum, another circular spin rent through hide and flesh alike. Red blood sprayed from the cross-shaped wounds left behind.
Brutal power executed with the precision of filigree work and the grace of a dance—
As the summoned woman's sword dance ended, he sprang into motion.
Gripping the silver longsword—bent in half like a dagger—in reverse grip, he plunged it into the cross scar.
Rumble—!!
The Sewer King writhed as if that needle-like prick relative to its size hurt more than the woman's great cleave.
Sweeping tail—she blocked it upright with her greatsword.
Stomping foot—he rolled forward to evade.
Rolling body—she pinned it down with her greatsword.
His movements were sluggish and unsteady, like he might collapse any second, but sharper than ever.
Albert swallowed.
The barely surviving Dave eyed him curiously.
"Uh... Knight sir, you don't need to help your benefactor? Looks plenty dangerous to my untrained eyes."
"...He's possessed."
Occasionally on the battlefield, you'd see them.
Those who transcended skill, entering a trance where pain vanished and they swung endlessly.
Even drained movements desperately aimed at killing made this veteran tense with their tenacity and fear.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thud—
The colossal body finally collapsed, motionless.
The Wanderer had already consumed all her Fuel and been reverse-summoned. Even the slime had been used up as divine protection and a shield before vanishing.
And during that time, I'd survived. It had died.
"Grooo... Haaa..."
My arm felt like it was about to tear off. No, it might already have.
I didn't even know how I was still conscious. Maybe I was dead, replaying this superhuman playthrough in my dying brain fantasy.
Dribble—
A cool sensation on my scalp.
"You okay?"
"...Fuck. Does this look okay to you?"
This crazy old coot must've finally lost it in the eyes.
I wanted to ask if he'd check his own arm and say that, but I lacked the strength.
'No Healing Spring either... What now.'
With my wits slightly returning from the cool water on my head, I glanced at my shoulder. It was shredded and ragged.
Would it heal with time?
I entertained that hopeful thought, then shook my head and dumped an entire Healing Potion on it. Was this even the right use? Whatever, it'd work somehow.
Ignoring the pain fading from my shoulder, I turned my head.
There, the Sewer King's vacant eyes—its madness gone—stared back at me.
The alligator statue was mercifully intact. Well, more like it had kept its shape.
Half-charred to charcoal, but the text window popped up, so it was fine.
I climbed onto the Sewer King's back and placed the alligator statue there. The once-white hide was so blackened it was hard to spot among the char.
"I'm not your master. This damned alligator."
Crack.
The statue of the sewer ruler's youth split in two, and at that moment, the corpse began to glow.
The light broke into particles that seeped into me.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You have grown. A new skill engraved on the hologram. The reason I'd bothered defeating the Sewer King when I could've skipped it.
Not stopping there, I grasped the black hilt rising slowly from the corpse.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You have inherited the memories. Just a plain hilt—no blade, no crossguard. Devoid of any mana.
『Memories』
【This is a happy memory. However, because it has ended, it is called a memory.】
"Ah~ That was scary!"
I flopped down right there.
Whew. For real.