Chapter 118: Dark Clouds (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 118: Dark Clouds (2)
Although practically synonymous with the word "regeneration," like any other living thing, you could kill the rank-five monster Troll by destroying its heart or head. However, I instead invested all my team's energy into cutting off its arm.
"Gaaah!"
Finally, I grappled its one remaining arm and rendered it incapacitated. In other words, the right environment for Missha to sneak in more hits without risking her life had officially been created.
Dash.
Missha, who had been wary of the Troll's long arms and focused on keeping her distance, took the first leap. Landing on my shoulder, she stabbed her twin swords into the Troll's eyeballs.
Stab!
No matter how high a monster's physical resistance, it always had a weak spot.
"Gaaargh!"
When the acid blood-enchanted blades pierced its fragile eyes, the Troll's struggling intensified.
Damn, what kind of strength...
"B-Bjorn?"
"Don't worry about me, just keep poking!" I shouted, squeezing its arm with my thighs with all my might. Realizing this was not the time or place for a chat, Missha focused on driving her blade forward instead of answering me.
We reached our first unexpected hurdle here.
Stab, stab, stab—Hack! Khak!
While Missha was repeatedly stabbing the knife into its eye, we heard the sound of something scratching the blade. That was to be expected. Humans had bones behind their eyeballs too.
"B-Bjorn...? It's too harrrd to stab in!"
Its bone strength was the problem. I had thought that since it wasn't a thick bone in the arm or anything like that, she should be able to stab through it into its brain, but it seemed the Troll wasn't willing to die so easily.
"Keep going."
"Okay!" Soon, Missha grabbed the Serpent's Fang behind her and continued to slash at its eyelids. Then, our second unexpected hiccup occurred.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A short time later, the Troll started raging. After losing its vision, it gave up on trying to throw me off altogether and used its only free limbs, its feet, to charge in one specific direction.
"Dwalkie! It's aiming for Dwalkie!"
Somehow, this eyeless Troll asshole was running straight toward Dwalkie.
"Gaaah!"
Rotmiller grabbed Dwalkie and tried to evade it, but the Troll violently pursued them like it could see them.
"Mana! It must be sensing his mana!" called Hikurod.
Even I had been unaware of this particular phenomenon. Could it really, as the dwarf said, be instinctively sensing and following mana?
Goddamn it.
Whatever the reason, just when I thought things were going according to plan, the situation turned to shit in an instant. Within just ten seconds, Dwalkie and Rotmiller were cornered. This made sense. Maybe it would've been different if Missha were the one it was chasing, but Rotmiller didn't have the physical stats needed to carry another person while escaping a rank-five monster.
"Gaaah!"
Eventually, the Troll rushed toward the cornered men. The dwarf tried to stop it but to no avail.
Bang!
The Troll kicked Hikurod like a soccer ball, just in time for his MP to run out and the effects of Balance Weight to deactivate. As a result, he crashed into a wall. God damn it, the timing just had to play out like that, huh.
"B-Bjorn?"
"You just focus on killing it!"
"O-Okay!"
Using the momentary opening Hikurod had gifted them, Rotmiller escaped the bind he was in. Of course, Hikurod had only bought them a little time. Maybe three seconds?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Troll caught up to Rotmiller, who was running in the opposite direction and rolled on the ground to escape a kick. From my position, I now couldn't see the situation below me.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At this point, the Troll kicked down.
"Eeek!"
I didn't hear the sound of anyone being trampled, but if things continued on like this for even a little longer, someone would definitely die—Dwalkie, Rotmiller, or maybe even both.
Boom!
I was at a crossroads. Missha was completely unaware of the situation below us as she was diligently stabbing the monster with her blade. All decisions were up to me.
Boom!
If I released my grip here and dropped down, I'd be able to protect Dwalkie and Rotmiller. But in the end, that choice would lead to total annihilation. If I let go, the troll would attack Missha with its free arm, and we wouldn't get another opportunity to take it down.
God damn it.
I squeezed my eyes shut and a thought came to me unwittingly—wasn't this something I was going to have to experience someday, anyway?
Boom!
Dungeon and Stone wasn't a game where you pursued an adventure full of hopes and dreams. As the game progressed, the death of a teammate became inevitable, but as long as the main character survived, the adventure continued. That was the kind of game it was.
This fucking game—
Crunch!
Just then, I heard the sound of something being mangled, a sound I'd heard countless times since waking up in this world—the sound of flesh and bones being squashed. Sensing something was wrong, Missha stopped her blade. It was only for a very short moment, though.
"Keep going!"
At my cry, Missha continued to stab.
Kakak, kakak, kakak!
Gritting my teeth, I channeled all my strength into restraining the Troll's remaining arm.
Smack!
Dwalkie came into view as the Troll kicked him away. His spine was seemingly snapped, his body bent at a deformed angle. With this, I realized something, and it wasn't something I particularly wanted to know. The first sound had to have come from Rotmiller.
Did she see Dwalkie's body as it rose to our eye level? Missha flinched for a moment, then continued to drive her blade down, looking like she could burst into tears at any moment. "Die! Die! Die! You monsterrr! Just die!"
As we were forced to watch our teammates suffer, the situation turned from worse to even worse. With the blow to Dwalkie, the curses on the monster had been lifted. Super Regeneration was able to activate normally, and the Troll's arm quickly recovered.
Bang!
The Troll kicked Hikurod like a soccer ball, just in time for his MP to run out and the effects of Balance Weight to deactivate. As a result, he crashed into a wall. God damn it, the timing just had to play out like that, huh.
"B-Bjorn?"
"You just focus on killing it!"
"O-Okay!"
Using the momentary opening Hikurod had gifted them, Rotmiller escaped the bind he was in. Of course, Hikurod had only bought them a little time. Maybe three seconds?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Troll caught up to Rotmiller, who was running in the opposite direction and rolled on the ground to escape a kick. From my position, I now couldn't see the situation below me.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At this point, the Troll kicked down.
"Eeek!"
I didn't hear the sound of anyone being trampled, but if things continued on like this for even a little longer, someone would definitely die—Dwalkie, Rotmiller, or maybe even both.
Boom!
I was at a crossroads. Missha was completely unaware of the situation below us as she was diligently stabbing the monster with her blade. All decisions were up to me.
Boom!
If I released my grip here and dropped down, I'd be able to protect Dwalkie and Rotmiller. But in the end, that choice would lead to total annihilation. If I let go, the troll would attack Missha with its free arm, and we wouldn't get another opportunity to take it down.
God damn it.
I squeezed my eyes shut and a thought came to me unwittingly—wasn't this something I was going to have to experience someday, anyway?
Boom!
Dungeon and Stone wasn't a game where you pursued an adventure full of hopes and dreams. As the game progressed, the death of a teammate became inevitable, but as long as the main character survived, the adventure continued. That was the kind of game it was.
This fucking game—
Crunch!
Just then, I heard the sound of something being mangled, a sound I'd heard countless times since waking up in this world—the sound of flesh and bones being squashed. Sensing something was wrong, Missha stopped her blade. It was only for a very short moment, though.
"Keep going!"
At my cry, Missha continued to stab.
Kakak, kakak, kakak!
Gritting my teeth, I channeled all my strength into restraining the Troll's remaining arm.
Smack!
Dwalkie came into view as the Troll kicked him away. His spine was seemingly snapped, his body bent at a deformed angle. With this, I realized something, and it wasn't something I particularly wanted to know. The first sound had to have come from Rotmiller.
Did she see Dwalkie's body as it rose to our eye level? Missha flinched for a moment, then continued to drive her blade down, looking like she could burst into tears at any moment. "Die! Die! Die! You monsterrr! Just die!"
As we were forced to watch our teammates suffer, the situation turned from worse to even worse. With the blow to Dwalkie, the curses on the monster had been lifted. Super Regeneration was able to activate normally, and the Troll's arm quickly recovered.
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
Perhaps realizing that there was no time, Missha slashed her sword with all her might. It was a moment where each minute and second seemed to last a billion times longer.
Khak! Kak, kak... Crunch!
With a refreshing crack, the body of the Troll that I had been holding onto with all my might promptly disappeared.
[You have killed a Troll. EXP +5]
The bastard was finally dead.
The dead Troll's body dissolved into light and disappeared, and Missha and I fell to the ground. Normally, we would have reoriented ourselves in midair and landed on both feet, but neither of us had the energy to do so.
Thud!
As I lay stretched out on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling, a mana stone the size of a fist fell down right next to my head.
Tap. Roll...
That was all the loot there was. No essence dramatically appeared. All of a sudden, it hit me that this situation was real. Yes, this wasn't a dream. The choice I'd made just now, and the image of Dwalkie, in such a horrible state, getting sent flying because of that choice...
"Rotmiller! Dwalkie!"
Discarding my desire to rest, I forced myself to stand up. Missha was already running to pick up one of our fallen comrades. "Rotmillerrr! Wake up!"
"D-Don't... shake—!"
"S-Sorry!"
Surprisingly, Rotmiller was alive. One of his legs was broken and crushed, but it wasn't a life-threatening injury. It was literally a miracle. If his head or upper body had been trampled, that would have been the end of it.
"Not me... D-Dwalkie first..."
"O-Okay!"
While Missha ran over to Dwalkie, I turned to check on the dwarf. He had no major trauma.
I guess he just hit his head on the wall and passed out.
The problem was Dwalkie.
"B-Bjorn! What should I do? D-Dwalkie i-isn't breathing..."
"Move." Pushing Missha away, I checked Dwalkie's pulse. His breathing had stopped but his heart was still faintly beating. Survival was still on the table.
Chhh!
First, I took out a high-rank potion and let it trickle into Dwalkie's mouth. I knew this was just a temporary solution. His spine was folded in half, and his legs had been broken by the impact of the fall. In addition, blood continued to flow from his nose and mouth, suggesting his internal organs were also damaged. Dwalkie was not only an ordinary human being but a wizard, and wizards were famous for being as fragile as glass.
Fuck.
I pressed my lips together. Not only was it unclear whether a high-rank potion could heal an injury like this, but even if he survived, he would surely suffer a whole host of side effects.
"Dwalkie! Hold on a little longerrr! Now that you've had a potion, you'll be fine soon!"
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have used the advanced potion back then...
"Potion..." I turned my head at Rotmiller's voice, which he forced out with great difficulty. At first, I thought he was asking for a potion for himself. "Use... this." Rotmiller, still shuddering in pain, held out a bottle of potion in his hand. "Advanced... potion."
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
Perhaps realizing that there was no time, Missha slashed her sword with all her might. It was a moment where each minute and second seemed to last a billion times longer.
Khak! Kak, kak... Crunch!
With a refreshing crack, the body of the Troll that I had been holding onto with all my might promptly disappeared.
[You have killed a Troll. EXP +5]
The bastard was finally dead.
The dead Troll's body dissolved into light and disappeared, and Missha and I fell to the ground. Normally, we would have reoriented ourselves in midair and landed on both feet, but neither of us had the energy to do so.
Thud!
As I lay stretched out on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling, a mana stone the size of a fist fell down right next to my head.
Tap. Roll...
That was all the loot there was. No essence dramatically appeared. All of a sudden, it hit me that this situation was real. Yes, this wasn't a dream. The choice I'd made just now, and the image of Dwalkie, in such a horrible state, getting sent flying because of that choice...
"Rotmiller! Dwalkie!"
Discarding my desire to rest, I forced myself to stand up. Missha was already running to pick up one of our fallen comrades. "Rotmillerrr! Wake up!"
"D-Don't... shake—!"
"S-Sorry!"
Surprisingly, Rotmiller was alive. One of his legs was broken and crushed, but it wasn't a life-threatening injury. It was literally a miracle. If his head or upper body had been trampled, that would have been the end of it.
"Not me... D-Dwalkie first..."
"O-Okay!"
While Missha ran over to Dwalkie, I turned to check on the dwarf. He had no major trauma.
I guess he just hit his head on the wall and passed out.
The problem was Dwalkie.
"B-Bjorn! What should I do? D-Dwalkie i-isn't breathing..."
"Move." Pushing Missha away, I checked Dwalkie's pulse. His breathing had stopped but his heart was still faintly beating. Survival was still on the table.
Chhh!
First, I took out a high-rank potion and let it trickle into Dwalkie's mouth. I knew this was just a temporary solution. His spine was folded in half, and his legs had been broken by the impact of the fall. In addition, blood continued to flow from his nose and mouth, suggesting his internal organs were also damaged. Dwalkie was not only an ordinary human being but a wizard, and wizards were famous for being as fragile as glass.
Fuck.
I pressed my lips together. Not only was it unclear whether a high-rank potion could heal an injury like this, but even if he survived, he would surely suffer a whole host of side effects.
"Dwalkie! Hold on a little longerrr! Now that you've had a potion, you'll be fine soon!"
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have used the advanced potion back then...
"Potion..." I turned my head at Rotmiller's voice, which he forced out with great difficulty. At first, I thought he was asking for a potion for himself. "Use... this." Rotmiller, still shuddering in pain, held out a bottle of potion in his hand. "Advanced... potion."
What? An advanced potion? You had that?
"I bought it... just in case. Use this... on him."
Before I could answer, Missha quickly ran to grab the potion from him. I stopped her from immediately pouring it into Dwalkie's mouth. "If you give him that in this state, he'll never be able to walk again."
"What?"
Potions were not all-powerful. Blindly feeding someone a potion without first setting their bones would have big consequences. "Pour it into his mouth slowly."
While Missha fed him the potion little by little, I moved his spine and bent legs back into place. All I could do was vaguely rearrange them in a somewhat normal position, but I was sure the potion would do the rest. After all, an advanced potion could even heal a severed arm, right?
"Whew..." As I stared at Dwalkie, horribly tense, I let out a long breath. He was breathing again. It would take a while longer for him to regain consciousness, but his pale complexion had improved a lot.
"...That's a load off." The rest could be dealt with just by using a high-rank potion. Of course, there was no time to sit and rest. "Don't just stand there. Help."
"O-Okay. What can I do?"
"Bring Hikurod over and lay him next to Dwalkie. Just in case, give him a bottle of low-rank potion."
While Missha followed my instructions, I looked at Rotmiller's leg, which had been left untreated for a while.
"Dwalkie, how is he?" Rotmiller asked.
"Don't worry. Thanks to you, he'll live. So, why don't you worry about yourself first?"
"That's... true. Hahaha."
"This will hurt quite a bit."
"That's all—Ugh! Arrrgh!" Soon, Rotmiller, who had been poisoned, passed out after momentarily seizing. With that, I had done everything I could possibly do in that moment. That seemed to be the case on Missha's end too.
"Bjorn..." Missha stared at me, her eyes searching for confirmation.
I smiled and answered, "Yes, they all lived."
"I'm glad... really, rrreally..." Missha slumped over as her body lost all its strength. It was only after hearing my answer that it hit her, even though it didn't even feel real to me yet.
To think... no one died in the end.
It wasn't that I wanted that to happen. No, I was more than happy that everyone had survived. However, there were too many things about this that made me uncomfortable. Because I did a decent job and we planned for them in advance, we had handled every unexpected situation that came our way well, but that wasn't why we had gotten through this crisis.
We were just lucky...
After acknowledging this, I realized what it meant to be an adventurer in this goddamn world. Today, like a movie, everyone had survived.
But things won't always be like today...
I knew that better than anyone else. There was no way a guy like me could have luck like today's again and again.
***
As time passed, they all regained consciousness one by one. The first one to wake up was Hikurod. "...So, we all lived." After confirming everyone's survival, the dwarf did not smile heartily like usual. He just repeated my own words back to me. "I'm glad. Yes... I'm very glad..."
Well, if you'd been an adventurer for a few years like he had, you'd probably experienced this quite a few times. Facing the death of a comrade was pretty much the fate of an adventurer.
It was Rotmiller who woke up after him. "To think we're all safe even after encountering a Troll. I guess I should at least make an offering to the temple when I get back..."
I hesitantly approached him and blurted out an apology mixed with excuses. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect the Troll to act like that while blind."
"...How could that be your fault? We should say thank you. Without you, none of us would have survived."
"But—"
"Your call was the right one, so don't beat yourself up about it." Rotmiller already seemed to know about my decision to risk his and Dwalkie's lives. How could he not, when I kept shouting at Missha to do so?
"Ugh... ugh..." After a while, Dwalkie groaned and opened his eyes.
"Don't move. Your wounds haven't healed yet."
"Everyone... is okay...?"
"We are! So don't worry!"
"Ah... M-Miss Karlstein... I'm glad you're all right."
"You idiot! You're one to talk!"
"Th-that's...!" He coughed. "Y-You're right... Hahaha."
When Dwalkie, who was in the worst condition, woke up, the oppressively heavy atmosphere hanging over us instantly brightened.
"Haha, the five of us took down a Troll. I can't even brag about this. No one will believe me!" Hikurod started cracking jokes like usual, along with Missha.
"Ugh, there should have at least been an essence! So unfairrr. After all that, we got nothing."
"We survived."
"Rotmiller, your problem is that you're not grrreedy enough."
"Yeah," Hikurod agreed. "I heard you used an advanced potion this time, didn't you? Ah, don't worry. We'll pool our money together and pay you back."
"That makes me feel more at ease," I said.
"Ah, but Bjorn. What are we going to do now?" asked Missha. "You're not thinking of going higher, rrright?"
"Ha... who do you think I am? I'm just going to rest for the next while."
"Missha? Why are you asking Bjorn that? Surely I'm the leader of this team?"
"Oh... right."
Ignoring the dwarf's question, no one objected to my suggestion to stay on this floor until the labyrinth closed. We weren't in a state to continue our quest. So, on the site of our fierce battle with a Troll, we took a break to let our tired bodies and minds recover.
[The labyrinth is now closed. You will be transported to Rafdonia.]
A week passed just like that and my sixth expedition came to an end.
What? An advanced potion? You had that?
"I bought it... just in case. Use this... on him."
Before I could answer, Missha quickly ran to grab the potion from him. I stopped her from immediately pouring it into Dwalkie's mouth. "If you give him that in this state, he'll never be able to walk again."
"What?"
Potions were not all-powerful. Blindly feeding someone a potion without first setting their bones would have big consequences. "Pour it into his mouth slowly."
While Missha fed him the potion little by little, I moved his spine and bent legs back into place. All I could do was vaguely rearrange them in a somewhat normal position, but I was sure the potion would do the rest. After all, an advanced potion could even heal a severed arm, right?
"Whew..." As I stared at Dwalkie, horribly tense, I let out a long breath. He was breathing again. It would take a while longer for him to regain consciousness, but his pale complexion had improved a lot.
"...That's a load off." The rest could be dealt with just by using a high-rank potion. Of course, there was no time to sit and rest. "Don't just stand there. Help."
"O-Okay. What can I do?"
"Bring Hikurod over and lay him next to Dwalkie. Just in case, give him a bottle of low-rank potion."
While Missha followed my instructions, I looked at Rotmiller's leg, which had been left untreated for a while.
"Dwalkie, how is he?" Rotmiller asked.
"Don't worry. Thanks to you, he'll live. So, why don't you worry about yourself first?"
"That's... true. Hahaha."
"This will hurt quite a bit."
"That's all—Ugh! Arrrgh!" Soon, Rotmiller, who had been poisoned, passed out after momentarily seizing. With that, I had done everything I could possibly do in that moment. That seemed to be the case on Missha's end too.
"Bjorn..." Missha stared at me, her eyes searching for confirmation.
I smiled and answered, "Yes, they all lived."
"I'm glad... really, rrreally..." Missha slumped over as her body lost all its strength. It was only after hearing my answer that it hit her, even though it didn't even feel real to me yet.
To think... no one died in the end.
It wasn't that I wanted that to happen. No, I was more than happy that everyone had survived. However, there were too many things about this that made me uncomfortable. Because I did a decent job and we planned for them in advance, we had handled every unexpected situation that came our way well, but that wasn't why we had gotten through this crisis.
We were just lucky...
After acknowledging this, I realized what it meant to be an adventurer in this goddamn world. Today, like a movie, everyone had survived.
But things won't always be like today...
I knew that better than anyone else. There was no way a guy like me could have luck like today's again and again.
***
As time passed, they all regained consciousness one by one. The first one to wake up was Hikurod. "...So, we all lived." After confirming everyone's survival, the dwarf did not smile heartily like usual. He just repeated my own words back to me. "I'm glad. Yes... I'm very glad..."
Well, if you'd been an adventurer for a few years like he had, you'd probably experienced this quite a few times. Facing the death of a comrade was pretty much the fate of an adventurer.
It was Rotmiller who woke up after him. "To think we're all safe even after encountering a Troll. I guess I should at least make an offering to the temple when I get back..."
I hesitantly approached him and blurted out an apology mixed with excuses. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect the Troll to act like that while blind."
"...How could that be your fault? We should say thank you. Without you, none of us would have survived."
"But—"
"Your call was the right one, so don't beat yourself up about it." Rotmiller already seemed to know about my decision to risk his and Dwalkie's lives. How could he not, when I kept shouting at Missha to do so?
"Ugh... ugh..." After a while, Dwalkie groaned and opened his eyes.
"Don't move. Your wounds haven't healed yet."
"Everyone... is okay...?"
"We are! So don't worry!"
"Ah... M-Miss Karlstein... I'm glad you're all right."
"You idiot! You're one to talk!"
"Th-that's...!" He coughed. "Y-You're right... Hahaha."
When Dwalkie, who was in the worst condition, woke up, the oppressively heavy atmosphere hanging over us instantly brightened.
"Haha, the five of us took down a Troll. I can't even brag about this. No one will believe me!" Hikurod started cracking jokes like usual, along with Missha.
"Ugh, there should have at least been an essence! So unfairrr. After all that, we got nothing."
"We survived."
"Rotmiller, your problem is that you're not grrreedy enough."
"Yeah," Hikurod agreed. "I heard you used an advanced potion this time, didn't you? Ah, don't worry. We'll pool our money together and pay you back."
"That makes me feel more at ease," I said.
"Ah, but Bjorn. What are we going to do now?" asked Missha. "You're not thinking of going higher, rrright?"
"Ha... who do you think I am? I'm just going to rest for the next while."
"Missha? Why are you asking Bjorn that? Surely I'm the leader of this team?"
"Oh... right."
Ignoring the dwarf's question, no one objected to my suggestion to stay on this floor until the labyrinth closed. We weren't in a state to continue our quest. So, on the site of our fierce battle with a Troll, we took a break to let our tired bodies and minds recover.
[The labyrinth is now closed. You will be transported to Rafdonia.]
A week passed just like that and my sixth expedition came to an end.