Chapter 318: Memory (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 318: Memory (3)
"Motherfuck!" As soon as I opened my eyes, I jumped up from the bed. Everything in front of me was hazy, and an acrid scent filled my nose. Outside the window, things were particularly noisy.
Threatening shouts rang out through the glass. "Anyone on the streets will be considered a traitor. Everyone, get inside a building!"
"Kyahhh!" I heard screams split the air at irregular intervals, and each time a loud boom erupted in the distance, a subtle vibration shook the bed.
What the hell is going on? I need information.
Step, step.
I forced my weak body over to the window. The moment I threw it open, black smoke poured into the room and a dry cough burst from my throat.
Cough, cough.
Even as I coughed, I scanned what I could see outside the window. Soldiers were roaming the smoke-filled streets, corralling the citizens.
"It really is a fire."
I could see a neighborhood engulfed in flames in the distance. It was the eastern district, the home of Orcules. Although it was quite far from my current location, a fire breaking out in an underground city with poor ventilation was bound to fill the entire city with smoke.
Bang! Kwaaang!
Seeing as strange roars were breaking out intermittently, it didn't appear to be a simple fire.
"Jesus... what the hell is going on?"
I pressed a hand to my throbbing head. It felt like my gears were turning several times slower than usual. It was possibly a leftover side effect of the poison Amelia dosed me with.
Oh yeah, I took poison...
That woke me right up, and what happened before I lost consciousness scrolled through my mind like a panorama.
What the hell is she thinking? And where has she disappeared to?
I didn't know. But the less I knew, the more I focused on one thing. This was the same as the day I woke up in this body. Putting everything else aside, what was the thing I had to do right now in this moment? The answer came to me quickly.
"Drawer."
Amelia told me to open the drawer. Perhaps there was an explanation for this situation there. I closed the window and headed to the side of the bed. The drawer on the nightstand thankfully contained a note with only a few lines inside.
"Ha..."
The note started off with a short apology. It didn't take long to read the whole thing, and as soon as I finished, I tore it to shreds. But even then, my anger didn't fade.
To think today was D-Day.
Amelia had tricked me. It wasn't written in the note, but the reason why was obvious. She probably wanted to prevent me from interfering with the past any further, thinking that that might change the future.
Ha, I never thought she was someone who could do something so impulsive...
The back of my head still tingled but I tried to center myself and checked the time. It was four-thirty in the morning. Since it had been a little after ten when I drank with Amelia, I had been asleep for about six hours.
Now, then. What to do?
I closed my eyes for a moment and gathered my thoughts. The note Amelia left told me to find the Fragment of Records Stone when I woke up and then go back, saying she would handle the rest on her own. Given the current state of the city, it didn't seem like it'd be difficult to infiltrate the castle.
Don't make me laugh. Then what, she's going to stay here alone?
I didn't like this plan. But despite those feelings, I also had this thought: What would happen if I really didn't do anything? How would the future change then?
"...Whatever, let's get out of here for now."
I stopped ruminating there and quickly put on my equipment. Since time was running out, I decided I could worry about the rest while I moved.
Creak.
I quickly headed to the castle.
***
Passing by the soldiers tirelessly herding the civilians through the acrid smoke, I soon arrived at the castle. The gates were already tightly closed and even with the tag that marked me as a member of the castellan's faction, I wasn't able to get them to open.
"The castellan has prohibited anyone from entering. They deployed the teams a long time ago. Why are you only here now?"
"...I was sleeping."
"Then head to the eastern district, even if you're late. It looks like your clan left to join the campaign ages ago."
Ugh, so annoying.
"Okay. Good luck."
I turned around without hesitation, away from the gate. Just because the door was closed didn't mean there wasn't a way inside. Barbarians did not ask for permission.
There's smoke in the air, so they won't be able to see me.
After moving along the castle wall for a moment, I confirmed no one was around before Leaping high over the wall. But unfortunately, there was a person beyond it.
"W-Who are you!?" The soldier was understandably startled to see me falling from the sky during his patrol.
Smack!
Before he got too noisy, I quickly quieted him and ran toward the inner bailey. Just as Amelia predicted, the castle was a ghost town on D-Day and there was no one around that could pose a threat. All of them were just patrolling soldiers. By now, the core troops would be fighting in the eastern district occupied by Orcules.
"Enemies!"
Smack!
"Enemy invasion!"
Smack!
Thanks to that, I was able to skip through this part of the map quickly. The problems started at the inner bailey.
Kwaaang!
The moment I broke down the doors to the inner bailey and entered the first floor, fearsome-looking adventurers surrounded me.
Yeah, no matter how empty the house, you had to leave something behind, huh?
They were an elite military unit bestowed knightage by the lord. Thanks to the fact that I had visited the castle countless times over the past few months, I knew some of them.
"...Iron Mask, why are you here? You should be at the eastern district where the fight is."
"Ah, I have something to discuss with the castellan."
"I never imagined you were one of Orcules's henchmen." A bald man whose name I didn't even remember glared at me with the rage of someone who had been betrayed by a trusted friend.
I didn't feel any remorse at all. Not only was I not one of Orcules's henchmen, I never once considered these guys my friends. "Whatever, fight me."
"I don't know what kind of reckless bravado you must have to crawl all the way here, but this is your—"
Don't make me laugh. Then what, she's going to stay here alone?
I didn't like this plan. But despite those feelings, I also had this thought: What would happen if I really didn't do anything? How would the future change then?
"...Whatever, let's get out of here for now."
I stopped ruminating there and quickly put on my equipment. Since time was running out, I decided I could worry about the rest while I moved.
Creak.
I quickly headed to the castle.
***
Passing by the soldiers tirelessly herding the civilians through the acrid smoke, I soon arrived at the castle. The gates were already tightly closed and even with the tag that marked me as a member of the castellan's faction, I wasn't able to get them to open.
"The castellan has prohibited anyone from entering. They deployed the teams a long time ago. Why are you only here now?"
"...I was sleeping."
"Then head to the eastern district, even if you're late. It looks like your clan left to join the campaign ages ago."
Ugh, so annoying.
"Okay. Good luck."
I turned around without hesitation, away from the gate. Just because the door was closed didn't mean there wasn't a way inside. Barbarians did not ask for permission.
There's smoke in the air, so they won't be able to see me.
After moving along the castle wall for a moment, I confirmed no one was around before Leaping high over the wall. But unfortunately, there was a person beyond it.
"W-Who are you!?" The soldier was understandably startled to see me falling from the sky during his patrol.
Smack!
Before he got too noisy, I quickly quieted him and ran toward the inner bailey. Just as Amelia predicted, the castle was a ghost town on D-Day and there was no one around that could pose a threat. All of them were just patrolling soldiers. By now, the core troops would be fighting in the eastern district occupied by Orcules.
"Enemies!"
Smack!
"Enemy invasion!"
Smack!
Thanks to that, I was able to skip through this part of the map quickly. The problems started at the inner bailey.
Kwaaang!
The moment I broke down the doors to the inner bailey and entered the first floor, fearsome-looking adventurers surrounded me.
Yeah, no matter how empty the house, you had to leave something behind, huh?
They were an elite military unit bestowed knightage by the lord. Thanks to the fact that I had visited the castle countless times over the past few months, I knew some of them.
"...Iron Mask, why are you here? You should be at the eastern district where the fight is."
"Ah, I have something to discuss with the castellan."
"I never imagined you were one of Orcules's henchmen." A bald man whose name I didn't even remember glared at me with the rage of someone who had been betrayed by a trusted friend.
I didn't feel any remorse at all. Not only was I not one of Orcules's henchmen, I never once considered these guys my friends. "Whatever, fight me."
"I don't know what kind of reckless bravado you must have to crawl all the way here, but this is your—"
What are these rank-five minions saying? I said let's fight, not talk. If you're not coming to me, I'll go to you.
Kwaaang!
Without wasting any more time on a pointless conversation, I immediately activated Giantization and Leaped into the middle of their formation.
"Behel–ahhh!"
I made my hammer, which was already monster-sized thanks to Giantization, three times larger by combining Transcendence and Swing.
Whooom!
Then I spun like a top and swung my hammer. This was a move called Whirlwind. It was taken from the game that used to be my favorite before I fell into Dungeon and Stone. The special thing about it was that you could enjoy a cool battering sensation along with a cool sound, just like this.
Kwaaang!
Their bones snapped like twigs the moment they were struck by my hammer, and even some of the sturdier guys flew straight into the wall. This made sense considering the hammer I was holding was not a normal weapon.
I'm definitely built to be a tank, but somehow I do better damage than one.
This was No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder—a double-digit Numbered Item that could increase damage by 500 percent when a blunt-weapon skill was active. Put simply, just holding this weapon increased the power of rank-three Swing by five times. There was no way anyone could survive a blow from it.
Ah, none of that matters if they dodged it, though.
"W-What the hell...?" The guys who dove for the floor the moment I swung my hammer and escaped the line of fire stared up at me with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Among them, there was one who managed to come to his senses and fight back.
Arrow, fire, lightning, ax—I checked each of their weapons and smiled.
How is it that not a single one of them uses a sword?
That was the funny thing about Noark. Just because you were a knight didn't mean you knew how to use an aura. These guys were only recognized by that title for their loyalty. True knights who used auras were probably about one in a hundred.
And as I thought, those guys were all taken to the front lines.
After that, the fight devolved into me striking each one manually with the hammer. Even the warriors covered in heavy, full-body armor couldn't handle it and dropped like flies when I activated the 50 percent Armor Penetration buff with Down Thrust. About five minutes later, after the remaining few fled, the battle was over. I didn't bother following them, and I skipped out on looting too. Not only did I not have time for that, but there was no room in my sub-space ring after all the loot we'd stockpiled for the past several months.
...Ugh, I have to take this hammer back with me somehow.
I hurriedly got moving again. My destination was not the study in the castle or the upper floor where the office was—it was the underground shelter Amelia told me about.
Sprint.
I managed to locate the stairs leading down to the basement and started to run down the steps before suddenly stopping in my tracks. Someone was coming up from below.
"I wondered what that commotion was up here..." Coincidentally, it was someone I had met once before, the knight who came to recruit us under the castellan's instructions. "Iron Mask, what are you doing here?" His name was Rick Omanus. When he spotted me, he drew his sword.
I... accidentally took a wrong turn? There was no time to make an excuse like that.
Voom!
The knight's judgment was so quick that as soon as he saw me, he immediately imbued his sword with an aura to enter battle mode. An attempt at conversation was only made after that. "Answer, Iron Mask. Why you are here, and in addition, how you know about this place."
Amelia told me not to answer that question. Although no one knew about this underground shelter now, that would not be the case in the future.
"Are you saying you won't answer?"
My heart started pounding violently at that.
Thump!
Knights were essentially a tank's counter. Tanks were strong but slow, and auras ignored all manner of defense. Not to mention that a tank usually didn't deal much damage, making it difficult to inflict any on a knight. I'd already seen this for myself during the battle with the knight-turned-plunderer named Snake Knight we ran into in Crystal Cave. He cut one of my arms off like it was tofu. All I could do was take advantage of that gap and pounce, clinging onto him like a cicada. The main reason we won that battle was Raven's magic.
Thump!
Not to mention, the situation now was completely different from the one back then. This was a one-on-one battle without any comrades around to help me. I hadn't even touched on building the stats I'd need to handle an aura.
Thump!
The cycle of my heartbeats got shorter, and my grip on my weapon tightened. This wasn't a physical reaction born of fear. It was natural to feel this level of tension before a battle.
"So, you're not going to answer? I'll cut off your arm first, then." Rick Omanus made the opening move.
I answered, "Do it, then, if you can."
Yeah, it's about time to take down a knight.
What are these rank-five minions saying? I said let's fight, not talk. If you're not coming to me, I'll go to you.
Kwaaang!
Without wasting any more time on a pointless conversation, I immediately activated Giantization and Leaped into the middle of their formation.
"Behel–ahhh!"
I made my hammer, which was already monster-sized thanks to Giantization, three times larger by combining Transcendence and Swing.
Whooom!
Then I spun like a top and swung my hammer. This was a move called Whirlwind. It was taken from the game that used to be my favorite before I fell into Dungeon and Stone. The special thing about it was that you could enjoy a cool battering sensation along with a cool sound, just like this.
Kwaaang!
Their bones snapped like twigs the moment they were struck by my hammer, and even some of the sturdier guys flew straight into the wall. This made sense considering the hammer I was holding was not a normal weapon.
I'm definitely built to be a tank, but somehow I do better damage than one.
This was No. 87: Kraul's Demon Grinder—a double-digit Numbered Item that could increase damage by 500 percent when a blunt-weapon skill was active. Put simply, just holding this weapon increased the power of rank-three Swing by five times. There was no way anyone could survive a blow from it.
Ah, none of that matters if they dodged it, though.
"W-What the hell...?" The guys who dove for the floor the moment I swung my hammer and escaped the line of fire stared up at me with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Among them, there was one who managed to come to his senses and fight back.
Arrow, fire, lightning, ax—I checked each of their weapons and smiled.
How is it that not a single one of them uses a sword?
That was the funny thing about Noark. Just because you were a knight didn't mean you knew how to use an aura. These guys were only recognized by that title for their loyalty. True knights who used auras were probably about one in a hundred.
And as I thought, those guys were all taken to the front lines.
After that, the fight devolved into me striking each one manually with the hammer. Even the warriors covered in heavy, full-body armor couldn't handle it and dropped like flies when I activated the 50 percent Armor Penetration buff with Down Thrust. About five minutes later, after the remaining few fled, the battle was over. I didn't bother following them, and I skipped out on looting too. Not only did I not have time for that, but there was no room in my sub-space ring after all the loot we'd stockpiled for the past several months.
...Ugh, I have to take this hammer back with me somehow.
I hurriedly got moving again. My destination was not the study in the castle or the upper floor where the office was—it was the underground shelter Amelia told me about.
Sprint.
I managed to locate the stairs leading down to the basement and started to run down the steps before suddenly stopping in my tracks. Someone was coming up from below.
"I wondered what that commotion was up here..." Coincidentally, it was someone I had met once before, the knight who came to recruit us under the castellan's instructions. "Iron Mask, what are you doing here?" His name was Rick Omanus. When he spotted me, he drew his sword.
I... accidentally took a wrong turn? There was no time to make an excuse like that.
Voom!
The knight's judgment was so quick that as soon as he saw me, he immediately imbued his sword with an aura to enter battle mode. An attempt at conversation was only made after that. "Answer, Iron Mask. Why you are here, and in addition, how you know about this place."
Amelia told me not to answer that question. Although no one knew about this underground shelter now, that would not be the case in the future.
"Are you saying you won't answer?"
My heart started pounding violently at that.
Thump!
Knights were essentially a tank's counter. Tanks were strong but slow, and auras ignored all manner of defense. Not to mention that a tank usually didn't deal much damage, making it difficult to inflict any on a knight. I'd already seen this for myself during the battle with the knight-turned-plunderer named Snake Knight we ran into in Crystal Cave. He cut one of my arms off like it was tofu. All I could do was take advantage of that gap and pounce, clinging onto him like a cicada. The main reason we won that battle was Raven's magic.
Thump!
Not to mention, the situation now was completely different from the one back then. This was a one-on-one battle without any comrades around to help me. I hadn't even touched on building the stats I'd need to handle an aura.
Thump!
The cycle of my heartbeats got shorter, and my grip on my weapon tightened. This wasn't a physical reaction born of fear. It was natural to feel this level of tension before a battle.
"So, you're not going to answer? I'll cut off your arm first, then." Rick Omanus made the opening move.
I answered, "Do it, then, if you can."
Yeah, it's about time to take down a knight.