37
My Villains Chapter 37
10. Underground Floor 4 (2)
A dark underground waterway.
The sound of water droplets hitting the stone floor, the wriggling of multi-legged insects, meaningless howls echoing from afar.
Amidst the eerie atmosphere unique to sewers, tense breathing quietly reverberated.
Feeling uneasy in the brief silence that followed, the archer Arnal whispered softly.
"Why did we suddenly stop?"
"Shh!"
At Grania's warning, Arnal closed her mouth with a "hmp".
I heard that Arnal learned archery from her grandfather, a renowned hunter. But, isn't patience more important than archery skills for a hunter? Why is she so impatient?
Putting aside the random thoughts crossing my mind, I heightened my sense of tension.
My ears, focused with all my nerves, began to pick up subtle sounds.
"Chik, chik!"
The cry of a giant rodent. Followed by the presence of a group moving together.
I was certain an attack was coming.
"It's Ratmen - they're coming this way!"
"Ratmen? How many?"
"Seems like a lot! Tons!"
"Ugh, damn. Again?"
Grania, who was guarding the rear, grumbled but stepped out to my right. As she raised her shield, Ellen fired her stonebow without hesitation.
Clang, whoosh!
Flames erupted just about seven steps away from where I stood.
Ugh, such heat from a small fire bomb...
"Hey! That's too close!"
"Oh, sorry."
What an insincere apology.
...Could she still be holding a grudge from this morning?
I want to shout 'No matter how upset you are, you should do your job properly, you brat!' - but, ugh, I'm holding back because of the others watching.
Anyway, thanks to the flames Ellen created, Grania and I were able to completely block off one side of the sewer.
Pitter-patter.
At that moment, small figures came pouring out from around the corner ahead.
As the dirty brown fur was illuminated by the bull's-eye lantern placed on the ground, Arnal released her bowstring without hesitation.
"Squeak!"
With a death cry, the Ratman leading the charge was pierced by an arrow and fell, disappearing instantly as it was mercilessly trampled under its comrades' feet.
"Keep shooting!"
I shouted while inserting my falchion into the small gap I had left between my gloves. The blood that flowed from the blade tip enveloped the entire blade as if it had always been there.
While the falchion was being dyed an ominous blood-red, the stream of Ratmen pouring out from around the corner continued.
Simply put, a Ratman is a rat standing on two legs, a small monster not even reaching my waist. But of course, even such Ratmen become extremely dangerous when they swarm in large numbers like this.
Moreover, they wield crude spears. Considering their numbers, if even one in ten attacks gets through, we'd become pincushions in an instant.
Ugh, this won't do. There are way too many!
"Mr. Luke, the spell!"
"Everyone, grab your tokens!"
Following those words, I quickly grasped the small straw ball I had attached to the inside of my shield.
At the same time, Mr. Luke shouted in a low voice filled with an ominous air.
"Krik-iz bezdny, yaaal—!"
Whoosh!
The voice echoing 'Yaaal-' lingered, and a faint black haze burst forth along the sewer.
"Squeeeak!"
"Squeak, chik!"
A dim magical power clung to the Ratmen's faces.
Most of them rolled on the ground glowing, some fled back the way they came, and the worst affected ones just trembled violently with their heads stuck to the floor, unable to do anything.
This was the effect of the dark magic spell 'Scream of the Abyss', an unknown terror originating from another dimension that swept over them.
Of course, my companions and I were not exposed to the magical power thanks to the tokens Mr. Luke had given us.
I was a bit worried since Mr. Luke activated the spell a little early, but fortunately, it seems no one failed to grasp their token. Hmm, it's only our second day, but we're working together quite well.
Thinking that, I shouted briefly.
"Grania, kill them!"
With that, Grania and I leapt into the midst of the terrified Ratmen as if we had been waiting for this moment.
Dealing with these oversized rats crawling on the ground or showing their backs was an incredibly simple task.
Stab!
"Squeak!"
While busily moving my body to pierce the Ratmen's necks, I inwardly clicked my tongue. It was because of the powerful effect demonstrated by 'Scream of the Abyss'.
The fear induced by 'Scream of the Abyss' doesn't work on inanimate objects or targets with strong willpower. But for creatures like Ratmen who rely only on their numbers, it's truly rat poison, as they say.
My admiration was short-lived, as the Ratmen who had been frantically shaking their heads finally dispersed the magic and began to regain their senses.
"Squeak!"
"Chik, chichik!"
As the Ratmen started to prepare to fight again, Grania carefully retreated while maintaining a stable posture. I too swung my falchion in a wide arc before leaping back.
With Grania and I reforming our line by the flames, Arnal's arrows and Ellen's wind fists relentlessly flew at the Ratmen.
As the Ratmen were falling and scattering, I suddenly felt an intense wave.
"Ventus, Ictum!"
Along with a ringing voice, a Wind Fist of unusual power made a loud bursting sound and shattered a Ratman's skull.
Crunch!
This girl, overdoing it again.
"Hey! I told you to conserve magic!"
"...This much is fine, you know?"
"Ellen!"
Ever since obtaining magic, Ellen had a tendency to unknowingly get drunk on power and cast spells recklessly, so I had to keep an eye on her.
Her magic score is quite high, but even so, it's only enough for about twenty Wind Fists, or if it's Flame Arrows, her magic runs out after firing just seven or eight.
Perhaps because I raised my voice, Wind Fists with significantly reduced power started pouring out.
Whoosh.
With a heavy wind sound, one of the Ratmen charging at me rolled on the ground.
The creature that had briefly lost consciousness soon staggered to its feet, but by that time, all the Ratmen that had been attacking with it had become corpses.
Slash!
I swiftly beheaded the one that belatedly tried to pounce on me, then looked around. Most of the over forty Ratmen were dead, and the remaining seven or so stragglers were already fleeing.
Grania, standing next to me, asked while shaking off the flesh stuck to her blade.
"Are we going after them?"
"Hmm, well..."
I listened carefully to the footsteps of the fleeing creatures.
In the game, Ratmen were quite troublesome beings.
If you let one or two escape while hunting a group, they would soon return with a horde of their comrades from somewhere.
The group that just attacked was undoubtedly led by a Ratman we had missed a couple of hours ago.
"Surely they won't bring another group back, right?"
Mr. Luke answered my muttering.
"Probably not."
"Why do you think so?"
"Even for Ratmen, it's very rare to form such a large group of over fifty. Especially in sewers where there isn't much to eat, this is likely the end of it."
"I see."
"It's a bit disappointing. If we cut off their tails and take them to the guard, they give a coin for each as a bounty."
I inwardly licked my lips before sheathing my falchion. The footsteps of the Ratmen were no longer audible.
"Well then, let's clean up here for now."
At my declaration-like statement, the party quickly became busy.
Reflecting on my experience playing Dark World, party hunting wasn't always better than solo hunting.
As the number of heroes participating in a server increased, the enemies' overall stats like attack power, defense, and health would greatly increase.
Moreover, in the Dark World system, the rate at which enemies became stronger in proportion to the number of heroes was quite steep.
So unless the party composition was powerful enough, it was often better to hunt separately.
To explain simply, efficient party hunting was only possible when the combination of two heroes could exert power equivalent to 2.5 people or more, thanks to synergy.
However, reality was different from the game. No matter how many were in the party, the strength of the enemies remained constant.
Of course, that makes sense. It's not like Ratmen suddenly grow bigger or come out with better spears just because the number of people increases, right?
For this reason, our party, which had grown to five, was able to break through to the 4th floor of the sewer in an instant.
Me and Grania as warriors, Arnal as an archer, Ellen and Luke as spellcasters.
Not only had our numbers increased, but our composition was also quite good, so there wasn't much of a crisis.
If we had a swordsman specializing in the 'Human Technique' series and a paladin specializing in the ‘Holy’ series, it would have been the textbook party composition...
Of course, it's stable enough as it is now.
Is it because Grania, who handles shields well, and I, with my near-superhuman physique, are blocking the frontline? We rarely find ourselves in dangerous situations.
Moreover, the advantages of having more people weren't limited to combat alone.
The types and amounts of supplies we could carry increased dramatically, and we could adequately guard multiple directions while moving.
And now, when cleaning up the battlefield, we could properly divide the work, increasing efficiency.
As I was pouring water on the fire we had lit to block the Ratmen's approach, I noticed Mr. Luke approaching the waterway and stopped him.
"Mr. Luke. I'll fish out those corpses."
"Hmm, are you sure? The water's dirty."
"It's fine. I'll use my sword to fish them out."
Mr. Luke nodded readily and moved towards Grania.
Grania was cutting off the Ratmen's tails and gathering them together, and Arnal, who had finished retrieving her arrows, was helping her.
As I was moving three or four Ratmen corpses I had fished out of the waterway all at once, I noticed Ellen standing blankly.
She wasn't much help with this kind of work, so she was tasked with keeping watch in all directions while we cleaned up the battlefield.
The Flame Arrows hovering over her palm was for that reason too.
...Still, seeing her just standing there alone makes me want to tease her for some reason.
"Hey."
As I lowered my voice, Ellen flinched and then furrowed her brow.
"Wh-what? Why?"
"...Sigh. Never mind. Let's talk a little later."
My cold tone seemed to have quite an effect as Ellen's eyes shook violently.
Leaving her behind, I dragged the tailless Ratmen along. Mr. Luke, standing in front of the pile of corpses, gave a bitter smile.
"You have a bit of a mean streak too, don't you?"
"A mean streak?"
"The unknown torments people. Look there. Can't you feel Ellen's anguish from here?"
At those words, I glanced back to see Ellen rolling her eyes around with a restless look.
...Did it work properly? I feel quite satisfied.
I swallowed the laughter that was about to burst out and put on a serious expression.
"I did it on purpose. She needs to think about her actions and learn to reflect on them."
"What actions are you referring to?"
I frowned as I piled up the corpses.
"I don't mind her being snippy usually, but she shouldn't do that during combat. I'm worried she might cause an accident someday."
"Are you angry too?"
"Well, not angry exactly..."
As I trailed off, Mr. Luke swept away three or four crude wooden spears with his foot and said,
"Still, treat her kindly. Her rough temperament is probably because she's received many wounds in her life. Someone needs to soothe those wounds, don't you think?"
"What? Haha, you've already figured that out? In just two days?"
To my question tinged with laughter, Mr. Luke nodded his head and answered with a rather serious expression.
"Of course. It's obvious at a glance."
"Well, Ellen isn't a difficult character to figure out- but you don't need to worry too much. She does what needs to be done and can be tough when necessary."
"Of course, I'm not worried about her abilities. How could a country bumpkin like me dare to underestimate a magician from the La-Palais Palace? It's just... I find it pitiful how she acts like a kitten watching its owner's mood. It's different from how she appears."
...A kitten watching its owner's mood. You seem to have misunderstood quite badly.
While thinking that, Mr. Luke was looking back at Ellen. Something whitish had already overlaid his pale blue eyes.
He murmured in a voice filled with admiration.
"I don't know what to call it. A shining raw gem? A sprout of a great tree? No, perhaps a fresh flower bud would be more fitting. Looking at the blemishes, life probably hasn't been very smooth, but despite that, the light hasn't faded."
"If someone just embraces it well, those little blemishes will soon be shaken off. Then, you'll get a soul purer and... More powerful than anyone else's."
"There you go with that talk again."
Seeing souls.
If I'd heard this kind of talk on Earth, I would have thought some cult member was spouting nonsense, but coming from Mr. Luke, I couldn't just ignore it.
After all, Mr. Luke is - unofficially - a Necromancer who controls the dead, right?
"It's amazing every time I see it. Miss Ellen must have been born with some special bloodline, no doubt about it."
Come to think of it, there was a quest in the Elemental Mage's unique scenario about reclaiming the power of ancestors.
Considering that we raided a dragon's nest during that quest, Ellen's ancestor must have been someone extraordinary.
But he only says things like this when looking at Ellen. Don't I have anything? Phoenix is a hero in his own right.
"By the way, Mr. Luke. Don't you feel anything different about me?"
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
Mr. Luke, who had been wearing a blank expression, finally turned his head towards me.
"I mean my soul."
"Ah, your soul?"
...What's with that face? Why do you look like you've just woken up from a dream? It's kind of annoying.
"Well, I don't see anything special."
"...Is that so?"
"That's right. However - your life must have been quite challenging too. I can see several firmly attached blemishes."
Blemishes. He probably didn't mean it in a bad way, but somehow it feels unsettling.
But whose soul did Mr. Luke see? Phoenix's? Or Kim Seung-soo's?
I'm not sure. I want to ask if it's even a soul from this world - but that wouldn't be right, would it?
Perhaps understanding my ambiguous expression as disappointment, Mr. Luke quickly added, "Ah, of course, Phoenix must also have been born with a noble bloodline. You have the most excellent body among all the blood manipulators I've seen. Perhaps the bloodline of Zahak, the hero from mythology, has been passed down to you."
I'm not a puppy, praising my bloodline like that. He probably didn't mean anything by it, but it feels a bit strange.
Mr. Luke, who was lifting up the tailless ratman, suddenly burst into laughter.
"Haha. Now that I've said it, it's really quite fascinating."
"Huh? What is?"
"You and Miss Ellen, I mean. A once-in-a-millennium soul and a body resembling a hero. For two such individuals to meet and become companions, isn't it a strange fate?"
Saying this, Mr. Luke looked back and forth between Ellen and me.
Then, chuckling, he smiled, his face brimming with a sense of satisfaction, as if admiring an exceptional work of art.
...This old man doesn't seem quite right in the head either.