68
My Villains Chapter 68
19. Escape (1)
When Ellen woke up, I fed her soup made from unspeakable ingredients. Fortunately, she must have been hungry as she emptied the soup bowl clean without asking what was in it.
The problem came after that.
"...What did you say?"
"My legs... My legs won't move."
Judging by her trembling eyes, she didn't seem to be lying. I tried to stay calm as I asked Ellen, "Since when?"
"Earlier... It was like this when I first woke up too. Back then I thought my body was just stiff from lying down for so long..."
"From where can't you move?"
"I'm not sure. Just... Just..."
Ellen continued with a trembling voice.
"I can't feel anything below my waist."
I pressed and pinched Ellen's legs while asking questions repeatedly.
"Here, how about here?"
"I... I can't feel it."
"Here too?"
"...Yeah."
...Ha, my fears have become reality.
There were already ominous signs. Specifically, Ellen's character sheet.
Originally, Ellen's stats were: Strength 8, Agility 10, Health 14, and Magic Power 24. But her Strength and Agility had dropped to 5 and 4 points respectively.
Stats dropping was something I'd never experienced since coming to this world, or even in the game. Because of this, I suspected something was wrong with Ellen, and just prayed she would regain consciousness properly.
But paralysis of the lower body... This is too much.
Ellen spoke with a trembling voice while kneading her thighs.
"...It feels like I'm touching someone else's legs. Why, why is this happening?"
Why did this happen?
...Ha, there are too many possibilities to even process.
Did her spine get injured when she was stabbed by the spear? I used a healing potion, but maybe it didn't reach everywhere it needed to.
She stopped breathing while drifting in the water, and her heart stopped briefly later - there could be brain damage.
Or there could be bacterial infection from the wounds, or side effects from the crude blood transfusion treatment method.
There were too many possibilities to determine the exact cause.
I tried diagnosing Ellen's body by raising my blood energy but... I can't tell. What's the problem?
The one fortunate thing is that blood is definitely circulating. At least we won't have to worry about necrosis starting from her extremities...
After hesitating briefly, I spoke, "Do you know how your wounds were healed?"
"...Didn't you use potions?"
"Of course I used potions. But,"
Hmm, should I tell her? Won't she feel uncomfortable?
I sighed and revealed the truth.
"Your heart stopped briefly."
"What?"
"I think it was because you lost too much blood. So..."
After hearing about the process of her revival, Ellen made a somewhat strange expression that seemed both surprised and confused.
"...That kind of method is possible?"
"Actually, I just tried whatever I could. With the mindset that I had to do something. Maybe that's why you ended up like this."
Ellen listened to my rambling, remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Maybe so. But when I think about getting stabbed by the spear, maybe this was inevitable. It hurt terribly..."
After learning what had happened, Ellen seemed strangely calm. Somehow that made me feel even more guilty.
"When we get out of here, let's go to a church."
"A church?"
"Yes. They say bishop-level priests can make the lame walk and regrow severed arms. They should be able to heal this quickly."
"...Alright."
She nodded while still wearing that mysterious expression.
Though I had saved Ellen's life, the situation was still desperate, and we needed to move. I carried her on my back, securing her waist with a half-cloak and her legs with bushes, then began walking.
We faced three immediate threats.
First, this place itself - the 'Rotting Cave'.
It's a space where food is hard to find and all kinds of dangerous monsters swarm. In the past four days, I've encountered over twenty monsters, each one extremely dangerous. Just exploring this place requires accepting considerable risk.
Moreover, because the 'Altar' event was triggered, the cavity has been filled in and the passage leading up has been blocked.
Second is the necromancer Luke. We don't know if he's still here or if he left. But if Luke and his undead army are still pursuing us, they'll be a serious threat. Though my combat ability has increased quite a bit, I'm still far from being able to face the Dulahan.
And lastly,
GUOOOOO!
Yes, that thing.
A massive roar echoed from somewhere beyond the cave. It was a threatening roar that made us quicken our pace instinctively.
Ellen's body, clinging to my back, trembled.
"... Phoenix, is that?"
"It's the 'Underground Lord'. It's getting closer."
Yes, that's it.
The third immediate threat... And the one playing the role of 'it' in this game of tag.
The Underground Lord is a terrifying monster that's summoned when the 'Altar' encounter event is triggered. Since it gives 100,000 experience points, you probably need to be at least level 40 to hunt it safely.
In contrast, the appropriate level for the Rotting Cave is only about 17. In other words, this Underground Lord monster wasn't placed here to be hunted, but rather to be unconditionally avoided.
That's the whole setup of the Altar encounter.
You summon the Underground Lord from the depths, avoid it while searching for the Relic Room in the depths, obtain the relic, and escape to the surface - that's the event.
To find the Relic Room you have to keep going underground endlessly, magic traps start appearing throughout the cave, and the Underground Lord is impossible to fight.
Because of these factors, among Dark World players it was common sense that 'you skip the Altar'.
To summon the Underground Lord to escape from Luke... Is this what they call jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
Ha, it's tough being powerless prey.
Ellen, who was watching the path we'd come from, asked in a low voice, "So, is it wise to go down like this without a plan?"
"I'm telling you, we're not going down without a plan."
Ellen was half-doubting my assertion that we needed to go down to the depths to escape.
I made up an excuse about having read about caves like this in books about the Ancient Empire, but she still seemed uneasy.
"...I've read over twenty books related to the Ancient Empire, but there wasn't a single mention of a place like this."
"You must have read them carelessly."
"What? You-"
"I'm going down now. Hold on tight."
"Urgh!"
Unlike sewers built by humans, caves are formations that developed randomly.
Therefore, you encounter not only horizontal tunnels that are easy to walk through, but also vertical shafts with nowhere to place your feet.
"Shine the light on my feet here."
"Like this?"
"Yeah, I can see now."
I went down the vertical shaft holding onto a rope made by weaving multiple layers of shrub stems and bushes.
Whenever I pushed off the wall while relying only on the rope, Ellen's arms around my neck would tense up completely. Not just her - every time the rope made a 'tuduk' sound, I felt chills down my spine.
...This suddenly reminds me of guerrilla training. Rappelling down rock faces was really scary. Though it was easier than marching or PT, it was still training I never want to do again.
‘But here I am doing it, damn…’
"This... This looks quite deep."
"Really? Shine the light down there."
Ellen groaned and held the torch out into the void. Just then, a spark the size of a fingernail fell off.
Woooong.
Whether from wind or underground water, an ominous sound echoed through the cavity. The falling spark lost its light before reaching the bottom after falling for quite a while.
...This is really deep. We might not have enough rope.
Though worried, I tried to sound casual as I spoke to Ellen, "Going again. Hold tight."
"Okay, but could you go slower- eek!"
I kicked off the wall while trying to calm my anxiety. As the rope wrapped around my hand unwound, I kept glancing down at the ground.
That's when we heard a bizarre sound from above the vertical shaft.
Zzzzt, zzzzzzt!
"Haa."
"Phoenix?"
"Enemies. Prepare magic."
"Wait, in this position? Are you joking- kyaa!"
Ignoring Ellen's scream, I kicked off hard. As we descended almost like falling, the bizarre sound quickly changed into loud flapping.
Flapalapap.
"Phoenix, Phoenix, above!"
"I know, hurry and cast your spell!"
I gritted my teeth and pulled the rope to slow our descent. All the rope in my hands was unwinding.
Glancing down, thankfully I could see the bottom. I held the rope with just one hand while drawing my sword from my waist. That's when the monster, no, monsters revealed themselves.
Zzzzt, zzzzzzt!
Four 'Water Zaras' appeared. True to their name, they were insects resembling stink bugs.
They made bizarre vibrating sounds with their mandibles, desperately flapping their wings that seemed pathetically small compared to their bodies as they glided down the vertical shaft.
And naturally, they were massive enough to deserve the title of monster, likely over 2 meters in length.
The truly fortunate thing was that Ellen didn't panic even after seeing those hideous monsters.
"Influ-unt flammae, archuire ensa-ra,"
Whether all mages in this world were like this, or Ellen was special, I wasn't sure - but she could cast the same spell in various ways.
The length of the incantation, the presence and complexity of hand signs, and the form the magic took would change each time.
This time Ellen formed a fire arrow in front of the torch just by chanting without hand signs. Then, as I kicked off the wall to dodge the claws of an attacking monster, she fired the spell.
"Ignis!"
Zzzzt!
The Water Zara whose wings were pierced by flames twisted its body violently as it fell.
Kh, as expected, fire magic is perfect for killing bugs.
"Going down!"
While one writhed on the ground, the remaining three clung to the walls or floor making fierce vibrating sounds as they watched us.
I quickly released the rope and landed on the ground from what looked like about the height of a 3-story apartment.
Zzzzt! Kang, kang, kang!
They must have been furious as they made loud noises by clashing their jaws. Ellen trembled anew when the male that had been writhing on the ground straightened up.
"Ugh, disgusting-"
She must have seen the eggs densely packed on the male's shell. Well, it is the kind of sight that could give you a phobia even if you didn't have one before.
The group consisted of three females and one male Water Zara.
The largest one hit by the fire arrow was the male. About 30% of the eggs on its shell were melting and dripping fluids as if they had caught fire.
Perhaps because of this, the relatively smaller females began to attack as if having seizures.
"Ellen, cover me!"
"O-okay!"
I leaned Ellen against the wall and coated Hrunting with blood.
Swoong.
The bronze blade displayed a brilliant red light, then began to pulse as if flicking a tongue.
The clear sensation from the blade stirred up feelings of omnipotence and fighting spirit. It wasn't just from wielding a good sword. It was thanks to leveling up while Ellen was unconscious.
"Hoo."
To cool down my heating blood, I charged at the first attacking Water Zara.
Kang, kang!
Though it tried to threaten me by clashing its jaws, I swung the red blade and cut off its front legs, both antennae, and even its hard mandibles in one go.
Zzzzt!
As it convulsed and shrank back, I stretched out my left hand to extend control over the fluids it was spilling. This was the power of ‘Boiling Blood’, a rank 2 skill that enhanced blood control and physical speed.
Like having a third arm, I could clearly feel the fluids flowing on the ground. At that moment, I unleashed the power contained in the blood toward the next attacking Water Zara with full force.
Kugagak!
The yellow fluid guided by blood magic surged violently and scattered toward it. The life-containing fluid became sharp fragments that deeply scratched its head. This was ‘Blood Bora’, another rank 2 skill.
Zzzzt, zzzt.
"Ellen!"
"Ignis!"
As if she'd been waiting, Ellen's fired arrow precisely pierced the last female's snout. While it rolled around engulfed in flames, I finished off the other two females and shouted, "Ellen, burning weapon!"
"Tielum, ensa-ra!"
Ellen completed the spell instantly, and Hrunting's brilliant light was suddenly engulfed in flames.
The flames using magic and blood energy as fuel were different from ordinary ones. Instead of yellow, they became blood flames burning with a deep red sticky glow.
Zzzzt! Kagak, kak!
When the male Water Zara made noise with its huge jaws, all the eggs attached to its shell hatched at once.
Tuduk, tududuk!
Dozens of pupae the size of small dogs shook off their eggshells and immediately flapped their transparent wings as they charged at us. It looked like dozens of translucent giant cockroaches swarming toward their prey.
Flapalapap!
...Ah, I really hate this.
Swallowing my disgust, I planted my feet firmly and gripped the sword handle with both hands. Hrunting's handle was about twice as long as my previous falchion, making it comfortable to hold with both hands.
In that stance, I began swinging the flame-wrapped blade wildly.
"Hup!"
Swoong, swong!
Though it wasn't particularly refined swordsmanship, thanks to excellent dynamic vision and reflexes, I was able to cut down nearly half the pupae. The rest that I missed were all burned up by the sticky flames attached to the blade.
Zzzzt, zzzzzt.
Having lost all its females and offspring, the male weakly rattled its mandibles. I rushed at it in one breath and split its head and chest at once.
Zeeee
As Hrunting split its exoskeleton with no resistance, the Water Zara's corpse burst into flames, emitting acrid smoke. The battle was over.
"Ptui, ptui."
Spitting out the fluid that had gotten in my mouth, I gathered the fluid stuck to my body with my fingertips. I brought the now flameless Hrunting to the large drop of fluid that had gathered as if defying gravity.
Glug.
With a strange sound, the yellow fluid dissolved into Hrunting's brilliant color.
"Hoo."
At the sensation like entering a hot bath, I exhaled hot breath.