Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Noble Duty (4)
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The monsters that primarily appeared on the 43rd floor were obsidian golems.
As the name suggested, their entire bodies were made of obsidian, and they were famous for their terrifying defensive power.
But in the footage, such an obsidian golem was...
Crunch!
...being savagely torn apart by the manticore.
Its chest was constantly shattering, and soon a black manastone appeared.
The manticore chomped on it as if it had been waiting, then...
-Roaaar!-
...let out a roar of madness.
Almost simultaneously, black light burst from its entire body, and its size grew even larger.
It had strengthened itself with the mana of the obsidian golem.
-Why the hell is a manticore here?!-
-Shut up and block it first! What are the mages doing? Pour everything you've got on it now! Concentrate all firepower, and don't miss! You'll die if you do!-
One adventurer took command, directing those around him.
In response, the mages channeled their mana, unleashing a barrage of flames, lightning, and various other spells at the manticore.
Those who had awakened their unique abilities joined in to amplify the magic's power, while martial artists unleashed their auras.
Boom boom boom!
The powerful attacks triggered a chain reaction, causing a massive explosion.
The man leading the other adventurers clenched his fist as he watched.
-Did we get it?!-
To descend to the 40s floors, one needed to have at least reached the 4th circle.
They all took pride in their skills, and more than twenty such people had gathered.
With this many combining their strength, even a monster from the 50th floor had no choice but to take damage.
That was the man's judgment, but...
Whoosh!
Something shot through the thick black smoke at incredible speed—countless numbers of them.
They slammed straight into the adventurers.
-Arghhh!-
-Aaaah!-
Screams of agony echoed from all directions.
The commanding man swung his sword to block as much as he could, but in the end, his left side took a hit.
-T-Thorns?-
What had pierced his side was a pitch-black thorn.
The wound itself was bad enough, but there was a more serious problem.
His flesh was starting to turn black.
-Ugh! P-Poison!-
The man hurriedly pulled an antidote potion from his belt pouch and drank it.
But the deadly poison burrowing through his body didn't fade.
Instead, it rampaged even more violently, spreading the poisoning further, until his entire body turned pitch black.
-Cough!-
In the end, he vomited black blood and collapsed to the floor.
Meanwhile, the manticore emerged unscathed and approached the dead adventurers, devouring their corpses.
Watching this, Martin shook his head.
It was so ridiculous.
'It must have poisoned them on purpose. To turn the adventurers' power into its own.'
Unlike dragonkin with separate hearts, humans couldn't recklessly absorb a monster's mana.
The properties of mana were too different, and mishandling it could cause it to run wild.
The same applied when monsters absorbed human power, but the manticore had cleverly poisoned the adventurers with its own venom.
The deadly poison corrupted their mana, allowing the manticore to absorb the dispersed power as its own.
'This is the worst.'
The manticore was originally the monster lord of the 50th floor, and among non-dragonkin specimens, it was safe to say it ranked at the pinnacle of strength.
And now this already powerful beast was continuously absorbing manastones from monsters and mana from humans.
How much stronger would it get?
It was impossible to even guess.
Even as this played out, the footage continued, and for the first time, the manticore's gaze turned toward Vinfried.
-Uwaaaah! Everyone, run!-
At that moment, Vinfried screamed and fled with his companions.
The screen shook violently, making it hard to see the details, but the manticore's roar echoed.
With that, the footage cut out.
"How did you survive?"
"W-Well, we were so far away, and then other obsidian golems appeared in between. It went after them, which let us barely escape."
"A monster ignoring humans to target other monsters..."
As Martin fell into thought,
"I'm truly sorry, Young Master!"
Vinfried and his companions bowed their heads.
Seeing this, he looked puzzled.
"Sorry? For what?"
"Helping adventurers in crisis is the ironclad rule of adventuring. We should have fought alongside them, but I just filmed instead of fighting properly..."
"You're right that it's a situation to feel guilty about, Vinfried. But if you and your companions had fought there, I would've learned about this later, and it would've taken that much longer to devise countermeasures. More victims would've piled up in the meantime."
Vinfried fell silent at Martin's words.
But anyone could see the remorse in his eyes.
His companions felt the same.
"You filmed the footage even while terrified, leaving clear evidence. That's how I see it. Thanks to that, Barrehain City's citizens will be saved. I'll make sure to reward you properly for this later."
"N-No! I abandoned my comrades—I can't accept that!"
"I get what you're saying. But you and your companions have been a huge help in protecting Barrehain City. As the city's lord, I'm expressing my gratitude, so don't refuse."
"......Understood."
"That said, could I ask one favor?"
"Please do. Anything at all, I'll make it happen."
"Go up to the first floor with your companions, and I'll declare a state of emergency... Ah, this records audio too?"
"Yes."
Vinfried immediately pressed the artifact's button and aimed it at Martin's face.
"In the name of Martin Adalbert, I command: As of the moment the guild branch chief views this footage, declare a state of emergency in Barrehain City. All knights of the Adalbert family and C-rank or higher adventurers of the Adventurer's Guild are to assemble at the dungeon."
Martin nodded after speaking, and Vinfried turned off the artifact and tucked it away.
"Go to the first floor and show it to Branch Chief Beyren. He'll handle the rest."
"I will carry out the Young Master's orders without fail."
"Thanks."
"Yes!"
Vinfried replied in a resounding voice.
Then he dashed toward the surface with his companions.
Martin watched their backs before turning around.
Even though he'd stepped away from the fight briefly, Sien and Adel were bravely holding off the centaurs.
'They'd win like this, but...'
Now wasn't the time to waste.
Even at this moment, the manticore was climbing toward the surface.
Vmmm!
As he drew up his mana, an aurablade flared to life on the holy sword Kaizen.
Martin plunged the blade into space, and brilliant light bloomed, forming a massive cube.
The technique of building one's own world with a sword—Space Sword—had activated.
Dozens of beams of light enclosed not just Martin's group, but the centaurs as well.
"Hah!"
Gripping Kaizen with both hands, Martin swung with all his might.
Light churned within, forming countless golden blades that poured down like a storm.
"Hiiiing!"
"Kiiiing!"
The blades of light sliced precisely at the centaurs.
Some tried to flee, but escaping the indiscriminate barrage was impossible.
Ten seconds.
That was how long it took Martin to wipe out all the centaurs.
"Whew."
Martin withdrew the Space Sword and caught his breath lightly.
His arms tingled a bit, but there was no greater pain.
'My body's really gotten tougher.'
Reaching the 8th circle helped, but he could really feel the benefits of the wyvern's dragon blood.
But this wasn't the time to admire it leisurely. Martin turned.
Sien and Adel were approaching.
"Your expression looks grim, so something must've happened?"
"What is it?"
"Something annoying. Very annoying."
Martin explained the footage he'd seen.
The more he spoke, the graver the two women's faces grew.
"You really think it's like last year's monster wave, Martin?"
"No."
When Sien asked, Martin answered confidently.
Adel looked puzzled at his demeanor.
"What's your reasoning, Young Master?"
"If it were a real monster wave, everything above the 50th floor would be berserk too. But the centaurs we fought and the monsters in the footage all retained their instincts."
"That's true."
"And that's not all. Normally, during a monster wave, monsters show even greater hostility toward humans. But that manticore chased humans, then turned its attention to other monsters."
"So it's an anomalous individual?"
"Yeah. That's how I'm seeing it."
The two women nodded at Martin's response.
They agreed it made sense.
Then Sien spoke up.
"What do you plan to do?"
"There are probably adventurers on the lower floors. I want to rescue as many as possible before the manticore sweeps through. If any want to fight alongside us, I'll welcome them."
The dungeon widened the deeper you went.
Finding people one by one wouldn't be easy, but that didn't apply to him.
He could just detect them with spatial sensing.
"With an 8th circle like you here, I don't think it'd be impossible to face it. But since we've already called the adventurers and family troops, wouldn't it be better to link up with them?"
"Not a bad idea, but it won't work against that thing."
"Why not?"
"It'll take quite a while for the surface adventurers and knights to get here. Same for us going up. Who knows how much stronger it'll get in that time? Rallying the adventurers now and fighting gives us better odds."
"I agree with the Young Master. Letting an already strong monster grow more would make things dire. But promise me this one thing."
"What?"
Martin looked at Adel.
"If it gets truly dangerous, you'll retreat."
"Ah, I'm all for that."
"No point in pushing too hard. We'll do that."
Martin agreed with the two women.
They moved on to the next floor.
* * *
Martin's group continued descending to the lower floors.
Whenever they encountered other adventurers, he explained the situation and made a proposal.
"Those who want to leave, head straight to the surface. Those who want to fight, follow me down."
No one chose to go up first.
They all declared they'd fight with Martin, swelling their numbers to over forty.
With more people, descending became easier, and they soon reached the 40th floor.
There, the group witnessed a shocking sight.
"Roooaaar!"
The monster lord of the 40th floor, the lindwurm.
A member of the dragonkin, it possessed physical prowess from its massive body and a deadly poison that could corrode even sturdy alloys.
True to its kin, it was highly intelligent, making it extremely tricky to fight—which was why it had earned the moniker "Herald of Death."
It was considered the main culprit preventing many adventurers from advancing past the 40th floor due to its danger.
Yet now, it was covered in wounds, wailing pitifully.
But that didn't last long.
Crunch!
The manticore, twice the lindwurm's size, tore into its neck.
Its head-to-tail length neared ten meters, and its visible torso rivaled a house.
The thorns embedded from its back to the tip of its tail exuded menace, and the dripping deadly poison was enough to make anyone recoil.
"It's already here?! How is it this fast!"
"It grew that strong in such a short time? Is that even possible?!"
The adventurers panicked at the unexpected situation.
Sien and Adel were confused too, but Martin calmly activated spatial teleportation.
Vmmm.
Vanishing into a rift in space, he reappeared in an instant atop the manticore's head.
'I absolutely cannot let it absorb this one.'
The manticore had already amassed terrifying power.
If it absorbed the lindwurm's—a dragonkin—strength?
The thought alone was horrifying.
To prevent that, Martin swung down the holy sword Kaizen.