Border Neutral Zone (2)
“Is it a demon race?”
“Idiot. If light’s coming off their body, they’re a celestial. How the hell would they be a demon?”
“But it’s night right now. I’ve never heard of celestials showing up in the dark.”
“That’s true. Then maybe… cultists? They don’t look like spies.”
“Anyone glowing like that can’t be a spy. Definitely cultists. What do we do?”
“Attack like usual?”
“Two of us won’t be enough. Let’s link up with the other squad and hit them together. Fall back to Sector 3 for now.”
**
“Hey, you said they were cultists glowing from their bodies? That’s not right. Where exactly was the light coming from?”
The sector chief of Sector 3 questioned the two Rangers who had rushed over in a panic.
“W-well, the sun’s up now, but they were definitely cultists glowing from their bodies.”
“They looked more like dungeon mercenaries to me. Are both of you blind? Didn’t I tell you not to burn mekyu leaves on watch? You’re seeing things, aren’t you?”
“N-no, sir. We don’t smoke mekyu leaves. And whether they’re cultists or not, anyone entering the border zone is an enemy, right?”
“Hmm. You’ve got a point. Cultist or dungeon mercenary, if their identity is unknown, they’re enemies in the border zone. Move to their location. Eliminate and loot.”
“Yes, sir!”
**
[Shoo-shoot—, shushushut—]
It happened in an instant. A thin sound sliced through the wind, and something brushed past both sides of my body as I walked at the front.
“A-attack!”
I raised my kite shield and crouched, looking back—only to see Sezanne lying on the ground. Bolts were embedded in her left chest, side, and right shoulder. When I met her eyes, I felt the light of life fading from them.
My body moved before I could think. I cast Healing Buff, Activation Buff, and Luck Buff on her, then pulled out a top-grade potion, forced it into her mouth, and yanked out the bolts. They didn’t come out easily; chunks of flesh tore away with them.
“They’re barbed bolts. Rangers use these.”
Pyurie, the San warrior, had also been hit. She was struggling to pull a bolt from her thigh. Fortunately, Sezanne’s wounds were closing and the bleeding had stopped, so I checked the others. The attack had focused on Sezanne—probably because they mistook her robe for a mage. Only Pyurie beside her had been hit.
I cast the three buffs on Pyurie as well and handed her a potion.
[Thunk— thunk—]
Meni and Pyutel held their shields up as bolts and arrows thudded into them.
“They’re attacking from three directions. These guys are experienced.”
Spreading out to fire bolts and arrows while preparing for magic attacks—definitely veterans.
“Three bolts and two arrows. At least seven or eight of them.”
Pyutel peered between the shields, scanning the enemies.
If we had Shield or Barrier magic, we could advance while blocking. Without it, charging with shields raised was risky. I considered using Fairy Dust for invisibility and striking like a predator, but they were already in ambush and this was Ranger territory—they’d likely prepared for flanking attacks. Charging straight ahead looked the most dangerous, but it also seemed the most effective.
Seeing Sezanne regain consciousness and sit up, I pointed to the right and gave Yanne her orders.
“Yanne, fire Fire Bolts over there. Pyurie, shoot arrows at the ones on the left.”
While they drew attention to the flanks, I planned to charge straight through the center.
“Fire Bolt!”
Pyurie began launching arrows in an arc to match Yanne’s timing. With no more arrows coming from the sides, I raised my kite shield and sprinted like mad. Bolts and arrows slammed into the shield, and thanks to the buffs I’d stacked on myself, one arrow even grazed my helmet with a lucky miss.
I reached the forest where the arrows had come from and raised my mace.
“Damn it!”
The three who had been shooting bolts and arrows from the front scattered in all directions as if on cue. For a split second I hesitated, then chased after the one heading left.
“This way!”
[Shushushuk— shushuk—]
The fleeing man shouted and ducked. Bolts flew toward me. I blocked them with my shield and charged. Three men dropped their bows and thrust long spears at me.
They were well-trained elites. I needed to break their formation first. I hurled my shield at them with all my strength.
[Crunch!]
“Aaaagh!”
One man’s face was smashed in, creating an opening in their coordinated spear thrusts. I leapt forward, slipping inside the reach of the spears. Long spears were excellent for defense when used together, but once you got past the spearheads and inside their length, even the best-trained fighters had few options.
The remaining two tried to drop their spears and draw swords, but my swinging mace was faster.
[Crack! Thud!]
The head of the man wearing a leather cap burst open, spraying blood everywhere. The mace then buried itself in the temple of the man beside him. Both collapsed like paper dolls, their skulls shattered by the angular mace.
The man who had fled from the center tried to grab his bow, but Pyurie’s arrow struck him in the solar plexus first.
I retrieved my thrown shield, gave the man with the ruined face one more blow with the mace, then charged toward the right flank with the shield raised again.
“Damn it, this guy’s no ordinary opponent! Fire the signal flare! We’re retreating!”
The two from the center had regrouped with the others, making four Rangers total. But when they saw me charging through their bolts and arrows without slowing, terror gripped them. One fired the signal flare while the rest dropped their weapons to flee—only to suddenly freeze in place.
“M-magic… urgh…”
Sezanne, pale as death and looking ready to collapse, had been carried over on Meni’s back. Pyutel rushed in, snatched the signal flare, and began driving his dagger into the Rangers’ throats.
“Leave one alive. We need to know why they attacked us.”
At Sezanne’s words, Pyutel bound one man’s hands and feet and gagged him.
When we returned to the ambush site, Sezanne’s complexion looked terrible, so I forced another potion down her throat.
“Mm. This potion tastes good. Usually they’re bitter. What kind is this? Huh? ‘God of Magic, Sadalla?’ Is this Lord Sadalla’s potion?”
Sezanne was surprised by the inscription on the bottle—she hadn’t known Sadalla’s potions existed. Realizing they did seemed to resolve the strange sense of dissonance she’d felt inside the dungeon. It also answered the question she’d had when Jinwoo mentioned making money selling potions—how he could possibly have so many.
“Lord Jinwoo, are you both a mage and a priest? I should have realized it when I saw you wipe out undead with healing magic in one go.”
“Huh? What do you mean, both a mage and a priest?”
“Are the Cult of Sadalla and the Changing Tower the same thing?”
I hesitated over how to answer. Sadalla was a god Yanne and I had jokingly created in the swamp, and the Changing Tower was just something I’d registered with the guild. But sensing Sezanne was misunderstanding something, I simply agreed.
“I thought so. That explains why your magic was so effective against undead—you serve the God of Magic. I never imagined it also contained holy power.”
Sezanne looked satisfied, her curiosity resolved. She concluded that the difference in magic systems came from Jinwoo being a priest who served a god.
“We’ve finished cleaning up. They were Rangers of the Shuzel Kingdom.”
“Shuzel? Then they’re from the same country.”
It didn’t make sense that people from the same kingdom would attack us like this. I’d heard from Ryuk that Rangers in disputed areas attacked indiscriminately, but I hadn’t expected it to be this bad. I regretted not taking it more seriously.
The binding magic had worn off, but the Ranger’s limbs were still tied. He glared at us with only his eyes moving.
“Even if you try to bite your tongue and kill yourself, I can keep you alive. You saw the mage over there take three arrows to the heart and still survive, right? I’ll remove the gag. Tell me why you attacked us.”
“…This is a disputed border zone with the Redecup Kingdom. Our job is to kill anyone who enters.”
The bound Ranger spoke as if he had simply done his duty.
“You kill anyone, no questions asked?”
Sezanne was furious that we had been attacked just for passing through, but I wasn’t angry. If anything, I felt sorry for the Ranger. He had only followed orders.
“Who gave that order?”
“I don’t know. We were just told to do it.”
“The noble in charge of defending this border region is Count Shulman, the border lord. He must have given the order.”
At Sezanne’s words, I resolved to confront Count Shulman someday.
“Sezanne, sorry, but could you put him to sleep with magic?”
“You’re going to let him live?”
“No. I want him to die while he’s asleep.”
“Hmph. That’s not mercy. How ridiculous. Killing him while he sleeps? Just kill him already. Urgh.”
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Pyutel slit his throat with a knife. Sezanne had nearly died, and they had attacked us—it was only natural to kill them. Still, it left a bitter taste.
I tried to think of a way to leave the forest without encountering more Rangers, but there was none. The map only showed monsters.
“For safety, we’ll take the straight path through the dungeon and return to Aiparak.”
We had chosen the forest path because we’d been in the dungeon too long, but now that our lives were at stake, we had no choice but to go back underground.
**
“So you’re saying the Aiparak Dungeon connects to a dungeon in the disputed border zone with the Redecup Kingdom?”
The mercenary guild master’s words left both the merchant guild and the mayor of Aiparak stunned. Only now did they understand why they had been summoned so urgently. Calculations began running through everyone’s minds.
“I know there are two dungeons in the disputed forest. Which one is it connected to?”
“I don’t know which of the two, but it was an Undead Dungeon.”
“If it’s undead, that’s Dungeon 1.”
The mayor brought out a map and pointed to a location.
“So it connects underground all the way here. That’s quite far. And extremely dangerous. The count even stopped a village from being built there despite the dungeon’s presence.”
“It wasn’t the dungeon that was dangerous. Count Shulman pulled out because of the conflict with the Redecup Kingdom.”
“Hmm. Even if the dungeons are connected, it’s too far. With that distance, we don’t have the resources to support dungeon mercenaries.”
Dungeon mercenaries ultimately needed the guild and merchants to conquer dungeons, so everyone agreed that tackling a dungeon requiring over ten hours of travel from the third floor would be difficult.
“But there is a way. That’s why I gathered you all here—to tell you the dungeons are connected.”
“There’s a way? Even though we can’t build a village in the disputed border zone?”
“Yes. There is a way.”