Chapter 58: Habit
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: Habit
“Hey, who are you all? What happened?”
Returning to the second floor, Birtanen’s party encountered a shocking group of adventurers.
There were seven of them in total.
Adventurers from the third floor.
They had barely managed to crawl up the stairs before collapsing, a wretched sight to behold. Some were missing arms or legs. The only reason they were still alive was that a priest was among them.
“On the third floor… a monster wave broke out.”
The Elf Priest, an arrow still lodged in his back, spoke.
“A monster wave!”
“Someone needs to break through the second-floor exit room and tell the Adventurer Guild, quickly.”
The Elf Priest pleaded with Birtanen.
This was the standard procedure recommended by the Adventurer Guild when a monster wave occurred. Adventurers on the affected floor were to flee to the previous floor as quickly as possible and call for help. Then, any capable adventurers on the previous floor would break through the exit room as fast as they could to request aid from the Adventurer Guild.
Reinforcements would then arrive via the elevator—adventurers from a tier at least two levels higher than the floor where the wave had erupted. In this case, parties from the fifth floor or above. They would rescue the injured and then identify and eliminate the source of the monster wave.
Dealing with a monster wave was a race against time; the faster this process was carried out, the more survivors there would be.
But right now…
“We can go to the exit room, but…”
Birtanen glanced at Emma.
“Don’t you need Emma here? Your injuries are severe!”
“I can manage to treat these people somehow,” the Elf Priest said.
“But more injured people might be coming up from below. Shouldn’t I stay here?” Emma asked.
“No. No one else is coming.”
The Elf Priest lowered his head, his face pale with terror.
“The second-floor gate has already been overrun.”
“…”
“We were the last ones.”
They had originally been four separate parties. While rushing toward the second-floor gate, they had collided with the monster wave charging in their direction. Only seven had managed to escape through the gate.
The rest were all dead.
And now, an army of monsters, numbering in the thousands, was positioned in front of the second-floor gate. The third-floor adventurers had no way of breaking through.
“The third floor is a living hell right now.”
A total of twenty-one teams had entered the third floor this time. More than half of them were likely still wandering through that hell, having run to the second-floor gate only to be met with despair at the sight of the swarming monsters.
*
The fourth monster wave had blocked off Gildal’s exit room.
Now, the fifth wave was moving to occupy the stairs leading down to the fourth floor.
The third floor of the Labyrinth was now half-filled with monsters. The adventurers there had no way of handling the creatures that roamed in hordes of thousands.
This was a hell where everyone was doomed to a slow death.
“Just hold on a little longer!”
And at the place where this hell began…
Where Antonelli and his undead had swallowed the ossuary, and thousands of monsters had taken over the summit.
Two adventurer parties were fighting desperately before them.
Hijikata’s party, the longest-standing on the third floor.
And Caleb’s party, third-timers in the Labyrinth, who had just entered the third floor for the first time.
CRASH!
Smashing Gaia shattered the snow-covered bedrock, along with the skull of a wolf.
A magical throwing dagger hurled by the Kappa lodged itself in a Frost Hunter’s neck.
“Kaaah!”
The massive fangs of a wolf lunged for Caleb.
“Superconductivity.”
A point-blank bolt of lightning erupted, and the electrocuted wolf slipped on the ground, sliding right over the edge of the cliff.
“Dust Explosion.”
“Fox Marble. Disc form.”
Soyul, the Eight-Tailed Deep Layer Fox Spirit Shaman, flattened her Fox Marble into a disc. As hard as her own spiritual power, the marble made for an excellent shield.
Clang! Cla-clang!
She manipulated it to block the arrows and ice spikes raining down from above, but it was obviously not enough.
Fwoomp!
Aimus’s parasol opened. It could defend against the barrage from above, but the wolves charging from the front were a problem.
“Haaaaahp!”
Hijikata’s hair was soaked with sweat. He had already cut down more than a dozen wolves charging at him, fighting alongside Gadozumi.
“Hijikata!” the Kappa screamed.
A wolf had bitten into Hijikata’s left arm.
“You fucking mutt!”
The frenzied swordsman viciously smashed the wolf’s eyeball with the pommel of his sword. The moment it yelped and released its grip, he swiftly stabbed it to death.
Skill: Single Stroke Cleave. Skill: Clear Wind Sword. Skill: Moonlight Slash. Skill: Swift Flash Thrust.
“Pant… pant…”
Hijikata, who had been activating skills indiscriminately, felt his head spin.
Beside him, the Foxfire of Pleasure fell.
Dust Explosions erupted among the monsters.
But there was no end to them.
Everyone knew they couldn't win this fight. For every one they killed, two more swarmed in. Soon, even Aimus’s parasol would break.
In the end, they were all going to die.
“Heh… hehehehe!”
The Lich burst out laughing.
It knew. It knew that even without it having to cast any difficult spells, these adventurers would all be annihilated.
“Fuck…”
Hijikata gritted his teeth.
“You fucking bastard!” he screamed, pointing his sword at the Lich. “Stop laughing and come down here! Come down and fight me, you son of a bitch!”
“Hehehehek!”
“Aaargh!”
If I’m going to die anyway, I’ll take that Lich down with me.
That was the resolve behind Hijikata’s sudden charge.
But in that very instant.
CRACK!
Something heavy suddenly flew in from behind the Lich and smashed down vertically on the undead’s head.
“…”
Hijikata, who had been charging, froze in shock.
So did the other adventurers.
Even the monsters.
Everyone’s attention was stolen, stunned by the sudden ambush.
“Gi…”
Hijikata’s hand trembled.
“Gildal…”
The giant Dokkebi grabbed the neck of the Lich, which had collapsed to the ground.
“Hooooo…”
A white puff of breath rose from beneath the Dokkebi’s straw hat.
“Now!” Caleb shouted from behind. “Everyone, run to the 3.5th-floor stairs! And Gadozumi!”
He ran to the Kappa.
“Get me over to Yernil!”
*
Why did Gildal disappear from the Wizard’s Eye’s view?
Because at that exact moment, we were spotted by the patchwork zombie.
All the information the patchwork zombie saw and heard was relayed to the Lich. That was why Antonelli was already on his way down Entrance 1 with his undead army.
From Gildal’s perspective, his soul, which had been stationary until now, was suddenly moving away.
He must have gotten anxious. His target was escaping.
The reason Gildal vanished from the Wizard’s Eye was that he had already run and reached the vicinity of the summit by then.
He would pass the summit and return via Entrance 1.
Then, while we were engaged in battle, he would storm in from behind and smash the Lich’s head in.
That was the full story of what had just happened.
“Absolutely do not draw Gildal’s aggro!”
I used Shadow Leap from Gadozumi to move to Entrance 2.
Running up the mountain with Yernil, I shouted, “Get to the 3.5th-floor stairs and hide! Until I give the signal!”
“But Caleb! Entrance 2 is blocked!” Aimus yelled.
“I’ll handle it! Just get down to the inter-floor village! Go and stay put!”
But there was one thing about this plan that worried me.
Hijikata’s party is too attached to Gildal.
Look at them.
They can’t bring themselves to leave.
I can understand why.
“Uwooooaaaargh!”
Gildal was getting the shit beaten out of him by the undead army.
The Lich wasn’t dead. It wasn’t a monster that died so easily. The undead wolves and Frost Hunters that had remained to protect their master were now focusing their fire on Gildal.
Boom!
Boom!
Crunch!
The Dokkebi’s strength was astounding, and he snapped the spines of several wolves with his bare hands.
Thwack!
But arrows and ice spikes continuously struck his body. One side of his straw coat armor already looked like a pincushion.
“Uwoooargh!”
The Dokkebi’s scream echoed.
“You… you bastards…”
Tears streamed down Hijikata’s face as he trembled with rage and helplessness. Soyul went a step further and collapsed on the spot.
“Come on, quickly!”
Frustrated, Aimus lifted Soyul and dashed toward the stairs.
Nice one, Aimus!
“Gadozumi, you go too! Hurry! You can use Leaping Ambush to get across!” I yelled while running with Yernil.
I couldn’t help but keep looking back, worried.
Are they really going to be okay?
And will Gildal be…
BOOM!
A jet-black shadow erupted from the Lich’s grasp and pierced through Gildal’s head.
“Keoheok!”
Gildal staggered and collapsed.
“Kaaang!”
The wolves swarmed in, tearing at him.
“You sons of bitches—!”
Hijikata finally snapped.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Hijikata!”
At that, Soyul, whom Aimus had just managed to drag away, came running back out, crying.
“You two go up and activate the monument!” Gadozumi shouted. “We’ll die here with Gildal!”
“Get a grip!”
That Kappa had hesitated when I told him to go to the stairs, but now he activated Leaping Ambush without being told.
Towards the Lich.
“You have to go to the stairs! Gadozumi!” I yelled at him.
I thought he was a little more rational than the other two.
“Being cold-blooded, I get heated up pretty easily.”
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Hijikata charged recklessly and plunged his two-handed sword into the Lich’s chest.
“Aimus! Aimus, at least you get down!”
Yernil and I had almost reached the Femur Wall. I needed to punch a small hole in that wall, which was much taller than me. Just big enough to aim my wand through. Just big enough for one hand.
“Dust Explosion!”
But one shot wasn’t enough to break through.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 8 seconds]
There was still a little time left on the hourglass.
“Lightning Shock!”
I shot a wolf on the other side and activated the secondary hourglass.
“Dust Explosion!”
“Dust Explosion!”
Still not breaking through. It was because that bastard Lich was from the fourth floor, so its Wisdom was much higher than mine.
How much health and defense does the Femur Wall have? What’s the approximate damage of my Dust Explosion? How many seconds is the cooldown?
“You idiots! Just get down the stairs!”
I was so angry I couldn’t help but scream.
But those fools couldn’t let go of Gildal.
Now, the only way was for me to activate the monument as quickly as possible.
Hijikata’s party was out of my control.
They were making a fatal mistake.
“You son of a bitch!”
If Hijikata swung his sword at the Lich and forced it into the air, he would be the one in danger.
“Foxfire of Pleasure!”
The monsters were still pouring down like a zombie horde from an apocalypse movie.
The Lich had already slipped away behind them.
Once they drove the monsters away and secured Gildal, Hijikata’s party would be the ones who were fucked.
“Dust Explosion!”
This damn hole won’t open!
“Grrrrr…”
Gildal, who had fallen, was getting back up, shaking the arrows from his body.
There were no monsters left in front of the monstrous Dokkebi.
Because Hijikata’s party had driven them all away.
So now, the only things in Gildal’s sight were his old friends.
Soyul looked back at Gildal, sobbing.
Thump.
Thump.
The maddened Dokkebi slowly approached Soyul.
And then…
What.
Something I hadn’t expected happened.
What is that?
Gildal took off his straw coat and draped it over the fox-spirit’s shoulders.
*
Let’s think about this logically.
He hadn’t escaped his madness.
Eccentric bosses caught in madness commit all sorts of bizarre acts, but they have no capacity for rational judgment.
So how could one explain what just happened?
He was still aggroed on the ossuary.
That obsession was stronger than I had thought. Gildal wouldn’t change his focus until he had killed the Lich.
That’s why he didn’t attack Soyul.
But then, shouldn’t he have just walked past her?
Giving her his coat… it was as if he had some memory left.
That couldn’t be.
An adventurer lost to madness couldn’t do that.
The cause of their eccentric behavior was almost always…
Habit.
Why did Back Attack detour around the ice?
Why did Antonelli go down to the 3.5th floor to find the ossuary?
Why did Hijikata’s party, seeing the irretrievable Gildal being beaten, leap into a fight to the death?
There was one possible explanation for this situation that made no rational sense at all.
Just like how Yernil threw her own body as bait and shot the magic-tipped arrow at the stairs for me.
They’re a habit for each other.
“Ugh…”
The three of them gritted their teeth even harder, trying to stop their vision from blurring with tears.
“Uwooooaaaaaaargh!”
The blood-soaked Dokkebi roared.
His cry thundered across the summit of the snowy mountain.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
The monster, devoid of reason and thought, charged toward the monsters again.
Past Soyul, Hijikata, and Gadozumi.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
With his immense height and incredible arm reach, he snatched the ankle of the levitating Lich and slammed it into the ground with all his might.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Dokkaebi don’t feel the cold.
Maybe that was actually true.
He was fighting so well even after giving away his straw coat on this snowy mountain.
“Dust Explosion.”
A hole opened in the Femur Wall.