Chapter 83: Mixed Parties
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83: Mixed Parties
When a situation becomes so dire it feels hopeless, the best thing to do is to start by handling the small, trivial things right in front of you.
I find that good ideas tend to come to me that way.
First, I decided to rummage through the junk that had washed down with me during the labyrinth’s structural shift and the subsequent slide through the passage.
See if there’s anything useful.
To start, the wand that was Sally’s keepsake and the source of my psychokinetic teleportation gimmick, ‘Kineto,’ was rolling around at my feet.
I must have dropped it when I switched to the Corrosion Wand. A Superconductor/Lightning Shock wand and a psychokinesis wand. I felt most comfortable dual-wielding these two, so I switched my weapons back.
‘Ice crystals.’
The floor was covered in a layer of small ice pellets that crunched underfoot, formed when the frost ray met the steam.
Hardened lava sludge had also been swept down.
A crossbow, half-buried in the muck, had washed down as well. It was the one the Lizard crossbowman had used. Not much use to me.
Amidst the trash and debris, I found an empty bottle.
“Magic acid.”
It was the bottle the blacksmith had chugged and thrown away.
I’ll hang onto this, too.
“Since I’m at the blast furnace anyway, I might as well try the fountain again.”
The last time I’d dipped my face in the fountain, it said I couldn’t learn a new skill because my proficiency with the Hourglass was insufficient.
But it probably wasn’t lacking by much. If the Hourglass was treated as a weapon by the fountain, then based on my experience, I should have accumulated significant proficiency by the time I reached the 4th floor. And I had, in fact, used the Hourglass countless times.
Plus, I’d even modified the Hourglass using Byullant’s Hammer, hadn’t I?
So maybe this time, I’ll be able to acquire a new skill.
Splash.
Without a second thought, I plunged my face into the fountain.
Hoping to find a masterstroke to overcome this situation.
‘I can’t see anything.’
Terrified, Yernil walked forward until she bumped her head squarely against someone. Thwack!
“Who’s there?! An enemy!?”
In that instant, Yernil’s mind raced.
Even in the dark, she should be able to hear things, right?
But Yernil hadn’t sensed the other person’s presence at all. Why was that?
‘They used a noise-suppression spell!’
Who could cast such a spell? Neko had a soundproof wall spell, and Caleb had mentioned that Ingelam likely had a noise-suppression spell as well.
Therefore, it was either Neko or Ingelam.
But she had felt Neko go in a different direction when Back Attack carried her off. So this bastard must be Ingelam!
“Die!”
“Wait!”
A terrified scream erupted from Lilweed.
“Lilweed!?”
“Do—don’t shoot. I… I surrender!”
“You’re Ingelam in disguise!”
“I’m not! Please! I’m really not!”
“Then why couldn’t I hear you? Do you have a noise-suppression spell?”
“I-It’s because of this!”
Lilweed took off a piece of magical equipment and handed it to her. It was a ring enchanted with a noise-suppression spell.
The moment it was removed, the frantic pounding of Lilweed’s heart became audible.
“Gasp… gasp…”
Utterly exhausted, Lilweed covered his face with both hands and finally burst into tears.
“Sob… Fuck, it’s not me! Believe me. It’s really not! Please… I’m so sick and tired of all this.”
“Fine. Let’s say you’re not Ingelam.”
But Yernil kept her arrow aimed at him.
“Even so, what reason do I have to let you live!?”
The naive, soft-hearted Yernil of the past was gone. The Yernil standing here now was Caleb’s aide(?), the command tower.
“Die!”
CRASH!
Just as she was about to release the bowstring, something smashed through the wall. Light from outside streamed through the newly formed hole.
Beyond it was the production control room.
And the one who had broken through the wall was…
“A Barbarian!”
It was the Barbarian fighter from Ingelam’s party.
“Isn’t that Lilweed? Is Ingelam not here?”
“Help me!” Lilweed screamed, scrambling toward the Barbarian.
“Get off me!”
The Barbarian kicked Lilweed away, his sharp gaze locked with Yernil’s.
“Elf girl. Your arrows won’t work on me.”
The Barbarian raised his shield, a vicious-looking one-handed axe in his right hand.
Indeed, with that gear, a Barbarian’s signature athleticism, ferocity, and destructive power, he was a difficult opponent for Yernil.
But…
“I’m not alone either.”
Using sound mapping, Yernil detected movement outside.
A Monk holding an iron staff and a Priest emerged from the control room.
‘Sentry Reposition!’
Yernil quickly moved behind Aimus and nocked an arrow.
“Motherfuckers.”
The Barbarian aimed his axe.
“Let’s finish this quickly and find Caleb and Back Attack,” Aimus said, leveling his iron staff at him.
“Power of Radiance.”
The Priest cast a blessing on Aimus.
“Wait a minute!”
Lilweed frantically scrambled between them and yelled.
“Everyone, snap out of it! This isn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves! The blacksmith has sealed off the entire foundry!”
The structural shift had blocked all the windows and made the doors disappear. The only way to get out of this foundry alive was to kill the exit boss, the blacksmith.
“Now is the time for us to work together!”
“Don’t make me laugh!” Yernil shouted.
“I’m not falling for your tricks again!”
“Who tricked you, you crazy bitch?! You’re the one who got tricked by Ingelam and wrecked my business!”
“...!”
Yernil tilted her head.
“Is… that right?”
“Of course not,” Aimus said, tapping Yernil on the shoulder.
“We don’t cooperate with plunderers,” the Priest added with a stern face.
“My…”
Lilweed took out one of his treasures.
“I’ll find Caleb and Ingelam for you! We can fight after that!”
In his hand was a Vampire Bat Summoning Ring.
“How about it? Let’s find both our party leaders first! Huh?”
“...”
The Priest’s party leader was actually Chief Constable Neko, but she didn’t bother to correct him.
Ever since their two parties had started moving together, Caleb had naturally become the one giving orders.
Everyone knew it instinctively. Following his lead was the way to victory and survival.
‘If it were Caleb, what would he do in this situation?’
The Priest pondered this in her mind.
In fact, Yernil was thinking the exact same thing.
What would Caleb do?
The Caleb who faced Sally’s team. The Caleb who faced Antonelli.
…
“No negotiations with plunderers!”
She raised her arrow.
“Oh, come on!” Lilweed screamed.
“I can find people with these bats. So let’s just hold off until then! …Please!” he begged desperately.
‘Soft and plush.’
After using Shadow Leap with Neko, Back Attack slid down a wildly twisting passage.
In the process, he had buried his face in the warm chest of the beastman he was clinging to.
It smelled of sweet perfume.
And it was comforting.
Like the girls he used to meet in the back alleys.
“Ahem. Excuse me.”
Back Attack was a notorious back-alley playboy, but even he had never hugged a constable before.
“You saved my life. Constable Neko… wait, you’re not her, you son of a bitch!”
He shot up, startled.
He hadn’t buried his face in Neko’s chest, but had been hugging the Avian Rogue’s bird-chest.
“What the hell! My cheek feels like it’s rotting! Someone get me a priest!”
He scrubbed furiously at his cheek.
“This sparrow bastard isn’t manly enough, spraying perfume on his chest feathers? You’re so dead!”
“How dare a low-level rogue like you… do you have any idea who I am…”
The Avian Rogue grunted and got to his feet.
“Hey. Kid, wake up. Are you dead?”
He nudged the Halfling Druid lying next to him with his foot.
“Keuk.”
The Halfling hadn’t fully recovered from the three-round burst. He clutched his bleeding side and shakily got to his feet.
“Can you fight?”
“Who are we fighting? That rogue? Or…”
The Halfling jerked his chin toward something.
“That thing?”
“Hah, damn it.”
In the distance, a Golden Golem was walking with heavy, ground-shaking thuds.
The monster was still searching for intruders.
“Ugh…”
Just then, Neko also came to her senses. She seemed to have taken a few hits while sliding and flying around, but she had no critical injuries.
“Where are we?” Neko asked Back Attack.
“Beats me. This is my first time in the foundry,” Back Attack said with a shrug. The Halfling Druid answered instead.
“We’re inside the steelmaking process room.”
“So, do I just kill you guys now?” Neko asked, aiming her wand.
The Avian Rogue quickly held up his hands.
“Get a grip, Neko. And you, human rogue.”
“Call me Back Attack.”
“What a shitty name.”
“What’d you say, asshole?”
“Neko, Back Attack. How about you two join us and take down the Golden Golem first?”
“Absolutely not.”
Neko shook her head, horrified.
“Form a united front with people we can’t trust? That’s even more dangerous.”
“Hey. Think about it. It’ll be hard for the two of you to beat us anyway. And even if you did, what would you do about the Golden Golem?” the Avian Rogue asked.
“Hmm.”
Back Attack crossed his arms and smiled wickedly.
“Take out the common enemy first, is that it? Cooperate just until then?”
“Right.”
“I’m in.”
“Back Attack!” Neko yelped.
“We can’t trust them!”
“Constable Neko, you should cooperate too. If we borrow the help of this sparrow and the druid, we might just be able to take that golem’s head.”
“A wise decision,” the Avian Rogue said with a smile.
“And I’d like to propose a temporary truce after that as well. Back Attack, Neko. We’re going to look for Ingelam and that muscle-brained Barbarian. You two must be in a hurry to find your party members too, right? If we fight, let’s do it after we’ve dealt with the blacksmith. How about it?”
“Sounds good. Neko, after we take the Golden Golem’s head, we’ll find Caleb-hyungnim and Aimus-hyungnim.”
“What about Yernil?”
“…Tch. Fine. We’ll pick her up on the way.”
“A temporary alliance, then?”
The Avian Rogue extended his hand.
“A pleasure working with you, sparrow.”
Back Attack shook it.
Watching the two rogues’ cunning expressions, the Halfling Druid and Constable Neko had the same thought.
‘They’re planning to betray each other.’
Just as I thought.
‘I knew it would work.’
[You can select an introductory Hourglass skill. Choose one of the following.]
① Time Trader: Consume 1 second of the Hourglass’s time to remove 1 minute from a specific skill’s cooldown, or 1 minute from a negative status effect’s duration.
(This skill can be activated during the Hourglass’s turn, and you can trade all 60 seconds at once. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
② Memory Book Editor: During your turn, you can open your memory book and switch out spell slots. Switching one slot consumes 1 Action Point.
(This skill can be activated during the Hourglass’s turn. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
③ Mind Controller: Consume 2 Action Points to issue a command to a party member of a lower level than you, regardless of their trust level. If the command goes against their alignment, they will carry it out but temporarily enter a state of ‘Madness.’
(This skill can be activated during the Hourglass’s turn. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
I could now learn one of three skills, not including the Direction Adjuster.
A slight disappointment was that no advanced Hourglass proficiency skills were offered.
I guess the Hourglass needs to grow a bit more for that.
Looking at the skills again, every single one of them was absurdly powerful.
‘I modified the Hourglass with Byullant’s Hammer, but the cost for Mind Controller is still the same.’
That meant its relative merit skyrocketed. Using 2 AP to issue a command that could induce madness would be far more useful than using 1 AP for a simple instruction that fit their alignment.
‘Memory Book Editor.’
The ability to switch spell slots from the memory book in the middle of a turn-based battle was a truly insane ability.
Even in the game, you couldn’t touch the memory book during combat.
And ‘Time Trader.’
Many high-tier spells had cooldowns as long as 10 minutes.
I was becoming a mid-level wizard, my spells were getting progressively stronger, and for quickly removing status effects, the Time Trader skill would be incredibly useful.
So, out of these three, the skill I would choose is…
“Puhah!”
After pulling my head out of the fountain, I turned to the side and spotted a face I’d rather not have seen.
Down the stairs from the fountain area, a wizard who had slid down the passage was looking around.
It was Ingelam.
I wonder if the others are mixed up with enemies too?
Aimus, Back Attack, Yernil.
I’m seriously worried, especially about the last two.