Baltor Exploration (4)
A swarm of bats came rushing from deep inside the cave. There were easily more than twenty of them. Emily, holding a shield in one hand and a torch in the other, raised her shield high.
Basic Shield Skill, Third Form. Wide-area taunt.
Taunt!
Emily’s shield slammed hard into the ground.
—BOOM!
A deafening roar erupted, followed by a shockwave that spread toward the bats. There was no damage, but their glowing red eyes all locked onto Emily.
The sight alone sent a chill down the spine.
Ian leveled her staff at the bats charging toward Emily and shouted.
Instead of her favorite Wind Cutter, she chose the basic fire spell Fireball.
Inside the dark cave, spheres of flame shot from Ian’s staff and streaked toward the bats.
—KIIIIIEEEEEEK!
The light from the flames illuminated the surroundings and burned the bats’ black hides. Because they were clustered so tightly together, the damage spread uncontrollably.
Bats screamed in agony as they plummeted, and the sudden brightness revealed the battlefield.
This was the moment the close-range dealers, who had been holding back, had been waiting for. Adrian charged forward first and swung his axe with all his might.
Basic Axe Skill, Third Form. Wide-area spinning strike.
Wheel Wind!
Yellow trails of light sliced through the darkness like stars in the night sky. With a sickening sound of cutting flesh, blood sprayed from countless bats.
Slash!
Shaura’s follow-up attack delivered eternal sleep to those that still remained.
From the rear, Ian continued launching spells while observing the flow of battle.
This isn’t as dangerous as I thought.
The party’s average level was 13. That was two levels higher than the level 11 Raptor Bats. And despite being a hastily formed group, their coordination was excellent.
Emily held the front line perfectly, Adrian delivered devastating blows to the clustered enemies, and Shaura finished them off. Thanks to that, ever since the fight began, Ian had only needed to handle the simple task of picking off any bats that slipped past the group or survived the initial assault.
Even so, she never stopped casting spells forward. Proficiency had to be built up, after all.
Amid the relentless barrage of skills and magic, Ian’s party steadily pushed back the swarm of bats.
After eliminating nearly twenty of them, the party paused. Even though a cold wind blew through the cave, everyone except Ian was drenched in sweat.
The three of them moved to a spot clear of bats and caught their breath. Ian, who had been keeping her distance, walked over to join them.
Emily gave a bitter smile.
Although Ian had only decided to use a staff today, she was still the highest-level player in the party. A handful of bats posed no real threat to her.
Ian asked, “So, are we pushing on, or heading back out?”
They had repelled the bat swarm, but no one knew what might be waiting ahead. The decision—whether to continue exploring or retreat and regroup—rested with Emily. Everyone’s eyes turned to her.
Although the party had formed around Ian, Emily was the official leader. Her choice would be the party’s choice.
Emily closed her eyes for a moment, deep in thought. Then she gave the group an awkward smile.
In truth, Emily knew stopping the exploration was the correct decision. If they encountered something stronger than the bats in this dark cave, their survival could no longer be guaranteed.
But a party composition like this one might never form again. She already knew how strong Ian was, and both Shaura and Adrian were leaders of their own parties. They were far too capable to be mere party members.
Especially in a dark, narrow cave like this, the party’s overall strength mattered more than anything else.
That was why Emily decided to take advantage of the current situation. It was risky, but if they survived, the rewards would be incredibly sweet.
The party continued deeper into the cave. They faced two or three more bat swarms along the way, but nothing could stop their advance.
Of course, that didn’t erase the exhaustion from the intense fighting.
Everyone except Ian had to put in real effort just to loosen their stiff muscles.
The others nodded in agreement.
When she had first said she would take the rear, everyone had assumed she was just filling a role. After all, swords and magic required completely different stats. Investing in Strength while also needing to raise Magic meant she would inevitably fall behind in both weapon categories.
In reality, the damage from Ian’s spells was lower than what other staff users could output. Even with a high-magic-attack staff, the difference in stats couldn’t be ignored.
But separate from that, Ian’s magical sense was top-tier. While her low proficiency meant she couldn’t use a wide variety of spells, her ability to land the right spell at the right moment surpassed most players.
Ian gave a bitter smile as she recalled the past week.
But she didn’t regret it.
At first she had been dumbfounded and even complained about getting stuck with a staff, but now it had become a reliable partner that protected her alongside her sword.
Stats? She’d just hunt harder to make up for it.
Anyway.
Just as Ian was about to spread the merits of dual-wielding weapons, Emily raised her torch and cut the conversation short.
It was faint, but because the cave was so dark, the flickering light in the distance instantly captured everyone’s attention.
No one could argue with Adrian’s words. Having come this far, they had to identify the suspicious light. Everyone nodded and moved forward.
The closer they got, the more the pitch-black darkness was overtaken by pure white light.
In reality the light wasn’t that strong, but their eyes had grown used to the darkness for a long time.
Naturally, their faces twisted, arms rose to shield their eyes, and groans escaped. The world that had turned pure white gradually began to take shape again.
It was a massive space, impossible to believe it had been connected to the narrow cave they had just been in. Inside stood seven statues, each roughly four times the height of a person, arranged in a circle.
Each of the seven statues held a different weapon and pointed it toward the center.
Where all the weapons pointed stood a tall stone slab. Its style was remarkably similar to the altars found throughout the Baltor mountain range.
Only then did the party look up at the distant ceiling. They realized the light was sunlight pouring in through a hole in the roof.
Which meant they would have to go back through the dark cave to leave.
No one needed to speak first. Sighs simply escaped from everyone at once.
The reason they had come here today was to find the hidden boss and locate the path to Area 3.
But just as Shaura and Adrian said, this space contained nothing but the altar.
That was why Ian couldn’t understand it.
Who had built this space, and for what purpose? Was it merely a device meant to trick players? If so, where were the boss and the path to Area 3?
Lost in those unanswered questions, Ian absentmindedly stepped onto the altar.
That was when it happened.
—RUMBLE!
A violent tremor shook the ground fiercely.
It felt like standing inside a bus racing at full speed down an unpaved road. Even though this was a game, it was difficult just to stay on their feet.
Then—
—FLASH!
The slab rose into the air. From it poured a torrent of pure white light that spread out like tree branches.
The unidentified light seeped into the seven statues.
It looked almost sacred, like a god breathing life into its creations. Ian’s party couldn’t tear their eyes away.
—GRRRRRR.
The once-motionless statues began to move. Their massive weapons turned toward Ian’s party to eliminate their enemies.
Finally, a line of text appeared above the stone slab.
Lv 16 Lord of Blight Baltor
The corrupted master of Baltor.
「Human… human…!」
It was the Area 2 boss that Ian had spent the past week searching for.