Episode 043.
“…….”
Kael and Baros.
They looked at me with eyes similar to those of my former party members who had tried to bury me in the kingdom’s courtroom.
Their gazes were mixed with greed and desire.
I didn’t know whether they’d intended this from the start, or whether they’d been eaten away by the miasma after entering the cavern together.
But one thing was certain: if I brought them in like this, they wouldn’t be of any help.
If it was the latter, their symptoms would only grow worse, and they’d end up attacking the others too.
“You two will have to guard the entrance.”
“What?”
“You know how important this place is, don’t you?”
I smiled firmly and turned my head toward the cavern entrance.
“…Tanas, are you screwing with me right now? You’re telling me to stand guard here? Oho! Now I get it. You’re planning to monopolize the Treasure Goblin King hidden inside, aren’t you?”
As expected, he wasn’t someone words would get through to nicely.
Baros, the mercenary captain with a scar near his eye, growled and slammed his greatsword into the ground.
Kael, too, stepped forward without hiding his displeasure.
“Sir Tanas, this is an insult to me as the expedition leader. Not just the mercenary captain, but even me, you say, must wait here… I must confirm what happens inside with my own eyes. Surely you don’t mean to force me to wait outside? Did you think I wouldn’t see through your scheme to take all the merits for yourself?”
Behind me, Prisia grabbed my clothes as if nervous.
“Master… I shall guard the entrance.”
“No, you’re going inside.”
I cut off Prisia’s words firmly.
For the sake of her growth, and also so I could entrust my back to her, Prisia’s company was essential.
I turned my gaze to the old man beside me, who was tending to his black bow.
“I was thinking of leaving you behind, old man, but you should come with us after all. If it’s like this from the start, it’ll be troublesome. We don’t know how much of a mess it’ll be inside, so let’s proceed as safely as possible.”
“…Hmph, brat. Sitting still outside doesn’t suit my nature anyway, so do as you like.”
Gareth adjusted his black bow and gave a faint laugh.
“And Gran, you too…”
“Me? Fine by me.”
At this point, it seemed Kael and Baros’s patience had hit rock bottom.
“Very well! If you insist on acting like this, then I shall stop you by force if I must. By the authority of the expedition leader, I order—!”
Before Kael could even finish speaking, he hastily drew his sword. He’s sneakier than he looks.
I grinned once and gripped my sword hilt.
This worked out, actually.
This was better than explaining in words.
The nearby adventurers panicked, saying, “Uh, Captain? What are you doing!” but nothing was reaching his ears anymore.
The first exchange.
Clang—
Kael’s sword came flying toward my shoulder, but I deflected its trajectory with the bare minimum of movement. The metallic sound rang sharply through the cavern.
“……!”
You think this is my first time being ambushed?
Kael’s eyes filled with shock.
He hadn’t expected his strike to miss so emptily. But I didn’t even give him time to be surprised.
The second.
I slipped into Kael’s exposed guard and struck his wrist with the hilt of my sword.
“Guaaargh!”
With a scream, Kael’s sword dropped to the ground.
The final third.
I grabbed Kael by the back of the neck as he staggered after losing his balance, then slammed him into the floor.
At the same time, the edge of my blade touched his throat coldly.
“What are you looking at?”
“Im-impossible…!”
Thwack!
“…U-ugh!”
With a dull impact, the expedition leader lost consciousness and passed out on the spot.
“Hah!”
“C-Captain!”
As Kael collapsed in absurd fashion, a silence fell over the people like cold water being poured on them.
“…You’re just pointlessly strong, you bastard.”
I sheathed my sword and muttered.
Baros, who had been watching from the side with his greatsword half-drawn, swallowed hard and slowly backed away.
When the two people above them fight, the ones below quietly read the room.
“Wasn’t he an adventurer the guildmaster went through so much trouble to call in?”
“Right? I never dreamed he’d strike first and get beaten like that!”
The mercenaries and adventurers, too,
accepted the situation without a word once it was resolved before anyone could even talk it through.
“Zeke.”
I called over the adventurer Zeke and his party from the far end and whispered quietly.
“Keep an eye on Captain Kael and Captain Baros. If they wake up and start spouting nonsense, you can knock them out again. Don’t let them take even one step into the dungeon without my permission.”
“Is that really all right?”
“These guys aren’t normal right now. I’ll tell Milene and the other adventurers too.”
Zeke’s party answered as they tied Kael up with rope.
“Understood.”
Shhk!
After cutting Kael’s tendons, I beckoned to Baros.
“N-no, wait, I didn’t do anyth—”
“Let’s do this nicely.”
Shhk!
“Guuuuugh!”
Until he received treatment from a priest, he would barely be able to move.
“Let’s go. Old man, Prisia.”
The moment we entered the cavern interior, a dense miasma rushed at us as if in greeting.
“Ugh…!”
“Wha—what is this!”
“Suddenly, I can’t breathe… ugh!”
++
[Warning!]
[The Curse of the Abyss has enveloped you!]
[All stats reduced by 50%]
++
It cut everything in half without asking any questions.
Several of the mages who had entered with us groaned in unison and dropped to their knees.
But I did not slow my steps.
++
[Authority: Protection of Recovery overcomes the abnormal status.]
[The Goddess’s Blessing resonates.]
[The Goddess’s Grace guides the path you must take.]
++
Just as expected.
About a three-meter radius, maybe.
“Stick close to me if you don’t want to die.”
I gave a short command and lopped off the head of a Steel Goblin that leapt out of the darkness.
Not just Treasure Goblins,
but Poison Goblins,
Iron-Tusk Goblins,
Hobgoblins, and more.
There were plenty of troublesome bastards deeper inside the dungeon,
but Gareth’s black bow sent arrows cleaving through the empty air, and Prisia stayed close behind me, finishing off the remnants.
“Hyaaah!”
“Paladins, move farther forward!”
We advanced without obstruction.
“We need to go left here.”
“Lord Tanas. How do you know all the paths?”
“It’s all thanks to the Goddess.”
I gave a rough excuse and continued onward.
How much time had passed?
An hour?
No, two hours?
‘Do we have to go deeper? I don’t see the totem.’
Since we had charged forward with the mindset of ending this swiftly, it seemed we had already broken through the entrance area before I knew it.
Though that wasn’t necessarily only a good thing.
“Ghk! How is a mere goblin that big…”
“It’s a superior specimen!”
“Aim for the eyes first!”
Goblin General-class monsters sprang out in droves here and there,
but as I had instructed in advance, Prisia’s firepower and Gareth’s focused attacks soon made them vanish, leaving only items behind.
“Lo-Lord Tanas! Someone is asking for help!”
“It’s an auditory hallucination.”
“What do you mean…? Can’t you hear it? This voice so desperately begging for salvation…”
Thwack!
I handed the limp paladin over to another paladin.
What a headache.
The deeper we went,
“Khrhuhuhu…! The day the Death God, the Death God descends upon this land…”
“The end is coming!”
there were those whose condition worsened,
but—
Thwack!
For now, I knocked them all out, kept them alive, and sent them to the rear.
“Prisia, fall back.”
“M-Master, what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“But Master, your a-arm…”
“This much will heal soon.”
Most wounds closed while I was swinging my sword, so I was able to take the lead and break open the path more than anyone else.
“I think I’ve killed more monsters on this expedition than I’ve ever killed in my life until now.”
“Tell me about it. I’m dying here.”
The mercenaries and adventurers kept swinging their weapons even as they tossed out jokes.
“…….”
I could see everyone growing exhausted.
Should I have brought more people?
No, nonsense.
This was the absolute maximum we could draw from Artem.
Just as all sorts of idle thoughts began to surface—
“There, over there!”
“Run!”
Stairs leading downward. Dozens of torches…
The boss room we had finally reached.
A demon stood atop a grotesque bone altar, letting out a sneering laugh.
In front of him was a half-completed patchwork corpse.
“Phew…”
Thank goodness.
There had still been quite a bit of time.
I let out a small sigh of relief.
“Khrhuhuhuhu… Foolish insects, to think you’ve flown all the way here…”
An evil aura poured from his entire body, and the paladins adjusted their grips on their weapons, gulping hard.
“Krrk! Krrk!”
“Kieeeeeeeek!!!”
As the demon raised one hand as if he were some great figure,
thousands of goblins suddenly burst out of the darkness and surrounded us.
“Th-this can’t be… It’s all over. This isn’t right!”
“Impossible! I didn’t think there would still be this many left!”
“O Goddess!”
At the overwhelming number that filled our entire field of vision, the mages and adventurers screamed.
But I was unfazed.
“No time to stand around! This way!”
The first phase was just about holding out against the swarming monsters and buying time, after all.
Hmm…
But something felt a little strange.
Looking at the terrified adventurers, the demon laughed grotesquely.
“You foolish insects… With only that number? Your arrogance pierces the heavens! To think you dared fail to recognize me, the great Malkion!”
“…….”
“You have leapt into the flames of your own—”
“Aren’t you tired of that line?”
While Malkion was gleefully prattling on,
I closed the distance in an instant and swung my sword at his defenseless neck.
“Wh-what!”
Slice!
Black blood spurted.
“Eh…!”
“B-brat?”
As my sword drew a clean arc,
thud, roll—
the apostle,
Malkion’s head rolled away with absurd ease.
“Uh…….”
“What in the…”
Not only the paladins and the expedition force,
but even the goblins that had been about to charge
all turned to look at me.
“…….”
He had too many openings.