NOVEL NEXT Chapter 92
A sudden encounter with a three-person party and a swarm of monsters.
Is it because they’re just low-tier monsters from the 2nd floor, or is there a significant gap?
With a single provocation embedded in the resonance of the cycle, most of the aggro focused on Veronica.
They could have been momentarily flustered, but from the moment of our transfer until now, it had been nothing but continuous crises, so their judgments were swift.
“Lumia, bind those guys first!”
Did the three adventurers think they had survived by running away from the monsters? They had ecstatic looks on their faces as they tried to pass us by.
[Chaos criticizes humans with no shame.]
Crack.
I ground my teeth unconsciously.
If they had at least screamed for help, begging and crying, it would’ve been different.
If they had shown even a hint of willingness to fight alongside us instead of just passing by, I wouldn’t have been so angry.
‘Crazy bastards. Wanting to throw a pack of monsters at us and just run away to save themselves? Not happening.’
“The black hand gripping the night.”
[The grasp of Rugen.]
As Lumia finished her incantation, huge black hands appeared in midair.
Right. Not just a hand but hands plural.
Had she grown stronger in dark magic over the month? There were now three, equal to our enemies.
“Ugh!”
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh! L-Let go! Damn it!!”
Soon, with a squish sound, the three fledglings were caught in the black hands, screaming and cursing.
‘I have to help Veronica, who’s tanking alone.’
“Lumia, keep maintaining the magic. Yeriell, watch from behind. If you see any sign that the bindings are coming undone, don’t hesitate—shoot a Holy Arrow!”
“Got it! I’ll keep my eyes peeled!”
Having successfully ensnared the fleeing adventurers, I no longer had time to worry about them.
“How dare you.”
Thump! Swoosh!
In front of me, Veronica moved busily, expressionless, slicing or pushing away the flying beetles.
I switched to the great sword and channeled magic into my feet.
Gasp!
I burst the magic and smashed the ground fiercely before sweeping the great sword horizontally.
Whoosh—
Crash!!!
Beetles with prominent wings swooped in.
A giant grub crawled slowly, oozing bodily fluids.
Whatever it was, I sliced and tore apart everything that touched my blade.
Shreep!
Hyaaaak!
Leaving Veronica behind, amidst the battle with the beetle swarm, I pushed deeper and deeper into the fray.
The sharp horns and acidic fluids above my head threatened to inflict serious damage if I let my guard down.
But the me who used to wear low-grade leg armor and dodged attacks based on trajectories was no more.
Now I was… a sword-wielding knight clad in B-rank armor.
No, I was a killing machine.
Clang! Bang!
Despite the frantic attacks from enraged monsters slaughtered kin, I felt no fear as long as I was careful about my face, thanks to my helmet and armor.
Acid? My armor didn’t just not corrode; it left not even a small scratch.
These low-level attacks were far too weak to leave a mark on Huuton’s masterpiece.
With my magic-laden great sword, I sliced through the bugs, taking down three to four at a time, like they were nothing.
Splatter…
A puddle of dozens of corpses and bodily fluids.
In the relentless flurry of strikes, soon there wasn’t a single monster left around me.
Still alive were only those who, under the lingering effects of provocation, burned with agitation and wanted to latch onto Veronica.
Just as I was about to rush in and deal with them, she struck her shield twice with her sword.
Thump! Thud!
[The sound of two strikes echoes with ‘Resonance of Revenge.’]
[The damage received from enemies provoked by ‘Resonance of Provocation’ is released.]
A blue aura began to radiate from Veronica’s entire body.
Hissss…
“Disappear.”
With that short phrase, Booom!!!
In an instant, a shockwave of magical power like violent flames swept around her.
While the effect looked intense, the range wasn’t that wide; nevertheless, it was enough to obliterate the monsters that couldn’t withstand the accumulated damage in an instant.
‘Oh… the half of the corpses I just dealt with are now airborne.’
It’s great and all, but the fact that the corpses of the monsters affected by the Resonance turned to mush due to the shockwave was a bit much…
But it couldn’t be helped. Most of them were taken down by me, so there would be plenty of loot, right?
With the battle finishing up well, I felt relieved.
“Veronica, are you hurt?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not weak enough to be injured by mere monsters like these.”
“Good to hear. Let’s head back and take care of them.”
“I think it’s right to kill them outright… but I’ll follow your orders no matter what is decided. Oh, just a moment.”
Thump! Thump! Boom!
[The sound of three strikes resonates with ‘Absorption Resonance.’]
[You absorb a small amount of mana from the enemies that died to ‘Resonance of Revenge.’]
[‘Resonance of Cycle’ ends.]
What an amazing ability. A linked skill set perfectly fitting for a tank.
Though conditional, if you add the mana that continues to be absorbed to the mana returned after the battle, its sustainability is insane.
“Let’s go.”
Finishing the gathering of absorbed mana, I returned to the rear.
“Did you arrive?”
The adventurers bound by black hands, Lumia who maintained her magic focused, and Yeriell who pointed her staff with sealed lips came into view.
“Peeeee.”
An El glaring at the captured ones looked adorably out of place against Yeriell’s petite body.
Seeing the blood-stained remnants of battle on us, the trio seemed to realize that things were resolved, and they began to plead with pretentious expressions.
“P-Please spare us!”
“We’re victims too! We’ve already lost one comrade, and we just happened to cross paths while fleeing!”
“Honestly, what wrong did we do, aside from wanting to survive, huh?! …I’m sorry for raising my voice. Can you let us go just this once?”
“Ha.”
Victim, my foot. I could only let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. I had mistakenly considered taking a moment to accept some money or goods to spare their lives.
Claiming to be victims when they weren’t using us as bait?
This kind of behavior can only happen if you at least asked for help while fighting alongside, right?
I clearly saw the ugly smiles etched across their faces—thick-skinned bunch, indeed.
If they had entered as a party of three without Veronica, or if I hadn’t managed to find armor and had just thrown something on haphazardly…
Now, I’d be fighting a desperate battle, single-handedly attempting to cope with the dozens of monsters that would spill past us.
In that case, the original source of trouble—the fleeing adventurers—would be out of my reach since the magic would have ceased, and we would be exhausted from dragging out the fight. We would still be alive, but…
‘You want to be spared? Fine. Let’s think it over slowly.’
I began weighing various factors in my mind.
The benefits of sparing them.
Whether there would be any consequences after killing them.
What would the other party members think if I looted the equipment they were wearing after a clean kill.
You know, things like that.
I scrutinized each of them one by one while checking their status windows.
It was obvious there was no need to bother, as they were all average E-rank with only two or three traits.
‘After all this thinking, it seems right to kill them.’
Even if I only stripped them of money or equipment and let them go, it would be asking for later trouble.
If they survive and openly accuse me to the adventurers’ guild, that would create another issue.
The truth doesn’t matter. If I get tarnished, my mentor could end up in trouble too, which is exactly the problem.
I locked eyes with my party members.
Nod.
Both Veronica, who thought it best to kill them, and calm Lumia nodded in agreement.
Even the bright-eyed Yeriell revealed a cold glare.
Seeing me and Veronica smeared in blood, she seemed outraged at this group of nobodies putting us in danger.
“…You vile trash!”
Thud!
Before I could remind Yeriell to tone it down, she exploded with rage.
“What a bunch of scum, thinking they could just offload everything and happily run away! Didn’t the adventurers’ guild tell you not to act like that? Instead of filling your head with knowledge during mandatory education, did you go eat garbage instead? Where did these fools who have nothing but crap in their heads learn this kind of disgusting behavior?!”
Wow. She’s really fired up.
“Well, with a level that low, it’s no wonder you’d be flailing around in the 2nd floor. Want to spare you? What you should wish for is not your life, but your parents, who would be lamenting over your dead corpses!!! Not even human! You should be crying for those vile daughters of goblins—Ack! Ugh!”
[Chaos shakes its head in disbelief, chuckling loudly.]
“Alright, let’s calm down. Okay? There’s no need to waste emotions on those we’re going to kill anyway.”
I patted Yeriell on the back to help her calm down.
When everyone was left speechless and stunned, I slowly removed my hand from her mouth.
“Huff— I-I’m calmed down. Sorry for getting worked up all of a sudden…”
“No worries. Thanks to you, I feel far better now. Well done, well done.”
“Hehe.”
I sighed in relief watching Yeriell giggle again.
“You really showed a side of you I didn’t expect. It’s not often I get this shocked in life.”
Lumia might have already been familiar with this side of her from her sparring session with Isaac, but for Veronica, it was evidently quite the revelation.
Embarrassed by her surprised remark, I gave a half-hearted smile and gripped my sword.
Then, following her words of compliance, Veronica stepped forward.
“I’ll handle this.”
Swish.
She pulled out her sword, saying someone of her knightly standing was enough to deal with such lowly filth.
Then, like an executioner, she swung her sword three times decisively.
“Heartless…”
“Bitch—”
Swish!
Before they could offer any more excuses, their heads rolled, splattering blood as they thudded to the ground.
‘Phew… Yeah. If there are good adventurers in this line of work, surely there are also bad ones.’
When it comes to adventurers, after all, the hardest foes always seemed to be the very adventurers you meet inside a labyrinth.
‘This isn’t a good start. Let’s quickly loot and move on to the next floor.’
Ugh. I fell in the center and now have to find my way out to another area. I need to get out of this damned place as quickly as possible.
*
The party entered the 2nd floor through the layer portal.
The bug zone, notorious for being the worst of the three areas.
True to its name, various bug-type monsters appeared, and the ground was a disgusting mess of fluids and molted exoskeletons.
Chirrip—
The sound of insects buzzing echoed from somewhere.
“Ugh. Is there seriously no way to block this visceral revulsion? Even the second time, it’s still so disgusting…”
“You’ll get used to it. But thanks to your purification, Yeriell, it’s much better.”
“Heh. Right?”
After showing a surprising side of herself, Yeriell and Veronica seemed to feel a bit closer.
“Everyone, be careful not to touch the cocoons.”
According to knowledge Lumia had learned in exploration classes,
If the cocoons scattered around were damaged beyond a certain point, a higher species, the Radiant Spider, would immediately appear.
This giant glowing spider monster was not just extremely strong; its carapace was tougher than steel, and if you got hit by its webs, you could fall victim to hallucinations or blindness. So, unless you explicitly wanted to lure it out for hunting, it was best to steer clear.
‘I knew that giant poisonous spider could spawn randomly, but I had no idea this gimmick was hidden here.’
Ah, it’s no wonder so many rookie adventurers are dying in the bug zone.
So, we navigated past the poisonous puddles and cleverly hidden cocoons, following Lumia’s lead.
Checking the time, it was now around 10 PM.
The ceiling, cloaked in darkness, made it hard to feel the passage of time, but I deemed it was time to rest.
In every area up to the 2nd floor, there existed a resting place where no monsters could encroach, nestled in the crevices of the walls. We set up a summoning circle for our familiars and took turns keeping watch as we rested.
*
As the first day on the 2nd floor came to an end, the next day it felt like we blasted through, as if the difficulty had changed entirely.
We cautiously passed other parties we encountered.
“Kyieeck!”
After swiftly slicing through the monsters blocking our path, we increased our speed.
Days passed, and on the 5th day,
‘Huh. Are we really moving past this without any issues?’
It felt unreal to arrive at the portal without encountering any problems.