Chapter 30 - Before the Fruits of Choice (5)

"Damn it..."

DeathBringer muttered a curse after keeping watch over the horses for more than five hours. It was because his situation had suddenly become annoying.

"Should I have followed them?"

Was it because watching and protecting the horses was too peaceful? Or was it because the mage had said they might have to abandon the city?

A certain someone's figure kept flickering in his mind. Mainly, it was the back of the person who had walked away without looking back even once.

"No, what help could I be by following that?"

Didn't the Demon Knight say so in the first place? That he was weak, that he was a hindrance!

"... Shit."

Even so, the stifling feeling tightening his chest did not go away.

In the end, DeathBringer rubbed his face with dry hands. Nothing washed away.

"Just what the hell am I doing?"

They said the city was in danger, so why did he have to just watch the horses? If they failed, wouldn't he die too anyway? Because they said it was that dangerous of a situation.

However, he knew his own place too well to join them. His specialty was slitting human throats, not demon throats.

"This is all because of Skylar."

He had merely asked to borrow horses, but after grilling him with questions, she had told him, 'You should follow along too.' If it weren't for those words, he would have been getting a good rest in Somon right now.

With his personal safety guaranteed, without hearing abusive remarks about being a hindrance and to piss off, or being called a criminal!

"Helpful, my ass..."

He ground his teeth as he recalled the conversation he had with Skylar when they departed from Somon.

["Kid, keep an eye on him."]

["Huh?"]

["And think about it. If that is what you wanted to become."]

["What are you talking about..."]

["Judge with your own two eyes whether you truly won't regret it if the rest of your life resembles his. It will definitely be helpful for your future."]

What, helpful for the future? Forget keeping an eye on him, he was about to die just for tagging along, so how was that helpful!

And he didn't know why she thought the rest of his life would resemble the Demon Knight's either. He didn't have the slightest intention of becoming a demon hunter.

"Hah, shit. Should I run away even now...?"

He really wanted to do so in his heart, but as expected, he didn't have the confidence to break through the encirclement alone. Damn it. He really shouldn't have followed them.

"Why didn't I think to refuse? Seriously, it pisses me off so... Hmm?"

Then, hold on. He quickly climbed down from the Temple's wall.

As to why he had been on top of the wall... well. That would require a long-winded explanation and wasn't important right now, so it will be omitted.

"... Who the hell are those bastards?"

What he needed to focus on right now was the suspicious group sneaking into the alleyway.

* * *

Just how many Demon Contractors had gathered in the city's underground?

Whenever I tried to catch my breath, enemies swarmed in, and the stifling feeling unique to an enclosed space seemed to exhaust me even more.

The hopeless uncertainty of not knowing the time or when it would end was the same.

I even debated whether I should just leave and come back in the middle of it...

Of course, my roleplay concept and the gamer-specific stubbornness of 'let's see who wins' ended up winning out. Returning just seemed even more of a hassle anyway.

"Phew."

Fortunately, it was slowly nearing its end. Not only had I explored nearly half the map, but I had also succeeded in finding a path leading down.

The tracking skill I had newly invested points into also indicated that the trail continued underground, so it was a sure thing.

"... Let's rest for a moment."

Once I reached the destination, a boss fight would probably break out. As such, I decided to take a moment to resupply for once. Though, all that meant was wrapping my wounds with bandages and sharpening my swords.

"Is this my blood, or the mobs' blood?"

Since my sense of pain was somewhat dulled, it was difficult to locate where I was wounded.

I tried temporarily raising my pain level setting. Was it because I only raised it by 10%? It wasn't much different from before I raised it. Perhaps I just wasn't hurt that much.

However, I felt like it would hurt too much if I raised it any further, so I simply patted myself down to find my injured spots. As it happened, I found a couple of places.

「Hemostatic Bandage | A cloth used for binding wounds. It doesn't have a major effect, but it will be able to stop bleeding.」

For reference, the remake version of 'Legend of Heroes' did not have items that instantly restored HP, such as potions.

Maybe they existed and I just hadn't seen them, or maybe they appeared in the later stages, but either way, it meant I had to rely on natural recovery for now.

Did that mean bandages were unnecessary? No. Bleeding was a status ailment that either lowered the amount of natural recovery or straight up chipped away at your HP depending on its value, and bandages resolved that.

Meaning, while they might not be instantaneous, they weren't useless.

RIIIP.

Bandages were wrapped tightly around my left forearm and right thigh. It was right around then that my HP, which had been hovering in place as it dropped and rose, began to slowly fill up.

Then, it was now time to tend to my swords.

I wiped the blades with the hem of my coat. Since I had nothing else to wipe the blood with, I had to do this, even as a makeshift solution. My clothes automatically washed themselves anyway.

SHK, SHK.

My hands, relying on system correction without any actual knowledge, mechanically maintained the swords. Since it was a task that required no thinking, my head felt numb for a moment.

「A hostile target is present within a 20m radius.」

However, this dungeon did not leave my head alone like that.

I gathered my two mostly maintained swords and looked around. There were no visible markers.

Then why did the notification pop up?

TICK.

Along with the sound of falling stone dust, I lowered my gaze. I could see the marker coming from the hole.

Just how many of them were there? They were climbing up again to stop me.

"Fuck, why aren't the guys who went ahead coming back?"

Well, I wonder why? I quietly placed the lantern on the ground and carefully backed away to the outside of its light. Just as the lantern was bright, the area outside it was eerily dark. Dark enough to hide my body.

"There's no one else left to send out..."

"Stop grumbling. We just have to hold out a little longer."

Soon, one guy climbed out of the hole.

"But who brought a light here? What if we get caught...!"

"I don't know. Let me get up first before you move it. I'm almost there."

And then one more guy.

My hands, buried in the darkness, gripped my two-handed sword like a lance.

"You're all the way up, right? Then I'll move it no—?"

Ah, so he spotted it. Not that it matters.

"Huh?"

It wasn't an official skill, but if I had to name it, wouldn't it be something like a Charging Thrust? I put strength into my legs while entertaining such useless thoughts.

THUD.

With a slight rumble, my body launched forward.

"What are you do—?"

SQUELCH!

Two birds with one stone usually referred to something like this.

Looking at the two people skewered side by side on my two-handed sword, I swung the blade to the right just like that. *SLASH! * It was a bit brutal, but it left the two enemies with definitely fatal wounds.

"Keugh!"

However, since one of them was about to fall down the hole, I urgently grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. It was a natural decision, as if this guy's corpse fell, the guys waiting underground would definitely notice.

Well, considering the existence of the Three-Eyed Hounds, they would probably notice even if I did this anyway.

「❖ What Hides Behind

∎ Search the sewers

∎ Bonus: Eliminate demons 200 / ??」

In the midst of all this, the count had finally hit 200.

I traced back my steps, wondering if I had really killed that many, and realized the numbers had been inflated due to the goblins and skeletons. The Demon Contractors or slightly stronger-looking demons I had killed here didn't even total forty.

Even so, the total amount was still a lot.

"... Ugh, my eyes feel stiff."

I pressed down firmly around my eyes and grabbed the rope inside the hole.

The guys had been blabbering as they climbed up about how they didn't have much time left, so I had to hurry. Considering how far I had come, if I got a failure just because I dawdled a bit, I'd be too pissed off to sleep.

"Once this is over, roleplay concept or whatever, I'm getting a good rest."

I didn't care how much it cost; I was going to find a top-quality, premium inn. I would sleep for about 12 hours under a thick blanket on a soft bed. And after waking up, I'd go buy something delicious to eat.

Just imagining it felt good.

"Alright, let's go."

Dreaming of a comfortable bed and delicious food, I began my descent.

Since I had turned off the retrieved lantern, nothing but pitch-black darkness pressed in on me from all sides.

"Kill him!"

And suddenly, the moment my feet touched the ground, an attack came flying in. Judging by the close range, it seemed to be a Vampire.

"What a useless struggle."

'Ah, I had my hopes up a bit, but they spotted me after all.'

I couldn't hide my disappointment, but assuming a calm tone of voice, I swung my sword. It wasn't too difficult, as I had already gauged the enemies' positions through my enemy detection skill and their audible presence.

If push came to shove, I could just use 'Survival Instinct' to carve out a path.

GRRRR!

GROAAAR.

"Die, you bugs."

Seeing as how their presence could be felt from all directions, the space was probably quite wide. Taking that into account, I slammed down a Ground Crash right from the start, then gripped my True Two-Hander and swung.

SLASH!

The sound of tearing flesh and screams echoed in the unseen darkness. It was a mix of noises from various demons and humans.

"Damn it, I can't launch an attack!"

"Vampires, take the lead! Put the demons in front! We just have to hold out for a few more minutes!"

Right. It meant there were only a few minutes left. Then I needed to move faster.

"Do you think I'll let you...!"

I wildly fired off slashes in all directions like a frenzy. The mana required to use my skills drained rapidly, but it was still better than giving them time to summon a powerful mob.

Of course, it could be a mandatory summoning structure like back in Somon, but that was something to worry about when the time came.

Above all, my mana recovery speed was quite fast, so it was well worth the spamming. Though, I was also tired and simply didn't want to think too deeply about it.

"Aaargh!!"

"I can't see!"

"Keugh!"

'Good. But is there no separate boss room? Is this the boss room?'

It was hard to tell because I couldn't see anything. True to their nature as demons and their contractors, it was quite gloomy that they hadn't lit a single fire.

"Over there!"

Even so, it wasn't like there were absolutely no hints.

I finally spotted the existence of a faintly flowing light. On the floor over there, light was creeping out in the shape of fine cracks. Its appearance exactly resembled the form of a magic circle.

In addition, a thick stench of blood and rotting meat emanated from above it. That was true even for my nose, which had been paralyzed after being pickled in all sorts of sewer stenches.

It was definitely a sacrificial ritual.

"I will kill you all...!"

Therefore, I immediately bolted after the light. To avoid repeating what happened in Somon this time, I also launched slashes as I ran.

I intended to take the heads of at least three of the guys performing the ritual while destroying the magic circle in the process.

"Now!"

However, yes. It was the very next moment that I realized I had misunderstood something.

"Bind him!"

This magic circle wasn't meant for summoning a boss mob.

FLASH!

Even though I killed two of the personnel maintaining the magic circle with slashes and directly stabbed another to death, the magic circle activated in the end. The solid lines of light composing the magic circle grew stronger, reaching the point where it faintly illuminated the surroundings.

The piles of corpses stacked in the darkness became vaguely visible, and as the magic activated, it spat something out.

CLINK!

It wasn't some high-ranking demon, but red and white chains.

"...!"

Driven by curiosity about what that was and the anxiety brought on by my gamer instincts, I hurriedly tried to escape the magic circle.

However, my second mistake was revealed there.

"You're not going anywhere...!"

One of the Vampires I had stabbed tenaciously survived and grabbed my ankle.

CLINK!

It was such a weak struggle that I could have just put some strength into my leg and pulled it out, but I was robbed of at least one second of time.

Thanks to that, the chains reached me and tightly coiled around the arm I was trying to use to resist it.

My right arm, which was holding nothing, was ensnared by the chains.

"I won't fall for this kind of—"

Still, whatever. I easily shattered the Archmage's Binding, so wouldn't I be fine?

Thinking that, I tried to use a skill. *CLINK. * In a flash, my left arm was also bound by the chains.

"What in the...!"

Even if I wanted to shake it off, a firmness incomparable to Binding constricted my arms. Using a skill was out of the question.

Even worse, my neck was bound right after my arms. My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't to the level of strangling me, but it felt like a choker had been tied with zero slack.

"Did we bind him?!"

"We succeeded...!"

Following that, my waist, thighs, and ankles were also entangled in chains. It was right around then that the surroundings brightened.

A magic circle right in the middle, and oil lamps placed sparsely around it. It really looked like a cult's altar.

On another note, was it right to call those oil lamps? Was it an oil lamp if the top of a rectangular piece of marble had been hollowed out, filled with oil, and lit on fire?

I pondered the terminology for a moment before getting a grip on my senses. I was about to die, so I didn't have time to think about that. I had to quickly break free of the chains.

I didn't know where my last save point was, but I had no desire to repeat this all over again.

"How dare you, you worthless bugs...!"

"We caught him!"

"Originally, this was prepared for the Hero, but..."

They must be crazy. Judging purely by their lines, I was practically the final boss.

Since the most vicious and strongest entity in the game was indeed the player, it wasn't exactly wrong, though.

"Since the Hero has also entered the underground tunnel, it shouldn't matter."

"Hah, we're finally going to kill that monster...!"

"Do you think you can bind me with such flimsy chains?!"

I sporadically thrashed my body to break the chains while rapidly wracking my brain.

'Since the Hero has also entered the underground tunnel, it shouldn't matter?' On top of that, this magic circle wasn't a summoning circle but a type that restrained the target.

Moreover, based on what they said, this magic circle binding me seemed originally intended for the Hero... If so, was their original goal to bind the Hero here? If that was truly the case, then what about their remark that it was fine as long as he entered the underground tunnel, even without binding him...?

Ah, my brain was too slow so nothing was coming to mind. This was driving me crazy.

GRRRR.

At that moment, two Three-Eyed Hounds and five skeletons that I hadn't managed to kill slowly approached me. However, it was still impossible to break the chains.

Even if I wanted to use a skill, my body was bound so tightly that I couldn't swing my weapons, so it was completely meaningless.

I definitely had the absolute certainty that the dark energy from my weapons would snap the chains if it struck them, but I couldn't do that one thing.

It was a truly irritating situation.

Wait, so am I really going to die here? Wow, this is going too far. No, dying itself was understandable so I didn't care, but it wouldn't send me back to the very beginning, right? The save points are set up properly, aren't they?

Or, could it really be...?

I let out a breath through my choked throat.

You see, I'd been agonizing over this ever since I was trapped in the game.

If the player character died, or the city fell, or something somehow went wrong and triggered a GAME OVER.

At that point, would I be logged out, or would there be a Retry, or if not even that...

GRRRR.

I let out a faint breath as I stared at the Three-Eyed Hound standing right in front of me.

Ah, a Retry really had the highest chance, didn't it? I felt that logging out would be the best outcome, but honestly, the chances of that seemed far too low.

If so, that ultimately meant the former. Retrying after dying to a dog or a pile of bones?

Wow. That's way too embarrassing. Even if I was setting up for a retry, I should at least be caught by the boss, not by trivial trash mobs like these.

Therefore, therefore, I...

I felt like it wasn't right to stop here.

I resumed my briefly paused resistance. It would have been nice if I could use skills even bare-handed. Then I felt like I would get an opening to put some strength into it and swing. Those thoughts came as a bonus.

Even to my own mind, it was undeniably an atrocious level of shamelessness. Begging to expand my skill application range when I was already leeching off bugs like crazy. I really had no conscience.

SHHH.

But the game actually listened to it.

The dark effect that usually only flared up when I used skills surged up in streams from the gauntlet on my right arm.

"No! Kill him now!"

"This was a binding made by sacrificing 40 people...!"

"Hah—!"

What is this? What is this? Seriously, what is this?

However, I wasn't someone to miss an opportunity, so I immediately put strength into my arm. Acting out a laugh that matched my concept was an added bonus.

"I'm sure I told you...!"

The chains that hadn't budged an inch began to make a squeaking noise for the first time. The sentiments of 'these game bugs are insane' and 'except for the logout issue, this is a god-tier game' intersected in my mind.

"Do not think you can stop me with something like this!"

SHATTER!

Along with a clear, ill-fitting sound, the chains on my right arm shattered into pieces.