Chapter 138 - Awakening (1)

The Dragonslayer, Ligar Vagos.

A Draconic human who had incurred a dragon's curse after murdering his clan's primordial dragon, which served as its chieftain.

The bastard vanished after the incident, only to begin operating as a member of Orculus about ten years ago by single-handedly launching a terrorist attack on the Fairy Sanctuary.

His main weapon was an Arc longsword nicknamed the Dragonslayer Sword, and he reportedly had six confirmed Essences...

'Three grade fives, two grade fours, and one grade three.'

Judging by his known Essences, he was close to a typical swordsman built around raw stats. All his skills strengthened himself—a class with practically no bad matchups as long as his equipment could keep up.

Well, the information was ten years old, so some of it might have changed...

But that was unlikely.

How would a criminal bastard get his Essences removed?

'Which is why he crawled all the way in here for this one item.'

Incidentally, the Draconic Tongue I had been most worried about—the Draconic humans' unique skill—was reportedly sealed by the dragon's curse.

That was welcome news.

Honestly, finding out he was a Draconic human had scared the shit out of me.

“That is everything I know.”

“I see. Thank you. That helped a great deal.”

Having learned about the enemy from Rotmiller, I calmly organized my thoughts.

While running toward our destination, of course.

TAP TAP TAP!

First off, the Dragonslayer, Ligar Vagos.

He was a far bigger name than I had ever expected.

Without Guardian of Balance, he probably would have cut off my head before I could even register what was happening, gem or no gem.

TAP TAP TAP!

An inexplicable chill ran through me as I checked the time.

[08 : 57]

Roughly three hours had passed since we encountered him.

In other words, the game of tag would begin in nine hours.

Assuming he actually kept his promise, of course, but still.

'Twelve hours...'

That still bothered me.

My confident attitude, backed by a warrior's oath, had convinced him to accept the deal, either on the off chance I meant it or because he figured he had nothing to lose.

But...

'If not for that goddamn ring, he might have readily agreed to wait a whole day.'

Twenty-four hours and twelve hours were worlds apart. A full day would have let us gather everything we needed and still get some rest at the end.

'Whew. Nothing ever goes smoothly.'

A sigh escaped me, but I steeled my resolve.

The goblin trap, that psychopathic bitch, the Blood-Tinted Castle, Witch's Forest, the Floor lord, and on and on.

Recalling those desperate moments, I swept aside my distracting thoughts and engraved a single goal in their place.

Survive.

All of us together, if possible.

No matter what.

“Bjorn, we're here.”

Just as my thoughts reached that point, Rotmiller stopped.

A dead end stood before us.

The corner at eleven o'clock, closest to the boss room.

Simply put, the location of the second miniboss.

CLICK. RRRUMBLE.

Rotmiller operated the mechanism, and the wall slid aside to reveal a hidden space.

WHOOSH.

As we stepped inside, torches flared to life, illuminating the stone chamber.

There was only one difference between this place and the seven-o'clock corner where Baphomet had appeared.

“Ugh, I think the other one was better.”

Instead of goat heads, the chamber held a mountain of corpses with their eyes gouged out.

I pressed through the stench and let a drop of blood fall onto the magic circle.

「The demon of the Labyrinth detects blood.」

Okay, that was one thing secured.

* * *

「Defeated Argos. EXP +5」

「Advanced Mutant variety kill bonus. EXP +1」

* * *

Larukaz' Maze contained many hidden spaces besides the miniboss chambers.

Their rewards varied. They might contain single-use consumables or spawn rare monsters.

Though what I needed was something else.

'Another dud?'

After defeating Argos, we concentrated on searching the surrounding area for hidden rooms.

We didn't have enough time to hunt another miniboss, and besides...

My plan required us to find that room.

'Whew. At least we're finding them pretty regularly.'

With Rotmiller leading our dedicated search, we discovered a hidden room about once every two hours.

It was thanks to his Sixth Sense stat, which had shot up when the Dragonslayer's party entered. He had an uncanny knack for finding things he would previously have walked right past without a second thought.

The problem was that we still hadn't found the room I wanted.

[05 : 30]

Time passed, and before we knew it, the twelve hours he had promised us were almost over.

“Wait, stop a moment. I have a strange feeling.”

Rotmiller halted the party, then searched the surrounding walls and found a hidden room.

SHHHK.

A stone chamber measuring roughly ten to thirteen square meters, with neither monsters nor hidden treasure.

After a quick look inside, I closed it again.

'Found it.'

At last, I had everything needed for the first stage of my plan.

So I called a halt and gave everyone time to rest.

“Everyone, get some rest. I'll stand watch.”

“Rest? What exactly is this room...?”

“I'll explain everything if we get out alive. For now, just do as I say.”

“... All right.”

My firm tone made the dwarf drop his questions.

No, rather than abandoning them, he had probably decided to trust me for now and stop prying.

“Whew...”

As my exhausted companions closed their eyes, I let out a long breath.

Whatever I might tell the others, just thinking about coming up with an excuse for Rotmiller already gave me a headache.

From dropping blood onto a magic circle to summon a miniboss right up to this very moment, there were far too many things that “I read it in a book” couldn't reasonably explain.

'Anyway, I'll think about that later...'

Taking another deep breath, I pushed aside my worries about the future.

I'd find some way to explain it away.

Yes, as long as we made it back alive.

Deciding to focus only on the present, I sorted through my thoughts one last time.

[“Didn't you say you thought the portal was at the center? Aren't we going there?”]

The reason we hadn't headed for the portal was simple.

He would be there for those twelve hours anyway.

If we went there and he decided we were trying to escape, the twelve hours I'd worked so hard to secure would become worthless.

I had judged that spending that time preparing was the right choice.

But...

'He must be setting out to look for us by now.'

The promised twelve hours were over.

Fortunately, we had finished our initial preparations in time, giving us at least a little rest before he arrived.

Still, the situation remained bleak.

'Less than a ten percent chance of success.'

That was all an objective assessment gave us.

Only six of his Essences were known, after all. Two or three remained shrouded in mystery, leaving unknown variables, and the greatest obstacle—the high priest of Carui—was still there.

That was why...

I took out the brilliantly red gem and gripped it tightly.

I had swallowed it to hold it hostage, but as soon as we were safe, I had used [Gigantification] and thrown it back up.

The final reward of Larukaz' Maze, the very item that the notorious criminal known as the Dragonslayer had so desperately sought.

'Restrained Hope.'

I hadn't wanted to use it now if I could help it.

This item only delivered its maximum value when used on a grade-four Guardian Essence.

But I wouldn't be able to use it at all if I died.

'I guess I have no choice.'

I made my decision.

Even I couldn't know how things would unfold from here.

And if I didn't use this now, I wouldn't get another chance.

“...”

This quiet, like the calm before a storm, would end before long.

I needed to make whatever preparations I could in advance.

Once it began, I wouldn't have time to use it even if I wanted to.

'It's a bit of a waste, but...'

I tightened my grip.

CRACK!

The gem shattered, spilling brilliant red light.

By the time I came to my senses...

「The character has used ‘Restrained Hope’.」

「The character is moving to the Chamber of Balance.」

I was standing somewhere unfamiliar.

* * *

WHOOSH!

A flame rose into the air, lighting the space.

I took a step forward and glanced around.

TAP.

A stone chamber reminiscent of the Sky Tower.

The floating flame flickered blue, illuminating three stone doors around the edges.

'Interesting.'

So this was what it looked like in reality.

In the game, all I had to do was use the keyboard to make my selection.

「Select the Essence you wish to replace.」

I carefully examined the unique mural on each stone door. They weren't colored, but they weren't difficult to recognize.

TAP.

A hideous monster made of tightly packed, moving masses of rotting arms and legs.

'That would be the Corpse Golem.'

Something humanoid with pointed fangs and sharp nails, its glowing red eyes depicted with crimson gems.

'This one's the Vampire.'

A muscular warrior roaring in front of a gigantic flag.

'And this must be the Orc Hero.'

Each door depicted one of the three Essences I had absorbed so far. There were no instructions, but what I had to do was clear.

Opening the door I wanted would presumably replace the corresponding Essence.

That was what Restrained Hope did.

A gacha item that exchanged an Essence of grade four or below for a random Essence of the same grade.

TAP.

I approached one of the doors without hesitation.

I had already decided what to choose.

'Orc Hero.'

Obviously, not that one.

It might only be grade five, but it was a core Essence in my final build.

'Corpse Golem.'

Pain Tolerance had proved surprisingly useful, but its abilities weren't actually much help to me.

That was why I had been keeping it until all my Essence slots were full, planning to remove it then.

Still, this one was out too.

Why would I waste Restrained Hope on a grade-seven Essence?

'Vampire.'

Standing before the stone door depicting that monster, I reached out.

A skill set and stats well suited to a tank.

And since I had obtained it by killing a rupture Guardian, it was a rare Essence with all three skills attached.

Restrained Hope had a hidden feature, too.

「Selected Vampire's Essence.」

「This is a Guardian's Essence.」

「The grade of available Essences increases.」

Sacrificing a Guardian's Essence raised the grade of the Essences available to choose from.

Simply put, offering a grade-four Guardian's Essence made it possible to obtain a grade-three Essence.

'That's probably what that bastard's doing. Considering he came all this way for this one item.'

I had done the same thing in the game.

Whenever I absorbed a high-grade Guardian Essence that didn't suit my character, I sought out Larukaz' Maze to try my luck.

Yet here I was, using this item on a grade-five Guardian Essence—one that was actually useful to me, no less.

“Whew...”

Forcing my regrets aside, I stepped through the open door.

Before I had taken more than a few steps, the straight passage ended. Flames blazed up, revealing three stone doors.

WHOOSH!

Fitting for an item themed around balance, the three doors depicted one monster each of the Physical, Mental, and Ability types.

So far, it was no different from the usual process.

But what on earth was this?

「No one currently possesses this Essence.」

「The Guardian of Balance acknowledges its rarity and presents new choices befitting its value.」

I froze as I examined the murals one by one.

The first choice was this:

A skeletal mage holding a staff in one hand and a chest containing a red gem in the other.

The grade-four monster, Lich.

A typical special-powers monster with the Passive Skill [Chest of Souls] and several destructive active skills.

None of that was a problem.

It was the gem embedded above the door that made no sense.

'... Rainbow-colored?'

Earlier, the Corpse Golem's door had a black gem, and the Orc Hero's had a green one. That had led me to believe they represented the colors of the Essences.

But rainbow-colored?

Wasn't that the same color as the gem above the Vampire's door, which had been a Guardian Essence?

'Then did I actually roll a Guardian Essence?'

I quickly checked the remaining doors.

The grade-four monster, Soul Colossus.

A spirit-type monster with no stats like Strength or Agility, everything invested in Mental stats instead.

Its gem's color likewise indicated a Guardian.

Even this could have been chalked up to luck.

Though very rarely, Guardian Essences did sometimes appear among the choices.

But...

'This can't be a coincidence.'

The final choice presented to me.

After checking the Physical-type monster, I had to admit it.

This wasn't luck at all. There were simply still mechanics in this game that I didn't know about.

WHOOSH!

The gem gleaming in the flickering flames was red.

In other words, it wasn't a Guardian's Essence.

But what did that matter in this situation?

TAP.

I walked toward the door as though entranced.

Unbelievable as it was, the mural on it could mean only one thing.

TAP.

A grade-three monster.

And a boss-class monster that operated alone, at that.

Simply put, defeating it required a raid of rank-three and rank-four explorers.

The very monster that boasted the greatest physical combat capabilities of any ground-dwelling monster.

'Ogre.'

I opened the door without hesitation.

Hallelujah.