Chapter 190 - Carried by Gear (5)

No. 8667, Outlaw of the Barren Lands.

A Numbered item worn by the Therianthrope swordsman on the dwarf's team. As befitted its low standing in the numbering, it offered no stats and was relatively cheap. Its active effect was rather situational.

Increased melee physical damage against humanoid “monsters,” with the increase scaling with their numbers?

No wonder there was little demand among explorers. There were only so many humanoid monsters in the Labyrinth, and even those never traveled in hordes like this.

'And its cooldown is a whole day.'

Unless you were fighting a doppelgänger or that thing on the fifth floor, it was practically impossible to put to proper use. Acquiring it had dramatically improved our odds of winning.

Without it, would our chances have been about fifty-fifty?

「Seal release rate: 70%」

Just then, the magic circle shone again, announcing that the seal was close to breaking. The rate rose by 5% for every ten copies, which meant, by my calculations, that more than sixty had already been summoned.

「Current increase: 401%.」

But it still wasn't enough.

As planned, we pressed against the wall in a tight formation. And then...

“Barhatun Wiar.”

Raven summoned a stone wall with her magic. We'd decided to hold out until the moment came.

We hadn't walled ourselves off completely, though. We'd left a gap on one side wide enough for two or three people to pass through. It was Raven's idea. Apparently, if we blocked them completely, they'd try to break through, but if we left a path, they'd take it.

'It actually works.'

I held my ground, blocking the only passage. In my current state, a swing of my mace would kill any copy in a hit or two, even one that looked like me... but I forced down the urge. Killing copies wasn't our objective.

BOOM!

Like a crowd of protesters, the copies shoved one another as they charged at me. Not all of them, of course.

“They've made a hole over there, nyah!!”

One copy had broken through the stone wall to make its own path. I briefly turned to check, and of course, it was one of mine.

“Mr. Jandel, focus on your side! We'll handle this!”

The melee fighters and the Iron Bear summoned by Mister Bear hastily formed a living wall to block the copies, but it wasn't easy. We were working under a massive handicap.

“Ah! Don't kill them!”

Hold them back without attacking. Unless you were a dedicated tank, that condition was inevitably hard to fulfill. The sounds of a desperate struggle kept coming from behind me.

But there was nothing I could do for them. Going to help would only throw everything off.

RUMBLE!

About two minutes later, the cavern shook again.

「Seal release rate: 90%」

It was finally time to settle this.

“Mr. Jandel!”

Since the ceiling was low, I used just a little force to jump straight up. A “short hop,” in technical terms.

「The character's total weight is at least 500 kg.」

「The special terrain effect [Rebound] is additionally applied within the damage radius.」

The copies and my teammates all flew into the air at once. The instant I landed, I charged forward, trampling over the copies.

「Threat stat temporarily increases significantly.」

Thanks to my heightened Threat stat, the copies scrambled to their feet and rushed me like zombies. Soon, tremendous resistance pressed against my shield.

“Behel—raaaaaaa!!”

Had about ten seconds passed?

Shoving everything aside like a bulldozer, I finally reached my destination.

BANG! BANG!

The main body was still repeatedly bursting apart as it used [Autoreproduction]. I swung my mace without another moment's hesitation.

THUD!

It felt like hitting tofu. But it was enough to register as damage.

“Skreeeeeeee!!”

The main body stopped its endless [Autoreproduction] and transformed into me. In its berserk mode, however, it looked a little different from before. Two heads sprouted above its shoulders.

'Me and Aynar... '

Damn it, why her of all people?

A doppelgänger that could use Aynar's Essences on top of my skills.

「Nameless Usurper has cast [Swing].」

「Nameless Usurper has cast [Double Slash].」

The force of the impact was on another level. Without the Guard Corps’ Symbol, I definitely would've been sent flying backward. On top of that, the summoned copies were closing in and attacking from every direction.

But...

WHOOSH!

I ignored all of it and swung my mace. The two barbarian heads atop the main body's necks gave me nasty grins. Grins that said, You think that'll work?

I simply smiled right back.

「Current increase: 771%.」

You're not the only one with a buff.

I call this maximum-DPS Bar bar ian Mode.

KABOOOOM!!

I cast [Swing] with all my strength. The doppelgänger blocked with its shield as usual, but its body staggered, leaving an opening. Without giving it time to recover, I swung my mace again.

CRUNCH!

Aynar's head was pulverized in a single blow. Since it had two heads, that alone didn't bring it down.

Not a problem. I just had to hit it once more.

CRUNCH!

With both heads gone, the doppelgänger immediately reverted to slime. Then it hardened.

「Doppelgänger has cast [Crystallization].」

Its final desperate move when death was near. Though, to call it a desperate move was understating a fairly troublesome mechanic.

「Magic damage taken is reduced by 99%.」

「Physical damage taken is reduced by 90%.」

Practically immune to magic damage, and it shaved off ninety percent of physical damage. A fucking broken skill.

And if we didn't break it in time, we'd have to repeat the whole thing from the beginning.

Ridiculous as it sounded, that was the normal strategy. Mass summoning, transformation, crystallization. You repeated that cycle, accumulating damage on the “crystal” until you shattered it to clear the fight.

KABOOOM!

But we had to stake everything on this one attempt. That was why we'd left the copies alive.

“Raven!!”

At my shout, Raven and Parteian immediately cast their spells. Not attack spells, but Mana Shield, which we'd also used during the earlier PK fight against the dwarf's team.

Raven shouted urgently, “It won't last long!”

I knew that without being told. Just look at how many copies surrounded me. The spell already had a high mana cost, and with this many enemies, both mages would run dry in under a minute.

Which was why...

KABOOOOM!

Trusting in the thick layer of mana over my skin, I focused solely on smashing the crystallized doppelgänger.

KABOOOOM!

I would never have used this tactic without Outlaw of the Barren Lands. I'd probably have cleared out the copies first, then had everyone attack together, worrying all the while that we wouldn't have enough damage.

CRACK!

On my fourth [Swing], the first mark appeared on the crystal. It amazed me all over again. I'd faced the [Crystallization] mechanic several times, but to have gotten this far already?

Just how much damage was I dealing? I couldn't put a number to it, but it was truly astounding.

Because I still had something left to use.

「The character has cast [Leap].」

Another short hop.

「Threat stat temporarily increases significantly.」

And then...

“Behel—raaaaaaa!!”

Straight into [Wild Outburst].

「The character's Threat stat temporarily triples, and Physical stats increase in proportion to it.」

Tremendous power surged from my entire body. Of course, that intoxicating rush would only last a very short time. But I'd decided that would be enough.

「The destructive power of blunt weapons greatly increases in proportion to Strength.」

A miraculous law of exchange: Threat became Strength, and Strength became the destructive power of my blunt weapon.

「Current increase: 771%.」

And now, add Outlaw of the Barren Lands on top?

Ninety-percent physical immunity or whatever—it was practically beneath my notice.

KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Because my damage was multiplying right now.

* * *

「Doppelgänger defeated. EXP +6

「Guardian kill bonus. EXP +3」

* * *

How long had I been pounding the crystal with my mace like a man possessed?

I wasn't sure, but it was around the time Mana Shield wore off and injuries started rapidly accumulating on my body.

CRAAACK!

The crystal, webbed with cracks like a broken mirror, finally shattered like an exploding grenade.

Calling it a close shave wouldn't be quite right.

'About a minute, huh... '

It had broken much faster than I'd expected. I'd even considered having everyone drop everything and pile on damage, but no last-minute complication had forced us to use Plan B.

'Yeah. I deserve days like this, too.'

I was happy, but somehow there was a bitter edge to it. After all, nobody called it good luck just because no unexpected disaster had happened.

'No, it's still too early to relax.'

I shook off those distracting thoughts and focused. Hadn't four Hans Gs appeared against impossible odds just after the boss fight started?

There was still the possibility of a variant rupture like Blood-Tinted Castle—

SHHHHH!

Just then, the shattered fragments of the main body turned into motes of light and dispersed into the air. The same happened to all the copies filling the cavern.

WHOOOOSH!

A portal leading to the fourth floor opened in the center, too.

We really had cleared the rupture.

“Huh! What? Did we get it?!”

“Ugh, I thought I was going to die, nyah. Aruru, can you give me a potion, nyah?”

“Later. It's not a serious injury, is it? We need to check that first! Essence? A Numbered item? A Rupture Stone? What dropped—”

Oh, right. We needed to check that, too. I'd been watching our surroundings in case something else happened, so I hadn't gotten a proper look.

Now it was time to collect the Guardian's rewards, the crowning glory of a rupture. Swallowing hard, I looked toward where the doppelgänger had been.

“...”

“...”

There was nothing there.

'Could this be the Hans effect?'

The thought occurred to me, but blaming Hans for everything wasn't healthy. The drop rate for an Essence or Numbered item was only 33%, after all.

Granted, not even getting a Rupture Stone with its 66% drop rate stung a little...

'... It happens all the time.'

It had happened often in the game, too. Fighting for your life to clear a rupture, only to get no reward whatsoever.

“... Mr. Jandel, snap out of it. These things happen.”

“R-right! We've already gotten all sorts of things, nyah.”

As I stood frozen, my teammates apparently felt awkward and offered words of comfort.

Tch. It's not like I was angry.

'... So the PK loot is all we get in the end?'

It felt a little hollow, but when I thought about it, even feeling disappointed was ridiculous. I couldn't imagine how much we'd get from selling all that equipment. We were already guaranteed our highest earnings ever, and I'd even absorbed the Manticore Essence.

'... Yeah, that alone is practically as good as getting a doppelgänger Essence.'

Hmm. Was this the power of positive thinking? I suddenly felt a little more energized.

“Misha, how's your injury?”

“Huh? Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, nyah. Just a scratch, nyah!”

“Drink a potion first.”

Putting my disappointment behind me, I checked on my teammates and started dealing with the aftermath of the battle. Raven gave a small chuckle as she watched.

“You really do act like a leader at times like this.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No, I actually meant it this time?”

“...”

“Aruru, don't tease him too much, nyah. You'll embarrass Bjorn, nyah.”

What was she talking about?

“Then we'd better head back up.”

Once we'd more or less wrapped things up, I led the group back to the forest. All the doppelgängers up there had already disappeared, too.

“You're safe! Thank goodness!!”

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Sarman.”

We picked up the Guide girl we'd left at the altar and handed her over to the blunt-weapon warrior. Incidentally, the dwarf team's archer, whom we'd offered to the altar, was already dead.

“But what happened to this man...?”

“Uh, well... I was worried he might wake up...”

Apparently, she'd killed him before he could regain consciousness. That was a little impressive. Whatever else she might be, she was an explorer, too.

I checked the archer's equipment and backpack just in case, but it didn't look like the Guide girl had secretly pocketed anything. That concluded our business together.

“Oh, I should give this back. It came in handy.”

“Keep it.”

“Really?”

Parteian gave Raven the Broken Trust he'd lent her. Though all its uses had been exhausted, it wasn't a worthless gift. There were ways to replenish its charges. Even selling it as it was would fetch several hundred thousand Stones.

“Thank you for saving us. If you ever need my help, come find me. Anytime.”

Just as I was wondering whether empty thanks were all I was getting, Parteian handed me a visitor's pass bearing the emblem of the Narman School.

Hmm. Apparently, he really meant it. I'd hold on to this and go straight to him when I needed something.

'This feels like I've just completed a side quest.'

After briefly saying goodbye to the blunt-weapon warrior and the Guide girl as well, we escorted them to the portal.

“Aren't you coming out, too?”

“We don't get to enter ruptures every day, do we? I'd like to look around a little longer and do some research.”

“Hmm, I see?”

Parteian nodded meaningfully, as though he had a general idea, and Raven gave an awkward smile.

“Well, we'll be off.”

Soon, they passed through the portal and returned to where they'd come from.

“They'll... be all right, won't they?”

“Worrying like this isn't like you. What's the matter?”

“Mages are supposed to worry about each other and look after one another, you know?”

“That's not what I meant. I meant there's no need to worry. It's only the fourth floor.”

Hans G and the elf archer were dead, but Sky Tower was a floor where you could hunker down and wait if you wanted. The three of them would probably kill time and return to the city, just as we had before.

“True... You have a point.”

Leaving the portal behind, we climbed back up to the forest.

There was still something left to collect.