Chapter 213 - Discarded Pawns (2)

The fog-shrouded Crystal Cave on the first floor.

Amid the sprawled corpses and the metallic stench of blood, a man snickered as he chatted with a companion.

Their conversation was nothing special. Just filthy talk about how pretty the woman they had killed earlier was, and whether that made killing her a bit of a waste.

As always, it ended in complaints.

“Tsk. Stuck here like this, we never get to have any fun.”

“Haha, look at it another way. Doesn't that mean it's less dangerous?”

“... You're positive for no damn reason.”

“But I'm not wrong, am I?”

“Well, no, but...”

Swallowing his complaints, the man took some jerky from his pocket and chewed it. For someone who was little more than a bottom-rung grunt, it was his first taste of meat in a very long time. With access to the Labyrinth cut off for seven months, Noark, which he belonged to, was suffering a severe food shortage.

'... We can win, right?'

He shook his head at the sudden flicker of unease. It wasn't a question of whether they could win. They had to win. Only then could they eat and live like human beings—even if home was an underground city untouched by a single ray of light.

“Rex, focus on the mission.”

The man, who had been resting against the wall, sighed at his captain's words and straightened up.

“You look dissatisfied.”

He answered honestly.

“We haven't seen anyone for over two hours.”

“And?”

“So no one's coming anyway. All the bastards who were going to get inside already have, and the rest are either dead or have run far away.”

Besides, their assigned area was a considerable distance from the central Dark Region. They wouldn't encounter anyone coming out of it, either.

“You never know. Keep watching the perimeter.”

“Yes, yes.”

Giving his rigid captain a perfunctory reply, the man took up a position at one of the branching passages.

The fog kept him from seeing far, but he felt no apprehension. Even if something did come charging out, what did it matter?

'With this many of us here?'

It would just mean more loot to bring back to Noark.

Just as he was thinking that...

“Captain! Someone's coming!”

A companion standing watch at another passage shouted. The man grabbed his weapon and headed over.

'Someone actually came?'

It was a little unexpected, but he still wasn't worried.

'Do they have no idea what's happening here?'

Probably. Anyone who knew even a little about the situation wouldn't dream of trying to break through here. They must have headed this way without knowing any—

“Huh?”

The man tilted his head. He wasn't the only one. Everyone listened with puzzled faces.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

What the hell was that sound?

“Footsteps?”

Someone muttered it, but that didn't explain anything. How could those be human footsteps? A large monster like a troll, maybe.

'Wait, but there aren't any monsters like that on the first floor.'

An inexplicable sense that something was wrong made him tighten his grip on his weapon.

Then it happened.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!”

It emerged from the murky fog with a savage roar.

“Wh-what the hell is this bastard?!”

“Stop him!!”

It was a single barbarian.

An enormous one.

* * *

Survival means shedding things.

What will you discard to stay alive?

The process follows a strict order of priorities. Humans are rational beasts, after all.

THUMP!

You see it in movies all the time. People throwing away load after load so a helicopter can take off, a boat won't sink, or they can escape an enemy in pursuit.

The more you discard, the better your chances of survival.

But...

THUMP!

Reality is decidedly different from the movies. It isn't so kind. What we have to discard to live isn't mere luggage, but something else.

THUMP!

Versil probably knew that. That must be why she abandoned us without a moment's hesitation, leaving us with only these words:

[“I hope you won't hold this against me.”]

Of course, I don't hold it against her. I know it was an entirely rational decision. She had her priorities, and she boldly shed everything else for their sake.

Just as I have now.

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!”

I roar and drive forward through my toes. Resistance unlike anything I've ever felt keeps coursing through the shield clutched in both hands.

It feels like pushing upstream against a tidal wave with nothing but a shield.

Well, perhaps that isn't such a bad description, even if it's a little exaggerated.

“Wh-what the hell is this bastard?!”

“Stop him!!”

I'm clearing a path at the very front, shoving through the swarming enemies to cover a distance that takes twenty minutes at a run.

Like a tank on a battlefield.

“Bjorn!!!”

Misha follows right behind me. Her role is simple: finish off the enemies my charge knocks aside.

SLASH!

It doesn't matter if she can't kill them in one hit. Our goal isn't to thin their numbers anyway... and we have more fighters behind her.

“You fucking bitch—!”

If Misha is our first filter, the second consists of Mister Bear and Raven, who is riding on Aynar's back.

BOOOOM!

Any enemy Misha fails to finish is invariably greeted by crossbow bolts and magic before they can even get up.

Of course, it's no problem if that doesn't finish them either. There are plenty more filters behind them.

“Erwin, be careful!”

There's the ranged-damage sister duo, Erwin and Daria. Right behind them comes Takellan's team, whose average rank is five, and finally Lantern Jaw's team at the very rear.

It's much like medieval cavalry.

“Aaaaaaaargh!!!”

Our only objective is to charge.

Enemies the front fails to finish are dealt with by those following behind. Even if some survive the final filter, it doesn't matter.

That's for the rear guard to handle, isn't it?

'You brought it on yourself.'

When I proposed this strategy and arranged the formation, Lantern Jaw insisted on taking the very rear, even handing the elf sisters over to us to secure it.

His reasoning was obvious. Since we would be charging, he must have decided the very front would be the most dangerous. He probably thought he could pull out if something unexpected happened, too.

He was treating Erwin and her sister, who were former mercenaries, as disposable pawns.

'Fucking moron.'

The riskiest position in this strategy is the very rear. For now, they can enjoy an easy ride while we handle everything up front... but that can't last forever.

Though I didn't expect the crisis to arrive quite this quickly.

THOOOM!!

A massive impact reverberates through my shield. Even driving hard through my toes, I can't push forward.

I lower my shield a little to see what's ahead.

“Well, aren't you a fucking lunatic.”

A warrior from the Black Bear Tribe, the same tribe as Mister Bear, blocks my path. With [Gigantification] active, I'm about one and a half times his size.

But...

'Goddammit.'

Just how much Strength does this guy have?

Once again, I'm struck by the caliber of Noark's explorers, but I'm not particularly worried.

“Barbarian, do you think you're some hero out of a story—”

Letting the bear bastard's babble go in one ear and out the other, I shout behind me.

“Raven, now!!”

I'm no hero who can take on ten thousand men.

But neither is he.

“Everyone, get back!!”

At the same moment Raven's warning rings out, an explosive force slams into me from behind.

「Allua Raven has cast the grade-six support spell [Oxygen Explosion].」

A wind-element support spell of no less than grade six. The reason she detonated it behind me is simple: it does little damage, but it has a high-grade knockback effect.

“Ugh! What the...!”

The deadlock breaks. Like a sail, I use the wind to propel myself forward and shove the enemy back.

And then...

“N-no—!”

CRUNCH.

The bear bastard loses his balance and falls backward. I use [Leap] from a standstill to stomp on his face, then dash forward.

Well, he seems to be a tank too, so that alone won't kill him...

SHUNK!

Before long, I hear flesh being pierced behind me.

Huh. Sounds like stabbing tofu.

High Strength, but low Physical Resistance, I guess?

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!”

The bear bastard's brief interruption has allowed enemies to gather behind us, so I boost my Physical stats with [Wild Outburst] and resume the charge.

But...

“We need to move faster!!”

I can't build up the same speed as before. That's a very big problem.

One weakness of cavalry is that once their breakthrough stalls, they end up surrounded.

“You crazy fuckers!!”

“Kill them!!”

Enemies knocked down by our charge rise like zombies and rush my companions. Until now, we've been plowing through them one-sidedly. Now we have to fight our way through a chaotic melee.

SLASH! SHUNK! CRUNCH! BOOOOM!

The sounds of fierce combat overlap behind me. Naturally, I can't tell exactly what's happening.

But that only makes me keep my eyes fixed ahead.

“Bjorn, don't worry about us back here, nyah!!”

Of course I'm worried. This is a battlefield where people die like flies. I'm afraid a stray blade might gravely wound someone.

SLASH!

I don't know whose body that sound of pierced flesh came from.

Could it be Misha? Aynar? Raven, or Mister Bear?

Terrible possibilities keep playing through my mind.

But what can I do?

“VEHELLLAAAAAA!!”

Stopping here would only make things worse. Carrying the fear I haven't managed to discard, I focus everything on the single role I've been given.

“Wh-what strength!”

Simply opening a path. Trusting my companions with my back and pressing doggedly onward.

That's what I must do right now—and what no one but me can do.

[“The good news is, we're almost there. We can reach the Dark Region in twenty minutes at a run.”]

Time passes like an eternity inside the cave, amid sweat, blood, and screams.

'Has it been about three minutes?'

It feels like a full hour has passed, but in reality, it can't have been more than that. By now, I can tell roughly where I am on the first floor just by looking at the walls.

'Goddammit.'

It feels like being trapped in a cave where time itself is warped. I keep checking my position, using it to estimate how much time has passed.

Four minutes. Five minutes. Six minutes.

And then...

'Seven minutes.'

We suffer our first death.

“Kayenne!! Kayenne's hurt!! Help me. W-we need to support him together...!”

“Let go, Lena.”

“What? But...!”

“He's... already dead.”

“...”

“We're leaving him here.”

Kayenne was an archer on Takellan's team. That's about all I know, but he made a pretty good impression when we introduced ourselves.

'Eight minutes.'

Someone summons a barrier that blocks our path. I immediately change course, taking a side passage. It's an improvisation I couldn't have managed without Rotmiller's navigation lessons.

'That'll add at least three minutes.'

The bad news doesn't end there.

'Nine minutes.'

Another person dies. This time, it's a member of Lantern Jaw's team following us at the very rear.

And one more thing.

“Bjorn, Misha's hurt!!”

Misha has been injured.

“Where, and how badly?”

“B-below her left chest! Her organs aren't—”

“Give her a potion while you run. Aynar, carry Misha too!”

Thankfully, her life isn't in danger. But Aynar, who had been helping fight one-handed even while carrying Raven, is now reduced to carrying people.

'Ten minutes.'

As expected, more bad news comes from behind.

“Mr. Jandel! Those people behind us are gone!!”

Lantern Jaw's team, our rear guard, has fled. Seeing someone die up ahead must have convinced them this wasn't going to work...

I misjudged him.

'I didn't think the bastard was this brainless.'

I never imagined he'd be stupid enough to think he could escape on his own with enemies all around us.

Fuck, if you're going to kill yourself, at least die doing something for us.

In any case, their departure puts a much greater burden on Takellan's team.

Is that why?

'Thirteen minutes.'

Two people die this time. The mage on Takellan's team, and the warrior running with him on his back.

“Goddammit! All because of a lousy goblin...!”

The initial cause of death is a respawned goblin. Amid the chaos, it leaps onto the warrior's face and blocks his view. In that instant, an ice spellcaster's skill hits them, turning them into an ice statue.

'Fifteen minutes.'

A dark mage bursts out of a side passage and unleashes an area-of-effect spell. No one dies, but...

“Daria!!”

Daria throws herself in front of Erwin, who is at the center of the blast, and is rendered unable to fight.

Thankfully, she isn't killed outright.

But...

“Don't just stand there! Move! I'll carry your sister!”

Avman takes Daria onto his back, and we lose another fighter.

'Seventeen minutes.'

Between overusing [Leap] from a standstill to inflate my stats and never once deactivating [Gigantification], I've run out of MP.

「The character has insufficient Magic Power.」

「[Gigantification] has ended.」

As planned, Mister Bear's tank summon, Iron Bear, fills the gap that opens beside me.

'Eighteen minutes.'

Iron Bear is unsummoned. But Misha, who drank a potion, regains consciousness and rejoins the battle.

'Nineteen minutes.'

There's hope. We really only have a little farther to go now.

Though close to half of us have died, no one I've resolved to save is dead yet.

'Twenty minutes.'

A high-level explorer I estimate to be at least rank four blocks my path.

His class is swordsman. He wields a greatsword made of adamantium, a tier-five metal, and...

“You'll be satisfying to cut.”

He uses Aura.