Chapter 223 - Like a Flame (3)

The Abyss Lord Verzak.

A Floor lord with less raw fighting power than Riakis on the third floor, but several times harder to defeat.

Because Abyssal Fog was downright broken.

Active skills and all sorts of activated effects, sealed.

Mana efficiency, reduced by three quarters.

Rank-five Abyss monsters spawning as mobs and getting in your way throughout the fight.

With conditions this bad, it was hard to even attempt fighting the bastard until the late game. There were simply too many basic requirements.

High-end Numbered items with permanent rather than activated effects.

A top-tier tank capable of holding the boss alone.

Damage dealers who could use Aura, or something on par with it.

Priests—the more, the better.

Several mages powerful enough to make an impact even at one-quarter efficiency.

Everyone participating was advised to have at least tier-five equipment, and even then, casualties would be severe without several special consumables.

But even with all of that, once day seven arrived, you could consider the attempt a failure. Additional attack patterns unlocked then, regardless of the phase.

Simply put, there was no way in hell we could kill it as we were now.

But...

["So we've finally caught its eye. I'll be there shortly."]

We could at least buy some time.

While waiting for Kyle to join us, I checked the time.

[19 : 34]

Day five, seven in the evening.

After fighting desperately to clear a path, we had checked the eastern portal and now had only about two hours left to Goblin Forest.

A precious achievement bought with the warriors' sacrifices.

Though it would be a lie to say luck hadn't played a part.

"Jandel, are you all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I expected to run into it at least once anyway."

If anything, only encountering it now was a stroke of luck.

The expeditions that had chosen other directions were probably suffering terrible losses in our place.

"..."

How many more people had died for nothing?

My head suddenly cooled, but I felt no guilt. We were all in the same boat.

We had agreed to serve as bait for one another.

Had we encountered it earlier, the other expeditions would have had an easier time clearing their paths instead.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

About five minutes later, Kyle arrived with the fighters for Plan B.

Six rank-five mages.

Three knights and three warriors.

I quickly looked them over, unable to hide my confusion.

"Why are there so few?"

The number of mages hadn't changed, but the others had dwindled drastically.

Why?

"The rest are all dead."

Right. It wasn't as if they'd been lounging around in the rear.

We were six people short.

Who would fill those vacancies?

"Oh, for the record, your companions wanted to come, but I stopped them. You'll have an earful waiting for you later."

An earful...

But that still wouldn't make six, would it?

Oh, perhaps the elf sisters had volunteered to come too.

"... Thank you."

After thanking Kyle, I swept my gaze over the warriors nearby. Then I forced some cheer into my voice.

"As you've all heard, we're six short. I'm sorry to ask when you're all in such bad shape, but will anyone come with us?"

Someone answered before I even finished.

"I'll go. I'll follow you."

Alessandro Bell, a rank-five warrior.

He belonged to a large clan, but had been left here after falling down its list of priorities.

"I was getting bored just stepping on traps. Perfect!"

Karkin, third son of Tion.

A barbarian warrior in his thirties who served as a warrior in a ten-person clan.

I'd been fascinated to meet another barbarian who had reached rank four for the first time.

"You'd better keep that promise to buy drinks once we're out!"

Milton Teterud.

He headed a clan made up entirely of dwarves. That didn't mean they explored together, though. Apparently, they usually hired their members out as mercenaries to affiliated teams?

It felt more like a guild than a clan.

"..."

This was where I should have at least thanked them, but I found myself speechless.

Honestly, I hadn't expected this.

This was different from everything before.

The portal was now only two hours away.

Even if that hope would go out the moment it met despair, hope was still hope.

Just because they'd cleared a path as if their lives meant nothing didn't mean they wanted to live any less.

We'd suffered this much damage fighting mere mobs. I had assumed hardly anyone would volunteer to be bait for the boss.

But what actually happened?

"Oh? If I go along, do I get to join that drinking party too?"

"Something else appeals to me more. Grit my teeth and go along just this once, and I'll have a feat to boast about over drinks for the rest of my life."

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

"Take me with you. I've been curious what this Verzak bastard's ugly mug looks like anyway."

Countless explorers shouted out their offers.

Simply because they trusted the plan Kyle and I had devised?

Or because their brains were pumping out endorphins, swept up in the fervor?

Well, those probably were part of it.

But even so, one thing was certain.

"You're all... wrong in the head."

No sane person could make this choice.

But had that sounded strange coming from me?

A brief silence fell.

"... You're not wrong. If we told people outside about this, I'm sure they'd say the same thing."

Some agreed.

"But seriously, you're the one saying that?"

Others laughed in disbelief.

I had nothing in particular to say to that.

I'd only done what I had to do.

But...

'Does that mean it's the same for them?'

My heart surged with heat, as if something really had gone wrong in my head.

But I needed to keep a cool head.

I chose six from the many volunteers, with just one criterion: who would work best together?

Choosing wasn't difficult. These were comrades I'd fought beside all day, almost sick of fighting by their side.

I already had a decent grasp of their fighting styles.

"You! Why are you leaving me behind?"

Once I finished choosing, Teterud, the dwarf clan's leader, objected.

"Don't tell me you think I'll hold you back?"

"Of course not."

"Then why? I'm not letting you go until you tell me!"

Such a little fellow, so stubborn.

I glanced at Kyle and saw that the magic circle was nearly complete, so I gave a brief explanation.

"Someone needs to lead the others while I'm gone."

Teterud was a rank-four explorer.

He was skilled, and as a clan leader, he knew how to handle people. He was the ideal choice to take charge of the front line.

In fact, I'd heard he'd stepped up to lead each time I passed out.

"... Tsk."

Still unhappy but apparently convinced, he stopped pestering me.

"Jandel, preparations are complete. It's about time for it to arrive, too."

Whew. So it was.

As soon as Kyle told me the magic circle was ready, I sent the others on their way.

"That's enough. Get moving. This Scout Kyle brought will show you the way. I hear he's fairly tough, but keep him safe so he doesn't die, just in case."

"You sound like a father fussing over his child. Anyway, we'll be off. See you later. And I mean that. Understood?"

"Now you sound like a father."

"I do have a child back in the city. Right, let's go!"

I stepped against the wall to clear the way. Teterud took the lead, stepping on traps to open a path again, and the warriors followed.

They each tossed me a few words as they passed.

"Don't die."

"Hmm, for some reason, I just can't imagine you dying. See you in a bit!"

Most offered encouragement and support.

Those words continued for a while even after the warrior group had passed. Some thanked me, while others apologized.

Not just once or twice. It went on endlessly.

"Why is everyone acting like that?"

Kyle chuckled at my question.

"Well, hasn't your message stone been on this whole time? Everyone already knows what's happening up front."

Right. So that was why.

"Bjorn..."

As the procession continued, the members of Team Apple Naraq came into view.

Seeing the state I was in, Misha looked ready to cry. Raven and Mister Bear looked just as troubled.

"Stop moping and get going. If you block the way, the people behind you can't get through."

"Seriously... if you come back hurt, you're going to get it, nyah."

Hmm. Telling a tank not to get hurt—wasn't that just saying I was going to get it no matter what?

The thought crossed my mind, but I swallowed my words.

'Not bad.'

So what if I got scolded a little?

Everything I was doing was to get that everyday life back.

"I'm counting on you."

"Yes, don't worry. Even without you, Mr. Jandel, I'll protect our team. Now, Aynar? Shall we get going?"

"Ugh, a-all right! Stop pulling my hair!"

Then Raven rode off on Aynar, who had been stubbornly insisting that she should be allowed to come with me too.

Even after that, the procession continued.

They looked like refugees fleeing through a tunnel in wartime.

The flicker of burning torches.

The groans of the wounded carried on their companions' backs.

Broken equipment.

Bloodstains.

Grief in their eyes.

Drops of sweat falling as they limped after the others.

I didn't need to ask Kyle to know.

Just as so much had happened to me, this day must have been an especially long one for them too.

"Well, that's everyone."

Not just my own leading group, but the second and third groups following the marks we'd left in the passages had all passed us.

It hadn't taken very long.

They were still running, even if only at a jog.

And their numbers had fallen considerably since the start.

"It's gotten rather eerie."

Once everyone left, our surroundings grew abruptly darker.

Was it because the wavering torches had lit up everything around us while the procession passed?

The contrast felt stark now.

As if we alone had been left in some isolated world.

'Anyway, it should be here any moment...'

I raised my shield and stared down the passage.

"It's here."

Visibility: two meters.

Beyond that, hundreds of eyes watched us from the darkness of the Labyrinth.

The Abyss Lord Verzak.

It had arrived.

* * *

When we first made our plan, my greatest concern had naturally been Verzak.

No matter how I looked at it, escaping this bastard with hundreds of people was impossible. An encounter would be as good as a total wipeout.

Sure, if we scattered, its aggro would jump around, and quite a few might survive...

But what could we accomplish scattered like that?

Never mind fighting on the second floor—we wouldn't even make it through the mobs to the portal.

And so...

"Can we use the magic circle right away?"

We had made Plan B.

But with the resources at our disposal, we could use this strategy only once.

"I've checked the magic circle over and over. Don't worry."

If Plan B failed, everyone would die.

Even if it succeeded, another encounter with an Abyss Watcher would mean certain annihilation.

Incidentally, this was also one reason we'd limited the portal search to two attempts.

By then, many of the expeditions would have disappeared.

Even if we managed to get through the first encounter, I judged the odds of running into Verzak again to be far too high.

"Prepare for battle."

The moment the eyes appeared in the darkness, everyone drew their weapons and readied themselves to fight.

Thanks to Kyle's explanation, they knew what those eyes meant.

"..."

These incorporeal eyes were an effect that appeared around Verzak.

According to the game's lore, they extended about two kilometers around it.

But they weren't just scenery.

Every one of these eyes shared its sight with the bastard.

In other words, Verzak was already watching us.

"As you all know, our objective is to hold out as long as possible. Until the other explorers escape beyond its field of view."

Perhaps Kyle was nervous too. He repeated the explanation he'd already given several times.

"Do you take us for idiots? We remember every word. You said if your prediction's right, we'd need to hold out for about ten minutes, didn't you?"

"Quite right. My apologies. But let me add one thing. I forgot to mention it earlier... Whatever happens, protect Jandel here, above all."

"Hm? Jandel? Of course."

"You're not going to ask why?"

"Everyone knows without being told. We know we need this fellow to survive if we're going to make it back alive ourselves."

Everyone nodded at the warrior's words.

"I was going to say that if Jandel, who killed the Abyss Watcher, dies, it might target the main force..."

Kyle trailed off with an awkward smile.

"Well, never mind. I doubt saying it would make much difference anyway."

"Haha! Exactly. Whatever the reason, isn't it enough if the result's the same?"

"A sound view indeed. It seems warriors and mages aren't so different in this respect."

The light conversation eased the tense atmosphere a little.

Sadly, it didn't last long.

WHOOOOSH!

A shadow shot toward us, sharp as an awl.

BOOM!

The instant I blocked it with my shield, pain flared across the back of my hand.

It wasn't deep. Just a slight puncture in the skin.

'Whew. I've never faced it this unprepared before. I can't gauge the damage.'

To think a basic attack would pierce my Moonstone shield.

Was it because I wasn't using [Gigantification]?

The warriors' faces went rigid at the sight of the hole in my shield.

Kyle murmured, as if trying to bolster morale.

"... Let's just hold on for ten minutes."

It already felt impossibly far away.

And yet, somehow, I laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Warriors laugh when things get tough."

I looked ahead.

A shadow writhed in the darkness.

The Abyss Lord Verzak.

One of the bosses you could only take on in the late game.

A monster among monsters, against which all we could do now was get the shit beaten out of us.

But so what?

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

Even this bastard was just one more hurdle.

One to overcome so I could bring this unusually long day to an end.

And welcome tomorrow.