Chapter 32 - Blood-Tinted Castle (3)

RUMBLE.

Raven pushed a stone into the wall, and the candles in the stone chamber all lit at once, illuminating the room.

"Oh, how did you know about that?"

"Books are treasures that pass knowledge down through the generations."

She could have just said she read it in a book.

"Let's see... Ah! Here's another one."

Raven pushed another brick into the wall. A mechanism clattered, and a book dropped from the ceiling.

The Necronomicon.

A grimoire containing dark magic that sold for quite a high price at shops.

... Damn it.

"I discovered this through my own abilities, so I'll be keeping it, as agreed."

"Of course. We couldn't take it outside without spellbend anyway."

"Ha ha ha..."

Raven laughed awkwardly.

Well, she must know, too. The Necronomicon was classified as an item, so it could be taken outside even without spellbend.

"Would you put this in the backpack for me?"

"Yes, Lady Raven."

It stung, but all I could do was watch the mage pocket the loot for herself.

Sigh. I'd been planning to come back for that on my own...

How did she know about this but not what was hidden beneath the statue?

"Shall we go, then?"

We walked down a straight passage that had to be ten meters wide, and soon reached a fork beside an enormous demon sculpture.

"Miss Raven?"

"It doesn't matter which way we go. We're going to kill all the monsters anyway, aren't we?"

We made a circuit of the square-shaped Demon Worship Chamber, methodically hunting down its monsters.

The monsters here were Gargoyle statues, deathfiends, chimera wolves, and Bone Knights.

"First a Corpse Golem Essence, and now the Desire type. We're lucky in all sorts of ways."

Uncharacteristically for me, my luck kept holding.

Hatred, Sadness, and Desire.

The rank-7 Bone Knight randomly had one of those three attributes. We'd gotten the easiest type, which also offered the best rewards.

"The Desire type only has Life Power Absorption, which restores HP when it lands a hit. And my Regeneration Suppression spell can easily nullify that."

Raven boasted with supreme confidence, but the Desire type was the easiest whether she was here or not.

The Sadness type emitted a mist that caused mental confusion, an ability that had been incredibly annoying even in the game.

Still, it was nothing compared to the Hatred type.

The dwarf casually chimed in.

"That's a relief, but I'd heard the Hatred type was the weakest?"

Bullshit.

The Knight of Hatred used Soul Slaying.

An insane skill that dealt no damage but had an atrociously low chance of lowering your Level.

[Companion A has suffered severe damage to their soul. Their Level decreases.]

Once it triggered, that combat log appeared regardless of your HP, defense, or magic resistance.

And once you saw that log, you were better off starting a new character.

That was much easier than recovering the EXP by grinding portal openings.

"... It lowers your Spirit Status? What a terrifying creature."

Raven had explained in my stead, and the dwarf shuddered, letting out a relieved breath.

But the young mage wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to show off her knowledge, and doggedly continued her explanation.

"Oh, and if you're carrying as many Essences as your soul permits, one is lost at random. I doubt even most other explorers know that."

As expected of a mage, none of her information was wrong.

But as a veteran player, I'd add one thing...

The lower your Level, the more likely Soul Slaying was to trigger.

And my Level was only 2.

Considering I was cursed with bad luck on top of that, not encountering a Knight of Hatred really was a stroke of luck—

"An Essence."

Fuck, was my luck finally turning around?

We'd barely killed a handful of monsters, and an Essence had dropped.

From none other than a rank-7 Bone Knight.

What was going on?

First the Corpse Golem had dropped an Essence...

Was this what people called a "blessed run"?

"It's as though the gods are watching over you two. Ha ha ha!"

"I agree. At this rate, perhaps the Guardian really will drop an Essence."

Each offered a remark that might or might not have been congratulations, then looked at me.

Me or Aynar.

They were asking which of us would absorb it.

After a moment's deliberation, I reached a difficult decision.

"Aynar, you take this one."

"A-are you sure?"

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it.

We essentially only had the Guardian left now, and no one could be certain another Essence would drop.

But...

"You said you wanted to grow stronger. Take it."

From a Player's perspective, it made more sense for Aynar to take it than me.

Life Power Absorption worked well with bladed weapons, and I'd eventually have to give up using weapons.

Above all, Aynar was trustworthy.

Given her steadfast nature, she would stay by my side and help me unless something truly exceptional happened.

Rather than rush things, it would be more efficient to use a stronger Aynar to acquire an Essence better suited to me.

"Th-thank you, Bjorn! You really are the best! I swear I'll repay this kindness!"

With my permission, Aynar took the Essence, unable to contain her excitement.

The change was dramatic and immediate.

"Wh-what? You've all suddenly gotten bigger!"

"You've gotten smaller, Aynar."

"Wh-what?! Is that true?"

Aynar, who had stood around two meters tall, had shrunk.

In an instant, she'd dropped to somewhere in the high 170s.

"It's a basic effect of the Bone Knight's Essence. Your Bone Density increases drastically, but your height decreases accordingly."

Always eager to explain, Raven rattled off even this world's standard information.

Though if you replaced terms like "high," "medium," and "low" with exact figures, it would look like this.

[Bone Knight]

Cutting Force +12, Bone Density +55, Agility +15, Endurance +15, Flexibility -7, Height -25

(P) Preservative — All wound Worsening effects (poison, bleeding, decay, etc.) are reduced by half.

(A) Life Power Absorption — Landing a hit on a living creature temporarily increases regeneration drastically.

"Don't worry. Getting shorter won't have reduced your Strength—"

"I-I'm ruined! No one will see me as a warrior now! Everyone already looked down on me for being a woman!"

... They looked down on her for being a woman?

Was that an insecurity she'd been keeping to herself?

"Still... you've become very pretty."

Watching Aynar cry out in despair, Raven murmured with interest.

"Is it because the bones in your face have gotten smaller? Perhaps we could sell this to nobles for cosmetic purposes—"

"D-doesn't that mean I look less like a warrior?!"

I hadn't expected her to be this horrified, so I hurried to salvage the situation.

"No! Aynar, everyone knows you're a fine warrior!"

Honestly, without the tattoos on her upper body, she could have passed for a tall human woman...

"What does it matter if you're a little shorter?"

"This isn't a little!"

"... But you're much stronger now! Isn't that enough?"

Someone had to comfort her.

The others were sociopaths, too busy saying whatever they wanted even in the face of someone else's misery.

"Ha ha ha! What a fascinating Essence. If a dwarf like me took it, I'd be too small to see!"

"Hmm, that's an interesting idea. I'll have to look up some cases when we return to see whether the height reduction is proportional or a fixed amount."

"I'm ruined!"

"Ha ha ha! Is it because she's a barbarian? She's gotten shorter, but her voice is as booming as ever!"

"Aynar, if you don't mind, could I give you a thorough examination once we're back in the city?"

"I'm ruuuined!"

I wished they'd all just shut up.

My ears hurt so much I was starting to get a headache.

* * *

"A deathfiend!"

The commotion finally subsided thanks to a monster that had heard the noise from afar and come looking for us.

But everyone took a step back, signaling their intention to watch, apparently curious about how absorbing the Essence had changed Aynar.

"Vehella..."

Aynar gave a halfhearted battle cry and swung her greatsword.

And...

SLICE!

I hadn't misheard.

For the first time since she'd started using that sword, it had made a slicing sound instead of a crash.

... Was Cutting Force +12 really this effective?

"Aynar, try aiming for its head!"

"Uh, r-right!"

Still bewildered by her own transformation, Aynar leaped high into the air and brought her greatsword straight down.

Then...

SLICE!

A deathfiend that had once taken dozens of blows from the two of us to kill died to a single sword stroke.

She'd sliced through that hard skull and reached its brain.

"See? You're much stronger now!"

"Then... I'm still a warrior?"

"Of course not."

"...?"

"Aynar, second daughter of Pheneline! You're no longer just a warrior! You're a stronger warrior!"

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

Thank goodness she'd cheered up.

Her smaller body would still feel unfamiliar, but once she adjusted, Aynar would become much stronger.

"Don't they make a fine pair?"

"I agree."

Ignoring Raven and the dwarf's conversation, I moved on.

I'd been reminded that fighting monsters was the only way to shut these people up.

"Let's hurry, Bjorn! If you absorb this too, you can become a stronger warrior like me!"

With her enthusiasm restored, Aynar threw herself wholeheartedly into combat.

THUD! WHACK! CRASH! SLICE!

Unfortunately, even after we'd hunted down every monster in the chamber, no more Essences dropped.

But I didn't give up hope.

We still had the Guardian, the crowning glory of a rupture.

With this much luck on our side, surely I could hope for one last lucky break?

Just as that thought crossed my mind...

"I've rather enjoyed your company, but it looks like we're nearly done."

The dwarf said something that sounded suspiciously like a flag.

Raven was no different.

"It's a little sad. This is my first time in the Labyrinth, but I think I understand why my seniors work as explorers."

That snapped me back to my senses.

Come to think of it, had anything in my life ever gone this smoothly?

Well, if I thought about it, there probably had been times.

It was just that something always blew up at the end.

The screws that had come loose in my head tightened all at once, and an inexplicable sense of dread swept over me.

"I'll head in, then."

What was wrong?

If the worst possible situation were to unfold right now, what would it be?

Infighting?

No, that didn't seem right.

We'd already settled the loot distribution, and that would only happen after the Guardian was dead anyway.

CREEEAK.

Even as the dwarf opened the door to the stone chamber, I kept observing our surroundings.

Certain that something was about to happen, I scrutinized every little thing in sight.

I also reviewed everything I knew about the Blood-Tinted Castle in the game.

That was why I spotted it.

"The door! Close the door!"

"What are you talking—"

Damn it. Was I already too late?

RUMMMBLE!

The instant the door opened, the ground began shaking violently.

Then something dark slowly rose in the center of the vast stone chamber and shed its robe, revealing a pallid face.

Raven, the mage, was the only one who realized how dire the situation was.

"Th-that's impossible..."

The rupture's Guardian had changed.

Instead of the Death Knight that should have been waiting for us here...

「The master of the Blood-Tinted Castle awakens from a deep slumber.」

A boss monster that operated alone.

A monster rated rank 5 in difficulty despite that.

A true hybrid monster, proficient in dark magic as well as physical combat.

A monster you normally only had a slim chance of encountering beyond the sixth floor.

"A vampire..."

And not even an ordinary vampire, but an Advanced Mutant variety.

In other words, a named monster with intelligence, a name, and a history.

I even knew its name.

"It has been a long time since I last saw living creatures."

The vampire duke, Cambormir.

"Where in the world have you come from?"

I spoke on behalf of our frozen group.

"Run."

Fuck, why did this keep happening to me?

Back in the game, I'd begged and begged for him to appear, and he'd never shown up.