Chapter 70 - Barbarian Hero (3)

I'm running at full speed, hauling a truly monstrous body measuring five meters across.

THUD! THUD!

Every time my feet strike the ground, they make the sort of footsteps you'd expect from a giant monster.

"Keep up! Don't fall behind!"

Behind me are twenty-three clan members and Misha, followed by forty third-floor explorers who weren't swept up in Jack Fletcher's agitation. How they came to join us is simple.

["Hand over all your equipment, and we'll take you with us."]

Not only was McGlane a pragmatist determined to recoup even the smallest loss...

「The character has cast [Sacrificial Seal].」

「The character's Physical stats temporarily increase in proportion to the number of sacrifices within a 100-meter radius.」

We'd also decided that even one more sacrifice would help.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

Power overflows within me. And with that overflowing power, an almost irresistible urge to destroy takes over my entire body.

'This must be the Fighting Spirit, just as I thought.'

Still, it's a relief that I don't have to hold this urge back.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

Miniature copies of Riakis come flying at me from ahead. Though even these miniatures are over two meters tall... that doesn't change the fact that they're tiny.

WHOOSH!

I swing my mace mercilessly. My body's grown so large that it feels more like swinging a spoon than a mace. Well, the bastard getting smacked with it probably feels differently.

WHAM!

One copy takes a blow to the solar plexus and crumbles into dust. Normally, I'd have needed several more hits to kill it. It really drives home just how inflated my Physical stats have become.

The problem, though...

BOOM!

Every time I smash one, an explosion erupts. Not where the copy died, but right where I'm standing.

「Riakis's Hatred activates.」

「The character takes heavy chaos damage.」

This is why having a main tank matters during the [Crevice of Evil] phase. These self-destructing copies are guaranteed to damage whoever kills them. In other words, whether you're an illustrious swordsman or a renowned master archer, high damage alone is utterly useless here.

BOOM!

Enough damage to send some frail spell-slinging bastard straight to the grave in one hit. My whole body stings. If it's this bad even with Pain Tolerance, normally I'd be howling with every explosion.

HISSSSS!

The black liquid plastered all over my body smokes and melts away. In the worst spots, even the muscle has already sloughed off, exposing the bones beneath.

But that's not a problem. I'm the barbarian of darkness who inherited the Vampire's legacy, after all.

「Due to the Passive Skill [Source of Darkness], the character will not die until the heart is destroyed.」

I just have to protect my heart somehow. Well, looking at the state I'm in, even that might seem like only a matter of time...

CRASH!

But even as I pulverize the copies and clear a path, countless glass bottles keep flying my way. The priests hurrying behind me are also pouring out healing as fast as they can.

"That was dangerous! Don't kill too many at once!"

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

"Answer me if you heard me!"

Come on, you think that's easy?

During [Gigantification], the Threat stat rises in proportion to size. In other words, monsters become more likely to aggro on you. And for a barbarian, whose body is already huge, that increase is downright insane. It's practically a permanent taunt.

That's the whole reason the explorers behind me can move so comfortably. Everything is swarming me alone.

"Hey!! Can't you hear wha—"

"I hear you."

Still, when I adjust my pace as McGlane suggests, Misha's brother and the other melee fighter right behind me start bursting copies themselves. Except...

"Priests! What are the priests doing? H-hurry up and heal me!"

It's hard to trust someone who makes that much of a fucking fuss after killing a measly two or three. I don't like having the priests' healing split up, either. Most importantly, how am I supposed to get the maximum effect from my passive if I pace myself?

「The character's HP is at or below 50%.」

「All Resistance and Tolerance stats increase due to the Passive Skill [Hero's Path].」

The Orc Hero's Passive Skill, [Hero's Path]. It activates once HP falls to half or below and increases every kind of defensive stat. And according to my research...

'The effect maxed out at 20% or below.'

That's why I needed an Orc Hero's Essence in the first place. The passive is the same no matter what color the Essence is.

"Enough. Both of you, head to the rear."

"What? I can still fi—"

Who do these mere damage dealers think they are, trying to imitate a tank's noble calling?

"Something could show up behind us, too."

With a few kind words, I soon coax the two damage dealers to the rear. Watching from behind, McGlane doesn't object this time. He simply shouts:

"We've only got ten minutes left. This next stretch is crucial, so keep it up a little longer!"

Yeah, just stay back there and cheer me on.

* * *

Grade 5 explorer Teylon Karlstein. As he withdrew from the front line, a middle-aged man spoke to him.

"Oh, are you stationed here now?"

"Yes, Master Hernecyon."

When Teylon nodded, Anton Hernecyon, the mage of his regular team, Team Seven, brightened.

"Good. The deputy commander made the right call. Who knows what might come from behind? We need someone looking after this side, too. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, of course..."

Teylon swallowed his bitterness and answered listlessly. Then he turned away as though avoiding the conversation. At the end of his gaze stood a barbarian.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

Countless monsters surged out of the darkness. And there was the barbarian, looking more monstrous than any of them, roaring as he swung his mace.

BOOM!

Listening to yet another explosion—there had been so many that counting was pointless—Teylon bit his lip.

GRIND.

The deputy commander had made the right call? Who knew what might come from behind? He was disgusted with himself for nodding along and pretending not to know.

'Damn it.'

The truth was simple. It hadn't even been the deputy commander who told him to fall back. It had been that barbarian.

The barbarian he'd dismissed as just another warrior from that team—the team his half-wit sister belonged to, with its half-baked excuse for a mage who suited her perfectly, the team that couldn't say a word when told to get out of the habitat...

["Something could show up behind us, too."]

The barbarian hadn't even looked back when he said it, and Teylon hadn't been able to argue. No, he hadn't tried. Brief though his time up front had been, he'd already decided it wasn't something a person should have to do.

BOOM!

Swing your weapon once, and terrible pain immediately follows. No matter how nimble you are, you can't dodge it. The trouble is, knowing that slows your body down.

Even when you need to swing without stopping, your hands freeze and refuse to move. How utterly pathetic.

"Hey, don't let it get to you. Anyone could do it if they couldn't feel pain."

Had he failed to hide his expression? The man beside him spoke as though trying to console him. He was one of the only two warriors left, the other man who'd withdrawn from the front with him.

"I've heard most Essences with Pain Tolerance aren't rated very highly, but if they allow tactics like this, perhaps they need to be reevaluated."

Despite the man's consolation, Teylon kept his mouth firmly shut. He'd thought the same thing at first.

Having potions poured over you like that was only possible with Pain Tolerance, and besides, he and the barbarian didn't even fill the same role. They both fought on the front line as warriors, but his job wasn't to buy time by taking hits. It was to exploit a fleeting opening and drive a blow into the enemy's throat.

BOOM!

So this was only natural. There was no need to feel ashamed. Yes, that was what he'd thought. But...

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!"

The longer he watched that enormous back, the more he wondered.

'How can he be in that state and still not hesitate...?'

Flesh engulfed in explosions ran off like water. Lunging beasts sank their teeth into his exposed bones.

Yet through it all, that barbarian swung his weapon precisely, without the slightest hesitation. Unlike Teylon, who'd frozen up. He kept doing what needed to be done without stopping.

'And anyone could do this?'

Not a chance. For one thing, he'd heard that Pain Tolerance didn't completely eliminate pain... but even setting that aside, the answer was the same.

"They say no one can match barbarians for bravery. Seems it's true."

"He almost looks like someone who doesn't know what death is."

Having potions, priests, and a Vampire's Essence didn't make you invincible. As a certain famous explorer once said, nothing in the Labyrinth was incapable of dying. That barbarian was no exception.

'There's no point denying it anymore.'

Ironically, admitting it lightened his heart. Quietly doing your part when your life was on the line—how many people couldn't manage even that simple thing?

What the barbarian was accomplishing now was by no means something just anyone could do. The change in the reactions around him made that clear.

"The deputy commander's foresight is truly impressive. I never expected the man to perform his task quite so well."

"Does anyone know his name? Someone like that must have made something of a name for himself..."

"How did his conversation with the deputy commander go earlier? Having someone like him in the clan would be tremendously reassuring..."

Even without knowing the details, like his Pain Tolerance, anyone watching couldn't help but feel it. That barbarian had saved their lives.

"It's horrifying just to imagine what position we'd be in without him."

"Miss Misha, was it? Just who is that fellow?"

"Uh, I don't really know, nyah..."

Someone even questioned his half-wit sister, but unfortunately, they got no proper answer. Yet as Teylon listened to the mage beside him, Hernecyon, murmur, a thought occurred to him.

"If Valcan, the hero of the barbarians, came back to life, I imagine this is what he'd look like..."

There was no need to wonder about that barbarian's name just yet.

"The end! I can see the end!!"

"Pick up the pace!"

Before long, everyone would know it.

* * *

「The field effect [Crevice of Evil] dissipates.」

* * *

The moment we emerge from the darkness...

WHOOOOOSH!

A deafening roar erupts, like a raging storm.

At the same time, a dark crimson beam shoots down from the ceiling toward the center of the darkness.

KABOOOOM!!

It's like watching the end of the world. Looking on, McGlane murmurs:

"That was close."

"Agreed."

Nothing remains beyond the darkness as it vanishes like mist. Where the Orc Habitat once stood, there is only devastated ground.

My head, burning with the excitement of battle, cools. If we'd been just a little slower getting out...

'I'd have fucking died right there, [Source of Darkness] or not.'

Honestly, calling it close hardly does it justice. Near the end, my Magic Power—my MP—ran dry and [Gigantification] wore off. On top of that, the copies started swarming us like a tidal wave, perhaps because all the explorers who'd gone the other way had died.

Just escaping in time was a miracle. Yet it's still not over.

'No, if anything, now's when I really need to start praying.'

I quickly count the survivors. Exactly thirty. A large number of the explorers who'd paid with their equipment to follow us died at the end.

'So the odds are one in thirty. No, counting Misha, one in fifteen...'

Low odds, but not low enough to relax. I stay alert, watching the others for any changes. That's when it happens.

"B-Bjorn...?"

Misha's voice comes from beside me. She sounds flustered.

"F-for some reason, I can't move, nyah..."

I turn toward Misha and see her standing rigid.

「Misha Karlstein has been designated as [Prey].」

「Misha Karlstein is incapacitated.」

Fuck, are you kidding me?

McGlane lets out an exclamation I can't quite read.

"Surprising. I never thought it would turn up on your side."

"Wh-why is everyone looking at me like that, nyah...?"

There's no time for a lengthy explanation. I ask just in case, staring straight into her brother's eyes.

"Are you willing to take her with you?"

"Th-that's..."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. We're in no position to accept any further sacrifices ourselves."

McGlane draws a firm line on behalf of her brother, who struggles to answer. But I ask again.

"Do you feel the same way? Whatever your relationship is like, she's still your sister. Are you going to leave her to die?"

"B-Bjorn... I don't know what's happening, but I'm fine, so stop, nyah..."

What do you mean, you're fine? Your life's on the line.

"Well? What's your answer?"

When I press him again, he glances at McGlane before giving a brief answer.

"To me... these people matter more than family."

Bullshit. It's because you don't think of her as family. This bastard pisses me off right to the very end.

"What a waste of precious time."

Muttering that, I hoist the stiff-as-a-log Misha onto my back and secure her with cloth. Then I quickly check the time.

[23 : 45]

About fifteen minutes remain until the Labyrinth closes. A stretch of time that could be short or long, depending on how you look at it.

「Riakis, Lord of Chaos, awakens.」

Something tells me these are going to be the longest fifteen minutes of my life.