Chapter 83 - Sewers (4)

I don't know exactly when it started. But by the time I noticed...

"Misha? Dwalki? Hikurod?"

Everyone was frozen like a statue, their eyes wide open.

'What the hell?'

Even as the question formed, I spotted something I'd missed: long, incredibly thin needles, one embedded in each of my companions' necks.

The important thing here was...

'I've probably got one in me, too.'

My neck muscles were stiff. And that tingling numbness was gradually spreading downward.

「The character has been poisoned with 'Basilisk Paralytic Venom.'」

「The character's Physical stats are 300 or higher.」

「The poisoning effect is reduced by half.」

Sensing danger, my heart began pounding like mad. My brain, on the other hand, calmly issued orders. What I needed to do right now.

My thick arm smoothly raised my shield to cover my upper body. My knees bent slightly, lowering my center of gravity so I could react at any moment.

"..."

A silence that seemed to squeeze my throat. Amid it, I barely breathed as I focused on listening.

DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

Water dripped somewhere far away. And that was all.

But I had no doubt. Just like when I'd stepped into that goblin trap, the enemy was definitely nearby.

"..."

Several seconds of nerve-racking silence passed. It felt as though every nerve in my body was on edge.

TAP.

Then I heard the faintest hint of movement. Too slight to really call a footstep... more like a stone chip tumbling in the wind.

'... Some kind of stealth skill?'

I made a quick decision. Whatever was going on, the poison was spreading through my body. Rather than waste time like this...

「The character has used [Wild Outburst].」

I was better off trying to force a showdown. That would give me at least a slightly better chance.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!"

I roared with all my strength.

Of course, unlike with monsters, the Threat stat didn't hold absolute sway over people... But I'd already finished researching that.

["Hmm... It was a v-very strange feeling. I knew in my head that there wasn't any danger, but my body seemed to be telling me to run..."]

People with weak nerves felt fear when exposed to [Wild Outburst]. That meant it could fail to act as a taunt and send them running instead. But if the target was aggressive...

["For some reason, I felt like I had to take you down quickly, nyah. Oh, before you grew huge, of course, nyah. Once you got big, I felt much the same as Dwalki, nyah."]

It could serve as a taunt to some degree. So what about this unidentified enemy hiding in the darkness?

"What an interesting sensation, barbarian."

Just as I'd expected. Though really, I was the one who should have been calling things interesting. I had no idea how, but the voice came from both ahead of and behind me at once. Still, never mind the problem of not knowing the enemy's location.

'Wait, that voice sounds familiar...'

I stiffened. The voice I'd just heard belonged to a woman. It was a little husky, but there was no mistaking that.

'Who the hell is she?'

My questioning brain pieced together the keywords. A woman who hid like an assassin and fired paralyzing needles.

... I remembered.

"It's you."

That psychopathic bitch I'd met in the Land of the Dead. It had to be her.

* * *

Had she never intended to hide her identity?

"... I didn't expect you to recognize me by my voice alone."

She soon appeared in front of me. A lithe figure a little over 170 centimeters tall. Fiery red hair, and the upper half of her right ear cut away. Apart from her everyday clothes, everything was exactly as it had been back then.

STEP.

She took a step closer. To be honest, I was pouring cold sweat. I'd grown explosively of late, even earning the epithet Little Valcan, but...

"You've gotten much stronger, barbarian. To think you can move after being hit with that."

Even so, I still wouldn't be anywhere near a match for this bitch.

'An explorer who operates on the eighth floor and can even use Aura...'

However I looked at it, I didn't stand a chance alone. Not that I intended to lie down and die. I tightened my grip on my shield and mace, steeling my frightened mind. Watching me, the woman asked,

"Are your companions the reason you aren't running?"

Of course that was what this psycho bitch would ask. The very fact that she was curious about something like that was fucking creepy.

"My question first. I kept my promise, so why have you decided to kill me now?"

Swallowing hard, I answered with a question. I wanted to know her motive. Knowing that might give me another way out. But...

"Decided to kill you?"

She frowned and tilted her head.

"You're the one who opened the gate and intruded, barbarian."

"... Gate?"

"Tell me. Who told you about this place?"

'What the hell is she talking about?'

Somehow, we'd been talking past each other from the start. I asked her straight out.

"I don't understand. Explain it simply. What do you mean, intruded? What is this place that you'd say that?"

The woman frowned again. Apparently, she'd finally realized there was a serious problem with this conversation.

"... How did you open the gate?"

"If you mean that magical thing in the sewers, I smashed it with my mace."

"You smashed it...?"

"Is that a problem?"

At my unabashed question, she closed her eyes for a moment, then shook her head as though accepting the explanation.

"No, it isn't."

Being a top-tier explorer, she apparently didn't put blind faith in magic like Dwalki or the dwarf. Still, she must have wanted to know why, because she asked,

"But why did you smash it?"

"Because this bitch fled down here."

Only then did I casually lower Elisa from my shoulder to the floor. She'd been getting in the way for a while, actually. I'd kept carrying her because I hadn't even had a moment to put her down, but she'd definitely be a hindrance if a fight broke out.

"... The priestess of Carui who was recently put on the wanted list."

"Good, you know her. Does that clear up the misunderstanding?"

"It does."

"That's a relief. Nice seeing you. We'll be going now. Oh, you don't need to give us any potions. I'll take care of the rest—"

"Stop. Now that you know about this place, I can't simply let you leave."

"... Even if I destroy the video-recording orb and swear to keep everything that happened today secret?"

"The circumstances are different from last time."

Fuck... So that wasn't going to work after all.

I swept away every last bit of weakness. Now that I'd heard it straight from that bitch's mouth, I had only one choice left. And so—

CLACK.

I took off my armor.

"... What are you doing all of a sudden?"

Ignoring her question, I undid my greaves, then took off my helmet and shoes and tossed them aside. And then...

"Hey."

I spoke to her. Fortunately, she was willing to engage.

"...?"

Her eyes said to go ahead if I had something to say. I quickly continued.

"Do you know the two ways to make someone angry?"

"... What?"

"The first is to stop talking in the middle of saying something. And the other is..."

"The other is...?"

I didn't know either. No one had ever told me that part.

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!!"

I dashed forward with all my strength, hoping I'd distracted her even a little. I drew my mace arm back behind my shoulder.

After a brief start, she apparently caught on to my ploy and smirked.

"You're an amusing one."

Right. Charging from this distance wouldn't faze you much. Then how about this?

WHOOSH!

I swung my arm forward and hurled the mace.

SWISH!

Of course she dodged it. Nimbly twisting aside, she looked at me as if wondering what that was supposed to accomplish.

"...?"

Apparently, she hadn't expected a barbarian to throw his weapon right at the outset... Without hesitation, I threw the shield remaining in my other hand, too.

WHIZZ!

The shield spun through the air like a discus, making my practice on my days off worthwhile. Its speed was beyond comparison with the mace's. However...

"...!"

That ridiculously flexible bitch easily avoided it by bending backward at the waist. I'd expected as much, so I wasn't disappointed.

TAP-TAP!

Taking advantage of the instant the mace and shield had bought me, I kicked off the ground again and kept charging. With my Physical stats now beyond the realm of ordinary people, I closed the distance in a flash.

'Now.'

I reached forward, just as I had when sliding toward that bitch Elisa. The woman still looked composed. Her expression said little more than, "Well, look at you."

TAP-TAP.

Indeed, she took three steps back, moving precisely out of reach. Once again, I wasn't particularly disappointed. I'd reached out so obviously to make her do exactly that.

'Just as I expected.'

A straight passage that could hardly be called wide. When a huge barbarian charged from the front, the only place to dodge was backward. Of course, I'd have been helpless if she'd retreated a great distance... But even back then, she'd moved only as far as she needed to avoid me. Less a personality issue than an efficiency obsession she'd naturally acquired in pursuit of mastery.

'Plan A it is.'

I timed my [Gigantification] accordingly. This was a combo I'd devised after taking inspiration from my narrow escape from Riakis.

「The character has cast [Gigantification].」

As my body swelled, my arm lengthened with it. The distance that should have left me three steps short vanished instantly.

"...!"

For the first time, alarm crossed her face. And I hadn't even properly started yet.

I immediately seized her shoulder and yanked her toward me. I felt considerable resistance through my fingertips. But...

"You."

This wasn't like before, when she'd even outmatched me in strength. Back then, I'd been a novice barbarian at Level 1 without a single Essence.

"You need to work on your Strength."

Helpless against the power the Corpse Golem, Vampire, and Orc Hero had left me, she was dragged toward me.

"Ghk!"

Gripping her neck tightly so she couldn't dodge, I drove my fist into her face.

THUD!

A heavy sound, and a satisfying impact against my fist. As expected, one blow wasn't enough to put her down. So—

'One more.'

I quickly drew back my fist and hammered it down again.

But at that moment, my dynamic vision, heightened to its limit, caught her movement. She'd already recovered and was swinging her dagger at me.

'Is she planning to cut my hand clean off?'

I made a quick judgment. This bitch was an Aura user. Physical resistance, bone strength, Mana resistance—none of it would matter much. That dagger would definitely sever my arm before my fist could reach her. So...

'Time for Plan B.'

I stopped my punch. It wasn't that I'd suddenly decided to play it safe. I simply thought taking a one-sided loss would be irrational. I wasn't afraid of getting hurt at all. Not if that was what I had to do to survive.

'Flesh Explosion.'

The instant I finished visualizing it, a powerful explosion erupted from the hand gripping her.

BOOM!

Flesh burst apart. Along with acidic blood.

HISSSSS!

The tough bitch merely grimaced, not letting out a single groan. But did she lack the Pain Tolerance stat? Even if she could endure the pain, her movements stiffened for the briefest instant.

'Good. Back to Plan A, then.'

Avoiding the swinging dagger, I drove my fist into her abdomen. Knowing this chance wouldn't come again, I kept going as though there would be no next time.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

True to her role as a damage dealer with paper-thin defenses, she soon reacted.

"...!"

Fresh blood spilled from her mouth, as though her guts had been fucked to pieces. At the sight, such intense excitement rushed to my head that I felt pressure behind my eyes.

Fuck, could I actually beat this bitch—

「Amelia Reinweils has cast [Autoreproduction].」

Just as my brain registered hope, my instincts suddenly sounded an alarm. The reason was very simple.

"Barbarian."

... Why was her voice coming from behind me? She was right here in my grasp.

TAP-TAP-TAP!

At the sound of someone moving, I instinctively stopped punching and looked back. An identical woman was charging toward me.

'Fuck.'

I wasn't particularly curious about how this could happen. [Autoreproduction]. An ultra-rare Essence obtainable only from the Guardian of the Doppelgänger Forest, a fourth-floor rift.

"You've absorbed a Vampire's Essence, so this much should be fine."

The woman in my grasp muttered. And at that moment...

「Amelia Reinweils has cast [Asura Kick].」

Her duplicate leaped high, spun in midair, and drove a kick into my face.

KRAAASH!

An impact that felt as though my entire head had been blasted off. Wait, had it actually been blasted off?

THUD.

A heavy impact sounded beside my ear. My vision went black. Like a phone shutting off when its battery was pulled out, my consciousness faded.

"Mother... fuck..."

Fuck.

* * *

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