chapter 13
13. Darkest Dungeon
During the ride, nothing interesting happened. The existing adventurer party members refrained from talking as much as possible, perhaps because they were afraid of the hero.
After leaving the horse and carriage in a small village in the Viscount Teper, we climbed the mountain. The target dungeon for this quest was located in the middle of the mountain.
Contrary to popular belief, dungeons were not real structures, but rather subspaces. That was also the reason why dungeons appeared in different spaces, such as in closets, and were difficult to find.
The entrance to the dungeon discovered this time was also open in an absurd location. A knothole in a tree that looks like it’s been dead for a while. How did you find out
“Let’s do the final maintenance and go in.”
Everyone nodded at the leader’s words. The two warriors worked on their weapons one last time, the ranger inspected all the tools, and the wizard sighed and cleared his throat with a bottle of carefully selected bottled water.
Of course, our hero was just standing there, doing nothing. Then, as if thinking of something, he made a short sound.
“Jim, give me.”
“Yes?”
“Because it is a porter.”
Of course, none of them thought of the hero as a porter, but they couldn’t be fooled by the hero’s insistence. In the end, the hero carried a mass of prepared materials and daily necessities.
Even though he was carrying a burden that was almost half of his body, the hero’s actions were as light as if he was carrying feathers. When the maintenance was finished, the leader applauded and drew everyone’s attention.
“Let’s go in now.”
The leader and other non-existent warriors stood at the forefront, the mages and rangers stood in the middle, and the porter, the warrior, was the last to enter the dungeon one after another.
Before entering the dungeon, I opened my eyes for the first time in a long time out of vague curiosity. At most, it wouldn’t be a big deal since it was a silver rank quest, but it was still to check the dungeon’s information.
– Title: The sacrificial labyrinth of the endless night
– Grade: S-
Wait, what’s the status of this?
But before I could stop the hero, the hero took a step forward. We were swallowed up in the cracks of space.
*
Think positively. Although the difficulty of the dungeon is high enough that I can’t even solve the gold grade, let alone the silver grade, I still have a battle cheat key warrior.
If there is a hero, any crisis can be solved neatly! ······But where did he go?
The surreal darkness that does not allow the light of the earth did not cover my vision. I made full use of my 360-degree field of view to grasp my surroundings.
First of all, I was stuck on the floor of a dungeon made of black stones. And, there were leaders and wizards who couldn’t come to their senses around me.
No matter how much I looked around, there were no warriors, holy swords, and other non-existent warriors and rangers. Even if you expand your senses as much as possible, you can’t even feel them.
‘Is it a separate dungeon?’
Sometimes there are places like that in dungeons. As soon as they enter the dungeon, they drop the party members into different spaces, the most vicious of the dungeons.
And before heading to the dungeon, the leader said that this dungeon was a dungeon with low magic concentration. There was no such thing as an S-rank, so the dungeon was hiding its own magical power.
If that’s the case, most of the information, such as the size obtained outside the dungeon, must be false. It was more like a trap than a dungeon, disguised as an easy dungeon to attract prey.
[Hey, hey. Wake up.]
Well, if I were a human, this would be my grave, but now I am a sword. Not to mention, considering the hero’s obsession with me, she wouldn’t give up on me.
As a result, I did not feel a sense of crisis and calmly woke the others up.
“Hey, is this place…?”
[Inside the dungeon. Dude, wake up.]
“Are you a demonic sword? Where are my other colleagues…”
[Don’t let the young guy mess around. Call me Demonic Sword.]
“Yes, yep! Demon Sword-nim, so what happened?”
I decided to kindly explain to the leader. This is an S-class dungeon that cannot be cleared even if a silver-class adventurer wakes up from death, and your party has been split in two due to an unknown force.
Of course, since I was a kind and considerate swordsman, I also pointed out that the hero who claimed to be the porter took most of the luggage, so the current leader and the wizard do not have enough supplies to endure.
“Ah…”
Thanks to my kind explanation, the leader, who realized the situation, put on an expression that had lost his soul. This is fun, can you play it some more?
But before I could put that thought into practice, the wizard woke up with a moan. The leader was startled and spoke to the wizard.
“Emily, are you okay?”
“Ugh, Zach…”
The leader helped the wizard who stumbled to his feet. The wizard’s face was as pale as that of a corpse.
“Are we okay?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, trust me.”
“Yeah…”
And a strong determination appeared on the leader’s face as he looked at the wizard. After all, it doesn’t seem like a normal relationship, right? Soon, the leader fully raised the mage.
“You know what? We can’t just wait for rescue. Let’s explore the surroundings.”
“Yes. I will do my best too.”
Yes, in a situation where supplies are scarce, we can’t just hope for a helping hand that may come anytime. The leader and wizard, who had picked each other up, began to move forward.
[No, wait. Won’t you take me?]
But these bastards leave me out. The leader looked like he had forgotten, but the wizard openly kicked his tongue and showed his displeasure.
“Why us? Such an ominous demonic sword, it should be stuck in a dungeon for the rest of its life.”
I really wanted to hit him, but I had no choice but to endure it because I couldn’t move the sword by myself. Because of the seal the hero placed on me, the magic sword’s power is now quite limited.
Of course, that didn’t mean I didn’t have a way to intimidate them.
[Just throw me away, then…]
“Then?”
[I will cry.]
At my terrifying threat, the wizard put on a dumbfounded expression for a moment, then grabbed his stomach and started laughing. It’s kind of a bad feeling to be mocked in the face like this.
“Pha, are you crazy? A sword with a long history and no shame… Who do you think would be afraid of your tears?”
[Something to be afraid of. Do you not know where this is?]
“This is a dungeon.”
[Yes, and the volume of the cry I emit with my mental waves is beyond imagination. As an experienced adventurer, you know better what will happen if there is a loud noise in the dungeon, right?]
The output of the mental wave that I can generate is no different from a sonic weapon. If such a devastating noise rang out, the monsters in the dungeon would come to hear it.
[If you don’t want to serve a hot buffet to the monsters, you’d better carry me gently.]
“······Usually.”
I’m not a hero, and to be honest, I’m older than these guys in my career as an adventurer. If I can’t handle one of these minnows the way I want, the name of the demonic sword will cry.
The leader had to fight with a sword and shield, so the role of carrying me naturally became a mage. The wizard reached out to me with a face of great dislike.
[Uh, wait.]
“Why again?”
[Do not hold the handle. If you touch it, it will explode.]
Of course, the seal placed by the hero was still valid at this moment. If it wasn’t for that, I’d just erode them and use their bodies as my hosts.
“So, where do you grab it?”
[Hold the sheath and move. Be careful not to drop it.]
The wizard held my sword sheath as if hugging it. Although my scabbard is made of hell beast hide, it is strong, but it is slippery and difficult to grip.
[Now then, shall we go now!]
“Don’t scream. What if a monster appears?”
[Huh? Anyway, you are the ones who die.]
“Huh, Zach. I really hate this sword.”
“Sorry, Emily. Be patient with me.”
Now the leader was giving me a hateful look, but of course there was no blow. At my urging, they soon shut up and started exploring.
A dark hallway without a single light. The leader with his weapon raised was wary of the front, and the magician holding a demonic sword stumbled after him.
It feels like even your senses are paralyzed by the terrible darkness. Even though there are no obstacles, they stumble or bump into each other, and the only thing they can hear and rely on is the sound of each other’s footsteps.
I had been talking loudly, but at one point I shut my mouth shut, and there was a silence like death. How far did you walk The walking leader suddenly stopped.
“Light…?”
The wizard who was following bumped into the leader’s back, and I fell from her hand with a squeak.
“It’s light!”
But they seemed to have no time to care about me. This hellish darkness. It was the first light to appear in it. They hurried on like a thirsty man finding an oasis.
I didn’t stop them even though I was abandoned. Anyway, I knew that if I waited a little longer, the two of them would come back.
“What is that?”
Soon, they staggered back to me with a terrified gait. Their faces were grotesquely distorted in the fluorescent light instead of darkness, making them look like aliens.
They only realized it when they got closer, but I’ve been feeling it for quite some time. Blocking the corridor they are heading to without a gap with my flesh.
The first enemy encountered in this dungeon was a dull fluorescent color. Pus bubbled up all over his body, and whenever the pus that expanded in an unpleasant way exploded, someone’s scream could be heard inside.
“I’ve seen it in the encyclopedia, that’s…”
It was a twisted nether slime.