Plic… Plic… Plic…
The soft sound of water droplets echoes nearby as I feel a hard floor against my back.
I try to open my eyes to look around, but all I see is a small speck of light in the darkness.
— …The light at the end of the tunnel, hein.
— You’re finally awake?
I glance to the side and see, with some difficulty, the protagonist’s silhouette. He’s watching me intently, sitting a short distance away.
At that moment, I finally realize I’m lying at the bottom of the dungeon, my body aching a little.
— How did we survive? — I ask, even though I already know the answer.
— …Pure luck — he replies after a few seconds of silence.
As far as I remember, we only survived because of a relic the princess left for the protagonist, but it can only be used once, so it must be destroyed by now.
— Anyway… Wouldn’t you like to explain yourself? — he says, slowly standing up while drawing his sword.
The next moment, I see the silver sword pointed directly at me.
Despite the darkness, a faint light coming from the opening above reflects off the blade, giving it a dignified and deadly gleam.
His serious gaze, combined with the atmosphere of the dungeon, creates a suffocating pressure that makes me hold my breath.
— This protagonist… Has he always been like this? — I think, not knowing exactly what to do at the moment. — Eh…
I remain silent, unsure how to respond.
If everything went according to plan, even if I ended up being taken by the princess for questioning, she herself had witnessed that everything that had happened was an accident. After that, besides praying for the hero to conquer this dungeon as quickly as possible, I’d return to Maralto and even change my appearance, if necessary.
The reason for this is simple: the hero is the only one who would notice that I tried to push him down.
And that’s why I’m in this situation now.
— What are you thinking? If you don’t start talking, I’ll cut you in half…
The blade touches my cheek and makes a small cut, making it clear that he’s not bluffing.
I turn my attention back to the hero and quickly say.
— W-Wait! What are you talking about!?
— Don’t play the fool, I know full well that you tried to push me!
— Why would I try to push the only man who shares my goal!? You must know how men are treated!
— …
Hearing my words, I can see the protagonist beginning to doubt me, sheathing his sword while continuing to watch me.
— Still… I’ll take it as the truth, for now.
With that, I let out a sigh of relief before turning my attention to my surroundings. It’s so dark that I can only make out my surroundings, such as the ruins of what appear to be ancient structures and a strange liquid on the ground that glows in the light.
— That liquid… That’s right, the item that helped the protagonist survive was a bubble…
As I assess my situation, the protagonist glances quickly around before saying.
— Well, let’s split up and see what we find.
— Ah, wai-
Before I could ask to go with him, the hero disappears from my sight, vanishing into the darkness.
— …Damn it!
I get up quickly and try to follow the protagonist, but because of my limited vision, I have to move slowly and carefully so I don’t fall.
— For now, let’s keep the [Trail] magic active and climb down this structure… Why did we have to fall right on top of something? — I think, sighing.
As I descend what appears to be a pile of rubble, my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, and for some reason, I feel a little strange.
— …This place is really vast.
At first glance, it looks like the ruins of an ancient city or perhaps a colossal temple, but as I try to look further into the distance, I get the feeling that it actually looks like the remains of a kingdom from hundreds of years ago.
— I don’t remember this place very well… And this darkness doesn’t help at all.
When I finally feel like I’m about to reach the bottom, a violent tremor shakes the ground.
I lose my balance and fall to my knees, with my hands on the ground.
— Ai! What was tha-
Looking back at where the pile of rubble I’d just climbed down from should be, I see that nothing is there anymore.
There isn’t even a trace of what might have happened.
— …This time, I’m really going to die.
Without a second thought, I get up and try to flee into some rubble to hide. Only when I realize that there doesn’t seem to be anything nearby do I take a deep breath and try to calm my racing heart.
At that moment, I finally realize that my magic has stopped working.
I had been using the remnants of the item the protagonist used to save us as a return point.
— The liquid must have been destroyed… And what kind of monster could have caused that!?
I strain my memory to recall the monsters down here, but my memories are relatively vague.
Every creature the protagonist faced was mentioned at least once, but that’s far from meaning that I can recall them now. The story’s focus was never on the hardships inside the dungeon, but rather on the triumphant return afterward.
— Why didn’t I read this damn story more carefully!?
Even so, even if I knew which monster lurks down here, it wouldn’t change the fact that I’d be unable to face it. Therefore, my best option is to move forward and find the protagonist.
I try to listen carefully to my surroundings as I move slowly through the rubble, taking each step carefully so as not to trip or fall into a hidden hole.
— This feeling… What on earth is it?
As I walk aimlessly, I have the faint feeling that I can make out my surroundings. It’s something I’ve never felt before, which ends up making me a little dizzy.
— …I’m hungry.
Perhaps because I’ve already been through a near-death experience once, I don’t feel as much pressure, and my mind ends up turning to my stomach for a brief moment.
Even so, I try to stay as focused as possible as I walk.
— Something feels off…
I stop for a few seconds and look around. It’s so dark that I can barely see anything around me, but for some reason I know there are buildings all around me, rubble on the ground that I’m careful not to step on, and that the path ahead of me resembles a street.
— …[Protective Membrane].
Using my magic, I finally realize the reason for my unease. My arm, protected by a thin membrane, seems to have been separated from the rest of my body.
It’s as if my entire body were underwater, with only my arm sticking out.
— Strange… Was something like this mentioned in the novel?
At least, based on my knowledge of the story, this dungeon shouldn’t have anything that could kill me just by breathing its air.
In other words, whatever’s in the air shouldn’t be harmful.
— And for it to be amplifying my senses like this… Is this magic?
Thinking about it that way, I begin to see why this dungeon has stronger monsters the deeper you go. Perhaps the magical power in its depths is so concentrated that it’s possible to sense it.
— For now, there’s nothing I can do, even if there’s a risk that this air contains something harmful… Hm?
CLANG!
A bright flash followed by the sound of clashing metal comes from a little further ahead.
CLANG!
CLANG!
Each blow seems to reverberate through the ruins, as if spreading the sound throughout the entire dungeon.
Since there’s only one being capable of producing a light like that, I start hurrying toward the spot.
— That damn protagonist, what the hell is he doing!? Does he want to draw all the monsters toward him!?
When I get close enough to the source of the light, what I see makes me freeze in my tracks, holding my breath without even realizing it.
A black armored figure twice the size of the protagonist wields a two-meter sword as if it were nothing more than a twig. Its appearance is bizarre, with the joints glowing blood-red and pulsing like a heart.
Two crimson horns protrude from its helmet, the symbol of the demon race.
CLANG!
The impact of the two swords clashing makes me fall to the ground just from the pressure and the tremor caused by them.
With the slight pain from the impact, my mind starts working again.
I look toward the protagonist and see him trying to use all his strength, making his sword shine like the sun, to cut through the armor, but he can’t even leave a scratch on it.
I can see in his expression the hatred he harbors, almost turning into madness.
— Out of all the monsters he could have encountered… Why the damn boss of all things!?
In the story, this is probably the only monster in the dungeon that the hero harbors pure hatred for, since the armor is something elite demons often wear.
And the ones who attacked his home were demons of that kind.
— But… He shouldn’t have encountered this monster right now!
At that moment, I realize that aside from what’s happening right in front of me, I hear sounds coming from the side.
When I turn to look, I see a repulsive creature, made of a shapeless mixture of flesh, bones, and mud, trying to maintain what should be the form of a human body, but one that’s giant and deformed.
Just looking at it sends a chill down my spine as I step back to keep my distance.
— A… Slime?
Although I’ve never seen one, I’ve heard about the bizarre appearances of slimes and how they don’t look anything like the ones in the games from my world.
— …But do slimes take human form?
Before I could finish thinking about it, the grotesque creature picks up its pace, causing the ground to shake with every step.
— Seriously!?
I run towards the hero and shout.
— RUN!
But the hero doesn’t react and doesn’t even turn his head.
Instead, he attacks the armor again, but this time it doesn’t even use its sword. With just its hand, the armored figure knocks the sword aside and sends the protagonist flying straight into some rubble.
The hero’s full force didn’t even leave a scratch on the armor’s hand.
— WAKE UP! — I shout, reaching the hero’s side. — We have to get out of here!
This time, he finally reacts, staring directly at me as if he’s going to attack me if I get any closer.
— Get out of the way! — he exclaims, his voice full of fury.
— Do you want to die!?
At that moment, a sharp metallic sound echoes.
For the first time, the armor assumes a battle stance. Its enormous sword rests on its shoulder, held with just one hand, glowing red like the armor itself.
As the sword pulses, the air around it shudders, as if it were being warped.
— This isn’t go—
Before I could even think to dodge or run away, the armor had already struck. At a speed my eyes couldn’t follow, its enormous sword had sliced through the air in front of it.
An absurd pressure explodes, crushing everything in its path. I’m hurled backward, rolling violently through the rubble and only coming to a stop several meters away with an impact that knocks the air out of my lungs.
— Ugh… Cof-Cof… Haa… Haa…
My head feels like it's vibrating from the inside, and I can barely think as my ears ring. For a brief moment, I almost passed out, but the pain in my body snapped me back to reality.
My whole body aches, I’m having trouble breathing, and I feel like I’ve broken a few bones.
I lift my head with effort to see what’s going on, as my vision slowly returns.
The entire dungeon has fallen silent.
I see the armor placing its sword on the ground and the slime trembling, standing nearby.
— …
Too drained to even comment or think clearly, I spot the protagonist lying next to me, covered in blood, his sword reduced to fragments scattered around his body.
With my whole body screaming in pain, I begin to crawl slowly toward him. Every movement is torture, but since I’ve endured pain like this before, I bite my lip and ignore the agony.
— N-Need… Safe…
As soon as I reach him, I pause for a brief moment while glancing quickly around, then pull his body toward a pile of rubble.
From what I know about this place, most monsters are too big to squeeze through narrow passages. So my goal is to get us to a small spot with enough room to at least fit the two of us.
— Heavy…
Maybe it’s because of the protagonist’s armor, but he’s much heavier than I expected.
With enormous effort, I drag the hero behind a pile of broken stones and fallen columns. There’s a crack there, too narrow for a large body to pass through without crawling.
— Haa… We’re alive… — I mutter, barely able to speak.
I keep moving through the rubble, carrying the protagonist deeper and deeper into that cramped labyrinth, until my strength finally gives out.
[To be continued…]
[???]:
— Boss, do you know if there are any deities around here?
[ ]:
— Not that I can recall…
[+++]:
— Did something happen?
[???]:
— It’s just that I still haven’t figured out what interfered with my predictions.
[+++]:
— Couldn’t you have just gotten them wrong?
[???]:
— If that’s all it is, then fine…