A Little Shift in Perspective Required for Clearing a Dungeon – Part 06
I was careless. Regret stabbed Hikaru’s chest. He had been so focused on the door that he had neglected to use his Mana Detection.
But my detection has a radius of 100 meters. I checked behind us repeatedly. Of course, I can’t deny that I didn’t pay attention once we entered this room, but it couldn’t have been for long. Where were they during that time? Maybe it was just bad luck on my part, and they happened to arrive at the right moment?
“The old man was right,” Gogo Zoro said, answering Hikaru’s unvoiced questions. “This little shit has some kind of way to sense our approach… or maybe he had some trap set up in the dungeon?”
“I don’t know what kind of trick he’s using,” Esrat chimed in, “but good thing we listened to the old man and closed the door that was shut before.”
The bat Beastman chuckled. “Who would’ve thought that the doors themselves were keys? I heard everything, though, which means we can open them as many times as we want.”
It seemed that the bat Beastman’s range of hearing was wider than Hikaru’s Mana Detection. They had been following them just outside the 100-meter range, and by listening closely, they were able to monitor their every move.
I miscalculated. I didn’t think they were this cautious.
Hikaru never thought that these rural adventurers, especially those who simply explored the same predictable dungeon for income, would be this clever or cautious. Yet here they were, exhibiting prudence that surpassed Hikaru’s expectations.
“Lavia!”
“Flame Wall!'”
Lavia had already started her incantation before Hikaru could even call her name. As Hikaru and Jillarte dashed toward Lavia and Paula, a wall of flames shot up. This should buy them some time.
“Hahaha! Don’t you have any other tricks?! Go do your thing, old man!”
“…”
On the other side of the flames, the hooded old man stepped forward and scattered powder, extinguishing the flames faster than water would. Hikaru was familiar with this phenomenon. It was the same as when Lavia’s flames were instantly put out during their recent battle at Ponsonia’s royal castle.
“Anti-Magic!”
Once the fire was snuffed out, Gogo Zoro charged in.
Before Lavia could cast another spell, Hikaru stopped her. “Don’t waste any more spells—”
“Don’t get too cocky now, you little punk!” Gogo Zoro hurled his battle axe.
Hikaru didn’t expect the man to target him right away, nor did he anticipate such a reckless fighting style. His feet momentarily froze.
A heavy mass of iron hurtled toward him.
“—Aaaahhh!”
Clank!
The battle axe soared through the air, then spun as it plummeted back, impaling itself into the ground.
“Are you all right?” Jillarte asked, panting hard.
“Jillarte…”
Jillarte stood before Hikaru. She had dashed forward at full speed and intercepted the attack with her two cutlasses.
“Stay sharp. I’ll take care of him,” she said.
“Understood,” Hikaru replied.
He didn’t think he was being careless, but he didn’t expect to be taken by surprise.
Damn it…
Hikaru had constantly outsmarted his opponents using his incredibly powerful Stealth ability, which made the current situation extremely frustrating.
It’s like they’re saying I can’t do anything without my Stealth.
Hikaru glared at Gogo as he distanced himself from Jillarte. Gogo had already retrieved his battle axe and was facing Jillarte head-on.
“I was planning to deal with you later,” Gogo said.
“You can’t even fight without relying on traps, and you only brought a few friends with you.”
“Still talking big in this situation, huh?” Veins bulged on Gogo’s forehead. “Are you fucking slow or something? I had to use a trap so you wouldn’t get injured. Otherwise, your value as a hostage drops. Should I chop off your limbs, then?!”
The battle between Jillarte and Gogo commenced.
While running, Hikaru processed the situation. Jillarte should have no trouble defeating Gogo Zoro. However, they were unaware of all the enemy’s abilities. The old man seemed to rely solely on Anti-magic, as he held no weapons, standing behind Esrat and the bat Beastman. The latter two wielded short swords and bucklers, but showed no inclination to join the fray.
With an Anti-Mage around, Lavia’s spells are useless. As for the last guy…
Hikaru unsheathed his Dagger of Strength, a melee weapon. Standing before him was the man swathed in bandages.
“Heh… Heh…”
He was a creepy man, his laughs sounding like hiccups.
Hikaru was pondering his next move, when the bandaged man struck first. He pulled out a rattling string from his waist and cracked it towards Hikaru.
A whip user…
He only caught a glimpse of it, but it looked like a whip made by twisting together thin chains. But it was slow, allowing him to easily dodge it even if he was careless.
“Heh. Heh.”
Unfazed by Hikaru’s dodging, the bandaged man continued his attacks relentlessly.
I get it. He’s using the whip’s range to prolong the fight. He thinks Gogo Zoro will win against Jillarte, and he’s trying to buy time.
Hikaru glanced at Jillarte, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Guh…”
“Hahahaha! What a weak-ass sword! Is this the Deputy Leader of Einbiest?!”
Jillarte was cornered against the wall. Numerous small wounds marred her body, not fatal but clearly putting her at a disadvantage.
Hikaru couldn’t comprehend how this had happened. In terms of swordsmanship, Jillarte was exceptional, and even if Gogo had raw strength, Jillarte should have surpassed him in skill.
Then, Hikaru noticed something strange in Jillarte’s movements.
Her arm… is injured?
It looked like she was in pain and couldn’t muster any strength.
Realization struck Hikaru. Jillarte used her sword to deflect the battle axe earlier. She must’ve put too much strain on her arms then.
No, there’s more to it. She shouldn’t be this exhausted just from that.
Hikaru deduced that the injured arm was only a trigger. There had to be something else at play.
At that moment, Hikaru’s knee buckled, causing him to stumble forward. He managed to evade the bandaged man’s whip by propping himself with one hand and rolling ahead.
“Hikaru!”
“Lord Hikaru!”
Something was amiss. Suddenly Hikaru couldn’t muster any strength. He noticed his vision blurring as he looked at Lavia and Paula.
“Heh… Heh…”
His heart pounded in his chest, and he began sweating profusely.
“I-I get it now… Poison…”
The reason the bandaged man didn’t seem concerned even when his whip missed was likely because he could release poison when he swung it, scattering it in the surroundings.
Once Hikaru realized it was poison, many things fell into place, including Jillarte’s predicament. She shouldn’t be losing to Gogo with just a minor injury to her arm. But if this bandaged man gave some poison to Gogo, then that changed everything.
“Hikaru! The door!” Lavia shouted.
Hikaru turned to look, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. The door that should have been wide open was slowly closing. It wouldn’t shut within a matter of seconds, but in three minutes or less, it would be almost completely closed.
They leave me no choice. Hikaru made his decision. No holding back.
He had been thinking of a way to minimize casualties, but he abandoned the idea.
“Heh… Heh… Heeek?!”
Hikaru shot the bandaged man a sharp glare, and the bandaged man flinched and leaped backward, a reaction driven by his animal instincts. However, that evasive action alone wasn’t enough.
A rod about sixty centimeters in length pierced into his abdomen, a weapon longer than an arrow but shorter than a spear.
It was Hikaru’s atlatl that had found its mark.
Propelled by Hikaru’s 2 points on both Muscle Strength and Projectile, the spear possessed speed and precision that could be struck down only by a seasoned swordsman. The bandaged man, who could only fight using underhanded tactics, was nothing more than an easy target.
“Guh, aghh?!”
Two more spears impaled his right shoulder and left thigh.
Even with poison coursing through his veins, this was nothing to Hikaru. He raised his index finger and shouted, “Lavia!”
“Got it! “O’ elementals, heed my call. With the primordial flame, incinerate!”
Lavia unleashed Fire Breath, a beginner-level spell. Raising his index finger was a signal to cast Fire Breath, part of their predetermined strategy for efficient party coordination. Though considered a beginner spell, an enormous fireball erupted forth. It passed through the fallen bandaged man and hurtled towards the old Anti-Mage.
“…”
The old man calmly swung his arm, releasing silver dust that extinguished the fireball.
“Gary, get down!”
Esrat instantly positioned himself in front of the old man—Gary—and raised his buckler. There was a metallic clank.
“Ugh… Not bad…”
The spear deflected by the buckler fell to the ground and rolled away.
“Esrat!”
“I’m fine. I managed to block it. They used magic as decoy and threw something. Old man, step back… Old man?”
“Gu… Ugh…”
Esrat looked over his shoulder and saw Gary hunched over on the ground. His battered robe was stained crimson, a dark metallic shard embedded in his abdomen.
No one in the room recognized it as a suntetsu. However, they understood that it had dealt a significant blow to Gary, enough to incapacitate him.
“Lavia!” Hikaru started running and raised three fingers. “Your friends are done!”
“What?!”
“Thanks for earlier. Now it’s time to return the favor.”
Hikaru brandished his remaining three javelins and hurled them at Gogo. The speed was adequate, but the poison’s effects prevented him from putting more force into the throws.
“Tch!”
Gogo used his battle axe as a shield to intercept the javelins. The weapons would have been enough to disrupt Esrat’s posture slightly, but they weren’t powerful enough against Gogo. However, they still served their purpose.
“Jillarte!”
Hikaru’s voice jolted Jillarte back to her senses. “Ah, got it. Use this chance to take him down—”
“No, run! The door is closing!”
Jillarte’s gaze darted to the door. Immediately comprehending what Hikaru was trying to say, she swiftly took off running.
“B-Bitch!”
“Incinerate the approaching danger! Flame Wall!”
A wall of flames erupted in front of Gogo, stopping his pursuit.
“Ouch! What happened to old man Gary?!”
“He’s down! Sorry!”
“What?!”
Hikaru sprinted away. Paula had already carried their belongings to the other side of the door.
All good. We’ll make it…
Hikaru’s foot missed a step. The poison had taken its toll, throwing him off-balance.
Shit…
The ground approached rapidly. He saw Lavia covering her mouth and Paula shouting something.
The door was closing.
“It’s my turn to carry you.”
Jillarte grabbed Hikaru’s hand and carried him in her arms. Her grip was incredibly firm and warm.
Hikaru lost consciousness.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Rule Breaker (Light Novel)
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
They fought to kill him and only now did he fought back with the same intent…. Well, at least he get a grip on himself at the end.