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156 The Vigil’s End

 

「[Asura’s Six Arms], activate.」

Leaving Altora and the Elves to hold the rear, I shifted coordinates along with Koe-san and Angelina to begin our dungeon assault. The moment the scenery changed, the warm, early-summer air of Fathie was replaced by a sudden, biting chill.

The coordinates I’d designated with [Space Jump] were midair—above the mountain’s slope. I deployed my invisible arms as I visually confirmed a horde of monsters running below. It seemed that most of the creatures overflowing from the dungeon, The Vigil’s End were beast-types, like deer or rabbits. I landed squarely in the middle of them, using the arms as makeshift legs, and struck the ground with a thudding impact that kicked up a great cloud of dust.

Angelina, who had been clinging to my back, slipped off into the opening created by the impact and braced her hands against the ground—just as the dust began to stir with a will of its own.

「[Mud Infant], activate!」

The golem she summoned was large—at least two heads taller than Gordon, a big man himself. With a will of its own, the golem hoisted Angelina onto its shoulder and began smashing through the advancing monsters.

「Hey, Skill Lender-san, do you even have enough skills left for this? I thought you lent a bunch back?」

「I have plenty.」

I’d returned enough skill points to Altora and the others to bring them back up to what they had when they exiled me. That meant all the points I’d earned through farming and combat in the village remained with me. And the ones that had grown significantly in value—I could still use them.

I would use those to conquer The Vigil’s End.

「Koe-san.」

「Yes. The high-value, powerful skills remaining inside you are [Asura’s Six Arms], [Space Jump], and [Universal Palm]…」

「The ones used frequently and on a large scale, so they racked up points.」

「There is also the interest from when Gelli borrowed them to ride Gelli’s family’s golem.」

「[Divine Blade/Three Moon Sword], [Song of the Age of Gods], [Infinite Mana Fountain], and [Chant Destruction] are accessible as well.」

「…Come again?」

Why did I still have access to Altora and Eria’s unique skills? And their evolved forms, no less—that implied I had a considerable amount of points left.

It didn’t take long to realize why.

「Of course. Lord Emesmes and Kirmiji.」

「Correct. Those skills were lent to them, which generated massive interest. The interest alone remains in Master’s possession.」

「Having those two still available is a stroke of luck.」

Lord Emesmes and Kirmiji were rare cases who borrowed an enormous amount of skill points. Even with just a 10% interest rate, the principal was so vast that the interest alone ballooned into formidable skills.

Luckily, both skills enhanced cognitive function. With a bigger mental capacity, I could multitask at a much higher level. That would be a powerful asset in dungeon conquest.

More importantly, I wasn’t alone with just Koe-san this time. I had a red-haired alchemist who could command rainbow-colored golems by my side.

「Angelina, our destination is The Vigil’s End entrance. We’re going in hot.」

「Roger!」

「[Divine Blade/Three Moon Sword], activate. Focus mana blades forward!」

「Reference: compiled. Template: confirmed. Manifesting the head [Fougères the Artificer].」

A female-type golem gleamed with porcelain skin as she took the lead. White mana blades floated protectively around her, securing the forward line with no gaps.

With the terrain already complex and swarming with monsters, using [Space Jump] was inefficient. Running was faster.

「[Asura’s Six Arms], leap!」

Without hesitation, we charged forward—cleaving, smashing, and bounding through the forest.

Our route led deeper into the mountains, toward the mouth of a pit so steep and dark you couldn’t see the bottom.

「Say, Koe-san, where exactly are these coordinates Remonde-san mentioned?」

「Noelno Great Canyon. The deepest, largest canyon in the Leon Enagoris mountain range.」

「That reeeally deep one? Figures. Bet there’s a massive dungeon down there.」

「Only a possibility…」

「Only?」

「It may be on par with—or greater than—the Golden Land of Crimson Luxury.」

The Harpies who dwelled in the Leon Enagoris range sang this:

The peaks are the faces of gods.
The valleys, the wombs of spirits.
Snow is their ceremonial garb.
Seventy-six gods tower above.

This poetic line described the seventy-six peaks of the Leon Enagoris mountains. But the crucial part was the second line: “The valleys, the wombs of spirits.”

‘Womb’ meant uterus. Knowing a massive dungeon lay at the canyon’s base, that line hinted at a different possibility.

A super S-rank dungeon that bore the name of a womb and gave birth to demi-humans.

「A Womb of the Stars…!?」

「If that’s the case, it’s the real deal. Prepare yourself.」

「If preparing was enough to solve things, Gelli wouldn’t be so worried.」

Whatever levity had remained in Angelina’s tone vanished. Her family, the Emesmes line, were masters of alchemy who’d spent over a thousand years studying how to conquer one such dungeon—the Golden Land of Crimson Luxury. No one understood better than she how impossibly difficult that was.

As we spoke, the scenery below shifted from forest to shrubs to bare rock. Eventually, we hit a steep cliff. Last time we’d crossed its upper edge, but this time, we descended—deeper and deeper.

The canyon walls rose ever higher around us, until even daylight began to fade.

By the time we were wrapped in a darkness that barely resembled daytime, I felt a faint trace of mana ahead.

「Even without detection skills, I can tell. That’s the place.」

「Sure is convenient how it’s practically screaming ‘Here I am!’ Helps, considering how deep and pitch-black it is.」

「Hold on a moment.」

As we drew closer, the presence intensified—so much that it stung, like static electricity crackling against your skin. But Koe-san insisted it was fake.

「According to the note Remonde-sama left, The Vigil’s End is a dungeon meant to mislead. The obvious entrance is fake.」

「Right—she wrote up some pretty useful notes. Guess they’re already coming in handy.」

「Indeed. There are other notes as well.」

「Hope she’s still doing okay…」

「Knowing her, she’ll manage. As for us, we have our own role to play.」

「Roger that. By the way, with a name like The Vigil’s End, I was hoping it’d be a foresty kind of dungeon? Maybe with a magical spring and some giggling fairies?」

S-rank dungeons were irrational spaces ruled by chaos, but many still had consistent themes.

The Abyss Where Evil Comes From was full of deadly poison. The Farthest Ends of the Blue featured lush nature and a seemingly infinite horizon. The Golden Land of Crimson Luxury was a labyrinth of fire and gold.

And the Elves’ hidden ace, The Vigil’s End?

We understood its nature the moment we passed through the true entrance, just a little north of the fake one.

「I-It’s so cold!!」