Chapter 14

The Swordsmanship Genius Possessed by a God — Chapter 14

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The exploration of the dungeon continued until late.

The party kept encountering monsters. Packs of Dorvi continued to appear, along with monsters such as vampire bats, which were commonly found inside caves.

Was it because they had ventured so deep inside?

Increasingly powerful monsters began appearing in the dungeon.

“It's a Bristle!”

The Bristle was a monster resembling a wild boar. Bony spikes protruded from its back, and although they were fewer in number than Dorvi, they were several times stronger.

Baudon, who was leading the way, shouted at the sight of the Bristle and raised his shield. The Bristle, its eyes glowing crimson, immediately charged.

Bang!

Crunch.

Baudon's shield was dented in an instant. The impact was on an entirely different level from blocking a Dorvi.

“Urgh!”

However, Baudon was no pushover either. Having somehow withstood the Bristle's charge, he once again waited for Mikel's assistance.

“Lord Mikel!”

Squeeeeeal!

It was then that another Bristle appeared.

Mikel did not help Baudon. Instead, the tip of his sword turned toward the newly appeared Bristle.

Startled, Baudon staggered. In the meantime, the Bristle's horn pierced through his shield. At this rate, the horn might even impale his chest.

‘Damn it, it's pierced through...’

Tap.

It was then that he felt something on his shoulder.

Someone had stepped onto Baudon's shoulder and leaped upward.

At first, he thought Mikel had come to help him, but that wasn't the case.

The one who had used Baudon's shoulder as a foothold was Allen.

Whooooosh!

Splaaash!

The Bristle's back was split open in a long gash, and its scream echoed throughout the cave.

Squeeeeeal!

The enraged Bristle turned its gaze toward the rear. But Allen had not yet landed.

As though kicking off the air itself, Allen twisted his body sharply and brought his sword down.

Splaaash!

The Bristle's head was severed with a single stroke and fell to the ground. Allen's feet touched the floor almost simultaneously with the monster's head.

Holding his punctured shield, Baudon stared blankly at the scene.

‘What did I just see?’

Allen had stepped onto his shoulder, leaped into the air, and slashed open the Bristle's back.

Then, without losing the momentum of his leap, he had severed the Bristle's head. Every movement had been flawless, without a single wasted motion.

It was like watching a performance from a perfectly choreographed script.

‘Was it because I drew its attention?’

That was probably it. Otherwise, there was no way the Bristle could have been defeated so easily.

After all, what was so difficult about killing a monster whose attention was focused elsewhere? Baudon settled on that explanation.

“Are you all right?”

Baudon flinched at Allen's question.

He had nearly been impaled by the Bristle's horn, but he saw no reason to reveal that.

“Ahem. Of course I'm fine. I was just about to slam that thing into the ground myself.”

His mind was already occupied with thoughts of the dungeon's treasure.

The moment he admitted that he owed Allen his life, he would have to surrender his share of the treasure to him.

“Even without you, I could have handled it perfectly well on my own. Understand?”

“Oh, is that so?”

“That's right. I told you to protect the mage, so why did you come charging forward for no reason?”

After speaking so curtly, Baudon apparently felt embarrassed even by his own words. He scratched his cheek and added,

“Well, anyway, good work. Your skills aren't bad. I suppose you really aren't wearing that sword just for show...”

Thud.

It was then that the Bristle Mikel had been fighting collapsed.

Baudon's face brightened as he looked toward Mikel. Mikel stood holding a sword dripping with blood, staring at the Bristle's corpse.

“Have you finished?”

“Yes. What about your side?”

“Of course, we've finished here too.”

Baudon behaved as though he had personally defeated the Bristle.

Ignoring him, Allen shrugged and examined the corpse of the Bristle Mikel had killed.

‘He practically hacked it to pieces again.’

He hadn't killed it by targeting a vital point. He had slashed it again and again until it stopped breathing.

Most of the monsters Mikel killed ended up like that. His swordsmanship was focused on cutting rather than killing or subduing his opponents.

The more Allen watched, the more even his lingering doubts disappeared.

There was no such sloppy swordsmanship in Vishken.

‘More importantly...’

Allen spoke as he passed Baudon.

“Don't trust that man too much.”

Startled, Baudon turned toward Allen.

Allen lowered his voice and smiled faintly.

“Just keep it in mind.”

With those words, Allen returned to his original position. His assigned place in the party was beside Yusia, the mage.

Seeing Allen return to her side, Yusia spoke with obvious surprise.

“That was impressive.”

She had been watching Allen's movements from a distance in admiration. The way he had stepped onto Baudon's shoulder and launched himself into the air was extraordinary.

“I was lucky.”

“How modest. Those weren't movements you could pull off through luck.”

Because she had been standing farther away, Yusia had been able to observe Allen's abilities clearly.

But that wasn't the only thing she had noticed.

“You told him not to trust that man, didn't you?”

Apparently, she had heard what Allen said to Baudon even from that distance.

It wasn't simply because she had good hearing. She had cast a spell that allowed her to monitor what was happening ahead.

She shared Allen's opinion.

“I agree. That man feels very different from when we first met him.”

“In what way?”

“He's become rougher and more unsettling. He didn't seem particularly pleasant to begin with, but...”

She had finally identified the source of the strange discomfort she had felt around Mikel.

“Just now, he could have helped Mr. Baudon, but he didn't.”

“Are you saying he deliberately put that man in danger?”

“That's how it looked to me. Isn't that why you warned him, Mr. Allen?”

That was certainly part of the reason. No matter how Allen looked at it, Mikel seemed to have no intention of protecting his party members.

But if that had been all, Allen wouldn't have gone out of his way to warn Baudon and make him unnecessarily anxious.

Looking at the mutilated corpse of the Bristle Mikel had killed, Allen spoke.

“I think he might be even more dangerous than that.”

“Pardon?”

“Hey!”

It was then that Baudon, who had already walked far ahead, turned around and shouted.

“Are you two having a romance back there? Hurry up and keep up!”

Yusia frowned at Baudon's words.

“He doesn't even realize whose help kept him alive just now...”

“He probably still has visions of treasure dancing before his eyes. I understand.”

“Doesn't it make you angry, Mr. Allen? He's acting all high and mighty just because he has a swordsman from Vishken backing him up. And he's the least skilled one here.”

Allen burst into laughter at Yusia's irritation.

Unlike her, Allen wasn't particularly offended by Baudon's behavior.

“Doesn't that make it even more amusing?”

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Contrary to their expectations that the innermost part would be the most dangerous, the depths of the dungeon were deserted.

No monsters appeared for quite some time.

Thanks to that, the party easily reached the end of the dungeon.

However, for adventurers seeking treasure, that was actually a bad sign.

“Damn it!”

When a wall appeared at the end of the dungeon, Baudon cursed.

Monster corpses lay scattered across the passage.

They appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time, as all the bodies were already decomposing.

“Someone's already cleared this place.”

Mikel frowned as he examined the monster corpses.

The Bristle corpses lying at the end of the dungeon were covered in cuts and puncture wounds from swords and spears. They were all signs of having been killed by humans.

“Doesn't this mean we've come all this way for nothing?”

“Probably. Even if there was treasure, someone must have already taken it.”

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Baudon struck the wall with his dented shield in frustration. He had come after hearing rumors of treasure in the dungeon, but if someone had already cleared it, the entire trip had been pointless.

Meanwhile, Yusia had a question.

“But something's strange.”

“What's strange about it?”

“If this dungeon has already been cleared, there shouldn't be any monsters left, right? Then what were the monsters we encountered near the entrance?”

“Well, that's...”

Baudon began to answer but stopped.

“Come to think of it, you're right. What gives?”

Now that he thought about it, it was strange.

Why would monsters remain in a dungeon that had already been cleared?

“There's only one explanation I can think of. The dungeon is attracting monsters.”

“A cleared dungeon attracting monsters? This isn't the Demonic Realm. Is something like that even possible?”

“Exactly. This is a dungeon.”

“Then that means...”

What Yusia was saying was that the dungeon had not yet been cleared.

“This isn't the end. There must be something more.”

Her eyes were filled with curiosity. The dungeon appeared simple on the surface, but some secret was hidden within it.

Allen was impressed by Yusia's deduction. She had instinctively sensed the secret concealed within the dungeon.

And Allen already knew that secret.

“I agree.”

Allen examined the dungeon walls.

“There's no way this is the end.”

The person who had told Allen the secret of this dungeon was a former adventurer turned mage who had belonged to the Suicide Squad in his previous life.

“The dungeon where the Flower of Stars was discovered was a double dungeon. Because the cave kept attracting monsters, the Villerman family commissioned me to investigate it.”

“A double dungeon? Was there some kind of trick?”

“Nothing particularly elaborate. There was a small hidden groove near the end of the cave...”

The mage had boasted that discovering the Flower of Stars had earned him an enormous reward. He had described the experience as the most mysterious event of his adventuring career.

Recalling his former comrade's words, Allen searched the wall for the groove.

Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to find. At about waist height, there was a small hole just large enough to fit a finger.

‘This is it.’

Without hesitation, Allen drew his sword.

Shing.

Scrape.

Allen's sword entered the groove.

The moment he felt something catch against the tip of his blade, Allen twisted and turned the sword.

And in the next instant—

Rrrrrumble.

Craaaack, crack, crack.

The cave ceiling shook, and the wall began to split apart.

“W-what is that?”

“Mr. Allen! What on earth did you touch... Eek!”

As the thick wall began collapsing, the three people nearby retreated as though fleeing.

Fragments of stone fell from the ceiling, and rocks tumbled down as the wall crumbled. Thick, dark clouds of dust rose throughout the cave.

Amid the sound of coughing, Yusia raised her staff.

[Storm Veil]

Whoooom.

A curtain of wind formed around the party. It was a spell intended to protect them from the falling stones and boulders.

The dungeon continued collapsing for some time. But after a while, only dust remained in the air, and the cave no longer crumbled.

Yusia used another spell to summon wind.

Whoooooosh. The wind rising from her staff swept away the dust.

As the mist-like dust cleared, the interior beyond the collapsed wall came into view.

At that moment, a flame sprang to life.

Whoosh.

Fwoooosh.

Torches stretched in long rows on either side, illuminating a broad, extended passage and an enormous altar.

Above the altar stood a gigantic statue bearing two horns like a demon.

It was a space that contrasted sharply with the rough dungeon.

It resembled a ceremonial hall built to worship someone.

“A double dungeon?”

Startled by the new dungeon that had appeared before them, Yusia turned toward Allen. Even while the wall had been collapsing, Allen hadn't tried to avoid it and had remained standing in the same spot.

“Mr. Allen, what on earth is this...?”

Yusia, who had been about to question Allen about the secret he had uncovered, looked puzzled.

Because Allen himself, the one who had discovered the double dungeon, looked even more astonished than she did.

“Mr. Allen? Mr. Allen!”

Yusia's voice did not reach Allen's ears.

It was because of the new messages that had appeared the moment the double dungeon revealed itself.

[You have discovered the ‘Ruins of the Stars.’]

[The ‘Heart of the Unknown Entity’ has encountered a new fragment.]

[You are witnessing the ‘Eleventh Fragment of the Unknown Entity.’]

They were the same kind of messages that had appeared in the Family Head's Hall.

Somewhere in this place, there was another fragment.