“W-werewolf Zombie?”
My voice is trembling.
All I could do was stare at its transformation. Darkness erupts from the entire boss area and shrinks towards the werewolf. There was a gurgling sound, like something being choked on underwater, and then the werewolf’s face appeared from the darkness, then shoulders, and eventually, its entire body crawled out. Its eyes were cloudy, and the flesh on its cheek looked slightly blistered.
It bared its fangs as if it was smiling.
Mia exclaimed.
“Rion!”
I was stunned. But luckily, I was able to jump backwards.
Just now, the werewolf zombie leapt towards me and its claws tried to pierce me. Thankfully, I was able to dodge at the last minute. Now it only pierced the air.
“I’ve dived a few times, but I’ve never seen a monster like this!”
Mia was right, there was no warning from the guild. Perhaps this is the first time it has appeared.
I’ve never heard of such a monster in the Eastern Dungeon.
『Rion, call me. 』
Solana said.
『It’s strong. Very strong.』
Fear gripped my heart.
I used the <Alarm> skill to escape. But my head started to shake.
“Eh—”
The light of the unsealing overflows from my pocket for a moment and then it disappeared. What I felt was resistance.
『It’s the seal. The power that seals us in this level is far stronger than any of the previous levels. 』
I was stunned.
The dungeon is a place where the gods have sealed monsters and relics. And the lower the level, the stronger the monsters and items become. If more powerful things lie dormant in the lower floors, it only makes sense that the seals would be stronger.
『The world is filled with sealing magic. And there are places where it’s thicker and thinner. I’d imagined it would be thicker, but never to this extent. 』
The first thing that came to mind was the story of the mountains. When climbing a tall mountain, it is said that it is difficult to breathe near the top. The same may be true for seals. The stronger it is, the more God suffers. That’s why the opportunities for them to materialize are getting shorter.
(I’ll try again.)
This time, I tried to focus even more!
『Remember, in this seal, the time for me to manifest outside is shorter. Rion, I only have one chance to unleash an attack.』
After summoning, it is meaningless if she does not defeat the monster.
“M-Mia-san!”
I frantically made a plan.
“W-we’re going to do it in a two-tier stance.”
“Huh?”
“Me and Mia will weaken the werewolf zombie, and then I’ll uhm… I’ll use a special move to kill the enemy!”
“Special move?”
I think that the werewolf zombie also have high regenerative power. All undead monsters have that ability. So, after weakening it, we’ll head straight to it. Deal damage all at once and don’t give it time to regenerate.
It was a plan based only on knowledge, but Mia-san accepted it.
“I never thought I’d meet such an interesting enemy in the Eastern Dungeon.”
With her fluttering red hair. Mia-san grins as she holds her axe. The chain wrapped around her right arm dangled.
“Looks like this will be fun!”
Mia-san swings the axe towards it but the werewolf zombie catches it with both hands. The blade dug deep into it, spraying green bodily fluids in the process.
Smoke rose from the ground where it fell.
“Poison?”
“I guess so. Mmm, it’s going to be troublesome when we get laced by this guy’s blood.”
I took a deep breath.
‘Poisoned’ is a troublesome status. Of course, we have antidote at ready, but to drink it, we need to stop fighting. The first step for an adventurer is to be able to drink medicine even when out of breath in battle. It’s best not to have that kind of opening.
“I’ll use my skill.”
| Skill, 『Sun’s Divine Protection』was used. Executing 【Golden Flame】 ―――――――――――――――――――― 【Golden Flame】 …… Improves your physical abilities for a limited time. |
I stepped in and accelerated. I swung my short sword at the werewolf zombie, its arm was severed and was sent flying. The werewolf zombie immediately jumped back and looked at me in shock.
But….. is it laughing?
『Regeneration huh.』
The lost arm was quickly woven back together with flesh and bone. It swung its claws smeared with poison, scattering the poison like bullets.
“It’s dangerous! Dodge!”
I dodged quickly, but Mia-san was hit.
Smoke was rising from her right arm, which was wrapped in chains. Her leather armor had also melted, and it must have reached her skin!
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You too, don’t rub your eyes or mouth.”
Mia-san picks up her axe. She shook her head to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
“T-the longer this goes on, the worse it is for us.”
“Mmm. We have to end this battle quick.”
My heart has been beating fast for a while now.
Was I rushing too much? Was my judgement wrong?
I want to return to my calm self, but the fear of the werewolf zombie won’t let me.
“Calm down. Your sister is waiting for you, right?”
That’s right.
The image of Lu and Mom appeared in my head, and my fear eased a little.
I can’t let any more family members be killed!
“Mia-san, we need to stop it from moving first.”
“……Got it.”
Mia smiled.
“I have an idea too, it’s a little dangerous, but can you get its attention for a while?”
Mia and I exchanged glances and then we nodded almost simultaneously.
The werewolf zombie turns its head this way. Its clouded eyes and bared fangs seemed to be saying. “Come, try and kill me if you can.”
“I just want you to promise me one thing.”
“W-what is it?”
“I want you to tell me as much of your secret as you can when we’re done with this.”
Mia-san added, “It’s just a hunch but…… your skill isn’t just magic or appraisal, isn’t it?”
Mia-san is trustworthy. No, I want to believe her.
Believe in her much stronger than before!
“I understand.”
“Alright. Well then, let me show you the power of my Axeman skill.”
The werewolf zombie pounced on us, and we quickly scattered. The stamina of the undead is inexhaustible. With muscles that seem to burst, its attacks rain down one after another.
I couldn’t withstand all of its attack. They were poisonous, too.
I could only dodge them.
With my physical abilities enhanced by my skill, I will keep it here. I shouldn’t be hit. But I won’t let it go past me either.
I will stop it here.
“Now, Rion!”
At Mia-san’s signal, I moved back at once. In that moment, something was hurled at the werewolf zombie, passing me by.
“Axe……?”
The werewolf zombie dodged the axe, but it had a chain attached to it.
Chain axe.
The iron chains wrapped around the werewolf zombie’s rotten arm, stopping it from moving.
It howled loudly. Mia-san’s skill blocked the werewolf zombie’s movements as it tried to tear it apart.
“Ummm!”
“Immovable” —in short, it’s the ability of the 『Axeman』 skill that allows her to stand her ground, and it’s extremely useful. Not being broken is a great strength in actual battles.
The movement of the werewolf zombie stopped. It’s as if it was tied to a rock.
I kicked the ground. The ability “Golden Flame” has one minute left. Holding the blue crystal short sword, I shot at it like an arrow.
“Haaa!”
The blade of the sword dug into the throat of the werewolf zombie. Using the momentum, I twisted my short sword with force. Green poison splattered onto my arm, causing a stinging pain similar to that of a burn.
In exchange for the damage to both my arms, I was sure that I had dealt a fatal blow to the werewolf zombie, but when I kicked the monster’s shoulder and retreated, its nearly torn head and torso had already begun to regenerate.
“I-it can even recover from that……!?”
There is not much time left for the skill.
『Rion, don’t forget.』
Right.
I’ll leave the rest to the Goddess.
I took out a mana herb-infused magical potion from my pouch and drank it quickly. This was just to be safe, as there was strong resistance to my Alarm skill.
The first thing my father taught me as an aspiring adventurer was how to drink potions in fierce battles. I put a small amount in my mouth, let my tongue get used to it, and then I drink the required amount of one small bottle at once.
| Skill, 『Alarm』was used. Executing 【Unseal】 |
“Well done, Rion.”
Solana jumps out into the air and smiles at me.
Then she looked down at the crumbling head of the werewolf zombie and its body that was beginning to regenerate.
“……Poor thing. You’ve been twisted by the power of darkness into an undead being. Even though you’re a monster, now that the seal has been released, you too are a living being.”
Solana shook her head. Her bangles and her blonde hair sparkled with her movement.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the sun.”
A black shadow erupted from the werewolf zombie, seemingly competing with Solana’s light. But only for a moment. Light pours down from Solana. The werewolf zombie became the original werewolf and then it turned to ashes.
Glittering crystals floated in the air and dropped down.
“Mmm……, I guess that’s my limit huh.”
Solana came down close to the ground, looking a little exhausted. There is no trace of the monster anymore.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yes. You did well. I’ll rest in the coin for a bit.”
Solana burst into a flash of light and returned to the gold coin.
Mia-san approached me.
“……That last attack was amazing. With that light, it purified the monster in an instant. Are you from a family of priests?”
“Eh?”
Solana doesn’t seem to be visible to Mia-san.
Then…..
Sure enough, Lu’s eyes are special huh.
I turned to Mia-san.
“That’s my ability.”
“Heh~……ability to purify monsters huh.”
“No. My skill 『Alarm』has the ability to unseal a special being like the light you saw earlier.”
I gathered up my courage and told her about what my skill really is.
“Unseal……”
“The one who defeated the werewolf zombie earlier was an ancient goddess who was sealed like the monsters here.”
Mia-san’s eyes blinked and she looked deeply shocked.
Well, that’s to be expected….
I don’t think she’s an overly devout follower of Oudis-sama so I think it’s okay to use the word like “unseal” but…
“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“No, it was just a little unexpected. I just thought it was a high-level magic-related skill, like 『High Priest』 or 『Great Sage』. And that you saying that you have『Alarm』skill is just a way to make sure you do not stand out.”
Mia scratched her head.
Then she grinned at me.
“W-well, I understand now. Then, can I see that goddess too?”
『Yes. I can make it so you can see me. 』
“Ah!? W-whose voice is that?!”
“Oh that……well, I’ll introduce her to you later.”
Maybe it was because I was tired, but I feel like my ears are ringing. But I felt a heat that was just as strong as the fatigue.
What is this feeling, could it be―
| You have leveled up. You are now level 11. |
I was thrilled.
“L-level 11……!?”
Level 10 is considered to be past the beginner level. I jumped over it and went up two levels at once. It took me two years after my father died, and I finally got out of the beginner level of adventurers.
All the hardships, debts, waking-up jobs and many other things came down on me all at once. I am pretty much overwhelmed with emotion.
『Rion, you are going to investigate this floor, right? 』
(Y-yes.)
After we finished healing ourselves, as adventurers, we collected the boss’ magic stone and dropped items. Normally, the boss would also drop fangs or claws, but since it had turned into a zombie, it didn’t drop anything like that.
However—
“What a magic stone of great purity.”
I couldn’t help but blurt out.
The werewolf’s magic stone is the size of a fist, but the color was so deep that I felt like I am being sucked in. It is dark blue in color, the color of dawn, just like the sky before dawn.
I hold it in my hand. It’s chilly and cold. It seemed to be filled with an enormous amount of magical power.
“Shall we head back?”
“No, I want to explore a little more.”
If the werewolf that Lu dreamed of was that werewolf zombie, this might make her feel better. However, I wanted to find out why the anomaly in the Eastern Dungeon affected Lu.
The boss area of the dungeon is basically a dead end. By the way, there are six stairs to descend in at the Eastern Dungeon, and they all lead to different spaces. This means that one can fight up to 6 bosses at a time.
So, the worst thing is that if I can’t find anything here, I’ll have to go down to a different boss area from another staircase.
“Huh?”
I felt a faint breeze from the wall. It was a wind imbued with magical power, much like that of a spirit stone.
“Is there something ahead—?”
When I looked closely, I can see two pillars standing by the wall. It was as if it was an entrance to something.
—Something that was sleeping at the bottom of the dungeon.
There was only one word that came to my mind.
『Unseal』
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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