Chapter 83: Chapter 83 The Sewers (4)

The Sewers (4)

I don’t know exactly when it happened.

But when I noticed…

“Misha? Dwarkey? Hikurod?”

…everyone was frozen stiff, their eyes wide open.

‘What the hell?’

At the same time as I feel a sense of doubt, I see something I hadn’t noticed before.

Very thin and long needles.

One of them is stuck in each of my companions’ necks.

And here’s the important part…

‘I probably have a needle stuck in me too.’

The muscles in my neck are stiff.

And that tingling sensation is gradually spreading downwards.

「Character has been poisoned by ‘Basilisk Paralysis Poison’.」

「Character’s physical stats are 300 or higher.」

「Poison effect is reduced by half.」

My heart, sensing danger, starts beating like crazy.

On the other hand, my brain calmly gives orders.

What I need to do right now.

Swoosh-

My strong arms raise the shield to cover my upper body…

…and my legs bend slightly, lowering my center of gravity so that I can react at any moment.

“…….”

A silence that feels like it’s choking my neck.

I hold my breath and focus on sound.

Drip- drip- plop-

I hear the sound of water droplets falling from afar.

And that’s all.

But I have no doubt.

Just like when I stepped on the goblin trap…

The enemy is definitely nearby.

“…….”

A few seconds of chilling silence follow.

It feels like every nerve cell in my body is on edge.

Thud.

That’s when I hear a very faint sound.

It’s not quite footsteps… more like the sound of small stones rolling in the wind.

‘…A stealth skill?’

I quickly make a judgment.

Whatever it is, the poison is gradually spreading through my body.

So rather than wasting time…

「Character has used [Wild Release].」

…it’s better to somehow force a confrontation.

That will at least increase the chances, even if only slightly.

“Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I shout with all my might.

Of course, unlike with monsters, ‘threat level’ doesn’t have an absolute effect on humans, but…

I’ve already researched this.

[Hmm… It, it was a very strange feeling. My head knew that there was no danger, but my body felt like I had to run away…]

When exposed to [Wild Release], those with weak wills feel fear. So there are cases where they run away instead of being provoked.

However, on the other hand, if the target is aggressive…

[Somehow, I felt like I had to kill you quickly. Ah, of course, that’s before you transformed. After you became giant, I felt similar to Dwarkey.]

…it can be somewhat ‘provocative’.

Then what about the unidentified enemy hiding in the darkness?

“That’s a strange feeling, barbarian.”

As expected.

Well, I should be the one saying that.

I don’t know what she did, but her voice is coming from both in front of and behind me at the same time.

However, leaving aside the problem of not being able to pinpoint the enemy’s location…

‘Wait, her voice sounds familiar…’

I freeze.

The voice I just heard was a woman’s voice.

It was a bit husky, but that much was clear.

‘Who is it?’

My mind, sensing a question, starts combining keywords.

A ‘woman’ who hides like an ‘assassin’ and shoots ‘paralysis poison needles’.

…I remember.

“It was you.”

The psychopath bitch I met in the Land of the Dead.

It’s definitely her.

________________________________

She had no intention of hiding her identity, did she?

“…I didn’t expect you to recognize me just by my voice.”

The woman reveals herself from the front.

A slim build, a little over 170 centimeters tall.

Fiery red hair and a half-torn right earlobe. Everything is the same as before, except that she’s wearing everyday clothes.

Thud.

She takes a step forward, closing the distance.

Honestly, I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.

Although I’ve grown explosively recently and even gained the title of Little Balkan…

“You’ve gotten much stronger, barbarian. To be able to move even after taking that hit.”

…I’m still no match for this bitch.

‘An explorer who operates on the 8th floor and can even use Aura…’

There’s no way I can win alone.

But I have no intention of just dying either.

I grip the shield and mace in my hands, strengthening my fearful mind.

The woman asks as she looks at me,

“Are you not running away because of your companions?”

Geez, as expected of a psychopath bitch.

The very fact that she’s curious about something like that is creepy as hell.

“I’ll ask first. I kept my promise, so why do you want to kill me now?”

I gulp and ask back.

I’m curious about her motive. Because if I know that, maybe I can come up with another way.

However…

“Want to kill you?”

She frowns and tilts her head.

“You’re the one who opened the door and trespassed, barbarian.”

“…Door?”

“Tell me, who told you about this place?”

‘What the hell is she talking about?’

Somehow, the conversation is going astray from the beginning.

I ask directly,

“I don’t understand, so speak plainly. Trespassed? What is this place that you’re talking about trespassing?”

The woman frowns again.

It seems like she’s finally realized that there’s a huge problem with this conversation.

“…How did you open the door?”

“That magical thing in the sewer? I smashed it with my mace.”

“Smashed it…?”

“Is there a problem?”

The woman closes her eyes for a moment at my confident question, then shakes her head as if convinced.

“No, there isn’t.”

As a top-tier explorer, it seems she doesn’t blindly believe in magic like Dwarkey or the dwarf.

However, she seems curious about the reason and asks,

“But why did you smash it?”

“Because this bitch ran away here.”

Only then do I naturally put down Elisa, whom I was carrying.

Honestly, she’s been bothering me since earlier.

I had to carry her because there was no time, but it’s clear that she would have been a hindrance if a battle broke out.

“…So it’s that priest of Karui who was wanted recently.”

“I’m glad you know. Then is the misunderstanding cleared?”

“The misunderstanding is cleared.”

“Then that’s good. It was nice meeting you. We’ll be on our way now. Ah, you don’t have to give us any potions. I’ll take care of the rest myself—”

“Stop, now that you know about this place, I can’t just let you go.”

“…Even if I destroy the video recording device and swear to keep everything that happened today a secret?”

“The situation is different from before.”

Damn it… as expected, it doesn’t work.

I cleanly erase my weak thoughts.

Since I even got confirmation from her own mouth, I only have one option left.

Therefore—

Clack.

…I take off the armor I’m wearing.

“…What are you doing all of a sudden?”

Whether the opponent is confused or not…

I untie the greaves and throw the helmet and shoes away carelessly.

And…

“Hey.”

…I speak to her.

Fortunately, she responds to the conversation.

“……?”

Her gaze seems to say, ‘Go ahead if you have something to say.’

I quickly continue,

“Do you know the two ways to make someone angry?”

“……What?”

“The first is to stop talking in the middle of a sentence. And the other one is…”

“The other one is…?”

I don’t know.

No one told me.

“Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I dash forward with all my might.

Hoping that her attention is distracted even a little.

I pull my arm holding the mace back behind my shoulder.

The woman, who was momentarily startled, chuckles as if she belatedly realized my scheme.

“You’re a funny one.”

Well, even if I dash at this distance, it wouldn’t be that surprising to you.

Then how about this?

Whoosh!

I swing my arm forward and throw the mace.

Whoosh!

As expected, she dodges.

The woman nimbly twists her body and dodges the mace, then looks at me as if wondering what I’m up to.

“……?”

It seems like she didn’t expect a barbarian to throw his weapon right from the start…

I throw the shield I had in my other hand without hesitation.

Whoosh!!

The shield spins like a discus, thanks to the practice I did on my days off.

Its speed is incomparable to the mace.

However…

“……!”

…that unnecessarily flexible bitch dodges the shield by bending her back.

I’m not disappointed because I expected it.

Tadat-!

I push off the ground once more and continue my dash, using the gap created by the mace and shield.

The distance closes in an instant, as my physical stats have surpassed the realm of ordinary people.

‘Now.’

I reach out my hand, just like when I slid towards Elisa.

Her expression is still relaxed.

It’s just a ‘what’s this?’ kind of look.

Tadat-

Indeed, she perfectly dodges by taking three steps back.

I’m not particularly disappointed this time either.

In the first place, I reached out so obviously on purpose.

‘As expected.’

It’s a straight passage that’s not very wide.

If a large barbarian charges at you from the front, there’s nowhere to dodge except backwards.

Of course, if she had retreated further back, there would have been nothing I could do, but…

She only moved just enough to dodge.

It’s not a personality issue, but more like the efficiency-minded nature that naturally develops when you pursue a higher level.

‘Plan A is good to go.’

Therefore, I cast [Gigantification] at the right timing.

It’s a combo I came up with after being inspired by the time I miraculously survived against Riakis.

「Character has cast [Gigantification].」

My body expands, and my arms lengthen accordingly.

The distance that would have been about three steps short is instantly closed.

“……!”

For the first time, a look of surprise appears on her face.

And we haven’t even properly started yet.

I immediately grab her shoulder and pull her towards me.

I feel considerable resistance from her.

But…

“You.”

It’s different from before, when I was completely overpowered.

Back then, I was a newbie barbarian with level 1 and zero essences.

“You need to work on your strength.”

She’s pulled towards me helplessly by the power left behind by the Corpse Golem, Vampire, and Orc Hero.

“Keut!”

I clench her neck so she can’t escape and punch her in the face.

Thwack-!

A heavy sound and a satisfying impact.

As expected, one hit isn’t enough to subdue her.

Therefore—

‘One more time.’

I quickly retract my fist and strike again.

But at that moment…

My dynamic vision, honed to the limit, detects her movement. She’s regained her composure and is swinging her dagger.

‘Is she planning to cut off my entire wrist?’

I make a quick judgment.

This bitch is an Aura user.

Therefore, Physical Resistance, Bone Density, Magic Resistance, or whatever, are meaningless. That dagger will surely cut off my arm before it reaches her.

So…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

‘I need to switch to Plan B.’

I stop my punch.

It’s not that I’m suddenly trying to be cautious.

I just thought it wasn’t rational to take a one-sided loss.

I’m not afraid of getting hurt.

If it’s something I have to do to survive.

‘Flesh Explosion.’

The moment I finish visualizing it in my head…

…a powerful explosion occurs in the hand that was grabbing her.

Boom!

Flesh explodes.

And acidic blood splatters.

Sizzle!

That tough bitch only frowns without even a groan.

However, could it be that she doesn’t have the Pain Resistance stat?

Although she endures the pain, her movements stiffen for a very brief moment.

‘Alright, back to Plan A.’

I dodge the swinging dagger and punch her in the stomach.

Knowing that this is a chance that won’t come again, I keep going as if there’s no tomorrow.

Thwack-! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

As expected of a damage dealer with a fragile body, she soon reacts.

“……!”

Blood spills from her mouth, as if her internal organs have been mangled.

Seeing this, I feel an overwhelming excitement rushing to my head.

Damn it, the only way I can win against this bitch is—

「Amelia Rainwales has cast [Self-Replication].」

Just as my brain senses hope…

…my instincts sound the alarm and send a warning.

The reason is simple.

“Barbarian.”

…Why is her voice coming from behind me?

She’s clearly right here, caught by me.

Tadat!

I involuntarily stop punching and turn around at the sound. Another woman, who looks exactly like her, is running towards me.

‘Damn it.’

I’m not curious about how this is possible.

[Self-Replication].

It’s a super rare essence that can only be obtained from the guardian of the 4th-floor rift, ‘Doppelganger Forest’.

“Since you absorbed the vampire’s essence, this much should be fine.”

The woman who was caught by me mutters.

And at that moment…

「Amelia Rainwales has cast [Sura Kick].」

The woman’s clone leaps high and spins in mid-air, delivering a kick to my face.

Kwaaang-!!

It feels like my head has been blown off.

No, wait, did it actually get blown off?

Thud.

I hear a heavy thud next to my ear.

My vision goes dark.

My consciousness fades like a phone with a dead battery shutting down.

“Da, mn it….”

Damn it.

__________________________________

「Due to the passive skill [Source of Darkness], the character will not die until the heart is destroyed.」

「Character’s regeneration is greatly increased due to the [Immortal] effect.」