by Road Warrior
“Number 34? Aren’t you a recruit as well?”
Sungchul shook his head. “I’m better than those guys. I have also been exploring the vicinity every day anyways. You can leave this to me.”
“You sure?”
There was no reason to hold someone back from volunteering. Aaron assigned Sungchul as a scout then looked for soldiers to support him, but no one stepped up. It was because all the soldiers knew that demons never cleanly retreated in the Demon Realm battlefront. They might have left behind countless traps or ambushes in wait, or even some man-eating demonic beast might be lurking around. It was one thing if the whole army moved, but for a small patrolling party, they would easily become prey to some demonic beast or become a demon’s plaything.
“If you successfully patrol the area once, I’ll count it as a successful mission. Anyone willing to step up?” Genghis put out an offer that no one in the Suicide Unit could scoff at, but even still, no one volunteered, showing the risk this mission carried.
In the silence, Sungchul spoke to Aaron once again. “It’s enough with me alone. I’ll be back in three days. If not, then consider me dead.”
“Well, I don’t plan on reducing your number of missions because you volunteered. Is that ok with you?” Aaron spoke with a dirty grin on his flat face. Sungchul nodded in return.
“If I fail at scouting, wouldn't we all die the same?”
“You know very well. Ok. Go on then, Number 34.”
Sungchul was given a signalling scroll along with some rations and water before he headed out. It was nothing short of suicide in the eyes of other soldiers, but it was great news for Sungchul.
Looks like I won’t need to join roll call for three days. I don’t know what the scale of that dungeon is, but I should be able to determine its value within three days. Sungchul immediately left and headed toward the dungeon. There were a lot of traps and patrols around the dungeon as expected. Sungchul avoided detection and traps as he snuck his way toward his destination.
WHAM!
He bashed a mob of demons lying in ambush with a pebble, then looked below the rocky mountain. There were only barracks lying abandoned around the dungeon with no traces of human life. The barrier that had been cast everywhere was also shattered and had long since lost its effectiveness. Fortunately, the pulley system operating within the dungeon was still quite active. Unfortunately, there was no way the demons would simply pass it by. They had left behind a devious little trick on the machine. Anyone who operated the machine would be caught in an explosion.
“…”
Sungchul didn’t lay a finger on the trap; he simply jumped down the bleak hole. Utter darkness swallowed him completely as the sensation of falling that numbed his feet pervaded throughout his body. During the seemingly endless fall, Sungchul noticed a faint ray of light and threw his fists toward the darkness.
BOOM!
The hard rock crumbled like tofu as half his arm was embedded into it causing his body to become fixed onto the rock wall. Sungchul pulled it out and leaped toward the bright light, which led him into a corridor with no end in sight.
The faded rock wall stained with dirt and green lichen combined together to create a dark atmosphere and a musky smell that could only be found in a charnel house pierced his nose.
“This place… I don’t like it.” Bertelgia trembled within his pocket, so Sungchul took her out and said, “From this point, you don’t have to stay inside the pocket.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Bertelgia popped out of his hand and flew around vigorously as she regained her normal size. “Ah. I wanted this feeling to be more refreshing than it is!”
“Do you know where this place is?” asked Sungchul.
Bertelgia shook her head at his question. “Nope. This is my first time here, but I do have information about the Nahak that you guys call the birdmen.”
“Nahak? What’s that?”
“They are a race that flourished in the Other World in the past but are all extinct now, so you can’t find them anymore. Still, according to legend, they had massive wings which they used to soar the skies and used their beaks engraved with runic letters to control destructive magic at will.”
“Are they a different race than the birdmen that can be found in the demonic army?”
“I think they might be a distant cousin? The Nahak aren’t this shoddy.”
As Bertelgia shared her story, Sungchul entered the dungeon one step at a time. There were traces of the exploratory squad all around. Sungchul carefully took each step as he looked at his surroundings. The Eye of Truth observed a magical existence far beyond in the darkness. It was a magic trap. One with a frost attribute. Anyone that accidently stepped on it would be overwhelmed by a chill that would freeze the entire body.
This was done by a human mage, thought Sungchul.
Footprints were scattered all around the trap. It appeared as though there was a huge commotion here. According to the number of footprints, there looked to have been about thirty humans within the dungeon. It was a combined number of both the exploratory squad and the troops prepared for defence. Sungchul continued on.
He soon found a trail of blood stains which led him to two corpses lying about on the floor. They were the corpses of soldiers. The group must have met a difficult enemy as they couldn’t even observe the proper formality for their dead comrades. Sungchul left behind the corpse whose eyes were wide open and continued forward.
“An enemy.” Bertelgia spoke briefly.
Sungchul sensed the lingering hostility lurking not too far away. With Fal Garaz gripped in his hand, he glared at the existence standing in the darkness and spoke curtly. “Crawl out.”
Finally, something revealed itself in the darkness. It was a monster with a human body and the skull of a bird with an endless stream of green pus flowing down its skin. It had no eyes or nose, but it acted as though it was looking at Sungchul. As though it was a normal person. Sungchul knew exactly what it was.
It’s a servant of the Ancient God.
It wasn’t an opponent that he couldn’t overcome, but it was one that he’d rather not fight. He swung his hammer and spoke briefly. “Get lost.”
“…”
The creature dripping with slime stood blankly while looking at Sungchul before disappearing silently into the darkness.
Bertelgia who had been hiding behind Sungchul slowly popped out with a question, “Just what is that?”
“It’s a Despair of the Abyss.”
“A Despair of the Abyss?”
Sungchul nodded. “When it meets an existence weaker than itself, it tries to drag its victim into its pit regardless of whether the victim is a human or a demon.”
And even the dead. A deathly stillness surrounded anywhere a Despair of the Abyss claimed as its own.
“Uuu… it’s scarier because I think I know what you mean.” Bertelgia trembled once again. “Do you think the soldiers before were this guy’s doing?”
“Unlikely. Anyone that a Despair of the Abyss drags away is erased from existence. Not even a corpse would be left behind.”
“Does that mean there are other monsters here too?”
Sungchul nodded as he began to think. The power in my body must have lured this creature. It shouldn’t have revealed itself to the exploratory squad.
Sungchul remembered the report that they gave to Willie, if they had run into a Despair of the Abyss, none of them would have been left to tell the tale. Sungchul recalled what a nightmarish creatures the things called Despair of the Abyss truly were, even though they weren’t a match for his current self.
Sungchul continued forth. He continued to discover more corpses of soldiers. One corpse. Two corpses. Then ten corpses. Sungchul could find traces of a fierce battle around each corpse: singe marks from magical flames, carved out walls where a Sword Master’s sword aura would have sliced through, and splinters of shattered spear tips strewn about the floor. However, he couldn’t find even a single
trace of whatever the opposing monster might be. It was truly a strange occurrence. In cases of such large-scale battles, it would be normal to see at least a clue about the opposing side.
“…”
Sungchul stopped hiding his presence. He pulled out a torch from his Soul Storage, lit it, then began walking in loud footsteps. Surprisingly, he could hear some rustling noise in his surroundings soon after. He could see the teeming mass of monsters beyond the darkness. Two legs and both arms, also a pair of wings. Altogether, it was a disfigured corpse of an avian that walked on six legs.
“…”
The avian corpse crawled up silently like a centipede and leaped toward Sungchul. Its head with its lifeless eyes began to peck him fiercely. Fal Garaz split the air.
WHAM!
When the avian corpse was struck with the destructive blow from the divine hammer, it disintegrated into dust. Sungchul finally discovered why there were no corpses of the monsters.
The musky smell resembling a charnel house must be from the disintegrated corpses.
Dozens of Avian corpses began to crawl around like centipedes as they carefully eyed Sungchul.
“Uu! I wanna go back!” Bertelgia hid in Sungchul’s pocket. Sungchul’s hammer flew with even more vigor.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
The grotesque spirits were no match for him. They turned to dust, and the remaining spirits fled into the darkness. Stillness returned to the dungeon.
When the battle ended, Bertelgia left the pocket once more and opened herself up to a page.
“What’s that?” asked Sungchul.
A simple map that looked as though it was drawn hurriedly with a pen appeared on the page.
“I tried making a map,” replied Bertelgia.
“A map?”
“Yep. This dungeon… it doesn’t look small.”
Sungchul agreed with her on this point, but there was a secret method that could allow him to easily break through this maze.
WHAM!
An opposing wall crumbled, and a large hole formed within it. Beyond the wall, there was another corridor. Sungchul walked across the corridor, then swung at another wall. BOOM! He continued this process until a dead end of the dungeon appeared.
“Mmm…” Bertelgia, who had spent some effort in drawing a map on one of her pages, let out a sigh. “It’s quite handy if you’re strong, isn't it?”
“…”
Sungchul fixed his grip on the hammer, then turned toward the north and began his excavation once again. When a total of four walls were smashed, he stood before a cliff. The pit surrounded in darkness was shrouded in an indeterminate green fog that obstructed his vision of the other side.
Sungchul tossed down a rock and listened for a sound. It was quite a deep pit. He thought as such and turned to a different direction.
Bertelgia spat out a question. “What’s so great about making holes like this?’
“I’m making my own path. It’s too easy to lose your way in a maze like this.”
If there was no path, make one. It was Sungchul’s method of clearing dungeons. Also, making this kind of a ruckus would draw out creatures hidden within the dungeon without forcing him to seek them out.
STEP STEP.
Before long, he could feel another presence. It was the presence of humans. Sungchul put away Fal Garaz into his Soul Storage and waited for the group of humans to arrive. Beyond the darkness, a female mage surrounded by a translucent fog appeared before him. There were five armor-clad homunculi around her feet. Sungchul was already aware of her presence, but he pretended not to have noticed and continued to stare ahead.
She took some time to observe him. His appearance, attire, equipment, and even his stats. She checked everything that could be secretly observed. After a complete inspection, the female mage removed her magical veil and revealed herself.
“Who are you?” asked Mimi Azrael, the leader of the exploratory squad.
Chapter 4 – Those Who Swallowed The Nahak
Mimi had the outward appearance of a woman in her mid-20s. The gleam of her cold blue staring eyes was visible under the hood she wore over her head.
She raised her staff. “I’ll ask again. Who are you?”
“Number 34.” Sungchul pointed toward the cloth number that was attached to his coat. Mimi did not understand the meaning behind the number.
“I see, Mr. 34. Ok. How did you get here?” Mimi looked toward Bertelgia who was flying about behind Sungchul.
“Ms Mimi! The book flies! It’s so wondrous!!”
“That’s called a familiar. Don’t flap your lips if you’re ignorant!”
The homunculi that had been playing about beneath her skirt grew rowdy. When she lifted her staff, the homunculi lowered their head and immediately quieted down. Azrael looked at Sungchul again with an interrogating glare as silence returned to the dungeon.
“Now. Your answer is?”
Sungchul looked at her without any trace of hesitation as he answered her in a firm voice. “…I am currently investigating what is inside this dungeon.”
When she heard his reply, she revealed a cold smile. “Big balls on this one. I don’t know where you herald from, but I advise you to retreat from here within a week.”
“For what reason?” asked Sungchul.
“The Seventh Champion of the Continent. Willie Gilford is on his way here.”
“…”
Nothing would change whether he was here or not, but Sungchul remained silent.
Mimi looked over at the hole created by him. “What is this? Did you perhaps do that?”
Sungchul neither admitted it nor denied it.
“A living book type familiar… you appear to be a mage.” She had already looked over his stats through the translucent fog. It wasn’t anything impressive. It was why she chose to reveal herself without anyone to support her.
“What’s it to you whether I’m a mage or not?” Sungchul finally spoke. Mimi looked at Sungchul with a chilling glare before turning around with a nod.
“Chief Investigator Ujira. Use the veil,” she said to one of the homunculi.
Mimi and the five homunculi were then surrounded by an invisible fog which removed them from sight.
“I’ll warn you again, but it’s to your benefit to leave quickly. There are mighty Sword Masters here as well, then in a week’s time…”
She let her words intermingled with hostile intent linger in the air as she disappeared into the darkness. However, Sungchul had the Eye of Truth within his Soul Contract. The figures of Mimi and her five homunculi veiled by the invisible fog reappeared into his sights.
“…”
Sungchul hid his presence and quietly tailed Mimi.
–
Mimi walked along silently like a cat before arriving at a specific area. It was an empty plot that was surrounded on all sides by hastily made fortifications. There were about fifteen soldiers and members of the exploratory squad catching their breath.
“Ugh…” There were quite a few wounded soldiers as well. One of the soldiers was muttering something to himself as he punched the air. Perhaps he had been critically wounded. He was gradually dying by himself in a dark corner as even the mage tending to him had given up. Mimi took off her invisible veil at this point.
“One human has died!”
“He was a human who harassed us; it’s good riddance!”
The calmed homunculi began to grow rowdy once again.
“Ms Mimi said we should abandon the ruins and retreat, why does this dumb human not listen to Ms Mimi?”
“That is because they are dumb!”
“At least the day when we become real fairies is arriving sooner due to that!”
Annoying voices poured out in all directions from the empty plot. It was at that moment one man suddenly shouted, “Can’t you shut up?!”
It was Willie Gilford’s son, Mikhael Gilford. The confident youth with an elegant armor that was fitted to his form made his way toward Mi
mi with anger on his face. “How many times do I have to tell you to muzzle those fucking homunculi? Hm? What are you going to do if those monstrous creatures show up again, you damned witch?”
“… Your voice seems to be quite a bit louder?” Mimi didn’t show any change in her expression even in the face of Mikhael engaging her so aggressively. Mikhael glared at her response as though he wanted to tear her apart with his bare teeth for a long while before chewing on his lips and taking practice swings with his sword.
“This was why we shouldn’t have brought a fucking witch! Garbage that uses taboo magic should always be cut down with a blade!”
“If you cut me down, you might as well put an end to this scouting mission. I’m the only one that knows the way.”
Mikhael’s face twisted a degree further. It was then a man stepped up to hold him back. The man in his forties with a large scar across his face was in a servant’s attire that didn’t suit his solemn expression.
“Young master, there is no good that will come out of this anger.”
“Mmm… Old man Ord.”
Surprisingly, Mikhael looked as though his anger had washed away as the man stepped in. He had an unnaturally rapid change of heart as he looked back toward Mimi with a refreshing smile as he offered her an apology. “I was in the wrong, Scout Leader. It looks as though the tense situation made me lose control of my temper. It was immature of me.”
Mimi heard his apology, yet made no reaction to it. “…I’ll give you my scouting report.” She instead made a report on her scouting mission with a frozen expression as though she was looking at an inanimate object.
Mikhael leaned onto a rock as he nodded.
“…When I arrived at the source of the noise, I ran across what appeared to be a male human mage.”
“A human? His affiliations?” Mikhael looked surprised and quickly made his inquiry.
“I can’t determine his affiliations. He called himself Number 34. However, he was dressed like a beggar in a pitiful attire of a Summoned. He also had a living book familiar,” responded Mimi.