Inside the Crystal Cave, on the first floor surrounded by fog, where corpses covered the ground and the metallic smell of blood filled the air, a man cackled while chatting with his comrades. The topic of conversation was nothing special: Wasn't the woman we had just killed pretty, wasn't she a waste? Those kinds of obscene comments. As always, it ended with complaints.
«Tsk, there's nothing fun to do here».
«Haha, in other words, it's less dangerous.»
«...You are unnecessarily positive.»
«However, I'm not wrong.»
«Well, that's true...»
The man suppressed his displeasure and chewed a piece of jerky from his pocket. As a simple footman, it was the first meat he had eaten in a long time. Unable to enter the maze for six months, Noark, where he came from, was suffering from severe food shortages.
...We can win, right?
The man shook his head at the sudden anxiety that arose. It wasn't about whether they could win or not. They had to win. Only then could they eat and live like human beings, even if it was in an underground city where the light did not shine.
«Lex, focus on your mission».
The man resting against the wall sighed at the captain's words and fixed his posture.
«You seem dissatisfied».
The man said sincerely: «We haven't seen anyone for more than two hours».
«¿Y?»
«It means no one will come, anyway. All the bastards who are going to enter have already entered, and all those who are not, have either kicked the bucket or fled». The area they had been assigned was quite far from the dark zone of the central region. That meant they wouldn't meet anyone inside.
«Still, stay alert just in case».
«Yes Yes.» At the captain's words, the man half responded and stood at one of the intersections. I couldn't see very far because of the fog, but I didn't feel anxious.
Who cares what appears from beyond? How many of us will be here again? It will just be one more loot to take back to Noark.
At least that's what I thought when a comrade who was at the other intersection shouted: «Captain! A presence!»
The man grabbed his gun and walked towards him.
Had someone really come?
It was a surprise, but it didn't worry him either.
Are you not aware of the situation here?
Probably yes. If this person knew about the situation here, it wouldn't have occurred to him to stop by. They must have made their way here without knowing anything.
«¿Eh?»
The man tilted his head. No, that wasn't all. Everyone listened with questioning faces.
¡Boom! ¡Boom! ¡Bum!
What the hell is this sound?
«Steps?»
Someone spoke, but this didn't explain it either. What could a person's steps be like? He would have to be a big monster like a troll.
Wait, but there are no monsters like that on the first floor.
Faced with the strange feeling of incongruity, the man held his weapon tighter.
«Behell-aaaaaaaaaa!» The thing peeked out from beyond the fog as it let out a wild scream.
«W-what the hell!? Who is this bastard?»
«¡Detenedle!»
He was a barbarian, and one with a very large body.
***
Living means reducing. What would you give up to survive? This process was driven strictly by priorities, because humans were rational creatures.
Hit!
He often appeared in movies. To make a helicopter fly, or to prevent a ship from sinking, people threw more and more cargo in order to escape enemy persecution. The more they pulled, the more likely they were to survive.
¡Pum!
However, reality and movies were strictly different. Reality was not so kind. What had to be thrown away to survive was not luggage, but something else.
¡Zas!
Maybe Versyl knew it, and that's why she abandoned us without hesitation, leaving only the words: «I hope you don't hold a grudge against me».
Of course, I didn't resent it. He knew it was a totally rational decision on his part. She had her own priorities and, therefore, she had gotten rid of everything she was carrying that was unnecessary, just like I was doing now.
«¡Behell-ahhhhhhh!»
Letting out a scream, I injected force into my toes. On the shield that he held tightly with both hands, a resistance that he had never felt before was transmitted in real time. It was like going against a tsunami with a single shield. It may not have been a totally wrong description, even if it was a bit exaggerated.
«W-what the hell?! Who is this bastard?»
«¡Detenedle!»
He was paving the way from the vanguard to cross the distance in twenty minutes running. It was pushing through the enemy infestation like a tank on the battlefield.
«Bjorn!» Missha was following me right behind. His role was simple: Get rid of the enemies thrown aside by my charge.
Cut!
It didn't matter if he couldn't kill them in a single attempt. Not only was our goal not to reduce their numbers, but there were troops deployed right behind us.
«¡Perra loca…!»
If Missha was the first sieve, the second was Raven behind Ainar's back, along with Mr. Bear.
¡Kwaaaaa!
Towards the enemies Missha couldn't eliminate, crossbow arrows and magic flew before they could even get up. Of course, it didn't matter if it didn't end there. There were many strainers left.
«Erwen, be careful!»
We had a ranged damage duo consisting of sisters Erwen and Daria, then Takelan's team with a mid-range of 5 following just behind us, and even Big Jaw's team located in the rear. It was similar to a medieval cavalry.
«Ahhhhhhhhhh!»
The only objective was to charge. Enemies that were not killed in the lead were eliminated by the rearguard that followed them. It didn't matter if some enemies survived the last laundry. The last one had to find out that.
You reap what you sow.
Choosing the formation for this strategy, Big Jaw insisted on being in the rear, even giving us the fairy sisters long-range damage. His thought process was obvious. He probably thought the first line was the most dangerous in a load. If an unexpected accident were to occur, you could remove your foot. He was treating the mercenaries Erwen and Daria like disposable hands.
Stupid bastard.
The riskiest place in this strategy was the rearguard. Right now they could go it alone since we were taking care of them from the front, but this situation would not last forever. However, he did not know that the tribulation would occur so quickly.
¡Bum!
A strong impact was transmitted through my shield. Even when I applied force to the balls of my feet, the front didn't move. I lowered my shield slightly to check the view from the front.
«I've never seen such a nutcase».
A Black Bear tribe warrior like Mr. Bear stood in my way. His body was half as big as me in Gigantization.
Damn sea.
How high was the strength statistic of this type? Although it occurred to me that Noark's scouts were considerably strong, I didn't worry too much.
«Barbarian, you think you're a storybook hero...»
Ignoring the bastard bear's chatter, I shouted into the background: «Raven, now!». I was not a universal hero. However, the same was true for opponents.
«All back!» Simultaneously with Raven's warning, an explosive volley came from behind.
[Arua Raven has cast rank 6 Oxygen Blast secondary magic].
It was a rank 6 wind attribute auxiliary spell. The reason he blew behind me was simple. His damage was low, but he came with an advanced knockback.
"¡Ugh! ¡Que...! ⁇
Ending the tense battle of forces, I pushed the enemy like a sail.
«¡N-no!»
Crujido.
The bastard bear lost his balance and fell backwards. I stomped on his face with the Jump and lunged forward. It looked like a tank, so I wouldn't die from this alone.
Stab!
Before long, a sound of pierced flesh came from behind me. Wow, it was like stabbing tofu. His strength may have been high, but not his physical endurance.
«¡Behell-ahhhhhhh!»
While our movements were momentarily stopped by the bastard bear, the enemies had gathered behind. So I doped my physical stats with Wild Burst and resumed charging.
«We have to move faster!»
However, we were not moving as fast as before. This was a big problem. One of the weak points of the cavalry was that they ended up surrounded when an advance was prevented.
«¡Bastard locos!»
«¡Matadlos!»
The enemies that had been knocked down rose like zombies and pounced on my comrades. If we had previously unilaterally penetrated enemy lines, now we had to fight our way through this melee.
Cut, stab, crack! Kwaaaaaang!
Sounds of intense battle were superimposed behind me. Of course, he couldn't know the exact situation. Therefore, I concentrated more towards the front.
«Bjorn, don't worry about the back!»
Of course, I was worried. Human lives were like flies in war. I was worried that someone would be seriously injured by a blind knife.
Slash!
Since I couldn't tell what flesh that sound was coming from, negative thoughts kept appearing in my head. Could it be Missha? Ainar? Raven, or Mr. Bear? But so what?
«¡Behell-ahhhhhhh!»
Stopping here would only make things worse. Embracing the fear I couldn't let go of, I focused everything on the role I had been assigned.
«W-what kind of force-?!»
Just clear the way. Leave the rear to my comrades and advance with integrity. That was what I had to do at that moment, and something only I could do.
«The good news is that we are almost there. We can enter the dark zone in a twenty minute race».
Time passed like an eternity. Sweat, blood and screams coexisted in this cave.
Had three minutes passed?
It seemed like an hour had passed, but in reality, it would have only been more or less that. Now, I could tell where we were on the first floor just by looking at the walls.
Damn sea.
I felt like I was trapped in a cave where the concept of time was distorted. I checked my location in real time to deduce how much time had passed.
Seven minutes.
The first fatality occurred.
«Kaiyen! Kaiyen is hurt! Help me. We need to support it together...!»
«Suéltame, Lena.»
«That? But...!»
«He... is already dead. Leave it here.»
Kaiyen was a goalkeeper on Takelan's team. That was all I knew about him, but he left a good impression during the presentations.
Eight minutes.
The path was blocked by a barrier that someone had invoked. I immediately took the fork next to me and redirected our route. This improvisation would have been impossible if he had not received guidance training from Rotmiller.
It will take us at least three more minutes to arrive.
The bad news didn't end there.
Nine minutes.
Another person died. This time it was a member of Big Jaw's team following us from behind.
And one more thing.
«Bjorn, Missha is hurt!» raven shouted.
Missha was hurt. «What part and to what degree?»
«Under the left side of his chest! There is no in-»
«Give him a potion while you run. Ainar, take Missha too!»
Fortunately there was no danger to his life, but Ainar, who had been carrying Raven and assisting in the battle with one hand, now had to serve as the sole bearer.
Ten minutes.
Without fail, sad news came from the rear. «Mr. Yandel! The people behind are gone!»
Big Jaw's team fled their position in the rear. It seemed like they considered it impossible after seeing the deaths at the front... This was my error in judgment.
To think it's so mindless.
I never thought I would think it was possible to escape this situation alone when there were enemies everywhere.
Damn, if you're going to kill yourself, at least die for us.
Anyway, with those bastards out, the burden on Takelan's team grew a lot more. Was that why?
Thirteen minutes.
Two people died this time, the wizard who belonged to Takelan's team and the warrior who ran with her on his back.
«Damn! All because of some stupid goblin...!»
The first cause of death was a regenerated goblin. In the midst of the confusion, the goblin had flown towards his face and blocked his view, and in a split second, an ice-type sorcerer turned him into an ice statue.
Fifteen minutes.
A dark sorcerer jumped from the side path and blew up a wide area spell. There were no deaths, but...
«Sister!» Daria lunged to protect Erwen in the center and was incapacitated for combat. Fortunately, it was not an instant death.
«Wake up and keep moving. I'll take your sister». Abman charged at Daria and our combat power was reduced even further.
Seventeen minutes.
With the abuse of Jump on the spot to increase stats and sustained Gigantization throughout the battle, my PM had hit rock bottom.
[The power of your soul is insufficient. Gigantization is over.]
As planned, the empty spot next to me was filled with Mr. Bear's tank summon, Iron Bear.
Eighteen minutes.
Iron Bear was summoned backwards. However, Missha had recovered thanks to the potion and returned to battle.
Nineteen minutes.
Hope was in sight. Now we just had to go a little further. Although almost half of us were dead, none of those he was determined to save had died yet.
Twenty minutes.
A high-ranking scout, estimated at at least rank 4, blocked my path. He was a swordsman holding a large sword of adamantium, a grade 5 metal.
«It's going to be fun to slice you».
He used his aura.