38 - the first day of darkness

Thor moves silently through the dim darkness, carrying no light.

Everything around him is covered with dim shadows, and the outlines are indistinct.

The footing is barely flat, but there are protrusions here and there, and if you carelessly step on them, you are sure to get your foot caught.

However, Thor's footsteps are not wavering even a little.

He continues to walk at a constant speed deep into the darkness, avoiding obstacles without any hesitation.

Suddenly, without a sound, a stone the size of his fist comes flying toward him.

Thor moves his eyebrows slightly and dares to go straight ahead.

Just before it hits Thor, the stone makes a dull sound and changes direction.

A deafening sound of laughter echoes from the depths of the darkness, perhaps mistaking the sound for a hit.

And again, from beyond the darkness, a new stone is thrown at Thor.

This time he moved.

He steps forward and strikes it with his sword, scraping the side of the stone to change its trajectory.

A small spark is created between the stone and the blade that grazed it at high speed.

It makes the green-skinned monster lift his sword just in front of him, and for a moment, he looks eerily like a monster.　

But Thor showed no signs of impatience and stepped forward as if he had been waiting for it.

He flicks away the swinging blade and inserts the tip of his sword into the open neck.

The hobgoblin's throat is pierced, and his body convulses with a muffled scream.

Thor kicks the monster's carcass to shield it from another flying stone.

He slips past the crumpled monster and closes the distance at once.

The hobgoblin seems to have given up its projectile attack as Thor closes in on it.

It strikes at him with a stone in its grip.

In almost the same motion as before, Thor's sword aims at its throat as soon as it flicks its arm.

But the hobgoblin ducks slightly and just barely avoids the tip of Thor's sword.

Smoothly, Thor's hips twist, and the movement moves his arm down his spine.

His wrist, gripping the sword, is now strong, and in an instant the blade changes its trajectory from a thrust to a cleave, slicing the monster's neck with a brilliant slash.

The head flies through the air and falls to the ground, rolling vigorously.

Thor stepped back to avoid the spurt of blood from the body that was left behind a beat later, and searched for signs of his surroundings.

After confirming that there is no movement, he sheathes his sword, it.

Then he called out to the darkness behind him.

"It's done. Give me some light."

At that moment, a click sounded and a soft light came on.

At the same time, two shadows appeared in the darkness.

One was a woman wearing a pure white robe and a shining white breastplate.

In one hand she held a staff, and in the other a small magic stone lamp emitting a pale glow.

The other was a child wearing a large red cape.

Her blonde curly hair shook as she ran toward us, her purple eyes shining.

"Good night, Thor!"

"Are you tired, To-chan?　All right, Moo will fix you up!"

The approaching child clenches his fist and smacks Thor's hip.

I don't know how he does it, but it seems to be Moo's way of relieving his fatigue.

Smiling at the child's innocence, Thora hooks the magic stone lamp to her staff and leans it against the wall, then pulls a knife from the sheath of her waistband.

Without hesitation, she cuts off the fallen hobgoblin's ear and searches under its chin for a magic stone.

The girl pulls out a rough, clear stone, wipes off the green blood, and happily puts it in her sack.

She tries to do the same with the other one, only to find that only the body is left.

"Hey, this one's head is missing!"

"Did it fall out anywhere?"

"I wonder where it is..."

Sola held up a magic stone lamp, which reflected the surroundings in a subdued light.

Thor and the others were surrounded on all sides by a wall of earth.

The walls, with discolored stones in some places, were distorted and formed corridors.

The ceiling covered with earth is reasonably high, and there is still enough room for Thor to swing his sword.

The passage is wide enough for two adults to walk side by side.　　

The name of this place is the cave of kobolds.

This is the dungeon that Thor and the others are currently conquering.

Thora finds a hobgoblin's head under the wall of the passageway and picks it up happily.　

She quickly finishes the process and returns to the dungeon, placing the head gently on the ground.

Thor hands his staff to the girl and lifts the magic stone lamp to illuminate the area.

"Well, let's go back. I'm sure the people outside are getting tired of waiting.

"Yes, sir. I'll hold the light, okay?

"Moo can hold it for you!"

Moe, who has been placed neatly on Thor's back, proudly wields the magical stone tool he has been handed.

Thor and the others, having taken out the last of the hobgoblins, began to head back the way they had come.

The cave is not very intricate, and is only three layers deep.

Moreover, the only room in the third level is that of the master of the labyrinth.

Moreover, only one type of monster appears in the labyrinth, so it can be said that it is not a very difficult underground labyrinth.

However, hobgoblins, which are close relatives of goblins, not only increase in size and intelligence, but also each individual has its own role.

In other words, they take on a vocational role, just like humans.　

A hobgoblin fighter comes forward, wielding a rusty sword.

The Hobgoblin Shooter, who hides in the rear and throws stones at you.

The Hobgoblin Shaman, also hiding in the rear, uses dark arts.

And the Hobgoblin Chief who unites them.

The most troublesome among them are the shooter and the shaman, who have gained the means to attack remotely.

There is no light source in the cave, of course.

At best, there is only a small amount of sunlight coming in through the doorways.

And subhumans, who are the children of the goddess of darkness, naturally have good night vision.

If you walk around with a torch, you will be noticed from a long distance and attacked.

The only way to defend against stones flying at lights from a distance is to use shields, but this makes the burden on the shieldmen much heavier.

Moreover, they sometimes aim at the foot of the target.

Thor could have used his sword to bounce them all off, but they are massive objects that fly at high speeds.

There is a risk of the blade being bent or chipped.

This is especially true for Thor's iron sword, which is sharpened to a very thin edge in pursuit of sharpness.

Thor's plan was to shorten the distance between the two blades by making the conditions the same without lights so that they could approach each other without being noticed.

"Tor, are you pleased with Moe's eyes?"

"Yeah, Moe was a big help to me."

"I see. I guess To-chan needs Moo to keep her company.

As the child starts to get into a good mood, I give him a slight tug on his cheek.

Moo giggles, hardly moving his face.

The Purple-Eyed Tribe has beast-like eyes with vertical pupils.

These special eyes magnify the smallest amount of light and allow them to see clearly in dimly lit places.

All that remains is to that vision.

However, due to the position in which Moo was standing, Thor had the strange experience of moving his body while looking at his own back.

After a short walk, a dazzling light appears at the end of a gently sloping passage.

It is an exit to the ground.

Naturally, there are no stairs.

As Toll and the others step out of the cave, the men, who had been sitting comfortably in a circle, turn around at once.

All of them are strong and strong-built, carrying tools for digging in the earth.

One of them stood up and approached us with a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you taking a break already? Are you guys all right?

"No, I'm done."

"What?"

"So you can go in now. I've finished cleaning up one layer."

"Really?　It ain't even been an hour!"

When Thor nodded his head in reply, the man rolled his eyes and looked repeatedly at Sora and Mu.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Oh, don't worry, there aren't any monsters left.

Finally believing Thor's words, the man hurriedly turns back and shouts at his men, who are still seated.

"Hey, get your asses up!　Don't keep slaving away. It's time to work!"

Thor watched the miners, torches in hand, creep into the cave, and let out a silent breath he had been holding.

If only Yuril had been there, he might have been more easily believed.

Thor scratched the bottom of his chin slowly as he recalled his inadequacy.

It was completely Thor's fault (inadvertently) that the three of them had to face this dungeon without Yuril.