CH 58

Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki

A/N: After a lot, we’re faced with a boss.

Other than the Fairy Queen, huh …

With the Chivalrous Thief Skill leveling up to 15, I can finally begin my solo attack into the Dungeon’s depths. By the way, it looks like other people are mainly grouping up with fixed, Dungeon-exclusive parties, so the cases where lone people get recruited have largely decreased. It’s the nature of the Dungeon; there’s no helping it.

Even so, I’ve challenged the Dungeon 32 times. There are also times where I’ve taken the Death Penalties.

For the Time Attack, shaving off useless movements, raising my speed, seeing through traps, fooling the detection of groups of monsters that had just noticed me, I repeated these every day.

Everyday I challenged it at least 3 times, and on holidays I challenged it around 8 times; it was about that many times I returned; from other peoples’ points of view I must look like a lunatic.

And now this will be the 33rd challenge.

I’m more aware than ever and I’m in good form, so my concentration feels like it’s increased; trap detection, monster detection & evasive route selection, and quickened movements are actually going quite smoothly.

Several times monsters had gotten quite close, but there I’d hold my breath and evade their searching. It took me around 8 times to realize that those guys also react to breathing.

— Right now I’m on the 9th floor … the remaining time is barely 5 minutes … it’s a level where, not a Lesser but a full-blown Lich is prowling. If the Lich finds the solo me, I’ll be destroyed.

No, in a purely 1 VS 1 I can make do somehow, but on this floor, if I fight then the other Undead will react in an instant and come assault me. Naturally I don’t have the abilities to smoothly deal with that amount solo; because of the Lich’s Dark Magic, if it throws a lot of Bad-Status inducing magic around and ties down my movements, the other monsters will come and do me in.

Killing off my breathing, killing off my presence, increasing my thinking abilities, in the darkness using my Dark Vision ability and making full use of the Farsight Skill to run away, I, all by myself, reached the stairs to the 10th floor. What could be waiting there, what could be found there, there’s nothing for it but to go and see; for this purpose only I kept descending 32 times.

Physical Ability Reinforcement has become Lv30, and I acquired the so-called passive art <Movement Ability Reinforcement>, enhancing my movement abilities further. Using everything I had to seek out the stairs on the 10th floor … the time left is 1 minute 14 seconds.

With just 24 seconds left I found the stairs.

But around these stairs a large number of traps have been arranged all around it.

I don’t have any time to waste dismantling so, reluctantly, I use <Fly> to enhance my jump height and jump over traps with low-degrees of warning.

Of course the traps I stepped on went off; this time, the traps I stepped on were the common traps that shot spears out of the ground; of course I took damage and shaved off some HP.

――――――――――――――――――――

Partially down the stairs, I check that the time-limit timer display has stopped completely, and finally I release a huge sigh, then take a deep breath.

— I barely made it, but it was enough. My first emotion was relief, then gradually I got excited; it finally dawned on me that I was actually standing where no one had gone before.

After that I slowly descended the stairs, drinking a Potion Juice and eating meat grilled on a skewer to recover HP and MP, as well as hunger and thirst.

But man, these stairs are frighteningly long, I’ve already walked 20 meters and I still can’t see the end.

“ … Hou, hou, AT LAST there art a single man OF the humans THAT hast DESCENDED to this place.”1

Suddenly that hoarse voice echoed all around.

“… Who the heck’s there?”

Did someone else already get here? And that voice …

“ … Mine name IS Andre … a knight OF A CERTAIN empire I AM … THOUGH THAT be a story OF long ago … MOST LIKELY YOU wouldn’t know OF THE name of mine empire; HOW MUCH time has paSSED I NO LONGER know.”

I’m descending the stairs, but I still can’t see the end.

“Right now the stairs YOU ARE descENDING are particularLY lonG …TO PASS the time I thouGHT MINE tale WOULD BE good… back THEN THIS great labyrinth OF THE dead TOOK lives of The empire; to investigate THIS labyrinth, TO seal it, I entERED it.”

… hm.

“But you couldn’t finish that task?”

A short silence occurred before the voice echoed again.

“You ARE correct, IT IS as you saY … many subordinates I HAD BUT, THIS labyrinth’S traps, eatEN BY FRIGHTFUL monsters, deATH, necks seveRED … atroCIOUS deaths OCCURRED, our numbers WERE reduCED … MY subordinates, MY comrades, IN EXCHANGE for THEIR blood, I pursued our course and REACHED HERE …”

The voice sounded like it was going to cry.

“So there … what was there?”

There was silence again. It was strange that I could hear my footsteps loudly as I descended.

“THERE was nothing.”

I didn’t expect that response.

“… Nothing, at all …?”

What’s up with that? The ancient knight’s story continued.

“YES, nothing AT ALL, ALL THERE was THERE WAS an empty space WITH nothing … YES, NOT EVEN air.”

!? … That has to be the penultimate trap, that space.

“Then you entered it …”

There’s only 1 thing I can expect would happen.

“IT IS as you expecTED, the moment I enteRED, I diED. I underSTOOD THEN what HAD happened, I WAS forced TO entER THE ranks of THE liVING corpses … the me NOW is a Skeleton Knight, AND NOW I can ONLY call out WITH my voice temporARILY … HOW LONG has it BEEN SINCE I COULD REMEMBER times from beFORE…”

… There’s one thing I want to hear.

“Um, that space you entered; does it still exist even now?”

The response came quickly.

“NAY. I HAVE deSTRoyed it. Ironically THE me now can uSE magic that I COULDN’T in LIFe, WITH all THE magic I could uSE, I destroyED THAT space … THE lives THAT TRAP will claim will be 1 ONLY; myself …”

So he’s a knight even in death …

“… I can see the end of the stairs, so this will be my final question. … What is that you want?”

I bet  … it’s probably…

“… I, kiLL me … TO reTURN TO my comrades … livING any LONGER … I’m tiRED of IT, I AM NO LONGER myself aNYMORE … I DON’T WISH to JUST add to THE monsters’ ranks, FOR that I HAVE enDURED, BUT I HAVE reACHED my limits. AlreaDY … THIS body HAS ALREADY fallen TO THE desires AND actions OF A monster.”

So it was like that after all. The stairs have ended, and a door that looks like the end appears.

“AnY sympaTHY for me IS useless, thiNK OF me as JUST a monster and deSTROY me … my consciousness is ALREADY fadING … I leave IT … TO …yo…u.”

This is his, the Knight Andre’s, final words.

The one who welcomed me in that room, clad fully in heavy armor with a sword in his right hand and wielding a large shield in his left, was a boss monster, a Skeleton Knight.

There’s no one here to see … no, I bet the Grim Reaper is probably watching; right now, in the Dead’s labyrinth, a duel is about to begin.

SKILLS

[Wind-Blown Hunting Bow]Lv7

[Kicking Assault]Lv21 ↑1UP

[Farsight]Lv49 ↑1UP

[Craftsmanship]Lv51

[Small Shield]Lv 5

[Stealth]Lv40 ↑2UP

[Physical Ability Reinforcement]Lv30 ↑6UP

Reserved Skills

[Woodworking]Lv34

[Blacksmithing]Lv39

[Alchemy]Lv40

[Advanced Cooking]Lv3

ExP 4

Titles Possessed:  The One who Charmed Even the Fairy Queen, The One who Defeated a Great Foe Alone

His second name from other players is “The Fairy Queen’s Husband-san”

A/N: Secret Boss, The Remnant of Knight Andre

Conditions:

Solo down to the 10th floor.

The number of Dungeon Monsters you have defeated since entering the Dungeon must not exceed 30.

The number of times caught in traps must not exceed 10 times.

As long as you can fulfill the conditions just once, you can fight him.