CH 15

“There are five dead, five injured, and two seriously injured. This is not good. Two porters are dead already too.”

Although those who weren’t seriously injured could still fight, almost half of the group had suffered injuries. Galfredik’s expression remained stiff.

It wasn’t because he was concerned about the dead and injured mercenaries. It was because they had only fulfilled the minimum conditions for the expedition, even though they suffered this much damage.

“At least we passed the number of low-rank monsters. It’s not half bad. What do you think, sir? I think it’s about time we started to leave. The results are satisfactory for an expedition.”

“Hmm.”

Eugene looked around at the mercenaries.

The mercenaries were in bad shape. He assumed it was because they were exhausted from the series of battles, but that wasn’t all. The environment of the dungeon was no different from the night, which empowered Eugene. But the mercenaries were human, and they received contrasting effects from the dungeon. The pitch-black darkness and the constant ambush of the monsters caused the mercenaries to be on edge.

Even though it had only been three days, the mercenaries reported sightings of ghosts. Some even swore they saw evil spirits smiling at them from a distance. In addition, the mercenaries’ morale dropped significantly because they could not sleep well, rest easy, or eat properly.

Eugene could finally understand why humans tried to avoid being in a dungeon for over five days. It was because their minds, rather than their bodies, could not endure being exposed to the harsh element and environment of a dungeon.

“I think…”

The mercenary leaders shifted their pleading gazes towards Eugene. No one doubted Eugene’s abilities anymore. Rather, he was now the hero and savior of the mercenaries. The image of Eugene slaying and holding the head of a troll from a few hours ago was still fresh in their minds.

Although it had only been for a brief moment, Eugene had truly become like a devil. It had been truly a frightening and intense memory. The mercenaries knew that if Eugene and Galfredik had not worked together to defeat the largest troll afterward, several more of them would have been sacrificed instead.

“I think it would be better for us to return now. But the passageway is getting wider and I can feel the wind blowing from the other side. We might be near one of those underground plazas you mentioned before, right? Why don’t we explore a little bit more before returning?”

The expressions of the mercenaries brightened up before turning grim again.

“All right. Then why don’t we send a smaller group? The porters can remain behind along with the rest. About five or six should be good.”

When Galfredik’s gaze swept over the mercenary leaders, they slowly avoided his gaze as if promised beforehand.

“You weak little cowards. How many times have Sir Eugene and I saved your stinky little shit holes…?”

Galfredik spoke with a distorted frown, and Eugene spoke up.

“Those men over there and I will be enough. Partec.”

“Yes, Sir Eugene. Oi!”

Partec gestured. Lavan and Glade ran forward.

“Are you sure? Do you want me to tag along?”

“You said at least one knight should always remain with the main forces, right? You can stay behind, sir. I will be back soon if there’s nothing unusual.”

“Tsk! I guess there’s no helping it. Then I will see you soon.”

He wanted nothing more than to explore further with Eugene, but Galfredik could not leave the mercenaries behind. They were already too exhausted and demoralized.

He wasn’t worried for them nor cared for them. Without the powerful anchor and deterrent known as a knight, mercenaries would most likely run away from the dungeon without hesitation. 

“Then I will be back soon.”

Eugene handed over the pouch containing mana stones to Galfredik, in the case of an unforeseen event, then headed deeper into the dungeon with Partec’s group.

*** 

Gwuoo…

Partec and the two mercenaries shivered at the cold breeze that accompanied an eerie echo. Dungeons never had comfortable temperatures. They were either hot or cold. Still, a cold environment was better than a hot one, where one would want to take off their leather armor. They carefully followed Eugene’s footsteps while tightly wrapping themselves in their robes. 

‘He truly is a great knight.’

Partec thought to himself while closely following Eugene. Galfredik also showcased his great abilities that were befitting his fame, but Eugene was truly unrivaled. In particular, his performance against the trolls was unbelievable. Just thinking about it made Partec’s hair stand on end.

He had utilized a short sword to cut the spine of the baby troll, then used the monster as a hostage to cause the mature trolls to lose their judgment. 

Partec heard previously that hunters used younglings of beasts as bait to hunt, but he never imagined anyone would replicate such an action inside a dungeon against intermediate-rank monsters. Moreover, Eugene nearly decapitated the adult trolls’ heads with a single blow, then pulled out their head along with their spine. He truly possessed incredible power.

‘No one would believe it if I told them.’

Once again, Partec felt reassured that following Eugene had been the right choice. It had been a fortuitous encounter. 

Partec encouraged his two colleagues.

“Hang in there a little longer. None of us died thanks to Sir Eugene, right?”

“Heuheu! That’s why I followed you here without saying anything. Black Sheep Mercenaries or whatnot. All of them are weak.”

“How about you, Lavan? Are you doing okay?”

“My palm is a little torn, but I’m fine otherwise. I’m going to buy myself a nice pair of gloves once we get out. I guess I learned that I shouldn’t cheap out when buying myself equipment.”

Lavan responded with a half-hearted smile, and Partec responded while nodding encouragingly.

“I will buy you a pair to celebrate if we manage to get out safely.”

“Yes. Huh?”

The mercenaries had been following diligently even while they conversed, but they suddenly stopped. Eugene, who was taking the lead, had suddenly stopped.

“Sir Eugene?”

As Partec called out to Eugene...

Psss! Ssssssss…!

A grotesque noise resonated from beyond the darkness. It was an eerie sound that caused their hair to stand on end.

Partec possessed the most experience with dungeons, and he quickly inferred the source of the bizarre sound.

“I, is it a giant cave spider?”

The giant cave spider was as big as a bull, and it was a monster that even trolls did not carelessly mess with. As an intermediate-rank monster, it possessed formidable strength, but what was most dangerous about a giant cave spider was its poison. With one bite, the poison of a giant cave spider would cause one’s body to be completely paralyzed. 

In addition, giant cave spiders did not travel alone.

Giant cave spiders were not distinguished into sexes. They would exhaust themselves to lay hundreds of eggs at a time, then devour most of their eggs to replenish themselves. The lucky eggs would hatch into spiders, then follow around the adult spider as soldiers and emergency provisions until they matured to an extent.

Just like now.

Ssssssssk!

The mercenaries froze after spotting dozens of red eyeballs glimmering in the far darkness.

Shhing.

Eugene unsheathed his short sword, then spoke while observing the surroundings.

“I will hold them off, so return to the main group and ask for backup.”

“What? By yourself, Sir Eugene?”

“Yes. We walked for less than five minutes. We don’t have time. Run.”

“B-but…”

Eugene jerked his head around.

“Feel free to stay if you want this place to be your grave. But if you want to save me, run and get Galfredik.”

“…..!”

Partec felt suffocated as he faced the red eyes that shone from inside the helmet. The gaze contained power and it felt as if he should not disobey Eugene’s words. Not knowing that it was a type of ‘fear’ specific to vampires, the highest-rank undead, Partec nodded while trembling.

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Get to it.”

When Eugene turned away, Partec led his colleagues away after being liberated from fear.

“Run!”

“Y-yes!”

The mercenaries did not feel guilt at leaving behind their colleague, being dominated by fear. They sprinted without hesitation.

“Kieeek! Sir Eugene, are you going to show off your true powers now? Is that it?”

Mirian quickly jumped out of the pocket and flapped her wings. She had been waiting for a chance to speak. Eugene’s senses were much more amplified after drinking the blood of the trolls, so he had been able to detect the presence of the monsters from further away. He had sensed that the monsters were even more powerful than the trolls.

After sending Mirian ahead to scout, he then used exploration as an excuse to advance.

Thud.

Eugene threw his robe to the side, then cracked his neck.

“It’s not just a regular giant spider?”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s a lord! Giant spiders are usually seen with their younglings, right? But you only see the small ones right now, right? It’s actually still there, just invisible to the naked eye!”

According to Mirian, a giant cave spider obtained a single special ability after evolving into a ‘lord.’

Camouflage.

It could change its body color to assimilate with the environment. And Galfredik had mentioned that all evolved intermediate-rank monsters had their ranks adjusted by one. In other words, the giant cave spider lord was a legitimate ‘high-rank monster, the main reason Eugene came into the dungeon.

“Hiding yourself?”

Five long, black nails erupted from Eugene’s left hand and broke through his glove as he growled.

“But you can’t hide your smell and sound. Kuwuuugh!”

The vampire released all of his abilities to the limit, then rushed towards the swarm of spiders while emitting a red light.

“Sir Galfredik! Sir Galfredik!”

“Hmm? What are those bastards doing here?”

Galfredik leaped to his feet when he saw the mercenaries rushing towards him with their torches.

“T-there is a huge problem! Sir Eugene…”

“Breen! Fiolo! Get all the men and follow me! I’ll personally break your heads if you disobey. Partec! Take the lead!”

Galfredik guessed the situation before Partec even finished his sentence, and he shouted while pressing down on his helmet.

“Yes, Sir Galfredik!”

Breen, the bald mercenary, and Fiolo followed behind Partec with about ten mercenaries.

Slap! Slap!

The sound of plate mail and chainmail clashing resonated loudly along with Galfredik’s steps.

“What kind of monsters?”

“G-giant cave spiders! I did not see the adult, but there were about 20 younglings!”

“Fuck.”

Galfredik sheathed his longsword while running, then took out two battleaxes from his back. They continued running with all their might, then finally spotted a torch on the floor.

Galfredik screamed loudly as soon as he saw the torch that Eugene had been holding.

“Fuuck! Everyone, charge!”

“Uaaagh!”

Although they were out of breath, the mercenaries faithfully charged forward. But as they neared the torch, the mercenaries’ steps became slower. And when they were only a few meters from the torch, everyone stopped in their tracks and became wide-eyed with shock.

There were dozens of cave spiders wriggling on the floor, split and cut. Each was the size of a chicken. Behind it, there were several logs that were around 2 meters long. It did not take the mercenaries long to realize that the logs were, in fact, the legs of the mature giant spider cave.

“You got here pretty fast.”

Eugene raised his hand while slouching on the floor. His long hair and pale face were covered with spider blood and various fluids.

“You…”

Galfredik took large steps towards Eugene with an angry expression, then erupted.

“What an insane knight! Kuhahahahaha!”

Galfredik burst into laughter, then helped Eugene up before embracing him.

Thud! Thud!

Galfredik spoke loudly while patting Eugene’s back.

“Motherfucker! I thought you really died! You just fought against a bunch of trolls, so how could you even think about fighting against more intermediate-rank monsters?”

“I thought you would come if I played for time. But it wasn’t as strong as I imagined. Of course, I did break an arm.”

“A single arm is a cheap price to pay for fighting against an intermediate-rank monster by yourself. It’s a bargain! But where is it?”

“It ran away as soon as I cut off its legs. It was fast, and the younglings got in the way. I missed it.”

Galfredik felt rather regretful, then quickly shook his head. Two or three knights were needed to kill an intermediate-rank monster. It was already unbelievable for Eugene to have fought it off alone, not to mention he already fought against trolls a few hours ago!

“What a mad, insane knight. Come on, let’s go back. Can you walk?”

“I’m fine.”

Galfredik asked with a grin, and Eugene strode forward by his side. The mercenaries became horrified as they looked alternatingly at the numerous corpses and Eugene. How many people would believe what happened today?

No, more importantly,

‘I-if I ever hear that he is fighting on a battlefield…’

‘I have to avoid it. Or I have to be on the same side as him. Who cares about compensation or whatnot…’

‘We’re lucky that we got to experience this today.’

Although mercenaries were sellswords, they did not risk their lives in a battle without a chance, especially if they were facing a knight similar to the devil.