CH 25

“Well, Hero-sama. Are we really going to dive in this dungeon?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Prepare yourselves, thief!”

When Ark kicked him in the back, the thief nodded emphatically while whimpering.

-This is the forest to the west of the city of Fabos, in front of an entrance hole to a dungeon in the midst of an ancient ruin.

Here are Ark and the thief, as well as Zain, Enrique and Agranis. There are five of them in total.

“As expected of Master Ark. You were able to solidly make a contract with Zain and Enrique, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, well.”

It was Agranis who informed Ark of the presence of Zain and the others and instructed him to head towards Fabos. The prideful Ark followed such instructions for a moment.

[The stars tell me that there are swordsmen and archers in Fabos who are as strong as that guard who interrupted Master Ark’s journey a month ago. Why don’t you try to bring them into your group?”]

This was, in her words. He wanted to take revenge on that damned guard, whose name was Gustav or something like that, and with that single-mindedness, Ark is on a journey to defeat the Demon King.

However, after suggesting recruits, Agranis had left Ark’s side because she had something to do, and only just now, moments ago, did she finally join up with him. Agranis’ behavior is always somewhat mysterious and difficult for Arc to figure out. That is why Ark was always a little worried about whether she was really in his control of or not.

“Hey, Agranis. And for that matter, where the hell have you been all this time?”

“I’ve seen a new vision from the stars, and I had to run some errands.”

Stars again?

“Yes. But Thanks to that guidance, I found some good equipment in the town of Lirica, you see.”

Agranis held out his hand, and in it was a red, blue and green ring.

“This is a power ring, a rare piece of equipment that increases your attack power just by wearing it. This one is for Enrique, who has difficulty putting out attacks.”

“Oh, is that okay? Thank you, Master Sorcerer.”

“This is a speed ring, which increases your speed. This one is for you, Zain.”

“Oh! Thank you!”

“And lastly, the Defence Ring, this is for you, Master Ark. You are the heart of this heroic group, so please wear this one to increase your defence.”

“Ah, jeez. Thanks for the help, Agranis. Have you been to the town of Lirica to buy this things?”

“…… Yeah, well, something like that.”

Agranis nodded vaguely.

“Well, let’s quickly capture this dungeon, Master Ark.”

And then she walks off.

.As I thought, something is still bothering me. However, considering that Agranis’ actions are consistently for his own benefit, there should be nothing suspicious about it. Ark decides so and changes his mind.

“Alright! I’m going to conquer this dungeon as soon as possible!”

Oh! With Zain and the others behind him, Ark forced the cowardly thief to take the lead and proceeded through the dungeon.

The dungeon was like a maze, and monsters such as cave bats and slimes occasionally stood in front of Ark and his party. But as expected of Zain and Enrique, whom they had paid a lot of money to hire, they didn’t even let them get close.

“Out of my way!”

“Out of my way!”

Zain’s great sword slices several slimes together and slams them into the dungeon wall.

“Sora!”

Enrique’s arrow pierces Cave Bat’s brain as it is sucked in.

“This is awesome, ! I can’t lose either. [Mega Slash!”]

Ark also cuts up the slime in a losing effort.

***

He had just spent half a day in the dungeon when he heard the following words.

“Master Ark, it seems that this is the end of the dungeon.”

“This is …….”

It was a large space. And in the center of it, there was one large treasure chest that must have been quite old. That is the treasure chest that contains on the map with the location of the [Armor of the Hero] that we are looking for.

“Finally made it there, what a hassle to get here..”

Ark snorts and steps into the room. And just as he comes close to the treasure chest.

───Crack-Crack.

“What?”

There is the sound of something being stepped on and broken. Looking down, Ark’s eyes caught sight of it…

“?”

It was a human bone. And not just one. If you look closely, you can see that there are several, or even dozens, of human bones scattered here and there in the corners of the room.

───Gururururu ! .

Shortly afterwards, a low growl is heard from behind Ark and the others. When they turned around, there was a huge monster the size of Zain, who was twice as big as a normal person, and even bigger.

It was clearly an unusual wolf, with its silver fur shining dully.

“Na…… naa?”

Overwhelming. The wolf radiated an overwhelming aura of mighty strength that could be sensed just by looking at it. Ark almost lost his leg strength at a glance.

“Ahhh–! That’s right! I remember now!”

At that moment, Zain shouted loudly.

“Well, this dungeon has a long-standing legend!”

“A legend?

“When I was a kid, I was told to stay away from the ruins of Fabos Forest! They say that the cave in the ruins eats people, and that all the men who went exploring there 50 years ago never came back!

“Why didn’t you tell me that first, you meathead?”

As Ark was kicking Zain’s rugged backside, the wolf started to move.

Boom! As soon as it seemed to start running as if it was cutting through the wind, a blade of wind immediately formed and attacked Ark and the others. It is wind magic.

“[Absolute Shield]!”

However, Agranis blocked that attack with defensive magic.

“Damn it, .! Hey, Zain, Enrique! Let’s work together to take it down!”

“Oooh!”

Zain swung his great sword, and Enrique shot the wolf from a distance. However–.

“Guhah?”

“Gah!”

Zain’s great sword was sent flying in a flash without inflicting any wounds on the wolf. The arrow didn’t even pierce it, and Enrique was slapped in the face with a swish of his tail, knocking him out.

The only close combatant left was Ark.

“Shit! Uhhhh [Mega Slaaaash]!”

Kakink. But the wolf’s hard fur bounces off it and doesn’t even seem to jerk.

“That’s a …. Lie… right?”

[Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!]

“Ughhhhhh?”

The wolf bites him on the left arm and then swings him around, up and down, left and right. *Cracks, cracks!* Arm causing a scream. And as it was, Ark’s body was slammed here and there against the dungeon walls and onto the floor.

“Gaaaaaaaahhhh?”

Zashu! The flesh of Ark’s arm, which could not withstand the centrifugal force, was finally torn apart by its fangs, and Ark’s body, which had lost its support, flew and fell to the floor in the distance. The fainting …… but opens his eyes immediately afterwards.

“Koooooo!”

The intense pain in his left arm prevented him from even fainting. Ark barely manages to get up, but his left arm is as if it won’t move. A large amount of blood continued to flow.

“Ouch …… ouch ……!”

[Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!]

But the wolf would not even allow him time to spin a whimper. In a split second, it closed the distance between it and Ark, and this time it opened its big mouth to aim at his neck and sink its fangs into it.

“Ughhhhhh?”

“── [Absolute Shield]!”

But.

Clank! A purple wall blocks the wolf’s fangs just before they catch Ark’s neck.

“Please, let me help you. Master Ark.”

Agranis stood in front of the wolf monster.