CH 271

Episode 271 – Dark Golden Room

“Phew. I see the staircase down! We’d really run into more monsters than I’d expected.” (Rosalie)

“Because of the annoying sandstorm, I couldn’t detect the enemies as well.” (Aruna)

“Sorry that I couldn’t participate.” (Lewin)

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. It’s really getting old fast.” (Aruna)

Seeing how tired they looked, I lowered my head, but they lightly brushed it off. Aruna went down the stairs first, and after taking a seat in the middle of the staircase, she cracked open an Arecales Fruit and began to drink from it.

Once we headed down those stairs, the fight with the Mask Queen would start. This would be our last break before the Boss fight, so I needed to rest up as much as possible before facing the Boss.

“So, have you decided on a strategy for the Boss fight? If you don’t have anything, then I won’t forgive you.” (Aruna)

“I’ve decided! I’ll start with explaining about the Boss. We don’t want any monsters to appear from the layer above and attack us, so I’ll keep it brief.” (Lewin)

“―Well, that’s about all I remember with regards to information about the Mask Queen.” (Lewin)

“It was a bit hard to understand, but I think it’s fine.” (Aruna)

“I also understood you! The one we should be careful of isn’t the Mask Queen herself, but the mummies, right? And we need to devise a way to defeat them?” (Rosalie)

“That’s right. They’re different from normal living beings. We have to be sure to aim for their heads to defeat them.” (Lewin)

“So, should we aim to make the Mask Queen run out of magic power, or should we aim to directly defeat her? Have we decided on which strategy to take?” (Aruna)

This was exactly the critical question that I had been racking my brains over all this time. After much contemplation, my conclusion was…

“I think we should aim to make the Mask Queen run out of magic power.” (Lewin)

I was injured, and the stamina of the other two was running out. Our preparations for this Boss fight weren’t perfect in the slightest, which is why I kept thinking that it would be better to go for a swift conclusion. But under these circumstances, I arrived at the conclusion that it was better to go with the choice that would have a lower risk of us getting completely wiped out.

“If in the unlikely event that it summons the dragon mummy, it’ll be over for us. It’ll be a tough fight, but I think it’s a good decision!” (Rosalie)

“Score after score of mummies. It’ll be troublesome to the very end.” (Aruna)

“If we make it past the Mask Queen, we’ll be at the Safe Area. Let’s go all in and do our best.” (Lewin)

After encouraging the two of them, I put a Cold Mint Herb in my mouth and enjoyed a brief moment’s respite. All of our legs were trembling with fatigue, and beads of sweat kept forming on our bodies, but we had to eventually end our break and head for the 29th layer.

“We’ve only rested for a few minutes, but let’s get going.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. I’m starting to detect the presence of monsters up above us.” (Aruna)

“After the next fight is over, we can take our time and rest… Alright, let’s get fired up! Let’s do this! I’m good any time!” (Rosalie)

After gathering up our baggage that was scattered around us, we alighted upon the 29th layer.

The entrance to the 29th layer was blocked by a dark golden door that was made of brick. I slowly pushed it open and peered inside.

The area inside was made out of the same dark golden brick as the door, and directly up ahead, there was an divine-looking, ancient throne. The masked figure of a woman-like monster was seated upon it, holding a cane.

“That’s… the Mask Queen?” (Rosalie)

“I’d assume so. Don’t let down your guard. It could attack us whenever.” (Lewin)

“Mhm. I’ll shoot the moment it summons mummies.” (Aruna)

Even after we had all entered the room, the Mask Queen didn’t move at all. Since it was wearing a mask, I didn’t know where it was looking, and I couldn’t predict how it would move. Coupled with the absolute silence in the room, an extremely oppressive atmosphere weighed over the entire space.

If this was a normal fight, Aruna would fire off the first shot, which would put things in our favor right away, but… in this situation where we couldn’t attack so carelessly, we had no choice but to wait for her to make the first move.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, and next to me I could hear Rosalie swallow her saliva nervously. In this silence where I picked up sounds that I normally couldn’t, I concentrated every fiber of my being on Mask Queen, looking for any sign of movement. And suddenly, I heard the rumbling of the earth behind me.

All of us readied our weapons and turned around, but the source of that sound was the door rumbling shut behind us. By the time we hurriedly looked back towards the Mask Queen, the throne was empty, and the Mask Queen was nowhere to be seen. I frantically looked around the room, but I couldn’t see her anywhere in this dark space.

“Lewin! Above!” (Aruna)

After hearing Aruna’s shout from behind me, I immediately looked towards the ceiling. There, I saw the Mask Queen, standing on top of a light fixture that was hanging from the ceiling. And in the next moment―

“[Summon Undead].”

With the resounding of that clear, chillingly beautiful voice, mummies began to crawl out of the ground around us, one after the other.

The mummies were about 2 meters tall, and they were covered from head to toe in dirty, rotten bandages. After they slowly broke through to the surface, they began to charge towards us with all their might.

“I’ll take the right. Rosalie-san, take the left. Aruna-san, deal with the ones far away!” (Lewin)

I immediately barked a short set of instructions and then unsheathed my sword to face the incoming mummies.

And thus began our fight with the Boss of the 29th layer, the Mask Queen.