CH 205

How long has it been since the party broke down?

This is a dead end here on the twenty-eighth floor, where we ended up after running away.

At least we managed to lose the big ones, and all the monsters that followed us were weak.

“Lady, did you get some rest?”

The person talking to me with a worried tone is Lind, a member of the party that triggered the trap. He’s been with us ever since we joined up.

A lot happened since then.

We took down monsters without much difficulty at first, but they kept getting stronger. But even then, we worked together and got through it, and then it appeared.

A cockatrice that caught us completely off guard.

Once it noticed us, it got close and attacked with its breath. Some people didn’t manage to evade it, and had the parts of their bodies that were touched by the breath turned to stone. Some were turned to stone completely by its second attack.

Watching them being smashed right in front of us caused panic to spread very quickly, and it was impossible to maintain our battle lines.

All we could do was help the ones that could still move, and run away.

I took up the duty of staying in the back with a few others, and we somehow managed to stop the monsters’ attacks. We were just lucky that the cockatrice wasn’t among them.

The second breath was weaker than the first, so maybe it’s not able to fire it continuously.

After shaking off the monsters, we argued over what to do next, and half the people left.

The adventurers that came running insisted on heading to the twenty-seventh floor, leaving us, Bloody Rose and Thousand Gold Coins, the two student parties that came here together in the first place.

Maybe… As one of the leaders of this group, I should have done as they said, and gone back.

But I couldn’t. There are twenty people left, and six of them have petrified limbs, and would have a hard time fighting.

Among them is Casey, who protected me and is particularly bad.

Trisha cast recovery, but it’s not looking good. At least it looks like it stopped the petrification from advancing any further.

“What are we going to do now, big sister?”

Asks Luilui, sounding worried. She’s clearly tired from keeping watch with Talia and Carl. Of course, we’ve been doing it too, but we mostly just assist them. We can’t do as good a job as the experts.

Also, Trisha has been casting holy magic to heal, and Yor has been helping her.

This is really bad. We are going through our supply of food and disposable items too. We have been hanging on because we have been quickly hunting any monster that wanders in here, but if a strong one shows up, I doubt we will be able to stop it.

Totto from a Thousand Gold Coins left, saying he would bring help. He’s a great swordsman and scout, so maybe we can put our hopes on him.

I noticed that right until the very end, he was still thinking about his party members that were petrified. They tried to stop him, but he said he had to do something.

“…We will keep going as we have. You three, rest in shifts.”

I know I’m asking too much of them, but I have no choice.

And they understand that. Talia stays, and the other two move in deeper.

Luilui goes to rest, and Carl is probably going to check on Carla, his twin sister.

I keep looking at the entrance of the passage. Just thinking about how at any moment a group of monsters can jump out of there scares me.

Seven more days go by, and the mood is worse than ever. Some people are even looking at the petrified ones harshly.

Lind is the reason why this tense atmosphere doesn’t ignite.

I’m drowsy, my head hurts, and I feel like I would fall asleep instantly if I laid down.

“Please rest, big sister. At this rate, you’re not going to last as long as us.”

Says Luilui, like she’s about to cry.

But still, my eyes always end up on that corner. Anxiety, fear, regret, determination. I am being attacked by a lot of different emotions.

‘It’s your fault.’

‘You should’ve abandoned them.’

‘Why didn’t you save us?’

‘You…’

‘You…!’

‘You…!!’

I know. It’s my fault for not being used to being callous.

Even if they hated us, even if they were friends, we should have abandoned them and focused on saving the majority.

We have been surviving on meat from the monsters we take down, but we are reaching our limit.

In a few more days, only a few of us will be able to keep fighting.

Once I start thinking about it, my thoughts keep going in one bad direction after the other, and no one will stop them.

I start breathing heavily, and it gets hard to breathe.

Luilui notices my condition, and is about to speak, but quickly looks towards the corner of the passage.

Her face is scarily serious, and her eyes tremble with fear.

I follow her eyes, and look towards the passage.

There is a monster.

I gulp unconsciously.

No, I need to fight.

I unsheathe my mithril sword, but as I try to hold it, I notice I don’t have the strength.

My body is so heavy that it doesn’t feel like it’s mine.

It’s still a little far, but I can see the cockatrice perfectly. Is it feeling confident? It’s walking this way slowly.

Someone runs to warn the others, but my body won’t move. We can’t break through this.

It’s still far. I hear a noise, but I don’t take my eyes off the cockatrice.

It’s still far. The cockatrice starts making intimidating sounds.

It’s still far… I see from here that the cockatrice looks happy, like it just found prey. It’s not changing its step.

When the cockatrice gets near Luilui, she draws her bow and a nearby mage starts chanting, but the cockatrice opens its mouth like it’s laughing.

Breath. I know what’s coming, but my body won’t move.

Luilui’s arrow is smacked down by the cockatrice’s wing, and the magic disappears before it can reach its target.

The breath is slowly, slowly drawing near.

I hear screams from behind, but I don’t turn around.

And then… Then…

The breath is blocked, like there is an invisible wall in its way.