Chapter 51

Bab 3: Makam Besar

(Re) Diterjemahkan oleh: Nigel

Proofreader / Editor: Deus Ex Machina

Bagian 1

Tim Pekerja yang dipimpin oleh "Daun Hijau" Palpatra mengucapkan selamat tinggal kepada yang lain 一 yang didorong oleh antisipasi dan keinginan 一 dan kemudian memandang ke bawah dari tangga yang menuju ke pintu masuk mausoleum pusat.

Tidak ada yang bergerak di bawah mata mereka ketika mereka menyapu mereka di kuburan yang sunyi. Satu-satunya hal di sana adalah kesunyian, kegelapan, dan cahaya bintang. Ketika Palpatra melangkah ke tangga, teman-temannya berkata:

"Kakek, tidakkah menurutmu ini sedikit memalukan? Kita seharusnya membiarkan tim lain mencari di kuburan, bukan? ”

"Kamu benar. Setiap tim … yah, di samping tim sial itu, yang lain memiliki kemampuan yang kira-kira sama. Apa pun yang bisa kita lakukan, Heavy Hidung Belang atau Foresight juga bisa. ”

"Dalam hal itu…"

Palpatra memotong temannya di tengah kata-katanya dan berkata:

"Tapi kami memiliki hak pencarian prioritas untuk besok, jadi kami tidak kehilangan apa pun. Selain itu, kita harus menyelesaikan penyelidikan permukaan pada saat itu, dan jika mereka tidak beruntung, tim terakhir mungkin tidak dapat menemukan apa pun, dan mereka bahkan mungkin ditugaskan untuk menjaga base camp. "

"Saya melihat…"

“Selain itu, pergi terlebih dahulu ke reruntuhan misterius itu terlalu berbahaya. Mereka suka menambang kenari untuk kita, meskipun mudah-mudahan mereka akan hidup kembali. "

Palpatra berbalik, tatapan dingin di matanya. Pekerja yang masuk ke reruntuhan telah menghilang ke arah yang dia cari.

Ada sedikit rasa jijik di wajahnya, sama sekali tidak seperti pria tua jinak yang disebut "kakek" oleh orang lain. Namun, rekan satu timnya mengenalnya dengan baik, dan mereka tidak khawatir.

Palpatra memiliki kepribadian yang sangat teliti. Dia adalah orang yang berpikir dan berpikir lagi, jenis yang akan mengetuk jembatan batu untuk mengujinya sebelum menyeberang. Itulah mengapa dia bisa berpetualang di garis depan begitu lama dan membunuh Naga. Di sisi lain, kepribadiannya yang terlalu periang berarti dia telah kehilangan beberapa peluang untuk mendapatkan. Namun, dia tidak pernah kehilangan sahabatnya, jadi semua orang di timnya mempercayainya.

Bagi siapa pun, tidak ada yang lebih berharga daripada kehidupan seseorang. Meski begitu, mereka tidak bisa menahan iri pada harta yang telah menyelinap melalui jari-jari mereka.

“Kita mungkin telah melewatkan kesempatan untuk menemukan benda sihir yang menakjubkan! Apa yang salah dengan mempertaruhkan nyawa kita untuk itu? "

"Kamu ternyata memiliki sebuah maksud. Namun, lihatlah kuburan yang rapi dan rapi ini. Seseorang jelas merapikannya, yang berarti monster akan keluar untuk menyambut kami. Bukankah lebih baik membiarkan yang lain melihat monster seperti apa? Secara pribadi, saya tidak terlalu menyukai pekerjaan ini karena ada terlalu banyak faktor yang tidak pasti. "

Setelah mendengar Palpatra menggerutu, anggota timnya dengan ringan bertanya:

"Tapi kamu masih mengambilnya pada akhirnya, kan?"

"Tentu saja. Itu karena tim lain juga menerimanya. Saya merasa bahwa kami dapat melarikan diri sementara mereka mengorbankan diri untuk kami. ”

Kelompok itu menuruni tangga dan mencapai tanah.

“Itukah sebabnya kamu memilih untuk mencari permukaan? Jadi kamu bisa lari begitu kamu mendengar mereka menjerit? ”

"Itu salah satu alasannya, dan faktanya adalah caraku berpikir itu semacam pertaruhan … Seperti yang kau katakan tadi, kita mungkin akan kalah karena ini. Kami akan lebih aman jika kami dapat mengumpulkan lebih banyak informasi, tetapi faktanya saya tidak tahu apakah itu keuntungan yang sangat besar. Jika saya salah, maka saya akan meminta maaf kepada Anda semua untuk itu. "

"Jangan khawatir tentang itu, kakek. Kami selalu mempercayai Anda, karena sebagian besar, pilihan Anda selalu benar. "

"Selain itu, bahkan jika kita akhirnya kalah di sini, yang perlu kita lakukan adalah menyerah dan mencari pekerjaan lain dengan bayaran besar. Anda pernah mengatakannya sebelumnya, bukan, kakek? Selama Anda hidup, selalu ada peluang, jadi tidak perlu memaksakan diri untuk mengambil risiko. "

"Bung, itu hanya hari-hari masa lalu. Kami semua masih muda saat itu. "

"Bukankah kamu masih muda sekarang?"

"Hah, itu tidak terlalu meyakinkan ketika kamu mengatakan aku muda, kakek."

Kelompok itu melontarkan senyum masam satu sama lain ketika mereka menuju ke mausoleum kecil.

“Karena itu, aku seharusnya membicarakan ini denganmu lebih dulu, tapi aku akhirnya mengambil keputusan atas namamu. Maaf tentang itu. "

"Yah, itu satu-satunya cara kamu bisa mengungkapkannya saat itu. Selain itu, Anda adalah pemimpin tim yang kami pilih, kakek. Saat pemimpin tepercaya kami membuat keputusan, kami semua senang untuk patuh. "

“… Kamu semua murung di sana, apa yang kamu nyengir sekarang? Baiklah, tidak apa-apa. Ayo cepat dan periksa, dan jika kita punya waktu tersisa, saya akan melihat apakah Momon-dono dapat memberi saya beberapa petunjuk. Ini adalah kesempatan yang langka, jadi mungkin Anda bisa membuatnya mengajar Anda satu atau dua hal. "

"Mm, kami telah mengukir spar Anda dengannya di mata kami, kakek. Itu ranker adamantite untukmu. "

"… Ada banyak jenis petualang dengan peringkat adamantite. Delapan Riak dari Kekaisaran, sejujurnya, tidak benar-benar berperingkat adamantite. Momon-dono adalah petualang dengan peringkat adamantite sejati. Dia berada pada level yang tidak bisa saya harapkan untuk dicapai. "

"Kakek …"

"Hyahyahya, jangan khawatir. Ketika saya berada di masa jayaku, aku mungkin cemburu, tapi sekarang aku hanya orang tua yang kusut. Tidak seperti saya kaget atau apa pun. Selain itu, saya pernah melihat beberapa petualang dengan peringkat adamantite sejati pada waktu saya, tetapi Momon-dono unik bahkan di antara mereka. Dari kehadirannya, dia merasa seperti adamantite di antara adamantites. "

"Benarkah?"

"Oh ya, itulah sebabnya aku memberitahumu untuk mendapatkan beberapa petunjuk darinya. Setelah saya mati, mendapatkan pengalaman akan sangat membantu jika Anda ingin terus berpetualang. "

"Bagaimana mungkin kau bisa mati, kakek? Aku bahkan tidak bisa membayangkan diriku pensiun. "

"Persis. Anda sehat dan bugar, jadi hidup sampai usia Fluder-san seharusnya tidak menjadi masalah, ya ampun? "

“Hyahyahya, tidak, tidak, bahkan aku tidak bisa melakukan hal seperti itu. Pria itu aneh. "

“Kamu tim yang luar biasa.”

Tiba-tiba, suara tenang seorang wanita mencapai mereka.

Satu-satunya wanita di antara anggota ekspedisi ini adalah dua wanita dari Hekkeran's Foresight dan tiga budak Elf dari Eruya's Tenbu. Namun, suara itu bukan milik mereka.

Kelompok itu segera mengangkat senjata mereka, dan berbalik.

Ketika mereka menaiki tangga yang baru saja mereka turuni, mereka melihat sekelompok wanita berseragam pelayan berdiri di pintu masuk mausoleum. Jumlah mereka ada lima.

Masing-masing dari mereka luar biasa cantik, tetapi pada saat yang sama itu juga membuat mereka sangat tidak normal.

Yang aneh adalah bahwa masing-masing dari mereka mengenakan pakaian yang menyerupai seragam pelayan, tetapi mereka berbeda dari pakaian yang Palpatra lihat sebelumnya; mereka berkilau dengan kilau seperti baju besi.

"Kamu … siapa kamu? Saya tidak melihat Anda hanya … oh, jadi ada lorong yang tersembunyi setelah semua. "

"Wanita? Mereka cukup cantik untuk menyaingi Putri Cantik Kegelapan … mereka jelas bukan orang biasa ”

"Mereka tampaknya tidak bermusuhan, tapi … mereka tidak mungkin orang yang disewa selain diri kita sendiri."

"Apa yang harus kita lakukan, kakek?"

Kawan-kawannya tidak gegabah. Mereka mengamati gadis-gadis itu dengan cermat ketika mereka bertanya kepadanya.

Pilihan terbaik adalah bernegosiasi dengan mereka, tetapi tampaknya mereka tidak akan dapat menyimpulkan ini secara damai.

"Angka kita kira-kira genap … jadi kita seharusnya bisa mengatasinya, kan?"

Kekuatan lawan mereka seharusnya hampir sama dengan diri mereka sendiri, atau sedikit lebih tinggi.

Mereka tidak menyerang ketika para Buruh berkumpul untuk mendapatkan mereka semua dalam satu gerakan. Itu menyiratkan bahwa mereka tidak memiliki kekuatan tempur atau perangkap untuk berurusan dengan begitu banyak orang sekaligus. Pada saat yang sama, mereka memilih untuk muncul dan menunjukkan diri mereka dan memulai pembicaraan; yang menyiratkan bahwa mereka percaya diri mengalahkan kelompok Palpatra.

Sementara tubuhnya yang sudah tua hampir tidak berkeringat lagi, pada saat ini, Palpatra merasakan tangan yang mencengkeram tombaknya menjadi dingin dan lembap.

“Tetap saja, pelayan muncul di makam … benar-benar menyebut selera mereka dipertanyakan.

Pada saat berikutnya, temannya yang telah membuang lelucon kasual itu tiba-tiba dipenuhi keringat dingin, wajahnya pucat dan gemetaran.

Palpatra mengira suhu di sekelilingnya merosot sesaat. Namun, merinding menutupi tubuhnya tidak ada khayalan.

Bahkan hanya dengan cahaya bulan untuk menerangi mereka, dia bisa dengan jelas melihat pembunuhan di mata para pelayan yang berbaris di atasnya. Itu tampak seperti mata mereka bersinar.

"LeL's KiLL THEM."

"… Harus mati."

"Kita tidak bisa membunuh mereka secara normal. Kita perlu membuat penderitaan mereka melegenda. ”

Rasa haus darah yang hebat bergolak di sekitar para pelayan. Kemarahan mereka sedemikian rupa sehingga terasa seperti udara itu sendiri melengkung.

"Baiklah, baiklah," kata pelayan yang paling senior dengan bertepuk tangan. "Tuan kita telah memerintahkan kita untuk tidak membiarkan salah satu dari mereka kembali tanpa terluka, jadi kita tetap akan membunuh mereka. Namun, saya cukup senang melihat semua orang begitu termotivasi. "

Ada dentang, suara logam yang sepertinya berasal dari tangga yang telah dipotong dari lempengan batu. Suara itu datang dari sepatu hak tinggi logam seperti-greave yang dikenakan pelayan.

Terguncang, Palpatra dan perusahaan mundur.

Karena kurangnya senjata, oposisi mereka harusnya adalah kastor ajaib. Dalam hal itu, membiarkan mereka untuk mengambil tempat tinggi dan bertarung di ruang terbuka lebar yang disukai senjata jarak jauh ini bukanlah strategi yang bijaksana.

Bagi Palpatra dan yang lainnya, taktik ideal bagi mereka adalah mempersingkat jarak antara mereka dan musuh. Kebalikannya akan menguntungkan pelayan. Namun, mengapa para pelayan ini menuruni tangga? Apakah mereka berencana untuk terbang ke angkasa dengan (Terbang) jika terjadi sesuatu?

Wajah kosong para pelayan itu seperti topeng, dan gerakan mereka sama anggunnya seperti penguasa ketika mereka perlahan-lahan menuruni tangga. Palpatra dan kelompoknya bingung bagaimana harus menanggapi, tetapi tetap saja, mereka berlindung di balik perisai mereka dan mendiskusikan apa yang harus dilakukan dan taktik apa yang harus digunakan

Dentang!

Suara sangat nyaring terdengar di udara. Para pelayan telah berhenti di tengah tangga.

“Baiklah, mari kita mulai dengan pengenalan diri. Aku … maafkan aku … yang ini adalah asisten pemimpin Seven Sisters (Pleiades), Yuri Alpha. Meskipun kami tidak akan bersama dalam waktu lama, senang bertemu dengan Anda. Nah, kembali ke topik utama, sementara memusnahkan Anda secara langsung akan lebih cepat, kami tidak dapat bergerak karena alasan tertentu. Sayang sekali."

Angin membawa tawa mirip bel yang menggemaskan ke mereka.

Senyum para gadis cantik yang menakjubkan ini dipenuhi dengan pesona yang langsung merebut hati siapa pun yang memandang mereka.

Menjadi mantan petualang dan saat ini seorang Pekerja, Palpatra telah melihat segala macam hal selama bertahun-tahun. Di antara mereka adalah monster yang memikat secara supernatural seperti Peri dan sebagainya. Namun, bahkan dia belum pernah melihat gadis-gadis cantik seperti itu sebelumnya, yang penampilannya yang adil tampaknya menjerat jiwanya.

Namun, kata-kata menghina mereka meluap dengan rasa superioritas, dan di bawah lapisan tipis dari penampilan mereka yang adil adalah kesombongan yang dimiliki oleh yang sangat kuat. Bagi orang-orang ini, yang telah hidup berdampingan dengan kematian dan yang sangat bangga dengan kemampuan mereka, kesewenang-wenangan semacam itu sama sekali tidak dapat ditoleransi. Itu bahkan membuat mereka ingin menunjukkan kepada pelayan persis siapa yang mereka pandang rendah.

Namun, mereka telah menyaksikan berbagai bukti tidak langsung yang menunjukkan bahwa pelayan ini sangat kuat, berbeda dengan penampilan mereka yang menggemaskan. Wajah mereka masih dipenuhi teror dari niat membunuh yang baru saja mereka rasakan, dan mereka tidak bisa sepenuhnya menguatkan diri untuk pertempuran.

Pilihan terbaik mungkin untuk berlari, dan biarkan para petualang 一 khususnya Momon 一 bergabung dengan pertarungan.

"Lalu, izinkan aku untuk memperkenalkan lawanmu."

Yuri bertepuk tangan, dan kuburan itu bergetar, seolah menanggapi suara yang bergema.

"Ayo maju, Nazarick Old Guarders".

"Apa?" Seru Palpatra dengan kaget.

Bumi di belakangnya terbelah dan beberapa Skeleton menunjukkan diri mereka.

Serangan menjepit? Tidak…

Mendongak, dia melihat bahwa pelayan masih bermusuhan, tetapi mereka tidak punya keinginan untuk bertarung. Mungkin mereka dalam mode penonton. Sementara mereka tidak bisa gegabah, tampaknya seperti yang baru saja dikatakan pelayan; mereka tidak ingin segera menyerang.

Palpatra sampai pada kesimpulan bahwa satu-satunya musuh yang menghalangi mereka adalah Tengkorak di belakang mereka, dan karena itu ia mulai menilai kumpulan musuh yang baru.

Tengkorak adalah lawan yang hampir tidak kuat. Mengingat kekuatan Palpatra dan kelompoknya, mereka dapat menghadapi beberapa ratus dari mereka tanpa masalah. Karena itu, Tengkorak yang telah muncul dari bumi – total delapan dari mereka – tidak sebanding dengan mereka sama sekali.

Namun, ada masalah.

Sahabat Palpatra menelan serentak dan tanpa sadar mundur satu langkah.

Kerangka ini terasa berbeda dari Kerangka biasa, dan peralatan mereka juga berbeda.

Mereka mengenakan pelindung dada besar, seperti jenis yang akan digunakan penjaga kerajaan negara. Perisai mereka dihiasi dengan motif griffin, dan mereka memegang segala macam senjata, di samping busur panjang komposit di punggung mereka. Selain itu, semua peralatan ini bersinar dengan cahaya kekuatan magis.

Tengkorak yang dilengkapi dengan perlengkapan sihir tidak mungkin Tengkorak biasa.

"Apa itu?"

"Kamu juga tidak tahu, kakek? Saya tidak terlalu yakin … tapi saya pikir mereka mungkin adalah spesies dari Prajurit Kerangka. "

"Sebuah cabang, ya? Mereka juga tidak terlihat seperti Red Skeleton Warriors … "

Lawan yang belum pernah mereka temui sebelumnya selalu meresahkan, terutama musuh yang dilengkapi dengan item sihir yang memiliki efek khusus.

“一 Angka-angka ini harusnya cukup untuk berurusan dengan kalian sekalian. Tolong lakukan yang terbaik dan tunjukkan seberapa jauh Anda bisa berlari. "

“Kami merasa terhormat bahwa Anda mengirimkan mayat hidup yang begitu kuat terhadap kami. Namun…"

Palpatra dengan tenang merenungkan masalah ini.

Tidak peduli apa, mereka tidak mungkin memiliki terlalu banyak mayat hidup yang dilengkapi dengan begitu banyak item sihir. Mereka mungkin menggunakan kekuatan terkuat mereka melawan mereka segera.

Kalau tidak, mereka tidak akan membiarkan mereka memasuki reruntuhan; mereka akan berurusan dengan mereka sejak lama.

“Jadi, apakah ini pejuang terkuat di reruntuhan? Anda pikir mereka cukup untuk menghentikan kami? "

Mendongak, Palpatra melihat bahwa Yuri tampak terguncang oleh pertanyaannya, matanya berkeliaran.

Saya memukul paku di kepala! Saya melihat. Jadi mereka sudah membuat jebakan selama pembicaraan kami …

Cara paling bijak untuk menggunakan pasukan terbaik mereka adalah menetralkan setiap kelompok pengganggu sedikit demi sedikit. Tentu saja, setelah mempertimbangkan bahwa mereka mungkin tidak dapat menandingi lawan mereka, mungkin lebih pintar untuk memusatkan pasukan mereka di mana sekelompok orang akan setelah menyelesaikan eksplorasi mereka, ketika mereka lelah secara fisik dan mental; di pintu masuk, dengan kata lain.

Jadi, mereka telah mempelajari sebagian dari tujuan lawan mereka dari ini. Ketika pelayan itu berkata, "tunjukkan pada kami seberapa jauh Anda bisa lari," mereka mencoba memancing mereka untuk melarikan diri, sehingga mereka akan memiliki kesempatan untuk menyerang mereka dari belakang. Dari sudut pandang pelayan, mereka akan terlibat dalam beberapa pertempuran, sehingga mereka ingin meminimalkan keausan pada pasukan mereka.

Karena itu, hanya ada satu hal yang harus mereka lakukan.

"Jadi yang perlu kita lakukan adalah mengalahkan Tengkorak ini dan keluar dari pengepungan ini, apakah aku salah?"

Mereka harus mengalahkan Old Guarders Nazarick demi tim yang akan mengikuti mereka.

Tim lain mungkin adalah rival, tetapi kawan adalah kawan. Selain itu, jika mereka ingin mereka melarikan diri, maka berdiri dan bertarung akan berisiko lebih rendah untuk jatuh ke dalam perangkap. Dan tentu saja ini hanya untuk berjaga-jaga, tetapi dia berpikir untuk meminta Momon untuk bertarung jika oposisi mereka sangat kuat. Namun, mereka harus bertarung sekarang, bahkan jika ada risiko.

"Jadi aku mengacaukan rencananya dan sekarang kita malah menjadi burung kenari … ah, sungguh menyebalkan. Baiklah, apakah Anda pikir itu semuanya? "

"Mengingat seberapa baik mayat-mayat itu dilengkapi, aku tidak bisa membayangkan mungkin ada lebih banyak dari mereka."

“Ini adalah rute yang harus dilewati penjajah, jadi menempatkan pasukan terbaik mereka di sini akan menjadi taktik terbaik. Karena itu, Kerangka ini harus semuanya. Dan karena oposisi harus memiliki kecerdasan yang lebih baik daripada kita, mereka mungkin tidak cukup bodoh untuk membagi pasukan mereka. "

“… Tidak, kupikir seharusnya ada beberapa reruntuhan lagi. Namun yang tersisa mungkin undead yang lebih rendah. ”

"Kakek … kita harus melarikan diri. Ini buruk. Sangat buruk."

“Kami sudah dikepung, tidak ada jalan keluar bagi kami! Bahkan jika kita mencoba terbang, mereka akan menembak kita dengan busur! Bertahanlah, nak! Tidak ada cara bagi kita untuk bertahan hidup selain dengan mengalahkan mereka! "

Respons terhadap teriakan Palpatra adalah suara yang pasrah namun terkejut.

"Yah, itu juga cara yang sah untuk menerobos. Kami akan mendukung Anda, jadi mari kita mulai. "

Dan dengan itu, Old Guarders Nazarick melangkah maju.

***

Yuri dan yang lainnya terlihat bermasalah di wajah mereka ketika mereka terus "menghibur" mereka.

Mereka telah kesulitan untuk menyembunyikan kekhawatiran mereka sejak awal. Memikirkan mereka sebenarnya sangat …

"Ahhh, ini buruk ~ su."

"… Tidak mengira akan seperti ini."

"Cocytus-sama akan terkejut."

"JIKA mereka akan naik … AKU AKAN MENDAPATKANNYA UNTUK MENUNJUKKAN UNTUK MENDAPATKANNYA."

Yuri dan yang lainnya menyaksikan palu terayun ke bawah.

"Oh, itu terlihat sangat buruk, dia akan mati ~ su."

Tepat ketika Lupusregina bergumam pada dirinya sendiri, pria yang dimaksud itu memukul dada dan jatuh ke tanah.

Suara gesekan logam dan benda berat runtuh entah bagaimana berhasil mengisi udara meskipun pertempuran sengit.

Korban pertama adalah seorang prajurit manusia, tetapi Pengawal Tua Nazarick yang memegang palu bermuatan listrik tampaknya tidak terlalu bersemangat tentang hal itu, bukannya mencari target lain.

"Priest-san, jika kamu tidak menyembuhkannya, dia akan mati ~ su"

"…Tidak ada manfaat. Meninggal seketika, dan garis pertempuran jatuh bersamanya. ”

Yuri bergumam dengan cemas pada dirinya sendiri, sementara Shizu menggelengkan kepalanya sebagai jawaban.

Dua Pengawal Lama Nazarick yang telah ditahan oleh prajurit itu sekarang dibebaskan, jadi satu pergi untuk berurusan dengan pendeta mereka sementara yang lain berencana untuk berputar-putar untuk menyerang garis belakang. Pastor sudah sibuk dengan dua dari mereka, dan sekarang dengan yang lain untuk menambah bebannya, dia tidak lagi punya waktu atau energi untuk merapalkan mantra. Dia memiliki tangannya yang penuh hanya berusaha menangkis serangan buas dari tiga arah sekaligus.

Palpatra adalah satu-satunya yang tampaknya dengan sungguh-sungguh memberikan pertempuran, tetapi ia harus berurusan dengan tiga musuh sekaligus dan tidak memiliki kebebasan untuk membantu rekan-rekannya.

"Daya tembak si pencuri tidak cukup. Saya ingin tahu apakah mereka memiliki kartu truf? "

Pencuri yang berjuang untuk melindungi magic caster misterius sekarang memiliki satu musuh lagi untuk dihadapi. Sekarang dia punya dua. Senjata pencuri yang ringan dan gesit itu tidak memiliki kekuatan yang menentukan melawan musuh-musuhnya – seorang Pengawal Tua Nazarick yang tidak bisa mati dalam satu serangan dan yang mengenakan baju besi yang kuat. Pencuri itu nyaris tidak berhasil menghindari serangan mereka dengan gerakan gesit, tetapi ada perbedaan besar antara mayat hidup yang tak kenal lelah dan manusia yang bisa menjadi lelah.

"Dia melihat kita seperti dia akan menangis ~ su"

"Ingin melambai padanya?"

"AKU KATAKAN SAYA TIDAK AKAN TERLIHAT."

"Oke ~ su"

Lupusregina tersenyum manis dan melambai pada pria itu.

"… Itu mengenainya."

"Itu semua kesalahan Lupu untuk mengalihkan perhatiannya."

"Ueeehhhh ~ Ini salahku ~ su?"

“… Mm, salahmu. Tapi kita bisa mendukung mereka … Yay. "

"Ya, aku berharap mereka bisa bertahan di sana sedikit lebih lama."

Para pelayan mengangguk pada kata-kata Yuri.

Pengawal Lama Nazarick memegang kendali di atas pertempuran dengan tim Palpatra. Pada titik ini, pertempuran satu sisi ini dapat digambarkan sebagai perlawanan yang sia-sia. Bahkan Yuri dan yang lainnya tidak bisa tidak mengasihani mereka.

Pada awalnya, mereka bahkan tertawa dan berkata, "Apakah kamu tidak sangat percaya diri sebelum pertempuran dimulai?" Tetapi kemudian mereka kehilangan minat dan mulai menguap, dan sekarang mereka bahkan mencari-cari Palpatra dan yang lainnya.

"Uwah, perbedaan kekuatan mereka begitu hebat sehingga aku tidak bisa memikirkan apa pun untuk dikatakan."

"… Tidak ada kartu truf?"

"Aku pikir mantra pemanggilan yang mereka berikan itu."

"Tingkat 3?"

"Tidak, itu terlalu lemah untuk senjata rahasia. Meski begitu, menggunakan monster yang dipanggil sebagai meatshield adalah ide yang cukup bagus. ”

"Memang. Selama mereka bisa mencegah serangan dari terhubung, mereka mungkin bisa mengatur ulang. "

“SEBELUMNYA, MENDAPATKAN MAlMAT SETELAH ITU JUsT STUPId. Bukankah itu sudah tua, SAJA, jadi DIA? ”

"Aku tidak tahu apakah dia berencana untuk melarikan diri atau menggunakan sihir dari atas …"

"… Dia menjadi target prioritas."

Magic caster misterius runtuh setelah melakukan pukulan mematikan. Jika seseorang bisa melantunkan mantra penyembuhan padanya atau menggunakan ramuan, ia mungkin bisa kembali ke pertarungan, tetapi tidak ada yang punya energi untuk itu. Pada akhirnya, yang bisa mereka lakukan hanyalah pencuri menutupinya dan mencegah musuh menghabisinya.

"Tapi mengapa mereka berpikir hanya ada banyak Pengawal Tua ini?"

Itu benar-benar sebuah misteri.

Apakah mereka secara tidak sadar membayangkan skenario yang menguntungkan mereka? Itu tidak berarti mereka bodoh. Mungkin manusia berpikir seperti itu ketika mereka tidak ingin terlihat putus asa tepat di mata; naluri bertahan hidup mereka berkobar sampai batas mereka untuk membangun keberanian mereka.

"Lagipula, toh itu tidak ada harapan."

"Ya, tidak peduli bagaimana kamu melihatnya."

"BAGAIMANA JIKA MEREKA TIDAK AKAN MENYELESAIKAN TUNGGU UNTUK MEMBUAT TUNGGU DAN BEGITU APA SAJA YANG TELAH DATANG?"

Semua orang menatap Entoma.

"Seolah mereka akan kembali!"

"… Pergi tanpa berkata."

"Tidak mungkin, kan? Mustahil bagi mereka untuk kembali dengan selamat dari Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. "

Ada jeritan kesakitan yang tak tertahankan, diikuti oleh suara sesuatu yang runtuh. Pelayan perang berbalik untuk melihat sumber suara, dan kemudian berbicara dengan sedih.

"Ah, KETIKA kita tidak tahu juga."

"Hasil pertempuran telah diputuskan."

"Seperti yang aku katakan, mungkin kita seharusnya mendengarkan mereka memohon ampun di tangga …"

"Tapi mereka sangat percaya diri saat itu! Tentu saja saya bertanya-tanya apakah mereka memiliki rencana dalam pikiran. "

Aroma darah segar yang kental menghembus ke pelayan dari tubuh pencuri.

"TAK TERLIHAT …"

"Kamu tidak bisa melakukan itu," tegur Yuri Entoma.

Tuan mereka telah mengeluarkan perintah untuk memulihkan semua orang yang cacat, apakah mereka hidup atau mati. Secara alami, mereka tidak bisa menyajikan tubuh yang dikunyah serangga kepada tuannya. Itu akan sangat kasar.

"daging segar…"

"Kami akan bertanya pada Ainz-sama apakah kamu bisa memakannya nanti. Bersabarlah untuk saat ini. ”

"Tapi ini tidak baik, kan? Rencana awal adalah untuk melihat apakah kita bisa berurusan dengan orang yang melarikan diri, kan? ”

"Sepertinya begitu. Itulah mengapa mereka memposting mayat hidup yang cukup kuat di dekat dinding. "

"COCYTus-saMA MELIHAT BAHWA KITA AKAN BERTEMU DENGAN MEREKA DENGAN MUDAH, TAPI …"

"… Tidak mengharapkan mereka bertarung langsung."

“Yah, inilah yang terjadi ketika kamu tidak memahami kekuatan lawanmu. Baiklah, kita akan menyembuhkan orang-orang yang masih bernafas dan mengirim mereka ke ruang penyiksaan. Adapun orang mati … kami akan melaporkannya ke Ainz-sama.

Jadi, Palpatra dan tim Pekerja yang dipimpinnya menghilang malam itu

Bagian 2

"Dorong mereka kembali!"

Tangisan marah Gringam berdering melalui ruang pemakaman yang dipenuhi bau mayat dan mayat yang membusuk.

Ruangan itu memiliki panjang 20 meter di setiap sisi, dan langit-langit setidaknya 5 meter di atas. Ruangan ini, diterangi oleh mantra cahaya dari kastor ajaib dan obor yang dijatuhkan di lantai, penuh dengan orang.

Gringam dan anggota Heavy Masher telah dipaksa masuk ke sudut ruangan. Sisa dari kuburan dibanjiri dengan sejumlah besar mayat hidup low-end seperti Zombies dan Skeleton.

Ada begitu banyak sehingga menghitung mereka akan menjadi latihan dalam ketiadaan makna.

Gringam dan prajurit yang membawa perisai membendung banjir kematian secara langsung, membentuk pertahanan untuk menjaga mayat mayat agar tidak mencapai garis belakang.

格林 汉 与 手持 盾牌 的 战士 就凭 两人 从 正面 挡住 死亡 浊流 ， 形成 堤防 不让 后卫 受到 侵犯。。

Zombie menggedor armor plat penuh Gringam dengan kedua tangannya. Sementara Zombi lebih kuat dari manusia biasa, mereka masih belum cukup untuk membuat goresan pada baju besi pelat baja. Tangan busuk, rapuh berceceran pada kontak, meninggalkan potongan busuk daging busuk menempel ke baju besi piring penuh.

Hal yang sama berlaku untuk Kerangka. Senjata berkarat yang mereka pegang tidak mungkin membahayakan piring penuh terpesona.

Tentu saja, mereka mungkin beruntung. Tetapi tembakan beruntung seperti itu tidak terjadi, berkat sihir pelindung pada mereka.

Gringam mengayunkan kapak di tangannya, tetapi setiap kali dia menjatuhkan satu, mayat hidup lainnya akan bergegas masuk untuk mengisi celah. Mereka semakin mendekat, seolah ingin menghancurkan Gringam dan yang lainnya sampai mati.

"Sialan! Terlalu banyak! "

Prajurit yang membawa perisai di samping Gringam menggeram kesakitan. Perisainya menutupi seluruh tubuhnya, jadi dia tidak melakukan serangan apa pun, tetapi perisai itu tertutup cairan kotor.

Dia menghancurkan tengkorak Zombies dan Skeleton dengan tongkatnya, tetapi dia tidak bisa bertahan melawan tekanan musuh, dan dia perlahan-lahan dipaksa mundur.

"Dari mana semua musuh ini berasal?"

Pertanyaan prajurit itu sangat masuk akal.

Setelah kelompok Gringam berpisah dari yang lain di persimpangan, mereka mencari beberapa kamar. Sayangnya, tidak ada kamar yang mereka cari yang berisi kekayaan seperti di makam, tetapi mereka telah menemukan beberapa harta berharga. Mereka melanjutkan penjelajahan dengan cara ini. Kemudian, mereka memasuki ruangan dan mulai mencarinya, di mana pintu tiba-tiba terbuka dan segerombol besar mayat hidup membanjiri ruangan itu entah dari mana.

Zombies dan Skeleton bukanlah musuh yang kuat. Namun, jumlah mereka adalah ancaman mereka sendiri.

Begitu mereka diseret ke bawah atau ditekan ke bawah, mereka tidak akan bisa bergerak bahkan jika mereka tidak mati. Pada saat itu, gerombolan mayat hidup akan menyerang lini belakang.

Barisan belakang mungkin juga tidak akan turun dengan mudah, tetapi banyaknya angka yang mereka hadapi membuat mereka gelisah.

Jika hal-hal berlanjut seperti ini, pukulan nasib buruk dapat menyebabkan garis pertempuran mereka runtuh. Setelah mencapai kesimpulan ini, Gringam memutuskan untuk menggunakan kekuatan yang ingin dilestarikannya.

“Kita harus menyelesaikan ini segera! Aku menaruh kepercayaanku padamu! "

Garis-belakang 一 yang baru saja melempar batu sampai sekarang 一 membuat langkah mereka.

Biasanya, mayat hidup seperti ini bukan masalah bagi Gringam dan anggota Heavy Masher lainnya. Namun, itu juga alasan mengapa para backliner memilih untuk menunggu dan mempertahankan kekuatan mereka. Setelah garis belakang bergerak, menghapus mayat hidup seperti ini akan semudah jatuh dari log.

"Tuanku, O Dewa Bumi! Aku memohon kepadamu untuk membersihkan yang najis! "

Imam itu memegang lambang kudusnya, dan seruannya berupa kekuatan. Perasaan sejuk dan bersih melonjak melalui kubah pemakaman 一 yang telah diisi dengan udara kotor 一 dalam gelombang kekuatan ilahi yang lebih kuat dari biasanya. Imam itu menggunakan kemampuannya untuk mengubah mayat hidup.

Setelah gelombang itu, mayat hidup hancur menjadi abu dan debu, mulai dari orang-orang terdekat imam.

Ketika ada perbedaan besar antara tingkat daya masing-masing dari kedua belah pihak, kemampuan untuk mengubah mayat hidup malah bisa menghancurkan mereka. Namun, menghancurkan banyak mayat hidup sekaligus sangat sulit, dan pengguna membutuhkan tingkat kekuatan tertentu.

Pada akhirnya, satu gerakan itu menghancurkan lebih dari 20 makhluk hidup.

"Aku akan membuatmu pergi! (Bola api)!

Magic caster misterius melemparkan (Fireball) miliknya, yang terbang ke bagian belakang gerombolan mayat hidup yang diledakkannya. Dalam satu nyala api yang ganas, nyawa palsu dari semua Zombies dan Skeleton dalam area efek mantra dikonsumsi dan dibakar, meninggalkan apa-apa selain abu dan asap.

"Saya belum selesai! (Bola api)!"

"Tuanku, O Dewa Bumi! Aku memohon kepadamu untuk membersihkan yang najis! "

Kelompok garis belakang meluncurkan putaran serangan area-efek dan jumlah undead menurun tajam.

"Pada mereka!"

"Baik!"

Prajurit itu menyingkirkan perisainya, memegang gada di kedua tangannya, dan bersama dengan Gringam, mereka masuk ke gerombolan mayat hidup. Mudah bagi para magic caster untuk melenyapkan mereka, tetapi Gringam tetap memilih tuduhan, karena sebenarnya dia ingin melestarikan mana. Secara khusus, kemampuan imam untuk mengubah mayat hidup memiliki sejumlah kegunaan. Profesinya membuatnya sangat mahir dalam berurusan dengan mayat hidup, dan itu bisa dibilang senjata rahasia mereka di makam ini.

Gringam masuk ke gerombolan mayat hidup, kapaknya berayun. Cairan lengket mengalir keluar mungkin akan menyembur, jika jantungnya berdetak kencang dari bagian tubuh yang terbang. Bau dari luka yang terbuka dan terputus-putus di mayat-mayat itu membuatku mual tapi itu tidak tertahankan.

Atau lebih tepatnya, bisa dikatakan bahwa hidung mereka mati rasa karenanya.

Gringam dan prajurit itu bekerja bersama, menyerang, menyerang, dan menyerang lagi. Mereka tidak memikirkan pertahanan.

Mereka bisa melakukan serangan seperti itu karena bantuan magis dan baju besi yang kuat melindungi mereka, selain fakta bahwa mereka menghadapi mayat hidup yang lemah.

Sesekali, sesuatu akan mengenai kepala Gringam, tetapi armorkenya menyerap dampaknya, dan dia hampir tidak merasakan apa pun di lehernya. Bahkan ketika dada dan perutnya dipukul, dia hampir tidak merasakan pukulan.

Setelah semua, musuh mereka adalah yang paling lemah dari mayat hidup untuk memulai. Satu-satunya bahaya sekarang adalah taktik gelombang manusia mereka; begitu barisan musuh telah menipis sejauh ini, pertempuran itu jauh lebih mudah. Prajurit itu terus mengayunkan senjatanya, dan berteriak:

"Semua mayat hidup yang kita temui adalah makhluk kecil yang kerdil, tapi ada banyak dari mereka di makam ini!"

“Jadi tidak ada jaminan bahwa undead yang lebih kuat tidak akan muncul! Meskipun, jika ada undead yang lebih kuat, aku tidak tahu mengapa mereka belum muncul! "

Orang yang menjawabnya adalah pendeta, yang mengamati pertempuran dari belakang saat ia mengambil perisai prajurit.

“… Tidak, mungkin mayat hidup di sini dipanggil dengan beberapa cara. Itu mungkin semacam ritual, atau melalui benda. ”

Yang aneh adalah bahwa mayat-mayat itu lenyap setelah waktu tertentu berlalu, jadi tanah tidak dilapisi karpet, sehingga tidak ada tempat untuk berdiri. Bagian itu terdengar seperti apa yang terjadi pada memanggil monster setelah mereka mati, karenanya peringatan penyihir itu kepada yang lain.

"Beberapa tipuan bahwa panggilan massal mayat lemah … Aku sungguh-sungguh menolaknya! Saya takut membayangkan makam ini dibanjiri dengan zombie! ”

Gringam menjawab ketika dia menebang kerangka seperti pohon, dan kemudian dia mengamati bagian dalam ruangan. Ada beberapa mayat hidup yang tersisa, kurang dari jumlah jari di kedua tangan. Itu tidak terlihat seperti kumpulan baru akan masuk melalui pintu, dan pertempuran akan segera berakhir.

Saat dia memikirkan itu, sensasi tulang yang mencekik membuatnya terpaku melalui sol kakinya.

His danger sense ordered him to flee immediately, but he could not do so right now. Even so一

“Look out! Head outside一”

The thief seemed to have sensed it as well as he shouted.

However, it was too late. All of a sudden, the originally sturdy floor suddenly turned weak. A floating sensation engulfed them. A moment later, their unbalanced bodies were dumped heavily on the ground.

His comrades cried out in pain. However, Gringam poured his strength into gripping the axe which he had not released even through his fall. As he smashed the Skeletons that had fallen with him, he stood up.

“Destroy the enemy!”

The undead had also been damaged from the fall 一 in particular, the Skeletons were weak against bludgeoning attacks and had thus taken a great deal of damage 一 so fighting them was much easier than before.

After eliminating the undead within the room, Gringam finally had the luxury of looking around the room.

They were probably at the bottom of a pit below a magical trap that caused the floor to vanish. Looking up, the ceiling seemed very far away. At a glance, it looked like it was 12 meters overhead. Three meters above the floor was a closed door. Three meters above 一 a total of six meters above the ground 一 was an open door, the one through which Gringam and the others had originally entered the room. One could say they had fallen a distance of roughly two floors.

The overall shape of this room was like a square pyramid. The floor of the room sloped down toward a point, and due to the steep incline, one might end up rolling to the bottom of the room 一 the center 一 if one were not careful. In fact, one of his comrades had actually rolled down there and gotten stuck at the bottom. He had almost been buried alive by the falling Zombies.

It was hard to believe they had barely been hurt by falling into a place like this.

The strange thing was that there were four tunnel-like structures on each wall at the three-meter mark, on the same level as the closed door, for a total of 16.

“It looks like a room used for drowning. I’ll bet they’ll pour in water from those tunnel-like things up there. I’ll pass on that, if you don’t mind. It’s worse if they’re Slimes or the like instead.”

"Saya setuju. Let’s check out that door and get out through there if it’s okay.

Climbing two floors of a wall with no handholds was quite difficult. At most, only the thief could do it; people like Gringam in their full plate armor would have a very hard time. In contrast, that unknown door might not be safe, but reaching it seemed much easier.

Just as they were discussing how to climb up, heads emerged almost simultaneously from the sixteen tunnels. They were corpses swollen so badly they looked like they were about to explode 一 Plague Bombers.

Their bodies were bloated from the negative energy accumulated within them, and they exploded when killed. Their death explosions harmed the living and healed the undead at the same time, making them very troublesome undead.

The meat lump-like undead leapt through the air. The Plague Bombers’ bodies hit the floor and made a nauseating sound. The problem was what happened after that. Their round bodies did not stay still on the slopes but rolled down like boulders, towards Gringam and the others.

“Look out! Get clear!”

“I’m the intellectual of the group, don’t tell me what to do!”

Everyone 一 the wizard who was almost in tears included 一 barely managed to avoid the attack, and so the undead rolled into the center of the inverted pyramid. The next wave of Plague Bombers had already showed their ugly faces, which let Gringam and the others know that just now was just the first wave. At the same time, they also guessed what would happen after this.

"Lari! This room is going to be flooded with them!”

If they were knocked into the center of the room by the intense impacts from the rolling undead, they would assuredly be squashed to death. Even if they were not crushed, they would be immobilized, and then they would die from the repeated negative energy explosions of the other undead being flattened by their fellows.

“What a despicable trap! Someone, please give me a boost!”

“As if I could! You fall in there and you’re done for!”

Even if someone managed to evade one attack, the moment they lost their balance, they would not be able to avoid the next attack. Nobody dared boost anyone else under those circumstances.

“Then I’ll use magic!”

“Don’t use (Fly)! You’re not strong enough to pull us all!”

“No, uwah! That was close! I’m going to use (Web Ladder)!”

“That’ll do! Please anchor it to the nearest door! Gringam, cover him!”

“一No! Halt! We must flee through the second storey door through which we entered! The door below is perilous!”

His companion did not question the basis for those words, but they trusted Gringam.

“(Web Ladder)!”

The magic took effect, and a spiderweb climbed up the wall, until it reached the second floor.

This magically created spiderweb had a unique stickiness to it. When one did not want to let go it would be adhesive, but when one wanted to move, it would not be, making it very suitable as a ladder.

Gringam and the others were worried, but in the end they managed to climb up the ladder in single file.

Gringam finally reached the door that had been open all this while, and carefully studied the passage through it. If they were hit and knocked down now, they would surely meet with a hideous fate.

He sighed in relief. It would seem what he feared 一 undead above the tunnels 一 had not taken place.

After he was sure of it, he jumped on top of the tunnels and then pulled everyone up.

“We’re saved! Being crushed to death by undead is one of the most horrible ways to die!”

“…These ruins are really maliciously designed. I sprained my ankle when we fell, hope you can heal me.”

I think the negative energy explosion grazed my toes! That was scary as hell!”

“I barely managed to avoid it by luck. It’s too much to ask a wizard to dodge attacks.”

His companions panted, swapping complaints and curses between breaths.

“Say, Gringam, why did you want us to avoid that door? I thought that door would have been the right choice. Don’t they always put the right route in the most dangerous place?”

“It was just a hunch I had… take a weapon you don’t need and attack that door.”

Gringam had reverted to his usual way of speaking now that he was exhausted. After hearing his reply, the thief immediately pulled out a dagger and threw it at the door. The dagger flew in a straight line, and struck home 一 or at least, when it was about to, part of the door bulged out and shaped itself into a tentacle, which deflected the flying dagger.

“That’s a… Door Imitator! No, given the color of that tentacle, it’s probably an undead Door Imitator. This sort of enemy captures its enemy with sticky body fluids and then delivers a one-sided beatdown with its tentacles.”

“Cheh! A double trap, huh, that’s pretty evil. Still, you’re amazing, you actually saw through it.”

“It was just a hunch. No, strictly speaking, I just went with what I knew over the unknown. Also, consider the position of that door; it would be taking repeated negative energy explosions. While negative energy explosions probably wouldn’t do too much damage to an inanimate door, I had the feeling they’d put something funny there. Then, let’s move一”

At this point, Gringam shut up. That was because the thief who had been going on and on since just now had a finger on his lips, and was tilting his head to listen.

Gringam pricked up his ears as well. He could hear a rhythmic tapping tak tak tak sound on the floor.

Everyone looked to the source of the sound 一 towards the passage.

“That… ought to be an enemy, right? Can’t they give us a break?”

“Yeah, there’s only one of them, and they’re not trying to be stealthy, so that should be it. I hope it’s the last one…”

Everybody raised their weapons, and the warrior at the front raised the shield his colleague had given him, hiding half his body behind it. The wizard pointed the glowing tip of his staff at the passage ahead, where the sound was coming from, ready to cast a spell at any time. The priest raised his holy symbol and the thief aimed his bow in the direction of the noise.

The tak tak tak sound grew louder, and the other party finally showed themselves.

It wore a luxurious 一 though fairly aged 一 robe, which covered a body that was slimmer than that of a woman’s or a child’s. It held a gnarled staff in one hand 一 that had probably been the source of the rapping sound.

Its skeletal face was covered by a thin layer of rotting skin, and there was a malevolent intelligence in its eyes. Negative energy wreathed its body like mist.

This was an undead magic caster. Its name was一

“一An Elder Lich!”

The wizard, who had been the first to surmise its identity, cried out.

Memang. After a wicked magic caster died and the body was infused with negative energy, it would give rise to an evil monster like this.

The moment Gringam and the others heard that it was an Elder Lich, they immediately changed formation. Nobody stood in a straight line with anyone else, and each of them kept a distance from each other, to defend against area-effect spells.

Elder Liches were fairly powerful opponents. To adventurers, platinum-rankers would not be able to defeat one easily, but mithral-ranked teams would be certain of doing so. If Gringam and the others disregarded fatigue, they would be able to beat it. In addition, they were fortunate enough to have a team member who was exceptionally potent against the undead, which was a shot in the arm for everyone.

Also, Elder Liches were hard to deal with at a distance, but given the current distance, the battle conditions were very favorable for them.

“Is that the master of the tomb?!”

That was Gringam’s conclusion. Elder Liches were controllers. Sometimes they would control hordes of undead, and depending on the circumstances, they could even make deals with the living.

Good examples of those were the captain of the ghost ship that sailed through the mist of the Katze Plains, or the Elder Lich who became famous for ruling a city, and so on.

Therefore, it was not at all unusual for an Elder Lich to be the master of this tomb.

“Did we hit the jackpot? That’s a stroke of luck!”

“The job didn’t ask us to kill the master of the tomb!”

“We’ll show him the power of Heavy Masher!”

“Behold, the divine protection of the gods!”

His other colleagues were shouting. They were doing so in order to banish the fear they felt when facing a mighty foe like an Elder Lich.

“Defensive spells一”

Just as Gringam was about to start calling battle orders to his comrades, a strange feeling arose within him. He immediately found the reason for that feeling. It was the powerful enemy before them, the Elder Lich.

“…What’s wrong?”

“He doesn’t seem to want to… attack us?”

The Elder Lich was clearly looking at Gringam, yet it had not made a move. It had not raised its staff, and neither had it begun incanting spells. It simply watched them in silence.

Gringam and the others were hard-pressed to hide their confusion. This was because they thought they would be charging into combat, yet they did not dare make the first move.

It was true that the undead bore hostility towards the living. However, it was also true that certain intelligent undead were willing to deal with humanity. While they would probably start from a weaker position if they opened negotiations first, sometimes the undead would ask for a ceasefire, and one could gain magic items made with long-lost techniques.

The most important thing was that avoiding combat was the ideal course of action when one faced a powerful enemy like an Elder Lich. Perhaps it had shown up because it was tired of not being able to eliminate the group with its traps, but it might also be because it knew their strength and wanted to peacefully negotiate.

After considering these possibilities, striking first would be far too rash. That would essentially be abandoning all possibility of negotiation. This was the heart of the enemy’s power. It would be too risky to plunge into battle without ensuring that there was a way for them to retreat.

Gringam and the rest of his group looked at each others’ faces, and verified that everyone was thinking the same thing.

It was his job as their leader to speak for the rest of them.

“Forgive my disrespect, but thou seem’st to be the master of this tomb. We一”

The Elder Lich turned its horrific face to Gringam, and then rested a slender finger on its lips.

In other words 一 quiet.

While such a gesture was very unfitting for an Elder Lich, they were not brave 一 no, they were not suicidal enough to tell this powerful entity such a thing.

Gringam obediently shut up. Then, he heard a sound again from the silent passage, and he immediately doubted his ears.

He had heard this sound before, that of something going tak tak tak as it rapped against the ground. And there were a lot of them一

Gringam and his group exchanged glances again. They did not want to believe the answer the sound was telling them.

And then 一 everyone screamed at once.

“Who was it?! Who said the Elder Lich was the master of this tomb?!”

“I’m sorry! It was me!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! This is ridiculous!”

“Oi oi oi oi oi, we can’t possibly win this!”

“Even divine protection has its limits!”

More Elder Liches appeared behind the original one; six of them, in fact.

There were now seven of these powerful magic casters.

Granted, since they were the same sort of entity, they would attack in the same way. In other words, once they had a way to negate all the attacks the enemy could muster, beating seven of them would not be a problem.

The problem now was that they did not have such a way, and they could not possibly do so.

In the face of such utterly hopeless odds, Gringam’s group lost their will to fight.

“Now then, let us begin.”

As the Elder Lich spoke in its voice that did not sound like it wanted to negotiate at all, seven staves rose into the air. At the same time, Gringam bellowed:

“Retreat!”

Everyone in the team ran with all their might, as though they were waiting for that word. They ran in the opposite direction from the Elder Liches. Of course, they hardly had the luxury of contemplating what lay ahead of them; all they could think of was fleeing the excessive firepower of the Elder Lich cabal and buy themselves some chance of survival.

At their head was the thief. After that was Gringam, the wizard, the priest and the warrior.

They ran nonstop, without hesitating.

They reached a corner. These were places where they ought to have been on guard against traps or monsters, but as the footsteps pressed in from behind, they did not have the free time to check carefully. Everything was up to the heavens; all they could do was run.

There were two stone-carved doors on either side of the passage, but after considering that they might be dead ends, nobody was brave enough to rush in.

The armored people made a cacophonous sound of metal clashing as they ran, which echoed along the passage. While the sound might attract monsters, nobody had the time or energy to cast (Silence).

They ran, and ran, and ran some more.

They moved their legs, heedless to everything else. Turning corners and sprinting madly made them lose their sense of direction, and they no longer had any idea of where they were right now. If possible, they would have liked to return to the entrance, but nobody had the energy to consider that.

“一Are they still behind us!” Gringam shouted as he ran. The warrior at the end of the group replied:

“They’re still there! They’re running after us!

“Dammit!”

“Why the hell are they running! Why aren’t they flying?!”

“If they flew, we’d be eating spells one after the other, moron!”

“Let’s hide in a small room and parley…” the mage panted. He was the physically weakest member of the group, and he looked like he would collapse at any time.

Gringam decided that this was not going to work. The mage’s stamina was going to give out.

Undead monsters like Elder Liches would not get tired. If this kept up, they would be forced into a corner, and once their endurance was gone, all that awaited them was to be slowly picked off.

“How can there be so many Elder Liches…”

Such a thing was impossible if one went by common sense.

“Don’t tell me the master of this tomb is more powerful than an Elder Lich!”

That was the only answer they could think of. However, was there really such a powerful undead being? Gringam was at a loss for an answer.

“Dammit! This goddamn tomb!”

The warrior running at the end of the pack cursed between panting breaths.

A glowing magic circle floated off the ground at that very moment. The magic circle was very large, big enough to encompass Gringam and his team within its bounds.

“What一”

There was no telling who it belonged to, but he heard something that sounded like a scream一

***

一There was a floating sensation, different from when they had fallen down just now.

——与刚才的坠落不同种类的飘浮感。

Gringam’s vision was filled with blackness. The sounds of crunching and squishing came from under his feet, and he felt his body slowly sinking. It was just like falling into a swamp. He panicked for a moment, but this swamp-like place was not very deep, and he stopped sinking after it reached his waist.

In this silent world of darkness, Gringam called out uneasily, like a child who had lost his parents:

“…Is anyone there?”

“一I’m here, Gringam.”

He immediately received a response from a comrade 一 the thief. In addition, he was not far away. It was probably around the same distance that had separated them while they had been running.

“…Are the others here?”

Tidak ada Jawaban. He had guessed it; there was no light here, so the wizard and the warrior were not present. He had been lucky enough that the thief was here at all.

“It seems we’re the only two around.”

“Indeed, it is as… cheh! Yeah, you’re right.”

He stood in place, studying the mood in the air around him. The blackness extended infinitely around him, filling him with the fear of not knowing where the darkness ended and where he began.

Nothing seemed to be moving一

“Need a light?”

“Might as well.”

Would doing so break the silence? Would it trigger a trap? Despite the countless doubts filling his heart, it was a regrettable fact that human eyes could not see through darkness. Light was indispensable.

“Right then, hang on a bit.”

The thief’s voice seemed to be moving around in the darkness. And then, there was a source of light.

The first thing he saw was the thief, holding a glowstick high in his hand. Then, he saw the light reflected of countless smaller surfaces. It made him think of the glittering treasure he had seen in the mausoleum.

However 一 it was not.

Gringam fought the desire to scream, while the thief’s face seized up as well.

They saw countless reflections. The reflections were of the insects which filled every inch of the room; what humans called cockroaches. The smallest were only the size of his little finger’s tip while the biggest were over a meter long. The room was filled with cockroaches of all shapes and sizes, and they crawled on top of each other.

So the crunching sensation under his feet was caused by squashing cockroaches. The thought of being submerged up to his waist in cockroaches was that much more abhorrent.

The room was very wide, so the light of the glowstick did not reach the walls. Given the glowstick’s effective radius of illumination was around 15 meters, one could estimate the size of the room from there. He looked to the ceiling and saw countless cockroaches reflected in the glow.

“This… what is this place?”

The thief spoke like he was out of breath, and Gringam could understand how he felt. He must have had the feeling that if he made a sound, all these cockroaches would start moving.

“What on earth happened?”

“…This is a pit, right?”

As the thief looked around in fear, Gringam thought of the last thing he had seen before his world was swallowed by darkness 一 the magic circle that had floated up under his feet 一 and then he told the thief:

“It can’t be. I don’t think this is an ordinary pit, we must have been hit by some kind of spell…”

“To think there’d be a teleporting trap… or was that a spell from the Elder Lich?”

Teleportation spells existed; for instance, the 3rd-tier spell (Dimensional Move). However, that spell only worked on the caster themselves. The ability to teleport others, and multiple people at once, was a spell of the一

“一I think it was a 5th or 6th tier spell that could teleport multiple people at once, right?”

“Right… I remember it should have been something like that.”

Could it be that our opposition is really so…”

They knew very few people who could use magic of the 5th tier. However, Gringam could accept that hypothesis. If a mighty being like that existed, then the peaceful coexistence of multiple Elder Liches was easy to explain. That was because it would surely be child’s play for such a powerful entity to rule over or command Elder Liches.

A chill settled over Gringam’s heart as he keenly realized the danger of the tomb. At the same time, he felt an intense resentment towards the Count who had offered him this job. Of course, it had been Gringam and the others who had accepted the job, and they had known there would be risks, and they had still laid their lives out as chips on the card table. Perhaps it could not be helped that he was looking for a scapegoat.

However, the Count should have known something about this place. Otherwise he would not have offered such a high payout and gathered so many Workers and offered the job to investigate this tomb.

“So he couldn’t bear to share that information? Son of a bitch… let’s get out of here! These ruins… are not a place we should have touched.”

“Ah, got it. Then, Gringam, I’ll go first, and you can follow me.”

It would seem the thief still had not realized it yet. Fortunately, he had not.

That was the fact that these cockroaches were not moving.

Gringam sized up the mass of cockroaches in front of him.

Their feelers were twitching faintly, so they were probably not dead yet, but they remained still. A mysterious air of dread filled the area.

“一No, you two gentlemen will not be going anywhere.”

Suddenly, a third person’s voice rang forth.

“Who is it?!”

Gringam and the thief frantically looked around, but they could not sense anyone moving.

“Oh, do pardon me. By order of Ainz-sama, I have been granted dominion over this place. My name is Kyouhukou. It is a pleasure to meet you two gentlemen.”

Their eyes went to the source of the sound, where they saw a bizarre sight. Something was forcing its way through through the pile of cockroaches as though it were going to emerge from below.

Their melee weapons could not reach that far. The thief silently drew his bow, while Gringam planned to pull out his catapult 一 but that was only for show. If the battle began, he could wade through this waist-deep sea of cockroaches and hack at his foe with his axe.

Soon, they saw that the entity that had worked its way through the cockroaches was, in fact, another cockroach.

However, this cockroach seemed different from its fellow cockroaches around it. It was only 30 centimeters tall, yet it stood erect on two legs.

It was draped in a grand-looking red cape edged with gold thread, and it wore a tiny gold-gleaming crown on its head. Its forelegs held a pure white scepter set with a gemstone.

The strangest thing was that it was looking right at Gringam and the thief despite standing upright. An insect would naturally look up if it were standing on two legs, but the being before their eyes was different.

Other than that, it was not too different from the other cockroaches. No, those alone were big differences.

Gringam exchanged looks with the thief, and they agreed that Gringam would parley with their opposition. After verifying that the thief had put down his bow and the arrow nocked to it, Gringam asked Kyouhukou:

“Who… are you?”

"Umu. It would seem you did not hear my introduction just now. Shall I state my name once more?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…” Halfway through, Gringam realized that was not what he ought to be doing or asking. “…Alright, I’ll get to the point; would you like to make a deal with us?”

“Oh, a deal. I am very thankful to the two of you, and I am delighted to deal with you.”

There was something strange about those words 一 why was it so grateful to the two of them? It bothered Gringam, but given the overwhelmingly unfavorable circumstances before him, he could not ask the other party such a question.

“…We would like… we would like to ask you to allow us to safely leave this room.”

“I see, it is only natural that you should think that way. However, even if you two gentlemen do manage to leave this room, your current location is within the second floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. It behooves me to mention that returning to the surface will be very difficult.”

The second floor一

Those words made Gringam’s eyes go wide.

“We passed through the mausoleum on the surface, descended a flight of stairs and passed through a doorway 一 was that the first floor?”

“Many would regard it as such, would they not?”

“No, I was simply confirming that.”

“Haha, well, you two gentlemen were teleported here from the first floor. Your confusion is eminently justified.”

Somehow, Kyouhukou was nodding. Gringam felt like he had been stabbed by icicles when he saw it.

This was a terror born of his suspicions being proven right.

In other words, while he did not know how they had done it, their opposition used teleportation magic as a trap. What kind of spell was it, and what kind of magical technology had they used? He knew how shocking this was despite not being a magic caster.

“…Indeed, I’m hoping you can tell us how to leave this tomb, but I dare not ask so much. Just allowing us to leave this room will be enough.”

“Hmhm.”

“We… are willing to give you anything you desire.”

"Saya melihat…"

Kyouhukou nodded deeply, and looked as though it were deep in thought.

For a short while, the interior of the room was deathly silent. In the end, Kyouhukou seemed to have made up its mind. It nodded and said:

“What I desire is already within my grasp. The terms you gentlemen propose do not satisfy me.”

Gringam was about to open his mouth, but Kyouhukou raised a foreleg to stop him, and then said:

“Before that, it seems you do not understand the reason for my gratitude towards the two of you. Then, permit me to explain. In truth, my familiars have long grown tired of eating each other. Thus, I am grateful that the two of you are going to become their feed.

"Ah!"

The thief loosed an arrow immediately upon hearing that.

The arrow whistled through the air, but Kyouhukou’s crimson cape caught it, and it fell powerlessly.

Then 一 the room began to writhe.

Countless rustling noises echoed through the room, and it became a torrent of sound.

Then, a tsunami loomed over them.

It was a churning flow of darkness.

“Regretfully, there are only the two of you, but even so, I hope you will fill my familiars’ bellies.”

The swell of the tidal wave swallowed Gringam and the thief. It looked just like being devoured by the ocean.

As Gringam sank into the black whirlpool, he frantically swatted at the cockroaches which had worked their way into the gaps of his armor.

Weapons were useless against a swarm of such tiny insects, and Gringam did not know any martial arts which could attack an area. In that case, smacking them with his hands would be faster. Therefore, he had already cast aside his weapon, and he did not know where it had gone.

He struggled and tried to flail his arms, but the countless cockroaches weighing him down had already taken his freedom of movement. His actions were just like a drowning man thrashing his arms about. All Gringam could hear was the rustling of countless cockroaches.

His thief companion’s voice was drowned out by the rustling, and he could not hear it.

No, it only made sense that he could not hear the thief’s voice. That was because the thief’s mouth, throat and stomach were stuffed full of cockroaches, and he could not vocalize.

Prickling pain filled Gringam’s body from head to toe. It was the pain from the cockroaches which had infiltrated through the gaps in his armor and were chewing at his flesh.

“Stop一”

Gringam wanted to cry out, but the cockroaches working their way into his mouth blocked it up. He frantically tried to spit out the cockroaches, but every time he opened his mouth, another cockroach would squirm in through his lips, and then crawl around in his mouth.

Tiny cockroaches seemed to have burrowed into his ears. The rustling grew louder, and his ears were unbearably itchy.

Countless cockroaches crawled up and down his face, biting everywhere. Pain covered his eyelids. However, he could not open his eyes. He could imagine what would happen to his eyes if he did so.

Gringam understood what sort of fate awaited him. He would be eaten alive by cockroaches.

“I don’t want this!”

He screamed out loud, and the cockroaches promptly flowed into his mouth. They wriggled everywhere, and then burrowed into the depths of his throat. Then, he felt something slide down his throat into his stomach. The sensation of a live cockroach thrashing around in his guts made him want to throw up.

Gringam struggled desperately once more.

He could not bear to die like this.

He wanted his two elder brothers to look at him with different eyes. This was the sole, driving purpose which had motivated him and let him reach his present position.

Gringam had saved up enough that he could spend his days in leisure even without adventuring, and with his reputation, he could easily marry a beautiful woman, the likes of which one could not find in a village. Be it in terms of strength or wealth, he was far superior to his elder brothers who had chased him from the house. He should have been a winner in life.

He did not want to die in a place like this.

“Abbbooooaahhhhhh! I want to go back aliveeeeee!” he screamed as he spat out chewed-up cockroaches.

“…My, but you can endure. Then, another helping for you.”

Gringam’s cries vanished into the black vortex several seconds later.

***

His eyes suddenly opened

A ceiling came into view. Said ceiling was made of fitted stone slabs, and there was an object which emitted white light set into it. He did not know how he had come to be here, but when he thought to look around, he realized that his head could not move. No, it was not just his head. His arms, his legs, his waist and his chest were bound by something and immobilized.

These incomprehensible circumstances sparked terror within him. He wanted to scream, but something was stuck in his mouth. He could not speak, and he could not close his mouth.

All he could do was move his eyes. He frantically tried to see what was going on around him, and just then a voice addressed him.

“Aran~ so you’re awake.”

That voice was garbled. It was difficult to determine if it belonged to a female or a male.

A horrific monster worked its way into his immobilized field of vision, appearing before him.

That thing had a human’s body, but its head was a bizarre object that looked like a deformed octopus. It trailed six long, twitching tentacles that descended to its thighs.

Its skin was the cloudy white color of a drowned corpse. Its body was swollen like the aforementioned drowned corpse, with a few bands of black leather to substitute for clothing. Those bands bit into its skin, looking just like butcher’s twine used to wrap up cuts of meat, and it was hideous beyond belief. Perhaps they would have been bewitchingly alluring on a beautiful woman, but on a spine-chilling monster like this, it was less seductive than stomach-churning.

The monster’s hands sprouted four slender fingers each, with webs between them. They had long nails, each with beautiful nail polish applied, and they were further adorned with strange nail art.

This bizarre being looked at him with cloudy, pupil-less eyes.

“Ufufufu. Did you sleep well?”

“Hahhh… hahhh…”

His breathing was heavy under the twin assaults of fear and shock. The monster caressed his cheek with a gentle gesture, like a mother comforting a child.

The strangely cold sensation sent a chill through his entire body.

It would have been perfect if it emitted a heavy scent of blood or rot. However, it instead radiated a floral fragrance. That only served to heighten his sense of terror.

“Ara~ there’s no need to shrink in fear.”

The creature’s line of sight moved to his groin, and the sensation of the air against his skin let him finally realize that he was naked.

“Mmm, should I ask you for your name?”

The monster placed its hand on what seemed to be its cheek and tilted its head. Surely it would have been a delightful gesture if a woman had done it, but instead it was an octopus-headed creature that looked like a drowned corpse. All he felt was disgust and fear.

"…"

He could only move his eyeballs, and the monster laughed at him. Its mouth was covered by its tentacles, and its expression did not seem to have changed. However, he could still tell that it was laughing, because its cold, glassy, marble-like eyes were narrowed.

“Ufufufu, you don’t want to tell me? You’re so shy, how adorable.”

The monster’s hand slid over his chest, like it was tracing out letters, but all he felt was panic, like his heart might be ripped out at any time.

“Let me tell 一 you 一 my 一 name