Raising the Daughters to Overcome My Failure

Chapter 87. Lion Heart (3)

Upon entering the ruins, a surprising scene unfolded.

Monster corpses were strewn all over the corridors, and one by one, they began to disappear.

However, they weren't turning to dust or being teleported away like in a game.

It was closer to being absorbed, as if this place were the stomach of a giant living creature that was the ruin itself.

Bones and intestines melted, and a foul stench filled the air.

"Ugh."

Adel and Noemi covered their noses, disgusted.

Of course, I was the same.

It became difficult to breathe properly, and I felt a wave of nausea.

"Uuuk."

"Are you okay, Dad? Just a moment. Anosimia Totalis!"

Huh? I couldn't smell anything at all.

"What did you do?"

"I blocked your sense of smell."

There really are all sorts of magic spells.

Noemi patted my back and continued.

"Ruins are similar to a natural ecosystem. When you die here, you are absorbed as part of the ruins and reborn as a monster."

I knew the concept, but seeing it in person, it wasn't a place worth coming back to.

In the Entrance to Hell, only skeleton-type monsters like liches and death knights appeared, so there wasn't a particularly foul smell, but this place was mentally attacking adventurers in a different way.

Once her sense of smell was blocked, Adel quickened her pace.

"We'll be late at this rate."

But I reassured her, saying it was fine.

As I said before, unless the boss is killed in a specific way, the secret room containing the Lion Heart will never reveal itself.

Anyway, thanks to Iris' group wiping out the monsters, we were able to explore the interior comfortably.

"Right."

Although a complex maze of paths continued endlessly, I just kept shouting "right."

"Right again this time."

At that, Adel tilted her head and asked.

"Have you been here before?"

"Yes. A place I've cleared countless times."

Of course, in the game, not in reality.

‘If you only turn right at the corners, you'll quickly connect to the boss' room.’

But the easy progress ended here.

A group of goblins suddenly appeared and blocked our path.

It seemed their respawn time had passed.

"Kehehe!"

Adel and Noemi immediately stepped in front of me to protect me.

"Father, please stay back."

"I'll protect you."

Just their words were reassuring.

‘Kill them all now.’

Those words rose to the tip of my tongue, but unfortunately, I couldn't utter them.

Before I could even open my mouth, Adel and Noemi attacked the front with all their might.

They even seemed to be competing, cutting down the enemies at a tremendous speed.

‘It was a line I really wanted to say, what a pity. Tsk.’

Leaving my disappointment behind, I slowly moved along the path the two had opened.

To those who are endlessly reborn as goblins only to die repeatedly, I offer my sincere condolences.

"Kieeeek!!"

That was the creature's last words.

***

Meanwhile, outside the ruins, Rude was live-broadcasting this scene through detection magic. Follow current novels on N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Since he had to explain it purely with words without visualizing it on a screen, he did his best to describe it sensuously.

"Ooh! The Hero's party entered the ruins late, but they are pursuing the Unseen Ones at a tremendous speed!"

"Ooh!"

"Ah! This time, an orc has appeared! But it's no match for them. It didn't even last a second."

"Waaah!!"

"The same goes for trolls and ogres. They are falling one after another like leaves in the wind."

"Yeah!!"

How was this possible?

It was because the Knossos Ruins were a single-story ruin.

It was a maze with complex paths, but the area wasn't very large.

If it had been multi-layered or had a large area, detection magic would have been of no use, but this scale was nothing to Rude.

And one more thing.

Rude was able to broadcast this without any problems because he was constantly replenishing his magic power by drinking water infused with honey specially fermented in Frank's hot spring water.

Of course, Rude did not provide a biased commentary.

At the right moments, he also conveyed the exploits of the Unseen Ones.

"The ones who have reached deep into the ruins are, of course, the Unseen Ones. However, their speed has slowed down considerably compared to the beginning. Seeing that two of them are overlapping as one, it seems one of the three is injured or has fainted."

"Ooh~"

"As expected of the masters of assassination, the Unseen Ones. They are overpowering the monsters with dazzling speed."

"Ooooh~"

"Huh? Could this be the boss' room? A battle is taking place in a surprisingly large space! The enemy is holding on for quite a while."

"Go monster, win!"

Amidst the jeers, Rude wiped the sweat from his brow and gave a bitter smile.

‘As a resident of the barony, I guess it can't be helped that they're cheering for their lord.’

Well, before being a lord, Frank was the savior of humanity.

There was a huge difference in popularity compared to an organization like the Unseen Ones, which had low recognition among the general public and specialized in assassination.

One interesting fact was that Rude, who was broadcasting, as well as the audience listening, were all holding and eating a mealworm set in one hand.

The other hand wasn't idle either.

From honey wine made by fermenting honey to a soft drink utilizing the strong formic acid of ants.

Cicada larvae wine, dragonfly liqueur, and all sorts of insect-based drinks were held in the other hand, and they were gulping them down.

"Another glass of honey wine here!"

If an outsider had seen this scene, they would have been flabbergasted.

Where indeed would be the limit of what Rude could show?

It was clear that it was an unknown territory that no one could dare to predict.

***

Far south of that place, in Herat, the capital of the Durani Empire, a man was consumed by worry.

"Why is there still no contact?"

The man's identity was the emperor of the empire, Ahmakh.

He muttered to himself with a dark face.

"Surely they didn't ignore me and move on their own, did they?"

But no matter how he thought about it, that was impossible.

There would be no way to cross the strait and enter Botan Island without the magic device that puts sea monsters to sleep.

And that magic device was sleeping in the empire's treasury, to which only he had the key.

"In the sea, a sea monster is more terrifying than a dragon. Even the Unseen Ones cannot cross the strait as they please."

If that were possible, they would have conquered the place long ago.

The Durani Empire had been in conflict with dragons since its founding.

The emperor, just in case, ordered his subordinate to check the treasury.

But the subordinate said that nothing was missing.

"This is strange. I thought they coveted the things there as much as I covet the thing I'm looking for."

Ahmakh let out a long sigh and complained.

"Damn them. Without that, I could die at any moment. This won't do. Hey there!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Find the Unseen Ones immediately and find out when they will head to Botan Island."

At that, the retainers asked back with bewildered faces.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but no one knows where the Unseen Ones are. Unless they come to us first, there is no way to contact them."

As Number 1 had said, even an emperor was not on close terms with the Unseen Ones.

On the contrary, before Ahmakh's ascension, dozens of previous emperors had lost their lives at the hands of the Unseen Ones without a trace.

The reason Ahmakh was still alive was that he had issued a strict order to the royal family and nobles that no one should contact the Unseen Ones.

"To think it would come back to me like a boomerang like this."

Ahmakh pressed his throbbing forehead and hoped they would show themselves soon.

But his wish would not be granted.

Because the Unseen Ones were destined to obtain the object they had long awaited soon.

***

This time, let's turn our gaze not to the south but to the north and look at the Demon Territory.

Nox had succeeded in increasing the number of undead soldiers to nearly 50,000.

Now, it was half of the Demon Territory.

That is, he had pacified the entire eastern region and turned it into a wasteland where no living creature could survive.

However, the west would be a little different.

There are many strong ones there.

The previous Demon King was also from the west, and historically, there have been many Demon Kings from the west.

Nox stood on the east side of the River of Death, which divided the east and west of the Demon Territory, and shouted, looking at the other side.

"Nothing will stop us. All of you, advance!"

"As our master wills!"

With terrifying roars, the undead horde crossed the river in unison and advanced westward.

They boasted such a tremendous number that their end could not be seen.

Nox glanced south and thought.

‘Once I conquer all of the west, the next is the land of humans. Wait for me, Frank.’

Within the Demon Territory, there was a nickname given to such a Nox.

It was the title of the King of Death.

Because wherever he went, the smell of death was thick in the air.

Nox moved his feet slowly, anticipating that his undead soldiers would sweep through the western lands.

***

‘This is tiring.’

In the game, it was a place that could be cleared in 15 minutes at the longest.

But even after two hours of being here, we still hadn't reached the boss' room.

Just because the monsters were low-level didn't mean they could be underestimated.

Their numbers were incredibly large, and after a certain amount of time, they would revive and attack us again.

‘This is why no one in this world even thinks of entering ruins.’

The current Adel and Noemi could probably face the original version of the Demon King, but there's no match for a gang-up, they say.

The two of them were also starting to show signs of fatigue.

"Pant. Pant."

"Huu. Even if we kill and kill, there's no end to them."

Fortunately, just as Adel delivered a blow to the last remaining ogre, the boss' room revealed itself.

However, its door was already open.

‘Did they reach here first by passing through the walls?’

As expected, the Unseen Ones were not to be taken lightly.

We carefully opened the door and entered the boss' room.

Then, the boss, the master of this room, was nowhere to be seen, and only Iris' group was visible.

Iris was sitting on the floor as if she had lost her mind, muttering to herself, while Number 1 and Number 3 had expressions of utter defeat.

"You've already caught the boss?"

At my question, Number 1 nodded his head.

"Then why are you still here?"

"We've killed the boss three times, but the Lion Heart didn't appear. Don't tell me you tricked us?"

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

"I have no reason to, do I?"

"True. This is also related to your daughter, so there's no reason for you to trick us."

The guy nodded his head, tucked Iris under his arm like a log, and turned to leave.

"Are you leaving this place?"

"I'm thinking of looking for other places. There might be a place we haven't checked yet."

I waved my hand, telling him to take care.

Number 1 had already disappeared, but Number 3 bowed his head lightly to me and likewise vanished.

Adel spoke up with a troubled face.

"If they killed the boss three times and couldn't find anything, it seems this place is a dud."

But I persuaded Adel, saying we should at least see the boss.

Did we rest for about 10 minutes like that?

Chwaaak-!

An unpleasant purple light gathered in the center of the room and gradually took the form of a monster.

Adel tightened her grip on Anceps and muttered.

"Be careful. It's a Double Head Ogre."

It was just as she said.

A giant ogre with two heads roared loudly, holding clubs in both hands.

"Kuaaaaak!!"

It was a pretty intense first appearance, but I felt a little sorry for the guy.

‘Is this the fourth time soon?’

I mean the number of times it will die.

Of course, I have no intention of killing it in the usual way.

If I did, the secret room wouldn't appear.

I calmed Adel, who was holding her sword as if she would rush at the creature at any moment, and whispered quietly to Noemi.

"Noemi. Do you know poison magic?"

Noemi tilted her head and asked back.

"I do, but… why?"

Okay. Then, let the game begin.

This seems easy, but it's surprisingly difficult.

I hope everyone will protect me well.

Because my current body is so powerless that I could be knocked out in one hit.