Chapter 98 : The Hungry Temple (1)
Chapter 98: The Hungry Temple (1)
The aftermath of a storm.
“Five dead. Twelve injured.”
Robert's expression twisted the moment he heard the casualty report.
He had expected this expedition to be difficult.
But suffering such devastating losses right from the beginning...
was far beyond what he had anticipated.
The Decurion's death was tragic enough.
But a Knight being seriously wounded was on an entirely different level.
“The priests are treating them... but they won't be able to fight again for at least half a day.”
A cruel and overwhelmingly powerful enemy.
Terrain that overwhelmingly favored them.
And the pressure of limited time.
Every factor became another variable threatening their future.
Even so—
Shing.
Robert drew his sword.
“We swore an oath to protect His Majesty the Emperor and the citizens of the Empire. If even we fail... those abominations will trample our homeland!”
Therefore—
Even if every one of them had to leave their bones here.
Even if they became food for monsters and their limbs were torn apart.
They had to succeed.
The Knights adjusted their helmets.
The soldiers gripped their shields tighter, reminding themselves why they had come.
'Hmm.'
'At least the expedition commander isn't a coward.'
Yohan quietly admired him.
Many of Hestia Empire's nobles were rotten to the core.
But the Imperial Central Army that protected the Emperor...
was clearly different.
True Knights who valued honor and pride above all else.
The real problem, however...
lay elsewhere.
'Those Beast Tamers.'
'They weren't originally this strong.'
With an expedition force of this caliber and Seo Changhee present...
The Gate should have been cleared without much difficulty.
But something had changed.
For some unknown reason...
Both Zakan and Daphne had received enormous power boosts.
'Their Divine Rank had increased by several stages... and both their Attack and Defense were almost 1.7 times higher than before.'
There was only one possible explanation for such a drastic change.
'That girl.'
Yohan's gaze shifted toward Evelyn, wearing her shark-toothed hood.
Originally...
Even when Seo Changhee gathered companions, they were always hopeless airheads just like himself.
They looked impressive on the outside...
but were missing a few screws.
Or were completely empty beneath the surface.
He had an uncanny talent for finding exactly those kinds of people.
But this time...
A genuinely powerful ally had joined him.
That alone had likely caused these changes.
'It's definitely gotten harder...'
'But the rewards should be even better.'
That was one of the characteristics of the Forbidden Tome.
Whenever the difficulty increased...
The rewards always scaled accordingly.
For a veteran like Yohan...
This wasn't necessarily a bad development.
After finishing a brief rest...
The expedition finally entered the temple.
[You have entered the Special Area 'The Hungry Temple'!]
It felt as though they had stepped into the heart of the Aztec civilization.
Murals and stone statues depicting humans being hunted filled every corner of the interior.
Simply looking at them sent chills down one's spine.
“What terrible taste.”
Seo Changhee clicked his tongue.
“Why terrible? You know? Evelyn absolutely loooves the interior design here!”
The girl wearing the shark hood grinned from ear to ear...
looking as though she'd come on a picnic.
Hmm...
Perhaps he needed to revise his earlier opinion.
She seemed to be missing quite a few screws herself.
After walking for some time...
They arrived at four branching paths.
One bore a fang.
Another displayed the tail of an unknown creature.
The third was marked with deep claw scratches.
The last one was engraved with a blazing flame.
“Can't we determine which path leads to the Boss Monster?”
“I'm sorry. The distortion fields layered throughout this place prevent us from using detection magic. To confirm anything, we'd have to send Rangers down each path one by one....”
“And that would waste far too much time.”
“Yes.”
In the end...
The main force had no choice but to split into four groups.
“Summon the Hunter representatives.”
Robert made his decision.
“...That's the situation. We'll take responsibility for two routes. I'd like the Hunters to handle the remaining two.”
“Heh. Fine by us. As long as you keep your end of the bargain.”
A man with black hair and deep dark circles beneath his eyes answered.
Yohan knew him well.
'Ryuhei Ito.'
The Guild Master of Horobi, one of Japan's Three Great Guilds.
A slave to capitalism who measured everything in money and material gain.
“We have no objections either. Though if we're allowed to choose, we'd like to take the third path.”
The Hunters of Black Rain Corporation also voiced their opinion.
At this point...
Horobi and Black Rain Corporation held the greatest authority among the Hunters.
As a result...
Everyone else naturally divided themselves between those two factions.
“Let's move.”
Ryuhei headed toward the passage marked by flames.
Unfortunately...
Yohan and Seo Changhee ended up assigned to Horobi's group as well.
About ten minutes later...
A bridge roughly five meters wide appeared before them.
“Kuhahaha! If you fall down there, they won't even find your corpse!”
Standing at the edge of the bridge...
Rodbrock proceeded to demonstrate the complete absence of human decency.
Whoooosh!
A golden waterfall poured downward.
“Ptooey!”
Lagersa gathered an impressive amount of saliva before spitting over the edge as well.
Some habits truly transcended race and nationality.
Just then—
Fwoosh!
[Flames acknowledge only four circles. Remember this well. The Demonic Beasts sleeping within the temple still honor that covenant. Furthermore, do not become arrogant. Should you bare your fangs while relying upon the safety of the circles... they too shall show no restraint.]
Strange words formed entirely from fire appeared in midair.
“AAAAAH!”
Before anyone could even process their meaning...
A scream echoed from the third passage.
It came from the direction taken by Black Rain Corporation.
So the traps had already activated over there.
Clunk!
As if that were the signal...
An ominous sound echoed through this passage as well.
Fwoosh!
A gigantic stream of fire erupted from the side.
“Fire!”
“AAAAAH!”
Everyone desperately threw themselves away.
But several Hunters failed to escape in time.
Two of them were engulfed in flames...
and tumbled off the cliff.
Tiny burning silhouettes disappeared into the darkness below.
Whoosh!
Thoom!
Flaming arrows rained down relentlessly from both sides.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They weren't especially fast.
The Hunters of Horobi calmly deflected them with their katanas.
However...
The traps weren't finished yet.
“Monster ahead!”
Someone shouted.
Sure enough...
A pair of crimson eyes glowed within the darkness.
Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
Against the pitch-black background...
A massive silhouette emerged.
“GROOOOAR!”
A Lizard.
Compared to Dragons...
They were an inferior species by a wide margin.
Even so...
During the early stages of an Episode, they were extremely troublesome opponents.
Especially for groups that had never fought together before.
[Haruna activates the Trait 'Fox Rain'!]
[Jack Hamilton activates the Unique Ability 'Water Veil'!]
[Ayaka Rin activates the Skill 'Fireproof Skin'!]
Numerous buffs overlapped.
“Hold the line!”
“Protect the damage dealers!”
The Tanks with high fire resistance moved to the front.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The four-meter-tall Lizard charged straight toward them.
[The Lizard activates the Skill 'Flame Tail'!]
Its blazing tail slammed into the Tanks' shield wall.
BOOOOM!!!
“Kugh!”
“Urgh!”
Several shields were blasted high into the air.
The impact was so overwhelming that some Tanks completely lost their grip on their equipment.
That single opening...
proved fatal.
[The Lizard activates the Skill 'Flame Storm'!]
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A turquoise inferno far beyond anything the corridor's fire jets could produce erupted.
“AAAAAAAH!”
The Tank who had lost his shield died instantly.
Then...
Something strange happened.
Thud.
The flaming arrows suddenly stopped.
Even the Lizard...
which had been rampaging moments before...
ceased all attacks.
“What?”
“Why...?”
No one understood.
But unexpected fortune had arrived.
And fortune had to be seized.
“WOOOOOO!”
Rodbrock leaped high into the air.
Golden sparks crackled around both of his axes.
BOOOOM!
Without hesitation...
He brought them crashing down upon the Lizard's skull.
It was a strike enhanced by Lagersa's Primitive Blessing and Double Strike.
“GROOOOOOOAR!”
The Lizard let out an agonized scream.
Unfortunately...
The axes failed to split its skull open and reach its brain.
The moment that attack landed...
The traps immediately reactivated.
The Lizard resumed swinging its tail and spewing flames.
'Surely...'
Yohan narrowed his eyes.
'Eighty-three.'
If he remembered correctly...
That had been the exact number of Hunters who entered this passage.
After that...
Two died in the flames.
One was killed by the Lizard.
Exactly at that moment...
Every trap and every monster in the corridor had stopped attacking.
'Flames acknowledge only four circles.'
That sentence.
'I see.'
Now he understood.
A multiple of four.
As long as the number of people present remained a multiple of four...
This place became safe.
However—
'Should you bare your fangs while relying upon the safety of the circles... they too shall show no restraint.'
If they attacked first while benefiting from that safety...
The circle would be broken.
The Lizard had gone berserk again...
and killed two more people.
That left seventy-eight survivors.
Which meant—
Two more people had to die...
before the passage became safe once again.
“Sir Yohan...
Someone else... has to be sacrificed.”
Scarlet had also deciphered the message.
Yes.
If two more people died...
This crisis would end.
But...
Could they really just stand by and watch innocent people die?
Well.
That would leave a rather unpleasant feeling afterward.
More importantly—
“Playing along with rules made by our enemies... isn't the Ataraxia way.”
“I was thinking exactly the same thing.”
A faint smile appeared on Scarlet's lips.
Merciless death to their enemies.
A path forward for those who fought beside them.
That was the pride carried in the hearts of the great families.
Yohan pulled the Elemental Spear from his subspace.
Before entering the temple...
Faden had completed it at the last possible moment...
while crying his eyes out.
[Elemental Spear]
Acquisition Difficulty: A
Physical Attack: 35
Magic Attack: 165
Durability: 80 / 80
Description: A magical artifact crafted by the Fairy Race, possessing an exceptional structure for concentrating the power of nature.
Equipped Rune: Silence [No. 598]
Magic Damage +7.5%
Casting Speed +3%
Mana Distortion +2%
Excellent.
Not only had the additional effects improved...
Even its base Physical Attack and Magic Attack had increased.
Crackle!
Yohan poured mana into the completed Elemental Spear.
A pleasant sensation surged through him.
The mana dissolved throughout the atmosphere condensed through the crystal and manifested.
[Intermediate Magic 'Frozen Explosion Spear' is activated!]
Beyond the brilliant magic circle...
A pure white spear appeared.
An Intermediate Spell with a base attack power exceeding 500.
And if it struck...
It would forcibly inflict Stun.
The moment the Lizard resumed rampaging—
Now!
Yohan released the Frozen Explosion Spear he had been holding.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Scattering icy particles...
The spear flew straight into the Lizard's heart.
[The target's movement has been sealed for 1.2 seconds!]
Success.
If everyone focused their fire now...
They could kill it.
But then—
Slash!
The chilling sound of flesh being cut echoed from another direction.
A new monster hadn't appeared.
“Y-You bastard....”
“It... hurts....”
A man and woman collapsed...
their eyes wide with disbelief.
“Ah, sorry.
But I figured this would be much more efficient.
Two people, right?
That's how many need to die before the passage becomes safe again.”
Ryuhei casually flicked the blood from his blade and shrugged.
Yohan wasn't the only one who had deciphered the meaning behind the message.