Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter 136: Blood (4)
“──!?”
The moment they came face to face with me, the soldiers' eyes, which were immediately tinged with the light of fascination, couldn't resist my 「Word Command」.
Of course, I could still only affect three of them with 「Word Command」.
“That guy, what nonsense is he spouting all of a sudden──”
So the soldiers who weren't affected by 「Word Command」 wore expressions of having no clue what on earth I was talking about, but.
“──Ugh!?”
Their expressions were soon tinged with the light of horror.
Along with blood, of course.
The three people who were affected by 「Word Command」 began to mercilessly attack the ‘allies’ next to them, following my command.
“Y-You guys, what on earth are you doing…”
At this, the ‘allies’ were greatly flustered by their sudden turn, and belatedly tried to stop them.
But they had the element of surprise, and the ‘damage’ they had already sustained.
On the other hand, the three people only had my absolute command.
“Kraaak!”
Therefore, the ‘allies’ could not fend off their swords, which were swung without any hesitation.
“What…!?”
By the time the three of them came to their senses after following my 「Word Command」, it was already too late.
“Y-You bastard, what did you do to me──”
──Whoosh!
Toric rushed in and swung his axe fiercely at one of them.
At that, Miki, who had rushed in without even a moment to be surprised, quickly delivered a series of blows with his shield and fist, knocking another one down, and.
“──!?”
Thwack!
As the last one raised his sword high, a thrown dagger accurately pierced his forehead.
And from the forehead of the soldier, who had frozen with a surprised expression, pshuk!, the dagger that had been pulled out returned to Ibi's hand.
Ibi, who had snatched the dagger, then dodged the spear that was thrust at her by spinning in the air like a figure skater, as if she were dancing.
After becoming a ‘Phantom Thief’, a kind of acrobatic flamboyance was added to Ibi's combat.
But those were by no means empty, flashy movements.
As she jumped up, she kicked the chin of the guy who had thrust the spear with her foot, and with both hands, she set the edges of her daggers and sliced the spear shaft that had brushed past her.
How could that be empty flamboyance?
The soldiers, who for a moment had only seen her fight as the ‘Assassin’ Evie Midrashi in the arena, just as Kain had wished, couldn't help but be captivated by that brilliance.
Of course, if they were captivated for even a single moment.
“Keok──”
Ibi would immediately, like an ‘assassin’, mercilessly slit their throats.
Because both those appearances were undeniably ‘Evie’.
Just as Rine, who was standing next to me, had the special class of ‘Time Mage’, the class of ‘Phantom Thief/Assassin’ was a privilege that only Ibi could have.
To put it more strictly, in game terms── it was a privilege of Ibi, who had awakened her own talent in Krom through the progression of her companion quest.
As a result, with the guy who had collapsed weakly as the last one, there were no more moving soldiers in the corridor.
“Ugh…”
Correction.
With Ibi kicking the groaning soldier who was trying to get up,Thump!, as the last one.
The path was cleared, so it was now time to split into two as planned.
“──Phew. Let's go, Lily.”
Toric, who had come out of his 「Frenzied」 state and caught his breath, returned to his usual calm self and said, and Lily nodded vigorously.
“Leave this to us!”
“I'm counting on you.”
And so, the two of them went back through the open door and headed to the basement.
“Let's go too.”
My companions nodded without anyone having to go first.
***
Following Ibi, who said she knew the way here, we headed inside the arena.
Of course, we encountered soldiers who tried to stop us on the way, but at least without the power of the Gloom, they were no match for the four of us.
But outside, where the Gloom had settled, the story was a little different.
The first thing we saw when we, who had put on the masks we had taken off indoors, re-entered the black-and-white world, was, as expected, Kain, who was standing in the center of the arena, apparently about to carry out the summoning ritual.
“Hey! Kain──!”
When I urgently called out his name, Kain, who had turned to glance at me, clicked his tongue, tsk.
Useless bastards.
I couldn't hear his voice clearly, but his mouth clearly formed those words.
But I had only managed to make him turn around for a moment, I couldn't stop him.
Then, the moment he cut his palm with his dagger and shed blood on the floor.
“…!”
The summoning circle on the floor of the arena began to glow ‘white’ and reveal its identity.
“That crazy bastard…!”
Seeing this, Ibi was horrified and immediately kicked the ground, but.
“Stop her!”
“Don't let her get to the Baron!”
More soldiers than at the door to the basement rushed in and blocked Ibi's path.
“Get out of the way, you bastards!”
Ibi swung the two daggers in her hands and cut them down, but they were different from the soldiers we had encountered indoors.
“Hnng…!?”
Unlike in the duel, which would have been fought with masks on, they were all without masks.
As proof, all of their eyes were blazing with a purple glow.
“These bastards…!”
Even in a situation where Ibi's dagger was deeply embedded in their bodies, they moved as if they felt no pain.
On the other hand, unlike those dark elf soldiers who were strengthened in the Gloom, the power of the bard and the mage, who fight through ‘magic’ like me and Rine, was inevitably weakened.
Because our power comes from ‘words’.
Needless to say about me, Rine also needs incantations to cast magic.
But the mask we are wearing now to avoid the effects of the Gloom, actually had the effect of limiting the power of those ‘words’.
So Kain had, in a sense, put a kind of muzzle on us.
As a preventive measure, to prevent us from interfering with him.
So, he might have been somewhat relieved.
Thinking that as long as he had put on the ‘muzzle’, even if we barked at him, we wouldn't be able to bite him.
──Well, if he still thinks so, I can only say it's a huge misunderstanding.
“Miki!”
“Yes!”
First, Miki raised his shield and cast 「Wave of Protection」.
Because that skill came not from Miki's ‘words’, but from the 「Shield of Water's Protection」 that had been charged in advance before coming outside.
Shwaaaak!
Therefore, the 「Wave of Protection」, which was cast without any problem, engulfed the soldiers who were rushing towards Ibi.
And without even giving them a chance to be surprised at being hit by the sudden spray of water.
“Rine!”
Hwiooo──!
“──!?”
The moment Rine raised her staff high, this time, a fierce 「Blizzard」 blew towards them.
And the soldiers, who were in a ‘wet’ state, were instantly frozen on the spot.
Literally, frozen.
So no matter how much the soldiers were strengthened by the Gloom, they could no longer move.
It wasn't just a matter of being cut and stabbed, but their bodies had become like statues made of ice, so how could they move?
Like this, Rine was a master of 「Swift Cast」, which did not require ‘words’── incantations.
Even for a powerful 6th Circle magic.
And I also had a beautiful face that couldn't be covered by a mere mask like this.
(Of course, in terms of area, it wasn't much different from the 「Ornate Mask」 I used to wear, but there was a difference in purpose.)
And as a bonus, I also had three dice that could be rolled simultaneously.
『Attack your allies!』
“…!?”
Therefore, the three soldiers who were immediately ‘charmed’ by my beauty, began to swing their swords at their allies, just as they had in the corridor before.
“Wh-Why am I…!”
In short, it meant that there was no problem of my or Rine's combat power being significantly reduced.
However, that didn't mean that the fact that it was reduced at all disappeared.
In fact, Rine couldn't use other types of casting that required incantations, for example, 「Delayed Casting」 which could concentrate firepower in an instant.
『You guys, who can't even use your strength properly without the drug, aren't you the real ‘weaklings’!』
“Ugh…!”
And in my case, because the mental damage of 「Vicious Mockery」 was halved, even if it was a critical hit in a ‘charmed’ state, the effect was offset and it only did normal damage.
So with one 「Vicious Mockery」, I couldn't ‘one-turn kill’ the soldiers who were strengthened by the Gloom.
“Damn, you entertainer bastard…!”
But it didn't matter.
Because it was enough to make them stop in pain.
From the beginning, our role was.
“Stop, you psycho bastard──!!”
To open a path for Ibi to approach Kain.
Ibi, who had quickly gotten behind Kain through 「Shadow Step」, then thrust her dagger at his neck.
Kaang!
Ibi's white dagger and Kain's black dagger clashed.
“This…!”
“Protect the Baron!”
The soldiers who saw this belatedly tried to rush at Ibi, but.
『O light──』
We, who had in turn become the ones to block the soldiers, had no intention of letting them.
『Respond to my oath!』
Kugugung!
With the call of the ‘Paladin’ Miki, 「Divine Shield」, much larger than the shield he had raised, rose like a fortress wall and blocked their path.
And the holy light that began to sparkle around those shields, partially dispelled the surrounding darkness── the ‘Gloom’, and began to shine with the same golden color as Miki's hair, which was fluttering in the wind.
While Miki was building the wall of shields, I quickly got behind him.
And from the bag on my back, I took out that item.
Those guys, who were glowing with a purple light from the power of the Gloom, were practically no different from zombies that moved no matter how much you cut, stabbed, or hit them.
Therefore, since this zombie horde could not be stopped by ordinary methods, we had to inflict extraordinary ‘damage’.
Specifically, to the point where they could no longer move.
For example, by turning them into ice statues like before.
Or by detonating a 「Gunpowder Barrel」, right in front of them.
Then no matter how cockroach-like their vitality was, they wouldn't be able to move even if they wanted to.
The problem was that, although I could take the 「Gunpowder Barrel」 out of my bag, I didn't have the ‘strength’ to throw it hard at them.
But Rine did.
To be precise, her power── 「Telekinesis」 did.
Rine, with just a slight wave of her staff, made the 「Gunpowder Barrel」 that I had somehow managed to take out of my bag, float up into the air.
Then, shooong─, she threw it as if launching it.
Towards the soldiers.
The soldiers, for a moment, stared blankly at the large wooden barrel that had risen above their heads.
“What is that──”
The one with the magic circle of 「Fireball」 drawn on it, which had been cast with 「Delayed Casting」 before we came up here, that is, before the incantation was restricted by the mask.
“──Say hello to my little friend!”
Kwagwagwang──!!
A huge explosion erupted.