WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 83: Undead Dungeon (4)

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“I see you closed the door.”

A black-clad figure wearing a mask without eyeholes murmured.

Behind him, a huge man draped in black robes like a cloak stepped forward.

Black hair. Listless eyes. His entire body was covered in scars, and his muscles rippled with every movement.

The man snorted.

“Is that a problem?”

His name was Climmud Raju.

He was one of the Bishops of the Tartarus Cult, the man who held the position of the Chariot.

As the black-clad figure had said, Climmud had just returned from closing the door to the Undead Dungeon.

By shutting it just before Alicia Cyrus's soldiers entered, he had isolated the Variable the cult had been watching inside the dungeon.

“We can kill him easily now.”

Veins bulged across Climmud's forearm as he clenched his fist.

The Undead Dungeon was now completely cut off.

If he entered immediately using a secret technique and confronted the Variable with his minions, he could easily eliminate him.

“Stop.”

The black-clad figure rejected Climmud's proposal.

“Didn't you say we had to eliminate him before?”

“I did.”

“What’s different now? We lost another comrade, and another base fell in the meantime. Shouldn’t we root out the problem as soon as possible?”

Climmud had been particularly close to Eliver within the cult.

She had headed to the branch on the black-clad figure's orders, only to be eliminated by the Variable and never return.

That was why Climmud was so impatient.

“Wasn't the cult's goal to summon our god as soon as possible and sweep this world away?”

Halibal Velder, the Variable in their grand plan.

Back when the Doll Dungeon was being cleared, the black-clad figure had wanted Halibal eliminated.

He had even shared power with the minions for that purpose.

Yet Halibal had overcome even that.

For some reason, the black-clad figure had shown nothing but a lukewarm attitude since then.

No, hadn't he even sent Eliver out, weakening the cult while allowing the Variable to grow stronger?

Climmud was uneasy.

One day, the Variable they had allowed to roam free might bare his fangs at them.

“It would be better to get rid of him than let him control us.”

“He is certainly growing beyond our expectations, however he pleases.”

The eyeless mask turned toward Climmud.

“But a Variable is, by nature, something that cannot be controlled.”

“Isn't that exactly what's happening now?”

“I have prepared a countermeasure. In about two months, it will yield meaningful results.”

The black-clad figure waved a hand, and an image of a massive altar appeared in the air.

Dozens of boys and girls lay dead in a pool of blood. Among them stood a blond boy with vacant eyes, gripping a sword.

The black-clad figure murmured.

“The one who should have been in that place was someone else.”

“Who was it?”

When no answer came, Climmud narrowed his eyes.

‘Then don't bring it up in the first place.’

Left with no choice, he examined the boy more closely.

There was no trace of reason in those eyes.

It meant the cult's brainwashing was nearing its end.

‘Sixteen... no, around seventeen. What are they planning to use that for?’

Climmud sighed.

“...So you intend to control the Variable with something like that?”

“It should be enough to get the timing right.”

“Time it? Not stop him?”

The black-clad figure fell silent again.

He only stared at the boy in the image.

Climmud knew that the First Bishop of the Tartarus Cult would say nothing more at times like this.

“How irritating. You hold so much power, yet you act so damn frustratingly.”

Climmud turned away roughly.

“Then what if I defeat the Variable with the dungeon's power alone, without stepping in myself? Will you stop that too?”

“If that happens, then that too will be fate.”

“Tch. I'll take that as permission.”

He could not act directly, but the black-clad figure would not stop him from using the dungeon itself.

Then Climmud was confident.

No, he had already finished preparing.

He had gathered all the wraiths that should have been scattered throughout the early sections of the dungeon at the final checkpoint, and he had even prepared a device that would severely weaken the Variables' strength.

That had made the other checkpoints relatively weaker, but it did not matter.

As long as he could eliminate the Variable for certain, he could afford to give them a day or two of victories.

‘According to schedule, you'll arrive there in two days. That place will be your grave.’

As he crossed the threshold, Climmud added one last remark.

“It's been over five years since I joined the cult... Yet when I look at it, you people don't seem to have any intention of stopping dungeons from being cleared.”

The black-clad figure stood motionless for a long time after Climmud left.

“Chariot. You're right. I can see why it would appear that way.”

A smile formed beneath the mask.

“But what can I do? This is the first time even for me that offense and defense have switched places.”

Beyond the image, he quietly watched the sun emblem of the Cyrus Empire in the distance.

⁎⁎⁎

My turn.

‘It didn't work.’

I had tried to land a hit the moment we met and enter combat that way.

Unfortunately, Negaloun easily blocked my attack.

‘Right. This bastard was always like this.’

My trick had failed, but I had expected it.

Along with Shukarit, Negaloun had been one of the most fucking annoying bosses in the original game.

Unlike Alain, whose armor was its actual body, Negaloun's armor was literally just armor.

You had to break that armor before you could deal proper damage, so if you built a party focused on physical damage, you got to watch the difficulty rise exponentially.

Despite its size, it was a humanoid boss, which meant it was also quite nimble. Even focusing only on the core was difficult.

I had hoped to cheese it once, but that was too bad.

Still, unlike an opening strike, once combat had begun, it could not block my attack.

I spun through the air.

“Carving Sword.”

Slash!

The blade that had been blocked by its greatsword slid to the side and carved a mark into Negaloun's armor.

[Weak!]

After confirming that I had created a weak point, I immediately retreated and began charging Deathblow: Reversal.

Hummmm.

Negaloun's turn.

Its eye sockets burned with rage as it looked toward me, the one who had carved a mark into its body.

Its waist bent at an eerie angle once more.

It was preparing to use its trump card, Spatial Slash.

Before it could, Rosia, controlled by Mine's AI, stepped in front of me with perfect timing.

“I can't let you get to Halibal!”

Something I had learned after repeatedly clearing dungeons with the two of them was that Raphael's summon was treated as a type of skill, so it was somewhat exempt from turn restrictions.

At Mine's command, Rosia could move between turns like this.

Unlike in the original game, where she only dealt damage and healed, Rosia could take hits now too. To me, she was practically a cheat.

Mine knew I was defenseless while charging, so she immediately sent Rosia in.

Negaloun's aggro, which had been directed at me, shifted to Rosia.

Slaaash!

The space-rending slash struck Rosia head-on.

A diagonal wound cut across Rosia's torso, and a pure white liquid burst out instead of blood.

“Rosia!”

“Mine! She's only a summon! Focus on your role right now!”

There was one difference after Raphael took Rosia's form instead of the paper angel from the original game.

Since she was a humanoid summon, she did not automatically recover when injured.

Even if Mine used Raphael again, the old wounds remained.

Rosia gave off a slightly different air and manner, but her features were identical to Mine's, as though they were twin sisters.

That was why Mine had grown attached to Rosia every time she summoned her.

The sight of Rosia being hurt made her expression harden with anger.

Mine's turn.

“Holy...!”

“Wait, Mine. Use a heal on the armor! Holy Enchant comes next!”

“...Okay!”

I had never intended to break that hard armor myself.

We had Mine.

“Heal!”

Crackle. Crackle.

The moment the pure white light touched the weak point I had carved, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the armor's surface.

Boom!

[Weak!]

With a sharp crack, the armor shattered into pieces, revealing the skeletal body beneath it.

“Huh! A heal worked even though it was armor?”

“I thought it might. It seems that armor is undead too.”

The truth was, I already knew.

That armor was a cursed relic steeped in demonic energy alongside Negaloun's body.

It was not flesh, but it was still treated as undead.

Mine blankly looked down at her hand.

With a single gesture, she had neutralized the being that had driven people dear to her to their deaths.

Her eyes burned with resolve.

‘It's good that her morale is up, but...’

“Mine!”

“I know!”

We needed to make use of the extra turn.

“Holy Enchant!”

With Mine's prayer, my blade turned white.

Alicia's turn.

“You stand naked before us, wraith of the past! Flowers Fade in Ten Days!”

Red petals wrapped around Mine and me.

My turn returned.

I immediately thrust the sword energy I had condensed straight ahead.

Deathblow: Reversal.

Swoooosh!

Ash-gray sword energy was joined by red fighting spirit and white holy power.

The three-colored sword energy pierced straight into Negaloun's exposed core.

- Booooo!

Boom!

The skeletal giant flew backward with a scream, crashing into one side of the training ground wall.

Clang!

Rosia's mace smashed into Negaloun's skull with a dull sound.

A red gem flickered above its head, but perhaps because of the shock, it could not rise for a while.

“We did it, Halibal!”

“Kuhuhut! It's only a mid-boss, isn't it? It would be a problem if we couldn't manage this much!”

I was pleased with the result too.

We had broken its armor in one strike and landed a proper hit.

At the latest, we would finish it in two or three turns.

But then.

‘...Why is this so easy?’

A sense of unease crossed my mind.

We had put together a solid strategy and stacked ourselves with buffs, but this was still too easy.

Wasn't it far weaker than Alain?

Was it really all thanks to Alicia?

‘No. It was because an entire pattern had disappeared.’

Negaloun was a notoriously difficult mid-boss because of its armor and nimble movements, but its pattern that had you dodging for your life also played a role.

Wraith Wave.

It scattered circular wraith zones all around the battlefield, inflicting severe damage and binding anyone hit.

The Spatial Slash that followed while you were bound was a direct route to the You Died screen.

But the Negaloun we had encountered had only used Spatial Slash twice. It had not used Wraith Wave.

I didn't know whether it had chosen not to use it or could not use it, but something Mine had said earlier lingered strangely in my mind.

We had not seen a single wraith-type monster since entering the dungeon.

‘...Something's going on.’

At that moment, Negaloun, which had been lodged in the wall, slowly rose with a clatter.

Right. Whatever was happening, we still had to defeat it before today could end.

“Everyone, stay alert. I think it's about to make its move.”

Instead of facing us, Negaloun turned its head toward the brazier burning atop the wall.

It raised its greatsword and sent a slash toward the first brazier.

Boom!

Half the training ground was swallowed by darkness in an instant.

Then the brazier on the opposite side was struck as well.

Boom!

The entire training ground sank into complete darkness.

“This is...!”

Empty eye sockets glowed ominously in the dark.

Then.

Whoosh!

The torch on the right immediately flared back to life.

Only one person could have done something like that.

Aren Bright's group had been waiting in front of the torch.

If they could do that, it meant they had not suffered any serious damage either.

“It's Aren Bright!”

“Th-thank goodness! You're all safe!”

With half the darkness gone, Negaloun's body looked as though one half had been swallowed by shadow and the other by light.

At that moment, I became certain.

We had not taken any damage at all while stripping off its armor.

One of the torches that had gone out had immediately been relit, returning at least half the light to the battlefield.

‘We won't lose this battle. Never.’

At the same time, another certainty crossed my mind.

‘Then... what about the final boss?’

Not Negaloun, the mid-boss.

Necreddin, the Grave King, master of this dungeon.

Negaloun shattered those thoughts.

Crack!

It split the greatsword it held in half with its bare hands.

Two swords, one in each hand.

‘It split it.’

Phase two had begun.

Footnotes:

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