Chapter 52
A hulking figure easily three meters tall. The head of a bull, the muscular body of a human. Black patterns were engraved across its entire body.
The upper-level boss monster, 'Minotaur,' roared.
Hot breath poured from both nostrils.
It dragged its double-bladed axe across the floor, then flashed it upward.
"Kroooaarrrrrrr!!"
The roar that could rupture eardrums violently shook the air in the boss room.
Dust rained down from the ceiling.
"Phila! Get ready! Elena!"
"Yes!"
No sooner had the order been given than I kicked off the floor and shot straight toward it.
I gripped the hilt of the magic sword Vitalia tightly.
I coated the blade in mana.
The Minotaur's bloodshot eyes turned toward me.
'Right, kill the man first.'
Its axe came crashing down toward the crown of my head.
Boom!
The floor shattered, sending fragments flying in every direction.
Just before the axe struck the floor, I twisted aside to evade it, sprang into the air, and used its arm as a foothold to leap again.
I sliced straight through its thick shoulder.
The blade failed to cut deeply into its skin, leaving only a scratch.
Hard.
Even tougher than that.
Pure muscle.
Its physique was on an entirely different level from an ordinary minotaur's. Even compared to an ogre of the same rank, the quality of its muscles was on another level.
A monster sealed inside the dungeon.
I had to find out why it had been sealed.
"Kroooaarrrrrrr!!!!"
"...!"
Elena slipped perfectly into its blind spot.
Her sword drove precisely and deeply into the back of the Minotaur's knee, the soft tendon that could not be strengthened.
"Kroooagh?!?!!"
It let out a pained scream, lost its balance, and staggered violently.
I did not miss the instant opening as its massive body began to tilt.
"I'll use it!"
Phila shouted.
The moment Elena and I widened the distance between ourselves and the Minotaur in response to the signal, Phila raised her staff high.
"Explode!"
A fierce red light flashed from the floor beneath the Minotaur's chest.
Along with a deafening boom, a pillar of earth shot up from beneath its muscular chest and slammed violently into the ceiling.
Its thick hide burst apart, revealing dark-red innards.
"Kugh... Grrrrr..."
The Minotaur rolled over, froth of blood bubbling at its mouth, and braced itself against the floor.
Phila stood where its gaze was fixed.
It shoved off the floor and charged with its horned head leading the way.
I stepped into its path.
'Lion Slash.'
I gripped the magic sword tightly in both hands, raised it, and unleashed sword aura that fluttered like a lion's mane.
I brought the magic sword down on the Minotaur's head.
Its hard skull seemed to block the magic sword, but the blade tore through its hide, bored into its skull, and cut into the flesh within.
Before it could build momentum, its body was stopped by the magic sword; it pushed me back slightly and came to a halt.
The Minotaur's red eyes rolled white.
Its huge body sagged to the floor and all signs of life ceased, while a pool of dark-red blood spread beneath the corpse.
"Got it."
Elena and Phila cheered our victory.
***
The Minotaur's massive body breathed its last.
"Amazing. It was really over in an instant."
Phila relaxed after catching her breath.
I opened the mouth of the backpack in my hand and swallowed the Minotaur's entire corpse.
Magic backpack.
The backpack enchanted with space-expansion magic sucked in the huge bull-headed monster. The heavy corpse vanished from sight in an instant.
With the boss monster dead, the shape of the room began to change.
The arena floor destroyed by the Minotaur writhed.
The pieces making up the floor assembled themselves into their original form and were restored.
The red magic circle engraved on the floor trembled faintly, then slowly gathered toward the center like sand used in sand art.
The red grains soon hardened into a single crystal.
"What's that...?"
Elena approached cautiously and muttered.
A red jewel the size of a fist.
It emitted a soft light that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"It's a dungeon magic stone."
Phila pushed up the glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose with her index finger.
"It's a type of barrier stone. The reason the dungeon remained undiscovered until now was entirely due to the dungeon magic stone's effect. It's a system that can permanently draw energy by sealing away powerful monsters beyond their ability to handle. It's lost technology left behind by an ancient civilization."
A mage's characteristic thirst for knowledge gleamed in Phila's eyes.
"But even dungeons weren't perfect. As time passed, the monsters multiplied and the mana inside the dungeon became oversaturated, causing the barrier stone to run wild. That's what opened the dungeon gate. That's the whole story behind the Monster Wave."
In short, that lump of stone was the root cause of the problem.
"Then breaking that will end it, right?"
Phila nodded at Elena's question.
"Yes, that's right. It will form again, but destroying it will calm the dungeon gate, end the Monster Wave, and bring the situation to a close."
Phila adjusted her glasses once more.
"But there's one thing."
She raised her index finger.
"Some of the dungeon magic stone's power will imbue the tool used to destroy it. That tool will become very, very—very valuable, so we have to be careful. We can't let this rare opportunity go to waste, can we?"
At those words, Elena's gaze naturally shifted to my magic sword.
"Mister's weapon seems like the best choice. My weapon is just an ordinary sword. If we use your magic sword, it'll be much better than it is now, right?"
"Elena."
I cut Elena off.
"Touch it with your bare hand."
"What?"
Elena blinked.
She tilted her head as though she did not understand what had just come out of my mouth.
Phila was the first to be horrified.
"E-Eck! You can't do that!"
Phila's face went deathly white in an instant.
"You must never touch a dungeon magic stone with your bare hands! Even if it looks like a jewel, it's a mass of highly concentrated mana! The moment you touch it with your bare hands, you'll explode on the spot!"
Phila's hands trembled violently.
Her eyes trembled, but her gaze remained firm.
Phila was the only one acting sensibly.
"Elena."
Ignoring Phila's warning, I looked straight into Elena's blue eyes.
"Grab it."
"Ah, no, you really can't. The books say dozens of people have died doing that. M-Miss Elena? You don't have to if you don't want to. I'll explain it properly to Eck..."
Phila fidgeted anxiously as she tried to dissuade Elena in my place.
But Elena was only momentarily flustered by my words before quickly calming down.
"If you tell me to grab it, Mister, I will."
"Ahh... I-I can't watch this."
"You've never asked me to do anything I couldn't do, Mister. It'll be all right this time, too."
Elena approached the dungeon magic stone without hesitation.
Phila turned her head aside, squeezed her eyes shut, and covered her ears with both hands.
She trembled behind me like a small animal facing a predator.
Fwoosh!
As Elena reached out to touch the dungeon magic stone, it spewed out red rays of light.
A blindingly intense light poured out for an instant, forcing me to close my eyes.
After the light faded,
Elena was standing there unharmed.
The dungeon magic stone that had touched Elena's hand was nowhere to be seen, and a vast amount of uncontrolled power surged out of her.
The power possessed physical force, violently pushing away the air around it.
Phila, who had been crouching on the floor, cautiously opened her eyes to slits as a gust struck her.
"T-The mana is running wild! E-Eck, she really is okay, right? You made her do it because you had something you believed in, right? O-Otherwise, I might regret for the rest of my life that I couldn't stop you!"
"She's fine."
"R-Really?"
Phila clung to my leg and observed the changes before her.
Elena instinctively folded the raging power inward.
As the storm folded in on itself layer by layer, it seeped into Elena's body and disappeared.
The storm vanished without a trace, as though it had never existed in the first place.
Elena opened and closed both hands, her expression blank.
"...."
She blankly sensed the power filling her.
Her awakening was complete.
There had been no dramatic, fierce, intense prologue like the one in the original game.
Elena was now in the same state as the fully matured, battle-hardened Elena from a later playthrough.
Strong and reliable.
My Elena was complete.
'It really is over.'
Only then did I let out a long breath.
It was the moment I finally brought the tiresome tutorial to a perfect end.
***
A few days after the Monster Wave engulfed the city.
A grand banquet hall with magnificent chandeliers hanging overhead.
Today, the lord's castle was packed with people.
Dozens of nobles, each one a rare sight, sat in orderly rows, while high-ranking officials from every guild and clan filled the seats behind them.
Every notable figure in Reator had gathered to watch us.
Elena, Phila, and I stood side by side on a stage covered with the grand banquet hall's red carpet.
The lord stood before us in splendid formal robes, his expression solemn.
"...."
"...."
Beside him, the lord's daughter Lisette gave me an elegant, sidelong smile.
"I believe there is no one who does not know why we have gathered here today."
The lord's voice rang heavily through the grand banquet hall.
"A few days ago, this city faced a calamity the likes of which it had never experienced in its history. The horde of monsters pouring from the northern mountain range threatened to swallow the city whole. A calamity of unprecedented scale."
The calamity that struck Reator was among the largest Monster Waves ever to hit a city.
Had we not prepared, one or two sections of the walls would surely have collapsed.
"Reator—we defended it perfectly!"
The nobles all raised their heads, and applause erupted at the lord's words. The nobles began clapping first, followed by the commoners.
The entire banquet hall filled with thunderous applause.
"And the heroes who led this victory are here."
The lord stretched out a hand and pointed at Lisette, then at us, his face beaming with satisfaction.
Elena, Phila, and I stood side by side at the center of the stage, drawing everyone's attention.
Elena looked composed, but Phila was deathly pale, as though she might faint at any moment.
"Master of explosion magic and my personal mage, Phila Emoson!"
At the call of her name, Phila's shoulders flinched.
"She wiped out the enormous horde of lower-rank monsters surging toward the walls with overwhelming explosion magic. Without her magic, the walls would never have been free of monsters!"
A murmur arose among the nobles.
The old mages and nobles who had questioned Phila's exploits debated the practicality of explosion magic.
But some mages recognized Phila and joined in the applause.
Phila lowered her head, at a loss for what to do.
"Next is Elena!"
This time, Elena stepped forward.
Her blue eyes shone brightly, undaunted by the pressure of the nobles.
"She worked with the knights on the front line of the wall defenses, cutting down upper-rank monsters and plugging gaps in the defensive line, earning everyone's praise. Despite being an inexperienced adventurer, the bravery she displayed on the battlefield will surely serve as an example to every adventurer!"
Admiration burst from among the nobles.
Elena's exploits had already become widely known among the knights mobilized to defend the walls.
Varie applauded enthusiastically from below the stage, and the applause spread fiercely to the knights behind.
Elena took a small step back and met my gaze beside her.
Eyes like a puppy hoping for praise.
'Well done.'
When I gave her a brief nod, the corners of her mouth rose nearly to her ears.
"Lastly."
The lord's gaze settled on me.
"Eck, captain of the dungeon survey team!"
When my name was called, a small murmur ran through the banquet hall.
It was not a murmur of approval.
Eck's notoriety was widespread.
The nobles who knew about it dismissed it as none of their concern, while those who did not know heard of my notoriety from commoners directly under them.
The commoners present openly directed their hostility at me.
But Eck's notoriety had not reached the nobles.
He had never harmed a noble.
Just a dirty-looking adventurer.
Someone like that had taken the stage.
They stopped at merely showing some displeasure.
The lord listed my accomplishments.
"He defeated numerous A-rank monsters, including a Basilisk, outside the walls, broke the vanguard of the Monster Wave, and prevented a devastating blow against the main force in advance!"
Basilisk.
When the name of the monster known as a living fortress was announced, the banquet hall erupted in astonishment.
The feat of defeating a Basilisk alone was difficult for even nobles and knights to believe.
Even those hostile to Eck murmured, wondering whether they had misunderstood something.
When the lord finished speaking, perfunctory applause rang through the banquet hall.
"Give these three another round of generous applause."
Everyone in the banquet hall once again broke into thunderous applause.
"In addition, these three, as members of the dungeon survey team founded by my beloved daughter Lisette, closed the dungeon gate and returned safely. Because they served as Lisette's hands and feet, Reator can welcome peace today."
The lord turned to Lisette and gave her a father's proud smile.
"Therefore, I, Revaton van Reator, hereby award them a special prize!"
When the lord finished speaking, attendants brought out rewards wrapped in silk.
Gold coins and medals.
The medal engraved with the territory's crest signified the lord's official recognition.
For nobles who valued honor, there could be no greater reward.
If we visited a noble's home wearing these medals, they would have to receive us as guests for the sake of the lord's reputation.
Then the attendants brought wine glasses and held one out to me, which I took.
The lord also raised his glass high.
"Reator will prosper from this day forward. Today! A new chapter in Reator's history shall begin!"
As the lord drank, everyone in the banquet hall drank as well,
signaling the start of the banquet.
***
As servants brought out wine and food, the stiff atmosphere eased a little.
When we came down from the stage, nobles crowded around Elena and Phila, seeking to speak with them.
"Hmm."
No nobles came over to me.
So a vulgar, frivolous adventurer was nothing more than Lady Lisette's appendage?
Elena should be fine left on her own.
Even without court etiquette, she was fundamentally a polite girl, and the nobles could not say anything even if she made a mistake right now.
Phila had once been a noble, so she responded while presenting herself in a suitably aristocratic manner.
'Well, I don't mind having some free time.'
Dealing with nobles was exhausting even to watch.
I set my wineglass down on some table, far away from them.
I was just leaning my back against the wall and waiting for this boring time to pass.
Tap. Tap.
Footsteps approaching me.
A red-haired young lady approached me in a magnificent dress.
Lisette approached with elegant steps, Varie accompanying her, and stopped before me.