Chapter 61
Deatharmed’s corpse vaporized, gradually becoming insubstantial until it disappeared.
I let out a sigh of relief and raised my sword in front of my face.
“〈Desperate Resolve〉... Deactivate.”
The pale blue light surrounding my body faded away.
I could feel my Defense returning.
“W-We really defeated it, Elymas-san! Even though its level was so much higher than ours...! And the experience we got was incredible!”
Luche came running over.
“If possible, I’d rather not fight like that again. It was a bit of a gamble.”
I replied with a wry smile.
“Hehe... When that centipede got back up and even had that huge carapace, I really thought, ‘What’s going to happen to us?’ But of course you won in the end, Elymas-san!”
“...No, I really am sorry. Existence evolution wasn’t supposed to happen here.”
Feeling awkward, I scratched my forehead.
The truth was, we’d only won this time thanks in large part to Luche.
I’d asked her to take some serious risks.
I’d only thought of entrusting the task to her because of what she’d accomplished in the Embryo battle.
“N-No, I wasn’t trying to blame you or anything! Um! Adventurers don’t go around looking for nothing but safety in the first place!”
Luche waved her hands, trying to reassure me.
“A-Anyway, that last hit was incredible! That huge Deatharmed went down in no time!”
Perhaps to spare my feelings, she quickly changed the subject.
“〈Desperate Resolve〉 is powerful, but it leaves you wide open...”
The Heavy Knight’s 〈Desperate Resolve〉 was powerful, but the loss of Defense was a serious drawback.
The continuous MP drain and the long openings when activating and deactivating it were also nearly fatal, especially when combined with its activation condition and Defense reduction.
My HP had already been below twenty percent, so even a small amount of damage would have been fatal regardless. Still, it was nerve-racking to know that a stray attack could kill me so easily.
My last resort, 〈Life Shield〉, had been stripped away, too. If anything had gone wrong, I could have lost my life.
“I was only able to attack because Luche stunned it. With my current stats, it’s not a Skill I want to use proactively. Still, it can put out ridiculous damage, so I think it could work as a bluff.”
When 〈Deathline Rampaging Dragon〉 and 〈Desperate Resolve〉 were combined, my Attack increased nearly sixfold.
It would make for a good party trick or intimidation tactic.
【You acquired the Title 〈Nightmare Slayer〉.】
I’d acquired a Title.
“〈Nightmare Slayer〉...? This Title...”
It seemed Luche had acquired it, too.
She opened her 〈Status〉 to check.
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〈Nightmare Slayer〉【Title】
Proof that you defeated an existence-evolved 〈Dream Lord〉 at 【Lv: 70】 or higher.
Your Attack increases by 7% when attacking a 〈Dream Lord〉.
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A Title that gave you an advantage against bosses.
Though we’d gotten caught up in something troublesome, I was grateful to have earned it here. Titles involving existence evolution weren’t easy to deliberately obtain.
In 〈Magic World〉, to grow stronger, you had to steadily gain experience while also defeating enemies above your level at some point.
Titles that affected powerful enemies like this were a great help in that regard.
“Anyway... It’s good to be glad we’re safe, but we should make sure to collect the magic stone, too.”
A 〈Dungeon〉 that had lost its master began collapsing at once.
We had to take whatever we could before it disappeared.
“After all, a 【Lv: 75】 magic stone is worth four million gold.”
“F-Four million gold?! For a single magic stone?!”
Luche exclaimed in shock.
After all, this was a monster we’d normally never consider fighting at our current level.
The Mithril Golem we’d challenged by reaching beyond our means was 【Lv: 55】, and the master of the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉—which we’d challenged because we knew how to beat it—was 【Lv: 60】.
And then there was that thing... Deatharmed, an incredible 【Lv: 75】.
Just like the experience points, the rewards were enormous.
Luche and I approached Deatharmed’s corpse and searched for its magic stone.
After all, the thing was enormous.
Even though it was vaporizing quickly, it wasn’t easy to find.
“Oh... There it is.”
I picked up Deatharmed’s earth-element magic stone.
We’d safely recovered what we came for.
It was strange to think we’d just come into four million gold like that.
Just then, the 〈Dungeon〉 shook violently, and cracks began spreading across the floor and walls.
It was a sign that the 〈Dungeon〉 was about to disappear.
“E-Elymas-san! This... Um, this! I-I found it! This is... something incredible!”
Luche came running straight toward me.
“What is it, Luche? I already found the magic stone...”
Luche suddenly held up the object in her hand.
It was a knife. Its purple blade gleamed with an eerie light.
“I-It’s Deatharmed’s drop item!”
I-It dropped another item...?
Luche really did manage to pick up items with less-than-impressive drop rates as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
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〈Poison Centipede Dagger〉《Recommended Equipment Lv: 70》
【Attack: +28】
【Market Value: 28,000,000 gold】
A dagger imbued with the centipede’s deadly venom.
In addition to its high Attack, it can occasionally poison enemies.
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〈Poison Centipede Dagger〉... It was by far the most valuable item we’d gotten as a drop so far.
Its performance was pretty vicious, too.
It was just like Luche to make sure she collected a drop from a 〈Dream Lord〉 strengthened through existence evolution.
With effects that relied on probability, Luck affected the chance of activation.
Depending on how well it suited her, being able to poison enemies reliably would greatly broaden her chances of beating monsters.
She could also use 〈Acrobatic Flurry〉 to increase the number of hits and force a poison application, so it seemed like a very good fit for Luche.
“The recommended level is a little high, but... If we can get something like this, then I guess we didn’t need all that ore after all...”
I murmured with a wry smile.
I still needed to have my own equipment made, but at this rate, we’d have quite a lot left over.
We might end up selling most of it.
“W-What should we do, Elymas-san?! Th-This is worth twenty-eight million gold! It’s worth far more than that 〈Shining Rana’s Ornamental Sword〉...! S-Something bad will happen to us if we take something this valuable home, won’t it?! It’s not right to have an item this expensive...! S-Shouldn’t we leave it here?!”
“Calm down, Luche! Take a breath! You’re panicking!”
I hurriedly tried to talk Luche down.
While we were making all that fuss, the 〈Dungeon〉 continued to collapse.
The fallen boulders faded away, and the ceiling and walls were enveloped in white light.