Chapter 46
Deciding to watch for now had been an excellent choice.
There had been not the slightest warning.
An unidentified explosion erupted from the intruder's body.
If I had gone toward the intruder to fight without knowing anything, I would have entered the blast's area of effect and been reduced to ash.
And I was able to determine the exact radius of that skill and commit it to memory.
That was thanks to Treasure Keeper holding one of the intruders.
It also let me safely deal with the other one, who appeared to be the key figure.
However, Treasure Keeper seemed to be seriously injured by the explosion.
Even so, it was still holding on.
“Treasure Keeper! Good job! Keep holding on tight like that!!”
I shouted from atop Varang's back.
If not for that intruder, I would have had to face someone who could use such a cheat skill head-on.
What was that skill's cooldown?
What was its activation condition?
Before I could properly think any of that through, I began stacking Death Mark.
Flash-!
[ - ]
The first stroke was carved into the chest of the man trapped in its grasp.
I didn't know when he might use that explosive skill again.
Riding Varang through the air, I circled around the outer edge of its radius.
Then killing intent poured from Treasure Keeper's body.
<That one's his blood relative! I'll tear them to pieces!!!!!>
‘Blood relative?’
Treasure Keeper seemed to have some old grudge against the intruders.
Since I needed to know everything about the intruders, I decided to ask once this situation was over.
I built up Death Mark's stacks from outside the blast radius, measuring out twelve-second intervals.
Flash-!
[ - - ]
Flash-!
[ - - - ]
The instant the third stack was applied.
Perhaps Treasure Keeper had regained some strength; it raised one of its damaged hands high and brought it down, trying to crush the man caught in its grasp.
It was at that exact moment.
“Huh?”
Once again, blinding light exploded from the man's chest.
KWA-A-A-A-A-A-AANG-!!
The second explosion swept through the cavern.
After the blinding flash, intense enough to keep my eyes shut, faded.
“…”
Treasure Keeper came into view.
It was in a terrible state.
The torso that had taken the explosion head-on had been turned to charcoal.
All three keys had fallen to the floor, and of its six arms, only one was barely still holding its shape.
It was practically a pile of rags.
Even so, it did not release the intruder's waist with that last remaining hand.
Blood gushed from the mouth of the man dangling in midair.
“…!”
At that moment.
The fragmented clues in my head clicked together.
The activation condition for that explosive skill.
I realized it.
I inhaled and shouted.
“Treasure Keeper! That explosion activates when he's physically attacked! Stay completely still!! I'll kill him!”
Death Mark hadn't triggered the explosion, so I was certain.
Treasure Keeper stopped making any further attacks.
But I couldn't tell whether it had understood my shout or had simply run out of strength even to move.
Even so, it didn't seem to have been completely defeated.
It was still clutching the man.
But the next moment.
The situation took a turn for the worse.
“̴̨͔͈̮͋͞으̴̛͌͛͢…̸̧̛͕̇̊!̶̡͙҇́̈́͊”̸̢͍͔͛̕
The man trapped in Treasure Keeper's grasp rolled his eyes wildly and let out a bizarre shriek.
The man began forcing open the mangled fingers with all his remaining strength.
“…!”
Treasure Keeper's last grip was on the verge of being pried open.
Kaaaang-! Clang-!
As if that weren't enough, the scraping sound of blades rang out behind me.
“What was that?”
I turned my head.
Dozens of bony skeletons came surging in like a wave, swarming around and entangling the Blood Knight.
“Where did those skeletons come from…?”
Behind that mob.
An old, white-haired man stood there, though he should have been split in two.
That was the man I'd killed.
He was alive again.
That alone was unexpected, but I was also shocked that the scythe's effect, which negated resurrection, had failed to work.
But that wasn't the case.
The scythe's effect had worked.
Far away, atop a pile of gold coins, the old man's corpse was still split in half.
When I looked around, I soon found the answer.
A man who had seemed to be the old man's subordinate was nowhere to be seen.
An illusion swap. Or a substitute puppet.
The corpse left behind seemed to have been the subordinate's life, used as the substitute.
The substitution must have happened before the scythe hit. Voidside's power was said to be absolute, after all.
‘No wonder I thought the experience was so low…’
I had initially thought that the one who first summoned the undead was the core of the intruders, but this explained why I had gained barely any experience from him.
The Blood Knight was pinned down, unable to move, by the overwhelming number of skeletons.
The skeletons weren't particularly strong opponents for the Blood Knight, but it seemed unable to break through because the old man, who appeared to be a necromancer, was endlessly resurrecting the undead from behind.
The only corpse that wasn't being resurrected was the one I had killed with the scythe.
If so, it would be simple: I could go over there and clear out the skeletons with my scythe. Their resurrection would be stopped immediately.
But I couldn't help over there right now.
Treasure Keeper was about to die.
That couldn't happen.
I still hadn't found the final lock hidden in the pile of gold coins.
If Treasure Keeper died here, my chance to open the golden chest would vanish forever.
And it seemed I wasn't even going to be given another twelve seconds to wait.
Crack-! Crrrunch!
The man's strength was bending Treasure Keeper's finger joints out of shape.
That man was sure to break free and escape before the next stack could be applied.
I had to kill him right now.
But it was a dilemma.
To do that, I would have to swing the scythe myself.
I couldn't kill him by throwing the scythe from outside the explosion's range.
I had no choice but to leap inside the blast radius.
And before that, I would have to separate him from Treasure Keeper.
Impossible. There were too many conditions.
If I delayed any longer, Treasure Keeper would die and the lock would disappear.
Even if I separated him from Treasure Keeper and leaped in to kill him myself, the explosion triggered by his death would catch me and kill me too.
Both paths were wrong.
Then…
I had to forge a new path.
I had to find a way straight through the middle of this dilemma.
The solution had been in my head from the start.
Only my hesitation had kept me from seeing the way forward.
I gripped Varang's reins hard.
“Charge. Maximum speed!”
Krrrrraaaang-!
Varang beat its enormous wings, tearing through the air.
I poured even more mana through the reins, pushing its speed even higher.
Swoooosh-!
We flew at an unprecedented speed.
At this speed, Varang was far faster than the griffin on Floor 96.
I shot straight toward the struggling man.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen meters.
Ten meters.
As I drew closer to the target, I felt the heat pouring from his body.
Just as Treasure Keeper's crushed fingers finally reached their limit and were about to be pried apart.
I yanked the reins and shouted.
“Varang! Snatch him gently!”
Varang swooped in, skimming the ground, and extended its two forelegs.
Then it grabbed the man's neck.
“끄̴̢͕҇̎͂̊아̷악̷̧͓͎͓͗̅͗͞”
Thwack-!
The man's body was yanked free from Treasure Keeper's grasp.
Varang beat its wings and shot straight up toward the cavern ceiling.
Its altitude rose in an instant.
The mortally wounded Treasure Keeper rapidly receded far below me.
At this distance and height, even if the man used his explosive skill, Treasure Keeper would not be harmed.
The first condition was met.
At the moment of weightlessness when we reached the apex and gravity briefly halted Varang's ascent.
I threw myself from Varang's back.
And at the same time, I gave an order.
“Varang! Release the man and get away! Get out of the blast radius right now!”
Varang kicked against the air and sprang fiercely backward.
‘Good.’
There were now only two of us in the air.
The instant we began falling under gravity.
“Black Shift.”
Vmmm-!
Black mist coiled around my body.
Teleportation.
The place where I appeared after skipping through space was.
Directly in front of the man's nose as he fell slightly below me.
Suspended in midair, I pressed my body tightly against his.
In an instant.
His dilated pupils met my gaze.
His astonished eyes clearly reflected the silver-haired Reaper.
I pressed Voidside's blade, gripped tightly in both hands, against the nape of my own neck.
I felt the pulse of a vein once.
My neck and.
The neck of the man pressed against mine.
Were aligned in a straight line.
“Death Realm.”
I slashed with the scythe.
Ssssslash-!
Two heads were flung into the air.