Chapter 218
"GRAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Oh?"
Perhaps irritated by the battle that refused to end, Karu let out a savage roar and swung its tail. As usual, the bone wall blocked it, but perhaps because we had repeated the attack so many times, cracks had appeared in the bones. No matter how high its defense was, the bones used for defense were still only parts of its body. Without some means of recovery, they would wear down, and eventually reach their limit.
On that front, Karu was recovering whenever its health dropped because I kept throwing potions on it. Things would be easier if I could use 【Soul Arts】, but its 【Cursed Bone】 made that difficult. Even if I carelessly enhanced Karu, it would immediately suffer a status ailment, and removing that ailment would also remove the enhancement.
Even so, the fact that we were recovering regularly seemed to be working in our favor. Could we push it over the edge like this?
"I have been focusing entirely on attacking until now, but perhaps I should try something a little more creative. Earth Hole."
I had tried to deal massive damage several times with Purification. Karu's efforts to hold it in place had allowed the spell to hit directly, but its enormous amount of health meant that it had not lost very much. So from here on, I would attack it with indirect tactics.
First, I would open a pit directly beneath it and sink it down. The plan was to make only its right wheel slip into the hole and stop its movement. If that succeeded, all we would have to do was beat it senseless alongside Karu.
Clack!
"Oh!? S-spikes came out!?"
However, my first plan failed. The wheel was a collection of curved bones resembling ribs, but bones with sharply pointed tips shot forcefully through the gaps. It used them as spikes and immediately escaped through the hole I had made.
It had been slipping slightly because of the Death Miasma Sand, but apparently a pit could not restrict its movement. Hmm? Death Miasma Sand?
"Let's give it a try. Astral Magic Circle, activate. Sand Wind."
I tried the most basic spell of 【Sandstorm Magic】, Sand Wind. A wind carrying sand blew against the body of the Deathbone Chariot. The damage was as tiny as a mosquito bite, but the effect was immediate. It began making a grating sound and stopped moving.
Just as when I had fought a precision machine before, the fine sand had gotten into its moving parts and immobilized it. I did not know how it worked, but for something without skin protecting its moving parts like a living creature's, having its gaps filled must be troublesome.
The Deathbone Chariot could do nothing but tremble and rattle, so Karu and I attacked it. Judging that this was the decisive moment, I enhanced Karu with 【Enchantment Arts】 and launched an all-out assault.
"What...? Karu, get back!"
Karu's tail, claws, and fangs inflicted wounds of various sizes on the Deathbone Chariot, but something seemed strange. Somehow, the way it was trembling looked different from before. It was almost as if it were gathering strength.
BOOM!
My hunch had been right. The Deathbone Chariot extended bones from its bed like a bristling spear barricade, then forcefully thrust bones out from beneath its body and charged at Karu.
The reason it had such strange momentum was probably because its 【Charge】 Skill was working. A chariot topped with a bed of spikes leaping into the air toward Karu was beyond absurd!
"GRAAA!? GYAAAAAAAAH!"
Karu had heard my warning and hastily braked before dodging, but it could not get away completely. Bones pierced its wing membrane. The airborne Deathbone Chariot then fell in a parabola, pinning Karu to the ground.
"Karu! Damn it... But it looks like it can't move either."
Karu's agonized expression made me feel sorry for it, but this time the Deathbone Chariot was finished. Why? Because after forcibly leaping into the air and falling in a parabola, it had turned upside down.
It still could not move, but it spun its wheels back and forth and extended bones haphazardly from its body, trying to right itself. Each time, Karu smashed the extended bones apart by force, but the bones it kept extending left small wounds on Karu's body. It was a struggle to the death, but it was obvious that Karu, with its smaller total health, would lose.
I could not use magic in our current positions, since Karu would be caught in it as well. So I would use the most convenient method possible: something that would not affect Karu but would damage the Deathbone Chariot.
"You can't be stingy at a time like this! Hmph!"
I pulled several potions from inside my robes and hurled them with all my strength. Potions were poison to Undead, but harmless—or rather, restorative—to the living Karu. There could hardly be a better way to avoid collateral damage.
I used the most potent potions I had without holding back. Perhaps that was the right choice, because Karu's health gradually recovered, while the Deathbone Chariot's health dropped at a considerable rate.
"Ha-ha! We're done over here!"
"Looks like you could use a hand..."
It seemed the others had finished defeating the horde while we kept the Chariot occupied. Nanakou and Mikero, who had been fighting the Ghost Warhorse, had also come over. Apparently, we had done our part.
From then on, it was completely one-sided. I was surprised by the status ailments caused by 【Cursed Bone】, but they only extended the time until its defeat by a little. In the end, the Deathbone Chariot could not recover from being pinned down by Karu and vanished.
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You won the battle.
Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
【Health Recovery Speed Up】 has increased in level.
【Magic Recovery Speed Up】 has increased in level.
【Soul Arts】 has increased in level.
You learned the new spells Greater Soul Heal and Slow Heal.
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Good. The battle really was over. We had not suffered what could be called massive damage, but we had consumed a fair number of items. I was glad to have leveled up, but it might be difficult to charge straight into the Black Wall like this.
Incidentally, Greater Soul Heal and Slow Heal were exactly what their names suggested: one was a spell that restored even more health, while the other cured the Slow status ailment. I could understand the former, but would I ever have an opportunity to use the latter?
"There were a lot of them, but this Chariot was the only strong enemy."
"Another group might come, though. What do we do?"
"It's obvious. We press on."
When the choice was between retreating and advancing, I naturally chose to advance. We had not even reached the Black Wall, our original objective, so of course we would continue.
Once we decided to move on, we harvested the defeated enemies while recovering our health and mana. We were not trying to maximize our efficiency, but if there was work we could do simultaneously, then we should do it.
"Hmm? What's this?"
"What happened?"
There had been many enemies to harvest, so everyone was working when Shiitake let out a puzzled voice. There was a rumor that having a crafter harvest an enemy made rare, high-quality materials more likely to appear, so we had assigned the stronger enemies to her and Iris whenever possible.
What Shiitake had harvested was the Deathbone Chariot that Karu and I had defeated. I had assumed the drop would be bones as usual, but judging by her reaction, it seemed to be something different.
"There was something weird mixed in with the bone materials. 'Bone-Gathering Wheel'... The whole wheel dropped intact. It comes with a spike-deploying gimmick? What's this? How fun!"
"...Could you let me see it?"
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Bone-Gathering Wheel Quality: Acceptable Rarity: S (Special Class)
A wheel formed from various bones assembled together.
Undead monsters with wheels are unusual, but their performance depends on the monster's stats.
It may contain some sort of mechanism, and this wheel can extend hidden spikes.
――――――――――
Yep, this was unquestionably its wheel. The name was probably some sort of bone version of yosegi-zaiku, or wooden mosaic. Perhaps because I had dropped it into a pit and burdened its axle with sand, its quality had ended up at the bare-minimum level of 'Acceptable,' which was disappointing.
But could we use this to create a similar Undead? If so, it might not be impossible to form an Undead chariot corps. It was far from feasible at present, but wasn't it nice to have a dream?
"I'll transfer it to you. Since Izaam defeated it in the first place, that's only natural."
"Yeah, sorry. Thanks."
After receiving it from Shiitake, we resumed exploring. The closer we got, the taller the trees on the other side of the fog appeared. The distance and fog made it impossible to determine their exact height, but they seemed to be at least a hundred meters tall.
After we had advanced for a while without another battle, the Black Wall finally began to come into view through the fog. It was pitch-black, just as the legends described, and seemed to have been built by stacking Miasma Blackstone.
However, its height was greater than I had imagined. It seemed to be at least ten meters tall. It was more impressive than I had expected.
The use of natural rock in its original form reminded me of the stone walls of Japanese castles, but there were many gaps, perhaps because the construction was technically crude. It seemed thick, but could this wall be surprisingly fragile?
"It feels incredibly man-made."
"Yeah. It makes more sense to assume someone built it."
Ruby and Shio were right; the Black Wall did not seem to have formed naturally. Furthermore, judging by the wall's length, the people who had built it must have been a very large and well-organized group. If someone told me that a single mage had used magic to build it all in one night, I would have no choice but to run away barefoot.
But what was the reason for all those gaps? Had they formed through deterioration over time, or had there simply been no specialists among the builders?
There was no point pondering it here. It was all speculation, and we could uncover the truth after crossing the wall. Once that was decided, all that remained was to find a way inside.
"We could find an entrance, climb over the wall, or dig a hole. Now, which should we choose...?"
There were three methods of infiltration that came to mind at once. The first was to enter openly through an entrance. However, we did not even know whether one existed, and even if it did, there was a strong possibility that something like a gatekeeper would be stationed there. If someone had gone to the trouble of maintaining an entrance, it would be more natural to assume that there was one.
The remaining two methods were outright trespassing. The only difference was whether we went over the wall or slipped in from underneath it.
"Um... I'm no good at climbing walls, you know? I'm unathletic, and my avatar's arms and legs are short..."
"Don't worry, Shiitake-san! I actually made an improved version of the climbing set for just such an occasion!"
Shiitake refused the route over the wall, but Iris excitedly pulled out a clattering assortment of climbing equipment. We had climbed a sheer cliff before while heading for Birdie Perch, but she had even more equipment now. Apparently, she had researched and reproduced it herself.
She clearly wanted everyone to use it. I could understand how she felt, since her handmade creation had finally found an opportunity to see the light of day.
"Oh? Looks interesting."
"They have one in my size too. What a relief!"
Those who could fly or were skilled at climbing vertical surfaces did not need the equipment, but everyone else who seemed to require it was watching with interest. Eiji eagerly began wrapping around himself a large, belt-like piece of equipment resembling a sumo wrestler's mawashi.
Come to think of it, that was only natural. Iris was responsible for making everyone's weapons and armor, so she knew their sizes. She knew Eiji's size, as well as Nanakou's size when he was in crow form.
With everyone around her getting excited, Shiitake stood frozen. Just how much did she not want to do anything athletic?
"Um... Karu-chan? Could you carry me?"
"Here! This is yours, Shiitake-san!"
"Oh, okay... Thanks a lot."
Iris was utterly innocent, but perhaps that was precisely why she exerted such irresistible pressure. Shiitake must have been overwhelmed, because she accepted the equipment reflexively. With no other choice, she put it on and trudged slowly toward the wall.
After confirming that Shiitake and the others had begun climbing the wall, those of us capable of flight went ahead to assist them. We first drove metal fittings into the gaps and threaded ropes through them, but when we reached the top of the wall, an information message appeared along with a notification sound.
――――――――――
Izaam discovered the hidden area 'Secret City of the Mist-Weeping Princess.'
As a discovery reward, you will receive 20 SP.
【Archaeology】 has increased in level.
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When we looked inside the Black Wall in surprise, a city spread out below us, submerged in a sea of fog.