Chapter 222
Jigoro and Genzuro were each facing a Headless Elite Royal Guard, but the battle had reached a stalemate. It was two against two, and their opponents were higher-level, yet the two of them were fighting on equal footing or better simply because of their superior skill.
"Hey, old man! Looks like the others are almost done over there!?"
"Then we had best hurry up and finish here too!"
There was only one reason the two of them were in such a hurry. They took pride in their own abilities and wanted to claim victory before their comrades defeated their opponents.
Of course, they understood that the battle was not over yet, so they still had enough sense to conserve Skills with limited uses or drawbacks such as long-term reductions to their stats. Even so, they intended to settle things quickly.
"Let's go, ooraaah!"
As his opening move, Jigoro lowered his stance and closed the distance. He seemed intent on tackling his opponent, sweeping his legs out from under him, and knocking him down.
However, a large shield was raised to block his charge. If he continued like this, Jigoro would slam into it headfirst and be the only one to take damage.
"I read you like a book! That move of yours!"
Just before the collision, Jigoro grinned and suddenly sprang upward from his low stance. Using the upper edge of the large shield as a foothold, he leaped at the halberd wielder behind it. A thrust from the halberd immediately came at him, but he somehow caught its shaft in midair.
"How's this?!"
After landing, Jigoro struck the halberd's axe head and stamped on its base, driving it deep into the ground. Then he used the halberd's shaft as a foothold to launch himself forward, knocking his opponent down with the force of his charge.
The Headless Elite Royal Guard Jigoro had vaulted over moved quickly to help. However, that was nothing but a blunder.
"You shouldn't turn your back on me, you know."
Rather than let that unguarded back go to waste, Genzuro cut through the lightly armored backs of its knees while throwing his spear, just as Shio had done repeatedly, into the opening around its neck. The spinning spear was a masterwork made from Genzuro's own horn on Heavenly Spirit Island. The shield-bearing Headless Elite Royal Guard collapsed forward from the knees and took massive damage.
"Wrist! Elbow! Shoulder! Ha-ha! You can't hold a weapon anymore, can you?!"
Meanwhile, Jigoro was destroying the right arm of the Headless Elite Royal Guard he had pushed to the ground. He had twisted and dislocated its wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints. Breaking bones through armor was difficult, but joints were another matter.
If his opponent had been like Izaam, with a body made entirely of bones and joints connected by magic, or like a Demon Spirit, whose body was translucent, this would have been meaningless. But a Headless Elite Royal Guard was an Undead with a physical body, merely wearing armor. As a Race, it belonged to the same type of Zombie as Kanna's Hero Jiangshi. Without some means of healing, its destroyed joints would not recover.
Jigoro smoothly moved on from the arms and began breaking both legs. He thoroughly dislocated the ankles, knees, and even the hip joints. Creaking and snapping sounds could be heard even through the armor.
Genzuro was no slouch either. He accelerated with his wings as he approached the shield-bearing Headless Elite Royal Guard that was trying to stand, then pulled out his spear and slashed upward from beneath its armpit. It was a magnificent strike that cut through the padding beneath the armor and into the flesh and bone. The armor itself remained intact, but the arm beneath it was almost severed.
"All that's left is to finish it off."
"It seems the others are finished as well... Shall we finish up here too?"
The incapacitated Headless Elite Royal Guards could do nothing but crawl in one case, while the other could not move from its kneeling position. Since neither of them had any interest in torturing them, they delivered the finishing blows simultaneously.
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Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
【Intelligence Enhancement】 Level has increased.
【Mental Enhancement】 Level has increased.
【Precise Magic Control】 Level has increased.
【Earth Magic】 Level has increased.
You have learned the spell Rockfall.
【Earth Magic】 has reached its growth limit. SP is required to break through the limit.
Your tamed monster's Race level has increased.
Your tamed monster's Job level has increased.
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Those two really did defeat them. They both have the 'Overthrow' Title, but I never expected them to defeat opponents one evolution tier above them through ordinary means. These days, I am deeply, truly grateful that they are on our side.
The battle had already been fierce before we entered the ruined palace, so breaking through without suffering any major losses was a significant achievement. After a quick round of healing and looting, we would storm the palace.
"Ohh... oh?"
"This armor... Izaam, please take a look."
I used 【Appraisal】 on the items Iris and the others had looted. The following result came back.
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Septen Duchy Royal Guard Armor — Quality: Poor — Rarity: S (Special Class)
Armor belonging to the royal guard of the fallen Septen Duchy, which once existed on the Luxresia Continent.
The Septen Duchy possessed high-quality mines and was also a producer of high-quality weapons and armor.
Its former luster is long gone, but not all of its performance has been lost.
Equipment Effects: 【Magic Resistance】 Lv. 5
【Physical Resistance】 Lv. 5
【All-Stats Enhancement】 Lv. 1
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Hmm. Apparently, this was armor issued to the royal guard of a country called the Septen Duchy. We do not know what caused the country to fall, or why they came from the Luxresia Continent all the way to this Tinbrika Continent. Will those answers become clear as we continue?
Leaving aside the item's history, its performance as armor is excellent. It has resistance to both physical and magical attacks, as well as an effect that raises all stats. Its equipment effects are simple, but its versatility is extremely high. Thanks to 【Magic Resistance】, it does not seem to be cursed, either. If refitted, it could serve as excellent armor.
"One halberd, one large shield, three sets of armor, four swords, and the remaining drops are magic stones. The drops are a little underwhelming, huh?"
"They were fairly strong, but we got plenty of experience for it."
Shiitake reported the results, and Kanna gave her assessment. The total number of drops equaled the number of enemies, but it was a little disappointing that so many were dud magic stones, since they could drop from any monster.
As Kanna said, the experience was rewarding. Karu and I leveled up, while Jigoro and Genzuro finally hit Level 70, bringing them to the point of evolution.
"Uhaha! I got more horns!"
"Hoho, I've become quite a rugged-looking fellow."
Jigoro became the Golden Shura Race. Other than a third horn growing from his forehead, there were no visible changes to his appearance. However, his stats had increased, and it seemed that a special Skill had been added.
Genzuro became a Race called Samurai High Master Insector Edge Beetle, an extremely long name. Unlike Jigoro, he had developed rugged protrusions all over his exoskeleton, just as he himself had said. Apparently, his defense was comparable to that of a fully armed heavy warrior, so no half-hearted weapon would be able to leave even a scratch.
The two of them could also add either an 'Ultimate Technique' or a 'Secret Art', so their combat power had risen dramatically. Their stats increased by less per level than those of humans, but the way they grew explosively stronger upon evolution was simply wonderful!
"We don't have time to see how we're doing after evolving, but we should move on soon. There are probably powerful enemies in the palace as well."
"I know, bro."
"Indeed. Let us go."
I understood their excitement, but this was an unexplored field. We wanted to push ahead and, if possible, defeat the boss. I did not know whether we would make it that far, though.
Once everyone had settled down, we began exploring the palace. There were monsters inside, but they were only familiar ones: Headless Royal Guards and Failed Homunculi. There were not many of them, either—only small groups of two or three.
"My body feels light!"
"Hmm. As always, adjusting is difficult."
Jigoro seemed to have adapted quickly to his new body. He said he was just warming up and kicked the enemies around. Genzuro, on the other hand, seemed to be having trouble adjusting because the increase in his stats had subtly changed how it felt to swing his weapon. This was normal for him, so all we could do was leave him to work through it.
One thing bothered me. The city had not even had the slightest hint of monsters, yet enemies appeared with some regularity inside the palace. Why was that?
"Ruby, are there any treasure chests or anything?"
"Hmm, nothing is showing up on detection. Everything we found was a trap, too."
"You mean those Mimics, right?"
Ruby answered Shio's question by repeatedly bobbing her body up and down. Up and down meant yes, while twisting from side to side meant no. It was simply a matter of getting used to understanding her emotions and intentions, despite her lack of a face or limbs.
Treasure chests were a staple of fields and Dungeons, and we had indeed found several in various rooms. However, every single one of them had been a Mimic monster.
According to the forums, Mimics were monsters that disguised themselves as treasure chests or similar containers. They were not particularly strong, but they devoured anyone who tried to open them, killing them instantly. Even when defeated, they were not guaranteed to drop an item, so fighting them was often a waste.
Mimics were simply lying around everywhere. Just like the ruined exterior, the palace's interior was in terrible condition. If a treasure chest or cabinet looked suspiciously pristine, it was obviously dangerous. Everyone was already wary without needing Ruby to investigate them.
"Maybe there's a treasury where they're all gathered together."
"It's a palace, after all. I reckon that's possible."
Nanako nodded as well. If someone had been managing the treasure, it would not be strange for them to hide it all together in one place. If it were me, I would pack a sturdy vault full of traps, make it difficult to enter, and design it to eliminate intruders even if they managed to get inside. Whether that was possible or not was another matter.
We continued exploring while making Jigoro and the others fight the enemies that appeared, both to help them adjust to their new abilities and to advance our search. The palace must once have contained many rooms, but the enormous Mist-Spouting Gray Oak towering through it had left many areas buried under rubble. As a result, thoroughly exploring the place was not particularly difficult.
"This is the innermost part."
"We made it here faster than I expected."
As Iris said, we reached a large door that clearly looked like a boss was waiting beyond it much sooner than expected. It was about five meters tall. Beautiful geometric patterns had been carved into the sturdy wooden door, and this was the only place that still preserved the palace's former beauty.
Two colossal statues, each about as large as the door, stood beside it. They held greatswords as tall as themselves in both hands, with the points facing downward.
The statues' armor was extremely similar in shape to that of the Headless Elite Royal Guards. However, the statues actually had heads. Their distinctive helmets were bucket-shaped, with horn ornaments extending from the sides. Personally, I thought they looked cool... but I suspected they would be an acquired taste.
"So, shall we smash through it?"
"Don't just try to break it. Why not open it normally?"
"Then I'll try pushing it...?"
Jigoro was pounding his fist into his palm and preparing to destroy the door, but Eiji stopped him and tried to push it open. Before he could, however, the two statues on either side began to rotate, and the door opened automatically in response.
It felt as though we were being invited inside, as if someone were telling us to come. There might have been a trap waiting for us, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. We had no choice but to proceed. After exchanging glances, we stepped through the door together.