Chapter 268
The Great Bone Mount was defeated by Ruby and the other two. The announcement that the battle had ended made that clear. However, despite being under Level 50, it had an abnormally large amount of health. It was as tough as its massive body suggested.
When we stripped it of its items, we obtained a huge quantity of magic bones. Their quality ranged from 'Excellent' to 'Poor,' and they came in a wide variety of shapes. A single Great Bone Mount yielded over a hundred magic bones.
"If we find any Great Bone Mounts, we should defeat them whenever possible."
"That's for the bones, of course, right?"
"Are you planning to modify yourself again?"
Ruby and Shio looked at me suspiciously as they said this. They were right that I wanted the bones, but this time, it was not to strengthen myself. What would I use them for? Necromancy.
"This is something for after the event, but we'll probably have to fight the Hell Beasts that drove the Centaurs here, right? I think it would be useful to have disposable forces on hand for that."
"You intend to create an army of Undead with Necromancy, do you? What an interesting plan."
As Genjuro said, I intended to form an army of Undead. According to the Centaurs, there were a great many Hell Beasts emerging from that vertical shaft. In that case, even if all our units were relatively weak, it would be important to assemble a large number of them.
That was why I had set my sights on the Undead created with Necromancy. Unlike Summoning, Necromancy required materials to create them, but once they had been made, they could serve as an independent fighting force until they were destroyed.
In other words, if we prepared the materials and put in the effort, we could mass-produce loyal soldiers. By putting them on the front lines while we and the Centaurs fought from the rear, we should be able to minimize casualties.
"You're going to go the extra mile for the Centaurs we've befriended. Izamu is surprisingly kind, isn't he?"
"Surprisingly? How rude!"
"That's right. Izamu will readily stoop to underhanded tactics, but as our leader, he always thinks about all of us."
After receiving that assessment, which left me uncertain whether I had been praised or insulted, we resumed our exploration. We gathered materials while fighting several battles, defeating numerous Ice Elementals and Great Bone Mounts.
During that time, we encountered several other types of monsters as well. There were Ice Beasts made entirely of ice that took the forms of various animals; Snow Monkeys, small monkeys covered in coarse, pure-white fur; and Demon Spirits, monsters shaped like the ghosts of monsters that had died in this shaft. Just as Mac had said, they were all monsters connected to ice and the Undead.
"We already have an incredible number of magic bones. Do you still need more?"
"The more we have, the more we can set aside as spares. Sorry, but bear with me a little longer."
We stripped various items from the monsters we defeated, but the most plentiful were still the bones obtained from the Great Bone Mounts. The six of us had already gathered a considerable amount, but we continued collecting bones to ensure that we were fully prepared.
"Oh? Mac?"
"Hm? Well, if it isn't Izamu."
After advancing quite far into the depths while exploring, we happened to encounter Mac's party. There were six of them, just like us: Mac and his younger sister, Sara; three players consisting of a Zombie dressed like a mage, a heavily armored Skeleton, and a floating collection of semitransparent skulls; and Pop, also known as Popcorn.
I assumed they were members of the 'Undead Bastards.' Personally, I was curious about Mac and Pop acting together. Had they made up?
"I didn't know you had come here."
"Same here, but too many of our members are weak to the Fire Attribute. The 'Flame Moss Fungal Forest' is too much for us. But you... I don't recognize a single one of them."
"I only brought them along for the first time today, so that's to be expected. Let me introduce you."
We then introduced ourselves to one another. The three whose names I had not known were Douglas, the Zombie mage; Kamaboko, the Skeleton heavy warrior; and a mysterious ghost named Jane Dojima.
Jane Dojima was, in fact, a woman. Apparently, her name was taken from Jane Doe, meaning an unidentified woman, but can you imagine how I felt when a clear, feminine voice came from a mass of semitransparent skulls? Even the relatively unflappable Genjuro was astonished. This was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the day. I kept to myself the thought that it sounded like the name of a struggling comedian.
"Hey, Izamu-san! Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Are you, by any chance, the magician who fought alongside the 'Nightmare of the Northern Mountain'?"
"What!? How do you know!?"
"Shifune..."
Before I could respond to Sara's question, Shifune gave away the answer. Wool sighed in exasperation, while Shifune herself seemed to realize her mistake after speaking and flailed about in a panic, her eight articulated limbs writhing. She was the type who could not lie, so pretending not to know would probably have been difficult anyway. I supposed it could not be helped.
Why did she know about that? Without a doubt, she had read the forum posts recording the exchanges between Iris and me. I might have insisted that I was a different person with the same name, but it was too late for that now.
"I knew I was right, big brother! It's really you! Please shake my hand!"
"Stop it. You're embarrassing me. Still, when Sara told me, I was only half-convinced... Are you really that Izamu?"
"Hey, then why don't we have him help with that matter?"
"That sounds great. With his help, we'd have the strength of a hundred men."
Mac slapped Sara's outstretched hand away. She muttered something in dissatisfaction, but I was relieved. I wasn't important enough for someone to ask me for a handshake.
More importantly, what was this 'matter' Pop had mentioned? Judging from the nuance, it sounded as though they needed me as a combat asset. Was there a powerful enemy they could not handle on their own? If so, the possibilities were limited.
"Hey, Izamu. There's something we'd like you to help us with."
"Help you?"
"Yeah. It's the boss battle deep inside this field. You're interested, right?"
So it was a boss battle after all. If I was asked whether I was interested, the answer was obviously yes. However, what I wanted to know first was why they had gone out of their way to ask us for help.
"I am interested. However, I have no desire to die pointlessly in a battle we have no chance of winning."
"Fair enough. Listen to what we have to say, then decide. Pop, take it away."
"So I'm the one explaining after all? Um, actually..."
According to Pop, there was a large open space at the very back of the 'Subterranean Icefield,' and the boss apparently occupied it. That alone would make it no different from an ordinary field, but the boss area was supposedly connected to the 'Flame Moss Fungal Forest.'
Half of the boss area was an intensely cold land where even the ground was frozen, while the other half was a scorching land covered in flourishing flame moss. There was also a cave that looked like an entrance on the opposite side of the 'Subterranean Icefield,' so it was almost certainly true.
The problem was that the boss was treated as the boss of both fields, making it extraordinarily strong. Its level was over 80, and when Mac's party had challenged it head-on once, they had been wiped out instantly without even being able to deal meaningful damage.
"We somehow held out for a while, but its behavior changed partway through, so we fled immediately."
"Its behavior changed?"
"Yeah. At first, it only used ice, just like the monsters in this field. But partway through, it went and changed modes."
"Changed modes... Don't tell me it started using fire?"
The two of them nodded at the same time. I had only just heard that many of their members possessed 【Fire-Attribute Vulnerability】. They had already been at a severe disadvantage, so retreating once the enemy began exploiting their weakness was only natural.
They had gone scouting several times after that, but each time they had been forced to flee without landing an effective attack. However, continuing their reconnaissance had revealed two things: the enemy changed modes after a fixed amount of time had passed since the battle began, and the more people entered the boss room, the shorter the interval before the mode change became—though it would not fall below a certain minimum.
"We don't know whether there's a limit to how many people can challenge the boss at once. But one thing is certain: even all of us together can't beat it."
"That's why we'd like you and your friends to lend us your strength, Izamu-san!"
They could not win on their own, so they had chosen to ask others for help. I thought it was the right decision, and I wanted to be of assistance if possible. After hearing their story, I also found the prospect of fighting it interesting.
"I understand. However, I want to see the actual boss first. If we can scout it and escape without fighting, I'd like to do that. Depending on what we find, we may need to gather every member of our clan."
"Sure. We were planning to go scout it anyway. Come with us."
I was simply cautious by nature, and if it was possible to investigate beforehand, I wanted to do so. I was not eager to charge straight into a boss battle. Jigoro and Genjuro would probably have welcomed that idea, though.
Mac did not seem intent on fighting immediately either, so he did not reject what could be called my cowardly proposal. The two parties headed toward the boss area, and we arrived at the wide-open space in question.
――――――――――
You have entered the Field Boss Area.
――――――――――
"I wasn't doubting you, but half of it really is frozen solid while the other half is blazing away..."
"What could possibly cause such a bizarre space to form? I guess 'because it's a game' would be a pretty blunt answer, though."
"Who knows? Since this is a world shaped by WSS—in other words, a simulation—I think there must be a cause."
Mac's party had told us what to expect, but the boss area was even more bizarre in person. It was strange enough that a frozen section and a blazing section coexisted, but near the boundary, the two environments blended together. There was a deep hole in the center, and apparently the boss would emerge from it.
To be more specific, there were mushrooms shaped like pavilions with ice clinging to them, as well as icicles overgrown with flame-red moss. Having explored both areas, I could think of no other description than bizarre beyond belief.
"Oh? Hey! Isn't that my brother?"
"Jigoro and the others? What a coincidence."
While we were overwhelmed by the scenery of the boss area, Jigoro and the others came through the passage leading to the 'Flame Moss Fungal Forest.' I knew they had been exploring that area, but it seemed they had reached the boss area at almost exactly the same time as us.
It was a complete coincidence rather than something we had arranged, but I could not tell whether it was fortunate or unfortunate. I had intended to stop at scouting for the time being. If Jigoro was here, it would definitely turn into a serious battle.
Crack, crack, crack!
"The passage!?"
"It's been blocked by ice!?"
Just as I was trying to think of how to explain the situation, a series of hard, brittle sounds came from behind us. I spun around in a panic, only to find that the passage we had just come through had been sealed with ice! What was happening!?
I hurriedly looked toward Jigoro and the others, only to see that their passage had also been blocked by lava that had suddenly erupted from directly beneath it. It seemed we had been trapped and would have to face the boss battle now. We instinctively readied our weapons and waited for the boss to appear.