Chapter 60
Icarus's hand trembled.
No matter how forcefully he swung his sword down, it was meaningless.
'Why……?'
Up until now, there had never been anything he couldn't cut.
Even among the swords in existence, his—destined to become the very best—didn't work.
"Fuck, fuck……!!"
Talent and effort.
The faith he'd steadfastly held in himself until now was shattering to pieces.
"Die, die, die, die!!"
Icarus shouted.
That sound was almost like a plea.
"I am Icarus, Sword Master of the North Kingdom! I don't know what kind of cowardly trick you're using, but that petty stunt ends now!"
Icarus drew in all the mana within his body.
Mana generated from his heart raced through his bloodstream.
He would kill that bastard who was denying everything about him.
Only that emotion rode on this strike.
Sword aura. It was a killing blow.
If he thought he could endure it, that would be a grave mistake.
For something that can move.
To the neck of that arrogant statue that isn't even attacking.
I'll lop it off in a single stroke.
"I'll lend you my mana!"
"I'll support you!"
It wasn't just Icarus.
The elves joined in too.
From above to below.
The sword falls.
An explosive boom rang out.
Dust obscured their vision.
A gust of wind swept over the group.
Cheers of victory came from behind them.
An unmistakable feeling of joy.
"Did we get it?"
"No matter how tough it is, it couldn't have endured that blow!"
But.
Icarus's expression only filled with despair.
'I couldn't even leave a scratch……?'
His senses.
The experience he'd built up over many long years.
Warned him that that statue was an impassable wall.
Icarus's sword was rendered meaningless.
Everything that could be called his whole life.
Was utterly useless.
His hands trembled violently.
He lost the will to bring his sword down any longer.
The statue only stared at him with the exact same appearance as before.
His attack wasn't working.
Simply standing there.
It was gazing at him with those rigid eyes, tinged with a bizarre sheen.
There was no killing intent, no hostility, no emotion of any kind.
An unknown pressure squeezed his heart.
Without reacting at all.
The sight of it standing motionless in place was deeply unnerving.
He was instantly reduced from hunter to prey.
Icarus could only mutter in a hollow voice amid the dust.
"This doesn't make sense. This, this, this, this... I've never heard of anything so strange……."
In front of this statue.
Even the proud Sword Master of the North Kingdom was nothing more than a helpless child.
Icarus blinked.
In that instant, his neck snapped with a crack.
'Huh?'
He couldn't even react.
It happened in an instant.
Even his exceptional dynamic vision couldn't catch it.
It was as if he'd been hanged.
His body was hanging limp in midair.
And the statue's hand gripped his throat.
His aura vanished.
Strength drained from his entire body.
His vision grew darker and darker.
In a few seconds.
He would die.
Only a Blesser could overcome death,
and he was nothing more than an unusually strong human.
He blinked.
Then Icarus's expression, dyed with despair, went still in an instant.
All negative emotions, including anger and despair, disappeared.
In the end, only relief remained.
In the end, Icarus saw it.
It was what he saw only at the very brink of death.
Though it was only for an instant.
He saw its true form.
Now the statue had turned back into stone.
But that was nothing more than a shell.
Like a brave adventurer afflicted by a petrification curse.
It had simply been rigidly frozen.
That was no mere statue.
It was something indescribable, disguised as a statue.
Its shape was something that should not exist in this world.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
Dying here after having his neck snapped was truly a blessing.
I'm glad I won't see anything else anymore.
It was only natural.
If he hadn't died.
He would have gouged out his own eyes right here and now.
And even that wouldn't have been enough.
He would have smashed the head that remembered that thing's appearance with his own hands.
.
.
.
The dust settled.
Then Icarus was dead.
"Ah……."
Seeing that sight, the elves dropped their weapons one by one.
Giradriel was no exception.
'No, this isn't right…….'
This is weird.
Really weird.
There was no choice but to call it weird.
It felt like Giradriel's brain was going numb.
After all, that statue couldn't be interfered with physically.
Nor could it be interfered with magically.
Then just what in the world.
Are we supposed to move forward from here?
The only method we can choose is.
To turn our backs and run.
But.
That thing didn't even permit fleeing.
Crack! Crack!
When everyone screamed and turned to flee.
It immediately snapped the elves' necks.
A dilemma with no way forward or back.
Giradriel was left alone, trembling.
"W-wha, wha, whaaaat do I do……."
Giradriel's pants were soaked.
Hot liquid ran down Giradriel's legs.
As death closed in before his eyes.
His heart pounded like crazy.
Even drumbeats couldn't have been louder than this.
"R-right... the escape scroll."
Right.
We have a way to escape the dungeon.
We need to use the escape scroll.
But is it really okay to use it?
Honestly speaking.
It feels like I'll die before I can even use it.
'Think. Think. I need to think…….'
How foolish.
Only after losing everything did Giradriel finally become calm.
There was one strange thing.
Why weren't those statues moving right away?
They could snap our necks at a speed we couldn't react to.
Why are they just standing there?
Unless those bastards aren't enjoying the invaders' suffering.
Why not just snap my neck right this instant and end this godforsaken wave?
'Can they not snap necks under certain conditions?'
Giradriel thought.
He searched for the answer by retracing everything that had happened.
'They don't react to movement. They didn't attack even when Icarus was throwing a complete tantrum.'
Giradriel very slowly... slowly... backed away.
He was going to flee like this.
If the distance grew farther, no matter how much that statue tried.
It wouldn't be able to twist my neck.
The distance kept increasing.
Giradriel let out a breath of relief.
Good.
This was enough.
'Let's use the escape scroll from a safe distance like this…….'
He blinked unconsciously.
Then the statues were right in front of him.
As if they were using teleportation or something.
It was an unfathomable speed.
When a cold fingertip touched Giradriel's neck.
Giradriel screamed and landed on the ground.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!!"
And yet his gaze remained locked on the statue.
This was nothing more than a coincidence.
You could even call it sheer luck.
If Giradriel had been so frightened as to squeeze the eyes shut.
He would have met the same fate as the other elves.
'D-did I live……?'
At that point, Giradriel thought of one possibility.
The answer lay in his gaze.
'Maybe…….'
These statues.
Don't move while I'm looking at them?
Like Medusa's petrification.
It was worth trying.
It was a gamble with Giradriel's life on the line.
Even so.
He took a deep breath.
Then his mind calmed.
While staring at the statue.
He slowly pulled the escape scroll from his pocket.
Just as relief spread across his face.
An arrow flew from ahead.
And it struck Giradriel in the chest.
Elves have pretty good eyesight.
Green twin-tails.
It was a sniper shot from the Dino World Dungeon Master, Dragon King.
It wasn't an instant kill.
The escape scroll was torn apart, and the sole surviving elf escaped the dungeon.
.
.
.
.
.
"……Poison arrow, huh."
A healing potion was useless.
The poison spread through his whole body, robbing him of sensation.
Judging by the fact that even an antidote didn't work.
Sechaham definitely said it would kill the elf.
Giradriel toppled forward.
Giradriel sensed the end.
There was no one at camp.
That was only natural, since the distance was far and the dungeon raid was almost over.
They had come in a small elite group, and everyone had gone in and died.
The only option left was to head for the city.
But there was no strength left in Giradriel's body, and camp was still out of reach.
It was impossible.
"……."
It was so close.
He really could have brought the magic stone back.
It was a shame.
Even so, death didn't seem all that scary.
Had the threshold gotten higher?
It was a relief not to have died with the neck snapped by that thing.
Giradriel thought.
With so little time left, what could Giradriel do?
'Right. Leave information about that thing…….'
Information about the statue that wiped them out.
When the World Tree Forest learned the group hadn't returned... they would surely send a detachment.
So that comrades could find it then.
Giradriel wrote his last will and testament.
Please.
After this, please.
May our kin seize the magic stones.
***
【Successfully defended against the wave.】
【Rewards will be settled according to the difficulty.】
【Calculation complete.】
【The difficulty of this wave was…….】
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LV. 92
Class - Dungeon Master
Dungeon Theme – Anomaly
Population – 12/50
Device count: - 7/50
Point - 150000
STR - 95
DEX - 95
CON - 95
MP – 95
UN - Newbie
UC - dm_6_666666666
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Only now could I understand why there was no income.
So if I support another dungeon wave, the reward comes to me too.
Is this also a privilege of the anomalous phenomenon?
Although it brought in far less than a normal wave, and even far less than Sechaham.
At least it wasn't a deficit.
Still, wave defense successful, huh.
How broadly should the scope of "defense" be interpreted?
If the anomalous phenomenon doesn't even need to defeat the enemy, will rewards be granted as long as the minion is inside another dungeon?
There aren't even any terms like contribution for waves in the first place, so isn't it basically enough to just ride the bus?
If merely setting it up is enough to share wave rewards.
This anomalous phenomenon is seriously broken.
"Goblin, thanks for your hard work."
"Keruk……."
I gave the goblin who had made the biggest contribution in this wave.
Some obviously expensive-looking jewelry and dried rations.
Since half a day had passed.
I set the goblin as a minion and sent it outside the dungeon.
In this case, the memories remain.
But it can't speak anyway, so, well, it'll be fine.
"Sorry for dragging you here without a word! Take that and go to your friends!"
Mallang and I waved to the goblin that had worked hard.
Then the goblin waved back too.
Is this what rapport feels like?
It felt kind of heartwarming.
I released the minion setting.
We probably wouldn't see each other again.
I hoped it would live happily without being hunted by dwarves.
Well then.
Shall we wrap this up soon?
"Mallang, carry me."
"Ehk."
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.
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The weakness of an anomalous phenomenon is information.
The areas where Ink Mouse and Memory Cat operate are only Dream Land.
In Sechaham's post, he said he'd regrettably missed one.
The elf was struck by a poison arrow.
It was a poison he'd never used before.
He definitely said it would kill the elf.
But.
It's best to finish everything without any loose ends.
I found the elf's corpse near the entrance to Dino World.
As expected, there was a suicide note on the body.
「You must never take your eyes off it.」
What a shame.
I have no intention of leaving this alone.
If the elves don't give up their greed.
They'll have to experience hell again, and again, and again.
"Mallang, eat this for me."
"Ehk."
Mallang devoured the elf's corpse.
As if it wanted to return to Dream Land, it puffed up its body.
"Wait a little longer. Sechaham said he had a gift to thank us for helping him, so let's just take that first and go."
We left the area at our leisure.
And so all evidence was erased.