Chapter 50 - Ambush? (1)

The attackers failed to perceive Roman's movements.

Carelessness?

Nay.

From the moment Roman accurately pinpointed their expedition duration, they had upped their guard.

And from the instant they sensed Roman drawing up mana, they too began using their full power.

Yet they still missed him.

They couldn't keep up at all.

Illusion magic?

The Regular rank Explorer, as if to prove that he had gone through his fair share of experiences in the Abyss, instinctively came up with the most plausible answer. 

And he immediately moved to counter.

"It's illusion magic! Break it!"

At his shout, the mage hanging back began chanting.

"Eye of Truth! Pierce through false illusions!"

The Eye of Truth, widely known as the dispelling technique for illusion magic, activated, brightening the eyes of the two vanguards.

However, Roman's figure, which they were certain would appear, remained completely invisible.

"Damn! It failed! Again!"

"What? That's impossible..."

"Shut up! Hurry!"

"There’s no need for that."

The invaders' skin crawled at the voice.

A cold sensation running up their spine paralyzed the mage's thoughts.

How…?

Why is the voice coming from behind them?

"Why?"

SLASH—!

Breaking through the automatic defense magic, even the coldness running up the spine vanished with that strike.

All hope of the mage’s query being answered vanished in an instant. 

"You bastard!"

Is it rage at their comrade's death?

Or fear that they too might die?

The remaining two mages cast their spells while shouting with unidentifiable passion.

Roman's eyes, enhanced with magic vision, moved quickly to examine the spells' mana structures.

Lightning that manifests directly from the body. A lightning Elemental Mage. And the other is a Telekinetic?

Both were good classes.

Lightning Elemental Mages were top-tier among Elemental Mages.

And Telekinetics, while simple, were versatile, making them a popular class.

But that was it.

The Lightning Mage's spell spread wildly without proper direction, while the Telekinetic’s spell was so crude it was visible to magic vision, despite supposedly being an invisible force.

It was so crude that a refined magic user could either dispel it by interfering with the mana formula or even turn it against them.

Unfortunately, Roman hadn’t reached that level yet.

But seeing and dodging was the simplest thing.

The mana reaching Roman's brainstem received coordinates calculated through Axis and moved his body.

"Again!"

They missed.

The Regular swordsman had raised his guard after losing Roman with his first attack.

Yet when Roman vanished from his vision while mocking his senses, he reflexively released the power accumulated in his body.

Aura.

Though sharing the same foundation as a mage's mana, it was a distinct power achieved through different processing, enveloping its user like a protective embrace.

A reflexive aura release purely for self-defense.

The ultimate manifestation of selfish instinct.

Naturally, Roman's attack didn't touch the aura.

"Kuh!"

Why face the vanguard?

Just go around the back and take out the rear line first.

Roman's spatial mobility made it impossible for the vanguard to protect the rear no matter how desperately they tried.

Roman had no intention of stubbornly breaking through from the front one by one.

Why would I?

I'm not some monster that only attacks the tank while ignoring the healer and damage dealers behind.

Roman's strategy worked perfectly.

Thud—

Only after the third and final mage fell could the two Regulars properly see Roman again.

Black hair, black staff.

His hooded cloak swayed in the night wind.

To the two Regulars' eyes, his appearance was exactly like that of a grim reaper.

"This… is a Novice?"

Even the movement of Expert Explorers could be somewhat predicted.

And the movement of Master Explorers at least left afterimages.

But what about the Devil Sorcerer before them?

This person jumped through space without any precursor or trace.

"D-damn it all!"

The swordsman Regular was consumed by the fear of this incomprehensible unknown.

If I don't kill him, I'll die.

This simple logic moved his body.

Despite charging with a frenzied roar, his mind remained razor-sharp.

Where, where will he go this time...

Side? Back? Above perhaps?

Block with the shield, then counter immediately. He's just a mage after all. Even with physical enhancement, he'll be slower than aura reinforcement...!

While the three Novice Explorers with little experience were easily taken down without handling the situation, he believed himself to be different.

With such determination, he prepared to turn at any moment, but Roman stayed right where he was.

A head-on fight?

He laughed internally.

A Novice is still a Novice.

Inexperience shows here.

He probably thinks he's won after easily handling three enemies.

Such amateurish judgment comes from only having faces mages. He must have never fought a martial artist.

Roman's Magic Bullet flew in, but he'd take it.

He'd give up some flesh.

In exchange for taking bone.

"Got you!!"

"Actually..."

Perhaps it was the adrenaline wrung out by combat and death, combined with dopamine from unexpected luck suggesting a reversal.

He failed to notice that the closing distance was Roman's doing, not his own.

"I’m the one who's got you."

THUD—!

Roman fired a final Magic Bullet at him, now frozen like a statue from stacked Exhaustion.

The bullet penetrated his body through the broken aura defense.

A fatal blow.

"Finally..."

"D-don't move!"

The morning star he'd been holding was thrown somewhere.

The last one desperately shouted while drawing a dagger.

"Oh dear."

Roman muttered softly upon seeing him.

A hostage threat.

What a shabby and cliché last struggle.

"Bad luck."

"H-hehe, yeah, luck..."

"You just had to grab that one."

Fifty-fifty chance, and...

By the time Roman added those words, the last one's jaw was already twisted.

He had grabbed Rei as a hostage, thinking she'd be easier due to her smaller size.

But Rei had intentionally let herself be caught, and from that close contact, she twisted his joints, broke his arm, and smashed his jaw, knocking him out in one hit.

Throwing aside the collapsing body, Rei glared at Roman and said, "Bad luck? More like good luck. If he'd tried to grab Leaf, his head would've exploded before he could reach her."

"...I wouldn't have gone that far."

Leaf retorted curtly while floating Undine above her.

Roman thought, Maybe not that far, but you were thinking of something similar.

Right.

That was what it took to survive as an Explorer.

"Well done. I was planning to keep one alive."

"Great minds think alike. We let three go, so we should keep one."

Roman was slightly concerned about what they'd said about Bugbears running wild.

Even if not just for that, he'd planned to at least ask about their affiliation.

"Shall we wake him up?"

A large water droplet floated above the fallen man's head.

"No, it's fine. I'll handle it."

As Rei said she'd finish it herself, Leaf sent Undine back.

Crouching down to wake him, Rei noticed something strange.

"...Huh?"

Rei's hands urgently slapped his cheeks.

"B-breathe! Hey! I hit you lightly! Don't die! Wake up! Breathe!"

Despite Rei's desperate pleas, he never ended up breathing again.

"...I take back what I just said."

§

The Signpost Tree.

It wasn't some metaphorical expression, but a massive tree standing tall on a rare wide plain among the First Floor's terraced landscape.

But the reason it was called the Signpost Tree was because of the countless wooden boards hanging from its tall, widely spread branches.

"Are all those signposts?"

Wooden boards densely hung like fruit from the tree's branches, marking distances and directions to various locations from this point.

The tradition of hanging signposts supposedly started when some unknown Explorer used this tree as a base point, recording distances after returning from expeditions.

It became a tradition as other Explorers followed suit, sharing their information.

Information was an incredibly valuable asset.

From the Fourth Floor onward, only Explorers who've been there themselves or those who've paid enormous sums for the information knew the geography.

But the First Floor was an exception.

The First Floor's geography was shared with everyone, especially with novice Explorers, through this tree.

What a beautiful tradition.

The majestic sight of the tree made one's heart swell enough to forget even last night's encounter with trash.

"There are a lot of people."

Leaf adjusted her hood.

She seemed uncomfortable with the crowd.

In contrast, Rei maintained her pace despite the attention drawn by her appearance.

"Been thinking since we saw it from far away, but this tree is ridiculously huge. Like some World Tree or something."

After speaking with amazement, Rei covered her mouth a beat later with an "Ah!"

"Oh, sorry. Isn’t that taboo for Elves?"

"I'm a Half-Elf so I don't really mind... I mean, I don't care."

Leaf still showed signs of being unaccustomed to casual speech.

Probably due to her past.

Leaf, like Rei and I, lived a life walking on eggshells.

But even with similar experiences, the effects were opposite.

Rei and I had short periods of it, experiencing it after our personalities were somewhat formed.

So we chose to use casual speech out of rebellion and resistance.

Meanwhile, Leaf had been that way since infancy, so formal speech was completely ingrained into her.

It must be hard to change speech patterns used for a lifetime in the village.

She seemed to consciously try using casual speech with Rei, but seeing how she occasionally slipped up, gave some insight into her life in the village.

"Was talking about the World Tree taboo?"

"You didn't know?"

"Never had a proper chance to talk with Elves."

During my slave days, any conversation with Elves was limited to,

— You, bring the merchant guild leader,

— Yes!

If there was an Elf I had anything close to a real conversation with, it would be my classmate Elowen, I guess?

Even then, it was too brief to learn about Elven culture.

"You said your hometown was really far away? Maybe there weren't any Elves there."

"Right. I only saw Elves after coming here."

"Well, if Leaf says it's fine."

Rei, who started the topic, continued speaking without even looking around, as if unconcerned about others.

"The World Tree withered and died when the gods disappeared. For Elves, it was like watching a god who lived alongside them die. They tried everything to save, but well, nothing worked."

After a long time, the exhausted Elves finally gave up on reviving the World Tree.

The Elves, who had built their nation centered around the World Tree, lost their focal point and scattered.

"But belief in the World Tree itself remains. Since mentioning it brings up memories of its death, they decided not to speak of it at all."

"I understand."

So it's like an inappropriate joke or something.

"I-it's not quite that severe. More like an uncomfortable old story?"

While discussing the World Tree, our team arrived right in front of the Signpost Tree.

Up close, I could understand why Rei brought up the World Tree.

It really is huge—no—gargantuan.

"There are too many signposts. They're all jumbled without organization, can we even find what we want?"

"We'll have to check them all until we find it. Though that one's clear enough."

Rei pointed to a wooden board showing the path to the Second Floor.

It alone had a special border around it.

The gate locations to the Second Floor were fluid, like the First Floor's transition points.

It did make sense to mark it in particular.

"Hmm... no signpost to the Floating Island?"

"How could there be? That thing's always moving around."

"We can't even use flying magic anyway, can we?"

True, but...

"Looking for the Floating Island are we?"

A voice naturally joined our conversation.

"Wow~ three Novices? So fresh. Rookies chasing dreams."

"It’s like looking at our past selves."

A pair approached while casually chatting between themselves.

"How about it? We're heading to the Floating Island too."

"We were just short on people."

What's with these guys?

They reek of fradulence.