Season 2: Chapter 172: Erased Memory (2)
Dying while catching monsters in a siege war was very shameful. This seemed to also apply on the survival battlefield. As long as one didn't do anything too strange, subjugating monsters of a similar level range was not difficult.
"Krrrrrgh...!"
The magma bear charged aggressively, but was repeatedly stabbed by spears and flailed its arms in the air.
Was the gatekeeper golem they met upstairs an epic monster? This creature was much dumber despite being at a higher level.
"This time, here!"
Puk!
First, they directed it to the left and then the right. This was referred to as kiting when moving the monster's aggro here and there to dull its attacks.
'I will land the final blow...'
Almond only thought about roughly stabbing with his spear to somehow claim the rune box for himself. His teammates would criticize him, but he decided to think about that later.
"Grumble... Grumble..."
The magma bear's health was nearly depleted and its neck became exposed.
'Now!'
Almond leaped and deeply stabbed his spear into the back of its neck.
Pwook!
If it were human, it would have been like being stabbed in the carotid artery. The magma bear paused.
Bang!
Lava scattered in every direction as it disappeared in smoke. A child got burned by the last splash of lava, but no one had the time to care about that.
Wooooong!
The rune box appeared.
"It's the rune box!"
Swift ran excitedly toward the rune box.
"Why does that guy think he's obviously going to get it?" Almond murmured with dissatisfaction as he watched Swift.
"I'll choose a weapon. I'll distribute it to the most suitable person here."
Swift didn’t intend to keep it for himself. Only Almond, who tried to greedily keep it for himself, looked ridiculous.
— Lol
— What a magnanimous person
— What a petty Almond lol
Almond ignored the criticism in the chat and closely observed Swift.
'Will it open?'
"It's opening."
Regardless of who landed the final hit, it seemed to be an RPG where the party leader had the right to distribute the loot. Swift had no problem opening the box, but just as the box was about to open…
Boom!
Something fell on the box.
'A person?'
It was a person. A person fell from the tree. No, to be more accurate, fell wasn't the right expression.
"Who dares to open it?"
A guy landed on the box of his own accord. Even now, he stood proudly on the box with both feet. He was wrapped almost entirely in a hood, except for his eyes. Judging by his attire and armament, he was of the assassin class. He looked like a so-called ninja.
— Dang
— Shocking
— Wow, he appeared
— Oh &#(@@
Based on the audience's reaction, a big shot had arrived.
Needless to say, there were other participants there besides Swift's party.
'The other participant... seems strong.'
He looked quite strong from the way he stood unwaveringly on that curved surface. His courage to enter the enemy's territory alone was also impressive.
"What kind of bastard are you!?" Swift shouted angrily.
On the other hand, the man wearing ninja attire remained calm.
"Hmm. It seems you’re the one working here, right? Swift, was it?"
He seemed to know Swift.
"What? Put away that nonsense. Come down. I found the rune box first. I need to draw weapons for my party members!"
"..."
The ninja briefly looked at Swift's party members and sneered.
"Hoho. Indeed, party members are important."
He looked down at Swift again and said, "Answer me. Is it the person who found it or the person who touched it first who owns it?"
"Obviously, it's the person who found it! You vermin!"
Shing!
Ignoring Swift's words, the ninja drew a pair of swords from his waist.
"I'll tell you the answer. The stronger one owns it."
— Why did he even ask? lol
—...?
— Almond's style of speaking lol
— What a situation lol
"That's music to my ears! You bastard!" Swift shouted and was about to charge with his spear.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
At that moment, numerous enemies landed from the tree above. They were the ninja’s party members. He wasn’t alone.
"Attack!" the ninja commanded.
Swift also shouted, "Kill themmm!!!"
The members of both parties clashed over the box.
Almond, of course, was no exception.
"... Ah."
He had other worries.
"Should I take the box and run?"
— You're too calm thinking about that;
— That personality lol
— Are you even thinking of fighting lol
— A man obsessed with runes
Ultimately, Almond held his spear and charged forward. Running away with the box would make him lose too much trust with his teammates.
"Die!"
'It's a joint attack.'
At that moment, two figures rushed toward Almond. He instantly lowered his stance and swung his spear in a half-circle.
"Ugh...!"
The two attackers wielded swords.
Clang!
Whoosh!
One blocked and the other dodged. At that moment, Almond created some distance and thrust his spear again at the one who blocked.
Chiik!
'He dodged.'
The man lightly deflected the incoming spear thrust. For an NPC, it was quite a move.
Tadadak!
He quickly approached Almond.
The spear's blade went past the man's head. At this distance, the spear had the advantage over the sword. However─
"!"
Thud.
Almond raised his spear more than halfway.
Whoong!
Then, he briefly pulled the spear back and swung it again. This way, he fought with the spear as if it were a short weapon.
Clang!
The man's sword and the spear collided again.
Clang! Kaclang!
The fight continued. Then…
Swoosh.
The spearhead, coming at a tricky angle, suddenly aimed at the man’s neck.
Pwook!
Blood spurted as the man powerlessly dropped his sword to the ground. The fight was over, but Almond wasn’t done yet.
'Behind.'
One more enemy remained. Almond immediately extended his spear and swung the lower part again.
Chwaak!
He severed a foot.
"Ugh!"
The enemy trying to ambush him from behind ended up being ambushed himself. He fell and writhed in pain.
Almond shortened his grip on the spear and leaped, piercing through his head.
Pwook!
— Wow
— Now, he's a spear master
— It's the spear technique he honed in the Civil Empire!
After defeating the two of them, a reward appeared.
[Your level has increased!]
It seemed he had gained a significant amount of experience.
"Ah. They want us to level up a lot here."
Almond understood this assault as somewhat of an event to gain experience.
— Not really?
— Developer: Ah... no. Stop!
— Dang, how did it turn out like this?
Almond immediately ran toward the other sources of experience.
Chwaak!
As he became more accustomed to his weapon, the frequency of clashes significantly decreased.
Pwook!
Soon, his spear was only piercing their heads and hearts. The sight of him running around and slaughtering the enemies was like a lion had been dropped onto a field of rabbits. Naturally, Swift's party began to take the upper hand.
"This is it, Swift!" the ninja's urgent voice echoed out.
Wooong!
His figure was burning in a blue flame. It was mana.
[Shadow Sword Technique]
Srrrrng!
All his swords floated in the air.
Frrrrrr...!
Those swords all pointed toward Swift's party members. Swift raised his arm, signaling them to stop the attack for a moment.
"Wait! Stop!"
— Wow, it's already appearing here??
— Wow
— Is it because they killed too many?
— It's because of the level up
— Lol, I took about 16 tries to get to this route
Glancing at the chat, it seemed this ability wasn’t so easily showcased. It was a development that only appeared when the player’s level was quite high and many enemies had been killed.
"Listen well!" the ninja shouted with blood dripping from his mouth. "Right now, if I decide to, I can kill four of your companions in an instant!"
Frrrrrr!
Following the ninja's words, the swords menacingly approached.
"If you could, you would have done so earlier. Why wait until now?" Almond muttered and found it strange.
Swift seemed surprisingly afraid of the ninja's ability.
"You... are you insane? Using that level of power here just feeds the others! There's hardly any power from the sanctuary here!"
"It's do or die anyway! Look at the damage to my party members!"
The ninja was angry that many of his party members had died.
Swift responded in a subdued voice, "... What do you want?"
"What I want is cooperation. I want to cooperate until the last floor."
The ninja claimed he wanted to cooperate. It sounded like he was proposing a temporary alliance.
"Cooperation? Be honest. If I decide it, you're a dead man. Naturally, I also have at least one special technique, you know?"
Swift mentioned his blink technique as a threat, but…
"You can take the rune box."
"... Ho? That's also free if I kill you, isn't it?"
"Then you'll be going to the last floor without any party members. Does that mean anything? Even if you survive, you’ll be going to the sanctuary by yourself. You might be able to, but…"
Swift hesitated as their party members were brought up again.
The ninja smirked as if he hit the nail on the head.
"Let's not spill each other's blood, shall we? I'm also trying to avoid a pointless waste of time."
"Fine. I'll take the rune box. Let’s cooperate between our parties. It’s not a bad condition."
"There's one more thing."
"...?"
Chik.
The ninja's finger suddenly pointed at Almond.
'Me?'
Almond felt puzzled at suddenly being designated. The next statement was even more astonishing.
"Kill that guy."
— ?
— Eh?
— What! Did they notice? lol
— What? Is that guy not a solo player? lol
Swift asked in disbelief, "What? What kind of condition is that."
"It's an unavoidable condition for our cooperation."
"Why?"
"He killed too many of my party members. If our parties are to cooperate, that guy can’t be here."
Swift turned to look at Almond and their eyes met.
'A smile?'
He was smiling. Upon reflection, he had intended to kill Almond from the start.
'Could it be that he pretended not to remember?'
It seemed that Swift’s claim of not remembering had been a lie. Swift accepted the deal.
"But the rune box comes first."
The ninja nodded without sheathing his sword.
"Fine. Let's proceed with the deal simultaneously."
Frrrr!
One of the swords floating in the air turned toward Almond, ready to be shot at any moment.
"Open the rune box, Swift. Then, I'll kill him immediately."
Almond felt incredulous.
"Why are they trading my life as they please?"
— Lol
— If you're jealous, become a party leader~~
— For real lol
— What to do??
Regardless, the deal proceeded. Swift approached the rune box. If he opened it, the ninja would immediately send a sword flying toward Almond to kill him.
"Ah... No!" Luna protested from behind.
"Swift! This isn't right! He just fought according to your orders!"
It was strange.
'What's this?'
Wasn’t it Luna who sent Swift to kill him? Or was it not? Was this also an act by Luna?
"There's no other way, Luna."
Swift opened the box.
Creak.
The ninja gathered his mana. At that moment, Almond's eyes sparkled.
'Huh?'
[The right to choose is transferred to the party member with the highest level.]
The choice was given to him.
[1. Rune]
[2. Weapon]
[3. Potion]
Before Swift could let out a surprised scream…
"What─"
Almond chose even faster.
[You have chosen a weapon.]
A weapon instantly appeared in his hand.
[The Bow of Liberation]
[★]
Kirik...!
Not only had he decided quickly, but he had already pulled the bowstring.
***
[Beginner Tip: Did you know? There is a rumor that the sanctuary knows who is the strongest and the weakest. It is best to proceed with caution.]