Nging. A sudden pain attacked my neck.
"....?"
"Cranel-sama?"
I rub the spot with my hands as I cast my gaze around the area.
A vast room with a thick grassy floor and yellow walls. We're currently on the ninth floor. But I couldn't hide my anxiety.
"Cranel-sama, is there something wrong?"
Arde stared at me with worried eyes.
".... It's nothing, probably."
Once again, I looked around the area.
Is there something watching me?
I just can't shake the feeling that there's an eye on me right now.
It doesn't feel like it wants to hurt me or anything like that...I just feel this strange weight on my shoulders.
Arde and I decided we would hit floor 11 as fast as possible before Loki familia arrived.
Arde explained that Loki familia is also tasked with clearing the dungeon for now, so it will be hard to hunt monsters after them.
That's why we dived to the dungeon faster today to get an early start. The same could be said for the other adventurers, as I met some of them on the upper floors.
I think I saw a few adventurers a couple of floors up, but the dungeon is still mostly empty.
There was that one beast-person adventurer a few rooms back—that guy was huge.
Could these eyes be his? He'd have no reason to follow us...but it's getting to the point that I can't just ignore this feeling.
"Isn't this a little strange...?
"A little strange?"
There aren't enough monsters."
I finally mentioned another thing that had been bothering me for a while. Even Arde looks back over her shoulder and whispers, "Now that you mention it...."
The dungeon has been eerily quiet since we arrived on the lower ninth. We've been here a while, too, the stairwell that leads to the lower tenth is just a room or two away, but we haven't encountered a single monster yet.
Well, there was a group of goblins running around, but they didn't attack us. It looked more like they were running away from something, actually.
Anxiety is sinking even deeper now; my guts are twisting into knots.
I've felt like this before, and it's bringing that back into my mind.
Yes.
On that day, the dungeon was this quiet, too. I violently shake my head.
"C-Cranel-sama?"
"... Let's go. To the tenth floor."
My hand over my mouth to steady myself, I manage to get words out through my fingers.
I want to say,
"Let's get out of here,"
but I just can't. It's like my spirit is trying to push my body forward, away from here
We enter the next room. It has two exits. One I remember leads to the stairwell—that's when it happens.
—Now then, show me.
Wha? A voice, suddenly in my head. Not my voice—it's like something is talking to me from inside. I'm on full alert. A second later...
"-MROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
My legs freeze.
"......"
"W-what was that... ?"
Arde is saying something. I don't hear her
My ears are busy with something else.
I know that without confirming it.
That sound... it sounds too much like that sound. Every nerve of my body is on fire as the noises are on replay in my mind.
"..."
I slowly turned back. That feels like to eternity to see what's coming behind me.
The sound is coming from the room we were just in. There's something in the exit.
I'm hyperventilating. My fingers are shaking. I can't make a fist.
My throat won't budge, but in my mind, I'm thinking, It's not true. My mental voice sounds like a kid crying. Arde's eyes are shaking; she sees it, too. I'm praying for something like my life depends on it.
Then...
"...Woouu!"
There it is.
"—Huh?"
"......"
I was right. God damn.
Then again, there's no way I could forget that voice.
I don't know how many times I've heard it during nightmares.
It's impossible to guess how many times I've heard similar howls from other monsters and flashed back to that day.
I can't count how many times I've been scared by it.
"Woooohoooohooo..."
Minotaur
"W-why is there a Minotaur on the ninth floor...."
That's what I'd like to know. But there's something I do know.
I know this feeling of helplessness.
This despair that words can't describe,
I know it too well.
My body has felt this uncontrollable shiver before.
It's the same. Exactly the same as before.
"Mroooooooo!!" The mad bull roars.
Its overwhelming power and force wash over my body; I can't hold it back. It's a sound powerful enough to break the fighting spirit of anything the minotaur comes up against.
Arde and I were no exception, as a torrent of fear hit us with full force.
We instantly fell to the ground.
Luckily none of us were knocked by that, or it will be a game over.
It takes one more step into the room, into the light. Its broad, silver weapon is stained with fresh blood.
"L-let's get out of here, Cranel-sama! We don't stand a chance! Quickly, while there's still time... Cranel-sama?"
My eyes are locked in place.
My legs aren't moving, either. Fear has frozen my spine;
I can't budge. It might be my own body telling me to give up. It reminds me of the scarecrow Gramps made when I was a kid. He put armor on it and everything... That's me right now.
"Cranel-sama?! Cranel-sama?! What's wrong?!"
SCARY SCARY SCARY SCARY SCARY.
The monster is absolutely terrifying. Tears are pumping into my eyes.
My lungs are on the verge of jumping out of my chest. I can't close my jaw.
I don't have any words to describe the color my face is right now.
The minotaur's aura gets heavier with each step of its hoofed feet.
It's crushing the grass beneath it, getting closer and closer. Fear itself has materialized in front of me. My body feels like it's about to explode.
"Mroooooooo!"
The minotaur springs forward like a cannonball.
The beast covers the distance between us with breathtaking speed.
"CRANEL-SAMA!"
Suddenly the beast got covered in flame and smoke as flame came from Arde's sword.
I never saw that sword before.
But such a thing didn't matter as my mind and body had already stopped working.
I know.
I have to draw a weapon, but my arms won't move. I can't do anything.
It's over
"Alfia... Goddess..."
"CRANEL-SAMA, WAKE UP! TCH!"
I can faintly hear Arde's sound.
I directed my eyesight at her. She had a panicked face as she looked at me, the bull, and the path of exit alternatively. What is she thinking right now?
Suddenly she turned her back to the path of exit.
Aahh, that's good. Run Arde...
It is okay.
I won't blame you.
"....R.."
I want to urge Arde to run and don't look back, but my mouth won't listen to me.
My mind knows exactly what to do, but my body and heart refuse to listen.
If she leaves me now, I will surely die here, but she will be alive.
That's good enough.
Arde greeted her teeth as she started running.
Good.
I don't know if my intent was transmitted through her, but it's good as long as she survives.
My eyes suddenly turned to the minotaur, which reappeared from the flame as it turned its back and ran towards Arde.
"...Ar..."
Before I could finish my word, The beast had already closed its distance with Arde as it raised its hand and Punched her.
Arde's body was blown away to the wall.
At that time, a sharp pain electrified my head, and my whole body came back to life, burning from the inside.
"ARDE?!"
Arde didn't move from the ground.
"-MROOOH"
Without realizing it, I already charged toward the beast with my sword.
Plan?
There's no such thing.
I charged towards it and raised my sword with every ounce of strength I was able to muster at the moment.
"HEAAA!"
I performed a sword slam toward the minotaur's hand.
But as if I had just hit a wall of steel, as soon as my sword made contact with the minotaur's skin, the sword immediately bounced back with my hand, and I felt intense pain all over my body.
"Hiih"
I shrieked.
I jumped to the back.
I raise my right arm and scream at the top of my lungs.
"FIREBOLT!"
"Mroo?!"
A web of scarlet bolts of flame envelopes the minotaur's body.
The beast backs away in panic as it is suddenly overwhelmed by the bright flames.
As far I can see, there's little hope that my magic can finish it off, the flame that Arde unleashed was more prominent than mine, but it had no effect on the raging bull. But I still have to try my chance.
Fighting back my fatigue, I fired again.
"FIREBOLT!"
"FIREBOLT!"
"FIREBOLT!"
Again. Again. Again.
I just need to trust my magic and keep shooting at it.
"I keep shouting endlessly until all I can see is a black cloud of smoke ahead of me.
Everything around us is burned. I can tell from the smell. As for the minotaur, I don't know.
There's no sound of it.
-Did I won?
I finally lowered my arm in exhaustion.
"MROOOO!"
"--"
A sudden, unexpected sound pierces the silence and slams into my eardrums. The smoke cloud parts without warning; a massive arm emerges.
The arm drops down before swinging up like a wrecking ball, and straight into my gut. The living boulder hits my armor dead-on. Shock waves tear through my body as my armor cracks.
"GAAH!"
My consciousness almost flew at that time as my line of sight spun.
All the air is forced out of my lungs as the urge to puke wholly fills me up.
What just happened?
It happened so fast that I only managed to react by my instinct.
But I know one thing for sure, the training with Alfia and Aiz had saved me.
Since my body flew back immediately, I didn't absorb the full force of the blow.
Of course, that doesn't mean I felt nothing. If I'd taken that hit flat-footed, there's no doubt in my mind my stomach would have exploded. I fly helplessly backward and into the dungeon wall with that grim thought in my mind.
"..C..ranell-sama..."
Then I heard a faint voice not far from our position.
That voice belongs to Arde. Her clothes were torn, and blood could be seen all over her body.
"Arde! Run now!"
"B...ut, If I run now, Cranel-sama will...!"
(Why am I still hesitating? I just need to abandon him like every other adventurer I have done so far!)
"IT'S OKAY! GO!"
"NGHH! DON'T DIE, CRANEL-SAMA!"
The beast tried to go towards her, but I fired my magic again to divert its attention.
"FIREBOLT!"
Since then, I wonder how many hours it has been.
I lost count of how many times did this thing send me flying.
My armor was broken as the main part fell off my body after the supporting pieces were shattered by its punch.
Reduced to only my damaged and torn inner shirt, I climb to my feet on trembling legs.
"HNNGHH!"
I want to run right away, but he is blocking the exit.
I feel that I will get chopped into two the moment I run.
Its face is scrunched. It looks angry.
But not hurt.
I hit it with firebolts that I couldn't count anymore how much I shot. Sure, I can see burn marks all over its body. But, as if it was just a mere scratch, it did not receive any substantial damages.
I'm too weak.
With a quick glare at my stunned face, the minotaur throws back its head and howls toward the ceiling.
"MROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAHH!!"
So this is an adventure.
The first one is for the adventurer, Bell Cranel.
—It's hopeless. I can't win. I can only see despair as I look at the ferocious beast in front of me.