episode_0118

Like many rural forests, Carmine Forest was not a particularly famous place.

It must have been a truly fortunate event for the forest animals and soaring trees.

Thanks to that, I was able to live safely.

Until now.

After the dungeon flowing with demonic energy was discovered, the empire dispatched troops to block the forest.

Waiting for a knight or knight-level person to come to investigate the dungeon.

If I hadn’t received the request, several imperial knights would have headed here long ago.

In the end, the animals running around the outskirts of the forest became snacks for the soldiers, and some trees ended their long lives as firewood.

On the outskirts of the forest, soldiers carrying spears were guarding the entrance with a makeshift barracks set up.

So that fearless idiots or adventurers looking to make a quick fortune do not suffer unnecessary damage.

When Damian, who was driving the carriage, showed the orders, the surprised soldiers saluted and made way.

Their expressions were bright. Because the power we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived.

After gathering my equipment, I got off the carriage.

From here, you cannot enter by carriage.

Unlike us, the horses pulling the carriage won’t be able to withstand the magic.

After leaving the carriage with the soldiers, he walked into the forest.

—-

Inside the forest it was dark and quiet.

The tangled branches of the trees blocked the sunlight like a huge parasol, casting a pitch-black shadow on the weed-filled ground.

There was barely any sign of the creature. Let alone deer, not even squirrels or birds.

It looks like everyone has run away. I feel an instinctive sense of threat.

If the demon energy spreads, everyone will die.

“Something is eerie…”

Millia muttered anxiously.

I think I walked for about thirty minutes. The surrounding scenery slowly began to change.

The scenery of the forest, which was full of green light, was gone, and blackened old trees and dried sand bottom welcomed us.

An acrid scent began to mix with the air I breathed in.

Proof that demonic energy is spreading.

From here, it meant that it was a clear danger zone.

“Damian, Millia, take this. You can drink it whenever you find it difficult to bear Maggi.”

Friede handed the two people a small pouch.

Inside the pouch, which was designed to be worn on a belt, were bottles of holy water.

Holy water.

It is an essential item to fight against monsters.

Holy water properly consecrated by priests has the effect of purifying evil things.

Curses, poisons, some diseases…even demonic energy.

Therefore, holy water was one of the main products of the religious denominations.

It was not something that all denominations could produce.

Two people expressed their gratitude to Friede.

“Me?”

“You have anti-magic power, so you don’t really need it, right?”

That’s right.

Constant horsepower. Power with clear pros and cons.

The person concerned cannot use magic at all and hardly receives effects such as strengthening magic.

Instead, curses or restraint-type magic do not work well and can drastically reduce damage from magic energy.

From my perspective, it is full of advantages.

Not only do I not know how to use magic in the first place, but my bare fists are stronger than those of the knights who used strengthening magic.

I looked down at my left hand, wriggling my fingers.

It had the power to shatter steel like glass and tear people apart with just a touch.

Before long, the entrance to the dungeon finally appeared.

—-

The bottom of a huge rock wall.

Magical energy leaks out little by little through a huge gap like a cave entrance.

Broken rocks rolled around the entrance.

I guess I couldn’t find it because they were blocking the entrance.

Naturally, there were no living creatures around.

“I will be in the lead, so you and Millia will be in the center and Damian will be in the back.”

“Yes, senior.”

It was a standard formation.

Two people with a wide attack range take charge of the front and back, guarding against the enemy and placing archers inside.

On top of that, I, who is like a wild card, is in the middle preparing for unexpected situations.

There is also a way for me to take the lead and push them all away…

That way, it will be difficult for other kids to see the results they have achieved.

Friede, carrying a magic lantern on her waist, walked ahead.

—-

The inside of the cave was dark and dry.

The acrid air penetrated my nose, but my anti-magic power held up well, so I didn’t feel like I was being eroded by magical energy.

Probably not the other three.

“My nose is spicy…”

“Hmm…I’ve felt this before, but it’s still a bit uncomfortable.”

“Before? Oh, by the way, did you say you caught a monster during virtual training? And the command bell with my bare body.”

“Rather than catching him, we fell together.”

Damian shrugged his shoulders.

Well, I caught him, but he suffered serious, almost fatal injuries.

If it had been a real battle, Damien would have been unable to escape and would have died shortly afterwards.

“Just defeating it is amazing. Anyway, it still looks okay, but if it gets to the point where it’s hard to breathe, be sure to drink holy water. If you don’t want to suffer the aftereffects for the rest of your life.”

The two people nodded.

The cave was not as deep as I thought. To be exact, only the cave part.

After only five minutes of walking down the winding road, a large door greeted us.

The iron gate is heavily rusted and stained red.

The sound of wind flowing through the cracks was like crying.

“The truth starts from here. But this thing is all rusty so I wonder if it can be opened?”

Friede said one word and pushed the door.

As expected, the iron gate did not budge.

Friede winked at me, as if telling me to use my strength.

I approached it and gently pushed it, and it was definitely very stiff.

I took my stance and pushed with all my strength.

With a horrifying friction sound, the inside of the iron door slowly began to reveal itself.

“Key profit!”

Something pops out as if it had been waiting.

Monster. He was a guy who was hiding behind the iron gate, looking for an opportunity to make a surprise attack.

I hit the monster aiming for my face with my forehead.

The monster’s body fell to the floor with a clattering sound.

His back must have been shattered, and the blood that came out was staining the ground.

“Monster…!”

Millia, startled, pulled out an arrow.

As if the damage to its back wasn’t enough to kill it, the monster jumped up and leapt towards me, raising its claws.

The monster’s unique strong vitality seemed to help it move even with its shattered spine.

But, if he didn’t die in one hit, one more hit would be enough.

I swung my leg towards the guy.

The kicked monster flies with the force of a cannonball and lodges itself against the cave wall.

His upper body, with all its bones crushed, fluttered like a piece of paper.

Millia’s arrow pierced the guy’s head.

—-

The shape of the monster seen up close was extremely grotesque.

It’s just big enough to reach Millia’s chest.

Three shiny eyes protruded from either side of the frog-like head and in the middle of the forehead.

Hidden inside the wide-open snout was another maw resembling the jaws of an insect.

A long, thin tongue hung limply between the snout.

The ears and body, resembling a rat, were covered with stiff fur.

The outstretched front legs resemble a crayfish, while the hind legs resemble an eagle.

It had bat wings growing on its back, but they were already tattered, probably because they had been crushed in the first attack.

“It’s a bat frog.”

Friede, who examined the monster’s corpse, opened his mouth.

“A bat frog?”

“Okay. Would the nickname Imp be more popular? He is the lowest among hybrid monsters. It’s so weak that there are even scholars who treat it as a simple monster.”

Imp.

A monster that flies in the sky and surprises its prey, holding it tightly with its limbs and eating its head.

It was one of the representative mobs.

Even though it was a miscellaneous mob, the monster’s life force was a bit tough.

“Sometimes there are guys who spit paralyzing poison out of their mouths, so you just have to be careful of those guys.”

The imp spitting paralyzing poison was a bit dangerous. In many ways.

Because they are for breeding, not hunting.

—-

“This place is…unusual.”

The inside of the dungeon I finally entered had a strange appearance.

A vast underground space as if the entire inside of a rocky mountain had been carved out.

Huge pillars supported the ceiling, and the walls and floor were smooth.

Torn down statues were rolling around in every alley, and broken and rusty swords were lying nearby.

“It’s an old ruin. I don’t know how old it is.”

Friede answered indifferently and continued walking.

Not long after, I felt the presence of numerous creatures busily flying around.

“The imps are coming! Roughly twenty!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Everyone took a fighting stance in response to Friede and I’s warning.

Friede pulled out a chain ax, and Millia took out an arrow and put it on the bowstring.

At the same time Damian raised his greatsword, I also picked up my bow.

Soon, a swarm of imps poured out from the other side, accompanied by the sound of dozens of pairs of wings flapping.

On top of a rock ceiling about 4 meters high.

The imps gathered together were hovering in the air, glaring at us.

“I told you earlier, right? You just have to be careful of the paralyzing poison.”

Friede held onto the chain and spun the ax around like a windmill.

The imps who saw that started screaming as if threatening us.

The battle finally began with Milia’s arrow shooting down an imp.