Chapter 75: Get out alive (4)

Chapter 75: Get out alive
(4)

As
I opened my eyes in the darkness, I saw the face of a smiling
Paladin.

Her
face was beaming as if she had just received a romantic and emotional
event, but the way her body had been severed from the neck down was
quite grotesque.

“⋯”

I
swallowed hard and looked away. The bodies of other Paladins and
priests floated around in the darkness.

‘Why
is my body still intact?’

My
memory of being stabbed by the Paladins and eaten by the Abomination
was a blur.

I’d
been chewed up and almost digested, but my body couldn’t have been in
better shape.

It
was a far cry from the shattered state I was in before I was eaten.

I
suddenly remembered what [She] had said about miracles.

Since
I don’t have the Healing Factor or anything, I wondered if my
recovery was a product of that miracle.

If
there are no more miracles, does that mean [she] doesn’t have any
more advice for me?

I
don’t know.

I
was very curious about the truth, but there were more important
matters at hand.

‘I
need to get out of here.’

There
was no good to be gained by staying in the belly of the unpleasant
creature.

Fortunately,
I still had the axe in my hand, the key to my escape.

Firmly
enough that the hard handle was slightly dented with handprints.

I
hadn’t let go until I was about to experience death.

Keeeeeee-!

With
a short, sharp start-up sound, the axe was bathed in a pure white
light.

The
light emitted by the Radiant Blessing was even stronger than before.
I wondered if the Blessing was growing.

Thanks
to that, the surroundings became even more apparent. I suppressed the
feeling of nausea and looked away from the corpse.

As
I swam through the corpses of the priests, I touched the wall. Skin,
perhaps.

‘Though
I’m not sure the dark-clad abomination has skin.’

If
I poke the fuck out of them, they’ll respond to something.

-Tsk,
tsk, tsk!

[KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!]

I
slammed my axe down on the wall with a glowing beam of light, and the
creature, which hadn’t even been touched by the fireball, began to
writhe.

Inside
the creature’s body, I felt the shock of the world turning upside
down.

I
couldn’t help but grin.

“You!
Fucking asshole!”

-Tsk,
tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!!!

[KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!]

A
thrill of pleasure shot through me as I pierced the creature’s hide
with my axe.

My
body burned hot as the hideous abomination twisted and writhed and
screamed in agony.

‘As
much as I got. No, ten times as much as I’ve been given.’

The
sensation of slicing through the darkness with light was eerily
similar, yet different, to the sensation of cutting through the flesh
of a beast with an axe.

Each
time the darkness screamed and scattered, the light shone ever so
slightly brighter as it devoured him.

The
light grew progressively stronger as it tore through the darkness.

Countless
axe marks had been made on the hide of the abomination and each one
was large enough to see through.

At
some point, only intermittent seizures could be felt, and the
creature’s screams could no longer be heard.

’Not
enough.’

But
even if I wasn’t angry I wanted to vomit out this emotion that’s been
simmering inside of me, all at once.

Zirnier’s
axe was coalesced with magic.

“Great.”

The
axe, enveloped in light, rapidly grew in size in the abomination’s
belly.

The
floating investigators were pushed out of the creature’s belly, and
the glowing axe blade sliced the creature’s head in half.

[⋯]

The
mysterious abomination that had awakened from its black egg, the
[Darkness] itself, volatilized into light and began to dissolve into
thin air.

-Ting!

Something
landed in the place where the giant abomination had disappeared.

A
monstrous crystal. A soul stone.

It
was similar in appearance to a normal monster soul stone, but the
aura it emitted was strange.

It
was unnerving and ominous, but at the same time, it had a tremendous
amount of energy.

[⋯!]

As
I approached the spirit stone and tried to take it in my hand, it
trembled.

It
was as if it was extremely afraid of me.

The
abomination’s soul stone stiffened up like a punk who had just met
the first officer in charge.

“Hmph.”

[⋯!!!]

I
grabbed the soul stone with my Radiant Blessing hand, and it begged
me in great pain.

It
was clearly disciplined by the fierce violence.

‘I’ll
keep it just in case.’

I
had a surefire way to subdue him. I slipped the Abomination Soul
stone into my pants pocket.

I
lowered my head and caught sight of my body.

The
leather armor Diana had given me had been ripped and torn in many
places, reducing it to a rag.

My
belly in particular was riddled with puncture marks and sharp sword
marks, the marks of dog-trolling by the Temple’s investigators.

The
protective gear was nowhere to be seen, and most importantly, the
great helm was also…

‘It’s
broken.’

Somehow,
the breeze has managed to get in.

The
lower part of the helm, where the mouth and breathing holes are, is
half blown off.

I
realized that if someone else looked at me, they would only see my
left cheek and lip.

I
could already picture Zirnier fuming at me for destroying her first
creation.

“Kuluk,
kuluk!”

A
cough woke me up and I looked around to see the rest of the Joy Hog
party, each with their own injuries.

“Joy
Hog! Lammel! Jubeel!”

“⋯Not
dead yet.”

Joy
Hog, who had lost an arm and was coughing up blood, pointed.

“Hey,
take care of Lammel over there first. Her injuries are worse. And
pick up my fallen arm on the way. It can still be reattached.”

Lammel
injuries were serious. Her right leg was completely blown off and she
was unconscious.

I
picked her up and quickly dipped her into the fountain.

The
fountain didn’t shatter, thanks to the giant axe that had withstood
the creature’s attack.

The
fountain was still spewing out its miraculous healing water and
Lammel’s complexion gradually relaxed as she soaked in it.

She
looked like she was about to pass into eternity, but her injuries
were healing much more quickly than with a potion.

‘Even
if it’s not possible to completely remove it, if we just find the
severed part…’

I
also noticed Jubeel submerged in the fountain in an uncomfortable
position.

Luckily,
Jubeel was holding her left arm in her right hand.

She
reassembled her torn left arm and attached it to her torso.

Then
the healing water began to seep through the arm and torso, connecting
them together.

A
healing that even the most advanced potions could not accomplish. The
healing water, the original potion, was indeed a marvel.

“Kkkkk,
thank you. Balkan⋯”

“Are
you awake, Jubeel?”

“Yes.
Today is a particularly hot day for mating. Won’t you take my
virginity?”

“You’re
fine.”

It
was the usual Jubeel, spouting bullshit.

It’s
amazing how she can talk like that after having her arm torn off.

Joy
Hog quickly reassembled her right arm and dipped it into the
fountain. She looks around at her party and, as if relieved, falls
unconscious.

Gellan’s
party members, Fusilini and Aldente, were also dipped into the
healing waters.

Aldente
had been completely blown to bits, and all we could salvage were five
intact pieces of slime.

In
the healing waters, the burst pieces of slime began to clump
together.

“What
the hell.”

But
then I realized what was happening.

“Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!”

Like
the green jelly monster from the original AOS game, the resurrected
Aldente had shrunk from a six-foot-tall behemoth to the size of a
newborn baby.

Like
a dead adult Groot resurrected as a baby Groot.

‘The
curse of the Slime. Isn’t it actually a blessing?’

Even
with the help of the healing water, it was a crazy ability to revive
a half-dead person.

‘I
guess I shouldn’t have removed the curse.’

I
wondered if curses had their own way.

“Ugh⋯”

Aldente
stared at me, then bowed low to me.

She
didn’t seem to have any memories of the adult Aldente, but she seemed
to instinctively realize that I had saved her life.

I
patted her head a few times, feeling strangely cute, and Baby Aldente
rubbed her slime ball into my hand.

I
left Baby Aldente behind and moved on to the next patient.

“⋯⋯”

Hitolis
and Hope, the two half-crazed priests, barely regained their senses
as the abomination breathed its last.

“⋯⋯”

Hope
was still drooling from the corners of her mouth, but her focus was
gradually returning.

Hitolis
sobbed softly, tears dripping down her cheeks.

-Zap!

I
slapped Hitolis on the cheek to wake her up. Now was not the time for
sobbing.

“Hitolis.
Are you awake?”

“We
can talk about why you lost your mind later. Just calm down. You
still have your miracle powers, right?”

“Ah,
yes, yes⋯”

“Then
use a healing miracle.”

By
now, Hope had regained her senses. I slapped her on the cheek and
told her to work his miracle.

A
powder of light descended over the heads of the party members
immersed in the healing waters.

The
miracle of healing accelerated their recovery.

‘Except
for Lammel, we’re done with first aid.’

I
walked toward the porter’s bag lying in the distance.

“Krug,
Krug!”

I
saw Gregor hiding behind a large packer’s bag, tears streaming down
her face in terror.

It
was too much trouble to deal with so I stunned her with a blow to the
nape of her neck and checked the bag.

‘One,
two, three. They’re all there.’

Gurmimi,
Reichem, and Gellan were all there. It was as if they were perfectly
restrained and couldn’t escape.

Except
for one more thing…

“⋯Monster⋯”

“You,
you⋯
who the hell are you?”

After
regaining their senses, Reichem and Gurmimi’s reactions were
strangely different.

Instead
of gritting their teeth and vowing to get back at me for this, they
looked as if they regretted having touched something that shouldn’t
have been touched.

“The
one who came to get you.”

“⋯”

The
two fell silent at the simple answer, their complexions turning even
paler.

I
dragged my legs, which had become much slower, to the fountain and
sat down.

‘I’m
tired.’

I
was tired, even though the strain was light compared to the frenzied
use of the Blessing of Radiance and the use of the Giant Size, but
tired was tired.

I
dipped my legs into the healing water and rested, but kept my mind
alert.

I
didn’t feel anything unusual, but I couldn’t let my guard down
completely.

With
all the combatants in the healing water and unconscious, I had to
stay alert.

Hui-yi-yi-

A
cool breeze blew from far away, from where the monster village was
located.

Perhaps
it was my mood, but I could hear an unknown voice in the wind.

‘It
sounds as if the Labyrinth is crying.’

I
felt the wind, and I thought to myself that the Labyrinth was crying
sadly, as if it had lost something very important.

[⋯!!!]

I
slammed the Abomination Soul stone in my pocket in anger.

A
little bit of Radiant Blessing flowed into it, and the creature
whimpered.

I
still shudder to think of all the trouble caused by this little
bastard so I had no intention of letting him go easy.

I
passed the time by supporting the Soul stone with Blessings of
Radiance in between healing sessions.

Often,
I would open the mouths of my party members and feed them a mixture
of healing water and preserved food.

With
no one else to fight, I stayed awake through the night, protecting my
party alone.

Exhaustion
overtook me, but I chewed on the jerky Diana had made.

Over
the next two days, one by one, the party members began to regain
consciousness and open their eyes.

And
then, the fountain transition portal opened.

***

“⋯Ha.
Fuck.”

Nate
Elin cursed as she stepped through the portal, wiping her forehead at
the sight that met her eyes.

‘I
thought it was just a mental thing.’

Nate
Elin cursed herself for her complacency in the labyrinth.

She
should have been more cautious.

Even
though she rushed to Balkan’s side as soon as she heard the ominous
sound over the communications artifact, it was too late.

In
the distance, the corpses of the investigators, clumped together like
cow dung, reeked of rot.

Seven
futures were lost but there was something more serious on her mind.

The
end of the fifth floor was filled with an unpleasant aura but she
hadn’t felt it before on the fifth floor.

Furthermore,
it didn’t belong on the fifth floor at all.

‘At
this level, it’s in the upper-middle class even among the middle
class⋯’

No,
this unpleasant aura could not even be compared to a simple monster.

It
was far more ominous and disgusting.

Then,
the party that must have encountered the malicious aura came into
view.

“There
you are.”

The
sound of jerky chewing could be heard and a tired-faced Balkan faced
the investigators.

His
half-shattered helmet and leather armor, and the wounded party
members lying in the fountain behind him, told them that a
life-and-death battle had taken place here.

Nate
Elin, who respected and followed only one person, remembered a favor
saint Serif had asked of her.

-If
you ever meet Mr. Balkan in the Labyrinth, please help him out of
harm’s way. Do you understand, Nate Elin?

“Hah!”

Balkan
suddenly let out a scream as he looked at Nate Elin, who was sighing
and clutching her head.

He
gestured in agony, as if he was going to faint at any moment.

“Ah,
aah! My body was injured because of the monster that hatched from the
egg that the Paladins of the temple had⋯!
Ugh! That’s why my comrades are in danger⋯!
Kwaaaaak! My stomach that was stabbed and pierced by the Paladins of
the temple⋯!”

The
more he spoke, the more Nate Elin bowed her head and sighed deeply.

Balkan
watched and thought to himself.

‘First
things first, I’m going to collect alimony.’

***

A
special wing of the temple. A purification chamber filled with holy
water.

“From
now on, I, Senior Priest Serif Adeline, swear to serve you, Junior
Explorer Balkan, faithfully.”

I
stared at Serif, barely clad in a bathrobe, speechless.

How
did this happen⋯?