27. One Who Knows When to Step Forward

“Hachi!!! Hachii! Open your eyes!!”

“Damn it!! Horaru! You idiot! Snap out of it!!”

Yata and Louis shouted.

Yata’s hands were covered in Hachi’s blood, and Louis staggered from overusing magic.

But Hachi still hadn’t woken up.

Horaru, still out of his mind, continued rampaging, smashing through the earthen wall Louis had created.

At this rate, four of us were effectively out of the fight.

The only ones left were Yuria, Rohan, and me.

“Gaaahhh!! Just die already!!”

Yuria let out a battle cry as she charged toward the crimson High Orc.

Her ability, Sword Segmentation, activated, and her sword shattered into pieces.

An ability that allowed her to split any designated blade into segments and wield it like a whip.

It was an incredibly powerful skill.

Yuria wrapped the segmented blade around the orc’s body, aiming for its neck or arms, then yanked to sever the targeted limb.

But for some reason, the High Orc warrior’s arm wouldn’t cut.

Normally, the wrapped area should have been sliced apart by the blade segments, but the High Orc’s skin was unnaturally tough.

She couldn’t land a fatal blow.

We were in trouble.

Even with her ability, this monster couldn’t be taken down.

To be precise, there was another culprit preventing the orc warrior from dying.

“Kashuna, Skin-teria. Lo-hai-er.”

The old orc chanted a cursed incantation, continuously muttering spells.

That incantation must have been strengthening the orc warrior and toughening its skin.

That old orc was a shaman.

Or maybe some kind of sinister dark mage.

Either way, unless we took him out first, that crimson High Orc warrior wouldn’t go down.

Someone had to stop the orc shaman.

Only then could we create an opening for Yuria to stab the orc warrior.

Otherwise, our party would be wiped out soon, and we’d be surrounded by the orcs and beasts drawn by the noise of battle, dying without even leaving corpses behind.

But right now, there was no one who could stop that orc shaman.

Louis was too busy restraining the rampaging Horaru.

Yata and Hachi were both out of commission.

Rohan still couldn’t even stand properly.

The only one left to fight was Yuria, and she had to deal with the orc warrior.

In the end, the only person who could stop that shaman right now was me.

Yeah, it had to be me.

“Fuck!”

After quickly assessing the situation, I drew my sword and charged toward the High Orc shaman.

I had to do what needed to be done.

Do what I could.

If you asked me if I was good at fighting… I’d say I’d survived long enough in the upper layers to hold my own.

Wait, no.

With just six months of experience in the upper layers…

I was about to fight a mutated High Orc shaman in the underground city?

This was insane.

A reckless, brainless charge.

Even if he was a shaman, he was still a High Orc.

His physical abilities were obviously far beyond a mere porter like me.

My charge might just be a meaningless suicide.

But right now, there was no one else to stop that orc shaman.

Everyone else was already doing their part.

This was one of those situations where the porter had to step up.

So even if I was scared shitless, I had to run.

I had to rush in, throw an oil flask, and set it on fire.

If I hesitated, Yuria would be crushed to death by that hulking orc monster.

If I didn’t step up, Louis and Yata would be torn apart by Horaru.

If I didn’t take that bastard out…

“Foolish.”

Dark Swarm.

“Gaaahhh-!!!!!”

A swarm of insects burst from the orc shaman’s fingertips.

Before I could react, the bugs flew at me, engulfing me as I tumbled to the ground.

Pathetically dropping my sword in the process.

“It hurts!! It hurts so much!!!”

It stung.

It itched.

It was disgustingly unsettling.

Mysterious bugs crawled all over my body, biting, digging into my wounds, and laying eggs.

Bugs crawled into my ears and nose.

They even slithered into my mouth.

I was dying.

Death had come for me.

The reaper’s scythe rested on my neck.

Soon, bugs clogged my throat, choking me.

My vision darkened.

My consciousness faded.

Yuria’s screams echoed.

The orc shaman’s laughter lingered in my ears.

Death.

This was death.

I opened my eyes.

My body lay collapsed on the ground.

Why was I looking down at myself?

Was this astral projection? Or had I really died?

I didn’t know.

But… dying like this, without accomplishing anything…

Was just too pathetic.

And it was unfair.

Why? Why was I the only one this unlucky?

If you were going to throw me into this insane world while I was just minding my own business…

At least let me live happily, damn it!

Was I really going to die like this without even achieving my dream of a slave harem?

If I’d known I’d die so meaninglessly…

I would’ve treated Yuria better.

Regret.

Despair.

Anger and resentment.

Yeah, the unfairness of it all made my body twist in frustration.

Was this really the end?

Dying here without doing anything?

What about all the preparations I made to survive?

All the knowledge I gained to stay alive?

Was this it?

Was I really going to die here?

Shion.

No, dammit, Yu-chan.

Wake up.

Yuria’s screaming over there.

She’s about to get torn apart by that giant orc bastard.

Yu-chan.

Kang Yu-chan, you idiot.

How long are you gonna lie there?

Get up and fight.

Yuria’s going to die.

You have to save her.

I opened my eyes again.

This time, the scenery was different from before.

Everything around me had turned monochrome.

A desolate air.

Shadowy figures, barely recognizable, wandered around.

It was still the labyrinth.

But it wasn’t the same labyrinth where I had collapsed.

Ah. This must be the afterlife.

So I really was dead, huh?

Were those the souls of adventurers who died in the labyrinth?

Guess sheer willpower wasn’t enough to bring me back.

Then, as disappointing as it was, I had to accept this ending.

This world was too cruel-one where wishes and passion alone couldn’t bring resurrection.

In the end, everything dies.

My turn just came a little earlier.

There’s an order to the birth of life.

But death has no order.

The moment I realized this simple truth, everything I was seeing crumbled and shattered.

Except for one thing.

“You there.”

The only soul that retained its form called out to me.

A warrior’s soul with hollow eyes.

He pointed at me.

As if refusing to let me go.

Thud. Thud.

He walked toward me.

Slowly, but surely.

Unsteady, but relentlessly.

“You… can see me?”

He asked.

If I could see him.

I wanted to answer, but no voice came out.

So I nodded at him instead.

I could see him.

I could feel him.

“At last. At last, I’ve found someone who can hear me.”

The nameless warrior shed tears of emotion.

Black, tainted liquid streamed from his hollow eyes.

“Take me… take me back to the surface. Out of this damned place. Won’t you free me?”

He proposed.

To take him out of this cursed labyrinth.

But how?

I was already dead.

“No. You are not dead yet. I can still sense a faint pulse of life in you.”

He declared.

I wasn’t dead yet.

“But you are in peril. Very well. Just for a moment. Lend me your body.”

He reached out his hand.

A skeletal arm.

Like a mummy’s.

A withered hand, like dead wood.

A warrior’s hand, nothing but skin and bone.

He extended it toward me.

“Just for a moment. It should be fine. I will lend you my strength. Take me… take me back under the sun. I beg you, nameless adventurer.”

Should I take his hand?

Could I trust the words of the dead?

What if this was a trick to steal my body?

Ha… Hahaha!

Here I was, about to die, still overthinking things.

If I didn’t take this hand, I’d die anyway.

Not trusting him wouldn’t change anything.

This was a gamble.

The last chance to save me, Yuria, and my party.

Even if I lost my body, it was fine.

At least Yuria would live.

Take it.

I gripped the warrior’s hand.

And then, his soul…

Entered my body…

“Guh… Ugh…”

Shion woke up.

He rose from where he had collapsed and surveyed the battlefield.

Yuria had been sent flying by the orc slugger’s punch.

Horaru was charging toward Yata and Louis.

Hachi was still unconscious.

Rohan staggered as if concussed.

After taking in the scene, Shion quickly assessed his own condition.

Bugs were burrowing into his skin.

His airway was blocked, and parasites had laid eggs inside him.

Dark Swarm. A filthy trick.

“Kaaah!!”

With a battle cry, he shook off the corruption clinging to his body.

The black man-eating bugs that had burrowed into Shion’s body were crushed by his aura, flipping over dead.

The bugs blocking his throat burst apart, clearing his airway.

At last, air filled his lungs.

His fingers, arms, and legs moved properly.

His feet firmly supported his weight.

A body.

Flesh.

“Life.”

The Great Warrior Shaka identified the enemy before him.

A black figure.

A High Orc variant-a warlock.

One who toyed with adventurers using dark magic.

A foe that must be slain.

An obstacle in his path.

Shion’s eyes gleamed with fighting spirit.

His ability, Warrior’s Pressure, struck the orc warlock’s mind.

“Guhhhk!!!”

Something was different now.

That was the gaze of a predator.

In shock, the orc warlock swung his staff.

Instinctively, he unleashed a 4th-Circle dark magic spell-Dark Spear.

Shion inhaled deeply as the black spear flew toward him.

The tide of battle needed to change.

“Woooorrrhhh-!!!”

A warrior’s roar echoed across the battlefield.

The warlock’s dark magic was torn apart midair.

At the same time, Horaru’s vacant eyes regained focus.

Rohan’s legs steadied from his concussion.

The orc slugger pressing Yuria stepped back.

Hachi, who had been unconscious, shuddered and opened his eyes.

The battle had turned.

With a single roar.

The Great Warrior’s roar was the ultimate crowd-control skill.

Fear for enemies.

Courage for allies.

“Weapons. Give me a weapon.”

Shion opened his dimensional pouch for Shaka.

Shaka reached in and drew a single weapon-

Barel’s masterpiece, from the bargain weapons shop.

“A double-headed axe.”

The Great Warrior gripped the double-headed axe.

“It will suffice.”

In an instant, Shion vanished from the orc warlock’s sight.

Splaaatttchhh!!!

The orc warlock’s body was split in half.

The double-headed axe shattered.

It couldn’t withstand the overwhelming force and broke.

“That’s enough. Any more… would be dangerous.”

Cough… ugh…!!!

Control of the body returned.

Shion collapsed, vomiting blackened blood.

‘It hurts… so damn much…’

The Pain Resistance Ring Rika had given him allowed him to endure the agony.

Otherwise, he would’ve passed out immediately.

“Ah… ahh…”

Soon, Shaka’s voice echoed in Shion’s ears.

“Please… take me… back to the surface… above…”

The Great Warrior Shaka’s soul faded into the depths of consciousness.

Shaka had borrowed Shion’s body for roughly thirty seconds.

In that short time, he had consumed most of Shion’s life force.

Shion had paid the price for hosting a soul far too powerful for his body.

“Gaaahh!! Die!!”

Meanwhile, Rohan, now free from his concussion, rushed forward and stabbed the orc slugger’s leg, while Horaru, having regained his senses, slammed his massive body into the orc.

Boom!

As the orc slugger was flung back, Hachi immediately pounced on him and began smashing his face.

“Shion!! Shion!!”

Yuria ran toward the collapsed Shion.

Hearing her voice, Shion laughed weakly without lifting his head.

“Ha… hahaha… cough…”

We survived.

Just how tenacious was this life of mine?

“Yuria…”

“Shion! Your blood…!!”

Yuria pulled Shion up to sit.

Only then did she see the pool of blood beneath him.

“Sh-Shion!! What do I do?! What do I do?!”

“Yuria… feed me… this…”

“What?”

“This… thing…”

Shion pulled out a stamina tonic from his dimensional pouch.

But he didn’t have the strength to drink it himself, so he asked Yuria to help.

“J-Just a second…”

Yuria quickly opened the tonic and poured it into his mouth.

“Guh…”

Strength returned to his body.

It was like borrowing tomorrow’s energy today.

“We have to… recover the bodies…”

Shion reached out and stored the High Orc warlock’s corpse in his inventory.

“The orcs are coming…! Cough…!”

“Damn it! Shion! Are you okay?!”

The rest of the party rushed toward Shion.

There was no time to ask about the unbelievable roar or the single strike that had split the orc warlock in half.

A horde of High Orcs was approaching.

“We need to hide first!”

“Damn it! We were so close! Horaru! Carry Shion! We’re running to where we hid the bodies!”

“Ugh…!!”

“W-Wait… that bastard’s corpse…”

“Ugh! You’re still worrying about corpses at a time like this?! You crazy porter!! Louis! Raise an earthen wall to cover us!”

“Shit! I’m almost out of mana! Damn it!!”

Louis erected an earthen wall to obscure the party’s movements, and in that moment, Horaru hoisted Shion onto his back and ran toward the orc slugger’s corpse.

“Guh…”

Shion reached out and stored the body.

The party then fled to the building where they had hidden the other corpses, evading the approaching orc horde.

Rohan: Dizziness.

Hachi: Anemia.

Yuria: Joint injury.

Yata and Louis: Mana depletion.

Shion: Exhaustion.

Only Horaru remained unscathed.

It had been a dramatic survival.