Ch.139First Contact Full of Questions

‘BANG!’

One shot to the mask on his face.

One shot to his right hand holding the gun.

One shot to his left hand carrying the bag.

One shot to the center of his torso.

And one shot to each thigh.

The miraculous six-shot volley that had once destroyed even the Minotaur’s robust body now pierced through the Gentleman’s entire body, sending him flying backward.

It was excessive force, clear overkill for a mere drug dealer.

The sudden drain of magical power made my head spin and my body go limp, but I managed to grit my teeth and endure.

“Will, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m hanging in there.”

Mina steadied my staggering body with her dwarven strength, while Jessica removed the drug’s magical effects from Remy’s husband’s corpse.

“I’ve removed the explosion spell from the corpse. It won’t explode even if there are other activation conditions besides the Gentleman’s control.”

“Next, we need to find the gang leader… he’s supposed to be an old man nearly 60, right?”

“First, we need to confirm the Gentleman is really dead. I’ll go up and check.”

“Ah, please do. And while you’re at it, retrieve his gun and bag.”

“Got it.”

Seti, with her nimble movements, easily jumped up to where the Gentleman had been standing.

Landing on the rocky cliff several meters above, she glanced at the bag and gun lying right in front of her, then turned her gaze toward the direction where the Gentleman’s body had flown, and—

“…Ugh!?”

‘CLANG!’

She barely blocked a surprise attack from a large shadow flying from inside, then fell back down the cliff.

Seti kicked off the wall, spinning her body to land safely.

The dark shadow that had pounced on her landed just a few steps away from where we stood.

“…What is that?”

“Is that the Gentleman’s real face?”

The creature glaring at us with an expression full of rage was wearing the Gentleman’s coat, but it was unlike any native species or colonist I knew.

Its height and body proportions were roughly similar to humans or elves, but its skin was deathly pale without a hint of blood. Its ears were pointed at the tips, but not as elongated as those of elves.

Most distinctive were its eyes—the whites were completely black around the pupils.

And there was a third eye, vertically split, in the middle of its forehead.

That must be why it had been wearing a mask—to hide those eyes.

“Jessica, what species is that? Or is it a monster?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Does anyone recognize it?”

“No idea. I’ve never heard of such a creature.”

Jessica, the veteran adventurer, as well as Phyllis the elf, Mina, and Seti all shook their heads.

What was certain was that this was the true identity of the Gentleman, the drug supplier to the Blackheart Gang.

And it was displaying fierce hostility toward the five of us.

“Ruined…”

“Hm?”

“RUINED! Everything is ruined! You’ve messed everything up because of you!”

Gone was the gentlemanly tone, and the pale creature before us was screaming and pulling at its hair like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Who the hell are you people!? Dispelling Black Wine’s effects in one go, firing bullets at invisible speeds, and even forcing me to reveal my true form that should never have been exposed! What kind of people are you to keep doing impossible things?!”

“Even if you ask who we are… I can only answer that we’re just passing adventurers.”

I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to call the combination of a gunman from another world, a mage who inherited the Great Sage’s magic, the first female cat-folk adventurer, a dwarven artifact maker, and an elven guardian just “passing adventurers,” but…

The three-eyed man didn’t seem to like my answer much. He pulled out long claws from both hands and wrapped them in a dark energy.

Even at a glance, I could tell it was an ominous energy made of black magical power.

“Unknown monster freaks! I’ll kill you all!”

“Hey, hey, don’t you think when faced with an unknown entity, we should get to know each other through conversation?”

“SHUT UUUUP!”

The three-eyed man charged forward with his black aura-enveloped claws, and Seti swung her spear to meet him.

A metallic sound that couldn’t possibly be from claws meeting a spear echoed throughout the night canyon.

‘CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!’

“Damn it! What the hell! Why won’t it break! What is that weapon made of?!”

“The Fairy Queen’s Silver Bell.”

‘CLANG!’

Seti bent backward to avoid a claw attack, then used her body’s elasticity to deliver a powerful thrust. The three-eyed man brought both hands forward to block the attack.

But there were five of us against one. We couldn’t leave Seti to handle this man alone.

“Stone Bullet!”

“Lightning Bolt {Accelerated Thunder Shot}!”

‘RAT-TAT-TAT!’

“GAAAAH!?”

White magical bullets from my single-action revolver, rapidly spinning stone projectiles, and white lightning that pierces through everything struck the three-eyed man’s body.

Where the attacks hit, instead of red blood, something like black ink began to drip, and the three-eyed man tried to rush toward Jessica again but was once more blocked by Seti.

“I’ll kill youuuu!”

‘WHOOSH’

Seti avoided the downward claw attack with a back jump.

The sharp claws that missed their target hit the ground, sending stone fragments flying in all directions.

The three-eyed man charged at Seti again, bloodshot eyes intent on piercing her body with those sharp claws, but as Seti twisted her body and stepped aside once more, a new danger descended upon the three-eyed man.

“Bang!”

‘BANG!’

“Guhk!?”

Dozens of magical bullets poured out from Mina’s large-caliber pistol, with all potential focused on power.

This was the moment when the utility of being able to freely switch between large magical bullets, shotgun shells, and explosive rounds by changing the barrel truly shone.

“Opening.”

‘SLASH!’

“GYAAAAA-!!”

A sharp slash followed immediately.

The three-eyed man, who had staggered after being hit with shotgun shells all over his body, writhed in pain from a large wound on his right arm.

His face, dripping black blood, was filled with disbelief and doubt rather than fear.

“Why… how…?”

“For all your big talk and wild movements, your skills aren’t much. The dark elf I fought recently was much stronger.”

“Dark elf…? Svart is better than me…”

The three-eyed man, who had been rampaging non-stop, seemed shocked by the statement that “the dark elf is stronger than you” and stood still, dropping his combat stance.

As his contorted face calmed down, I could almost see an overlap with the image of the masked gentleman he had been before.

“Oh, what’s this? Surrendering?”

“……”

“Hey, say something. You were making such a racket just a moment ago, and now you’re exercising your right to remain silent?”

“…Shut up.”

‘BOOM-!’

Along with the three-eyed man’s coldly delivered voice came the sound of an explosion from afar.

Everyone’s expressions hardened as we realized what that sound meant.

As if mocking us, the sounds of human bombs exploding repeated at increasingly rapid intervals.

‘BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!’

“What are you doing?! Stop this right now!?”

“This is what I should have done from the start. Things I was planning to discard anyway, and with my plans in ruins, there’s no need to leave them behind.”

‘BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!…’

The explosions that had been coming from all directions suddenly quieted, and an eerie silence fell over the night canyon that had been filled with the shouts of guards and outlaws.

I felt more bewilderment than anger at the fact that all remaining members of the Blackheart Gang had been blown up, but there was no time to express those emotions.

“Wha-!?”

“T-This is!?”

“…!!”

An ominous magical power converged from all directions, as if dyeing the night sky a different color.

Earthling, Grantis colonist, elf, dwarf, cat-folk.

Regardless of origin or race, everyone could sense the approach of this unusual energy.

“Congratulations, adventurers. With this, the Blackheart Gang has been completely wiped out.”

“You bastard…!”

“No need to get angry, is there? They were people you couldn’t have saved no matter what. Even with your impressive dispelling magic, just removing the Black Wine wouldn’t have saved them. You should know that from experience, right?”

The three-eyed man spoke, referencing the case of the female outlaw we had captured in Northern Fortress.

Even though I understood this fact intellectually, having it thrust at me in this way was not pleasant.

“The golden tower I spent years building has crumbled because of you all. You’ve saved the world, they say. Don’t worry about the lives of trash—rejoice to your heart’s content.”

“Oh? I thought you were just a suspicious drug dealer, but it turns out you’re the great demon king trying to destroy the world?”

“…You. Black-haired gunman. What exactly are you?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Just a passing adventurer.”

“Cut the crap. Someone who casually tramples and crushes Armedia’s taboos with every action and word is just an adventurer?”

“Armedia?”

I hadn’t expected to hear that name here—the same name we’d discovered in the ruins of Evernight Mountain.

Does this three-eyed man have some connection to the ancient religion worshipped by humans?

“What exactly is this Armedia? The name of a deity worshipped in ancient times? Or a place name?”

“Heh… you don’t seem to be playing dumb. You really don’t know?”

The three-eyed man smirked, and at that moment, the oppressive feeling of the ominous magical power around us lightened considerably.

“Fine, I was originally planning to reclaim my fragmented powers and kill all of you and the fortress guards… but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll give you a gift.”

“A gift?”

“■■■-■■■-■■■■■!!”

As the three-eyed man shouted in a bizarre voice with unrecognizable pronunciation, the ominous magical power that had been spreading around began to gather toward a rocky cliff some distance away.

Eventually, the intensifying ominous magic took form like a heat haze, becoming dense enough to be visible, and when that black haze had gathered thickly in one corner of the cliff—

‘FLASH!’

“Whoa!?”

“Eek!”

A dazzling flash of light momentarily illuminated the surroundings, and in its place appeared an arch-shaped stone structure that looked like the entrance to a temple.

While I was thinking that its appearance seemed somehow familiar, Jessica muttered in a trembling voice.

“This can’t be… he created… a dungeon…?”

“A dungeon!?”

After hearing Jessica’s words, I looked at the stone structure again.

The structure, which looked like an entrance leading into the solid rock face, was indeed similar to the entrances of the Plague Dungeon or the Minotaur’s Dungeon.

No, if you imagined a magical gate to a dungeon opening inside the arch structure, it was exactly like a dungeon entrance.

“Wait! The Gentleman… no, the black-eyed man has disappeared!”

At Phyllis’s urgent cry, I hurriedly looked around, but the three-eyed man was nowhere to be seen.

“Tch, did he escape…?”

“Don’t let your guard down. He might still be hiding nearby.”

‘I’m neither hiding nor running away.’

“Huh!?”

The three-eyed man’s voice echoed around us like an echo, unlike his previous aggressive tone, it now sounded somewhat friendly and pleased.

‘I spent some power to create a dungeon. You like finding treasures in dungeons, don’t you? The door will open in 150 hours, so prepare well and enjoy yourselves to the fullest.’

“Who exactly are you? An ancient being? Or some unknown species the colonists don’t know about?”

‘If you’re curious, find out for yourselves. Who I am, and what meaning today’s meeting holds. Eventually, we’ll meet again.’

“If possible, I’d prefer not to meet again. I’m busy enough having fun and exciting adventures with my women.”

‘Hehehe… is that really up to you? Blame yourself for learning the name Armedia.’

“I’m asking you what this Armedia is… Hey, come on!”

The faint presence that had been lingering around completely disappeared, and the three-eyed man’s voice was heard no more.

All that remained at the scene were the Gentleman’s gun and bag, and the entrance to the new dungeon that had appeared in the rock face.

“What on earth is going on…?”

“I don’t know what’s what either. I’ve never heard of a species with three black eyes, and creating a dungeon defies common sense.”

“At any rate, I’m glad everyone is safe. That black-eyed man was clearly taken aback by our combat abilities, but he was definitely not an opponent we could underestimate.”

“The baby’s daddy… we couldn’t save him.”

“It couldn’t be helped. If what he said is true, once the drug was used, it was already impossible to return to normal.”

“Thanks to Jessica removing the spell, at least the corpse didn’t explode… but it will disappear before we can transport it to Northern Fortress.”

As we were mulling over our feelings of relief at having overcome the immediate crisis and a certain sadness, we heard the sound of commotion in the distance.

It seemed the Northern Fortress guards had reached this area.

“Let’s first retrieve the Gentleman’s dropped possessions. We’ll say we discovered this dungeon…”

“And keep the black-eyed man a secret for now?”

“Yeah, given the connection to the name Armedia, it seems related to the Arcane Word as well.”

Although not every outcome was satisfactory, the Blackheart Gang incident had been resolved for now.

We could deal with the dungeon, the three-eyed man, and Armedia one by one, step by step.

We retrieved the Gentleman’s gun and drug bag that had been left on the cliff and waited for the fortress guards to arrive.