Ch.88. Deneb Westia

# Dropped shield?

I don’t need it right now.

“I’m going in!”

Whether my body gets impaled by stems or punches come flying at me, I could at least take the hits and endure.

Besides, I didn’t have to worry about my armor getting damaged anymore.

Except for my helmet and arm guards, everything was practically destroyed anyway, so it didn’t matter if it got smashed while taking hits.

‘Pattern 14.’

The pattern where thick pillars emerge and crush all limbs.

Normally, you’d pray it doesn’t appear because even if you dodge well, you’d still lose an arm, but…

‘Do I care?’

I jumped as high as possible, approaching the creature’s head.

Just as pillars began to rise from the ground, I twisted my body, sacrificing one arm.

-CRASH!

My left arm disintegrated like a bursting insect.

I know it should hurt like hell, but that’s not what matters right now.

What matters most is that I can behead this thing.

‘The eyes.’

At first glance, the Shade Predator appears to have no eyeballs, but they do exist in specific locations, just not visibly.

-SLASH!

I cut horizontally across where its eyes were located.

By focusing solely on power without thinking about the aftermath, I finally managed to inflict a wound.

‘Wounding the eyes stops its pattern for 5 seconds.’

Nevertheless, the Shade Predator’s eyes were among the parts you should never strike.

[‘Predator’s Roar’ engulfs you.]

Because it inflicts a blindness debuff that lasts until the Shade Predator is defeated.

To remove this, you need an upper-level priest skilled in demonic energy fields.

“Priest! I need a purification spell!”

“Yes! I just cast it!”

Wasn’t there already a priest behind me who had detected and tracked this demonic energy?

She must have caught the curse in advance, as my blindness was lifted the moment I spoke.

“Hup-!”

Now it’s time for maximum damage output.

With my left arm already regrown, I gripped my sword with both hands and attacked with all my might.

-BOOM BOOM BOOM!

After 5 seconds passed, when the next pattern should normally begin, several pillars appeared around the Shade Predator.

‘Berserk mode.’

When its health drops below 5%, it becomes invincible for 10 seconds while unleashing massive damage.

The speed is so fast that I was startled the first time I saw it, but actually, no attack is easier to counter.

There are a few unavoidable attacks, but…

‘If I sacrifice both arms, I definitely won’t die.’

Recalling past experiences, I dodged numerous stems and made appropriate sacrifices to smoothly overcome the berserk phase.

By the time I went to pick up my dropped sword, my arms had regrown.

‘A body without consuming Source is good too.’

The more Sources you consume, the slower your regeneration becomes, and it consumes more divine power.

My pure physical body is strong, and that priest over there is simply competent. That’s why this bizarre hunting method was possible.

‘Now, let’s finish this.’

Just as I was about to deliver the final blow,

“If attacks like that continue, it’ll be dangerous, so I’ll support you with a scroll!”

The priest said something strange.

I quickly turned around to see her trying to pull a scroll from her spatial pouch.

From its appearance, it looked like a high-power scroll typically used for exterminating large demon mobs.

She seemed to have been saving it as using it would be excessive, but did she overestimate the monster after seeing its berserk mode?

“No, Priest! We can’t let its attacks target you!”

Only the person who lands the killing blow gets the reward.

“It doesn’t matter! I can regenerate as long as it’s not an instant death!”

Please don’t tear that scroll, it’s a one-hit kill.

“If anyone gets hurt, it should be me! No matter what happens, don’t attack it! If you get hurt even slightly, I won’t let it slide!”

“…”

When I spoke desperately, her eyes trembled as she hesitated for a moment.

Then she closed her eyes, gently nodded, and-

-BOOM!

The pattern started, so I had no time to watch further.

From what I sensed, she seemed to have given up on using the scroll.

After dodging several attacks, taking some hits, and striking back repeatedly…

-CRACK!

Cracks formed on the Shade Predator’s body, and it collapsed instantly.

[The Shade Predator has been defeated.]

[‘Contempt for the Weak’ has been lifted.]

[Rewards will be given to the final striker.]

[Strength and vitality recovery effect increased by 20% (permanent).]

“Hmm.”

After killing it, my body felt much lighter.

It felt like my blood circulated better and movement became easier.

“Explorer! Are you alright?!”

As I was privately experiencing my newfound strength, the priest ran over to me and examined my body.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“You fought with your body in such a terrible state, are you sure?”

Come to think of it, this woman looked familiar.

Golden hair and blue eyes. A pure gaze that seemed untainted by anything dirty.

She had such beautiful features that I wouldn’t have been able to make eye contact if I’d seen her on the street.

‘Though I haven’t met her directly before.’

If she were this pretty, I should definitely remember her.

Not to judge people’s appearances, but if I had to rank her beauty, she was similar to Shiro’s level.

Well, Shiro has a completely sharp impression though.

“Since you say you’re fine, let’s go get those two people over there.”

The two people the priest mentioned were Shiro and the twin-tailed girl, who were leisurely trying to get up after lying down comfortably.

They seemed to have just regained consciousness after receiving healing while unconscious.

“Oh, and just in case, are there any other injured people nearby?”

“No, there shouldn’t be.”

I answered with certainty.

‘Not here anyway.’

The Shade Predator’s domain has one rule, and it’s quite interesting.

If someone doesn’t maintain combat status with the Shade Predator for more than 5 minutes, and they’re more than 50 meters away from it when the domain closes, they’ll be trapped in the domain forever.

‘About three people must be trapped.’

I wasn’t sorry they died.

They didn’t help us, and they had bad personalities. If it weren’t for that spear guy, we wouldn’t have encountered the Shade Predator in the first place.

‘The death of our party member is regrettable though.’

While it’s true that I gained tremendous rewards for killing the Shade Predator, I couldn’t be entirely happy about it.

An innocent person died.

Although they seemed incompetent to me and I didn’t particularly like them…

If asked whether they deserved to die, the answer is absolutely not.

‘…But it’s not particularly important to me.’

However, it wasn’t a particularly sad event for me either.

So I decided to clear my mind.

We headed to the starting point of the second floor, and sure enough, my vision began to blur.

My head felt dizzy, and it was hard to even stand.

“…”

What’s wrong with me now?

***

I gaze at the night sky from the camping site.

I collapsed in the middle of our journey and woke up here. I still don’t know why I collapsed.

Anyway.

That blonde priest was beside me when I first woke up. When she carefully asked what happened, I briefly explained, and she said she would handle all the complicated procedures herself before leaving.

‘At least I learned the priest’s name.’

Airi.

She seemed to have only a first name, no surname.

Apparently, she was also the priest who treated me during the incident on the first floor.

‘But why didn’t I recover immediately back then?’

If that priest Airi had used healing, I should have recovered right away, but why didn’t the recovery work properly then?

I’m curious, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Does everything in the world go according to my wishes?

While thinking this, I sensed someone approaching.

“…Who are you?”

It was the red twin-tailed girl.

On the way here, she was unconscious, so I couldn’t thank her, but this was perfect timing.

“Um, just now…”

“…You’re Adel, right?”

I was about to thank her, but she spoke first.

“I’m sorry about what happened in the forest.”

“What?”

What is she talking about?

***

Airi Westia.

As a priest belonging to Polaris, the second-ranked explorer guild, she reflected on her day while lying in her sleeping bag.

Usually, she would spend this time thinking about things she regretted or planning for tomorrow, but today, her mind was filled with just one person.

‘Sir Adel.’

She had been startled when he suddenly collapsed on the way back to the base camp, but thinking about it now, it made perfect sense.

Healing spells don’t completely restore lost blood.

They restore it partially, but normally, people would faint after regenerating an arm 3-4 times.

He had fought while having his limbs severed dozens of times and being impaled through almost every non-vital part of his body, so it was strange enough that he hadn’t fainted earlier.

Moreover, it was the same during their first meeting.

‘He was in a condition where he could have collapsed or died at any moment.’

He endured the pain of wolf bites festering, tearing, and bursting while rescuing his companions.

If she were to explain his actions to others, they probably wouldn’t believe her.

They would say it was physically impossible.

‘Even if it were physically possible, could an ordinary person do it?’

No, the pain from having flesh torn off and regenerated wasn’t something an ordinary person could endure.

Yet, that person charged forward bravely as if pain didn’t matter at all.

Setting aside his extraordinary mental strength, she had one more question.

Why did he do such things?

‘…He had to do it.’

She didn’t realize it at the time, but thinking about it now, it was obvious.

Though she had only seen it faintly from a distance, before she arrived, he had thrown himself in to save his unconscious companion.

He had tried to sacrifice himself instead of his companion.

That person clearly wouldn’t let others die no matter what.

‘Even when I tried to use the scroll.’

He insisted that if anyone were to get hurt, it should be him alone, trying to sacrifice himself until the end.

Thinking about it now, she felt ashamed for not using the scroll from the beginning.

She was embarrassed that she had unconsciously put the scroll back down.

There was no need for excuses like not knowing what effect the scroll would have since it was the first time such a scroll had been obtained in the Labyrinth.

She was simply inadequate.

Despite holding the position of a priest in Polaris, she lacked the determination to help others.

‘First, we must definitely recruit him into our guild.’

Setting aside her regrets about herself, Airi looked at reality again.

Such a person should shine even brighter.

‘Someday, I’d like to see him as an equal.’

Polaris priest, Airi.

She wasn’t hoping to become equal to the mid-level priest status she was currently pretending to be.

To be more precise about the “equal position” she mentioned:

[Deneb Westia, priest of the Polaris 9th floor assault team.]

Deneb Westia.

She had developed a great interest in the man called Adel.

‘I should go to the guild master first.’

Before others noticed him, she had to bring Adel to her side.

For that, she would need a suitable gift.

‘I’ll have to use the maximum available budget.’

Deneb planned to invest at least 50 million Ars in Adel in the future.

With 50 million Ars, one could buy a house and still have money left over.

Indeed.

She was so competent that her sense of money had collapsed.