Ch.98The Broken, The Fallen, and…

“Mmmoooooo-!!”

“Aaaaargh!!”

After taking a direct hit from the fireball and dropping its axe, the Minotaur swung Rick’s corpse—now reduced to a lump of meat—as a weapon.

Though shocked by the horrific scene unfolding before his eyes, Peter’s survival instinct—honed through years as an adventurer—activated the defensive ability of his cutlass.

*Thwack!*

He successfully blocked the corpse of his former comrade with a shield of magical energy, but witnessing his companion’s body shatter into pieces right before his eyes was more than enough to completely shatter Peter’s mental state.

“Ugh…aaaaargh! Uweeeeek!!”

Peter collapsed on the spot and began vomiting, disregarding the Minotaur standing right in front of him.

Even I, who couldn’t see clearly from behind Peter, was barely holding back my nausea. The shock Peter experienced, directly witnessing that scene through the translucent magic shield, must have been beyond words.

“Aaaaargh! Sp-spreading! Spreading is bl-?!”

Hector, who arrived a step too late and witnessed the carnage, tried to use an attack spell while in a state of panic, but his pronunciation became tangled, preventing him from properly activating it.

It was a total disaster. The chain reaction triggered by Rick’s death was rapidly collapsing our battle line.

“Mmmoooooo-!!”

But a merciless killer doesn’t hesitate just because his opponents are shocked and disgraced by their comrade’s terrible death.

After just two swings, the Minotaur discarded Rick’s body—now useless as a weapon—and threw a massive fist toward Peter.

“Snap out of it, Peter!”

*Thwack*

“Guhack!!”

Peter heard my shout and barely managed to raise his cutlass, but without deploying the magic shield in time, he took the Minotaur’s punch head-on.

Even in a defensive stance, the power was far too overwhelming for human strength to withstand.

Seeing Peter fall helplessly, Hector, sensing the crisis, gritted his teeth and completed his spell.

“Spreading is, a brilliant lightning! Revolving Spark Striker!”

Five electric spheres appeared at the tip of his staff, flying relentlessly and creating flashing lights.

“Aaaaargh! Die! Die! You crazy bull bastard!”

Five shots fired, then another five, and then five more.

The continuously replenishing Revolving Striker truly lived up to Hector’s reputation as his ultimate spell.

“Mmmoooooo-!!”

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

But even as its body was constantly being shocked by electricity, the Minotaur slowly rose and began approaching me.

Even when I hit its legs and head with my earth-attribute revolver, it only hesitated momentarily before regaining its posture.

Behind the Minotaur, Hector’s expression twisted hideously as he continued pouring out his magic.

“You inferior bull-headed monster! Don’t! Ignore! Meeeee!!”

Stopping the rapid fire of Revolving Striker, Hector slammed his staff into the ground, and vast amounts of magical energy—visible to the naked eye—began flowing from his body.

Even the Minotaur, who had been focused solely on clearing obstacles in its path, couldn’t ignore such an ominous display of power. For the first time, it turned its head toward the nuisance behind it.

“What seeps in is the whisper of destruction, what gathers are fragments of the sun! Beyond crimson, beyond blazing flames, to the realm of blinding white incandescence!”

Magical symbols swirled around the gem at the tip of his staff, and scorching heat began spreading from Hector’s direction.

I could guess this was the moment of manifestation for what Jessica once told me about—the mages’ ultimate technique, “Grand Magic.”

“That crazy bastard!?”

Though I didn’t know what Hector’s grand magic entailed, judging from the incantation and the heat gathering around him, it was likely fire or explosion-based.

It wasn’t hard to predict what would happen if he used such magic indoors.

As I was fleeing, thinking I should run to the end of the corridor and turn the corner, I discovered Phyllis collapsed unconscious after just a few steps.

I could confirm she was barely breathing, but it was certain she wouldn’t survive if Hector’s grand magic was completed.

“Stop it, Hector! There are three of us here!”

“Hahaha! Hahahahaha! All who ignore me shall disappear!!”

A glowing magic circle appeared beneath the maniacally laughing Hector’s feet.

The completion of the grand magic was imminent—was there anywhere I could hide with Phyllis?

As I desperately looked around, I spotted Peter’s cutlass rolling on the floor.

It must have flown near Phyllis when he was hit by the Minotaur.

“First time handling this thing…please work!”

I picked up the cutlass and concentrated my magical energy, recalling the sensation of activating the magic igniter, and the translucent magic shield revealed its impressive form.

“Sorry, Peter! I can’t protect you too!!”

I embraced Phyllis’s body and held out the widely spread magic shield.

Praying that Hector’s magic wouldn’t exceed this magic sword’s defensive capabilities, I tightly shut my eyes.

“Blow away everything that stands in my way without leaving even a speck of dust! Grand-!!”

*Thwack!*

Grand.

A remarkably simple spell name contrasting with the lengthy incantation, accompanied by an equally simple bursting sound.

Expecting at least a gas explosion, or exaggeratedly, a localized nuclear blast, I was puzzled by the absence of heat or pressure beyond the shield and opened my eyes slightly.

What my narrowed eyes saw was the back of the Minotaur in a throwing stance, and Hector’s body slowly falling backward with a large axe embedded in his head, blood pouring profusely.

*Thud*

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

A mage who had lost all aggro, without allies to protect him, exposing himself completely while chanting for over 30 seconds.

There was more than enough time to deal with him, whether by charging in for a ram or picking up and throwing a fallen axe.

An enemy with common sense might have prioritized defense out of fear, like I just did, sensing the ominous atmosphere.

But coincidentally, this Minotaur was a berserker—a mad warrior who feared no death—and would never make such a choice.

“Shit…!”

Rick and Hector were dead on the spot.

Peter and Phyllis were incapacitated.

Jessica and Seth hadn’t arrived yet, and Mina’s location was unclear—now only I could stop the Minotaur.

“Mmmm…”

With all the prey it was chasing and the nuisances pursuing it now fallen, only one insignificant human male remained.

Showing no interest in Mina who had fled early, the Minotaur picked up the other axe from the floor and slowly faced me.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got, you bastard.”

I put my loaded revolver back in its holster, gripped the cutlass with both hands, and stepped forward five paces.

Now I stood within reach of the Minotaur’s axe.

Having confirmed the performance of the magic shield through Peter, I had no choice but to tenaciously hold out alone until the Throne of Madness was destroyed.

“Mmmoooo-!!”

*Clang-!!*

I blocked the fiercely swung double-bladed axe with the magic shield.

It was miraculous how this shield could withstand the heavy axe wielded by a giant berserker head-on.

But with each block, I physically felt the limitations of this magical cutlass’s defensive capabilities.

‘I seem to be losing strength gradually, and my vision is getting blurry. Is this what it feels like to consume magical energy?’

Magical depletion.

I vaguely remembered hearing that such symptoms occur when one’s internal magical energy begins to bottom out.

But I had never experienced these symptoms even after firing dozens of shots with my revolver, so I thought magical depletion was a concern only for mages who consumed large amounts of magic at once.

*Clang-! Clang-!!*

“Damn it, at this rate…!”

Facing the Minotaur’s fierce attacks, I grew anxious, and the image of Peter fighting flashed through my mind.

Unlike me, who had kept the magic shield activated continuously since preparing for Hector’s grand magic, Peter had only activated the shield right before receiving monster attacks.

That was probably his own know-how to minimize the magical energy consumed by the shield’s activation.

‘It’s all or nothing!’

I steeled myself and cut off the magical energy flowing into the cutlass.

If I continued fighting with the shield constantly activated, it was obvious I would collapse from magical depletion in less than 10 minutes, perhaps not even 5.

My only option was to fight like Peter and buy as much time as possible.

“Come on!”

“Mmmm-!!”

*Clang!*

I activated the magic shield at a precarious moment, deflecting the descending double-bladed axe.

No matter how fast the Minotaur swung its axe, it couldn’t match a gunslinger’s quick draw.

“One-on-one dueling isn’t so bad after all!”

Once, twice, and again.

After blocking more than ten axe attacks this way, the Minotaur’s strikes began to intensify.

The sight of prey much smaller and weaker than itself repeatedly deflecting attacks was provoking the berserker’s rage.

*Clang! Clang!*

“Mmmoooo-!!”

Even though I blocked the Minotaur’s weight-driven attacks with the cutlass’s magic shield, I couldn’t suppress their momentum, and I had already retreated three steps from where I initially stood.

‘Tch, if I retreat any further, Phyllis will be within attack range…!!’

Perhaps such desperate thoughts summoned a miracle.

The moment everyone had been desperately waiting for finally arrived.

*BOOM–!!*

“Keeeeek!?”

A sound and vibration much larger and heavier than the fireball explosion shook the dungeon.

Simultaneously, the Minotaur, who had been positioning itself to unleash attacks, suddenly dropped its axe and began clutching its chest in agony.

Realizing the nature of the explosion, I threw the cutlass over my head and reached for the reliable partner at my waist.

“!!”

The moment my right hand extended toward my waist, despite keeping my eyes fixed on the enemy before me, my danger perception skill activated.

But all I felt was the familiar sensation of time slowing down—I couldn’t find any sign of approaching death anywhere.

Rather, it felt as if that sense of death was extending from my right hand, through the revolver’s grip, toward the Minotaur—a mysterious experience.

Following that sensation, I drew my gun, and I instinctively knew this quick draw was faster and more precise than any moment in my past.

I aimed at the Minotaur’s head and pulled the trigger for the first shot.

Firing the initial bullet by pulling the trigger, I suppressed the recoil by tightening my grip while maintaining aim with the trigger still pulled.

The second, third, and continuing fanning.

Time slowed even further, and only after completing the fifth fanning did I realize the first golden magic bullet had left the revolver’s barrel.

*BAAAAANG-!!*

With a sensation like everything before my eyes exploded in white, time returned to its normal flow, and a massive gunshot sound—impossible for a pistol to produce—struck my eardrums.

Opening my eyes that I had unconsciously squinted, I looked at where the Minotaur had been standing, and there was the half-man, half-beast’s massive body slowly falling sideways, its head completely gone.

*Boom-*

A brilliantly shining golden star on the dungeon wall, at the height where the Minotaur’s head had been.

That was the last sight I saw before losing consciousness.