episode_0018

Skeletons swarming in like a tidal wave.

Unlike the skeletons from the hidden dungeon, these emit a blue light from their chests and are equipped with all sorts of weapons and armor.

Of course, they’re still just skeletons, so they’re not strong, but we were gradually being pushed back by their overwhelming numbers.

Thwack!!!

Skeletons shatter into pieces with a single kick from Kairek.

And when he tries to swing the bow he’s holding, it slips from his hand.

“Tch!!”

Of course, there was no chance of the skeletons injuring Kairek.

The skeletons shatter just by him swinging his arm.

I even started to wonder if he should just switch to being a martial artist.

Grace also swiftly cuts away at the skeletons’ joints, causing them to vanish into the darkness.

Hans is just diligently blocking them.

Luca is in the situation of swinging her double-edged axe.

But the atmosphere on the battlefield is unsettling.

As they start to get pushed back by the endless wave of skeletons, the party members begin to feel uneasy.

That’s understandable.

They don’t know about my power.

『20 seconds until the next draw… 19…』

If I can buy time until the next draw, it’s my victory.

Unlike if they came at me one at a time like at first, black mages who summon fodder are no match for me.

Adjusting the [Butcher’s Gloves], I hide behind Hans’ shield and shout.

“Just buy me 20 seconds!!!”

Then, hearing my words, Luca dashes forward and slams her axe into the ground, shouting towards the sky.

“Waaaaaah!!”

As her mana-filled voice resounds, numerous skeletons turn to look at her.

And the skeletons immediately begin to run towards Luca.

[Provoke]

The skill that made me decide to recruit Luca.

“Haaap!!!”

Soon, a blue light settles on her axe, and it starts to spin rapidly.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!!!

The skeletons are pulverized.

Bones fly in all directions before turning into darkness and disappearing.

Realizing that this alone wouldn’t work, the black mage summons bone golems from the darkness.

Three bone golems approaching.

Kwaaaaang!!!

With just one shot.

The bone golem is shattered by Kairek’s arrow.

Kairek’s accuracy is lacking to call him a professional archer, but he can easily destroy such large targets with his immense power.

“A bone golem in one shot?!”

The black mage’s voice echoes with bewilderment.

But, unconcerned, the black mage continues to create and send bone golems.

Shwaaaaaaa!!!!

The bone golems can’t withstand Kairek’s firepower, and each one is destroyed with a single shot.

Then suddenly, Grace turns her head.

“Something’s coming from the left!!!”

Before Grace could finish her sentence, Hans moved to my left.

Clang!!

Hans blocks a massive red blade.

If Grace hadn’t noticed, I would have been instantly sliced in half.

『5 seconds until the next draw… 4…』

Grace issues commands with her outstanding detection abilities, and in accordance with those commands, Hans and Kairek are in charge of defense and offense, respectively.

Luca goes into the midst of it and stirs up the formation, drawing aggro.

I created it, but it’s a better party than I thought.

『0 seconds until the next draw.』

I should do my part, too.

『It’s your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

[Incinerate (3)] [Bash (1)] [Whirlwind (3)] [Darkness (1)] [Barrier (2)]

I throw a card.

[Whirlwind]

A strong whirlwind forms around my body and begins to rotate around me.

I manipulate the whirlwind.

Unlike when I fought Jay, there’s no need to create a wide area.

Concentrate on destructive power.

Narrow the range and compress it.

Spin it even faster.

Shwaaaaaaa!!!!

The powerful wind begins to cut and shatter the bones of all the surrounding skeletons.

The fragments of the grinding bones rise into the sky and become darkness.

The skeletons visible in the darkness begin to disappear one by one.

『[Butcher’s Gloves] consumes blood.』

『Energy increases by 1, and draw 1 card.』

『Energy increases by 1, and draw 1 card.』

『Energy increases by 1, and draw 1 card.』

『Energy increases by 1…』

『Energy…』

Before I knew it, my hand was full.

Unfortunately, the card limit is 10, so no more cards can be drawn.

But I have plenty of energy.

『Energy 47/3』

[Incinerate (3)] [Bash (1)] [Darkness (1)] [Barrier (2)] + [Terrain Manipulation (3)] [Bash (1)] [Charge (1)] [Lightning (3)] [Pause (1)] [Wind Blade (0)]

The skeletons are still rushing at us.

But their momentum has lessened a bit.

It’s not like a black mage can summon skeletons endlessly.

I’ll finish this here.

I throw two cards.

[Charge] – [Lightning]

Zzzzzzzzz!!!

Conscious of the powerful lightning gathering in my hand, I read the mana.

The fact that the black mage interfered with my reading of mana means that I can also block or interfere with it.

Even if I fail, I can still confirm his location, so it doesn’t matter.

“……!!!!”

I found him.

Then a powerful mana surge is transmitted to me.

This is reverse tracking.

Moving the mana as if I were using Terrain Manipulation, I counteract that surge.

I feel a slight pain in my head, but it’s different from before.

I’ve pinpointed the black mage’s location and succeeded in partially blocking it.

[Lightning]

A powerful bolt of lightning flies towards the black mage’s upper body.

Seeing that, the black mage quickly puts up a dark shield.

As if that would work.

Clang!!!!

A bolt of lightning slips through the shattered dark shield and pierces the black mage’s body.

Thud.

『Check your card rewards.』

[Leap (1)] [Blood Pact (1)] [Mana Overload (0)]

All cards that I’ve seen at least once.

[Leap (1)] – Jump high.

[Blood Pact (1)] – Take damage. Draw 3 cards.

[Mana Overload (0)] – Energy is doubled. Energy decreases by 1 on the next turn.

First, I’ll pass on [Leap].

Either draw or energy.

Actually, I want to take both.

Normally, draw would take priority, but.

Since my deck has a high proportion of 3-cost cards, energy would be good too.

After all, you don’t look at the absolute value of a card; you pick based on the state of the deck.

I choose [Mana Overload (0)].

“Why is there a black mage here?”

Grace was kicking the dried-up corpse of the black mage and poking at it with her foot.

“Not only that, but the Sea of Poison is also rising. Don’t you know anything?”

“Whenever something strange happens in the labyrinth, the answer is usually black mages. They can manipulate the labyrinth.”

“…I see.”

The change in the labyrinth is related to the black mage?

If so, it makes sense.

I couldn’t understand how a regular back-alley junkie like Jay had released a goblin hero into the labyrinth.

If a black mage had intervened in the meantime, the story would hold up.

But it’s strange that they would hire a black mage to eliminate a clan that only explored the first or second floor.

I feel like I’m missing something.

“First, since the Sea of Poison is rising, let’s go up quickly.”

Of course, now is not the time to think about it, so I start running, following Grace’s guidance.

“Can’t we just wait for a red portal to go outside?”

“Once you’ve seen the black mages, it’s best not to expect much. I heard that they manipulate the red portals to make you go to a weird place or something.”

“Why can black mages manipulate labyrinths?”

“Because the god they serve is the one who created the labyrinths. Or something.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The evil god created the labyrinths in the first place.”

I’m learning this for the first time.

But judging from the fact that the others aren’t surprised, is this common sense?

“But black mages have never done anything this big before. I have a bad feeling about this.”

As Grace said, the atmosphere is unusual.

In the distance, I can hear sounds of fighting, explosions, and collapses.

“First, let’s try to avoid the places where the fighting sounds are coming from as much as possible.”

The party members move, following Grace’s guidance.

While running, I threw a card for testing.

[Terrain Manipulation]

Moving the terrain has no effect.

I guess because it’s made of just tree trunks, Terrain Manipulation doesn’t work.

I can’t just lift the terrain and go up, huh.

Leaving my disappointment behind, I switch decks.

『Deck has been switched.』

『Current Deck: Paladin’s Deck.』

『Time until the next possible change: 0:59:59』

Since the current situation is flowing in an incomprehensible direction, I should prepare for it.

I was originally going to match it slowly, but the situation has changed.

I have to finish the second deck as quickly as possible, even if it’s forcibly.

*

Running through the forest at a moderate speed.

Monsters and black mages are visible with just a little movement.

We avoid all the ones that look dangerous.

But that doesn’t mean we can avoid all combat.

“It’s a Nepenthes!!”

A massive Nepenthes blocking the way up.

Yellow liquid was flowing from the mouth of the plant with the large mouth.

I could tell at a glance that you would melt the moment you touched that.

“I’ll take it on!!”

Swish!!!

The Nepenthes is torn apart and sent flying in all directions with a single arrow from Kairek. The liquid inside spread around.

『Check your card rewards.』

I checked the rewards while running.

There was one card among them that I wanted.

[Asceticism (0)] – Consume health and gain 3 energy.

I needed energy anyway, so it’s perfect.

Of course, I lose health, but I can somehow solve that.

After choosing the rewards and avoiding the monsters as much as possible to move, I discovered a large light in the distance.

“Wait!! I see a light!!!”

“Let’s go there! There might be other people there!”

Maybe we can get information.

Or maybe we can join forces to defeat the black mages.

With that hopeful observation, I was climbing the tree trunk towards the light.

Kwaaaaang!!!

Thump!! Thwack!!!

The sounds of battle that I began to hear as I got closer and closer.

Powerful magic flew and struck the tree trunk next to us. Powerful sword attacks that were visible to the eye passed by us.

It couldn’t be a good situation.

And bad things always seem to happen one after another.

People rushing down from the opposite side of the path we were climbing.

“People are coming down?”

All the adventurers coming down were trembling with fear.

What are they running away from?

Naturally, I looked up above them.

“W, what is that!!!”

Everyone stopped and stared blankly above.

Dark mana that felt almost futile was surging massively.

A hooded avatar was slumped over like the Grim Reaper.

His gleaming eyes were looking down.

I couldn’t move.

My head went blank, and fear stirred in my brain.

The rest of my party seemed to be the same, all frozen in place.

But there was only one person.

“Wake up!!!!!”

Kairek was fine.

“Run away right now!!!!”

Unlike his usual pure and foolish self, his voice was strong and heavy.

The fear that filled my head disappeared at the sound of his voice.

『Command: Run away.』

『Command: Run away.』

『Command: Run away.』

I got rid of the status window blocking my view and started running away.

I have to get out of here before more people come down from above and I get caught up in the crowd.

[Acceleration]

Before I knew it, Grace’s skill was activated and everyone’s body became faster.

As we quickly ran down the slope, screams began to be heard from behind.

Kwaaaaang!!!

A powerful shockwave spread out.

With the avatar as the center, a strong shockwave pushed away and destroyed everything around it.

Our fleeing party was not immune to the impact.

“Ugh!!!”

I try to grab onto the stem and hold on, but even the tree trunk breaks apart, exposing the innards.

“Aaaaaaaah!!!”

I, who was particularly weak among the party members, couldn’t withstand the shockwave and was blown away.

“Mr. Ivan!!!”

Grace reaches out her hand, but she can’t grab it.

At this rate, I’ll fly far away and die.

Then, one person comes running up urgently.

“…I got you.”

It was Luca.

But even if she caught me in the air, I would still be caught up in the shockwave.

Luca and I fly away into the distance.

“Aaaaaaaah!!!”

I thought I was going to die like this.

Suddenly, Luca pulls me hard.

“Hold on tight.”

The double-edged axe glowed and then increased in size.

Thwack!!!

While flying, she sticks it into a tree trunk, slowing down our speed.

But it’s not enough yet.

The axe blade coming out of the tree trunk.

“Tch.”

Luca struck the axe into the next tree trunk again.

She succeeded in embedding it properly this time.

And then Luca rotated in a spiral along the tree trunk.

Soon, the acceleration caused by the shockwave decreased.

And then we slid straight down and were able to land on a suitable tree trunk.

“Are you okay?”

“Haa……. No.”

Actually, it’s a little hard.

The shockwave twisted my whole body.

“…….”

I almost collapsed as it was.

『Murderous intent detected. Draw 5 cards.』

[Slash (1)] [Slash (1)] [Slash (1)] [Baptism (1)] [Holy Strike (2)]

Seeing a black mage approaching, I braced myself.

Why are there so many black mages on the 2nd floor of the labyrinth?

“Another soul rises to the Evil God….”

The black mage pulled out black mana while making his strange sounds.

I threw a card.

[Holy Strike]

Swish.

As the 4 cards I was holding disappeared into the air.

4 lights form around my body.

The 4 lights fly and pierce the black mage’s body.

It seemed like he put up some kind of shield, but the black mage fell easily.

He’s a foot soldier unlike the guy I fought earlier?

“Damn it….”

At that moment, the black mage was about to do something weird.

Slice!!

“Keeaaaaaack!!!”

One of the black mage’s arms was cut off.

The cut surface was a blue color.

“Hmm.”

Luca, who had already squatted down above the black mage.

She opened her mouth with an axe blade embedded halfway into his leg.

“Why are there so many of you?”

“I, I can’t say anything…”

Paaa!!!

One of the black mage’s legs had been cut off.

I frowned at the sight, but Luca didn’t seem to care.

“Tell me. I’ll kill you comfortably if you tell me.”

“O, on this day, the Evil God’s apostle made his first move……!!”

Suddenly, blood gushed from the black mage’s mouth.

As if he had said something he shouldn’t have said.

“It’s always like this.”

Luca, as if familiar with the situation, retrieves her axe and gets up.

Our eyes met.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

“…What are you going to do?”

“First, we should go up and reunite with our companions. But before that…”

I put my hand on the ground and spread out my senses.

The black mages were easy to find because their mana was openly corrupted.

However, whether it was because the black mage I met at first was of a high level or not.

The black mages here didn’t even try to reverse track me even though I was reading their mana.

In that case, Luca and I alone should be able to handle them well enough.

“I need to know what’s happening on the 2nd floow now.”

“Are we going to hunt black mages? I’m fine with it.”

Before leaving, I checked the rewards.

『Check your card rewards.』

[Eternal Light] [Holy Explosion] [Wave of Light]

All the attack cards had ambiguous performance.

I didn’t need them so I didn’t choose them.

“Where shall we go first?”

“First, the right.”

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

『Deck List』

『Paladin’s Deck』

[Slash] [Slash] [Slash] [Slash] [Slash]

[Defense] [Defense] [Defense] [Defense] [Baptism]

[Holy Strike (2) – Vanish]

[Gate to Heaven] [Lord’s Mercy] [Asceticism (NEW)]

6 Attack Cards

7 Skill Cards

1 Power Card

0 Curse Cards

Total of 14 Cards