episode_0087

I looked up.

A man from the clergy, torn limb from limb, lay dead.

The moment I saw him, a thought crossed my mind.

‘……What happened to Clara?’

Suddenly, as I pondered that, I realized something strange about myself.

Even after witnessing such a gruesome sight, I felt no disturbance—only that thought.

I must have grown quite accustomed to this labyrinth.

At any rate, the important thing was—

“If a member of the clergy is dead, what about the others?” “What should we do?” “W-we should run.”

The clan members were on the verge of panic.

This wasn’t good.

We already had no idea what was going on, and if the party descended into chaos, the risk would only grow.

“Everyone, quiet.”

I infused my voice with fighting spirit, silencing them all.

For now, I was still more accustomed to wielding fighting spirit than mana.

At my words, the clan members turned to look at me.

Eyes filled with expectation, confusion, hesitation—each held a different emotion.

But one thing was certain: they would follow my orders.

‘Still, how should we proceed?’

I considered our options.

We had two choices.

First—investigate the incident, gather information, then retreat.

Second—retreat immediately without looking back.

‘……The first option is preferable, but—’

The advantage of the first was that if we uncovered what had happened, the guild would reward us for the intel.

The second guaranteed the safety of our clan members.

‘The best course is the second.’

No—was it really?

At this point, with a priest of the clergy dead like this, we had no idea what had happened to the floors behind us.

Those bastards use soul-transference techniques.

Given how fast they were, they might have already wreaked havoc on the upper floors.

In that case—

‘We investigate.’

We needed to find out what had happened here.

“For now, we’ll hold our position here.” “Running immediately would be—” “If they’re the ones I’m thinking of, retreating might be even more dangerous.” “She’s right.”

Erme nodded at my words.

Glasses did the same, adjusting his spectacles as he spoke.

“Their methods are… peculiar. For the time being, heading deeper might be the better option.” “What do you mean by—?” “Elder, let’s just follow for now.”

Fin cut off Hansen’s words.

In Fin’s eyes was something like expectation—or perhaps reverence—directed at me.

‘……What’s with that?’

What had I even done to earn that kind of look?

“Right now, we don’t know what this phenomenon is, and Clan Leader is here.” “……My apologies. Let’s proceed with investigating the situation.” “No need.” “Huh?”

I stared at the man’s corpse.

The Thief’s Ultimate was telling me how he had died.

“His face is grotesquely twisted. All his limbs were torn off unilaterally. That distortion was caused by agony.” “Then that means—” “Most of the other clergy members are likely dead. Only a few survived. The nature of the fight suggests they were forced into retreat.”

I looked down.

Footprints were pressed into the ground.

‘A sudden ambush. No one had time to react properly. They’re clergy members, so they probably didn’t think to recruit thieves or archers.’

So they were caught completely off guard.

They must have underestimated this place.

That was why the man who should have been in the rear was the first to be taken.

The reason his limbs ended up like that—

‘Venting rage.’

It stemmed from failing to kill their target properly.

One might assume it was just for amusement, but—

‘If that were the case, they’d have torn him apart piece by piece.’

Yet if they had done it piece by piece,

there would have been signs of the man’s arms or limbs being savagely gripped or twisted.

But no such marks were visible.

The way he died was having all his limbs ripped off at once in a brutal frenzy.

I explained this to the party.

“H-how did you figure all that out just by glancing at him?” “Shouldn’t any decent scout be able to do at least this much?”

What was the Thief’s Ultimate?

It meant I had reached the pinnacle of what a thief could achieve.

In other words—

‘If a thief can do it, then it’s possible—no, a thief must be able to do it.’

Sure, I was coasting by on my Gift,

but any decent Thief Hero should find this level of deduction easy.

That was what I thought.

“…….”

Hansen stared at me blankly.

Erme subtly stepped closer and whispered to me.

“You didn’t have to crush him that hard.” “…….”

Crush him?

I didn’t respond.

‘I thought the Thief’s Ultimate was about mastering the basics of thievery.’

No, this was basic.

Hansen just couldn’t do it because he wasn’t a Hero candidate.

—……You do have something exceptional about you, but you’re definitely more suited to being the Sword Hero… no, the Blade Hero fits you better.

Even the Holy Sword was confused about my identity.

I let out a deep sigh and scanned our surroundings.

‘……Still, the ambush failed.’

The enemy vented their rage by tearing the victim apart.

And Clara’s group—

‘Went deeper.’

To escape the enemy.

Judging by the traces left behind—

‘……Undead.’

Undead were everywhere, yet the clergy members fled?

That suggested something was seriously wrong.

Worst case, they were up against monsters unaffected by divine power.

‘If that’s the problem—’

In any other labyrinth, we could just retreat and call for reinforcements.

But this labyrinth was a space where time and space behaved strangely.

‘If we leave now—’

We might never have another chance to save Clara.

I glanced at Veronica.

As the clan leader, I’d much rather have Clara in the party.

She had her hidden motives, but at least she had a bare minimum of conscience.

Veronica had no hidden motives—but also no conscience whatsoever.

Our first meeting had gone awry the moment her hypnosis failed.

“I think we should go after them.”

Erme spoke up, her complexion slightly pale.

“The enemy seems dangerous, but if they’re still alive, it’s better to regroup with Clara.”

I looked at her and asked,

“Instinct or logic?” “Instinct.”

Erme was a rational being.

She rarely spoke of gut feelings, so if she mentioned instinct—

‘……It means the probability of a catastrophe is high.’

At this point, there was no other choice.

“Everyone, prepare. We’re going after Clara’s group.”

And so, we set off.

Kieeeek!

Countless undead swarmed toward us.

Field of Graves.

This place was called the Field of Graves because of the endless undead monsters—

But also because countless adventurers had died here, turning it into a literal graveyard.

The number of monsters spawning at once was around twenty.

But these bastards were really—

‘Annoying.’

The undead were shrouded in some kind of black aura. Despite being nothing but bones, they were faster, more agile, and stronger than they had been in life.

Boom!

I kicked away one charging at me and lunged forward.

‘I’d rather fight dual-wielding, but—’

Whisper of the Wind had long been passed to Rishiel.

I gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword and thought—

‘Should I just use it?’

The Holy Sword spoke.

It wasn’t yet time to reveal its true power.

—At the Hero’s inauguration ceremony… my full power will be unleashed. Until then, you can’t even use a tenth of my original strength.

‘……Useless.’

—But killing these things isn’t impossible. The Dark Aura is just more troublesome than expected, no?

The aura shrouding the undead.

It strengthened them and weakened us.

But we had Veronica—officially a saintess, even if only a proxy.

And—

“Moonlight.”

Erme murmured softly. The Champion’s Sword in her hand ignited with silver flames.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the undead were cleaved in two.

‘How is she hunting them so easily?’

It was almost absurd.

Veronica was a saintess specialized in offense and healing.

Rozante, on the other hand, excelled in defense and buffs. Even in close combat, he fought by enhancing himself with protective spells.

Yet even Veronica, buffed by Rozante, couldn’t kill undead this effortlessly.

Considering divine power usually dealt double damage to undead—

And the level difference between Erme and Veronica—

—The power of the sun and moon… So the author compensates for his lack of talent with that, huh?

The Holy Sword sounded almost nostalgic, but—

I focused on the battle.

This place wasn’t just filled with undead.

There were ghost-type monsters—Banshees—that inflicted debuffs.

And Dark Knights, who empowered them.

Thud!

With one of the three Dark Knights down, reinforcements would arrive soon—

‘Why is their fighting spirit so vicious?’

Was it because they had died and been reborn?

Their fighting spirit was murderous. If they pushed further, they could kill without hesitation.

Still—

‘Not that I’m outmatched.’

Thump.

I stepped forward, releasing my own fighting spirit. The enemy’s movements froze momentarily.

In that gap—

‘No time to hold back.’

Black Sea.

Sssshhk!

Darkness split apart, cleaving through the Death Knight’s torso.

I dashed in, aiming for its heart.

Squelch.

As the Death Knight’s heart shattered, it slowly dissolved into smoke.

All that remained was—

‘Just a magic stone.’

A massive one, at that. But it was a bitter outcome.

More importantly—

I was about to go help Veronica when—

A deeply ominous feeling struck me.

From somewhere far away—

Something was targeting our party.

“Veronica, Rozante! Raise your barriers to maximum!”

Perhaps sensing my urgency—

Rozante obeyed immediately.

But Veronica, locked in combat with a Death Knight, was a step too slow.

────!!

Something shot toward her—aiming for her lower body.

The ground shattered.

I gritted my teeth and charged forward.

‘Who’s caught in it—’

Glasses and Hansen.

And Veronica.

Was it fortunate?

Theresa wasn’t caught in it.

I grabbed Hansen by the scruff of his neck—

“Y-you?!” “Ghk!”

—and hurled him upward. The recoil sent me plummeting down, but—

‘Shadow Reaper.’

A thin wire from my wrist shot into the rock above.

The pinnacle of thievery, the Thief’s Ultimate, granted me dexterity beyond limits.

With it, I manipulated the Shadow Reaper—

‘Hurry……!’

I managed to grab Glasses and Veronica.

“I can fly with light wings!”

Veronica screamed directly into my ear. My eardrums nearly burst.

‘Glasses first.’

I tightened my grip on Glasses’ neck with my left hand.

Then, with a throw-like motion, I launched him upward.

At the same time—

Veronica chanted a prayer, and wings of light sprouted from her back.

“Ah—”

Something else shot toward her—aiming for her throat.

‘Damn it.’

I had to choose. Who to save here.

‘……Please hold on.’

I wrapped myself in mana, uncorked a potion with my teeth, and—

“……?!”

—shielded Veronica.

Thud.

Something pierced my body as we crashed down.