episode_0123

Dropped into a strange space out of nowhere and summoning monsters.

Moreover, they’re just talking among themselves about making us stronger or something, out of nowhere.

I don’t know exactly what they want.

Wasn’t it clearly not a friendly feeling?

Maybe it’s just the feeling of doing whatever they want, characteristic of necromancers.

Thinking later for now.

I look at the Diamond Gem Soldiers running towards here.

However, unfortunately, we don’t have detailed information about Gem Soldiers.

Even on the 7th floor, we only dealt with them by relying moderately on Erica’s party.

Still, I recall one thing Yuria told me.

“If it’s Diamond, it’s pretty much top tier among Gem Soldiers…!!!”

Grace speaks in a hurry.

But since I had expected it to some extent. It didn’t matter much.

Luca nods her head.

Ah, there’s also someone who needs help.

Anyway, Gem Soldiers generally get stronger similarly to the value of real-world gems.

I do wonder if there’s a need to make them that way. Doesn’t that mean anyone can easily figure out the monster’s strength?

Well, maybe there was some convenience from the creator’s perspective. Just a vague thought.

Quickly check the hand.

[Strike (1)] [Defense (1)] [Snow-White Wall (1)] [Heal (1)] + [Eternal Light (4)]

The hand is not good.

It’s terrible that two basic cards came out from the start.

I even imagined a scenario where the Apostle and Energy Card came out together, allowing for an easy victory.

As expected, such easy things are unlikely to happen.

Moreover, the very fact that it’s currently the [Paladin’s Deck] is the problem from the start.

My activity on the 6th~7th floors with the Paladin’s Deck was only possible because Erica’s party was together.

Because there were strong allies who could do everything even if I just provided support.

But now it’s just our party.

Naturally, the core of our party is me.

To be precise, me using the Elementalist’s Deck.

To provide support with the Paladin’s Deck, the level of the party members is not that high yet.

But I can’t give up, so the only way is to try our best to scrape by.

I immediately throw a card.

[Eternal Light] – Summon a sphere of light that lasts for 3 turns, providing a shield and blessing to nearby allies.

The rising sphere of light provides blessing and a shield to the party members.

Since it’s given to 5 people from a party that was nearly 12. The density seems to get thicker.

The power of light, thicker and stronger.

Thanks to that, Adel, who was on the front line, was able to block the Gem Soldier’s sword.

Kagak-

a sound rang out, but.

Adel was not pushed back.

She just endured silently under the attacks pouring down on her greatsword.

In the meantime, Kailek’s arrow flew and attacked the Gem Soldier.

However, true to its name as a hard gem, Kailek’s arrow could only manage to push the Gem Soldier’s body back a little.

“Tsk…!!”

A situation where Kailek’s arrow, which has outstanding attack power as he is relatively close to a strength-based character among archers, doesn’t work at all.

Therefore, naturally, Grace’s attack doesn’t work at all.

Of course, her ice does make the Gem Soldiers freeze, but.

That’s as far as it goes.

Perhaps because the Gem Soldiers’ bodies are so tough, they just hit the frozen ones… breaking the ice.

“…Nothing is working!!”

The main monsters of the 7th floor, the Gem Soldiers, aren’t anything great.

Just slightly improved intelligence and overwhelming specs.

They don’t use difficult skills one by one like on the 6th floor either.

They just use simple body transformations, but.

They push through just with the difference in pure brute specs.

Should I call it a difference in weight class?

And this is, of course. One of the most important virtues of despising the weak.

We are no different from being weak against the Gem Soldiers.

“…Ugh!!!”

Adel counterattacks simultaneously as the shield breaks.

Kwaang-

With a sound, one Gem Soldier in front is shattered and flies away.

Finally, one down!

But Adel’s expression wasn’t very good to be happy about.

“…I poured all my strength into it!!”

Even after twisting the shield I gave her to the limit, accumulating the damage received as much as possible to counterattack. To think it only amounted to taking down just one.

No matter how much I wriggle, nothing comes of it due to the pure difference in specs.

However, there is still hope.

There was one talent equipped with defense-piercing damage.

That is Luca, who attacks wrapped in wildness.

“Uwaaaaaa!!!”

Luca, who charged forward yelling [Taunt] which doesn’t work due to the spec difference, immediately threw away her axe and unleashed her wildness.

Luca’s sharp claws ripped the Gem Soldier’s body to shreds.

The Gem Soldier dies, cleanly separating.

But.

“…Huh?”

Luca was immediately caught by the Gem Soldiers.

It seems the attack range is narrower than the axe after all.

Moreover, even though Luca is relatively fast, she is only at the level of the 5th~6th floor.

The Gem Soldiers are not fast, but they somehow managed to grab her.

Furthermore, since Adel, who couldn’t escape, was also caught by the Gem Soldiers. Only Grace was left.

She is avoiding all of the Gem Soldiers’ attacks, but.

She has no attack power. Therefore, the unchecked Gem Soldiers started running quickly towards the back line.

The moment the front line is breached, the battle is no different from a defeat.

As if they knew that, the voices of the twin necromancers are heard.

“Stop right there!!”

Then the Gem Soldiers, leaving Luca and Adel whom they had subdued, began to retreat backwards and soon returned to the sub-space.

“…We’re alive.”

“I was so scared, I thought they were really going to kill us.”

Everyone calms their surprised hearts.

But I can’t help but think this.

‘…If this were reality.’

We would have been annihilated just like that.

“Compared to those guys from earlier, you’re too weak, aren’t you?”

“Seriously, how did you even get here?”

Tearing space, the two twin necromancers appear.

The two of them tease us with evil, unpleasant smiles.

“At that level, you’re just a nuisance to our Apostle. Wouldn’t it be better to just die?”

“To be this useless, I think it would be better to just die?”

The two necromancers begin to insult us dizzyingly.

But we couldn’t retort.

Because if we had actually gone to the 7th floor and met Gem Soldiers. We would have died before we could do anything.

Of course, if Noah was there, we might have managed something….

“Honestly, even the 6th floor, if Erica’s party hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to overcome it so easily.”

“The wall of the higher floors is certainly high.”

The atmosphere instantly becomes gloomy.

In fact, it’s unavoidable.

Because we were defeated so completely.

“What, you’ve already given up? Should I really tell Lord Cain? That it’s better to kill these guys and summon new ones?”

“No way, there’s a barbarian who’s tall and knows nothing but fighting like that, there’s no way that would happen.”

“Yeah, and there’s a stupid beastkin who knows nothing but fighting too.”

“I’d rather have monsters♡”

However, isn’t the provocation from the twin necromancers too excessive?

And it actually worked.

Because Kailek and Luca bristled, feeling like their pride had been scratched, and their fighting spirit ignited.

“Mr. Ivan, are you okay?”

“…Well.”

Grace and I were indifferent.

However, Adel got up without a word.

She also grips her greatsword firmly and prepares for battle.

Is it just my imagination, or is her expression not very good….

“Lord Cain told us to make you at least equal to the Apostle!!”

“But is that possible? These bugs? The Apostle seems to be at least 8~9th floor level.”

“What?! Only that much?”

“Someone who hasn’t even descended for a year yet, that’s amazing.”

The twin necromancers chatter, praising themselves.

It feels like we are not in their consideration at all.

“Do those people feel similar to Mr. Cain?”

“For now, we have to think that.”

They are truly eccentric guys, like necromancers. However, unlike genuine necromancers who don’t seem human, a little hint of humanity is felt.

“Then since it’s difficult with these guys, let’s start by breaking through the 6th floor!!”

“No, you have to learn by getting hit from the start. If you can’t even do that, just die.”

“Is that so? It was a bit annoying anyway, let’s beat these guys first and then do something!!”

The necromancers immediately summon Gem Soldiers again.

However, it’s not Diamond.

A Gem Soldier embedded with a green gem.

Showing that, the twin necromancers begin their introduction.

“Emerald Gem Soldier. You could say they’re exactly in the middle among Gem Soldiers.”

“Let’s aim to defeat these guys first!! And.”

Immediately, as one necromancer snapped their fingers, the terrain changed.

The appearance is a cave similar to the 7th floor.

However, since it was artificially made, it’s not winding, but a straight space.

At the end of it, 10 Emerald Gem Soldiers were waiting for us.

“Then….”

“Wait!!”

I urgently shouted at the necromancers who were about to start the battle.

“Why? Apostle of the Main God.”

“Won’t you give us some time to prepare?”

“Huh? No, is it possible to prepare while fighting?”

They might say it’s a somewhat rational reason, but in fact, it’s completely nonsensical.

“You don’t know much about explorers, do you? Usually, before entering the labyrinth, we already think about what monsters and how to fight them to some extent and plan our strategy.”

“But what about actual combat….”

“Furthermore, generally, guides’ senses are superior to monsters’, so explorers are the ones who discover first and launch a preemptive attack.”

In reality, unless suddenly ambushed due to a strange trigger. In the labyrinth, explorers always have the right to attack.

It’s a perfectly rational reason.

After I said this much, the twin necromancers, seeming to have nothing to say, looked at each other and.

“……Well, if you say it like that.”

They said, and threw something towards me.

“…A red button?”

“If you push that, the monsters will attack. Then, we’ll take our leave.”

The twin necromancers suddenly open a space and run away.

However, the sound of them chattering could be heard here.

“Hey! What do you do if you lose a word fight!?!”

“No, that is….”

“Sigh, I can’t live….”

It seems they were embarrassed about losing the word fight.

However, if they were typical necromancers, they wouldn’t have done this and would have acted like lunatics, thinking they were right.

“They’re definitely not like necromancers, for necromancers.”

Everyone nods at Grace’s evaluation.

They feel gentle and lacking that specific viciousness of necromancers.

Anyway, the initiative for the training has shifted to us.

Being simply swayed by them won’t do any good.

“So, what are we going to do? Is there a way?”

“…First.”

Dding.

『Confirm Card Rewards.』

Should I collect all the accumulated rewards?

*

The time for choosing rewards with careful consideration passed.

Thanks to that, the [Paladin’s Deck] became quite thick.

Unfortunately, it’s not what I’m going to use now.

Of course, if I had focused on damage cards, it would have helped break through the current situation.

But from the perspective of seeing the big picture, I filled it only with supportive effects.

Then why did I choose the rewards?

Well, obviously….

Cheolkeok-

『Deck swapped.』

『Current Deck : Elementalist’s Deck』

『Time until next swap possible 0:59:59』

To use the Elementalist’s Deck.

When swapping decks, accumulated card rewards are all gone.

So there’s a bit of decision-making difficulty.

If you accumulate card rewards, you can get a turn back in an urgent situation.

But if you have to swap decks, it feels a bit wasteful to have accumulated rewards.

Of course, there’s no other way in an urgent situation.

So it’s ideal to accumulate about 3-4 card rewards and just get rid of the useless ones.

This time, I accumulated a lot because I was getting carried. And they were all solid cards obtained from the 6th floor. I should take a look at them once.

“So what should we do? Mr. Kailek’s arrows aren’t working well either. And Ms. Adel’s counterattack is too ineffective.”

“Luca’s attack worked properly, didn’t it? Then that’s enough.”

I quickly rummaged through the deck and changed the [Joker Card].

And.

“Hey! Mr. Cain, can you hear me?!”

I shouted towards the sky.

The belief that he must be watching.

But no answer came back.

‘As expected, are they trying to test us?’

Perhaps Cain thinks his Apostle, Noah, needs suitable party members.

But why do *you* get to decide that?

I immediately close my eyes and move my mana.

The small shadow beneath my feet.

I infuse mana into this shadow connected to Noah.

The shadow reacts immediately.

Where Noah is.

Immediately, press the red button!

The status window pops up.

『Battle Start. Draw 4 cards.』

『Energy 5/5』

『Joker Card – Draw 1 designated card additionally on the first turn.』

[Wave (4)] [Electrified Zone (4)] [Darkness (1)] [Mana Overload (0)] + [Space Folder (7)]

I got exactly the hand I needed.

As expected, the Main God was also annoyed by them acting so arbitrarily, right?

Gooo!!!

The Gem Soldiers running towards us.

But I’m not interested in them.

I immediately throw two cards in succession.

[Mana Overload] – Energy becomes 2 times. Energy decreases by 1 on the next turn.

[Space Folder – Power] – Allows constant use of Blink.

As soon as the feeling of omnipotence surged through my body.

I quickly used Blink.

The location is, of course.

Outside the cave. Next to Noah, who is watching us.

Cain is flustered seeing me suddenly appear, but.

Already I firmly grabbed Noah’s waist.

“……?!!”

Immediately use Blink again to return to the original spot.

The party members were surprised to see me appear with Noah.

“…What, what did you do?”

“Our party already operates on the premise that you’re here, so we have to fight together.”

“But…. Cain is.”

“No, what is that guy? Why are you suddenly like this? Not like yourself.”

The child who usually didn’t care about what anyone said and did whatever they wanted.

…They aren’t really brainwashed, are they?

At that moment, Cain’s voice echoes in the cave.

The slightly agitated voice sent a momentary chill through my body, but.

All the more reason to step forward confidently.

“No, what are you doing?!”

“I brought my party member.”

“Prove your skills even without the Apostle….”

“I will. That trivial thing.”

“……?”

The senses that immediately unfolded detected the Gem Soldiers running from the side.

However, unlike what I saw on the 7th floor, they’re charging in without forming a line or anything like that. It’s definitely clear that monsters summoned by necromancers are different from monsters summoned in the labyrinth.

Immediately use Blink.

The location is next to Luca.

“…Ready.”

Luca, who immediately understood what I was thinking, already had her two claws filled with wildness ready.

…This is why I can only trust our party members.

Immediately use Blink.

Before I knew it, I was behind a Gem Soldier.

Kagak-

Luca’s defense-piercing claws easily cut through the Gem Soldier’s body.

But the situation was such that the Gem Soldier’s sword was about to hit.

After narrowly dodging with a quick point-blank Blink, I cut down one.

It doesn’t end there. This time, I put a large distance.

The body of the Gem Soldier at the very back is instantly split in two.

“……?!!”

The flustered Gem Soldiers look this way, but.

Just before their heads turned, we had already approached behind them and attacked again.

Defeating them one by one like that.

Before I knew it, I was able to defeat the last Gem Soldier as well.

“……It’s already over?”

As I put Luca down, she retracted her wildness with a slightly regretful expression.

The status window doesn’t appear even though all the monsters have been defeated.

That’s natural. Monsters summoned by necromancers. Since they enter the combat judgment along with the necromancer. In reality, you have to kill those twins to get rewards.

In other words, this kind of training where you only continuously hunt monsters summoned by necromancers is useless no matter how much you do it.

Furthermore, they don’t drop cards or magic stones. There’s really no reason to do it.

At that moment, Cain created a hole in the cave wall and appeared.

He looked at me with cold eyes, then.

“…You’ve suddenly become strong.”

“Can you assess power?”

“Of course.”

If so, does the power felt from me differ depending on the deck I am currently using?

I’ll have to look into this separately later.

“…I was mistaken about you.”

“It seems you don’t understand. It’s not that we joined Noah’s party…. Noah joined my party. Furthermore, if you were thinking of helping us, you thought completely wrong. If you’re going to help, help properly.”

Cain, with a dumbfounded expression, touched his chin and pondered for a moment.

Then slowly began to speak.

“……What do you want?”

“If you’re necromancers, you can probably bring monsters from the 6th floor directly below here, right? Not ones you summoned and created, but real monsters from the labyrinth.”

“Of course. Even if not other floors, I can bring those from about the 6th floor. We couldn’t do that because we were worried about your lives.”

“That’s unnecessary worry. What’s an explorer’s life worth, betting it for a day or two?”

“If you truly do that, will you be able to become strong enough to protect the Apostle?”

I looked straight at Cain.

His face was emotionless, fitting for a necromancer, but.

Something is vaguely felt.

That he cherishes Noah.

And that he feels sorry for her.

Therefore, unlike myself, I answered certainly and confidently.

“Of course.”

For a moment, the corners of Cain’s mouth lifted.