Although it was practically synonymous with regeneration, the level 5 Troll monster could be killed by exploding its heart or head like anything else. However, I invested all of my team's energy in cutting off its arm
"Gaaah!"
Finally, I grabbed the only remaining arm and incapacitated it. In other words, the environment had been set for Missha to make deals without risk of danger
Dash.
Missha, who had been wary of the troll's long arms and had focused on keeping her distance, made the first leap. Landing on my shoulder, she plunged her twin swords into the troll's eyeballs
Stab!
However high the physical resistance, there was always a weak point
"Saargh!"
When the knife enchanted with acidic blood pierced his fragile eyes, the Troll's struggle intensified
Damn, what kind of strength…
"B-Bjorn?"
"Don't worry about me, just keep stabbing!" With all my might, I squeezed his arm between my thighs and screamed. Realizing this wasn't a situation to relax, Missha focused on moving his knife instead of responding
This is where the first unexpected situation occurred.
Stab, stab, stab Hack! Khak!
As Missha repeatedly plunged the knife into her eye, there was a sound of something scraping the blade. It was to be expected. Humans also had bones behind their eyeballs.
"B-Bjorn...? It's too hard to nail!"
The strength of the bone was the problem. I figured that since it wasn't a thick bone in the arm or anything, this should be enough to stab the brain, but I wasn't about to die so easily.
"Go on."
"Okay!" Soon, Missha grabbed the Serpent Fang upside down and continued slashing at the eyelids. Then, the second unexpected situation occurred
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As time passed, the Troll began to run amok. Losing his sight, he even gave up trying to lose me and used his only free limbs, his feet, to charge toward a spot
"Dwalkie! He's aiming at Dwalkie."
Somehow, the eyeless bastard Troll was running straight towards where Dwalkie was.
"Gaaah!"
Rotmiller grabbed Dwalkie and kept trying to dodge him, but the Troll pursued him violently as if he could see his path.
"Mana! He must be sensing his mana!" Hikurod shouted.
Even I was unaware of this phenomenon. Could I really be feeling and instinctively following the mana, as the dwarf said?
Damn.
Whatever the reason, just when I thought things were going according to plan, the situation went to shit in an instant. In just 10 seconds, Dwalkie and Rotmiller were cornered. This was natural. Maybe not if he was chasing Missha, but Rotmiller didn't have the physical stats to carry someone else while escaping a level 5 monster.
«¡Gaaah!»
Finally, the Troll ran towards the cornered men. The dwarf tried to stop him, but to no avail.
¡Bang!
The Troll kicked Hikurod like a soccer ball and he crashed into the wall, just in time for his MP to run out and release the Balance Weight effect. Damn, it had to be this moment.
«¿B-Bjorn?»
«Focus only on killing him!»
«¡Wale!»
Using the momentary gap that Hikurod gained, Rotmiller escaped from the corner. Of course, it was just enough to buy a little time. Maybe three seconds?
¡Boom! ¡Boom! ¡Boom!
The Troll caught up with Rotmiller, who was running in the opposite direction and rolled on the ground to escape a kick. Now, from my position, I couldn't see the situation below.
¡Bum! ¡Boom! ¡Boom!
In that state, the Troll kicked down.
«¡Eek!»
I didn't hear any sound of people being trampled, but if it were left like that, even a little longer, someone would surely die: Dwalkie, Rotmiller, or maybe even both.
¡Bum!
I was at a crossroads. Missha was completely unaware of the situation as she diligently stabbed the monster with her knife. All judgments depended on me.
¡Boom!
If I let go of my arms here and went down, I could protect Dwalkie and Rotmiller. But in the end, that choice would lead to annihilation. If he fell, the troll would attack Missha with his free arm, and there would be no other chance.
Damn sea.
I squeezed my eyes and the thought came to me accidentally. Wasn't that something I was going to have to experience someday, anyway?
¡Boom!
Dungeon and Stone was not a game that pursued an adventure full of dreams and hopes. As the game progressed, the death of a companion became inevitable, but as long as the protagonist survived, the adventure continued. That was the kind of game it was.
This damn game...
¡Crunch!
Right at that moment, I heard the sound of a crush, a sound I had heard countless times since I woke up in this world: the sound of crushed flesh and bones. Feeling that something was wrong, Missha stopped her knife. But it was only a moment.
«Keep going!»
At my scream, Missha resumed the stabbing.
¡Kakak, cocoa, cocoa!
Gritting my teeth, I channeled all my strength to hold the Troll's remaining arm.
Hit!
Dwalkie, who was being kicked and knocked down by the Troll, appeared. He appeared to have a broken spine and a bent body at a misshapen angle. With this, I realized one thing. It wasn't something I wanted to know. The first sound had to come from Rotmiller.
Did you see Dwalkie's body as it rose to eye level? Missha shuddered for a moment and then continued tapping the knife with an expression as if she would burst into tears at any moment. «Die! Die! Die! Monster! Die!!!»
While we had to watch our colleagues suffer, the situation was going from bad to worse. With the blow to Dwalkie, the curses had been lifted. The Super Regeneration effect was applied normally and the arm recovered quickly.
[Missha Karlstein has launched Ice Crushing.]
[Missha Karlstein has released Ice Crushing.]
[Missha Karlstein has released Ice Crushing.]
Perhaps knowing that there was no time, Missha struck the sword with all her might. It was a moment where every minute and second seemed to last a billion.
¡Khak! Kak, kak ... ¡Crunch!
With the refreshing sound of a collision, the body of the Troll I was holding on to with all my might disappeared.
[You have killed a Troll. EXP +5]
The bastard was finally dead.
The dead Troll's body melted into light and disappeared, and Missha and I fell to the ground. Normally, we would have balanced halfway and landed on both feet, but neither of us had the energy to do so.
A coup seco!
As I lay stretched out on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling, a fist-sized mana stone fell next to my head.
Hit. Roll...
That was all the loot. No essence came out dramatically. I suddenly realized that this situation was real. Yes, this was not a dream. The choice he had just made, and the image of Dwalkie flying in such a miserable state because of that choice...
«¡Rotmiller! ¡Dwalkie!»
Discarding the desire to rest, I forced myself to get up. Missha was already running to pick up a fallen comrade. «Rotmiller! Wake up!»
«No... shake...!»
«I'm sorry!»
Surprisingly, Rotmiller was alive. His leg was broken and crushed, but it was not a life-threatening wound. It was literally help from the heavens. If his head or upper body had been crushed, it would have been the end.
«Yo no… D-Dwalkie primero…»
«¡O-bien!»
As Missha ran towards Dwalkie, I turned to check on the dwarf. He didn't have any major trauma.
I guess he just hit his head against the wall and passed out.
El problema era of Dwalkie.
«¡B-Bjorn! ¿That hago? D-Dwalkie doesn't breathe…»
«Move.» Pushing Missha aside, I checked Dwalkie's pulse. His breathing had stopped, but his heart was still beating weakly. Recovery was still possible.
¡Chhhhh!
First I took out a high-grade potion and let it drip into Dwalkie's mouth. I knew it was just a temporary measure. His spine was bent in half and his legs were broken from the impact of the fall. In addition, blood continued to flow from the nose and mouth, as if the internal organs were also damaged. Dwalkie was an ordinary human being, and one of the wizards famous for being made of twigs.
Joder.
I pursed my lips. Not only was it not clear that a high-grade potion could heal a wound like this, but even if it survived, it would surely be accompanied by major side effects.
«Dwalkie! Hold on a little longer! Now that you've had a potion you'll be fine soon!»
If I had known this, I would not have used the highest quality potion at that time.
«Potion...» I turned my head when I heard Rotmiller's voice, who vomited with difficulty. At first, I thought I was asking for a potion for him. «Use... this». Rotmiller, still shuddering in pain, spread a potion bottle in his hand. «Potion... advanced».
An advanced potion? An advanced potion? Did you have that?
«I bought it... just in case. Use this... on it.»
Before he could respond, Missha quickly ran to take the potion from him. I stopped her so she wouldn't immediately put it in her mouth. «If you feed him that in this state he won't be able to walk again».
"¿What?"
The potions were not all-powerful. Giving him a potion blindly without matching the bones would have a greater effect. «Pour it slowly into his mouth.»
As Missha slowly gave him the potion, I adjusted his bent legs and spine into place. All I could do was roughly adjust it to a somewhat normal position, but I was sure the potion would do the rest. An advanced potion could even cure an amputated arm, right?
«Phew...» Watching Dwalkie in the midst of the strong tension, I let out a long sigh. His breathing returned. It would take him a little longer to come to, but his pale complexion had improved a lot.
«...That takes a weight off my shoulders». The rest could be treated with just a high-grade potion. Of course, there was no time to sit and rest. «Don't stay still, help.»
«Okay. What can I do?»
«Bring Hikurod and put him next to Dwalkie. Just in case, give him a bottle of low-grade potion».
While Missha followed my instructions, I looked at Rotmiller's leg, which had been injured for some time.
«Dwalkie, how are you?» rotmiller asked.
«Don't worry. Thanks to you, he will live. So why don't you worry about yourself first?».
«That's true... true. Hahaha».
«Esto will hurt a lot».
»That's al-Ugh! Arrrgh!» Soon, Rotmiller, who had been poisoned, fainted after struggling. All the measures that could be taken at that time were done. That seemed to be the case for Missha's side, too.
«Bjorn...» Missha stared at me with eyes that seemed to seek confirmation.
I smiled and replied: «Yes, they all lived».
«I'm glad... really, really...» Missha collapsed as if her body had lost strength. He only realized it after hearing my answer, when it still didn't seem real to me.
To think that... no one died in the end.
Not that I wanted that to happen. No, I was more than happy that everyone survived. However, there were too many parts of this that made me reluctant. Because I did it well and we planned it in advance, we faced each unexpected situation well, but those were not the reasons why the crisis had passed.
We were just lucky...
After recognizing it, I also realized what it meant to be an explorer in this damn world. Today, like in a movie, everyone has survived.
But it won't continue to be like today...
I knew it better than anyone. There was no way a guy like me would get as lucky as today over and over again.
***
As time went by, they came to their senses one by one. The first to awaken was Hikurod. «...So we all live.» After confirming the news of everyone's survival, the dwarf did not smile from the heart as usual. He just repeated my words. «I'm glad. Yes... I'm very happy...».
If he had been an explorer for a few years, he had probably experienced this quite a few times. The death of a comrade was more or less the fate of an explorer.
It was Rotmiller who woke up after him. «Thinking that everyone is safe even after encountering a Troll. I guess I should at least make an offering to the temple when I get back...»
I approached hesitantly and spat out an apology mixed with excuses. «I'm sorry. I didn't expect the troll to act like that while blind».
«...How can it be your fault? We should thank you. Without you, none of us would have survived».
«But...»
«Your judgment was correct, so don't punish yourself». Rotmiller already seemed to know of my decision to risk his and Dwalkie's lives. How could I not know, if I couldn't stop screaming for him to do it?
«Ugh...ugh...» After a while, Dwalkie moaned and opened his eyes.
«Don't move. The wound has not yet healed».
«Is everyone... okay...?»
«We are! So don't worry».
"Ah...M-Miss Karlstein...Me alegro de que est é bien. ⁇
«Idiot! You are the one who speaks!»
«I-That's it...!» Coughed. «T-You're right... Hahaha».
When Dwalkie, who was in the worst condition, woke up, the atmosphere that had become infinitely heavy became brighter.
«Haha, the five of us have caught a Troll. I can't even brag about this. Nobody will believe me!» Hikurod started making jokes as usual, along with Missha.
«Ugh, there should have at least been an essence! How unfair. After all that, we gained nothing».
«We survive».
«Rotmiller, your problem is that you're not greedy enough».
«Yeah, I heard you used an advanced potion this time, too? Oh, don't worry. We will all raise money together and pay the price».
«That leaves me calmer», I said.
«Ah, but Bjorn. What are we going to do now?» missha asked. «You're not thinking about going up any further, are you?».
«Ha ... what do you think I am? I'm going to rest for a while».
«Missha? Why are you asking Bjorn that? Surely I am the leader of the team.»
«Oh... sure.»
Ignoring the dwarf's question, no one objected to my suggestion that we stay on this floor until the maze closed. We were in no condition to continue exploring. At the spot where we had fought a fierce battle with a troll, we took a break to rest our weary bodies and minds.
[The labyrinth is closed. You will be transported to Rafdonia.]
A week passed and my sixth expedition came to an end.