Chills ran through my body.
«Hey, why doesn't anyone talk?».
Just with that phrase, even though we had not yet properly fought against him, an urgent echo lingered in my eardrum.
¡Thump-thump-thump!
My warrior's heart, which sensed that it was a natural enemy, pumped non-stop, propelling oxygen throughout my body. He began to prepare before his head for the worst that could happen.
Slip.
In the silence, I only moved my eyes to check how my companions were doing. Everyone was frozen halfway. They must have been unconsciously feeling the ominousness that that guy was emitting all over his body.
«Hey?» The man frowned and spoke again. «Are you all really going to stand there?».
Thanks to that, my mind calmed down a little. Time was money. It wasn't right to waste more than the minutes or seconds that would be invaluable from now on. Therefore, with my ears and eyes open, I confronted the adversary and quickly gathered information that I might have missed.
«Hey, barbarian. Shouldn't you say thank you? You caught it easily thanks to me».
That man knew this space, so as soon as he noticed our presence, he immediately ran towards the boss's room.
Still, it's too fast.
Arrive at the same time as us when we had the map? It was impossible, unless he found the exact path without wandering at all. How could it be possible?
What kind of skill is that?
I had to find out. Our future plans would change as a result. Looking back, the answer was in the previous conversation.
«If we hadn't cut off another arm, we could have lost it.»
An offering. It was obvious whose arm it was. It must have belonged to the poor man behind him.
...Debe ser un priest of Karui.
This was fortune in misfortune. If he had simply found his way thanks to the skill of an explorer, we wouldn't have stood a chance.
«I beg you. Please take the object you want and let them go».
The old man, who I assumed was the priest in the service of the evil god, also did not seem to have a very cooperative relationship with the leader.
Could it be that he kidnapped the priest and forced him to change classes? And the man who offered his arm is in a similar situation?
In three breaths, after calmly analyzing the situation, I opened my mouth. I had run out of time.
The leader began: «Well, it doesn't matter. Simply...»
«I never expected to meet an explorer in a place like this», I said.
«So you weren't mute after all?». When I broke the silence, the man looked at me with amused eyes. Well, that gave me some time.
«Do you know how to get out of here?». I asked him nonchalantly what he knew. That way he could seem more fond.
Suddenly, his cold voice rang out. «You... what are you?».
What the hell? What had he done wrong?
As he looked at this, the man narrowed his eyes. «Has a yellow light come on because of these sons of bitches? Not green?»
More than interest or curiosity, his eyes were full of vigilance. Unconsciously, my eyes went to the ring on my finger. It was similar to a numbered object I knew, what I used to call a traffic light ring, studded with green, red and yellow jewelry. Number 6,111: Destiny Seeker.
If it turned green, it was a positive development. A red light signified a negative event, and the object alerted of a nearby mixed event when it flashed yellow. The ring glowed with a yellow light.
Damn sea.
Was this what it meant to feel a mixture of joy and sadness? If it was yellow, it meant there was at least some chance he would knock it down. It was good news for me. The bad news was that he had noticed too.
We're screwed.
The only advantage of the weak, aiming to guard the strong, had disappeared because of that damn ring.
«Do you know what this is?» To make matters worse, he even noticed my short reaction, and showed his true colors openly.
¡Ssshing!
He took out a blade of silver-blue light from his waist. Faced with that dazzling light, the aspiring blacksmith reacted first. «I-that's a sword made of bow...»
The bow was a rank 6 metal, considered the most perfected state in this world, and it could chew almost any numbered object. That's why he expected a greater number of enemies in his place. The higher the scout floor, the more extreme the difference was in both equipment and range and number of essences.
At least on the ninth floor.
However, I did not turn away and accept the cruel reality as it was. It was not a clan of dozens of people. Assuming skill followed the team, he was a strong player who could be active on the ninth floor with five people. He also had to have at least eight essences, and all above rank 5.
«Barbarian». At this point, those skills didn't make sense. He was at a level where he could cut us all five without the priest's help. «Give me the object you found inside. Unless you want to die.»
I made a judgment of what I had to do to live. And so, I handed out the jewel I got from the boss's room. «Oh, are you talking about this?»
Originally, this was Plan D: give up everything he asked of me and beg for my life.
«So yes you had it. Now, pass it to me. Then I'll let you live».
I stared at the man without saying a word. As the silence grew longer, my companions opened their mouths one by one.
«...We're fine. Just give it to him. We don't even know what it's used for, anyway».
«I also agree. Wouldn't it be better to avoid fighting if possible?»
They were worthless words. This gem was the only reason we were still alive. How could he make a credit deal with a crazy bastard who kidnapped a priest and forced him to convert? That was out of the question.
«My stomach...» When I cautiously opened my mouth, it attracted everyone's attention. The man was also watching me in silence. I could see a mischievous smile on his lips, an arrogant smile that seemed to already know what decision he would make. So I smiled too. «Wow! My stomach hurts».
"...¿Which?"
The moment the guy was perplexed by my sudden scream, I put the jewel in my mouth without hesitation.
¡Trag!
I forced myself to swallow. My esophagus hurt from pushing hard on a piece of jewelry the size of a tangerine, but oh well. That would be solved in a few seconds.
¡Eructo!
The belch sounded as he held back the urge to vomit. Then everyone came to.
«What does this mean?» The man asked with eyes shining with murderous energy.
«I just wanted to do it!» i replied.
After that, there was a brief silence. The man was staring at me as if he wanted to figure out what kind of nutcase I was seeing. I guess my team members weren't that different, but that didn't matter. Doing what needed to be done, without worrying about the opinions of others, that was the barbaric tradition.
«Barbarian, don't think you'll die with grace». The man kicked himself off the ground and shot towards me with a speed that was difficult to classify as the same statistic as mine.
¡Watch!
Enforcing his money, his long sword pierced my shield without resistance. It was obvious what the guy was thinking. He must have been planning to kill me and cut me open to recover the jewel.
So what? What are you going to do?
I applied force to my shield and adjusted the position of the penetrating blade: not outward, but toward my stomach.
Perhaps realizing my intention, he hurriedly withdrew his sword. He himself must have known that the durability of the jewel he had swallowed me was not very good. «Was this your plan?»
I didn't deny it. This was Plan E, which replaced all the plans he had scrapped.
¡Eructo!
Sue me. Now he had no choice but to go to the end.
The man's eyeballs kept rolling. He continued to look for the right opportunity. If he could cut off my head all at once, then all he needed to do was slit my stomach and take it away.
No way.
I hit my stomach with a fist the size of a watermelon.
¡Bum! ¡Bum!
Every time my hand moved, his eyes shook. It was clear that he was worried that the object in my stomach would break.
«Ah, it's just that my stomach is bloated.»
«…Bastard place.»
It was a welcome description. No one avoided fallen leaves in autumn because there was no risk in stepping on them. But what about the dirt? You can step on it accidentally, but no one does it on purpose.
¡Zas!
I stopped beating my stomach. The key to Plan E was not to cross the line. This should be warning enough.
«What do you want?» The man tried to talk. Since he didn't want to provoke me, he had already put the sword in his belt.
Yeah, so this item is so important to you, huh?
If I could, I would want to make fun of him more, but I quietly went to the other side of the passage with my companions and got to the point. «One day. Just give us a day».
«Don't let you go?» The man looked at me curiously. It's not that I didn't understand it. Anyone in a similar situation would have asked something like that.
«I don't pray for my life like that». To be precise, I didn't do anything useless. «Give me a day». I judged this to be the most I would allow. «Then I won't do anything cowardly.»
«How can I trust you?» The man asked dryly.
I revealed my prepared play without hesitation. «I swear on the honor of a warrior. We are exhausted from not sleeping for days. But if you wait just one day, I will fight cleanly». Like he wanted to do that from the beginning, like he wasn't willing to make such a cowardly move in the first place.
When I revealed my fighting spirit and responded with a shot, the hesitant man asked quietly: «Do you really think you can win?».
I chuckled. Could win? Well, I still thought the odds were slim, but so what? «Is that a reason to give up?». Without needing to pretend, I spit out my sincerity.
The man looked me in the face. After a moment of silence, he finally gave a response with a stubborn voice and no room for negotiation. «Twelve hours. I give it twelve hours». It was his Maginot Line. «I'll tell you in advance, but don't think the same trick will work then too».
He preferred that we give up the object, but his willingness not to let us go was revealed in his eyes and expression. I let out a long sigh I had been holding back. It was 5:40 in the morning. I got what I desperately needed, time.
***
We ran through the maze. The training was a little different than usual. Rotmiller and Hikurod were ahead, and I followed them from the rear. The reason was simple.
«It doesn't really seem like he's following us».
Even if Rotmiller said so, we couldn't know how long he would keep his promise. I had to protect my back.
«So what are we going to do now?» Rotmiller asked, leading the way from the front.
It wasn't just him. «Bjorrrn... Are we really going to fight?»
«It doesn't seem like a good option. You've seen it before. Your shield was cut like mud».
The questions and concerns they had repressed were directed at me. They had trusted me with everything before, but belatedly they began to worry. However, as of today, democracy was over. There was not enough time to gather everyone's opinions and convince them to proceed.
«Hikurod, Missha, Rotmiller, Dwalkie.» I called them by name and asked them a favor. «In the future he may say something or give orders that you don't understand. But can you trust me and follow me one last time?»
«Of course».
Except Missha, they didn't respond immediately. I waited in silence, trusting in the image of myself that I had shown them over the past few months.
The first to speak was Hikurod. «If it weren't for you in the Bloody Citadel, I would have died by now. I will trust your judgment».
The second was Dwalkie. «Me too. Bjorn, I will believe in the hero destiny you possess».
The hero's fate was the speculation that accompanied my nickname Little Balkan as a condiment once it spread throughout the city, and also what the shaman told me. It was a little strange that Dwalkie told me so seriously, when he knew me so well. In the current situation, however, it was a good thing.
The last one was Rotmiller. «When I saw him, all I did was tremble with fear. I couldn't do anything else. I will believe and follow what you say». I felt deep confidence in his short words. However, Rotmiller continued without stopping for a moment from sinking into emotion. «But other than that, there's something I have to tell you first».
«What is it about?»
«If my speculations are true, it's really dangerous».
«Do you have any information about him?»
Rotmiller replied: «A long time ago, I heard about an explorer who used a long bow sword. It is rumored that he was cursed by a dragon and that his entire body was covered in burns».
So who the hell was he? Unlike me, who only had questions, it seemed like the trio already had someone in mind.
«The curse of a dragon? It can not be...»
«Hunt dragons! Rotmiller, are you talking about the dragon hunter?»
«That, that, so does that mean he's a member of Hercules...?».
Hearing their urgent screams, I frowned. He still didn't know who the dragon slayer was.
Hercules.
It was an ancient word in this world that meant «witch eyes». He had acquired information about the group that used this name very early through books.
A group of lunatics who say their goal is to kill the king.
But I couldn't just see them as crazy. The fact that they continued to live for decades after doing such crazy things had to demonstrate the strength of each of them. Although the royal family put up a huge reward, they were only able to get rid of seven.
We've run into a more troublesome bastard than I thought.
Aside from the bitter taste in my mouth, one thought became clearer: Running away was not the best solution. Wasn't there a famous saying?
«Well, then what do we do?»
Shortly after receiving the map from Rotmiller, I designated our destination. «Let's go here».
There was no paradise to escape to, at least not this time.