Chapter 797
Chapter 797: Skull Island (4)
Honestly, the Skull King isn’t a boss that is always available to fight. On average, the labyrinth must open about seven times between hunts for it to reappear, and during that time, the cave entrance remains opened. This served as a minimal convenience for explorers. Otherwise, they would have to get a key and enter just to find an empty boss room every time.
“Huh? The earthquake stopped!”
The tremors that had occurred after defeating the Skull King had subsided at some point. This meant that the path to the next stage was now opened. After all, the condition for encountering the hidden boss requires that the Cursed One defeats both the Gravekeeper and the Skull King.
Drrrrrrr-!
As the battle ended, the boss room entrance that had closed reopened, allowing the others who had been waiting outside to enter the chamber.
“…Is it already over?”
“It hasn’t even been three minutes……”
My comrades couldn’t hide their bewildered expressions. Well, the Skull King does have quite a notorious reputation. To begin with, there aren’t many teams that could taken down a rank 3 monster with just six people. It meant that everyone in the team had to be rank 3 explorers or higher. Though, considering the standard used to be five people before binding magic was upgraded, things like this have become a bit more manageable now.
“By the way, It seems the essence didn’t drop.”
“As you can see.”
“What about the chest?”
“Not yet. We need to look for it.”
These things are always best done together. After all, treasure is one of an explorer’s greatest joys. Before moving on to the next stage, I searched for the treasure chest with my team members. The treasure chest itself is kind of like a hidden piece in its own right. You can only find the hidden treasure chest by searching the ground after defeating the boss.
“Ugh……! Why do they have to hide it like this instead of just giving it to us!”
“That’s just how the arrangements of Gabrielius are. Perhaps only those who are destined to are permitted to find them.”
“Ugh…… That Gabrielius person must have a really strange personality!”
“Still, this is a rather well-known arrangement. It’s information that basically anyone aiming to hunt the Skull King would know. The Golden Tree Clan outside probably knows as well—.”
“Oh! Found it! I found it!!”
Already? While feeling somewhat suspicious about Ainar’s excitement, I checked, and it really was the treasure chest.
‘This feels promising, doesn’t it?’
To be honest, Ainar is extremely lucky. She’s the type who always has a full rice bowl even if she lives carelessly. It’s a bit different from Sven Parav, who has the secret nickname ‘Golden Goblin Statue.’ He has good luck but somehow always seems pitiful. I guess you could say he’s always in intense situations?
“Bjooorn!! Can I open it!! No, I’m going to open it! Please let me!”
I nodded with a smirk and Ainar smashed the chest’s latch that was made of bone… Or should I call it a latch-bone instead? Anyway, she broke it with her fist.
And……
Swish.
She slowly opened the lid of the chest. Despite the large size of the chest, its contents were very small, and upon seeing this, Raven pushed Ainar aside and carefully picked up the item to examine it.
“Something very precious came out… If that Golden Ghost person finds out, he’ll be really angry, won’t he?”
“Huh? Aruru, what’s that? Isn’t that a letter?”
“Ah, this is a talisman-type item.”
A type of item in the game that is listed in English as a ‘Charm.’ Ainar’s No. 9999 Beginner’s Luck and the No. 1001 Alonso’s Travel Bag I gave to Auyen belong to this category……
“Oh! So this is also a Numbered item?”
“Yes, that’s right. No. 444 Dedrius’ Invitation.”
“A Triple Numbered! That’s Amazing! But… what’s it used for?”
Ainar tilted her head while staring at the wax-stamp sealed envelope. While the fact that it was a Numbered item caught her interest, she couldn’t guess what it was used for. Well, that’s how most talismans are. It’s nearly impossible to figure out their effects just by looking at them.
“If you carry this, you won’t be attacked by monsters classified as undead.”
“Uh-huh, and?”
“That’s it.”
“…Huh? Didn’t you just call it a precious item? Doesn’t our navigator’s bag seems better than this?”
Missha’s expression deflated after hearing the item’s effect. Well, it wasn’t an item that could easily be understood. To understand the value of that one-line description, you’d have to actually use it.
“It is precious. Unlike Alonso’s Travel Bag, this talisman’s effect is absolute. If you carry it, you will never be attacked—no matter what. Even if the owner attacks first.”
For example, there’s a rift called ‘Necropolis’ on the eighth floor. It’s a rift where 99% of the monsters are undead and if a DPS has this item, it’s possible for them solo-clear the rift. There are even some rank 1 undead-type monsters.
“Really? This is a really interesting item… Can I take a look?”
“Sure. But absolutely don’t break the wax seal.”
“Huh? What happens if you do?”
“You die.”
“…Eek!”
Missha quickly pulled back her hand from the invitation at Raven’s short and blunt explanation, and I smirked at the sight.
‘She always only knows half the story.’
Strictly speaking, you don’t necessarily die. If you break the seal inside the labyrinth, you’ll be dragged to a hidden field called ‘Hell.’ As for the difficulty… Let’s just say it’s essentially impossible to come back alive. No matter how well you’ve developed your character, once you break that seal, you won’t be able to return. Unless you open it at a specific location.
“So, who should take it?”
Hmm, well. It’s definitely not an item I should use. In the labyrinth, a tank’s role is to take hits, so I shouldn’t even go near an item like this. After some thought, I made my decision.
“Emily Raines, you should take it.”
In my opinion, she was the best choice. My level of trust with her is different, you could say. I couldn’t rely on the others to keep the seal intact, but she would definitely keep it safe.
‘Still, we got quite the precious item.’
Getting a Triple Numbered talisman before even eating the main dish seems like a good omen. Or is it bad…..? Whenever something good happens, something bad usually follows. Ah, well, it probably won’t be like that… But I’ve experienced too many incidents like this before to simply just brush it off.
So……
“…I should at least check.”
“Check? What do you mean?”
“The Golden Tree Clan.”
“Hmm… Wouldn’t they have already left by now? They definitely wouldn’t have thought we’d fail.”
That’s true. I think so as well.
But……
“Ainar, sorry, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer before fighting that guy.”
“…Huh?”
“Let’s step outside to check on things and then re-enter.”
The next stage after defeating the Skull King, doesn’t involve taking a portal or anything like that, the path just continues on. It’s not even structured like the cave entrance either where a door closes behind you. This meant, if they wanted to, a subsequent group could follow after us.
“Let’s go back.”
I decided not to ignore this inexplicable uneasy feeling and walked back through the cave to the outside.
But……
“They’re not here?”
The area in front of the cave was empty.
***
“What should we do?”
There were two possibilities. Either they really left without looking back……
‘Or they’re deliberately hiding and waiting.’
If it’s the latter, there are two branches here as well.
1. They know about the hidden boss, and that’s their target.
2. They don’t know anything, but since I came here, they’re waiting to see if there might be actually something.
Well, they could also simply turn into plunderers and attack us…… But that possibility seems very unlikely if you think about it, right? Even if they succeeded in killing all of us, how would they keep the mouths of so many people shut? Secrets tend to leak out and Golden Ghost definitely wouldn’t be able handle the aftermath.
“If you’re really worried, we could go check the coastline. If they left by boat, there should be some traces.”
Amelia suggested, but I shook my head. There’s no point in doing that anyway. They could easily fabricate traces, and with our abilities, it’s impossible to find those who are hiding.
“We’re going back.”
Without another word, I re-entered the cave. Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t prepare anything.
“Marrone, Raven, set up detection magic at the entrance. That way we can know immediately if anyone enters.”
“Will it work? Those people’s stealth ability is no joke.”
“It’ll work. That stealth ability is entirely thanks to their equipment.”
If they are stealth specialists who own that equipment, then maybe. But, with that many people, they’ll definitely get caught when entering the cave. After all, the condition for ‘absolute stealth’ is not moving.
“It’s done.”
“How long will it last?”
“It should easily last 12 hours. But you realize they will probably notice that detection magic has been set up here, right?”
Yeah, that’s true……
“It doesn’t matter. Even if they try to remove it, we’ll know when they do.”
“That’s true, I suppose?”
“Now then, let’s hurry.”
I quickly led my team members forward. Not to the boss room, but along the initial pathway.
“It’s convenient that all the lights are on.”
“All those annoying monsters are gone too.”
“But… When will this curse on me disappear? I heard it would disappear when the Skull King is defeated…… Is it related to what we’re looking for now?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
After wandering along the initial pathway for a while, we eventually reached a dead end.
“Is this it?”
I didn’t answer Raven’s question. I simply turned to look behind me. Beyond the blocked wall stretched a long, straight corridor.
‘Okay, this should be enough……’
“Wait a moment. Some special preparation is needed to make the hidden path appear.”
I ordered the team members to wait, then approached the blocked wall. I pretended to do something while feeling the wall surface. Because this isn’t actually the entrance.
Swish.
I discreetly handed a note to Raven. It was a note I’d secretly written while hiding it with my shield during the walk here……?
“……”
After quickly scanning the note she received, Raven tucked it away. Then, with a meaningful expression, she discreetly nodded at me, making sure only I could see.
“…So this is what we need to do to open it? Got it. I’ll prepare right away.”
Judging by her immediate response, she seemed to have instantly caught on to what I was planning.
‘This is why I appreciate old-school veterans.’
When you’ve worked together long enough, you don’t need many words to understand each other.
“Huh? Raven, what are you doing?”
“Mr. Yandel requested me to use a special kind of magic.”
“Oh? What kind?”
“It’s a secret. If Ms. Fenelin knew, you’d go around telling everyone.”
“Wh-what are you talking about! I’m a tight-lipped, honorable warrior!”
“If you’re really curious, I’ll tell you later. Besides, you’re not that interested anyway, right?”
“Hmm, that’s true. Since it looks like it’ll take a while, I’ll go over there and have some jerky.”
While everyone waited, Raven drew a magic circle on the ground, and I checked on the detection magic’s status with Marrone while pretending to examine the wall. And after some time had passed.
“It’s done.”
Raven’s magic was complete.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
As soon as I gave the signal, Raven infused mana into the magic circle.
And……
Flash-!
Light burst from the magic circle and our surroundings shifted. After all, the magic I requested wasn’t something to reveal a hidden door.
[Arua Raven has cast rank 4 spatial magic Multi Teleportation.]
Multi Teleportation. For reference, I set the coordinates to the fork in the long corridor. The reason was simple.
I believe it. Even though we can’t see them right now.
“Behell—aaaaaaaaah!!!”
That some rat bastard must be following us.
[You have cast Transcendence.]
[You have cast Giantization.]
The moment the teleportation ended, I maximized my size, blocking the narrow passage entirely with my body. It was so cramped that I could barely walk properly…… But on the flip side, it meant no one could slip past me.
Thud-! Thud-!
I raised my shield, which filled the entire passageway, and charged toward the dead end. However, I didn’t feel anything catching against it.
‘Was there really no one?’
For a moment, that thought crossed my mind, and I started to suspect that I’d done something foolish again. But it doesn’t matter. Isn’t a fool without a rat bastard following them better than a smart person with a rat bastard following them?
Thud-! Thud-!
So regardless of whether anything catches against it, I stubbornly continued pushing forward with my shield.
And……
Thud-! Thud-!
The moment when I finally reach the dead end’s wall, I couldn’t help but smirk. And for good reason……
Bang-!
Not because of the crashing sound.
Crunch-!
But because I heard the sound of something being crushed.
‘Yeah, I knew it.’
Caught you, you bastard.