Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 121

In the 26th floor, which separated the mid- and high-rank adventurers, Walm was undergoing a baptism of fire. A fireball, formed by condensed magic power, continued to burn even after releasing its contained power, illuminating the labyrinth.

Compared to Demon Fire, the fireball had lesser range and duration, but in terms of sheer instant power, it surpassed it. Naturally, if a fireball directly hit without being blocked or influenced by terrain, it could incapacitate an average monster. In fact, one of the monsters Walm targeted during the encounter was engulfed in flames and now lay smoldering on the floor.

Despite that, the remaining monsters navigated through the waves of dancing flames, approaching Walm. Their armors were tightly fitted, and the blades of their longswords gleamed eerily due to the flames. They weren’t human; their heads, which should have been there, were missing.

One of the headless knights was defeated, but two remained, their fervor aimed at turning the living Walm into a corpse.

“No head, huh. That’s a problem.”

The usual weaknesses of humanoid monsters—decapitation or head-crushing—were absent. Walm abandoned thrusting attacks and lowered his arms to gather strength, releasing his halberd. The creature named Dullahan, judging it disadvantageous to be caught in the upward swing of a Strong Strike, abruptly reduced its speed and barely escaped the range. Meanwhile, the second Dullahan slid in low and thrust its longsword at Walm.

Walm deflected the thrust with the axe head and counter attacked, but the distance was too great to be a decisive blow. He leaped back. Attempting to pursue, the first Dullahan regained its stance, blocking his path. Despite their lack of heads, they exhibited a coordination that was highly intelligent. Truly, a frustrating existence. Walm tried to circle around, but the Dullahans maintained an annoying distance, mixing in feints.

If more monsters gathered due to the noise, Walm would be at a disadvantage. He had no intention of holding back. As Walm formed another fireball, the Dullahans split clearly to the left and right, closing the distance. They aimed to avoid being wiped out and to force him to hesitate in using magic at close range, but for Walm, who had high fire attribute aptitude, it was a poor strategy. If it weren’t, he would have been consumed by the blue flames during Demon Fire.

The fireball struck the abdomen of one Dullahan, exploding and prying open its sturdy armor, incinerating the inside. Fire was highly effective against the undead. The Dullahan exited the battle without even having time to fight back.

The remaining Dullahan, having gained valuable time and distance thanks to its comrade, launched a full-body thrust. A suicidal move for a human considering the risk of counterattack, but for a Dullahan with no vital points, it was a troublesome tactic.

The tip of the longsword met the side blade of the halberd, and with a high-pitched metallic scrape, Walm deflected it upwards to the left. The danger was not yet over. The Dullahan, using the weight of its armor, charged with its shoulder.

Walm thrust the halberd’s shaft against the Dullahan’s shoulder. Amid a dull collision sound, he managed to suppress the charge. Then, Walm suddenly relaxed his footing. The Dullahan, which had its center of gravity forward for the clash, leaned further and had to tilt its upper body to maintain balance.

Naturally, Walm didn’t miss the opportunity. As he slipped by its side, he hooked the halberd’s claw-like blade onto the Dullahan’s knee, shifting his weight to slice through it. The attack was sufficient. He could feel the ligaments and meniscus being cut through the handle. The Dullahan, having lost the pillar of its mobility, swung its longsword as it turned, but it was a futile gesture.

Continuing without pause to its back, Walm swung down his halberd from the highest stance. Infusing it with magic power, the strike sliced diagonally from the shoulder to the waist through the armor.

“Still moving, huh.”

The bisected halves hit the ground and bounced a few times, but the resistance ended there. After lightly catching his breath, Walm used all his senses to scout, but no enemies had yet arrived.

To be safe, Walm kicked the longsword away from the Dullahan’s hand and knelt to search the corpse he had just defeated. In a hastily attached waist pouch, a few coins, including silver ones, were stored.

“Taking the armor is obviously out, but maybe the sword could do.”

Inserting his hand into the magic bag, already filled with collectibles from the increasingly deep floors, Walm felt a strange resistance and rebound on his skin. Prioritizing precious metals, magic stones, and valuables, the magic bag meant for personal use had reached its storage limit.

If he were to acquire bulky items from now on, he would have to discard something to carry them. Though items like accessories and coins wouldn’t be an issue, carrying heavy objects on his waist or back would only weigh him down.

After gathering the scattered coins from the Dullahan he had incinerated, the curfew had come. The sound of metal scraping against the floor reached Walm’s ears. It was undoubtedly another group of headless knights wandering the labyrinth.

“Time’s up.”

Fortunately, they were not yet within engagement range. Having completed his search, Walm had no reason to linger and quickly left the area.

◆

As the receptionist had advised, the floors below the 26th were filled with troublesome monsters. Poison worms, whose surfaces were protected by poisonous liquids and stingers, and killer plants with high vitality and regeneration, bearing strong vines. Engaging multiple of these at once would inevitably lead to exhaustion, and Walm had to pour in concentrated magic that he had been saving until escaping the middle layers. Experiencing the value of the prior information firsthand, Walm worried that the bracelet he handed over as a fee might have been too cheap.

“Phew, even in death, they’re a nuisance.”

The poison leaking from the poisoned worm, turned into a bonfire, evaporated and polluted the air. While not lethal, inhaling too much would cause symptoms like vomiting and convulsions. According to the sword merchant who mainly bought his collections, proper harvesting and treatment could turn it into protective gear against poison, but Walm didn’t have the equipment or skills to dismantle the toxic bug contaminated with stingers and poison.

On the other hand, the killer plant, with its annoying regenerative ability and tough vines that tormented the front lines, was weak to fire as a plant-type monster. Walm stared intently at a burned tentacle. The scorched surface still had numerous thorns remaining. They would cling to armor, gouge the skin, and suck blood. That was how the vampiric killer plant attacked and fed.

Walm drew his knife. Stepping on the tentacle with his half-length boot, he shaved off the thorns with the knife and cut it to a manageable length. He grasped the tentacle and held it above his head, letting the liquid flow into his mouth from the cut end.

“As they said, the sweetness is intense.”

The taste was like sugarcane juice, only sweeter and more viscous. For Walm, who rarely had the opportunity to taste something sweet, it was one of the best sweets. Treasured even among the wealthy, killer plant extract was highly valued as a condiment or ingredient.

The intense sugar content spread through his body, and his brain rejoiced at the nectar. If the air wasn’t polluted with poison, he would have savored it more thoroughly. Quickly peeling another tentacle, Walm squeezed the sweet liquid into a bottle and discarded the remaining husks into the labyrinth. The labyrinth would automatically clean up, leaving no residue.

Having enjoyed a modest snack, Walm searched for the stairs to descend further. He reached the 28th floor, and two more floors down would be a rest area. Shaking off the sticky residue from his hands, Walm paid attention to his surroundings for any threats.

Thinking about the rest area he had yet to see wouldn’t bring any harm or benefit. Passing through several corridors, sweeping rooms, and entering another small chamber, Walm meticulously scanned his surroundings. Wandering monsters were easy to detect, but the insidious killer plants could hide under debris or on the ceiling.

If entangled, one would lose the freedom of their limbs and have their blood drained. While Walm enjoyed extracting sweetness from killer plants, the reverse was unacceptable. Fortunately, the room was lightly damaged, with no hiding places. Just as Walm was about to leave the small room, he sensed an abnormality in the passage ahead.

“Dullahan…? No, it’s wearing a helmet.”

A headless knight wouldn’t wear a helmet. Moreover, it had four arms, each holding two swords and two shields. Walm muttered the name of the monster as he gathered information.

“A doll slime, huh.”

A slime that entered armor or dolls and manipulated them at will. A new monster he had never encountered before, and against unknown foes, firepower was the most effective solution. Forming a fireball with magic, the doll slime’s reaction was dramatic. It trembled its semi-fluid body and shrieked through a pseudo-vocal cord, spraying liquid from the gaps in its armor.

Walm realized his mistake. The stream, which seemed like an attack, was the doll slime’s tentacles, allowing it to move as if gliding over the water. Its slimy body reduced friction, enabling high-speed movement. With initial speed and angles a human could not achieve, the doll slime charged at Walm.

Walm swung the halberd’s axe head down to intercept it, but the doll slime’s double round shields blocked the blow, only breaking one shield. The doll slime, closing the distance, simultaneously thrust short swords from both sides. Walm dodged the first strike and twisted his upper body to avoid the second, but the armored elbow rotated, and the trajectory changed to the opposite direction.

“Ugh!!”

Even with armor, the inside was soft, allowing the sword to approach at an impossible angle based on experience. Though he managed to block with the butt end, blood oozed from his cheek. Suppressing the bleeding with a magic barrier, Walm focused on the battle. The joints were far more flexible than a human’s. However, the armor as an exoskeleton hindered its flexibility. If it couldn’t kill on the first try, the eyes would inevitably adjust. Crushing the fingers while closing in with the sword and halberd, Walm sent the short sword rolling on the floor.

The round shield couldn’t withstand the second Strong Strike. The remaining short sword was also hooked by the halberd’s side blade and dropped to the floor. The doll slime, having lost its means of attack, spewed tentacles from every gap in its armor to grab Walm.

“Is that your best move?”

The doll slime aimed to suffocate him, but to Walm, it was a shortcut to an easier victory. The fireball he instantly formed was insufficiently condensed, typically a mere bluff, but for the slime leaking from the armor, it was an unbearable blow. The dying doll slime retreated inside the armor, attempting a final stand, but Walm, enveloped in flames, slashed at the exposed arm joint and poured flames inside.

The vibration of the semi-fluid body and the screech of metal became its death throes, and the doll slime could no longer maintain its form. Its semi-fluid body turned completely to liquid, leaving a new stain in the labyrinth.

“Another troublesome foe.”

Though fewer in number than the other three types, this was not a mutant or rare species. Considering the hassle when encountering it, a bit of grumbling was understandable. The damaged armor and weapons from the Strong Strike were not very valuable. Walm checked the back of the armor and heard a rattle. Shaking the arm, a small magic stone fell out from a gap.

Its applications, such as catalysts or lamps, were numerous, and it would sell for about five silver coins. Stuffing the magic stone into the nearly full magic bag, Walm resumed exploring the labyrinth.

Translator – Lyxxna