Chapter 453 (2/2)

I cry out .

「W-what should we do, Aegir-sama!?」

「We don’t have anywhere to run!」

「……ah, we’re going to die . 」

「I-If I knew this would happen, I would have offered you my――」

「……dark skin . 」

I instinctively draw my Dual Crater and charge at the incoming saw .

If I can’t run, then the only option is forward .

Ensuring the saw doesn’t touch me and utilizing the new Dual Crater’s reach, I swing at one of the saws .

（Guwa! What are you doing?）

Instead of breaking, my blade gets repelled and a hoa.r.s.e voice resounds in my mind .

（Those things aren’t made with ordinary materials . You can’t cut through them even with my residing in your sword . ）

「I can’t cut through……huh?」

I look at my Dual Crater .

There isn’t a single scratch on it . The Dual Crater can endure .

「Then what about this!?」

I point the tip of the sword at the floor, add my left hand behind the blade and push the Dual Crater at the saw .

The strong vibrations transmit from my weapon to my arms and to the rest of my body, making me want to naturally let go, however I know we’ll all turn into stew if I do .

If I had to compare the feeling, I’d say it’s like being pulled into a high speed millstone .

My arms are becoming numb and my skin is vibrating unpleasantly .

「Guuuh…… eei, this shaking is so annoying!」

The pus.h.i.+ng contest lasted for a while until the blade of the Dual Crater suddenly slipped off the saw, allowing my body to fall onto the saw .

I feel my entire body get violated by the saw and then flung to the other side .

「Aegir-samaaa!!」

Celia screamed, and I was prepared to be turned into mince meat, but aside from the uncomfortable vibrations, it didn’t hurt .

「Hm?」

I check my body and confirm I don’t have a single cut .

「Ah! Your sword grinded off all the jagged edges of the saw! Everyone, run through the spot where Aegir was!」

Natia shouts and similarly emerges on the other side .

「Here I go!」

Celia jumps out head first .

「Go in the wrong place and it’s over…… what am I thinking? f.u.c.k it!」

Agor carries his attendant and jumps through .

「……will I be okay?」

Mack jumps as well .

A thin line of blood trickles from his bald head . It was really a narrow fit .

Tristan is the only one left, but he doesn’t come out .

「Hey, what are you doing!? Hurry up!」

It was an empty scream as the saw reached the end .

That must have been the final obstacle as the saw retracted back into the wall and the cage also withdrew noisily .

「Kuh, I should have taken him with me……」

Agor slams his fist into the ground .

「If only I kicked his a.s.s……」

Celia also seems sad .

「I’ll at least retrieve his corpse . 」

Despite searching though, I couldn’t find a dismembered Tristan .

「Well, it’s because I”m not dead . 」

A door in the wall opens up and reveals a small gap which Tristan emerges from .

「Emergency, safety, shelter……I believe I got it right . It would have been dangerous had I not found this . 」

I smile at Tristan and then lightly tap Celia on the head .

「W-why did you kick me!? It’s scary to dive into a saw!」

「You should have told us first! I’m going to kick your a.s.s even more!!」

「There was only room for one person! Besides, I said it and n.o.body bothered to listen!」

We continue to move forward .

Since we’ve overcome that many traps, there is nothing more to fear .

I lead the way with Agor and Mack following closely behind .

「Don’t! Stop!」

Suddenly, Natia yells in a low-pitched voice .

Natia points her toe and traces it on the floor .

「This part here is strange . It doesn’t feel quite right to me . 」

The seams of the walls and floor of the ruins can’t be seen, it’s almost like one big piece .

The spot Natia identified was also similarly smooth and even…… or appeared to be .

「Aegir screwed up last time, so get back!!」

I can’t deny that .

Natia takes out two palm-sized wooden spheres from a pocket, rolls them in her hand and releases them on the floor .

Momentum carries the b.a.l.l.s on the floor and they naturally slow down .

After both of them seemingly slowed to a halt, one of them rolled back in our direction and the other rolled in the opposite direction .

「There’s a b.u.mp in the middle! Like I thought, there’s something under here!」

「Alright, let’s go home . 」

I grab Tristan by the collar .

「Form a single file line and walk along the edge of the pa.s.sage, I’ll lead the way . 」

We do as Natia instructs and take one step every few seconds .

Natia’s steps were as light as a feather, carefully inspecting the floor, tilting her head and countlessly changing her direction .

It would be fine if she was simply slow, but she was going sideways and even backwards, so we didn’t make much progress .

「Hey, can’t we go more in a straight line? The sun’s going to set . 」

「Shh! There are plenty of things my experience is telling me are dangerous! Just be quiet and follow me!」

Mmm, I guess I can’t really argue .

I sigh reluctantly and rest a hand on the wall .

At that moment, there was a clunk and the part where I placed my hand sunk about 20 cm into the wall .

「……hey, Natia . 」

「What!? I’m concentrating here!」

The angry Natia turns back at me and instantly turns pale .

「Sorry . I think I did something again . 」

「Goshーー!!」「Again, Lord Hardlett!?」「……guoh . 」「Hiiiiiih!」「I knew this was going to happen!」「Aegir-sama, you dummy!」

As everyone complained, the floor behind us――the part where Natia found unusual――lowered with loud rumbles and the place we were standing on transformed into a steep slope .

The ceiling in front of us opened up and down dropped multiple metal b.a.l.l.s about 1 m in diameter .

Those b.a.l.l.s bounced once when they hit the floor and naturally rolled down the incline towards us .

「Oh no! Get out of the way!」「……it’s slanted, I can’t stand straight!」「It’s taking everything I have not to fall over!」

I glance behind me .

The end of the descended floor is dark, meaning we’ll likely lose our lives if we drop down there .

But, even if we want to deal with the iron b.a.l.l.s, our footing is too poor .

While mulling over what to do, the b.a.l.l.s encroach upon us .

「Hold onto this! It’s my seven adventurer’s tools!」

I look up and see Natia hanging onto her tool which has a stick attached to the wall with birdlime .

I grab the stick and stand up, then shout at everyone else to get back .

「Natia, how strong is this?」

「Torimo-kun’s special adhesive absolutely won’t come loose!」

Good, then I’ll do something .

「It’s on line to hit us directly!」

Celia’s right, the iron ball is rolling at us .

With my left hand still holding Torimo-kun, I throw a punch with my gauntlet-protected right hand at the ball .

「Woah!」

It made a dull sound on contact and the impact sent shocks from my arm through to my body . My bones creak and my right arm tingles .

Nevertheless, I successfully knocked the ball away .

I don’t have time to be proud of what I did .

「The next one is coming!」

I grab Torimo-kun with both hands, lift my body up and kick the iron ball away .

「More…… lots of them are coming!!」

Around six of them are on course to hit us .

We’ll be crushed if we try to repel them one at a time .

「Please don’t break . 」

I remove my gauntlet and toss it at Natia .

Then, I thrust my now bare right arm at the iron ball .

「If you punch it without protection, your arm will break!」

Agor warns me, but even I won’t do something like that .

「This is what I’ll do!」

I catch the iron ball with my hand .

Instead of punching it or kicking it, I accept the full brunt of the weight, and I feel myself slide back .

I can almost hear my left hand ripping as well .

But I can’t collapse here .

I have Celia, Natia, and the little attendant girl behind me .

I grit my teeth and transfer all my strength to my right arm .

Finally, the iron ball comes to a halt .

「It stopped!」

「Amazing……」

「More importantly, someone help me! I’m falling! I’m falling over here!」

There’s more though .

5 more b.a.l.l.s are behind the one I stopped .

「Hnngrrah!!」

I hurl the iron ball using the force of my entire body .

The iron ball rolls up the slope and collides with the other 5 b.a.l.l.s .

「No way . 」

Along with Natia’s voice of disbelief, the ceiling closed up like it ran out of stock of the b.a.l.l.s and the floor also returned to normal .

「Whew, took care of that somehow . 」

I turn around and check on everyone .

「Ah, Tristan isn’t here . 」

Tristan’s arm can be seen in the closing hole .

Agor barely pulled him up in time and everything ended without incident .

「By the way……when I got caught in the trap, it wasn’t Celia who shouted last, right?」

「I don’t remember . 」

Good . If it was Celia who called me dumb, I wouldn’t be able to recover from the shock .

「Let’s get going then . 」

When I was about to walk off, Mack grabbed my arm .

「I’m leading the way . 」

Natia goes ahead of us .

「I’m next . 」

Celia follows .

「And then it’s me . 」

Agor steps forth .

「……then me . 」

Mack trails behind .

「I-I guess I’m next . 」

The attendant bows slightly before walking ahead .

「Why……?」

「Ah, why don’t we talk about some interesting books?」

I stand side by side with Tristan at the very end and walk along, feeling disgruntled .