Chapter 66.1: The Trapped Adventurer III – (1) (1/2)
It was dark, and the passageways with stone walls and floor were only wide enough for three people to line up side by side. It was a sight that didn’t look any different than before.
But the enemies were undoubtedly becoming stronger. However, this would probably be the first and last time we had such an easy time in the dungeon.
There are strong characters that join only for a limited time in RPGs and the like, and this was exactly like that.
Otou-san was strong. The enemies we encountered on the 15th to 17th floors were all defeated with a single blow by him.
Putting it simply, he had great physical strength, his sword swings were quick, and he possessed numerous seasoned techniques.
His longsword would pierce the enemies like butter and cut them into two. It was a feat that couldn’t be done without detailed knowledge of the enemies’ vital points.
Because he was good at allocating his power, the depletion of his stamina and regeneration point was also minimal.
『I haven't been fighting these guys for a long time for nothing』
Was what the person himself said.
If it was our usual adventure, we would have taken breaks twice by this point, but Otou-san still had plenty of leeway.
Since he was playing an active role, the other party members barely accumulated any fatigue. Liz, Gashuraku-san, Lazarissa and Rana were essentially just walking.
Frey's magic was also a great help.
It would wipe out at least half of the monsters before they reached Otou-san.
Her control of its firepower was amazing. The area-of-effect was extremely small, but its power was staggering. It seemed that it was original magic that Frey had devised herself for use inside the dungeon. On top of that, the capacity of her magic power was on par with Rana’s and she had the magic power recovery of a Hemu.
It appeared that her title of Brave was not for show.
Rana, who was more expressionless than usual, must have felt quite frustrated.
I was about the only one in the party who was getting worn out.
My job this time was divided into two main tasks; searching for enemies and guiding them.
First, when I found an enemy, I would indicate its position on the map and share that information with Ea.
I couldn’t attack lightly.
None of the monsters here could be killed instantly with one or two arrows. The monsters were not only more dangerous when wounded, if they were the type that called its allies, a monster procession[1] would be formed.
A large number of monsters in a narrow passage.
When that happened, an adventurer’s strength wouldn’t matter one whit. He or she would just be overwhelmed. It was probably the worst thing that someone in-charge of searching for enemies could do. There was a need to carefully read the enemies’ characteristics. But this time, even that information was available.
Searching for enemies and guiding normal monsters was easy.
The reason why I was getting worn out, was the task of separating the enemies.
There were troublesome enemies wandering the 16th and 17th floors.
Enemies that came in a set. Also known as monsters with a symbiotic relationship.
Colonies of Chochos and frog-headed monsters.
Chochos are winged monsters with egg-shaped bodies. They’re characterized by their mimicry of a human’s head and have sharp teeth, but alone, they’re small fry among small fry.
They were gathered and brought around like a bunch of grapes. Each bunch had an average of nine Chochos.
When gathered in numbers, even small fry are strong
The frog-headed monster moved about while carrying them like a lantern.
The frog-head has a stubby body and its arms are abnormally long. Its arms looks slender, but it carries the colony in one hand, so it likely has monstrous strength.
The movements of its limbs are slow, but its tongue shoots out quickly, and it would try to snatch adventurers’ weapons with it. One careless moment, and it would even wrench one’s head off, and it fights side by side with the Chochos.
The frog-head is a monster that wandered around on a set route.
Ea and I laid in wait on the route indicated by Otou-san, and then we released arrows at it in a pincer attack.
Ea shot the hand carrying the Chochos and my arrow pierced through the frog-head’s leg.
The Chochos that fell to the ground scattered for a moment, but gathered once more and bared their teeth at Ea. The Chochos on the 16th floor and deeper had a tendency to gather together.
Ea led the Chochos towards the party.
In the meantime, I drew the frog-head’s attention to myself.
This shaved away at both my nerves and my stamina.
The range of its tongue attack was more than 15 meters. If I wasn’t quick or constantly hiding myself around corners, it would get my head. I thought of defending against it using Agathion, but it would be troublesome if it got snatched away. It would probably come back if I called out to it, but causing damage to the frog-head clumsily could lead to unexpected behavior.
Even if I wanted to shoot it through the brain, its position was unknown. The possibility that its brain was relatively small compared to its build was also high.
Without getting unduly greedy, I dealt with it cautiously.
I hid myself around a corner to avoid its tongue. When I heard its footsteps, I showed myself for an instant to induce its tongue attack.
The frog-head couldn’t perform its tongue attack when it was moving. It always went through the same process of aiming first before shooting out its tongue.
With that said, the enemy’s attacks would definitely kill me. Doing the equivalent of putting my body in the path of a bullet was nerve-wracking. The stress and tension from doing so also drained my stamina.
I received a communication from the party that they had defeated the Chochos.
It was time to lead the frog-head towards the party. The route and a guide arrow was displayed on the LCD of my glasses, and I followed it while moving in a zigzag manner. While drawing its attention as well as staying vigilant against its tongue, I dashed ahead.
Encountering other monsters while guiding enemies was not only possible, it was extremely dangerous.
A winged snake separated itself from a wall.
Winged snakes tracked the body heat of their prey, so there didn’t seem to be a way to get away once I had been discovered by one. It was smaller than the ones on the floors above, but the venom of the ones here was a neurotoxin, so I would be paralyzed with one bite.
While staying on guard against the approaching frog-head, I killed the snake with two arrows.
This snake had a head on its tail as well. I properly pierced its vital points with the two arrows. I thought of immobilizing it by pinning it to the wall, but the frog-heads disliked these snakes, so it would stop following me if the snake was in its path. I needed to defeat it for sure.
With the support of my sister, who had rejoined me, we led the frog-head to the party without incident.
If the party was near a corner, then Otou-san would be the one to kill it.
If the passageway was fairly straight, then it would be Frey’s job.
With a sword or with magic, they would defeat the frog-head with a single blow.
Symbiotic monsters must be separated before fighting them. This warning was written in big letters on Otou-san’s maps.
I considered having Rana or Frey defeat them all at once using magic, but when this was done, either of the two types of monsters would invariably protect the other.
The ones that remained would act unpredictably.
If it was the Chochos that remained, they would scatter and attack the entire party.
It would turn into a free-for-all fight.
In general, monsters prioritized attacking those who made loud noises. Vanguards who had shields would draw the enemies’ attention to themselves using gimmicks or with their voices. For the sake of protecting the rearguards.
The Chochos that had remained would ignore this principle.
The frog-head was even more troublesome. It would steal weapons or items from the party, and then run away. On top of that, it was strangely fast when running away.
They needed to be properly separated. They were monsters that were easy to defeat so long as they were separated.
My sister and I took turns to be the one who guided the frog-head.
Despite doing the same job as me, Ea had plenty of leeway.
In the pig hunts that she had participated in, she had to shoot arrows continuously without sleep or rest for at least two days. Using heavy hunting arrows, she would shave away at the pig’s tough skin, causing it to bleed and weaken until it could be killed.
The pigs in the eastern forest were a much tougher and larger species than the dungeon pigs. Half-baked magic and the like wouldn’t even scratch them. Defeating them with swords or spears was a feat for heroes. For that reason, the hunters could only defeat them using the traditional but considerably rigorous method.
My sister was a hunter who had lived through that many times.
Her foundations were different from the likes of mine.
「Yukikaze, give me “that”」