Chapter 424
One of the worst penalties, without a doubt.
Well, it’s still better than being blind like James Carla, though.
‘It would have been better if I had lost the use of one arm like old Diddy.’
A penalty that drastically reduces combat power to the extent that one would think that having one arm missing would have been an advantage.
But I can’t help it.
What can I do with the scale of the thrown dice coming out like this?
I can’t help but hope that the dice result sucks too.
‘Besides… it’s not bad except for my penalty.’
In fact, the [Soul Extraction] pattern is quite tricky.
He stumbled a little, but judging from the fact that he kept his balance, it didn’t seem like his legs were blown off as a penalty.
This is especially true for positions such as supernatural magicians and wizards. Since it is a dealer position, I would have hit a lot of last hits, but I have to fight alone and win without the avant-gardes that I have always been with.
But…
“How is your body? Are there any bad places?”
‘Fortunately, everyone has lived a good life.’
“I don’t know…….”
Both priests survived unscathed.
Erwen looks a bit dazed.
All but one of the four wizards have awakened, and only Aqurava is fainting.
Did something happen inside?
I don’t know, but I didn’t dig deep.
For now, the first thing to do is to find out what the penalty is.
‘Perhaps the fact that they were mages who had spent a long time in the Mage Tower worked effectively.’
‘Nimiral.’
Even if this is enough, the gamble can be seen as a success.
Even though they belonged to the same expedition and shared the same joys and sorrows, I have no idea what kind of life these people would have lived before.
I sighed heavily as I experimented with random penalties in order of bad ones.
trudge trudge.
An ice cave resounding with the sound of hard steps.
As I was moving as far away from the entrance of the glacier as possible, I felt movement in one shoulder.
“Mr……..”
“You’re awake…”
While feeling a deep sense of relief, he carefully put Erwen down first.
‘Eighth…….’
Unfortunately, Erwen was also on the bad luck side.
「Recovery of all resources in Erwen Fornaci di Tercia is limited.」
Unable to recover all resources.
Simply put, it means that now, whether it is MP or spirit power, it can only be consumed and cannot be replenished.
“……If it’s not the moment you need to protect yourself, save your strength as much as possible.”
“Yes… I’m sorry…….”
“What is there to be sorry for? That’s what happened. I’m just glad I woke up.”
Anyway, after that, time passed and those who fainted woke up one by one.
“I’ve caused trouble. From now on, I’ll walk on my own.”
Fortunately, Meland Kaislan received a weak penalty.
“Aww…! Why is this…”
Lavien trembled as if he had been electrocuted after putting his hand on the sword due to a restriction on the use of weapons.
“Hey…why aren’t you all talking?”
Team 5’s archer Chion Iribon, who has lost his hearing.
And…
“It was… a terrible place.”
Aqlava with a white expression.
‘Now two people…….’
[Soul Extraction] After 25 minutes had elapsed since the pattern started, there were only two remaining people.
Amelia and Team 2’s mage McKellie Leiaders.
“Please, please, do your best…”
As time runs out, the crew members send anxious glances at the two who are still asleep.
I felt like going crazy too.
‘Why doesn’t this guy wake up…’
It’s not like he died inside.
If I did, my heart would have stopped already.
throbbing.
The time when the heart feels tight continues.
How long has it been since then?
“Mr. McKelley, there is only one minute left. Please do your best……”
[Soul Extraction] The time when one minute remains until the pattern ends.
“Mmm…”
“…Emily!”
Amelia finally opened her eyes.
And…
“……Damn it.”
The other couldn’t open his eyes.
***
18 survivors.
However, the number of combatants is much smaller.
Because many members, including myself, received significant penalties. In fact, it is safe to say that the power has been reduced by more than half.
But…
‘Then, how about over there?’
As the saying goes, happiness is a relative value.
The same goes for misfortune.
「The glacier wizard Cariadea gains new power in proportion to the total amount of souls absorbed.」
Now, less than 30 minutes have passed, and the second phase is over.
How many of them survived and what kind of penalty did the survivors have?
‘It’s okay, I just wish all the surviving bastards die fighting the boss…….’
Ttk Realistically, that’s not going to happen, right?
Cariadea isn’t a monster that chases all the way out of the glacier’s eyes.
I don’t know how many have woken up, but they must have all escaped the glacial eye by now.
‘The dragon slayer… what happened to him?’
maybe dead
Because he was the one who killed the Taegoryong, who serves as the elder of the dragon tribe. Even then, he said that he managed to kill him in a surprise attack, so if they met again in a normal state, there is a high possibility that they would not have won.
Well, I’d be lying if I said my wishes weren’t included in this speculation.
‘No, wait.’
While thinking about the dragon slayer for a while, my body suddenly stiffened.
‘Didn’t Dwalkie also appear in that bastard’s field?’
Do I have to say that I’m suddenly in a bad mood?
At the same time, I felt that way.
Wouldn’t the people in my fantasy be the only precious person to someone?
End your thoughts and open your eyes.
Fire-!
A fire that gives off warm heat.
The priest who knelt down in front of the flames recited a long prayer, and the members had a moment of silence while listening to it.
That’s a positive aspect in the current situation.
It means that we can afford enough to hold the funeral of a dead colleague.
Kwajik Kwajik Kwajik-!
The firepower of the wizards melted the flesh and skin in an instant, and the remaining bones were distorted and the warriors crushed them into small pieces and stored them in their pockets.
I hope this will be a small consolation to his bereaved family who will be left behind.
“…….”
With that, the short funeral ended.
The hot flame goes out and the body that was warm for a while is cooled by the cold wind.
So it’s time to get back to reality.
“…Yandel, what are you going to do now?”
As soon as Kaislan started talking to me, the crew’s eyes focused on this direction.
That’s because the plan I told you about ended here.
When [Soul Extraction] starts, those who wake up first jump out with the rest.
There were no instructions on what to do next.
But…
“If we keep our distance like this, it might be possible to hold out until the closing date.”
Looking at the hard expression on his face as he said that, it seemed that Kaislan already knew what I was thinking.
Maybe that’s why I mentioned it in the first place.
to make it easier for me to speak.
“But, Yandel, you would know. Even if you run away like that, the end will be a precipice.”
“I’m a cliff? What do you mean? Aren’t they all bought now?”
A crew member flinched at Kaislan’s words and raised his voice.
“I heard you can survive until the closing date? Isn’t that enough? What are you worrying about?”
I’m sorry to those who really thought this was the end, but I haven’t been able to get past the most important hurdle yet.
If that was the case, there would be no reason for me to say ‘gambling’.
“…….”
Kaislan gave me a silent glance, and I smiled bitterly and stepped forward.
Yeah, no matter how competent Kaislan is, I can’t entrust him with things like this.
“We don’t run away like this. No, to be precise, we can’t run away.”
As soon as the words were finished, the crew’s eyes widened.
Eyes full of surprise and doubt.
“…what is the reason?”
It’s that simple.
“Because the enemies that appeared from behind are the Rose Knights.”
“You mean you won’t be able to shake off the chase?”
“No it isn’t.”
“If you do, what the hell do you mean……”
Everyone seemed to not understand what I was saying, so I continued.
If we return alive, the royal family will come up with a prepared excuse.
There was something wrong with the main unit, so I couldn’t go to save it. Even so, I was fortunate to be able to come back alive on my own.
That he would try to cover the sky with the palm of his hand as if he were closing his eyes and screaming.
And…
to turn away from the truth.
That it was our only way out.
“What do you mean by turning away?”
“If we pretend not to notice that we’re a throwaway, the royal family won’t go to extremes.”
It may be cowardly, but this was my plan.
“But that method is no longer available.”
“…….”
“The moment the Rose Knights tell the royal family what happened here, the royal family will surely try to get rid of the misfortune.”
“……Couldn’t you try to negotiate to keep our mouths shut?”
Well, yes, there is a possibility.
By the way…
“Do you really think so?”
No answer came back.
It was just that someone next to me brought up a new question.
“So what are you going to do? If you’re not going to die here, shouldn’t you somehow get out to the city?”
It was Puta Rickovern from the Duke of Kealunus.
Something a little odd, but funny.
“I didn’t expect a guy who gave up when everything was over would say something like that.”
“Because you brought us here by the collar. You went through so much trouble, do you think you’re going to give up here?”
“It was a compliment, so don’t take it sensitively. And I didn’t even say I was giving up in the first place.”
“Ah…”
He opened his mouth in a pity at my words, and I quickly continued.
“Everybody, don’t worry too much. There’s a way.”
“method?”
“Yeah. Who knows if no one goes back alive? What could have happened here?”
Of course, you may have doubts, but there is a distinct difference between having a feeling and having physical evidence.
That’s why…….
“We will kill both Noark and the Knights of the Rose from now on.”
From now on, we are.
You have to cover the sky with your palms.
***
Will you run away like this?
Or will you fight one more time?
A consensus on it ended sooner than expected.
“I… I don’t know what the right choice is.”
“Haha, there’s nothing unusual about it. Most of the situations we’ve come this far have been like that.”
“But in every moment, he made a decision.”
“Bjorn Yandel believes in your choice. That is my choice.”
“So do I. It may look a little petty in your eyes, but it’s more comfortable for someone like me.”
After the expedition’s decision-making was over, everything became clear.
We wandered around the cave, applied detection magic to various places, and cast distortion magic to destroy monsters. They hunted the fields to obtain food.
“This… is more edible than I thought?”
The monster meat was surprisingly edible.
Well, among them, there were some that were so bad that they were judged to be inedible.
“The taste was Second, I’m going to die of regret. If I brought those by-products, I could sell them at a high price.”
“I can’t help it. I have to reduce the load as much as possible right now…”
I threw away all the expensive by-products obtained through distortion magic with tears in my eyes. I
couldn’t afford to take care of such things while I had to carry a colleague who was difficult to move.
Like that . It was when half a day had passed.
“Yandel-sama! Mr. Yandel!”
Team 5’s magician, Marone, hurriedly calls my name and runs.
This was the only time he was like this.
“Did the detection magic work?”
“Yes, yes…! It worked!”
The news brought by Marone could be classified into three types.
First of all, one good news.
“It was the Rose Knights. There were only seven of them!”
The number of the Rose Knights has greatly decreased.
Apparently, the damage was great because they killed like they were eating…
“How was the condition of the remaining ones?
” That’s it…”
The second was ambiguous news.
“Everyone looked fine on the outside…… I guess at least one lame?”
A third of our expedition corps Compared to the fairly strong penalty of 1 , it seems that they got pretty good luck
with random penalties
.
The third one was bad news.
And that’s not usually bad news. It’s
literally the worst kind of news.
“I don’t know why, but they’re moving with the people of Noark…! ”
Water and oil mixed.