After we finished eating, we proceeded on down to the fifth level . There were very few small rooms on this level; instead it was made up of a combination of several very large, expansive spaces . This dungeon was supposed to have been a temple once, and the furnishings gave truth to those stories, but down here on the fifth level there was very little in the way of extravagance . Instead, it all seemed rather…bare .
Grace passed cautiously through the first area and into the second . As she entered she paused for a moment, but it didn’t take more than a few heartbeats before she was off again, proceeding towards the center of the spacious room .
In the center of the room was what appeared to be adventurer’s equipment strewn about: swords and armor . The swords were snapped, while the armor was dented all over . It would have taken quite a lot of force to cause this much damage .
There was no sign of those who had owned the equipment . They were injured for sure, but it seemed it wasn’t so bad that their corpses were lying about .
“――There might be an Ogre around . ” Grace said matter-of-factly . They are massive creatures with tremendous power . They aren’t very strong against magic though, but if there are more than just a few, we might be in trouble . ”
“――Clive, could you withstand an Ogre’s attack?” At my question, Clive spoke up .
“If the Ogre was barehanded, I should be able to manage . Though I would still take some damage . If it has a weapon…then things will depend on what that weapon is . ”
“I see . ” If there were a bunch, we would have to fight them in packs that Clive could manage . Grace, with her skills at evasion and retreat shouldn’t be an issue; it was Sylvia and myself that would be up a creek without a paddle if we needed to fight multiple Ogres at once . It was a saving grace that Return could be used in dungeons, but we need to be extra careful not to mess up when and where that spell should be used .
In the end there was nothing in the second room besides the weapons and armor strewn about, and we passed on into the third room without issue . The third room was just as enormous as the last, but with pillars situated at set locations around the room . As soon as Grace was about to step foot into the room, she paused, looking around cautiously .
“――Is something wrong?”
“There might be some kind of spell being used . I can feel the remnants of some magical energy, but I haven’t a clue what kind of magic it was――”
Sadly, even with my eyesight, I was unable to see those traces of magical energy .
“There is no harm in being a little more cautious . Let me re-enchant everybody . ” With that, I gave the orders and we were soon in battle formation .
Apart from the normal enchants, I also included the skill I had learned yesterday: enchantments that activate upon physical contact . I cast Magicball on Grace’s sword, and Magicwall on all of our armor and my gauntlet .
“Alright, Grace and Clive, switch places please . Sylvia, you’ll start debuffing the enemy as soon as the target is fixed . ”
“Understood . ”
Following my orders, Grace and Clive traded places .
There was an instant where the watch Clive wore around his neck passed into view . In my mind, I could see Clive as he spoke about “never letting any of his companions die in front of him again” . Clive would do anything and everything in his power to ensure we were protected .
“――Clive, could you wait a moment . ”
“――???”
With a certain thought held tightly in mind, I called out to Clive who had started moving forward to take the lead .
After we finished our preparations, we proceeded on into the room in our battle formation . It’s not as if any of us had seen anything yet, but still the mood was heavy . It was nothing more than a feeling, but that feeling still bespoke of something nasty about to happen here in this room .
There was flash of motion, and I caught a glimpse of something moving swiftly out of the corner of my vision . But turning to face it, I saw nothing . But in the next moment, a creature showed itself fully, and there was no mistaking it .
――Letters and numbers .
In the space before us, there was nothing visible, but there was still something invisible to the eye . As though pointing to its existence, its status was clearly visible at the location of the thing .
“Be careful, there is something hiding up ahead . ” I said, warning the other three . There was still some space between us and the hidden enemy . It too seemed to be watching, waiting…not actively approaching .
“——Kei, if we hit it with magic, it won’t be able to remain invisible . ” Grace said, advising me . It seems the creature realized I was following it with my eyes .
“Okay . In that case, I’ll initiate . Clive, I’m counting on you to take aggro . ” With that, I took aim…then released several Large Pistol Magicballs at the enemy . I had considered sending in a Special-grade Large Magicball, but decided to focus just on revealing the enemy; so I chose the smaller, higher accuracy option .
Most of them managed to contact the creature’s body . There was probably no real damage done, but after a few short moments, the creature’s form began to fade into view before us, until it was completely visible .
“——Very surprising . It’s hard to believe there is someone who can see me . ” A man who resembled a dark-elf said, twisting his lips into a grin as he gazed mockingly towards me .
“——I’m the type that can’t help wanting to swat a fly if it flies in front right in front of me . ” I said, trying to keep my voice strong and confident . But in truth, my heart was thudding hard against my chest . Until now, all the enemies we had faced had all been monsters; none had spoken in a language understandable to humans . But when the enemy spoke coherently…It caused me to recall the fight with Rodney . I couldn’t help but feel that something very, very bad was about to happen .
The man before me laughed as he heard my reply .
“Insects do sometimes tend to fly straight into the flame, burning themselves to cinders . But you have no right to laugh and call those insects foolish . ——Why? Because you yourselves has stepped right into the Ogre’s feeding ground . ”
“————”
At his words, all of us stiffened . If I had messed up the timing anywhere, it was here . I had no reason to leisurely converse with the man before me .
If I had been focusing on everyone’s safety, then as soon as I heard the footsteps, I should have used Return .
In the next instant, the Dark-Elf with that crooked smile on his face, lifted his right hand high into the air . As soon as his hand was up, the scene before me became tinted with yellow .
“——!!”
“T, this is——!”
“What is this——!?”
A sudden sense of intense numbness, difficult to withstand, seemed to engulf my entire body . But it wasn’t just me . This entire room had just been put under the debuff spell, Bind .
“The Ogres don’t like it much if their prey goes wild, you see . So I do apologize but I’ve made it so you cannot move . ” As he finished speaking, he laughed through his nose, smiling that twisted smile as he looked me over . He was obviously enjoying how I, after seeing through his Vanishing, had fallen right into this next trap .
But it wasn’t just my body that was unable to move . My mental fortitude which I needed to cast magic was also being disrupted . ——We are in serious trouble .
“Kei! What do we do——” Sylvia said in a strained voice, unable to move . I couldn’t detect signs of movement from Grace of Clive either . The way things stood, I won’t even be able to use Return . From all around us I could hear footsteps, whether they belonged to Ogres or not .
“Hahaha——! Now, please you must let me excuse myself . ——The Ogres don’t have much sense of table manners when they eat, you see . ” With that, the Dark-Elf turned his back on our party . He was trying to leave, without even making himself invisible again .
With only a single gleam of hope, I examined the man whose back was towards us .
I wasn’t expecting to suddenly come up with a plan based on knowing his stats, only that it might give me the chance to see a way out of this mess .
Name: Crute
Age: ???
Class: ???
Level: 54
Status: ???
Skills: ???, ???, ???, Vanishing, Spying 5, Debuff 6, ???, ???, ???, ???, Harlandish* (TL Note: This means the language spoken in Harland)
Title: The Handsome Elf, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, Disciple of Arabella
Equipment: Unknown
Status: Unknown
I had not ignored the possibility of this . But still, until this exact moment I had never tried to even actively recognize it . The more I thought about how limited my ability to perceive a things Status was, the angrier I became .
As I examined the Dark-Elf…Crute’s status, I felt my body growing hotter and hotter by the second . But, shamefully, we had walked right into this trap, and come like pigs to the slaughter, right into the dead center of the Ogre’s feeding ground .
There was nothing, absolutely nothing we could do to get out of this .
After Crute finished departing, five large Ogres appeared together with the sound of their heavy footfalls and beastial grunting . They were all on par with Clive for size, and the ugliest of monsters I had yet seen . Each of the Ogres held an unadorned wooden club . That in and of itself was not very intimidating as far as weapons went, but the clubs were much larger than what any normal human could wield . If they were beat with clubs that held the full brunt of Ogre might behind the blow, there wouldn’t be much of them left for sure .
I checked my own status . My status section showed Bind, and the time left before it wears off is…eight minutes .
“Wai——No! Can’t we do anything about this!?” Sylvia’s voice sounded feverish, to be expected given the current circumstances . Grace’s eyes were the only thing that moved as she shifted her gaze towards me .
“Kei——”
I received her gaze, filled with pleading desperation, in silence .
Actually, I was quite confident Grace and Sylvia would not immediately end up as Ogre food . The problem was going to be the eight long minutes . Can we hold out that long——?
Right after that thought flashed across my mind, the Ogres roared, spittle spraying out from their drooling maws, as they rushed towards us . Sylvia screamed, and as she did——Something the two of them had not been expecting happened .
A Wave of Pressure washed over everything throughout the room .
Clive, who had been standing at the front, suddenly moved; lashing out with a Taunt towards the large Ogres . The Ogres, who had been about to rip all four of us apart, all changed direction to charge straight for Clive . Clive, who had remained silent and un-moving until this point . Clive, who held a debuff fortification skill of the sixth degree .
——Clive alone had managed to resist Crute’s Bind spell .
Chapter end
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