Manuke FPS Chapter 193

Published at 1st of May 2022 10:18:07 AM

After closing Daikokuya, I transferred back to the LVTP-5 back at Devil’s mountains. From there, I decided to head out once I confirmed my surroundings were safe. 

According to the information I’d received from Bergman, there were a few locations the labyrinth was suspected to be situated. I would need to travel all day tomorrow to transverse the mountains before reaching the Drak Kingdom’s side. It was important to locate the Sasanqua members and Ophelia’s team. Activating the TSS inside the vehicle, I switched back to Jonah before resting for the day.

The next day, as the sky was still dyed red by the sunrise, I left for the Drak Kingdom. 

While I focused on the sound sensor, I also watched the movement of a blip on the radar as it floated on the edge of my sight. I was determining whether it was human or monster as I rushed through the forest. 

On the Kurtmerga’s side of the mountains, there was a large coniferous forest that was in a different league in terms of height and thickness compared to my original world. But once on the ridge, the forest was cut off, replaced by rocks, grasslands, and shrubs. 

“This scenery is way too good.”

The scenery below was illuminated by dawn light, and it was anything but gloomy or evil. It was beautiful to the point I wondered why it was called the Devil’s mountains. Although I was fascinated by the sight, I checked my surroundings. I checked the way I came, and down each side of the ridgeline, and somehow – I felt it was familiar. 

Where did I see it? In my original world? No  – It was not. 

I activated TSS and rummaged through my saved screenshot folder… and then I found it. It was almost the same as the scene before me. The POV was different, but the visible ridgeline was similar. This place…

“Was this where I got transferred from the pirate base…” 

I got my transfer circles while I helped Ashley subjugate the pirate fleet in the southern sea. However, the destination the circle led to was a mountain I didn’t recognize. Now, it was similar to what I saw now. 

I used the TSS to display an enlarged map of the area and searched for the small patch of area I’d recorded when I first came here… I know it. It was on the mountain northwest of here… Over there. It was just beyond an expansive meadow. Most likely within the Drak Kingdom’s territory. 

Back at the pirate base, I was able to rescue some captured civilians. But a number of them had already been taken to this unknown land… Which was the Drak Kingdom. It’s been a long time since then, I wouldn’t be able to track them in the kingdom. Besides, there was a possibility they were taken to another country instead… It was useless to think about it now I guess. 

Moreover, there’s supposedly a labyrinth nearby which means a magic ore deposit. Monsters would be attracted and would lay havoc on their surroundings. Anyways, I needed to focus on what’s in front of me. And as if to prove my point, I could see a flock of monsters coming toward me. 

“Monster-riding kobolds?”

I was again fascinated, this time by this strange sight. Traveling across the beautiful meadow was a giant boar – an Elyman Boar. Its body was large enough that I could still see it clearly from a distance. Perhaps 4-5 meters long? Looking at the four protruding fangs from its fur covered mouth and its ferocious looking eyes that burned bright red that were obviously looking at me. 

Three kobolds rode on top. One sat at the forefront with a whip-like weapon. The other two had bows and arrows. 

“VuOooooo!” 

The Elyman boar rushed toward me along with the three kobolds on its back. In addition to the intimidating feeling of the rushing Elymanboa, the kobolds barked excitedly. As I expected. My undead Jonah could not fool them. They immediately recognized me as their enemy… But how did they detect me as one of their enemies in the first place? 

While I calmly watched the approaching violence, I pulled out the grenade-axe from my waist and pointed the muzzle at the rushing boar. Adjusting the parabolic line in my FOV, I set the other end to land right on top of the approaching monsters and pulled the trigger. The grenade was fired, flying through the air with its distinct pop. It landed right on top of the Elyman Boar’s head and detonated. 

“Gyuoo!” 

However– that was not enough to stop the monster. 

The boar emerged from the dust cloud despite half its face missing. Meanwhile, the kobolds continued to whip at the boar’s body while barking and roared madly. 

I slid the grenade pod out from the ax chamber. Then loaded another 40x46mm grenade in. At the same time, the distance between me and the monsters kept decreasing. 

“Eat this!” 

Dodging the arrows they shot at the last moment, I fired another grenade after checking it would land directly on the boar’s passengers. The explosion engulfed the kobolds, sending them spiraling through the air before it hit the ground. But the boar continued to rage, surviving the second hit and rushed towards me without the egging of its dead riders. 

In that case… As I leapt back to make distance, flipped my fur coat and revealed the > GE M134 Minigun  < hidden underneath. 

Earlier today, before leaving the LVTP-5, I switched the M24A4 with the M134. This was because I planned to evaluate the performance of the simulation bullets from the training ground somewhere. The only practical test I’ve done so far was firing a few bullets at a tree with a Five-seveN. Although it had no penetrating power, it still had a punch. With that in mind, what if it used in a rifle, or a similarly powerful firearm? 

“Let’s begin the test!”

I held the trigger grip with my off-hand and fired away. The six barrels rotated at a high-rate of speed and fired red tracers so that its trajectory could be seen. The snarling electric motor spewed out the simulated rounds like a solid red laser due to spewing out more than 4,000 rounds in less than a minute.

It acted like normal ammunition. 

Once I emptied the entire ammo back hidden beneath my coat, I detached it and then reattached the belt to simulate reloading. With just that, the backpack was full with ammo again. My target had also stopped moving. With a confirmation there was no other target on the map. 

Fake bullet holes riddled its head and body. The graphical effect quickly disappeared though, leaving a pristine body – aside from the missing part of its head. But when I checked the head, I found its skull and everything else had been turned to mush. The body was the same, retaining its shape only thanks to its stiff hide and the air inside. Once I poked a little harder, the surface gave way easily. 

When I conducted a practical test with the Five-seveN, I judged that the simulated bullets had a slightly stronger striking power than a fist. Looking at the results on the M134, it could be determined that the power of the ammo was not consistent. It could’ve been because of the 4000/minute ROF, though each bullet should’ve been hitting harder than a bare hand.  

At this power scale with no cost—? 

The fake skeleton face showed no expression, but I was actually excited and grinning ear to ear. Although, not everything was well. 

My sound sensor began to pick up a faint sound of people running. Not a monster, but the clanking sound of armor along with bipedal steps – a party of adventurers… Did they hear the noise from the M134? It’s alright if its a group of monsters as I could kill them. However, it was a completely different problem if it was the Sansaqua group. From an ordinary person’s point of view, I was just an undead. Worst outcome was a battle. 

Looking around, I saw a shrub forest a little ways ahead and hid within them. 

“I saw-nya.”

“What did you see, Miche?”

“One Elyman Boar and three kobolds. But none of them are moving anymore.” 

 The voices I heard belonged to Sasanqua’s busty cat girl Miche and the blue haired elven girl Frau. It’s been a while since I heard their voices. 

“I swear I heard a battle, but there’s nobody else here…?” 

I also heard Ovelia’s voice. Keeping hidden, I peeked out to see them. The four members I was familiar with – Miche, Frau, Malinda , and Ruu, all looked like the last time I met them. Actually… They were dressed in better gear. 

Next to them, I could see Ophelia Dragrange and her escort Virginia Parabern. Ophelia had her long pale pink hair tied together and wore the green light armor which apparently was the standard equipment for the Dragrange Frontier Knights. Her escort, Virginia, wore similar armor but was equipped with a wand strapped to her belt instead. I guessed this meant she was a support fighter.

She was now looking around, her short blue bob hair swayed slightly. She had her usual expressionless face too. I didn’t think she’d notice my presence from this distance, but I decided to lean back into my cover and observe through the sound the sensor picked up. 

“Kobold tamer and two archers.” 

“Take a look at this boar! It lost part of its head, and it seemed to be dying from taking heavy beatings all over its body!” 

It sounded like the other two, the drowsy black-eyed japanese style beauty Ruu and the short red haired giant Marinda,  were inspecting the corpses of the monsters I killed. 

“I guess this answers the question of which one is the superior species between the kobolds and the elyman boar. 

“Miche, where is the closest expected site from here?”

“Through the grassland and into those rocky mountains”

Ophelia, Frau, and Miche seemed to be considering which path they should take. Meanwhile, I also operated the TSS to confirm the expected site for the labyrinth. Of course, there is an open area in that rocky mountain that looks to be large enough for a labyrinth. Unfortunately, that area was the Drak Kingdom’s border, and despite being some way away, there was a surveillance fortress instead of a checkpoint. 

Since they were here, did that mean they investigated the other sites? 

“Those noises though… I thought it was that guy.”

“Yeah, I could hear it clearly as well, but if it’s him, there should be small holes in the corpses, but this one was obviously caused by fire magic!” 

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“That guy…?”

“A low ranker, but very talented.”

“How unusual for a Sasanqua member to praise a male adventurer.”

“Ah, Virginia, despite how we look from the outside, we don’t really judge people by their gender. Unlike some other clans we know.”

“Frau – the blood is still warm.” 

From the dots on the map and their voices, I could tell that all six people were gathering around the boar. ‘That guy’ who Marinda and Frau mentioned… that was probably me. They still kept my name a secret, as per our agreement. That put a relief in my mind, but then the atmosphere changed.

“Miche.. (is there) anyone?”

“I don’t smell anyone else-nya.”

From the temperature of the blood, they may have judged that the kill was too recent and the person would still be around. 

“— Let’s move out.”

“Okay!”

“Roger that.”

“Got it-nya.” 

“Let’s do so.”

“Yes—”
 

Measuring the distance to the girls as they moved, I slept some distance as I followed, about 400-500m, which was about the maximum distance that the sensor could still pick up their voices. 

As the sun fell over the rocky mountain, the dots signifying the six people in front suddenly stopped. It didn’t look like they were in battle – 

Up to this point, they encountered a one monster. So, I was able to observe their current fighting strength. The four Sasanqua members were as strong as ever, but the one that caught my attention was Ophelia. She fought with a silver rapier that glowed with magic. 

Her sword handling itself was splendid and accurate, so much that I could see how amazing it was from a distance. She pierced the critical points accurately, evading as if she was dancing through the opponent’s attacks, and countered with consecutive slashes instantly. 

The part that stabbed and slashed froze over. Did this mean that her sword’s function was to suppress the enemy’s movement—? Combining her own swordsmanship and the effect of the magic weapon, any enemy before her would end up frozen before being carved one by one. 

Her participation was most likely Bergman’s idea for a small ground to conquer a labyrinth. Ophelia was clearly the strongest, as well as the prettiest of the group. 

(E/N Kay: I’m sorry, but I cringed hard enough to want to leave a note about it) 

The six stopped behind the rocky mountain before disappearing as if they were swallowed by the mountain… They were gone…? No.. They entered the labyrinth! 

I went to the approximate spot where they disappeared from the map. There, I found a large hole seemingly carved out of the mountain. It looked like a cave… But humans certainly had a hand in it. Wooden planks installed on the walls to prevent it from collapsing, and the light of white grass extended far end – 

Rather than a cave, it was a tunnel instead… However, if it’s just a tunnel, the dots shouldn’t have disappeared from the map. In other words, the entrance to the labyrinth was up ahead.

What should I do… It must have been a while since they left Dragrange. There was a possibility that they’d choose to return once the location was confirmed. If I followed them in, I was afraid we’d cross paths inside… As I was busy weighing this, the dots reappeared on the map. Apparently, they turned back after confirming the existence of the labyrinth. I was just about to enter the tunnel, so I immediately turned and hid behind some rocks. 

“Miche, have you mapped the path to this place?”

“Already done-nya.”

“Then let’s go back to Drangrange. Rest, replenish our supplies, and contact the capital and the Lord’s palace – ah, that last one will be up to you, Ophelia.”

“Alright. I shall report our findings to my father.”

“Finally, we’ll be sleeping in an actual bed again!” 

“And eat delicious food!” 

“If we don’t start moving soon, we may have to camp in a dangerous spot.”

“True. Let’s make a camp a little away from the labyrinth. We’ll head back down the mountain come sunrise.”

The sun had already set. They were preparing to return to the forest city of Drangrange, using a light ball for their source of light instead of making fire. Accessing the TSS from a position they couldn’t see, I summoned a GIFT BOX. Inside was a GPS tracking dart. Since she was the group’s scout, I aimed for Miche’s back. And since the darts had no attack power, she shouldn’t feel a thing. Looking at Miche moving away from the tunnel and the group behind her, no one seemed to notice she had been shot.

Now, I should be able to track them on the map wherever they go. 

Secretly seeing them off, I went inside the tunnel to explore the labyrinth ahead of time. 

Chapter end