The New Gate Vol 2 Chapter 2

Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 1

After driving back the group of enemies that they were engaged with, Shin and company left the Plains to rest a while.
Though Rashia was quite spent emotionally, her physical and magical state was in top condition, thanks to the rapid leveling up.

“With the two of us here, no way that would happen.”

“Please don’t remind me~!”

Seemingly having been forced to recall the scene of half-rotten dogs closing in while dragging their spilled out innards over the ground, Rashia’s shoulders began to quiver. She glared at the two men, but somehow not looking ugly while doing so turned out to be one of her charms.

“It’s not exactly my first time, but anyone would be shocked to have to face something like that all of a sudden! Moreover, I’m feeling a bit alarmed at how fast my level is shooting up, too.”
“Well, I suppose it’s to be expected, given the level gap. I mean, just fighting monsters with single digit levels wouldn’t help you clear the requirement. I think that by the time you get【Purification】, you’ll be somewhere around level 150.”

Rashia was a normal human who had never reincarnated before, so her level was rising extremely rapidly. At the current rate, she was going to end up with a level close to Wilhelm’s own. The gap between their fighting power would still be like heaven and earth, but their roles were different in the first place, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

“People normally level up slowly over time, I guess, so they don’t feel it so strongly.”
“I’m afraid you have no choice but to just get used to it. And I don’t want this to come across like I’m kicking you when you’re down, so I apologize beforehand, but I need you to use these.”

With the situation as it was, Shin prudently reminded himself to not forget that it was skills that he was giving away. However, neither of them were attack skills, so he concluded that it wouldn’t be much of a problem to teach them to someone else.

“They’re called Books of Secrets. Anyone who uses one of these will become able to use the skill respective to the contents of the Book. These are for【Heal】and【Cure】.”
“Heh~, become able to use ...... What?! I can’t accept something so valuable! How much do you think these are worth?! It would bankrupt the orphanage to pay for these!”

She also knew that it was possible to pay someone who knew a skill to teach it, so she thought that that was what Shin was offering.

“So, the cheesy line aside, what is your real aim?”

Shin had tried to phrase things in a way that he wasn’t used to, but apparently it had only come across as being shady. Wilhelm’s eyes seemed to be saying, “Don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Don’t act like you’re the only one bothered by it!”
“Nice tsukkomi. Well, I was only half joking. You guys are even more familiar with the effectiveness of Arts than me, right? I know there’s the level difference and all, but at our current pace, it will take a long time to be done. We have to defeat 200 of them, remember. Thoria-san might have trouble managing the orphanage by herself for such a long time, and there’s no guarantee that the greedy priest wouldn’t take advantage of this time when we’re gone.”

Of course, the biggest issue was the possibility of something happening to the orphanage during their absence. Rashia was one of their core staff, and Wilhelm was most likely their greatest source of battle strength. In the eyes of someone looking to undermine the orphanage, the two of them being gone would seem like a heaven-sent opportunity.

“Please do.”

Rashia timidly opened the Books of Secrets. At that moment, the effect that Shin had seen with Tiera was now wrapped around Rashia. It dissipated after a short while.

“Ah, yes. I do know how to use the skills now.”

“I’ve heard that it works by directly inserting the information into your head.”
“Yes, it was like that. It’s really hard to explain with words.”

Rashia stared at the hands that had held the Books, deeply moved.

“Sure.”
“U-Understood.”

The gloomy aura wrapped around the Bio Hound that had to be shaved off in several hits with Arts was blown away in one attack. There was no longer any need to lower the enemy’s health beforehand, as Rashia could now dispatch them with only a few hits. Seeing this, Shin understood why Skill Inheritors were treated so favorably in this world.

“Nn? That’s just how Arts are.”

“...... I’m surprised at myself for believing you.”

Gray Orcs were humanoid monsters also called Zombie Orcs. Their appearance was exactly how one would imagine a zombified orc to look.

“To grant reprieve to those who suffer, Heal!!”

Rashia herself was probably the most surprised at the synergy between the rapid leveling up and the transformation of Arts into skills.

“That’s true, but we still aren’t making any progress towards the quota. There’s probably no helping it, what with us being outside the Seal and all, but man is it frustrating.”

“Oi, oi, you came without knowing? There’s an item installed around here to prevent monsters from escaping the Plains, even by mistake. It seems like the monsters that you encounter are progressively stronger the closer you get to the center. The guild is managing everything with a firm hand.”

“They apparently have a limited number of those seal items, so they can’t use all of them for just one field.”

Dungeons were set up so that monsters are stronger the deeper they’re found. The depth of a dungeon equals to the distance from the dungeon’s core.

“All you need is a guild card of A rank or higher. Since it is managed by the guild.”
“Then there is no problem. Let’s go inside the Seal tonight.”

So far, the number of monsters that they had brought down that counted towards the quota could be counted on two hands. After fighting for another while, Rashia finally hit level 80, and they decided to take another breather.

Shin had nothing to do while standing watch, so he spent the time examining his skills. Back when he had first awakened in his world, he had mainly tested his attack type skills, so he now went over the detection type ones. Back during the game, there was a severe restriction on how many detection type skills could be activated at once, so Shin decided to push those boundaries first.

“This is ......”

As a test, he had tried activating more skills than the limit that he knew. Contrary to expectations, he was successful. Furthermore, skills that previously could not be used together could now be. An example was【Sense Presence】and【Search】. Combining the two of them brought their strengths together and eliminated each other’s shortcomings, effectively creating a detection skill with the range of【Search】that has the precision and level of detail of【Sense Presence】.

“Combining the skills together like this pretty much turns it into a different skill altogether. I wonder what would happen if I used similar skills together at the same time?”

Shin made a mental note to perform further tests in the future. So far, he had only discovered positive effects due to these combinations, which caused him to grow wary.

“There can’t only be positive effects. Negative ones are still entirely possible. I need to devote time to testing out similar skills together.”

Occupied with inspecting his skills, Shin’s shift passed in the blink of an eye.

The sun set sometime around 8pm. Determining it to be a suitable time, Shin and Wilhelm woke Rashia up, and the three of them proceeded to the heart of the Wraith Plains. Shin had expected the walk to take quite some time, but the fog had dissipated with the rise of the moon, allowing them to see the way clearly and make good time.

“Beats me. The magicians seem to think that it’s the magical power spilling out of the dungeon, though.”

“They say that the dungeon itself is some kind of undead. Since half of it has been brought aboveground, when it gets hit by sunlight, it becomes unable to hold back the magical power that fills the dungeon. The power that flows out takes the form of the purple fog. Or at least, that’s what the magicians seem to think is happening.”
“Hmm, I guess that theory kind of makes sense, logically speaking.”

Being weakened by sunlight was a weakness shared by all undead. In truth, the undead that they had seen when the sun was out had also been emitting black auras—a visible indicator of the monster’s HP—into the air. The daytime fog being simply a larger scale version of this effect was the most likely explanation.

“Probably. But none of that has anything to do with us, though.”
“True enough.”

After walking for another short while, they laid eyes on a transparent blue wall. They had apparently reached the Seal.

“Yea, it’s the Seal that I mentioned in the afternoon. The blue wall is just a visible reminder; the actual wall reaches all the way to the sky.”
“I see.”

The wall was only about 4 mels in height, so Shin was wondering if it couldn’t be jumped over, but his fears turned out to be unfounded.

“I’m good anytime.”

“Kuu!”

The first person to go through was Wilhelm, who had experience fighting inside the Seal. Right behind him was Yuzuha and Rashia, and Shin brought up the rear. It was insurance, in case a monster rushed their backs as they were passing through.

However, Shin’s newly enhanced detection abilities had immediately picked up on several monsters. There were still more than 10 minutes left before they would make contact, so Shin focused on each of them in turn to get more detailed information.

——Two Jumpkins to the left.

Rapt Raptors were wyverns with their wings rotted off. They had no hands, but their kicks were fierce and powerful. Additionally, their claws grant a paralyzing debuff. Their average level was 170.

Jumpkins were, at a glance, pumpkins flying through the sky. Let’s not make the tsukkomi that they’re not actually jumping. These pumpkins were, of course, rotting. The pumpkins had faces displaying joy, anger, pathos, and humor; the joy and anger faces used fire magical skills, and the pathos and humor faces used earth magical skills. Their average level was 200.

“Something’s drawing close to us.”

Wilhelm muttered the warning while Shin was still in the middle of analyzing. The enemies had apparently gotten close enough to be within Wilhelm’s range of detection.

“You can tell what they are?”

“Got it.”

Leaving Yuzuha to protect Rashia, Shin and Wilhelm both ran off towards their respective targets.

Jumpkins do indeed float in midair, but they are actually only about 2 to 3 mels off the ground. It took only a moment for Shin’s blade to reach across that distance.

“Shi!”

Thanks to Shin using the back of『Akechidori』, the two Jumpkins were now afflicted with both Faint and Paralyze. Shin took out a large wrapping cloth from his inventory and wrapped the Jumpkins up, then turned back to have Rashia finish them off.

Those who know the word ‘dinosaur’ probably imagined that instead. Indeed, they were a kind of dinosaur with only two legs and no forearms. Their bodies were about 2 mels long, and they were also half-rotten like how Bio Hounds were, but their speed and muscle strength was on a completely different level. They made annoying opponents. Though they were bad at it, they knew to coordinate attacks together with the rest of the pack.

“Fuun~”

Confirming in the corner of his eye that the two of them were not so much on the brink of death as on the brink of disappearing, he turned around to face the one that he had dodged at the start. Deciding that running away was not an option, the Rapt Raptor gazed at Wilhelm with teary eyes.

“Having to hold back is such a pain.”

Wilhelm used ropes to tie up the Raptor with its head half smashed in and the other two Raptors with broken legs and caved in torsos, then also returned to where Rashia was.

“Ii~yaa~~~!!”

True to convention, a scream was heard from where the two of them had returned to.

♦♦♦♦

While Shin and company were working hard hunting undead in the heart of the Wraith Plains, the sound of fighting was ringing around a place inside a forest about several days’ worth of carriage travel away.

“If you got hurt, use potions to heal yourself! Priests and magicians, don’t stop firing holy elemental arts!”
“Aggro the Jack! Don’t let it coordinate with the Pawns!!”

Those lights gradually wiped away the dark auras around the Pawn class Skull Faces, eventually reducing them to mere bones. However, nobody there let their guard down. The biggest enemy on the battlefield was still standing.

“Those who still have stamina left, come help! We won’t be able to hold it back if anymore of us go down!!”
“Damn it, what the hell is that?!”

Voices half filled with desperation echoed throughout the forest. They were the best knights from each of their respective countries, but even several tens of them together could not deal any fatal wounds to the single enemy that they faced.

“I know a Jack class is strong, but to think that it’s still standing ......”

The complaint that unconsciously spilled out was lost beneath the din of swords and shields clashing.

The knight in command, Berg, was a veteran, but none of his knowledge nor experience gave him any ideas on how to deal with this Skull Face that was making movements beyond his imagination.
Aside from its clever movements and expert swordsmanship, this Skull Face’s shield made it nearly impervious to holy elemental attacks, which were supposed to be its weakness. Even though they completely surrounded the Skull Face, any wrong moves were immediately rewarded with a counterattack. The frustration of the knights grew as time passed.

(It will be bad if things continue like this. If only that shield was gone, then we could somehow handle it, but ......)

He couldn’t help thinking how much of a cheat weapon it was.

(However, it’s not like it hasn’t taken any damage whatsoever.)

The streak headed straight for the Skull Face and, without stopping, flew straight through the Skull Face before quietly stopping right next to Berg.

———Time stopped.

The silver streak turned out to be silver hair that was shining with reflected light. The owner of that hair had simply been moving so fast that the eyes of the knights could only see it as such.

The waist-long silver hair was glossy and shone with a gentle luster. Together with blue eyes that seemed almost transparent and a faint smile that was both motherly and intimate at the same time, this person could almost be called a piece of art.

What she was wearing was similar to, but distinctly different from, the clothes that a waitress would wear. Someone with modern knowledge would have been able to identify it as something like Victorian-era maid clothes. The outfit, which also had a large apron and a long skirt, was the uniform for employees of Tsuki no Hokora. It was not clear whether the clothes fit her so well because they had been tailored for her or whether she herself has really great style. Needless to say, several knights could not help sliding their eyes towards the mounds that were pushed up in the chest area of the costume.

She was none other than Schnee Raizar.

♦♦♦♦

“Wide Heal.”

At the same time, the surrounding knights were wrapped in a soft, strong light. What Schnee had activated was the God-type Skill【Wide Heal】. It was the wide area version of【Heal】.

As the soldiers raised voices of admiration, their commander, Berg, was the first to regain his senses. Realizing that he was just standing without doing anything, he shook himself, then resumed barking out instructions in a loud voice.
Being actual veterans, those instructions did not go unanswered. Coming back to themselves, the knights began rushing around in a fluster. A different clamor from before reverberated throughout the forest.

“You really saved us. I was seriously considering withdrawing out of necessity before you arrived.”

While standing up, Berg thanked Schnee at the same time. His voice was already raspy, but strangely enough, it did not cause listeners to feel uncomfortable.

“Not at all. The only reason why I was able to defeat the monster was because of everyone’s efforts in fighting it.”

The words that reached Berg’s ears were so kind and sympathetic that the illusion that his heart was being cleansed just from hearing them might not be an illusion after all.

“If you would insist so, then I would be honored to accept. However, it is still too early to let down your guard.”

The warning to not let down their guard was not merely said to make them focus. It was the truth.

Monsters from the Plains cease to exist when they cross the boundary line. This piece of common sense was overturned by what he was seeing.

Upon receiving the adventurer’s report, the guild promptly sent out an investigation team. Though they never did determine the conditions for the occurrence, their investigation confirmed that several Skull Faces much stronger than their normal counterparts had indeed escaped the fog and entered the forest.

When Shin had visited the guild and was told that the upper ranked adventurers were all dispatched, this was what they were dispatched for.

Concerned over the situation, the kings of the respective countries invoked an alliance agreement that they had signed long ago to pool some of their best knights together into an international monster subjugation squad. The squad’s mission was to work towards diffusing the situation. At the same time, the kings also sent out a request to a certain person.

The certain person was the Acting Owner of Tsuki no Hokora, Schnee Raizar.
It was a gamble whether she would accept the request or not, but knowing that the request was because of their genuine desire to protect their citizens, she decided to comply. She hastened to join up with the subjugation squad.

“Indeed, I’ll take care of them.”

As this squad was made up of knights from several different countries, this measure was in place to prevent them from fighting each other for the valuable equipment and materials. The agreement was that the loot, with the exception of a small portion, would be fairly distributed after the subjugation was over. To discourage anyone who might be tempted to try stealing the loot, the role was entrusted to Schnee, who had an inventory and had battle strength without compare.

The previous battle had illustrated all too vividly that there were enemies that could not be defeated even when the best knights from each country fought together. To be fair, their teamwork was most definitely not perfect, as they had never worked together before, but that was far from enough to explain away the monster’s exceptional strength.

All Berg could do was merely pray for those special weapons to run out, wherever their source.
So far, Schnee had personally brought down several of these weapon bearers, while the knights had relied on sheer numbers to bring down a few more. As soon as the knights encountered a weapon bearer, they would immediately send a runner for Schnee. This time, she had somehow managed to arrive in time. As long as she got there, however arduous the battle, she would finish it with a single instant. And it would be with a melee attack too, something that elves were supposedly bad at.

“As expected of a personage who was worthy of accompanying a high human.”

These feelings were also very strong in the knights, despite all of them being of different affiliations. They all tried their best to show only their best side, which resulted in very few quarrels and very smooth subjugations.
According to the reported number of escaped monsters, the Skull Face that they had just defeated was the last one. The number was confirmed with the help of adventurers dispatched from Adventurer Guilds after numerous days of work. If there was nothing else, then the subjugation squad was slated to disband, with the knights either returning to their respective countries or joining the Guilds’ efforts at setting up a surveillance network over the Wraith Plains.

“It would be great if there was nothing else, but ......”

Berg’s numerous years of experience made it hard for Berg to believe that the entire incident was over. When his gaze inadvertently swept towards Schnee, he saw her standing among the raw materials from the Skull Faces and being absorbed in reading something.

“Schnee-dono? Has something happened?”

When Berg called out to her, she put a piece of paper away and turned toward him. Berg’s eyes caught the word『Aotsuki』before she did so, but he had no idea what it was about.

“Understood.”

While maintaining a speed normally unthinkable for someone wearing a long skirt, she mused over the contents of the letter within her mind.

That person’s name was not particularly rare. It was such a common name that it seemed she could find several people with some variant of it just by looking around. However, it became an entirely different story if he possessed『Aotsuki』. To Schnee’s knowledge, that could only describe one person.

“Did he really come back ......”

She almost couldn’t bear giving up the time that she had to dedicate to searching. However, she was duty-bound, having accepted the job, so she performed her tasks without cutting any corners.

The long-awaited reunion with that person might finally come to be.

Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 2

You can grab the PDF here.

A certain night several days after the the start of the hunt deep inside the Wraith Plains found Shin and his party still inside the Seal.

“No helping it, let’s retreat for a bit, then.”

This time, the monster that got close was a level 541 undead called a Pecker Hollow. It was a large monster that looked like many vengeful spirits melted together. Its compound eyes and sickle-like arms gave it the appearance of the top half of a praying mantis growing straight up from the ground. Though it looked that way, it was not a monster with simple insect parts. Its compound eyes were actually made of a large number of human eyes, and its sickles were actually human bones gathered together in bundles. Human faces, hands, and feet protruded from all over the monster’s body, giving it a very horrific appearance overall. It was understandable why the majority of female players refused to step inside any fields or dungeons where Pecker Hollows would spawn in.

There was no merit in taking the huge risk of such an outcome, so they decided to take refuge outside the Seal instead of confronting the monster.

“Let’s wait a while longer just in case. It’d be annoying if it’s still close enough to hear the sound of us fighting and came back again.”

These past few days, the number of monsters that they had defeated numbered over two hundred, if they included the trash mobs. By Shin’s count, there was only one monster left between Rashia and【Purification】.

“I don’t know how else to put it, but I’ve come to terms with how life is full of hardship ......”
“Kuu!”

Gel Bisons are basically bison skeletons enveloped with a gel-like substance. When the monster gets close to someone, it uses the gel like a whip to immobilize its enemy, which it then dissolves and absorbs.

Both are monsters that even low level adventurers that had gotten used to the game found difficult to handle.

Of all the nearby monsters, the Skull Face was the closest to them, and all of the others were just barely within range.

“What you mean?”
“What is the matter?”

Wilhelm and Rashia responded with questions to what Shin said.

“Although it’s true that this place is slightly irregular, I’ve never heard of something like that spawning here. But then again, it’s been more than a month since I last went back to the Kingdom. It wouldn’t be strange if something had started happening in that time.”
“...... Speaking of which, Ragnal-san told me that there were several incidents of powerful monsters attacking villages in Beiroon recently.”

Hearing the level of the Skull Face, Rashia drew out the piece of information from the depths of her memory. At the time, she did not think it very relevant to herself, so it had pretty much gone out the other ear as soon as she heard it. Beiroon was on the opposite side of the Wraith Plains from the Berylricht Kingdom.

“The master of the bar that I took you to. He’s the one you met that time.”
“Ah, that guy.”

Shin recalled the man who had left without saying a word. At that time, Wilhelm had indeed introduced the man as his adventurer comrade.

“How strong is it, exactly?”

“Then we’ll take care of it with just the two of us. No point exposing Rashia to unnecessary danger.”
“No, I am coming too!!”

As it was an opponent stronger than the average enemy, Wilhelm suggested fighting it together with Shin only. However, Rashia was perhaps filled with confidence from all the leveling up, and was adamant about coming along.

“Good point. Oi Rashia, you sure about this?”
“You bet I am! I won’t be able to go back with my head held high if I merely let myself be protected the entire trip!!”

As a result of all the fighting from the past few days, Rashia had already gotten to the point where she wouldn’t lose her composure even when facing monsters above level 200. Though monsters outside the Seal were generally not as strong as Skull Faces, most of them were higher than level 80. Rashia, however, was now strong enough to fight them single-handedly and win. This was the product of Shin and Wilhelm’s Spartan training. She was still a young girl at a tender age, but unfortunately, she was not cut any slack because of it.

“Just make sure to not get in front of us too often.”
“I’ll show you I can do it!”

The Skull Face this time was not wearing any obviously strange equipment. However, the way it was holding its sword and shield was exactly like the one that Shin had encountered before.

“Either way, what we have to do doesn’t change. Oraaa!!”

The Skull Face deflected the attack aimed at its core with the curved surface of its round shield. Wilhelm had intended to pierce through even the shield, but right before his spear tip found the purchase on the round shield to do so, the Skull Face moved it just enough so that the spear’s trajectory was altered instead.

The clash of metal resounded throughout the Plains in the night. The Skull Face had added the force of its twisting motion on top of its brute strength, causing the attack to pack so much power that Wilhelm was forced to lower his stance and plant his feet firmly on the ground.

However, the moment it landed, a “kin” sound rang out, and it found that it had lost both the shield and the left arm that was holding the shield. If it had been a split second slower, it would have lost the entire left side of its body. The decision to sacrifice one arm to minimize the amount of damage received was unthinkable for any normal Skull Face.

“I see what you mean. This guy really isn’t your run-of-the-mill bone bastard.”

As long as a Skull Face’s core was intact, it would not die even if it lost all its arms and legs, so there was no need for the two of them to hold back against it, even though they were aiming to leave it alive for Rashia to deal the final blow.
Apparently the Skull Face’s skill had ignited Wilhelm’s fighting spirit.

“I won’t, so let me enjoy this a while longer.”

“Fine by me. I’m going to have this guy continue being my practice board as long as it’s still standing.”

He dropped his center of gravity, crouching to half his normal height. He held Venom slanted, with the spearhead pointing slightly towards the ground.

In response, the Skull Face fixed its posture once again. It withdrew its right foot slightly, and tucked in its sword to right beside its head, with the blade pointing straight up towards the sky. The flickering aura around the Skull Face began to converge upon its body.

Man and monster stared at each other without even the slightest movement, as if the very air was frozen. The silent scene was like that of a keg of gunpowder with a lit fuse at the very instant before it explodes.

“!!”

Like the strike of a bell, it served as the signal for the two figures to begin rushing towards each other.

The next moment found the Skull Face’s head and torso hitting the ground separately, behind which was the figure of Wilhelm standing still after riding the momentum of his attack to dash past the Skull Face.
In human terms, the Skull Face was on the verge of death. The single attack from Wilhelm had pulverized its arms and legs and left innumerable cracks on its core. A single touch would be enough to make the core completely fall apart.

“This is all the fighting I get to do?! What am I supposed to do with all the resolve that I had mustered back there?!”

Rashia was understandably disappointed that the fight had been reduced to being the exact same as all the others before it. It was as if her heartfelt resolve from just now had been voided of all meaning.

“Uu~. God, is this perhaps one of Your trials ......”

At the same time, a golden light flared all around Rashia.

“Rashia?!”

The sudden occurrence threw Rashia into a state of confusion. Wilhelm also didn’t know what was going on, and so could not move carelessly.

“Don’t worry!! This is the effect from learning a new skill after clearing the requirements!!”

The light disappeared almost right after Shin’s explanation. It revealed Rashia staring off blankly at space.

“Fue? Ah, un. I’m okay.”

Rashia gave a listless answer in response to Wilhelm frantically tapping her shoulder and calling out to her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I was just surprised at the information about the skill suddenly flowing into my head.”

“Eto, let’s see. The Books of Secrets gave a “sutto” feeling, and this time gave a “dotto” feeling. I’m afraid I really can’t explain it any better.”

Hearing this, Shin’s interest was perked, as it proved that there were distinctly different ways to acquire skills. Rashia was clearly unharmed, so there was no cause for further worry, but it’s just that Shin couldn’t get a good grasp on how it felt. Information suddenly flowing into someone’s mind is normally impossible in the first place, so it was understandable that he had no experience with it.

“Yea, you did good.”

“Thank you very much. With this, we’ll be able to help the orphanage pull through.”

Now that she had acquired【Purification】, the orphanage was out of danger. When she realized that, Rashia started tearing up while expressing her heartfelt gratitude.

“Good idea. No point in staying here any longer than we have to.”
“Yes, let’s go.”

The request was fulfilled. All that was left was to return to the Kingdom. Everyone present thought so.

Until that happened.

♦♦♦♦

Then that suddenly happened.
Shin heard the sound because the Wraith Plains was an extremely silent place, as no insects nor wild animals lived there. Yuzuha, who was lounging on Shin’s head, also picked up it up with the extraordinary hearing unique to animals and sat up with its ears standing straight up, initiating a survey of the area.

“Kuu?”

However, at the same time, there was a “gushari” sound like that of a living creature being squashed. Instead of looking at his map, Shin turned around instead, and stopped in his tracks.
Right before his eyes was an unbelievable scene.

“Kuu ......”
“Nn? What’s wrong, you ...... guys ......”

Back where the remains of the Skull Face lay, a black sphere that had not been there before was floating in the air. That sphere was in the middle of sucking up a Pecker Hollow. That part of the map at the edge of Shin’s vision had been empty just now, but there was now a large red marker alongside the white and green markers that represented Shin and his party.

However, the Pecker Hollow was not raising a death cry, nor was it offering any resistance. Rather, all of the faces on its body were smiling. It was almost as if it was delighted at what was happening to it.

“Uu, looking at it makes me feel sick ......”

In short order, the Pecker Hollow was completely eaten up. At that moment, a great tremor began rocking the ground.

“Uwah?!”

“Kuu!?”

A twinkling pillar of light was also rising up from the place where they had defeated the Skull Face.

“So pretty ......”

Shin would have been able to enjoy it too if it wasn’t for the mysterious black sphere. They did not have the leisure of staying there to admire the sight.
He turned his vision slightly to the top, prompting the ingame map to open up. He realized that the red marker was gone.

“This is ......”

After a short while, the monsters with light being sucked out of them lost their form, seemingly dissolving into thin air.

Seeing this, Shin and Wilhelm both moved to cover Rashia. While remaining wary of their surroundings, they focused the majority of their attention onto the sphere in front of their eyes.

“Magical power?”

“So that’s how it is.”

In no time at all, the figure of a Skull Face more than ten mels in height was looming over Shin and the party.

However, an ominous aura was coming off from its entire body. That was the definite proof that this was an undead monster.
Then Shin and the rest, all of whom were frozen with tension, saw a light come on in its face.

——— Skull Face Lord, level 804.

That level was considered within the higher tiers even back in THE NEW GATE.

“Its level is 804. Is it the dungeon boss?”

“Yea, no doubt about it.”
“No way ...... that level means it’s strong enough to wipe out entire countries!!”

Yuzuha raised its voice menacingly while Wilhelm and Rashia tried, and failed, to hide their shock at the unbelievable number. After the Dusk of the Majesty, if the monsters living inside the Holy Lands were not counted, the strongest monster recorded in history did not even reach level 600. And that monster had actually erased several countries.

“I wonder about that.”

It bent one arm, which looked several mels long, and made a fist of its hand. It then bent its knees slightly, then jumped up into the sky in the form of an uppercut.
A dry “gashari” sound was heard when its arm finished extending. The falling traces of magical power indicated without a doubt that the barrier that had surrounded the area was completely shattered. The devastation was reflected in the eyes of Shin and company.

“Yea, that single attack took care of it.”
“Thi-This can’t be ......”

While sucking up even the magical traces from the remains of the barrier, the Lord turned its attention towards Shin and company.

“Kuu ......”

“It sure is.”

Seeing this, Wilhelm held her in his arms, and got ready to start running away.

“GuuuuUUUUUU————GaaaAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

The Lord’s roar almost seemed to be threatening them to not run away. The sheer volume of the sound was such that all four of them felt physical weight to it. Shin braced himself, Yuzuha curled up into a ball, Wilhelm fell to his knees, and Rashia cowered on the ground while covering her ears.

“No, that’s wrong. Look around!”

Though the sizes were different, all the bones were clearly the arms of humanoid monsters. One by one, the arms clawed at the ground and pulled out the rest of their bodies.

The aura released from all of them mixed together, causing the surface of the entire Plains to be dyed completely black.
The emergence of the Skull Faces seemed to be occurring all over the Wraith Plains, the surroundings of Shin and company already teeming with them.

“Calm down! It doesn’t help to get all flustered. Oi Shin, let’s break through and run away right now!”

“Aah? What are you saying, you bastard. You got a death wish or something?!”

Annoyed at how calm Shin still was, Wilhelm grabbed his shoulder. However, when he pulled the other in expectation of making him turn around, it felt like he was grabbing onto a gigantic rock that refused to budge even an inch.

Turning slowly to face them, Shin quietly deactivated【Limit】.

“Kyaa!”

Shin’s released power rushed through

Chapter end