Bab 231: Horrors of the dungeon (6), intermission

"You see, these things aren't attracted to the ground per se. There is a small area that is attracted to certain elements in a straight line. The bracelets happen to be made of some of those elements. So if you get those two areas on each bracelet to touch they will only stick together and nothing more."

Larissa slowly gets up. She can now move about at the very least but for our healer to be out of commission isn't ideal.

"There is one more thing you could do. The bracelets aim to disable the strongest fighter they can. If they have the chance to capture a stronger fighter they will take it."

"Can you be more clear?"

"If a person with a higher level holds both hands of the restrained person with their own, the bracelets will be transferred."

Everyone quiets down. Freeing the healer is important but in a dangerous dungeon whoever wears those bracelets is most likely to die.

"I'll do it."

Ponto steps forward and decisively grabs both of Larissaʼs hands. He's 15 levels higher than Larissa and therefore, the bracelets immediately transfer over to his wrists while still sticking to one another.

Larissa sighs heavily after being freed from the bracelets. Then she starts to heal everyone.

"Sir Dawn blade, could we ask you to escort us out of this place?"

We all want to leave at this point. The risks are too high while the rewards are too low. I reckon that the best thing we can out of this is the views from the video still being recorded by my camera.

We uncovered a lot of mechanics of this dungeon so this footage will be invaluable to others who want to take on this dungeon. Savi and Ponto were also caught in quite a compromising situation which I'm sure some perverts will pay good money for. And the biggest thing, Dawn blade. Close-up footage of him, audio recordings, and a short battle. This will sell like hot cakes.

If we use this well, we might even secure a few more contracts and sponsorships. But to do any of that we need to get out of here alive.

As Dawn blade is about to answer, his pupils suddenly shrink and he abruptly turns to face one of the walls. He's staring so hard, I wouldn't be surprised if he burned a hole through the wall with his gaze.

"What's the matter?"

"Something is coming. Something strong enough to kill all of us. And it doesn't follow the rules of this dungeon."

"But you are a legend above level 300 surely you can deal with it!"

"Whatever this is, I can't win. For me to feel threatened to this point it must be a monster that's at the very least above level 450."

"450? That's something that usually guards a dungeon core as the final boss monster!"

"Exactly, so we need to escape before it reaches us. Quick!"

We begin to run and I try to hand Dawn blade my map but he just swats it away dismissively. Apparently, maps aren't all that useful in this place.

As we are madly sprinting down the hallways, we are back in the first area where we are met with the badger kin guards. However, Dawn blade simply wipes them out from a distance with a few glowing blades.

"How is it still on our tail? The dungeonʼs properties should also be a hindrance to it! That's it! It must be tracking the bracelets!"

Dawn blade stops running and turns to Ponto who is still wearing the bracelets. His implication is clear. If Ponto stays with us that monster will catch up and we all die.

"We can't leave my brother!"

"We'll all die if we don't!"

Everyone turns and stares at Larissa. For her to advocate leaving Ponto behind is cruel. If it weren't for him she would be the one to be left behind.

"Stop looking at me! I would take them back but they can only be transferred to someone with a higher level."

A convenient excuse. Savi looks like she'll continue to oppose Dawn blade. Before she can do so, he flashes to her side and knocks her out.

"Ponto, is it? I will remember your name and your sacrifice but this is where we must part ways."

"Take care of my sister."

With a final sentence that only shows concern for his sister, Ponto rushes off into a different hallway. Dawn blade nods and picks up Saviʼs unconscious body and we continue.

As much as I hate to admit it, leaving Ponto behind is the best course of action. I doubt that Dawn blade would lie to us just to get Ponto killed. He could just kill Ponto himself and deny it once we leave the dungeon.

I play with the idea of using the unveiling eye skill to check what's after us but decide not to. If whatever was following us detects that I'm watching it we might become its target again.

We round another bend and Savi suddenly lets out a blood-curdling scream before becoming limp. Damn blade quickly checks up on her before growling in frustration.

"She's gone. And we are in deep trouble."

"Why?"

"Very few monsters can kill from a distance. I can only think of two or three types that could do so. Space, curse, and soul type monsters. If it was one of the former I should have detected it. Therefore, it's either a soul type, a type I don't know of, or, in the worst case, a monster that's too unique to be assigned a type."

All three options are a horrible match up for us. Soul-based attacks are hard to resist without anyone specializing in it. And from what I know, neither Dawn blade nor anyone from our team has such a specialization.

As for unknown types or unique monsters. They are hard to judge because you have no idea what you are facing but they generally cause teams they encounter to be wiped out thoroughly.