章節 74: Fury

As Will and the members of Silver Cat raced for the stairs leading to the upper floors, the Saighba'an didn't simply ignore them. Rather, it felt like they were taking advantage of the group's situation to have fun, dipping in and out of walls to release arrows or take swipes at them with a multitude of bladed weapons.

"Shit...!" hissed Angil, stumbling forward as a particularly opportunistic Saighba'an appeared low to the ground, only emerging halfway out of a wall before slicing at his right leg with a sickle. The Aura he was using to strengthen himself prevented him from losing the limb, but he suffered a deep gash across his shin and calf, severing both tendon and muscle.

"You damned monster...!" exclaimed Allyson, unleashing a torrent of water from her hand that smashed into the Saighba'an and caused it to reel. She wasn't particularly fond of Angil's endless attempts to try and get in or get her out of her pants, but he was still a friend and an important member of Silver Cat.

Fortunately for Allyson, water was one of the few moderately effective methods of dealing with a Saighba'an. Their spiritual nature and extreme affinity with ice had a great influence on their environment, so when she hit it with a burst of water, the Saighba'an was momentarily frozen solid, its ghostly blue eyes locking on to Allyson as she passed to help Angil to his feet; at least for a brief moment.

SMASH

Taking advantage of the Saighba'an's immobile state, Will unhesitantly crushed the block of ice containing it, his hand and forearm feeling as though he had dipped them into a vat of liquid helium as he ran the pale creature through to his elbow.

Exhibiting no signs of pain or duress, the Saighba'an turned its ghostly blue eyes to Will, a quizzical look adorning its face as it noticed he was smiling. However, as its physical form had been compromised, it promptly dispersed into frigid mist half a second later.

'My bad habit is coming out...' Will realized, doing his best to regain a mask of indifference when Aelius looked back to ensure he wasn't at risk of being swarmed. Several monsters had spawned and were attempting to surround them, but when he flexed his hand and fist to free them from the ice that had enveloped them, they found themselves repelled back by the force of his Aura expanding.

'As expected of a Brave Candidate...' thought Aelius, almost certain of his suspicions. That being the case, he decided not to worry about Will and instead focused on ensuring the members of his Party got out alive. After all, if things became especially perilous, he was sure Will's senior disciple would step in to save or whisk him away...very likely without them...

...

"Well...that certainly could have gone better..." joked Angil, his complexion a little pale but his spirits high as Allyson helped him sit against a wall and began tending to his severely mangled leg.

"Don't be too relieved. Tension is good for survival..." said Will, unable to prevent a smile from developing across his face as a particularly tall and thick Saighba'an appeared a few meters away. It resembled the one that had used a spear, but its height had increased a few centimeters, and its hips and thighs looked like they could smother someone or separate their head from their body. Less noticeably, their weapon had changed from a spear to a pair of antler-esque hand scythes.

"Come forth, strong one..." said the Saighba'an, its deep, feminine voice causing chills to permeate the bodies of everyone present as it struck a pose with its scythes held out to the side.

Though the Saighba'an's gaze was focused on Will, Kris was the one to step forward in response, silently punching his right fist into the palm of his hand before getting into a low, broad stance with his fists clenched and elbows to his sides. Doing so caused his Aura to surge, but what caught Will's attention was the blood-red visage of a snarling tiger that gradually materialized on his back.

"I'm coming..." declared Kris, his body appearing to slide forward, leaving behind a bright red trail as he instantly covered the distance between him and the Saighba'an.

"You idiot...!" shouted Ohta, pulling Kris into his shadow just as the latter's fist impacted the Saighba'an's abdomen. The force of the blow was more than enough to send the pale creature flying back, but as it had allowed its body to go slack before Kris's attack landed, the scythes it was holding out to the side were naturally brought together like a pair of exceptionally lethal scissors.

Not anticipating Ohta's actions, a look of profound confusion adorned Kris's face as he sat half-submerged in the Dungeon's floor. Before he could even think to express his gratitude, however, his upper body fell forward as he was jerked backward, the shadow beneath him moving him out of the way as a child-sized Saighba'an appeared out of the wall next to him, slicing through where his neck had been with a long, fang-shaped dagger or shortsword.

Tilting its head nearly sixty degrees, the child-sized Saighba'an adopted an uncanny smile, exuding both innocence and a thirst for blood as it bent forward with its free left hand on the ground, dagger held behind its back raising and raising its ass like it was preparing to pounce. In fact, that was precisely what it planned, but the moment it flexed the muscles in its legs and lunged forward, it immediately impacted an invisible wall, shattering it but pancaking itself in the process.

"Serves...you right..." panted Allyson, separating her hands. She was the one to create the barrier, but since she had been using a lot of Mana in a short period, she was beginning to get exhausted.

"Is it just me, or are these things actively targeting us now...?" asked Aelius, directing the question to Will.

"I'd say that's pretty obvious at this point..." affirmed Will, crossing his arms and frowning as he feigned deep thought. In reality, he was pulling up his Quests to review their flavor text, looking for clues that might hint at the motive behind the Saighba'an's actions.

"You mentioned that one of the people who disappeared was the son of the current Lord..." muttered Will, leaving Aelius confused.

"You think he has something to do with this situation...?" asked Alelius, taking a step back as Ohta deposited Kris rather unceremoniously near his feet.

Instead of answering, Will remarked, "I recall that the Lord of Tempahsta is a woman. What's the occupation of her husband?"

"Is that really pertinent to our situation...?" asked Aelius, appearing even more confused.

"How would I know without knowing who the father was...?" countered Will, prompting Aelius to frown while Angil, feeling better after having his leg closed up, interjected to reveal, "I don't know the specifics, but they were the son of the previous lord and a capable Adventurer. Emphasis on were. They ended up disappearing a few years back, but I've never heard anyone mention the how or why."

"Were they a Mage...?" asked Will.

Shaking his head, Angil clarified, "I never saw them in action, personally, but they were known to be a skilled bladesman."

"Why the sudden curiosity?" asked Aelius, maintaining a slight frown as he added, "If you know something about what's occurring here, it would help if you shared it..."

"All I know is what I read in a book a long time ago," lied Will, shaking his head as he tapped into his memories to fabricate, "Actually, it was two books: one on Curses, Countercurses, and Curse Manipulation, and the other on the structure of Dungeons. It's well-established that Dungeons are living creatures with a physical core similar to the Magic Crystals that form in the bodies of Mages, Warriors, and Magical Creatures..."

"Get to the point..." ordered Ohta, rising from the floor in a cross-legged position, his expression more annoyed than usual.

Rolling his eyes, Will asked, "Saighba'an are manifested by the Dungeon to protect itself. What if someone hijacked that process and was able to force the Dungeon to summon Saighba'an without an established target? Or maybe they gained access to the core and modified the formula that gives Saighba'an their form and function?"

"That's impossible..." said Allyson, chiming in to explain, "The structure of Dungeon Cores is so complex, Royal Scholar, and even a few Sages, have spent millennia studying them with very few breakthroughs. It's because the moment you attempt to tamper with it, the Dungeon Core immediately detonates. Furthermore, the only thing known to be able to damage them is the weapons wielded by the Braves. I'm not saying that it's completely-Angil!?"

Before Allyson could finish speaking, the gazes of everyone in the group were drawn to the scene of Angil's eyes widening to their limits as a thin, icy blade emerged from his chest before retracting. Aelius reacted quickly to move both him and Allyson, but in the fraction of a second it took him to act, Angil's body was pierced three more times by what appeared to be a rapier.

"It didn't even materialize...!" screamed Allyson, on the verge of a full-blown panic attack as she worked to expel the frigid energy from Angil's body and close his wounds. But since the initial strike had pierced his heart, causing it to freeze from within, Angil knew he was finished, his expression softening as he placed his hand on Allyson's, shook his head, and said, "Stop...you'll only exhaust yourself, and kill me faster..."

Hearing Angil's words, Allyson's already teary eyes began to run over as she screamed, "No! No! No! No! Don't say that! I'm not giving up, so you better keep fighting, you bastard!"

Shaking his head, Angil became a little teary-eyed but maintained a smile as he said, "I know when I'm cooked, kitten...but, before I go...forgive me a bit of indiscretion..."

Using what remained of his rapidly waning strength, Angil pulled Allyson toward him, causing her to fall forward on top of him. Another man might have aimed for a kiss, but as someone who had lived their life in pursuant of their desires, Angil pulled Allyson so that she landed breast-first on his face. Then, using his left hand, he squeezed her ass with all the strength he had remaining, muttering a muffled "Damn..." before closing his eyes and allowing his consciousness to recede into his mind, giving him a brief sensation of rapidly descending backward.

Feeling Angil's body go slack, Allyson began hyperventilating, her eyes widening to their limits as she succumbed to a paralyzing shock. Around the same time, the Saighba'an that had murdered Angil emerged from the wall a few meters away, revealing a slender, elegant form with toned legs. More infuriatingly, at least to Kris and Aelius, the ovine monstrosity wore a smile as it ran a long, glowing blue tongue along the length of its bloodied rapier.

Showing the most emotion Will had seen him exhibit up to that point, Kris punched his fists together, causing his Aura to surge outward like flames, his usually impassive face fixed in a borderline demonic expression of fury as he declared, "YOU...WILL...PAY!"

"Your anger will not bring him back..." responded the Saighba'an, leaping back as Kris barreled toward it like a human meteor. In the same motion, it leveled its rapier at Kris's chest, but the tip immediately shattered upon contact with his flesh, causing the Saighba'an to tilt its head slightly as he passed harmlessly through her.

Burying his right foot into the Dungeon's floor, stopping instantly, Kris twisted his body and swept his left hand like a red-hot knife through the Saighba'an's neck. Unfortunately, despite appearing to be in its physical form, the Saighba'an before him was different from the others in that its body was in a state of superposition. The only parts of its body that were solid at that moment were the bottoms of its cloven-hoofed feet, so even though Kris's fury-empowered attacks devastated his surroundings, the Saighba'an appeared calm, almost playful, as it made fewer attempts to evade and began treating the exchange more like a dance...

...