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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Party Collapse
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Two seconds after the battle began.
I was the only one among the party members who had regained my senses.
The second to react in the stiffened battlefield was, naturally, the Goblin whose comrade's head had been severed in the blink of an eye.
Thwack!
Without time to mourn its death, another Goblin from the rear right was thrown into the fray.
It panicked, seeing two Goblins instantly killed, yet instinctively charged at me.
Thwack!
I dodged slightly and swung my axe. The creature, still charging, had its head separated from its body and collapsed onto the ground.
With just three swings of my axe, I had taken the heads of three Goblins.
What remained were two Goblins standing before me with bewildered expressions, and three in front of the party members.
‘There are only three left. They should be able to handle it.’
“Keh, keh-reuk…!”
Thwack! Thwack!
Perhaps sensing a threat to their lives, the Goblins turned to flee. I chased after them and buried my axe in their backs.
With this, the five Goblins that had occupied the rear were completely wiped out.
Now, what remained was…
“Ugh, urk…”
A ominous sound made me turn around.
One of the Goblins in front had latched onto Adolf, gnawing at his neck.
“Ugh-aah-aaah-ack!”
Adolf’s pained scream echoed.
Wham!
I immediately rushed forward and kicked the Goblin off Adolf’s belly, forcing it away.
Damn it. I miscalculated. I should have protected the Priest first!
Priests can only use healing miracles; they can’t engage in direct combat.
Adolf’s staff began to emit a yellow light. He had instinctively cast a heal on himself to survive.
Thank goodness. At least he wouldn’t die.
‘No, more importantly, what the hell are these two doing, not even protecting the Priest—’
“Anya!!!!”
A piercing scream erupted from the opposite side.
I glanced over to see a Goblin, with a knife plunged into Anya’s temple, twisting the handle as if cleaning an ear.
Brain matter, yellowed like earwax and mixed with Goblin venom, oozed from Anya’s head.
An instant death, with no chance to react.
“Ugh, aaah-aaah-aaah…”
Jeremy’s eyes had already glazed over. He was trembling, clutching his spear tightly, unable to do anything.
“What are you doing! Snap out of it!”
When I roared, Jeremy flinched.
Goblins were not generous enough to leave prey frozen in fear alone.
A knife flew right in front of Jeremy’s nose.
I quickly rushed forward, grabbed Jeremy’s clothing, flung him to the ground, and immediately tilted my head back to dodge the knife.
“Keh-reuk!! Keh-keh-keh-reuk!”
The Goblin toying with Anya’s corpse also joined in. They seemed to be shouting something loudly.
But soon, the Goblins looked around in confusion.
“Why, are your friends not here to help?”
They were probably calling out to their nearby comrades.
“Unfortunately, all your friends have already crossed the rainbow bridge. But don’t be too sad.”
The Goblins’ expressions hardened as they took in the scattered corpses of their brethren.
Stomp. Stomp.
As I approached, they began to back away.
“Because I’ll reunite you with them soon.”
Two severing sounds echoed.
***
We had the worst possible start in the Labyrinth.
I knew that entering the Labyrinth meant being teleported to a random area, but this was exceptionally bad luck.
A four-person party: two injured, one dead.
I was the only one who fought, and I was also the only one unharmed.
“Kuh-heuk… Th-thanks to… gurk, I-I lived. Gurk… Thank you, Balkan.”
“Don’t say anything more, just keep healing. It’ll be a headache if you die.”
Adolf, the Dwarf Priest, had miraculously survived.
If the Goblin had chewed on his neck for just a little longer, his head would have been completely severed, but I had separated them just in time before the worst could happen.
“…Hehe.”
The bigger problem was…
“Jeremy. Are you alright?”
“…Hehehe…”
It was this guy, who had lost his childhood friend, probably his lover, and completely lost his mind.
“Anya. Anya. I had a strange dream. A dream where you died to a Goblin. Isn’t that strange? Why would I dream such a thing? You’re sleeping so soundly like this.”
Jeremy, with brain matter and blood oozing, hugged Anya’s closed-eyed corpse and began to stroke her cheek.
“Your cheek feels a bit cold today. I told you we should dress warmly. The Labyrinth is a bit chilly, so today, it’s a bit more… Today, today is… the Labyrinth…?”
His eyes, which had been staring blankly at Anya, widened considerably.
“…Anya…?”
His expression contorted as if he had just comprehended a reality he had intentionally ignored.
He suddenly grabbed Anya’s shoulders and began to shake her.
“Anya. Anya. Wake up. Anya!”
Then he put his ear to Anya’s chest, placed his hand under her nose, and turned to look at Adolf with a shocked expression.
“M-Mr. Adolf! Anya! Anya isn’t breathing!”
“…”
“…”
Adolf and I were speechless at the sight.
He had gone mad.
Unable to accept the sudden cruel reality, his mind had broken.
“Th-this isn’t the time to be using healing miracles on Mr. Adolf. W-we need to heal Anya, quickly…”
He trembled as he gripped his spear.
“Heal Anya! Quickly! Right now!”
And he began to approach Adolf, his spear aimed.
I stepped in front of him.
I understood he was out of his mind with grief, but this was far beyond the line.
“Stop. There’s nothing good that can come from us fighting each other. Just calm down and–”
“Calm down?! Don’t give me that bullshit! Do you think you could calm down in my situation?!”
Jeremy’s bloodshot eyes bulged, and he began to spit at me.
“I don’t know. I haven’t been through a situation like yours. But one thing is for sure: we need a Priest if we want to get to the escape portal safely.”
“‘We’?! You mean ‘you’! I have no reason to live anymore!”
My heart, which had been softening with pity, grew cold.
Right. I needed a Priest to be safer and to explore the Labyrinth successfully.
But apart from that, there was no reason for me to waste my mental energy listening to his nonsense.
‘…Just bear it once. Just once.’
Every bit of our fighting strength was precious right now. The Priest couldn’t fight, and without even Jeremy, the spearman, I would have to continue fighting alone, just like last time.
I needed to make the most of him. My plans had been completely derailed from the start, but for things to get even more twisted…
“Stop sniveling, male.”
Just as I was thinking of words to soothe Jeremy and encourage him to act.
Adolf, who had finished healing his injuries, said, glaring at Jeremy from where he lay.
“Honestly, what did we even do in this battle? We were just defenseless and almost died. If it weren’t for that guy over there. Entering the Labyrinth, then game over. That was our original fate.”
The Dwarf, who had briefly looked at me, nodded as if understanding.
What? Why did he nod? Adolf even winked after that.
‘No way… Is he deliberately trying to provoke him to get on my good side?’
No, no way. That couldn’t be it.
Our Priest, Adolf, couldn’t possibly be a simp who sides with the queen bee in a petty squabble.
I shook my head vigorously, feeling an intense sense of foreboding.
No. Don’t open your mouth again. Please don’t needlessly provoke him. Just stay quiet.
You’ve been in the Labyrinth three times, you said. You’ve done well so far. Please, let’s just get through this easily—
“Jeremy. First, put down the spear and let’s talk—”
“It’s your fault your girlfriend died. You were right next to her, why couldn’t you stop it? Honestly. I knew this would happen ever since I heard you two hooked up the night before entering the Labyrinth.”
Ah.
“Heh.”
Jeremy let out a short laugh.
I quickly knocked Jeremy’s spear aside.
But the tragedy had already occurred.
“Grk, guh…?”
Adolf stared at the spear embedded in her neck, an expression of disbelief on her face.
Immediately, her eyes rolled back, and her body began to collapse.
“Hehe, heh…”
Wham!
Belatedly, I struck Jeremy’s neck, who was laughing maniacally, to subdue him.
Amidst the tangled bodies of Goblins and humans, I stood alone.
It was so absurd that I laughed.
“Haha. What a mess, seriously.”
Fifteen minutes into the Labyrinth.
The party had collapsed.
***
Flinch!
A familiar voice reached her sensitive ears.
“What’s wrong, Densi? Find anything? Anything worth some coin?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I must have misheard.”
“Really? That’s unusual. For Densi to mishear.”
Stroke. Stroke.
The woman’s hand stroked Densi’s hair. Densi felt a strange chill and fear from the act.
“You’re alive because of those useful ears. What if you mishear?”
“…I’m sorry…”
Densi, the girl who was briefly called Densi, felt something lacking from the woman’s touch as she stroked her hair.
It was light and small. The length was short too.
Surely, in the past, even such an act would have felt terrifying, but now it wasn’t entirely so.
Densi involuntarily recalled the massive fist that had crushed her solar plexus.
The knuckles were long, thick, heavy, rough… it was incredible, in any case.
Densi felt her body warm up for a moment and shook her head vigorously.
‘I must have misheard. No, I *had* to have misheard. He shouldn’t be here.’
“Alright, shall we set off again? If we’ve plundered everything, let’s get going!”
“Yes!”
Behind the loudly shouting woman, five puppets followed.
A metallic scent of blood lingered in the place they left.
With every step, red blood dripped from the knife in her hand, leaving a long trail of crimson.
It was too dark to be the blood of a monster.
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