Chapter 50
Chapter 50 – Underground City of the Ancient Gods 9
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Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
Underground City of the Ancient Gods 9
「Crap . 」
Hikaru pulled Lavia’s arm to help her up .
「Can you run?!」
「Y-Yeah!」
They dashed out of the treasure room . Hikaru could hear the wall crumbling behind them .
「Is that a giant?! How did it get so close?」Lavia said .
He could ask the same question . Hikaru wanted to beat himself up so bad .
I thought I could sense if it came closer by the rumbling… That and I didn’t pay attention to my Mana Detection the moment I found the revolver . It’s my fault that giant got close to us!
The giant most likely approached carefully so as not to cause tremors . It should’ve been slow . Hikaru would’ve seen it with his Mana Detection .
「Lavia! Set the lamp to maximum brightness!」
「What about the undead?!」
「They’re not around . 」
His Mana Detection didn’t sense any undead . They had fled because of the giant .
The giant knows where we are exactly .
Hikaru was almost sure about that .
That much was certain when it decided to approach us quietly before attacking us . Why, though? Because I deactivated Group Obfuscation? No, that’s not it .
Hikaru was holding Lavia’s hand at the moment, his Skill active . The moment they left the room and got out of sight from the giant, Stealth should’ve taken effect right away .
How does it know where we are?
The magic lamp lit up the hallways of the castle . Hikaru turned around and saw the giant that had destroyed the treasure room .
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「You’ve gotta be kidding me!」
The giant dashed through a hallway too narrow for its size, destroying pillars along the way, not stopping .
「Over here!」
「Kyaa!」
They entered a small passage, rolling over . The giant was rampaging through the place .
「Get up, Lavia . 」
「O-Okay!」
Holding each other’s hands, they ran . They had no idea where they were going . All of a sudden, Hikaru felt a gaze . Purple-colored eye was peering into the passage they went through .
An arm stretched out . Being more than ten meters away, Hikaru felt relieved . Yet the arm was reaching for them, stretching like rubber . It almost had them .
「Here goes nothing!」
Hikaru pointed the revolver at the giant’s arm and quickly pulled the trigger . A metallic sound rang out, not even reminiscent of gunpowder . A blue trail shot out from the muzzle . The moment it hit the giant’s hand, it instantly got covered in ice and repelled .
「Wh-What the hell?! It’s not a gun?! That looked like magic…」
「Hikaru! Look!」
The passage was too small for the giant . All it could do was glare at them . While Hikaru couldn’t see everything clearly, about a meter above the creature’s head was a sphere-like object that looked like an antenna, giving out small sparks .
「………」
A chill ran down Hikaru’s spine . This is bad . That thing screams danger . I can’t let it use that no matter what .
He readied his gun . Could he really hit his mark? He couldn’t get closer as the creature’s arm was there .
What are the chances an amateur like me can hit my target? There’s one thing that can compensate for my lack of experience .
Throwing . Hikaru summoned his Soul Board .
【Physical Strength】
. . 【Strength】1
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. . 【Weapon Mastery】
… . 【Throwing】2
He poured every point he got from killing undead .
【Physical Strength】
. . 【Strength】1
. . 【Weapon Mastery】
… . 【Throwing】10
……【Heaven Shot】
The new skill could wait till later . Hikaru aimed the gun once more, and this time he knew where the bullet would hit, like he had a laser pointer on . He pointed the gun at the sphere above the giant’s head and took a shot . This time gray light burst forth . A rock sprouted at its point of impact, covering the giant’s head .
「…Not enough, huh . 」
The light above its head didn’t stop . Light spilled from the rock’s cracks, sparks coming out like some broken gas stove .
「Over here, Lavia!」
Hikaru grabbed Lavia’s hand and ran once more . Right after they turned a corner, he felt a flash behind them .
「What…?」
Cautiously, he turned around . There was nothing out of the ordinary .
「H-Hikaru… Look…」Lavia said, pointing at his cloak . The cuffs had melted – the smell of putrefaction hung in the air .
A giant with a special attack that caused decay . The massive number of undead in the dungeon…
「…Is that what created the undead?」
It was downright ridiculous . With its light properties, it could be fired in any direction . Holding back the chill he felt, they started making a run for it again . Hikaru could hear the earth rumbling not far . The giant was chasing them .
「There’s only one escape route . The entrance to the castle . 」
They left the building and arrived at the open area . The bridge was just up ahead . The whole place was deserted, the Dead Knight and Draugrs nowhere to be seen . Countless undead had filled the area before and now they were gone .
「Did they run away…?」
Do the undead fear the giant because it turned them into what they are?
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「Damn it . That thing’s fast!」
The giant made it to the open square, destroying the castle along the way . The creature looked around and noticed Hikaru and Lavia running towards the bridge .
「Gwoooooaaaaaahhhh!!!」
Hikaru’s ears hurt, as though his eardrums were being stabbed by needles . The giant’s roar shook the whole castle . Walls near the giant collapsed . The castle, having stood for six hundred years, was starting to crumble .
「It’s heading straight for us… So it does know where we are . 」
They kept running .
「Hikaru… I’ll keep it occupied… If I use every bit of my mana…」Lavia said, her grip tightening . 「It might not be enough to kill it, but I can at least slow it down . In the meantime, you get out of here! So just leave me behind and… ouch!」
Hikaru flicked her forehead . Lavia scowled at him with teary eyes .
「Wh-Wh-What was that for?!」she exclaimed .
「No . 」
「Whaaat?!」
「What would happen to you if you didn’t kill it? Besides, you used plenty of mana a while ago . What happens after you fired a powerful spell at it?」
「………」
「You wouldn’t even be able to stand . And you’re telling me to run then?」
Hikaru sighed .
「That just won’t do . I went through a lot of trouble rescuing you . I can’t let you throw away your life that easily . 」
「B-B-But at this rate, we’ll both be dead!」
「That’s not gonna happen . 」
They made it over the bridge . The giant was running at an incredible speed .
「H-Hikaru!」
He stopped, turned around, and aimed the revolver . The giant was crossing the bridge, each step causing it to creak .
He pulled the trigger twice . The first shot was an orange flame, the second a glaring lightning, each hitting their own mark .
The bridge .
With its foothold collapsed, the giant fell down the dry moat . The ground trembled along with a loud rumbling . All of a sudden, it was quiet .
「…D-Did you kill it?」
Lavia shone the lamp on the debris . The ditch was thirty meters deep . Even if the giant jumped, it wouldn’t be able to reach them . They couldn’t see its body through the clouds of dust .
Then, a purple light flashed . An arm shot out from underneath the rubble, blowing away debris . Hikaru tilted his head to dodge pieces of debris flying towards him .
「A giant? More like a golem actually…」
When the dust settled, what Hikaru saw was not a body made of flesh, but only a puppet with joints . On the surface of its body made of rock was a strange pattern with purple light flowing through it . In contrast to its massive chest, its hips were narrow . While its face was modelled after a human’s, it didn’t have a nose or a mouth, only eyes that glowed . And on top of its head was a sphere object that Hikaru failed to destroy – the device that created the undead .
「L-Let’s go, Hikaru . It’ll be a while before it can get out of there . 」
「………」
「Hikaru? Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking of taking it down…」
He smiled at Lavia to calm her down .
「Yes . Yes, I am . 」
「Good… Wait, what?!」
「The fact that it’s not using that flickering thing over its head means it has a cooldown, or it couldn’t use it anymore . It looks like it doesn’t have a reliable long-range attack as well . It’ll try to get out of there, but that’ll take some time . 」
「But we can’t take down something that huge from here . So you want me to use my magic after all?」
「Like I said, if you used your spell and that thing survives, we’ll be in deep trouble . I don’t have the stamina to carry you all the way back to town . 」
「Then our only option is to run…」
「That’s a fine idea, but it’ll probably still follow us . If it comes to the surface and heads to town, it’ll be a disaster . I want to kill it right here . 」
「How are you going to do it?」Lavia asked .
Hikaru had a hypothesis that he wanted to test out . If it worked, the giant wouldn’t follow them . It might even be enough to kill the creature . If it failed, they would just escape . Although, the town might have to be sacrificed .