Chapter 43

As he proceeded down the corridor leading east, the ground began to slope gently downward.

After walking for a while, it became flat again, but the darkness had clearly changed.

When they reached the second level, Thor peered down the corridor.

In the dim light, two shadows crouched about twenty steps ahead.

It seemed they were being greeted immediately.

Thor nodded, and Moo silently activated <Thunder Needle>.

Small blue lights began to glow all over the young body, and Thor, with his sword hanging at his side, stepped forward.

The moment they had closed half the distance, the monsters lurking in the darkness began to move.

Thor stepped forward as if he had anticipated this.

At that moment, a fist-sized rock whizzed past the spot where he had been just an instant before.

Moo’s enhanced eyes had already spotted two more creatures deeper in the darkness.

Accelerating to avoid the thrown rock, Thor quickly closed the distance to the hobgoblins in front.

From a position almost touching the ground, the monsters thrust their swords upward at the approaching Thor.

Unlike a downward slash, which involves raising and then lowering the sword, avoiding a straight thrust is considerably difficult.

Furthermore, when launched from a low position, it is even harder to spot in a human’s field of vision.

But Thor suddenly stopped at a perfect spot.

The tip of the sword, having lost its target, passed by the gap in front of his nose.

With a single swift motion, Thor’s sword sliced the extended wrist, blocking the counterattack and then pierced the throat.

He then skillfully shifted his position, drawing the other hobgoblin into the line of fire of the two behind.

The hobgoblin growled and swung its rusted sword with all its might.

Though it seemed like a crude attack, if Thor were to take it head-on, his sword would undoubtedly be shattered.

But if he retreated to maintain distance, the creatures behind would launch their own attacks.

Out of the two choices—advance or retreat—Thor chose to advance without hesitation.

Stepping lightly, he met the approaching blade with his own.

With a hard sound, the monster’s sword was deflected.

—<Reversal>.

Thanks to Sora’s magic technique, fifty percent of the released slash was returned to its origin.

Using the momentum from the deflection, Thor’s sword slashed upward from below, cutting through the hobgoblin’s jaw at high speed.

Just as he was about to thrust the tip into the exposed throat—.

Thor kicked off the ground and retreated, pulling his cloak in front of him.

Without delay, a thick, black, mud-like substance splattered against it.

The dark magic <Corrupt Bullet>.

The hobgoblin shaman had launched it, hitting both its allies and the target.

Unlike Thor, who had shielded himself with his cloak, the monster in front took the full brunt of it.

Though they were the offspring of darkness, their physical structure was not much different from other creatures.

Their bodies immediately collapsed, revealing the bones.

But the hobgoblin, seemingly betrayed by its ally, lifted the corners of its mouth, baring a row of fangs.

With a grin-like expression, the monster lunged at Thor, trying to grab him with its bare hands.

At that moment, a stone launched by the shooter aimed to stop Thor’s retreat.

With his path blocked, Thor moved forward again.

He deftly avoided the monster’s outstretched hand by spinning around.

Using the momentum of the spin, he swung his blade horizontally.

The monster, whose neck was nearly severed, fell to the ground.

Without waiting to see it fall, Thor kicked off the ground and closed in on the remaining two.

The rear guards, now at a disadvantage, had no means to resist.

"From the second level, they come in groups of four. And they coordinate their movements...”

Thor, who was calmly analyzing the battle, was approached by the two who held the light.

They looked curiously at the dead monster, which was different from the usual ones.

"Wow, it smells really bad."

"What is this, Thor?"

"It’s like a magic technique used by monsters. Be careful not to touch it, or you’ll suffer the same fate."

"Got it!"

Moo, who seemed pleased, took Sora’s staff and started poking the rotten parts.

"This is interesting, Sora-nee."

"Huh, huh? When did you—! Ahh!"

Sora quickly snatched the staff back from the child, screaming as the stone end began to twist.

Recalling the events during the battle, she hurriedly asked Thor.

"Thor, are you okay?! Did you get hit by that weird thing?"

"Yeah. Look."

Thor turned his back to Sora.

The blue-striped cloak still had a bit of black dirt, but there were no signs of decay.

"I swim in much denser miasma without any problem."

"That’s true. I was worried, though."

While staring at the remnants of the dark magic, Sora tilted her head and asked Thor.

"Can I try something?"

"Hmm. Moo, is there any monster around?"

Moo, whose head was stroked and switched to <Electric Detection>, immediately sent out small purple snakes in all directions.

"There’s one, um, a bit further ahead!"

"Thanks, that’s a relief."

The child, whose head was touched again, struck the usual pose of lifting his nose.

They had already been in the cave for an hour.

Thus, the available time for using magic techniques had been reset.

However, considering the remaining time and distance, Thor judged that a second battle on the second level would be challenging.

"Alright, go ahead, Sora."

The girl, who had been given permission, lifted her staff and focused on the snake-leather cloak.

In the next moment, the black dirt floated up like a mist, turning into white vapor and disappearing.

To examine the change, Thor lifted the cloak and lightly stabbed it with a dissection knife.

The thin blade, which had easily cut through the monster’s fur, now slid over the surface without any sign of penetration.

If the <Reversal> of decay were to cause growth, there should have been some sign, but there was none.

From the increased durability, it seemed that the effect of reducing defense had been reversed.

"Hmm, this is... "

"How is it, Thor?"

For Thor and his companions, the most critical concern in this dungeon was running out of magic power and the number of times they could use magic techniques.

It is said that as the miasma becomes denser, the recovery of magic power slows down proportionally.

Moreover, due to the monsters that respawn over time, quick elimination is required in this place.

Even a single wasted magic technique could quickly deplete their resources.

While running out of magic power could be managed with <Restoration>, using up the available number of uses left Thor and his companions with no options.

Indeed, even on the first level, Sora’s <Reversal>, which could only be used five times, was always exhausted.

Thor had renewed his armor to reduce the number of times he needed to use <Restoration>.

However, he still found it challenging to conquer the second level and reach the third, where the dungeon’s master awaited.

Moreover, he had yet to come up with a strategy to defeat the formidable hobgoblin chief.

But now,

Thor saw a glimmer of hope in the cloak treated by the girl’s magic technique.