CH 41

Showdown

—————

The surprise attack failed, and the tedious process of chipping away at the enemy began. Well, at least it’s not a total waste since the opponent is providing valuable experience.

As I resigned myself to running around and steadily chipping away at the meat wall, the lich, who had been hiding, approached me. Do undead creatures often initiate conversation like this?

“Why are humans here? What is your purpose?”

For now, I decided to ignore the verbal sparring, as there’s no point in losing to an opponent without a brain. I gained nothing from engaging in conversation. I learned my lesson when I almost got manipulated by a general zombie. I won’t fight with words anymore.

“Are you alone? You’ve confused courage with recklessness. You foolishly challenge an unwinnable battle, leaving only regrets behind. Let us control you.”

That lich. Referring to itself as “us.” Did it use that term when it was alive, or did it start using it when it became a lich and rose to the top…? I’m curious, but if we start talking, we might end up arguing, so I’ll endure and continue chipping away at the meat wall.

“You! Can’t you at least respond, you impolite fool?”

The lich became angry. It’s amazing that undead creatures care about politeness. If you want to maintain your manners, then become a Buddha when you die. It’s common sense before manners. In my mind, I retorted while persistently chipping away at the meat wall.

“Hmph. Wearing a strange armor and swinging a huge weapon. Are you really human? It’s certain that you’re a living being. Why won’t you answer?”

The lich even began to doubt my race. It’s meddling in something unnecessary.

“I like the armor.”

“Kyu Kyu Kyu.”

“Needs glasses.”

Bell and the others were outraged after their hard work was criticized. Should I also be angry? No, let’s not. I’ve never seen my own body, and I might regret it if I rashly join in on this topic.

I dodge incoming magic and arrows as much as possible, leaving the impossible to the wind barrier. I crush swords and spears approaching me with my weapon. So far, things are going well.

I swing my hammer while ignoring all the questions from the lich. Huh? I can’t hear the lich’s voice anymore.

“Yuta, move back and defend yourself.”

I don’t understand why, but it’s the first time Sylphy has spoken to me during a battle. I’ll do as she says. I move away from the enemy group and hold my hammer as a shield in front of me.

“Y-You… do not… ignore… meeee!!!”

With the lich’s scream, a huge black flame was created, exploding with a roar. The entire fortress shook, and the wind barrier was broken. Suddenly, a blast of hot wind blew, and shattered pieces of rock hit my natural armor. I’m glad I wore my armor. I’m sorry, Bell and the others, for making you uncomfortable.

When the explosion settled, the floor was ripped apart, the walls were crumbling in places, and there were holes in the ceiling. That damn lich was so angry that it fired a powerful magic without even considering the possibility of a collapse. Do intelligent undead creatures have a short temper?

If this wasn’t the first floor, it would have been a disaster. Do I have to consider the opponent’s mood when fighting intelligent undead? It’s troublesome.

“Bell, please make the wind barrier again.”

(Okay. Phew, that was tough.)

Due to the impact of the explosion, the opponent’s flesh wall seems to have been greatly damaged. I’ll have to work hard at shaving it down again.

“Why are you still alive? It was a direct hit!”

The commotion from the Lich makes it easy to identify my target. Just a little more to go. The numbers have decreased considerably, and the mages and archers are fragile up close. It’s already an easy win.

With the numbers dwindling, I can finally see the Lich’s figure. …It’s a skeleton wearing a tattered robe and holding a staff. The difference from a regular skeleton is the blue-white flames in the eye sockets. It feels like flames of resentment and has an imposing presence.

“Darn it. I thought some hero or brave warrior was attacking me, but it’s just a scrawny guy wearing a strange armor swinging a hammer. It’s not satisfying.”

“Leave me alone!”

Oops, I spoke out loud. If I can see the Lich clearly, it means they can see me clearly too. But I’m not scrawny. I’m just average.

“Hmph. You can talk, can’t you? Why aren’t you answering me? Are you afraid of me?”

“Who says… Are you trying to sound cool or something? How old are you anyway? Saying something and feeling happy about it is what only children do. “

Alright, I said what I wanted to say. All that’s left is to defeat them. The Lich seems angry and is unleashing messy spells, but the number of shots is high, so the power of each individual attack is weak, and the aim is also off.

I dodge the attacks that I can avoid and use my hammer and wind wall to deflect the rest. Then I quickly close in on the Lich. The Lich continues to shout that he won’t forgive me until I die while looking at me until I smash him with my hammer… It’s scary enough to feel cursed.

Just as I was a bit scared, the remaining Knight, Mage, and Archer launch an attack. I pull myself together and defeat all the remaining monsters.

“Ah, it’s over!”

“Yuta. I’d like to say good job, but we’ve caused too much chaos in this fortress and it’s becoming unstable. Let’s put off resting for later and quickly grab the magic stones and escape.”

Huh? …Sometimes stones fall from the ceiling area, and I feel like the walls are making strange noises. Conclusion: it’s pretty dangerous. I quickly gather the Lich’s magic stone and the staff that was undamaged.

I find the Skeleton General and General Zombie and collect the magic stones. Then I collect only the magic stones of the Skeleton Knight, Mage, and Archer, which are easy to collect, and leave the fortress.

———–

“Phew, now I feel relieved. I was thinking about reusing the materials in the fortress, but it’s impossible in this situation. Turu, can you bury it?”

“I can.”

“Okay, then please do it.”

As usual, Turu pours soil using magic, but halfway through, there’s a rumbling sound and the ground collapses. The fortress has collapsed.

“Turu, the fortress has collapsed, so it’s okay now. Thank you.”

Now I feel relieved. I use cleaning spells on myself repeatedly and also on the collected magic stones and staff. I need to keep things clean, or I’ll feel uncomfortable.

“Bell, Rain, Turu. Thank you for this armor. It was a great help. Now that we’re done, can you take it off for me?”

“Sure thing. Yuta, you were so cool!”

“Kyu Kyu Kyu.”

“The armor is cool too.”

When Bell and the others placed their hands on the armor, the earth and water were absorbed into the ground, and the wind dissipated. Although it was unclear from their appearance, during that explosion, there were some sounds of things hitting my body.

Thanks to the armor, there was no impact, but without natural armor, I might have been injured. Defense is important. When I go to town, I must definitely buy armor. However, it seems that Turu is still concerned about the fact that he was not able to make armor as good as the others. I will praise him again later.

“So, Yuta, what level are you now? Since there were quite a few monsters, I think you’ve probably leveled up quite a bit,” Slyphy asked.

“I’ll check right now,” Yuta replied.

I had defeated Lich and even two Generals. Knights, Mages, Archers, and others were present in numbers comparable to zombies and skeletons in other nests. I have many expectations.

Name: Yuta Morizono

Level: 45

Physical Strength: B

Magic Power: B

Strength: B

Intelligence: B

Dexterity: A

Luck: B

Unique Skill:

Language Comprehension

Pioneer Tool

Skills:

Life Magic

Hammer Technique

Night Vision

Oh, it’s gone up by nine levels. Magic Power is also at the desired B rank. We can now avoid going into the undead nest. A comfortable life in town will begin! But what bothers me is that all the stats are B except for Dexterity. Do stats usually rise so evenly?

“Sylphy, I’ve leveled up and my Magic Power is now at the B rank. I can make a contract now!” Yuta exclaimed.

“Congratulations, Yuta. You’ve worked hard,” Sylphy replied, beaming with a smile. Yuta had been of great help to her, and she couldn’t thank him enough. She felt like she owed him something in return.

“Thanks to you, Sylphy, I was able to make it this far,” Yuta said.

“Hehe, I had fun too, so don’t worry about it,” Sylphy replied.

“Hmm, but I still want to do something to show my gratitude. Is there anything I can do for you?” Yuta asked.

Yuta had no idea what he could do to repay a spirit.

“Well, you don’t have to force yourself, but could you try to complete Dyne’s conditions? That would be enough of a reward for me,” Sylphy said.

“I was planning on continuing to explore and pioneer after we go to town anyway, so I don’t mind working hard for it. Is that really enough, though?” Yuta asked.

“Yes, it is,” Sylphy assured him.

Sylphy seemed genuinely happy and Yuta thought it was probably alright. If he felt like it wasn’t enough, he could always try to find something else that would make her happy.

“Does that have anything to do with the sanctuary that Nomos mentioned?” Yuta asked.

“Yes, it does. We don’t know what will happen in the future, so we’ll tell you when we know more,” Sylphy replied.

Yuta was curious about the sanctuary, but it seemed like nobody was willing to tell him anything. He decided to let go of that question for now and focus on his current one.

“I see. By the way, I was wondering about my stats. Except for Dexterity, all of them are B rank. Is it common for stats to grow so evenly like this?” Yuta asked.

“Let me see,” Sylphy said as she looked at his stats.

“Yuta’s stats are still growing in every category. In cases like this, as the rank goes up, the range between each rank also widens, so the stats will average out. That’s why it’s good that your growth hasn’t stopped yet.”

“Come to think of it, you said something similar before. I see, right now, except for dexterity, all the stats are within the range of B rank, but if the growth stops, there will be more variation, won’t there? Will you know if the growth stops?”

“When it reaches B or higher, the range becomes wider, so it’s not easy to go up. At that time, it seems that you will have to check your own limits and use it as a criterion for judgment when your level goes up.”

“For example, you could check the maximum weight you can lift and then increase the weight to challenge yourself when your level goes up.”

“It sounds quite troublesome.”

“Yes, it is. Except for those who pay close attention to it, most people seem to do it somewhat casually. So I don’t think Yuta needs to worry too much about it. More importantly, since you can now make contracts, why don’t we make a contract here?”

Oh no, I’m getting nervous for some reason.