Chapter 85

"Damn it, the guild! Doing such a sloppy job! We’re going back to the original route!"

Kelt shouted and hurriedly retraced his steps.

Given how messed up the map was, the original route also became somewhat questionable... However, at least until we deviated from the assigned route, we hadn’t lost track of where we were. We should be able to reach the convergence point... I want to believe that.

"Are you going to take the lead? It’s a relief to have a nimble hunter go ahead..."

"My heavy knight, your pace is too slow! Stop standing around and get in front of me!"

Kelt, who thought he had finally taken control, seemed to have his nose bloodied, and his head was clearly heated up.

"...Kelt seemed scary at first, but he might be a bit clumsy. I feel a sense of familiarity."

Luze whispered this to me. It seemed to have been heard, as Kelt turned around with a stern look and glared at Luze. Luze quickly turned forward with awkward movements, trying to cover up the situation with a forced smile.

At that moment, Kelt’s face turned pale.

"Monsters are coming! They must have converged from some branch path!"

Almost simultaneously with Kelt drawing his bow, a strange swordsman appeared around the corner.

It had no head but was taller than me. Its body was covered in stitches, and it had three arms crudely attached, each holding a sword.

Its distorted and eerie appearance clearly indicated that this monster was dangerous.

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Monster: Patchwork

Level: 67

HP: 228/228

MP: 66/66

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Patchwork...

It was a stronger enemy than the master of the "Centipede Pit," Rock Centipede [Level: 60].

Even though my level has increased since then, this monster doesn’t have the same flaws as Rock Centipede. Moreover, due to its stats and skill composition, it boasts a ferocity that exceeds its level.

"Ah! What is that monster?!"

Luze screamed.

"...This is a troublesome time for a nasty monster to appear. It’s the guardian of the 'Lamenting Tomb.' It always appears alone in the 'Dream Hole' and wanders around, searching for adventurers with its wide-ranging detection ability."

The "Dream Hole" is quite vast. Moreover, this time, twenty adventurers entered simultaneously. Being targeted by this monster and ending up in a dead end is truly unfortunate.

Normally, Patchwork is extremely slow, making it easy to escape. Originally, it’s not recommended to defeat Patchwork; the standard approach is to escape when encountered. The rarity of Patchwork and the structure of being pursued when encountered are also gimmicks to heighten the fear of the "Lamenting Tomb."

However, unfortunately, this is a dead end. Even if we try to escape, we need to pass by it, and the heavy knight and the priest are slow. They are faster than Patchwork, but it takes time to put some distance between us. If we keep moving with that thing on our back, we will eventually be caught in a pincer attack by some other monster.

"We have no choice but to fight..."

Patchwork, lacking in speed, has high stats in other areas and is blessed with powerful skills. If we let our guard down, it could drain all our HP in an instant. It will be a tough battle, but we have four people.

"Kelt, hurry back!"

I shouted and ran to Kelt.

"...Don’t take it personally. The need to fight is your logic, lacking in speed. Avoiding a disadvantageous battle is common sense taught to us when we join the guild."

Kelt turned to us with a strained expression. Just as I thought, Kelt crouched, curled his body, and kicked off the ground, jumping in a zigzag pattern.

"Rabbit's Leap!"

It’s a hunter’s skill. It increases speed at the cost of being defenseless. It’s mainly used to quickly create distance from enemies or to escape.

Patchwork, reacting to Kelt’s movement, swung its blade, but it narrowly missed. Kelt landed cleanly behind Patchwork.

"Kelt, you...!"

"I’m not doing anything wrong... In an emergency, it’s only natural to act to save as many people as possible! Why would I fight the 'Three-Armed Reaper'! You guys should also try to escape somehow!"

Kelt left. He must have known about the threat of Patchwork beforehand.

Patchwork is not only high-level but also terrifying in other ways. It has high attack power, and a single misstep can result in a devastating blow.

Especially its skill, "Death Sword," is incredibly powerful and hard to avoid. It’s a symbol of Patchwork. While it should be possible to defeat it with four people, it was a monster with a high adventurer death rate even in the game era.

At that moment, a second Patchwork appeared in front of Kelt.

"A, ah...?"

Patchwork’s blade mercilessly sent Kelt flying. Kelt hit the wall and fell to the ground, groaning. He seemed to have been slashed around his waist, and blood was spreading from that area.

"U, ugh! It hurts, it hurts!"

"Eh, Elma! Wasn’t Patchwork supposed to appear only once?!"

"...Normally, that’s the case, but it’s probably due to the influence of the monster congregation."

Originally, the large-scale request for the "Lamenting Tomb" was due to the monster congregation, which Caros couldn’t handle alone. The monster congregation is a phenomenon where a large number of monsters appear in the "Dream Hole," and it can cause monsters that normally don’t gather to do so, or monsters that only appear under specific conditions to appear. A second Patchwork had appeared.