Chapter 43

Chapter 18: Dungeon Escape (1)

"Whoa!"

The darkness in my field of vision turned bright again, and as a message blocked my view, I found myself falling once more.

The pain from before my death lingered as a phantom pain, clouding my mind, and the message prevented me from looking around. However, I quickly regained my composure.

Whoosh!

My body was falling rapidly.

I poured mana into my ears, and the surface was rapidly approaching.

First, I took a deep breath.

'What should I do next? Ah, right.'

I recalled the trouble I had with the sword in the water.

I quickly pushed mana into my arm and, just before hitting the water, swung my arm with all my might to throw the sword.

Crack.

My joints screamed, but I trusted my young, resilient body.

I saw the sword flying above the murky light.

Splash!

I immediately plunged into the water.

A brief shock swept through my body, and I sank into the water.

The puddle, similar to a small reservoir I had seen in my previous life, was very deep.

However, this time, I didn't need to worry about the depth of the puddle.

The moment my descent stopped, I swam towards the surface.

"Phew!"

Sure enough, I didn't sink very deep. I quickly surfaced and looked around.

A single light was rising from the dark underground reservoir.

The light approached the surface, and then the Firebird Hunter emerged from the water.

Phew!

"Alex?"

She looked for me as soon as she surfaced.

"Here I am."

"Oh, you're safe. Thank goodness."

Relief spread across her face when she saw I was unharmed.

I swam in the direction I had thrown the sword, and she followed.

Fortunately, I hadn't thrown the sword in the opposite direction, so we could quickly reach dry land.

"But where is the sword? Did you drop it in the water?"

"No. It's over there."

Fortunately, the sword was stuck in the ground not far from the water.

I walked towards the sword.

"Why is the sword there?"

The Firebird Hunter asked, following me.

"I threw it in the air before I hit the water. It's hard to swim with a sword, right?"

Her expression was one of disbelief.

"Good heavens, you thought of that in such a short time?"

Well, to be honest, I didn't think of everything in that moment, but I kept quiet in response to her question.

After picking up the sword, she looked up.

Thanks to the lantern on her waist, the black hole in the ceiling was clearly visible.

"Sorry. I didn't know the altar would collapse. I thought a passage leading down would open..."

In my previous life, I had brought up the topic first, but it wasn't necessary this time.

She also looked very apologetic.

"Are there holes in the ceiling like the ones we see here?"

I pointed to the holes in the wall of the clearing, and she nodded.

"You saw those too? Yes, there were many holes in the cave where we fell."

So far, everything was similar to my previous life. Since there were no major issues when I first encountered the monsters, I moved as I had before.

After taking off my wet outer clothes, I asked the Firebird Hunter.

"Could you dry my clothes after you dry your cloak?"

"It's not a problem. But how did you know I could do that?"

"I just thought you could."

She looked at me curiously, then took off her cloak and used mana to dry her clothes.

She then dried my outer clothes, and I thanked her before putting them back on.

"The holes in the ceiling are connected to the caves. We should choose a cave and find a way up."

She lifted her sword in response.

"If the one who created these caves is still alive, they might still be in the underground. The noise we made when we fell into the water was quite loud, so if they're alive, they'll come looking for us."

She quickly drew her sword in response to my words.

At the same time, I heard the sound of footsteps from my previous life.

Squish, squish.

The sound of numerous legs dragging on the ground.

It was the sound of the Red Mice, the monsters.

"Are there any Red Mice left?"

These gray monsters looked like a mix of rats and insects, unlike their name.

Just like in my previous life, three monsters appeared.

Or are there three?

In any case, I could see and sense only three.

I infused my body with mana and pushed the remaining mana into my sword.

I felt the mana about to burst from my body and sword.

I wanted to savor this sensation, but there was no time for that now.

Seeing me pull in a lot of mana, the Firebird Hunter spoke.

"Of course, it's impossible to avoid Red Mice underground, right?"

The pattern on her sword glowed brightly.

"But how can you have so much mana at your age? Could there be some 'mana sensitivity' left in the ducal family?"

She said the same thing as before, then with a look of realization, changed the subject.

"Anyway, you're a good partner to fight with."

With that, she charged forward.

I followed her.

As we charged, the monsters charged towards us.

Perhaps because of the same actions, just like before, only the last monster charged at me.

I took a deep breath as the monster approached, awakening my senses and synchronizing with the monster.

I didn't want to repeat the same mistake.

With all my senses awakened, I swung my sword at the approaching monster.

Whoosh.

A perfectly timed strike.

However, I knew this strike wouldn't hit.

Sure enough, the monster, ignoring inertia, leaped upwards as the sword approached.

The monster jumped several meters in an instant.

This is why I lost sight of it last time.

But there was no reason to lose sight of it this time.

Moreover, this was my chance with the monster in mid-air.

I used the momentum of my swinging sword to spin my body once, then continued spinning and jumped upwards!

Chapter 4 of 'The Side Story of Hero Carlos' Swordsmanship.

'Dragon Soaring Up!'

Damn, the name of this technique made my face turn red.

I resolved never to say the name of a technique out loud again.

Repeating the name of the technique in my mind, I raised my sword towards the falling monster.

Swoosh.

Thud!

Even a smart monster couldn't do anything when attacked unexpectedly.

The monster tumbled to the ground with two of its legs cut off.

The severed legs were not the front legs it used like arms but the legs that supported its body.

Now, its incredible speed was sealed.

I spun and landed, then charged at the monster again.

If I were in my previous life, I would have been dizzy and unable to land properly, but with my ears protected by mana, my balance was better than a figure skater's!

I continued to swing my sword at the monster, which couldn't even stand up.

By the time the monster regained its senses, another leg was gone, and when it barely blocked my sword with its claws, its opposite front leg was cut off.

The battle was already decided.

I didn't get excited but methodically finished the job.

I cut off the remaining claws, severed the front legs, climbed onto the monster's back, and plunged my sword into its back.

Rumble!

However, the monster, with the sword deeply embedded in its back, thrashed wildly.

"It should have been where the heart is... Is the structure different?"

I considered testing it further, but not knowing what variables might arise, I pulled out the sword and decapitated the monster.

Thud.

Decapitation still meant death, just like last time.

'Cutting the legs seals high-speed movement, decapitation ensures death, and the heart is not where I expected it to be...'

After confirming that the fallen monster had lost its vitality, I checked on my companion's battle.

She was still fighting two monsters. Last time, only one monster was left when I finished my battle.

Did I deal with the monster faster this time?

However, she didn't need to worry this time either.

One monster had only a few legs left and was covered in wounds, so it would die soon.

The other monster was also not in good shape, but she was unharmed.

The aura swirling at the tip of her sword was cutting through the monsters, just like last time.

I stopped paying attention to her and started to dismember the fallen monster.

Even without infusing mana into my sword, it cut through the dead monster easily.

I cut open the belly to examine the inside and split the severed legs to inspect the muscles.

"Damn, what is this inside?"

After examining the monster's insides, I couldn't help but look disgusted.

"That's why monsters can't be used for food. They can be given to alchemists or blacksmiths for various materials, but eating them is out of the question."

It seemed she had finished her battle while I was dissecting the monster.

She approached me and commented on the dismembered monster's corpse.

Of course, undead-type monsters couldn't be eaten due to their decaying bodies, but these monsters were clearly alive.

However, their internal structure didn't resemble that of a living creature.

Although I hadn't majored in biology in my previous life, the monster had only one large stomach and no visible heart.

The blood vessels surrounding the stomach extended throughout the body, and the muscles were twisted in a form I had never seen before.

It didn't resemble insects or animals.

After coming to this world, the creatures didn't seem much different from those in my previous life, but the monster in front of me had an internal structure that belonged in a fantasy, horror, or sci-fi movie.

"Tch, most monsters are said to have come from another world with the demons. Maybe they are alien-like despite their appearance."

Ultimately, with my limited biological knowledge, dissecting the monster wouldn't help me find its weakness.

"You really fought well. You could take down a decent knight in an instant!"

Her gaze towards me seemed even better than last time.

It was probably because I dealt with the monster faster.

Of course, it was possible because I had experienced it once, but her praise didn't sound bad.

"Should we move now? There might be more of these. Let's escape quickly."

Perhaps because her view of me had changed, she asked for my opinion, unlike last time.

'What should we do?'

In my previous life, we entered a random cave and were surrounded and killed.

There were at least a dozen monsters.

It was impossible to win against that many at once.

I looked around.

We were in a large underground square with holes in the walls.

There was a small reservoir in the center, and the rest was a flat floor.

'Should we enter a cave and fight them one by one, or should we set up a defensive position with the water behind us?'

However, the cave structure was undoubtedly much better known to the monsters than to us. Fighting them one by one was not feasible.

I looked at the reservoir and then at the dismembered monster again.

I didn't see any webbed feet, and it didn't seem to be light enough to swim.

I asked the Firebird Hunter.

"Can this monster swim?"