Chapter 160

Chapter 160: A Friend’s Grave. (3)

“What the hell... is this door so big for?”

Hardin muttered with a frown.

A massive stone gate stood before the four of us.

It was several times larger than the one we had encountered at the entrance of the dungeon, and its surface was engraved with images of menacing sea monsters, casting an eerie and ominous atmosphere at a glance.

While the people of Daphne stood blankly, staring at the door, Jerry tapped it lightly with the back of his hand and spoke.

“Would you mind opening this for us? I can’t use mana right now.”

At that, Hardin gave Beryl a pointed look, then jerked his chin.

“Krrrraaaaagh!”

With that growl, Beryl activated his Reinforced Body and pushed the door with all his might.

Guuuuuung!

The sound of stone scraping echoed as the stone gate slowly pushed backward.

Soon enough, the door fully opened, and the four of us trudged inside.

“This place…”

“Wow, there’s a space this huge inside?”

Beryl and Mikkelsen looked around in awe.

A massive semi-circular chamber.

Mana braziers were installed all around to light the interior, and the dome-shaped ceiling was filled with murals that seemed to represent constellations.

What felt a bit odd was...

“What kind of constellation is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Exactly.”

The shapes of the constellations engraved on the ceiling were completely different from those known to the average citizen of the Empire.

As Beryl and Mikkelsen blinked at the sight, Hardin stroked his chin and stared for a moment, then slowly lowered his head with a smirk.

‘Man, even in death, he hasn’t changed a bit.’

How should I put it?

This extravagant space was oozing with the unmistakable scent of that man I used to know during Varlach’s time.

Just then, Jerry stretched out his hand and said,

“That thing is the master of this dungeon.”

“…”

At the tip of his finger stood a massive statue.

So large it nearly reached the ceiling—its body was human, but its head was that of a seahorse.

In both of its hands, it held a cutlass like those used by pirates.

‘Let’s see here.’

Hardin closed his eyes and sharpened his senses.

If that thing was a kind of golem, the first thing to do was locate the mana-emitting core.

But for some reason, he couldn’t feel anything at the moment.

‘What the...? That thing’s a guardian?’

The flow of mana… wasn’t there?

Hardin scratched his head and stepped forward.

As he drew closer to the statue, Jerry extended his arm and spoke.

“Um… my lord?”

But Hardin didn’t even seem to hear him and kept walking.

When he had come within about ten meters of the statue—

Flash!

Suddenly, a blue light surged in the monster’s eyes, and with the grinding sound of stone, the statue raised both of its cutlasses high above its head.

Mikkelsen and Beryl, watching from the side, instantly froze.

‘…That aura.’

‘This thing is strong.’

A moment ago, there hadn’t been even a trace of mana, yet now the statue was radiating an overwhelming killing intent and energy.

As Hardin took a few steps back, the statue lowered its blades once again.

Jerry quickly explained,

“If you step within a certain range, it goes berserk and attacks relentlessly. I tried fighting it alone, but I couldn’t even scratch it.”

“Hmm, I see how it is.”

Hardin nodded, then drew his sword from his waist.

‘Then I guess it’s time for a little cheat.’

He took his stance, blue light flashing from his eyes as he concentrated his mana into the tip of his sword.

Creeeeaaaak! Screeeeeech!

A deafening sound rang out, like metal grinding against something hard.

At that moment, Beryl and Mikkelsen’s faces turned pale.

“Y-Young Master, you’re not seriously…?”

“You’re not thinking of doing that here, are you?”

Hardin grinned and replied.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

If that thing didn’t move an inch from its spot… then wouldn’t it be simpler to just obliterate it before it made a move?

Hardin took a deep breath, feeling the tension of the mana gathered at the sword’s tip.

And once that energy peaked—

“Hyaaah!”

He swung the sword with all his might.

KWAHHHHHHH!

A brilliant blue light burst forth from the blade.

Blue Wave.

An ultimate technique—Shockwave—normally used by 3-star Knights to explode compressed mana, here adapted into the style of Wave Swordsmanship as a secret technique.

It surged forward like a crashing wave, rushing straight toward the massive statue.

KWAHHHHHHH!

The colossal tidal wave engulfed the statue’s body with a thunderous roar.

The entire chamber shook, stone dust crumbling and falling from the air.

An overwhelming, tyrannical attack that sent shivers down the spine just from watching.

Mikkelsen furrowed his brow and shouted,

“Are you insane?! What if the ceiling collapses?!”

“Relax. This isn’t nearly enough to bring it down.”

“Not enough?! Didn’t you see the whole place shaking just now—”

That was when—

“Get down! It’s dangerous!”

Jerry, standing behind them, cried out desperately.

Beryl and Mikkelsen tilted their heads in confusion and asked,

“What are you talking about? That thing’s gotta be toast.”

“Dodge what exactly—”

At that moment.

Two glowing blue lights rose from the thick cloud of dust.

“Huh?”

ZEEEEEEENG!

A beam of blue light suddenly shot out from beyond it, flying toward them at incredible speed.

“Shit!”

“Eeeek!”

Beryl and Mikkelsen hurled themselves to the side just in time.

SSSSSSSSS!

The spot where they had just been standing sizzled and melted away.

Had they been hit by that…

Their bodies probably would have ended up exactly like that too.

As the thick cloud of smoke cleared, the statue slowly revealed itself once more.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

Seeing the statue completely unscathed without even a scratch, the two of them stood with their jaws dropped.

They had felt the sheer force of Hardin’s strike firsthand.

At that level, the impact should have easily surpassed even that of your average siege weapon.

So at the very least—if not destroyed—it should’ve been half-crippled.

But it took that head-on and didn’t even flinch?

They couldn’t begin to fathom the level of power that statue held.

“Damn. Looks like this won’t be easy.”

Hardin muttered as he tapped his shoulder with his sword, then turned his head sideways and said,

“What are you waiting for? Draw your swords.”

“Huh?”

“...Are we fighting too?”

“What, you think I’m gonna handle everything while you two just watch?”

“That’s not what we meant, but…”

If they charged at that thing, it definitely wouldn’t end with just a few scrapes.

Beryl and Mikkelsen turned pale, but Hardin snorted and said,

“Beryl, right side. Mikkelsen, left. We move on signal.”

“Signal?”

“Go.”

Taah!

Hardin dashed straight forward.

“W-Wait! Young Master!”

“Daaamn it!”

Even as they screamed, the two followed orders, splitting to the left and right and chasing after him.

As they quickly closed the distance with the statue—

Its eyes began glowing blue once again, and it raised its cutlasses high before slamming them down at Hardin.

If that hits me head-on, I’m dead, aren’t I?

KWAHHHHHH!

Hardin rolled his body to the side at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Right after that—

“Uraaaagh!”

“Daaamn it!”

Mikkelsen and Beryl charged in from both flanks nearly simultaneously, thrusting their weapon-enchanted swords.

KAAANG! KANG!

But all that followed was a spark of light scattering into the air.

Not even a scratch marked the statue’s body.

How should I put it…

Is mana just not working on it?

Hardin furrowed his brow.

The moment their blades struck, he felt the mana at the tip of the sword scatter and dissipate.

Meanwhile, the statue turned its head sideways and—

WUUUUUUUUNG!

A furious beam of blue light burst from its mouth.

“Shit…”

The moment Mikkelsen found himself directly in front of that gaping maw, his face was overtaken by shock and terror.

ZEEEEEEEENG!

A laser beam blasted out toward him.

BANG!

“Kuh-huck!”

Hardin swiftly kicked Mikkelsen’s body, sending him flying backward just in time.

As Mikkelsen tumbled and rolled across the ground, Hardin narrowed his eyes and shouted in frustration.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“S-Sorry, sir!”

Mikkelsen quickly scrambled to his feet and regained his stance.

“Go again! Hit it from all sides!”

“Yes, sir!”

Once again, the three of them charged in from three different directions simultaneously.

KAAAANG!

“Come on, then!”

Hardin took the front, blocking the statue’s twin cutlasses—its main offensive threat.

“Dieeeeee!”

“Mikkelsen!”

The other two struck with all their might, aiming for the statue’s blind spots and openings.

And at times—

“Young Master!”

“Got it!”

The two of them would each intercept one of the cutlasses, holding it off.

Meanwhile, I unleashed everything I had—Rip Current, Gyre… driving every Wave Swordsmanship secret technique I knew into the monster’s body.

From the back, Jerry watched silently, his eyes showing a glint of something new.

They’re strong—those guys.

The guardian of this dungeon, the seahorse statue.

He knew better than anyone just how absurdly powerful every one of that monster’s attacks was—he had faced it himself.

To be honest, he’d assumed they’d be dead after a few tries—nine out of ten, they wouldn’t last.

But they were holding their own, nearly toe-to-toe.

Still—

In the end, it won’t change anything.

Fighting well enough and being able to actually take that thing down—those were two completely different matters.

That blond bastard in the middle was launching some jaw-droppingly brutal attacks, but the statue still didn’t seem fazed.

Who knew how long the battle had raged on like that?

“Huuuuuh, let’s take a break.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Young Master, can we even beat that thing?”

As I pulled back, Mikkelsen and Beryl wiped the sweat from their foreheads and dropped to the ground, exhausted.

And as we put some distance between us—

Guuuuuuung!

The statue returned to its original position, as if nothing had happened.

I walked over to Jerry and asked,

“Hey, you didn’t notice anything?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You were watching while we fought, right? Didn’t you see any weird patterns? Or maybe a point where mana was leaking out?”

Jerry thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“If I’d known anything like that, I’d have told you already. But I was fighting it alone before—I didn’t have the luxury of observing it.”

“That so? Well, this time, you better watch carefully.”

“Huh? What do you mean—?”

I swung my sword through the air and shouted,

“Beryl, Mikkelsen! Again!”

“Yes, sir!”

And from that point on… it was the same thing over and over.

“Uraaaaagh!”

“Go left!”

“Dive through its legs!”

The three of us charged the statue again and again, slashing our swords relentlessly.

“Back, back!”

Whenever things started to go south, we would pull back and get out of the statue’s range again.

...Are they planning to wear it down through a long battle of attrition?

Jerry furrowed his brow as he pondered.

But he didn’t think it was a particularly good idea.

No matter how you looked at it—before that statue broke—

“Heeeeh, haaaah, haaaah! Damn, I’m dying here.”

“I’m seriously exhausted.”

“At this rate, we’ll drop from exhaustion before that thing does.”

It was obvious that the three of us would run out of mana… or stamina… first.

After a couple more rounds of pointless struggle, I looked back at Jerry and asked again,

“Hey, still haven’t noticed anything?”

“You say that, but…”

“Anything is fine. Just tell me—there’s gotta be something odd about its patterns or movements.”

Jerry stroked his chin, deep in thought for a moment.

Then he slowly looked up and said,

“Now that I think about it… there is something strange.”

“What is it?”

“That thing always returns to its original spot.”

“Explain.”

“That thing’s purpose is to repel intruders who enter the dungeon. But the fact that it always returns to the same place whenever we back off… It just felt odd to me, that behavior.”

“Hmm, yeah, you’ve got a point.”

I nodded and sank into thought.

But even knowing that, it’s not like anything’s going to change—

Just as Jerry tilted his head in confusion—

I suddenly raised mine and shouted,

“I got it.”

“…What?”

“I figured out how to beat that thing.”

…Was he being serious?

The moment I declared it with conviction, the remaining three all turned their gazes to me.

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