Chapter: 439
In a dungeon infused with the powers of the Void, the most crucial task is distinguishing what’s true and what’s false.
Here, anything can be perceived as truth or deception. If you fail to identify them, you’ll have to pay the price.
In other words, there isn’t an easier dungeon than this, provided you can see through all the lies.
Of course, that sounds easy in theory. Under the authority of the Void, differentiating all of this is nearly impossible.
Finding all the deceptions that are nearly indistinguishable from the truth is, realistically speaking, just nonsense. Normally, people overcome this by using various magical tools or divine artifacts.
I’d even written that in the strategy guide I put together for newbies.
But you know…
It’s not entirely “impossible” to identify everything; it’s just “almost” impossible.
Given my veteran status, I could definitely pull it off.
Just look at the monster charging toward us right now.
A deer the size of a truck is charging at us with blood-red eyes, ready to threaten us with its antlers.
The others around me are panicking and fussing about how to deal with it, yet I’m moving forward without even raising my shield.
“Young Lady?!”
“Your Grace!”
“Lucy Alrn! What are you doing?!”
“I’m watching. You guys are hopeless.”
As the crazy deer’s antlers got close, I remained remarkably calm.
[Lucy!]
And when the deer collided with me… I felt absolutely no injury.
The deer, merely an illusion, dashed past me before disappearing back into the fog.
“…What just happened?”
The perverted apostle, who’d rushed to protect me, stared blankly at the deer’s retreating form.
“What do you mean? It was a fake. Can’t even you spot that pathetic illusion?”
“A fake.”
“Really pathetic. Besides being a weirdo, what are you good at?”
With the Mesugaki skill, I was throwing shade, but I actually understood the perverted apostle’s confusion.
Back when I was speed-running, I didn’t want to waste any time gathering tools, so I memorized how to identify all those illusions. If I hadn’t, spotting the odd ones out would have been incredibly tough.
Determining whether the antlers looked weird, or whether the fur had the wrong color pattern, or if the hooves were off—none of that is easy!
[…Even if you could notice all of that, isn’t it too dangerous to approach unarmed?]
‘If I know it’s an illusion, then dodging it is the best way to handle it.’
When I said this, Grandpa took a moment before answering slowly.
[Aren’t you scared?]
‘Well, I’m not completely fearless, you know.’
Seeing a truck-sized deer charging at me without any concern would surely raise eyebrows.
Of course, it scared me. It felt like looking down from the highest point of a rollercoaster.
But still.
‘If I don’t do it, who will?’
If I’ve judged it to be a fake, then I should be the one to throw myself into danger. That’s common sense, right?
‘And that kind of impact? I can recover from it in no time.’
It’s true that I’m feeling tough right now, plus I have the perverted apostle and Phebe by my side. Even if something goes wrong, it wouldn’t turn into a major issue.
‘It’s all calculated moves!’
[…Is that so.]
Grandpa sounded a bit reluctant, but that didn’t stop me from what I was doing.
So I shrugged my shoulders and turned back toward my friends.
“Stick to my lead, losers. If you guys start moving around aimlessly, you’ll just annoy me.”
I brushed past the worries of others and took the front again, moving deeper into the dark forest.
Having succeeded in identifying the initial illusion, I came across several more, but failed to overcome one along the way.
I couldn’t tell whether a root that was flying towards me was real or fake.
In the short time I had to make a decision, I bit my lip and raised my shield.
Thud!
A root thicker than my waist slammed into my shield, sending shock through my arms.
That one was real.
“Perverted Apostle!”
“Leave it to me.”
What’s different about this one compared to the fake?
Ah, right. The area near the soil looks slightly different.
It was too dark, so I couldn’t catch that.
Having to endure the shock because I couldn’t make a quick decision, I bit my lip again.
The impact from the root wasn’t what bothered me.
Even though I received some shock because I hesitated until the last second, it wasn’t a big issue for me.
What truly frustrated me was my own performance.
It’s true that more than a year has passed since I stepped away from the monitor.
My senses had definitely dulled during that time.
That’s to be expected. How can my experiences from when I was pouring in time every day compare to now?
But…
The pride of a veteran is not something I can easily brush off with excuses like that.
In a situation like this, I shouldn’t treat it lightly at all.
I tightened my grip on my shield, frowning deeply.
*
Meanwhile, Joy had joined Lucy in the fog-filled dungeon and heard from the Apostle of the Art Guild about their current situation.
This place was completely different from the dungeon they had set out to conquer.
This dungeon was one created by the evil god of the Void using its own powers.
They’d ended up here purely by accident.
And Lucy’s main goal had been to conquer this dungeon all along.
Joy’s mind was flooded with numerous thoughts.
Why hadn’t they been informed?
Did they really seem that untrustworthy?
Did they look like babies who always had to be protected?
Why didn’t they think about how others worry about her while she worries for them?
As she caught a glimpse of Lucy Alrn’s eyes filled with concern, Joy almost blurted all these thoughts out before forcing herself to clamp it down.
What mattered right now was finding a way out of this dungeon.
Asking those questions could wait until they were outside.
So with that in mind, Joy swallowed her questions and obediently followed Lucy’s lead.
However, with every passing moment, the voice inside Joy’s heart only grew louder.
If they made even a slight misjudgment, serious injury was likely.
They had already faced numerous dangers and sustained several wounds along the way.
Yet, Lucy stayed at the forefront, and it felt ever so precarious.
Joy didn’t distrust the Young Lady Alrn.
On other occasions, she conveniently displayed powers that made her seem omnipotent within the dungeon.
There had to be a concrete reason for repeating such dangerous moves.
Joy understood that. She knew that.
But just because she comprehended it didn’t mean she could accept it wholeheartedly.
How could she just sit idly by while her friend threw herself into danger?
It made Joy feel like a burden to the Young Lady, just like that time when she narrowly escaped death during the academy entrance exam.
As these conflicting thoughts swirled in Joy’s mind, the smoke that filled the forest began to move inward, as if being sucked into something.
That sight seemed far removed from what could be described as a natural phenomenon.
“Huh. An ignorant and arrogant weakling, but not completely stupid, huh? It’s obvious they think this won’t work, so they’re running away. Pathetic, just like the evil god.”
Lucy chuckled at that and moved toward where the fog was being drawn in, with everyone else trailing behind her as they had been.
In the center of the forest, they arrived at stairs leading down into the ground, mired in the disgusting stench of blood and rotting flesh.
That smell made Joy gag for a moment, triggering past memories in her mind.
And then she realized where she recognized that smell from.
It was a place that had long been a source of nightmares for her. Even though she believed she had overcome it, she still occasionally faced it in her bad dreams. A place symbolic of her own helplessness.
The place where the alchemist resided.
Recognizing this, Joy froze, staring blankly at the entrance.
She still remembered the horrifying enemies she had encountered there. The life-and-death crises she had faced multiple times. And the confrontation with…
“Idiot.”
Hearing a clear voice that pierced through her thoughts brought Joy back to reality as she met Lucy’s concerned gaze.
“Why do you look like you might wet yourself?”
“I’m not making that face! That’s slander!”
“Pfft. So what’s it gonna be? You staying here? I’ll go down and deal with the lame stuff while you sit and shiver.”
Joy pondered for a moment at Lucy’s question.
If the Young Lady was saying this, it meant she had the confidence to do so.
Perhaps she might see Joy as a hindrance.
“…No, I’m fine. I can’t just back down now when a chance for revenge has come.”
With that thought in mind, Joy refused to step back.
If she backed down now, she would forever remain the obstacle Lucy saw her as, just like that day when she almost died during the academy entrance exam.
Lucy noticed Joy’s resolve and held her tongue for a moment before bursting into her usual chuckle.
“Putting on a strong front, huh? What’ll happen if you go in there and start crying like a baby?”
“That won’t happen!”
“Oh really? Alright then. Do as you please, crybaby.”
“Seriously, that’s not going to happen!”
Thereafter, Lucy posed the same question to the others, and every time, the answer remained the same.
None were willing to back down.
Confirming this, Lucy shrugged her shoulders and took the lead as she stepped toward the stairs first.
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