Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

The Horns' castle was in the same spot as the one in Lemuria, just as I had expected.

Not only was it in the same spot, but it had the same old, musty, and sturdy exterior.

The only difference was the banner hanging from the walls.

It was hard to see because of how decayed the banner was, but there was what looked to be a maiden holding a book depicted on a background of a tree.

I don't recognize it from anywhere. Is that the banner of Beliale, I wonder?

『That is indeed the banner of Beliale』

A string doll standing on my shoulder answered.

It was a doll made of hemp thread, about 10 cm in height. It was standing thanks to some mysterious power and would relay to me the words of the magician.

I've seen the Guild President use magic similar to this, but this doll is smaller and has a clearer voice compared to the Guild President’s.

『Beliale's kings were chosen by its people. When the king changes, the banner also changes. This banner is that of the last king of Beliale, Lars Eira Muru Uruferia』

Eh………………Lars?

That's the name of the golem I’ve got at home. Come to think of it, its name was given to it by Frey, a descendant of Gastolfo who had summoned it originally. Is there some sort of a connection between it and this floor?

『The maiden's name was never revealed by Lars, so her origins are unknown. The tree in the background is the now-departed revered water deity tree, also known as Midras, the Suimei. There are many theories about the book in the maiden's hand, but the most widely held one is that it's a magical book from foreign lands』

「Thanks for the history lesson, but how are your preparations going?」

『I’m just waiting on you』

「Then go ahead and get this thing started」

The string doll hid itself under my collar.

「Whoa, you gotta be kidding me」

On the far side of the city, a thundercloud had appeared in an instant. It was vast, large enough to cover half the city.

Immediately, a carpet bombing via lightning strikes began.

With intense light and thunderous roars, the buildings hit by the lightning strikes fell apart like tofu. I could hear the deep echoes of the thunder despite how far away I was.

It's utterly ridiculous.

Half the city has been devastated in a matter of seconds. It's like some kind of meteorological weapon. I've seen a lot of magic in my time, but I've never seen anything quite like this.

It makes Rana and Frey seem almost cute in comparison.

As expected of a great magician, is what I'd like to say, but………

「You don't know where my party members are, do you?! What if they get caught up in that?!」

『Let me remind you, this is just a diversion. It may look spectacular, but it's only destroying the tops of the buildings. Besides, replicating natural phenomena is a very rudimentary form of magic. It's the weakest of them all. If all I wanted was destruction, I could easily destroy the entire floor itself. The problem is that――――――』

I was relieved to hear that it wouldn't be a problem. Old people tend to go on and on, so I just moved on.

A group of Horns emerged from the castle.

There were seven parties and at a rough count, they numbered nearly forty. They rushed towards the area where the magic was wreaking havoc. I waited for them to pass by before pointing my penlight at Arcane, who was hiding in another corner.

I flashed the light at him as a signal.

What I had asked him to do when I met him earlier was to appear before the Horns looking as weakened and pathetic as possible so that the remaining Horns wouldn’t be wary of him. I thought it would be better for him to actually be weakened, so I kneed him in the stomach as hard as I could.

It appeared that I had done some real damage. He was tottering as he made his way to the castle.

「Garving, get ready」

『Wait a minute, I've run into enemies. ………Well, well, well』

「Don't just go "well, well, well". If you don't hurry………」

Well, isn't it fine?

Through the doll under my collar, I heard the clashing of blades.

There are two blades, no, three. Hmm, that guy Garving carries a sword of some kind, huh?

『Even though those adventurers are morons, they're still the descendants of my party members, so I can't kill them. Alright, I've activated it』

「Understood」

I clicked my tongue without thinking. What had just been activated was the teleportation trap that had split my party up.

The catalyst for the trap was a small coin-like piece of metal that had been hidden under the cobblestones. It looked similar to a Misuranika gold coin.

I had gotten Garving to reset the trap, and then gave it to Arcane.

And now, Garving had triggered the teleportation.

「Wow, that's really high up」

From a height of about 80 meters above the city of ghosts, the Horns that had surrounded Arcane fell "along with him".

I did say that I'd save him, but do I really have to?

『Keeping him alive will likely prove useful later on. He's an apprentice hero, so he must be from a prominent lineage. You can blackmail him for money or treasures for what he did to you. You can also perpetually extort hush money from his family……….well, there's a chance that may get you killed, I suppose』

「That’s true, I guess. Agathion～」

Though I didn't sound all that motivated, the magic sword flew at full speed.

Gehh! went Arcane as Agathion saved him by sweeping sideways into his stomach to stop his fall.

Yeoww! he screamed in a louder voice. It was a very crude and painful way of saving him. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had puked his guts out. My beloved magic sword clearly understood me very well. The surprise attack was a success.

The Horns hit the ground one after another, scattering their bodily fluids and bones everywhere.

「One, two, three…….」

A total of fifteen Horns had fallen from the sky. It was quite the haul.

On top of that, they were all unable to do anything due to their broken limbs.

They probably never imagined that the bait they had set out would return to them with their own trap in hand. They were truly human-like in their negligence and hubris.

I pulled on the mace's rope. The mace head squealed as it began to spin.

Of the horns that were glowing red, five remained.

「Hah!」

I ground up one of the Horns, who was rolling on the ground near me. The upper half of his body itself ceased to exist.

The Horns screamed, both in pain and at the death of their comrade. Their language was so alien that it was completely incomprehensible to me.

The translation magic that even works on foreigners isn't working………or maybe they're just incoherent screams that only sound like a language?

It's very, very unpleasant to my ears.

For that reason, I tried my best to kill each one with a single blow.

I pulverized eight of them before they had the chance to regenerate.

Five more were finished off while in the process of regenerating.

I sent one of those who had managed to regenerate in time flying towards the castle. As the mace head's rotation had slowed, I smashed the last one, then scraped him along the ground to tear him apart.

「W………………what, what in the hells are you?」

「An adventurer」

For some reason, Arcane was trembling.

Not that I care.

「I'm going to storm the castle now. You'll only get in my way, so go somewhere else」

「You’ve got to be kidding me! My party members are!」

It was too much of a bother, so I poked Arcane in the stomach with the mace. I had intended to hit him lightly, but he flew and bounced across the ground like a soccer ball.

Oh, he's dead? Tch, he's moving a little. Looks like he's okay.

「I'll save your party members for you. ………If they're alive, that is」

I was just talking to myself.

I checked my vest pocket. I had already used up half of a horn.

Fifteen of them for half a horn. Despite it being a one-sided fight where I didn't take any damage, half a horn.

There's something that I've learned after wielding this mace.

This huge weapon. Simply attacking with it damages parts of my body. It also consumes a lot of stamina. Every time I take a swing, it consumes my regeneration point. If I use it carelessly, I'll strain every muscle in my body. This in turn causes even more of the regeneration point to be consumed. 𝒇r𝙚𝙚𝓌𝙚𝑏𝗻𝑜𝘷𝗲𝘭.c૦𝑚

In addition, because I'm using the horns, unlike the usual regeneration, I feel intense pain when regenerating.

Pain and blood. Life and death. A bloody and dirty fight.

Oh, isn't this………

『I don’t know what to say about what you consider "the same as usual"……』

「I've never had an easy fight, you see?」

I felt the doll poke its head out from under my collar.

「Any problems with the diversion?」

『None. I've largely neutralized the Horns that came my way. After that, from earlier――――――this is, well, I guess it’s fine』

I ignored him and went ahead.

I headed straight for the front entrance of the castle.

After crossing the drawbridge, which was down, I went through the open narrow gates of the castle. Having snuck into it many times before, I knew the castle pretty well.

Due to Garving's diversion and Arcane's surprise attack, there was no one in sight. However, I sensed a group coming from the back. Before long, I could hear the clatter of their heavy armor and weapons.

Though it has a high ceiling, the foyer of this castle is rather small.

It's about 10 tatami mats, or 18 square meters in size. That makes it look more like a large house's foyer rather than a castle's.

Moreover, there are blind spots from the corridors, which have no pillars or other obstructions that can help give them cover. It's an ideal place for an ambush.

Provided the ambush is already in place, that is.

I stabbed Agathion into the wall, took a running start, and then used it as a foothold to make a jump. The timing was perfect.

They came round the corner. I brought the mace down on the heads of the two heavily armored ones at the front of the group.

Their large shields and armor were like paper in the face of the mace's immense weight. I made the mace head spin and then drove it into the rest. They tried to escape back into the corridor, but it was too late.

Just by thrusting it at them, I was able to make mincemeat of them.

After slaughtering seven of them, I was covered in their blood.

「Agathion」

I called for the magic sword as I needed a shield. It came faster than I expected.

At the end of the corridor was a bunch of them in formation and holding crossbows.

Even though no one gave any signal, they all fired at the same time.

「Block them」

The magic sword's sheath can withstand 7.62mm rounds fired at it by an AK. Crossbow bolts won't even scratch it.

While the magic sword spun in midair to block the bolts, I started running, dragging the mace with me.

The smell of the blood splattered all over me is making me gag. Strangely enough, I don't smell anything like the fecal matter of living organisms. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen anything that looked like stomach contents either, even though I had torn them apart and scattered the pieces all over the place.

Evetta-san eats a lot though. How are these ones able to survive without eating or drinking?

『Horns are basically immortal beings that can live on indefinitely without any food or drink. As long as they're inside the dungeon, that is』

「And if they go outside?」

『They become the same as any regular human』

I see, these ones are completely different from Evetta-san. With this, the slight hesitation lingering in my mind is now completely gone.

Invigorated, I swung the mace with all my might. With one swing, I pulverized the entire group of crossbow-using Horns.

They're weak and hadn't put up much of a fight.

It's a trap.

I was attacked by an assassin-like Horns who had hidden himself at the side of the corridor.

He cut me in the right shoulder and elbow with a pair of knives. My tendons severed, the mace crashed down onto the ground. He wasn't the only one who had been lying in wait. There was another Horns in front of me and yet another behind me, each holding a spear.

With my left hand, I grabbed the assassin's face. He flicked his knives up, but I ignored them and swung him around. I used him like a blunt weapon of flesh to smack aside a spear thrust at me, then threw him at the Horns behind me.

「Agathion!」

The magic sword skewered the two Horns who had collided with each other.

I reached for my katana, but I wasn't fast enough. The Horns in front of me drove a longsword into my chest. The cold blade went through a lung and gouged it out.

I swallowed back the blood that flooded my mouth and wrapped my arms around the Horns' body. This Horns had a thin female body. When I squeezed with all my might, I snapped her spine. But she quickly regenerated, then struggled and fought back.

Her horn was right in front of my face.

I had an idea and acted on it immediately. I opened my mouth wide and bit down on her horn.

「Gyaaaaaah!」

An uncanny scream pierced my eardrums. When I let go of her, the Horns tumbled to the ground. I pulled the longsword from my chest and beheaded her with it.

「Ugh………gahhh, blech」

I choked on my own blood. While coughing it up, I picked up the mace and crushed the heads of the two Horns who were immobilized by the magic sword.

I stayed on guard, but there were no signs of any more enemies.

It's hot.

My arm, my chest, they feel like they're burning. The regeneration point, or rather, the horn of Horns is healing the serious wounds I had suffered. The pain is making me feel like throwing up. If I wasn't in enemy territory and was a little less manly, I would surely be shrieking and crying.

『You're probably aware of this, but there are more of them coming』

「I’m aware」

I had heard their footsteps.

I spat out more blood, then glared at the enemy reinforcements.

It was a group of more than thirty.

Well, this is the enemy's base after all. Regardless of the diversion and the surprise attack I had prepared for them, there was always going to be a lot of them here.

I have two horns left.

This is――――――no, I've got plenty more coming.

Isn't it a simple matter? I only need to kill more of them to get more horns for my regeneration point. And then, I'll be able to fight on indefinitely. I'll go back and forth between life and death forever. Like a monster that feeds on life.

「Haha」

I feel like I'm at the bottom of hell.

But it can't be helped, can it? It's all you guys' fault. You hurt a woman precious to me. You sullied her last adventure. That's unforgivable. If I let you get away with this, it'll kill me.

I'll take revenge on every last one of you.

I'll kill as many of you as I can see.

I'll kill everything within my reach.

I'll devour however billions upon billions of lives you have.[1]

[1] The unit of measurement Souya uses is actually a Sanskrit term seen in Buddhist texts pronounced “nayuta”. It means “an extremely great number of” or “a novemdecillion”, which can be either 1 followed by 60 zeros or 1 followed by 114 zeros. I think you get the idea of how extremely great the number is supposed to be, though it’s mostly used in the figurative sense. However, I can’t fit that in in a way that sounds normal and won’t break immersion, so I used billions upon billions instead. Of course, that’s nowhere near close enough, since a billion is just 1 followed by a measly 9 zeros.

Quick note: I made a mistake(or rather, I was fooled by the author) and called an item the "magic flute". I've changed it into "magic warhorn".

Aah…what a missed opportunity there at the end. I wanted so bad to say, “Today’s a hell of a day for revenge” but the nuance would be wrong.

Lore first, badass fighting after, huh? I don’t believe you need any reminding that this author rarely gives any completely useless lore. I’ll mention that Garving says that Midras is dead, but Midras’ name has been invoked several times already in this story during chants. Of course, the magics worked perfectly fine. Doesn’t that strike you as curious?

Also, he casually dropped that he had clashed with some moronic adventurers who are the descendants of his party members…that’s kinda a big deal, isn’t it? And since Souya said that he heard 3 blades and conjectured that Garving had his own blade, it must be a pair of them. Who do you think they are and what do you think the implications of that are?

Finally, I absolutely love how Souya treats Arcane, further cementing him as the “unfortunate in a lot of ways” character lol. Well, there’s much more to come, so stay tuned!