/
As he watched the backs of Ron and Babil rushing to find an exit, Cadel began thinking about what to do next.
‘My number one priority is Van’s growth. His old greatsword should be replaced with a new one, and he also needs good armor. And, he needs to eat properly. …Hmm. I guess we’ll have to take more quests.’
Many resources would be needed to bring out Van’s abilities to the fullest. As for his own growth, it was okay to postpone it until later.
‘It seems like the next main quest occurs in another area… Until then, we have to take small sub-quests and raise Van’s stats to the maximum. After that… yes?’
Cadel, who was meticulously planning for the future, stopped and narrowed his brow.
He still had his eyes on Ron and Babil, but his focus was not on them, but the land beneath them.
The land was strange.
Even though their vision was blurred due to the fog, it was clear that the surroundings of the ground they were on were bubbling like boiling water. The stones and sand could not withstand the vibrations, bouncing wildly.
“Hold on! Stop!”
Cadel, noticing something was wrong, called Ron and Babil hurriedly. But before they could even turn around in response…
“Wha, what…”
“Whoa!”
Something surged out of the vibrations in the ground.
A flat, thin shadow wrapped around Ron and Babil’s legs, as flexibly as a fish. Surprised, Cadel tried to run straight to them.
“Commander!”
Along with Van’s alarmed voice, an unidentified power blocked his movements.
A dirty gray bandage. Cadel grasped the identity of the shadow.
“What kind of power is…!”
The bandage wrapped around his ankles and pulled him to the floor with a vicious force. For some reason, the soil that had clearly been hard became as soft as mud, and felt like it was going to give way at any moment.
Van swung his sword without hesitation as soon as he noticed him staggering. As his greatsword cut through the bandage, the center of Cadel’s body, that was barely enduring the force, tilted. Van ran to him immediately, quickly wrapped his arm around his waist, and supported him.
“Commander! Are you okay? Are you injured—”
“I’m fine, so look over there.”
Cadel’s face was pale. He paused before pushing Van away with a trembling hand.
“But what if it appears again…”
“Quickly.”
Van was in tears at his firm response, but he had no choice but to turn around.
As soon as Ron and Babil had been caught by the bandages, they swung their arms and legs in a frenzy, but much of their body had been locked down already. Their legs with bandages wrapped around them were stuck in the ground, not even visible. When they saw Van, they quickly stretched out their arms as if they were meeting the Savior. Van thrust the blade of his greatsword in front of them with a face filled with annoyance.
“Grab it and get out.”
Grab the blade, not the handle?
They felt embarrassed, but now was not the time to nitpick. Ron and Babil each gripped one edge of the blade. Van checked the added weight to the sword, and lifted it up by giving strength to the hand holding it.
“Ugh!”
Van’s forearms bulged, and their bodies, which had been buried in the ground like potatoes, were pulled out little by little. Blood leaked from their palms, from clenching the blade with all their might. Instead of flowing down the blade, the dark red blood was absorbed without a trace as soon as it touched the blade.
Of course, only Van was aware of that fact.
‘I don’t know what this kind of monster really is, but the commander will try to subdue it even if it’s overkill. I can’t let him solve it alone. One way or the other, the sword must be fed blood. Even if I have to cut off one of their limbs…’
If cutting off other peoples’ limbs could help the commander, he would do it.
Ron and Babil were unaware of his brutal plans. The two of them fell on the floor and crawled forward after their bodies were completely pulled out. The fact that it looked ugly and the opened wounds on their palms could not overwhelm their urgent survival instinct. Van spoke, cutting off the bandages that were still on their ankles.
“No more help. If you want to live, take care of your own lives.”
If they had been a little farther away, he wouldn’t have let them go so smoothly. He could’ve injured them while making it look like an accident.
But Cadel was still behind him. If Van harmed Ron and Babil in front of him, he would surely hear something horrible. So unfortunately, he had to wait for the next opportunity.
Van took his eyes off the sight of the two desperately moving away and turned around without any regrets. Then he saw Cadel staring at him without moving. His expression was very serious.
“Captain, do you have any guesses about the monsters?”
“Well, I think it’s probably the ‘Mummy Queen’. It must be because of her that the mercenaries visiting the Smog Plains were dying one after the other.”
“The Mummy Queen… The mercenaries must’ve been good prey.”
“So it must’ve grown like that.”
What Cadel was looking at was the center of the plains. There was a mass of bandages that had emerged there like a giant flower bud.
That was the body of the Mummy Queen. Bandages, spread like roots around it, swam freely in the ground to catch prey, which were taken directly and digested into nutrients.
‘Damn it, if I knew that this guy was hiding itself, I would’ve saved some more magic. The quest completion window didn’t appear, not because I didn’t report to Drew Straw, but because the final boss still remained.’
He could vividly remember the skills and characteristics of the monsters, but couldn’t remember when and where all of them appeared, even if they had come out briefly in the tutorial.
Cadel, biting his lip habitually, glared at the Mummy Queen as if she was an extremely powerful enemy.
‘We have to kill that monster to complete the quest. If we can just kill her…!’
Once they escaped from this, they could end this horrible situation of constantly facing death.
“The Mummy Queen’s weakness is that gigantic bud. But the closer we get to it, the stronger the power protecting it. The best strategy is to snipe with ranged attacks.”
“Are you going to use magic again?”
“There’s no other way.”
There was nothing less efficient at defeating the mummy queen than close combat. Many obstacles lay in the way to the bud, as well as there being a high chance of losing your weapon.
If his stats were maxed out, the story would be different, but the current Van hadn’t even awakened, his equipment was all outdated, and he couldn’t show his original power. Sending him to the bud now would be murder.
Van, who was unaware of Cadel’s analyzing, stood in front of him with a firm expression on his face.
“I’ll do it.”
“No.”
“If I use my swordsmanship, you can attack from a distance. Besides, the commander has already used a lot of mana.”
“Are you doubting my abilities now?”
“It’s not like that–!”
“If it’s not, don’t argue, and step aside.”
He didn’t even give him a chance. Van pursed his lips. But Cadel was adamant. He didn’t want to work his precious knight, which he had only one of, like a horse.
In the end, Van was the first to give up.
“…Okay. But before the battle, please promise me one thing.”
“Say it.”
“If the commander’s first attack doesn’t kill the Mummy Queen, then I’ll step in for real.”
“What?”
“Maybe that won’t happen–”
“At that time, of course you'll have to go. Could I, with no magic power, attack again?”
Cadel snorted as if it was absurd, and Van momentarily was stunned into silence. It seemed that he had never expected permission.
But that was only for a while. With his eyes shining, as trustworthy as a loyal dog, he stood by Cadel preparing his magic.
‘I don’t have much mana left. I have to squeeze out a one-shot attack… Everything hinges on this.’
[Fireball] was the most suitable for a single ranged attack. He had to pour all his magic into it.
Cadel took a deep breath. Even his tiredness seemed to disappear.
As he concentrated, a fist-sized flame rose in front of him. The flam quickly grew in size, and in an instant it swelled to twenty times the size of the original.
Whoosh–
The fireball was centered in the hazy heat. A drop of sweat glided down from his forehead to his jawline.
Cadel calmly took a breath. He had only one chance. His sharp gaze, like a hawk hunting its prey, turned to the Mummy Queen’s bud.
Taking a short breath, he fired the fireball without hesitation.
‘Please…!’
The attack hit. A huge fireball flew towards the bud with great force, and an explosion that was accompanied by a loud sound and vibrations occurred.
Kaboom–
The bud engulfed in flames struggled repeatedly, opening and closing. With it, the roots buried in the ground emerged all at once.
“Commander, avoid it!”
The earth vibrated like boiling water. Van started running along the outskirts, hugging Cadel’s exhausted body. Chasing their steps, the Mummy Queen’s roots rose like sharp spears.
Cadel held onto Van’s arm, almost being dragged. Van supported him with one hand, and with the other, he swung his sword and blocked the attacks. But no matter how much he ran, the attacks showed no signs of stopping.
‘Is it possible I didn’t kill it?’
He hurriedly glanced at the bud, but it was impossible to make an accurate judgment due to the thick smoke and fog covering the surroundings. Cadel’s complexion turned pale.
If it had died instantly, the roots wouldn’t be moving for so long. There was nothing to wonder about. The attack had hit, but the Mummy Queen was still alive!
“It’s difficult to find a safe place.”
“I can’t fight any more in this state. Damn it, my attack only provoked it!”
Cadel clenched his jaw. If he had known about the existence of the Mummy Queen from the beginning, he would have distributed his magic power more efficiently. The problem was that he had misused this power, thinking that the Head Pitchers were all. But instead of sympathizing with Cadel’s anger, Van calmly accepted reality.
“The path from the outskirts to the exit is too far. I’ll cross by the side of the Mummy Queen.”
“That’s crazy! It’s too agitated right now. Even if it’s far away, let’s avoid it as much as possible…”
“There is a limit to continuing to dodge attacks at this speed. And you promised, Commander. If your attack fails, then I will step forward.”
When Cadel looked at Van’s side view, he instantly got goosebumps.
‘Is this a death flag1?’
Did this mean that if he failed the quest, he would lose Van? Because he was incompetent as a commander. Because he couldn’t lead his one and only knight properly. So Van would jump directly into there for him?
The startled Cadel opened his mouth, ready to deter him. Van grabbed him and started running at a tremendous speed.
The place he was headed was the Mummy Queen.