chapter 137
Snake hunting (3)
Wow!
Astel’s shield hit the floor vigorously.
Along with that, a golden barrier was formed around the shield, blocking the front of a huge snake that came out from the other side of the passage at a terrifying speed.
aaang!
With a roar that rang through the aisle, Astell seemed to have perfectly blocked his charge, but… … .
“Turn off, ugh… … !”
With a suppressed moan, Astel’s body was being pushed back, albeit very slowly.
“Astel, hold on! If you get pushed here, I’ll throw you away!”
“Euggeuk, what, here, three… … ! Lord, I’m going to die… … !”
I tried to hold on somehow even while making noises about Astel, but I kept getting pushed back little by little.
From then on, the snake was so thick that it made me wonder if it would swallow five people at once, and its mouth was wide open.
Because he couldn’t close his mouth because he was blocked by the golden barrier, his hideous appearance was exposed, to the point where he wanted to cover Rize’s eyes.
I was pushed back little by little, but after confirming that Astel was able to block its charge, I immediately kicked off the ground, jumped over the wall, and landed near the snake’s neck.
Kwajik!
“Shaaa!”
I thrust the sword right into his mouth before he even noticed anything unusual, and he began to scream and twist his body.
As if it wasn’t that the aisle had been widened for nothing, it felt like an earthquake occurred every time my body hit the wall.
In addition, the leather itself is thick, so it was difficult to cut it at once even though it was deliberately poking and pulling the inside of the mouth.
However, I couldn’t keep hanging on here, so I gave it all my strength and pulled it and swung it as if pulling it out.
Chow ah!
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but the huge snake, which had been cut quite deeply, twisted its body and backed away.
Astell, who had been struggling to hold on, finally sighed, and Hudson stepped forward, giving Grace’s blessing to the two.
“To the young leaves that follow you, lead the way with a ray of light.”
Light dwelled in Astel and Hudson’s body, but it was not given to me.
I felt discriminated against by God, but it wasn’t for a day or two, so I fixed my eyes on the snake again.
The man with the torn corner of his mouth licked his tongue as blood flowed out, then slammed his massive body against the wall and charged again.
aaang!
With another roar, the golden barrier once again blocked the snake’s head.
However, sharp teeth pierced the barrier with even more force than before, and a sound like something melting came from there.
Chiyi.
“Irvine?! What’s flowing?! This is poison right?! Isn’t that dangerous?!”
“The guys on the second floor spit out poison, but this guy seems to spit it out after chewing it. The poison might be a bit stronger, but it seems that the divine power doesn’t melt. Be curious.”
“Is there a chance to wonder?! Hurry up, ugh… … !”
“Right. Well done. Hold on a little longer.”
While calming the noisy Astel, I aimed for the defenseless guy’s eyes on the right, and Hudson on the other side also launched an attack in line with me.
“Shaaa!”
He noticed us and twisted his body and tried to shake his head together.
However, the teeth that had pierced Astel’s barriers were firmly embedded, and an unexpected situation occurred, so he was limited to flinching.
Kwajijik!
“Shaaagh!”
In the end, I was able to pierce both eyes of Hudson’s black guy as I was aiming for.
Astel raised her voice while holding her legs firmly together to avoid being dragged away by the struggling guy.
“hahahaha! This was all a target! Do you understand the power of Di Zena now?! Who carelessly bites them?!”
It was pitiful to see her swaying back and forth in case she was bluffed, just in case she got poisoned.
In the end, the guy who didn’t make good use of his filthy big size came out as it was and was killed by Hudson.
Astell, who was holding his head against the barrier, was panting with his shoulders drooping as if he was exhausted, and I nodded my head and said in a satisfied tone.
“This is very comfortable. Let’s continue like this.”
“Because I’m going to die?! can’t do it anymore! No, no!”
“Be more conscious of the earth when borrowing the power of Dijenna. Isn’t it strange that you and the earth are pushed like that when you are one body?”
“Oh, indeed… … . So next time… … No, you’re not doing it?!”
what a waste. I’m almost through
Still, it seemed that he couldn’t just ignore what I said, and Astell thought about seriously thinking about it. In the meantime, we took a closer look at the snake monster we had just defeated.
It looks as if the snakes encountered on the 1st and 2nd floors have been enlarged.
Certainly, he wondered how he would hold on if this gigantic body filled the aisle and rushed at him.
It was fortunate that I didn’t have to fight messily thanks to Astel’s presence.
This time, it was fairly easy to catch, but usually three A-class mercenaries were needed to deal with it, and the topography was favorable to him, so even Douglas would have a hard time unless he cut his neck at once.
The problem was that these guys were still around for a while.
“Dad, is this the parent monster?”
Perhaps because of his large size, Rize looked at the corpse curiously and asked.
At that, I smiled and shook my head.
“No, this guy is also a child. The parent instance is probably locked in the last room. You will be much stronger than your children.”
“Like Daddy?”
“yes. You will be strong like your father.”
It wasn’t empty talk.
It was because he could not underestimate his potential as he was a guy who had survived for hundreds of years and dominated dungeons and filled them with only his descendants.
When I came alone, I had to struggle with him for almost half a day.
In response to my answer, Rize put on a serious expression and kept her mouth shut.
“But here is Dad, Master Douglas, Irina, Priest Grace, and Hudson Paladin. As we just saw, you can win without any harm.”
“Irvine?! I have one too!”
Ignoring Astel, who was responsive no matter what he said, he fixed his gaze on Rize, and Rize smiled and nodded.
“Yes, because Dad is very strong.”
I was proud of the way I was the only one who talked about it, but I felt like I had to live up to that belief.
That opportunity will come soon.
Pushing Astel’s back, who had been glaring at me fiercely for some time, I urged my way.
* * *
Certainly, much stronger snakes appeared than the snakes on the first or second floor, but they did not face any major threats.
Rather, because of their large size, they did not have to worry about surprise attacks, so they felt more comfortable.
Rather, it was to the extent that even Rize created a gap between them through small but accurate magic.
“Ughhh! die! I die like this! Before I die, I will definitely die with Irvin! If this is the case, die together!”
“Priest Astel. A god-worshiper should not speak such careless words. I will tell Sister Miriam.”
“Ughgggiaaagh!”
Only Astel made a death sound, but compared to when they first entered the ruins, they were making great progress.
Even now, while blocking the snake’s charge, he was not pushed even one step.
After all, it was a law to grow combat ability by going through this kind of real battle.
I wanted to let him practice a little longer, but unfortunately the exploration was nearing its end.
“hmm? The door is closed.”
As Douglas said in a puzzled voice, he saw a huge door that was three meters high and was firmly closed.
The rooms I’ve been through so far don’t have doors themselves, just the opposite.
“dad… … .”
Rize, who suddenly approached, called out to me and buried her face while holding onto my waist.
He probably peeked into the room with detection magic.
Now that he could feel the density of dark magic, he would have come to know how strong the monsters were.
While patting her head lightly to soothe Rize, she looked around and said that it was okay.
“Let’s do some maintenance and go in.”
At my words, the people sat down and rested without saying anything, and Douglas took out his bloodless sword and inspected it.
“Anyway, I’m going to have to step out properly this time, right?”
“Please, senior.”
Even if Douglas didn’t participate in the war, he could catch it enough, but since he came with him, there was no need to cross the dangerous river.
Irina will take care of Rize’s escort, and he won’t have the time to care about Rize until he’s dealing with us.
“My lady, how about waiting here?”
But Irina asked Rize, who was still attached to me, if she was worried about going in.
I also thought that way would be better, but as expected, Rize shook her head quietly.
“Let’s go in and see. I guess I’m just worried here.”
“… … I will definitely protect you.”
Irina couldn’t say anything more and said that as if she was determined, and Rize said thank you in a small voice with a faint smile.
Astell, who had been voicing pain, wondered what he was doing and found that he was lying on the floor and communicating with Dee Jena with his whole body.
It was amazing to lie down even wearing such thick armor.
Can you wake up later on your own?
I was watching it, wondering what to do, but suddenly it started to wriggle and move as if it had discovered something.
Astell, who struggled to turn his body halfway around, was still wriggling and crawling toward the door.
“What are you doing?”
“There is a gap here.”
Astel followed Astel’s gaze and saw that there was a gap the size of a fist under the door.
It was so thick that it was invisible when viewed from above.
It was a space where baby snakes born inside came out, but I decided not to explain it.
Arriving at the doorway like that, Astell stuck his helmet to the door until it made a loud noise, and soon it bounced back as if frightened.
“So-so-so-so, in there… … !”
“I told you. There will be more monsters than the ones I’ve met so far.”
It seemed that I had glimpsed his huge body.
Astell, perhaps imagining such an attack, hit the floor again with his raised head and was unable to get up for a while.
“Priest Astel.”
It was Grace, who was quietly meditating, who called such Astel.
Astell turned her head away as if she didn’t have the energy to answer, Grace asked in a voice that had maintained her composure.
“Is it true that the holy relic is also in here?”
“ah… … .”
It seemed that he had forgotten his original purpose.
Astell cleared his throat once, as if embarrassed, and then lay down and put his hands on his chest to pray.
If Dijenna saw it, she would surely be stunned.
Even so, Astell turned his head again and opened his mouth, as if the communication was going well.
“They say it’s inside me… … They say there is something deeper.”
somewhere deeper?
At those words, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Another hidden place I didn’t know appeared.
No, if it was only reacting to Digena’s priest, it would have been worth it.
It was not another god, but a god who had been forgotten.
It was just infuriating that there was still something I didn’t know after living so long.
No, hey, at some point, I gave up on looking for something new, so maybe that was justified.
I touched Rize for no reason, relieved my sinking feeling, and got up from my seat.
“Then let’s go in.”
After stopping Astel, who had been whining on the floor, for the last time, they stood in front of each other and put their hand on the door.
“Please stay locked. Stay locked.”
Nothing would change even if it was locked, but I pushed the door as hard as I could with Astel muttering that.
Whoops… … !
With a heavy sound, the door slowly opened towards the inside, and an eerie energy pierced the skin from the slight opening.
When the door was wide open, what was visible was a huge room lit with bright light, unlike the dark passageway.
The ceiling was studded with glow-in-the-dark stones, and the light reflected off the polished walls made it look even brighter.
What I see with him… … It was truly a huge, gigantic snake.
When the coiled white snake spotted us and raised its head, we naturally had no choice but to look up.
Scales tightly wrapped around the head and two horns rising from behind.
Vertical, sharp eyes scan us, and the flicking tongue disappears inside.
“Shaaagh!”
A sharp sound from his wide-open mouth pounded his ears, announcing the start of the final battle.