Chapter 57: Dungeon Practice (7)


    The start was smooth.


    Vincent confidently drew his sword and stood on the front lines, while Helena held onto her rosary, blessing us from the rear.


    I also stood in the middle, with a shining lion dagger in one hand and a newly purchased staff in the other.


    Our lineup was simple but effective… After all, there were only three of us, and each of our roles was clearly defined. This setup was arguably better.


    It was a formation that could be considered textbook-perfect.


    “Heh… I was a bit nervous thinking it was a dungeon… but it’s no different from an ordinary forest.”


    “Yes, indeed. It’s actually just an ordinary forest where they’ve sealed away the monsters.”


    Vincent muttered as if disappointed, and Helena responded in her gentle tone.


    Taking their short conversation as a signal, we began to slowly make our way through the forest path.


    About five minutes passed.


    Finally, we encountered our first monster.


    <em>Rustle.</em>


    “Hold on.”


    To me, it sounded like a simple gust of wind, but perhaps it was different for aura users. Vincent stopped us with a deep, firm voice.


    “There’s something over there.”


    He then pointed his sword towards some bushes a little further off.


    <em>Rustle.</em>


    As if the creature knew it was being watched, the leaves shook. Then something leaped out.


    Brown fur. Long ears. Red eyes. And a chubby body.


    “…A rabbit?”


    Seeing what clearly looked like a rabbit, Vincent lowered his sword, relieved. But then…


    “Raise your sword again! That’s a monster!”


    There was no way an ordinary animal would be in a dungeon.


    Did it think I was preparing a spell because I was on guard?


    <em>“Kyueeng.”</em>


    The rabbit heaved a sigh, and in an instant, it shed its innocent herbivore image.


    <em>“Kiyaaaak!”</em>


    With a scream eerily resembling a human’s, its size inted to that of a medium-sized dog, and a sharp horn protruded from its forehead.


    “An Evil Rabbit…!”


    Vincent, who had just realized its true identity, swiftly adjusted his stance and stamped the ground.


    “Cut it down now!”


    It was a good judgment.


    Why wait for the enemy to transform? It was best to strike it at its most vulnerable moment.


    <em>Swoosh!</em>


    <em>“Keeek!!”</em>


    The Evil Rabbit, overwhelmed by the aura user’s superhuman speed, was severely wounded. Its side gushed, a grotesque sight with its innards spilling out.


    But it wasn’t dead. It was just barely clinging to life.


    The magic spell I had been preparing was nearingpletion.


    Just as I was about to finish it off cleanly…


    “…Huh?”


    Vincent froze with a puzzled expression on his face. His gaze was fixed on the nearly defeated Evil Rabbit. And for good reason.


    <em>Squirm.</em>


    <em>“Kyaaaak!!”</em>


    Suddenly, the creature’s jaw split into four, and from its mouth, thick tentacles emerged.


    With its horn and erged size, it looked nothing like the rabbit from moments ago. This very form was why the Evil Rabbit was ssified as a monster.


    Despite being a low-level monster, it had a berserk form!


    Well, it was only a little stronger than a goblin, anyway.


    I tried to finish it before its berserk figure would bepleted… but my magic was a bitte.


    It didn’t matter.


    While its appearance, which looked like it was eroded by an alien parasitic organism, was utterly terrifying, the fact that the creature was in a vulnerable state remained unchanged.


    <em>Zap.</em>


    I felt a current from the end of my staff. Feeling thepletion of the lower-tier lightning magic ‘Thunder Bolt’ I recently learned, I shouted.


    “Vincent, move! The magic spell is ready!”


    I shouted so he wouldn’t be surprised when a spell flew by right next to him. However, my consideration was in vain.


    Because…


    “Ah! Tentacles.. .Tentacles!”


    Vincent was already in a state of panic.


    Well, yeah, that scene was a bit horrifying.


    Vincent was dodging the approaching tentacle cluster of the Evil Rabbit and lept to the side.


    Unfortunately, he precisely went to where my Thunder Bolt was aimed.


    <em>Sizzle!</em>


    <em>“Gasp!</em> Ambush! It’s an ambush! They are hiding somewhere!“


    “You… idiot!”


    It was because you blocked my magic with your body.


    Fortunately, thanks to my earlier shield magic and Helena’s blessing, even after a direct hit, he only looked slightly shaken.


    “Help me, everyone! Aren’t we a group? Even if we’re surrounded by monsters, we should unite and advance…!”


    Ah, his panic seemed to have intensified. Waving his sword in every direction, he was overreacting to a not-so-serious situation.


    It felt like he was floundering in a shallow swimming pool.


    It was utterly amazing that he hadn’t been hit once.


    In H&A, whenever Vincent panicked, he would be unresponsive, and his uracy decreased…


    So that was why I couldn’t just leave Vincent like that. I needed to help him.


    Casting lower-tier magic now would be too slow. So, I just had to hit it. After all, it was a dying creature; one blow would knock it down.


    “Terra.”


    A clump of earth gathered at the tip of my staff. I added more magic power, hardening it.


    If I swing it now, it would be like I was wielding a long mace.


    … It wasn’t the proper way to use a staff, though.


    Chuckling internally, I was about to swing it when someone dashed in faster than me.


    “You despicable creature! How dare you bring out those filthy tentacles?!”


    With half-closed eyes, Helena, with her long, tied-up blonde hair fluttering, charged.


    Her speed was almost too fast to follow.


    And her body was shining, maybe even excessively.


    Was she staying still since the battle began just to heap blessings upon herself?


    The always gentle and calm Helena now lookedpletely different… She even had a fierce aura.


    Feeling threatened by her aggressive form, the Evil Rabbit, which was reaching out to Vincent, shot out its horn with a desperate cry.


    <em>“Kiiieeek!”</em>


    Yes, shoot.


    Whenever the Evil Rabbit felt threatened, it could shoot its horn like an arrow.


    But of course, this wouldn’t affect Helena.


    “Did you think you could harm me, who has received the grace of God?”


    Helena dodged the horn with a slight tilt of her head.


    Such graceful movements weren’t those of a novice.


    <em>“Eek! Eeek!”</em>


    The horn that Helena avoided grazed Vincent’s cheek, but thankfully, no one was hurt.


    The Evil Rabbit, unable to retract all its tentacles and having fired its only horn, was then confronted by Helena. Charging forward, she used the momentum to kick the Evil Rabbit’s head.


    <em>Thump!</em>


    It sounded as though a water-filled leather bag was being struck. It was a chilling impact noise.


    The corpse of the Evil Rabbit, with its upper halfpletely obliterated, rolled on the ground.


    Helena, having caught her breath in front of the scattered remains of Evil Rabbit, looked back.


    “Brother Vincent, are you hurt?”


    Her smile was as pure as if she hadn’t just casually taken down a monster.


    Only then did it dawn on me.


    The Church of Righteous Radiance didn’t hesitate when it came to matters rted to the evil Gods. They were fanatics…


    Even I was taken aback, so how would the cultists feel?


    It was no wonder that they would face a concentrated attack from the cultists in thetter part of the story, leading to their downfall or corruption.


    For a moment, I remembered the shaking cultists within H&A when confronted by a follower of the Church of Righteous Radiance.


    “Ahhhhhhhh!”


    “Eh? Brother Vincent? Brother Vincent?!”


    Perhaps he was mentally traumatized by the brutal scene, Vincent screamed and fled from Helena.


    …He had gone insane.


    Until now, I simply viewed Vincent’s issues as him not being able to disy his skills due to bat nausea.’


    Vincent, being a recruitable character, had his unique storyline.


    So far, it seems his setup involved dealing with phantoms that left no corpses or his invincible father, who couldn’t be wounded.


    As a result, he was terrified of realbat, where blood was spilled and bones were broken.


    Oveing this was the main content of Vincent’s story.


    But it wasn’t something we could deal with right now. For the time being, we needed to forcibly make him focus.


    I patted Helena’s shoulder, who looked despairingly at Vincent’s retreating figure.


    “Don’t be too hurt, Priestess Helena. I think he was just startled.”


    “Yes… I’m fine. But we must hurry and follow Brother Vincent.”


    Despite her words, Helena looked slightly gloomy, and I headed in the direction Vincent had run off to.


    Vincent, who pointlessly had outstanding physical abilities, was finally found sitting down with a dazed expression after a long chase.


    …We also discovered a trapid right beneath Vincent’s feet.


    And it happened to be a trap designed to lure monsters.


    <em>Whyyyyyy?</em>


    A sharp noise echoed loudly throughout the forest.


    And just like that, we were screwed.