Pain pulled my consciousness back up to the surface from wherever it had sunk deep within.
Darkness crept away once again, letting light seep into my vision.
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was Lir. As soon as she noticed me stirring on the floor, she rushed over, asking if I was alright while wiping the cold sweat from my forehead.
I had no idea how many hours had passed since I regained consciousness. Her robe, once soaked with sweat, had now completely dried, and Trian was busy maintaining the arrows he had retrieved from the spider corpses.
“Phew…”
Every part of my body screamed in agony. Even the effort to turn my head felt like too much, but I managed to lift my upper body to check on the status of my party members.
Trian’s hands were stained with the azure blood of the spiders, but he appeared unharmed.
“Lir, bring over some bread and water and feed it to Bin.”
Upon seeing me awaken, Trian pointed at a bag in the middle of the room. Inside was roughly a week’s worth of food and water. Lir handed me a piece of dry bread, which I forced down despite my lack of appetite. In fact, my nausea almost made me gag, but I needed to quickly consume food to restore some energy to this battered body.
Clank!
Just as I was force-feeding myself the provisions, a sharp metallic sound reached my ears. It came from Rex’s artificial arm. The mechanism, corroded by explosions and poison, had started dropping parts onto the floor.
“Huff… Suck… Huff…”
Rex sat on the floor, staring blankly at his deteriorating prosthetic limb.
“Rex.”
I called out to him worriedly.
“Yes, General.”
His back was burnt nearly raw, the result of throwing himself in front of the explosion to save me and Lir.
“The explosion’s damage is bad enough, but the Marauder’s blood that seeped into the wounds is even worse. You’re poisoned.”
Trian explained Rex’s state while continuing to sharpen the blunt arrowheads, but it was clear that he too was concerned by the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice.
“…”
Lir’s lips quivered slightly as if uncertain what to say, and she eventually fell silent.
“This isn’t the time to be lying around.”
Ignoring the intense pain radiating through my body, I forcibly pushed myself up and stood.
The mutated creature’s blood, and the Marauder’s poison, seeping into Rex’s open wounds, was contaminating his entire body.
There was no way this could be healed by simple herbs or potions; for such a serious condition caused by Marauder’s venom, we would need a powerful cleric to perform a healing prayer on him.
“Rex, how long do you estimate you can hold up?”
“…I’m fine.”
As Rex wiped dried spider blood off his arm, his words of reassurance were clearly forced.
“Give me an honest answer, Rex. Now is the time to accurately assess your condition and plan accordingly.”
Even the mightiest Barbarian has their limits, and Rex was clearly reaching his.
All I needed from him was an honest appraisal of his situation, not a false show of strength or a rousing cry.
“…The poison is spreading through me. It’s probably because the Marauder’s blood mixed with the wounds from the explosion. I should be alright for about a day, but starting tomorrow, I’ll only be able to move my legs minimally. By the third day… it might be necessary for you all to leave me behind.”
Even though he was injected with the Marauder’s potent toxin, Rex claimed he could still participate in battle for at least a day. Honestly, his estimate felt overly optimistic to me.
If I had suffered the same injury, I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes before collapsing.
“…This is serious.”
Rex’s body was far larger and heavier than those of Elves or Humans. If he collapses, who would be able to carry him?
Neither I nor Lir would have the physical capability, and even Trian, whose muscles were built from prolonged battles, would find it impossible to carry Rex’s massive frame all day.
Carrying Rex would slow our movement, and slower movement would delay our escape from the dungeon. If our escape is delayed, Rex would die.
Even a great Barbarian couldn’t survive for more than a few days under the influence of a Marauder’s venom.
“…Trian, how long do you estimate it’ll take us to find our way out of this dungeon?”
“Two days at most. Don’t rush.”
“I don’t want to rush, but we don’t have a choice, do we?”
“…I’ll do my best, but the chances of finding the dungeon’s exit in a day or two are slim.”
Trian’s words were an honest assessment of our situation. For Rex, they were essentially a death sentence, yet no hint of despair clouded the Orc’s courageous face.
“…Time is short. While my body still listens to me, it’s best you use me to the fullest.”
With cold and detached words, Rex pulled himself up despite his rough breathing and the cold sweat drenching him from head to toe. He couldn’t afford to stop.
By the third day, his body would likely cease to obey him. Before that happens, his focus was on assisting his comrades as much as possible.
“…”
I watched as Rex, trembling and drenched in sweat, started clearing away the spider corpses with heavy, weary movements.
I owe this Orc my life twice over.
What have I done for him in return?
“…”
Lir swallowed hard, observing how even in death’s shadow, the Orc quietly carried on with the tasks he could still perform.
“Stop looking at me like that. The role of infantry is to protect the mage – I’m simply fulfilling my duty.”
Showing sympathy for him would be an insult. He appeared content if the mages at his back regarded him as a sturdy shield.
“…Rex.”
“Tell me, General.”
“Clear the way for us; I know where we’re headed.”
Stepping over the spider corpses and soaking my black robe with blue blood, I made my way out of the room.
“The hell are you leading us somewhere when you don’t even know where the exit is?”
“Just trust me and follow.”
There was only one thing I could do for Rex, just as he had saved me multiple times – and that was to save his life.
“…Do you sense anything?”
Trian glanced at me with a hint of curiosity in his eyes, noticing the confident steps I was taking. It seemed he thought I had some sort of psychic ability.
What did I sense? Nothing. I just knew the location of the ‘fixed exit’ because I’d cleared this dungeon hundreds of times already.
But I couldn’t say that.
“…Yeah, actually, since entering the dungeon, I felt something unsettling.”
Frankly, lying like this multiple times didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t think of a better way to convince Trian, who had started to question my actions.
Fine, let’s say I’m a shaman for now.
Rex has put his life on the line for me twice – I can tell a few lies for him, right?
“Hey, this is a dungeon. There could be any number of threats lurking – just because I feel an ominous presence doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the exit.”
“I never said I sensed the exit. In fact, I sense the opposite.”
“What?”
As I calmly moved Trian’s hand off my shoulder and looked him in the eyes, he seemed to pause, unsure of what he’d seen in my gaze, before closing his mouth.
“I sense the presence of the most dangerous monster in this dungeon. A dirty, viscous magical aura.”
Damn, I never thought I’d have to speak lines like these as a mage.
“Let’s clear this dungeon. Finding the emergency exit will take far longer.”
There are two methods to exit a dungeon.
The first method involves using the ’emergency exits’ that randomly appear throughout the dungeon.
That was our original plan.
The dungeon was too dangerous, and more importantly, the rewards from clearing it were irrelevant to me.
However, we can’t use that method now. Finding these randomly-generated exits requires constant movement – but Rex can’t last more than a day or two.
A skilled guide usually takes around five days to find an emergency exit, and sometimes it takes even longer.
Rex doesn’t have that long. Thus, I’ve chosen the second method: clearing the dungeon by defeating its boss, the “Guardian.”
By defeating this Guardian, you can obtain massive amounts of gold or special equipment, and it also reveals the dungeon’s fixed exit.
The Guardian’s location is always fixed, unlike emergency exits, which are randomly generated. Once you defeat the Guardian, you can use the fixed exit at any time.
Of course, you need to defeat the Guardian first.
“Do you really think you can do this? You’ve seen the monsters here – they’re definitely not average. This dungeon’s Guardian could be quite a challenge.”
I frowned at Trian’s worried tone.
“Why are you sitting there talking like this isn’t your business?”
“Should I fight too?”
“…You were planning not to fight?”
“The Guardian is far stronger than the average monsters. I’m only at a level where I can slightly harm the common monsters here. I won’t be much help against the Guardian.”
What’s with this guy being so straightforward about his uselessness?
“Same goes for Rex. He boasts about still being able to move, but if he fights the Guardian, he’ll only end up being a burden to you.”
Rex closed his mouth tightly, having nothing to counter with in response to Trian’s coldly accurate judgment.
Hmph, Rex will be fine. He owes me so much already.
“…Alright, I’ll handle the Guardian, but you all need to help out in other ways.”
“What do you need us to do?”
“When I fight the Guardian, it’ll get pretty loud – think thunder. It’ll definitely attract unwanted attention, so we need you to buy us some time.”
“…You’re telling us to die while you fight?”
“We should be able to hold on for about five minutes, right?”
Trian sighed, looking between me, Rex, and Lir.
Taking on the incoming monsters would be impossible, but surviving for five minutes seemed doable with our team composition.
The probability of surviving was certainly higher than failing.
“…Are you really sure you can finish in five minutes?”
Ah, Captain Trian sure worries a lot.
Because if I can’t finish in five minutes, we’re all dead anyway. No need to plan for that outcome.
