218th
Death Knight
218 ? Death Knight #2
The north gate of Sodomora.
Beyond the North Gate was a path leading into a huge, torn valley.
The valley was so huge and torn that it looked like it would have been created if a huge giant had scraped an iron fork into the ground.
I’ve never been abroad, but I think the Grand Canyon, which I’ve always wanted to visit, would be just like this.
“and-.”
I stood on the cliff and looked down at the view.
Between the valleys that stretched endlessly downward, the darkness was so deep that if you picked up a stone and dropped it, you wouldn’t even hear the sound of it hitting the ground.
This is the Valley of the Manticore.
It will become a magical realm where terrible monsters lurk.
The devil.
Yes, it is a magical realm.
An uncharted, unconquerable place where adventurers of the Silver Tier roam in search of mysteries and secrets of the world. That was this huge valley located half a day’s drive north of Sodomora.
It’s a little scary to imagine what kind of monsters might be scurrying down there.
“Hassan, the view here is amazing!”
However, Luna shouted as if this damp hellhole were some kind of spectacular sight. Of course, it was a beautiful sight, just as Luna said.
Paranoy was looking down at the bottom of this deep, deep cliff with his chin hanging out as if he was possessed. If he slipped like that, he would go straight to hell.
“Paranoy, be careful. If you fall in, we won’t be able to find your body.”
“Huh, the Valley of the Manticore? It really is better than the rumors… . Indeed, to think that this place is filled with fearsome lions and half-human, half-bird sirens… . It’s terrifying… . Indeed, it wouldn’t be strange if a renowned death knight were hiding there…!”
It was just as Paranoy said.
It really doesn’t feel strange if a named monster is nesting somewhere in this place.
But even though I came here without any plans, this vast, torn valley itself was several kilometers long, so honestly, I had no idea where to start or how to find it.
“Hassan, let’s start with lunch first!”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Paranoy, bring out the mat and lunch.”
“I’m also good at laying out mats…!”
We had a meal of dry, flat bread, a moderate piece of meat, and something like yogurt in a leather bag.
After finishing my meal, I felt drowsy and tired.
Urrrrrr-.
Suddenly, a tremendous ground shaking occurred deep underground, so Luna, me, and even Paranoy had no choice but to lie face down on the ground and wait for the situation to pass.
Is it an earthquake?
I lived in Korea and actually lived a life that had little to do with earthquakes.
Earthquakes occur more frequently on this continent of Gaia than you might think. It feels like we experience an earthquake at least once a month.
Urrrrrr-.
However, this earthquake was quite strong. The ground shaking was so strong that I was worried that the valley would collapse and be destroyed.
It’s a good thing I finished eating, if I had been eating I would have been in trouble.
After one such earthquake shook the world, we got up and checked to see if anything was broken or missing or if there were any injuries.
Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any major damage.
“Indeed, this is Typhon’s Valley… His grudge still lurks deep underground, trying to destroy the world…!!”
“Typhon’s Valley? What is that?”
“Hassan, don’t you know the great monster Typhon? The great monster that once defeated Jupiter. The father of all monsters. The child of the earth and the abyss, the living cataclysm-.”
“Wait a minute, you’re the children of the Earth and the Abyss?”
The term children of the earth and the abyss was something I had become familiar with when I heard Gogrid explain about the lords of hell.
giant.
Gigantes in plural.
Could this massive earthquake have something to do with the beings that are gnashing their fangs in the depths of the abyss, intent on upending the order of this world?
Paranoy said.
“This Valley of the Manticores is also said to be a valley created when the earth was torn apart by the flapping of Typhon’s wings… And the blood he shed becomes the monsters that wander the world, and his crouching creates cracks in the ground, causing chaos in the world…”
It’s so great that a valley can be created by flapping your wings.
People in this world are originally a bit boastful.
however.
Because the things I’ve seen and experienced recently are things like that, it feels a little creepy to simply dismiss them as Paranoia’s delusions.
“Typhon must still be writhing in agony trying to escape from the deep abyss…!! The continent, the continent is in danger…!! Originally, the role of the Pluto believers was to watch over the surface and underground to prevent them from escaping. However, now that the Pluto believers’ power has fallen to the ground, there is no one to watch over them…!!”
But as I watched Paranoy overdo it, that feeling cooled down. As expected, Paranoy’s delusions are severe.
“Ahh-!!”
Just then, Luna, who had been quietly listening to the story, shouted loudly. Then, she opened her eyes wide and ran off somewhere.
“Hioot!”
Luna soon flew like a seasoned goalkeeper, reaching out to the ground to block the ball.
Pussuk-.
Flower petals fluttered into the air along with small clouds of dust, and soon Luna caught and lifted up a truly magical creature.
“Whoa, sh-! Hassan, look at this! It’s a snake! A snake! I caught a snake!”
The thing Luna was holding in her hand was a colorful snake with black and white patterns that looked very impressive, like a cow’s. If I were to give it a rough name, I would say it’s a cow snake.
What was strange was not the pattern, but the head. The guy’s head was oddly split into two parts.
Shh.
A two-headed snake.
It was a double-headed temple.
The guy who had Luna grab him by the scruff of the neck seemed to be trying to escape by wrapping his tail around Luna’s wrist or twisting his body this way and that, but it was no use.
Shaet, Shaet, Shaeeet-!
“Wow! How is it? It’s the same! Wow!”
Luna seemed very happy to have caught the snake. Did she know that the squeaking sound she often makes was actually an imitation of the sound of a snake? Luna liked things like spiders and snakes.
“Are you going to use that as an elixir ingredient too?”
“No, these snakes shouldn’t be used as elixir ingredients. We should let them go now.”
Shake-.
It was Luna who threw the snake into the grass again. If that was the case, why did she catch it? I thought I spent a lot of time with Luna.
There are still many parts of Luna’s behavioral logic that I don’t understand.
“It’ll be easier to find your way around if you have these guys!”
Luna seemed to have caught a snake to help her find her way. How on earth would she find her way with a snake?
Luna spoke to the snake that was thrown to the ground and writhing, not knowing whether it knew my thoughts or not.
“Shh, shh, shhet-.”
I feel embarrassed, as if my head can’t keep up with reality.
What on earth is going on?
Just then, Paranoy, who was packing his luggage into his backpack, began to shiver.
“T, this is snake language…! Lady Luna is wagging her wicked snake tongue! Using the language of Typhon! T, this blasphemous act cannot be tolerated…! We must stop it immediately…!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Paranoy, be quiet! I’m talking right now-. Shh-.”
I suddenly felt dizzy.
It was that very moment.
S, sssss-. Ssssss-.
The snake that Luna had released circled around us a few times, nodded at us, and then slowly began to crawl away.
“Hassan, let’s go! He can show you around!”
“What guidance?”
“The giant, sleeping skeleton! The Death Knight we came to find!”
“oh-.”
* * *
I’ve heard of guide dogs for the blind.
This is the first time I’ve heard the term “guide snake.”
Luna tied a small piece of string around the snake’s neck, then tied it around her own finger.
Then, it looked like a dog owner, or rather a snake owner, walking through a field with a snake on a leash.
Ss …
A cow-striped two-headed snake gliding gracefully across the grass, and we following behind it.
Although he expresses his honest feelings, I wonder where that snake is taking us and whether it is guiding us as Luna said.
I don’t know if Luna and Snake really spoke their own language.
“We’re definitely falling into a trap right now… That, that two-headed snake is dragging us into the trap… .”
“Be quiet. I’m starting to feel uneasy too. Luna, are you sure you can follow along like this?”
“Actually, I don’t know either. I only learned the snake language up to the middle part. Anything beyond that is the domain of advanced healers, so I didn’t make any progress.”
what.
Suddenly I start to feel anxious.
It was just then.
Swish, swish-.
A small two-headed snake was circling around under what looked like a rock. It was a very large rock. It felt like it could easily weigh at least a ton?
Our group couldn’t help but feel suspicious when the two-headed man, who had been leading us well until just now, suddenly started acting like this.
“Hassan, there might be something down here!”
“There will be a terrible manticore’s mouth…! Hassan, Luna! You must go back now…!”
“Who told you to bring this kid here?”
“Hassan brought it.”
“… That’s right. Just be quiet, Paranoy.”
“But what is this thing here that’s spinning around? Is this rock something special?”
We looked around, wondering if there might be some special markings or something around this rock.
However, the surroundings were just plain fields, a cliff in the distance, and a cool west wind blowing.
Just then, Paranoy, who had been trembling, said something.
“Pluto’s priests would often fill in underground fissures with solid rock… . Perhaps this is one of them… .”
If I listened to Paranoy, it seemed like the rock itself wasn’t special, but that there was something underneath the rock. So I pushed the rock with all my might, just in case.
Woooooooo-.
Then, a very heavy, ominous sound of something shaking resonates all around.
“What a stupid brute force! Am I supposed to lift that giant rock…?”
Paranoy said, sounding very surprised.
In the end, the rock did not move.
It’s because I lack strength. To be exact, I feel like I have enough strength, but I feel like my back will break before I can lift this.
So, I completed the task with Luna’s Moai totems that I had prepared in advance.
Diring, diring-.
『Name: Hassan Lv. 22 25
Strength: 12
Agility: 4
Stamina: 6 9
Task: 255 55
Grace: Blessing of Chaos》 Shining Hands》 Night Armor》
I also got a decent amount of bonus stats, so my stamina is now 9. Did I mention that 10 is the realm of the superhuman?
At level 25, he is on a whole other level than the average bronze tier players, and is on the verge of becoming a true silver tier veteran.
“Whew-. Wait a minute-. You rock bastard, you fell for it.”
I slapped my palm and stuck my club into the crevice of the rock. Using the principle of a lever, I could either pull out the rock or roll it.
“Ugh!”
Woooooooo-.
Then, the rock that had not moved until just a moment ago begins to vibrate loudly and strangely.
“Hassan, I’ll help you too!”
“I’ll try something too…!”
Just then, Paranoy and Luna hung on the rock. As the three of them attacked the rock with all their might, the rock guy couldn’t hold out any longer and had to push his heavy butt away.
Gooooo-.
Then, what was revealed underneath was a fairly deep cave. I felt like I had seen something like this not long ago.
Gogrid’s tiny goblin kingdom felt just like this. Connected by some sort of hollow hole in the cliff?
I’m not sure, but when I brought the feather I had prepared in advance and held it against the ground, it seemed like the wind was blowing from inside.
“Hassan, there’s really something down there! Thank you Shake Shake-!”
Ssuk, sssup, ssheet. Ssuru, ssss, ssheet, ssheet-.
The two heads of the snake babbled something in response to Luna’s grateful greeting. I was curious as to what they were saying, so I asked Luna, and she replied, “I don’t know!”
Luna is mostly clumsy except for making potions.
“Anyway, Hassan, let’s go inside. I’m excited because it feels like an adventure!”
“There might be a terrifying monster inside… Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sealed the entrance with such a huge rock…!”
Luna and Paranoy’s reactions to the cave are different.
Luna’s words make sense, and Paranoy’s reaction is also right in that we need to be careful of danger.
So after much thought, we decided to send out a small bone rat first for reconnaissance.
While Luna and Paranoy were discussing the cave, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handful of bone fragments.
As I dropped it on the floor like a sauce sprinkled on it without anyone noticing, the pile of bones the size of my fist soon became a small rat of bones.
Bones that are too small to be made into a bone goblin often end up as a bone mouse.
Of course, this mouse is just a name I made up, but it was a good puppet to secretly create and use for reconnaissance in this situation.
I whispered softly to the guy.
“Go. Go and check first. If there’s nothing dangerous inside, come and wag your tail.”
Moon.
The guy quickly hid himself in a small hole.
“Hassan, what are we going to do? Let’s just mark the location and call some more people.”
“Just, going back seems like a good idea… I have a bad feeling about this….”
Paranoy and Luna are now asking for my opinion, but I am waiting for the sentinel, Bone Mouse, whom I sent first.
As I was watching like that for a while, I heard something rattling inside.
The original mouse is back.
Judging by the way its tail is wagging, it doesn’t seem like there’s any major danger.
“Let’s go in.”
So we crawled into the cramped cave, almost face down.
“Hassan, Hassan, the cave is getting narrower…!! The earth, the earth is closing in…!”
“Hey, here we go again.”
We finally entered the cramped cave, thinking that we should consider leaving the paranoia alone next time.
“It’s wide. Paranoy, do you have a torch? Can you light it?”
Paranoy rummaged through his backpack at Luna’s words. Soon, with a thud, the fire came on with a sound of flint hitting flint.
We were speechless at what we saw before us.
A large cavity within the cliff.
What you see inside is very huge.
It was something very huge.
“Hatsan, there is a dragon…! There is a dragon, there is a dragon…!”
[Work Review]
Shh, shh-!! Luna making snake sounds was just a scene I wanted to try…
Actually, that guy has caught a lot of snakes…
It’s just like that…
Paranoy’s illustration is roughly finished… It’s going to be a fun illustration that’s a little different from the existing illustration style…!!
Your manuscript fee coupons…!! Converted into paranoia…!!!
