Episode 496 Heading to the Deep (3)
Ira, who rented the elder’s house for a while, offered Hafman a seat.
“Let me sit down.”
As he spoke, he handed the warm steaming tea to the front, and Hafman admired the scent.
Even though I only smelled the incense, my head seemed to clear.
Being a merchant by nature, I thought that if I could sell tea leaves, I could make a lot of money.
“I heard that the elf’s tea was excellent, but I didn’t know it was this good with just the scent.” As
you
sip a sip, the tea water flows neatly down your throat, leaving a unique scent like aftertaste.
Even if it is one of the best in the world, it is a car that is not inferior.
I’ve been drinking a lot of famous teas, but this was the first time I’ve ever had a tea that smelled so well.
It feels like my eyes are opening up.
Aira waited for half a minute to enjoy the tea before opening her mouth.
“Since it is a story that needs to be kept secret, the surroundings have been withdrawn. Now tell me. Where is Ray?”
Now that I have taken out this product and listened to it, I cannot enjoy the tea forever.
Halfman, who swallowed at the momentum that Ira secretly felt, answered.
“Taesangdanju is now… imprisoned in the Demonic Realm.”
“Magic Eye?”
“yes. A demonic scene has appeared in Silia’s Soleil Mountains. I don’t know why, but Taesangdanju is probably locked up there.”
“Rei is…”
The Demon King.
Ira had heard of it once.
A place where countless magic circles and sacred blood are gathered and created.
I heard that all kinds of monsters and monsters are gathered there, but I can’t believe they are trapped there.
Normally Ray wouldn’t worry about it, but now mana is gone.
Even she doesn’t know why.
However, I know how weak humans who can’t handle mana are.
“I want to help, but I can’t. I have to protect the village.”
She wanted to run away right away, but the heavy responsibility of being a high elf suppressed her.
Besides, in case of emergency, she herself had to protect the high elves.
That is the role of a high elf guardian.
Halfman nodded at her words.
“I know it’s difficult to help. Only Lord Taesangdan foresaw that in the not-too-distant future, Grendel’s Forest would be in danger. You told me to help the elven village when the time comes, so I’m here to help the village according to Dan Lord’s order.”
Ira felt even more heavy on him.
Unlike Ray, who puts herself first, she couldn’t do anything for her.
Even if he is in danger, he can’t move, so the only thing he can do is to stay still.
“Thank you.”
The conversation almost ended with one word spoken.
Halfman, who had emptied his glass without leaving anything behind, stood up cautiously.
“For the time being, we will be building tents outside the village, so if you need anything, please take care of us.”
Without saying a word, he lowered his head once and left.
Aira sighed.
“I never thought the day would come when I would be so pathetic.”
It would be nice if even one of the demons disappeared.
The demonic realm can show its true value only when the two places move in tandem.
If even one part is broken, the magic circle will not operate perfectly.
But breaking that one place is not an easy task.
In a situation where there is no mana, even the wrong encounter with a monster will kill you.
There were too many risks to solve everything with physical abilities alone.
“I hope nothing happens.”
Even from afar, Aira prayed for his comfort.
* * *
When the continent is in chaos and wars are raging everywhere.
Ray was urging the goblins.
“Leave useless things and go!”
“Kiyi!”
“Keeeeeee!”
The goblins moved in perfect order and prepared to leave.
The goblins, who had been leisurely warming themselves by the fire, were distracted when he told them to hurry up and pack their belongings after returning suddenly.
The Goblin Queen asked after packing her things as simply as possible.
“Is there any reason you are in such a hurry?”
“There is someone out there to protect. We have to get out of this damn dungeon as soon as possible.”
“Leaving… are you saying you are going out of the world?”
The Goblin Queen opened her eyes wide and asked.
Born in a dungeon, they had no concept of ‘outside’.
That’s why Ray’s words, as if there was another world, caught his eye.
Ray looked at her for a moment and said.
“It’s a much better place to live than here. At least it’s a place where you don’t have to worry about having to move because there’s not enough game.”
Even if you go out to the mountains for a little bit, monsters are everywhere.
Normal goblins would be nothing more than their prey, but a goblin that handles sword auras is a little different.
Perhaps they can also hunt ogres and live happily ever after.
The Goblin Queen, who had heard the story from Ray, was stunned by the fact that she would be able to live in abundance without having to move.
“Ugh. It’s a very appetizing story.”
After talking with the Goblin Queen, the goblins’ preparations were somewhat finished.
“Then let’s go.”
“Ehhhhhhhhh…”
As I was about to take my step, the goblins glanced behind me.
Perhaps, leaving the hometown where I was born and grew up, I feel a little empty.
Why didn’t they feel sorry for the goblins?
Wasn’t it difficult for him to be left alone with the residual emotions when he left the Holy Land?
However, it is impossible to live here forever.
Carrying two or three leather knapsacks at a time, Rey led the goblins and guided them.
I followed the signs left in each hallway to find my way, and within an hour I was able to reach the entrance to the basement.
“Is this the way to the 16th floor?”
I’ve only just arrived at the entrance, but a mysterious rotten me vibrates from below.
Even the goblins who sometimes put up with rotten meat frowned.
“Going down.”
Ray pushed open the door.
Koo-Goo-Goo Palace-
The huge stone door began to open little by little.
For the first time, light shines where no light has ever entered.
As they opened the door, a light came on in the basement hallway.
However, it was so dark that it was difficult to see properly.
“Light.”
As Ray used his magic, a sphere-shaped light illuminated the surroundings.
Then the horror that unfolded in front of my eyes came into view.
Bewilderment filled the faces of the goblins, including Ray.
“What is this?”
“The Lord is dead… all the monsters…”
The bodies of the monsters were strewn about in front of their eyes.
Seeing that all of them suffered stab wounds, it seemed that they were trying to climb up to this place, but were caught in a trap in the dungeon and died.
But why?
Why did the monsters on the 16th floor try to come up to the 15th floor?
‘Did the rotten smell come from here?’
Ray cautiously approached them.
Examining the corpses carefully, I saw that some of the monsters had their mouths completely open.
If he was in that shape, there is a possibility that he would have suffered a shock right before he died.
Since he had lost so much blood, hemorrhagic shock or, if not that, infectious shock could have come.
The goblin queen looked at their corpses with a serious face.
“Don’t come too soon. Poison makes things even more of a headache.”
Ray dragged the corpse that looked the most intact.
Fortunately, the trap didn’t activate, probably because it was the beginning of the road to the basement.
It appears to have been dead for three days.
Even so, it was a part where you could clearly feel how strong the monsters on the 16th floor were to reach this place after breaking through all the traps.
Ray took out the silver scalpel he always carried with him in preparation for such an occasion.
Although the scalpel was of a slightly different type, it was much better than nothing.
‘I want to see the organs… but at this size, the front view is better than the side view.’
Having made the monster’s body lie on its back, Ray immediately underwent a median sternotomy.
A scalpel was drawn from the lower part of the neck directly above the sternum to the pit of the stomach.
The goblins let out a short groan.
“Turn off…”
From their point of view, it seems that they are only damaging the body.
The goblin queen also stared at him with a puzzled expression.
After the skin incision was completed, the sternum was exposed.
I fixed it well so that the skin would not get rolled into the sternum and blew mana into the scalpel.
Whoa-!
The aura blade thinly surrounded the scalpel.
Carefully cutting the sternum, he cast his magic.
“Air hand.”
Originally, the sternum should be cut in half and a retractor used, but since there is no pheasant, a chicken should be used instead.
With his sternum fully retracted to secure his vision, he looked at the monster’s organs.
I couldn’t see it in detail yet, and there were a lot of difficulties because the body structure of monsters and humans were different.
What I was used to seeing in the front of my chest caught my eye.
‘It’s a tumor.’
Occasionally, tumor removal is performed in the anterior chest during the incision.
Because of its large size, the size of the tumor is enormous.
I looked at every nook and cranny of the remaining organs past the fist-sized tumor.
It had three lungs, each one the size of a child’s torso.
“What kind of ignorant lung is this?”
If you decide to breathe with these lungs, there will be no air left to breathe around you.
While I was looking closely at every part of my body.
I found that there was a slightly discolored area on my lung.
What is this?
Discoloration of a mixture of dark brown and orange.
There is something strange about something rotten.
After thinking for a moment, Ray tilted his head.
“poison?”
If it was poison poisoned through breathing, it would make sense, but then why is it only partially discolored?
Are there monsters that mainly use poison on the 16th floor?
Ray cut open part of the lung.
Then, in an unexpected result, even he opened his mouth.
Unlike the outside, which looked relatively intact, the inside of the monster’s lungs was completely rotten
. What the hell kind of poison…’
Did he use a biochemical weapon?
The moment the monster breathes.
The lungs were completely rotted in less than a second.
With that, Ray was able to infer the 16th floor to some extent.
‘In the worst case… the 16th floor is poisonous.’
It will also become a land of atrocities with poisonous enough that even monsters cannot live there.
