Chapter 66: Chapter No.66 Job Change Quest (4)
’I got 50,000 Gold in one go?’
Was it because knights were supposed to be wealthy or some such?
I abruptly remembered that most humanoid-type monsters usually gave out more loot than any other type in video games.
Now that I thought about it some more, not finding a greater number of useful items on a human being, when compared to an animal or an insect, didn’t make a whole lot of sense, now did it?
I couldn’t be sure if this dungeon followed that principle or not, though.
In any case, it could only be good news to me.
And now that the ’Buy’ option is unlocked, I am planning to save up more Gold and buy some items from the Store. However, I’ve to see what the Store has to offer.
’Is there anything else that I can take with me?’
Well, human greed supposedly knew no limits, or in my case, a demon’s greed knows no bounds, so....
I momentarily forgot about my true goal of wandering in this dungeon and greedily searched around my vicinity.
The armour worn by the knights was all pretty much mangled beyond recovery from the fight just now, so, it was a no....
Eventually, my eyes found the knights’ swords.
’They kinda look useful, don’t they?’
Those longswords must’ve been something to behold once...
Although I couldn’t use them properly since they weren’t katana-like Muramasa, I could always sell them in the Store.
I picked up a long sword.
However, as soon as I did, the sword rapidly rusted up and dissolved into a pile of dust, before scattering away.
"What the hell....?"
This process happened in only a couple of seconds.
’Is it because I’m not supposed to touch them?’
What a regrettable thing this was, but nought I could do about it now.
I dusted my hands off and picked up the torch I had left on the ground.
When I walked around the bend where the knights showed up from, yet another passage with no end in sight greeted me.
"..."
It looked like there was still a long way to go.
...
These battles felt like I was revisiting video games from my past life.
The notion sounded funny, but that’s what I ended up thinking, totally out of the blue.
During the past two hours of being inside the dungeon, I met four different types of monsters.
Knights, Mages, Assassins, and Archers.
But there was one thing common among all of them—they were all wearing the same emblem.
A black insignia etched into their armour and robes. A crest I recognised instantly.
The Sigil of the Fallen Order.
I froze for a moment, the torchlight flickering across the jagged mark like it was mocking me.That was my family’s sigil. The Morningstar crest. But inverted... corrupted.
"What the hell..." I muttered.
The flames wavered against the slick stone wall, shadows of my own figure stretching long and thin, as if the darkness itself was trying to swallow me.
That sigil...
No mistake about it. The Morningstar crest—my crest—had been twisted, defiled. The seven-pointed crown was replaced by seven downward daggers. The wings of the original Lucifer emblem charred and melted into an ashen sprawl.
"The Fallen Order..." I muttered again, the words tasting like rust.
My grip tightened on the torch until the wood cracked.
If my memory—no, his memory—was right, the Fallen Order were knights once sworn to serve House Morningstar. The elite vanguard of my mother, Lilith.
But after she fell into demon sleep, they fell to the Seven Satans’ dominion. And when I was stripped of my power... they betrayed everything the Morningstar blood stood for.
So why were their remnants here, in my dungeon?
But before I could think further—
Swish!
An assassin-type suddenly vanished from my senses.
I didn’t panic and extended my Perception and Observation Grid to its fullest. And soon enough, picked up on the presence sneaking up on me from behind.
I powerfully smacked away the assassin’s dagger with my trusty Muramasa Blade, and seizing the opening created as the monster was pushed back, I stabbed forward in a deadly and accurate attack of my own.
The Muramasa accurately landed in the middle of the target’s chest.
Stab!
[You defeated the assassin.]
The assassin received a fatal wound and turned into a wisp of black smoke before disappearing from my view with nary a scream.
Plop!
And where it once stood, only the leather clothes it used to wear remained.
’Why are they all humanoid-type monsters, anyway?’
Every time I ’killed’ them, I felt as if....
I slowly shook my head.
One nice thing here was that I couldn’t see the monsters’ faces; knights wore helmets, assassins and archers used deep hoods, and mages used hats attached to their robes to hide most of their faces.
But that Sigil disturbed my calm mind quite a bit...
I turned around to continue on my journey.
But then!
A flash of blinding light exploded right in front of my eyes. A mage had hidden itself and quietly completed a light magic spell.
Kaboom!!
An ear-splitting explosion occurred next.
However, I was already well behind the mage by the time that happened.
".....!!"
The mage sensed my presence behind it and flinched grandly as he hurriedly recited another chant. Too bad, I didn’t miss this opening and swung my blade diagonally.
The mage, too, turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.
Plop!
I glared down at the ownerless robe on the ground and stored the blade back in the Inventory.
The mage’s wisp dissipated like mist, leaving only the faint shimmer of residual magic hovering briefly in the air. I exhaled slowly, letting my shoulders relax for just a fraction of a second, though every instinct in me remained alert.
’They’re all humanoid-type, and yet... not alive in the usual sense,’ I mused, scanning the corridor ahead. Each flicker of torchlight cast long, distorted shadows across the stone walls. The Fallen Order’s sigil glimmered faintly on a banner pinned to the wall, blackened edges curling as if scorched by some long-past fire.
’That’s not all, is it?’
In order to defeat different types of monsters, I needed different Stats.
For knights, it was Strength. For assassins, Perception. Archers, Agility. And finally, for mages, it was Stamina.
Though my ’Sovereign Haki: Trinity Crown’ made this somewhat easy, the point to note is they are strong, even individually, and if put together enough, could overwhelm me if I slipped even once.
For example, they are weaker than the Torion—The Champion of War, but at that time, I was powered up by Lineage Factor, so that doesn’t count. Back to the topic, my point is if Torion were to be in my place, he too would struggle against these ’monsters’.
And it seems I’ve forgotten to mention a tiny but important detail— They have experience.
Not EXP one, but the one you get after doing something thousands of times.
Instinct. Though even I can confidently say this is not their prime form due to many reasons, they are by no means at their peak. Their movements were fluid, precise, as if carved into muscle memory over centuries. Every step, every swing, every flicker of their hands with weapons or spells was preordained by repetition.
’Experience... and yet they’re hollow,’ I muttered, feeling the tension coil in my stomach. They had no souls left, yet their combat proficiency rivalled that of seasoned warriors. Only the faintest echo of consciousness lingered in them—enough to execute tactics, to anticipate moves, but not enough to hesitate, fear, or show mercy.
The whole thing was set up in a way that if any of the corresponding Stats weren’t high enough, I’d have a real hard time trying to deal with the individual monsters.
If my Strength was lacking, then I wouldn’t have been able to cause enough damage to the knights, and if my Perception was too low, I’d have gone through hell in order to locate the assassins.
’Me raising Stats evenly has really paid off dividends here.’
[’Item: Leather Pouch’ has been opened.]
[’20,000 Gold’ and ’Bottle Containing Sparkling Water’ are inside.]
[’20,000 Gold’ and ’Bottle Containing Sparkling Water’ have been acquired.]
I summoned that bottle as soon as it showed up in his Inventory and took several gulps.
"Fuu...."
My fatigue was piling up noticeably now.
’Just how far am I supposed to go here?’
Could there be no end to this place?
I put the empty canteen down on the ground and placed my hands on my hips. It had been over three hours already since I entered this dungeon. Both my body and mind were getting fatigued now.
’....Should I take a short break?’
I sat down and leaned against the cave wall.
’Status Window.’
Tti-ring!
[Tiredness: 66]
I found this column by accident. When I was checking my stats out.
The ’Tiredness’ Stat had sneaked up to a dangerous level; above 70, my body and mind would start to get negatively affected.
I needed to take a short nap and decrease that Stat right away. I leaned my head against the wall.
Sleepiness came over me almost instantly.
I was so tired that, even when in an environment as dangerous as this place, I didn’t need a lot of effort to fall asleep.
However...
Swish-!
I heard the sharp whistle of air parting ways!
Time slowed down, and I accurately snatched the flying arrow with my hand.
Grab!
My eyes opened up. I saw an archer nocking another arrow from some distance away.
’Fuckers, can’t you see someone is trying to have some sleep here!’
I summoned the Muramasa Blade once more and stood back up.
***
Stone me, I can take it!
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