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47. The Deepest and Darkest Dungeon – Part 2
━ What are you doing just staring? Let’s go! We’ve got to take down Nialli.
I gestured to Usir, who was hiding behind a wall in the alley, peeking out. He approached the fallen body of the Sentinel and licked his lips in disbelief.
【Impressive. So this beast is really from The Ancient Nest. Quite a talent.】
━ I might not be good at making things, but I excel at smashing them!
Wriggle, wriggle.
I spotted a tentacle writhing on the ground, convulsing. I slammed its body down with my tail.
Crack.
The Hunter became a still life, no longer moving.
Killing a human took some hesitation, but there was no second thought about ending a Hunter that had become tainted and corrupted into a monster.
Was it because the victim looked so far removed from humanity?
Or was it because I had freed myself from the curse named “Alpha” that Batus had put on me?
Or maybe it was just that I had grown accustomed to taking lives.
Azidahaka, dragging iron chains, stood next to the corpse and exhaled a small gust of wind. A tiny spark from its mouth ignited the Hunter’s corpse, setting it ablaze.
“It’s best to incinerate the carcass promptly. Nialli’s talent, 《Infection》, is weak to fire. May it rest peacefully.”
Before long, the body of the Gold Grade Hunter had been reduced to nothing but black ash, with not a single tentacle or piece of flesh left.
━ How disgusting.
It was the first time I found the smell of burning flesh to be so repulsive.
My lack of appetite suggested that even I couldn’t stomach the corpse of such a grotesque tentacle beast.
【Let’s take turns: I’ll guide the way, and you can take down the enemies. The Goddess will take care of the corpses. Perfect division of roles!】
At Azidahaka’s words, Yingyi stirred, nestled against Azidahaka’s chest.
━ Gyu-ing!
━ Right, you handle the cute factor.
【What?】
━ No, no. Is this really the staircase down to the lower levels?
I stared at the golden iron gate that the Sentinel had been carrying on its back.
As I pushed with force, it creaked and rusted, sliding inward. Soon, soft glowstones emerged, illuminating the spiral staircase like a torch.
━ Now, hurry up and guide us!
I twisted my body and made way for Usir in his Black Robe. He stepped a few paces ahead of us and warned again in a cold tone.
【I’ll say it one more time—this is truly irreversible now. Brace yourself. Below here, anything can happen, so don’t be surprised by whatever you encounter.】
━ Okay, I got it.
I replied nonchalantly.
However, as I continued down the staircase and set my eyes on the scenery of the lower floor, I quickly realized things were going to get more complicated than I had anticipated.
━ What the hell….
Unlike the upper levels, filled with gold and automatons, the lower floor I reached was a wretched space stained with all kinds of filth and the remains of bones.
Golden structures had black tentacles hanging from them like spores or thick roots, writhing ominously.
Even more concerning were the bizarre skeletons and decayed bodies glowing with red eyes from the darkness.
Monsters with tumors and strange tentacles slithered through the city, oozing thick fluids and saliva.
【━. ━.】
【━. ━.】
They constantly uttered absurd and foul languages through their mouths, or what served as their filthy openings.
Usir, hiding behind a building and observing them, spoke in a low voice.
【The 48th layer still has some light coming in. Finding the way to the 47th layer shouldn’t be too difficult. We’ll head to a place without those walkers if we can. As we go deeper underground, stronger monsters will be lurking, so we must avoid unnecessary fights.】
━ That sounds like a plan.
I decided to quietly follow Usir’s words. With remarkable skill, he silenced his footsteps and swiftly moved between buildings and walls.
I too used stealth and careful movements, trying not to arouse the attention of the infected swarming the streets.
Creeeak. Creak.
However, the chains and shackles dragging behind Azidahaka made a somewhat noisy metallic sound.
【━. ━!】
A few walkers perked up, their gazes swiveling around.
Wriggle.
Their eyes twisted grotesquely as they searched in all directions, and I automatically grimaced.
‘Ugh, that’s disgusting.’
I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if those things discovered our location.
It wasn’t fear that made me want to avoid them; it was more a matter of disgust.
【This 48th layer used to be a place filled with endless pleasures and joyful songs. The streets were crowded with bards. Have you ever heard a fairy’s song? It’s truly beautiful. Now, all that’s left are cries and screams.】
━ Hmm.
I carefully examined the walkers roaming the streets. Their faces were ballooned up with a sickly hue, and their limbs revealed that they had once been human.
Zing. Eek! Eek!
Occasionally, each of them would play something resembling string instruments with their tentacles, albeit more like howling than playing music in any graceful sense.
【Those cursed by Nialli are still living beings. Poor souls trapped in flesh that moves infinitely due to the infection. Some of them, like that musician, repeat actions from their past lives.】
━ I see.
I looked nervously at the tentacle monster hysterically playing its instrument.
Its mind wasn’t intact, but it seemed to reminisce about its experiences and was mechanically recalling what it used to do alive.
Indeed, it wasn’t just the musician; many walkers were seen doing actions reminiscent of humans.
One was pretending to spoon food into the air, another group of tentacle monsters were writhing as if dancing, and yet another one was endlessly pouring an empty cup into its mouth.
‘They’ve been stuck in this loop for thousands of years.’
I even spotted some young fairies that seemed to be the same age as Leaf. Looking at the grotesquely sprouted spores and flesh on their bodies, I swallowed hard.
【Kua━ak.】
A scream-like sound escaped the open mouths of the fairies.
‘That Nialli character is worse than I thought. I might have caused a lot of trouble, but it wasn’t this bad.’
The danger level concerning the mythical creature, Nialli, in my mind rose a notch.
*
【This way.】
In the Black Robe, Usir turned out to be a more capable guide than I expected.
The claim that we avoided the walkers and retreated to the upper levels in the lower layer wasn’t a lie; he led us through alleys and streets devoid of them.
【There’s a secret passage here. Following this route will let us reach the staircase down to the 44th layer right away. We can go down four layers in one shot.】
“Secret passage? Only a select few would know about such a thing. Impressive.”
Azidahaka marveled at Usir’s knowledge and information. Usir responded with a small “Hmph.”
【I’ve been living alone in this cursed tower for over ten years. Traveling between the floors to gather food and useful items, I naturally learned about it.】
Over the past ten years, Usir had managed to gather items needed to restore cures and hideouts after coming to his senses from being a walker.
As a result, he picked up on paths that wouldn’t put him in danger and ways to reach our goals safer and quicker.
‘If I hadn’t met this guy, I’d have ended up killing all those walkers on my way.’
I silently thanked for the unexpected encounter. Initially, I had doubts and distrust towards him, but after witnessing his guiding skills, it was only natural to feel a sense of trust.
Above all, the hatred he bore for Nialli ran deeper than mine. It felt like confronting a parent or a child’s sworn enemy.
Considering that Osiris and Nialli were the ones responsible for the downfall of the Golden Fairy Kingdom, it was hardly surprising he’d consider Nialli his ultimate nemesis. Among those walkers, there could be family or companions of his who had become like fairies.
‘But if you pull any weird tricks…’
I glanced at his back and extended my claws slightly.
Recently, I’d encountered too many situations where others had tried to include me in their schemes, making it hard for me to trust easily.
‘I hope these claws won’t need to prick your throat, Usir, or rather, Osiris. I’ll try to place my trust in your hatred and anger.’
I was convinced he was indeed that “Osiris.”
While Azidahaka seemed to believe he’d killed Osiris without a doubt, I came to believe that the ancient fairy king who ruled this tower was him.
Knowing about secret passages that only the upper echelons of the tower supposedly knew was the prime evidence of this.
‘Or not.’
【Alright, here’s the secret passage. Get in quickly before anyone spots us.】
Usir opened a manhole cover in the street’s floor. A foul odor of rotting waste wafted up from below.
━ What a stench.
“It looks to be the tower’s sewage processing system. Indeed, if we go this way, we might leap several layers in an instant. Are you planning to slide down through the open pipes below?”
【Yes, hurry up! The young man who manages this manhole is about to return here.】
Wriggle, slosh.
I heard a sound like a wet mop being wrung out in a bucket from somewhere.
A shadow wriggled in the distance; apparently, as Usir said, it was the young man who had been managing the manhole—well, had been.
‘No helping it.’
I pinched my nose and hurled myself into the manhole. Following closely, Azidahaka jumped in as well.
Splash, splash.
The shallow water underfoot felt rather unpleasant. I could only wish I had on tall rubber boots or waterproof shoes.
【I’m closing the lid now.】
Creak. When the lid of the manhole was shut, the passage plunged into utter darkness with no glowstones to be seen.
‘To think I would end up exploring the ancient sewer built by fairies.’
I was half impressed, half sarcastic about the astonishing experiences I was continuously going through.
“It’s unsettling. I never thought I’d be walking through a place like this. I hadn’t anticipated it when the tower was being built.”
Azidahaka grumbled, looking at her foot sinking in the filthy water.
━ Now’s not the time to be picky about food. Stop whining like some pampered lady and ignite your tail! I can’t see anything.
Whoosh.
Flames ignited at the tip of Azidahaka’s tail, illuminating the previously pitch-black underground passage.
━ How filthy.
I summed up my thoughts in one word. Although I called it filthy, it was practically a compliment; the inside of the sewer was too tainted to be merely described as dirty.
Whether Nialli’s grasp had reached even here, malignant tumors covered the walls where bodies of rats and humans stuck half-melted against the surface like gum.
‘So that’s what the terrible smell was about.’
Honestly, I wasn’t eager to go deeper in here.
As a man from the 21st century who had lived in modernity, I had always avoided anything filthy and dirty, and I didn’t even want to think about it. The aversion to many-legged bugs stemmed from that as well.
‘I really need protective gear.’
【If you’re shocked by this sight, you wouldn’t even make it to the 1st floor. The reality there is far beyond imagination. Anyway, let’s move.】
“Thank goodness I can’t see.”
━ That’s such a pity.
Even when it’s uncomfortable, one must do what one has to do.
I wasn’t here for a leisurely stroll.
Motivated by those thoughts, I gradually moved forward through the sewer.
Splash.
As I walked for a while through the sewage, a large ripple emerged ahead.
━ Wait, there’s something there.
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