Chapter 109

Chapter 109

The Nymph Cultist and Pluto’s Underground Maze

Chapter 109 ? The Nymph Cultist and Pluto’s Underground Maze #7

“It’s real, it’s exactly as Brother said—there really was a fancy-looking carriage! What a stroke of luck!”

“It’s not luck, it’s my faith getting answered. It just came to me like a revelation in my head. Joed, quickly get up and head to the plain—like this!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, praying doesn’t even enter his mind.”

As we emerged from the carriage armed, about ten men were seen encircling it.

Most of them were armed with worn-out leather clothes, longswords, and maces, and their rough appearances were completed with unkempt beards and disheveled hairstyles.

You could describe their appearance as vagrants brandishing swords and cudgels.

In a word—undeniably, they were a notorious band of bandits.

Among them, the man gripping two stylish swords in his both hands caught my eye with a brilliant gaze as he shouted:

“Don’t damage the horse nor the carriage! We can sell it back and make a fortune!”

“Brother, what do we do with the carriage driver?”

“Don’t ask silly questions. Haven’t we been doing this for days? Take the horse and carriage only; leave the rest!”

“d*mn, if I hadn’t asked, you’d complain how we act on our own. It’s absurdly illogical.”

From what we overheard among the bandits, the man wielding dual blades seemed to be the leader of the group.

If this man leads around ten bandits, which is more than just four or five members, then he must be a fairly notorious figure around here.

For someone like me, just leading a party of five from ‘Svar’ feels overwhelming, so how is he managing to be the leader of around ten bandit scoundrels?

With such thoughts, I slightly elevated my assessment of the bandit leader’s potential danger.

At that moment, as I was pondering, right beside me, the dwarf Didier holding a double-headed axe while pointing at the bandits, quietly spoke:

“Party Leader Brother, what do you plan on doing next? Should we abandon the carriage and flee? It seems like their target is the carriage. Regardless, they’re too many for us.”

Didier’s suggestion was undoubtedly reasonable.

Around ten armed men. We don’t know the individual skills, but since they appear to have experience in several raids, in terms of tactics and strength, they are certainly stronger than us.

Though it might be regretful for the driver, wouldn’t abandoning the carriage and running away at this moment be the prudent choice? Of course, whether they would let us go smoothly is uncertain.

Is there any way around this?

“Aishkel!”

At that very moment, a loud voice erupted from Belmina standing behind me and Didier.

Soon, strange crystalline formations started appearing in the air, creating peculiar sounds.

Psheww! Pfwuuah!

Like arrows, these strange objects shot out and pierced the necks of two bandits, causing streams of bl**d to gush out.

“d*mn it, there’s a mage!”

“There’s a mage among the carriage passengers!”

The bandits were momentarily confused at the swift deaths of their two comrades. However, this did not last long.

“d*mn! It’ll take time for him to chant his next spell! Smash them all before he’s done with the incantation! The longer we delay, the more we’re at a disadvantage!”

As the bandit leader bellowed like a roaring beast, the bandits started charging towards us with swords drawn, resembling well-trained soldiers.

“d*mn it, Didier! Protect the women!”

“Got it!”

My eyes quickly locked onto one bandit who was charging directly towards me.

“Barbarian, come on, let’s see what you’ve got!”

The bandit clearly had a good nutritional state, similar in size to me, and his ripped leather clothes revealed his quite sturdy and tanned muscles. A bald bandit.

“Is your skin crocodile leather? Your size seems perfect for me! Haha, I’ll skin you alive!”

Apparently, the bandit targeted me because of our similar size, which must be rare to find in the world of ready-to-wear.

Hoooom.

The bald brute dashed with stomping steps and swung his longsword without any hesitation or tricks.

Rather than swinging a sword, it was more akin to a beast striking with its front claws—pure brute force.

However, the tempo was quicker than expected. As a result, I opted to block the attack by raising a wooden club over my head rather than dodging.

Kwaajik!

His longsword did not manage to split my thick club entirely and got stuck into it. I felt a brief jolt in my wrists and elbow, but it was bearable.

“d*mn it, what? It’s jammed, huh!”

Having never imagined his weapon would get stuck, the big bald bandit tried trembling to pull it back out.

At that moment, I seized the opportunity and kicked his abdomen with full force.

“Keeuhk!”

As the tip of my boots made contact with his chest, the bandit coughed out harsh breaths. Any ordinary person might have fallen over and screamed in agony.

“Geek-.”

But seeing that he didn’t fall despite the great pain, it appears that his physique wasn’t without reason. I swung the sword-locked club towards the lowered head.

Phuk! Thunggulrul.

“Kheek!”

With a solid thudding sound, the sword flew out, and I delivered the final strike to the large bandit’s head as it toppled over.

Ppaakk!

The large bandit slumped motionless on the ground with his skull cracked.

Svar, how incredible! I managed to suppress a bandit of the same weight-class with only a few exchanges! Filled with joy as I was, there were still numerous bandits to deal with, so there was no time to revel in the victory.

“d*mn it, why isn’t it breaking?”

“Punch harder!”

“d*mn it, you witch, show up! Show up!”

Kang, kang!

It was as though someone was striking thin metal plates with a hammer, producing a fairly sharp and painful ringing sound.

Turning my head in a moment of excitement, I saw Belmina encased in some bizarre ice, while bandits around her were wildly striking with their swords and clubs.

“Hiiik!”

At that moment, a scream sounded.

“Wow, who would’ve thought I’d encounter a nymph in this day and age—what soft features.”

“If you come any closer, I’ll curse you! I’ve already warned you!”

“Hmm, what’s this? A peculiar pink-haired young lady. She doesn’t seem like the adventurer type rolling around in muddy fields. Here for flower picking, perhaps?”

Amidst the scene, Paranoi shaking with fear and Luna standing before her, gripping a sinister obsidian dagger, were visible.

A situation where unarmed women are exposed to armed bandits doesn’t give off good vibes at all.

What’s with the dwarf Didier anyway? Haven’t I told him to protect the women?

As I rapidly scanned the battlefield,

“Hoyaaaah!”

I caught sight of Didier locked in a fierce battle with the bandit leader wielding the large double-headed axe. What is he doing fighting the leader when I asked him to protect the women?

However, I didn’t have the time to entertain such thoughts. I ceased thinking and dashed with full speed toward where Luna stood, kicking off from the ground.

Tatda.

“Hmm, hm, come here obediently.”

But it seemed that the bandits would reach Luna before I could bash their heads with my club.

d*mn, what should I do? Should I throw the club?

Just as I was tightly gripping my hands around it,

“Guuh, shadow binding curse-! Hyeeeah!!”

Dodging the incoming male hand by lowering her head, Luna plunged her dagger into the ground. Instantly, the bandits who had reached out froze in place.

“Cr, what, what, what is this, d*mn it…My body…What is this bullshit….”

“Seems, like it worked! I’ve successfully cast a high-level curse! Yes! sh*t!”

Whatever it was, having gained some time was quite certain. Therefore, I swung the arm that had been exerting strength to throw the club and fiercely struck the waist of the frozen bandit.

Pak!

A solid thudding sound, and the bandit who got hit while unprepared fell and rolled across the ground, landing far away.

“Too, Dorca! d*mn it, why is the human’s body flying like a stone! What should we, the leader, do?”

“I-I don’t know! This d*mn midget! The d*mn scrawny guy is too tenacious!”

“Hoyaaaah!”

Kang, Kang-, Kang!

Clashing metals creating sparks, the dwarf Didier, who was presumed to be struggling, was gradually gaining the upper hand against a man twice his size.

Creating pancake desserts might be a mere hobby he mentioned, which did slightly worry me. But it seems that he truly deserves the title chosen by the guild as a promising member.

Svar, like this, we will smoothly defeat the bandits! Is this what a normal party with each member doing their one part feels like?

Pshew-.

Just at that moment, an arrow flew from somewhere and pierced into Didier’s back.

“Ouch! What the hell, taking help from allies like that…! Aren’t you ashamed as a warrior?”

“d*mn it, I’m no warrior, I’m a bandit! I’ve no intention of fighting a one-on-one duel with you! What, what should we do? Attack quickly!”

With that said, the injured Didier squatted and started getting trampled by some men.

“Eughk, ugh! Jo, jeez, it hurts terribly! B, bastards, acting unfairly by coming in numbers…!”

Kang, Kang-!

“d*mn it! We’ve almost broken the ice! Come out, you cowardly spellcaster!”

“We’ll drag her to the cave and make her a slave to create ice! This summer might be cool after all!”

“Hehe, we’ll definitely have shaved ice desserts!”

The solid ice barrier that had been enclosing Belmina without gaps began to show its limits, as cracks started forming in the ice surrounding her.

“Cu, curse caster!? If, if you break my ice, I will not let it go unpunished! I’ve said it, I won’t let it go!”

“Hay, Hassan! Help quickly!”

The battle was breaking out everywhere. Indeed, isn’t there an old saying about how there’s no match against overwhelming numbers? Battling ten bandits or so at once with only five members was truly an insane task.

d*mn it, will this beautiful flower field become my grave?

No, definitely not!

“d*mn you, these tax-evading criminals! You thieves who make money without paying taxes!”

Spewing the rage that boiled within me, I rushed toward the bandits beating the warrior Didier.

The ice barrier of the ice mage Belmina will take a while longer to break, so she still has some breathing room.

And as for the brat Didier, he showed enough skill to handle the bandit leader before being overwhelmed by their numbers. I need to save him before the already short-statured boy gets even smaller!

“Let, letform. Chelmir nona-!”

Right before I could pummel the bandits, a huge chant erupted from Paranoi, who had been crouching behind Luna.

Wujiik, Wujiijik-.

Soon, the grass and petals that had been growing densely on the ground started entwining into peculiar shapes, mixing with soil and sand to form an unusual structure.

“What, what is this, d*mn it…?”

It looked like a crude doll made by a child mixing soil and grass. However, the problem was its size.

It had swelled to be nearly twice my size, and just looking at it was enough to feel a lack of reality, as if all resolve was flying away.

Geeearrrgh.

“What, what is that…?”

“d*mn it, it’s a golem…! d*mn it, it’s a freaking golem!”

“Ph, it’s Plutonian sorcery. Those guys are not adventurers but dirty cultists! d*mn it!”

The bandits, who were brimming with murderous intent just a moment ago, started trembling in apparent confusion at the sudden appearance of the giant soil doll.

As they started retreating cautiously, it seemed like the tide was turning for our disadvantageous situation.

“Breathing room!”

Whoosh.

At that moment, the dwarf warrior Didier, who had been crouching while defending against the bandits, swung his axe forward, severing the legs of the bandits all at once.

Pfuushaaa-!

In an instant, the bandits lost their balance and collapsed, each clutching their injured ankle or Achilles’ tendon and rolling around on the ground.

“My-my leg! My leg!”

“Now you’re lower than my eye level. Good, I’m satisfied.”

In no time, the situation had completely reversed.

Only three bandits remained, including the leader and those smashing the ice.

We have five members.

With fewer numbers, the remaining bandits can’t escape our strongest tactic, an encircling extermination formation.

“Ha-ha d*mn it, hand over everything you’ve got, bastards!”

[Author’s Note]

Kadeom!!! PotatosERVER!!! And Nuo13, who generously sent the King Coupon!!! Thank you so much…!!

There are also many anonymous donors of the Support Coupons…!!! It makes me so happy…!!

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I read them all…!!! Thank you so much…!!!

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