Chapter XXIX - The God of Orcs (part 1)

All of the battles made me forget about the most important thing about a pack like this: Their leader.

I completely missed it. After I went and slaughtered all two hundred red orcs, I thought the boss was simply nowhere to be found. It turns out that the boss was just laying low inside the dungeon.

That wind breeze I felt... It's deadlier than anything I've ever come across with. Far worse than the Yellow ranked dragon.

This might be... by far, the most dangerous place I've ever been in.

"Say, Rize. What rank do you think this dungeon is?"

All of a sudden, Hod asked me on our way to the boss room. Valey is still asleep on his back, and I was a little too startled to answer right away.

Come to think of it, the path to the boss room is quite far from our original position, and we have been walking for minutes now. Exactly how far did this guy wander inside this dungeon?

"Most likely a... Blue ranked."

"The high orcs are Yellow ranked, though?"

"Lower Yellow, then? There's also the hundreds of red orcs, which shouldn't make the level any lower than that."

"Either a lower Yellow or a higher Yellow... What about the boss, then?"

Hearing Hod's question, I turned my gaze back forward. He noticed that I didn't want to answer, mainly because I'm a little concerned.

Let's put it this way. A simple goblin is a Gray ranked monster, the lowest ranked monster to ever exist. Their leader, the goblin king, is Blue ranked. Gray, Purple, Green, Blue; their leader is a whopping three levels higher than the underlings.

Red orcs are Blue ranked, minimum. I won't even be surprised if the boss is a higher White ranked. Of course, these are just speculations, and adventurer rankings aren't always that accurate to rank a monster.

Just thinking about it is pissing me off. How exactly can something like this be a Yellow ranked mission? This should be a kingdom-wide alert.

"Let's just hope that it is a lower White. If it's that, then we'll win."

I said quite concernedly, and Hod opened his eyes wide. A lower White ranked is by no means a low rank. A White rank is the highest rank that an adventurer can obtain, so for a monster to be at that level means it is genuinely a threat to the kingdom.

And yet, I'm mentioning it as if we should be grateful. In that case, what exactly could I be thinking of if a lower White ranked is an optimistic reality?

Let's just pray... that I'm wrong.

And so, we both continued our walk in silence while trying to imagine the possibilities during battle.

.

.

.

"I told you! I'm not doing it!"

All of this yelling came from Valey who just woke up. She is now sitting on the stone wall, right next to the boss room's door. She woke up a minute ago, right after we just arrived by the giant iron door.

Me and Hod were jokingly trying to convince her, because she panicked right away upon waking up. Probably because right after waking up, she saw the boss room's door and panicked instantly.

The door to the boss room is five times larger than the boss room door at the Gray ranked dungeon where I had my Gray rankup test. It is colored dark blue with beautiful engravings on it, but I just can't make out what the engravings were about. One thing for certain is that this door looks scary as heck, and Hod and I thought this might be a funny chance to tease Valey.

"The only person with a full energy here is you, Valey!"

"If you don't fight it, we both will die!"

Funny how the two of us just had the exact same brain cell in this situation, even though the 'allegedly' dangerous boss is behind this door. Meanwhile, the young lady is not doing well.

"W-Why do we even have to fight it??"

Me and Hod looked at each other. We both grinned and turned to her.

"If we don't, the dungeon will continue to grow red orcs!"

"And they will eat the villagers."

"Eeep!!--"

Valey became even more frightened by the thought of a monster eating people. Even for an experienced adventurer like her, such things can really be scary.

Well, that's what we told her anyway. Obviously, I won't let such a thing happen. I can count on this blue haired guy as well.

"We're only joking, Valey. We just came to check the boss out. We're not going to fight it."

Hod suddenly ruined the fun by explaining the truth to Valey, and I turned to the huge door. It's certainly quite difficult to tell whether or not the boss is here. We'll only know once we open the door. And as long as we don't enter, we'll be fine.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, Valey. We are going to fight it on our own now."

Valey just looked at me with no expression. What I said was completely different from what Hod said, and even the guy looked confused.

"... Heh?"

"If we die, please save our bodies."

"Yeah. If we get eaten, at least take vengeance for us!"

Hod then decided to work with me once more. I'm glad he understood.

Seeing the wide grin in my face, Valey realized right away that I am only joking around. It's all thanks to Hod revealing the truth, otherwise she'd still be panicking.

"You guys are soo~ funny. Fine! Then, I'll beat the boss on my own!"

Valey suddenly stood up and picked the two quivers right next to her. She walked at full speed with an angry face to the large iron door, and she... kicked it.

DING!

The loud sound of metal hitting metal was heard, and I almost laughed hearing that. Sadly for Valey, the door isn't that easily opened, and she just kicked a really tall steel wall with her metal boots. 

She then curled her body while her hands were holding her foot, and she turned her annoyed glare at the two people holding their laughs behind her.

"You two will pay for this..."

"All right... Enough joking around."

I said while sending a ball of healing towards her foot and healed her pain. Just a simple pain like that, but it could be crucial if a fight were to break out.

"Don't just randomly kick the door..."

"I know, Hod!"

Hod tried to advise her, but Valey is a little too pissed despite knowing she's in the wrong. Hahahah, so cute.

I arrived by the door next to Valey, and I placed my hand on the steel wall. I realized that the door felt cold, but there was something else that I noticed.

!?

"MOVE!!!!!"

I shouted as quick as possible, and luckily Hod has one fast reaction.

ZRIINNNGGG!!!!!!!

I jumped away from the door with Valey on my arms, while Hod created a large ice wall in front of him, burying the lower half of the steel door with a thick amount of ice spikes.

However, such a thing can't be relied on so easily.

BAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The steel door suddenly exploded and shattered to pieces, pushing everything out our way. The stack of ice walls that Hod created were destroyed in an instant, turning the whole cave lobby outside the boss room into a white dusty mess.

Hod lands on the spot next to me to the left of the door. This spot did not get hit by the blast that destroyed the door, and we're quite safe here.

However, we should've gone for the exits right away.

BAR!!!

BAARRR!!!!!!

Two loud sounds of doors slamming shut were heard, and we all turned our eyes to the two paths that connect this lobby room with other paths inside the dungeon. The two paths have now been closed by similar but smaller dark blue steel doors, and it doesn't seem like they were placed there without purpose.

We can't... leave?

"What's taking so long?"

The loud echoing voice which shudders those who heard them was sounded from the boss room.

Hearing the heavy echoing voice, the three of us became frozen stiff by the pressure and fear. It is not everyday we meet talking entities inside a dungeon, especially not from a boss room.

Whatever it is... whoever is inside that boss room right now, they are nothing normal.

"I'm bored to death here! Can you just be quick and get in here!?"

The fearsome voice shouts once more, forcing not only me, but also Hod and Valey to close our ears from how painful it was listening to his voice.

This is... horrible. Whatever being is in that room talking to us...

It is very powerful.

"H-Hod... W-We can get out of here... right?"

Next to me, Valey tried calling out the team captain in front of her, but the light blue haired guy only turned his terrified gaze back to us.

The entrance to the boss room is only ten meters away from our position, but the boss himself is most likely over twenty meters deep inside the room. However, everything about him can be felt all the way from here.

His breathing, his pressure, especially his aura. It's so deadly that we can all feel it from all the way over here.

Whatever is in there, challenging him will be our death. Hod knows this, and he too realizes that all of our chances to leave are no longer existent. All the entrances were shut close, and we will have to break through those small doors in order to leave.

Hod looks... scared to death. He knows better than Valey about our chances, and he cannot explain to her about what will happen from now on.

As for me... I can only close my eyes.

It was my fault. I knew that coming here was horrible, but I was dying to see just what kind of boss that is behind this dungeon. And now that we are at this point, I don't have any other choice.

"Both of you... listen to me very carefully."

I told the two with a serious tone, and I released my own pressure to combat the boss' deadly air.

VWUNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!

"... Hoo~?"

The voice of the boss acknowledging my own pressure was heard inside the room, but I completely ignored him and focused only on my two teammates. 

Both Hod and Valey had already snapped out of their fears thanks to my energy protecting them, and they all turned their attention to me. I began relaying them the plan that I have in mind, and they all opened their eyes wide at what I said. However, they soon realize that we don't have any other choices.

After convincing them, the plan was set in motion. Hod suggested that I consume some magic energy drinks that can help boost and regenerate my lost magic energy, and it was certainly something I needed at the moment.

Fortunately for us, Hod had plenty of them. He is a mage, after all. Plus, he is an adventurer, and adventurers will always be prepared for every possible scenario that might happen in their journeys.

With that, he took out twelve bottles with blue liquid inside of them. It was indeed plenty, but I told him that I might need a lot more than a normal individual would.

And while I was drinking all those bottles down, Hod and Valey began heading to the closest exit that is on our right. The steel door that is covering the exit looks to be the same material as the door to the boss room, but I'll leave it to them to figure out what to do with it.

Now... I just have to deal with the biggest problem of all.

I took out my magic checking tool, and I was quite surprised by the result.

Magic Energy/Points: 3802/7408

This is horrible. I chugged down so many bottles, and I only managed to regenerate very few.

Although, Hod did mention that the energy drinks regenerate magic energy over time, so I shouldn't expect it to rise right away. It might surge in the midst of a battle, but I still need to be careful to not spend too much energy.

... but at this point, can I really save my energy? No, right?

I turned my gaze to the two who has already arrived by the steel door, and they kept an eye on me with worry. I nodded firmly at them, and Hod gave me a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Rize..."

Valey muttered with a low voice at me, but I heard it very well. With the two supporting me, I decided to just get this whole situation over with.

Let's just kill that boss and go home.