Chapter 21: Traces of the Demon Part 1

After organizing the magic stones and materials, the mercenaries soon left the mine. Planting purifying trees was certainly a task I could handle alone, and dealing with the mercenaries, who were constantly amazed at every little thing I did, was becoming quite a nuisance. Being left behind turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks to the plants I had placed earlier, the wall blocking the path beyond the clearing was now safely breached. El, Ayla, and I resumed our meal that had been interrupted earlier and then crossed over the wall into the mine's interior.

"Wow!"

El who was leading the way let out an exclamation. What was it?

"…Ah."

Following inside, I quickly understood why El had been so astonished.

It's a double-layered dungeon.

Beyond the passage lay a landscape completely different from the mine. Instead of a mine, it resembled an ancient temple, with bizarre statues scattered around and indecipherable characters engraved on each pillar.

"This is…"

Thanks to my [Polyglot] trait, I realized that these characters were the language of demons.

Facing a demon beast was tough enough, now should I also prepare to encounter demons?

It was daunting, but I must admit that I was also feeling a bit excited.

If demons really did appear, the chances of finding hidden rewards beyond the Shadow Cloak increased.

Items!

Given my not-so-high level, the so-called "gear advantage" was important.

The speed of leveling up may vary depending on what items you have.

And by the way…

This place is entirely a demon's territory.

The magical power here was denser and more toxic than I had expected. As a druid, I was more careful than usual to purify the energy in my body, especially with the deadly magical power everywhere.

-Cough.

I won't be able to stay here long.

El and Ayla seemed to be doing fine, though. Especially El, who appeared surprisingly robust, perhaps due to her lineage… After all, there's a reason the Reinhardt family is renowned across the continent.

We cautiously moved through the eerie dungeon that was shrouded in black mist. The gloomy, damp air and the ominous noises coming from somewhere…

-Drip.

-Drop.

Among the unsettling sounds, the one that particularly grated on my nerves was the dripping of water from somewhere. The drops fell incessantly, at times regularly, at times irregularly, and at intervals that were maddeningly unpredictable. The sound of the water drops seemingly drawing closer only heightened my unease.

But ahead lay only darkness. The morningstar fruit in my hand emitted light, yet the darkness refused to yield easily.

-Sniff, sniff.

How long had we been walking?

Suddenly, Ayla began to sniff vigorously at the ground. Then she started spinning in place.

There's something here.'

I approached Ayla.

"....!"

There was a faint scent of blood, but no signs of bloodstains could be found nearby.

-Drip.

-Drop.

The sound of the water drops was as clear as if it were right in front of us. Damn, where is it? The intensifying black mist rendered the light from the morningstar fruit useless. This wouldn't do. I closed my eyes and activated the [Owl Eyes] skill. My vision immediately brightened up. Now that I was unhindered by the black mist, I slowly and meticulously surveyed the surroundings.

-Drip.

-Drop.

And then I discovered where the droplets were coming from.

The droplets were not falling, but rather, they were rising up from the very spot where Ayla had been sniffing around with her head bowed.

Indeed, they were not falling but rising, defying gravity as they ascended to gather on the ceiling.

"It's not water, but blood."

So that was why there was only a smell and no visible traces.

I drew the dagger from my waist. Druids were not good at smelting metal, so I made a special one myself by grinding black moonstone. It was special because moonstone has a purifying power superior to silver. So much so that any noble with a bit of wealth might embed moonstone in the wells of their estates.

In any case, it was clear there was something beneath us. Driven by this strong hunch, I raised the dagger high and then plunged it into the spot where the blood droplets were rising.

-Rumble…

A faint vibration emanated from the dagger.

Ah, this feels like it's going to be fuc*ing trouble.

As always, my instincts were spot on.

-Gwaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

The blood droplets that had been falling one by one suddenly burst in an instant. There was no dodging or blocking it; it wasn't that kind of situation. The blood waterfall engulfed us all at once, like a wave sweeping everything in its path.

"Ughhh!"

When we came to, we found ourselves in the middle of a sticky pool of blood. El was vomiting, and Ayla, drenched to the fur, was shaking her body to fling off the blood. I nearly threw up myself but managed to hold it in and got to my feet. Even though we were swept away by the wave of blood, it seemed we hadn't collided with anything; fortunately, there were no visible injuries. El and Ayla were the same.

"Sh*t."

I pulled out an elephant cactus from my space ring, which I carried around for emergencies. The elephant cactus is a large, round cactus that grows in the Roshan desert region and was acquired during my travels across Roshan. Because it was full of water, it was a useful plant to use when water was scarce while passing through desert areas.

I managed to slice the elephant cactus in half with the dagger I had fortunately kept hold of. I then took out its water-soaked, cotton-like flesh and roughly wiped off the blood that had coated my face and body. I gave one to El and doused Ayla with the water pooled inside the cactus.

I should grow some elephant cactus in the dimensional garden as well.

After taking a moment to recover, I looked around. The black mist was gone, and there were no strange statues or inscriptions. However, the atmosphere felt much stranger than before as if the very fabric of space was warping.

-Whoosh!

"Ah!"

It was a close call. A dart embedded itself right in front of me, from which ominous black smoke immediately began to rise.

"El, watch out!"

I activated both [Wooden Skin] and [Feather Walk] at the same time and then started scattering seeds around me. Given the current location, the plants grew slowly, but they still managed to rise up and form a protective barrier around us.

-Whoosh!

-Thud!

-Whoosh!

Darts were flying in from all directions. It seemed there were more enemies than I had anticipated. Damn it…

"Great Lynshaka, goddess of the forest and the earth, protector of life, let your children heed my call…"

As I invoked [Song of the Forest], the plants that had merely been serving as a shield began to move as if endowed with will. I focused my mind, scanning for the source of the incoming darts. Then, just before another dart was launched,

-Swish!!!

I whipped a thick vine through the air like a lash.

-Thwack!

-Splat!

"Arghhh!!!"

It appeared that two had been caught. As I swung the robustly grown vines in unison, something fell to the ground with the sound of breaking bones. The vines sustained some damage, but not enough to prevent them from moving again. I continued to lash out with the vines towards the source of the incoming darts.

-Thud!

After about five, no, six times hearing something break, no more darts were flying my way. I sat down on the ground, catching my breath. As soon as my focus wavered, the plants lost their strength and withered. That was a close call…

"Master!"

-Woosh!

It seems El and Ayla each took down one as well. I stood up with El's support.

"Was it a person?"

"Yes, they were people. Apart from the five attackers you took down, Master, there were two more, like guards. Ayla and I took care of them."

To attack people in a dungeon, of all places. This was not ordinary.

I pulled off the hood of the one Ayla had dragged over. Beneath the hood, a face painted white was marked with dark red symbols, as if drawn with blood.

"This is..."

Upon seeing the symbol, something clicked in my mind, and I examined the man's wrist. Sure enough, there was a cut across the wrist and the cut was still bleeding even now.

"They're cultists."

Sh*t. I knew something was off. It's rare for monsters, let alone demon beasts, to emerge in a well-functioning mine. It was all because of these people.

So that's why the purification quest appeared as a chain quest.

Were they attempting to summon a demon?

"Stay alert to our surroundings."

First, I needed to recover my strength. I pulled various fruits from my space ring and used [Gift of the Forest]. The fresh essence of the forest infused the fruits. The fruits enhanced by [Gift of the Forest] were just what I needed for recovery, as they were more invigorating than ordinary fruits. I bit into one; its glow was fresher than any regular fruit and I caught my breath.

"Phew…"

Now it all makes sense. Why there was so much blood. There must have been numerous "sacrifices".

The fact that a demon beast appeared was probably something they did to avoid disturbing the ritual.

This was the real problem all along.

Should I have kept the mercenaries around? I dismissed such useless thoughts and rose from my spot.

My body still felt heavy, but it was manageable. Thanks to [Regeneration], [Toughness], and a significant increase in my base stamina from leveling up, I was in a far better state than I would have been a few months ago. Back then, I would have had to flee at full speed, but now things were different.

I had useful skills, traits, and items at my disposal.

I fiddled with the totems hanging around my neck.

These things that I crafted earlier had proven quite effective even in the cursed lands, and I expected no less this time.

With [Harmony of Nature], I could inflict 30% more damage on demon-type monsters, and with [Exclusion of Profanity], I could inflict an additional 70% damage on the same. If I was up against undead or demon-type monsters, this meant a basic 100% increase in damage inflicted, so it was worth a try.

I needed to stay focused. I wasn't here to die but to prevail.

There was only one path forward. We moved silently, mindful of our footsteps. The absence of the cultists surely alerted the enemy that something was amiss, which meant they would be fully prepared for us.

Anticipating such an event, El and I had already devised a set of hand signals. Thanks to my [Affinity], Ayla moved as if she were an extension of my own body and she required no commands, so there was no worry there.

As we treaded on the blood-sticky floor for a while, we soon stumbled upon the cultists' altar.

How did we recognize it to be the cultists' altar?

We knew it even before we saw it. The air was rife with an indescribable stench, a mix of blood and various rotting smells. Sure enough, there were countless corpses piled up on the altar, both of humans and monsters. It seemed to be intentional for the ritual, as most of the corpses had their wrists cut off and they were bleeding into a massive pool of blood that undulated in the air as if it were alive.

"Wha…"

"Shh."

The fact that El didn't scream at such a sight was praise-worthy in itself. Any child of El's age would have likely screamed, wet themselves, and fainted on the spot.

"..."

I silently scrutinized the shadow standing beside the writhing pool of blood. It was likely the cult's high priest.

I inserted the last of the morningstar seeds into the groove of the arrowhead, then drew the bowstring tight, readying the arrow.

I could feel El's tense gaze hovering over me.

I held my breath, aimed at the target, and gently released the arrow.

– Swiiiiiiiiiiish!!!