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Volume 2 Chapter 16 - Bullfang Battle

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When Lionel and his friends arrived at the large boulder, they prepared for battle, looked at each other, nodded once, and began calling out loudly to the adventurers being chased by the large herd of bullfangs.

Watching the adventurers notice them, change their direction of escape, and then head towards them, Naseem muttered.

“They don't look familiar.” (Naseem)

“They might’ve just come from another city. Then I'll start firing my attacks now. I leave the ground to you.” (Pete)

Pete voiced the same opinion while beginning to draw his bow when Lionel called out to him.

“The escape signal is the same as always. Don't concentrate too hard, you hear.” (Lionel)

“Roger, oops!” (Pete)

As if the carefree expression on his face from earlier was just an illusion, Pete’s expression disappeared from his face as he nocked and fired arrows one after another. His movement was fixed, like a machine, and his aim remained the same, piercing the alarm birds in the sky.

“Then, I will also begin preparing for God's miracle. After that, I will distribute potions and ask each person to perform their own treatment, so I don't plan to take my eyes off everyone that long, but please be careful.” (Torin)

“I’m counting on you. You have 30 seconds. The goal is 10 seconds.” (Lionel)

“I will try my best.” (Torin)

Torin smiled at Lionel's words and began to pray to God. God's miracle is a recovery method that does not use potions, and is sometimes called healing magic.

The fact that praying to God can heal wounds much more quickly than by using potions and the like can truly be described as a miracle, it was one of the main factors that increased the authority of the church.

“Fumu. They sure are slow. It’s not like I can let them get dragged in it, so just assume some of them will go through.” (Percy)

“Leave it to me. I'll never let them pass behind me. Isn’t that right, Naseem?” (Lionel)

“Sure is.” (Naseem)

Percy calmly analyzed the adventurers while looking at them as they got closer and more clearly visible.

Inwardly, Percy thought it would be safer and more efficient to use magic and not worry about dragging in the adventurers, but he knew that Lionel wouldn't allow it, so he didn't voice it out.

When they heard Percy begin reciting the formal chant instead of just yelling the name of the spell as he normally does in order to expand the power and range of the spell, Lionel and Naseem put strength into their hands holding the sword.

“Hey, Rai.” (Naseem)

“What?” (Lionel)

“You better treat us all when we get back.” (Naseem)

“Yeah.” (Lionel)

In front of the two of them as they exchanged short words were the figures of adventurers who kept running for their lives. And further behind them was a huge black wall following after them.

“...Stop my enemies in their tracks, Sand Pool!” (Percy)

As Percy's chant ended, the movement of the bullfangs, except for a few in the lead, slowed to a crawl as their feet were caught in the ground that became like quicksand due to the activation of his spell.

Naseem grinned as he saw the trailing bullfangs hit one after another, unable to cope with the sudden slowdown, and making a series of noises that could not be described as screams or complaints.

“Nice timing.” (Lionel)

“We're all competent bunch after all.” (Naseem)

“Then I guess I’ll show my skill too.” (Lionel)

Glancing at the adventurers as they passed by, Lionel and Naseem's gazes met for just a moment.

They both then gave each other a small smile and nodded, and dashed towards the bullfangs who had escaped Percy's Sand Pool spell.

“I'll take that leg.” (Naseem)

Snorting at his new prey, Naseem dodged the huge body of the onrushing bullfang and swung his sword as they passed each other. The sword sliced precisely through the base of its right foreleg, but without seeing the result, Naseem moved on to his next prey.

Seeing that defenseless back, the bullfang, even with its movement impeded, bent its neck to attack, but that spot was immediately pierced by a sword.

“You’re being too excited.” (Lionel)

Lionel was about to follow up, complaining a bit to Naseem, who was running and swinging his sword around as if toying with the bullfangs, when it happened.

“No. You mustn't!!” (Torin)

At the urgent voice of Torin, the priest who was usually gentle and rarely raised his voice, all members of [Lionel] couldn't help but turn their gaze toward that direction.* (T/N: other translation: At the urgent voice of Torin, the priest who was usually gentle and rarely raised his voice, all members of [Lionel] couldn't help but turn their gaze toward that direction. The members of [Lionel] couldn't help but turn their attention to the urgent voice of Torin, as the priest was usually gentle and rarely raised his voice.)

There was Torin, collapsed on the ground, half raised and reaching out with his hand, and beyond that hand were the adventurers he was supposed to have saved, trying to escape by climbing the large boulder.

“YOU BASTARDS!!” (Naseem)

“NASEEM, STAND BACK. PERCY!” (Lionel)

“Roger that.” (Percy)

Lionel shouted, admonishing Naseem, whose face was bright red, anger laid bare, and calling out to Percy, who was standing behind.

Understanding his role just by having his name called, Percy ran towards Torin with Pete in tow.

All the members of [Lionel] knew that since someone had climbed the boulder, there was very little time left to escape.

The fact that you must fight on the ground when dealing with bullfangs is information that Lilac adventurers who come to this wilderness must know.

Naseem and Lionel, who had been fighting on the front lines, rushed to their friends.

Torin, who was drinking a potion to treat the ankle he had twisted and hurt when he was pushed by the fleeing adventurers, also stood up to run away, though he grimaced a little.

“Torin, get on my back. If it’s just someone of your weight, I can...” (Lionel)

Lionel’s words he said while bending down were stopped by a ‘zun’ sound accompanied by a tremor, as if something heavy had hit something.

Then, at the sound that began to echo intermittently, the faces of all of [Lionel]'s members turned pale.

“Too late, huh? No choice, plan B. We’re shutting in.” (Lionel)

“Yeah.”

After a short exchange of words, Lionel and his friends ran towards the large boulder.

On top of the large boulder about 10 meters in size were the fleeing adventurers, the last few of them having been crushed between the huge body of a bullfang that flew like a cannonball and the large boulder, turning into corpses.

.

.

.

Percy used magic to open a hole in the large boulder, and Lionel and his friends hid deep inside it, continuing to fight against the bullfangs that occasionally tried to rush in through the entrance.

It was not a very big hole, so they only had to deal with one or two at a time, and at first glance it seemed like the situation has gotten much better compared to the previous situation where they were surrounded.

However, the expressions on the faces of [Lionel] remained grim.

“Rai, like the Guild data says, even Percy can't get deeper.” (Pete)

“Is that, so!” (Lionel)

Pete returned to Lionel and Naseem from Percy who was working deeper in the hole, and briefly reported the results of trying to see if they could get through the large boulder and get to the other side.

Lionel grimaced at that even as he thrust his sword into a bullfang in front of him and defeated it, and after confirming that the entrance was blocked, he took a breather.

“Also, a message from Percy, if we want to maintain this current state, we could do it for about a day considering the current number of magic potions in stock. Haha, that's a big deficit.” (Pete)

“We'll just make those guys who ran away sell all their equipment and pay for it. Damn, you've got to be kidding me. They're fucking with us. They even hurt Torin.” (Naseem)

As Naseem couldn’t rein in his anger, Pete just shrugged his shoulders, while Lionel lowered his eyes a little as he looked at him. Because he was thinking that he could be said to be the reason why Torin got hurt.

Even if they failed and were chased by the group of bullfangs, these adventurers were capable of making it to the 20th floor. Lionel had assumed that they had a certain level of ability and discretion.

And that if they cooperated, it would be entirely possible for everyone to escape safely.

However, that was too naive a perception.

As a result, those adventurers betrayed Lionel and his friends and escaped on their own, and because of that, Lionel and his friends who were too late to escape had no choice but to hide themselves inside this large boulder.

This large boulder was also recognized as part of the dungeon, and although it was possible to temporarily make a hole in it, it would gradually return to its original state.

That force became stronger the deeper you went, so if you made the hole as far outside as possible, the repair force would be weaker and the cost of maintaining it would be lower.

This was something that Pete had previously researched as a method taken by a party that was once forced into a hopeless situation like Lionel and his friends were now.

None of them expected they would actually use it though.

However, this was only a temporary measure. Because in the current situation where they were trapped and unable to get supplies, the hole would eventually close and they would have no choice but to go in front of the group of bullfangs.

(That's why being an adventurer is all about survival. No matter how good or strong you are, no matter how many people you save, if you die, it's all over. Rai, your beliefs will someday kill your friends, and then yourself. Think about what's really important.) (???)

‘Tch,’ Lionel clicked his tongue, remembering the words he was once told. Because, even though he thought he would never accept it, he found himself sympathizing with those words, albeit only a little.

“Hah, guess that means I'm getting old too. I can't believe I can understand the meaning of Allen's words. But...” (Lionel)

The body of the bullfang that was blocking the entrance was thrown away by another bullfang’s horn, and the new bullfang pointed that horn at Lionel.

“Even if I understand it, I won't accept it. I will stick to my beliefs. I will stick to it without leaving behind even a single one of my friends. That's what I swore to myself when I decided to become an adventurer!” (Lionel)

Lionel swung his sword. As if to demonstrate his unwavering belief, the bullfang's head was cut straight off.

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(T/N: I don’t like this kinda mysteries, well, it’s not too bad since it’ll be explained in the next chapter, but I still don’t like it, as a reader, and even more so as the translator.)

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