Seeing these monsters might distract our ritual, we are in a tough spot.
Ren grits his teeth. "This is quite bad."
I sigh. "It can't get worse than this, can it?"
Vermil looks frantic on top of us. She almost interrupted her praying stance but she shouldn't. "Brother what should we do?"
"Ren, I know you are a pain in the ass sometimes but I think it's time we should stop fooling around."
Ever since I have gotten accustomed to him, Ren and I usually fight. I think we may have gotten closer but sometimes he annoys me.
Ren chuckles in agreement. "Finally, you read my mind."
"I will give the signal on when we should jump."
"Alright, I understand."
Five giant snakes slither in our direction. They don't seem to be high-level monsters and probably small fries yet it is annoying that we feel powerless.
If only this stupid debuff is not around.
Even Vermil can't fight since she has to be in a praying position while wearing the kimono. The strategy to deal with this is up to us.
[King Leaf Snake:
Level: 100 ]
As for the plan, I then tell Ren what to do. He then nods after hearing it. "Alright, I'll count on you."
The three snakes hiss. They then lunge forward with their fangs exposed.
"3... 2... 1... " in the right timing we jump upward about several feet into the air.
I let Ren carry Vermil in mid-air. In my case, I sight all the King Leaf Snakes. I then cast my spell [Fire Ball].
Afterward, 6 fireballs are released targeting the snakes.
Hmm, my [Fire Ball] has gotten bigger than before. It used to be the size of a beach ball now it's large as a person.
It must be due to my wisdom increasing.
While in mid-air, Ren hits my head. "Ouch, that hurts."
"Idiot, you have gone too far!"
Huh? Seeing the fireballs are too large. They engulf some of the forests, thus, a fire starts. It's only a matter of time before it will create a forest fire. Regardless, at least the snakes are defeated.
"Anyway, forget about that and assume our position." While in mid-air we readjust ourselves to maintain our position upon landing.
I then make sure that both of us will land on the road cleanly. One step outside might cause us to get teleported back to our starting point.
Both of us manage to land within the borders of the road. I almost fall over yet luckily I somehow manage to plant my ground.
I sigh in relief.
However, when Vermil lands upon my back it feels like getting hit by something heavy.
Eck.
I then fall over.
Eh? I think I screwed up.
"Huh?!" Ren's jaw falls.
We then found ourselves teleported to where we started.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Ren is close to erupting.
"Hehe, on the bright side at least we are fine."
"Hell, we are not. Look at the place where we came from. We already made it halfway back there!"
Eh?!
Looks like the progress we made was for nothing.
Seeing where we once were, the trees have caught flames. It must be due to the large fireballs that I released.
If we don't hurry, it might burn the entire forest in this area and perhaps block our road.
I'm starting to panic. "Eh... Uh... Ren, how about you? Do you have a plan?"
"Let's just gallop towards the goal."
[The user is now permitted to use clones! However, the user must deliver the priestess himself. Being carried by an outsider is not allowed.]
Seeing this, I feel glad. At last, power!
"Hmm, look guys. I have a better plan." My wide grin glints as I think about our plan.
I then use my [Character Division] skill to create 500 clones.
In front of us, there is a clone every several hundreds of meters. I create enough clones that will cover the road from here to the altar.
Even though Ren is a ghoul, it seems he might sweat after hearing my plan. He looks nervous as he tries to figure it out.
"Answer me in yes or no question, will this method allow us to reach there the fastest?"
"Yes."
"Will this be risky?"
"No."
Ren seems in relief. "I see. Then for the final question. Will this be a comfortable travel?"
"About that, hehe..."
Earlier, when we leaped to dodge those snakes, it didn't cause us to teleport back to our starting point. This means, even if we don't follow the rules as long as we are not in contact with the ground it is fine.
The best thing to do is to get carried by the clone but it seems it's not allowed. Then the best move is to fly to the altar and I know the way to do that.
The three of us are then thrown outward by a clone on full force. Vermil squeals as we fly in high velocity.
"Don't tell me this is what you mean by your plan!" Ren yells on the chaotic wind sweeping our faces.
I am even starting to throw up. "Forgive me guys, but this is the best I can do."
"Just make sure we won't fall off from this," Ren says.
In every several hundreds of meters, a clone will catch us and throw us to the next clone and then to the next. The clones don't have good control thus we are thrown without consideration.
Vermil then points into the distance. "Brother, look, there are no clones left."
Seeing in front, the road takes a turn, thus there won't be any clones to catch us and we might land outside the road.
Since we just left the borders of the curving road, I then look for any clones where the road will lead.
"Hold still!"
They grab tightly on me.
When I see one, I then use [Silk Shooter] at my clone to pull ourselves towards it.
We then continued until we manage to arrive at the altar.
Thankfully, after the prayer in the alter we finally completed the 2nd quest.
[Quest Complete!]
One after another we manage to complete these ridiculous quests. Ren and I may have fought repeatedly but I didn't realize both of us became closer.
Finally, there is only a quest left. Just how long does this thing plan to make us suffer? The forests in this dungeon are already annoying as they are.
We then made a campfire to rest ourselves. Right now, Ren and I are alone. I had Vermil look around for more wood and hunt some meat. Well, since she was always eager to help.
Since this debuff is still in effect, I can't send out my clones to grind for EXP just to be safe. They might mess up something which will cause the quest to fail.
Plus, we have searched the dungeons and there are no signs of the General Monsters.
"Ren, why do you think we can't find the general monster for this dungeon?"
"I can think of two possibilities. One is the monster must have been sealed. Just like I did with Valkeryun. If that is the case, we have to find the sealer. If the sealer is dead or the monster is hiding in a different dimension then we have no way to proceed."
I wince. "I don't want that. What's the other?"
"It might be small and is hiding somewhere. Not all Dungeon Monsters fight by force."
"I see..."
Regardless, ever since I started this journey I noticed something weird. However, I can't point it out.
Now, the final quest is here.
But I sense something off. After Ren takes a look at his system, he has been acting weird. "You consider me as a friend right?" Ren speaks in a serious tone.
Coming from him, those words are a bit off since why now?
"Uh... yeah, of course we are."
"I see. We may have fun but it seems this will be the end of the road for us."
Huh?! What does he mean?
[Final Quest: Eliminate the deceiver in your party in under 3 hours or face instant death]
Eh?! Seriously. This can't be happening. Deceiver in my party? Then that means...
"It can't be..."
Ren grabs his Exclusion sword. He then swings it in my direction which I stop with my fingers. With the gap of our strength, I might be able to stop Ren so he can explain himself.
But what the hell is going on?!
"Ren! Are you still sane or are you manipulated by the debuffs?"
That's right, this might be a ploy of those debuffs. This dungeon is full of illusions and deceit after all, or that's what I hope would be the case.
"I hope I can still join this journey even longer but it seems this quest thing has ratted me out. I can't play with you any longer."
Ever since Ren joined us from day 1, I know there is something that he is hiding. Now that I realize it, I think he told us a great lie.
"The spell that traps us unless a general monster is defeated, is a lie isn't it?" I speak in a serious tone.
Earlier, I managed to spot a hole on the walls using my [Ultimate Long Sight]. I found out it led to the Kurver domain, where Valkeryun's dungeon is found.
Based on where we made our entrances on each dungeon, 7 of these dungeons are adjacent to one another forming a circular pattern.
Besides, every time we defeat a General Monster, my [Magic Sense] can't detect any changes in the flow of mana outside every domain.
"It seems you know, yet I still find you stupid that you never doubted my words."
"I doubt it at first but I hid it in the back of my mind since I trusted you. But I still know, Ren, you are not a bad person. You don't have any plans to kill us."
Ren then sighs. "That is true. I have no plans to kill you but with this debuff in effect, I can't let myself die here. Unless I kill you in under 3 hours I won't be able to leave here. I have something important that I must do. You need to die here for me." He then stares at me fiercely and tries to swing his blade at me.
I then leap away to a safe distance to dodge it. I can't believe all those 3 months that we spent yet here we are in a kill or be killed scenario.
I stop to think for a while about what should I do. Is there a way to fool or nullify this quest system?
Some skills can nullify elemental skills but I haven't heard of anything like this.
Ren then poses in a fighting stance. "I know that I can't defeat you but I must for the sake of my goal." He then activates his holy magic, imbuing his Exclusion with light energy.
Since I have the title of the child of darkness, holy attacks will be more effective against me. Not to mention, it will also hurt him.
Looks like he has the resolve and he is serious about killing me. Well then, what should I do?