Whistling-
A dry wind blows over the bridge.
Legion Commander Raven of the Plague Legion, Crown and his riffraff, and the two highway robbers.
These three forces are targeting us, and we're caught in the middle.
As I cautiously observed each of the armed forces, I slowly began to speak.
"Since we can't stay like this forever, let's try to sort this out... First, Crown. You just want Mason, right?"
I turned to look at Raven behind me.
"And Raven. You just want Salome, don't you? If each party takes who they want, wouldn't that be a happy ending for everyone?"
Me?
I'll just continue on my way alone.
Salome was horrified at my words.
"Wait a minute! Ash! Are you going to abandon me?!"
"Yes."
"You're going to hand over your precious soulmate to the enemy and escape like a tailless lizard?!"
"Yes."
Since when were we soulmates? Let's just part ways here. Of course, your destination might be the grave, but that's another story.
I thought it was a rational proposal, but Crown responded with a cold tone.
"No, Ash. I will take you too."
"Excuse me...?"
"I've overlooked your disturbances in the darkness of this place because the King of Kings hadn't ordered otherwise. But I can't ignore your intrusion into this deepest part. You'll be brought to the King of Kings immediately."
Raven's reaction was no different.
"You think I would just watch as the king of the opposing faction stands right before me? Ash, I'll turn you into a puddle of blood. Along with Salome, I'll bury you in my farm...!"
Then, Crown and Raven started arguing over who would take me.
"I am the King of Kings' inspector! Ash is mine to take!"
"Nonsense! I too am a direct vassal and ally of the King of Kings! I have higher authority! He's mine!"
I don't need this kind of popularity, really.
"Everyone's too greedy..."
Negotiating with these two forces seemed impossible. Sighing, I finally turned to my last negotiation partner.
The two highway robbers.
"Great sirs."
I addressed them respectfully.
"I'm actually very wealthy."
"Hmm?"
"Despite appearances, I wield considerable power in the upper world. You may not know, but I'm the prince of a nation called Everblack."
To their dubious looks, I got straight to the point.
"If you help me escape to the surface, I'll give you half of my wealth."
"...!"
Exactly what these robbers were demanding.
Half of my total wealth, I'll give it away.
What's a few gold coins compared to escaping this hell and returning to the surface?
The wild eyes of the two elders shone as they glanced at each other. Then they turned their attention back to me.
"How can we believe that?"
"Everyone in the Nightmare Legion and the Lake Kingdom's last forces are this obsessed with me. Doesn't that prove my importance?"
Salome, from behind me, nodded vigorously. Ah, she's a legion commander too.
I looked around and shrugged.
"It seems like business hasn't been going too well for you anyway... Why not make a big score and retire to a comfortable life?"
"..."
"..."
The two elders whispered to each other and then pulled out a yellowed, worn piece of parchment and handed it to me.
"Write a contract."
"Excuse me?"
"Stamp it with your seal."
"..."
"Write two identical ones, and we'll each keep one. Sounds fair, right?"
Unexpectedly thorough for their appearance.
The cooperation agreement was quickly drafted. The gist of it was: 'The Desperation Homeward Band will assist Ash until his escape from the dungeon. In return, Ash will pay half of his wealth to the band upon his escape.'
Anyway, somehow or another, a team was formed.
"Five-member party complete."
- Human Commander, Ash.
- Succubus Legion Commander, Salome.
- Half-human, half-beast Special Operative, Mason.
- Desperation Homeward Band, Sword Demon and Spear Demon.
A bizarre team, perhaps lacking in traditional standards, but numerically complete!
Meanwhile, Raven and Crown, who had been arguing over my custody, had also finished their discussion.
"I will kill you, Crown!"
"Ha, didn't you say that last time, Plague Lord?"
Their discussion apparently hadn't ended positively.
"I held back my power so far because I wanted to use Salome as a breeding ground for my new plague... to keep her uncontaminated."
Raven's voice was hoarse and dreadful as he spread his hands wide.
"But no longer! Let all of you be swept away by the wave of the epidemic!"
Raven's coat fluttered, and a horrible energy erupted from within.
Whoosh!
This was different from before.
Previously, I had encountered Raven's clone, not his real body, and what the clone emitted was not a real plague but a 'Phantom Pain,' an illusory affliction.
But this was the real Raven.
And what he emitted was a real plague!
'Curse him! Just as dreadful here as in the game!'
Green mist gathered around Raven, emitting a foul odor, and spread in all directions.
The first pattern he always starts with is this poisonous mist, dealing dot damage.
I have to fight him on this field, where health is gradually reduced.
I clicked my tongue, recalling the variety of plague patterns he might deploy next...
Whoosh!
That's when it happened.
The green mist covering the bridge, for some reason, didn't come near me but stopped around a 5-meter radius.
"...?"
Huh? What's this?
Why did Raven's toxic mist not affect me? I blinked in confusion. Did I have such a special ability?
"You...?"
Raven was just as baffled. He tried to deploy another plague.
"Let's decay!"
Swoosh!
From his cloak, a horde of night creatures – bats, crows, and insects – cascaded out, sweeping over the bridge.
Yet, these carriers of the plague also avoided a 5-meter radius around me.
"...?"
What? Why?
People began to gather around me in confusion.
Our hastily formed 5-member party, as well as Crown and his Nightcrawler squad, awkwardly joined me.
"Excuse me..."
"Just, I'll step aside for a moment..."
Whispers fluttered around, like people sharing an umbrella during a sudden downpour at a bus stop.
While the entire bridge was engulfed in the plague, my surroundings remained calm. What an anomaly.
"Could it be, you..."
Raven then twitched his shoulders and asked hesitantly.
"Did you eat it? The Pantao...?"
"Pantao? What's that?"
"My farm's supreme peach that you stole!"
"Ah. That peach that was a bit tastier than canned ones?"
So, its name was Pantao. Sounds like a peach variety like Baekdo or Huangdo.
"Yeah, ate it all... It was really tasty."
Even for someone like me who's not fond of fruits, it was delicious enough to eat on the spot.
It felt a bit like those peaches served as a fruit appetizer at the Hope Tavern. I wouldn't pay for them myself, cursing under my breath, but I can't deny they taste good when someone else orders them. It was subtly delicious in that way.
"Impossible! How dare you, that peach, that peach...!"
Raven trembled violently.
No way, I thought, even if it's a rare fruit, seeing a legion commander tremble over a piece of fruit... it looks a bit pathetic...
At that moment, Crown, who had been listening to our conversation, burst out laughing.
"Ash, the peach you ate is a treasured fruit, painstakingly grown on the royal farms of this place, infused with immense magic power."
"Oh, is it expensive?"
"It's priceless... Did you know that the people of the Lake Kingdom researched immortality?"
A bitter smile played on Crown's lips.
"The royal family of the Lake Kingdom went to great lengths in pursuit of eternal life. They researched magic to extend life, developed methods to transfer souls into new bodies... and created various elixirs."
Then it hit me.
The curse bestowed upon all citizens of the Lake Kingdom - 'The Curse of Eternal Life'.
The fundamental reason they have been suffering at the bottom of this lake for centuries.
Could this curse of eternal life also be a consequence of their pursuit of immortality?
"The peach you ate was a byproduct of the development of the elixir of immortality. It didn't grant immortality, but instead... it made the consumer invulnerable to all diseases."
"Aha...!"
So, does it mean it grants resistance to poison attacks?
"...I thought it was just one of the many elixirs developed back then, but who knew it could effectively block Raven's plague like this. I didn't know either."
Amazed by Crown's words, I looked around. The toxic aura still couldn't come near me.
To think it could easily counter the legion commander's pattern like this!
Thank you, Magic-Peach!
"Hey, heeeeeey! Praise! Praise me!"
Salome, who had preserved that peach, gestured frantically for praise, but I ignored her and grinned slyly at Raven.
"Master of the plague. This is unfortunate for you."
"...!"
"Your attack patterns are two-fold. First, the real plague spread by your main body. Second, the illusions spread by your duplicates."
I strode confidently towards Raven.
As I moved, the others closely followed, and Raven stepped back hesitantly.
"But the real plague is nullified by your precious peach, and the illusions are mental attacks, which my abilities can easily counter."
"Ku...?!"
"It seems I've become your natural predator, haven't I?"
Raven muttered fiercely, trembling.
"Don't be arrogant, human...! My plague constantly evolves. This invulnerability you've luckily gained, I'll surely break through it...!"
Then, with a swish of his cloak,
"Next time...! I will, I will get you...!"
Shrrrrrrr-!
With a cliché villain's exit line, he disappeared, transforming into a flock of crows or rats, just like when he arrived.
I snorted. Well, it's true I lucked out with an elixir, but...
The strategy to counter the plague legion in the game is a fact in my possession.
Even without this peach, I could have taken you down, buddy!
"Praise! Praise! Hurry!"
"..."
Ignoring the clinging Salome, I turned around, only to find...
Ssshh...!
Crown and the Nightcrawler squad members had quietly distanced themselves from us and were now aiming their weapons at us. I clicked my tongue.
"Great, just when I thought I'd avoided the storm..."
"Thanks to you, Ash, dodging the Plague Master's attacks was a breeze. But that's one thing, and this is another."
Crown chuckled and raised his hand.
"Has our score been 1 to 1 until now? This is the third round. A good time to settle the score, don't you think?"
"Bullshit... You guys have an endless supply of life coins. Even if I win this time, won't you just come back for a fourth round?"
"Ha-ha, that won't happen. Because..."
That's when it happened.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
From across the bridge, dozens of Nightcrawler squad members appeared. Crown gestured towards them.
"The battle will end here."
"..."
I was dumbfounded by the number of them filling the other side of the bridge.
The Plague Legion - Raven is a boss monster that relies on gimmicks.
If you can counter his core pattern, you can somehow clear it even with a lower level and fewer numbers on our side.
But these Nightcrawler bastards are relentlessly pushing with sheer numbers.
Each one of them is an NPC with a hero character status.
Dozens of them approached on the dimly lit bridge, pulling out their weapons while wearing white smiling masks. I gritted my teeth and glared at them. How to break through these bastards...?
Tap, tap.
Then someone tapped on my shoulder.
Turning towards them, I saw the two robbers who had joined my party this time - Sword Demon and Spear Demon.
With their sparse yellow teeth flashing a mad grin, the two lunatics said to me,
"Let's bolt!"
"Eh? Where to?"
"Where else?"
Pointing to the pitch-black abyss below the bridge, the two lunatics boldly declared,
"To the 'bottom'!"