Chapter 246
Monster's Stronghold
Translator : PolterGlast
While probing for presences, I headed north at high speed.
With a presence that strong, I thought it would be easy to find if it was
around, but... I couldn't track down its presence as easily as I had thought. I
continued moving for about an hour, and just as I started to doubt whether
north was truly the right direction――.
I sensed a strong presence coming from the northeast. It was
the same presence as the Curse Mystery I had fought earlier, and the
corners of my mouth involuntarily rose. I was glad that my deduction—that the
main body was in the direction it instinctively moved—was correct, but the joy
of being able to finish off a target that had once escaped was even greater.
Erasing my presence so it wouldn't escape, I headed toward
the Curse Mystery's location with the utmost caution. Where I arrived
was a small cave hidden in the shadow of the rocks. There was no doubt that the
Curse Mystery was deeper inside this cave. While feeling happy that I
could definitely finish it off since there was no escape route, I also realized
that if this was the Curse Mystery's dwelling, there might be captured
people deep inside.
Even if they had been captured, the possibility of them
being alive was infinitesimally low. Bracing myself for various possibilities,
I stepped foot into the cave. The smell was peculiar; it was filled with a
scent like crushed grass. Mixed within that was the stench of death, and I
understood without even looking that something was going on deeper inside.
The path widened as I progressed, and after a few minutes,
an open area came into view. Several cages were lined up there, and inside the
cages lay scattered bones that had likely belonged to humans. Although I
checked to see if anyone was alive, there was no sign of any living creature in
this room, at the very least.
After confirming that the Curse Mystery wasn't there,
I approached the cages to examine them. I thought they might be cages prepared
by the Curse Mystery, but their intricate craftsmanship wasn't something
a monster could make. Most likely, the Curse Mystery was reusing a place
that people had used in the past. Given that it was a secluded location away
from human settlements, it was probably a former hideout for thieves or
bandits.
While making such deductions, I pulled myself together and
proceeded even deeper. Aside from the prison cell from earlier, there was a
room like a treasury and a room like a garbage dump. And then, I discovered a
room where suspicious plants were being grown.
The smell of grass that filled the cave was undoubtedly
emitting from these plants. They were plants with an overly suspicious
appearance that I had never seen before. I harvested just one stalk and tried
rubbing it on my skin as a test; a sharp pain ran through me, but at the same
time, I could tell my magic power was recovering.
The true identity of the unknown plant seemed to be a
relative of the magic grass. If the Curse Mystery deeper inside
possessed a large quantity of this, it would mean it was a troublesome opponent
that wouldn't run out of magic power. Fed up with the sheer nuisance of highly
intelligent monsters, I left the plant room and went further in.
About twenty minutes had passed since entering the Curse
Mystery's dwelling. I was surprised by the unexpectedly spacious dwelling,
but... it seemed I had finally arrived at the innermost depths. Just as I had
calculated, a massive amount of the magic grass relatives from earlier was
piled up in the back right of the room. And the ones being made to pile up that
magic grass were, unmistakably, humans.
I could see three people slowly carrying and piling up the
magic grass. In the back left was the Curse Mystery, sitting on the
ground and devouring the magic grass like a beast. Beside it lay chunks of meat
in the shape of humans, making it clear that it was performing the devilish act
of making kidnapped humans work and eating them when it got hungry.
I was driven by the urge to give in to my anger and attack
immediately, but as long as there were people alive, I had to act cautiously.
Keeping calm, I first activated the magic 【Absolute Zero】 so that no harm would come to the survivors. I created a
wall of ice on the right side, and confronted the Curse Mystery there.
By creating a wall for protection, a surprise attack was no
longer possible, but with the wall of 【Absolute Zero】, they were safe. If I had to raise one point of concern, it
was that if I didn't finish off the Curse Mystery quickly, my 【Absolute Zero】 wall could potentially cause them hypothermia. After moving
this cautiously, it would be a colossal failure if they died because of me.
Having witnessed the Curse Mystery's evil deeds, I wanted to finish it off slowly and agonizingly... but it couldn't be helped. I flipped my combat switch and pointed my katana at the Curse Mystery, which had finally noticed me.
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