Sword of Gluttony Queen - Chapter 35

Chapter 35 : Cerberus Fangs

Part 1
In the 《Demon’s Den》’s 2nd floor, Fedor told us to avoid the demon beast’s patrolling route.

「We have to avoid combat against D rank demon beasts as much as possible since it’ll exhaust our stamina and affect our performance in the next battle. Being stingy on using mana will affect the party’s perception of you later on since your comrades will raise their vigilance towards you on the way back. It was in the case where they think that you’re going to backstab them.」

「I see….」

「We need to confirm the habitat of the demon beast as soon as we enter the demon labyrinth. To identify that, we can use things such as footprints, traces of their feet, or the composition of demon beasts in the area. All of that is for the sake of avoiding combat as much as possible. My fourth adventurer’s knowledge: make sure you’re fully prepared to avoid unpleasant opponents. 」

I followed Fedor-san’s instruction and brought the mana lamp closer to the floor to inspect it.

「I absolutely don’t want to meet Rat Zombies [Battle Rat Zombies]. They’ll be tough opponents for us since they always come in numbers. It was a simple matter to outrun them but that can’t be said in regard to securing an escape route. Pay attention to rotten blood, green mucus, or dregs of their food.」

In that way, Fedor-san taught us his fifth, sixth, and seventh adventurer’s knowledge as we advanced inside the labyrinth.

It was nothing but beneficial to me.

When I was thirsty, he would casually toss the valuable water stone to me.

He was completely in a different league compared to me.

As for Edda… she didn’t seem to be the chatty type.

However, every once in a while, she would send a bored expression towards Fedor’s direction.

「Well…. Beyond this point is the UG 3rd floor….」

Suddenly…. My 《Odo Perception・Low》 caught the sign of a human.

Did they… collapse?

When we arrived in a spacious place, I followed the signs that were picked up by my 《Odo Perception・Low》, and then I saw a woman collapsed on the puddle of blood behind a rock.

Her slightly damaged mana lamp was thrown to the side, I took a closer look at her.

She was still breathing but her bleeding could lead to death if she was left alone.

Fedor-san solidified when he saw the woman but he ran towards the woman immediately.

「S-Stop! There are another two presences close to that person! The demon beasts might’ve used her to bait us!」

Just to be sure, I shut my eyes to increase my perception of the surrounding area with 《Odo Perception・Low》.

「….. EH?」

There’re two people holding their breaths, hiding behind the rock.

I leaped at them without missing their momentary panic.

Followed by Edda who reacted later than me.

「Fedor-san! That woman was just acting as bait! There are two people lurking behind the rock to ambush us!」

「W-WHAT DID YOU SAY!」

「TCH, YOU SHITTY BRAAAAT!」

The woman, who looked like she had fallen in the pool of blood, suddenly lifted her body and she took a hold of the fallen short sword magic vessel on her side.

The magic circle’s light appeared in the core of the sword.

That pool of blood might be the blood of a demon beast that they carried in some sort of bag.

They might be lurking around the stairs to the UG 3rd floor and used 《Search》 to check for incoming people.

Maybe they were using some sort of stealth abilities since I didn’t realize that they were hiding behind the rock until I got closer to them.

Well, my perception skill was that of an E rank perception skill after all.

It was easy to fool my perception as long as they had a 《Rule》 specialist.

「No way, 《Cerberus Fangs》!?」

Part 2
The name of the killer adventurer trio suddenly flashed in my head.

「AHA, what a lucky day. To think that we got the famous 《Wind’s Traveler; Fedor》 himself! 《Earth Swamp》!」

The ground beneath Fedor-san’s feet dampened and slowly crumbled below.

She was using 《Alchemy》 to limit her opponent’s footwork and to destroy their balance.

Fedor-san’s feet sunk into the floor.

「… Good grief, to think that they found us first…」

「《Petit Stone Bullet》!」

Stone bullets were fired from behind the rock towards Fedor-san.

Another man leaped out from the other side of the rock, swinging his sword towards Fedor-san.

「《Parazy Sword》！」

Yellow colored mist came out from the deployed magic circle and it was coiling around the assailant’s blade.

It was a kind of 《Curse》 that has to be injected into the body of the target to leave a trace of the user’s mana in the victim’s body, causing an abnormal state.

What a terrifying cooperation.

There was no mistake, every one of them was an experienced adventurer beyond 【Lv:20】.

「《Blast》」

Fedor-san readied his 《Wind Dominator’s Spear; Hess》 and deployed a magic circle immediately.

His surroundings suddenly got enveloped by a storm, repelling the stone bullets while at the same time, destroying the balance of the assailant.

「KYAAAA!」

「S-Such power!」

The man who tried to stab Fedor-san fell, his feet sunk into the recently created swamp.

「Convenient right? Inside this storm is my domain. This is the power of 《Weather Vane’s Devil; Pazuzu》 that is sealed in this 《Wind Dominator’s Spear; Hess》 of mine.」

He stabbed with his magic spear which sent the assailant flying.

The assailant was knocked back and hit the wall behind him, or should I say, nailed into the wall with a huge hole that opened on his chest.

Aside from his speed and accuracy, even the power behind Fedor-san’s thrust couldn’t be underestimated.

He killed his assailant in one hit.

「Here is my eighth adventurer’s knowledge, never let your pace get disturbed by your opponent.」

The woman who created the 《Earth Swamp》 swung her magic sword towards Fedor-san.

Fedor-san leaped from the swamp and kicked the woman’s hand, disarming her from her magic sword.

Fedor-san’s attack didn’t end with that, he attacked the woman who was floating in mid air with the end of his magic spear right in the back of her head.

That was the first time I heard the sound of someone’s skull getting smashed.

The only assailant left threw away his magic sword as he glared at Fedor-san.

「P-Please forgive me! I surrender! I-I am…!」

Fedor didn’t spare any more time to hear the man’s plea and just stabbed the man’s head right from the front.

The last assailant’s body collapsed on the ground, his head was twisted in a strange direction.

「My ninth adventurer’s knowledge: show no mercy towards a hostile opponent, it’s kill or be killed.」

Fedor-san spun his magic spear and strapped it back on his back again.

After that, he shut his eyes, making a praying-like gesture with one hand.

「Don’t forget to pray for the ones who tried to kill you after you’ve killed them. This is just for my own self-satisfaction.」

「…………」

This was the end of 《Cerberus’ Fang》, the adventurer hunters who haunted Romburgh City in the last few years.

Part 3
Though magic that limited one’s movement was scary, I was more scared of Fedor-san’s overwhelming power due to his high concentration of fighting spirit.

I mean, he basically wiped the three of them out in no time after getting out of that swamp.

I knew very well that those people were only reaping what they sowed.

It was just right for them to die like this after killing so many adventurers.

But still, I felt that something was amiss seeing them get wiped out so quickly like this.

I mean, I was supposed to be happy at this point, seeing these famous adventurers meet their end.

「… Shall we go back to make a report about them?」

「That can wait until we accomplish our goal in this place. This kind of thing happens once in a while. I hope their deaths can stop the adventurer karma. Let’s just collect their magic vessel and send a report to the army after we get back to Romburgh. We have to hunt that 《Mineral’s Demon; Solus》 on the 3rd floor as fast as possible.」

「Y-Yes.」

I nodded obediently despite my slightly uneasy feeling about this situation.