135. Winter is coming
It was just a simple subjugation quest.
No, wasn’t that simple? This time, the adventurer’s guild pointed out a colony of infamous ogres among high-level monsters as targets for subjugation.
It was extremely rare for the plagues of the forest to swarm, and it was just as dangerous. However, the adventurers who went to the subjugation didn’t feel that much fear.
The adventurer’s guild also pulled out its pillar roots in order to stand up against the numerous ogres. He was invited to participate, at least silver level, a number of gold level adventurers, and even platinum level adventurers from other cities.
The adventurers of this area are truly a great army gathered from all the adventurers. He was capable of dealing with not dozens of ogres, but three-digit ogres, and the adventurers predicted victory in front of him.
Their predictions weren’t too far off. That’s right, if the only opponent was an ogre.
However, upon reaching their destination, what the adventurers saw was a swarm of countless monsters, including over a hundred ogres. From goblins to drakes, regardless of race and strength.
After that, the outcome was decided, and that’s why the fierce battle took place. Countless were torn to death by madness and violence, and at the end of the war the few survivors fled or—
-Or, the most unfortunate fell into the monster’s grip without dying or escaping.
“Huh, huh.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Even if they gain intelligence, how can monsters, whose nature remains the same, keep humans alive without killing them? Zach did not dare to guess their minds.
He was the leader of a party of quite promising adventurers. Soon he will be promoted to gold rank. He had good friendships with his colleagues from the time he left the mansion until now.
However, all of that was broken. The two companions he had with him, a warrior and a ranger, were killed. Although they succeeded in protecting only their lover, the wizard, they were eventually imprisoned.
“Me, what should I do? Me······.”
“We will survive, yes.”
All the current Zach could do was to appease his lover with a complicated feeling. Vain and meaningless words that he himself does not believe.
Emily, already in a state of panic, couldn’t even hear what her lover had to say. She trembled with intermittent convulsions as she curled up like a shrimp on the cold prison floor.
Zach wanted to hug Emily and share her body temperature, but even that was impossible. It’s been a long time since he’s too cold to warm someone else’s body.
“They are coming. They…”
“Calm down, Emily. We will be fine.”
“It’s coming!”
At some point, Emily, who was shaking, stood up as if bouncing on her back. Zach, who was almost crushing her in her arms, hit her in the jaw in the process, but he couldn’t even get angry.
For that reason, it was because her screams that she let out inside her were too frightening. Her lover, who had previously seemed so filthy and haggard and lovely, now looked like a monster in human form.
It’s coming. There is go. Loud shouts echoed terrifyingly through the walls of the prison.
“What the hell is coming…”
Dubuck.
While Zach muttered that with a bewildered face, the sound of footsteps came from the corridor that had been as quiet as a lie. That’s right, the sound of human footsteps, not monsters.
Emily’s mouth fell shut as she screamed spasmodically. Silence came urgently like an unexpected storm. In the eerie silence, footsteps pierced like sharp knives.
It was like playing a madman. There is no pitch or harmony, but a messy solo performance that overwhelms the audience.
“Heo Eok!”
When the footsteps finally stopped, Zach breathed again. He looked at Emily, completely unconscious, then carefully lifted her trembling head.
There was a human standing there. The atmosphere wasn’t particularly intimidating, just a single human wearing a black robe and watching them from outside the bars.
However, the place they are now is not anywhere else, but an underground prison where monsters imprison humans. The presence of humans roaming freely there suggested so much.
“Could it be that what happened this time was the work of humans…?”
The reason why ferocious monsters keep humans alive. At most, that was the only possibility that Zach’s mind, devastated by long hardships, could think of.
Above all else, isn’t there clear physical evidence in front of your eyes? Unlike Jacques, who was pushed to the limit, the other person was relaxed and calm, and that outfit was also something he knew.
“Darkness·····Cult······.”
A pseudo-church that apostatizes from the three proven gods and serves an extraordinary being called the evil god. However, Zach knew more about them than the average person.
Because his lover, no one else, was a test subject who escaped from the Dark Church. Zach’s gaze turned to the fallen lover without his knowledge.
Soon, he turned his head again and met eyes with the human figure behind the bars. He realizes only then when he sees those eyes shining. The seed of the Dark Church came.
“I was halfway giving up because the information was lost, but I’m so lucky.”
Zach’s difficult words were ignored. Members of the Dark Church did not see him from the beginning. The only place the end of that gaze is headed is his lover, whom he must protect.
However, his physical condition had already reached its worst due to the aftermath of the battle and neglect in prison. Escape is unimaginable. It’s just what he can do.
“Move to the lab.”
I was just looking helplessly at this moment.
Sssss- Zach mistook that the opponent behind the bar had come alone, but it wasn’t. It’s just that the adventurer’s senses have become dull as much as his body has been exhausted.
The sound of scales brushing on an uneven wall. Like a seasoned adventurer, Zach easily recognized the identity of the sound. Snake.
According to the Shinto’s command, a white woman’s face protruded from the black darkness. Her hair was as fine as silk, her eyes were as beautiful as falling out, and her woman’s upper body was wearing nothing.
“Susu- you mean both?”
“No, only women. You can play with men however you like.”
But between her woman’s beautiful lips her forked tongue flicked. Unlike the upper body of a beautiful woman, her lower body was that of a massive snake.
Get out. Tribe so called. However, unlike their human-like appearance, they originally lacked the oral structure to make human sounds and the intelligence to imitate the language of the world.
“What the hell are you going to do…”
However, the current Naga skillfully spoke human words and obeyed human commands. Clap. There was the sound of a door opening, but Zach remained still like a dazed doll.
The shadow of the snake glided through the gap in the open door. Zach came to his senses belatedly when that supple yet massive body wrapped around his lover, Emily.
“No!”
However, the desperate struggle was short-lived, and with just one light click, Zach was knocked out too easily. He looked at her and had an alluring smile on his lips.
“Don’t worry. Self. Even if you don’t bother me, I’ll play with you later.”
“I won’t interfere with your hobbies, but always try not to confuse your priorities.”
“Sushi sit, su. We will not disappoint you.”
From noble mtl dot com
Leaving behind him who was pinned against the prison wall, his voice faded. In the consciousness that gradually faded, Zach prayed unconsciously.
Please save yourself and your lover. It’s fine whether it’s the three gods or someone else. Please.
My God.
*
[Hero, you better be careful.]
Ugh, I hate working. Looking at the endless repetition of the forest, I grumbled. My stock is people, not monster souls. Where there is no war
Still, I couldn’t help it. Cream really didn’t know, or even if he did, he seemed unwilling to tell me. Just like a thirsty guy digging a well, I have to rob the Dark Church.
Well, we’re not going to face the Dark Church, but hordes of monsters. It is thanks to the fact that I was moved by the heart of the branch manager who cares about his subordinates.
[If you finish this job, you will get a gold grade… Whoop, whoop, whoop.]
“He’s like that again.”
Because I’ve already made a fuss on my way to the forest, the reaction of the party was sluggish even if I made a strange laugh. But I couldn’t contain my excitement.
Gold grade! That’s an incredible growth rate. Well, they say you have to take the promotion test separately, but how do you get the qualifications anyway?
[No, gold rank is the highest honor you can get as an adventurer!]
[Isn’t there a Platinum rating above the Gold rating?]
[We don’t deal with things that don’t have such roots.]
As for the latte, the gold was the highest grade. Yes? Besides, in the adventurer’s guild, trust is as important as skill. It took me years to put on gold.
When I think of the times, I can’t help but feel new. Not wanting to work is, of course, not wanting to work, but being a gold-rated adventurer… Is definitely a little exciting.
Well, it’s not like I work anyway. You just have to look at it with warm eyes.
“Yeah, that’s enough.”
No, please don’t even read and reply to these trivial thoughts. I’m ashamed. Cream, whose lips twitched slightly, immediately turned around and looked out over the forest.
That place is our goal today. Even if it was a gathering place, if hundreds of thousands of medium-sized and large-sized monsters were swarming around, of course there would be no choice but to keep some distance.
Just as humans set up tents and divided camps, intelligent monsters also marked their territory with crude fences. And, what we’re aiming for is one of the areas on the outskirts.
“Whoa, whoa.”
“You are an idiot. I can’t speak properly.”
“Urgyagyakyak!”
An ogre colony that boasts a force that can never be ignored, unlike having an idiot-like conversation. It is also the place where the adventurer’s guild first targeted the subjugation.
What Cale asked us to do was retrieve belongings and find out the truth, not rescue adventurers. The fact that it is difficult to block the monster wave means that it is difficult to defeat all of them by one person.
Besides, judging from the presence of the fish, the quantity here is high, but the quality is poor. Even so, I’ve been eating my fill of souls lately, so I’m not very motivated.
[Let’s just sneak in and scout and come out.]
[It’s not like you. I thought you were going to tell me to break everything.]
[I don’t have a hobby to spend energy on useless things.]
Of course, the size of the monsters that have now flocked is overwhelming, but considering the overall size of the monster wave, that is new blood. Seonggeom also didn’t tackle me further, as if he knew the meaning of my words.
The chat ends here. We lowered ourselves and prepared to hide. Monsters have sensitive senses, but they don’t have guards, so it should be easy to infiltrate.
“Sniff sniff.”
“Why? Also stupid.”
“Sniff sniff sniff. Borrow.”
“······Really? It smells like a beast.”
It was.
“This is… Not a real beast. It is the smell of a prisoner, a prisoner.”
[Second! Nose! Hey!]
A pure-blooded beast gives off a ‘smell’. Not a real sense of smell, but a kind of aura or aura that a top predator has. And, it becomes thicker as the will to fight rises.
Choco also takes pride in being a hunter, so he must have learned the secret to hiding his body odor.
“I found it.”
In the next moment, the ogre’s head, which had been talking stupidly, turned to a certain place. Yes, exactly into the bush where we are hiding.