Kalheum, the City of Light, was one of the Fissures on the eighth floor, and in its lair was its guardian, the Lancer of the Heavens, Milayel. He had no idea why he had appeared on a normal plant like this, but for short, his most unique trait was that he used a numbered item despite being a monster.
That, and the fact that the drop rate of the Verdurous Giant Spear is 3%.
Although it also dropped other numbered items, the drop rate of the giant greenish spear was quite high. I have many memories of killing this guy when I was testing my spear Barbarian gear. That spear was the best for spear users.
Furthermore, its essence was very good.
Anyway, the real problem is why this guy is here, of all places.
As I said before, we were guaranteed a reward if we managed to kill him. It would be amazing if he released an essence, and the spear would be too. However, the problem was in our current condition.
We can't kill him.
I came to this conclusion immediately. It wouldn't be impossible to defeat him with our current group composition, but as things stood, he weighed heavily against us right now.
I have to consider that our priests are already worn out...
Not to mention our main damage dealer, Erwen, was also out of service.
No, that wasn't even all. Luckily for us, we hadn't had any casualties yet, but everyone was exhausted.
¡Guau! ¡Guau! ¡Ladra!
¡Gruaaaaaah!
Honestly, with monsters still lurking around us, we had to worry more about survival and less about possible rewards.
«Yandel, what are we going to do?» amelia asked, her expression gloomy as she looked at Milayel.
It wasn't even in discussion. «Let's charge to the beach now».
«The beach...? Ah, so let's run...»
«Let's charge to the beach.»
That was our only option right now.
But before that, there is something we have to do.
Even if we were going to run away, I had to decide what to do with it. He couldn't just leave a rank two essence on the ground.
There's no chance we can put it in a magic jar.
My desire to bottle it was strong, but it was too dangerous no matter how I looked at it. Inserting an essence into a vial took too long. There was too much risk of something going wrong in the meantime.
We had to put her in someone's body, and then we had to run away.
But who do I give it to?
This was a decision that was best made after careful thought, but we didn't have the luxury of time.
¡Bang!
I stood in front of Milayel, blocked his spear with my shield, and shouted to the crowd behind me: «Myul Armin!».
Myul Armin, the captain of the Armin group of adventurers, the leader of his clan and a unique adventurer for his decision to follow the path of the necromancer, specialized in debuffs and curses. To be honest, leaving such a precious essence to someone who was practically a stranger to me seemed like a waste, but...
«You will take the essence of the Man-Faced Bird».
This type was the most suitable. Since he seemed to have leveled up recently, he should also have a free space.
There was a long, dazed pause. «...Sorry?» myul Armin asked, apparently assuming he hadn't heard me correctly.
«Haven't you heard me? Hurry up. We do not have time».
«Understood!» He quickly regained his sanity and ran forward. Amelia ran to his side, protecting him to make sure he arrived safely. «Is this really okay...?», he shouted. «I'm not even one of your clan members...».
Oh, what was this guy about? I was having a hard time paying attention to it because of the monster in front of me that was trying to impale me with a spear.
"¡No mattered! Deprisa! ⁇ ladre.
«Okay!»
At my command, Myul Armin stepped forward and absorbed the essence.
Alright, so we got everything we needed...
After double checking that the essence had been absorbed, I pushed Milayel as hard as I could to put distance between us, and then turned to give a new order to the rest of the group. «What are you doing? Form lines and prepare to move».
There was no response.
«We load directly onto the beach right now!».
"¿Qué...?"
Seriously, were these fools asleep at the wheel?
«¡Corran!» Order.
«Ah yes...! Everyone, in training! Let's get out of here now!»
Tsk, a little respect for this barbarian baron, please.
***
Huff, huff…
I let out puffs of hot air as I ran. Oh, of course, he wasn't at the front of the group this time, but rather at the back. When something was chasing you, the rear was the most dangerous place.
«I won't let you go, mortal».
Just like in the game, this guy spoke like a real person. The thing was, he just said that phrase and repeated it like a parrot.
Man, how many times have I heard it by now?
I did some tests trying to talk to him while we were running away, but I never got him to say anything new. Honestly, he couldn't even tell if he had any intelligence or not.
The monsters in the chief's village seemed to be self-aware.
Once again, I was surprised at how unique the chief's village was. Honestly, most of the monsters were like this one behind him, even the Vampire Duke Kealunus in the Bloody Citadel. The Knight of the End that I found in the White Temple also spoke like a person, but he was not able to carry on a conversation.
[The Lancer of the Heavens, Milayel, has released Return.]
Sorry, I was still thinking here.
When I heard that dangerous whistle behind me, I turned around to block the attack with my shield.
¡Pum!
That damn spear. Every time I blocked it, I could feel my shield cracking in real time, and since it was a single-digit numbered item with its unique abilities, the force behind each thrust was deadly.
Well, he only uses one skill at a time, so I guess things could be worse.
That was because Milayel had the role of Guardian. The Rift Guardians had a fixed pattern for their attacks, as well as specific triggers to change patterns, such as taking damage or having someone use equipment near them. As long as you didn't trigger one of those conditions, they would repeat the same set of actions indefinitely.
If he were a normal Titanus, he wouldn't have even been able to run away like that.
However, that didn't mean Milayel was an easier opponent. The skill he used in his first phase was not negligible.
[Heaven Lancer Milayel has released Return].
Return was a simple throwing skill that amplified the damage dealt by a projectile and ensured a hit with target fixation. However, he also had a much more problematic trait.
[Heaven Lancer Milayel has recovered Verdurous's Giant Spear].
When you used this ability, no matter how far the projectile ended up, it always returned straight to the caster's hand.
[Until the end of the fight, the strength of the Return increases slightly].
That, and it was kind of a stackable ability in a way, getting stronger and stronger the more the caster used it.
¡Clang!
Therefore, my shield, which had even been able to block the boss's sword, was beginning to look like Swiss cheese.
And it would be difficult to repair it down here.
I took a moment to sigh as I looked at my damaged shield, and then checked how the head of the pack was doing. Although he followed them from behind, thanks to the gigantization, he could easily see over everyone's heads.
They are doing a good job.
Not that I expected them to break formation or have trouble clearing the way just because I wasn't ahead. Rather, he hoped they would manage well, and they were doing it.
So why was I feeling a little down?
It doesn't matter... I have to focus on my own work.
Stoically fulfilling your duty, with or without the praise of others, was the path of the warrior. And so, I continued to keep Milayel at bay while continuing to crush us from behind.
«It's the ocean!»
From among the dense trees, the cliff appeared, and as we descended it at full speed, we saw the beach where we dropped anchor when we reached the island.
[The Lancer of the Heavens, Milayel, has released Return.]
This guy didn't give up. The spear embedded itself in my shield and immediately disappeared into particles of light, then flew back towards me at a terrifying speed.
Stab!
However, for some reason, this time I felt a surge of pain in my shoulder. I thought I had raised my shield enough to block it...
«¡Agh-!»
But it turned out that the shield already had so many holes that it had just passed through one of them.
«¡B-Bjorn!»
«Yandel! You're OK?»
Missha and Amelia, who were ahead, ran back to me, shocked. Versyl also joined the priest who had hit rock bottom with divine power and took out a potion.
I got rid of all of them. «Later. First we have to take the boat to the water».
«But...»
We still had time before the spear returned to Milayel, so I hurried through the crowd and reached the beach before they could argue.
«Uh. »
«Ummm...»
«Are you... okay?»
The adventurers who had been clearing the way seemed surprised by my open wound. Well, it would be weirder to see a barbarian with a huge spear in his shoulder running alongside them, so they could deal with a hole or two.
¡Splash!
After summoning the ship, I maintained gigantization long enough to bring people on deck. Then, once everyone was on board, I went back to my normal size to get on myself, and we poured a bunch of mana stones into the mana propulsion system so we could get out of there.
[The Lancer of the Heavens, Milayel, has released Return.]
The spear flew one last time and hit me right in the gut.
«¡S-Sr. Candle...!»
«¡Barón!»
Ay, que...
As I bent over, clutching my stomach, I raised my head enough to look at the guy on the beach.
Yes, I will remember you face ...
«See you later».
A barbarian never lets go of resentment.
***
¡Woosh!
We cross the silver waves. The ship was cramped with so many people on board, but no one complained. Just being able to sit and take a break was an incredible relief right now, and we were all delighted to sit wherever there was room. However, I noticed that some of us had dark shadows on our faces.
«A death...»
During our escape from the island, one of the Hektz Clan warriors died.
I sighed. Warriors were always the ones who died at times like this. As a warrior that I am, I couldn't help the bitter taste that the news left me.
«It's not appropriate to say, I know... but it's a miracle. It is truly miraculous that only one person has died».
«Yes, it's true», I conceded. «What was the name of the person who died?»
«Shellyan Emerton.»
I remembered his face as soon as I heard his name. Although I hadn't talked to her much outside of battle, she caught my attention as female warriors were a bit strange.
He had always had a bright smile on his face.
«And his body?»
«We were able to recover it».
«It's good to hear that...»
With that, I gathered the others and we held a funeral for the dead warrior. Although everyone was exhausted, no one argued.
¡Fwoosh!
Of course, since it was a funeral inside the labyrinth, and on no less than a boat, we had to simplify things. We place his body on a fireproof cloth and burn it. Then we put his ashes in an urn.
Boom! ¡Crunch! ¡Coups!
Throughout the funeral, monsters continued to periodically fall from the sky. Since we had a barrier around the ship, they would slide and fall into the ocean.
Goteo.
Like a window on a rainy day, blood from the barrier pooled in drops and dripped down the sides.
«Quiet rest.»
«Haha, don't regret too much. It is not known when we will follow her».
«Tsk, have you never heard the phrase «don't tempt fate»?»
Even in the most solemn moments, adventurers could always downplay dark situations. After all, we lived on a knife's edge. Therefore, no one reprimanded those who joked.
We all knew that people dealt with loss in different ways.
«That's it», I said. «Take a break. And good job everyone».
Once the funeral was over, everyone rested again.
Well, the wizards couldn't relax at all since they had to maintain the barrier, but it was much easier than when they had to maintain it on the island. When we went out into the open sea, they were able to fix the ship's mana propulsion system to connect it to their mana circuits as well.
We now have enough mana stones and fewer monsters are falling from the sky than expected. If nothing goes terribly wrong, I think we'll be able to hold out pretty well until the rainy season is over...
Could I finally relax?
Even as I wondered, waves of intertwined thoughts continued to demand my attention. In the end, I leaned against the wall, looked in my subspace for a temporary shield, and pulled it out. As a grade three shield, it was naturally much worse than the one he had been using. When I bought it, I had few resources and honestly doubted the day would come when I would need to use it.
But it seems that today is the day.
I was giving the shield a wry smile when someone approached me.
«Lord Baron», greeted Myul, the captain of the Armin Adventurer Group.
«What's wrong with you? Why aren't you resting?»
«I apologize for interrupting your rest. But... I want to ask you something».
«Forward.»
Even after receiving my permission, Myul hesitated for a moment. «Why did you do that?»
«What do you mean?»
«I mean... the essence of the Man-Faced Bird. Why did you give it to me?»
Ah, so that was why I was losing sleep, huh? The answer was quite simple.
First of all, Ainar, Amelia, Erwen, and Missha weren't even in the race for that essence. The essences they would absorb in the future had already been decided. Versyl, for her part, couldn't absorb her in the first place, since she was a magician.
I guess Auyen might have been an option...
But honestly it wasn't an essence that suited Auyen either. I could have used Mimicry to copy the abilities of the monsters we were fighting and change the battlefield, but that was it. Giving it to him would have been the equivalent of wasting the passive that formed the crown jewel of the Man-Faced Bird essence.
So, in the end, I decided on Myul.
«Of everyone present, you are the only one who can use that essence to its full potential».
«That... That's all?»
In truth, that was not all.
Under our agreement, the Armin Adventurer Group had some right to the loot. Since they had now taken on a rank two essence, he could use that to force them the next time we got our hands on one later.
But there was no need to admit it out loud.
So I shrugged. «Yes that's all».
«But! We are strangers you just met...»
«How are we still strangers? We are already comrades».
«We are… ¿We are comrades…?»
«Yes, do you have a problem with that?»
Myul Armin did not answer my innocent question for a long time.
«Mr. Baron, you...» When he finally spoke, his voice was weak. It seemed like he had something to say, but after another while, he shook his head. «No. I'm leaving. Please rest».
It was difficult to say for sure, but it seemed like he had made a decision.
***
Six days had passed since the beginning of the rainy season. After escaping the island, our trip had been quite smooth.
Monsters kept falling from the sky, and we had to kill those who kept trying to get on our ship from the ocean, but compared to what we had to go through to escape from that island, this was nothing.
In any case, now that I had a little peace and quiet, I finally had time to regroup and rework our plan.
Very good, I have already decided.
I took out the pendant I had kept in my subspace to keep it safe, and Missha, who was next to me, immediately stood up with bright eyes.
«Uh, ¿Bjorn? That is… ¿Go to… give back…?»
What was he talking about? Had she been pining for him all this time?
Noticing the hunger in his eyes, I quickly placed the pendant back into the sub-space before he could get his hands on it.
No. 7777: Collar de Garphas.
It was time to put it to some use.