Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 114



Only Krnovel

Episode 114, The Fugitive (3)

… … To be honest, it wasn’t a very pleasant situation.

First of all, I heard something from the temple, so let’s put aside the fact that I met the apparitionist.

… … I didn’t intend for the situation to escalate to this point in the first place.

On top of that, the guy I ran into in this situation happened to be someone I knew, so it was a headache.

If you choose to abandon him here.

Because it was obvious that the reputation he had worked so hard to build would just be tarnished.

And to deal with these guys quietly… … .

There could be more to lose than simply abandoning the bastard.

In the first place, you never know what might happen in the labyrinth.

There are a lot of people because the labyrinth has just opened.

There are too many eyes watching you to act recklessly.

So in the end… … .

“W, thank you! As expected from Mr. Declen! Since you’re so strong, we’re only as strong as you are… … .”

“Hahaha! DeClen is such a strong man! And he always has a strong will to improve!”

“Really? You’re trying even harder here… … , that’s amazing!”

… … Yeah, that’s what happened.

For now, there was no choice but to accept a group of new adventurers.

After deciding that, the knight named Berman, who introduced himself as the leader, looked at me with admiration.

There, Nowen was laughing heartily and accepting it.

… … Phew, there is no other sight like this.

While Nowen and Berman were talking to each other for a moment,

We had a brief strategic meeting.

In fact, it was a meeting just between Diana and me.

After much deliberation, we decided that instead of going after them right away, we would share the information we had gathered.

However, unlike the successor, it is difficult to accurately infer powers against those who have it.

I thought it would be good to know even the smallest bit of information.

So I sat down with the fledgling adventurer team and our team and we started talking.

Most of the time, when we asked questions, the new adventurers answered in the same way.

To summarize what they said, it was like this.

Not long after we started moving together, we encountered some robed men.

He said that he went straight into battle mode.

There are five opponents.

In contrast, this side consists of five older adventurers and four new adventurers.

It was a battle that didn’t seem all that tense with the power difference being nearly twice as much, but the reality was different.

“… … It was a devilish ability. As soon as I got a big wound, blood would spurt out like a fountain.”

Berman’s words naturally raised questions.

Of course, deep wounds tend to cause blood to spurt out.

So when I asked if that wasn’t the original way, Berman just shook his head slowly and answered like this.

“No… … , rather, it felt like the blood was draining out on its own.”

“Get out?”

“Yes… … , as if I was being led by something… … .”

Hmm, I feel like I’m being drawn to something.

It certainly seemed to suck blood when I encountered it before.

So, could it be that sucking blood is its power?

“I was able to avoid deep wounds thanks to my powers, but… … that wasn’t the case for them.”

“So, it was essentially annihilation.”

“Yes, yes… … . That’s right. Since all the adventurers in that team were warriors, they were all at the forefront.”

Well, even without looking, I can clearly see how the battle situation would have turned out.

The warriors and adventurers of your team, Berman, took the lead.

Warriors without even a single decent defensive ability will suffer deep wounds and die instantly from the power.

Berman was the only one who wasn’t deeply hurt.

Only his comrades who had been positioned in the rear were able to barely survive and escape.

“As soon as some people died, the remaining people started to run away, but the wounds they had already suffered were so deep that… … .”

“It died from having its blood sucked out. That’s why it ran away to us.”

Instead of answering my question, Berman lowered his head.

I guess what I said was right.

So, that also means that the team that joined us won’t be able to find any survivors.

After listening to Berman’s brief explanation, I looked around.

So now there are four new adventurers who have come to us.

Berman, a typical tank knight with the power of steel.

And she appears to be a long-range magician.

A man holding a bow and arrow, and… … .

“Healer?”

When I asked while glancing at the healer, the female healer avoided my gaze.

I guess I’m still having a hard time.

As we were just looking at the woman, Berman, who had been looking back and forth between me and the healer, stepped in as if to mediate.

“Ah, this, this person is someone who participated as a mercenary. He is a healing priest. I had a hard time recruiting him… … .”

Hoo… … .

You’re a new adventurer team, and you’re using healers as mercenaries?

It looks like the whole team and the leader himself have quite a bit of money.

Well, the team composition itself wasn’t bad.

Because it was a classic labyrinth strategy combination.

One tank and melee dealer, two ranged dealers, and a healer.

It would be a fairly safe location for hunting.

However, there was a disadvantage in that the rear would be vulnerable when dealing with people.

“What powers do these two have?”

When I asked the two long-range dealers, they just hesitated for a moment.

Seeing that, Berman reassured me that he was a trustworthy person.

He began to speak quietly, speaking his power and name.

“… … I am Veronica. I serve the goddess Levkan.”

… … If it was Levkan, she was the goddess of lightning.

He’s a long-range dealer with a moderate wizard position.

“Then what about this side?”

“I, I am Jed. I have the power of division.”

Hmm, I’m well aware of the power of division.

The power of division here is why I took the archer position…

“Is the level of power a bit high?”

“Yes, yes?”

Wow, that’s such an idiotic thing to say.

“Hey, Berman. Is that guy named Zedder a bit high leveled?”

“That’s right! So, not only oneself, but also things can be divided… … .”

Oh, I knew it.

Normally, if you have the power of division, it’s standard to take the assassin position.

But if you insist on taking the archer position, there is actually only one.

When the power level is high, it is effective when used as an archer.

If splitting objects was possible, it would probably be possible to make a hail of arrows fall with a single shot.

In addition, Berman’s power as a tank… was quite strong.

Of course, he was inferior in stats, but his level of steel was higher than mine.

Overall, the team’s balance and power level were good.

So, even though I was a new adventurer, I was able to get to the second floor in just one day.

Now that we know the capabilities of our new allies, we can begin to assess the capabilities of our enemies.

But no matter how much information was shared, in reality, only one person who was absorbing blood participated in the battle.

I still couldn’t even guess what abilities the four guys next to him had.

… … No, to be honest, it was completely unknown.

You guys were just watching the battle from behind, so you couldn’t even see the power.

If there is just one thing to infer.

When I attacked them, they clearly dodged my attacks.

It was probably an ability similar to teleportation.

At that time, it disappeared without a trace, in a short period of time.

Surely one of the four remaining guys must have that ability… … .

Besides, if you can even guess to some extent what that ability is.

It will also be easier to find their current location.

After thinking for a moment, the woman who had been absentmindedly biting her fingernails opened her mouth.

It was the woman who had previously introduced herself as Veronica.

“… … Actually, I saw something strange earlier.”

“What’s strange?”

“It seemed like someone other than the man who fought us was using his powers.”

“… …Tell me more.”

“That person carved something like a mark into a tree. He didn’t do anything special besides carving it… …, but could it be that he has the ability to move using that mark?”

“Hmm… … .”

The sign was engraved… … .

It wasn’t completely impossible.

If they acted that way, there must be a reason.

After thinking about it for a moment, the troubled woman continued speaking.

“… … Ah! I remember the shape of that sign too.”

After that, the woman picked up some branches lying around and started drawing something on the floor.

Of course, what the woman drew was a sign in a new language, but what was strange was that.

The thing was that the mark looked quite similar to the mark of the successor of the moving series.

… … The new word is a sign form that is not easily recognizable overall.

However, there were similarities between signs that had similar characteristics.

It was for the same reason that new words related to elements such as fire, water, wind, and earth had similar appearances overall.

“Maybe so.”

however.

Regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

“How do you remember the new words in such detail?”

“Wow, I actually have a good memory. Maybe it’s because I studied.”

Well, whatever.

I guess that’s the way it is.

Most of the long-range dealers in the wizard class also tend to have scholarly qualities.

Hmm, let’s remember that for now.

First, I decided to give it a try.

We need to find out where the guy is so we can deal with him on our own.

As we moved along, we came across some dead bodies along the way.

Most of them were the corpses of the group of old men I had met earlier.

And every single corpse I encountered was black and dried up.

… … Write.

No matter how I look at it, it’s strange.

Even if it was for the purpose of protecting oneself as a manifester, there was no reason to engage in such a random slaughter.

Besides, if you’ve come this far, you probably know that the adventurers on the same floor aren’t that easy.

But if they killed people like this… …, there must be a reason.

And maybe that had something to do with the power to absorb blood.

Let’s move on after roughly checking the body like that.

Unlike before, a body was found quite far away.

And this wasn’t the body of the old man’s team that we saw earlier.

First of all, there were five of them, and I found all five bodies as I passed by.

But the fact that a similar corpse was found again.

Did other teams get hit too?

Let’s get closer to get a feel for the situation.

It was as black and twisted as the other corpses.

But this corpse looks strangely familiar.

It might not be easy to recognize the face because it is so tanned… … .

When I was looking at the woman’s body like that.

Berman, who had been silent for a while, blurted out a word with a puzzled look on his face.

“……veronica?”

He is Berman’s colleague, and he is the one who survived against those guys.

That’s the name of the woman who has the power of lightning.

As soon as I heard that, I quickly signaled to Diana.

Of course, secretly, over the phone, so he can’t hear.

As soon as the signal is given, switch positions with Diana.

I reached out to the healer at the back.

Chook!

And almost at the same time that I grabbed the healer and protected him, a sharp attack came flying.

The healer’s stomach was bound to have quite a deep scar.

… … Chew.

I thought you’d attack the healer first if you made a surprise attack.

Fortunately, he avoided a vital spot and his life was not in danger, but the problem was that he suffered a deep ‘cut’.

“First, let’s heal our own bodies quickly.”

“Oh, yes, yes… … !”

After quickly delivering it to the healer.

I stepped back from the healer and looked at the enemy who had ambushed us.

“Haha… … , I thought it was not for nothing that he asked me to see him. It is different.”

To be exact, the face of an unidentified person wearing Veronica’s mask.