Hard Carried by My Sword-Chapter 122

After successfully taking down the Mithril Slime, Unit 8 sat around a small lamp, taking a short break. Karen was the first to speak, pouting slightly.

“Darn. I didn’t really get a chance to pull my weight this time.”

From the very beginning of the fight, she’d been busy evading with Hazel in tow and hadn’t had the chance to join in the fun. The slime’s range of attack was more than enough to threaten all four of them at once, so, had Karen let go, Hazel wouldn’t have lasted long.

“You saved my life, didn’t you, Karen? Taking down the monster isn’t the only kind of contribution that counts.”

Hazel knew that as well and offered a warm, comforting smile to lift Karen’s mood. Striking down enemies, protecting your comrades—one wasn’t more important than the other. And when it came to high-tier mages like Hazel, their importance to the team couldn’t be overstated.

Garlond decided to help.

“Hazel is right. A high-tier mage is an irreplaceable member of any team and should always be the top priority to protect. So don’t beat yourself up just because you weren’t on the front lines, Karen.”

“Hmph, I’m not beating myself up or anything,” Karen replied, puffing out her cheeks. “You wouldn’t understand, old man. You got to finish it off. I wanted to land a flashy blow too.”

“O-old man?!”

“What, you thought shaving your beard would make you look significantly younger?”

“Ek.”

Garlond staggered, stabbed by her words, and Hazel gently patted his back with a soft smile.

“Next time, I’ll support you so you can be the star, Karen,” Hazel said.

“It has to be more impressive than a Mithril Slime, though...” Karen muttered.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing. Just talking to myself. Don’t worry about it.”

There was no way Hazel could’ve guessed, but Karen’s real goal wasn’t to unleash her strength or show off. It was to create material worthy of writing in her autobiography.

A rare monster like the Mithril Slime would’ve been perfect, but all she’d done was watch from the sidelines.

Chances are slim that we’ll see another S-rank monster...

She’d done her best according to her role, but for someone as fame-hungry as Karen, it still felt like a loss. Only Leon could read her thoughts, and he snickered silently.

Putting in that much effort into building her fame is actually kind of admirable, huh? Don’t you think, El-Cid?

El-Cid, for once, agreed.

—She might be obsessed with fame, but at least she’s not lying about it. That kind of restraint deserves praise—it’s not easy to stay within the lines. As mortals, desire is inescapable. A person who controls their desires is nobler than someone who has none at all.

When a person with no desire rejected wealth and glory, it was just predictable behavior. When someone who never longed for life risked their neck, that also wasn’t noble, just expected.

The inhuman could not serve as role models. That was why clerics couldn’t simply live without desire. They had to feel lust for attractive people yet resist temptation. They had to feel hunger at the sight of good food, yet offer it to someone who was more starved first.

Leon nodded in agreement and glanced around at his teammates.

“Alright, let’s get moving. We’re almost at a checkpoint where we can check in with Unit 14. Let’s rest there.”

No one objected to his order. The four of them moved out again and soon arrived at a wide fork in the tunnel that connected to the M13-5 route.

A used sleeping bag and cooking pot indicated it was a common resting point. Leon had planned to eat something here, but an unexpected transmission derailed that plan.

—Unit 8! Do you copy?!

The urgent voice of Berger, Unit 14’s leader, came through.

Leon immediately activated his communicator and replied, “We’ve just reached the checkpoint. What’s going on, Unit 14?”

Unit 14 was made up entirely of A-rank mercenaries. For veterans like them to be panicking meant things were serious. Knowing that, the rest of Unit 8 also tensed up.

Berger shouted, —You’ve got a mage, right?! We need your help—fast! We can’t handle this on our own!

Unit 11 asked, —What are you up against?!

—No time to explain! Hurry!

And with that, the transmission cut. It wasn’t wise to charge in blind, but Leon couldn’t abandon Unit 14. He made the call.

“Karen! Grab Hazel!”

“Got it!”

“Wha? What do you mean grab me? Wait—what’s going on—kyaa!”

With Garlond and Leon taking off in a sprint, Karen dashed after them with Hazel on her back. In the blink of an eye, they covered hundreds of meters.

Unit 14 wasn’t far. Barely five minutes into their run, the ground began to tremble, indicating they were close to a battle. When Unit 8 finally arrived, they found Unit 14 in a disgraceful mess, the mercenaries in full retreat.

“Aaaaugh! Run for it!”

“Goddamn rock snake bastard!”

“Do you know how much that cost?!”

The rock serpent chasing them had a silvery, metallic sheen and looked to be around twenty meters long. Its bulky frame moved surprisingly fast, but not fast enough to catch A-rank mercs.

“What the...?”

Leon frowned. They’d come to help, but there was no real danger in sight. Even if it had a mithril-plated hide, four A-rank mercenaries should’ve been able to smash it with brute force.

So why were they just running away? Garlond and Hazel seemed to understand.

“Mm... A Rock Eater. Of all the monsters...”

“I can see why they needed a mage now.”

Just as Leon turned to ask, El-Cid spoke.

—That’s the Rock Eater, also known as the Reaper of the Mines.

Rock Eater? That sounds familiar...

Leon tried to remember where he had heard the name, but nothing came to mind.

By the way, Reaper of the Mines? That’s a bit dramatic. It doesn’t look that strong.

Hazel, seeing his confusion, began to explain.

“A Rock Eater is a worm-like monster that eats bedrock. It doesn’t distinguish between ores and secretes the minerals through its skin like armor plating.”

“So it’s built for defense.”

“Yes, but that’s not what makes it truly dangerous. Ah, perfect example—look at that shield over there.”

Following her finger, Leon spotted a ruined shield among the mercenaries. A mithril alloy tower shield was reduced to scrap, looking like it had been chewed up by caterpillars.

Leon’s eyes widened in shock as he muttered, “No way...!”

Hazel continued, “It’s exactly what you’re thinking. Rock Eaters can digest any kind of metal. Its saliva and stomach acid can dissolve anything—even mithril.”

And after consuming mithril, the Rock Eater’s defense grew absurdly high. Its only real weak point was inside its mouth, which was filled with deadly acid.

So that’s why even a bunch of A-rank mercenaries are running around like headless chickens.

Leon drew his sword with a grimace. If he didn’t have the Holy Sword, he’d have hesitated too.

A-rank mercs probably spent hundreds of gold on their weapons. No one wanted to throw that away fighting a Rock Eater.

Even Garlond was hesitating. He’d already lost money to a cursed blade and bought a new sword on collateral—he had nothing left.

“Hmph.”

Then, Karen stepped forward with a confident grin.

“I think I can take that thing down on my own,” she said.

“Hm?”

“My new daggers aren’t made of metal. So even if I throw them into that rock snake’s mouth, they’ll be fine, right?”

Only then did Leon nod in understanding. The daggers and armor made from the drake they had slain wouldn’t be affected by the Rock Eater’s digestive fluids. And with Karen’s skills, there was no way she’d lose one-on-one.

“Alright. Go get’em, Karen.”

As soon as Leon gave his permission, Karen grinned and leaped into the battlefield so fast she didn’t even leave an afterimage. It was a terribly unlucky encounter for the Rock Eater.

***

Berger laughed heartily as he expressed his gratitude.

“Gahahaha! We owe you one, Unit 8!”

After Karen brought down the Rock Eater, Unit 14 slumped to the ground, catching their breath while checking over their gear. Even a single splash of the creature’s saliva could’ve been a disaster. Thankfully, everything except one tower shield was intact—though the mercenary who lost it wore a gloomy expression.

“Can’t believe we ran into that damned thing. Feels like we got all the bad luck out of the way at once!”

“Good thing no one was injured.”

“Like hell a Rock Eater could hurt us! Sure, we lost a shield, but at least we still have our heads!”

Berger clapped his dejected comrade on the back and turned to Leon.

“Leader of Unit 8, I found something odd.”

“What is it?”

Leon lowered his voice, his tone growing serious. Berger, too, spoke cautiously on this topic.

“You know how Crag Mutants mimic the shapes of creatures they see often, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, we saw one shaped like a spider. Not once or twice—four times.”

Spider-type monsters were rare in mine zones. Aside from Steel Ants, there weren’t many insect-type monsters around for food, and there were no fibrous materials for them to consume to spin webs.

And yet, spider-shaped Crag Mutants had appeared? It was strange, to say the least, especially because one had even nested deep within a mineshaft—not near the entrance.

“Well, not like we’ll solve anything by dwelling on it,” Berger said.

“That’s true. There’s just not enough evidence,” Leon agreed.

It was something to consider after they reached the operations zone and shared intel with the other units. After briefly sharing their experiences, the two leaders parted with their respective units.

Leon and his group returned to M13-2 and discussed the information Berger had shared. Why would a spider-type monster be in the mines? If it did come in, where would it be nesting? How dangerous or powerful was it likely to be?

Hazel spoke up.

“Not that this kind of speculation helps much. If it’s living in a zone with Mithril Slimes and Rock Eaters, then it’s at least A+ rank. That means it’s either an Arachne, a Mag-Spider, or some kind of mutation.”

“So it has to be one of those two, no?” Karen asked.

“Highly unlikely,” Hazel answered as her hair shook side to side as she answered Karen’s question. “Arachnes need to consume a large amount of fiber to survive, and Mag-Spiders only appear near volcanic regions.”

“So neither fits,” Leon said.

“Exactly. So either it’s a mutation, a previously undocumented species, or something we simply can’t identify beforehand. Which means the only option is to conserve our strength and face it when it comes.”

It was the logical conclusion. Leon’s unit agreed and proceeded with increased caution. Several kilometers ahead was the final checkpoint where all three units were to regroup.

On their way, they wiped out a group of Crag Mutants, then made short work of dozens of Steel Ants, clearing the path so easily it made their earlier caution feel silly. There were no signs of another Mithril Slime or Rock Eater.

They passed through M13-2 in just over an hour, arriving just a few steps away from the final checkpoint. There had been no further contact about spider-shaped Crag Mutants—it seemed what Unit 14 had seen was the first and only sighting.

“Ah.”

At the checkpoint, Leon spotted Unit 11, who had arrived first. Geoff also noticed him and offered a respectful bow. A team of three Holy Iron Inquisitors and a spirit summoner was a nearly flawless team composition.

“Welcome,” Geoff stepped forward to greet Leon and his unit on behalf of Unit 11. “Glad to see all four of you made it safely.”

“Thank you.”

Leon shook his hand and looked over Unit 11. Not a scratch on them, and they looked completely relaxed. Even the spirit summoner was playing with a summoned gnome. It was no accident they arrived first.

Everyone here is strong, but Sir Geoff is especially skilled. Even unarmed, I can’t see a single opening in his stance...

Even with his weapon sheathed, Geoff maintained a sword circle. Leon was certain that if they fought within four paces, he wouldn’t win. Holy Iron Inquisitors were trained to handle any situation, but each had their specialties. Geoff was clearly a master of close-quarters combat.

Just then—

“Hm.”

Geoff and Karen turned their heads at almost the same time. Leon followed a beat later, and the rest of the party after that.

Four sets of footsteps sounded from one of the three forked paths that neither Unit 8 nor Unit 11 had come from. Shortly after, a shadowy figure emerged, striding toward them from the M13-5 tunnel. It was Berger’s Unit 14.

“What the—? We’re dead last! Ugh, we talked ourselves up so much, and now we just look pathetic!”

As always, Berger’s voice was loud. Not quite shouting, but loud enough to echo lightly through the tunnels. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

It was a voice Leon had heard a few times already. Faces he’d seen a few times, too. And yet—

“Huh...?”

A deep, inexplicable sense of wrongness hit him. A hunch, almost prophetic, told him something was very wrong.

He activated Rodrick’s Vision instinctively, and his eyes darted across Unit 14 from Berger, to the mercenaries behind him, and further back still.

Top to bottom, front to back. A scrutiny so thorough it might’ve made the targets feel uneasy had they noticed.

Wait a second?!

Then he saw it. The tower shield—which should have been melted by Rock Eater acid—now slung over the back of the very mercenary who’d left it behind.

At that moment, El-Cid chimed in, —Good catch. If you hadn’t noticed, I was going to point it out.

What the hell’s going on?!

—Who knows? But one thing’s clear—

Leon and El-Cid’s eyes locked onto Unit 14, and more specifically, onto the loud-mouthed Berger.

—Those bastards aren’t real. They’re not the same people we saw earlier. They’re something else—something pretending to be human.

As soon as El-Cid confirmed it, Leon infused Aura into his eyes. With his golden pupils blazing, his Stigma of the Observer pierced through the disguises of the fakes.

Not even Geoff or Karen had noticed. This was no illusion born of Aura or magic.

Only a force outside this world’s laws could make such a transformation possible, suggesting a power granted by monsters from beyond dimensions. This was forbidden power unblessed by the goddess.

Exolaw...!

The Stigma flared like branding irons, identifying targets for annihilation. The moment Leon gripped his sword hilt, he saw it.

A hallucination—so vile it made him nauseous—of a grotesque, tangled mass of spiderwebs clinging to the thing that had taken Berger’s form.