Myryans (1)

We encountered more monsters than expected while leaving the Monster Belt.

Especially when a spider attacked from between the dense trees, even Hazel had to step in.

At first, Hazel seemed unwilling to get involved.

But the problem was the spider spat acidic venom onto the armor I had made for Hazel.

Enraged, Hazel sliced several trees in half and compressed the spiders inside along with the surrounding space.

Of course, after the commotion ended, I took out the ‘Portable Workshop Set [Unique]’ I had received as a first-year reward and perfectly repaired the leather armor in front of tearful Hazel, and then things settled.

After that, a cheered-up Hazel focused on keeping guard at the rear, protecting the party and, more precisely, the armor.

As we traveled, we discovered Black Oak Village, just as I had feared.

We saw a crude fence made of roughly tied trees and took a wide detour.

Only Mae Young-ryeong prowled around Black Oak Village and returned.

Mae Young-ryeong even used invisibility magic to circle the outskirts, occasionally shifting into a Dark Mae Young-ryeong, but returned safely.

Six days later, having left the Monster Belt behind, the party stood before the southern region known as the Land of Spirits and Fairies.

After a half-day’s rest following our exit from the Monster Belt, just as we were about to set off properly, I felt someone tug at my armor top.

I didn’t need to look to know which representative would make that move.

“Why, Naruan?”

“Hey, hey, captain. Where are we heading?”

Perhaps because Naruan’s question was unexpectedly sharp, everyone’s gaze turned to me, even the transcendent ones.

I smiled at the wide meadow dancing in the breeze and spoke.

“Ant nest.”

The Land of Spirits and Fairies can be divided into three main zones.

Adjacent to the Monster Belt, southwest from Exorsus and widening outward, is the triangular-shaped Land of Beast-men.

Below that is the Spirit Forest, stretching southeastward and widening in that direction.

Finally, below those lies a mostly unknown area, said to be home to fairies and arch-beast-men: the Lost Fairy Land.

Our destination was not far from the start of the Beast-men’s forest, but given the vastness of the Battlefield of the Gods, even a seemingly short distance took eight days of brisk travel on the map.

If not for the movement speed buff from ‘Hidden Moon’s Song,’ it would have taken another day or two.

“Huh? Is this it?”

“Yeah, this is it.”

“Is this really a dungeon?”

I couldn’t help but reply to Arun’s foolish question.

“What do you think a dungeon should be like?”

“Usually a dungeon would have magical barriers and be designed so the entrance isn’t obvious, right? This is just an open cave.”

Everyone ignored Arun’s excited, spittle-flecked explanation and began setting up camp at the dungeon entrance.

Simon, with Talis’s help, set up wards around us, and Hazel and Lee Hyo-ju prepared the environment for me to cook.

Naruan fidgeted with his fingers, and Mae Young-ryeong sat quietly, staring into the void and nodding as if organizing something.

The new members ignored Arun and busied themselves with camp chores.

Arun, who had been ranting, seemed embarrassed and quietly joined the preparations, though the other representatives hadn’t invited him.

Arriving in the early afternoon, we slept soundly within the sturdy wards without any sentries.

Reviving the extinguished campfire for a quick breakfast, I gave a brief briefing on the ant nest before entering the dungeon.

“This dungeon is the habitat of the Myryans.”

“Oh… Myryans?”

The transcendent showed interest, while the representatives looked completely clueless.

“Strictly speaking, Myryans aren’t monsters but beast-men. You know what a beast-man is, right?”

“Monsters are creatures created by the Creator or gods, and beast-men are beings mutated after exposure to corrupted divine power,” Lee Hyo-ju answered crisply.

Arun applauded Lee Hyo-ju’s precise explanation.

“…Right. There’s a legend about the Myryans: souls neither evil enough for hell nor good enough for heaven become Myryans. If you cut open a Myryan’s brain, you can sometimes find a thumbnail-sized crystal. That’s the main reason people hunt them.”

“What… is that?”

“I’ll explain that later. The Myryans in this dungeon are unique. They have a hard carapace and strong teeth, and since they resemble ants, they attack a point below the human waist. That makes defense difficult; humans rarely get attacked so low. Their carapace is so tough that frontal downward strikes don’t deal much damage.”

“Hmm…”

“Uh…”

Inex and Wigo, who would take the vanguard, looked visibly troubled by my words.

“Yes, they’re tricky beast-men. That’s why mages are essential when hunting Myryans. But even that isn’t easy here. Do you know what we call the southern region of Exorsus?”

“The Land of Spirits and Fairies.”

Hazel answered immediately, clearly very interested.

I nodded and drew a simple diagram on the ground.

I drew a square, then from a point a little down from the upper-left corner drew a diagonal line to the lower-right, and beneath that drew a line parallel to the square’s top and bottom edges.

“The topmost area is the Beast-men’s land we passed; below that is the Spirit Forest, and the bottommost is the unknown Lost Fairy Land. We’re right on the boundary, on this line. Maybe because of that, these creatures have elemental affinities. Sometimes you’ll even find ones with multiple elements.”

“Elemental affinity?”

“Yes. They carry one of the four elements: Water, Wind, Fire, Earth. So instead of the magic stones sometimes found in beast-men, they contain elemental cores that enhance elemental affinity.”

Hazel and Arun lit up at the mention of elemental cores, while the others reacted indifferently.

“As I said, we call this an ant nest because the Myryans resemble ants. Naturally, their shells and skulls are hard. Their only weak spot isn’t the belly but the joints. Don’t foolishly assume the underside is soft and crawl underneath; you’ll die. Focus attacks on the joints connecting segments and you’ll finish them faster than you think.”

I waved my hand to bring Hugo and Inex to attention, tapped my head with my right index finger, and continued.

“So use your head. Think. Don’t panic and blindly strike down until either your carapace or my blade breaks; build experience on how to handle them. I don’t expect you to deal with Myryans perfectly at first. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Yes.”

I patted the two who answered confidently on the shoulder and beckoned Simon and Arun.

“As I said, they carry elemental affinity, so be careful using magic. Records say pouring water magic on a Water-Myryan can make it recover.”

“Yes. It’s not that I can’t use other schools of magic at all. Haha.”

“Yes!”

“Alright. Let’s enter. The layout isn’t as complex as a typical ant nest. Enter, take the leftmost fork at the first junction, and once you reach the end, backtrack; it’s a loop that leads back to the entrance.”

“Yes!”

“Yes! Captain!”

“Wigo and Inex take the lead, followed by me and Naruan; Lee Hyo-ju, Simon, and Mae Young-ryeong form the rear guard, and Hazel is at the very back. Hazel, focus on defense more than offense. Since it’s an ant nest, compressing space like last time could cause a collapse and bury us alive.”

Looking at the party entering the dungeon, everyone seemed full of confidence.

Perhaps the ease with which we cleared the Monster Belt was the root cause; pride and complacency began to show.

They entered the dungeon without performing Battlefield Analysis or using divine power to scan with their senses—not just the two at the front, but even the mages.

There’s a reason the ‘Setting’ in the Battlefield of the Gods forbids representatives from leaving for four years.

Monsters in the Battlefield of the Gods are stronger than those of other realms, and beast-men are even stronger.

The tense vigilance they showed when first entering the Monster Belt seemed like a lie as Naruan and Hugo began muttering and soon degenerated into casual chatter.

After entering deeper without intervention, a fork in the path appeared.

As instructed, the party took the leftmost corridor, and their idle chatter continued.

Lee Hyo-ju kept glancing my way occasionally, but since I said nothing, she watched in silence.

After walking for a while,

A dark shadow fell over the heads of the chatting party, precisely over Wigo’s head.

Kieeeee!! Scrrrk— Pufufufuh—! Boom—

When a Myryan hanging from the ceiling flipped and dropped onto Hugo, no one except Lee Hyo-ju and me reacted.

While I bisected the falling Myryan, Lee Hyo-ju perhaps used Time Stop; at the sound of ‘Song of Loyal Heart,’ the two sliced corpses aligned with her muscle memory and were thrown far away from Hugo.

“What a sight.”

The members flinched in shock, including Lee Hyo-ju, who had reacted properly.

My words came out cold and disappointed.

In my previous life, these Myryans were called ‘annoyance-inducing beast-men,’ a term used by representatives with over seven years’ experience. They should not be so complacent now.

We chose a Myryan den because, like a tiered dungeon, difficulty increases from left to right, and the rightmost corridor houses three types of Myryans.

With limited magic and increasing numbers, it grows harder, but we expected to manage it.

This was to raise the combat sense of members who’d only sparred at the Exorsus manor, but I hadn’t expected their mindset to crumble from the start.

“You think beast-men are that easy? You killed Twin-Headed Ogres and Cyclopes on the way, so ants seem trivial?”

I walked over slowly and pushed the two split Myryan corpses together with my foot.

“Is this the kind of ant you imagined? Standing upright, it’s bigger than Naruan and big enough to bite Wigo’s neck. If that had fallen straight onto your head earlier, Wigo, your neck would have been broken. Ah, it’s training so you wouldn’t have died, but you might have been crippled. Wigo, Inex—why did I put you at the vanguard?”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

Hugo and Inex’s faces were so pale with shock as they apologized.

Seeing them, regret washed over me that we might have chosen the legion achievement expedition too early.

I shook my head to clear the thought and looked at Naruan.

“Naruan, does this still look like Exorsus to you?”

“I’m sorry… Captain…”

Starting with Naruan, who bowed his head and fiddled with his black scythe, I launched sharp criticism at the others.

“Lastly, Lee Hyo-ju.”

“Yes.”

“I told you you’re our military officer. When allied morale relaxes, it’s your job to handle it or ask the commander for help. Don’t hesitate. If you think it’s your duty, act without delay.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

I’m not the kind of leader who lets things slide, so I hoped my words would pierce their hearts like a cold blade.

So that a real dagger wouldn’t end up lodged in any of them.

“My skill maintains stealth in a prayer-like manner; it doesn’t block all sound or scent like true invisibility. Stay alert. These are mutant beast-men.”

“Yes.”

After that, the party moved on with tension.

Hugo and Inex at the front projected force to sweep their senses ahead, and the mages alternated manifesting Wizard Eye.

Hazel at the very rear maintained Battlefield Analysis as we advanced.