Chapter 85

Steel Monk

Ingelram, a wizard who was once considered the greatest talent at the Magic University in the past, is a master of disguise.

When he puts his mind to it and casts disguise magic, no one can easily find him.

But…

“Today, every time I disguise myself, the situation gets tangled up.”

A short sigh escapes. How many times has this been now? When he first collided with the dwarf’s 4th floor party due to the remaining party check card, when he collided with Lizard from Security Team 2, when he was caught in Ubi’s magic show after entering the steel mill, and now again.

This Elf archer’s agility is truly extraordinary. Both when she sniped the druid with a triple shot and now.

“I thought she was just an idiot back in Plandor.”

Ingelram undid his disguise.

What emerged from under Rilwid’s shell was the party leader of the Sleep Thieves team.

“Ingelram!”

The priest flinched in surprise.

“It’s Ingelram!”

As a bonus, Ingelram’s party member, the barbarian fighter, was also startled.

He too had been unaware.

“Thank goodness!”

The barbarian wrapped Ingelram in a tight embrace, expressing his joy with his whole body, then pulled him behind his back.

From behind that massive torso, Ingelram spoke.

“Can’t you just pretend to be fooled? I’m not trying to harm you. Hm?”

“……”

“In a situation like this, shouldn’t we all work together to deal with the special boss first? You won’t be able to catch the special boss among yourselves.”

“We can catch it.”

At Aimus’s calm reply, Ingelram’s brow furrowed.

“You can catch it?”

“Before entering the 4th floor, Caleb said so. Even if we’re forced to fight the special boss, there’s a way to catch it.”

Then why couldn’t they catch the bosses in the Steel Processing Room earlier and ended up scattered?

That was because the situation went so badly that they couldn’t use their prepared strategy. The Blacksmith and Golden Golem appeared simultaneously in a surprise attack, and since Ingelram’s party was also on site, they couldn’t focus solely on catching the special boss.

If they poured all their strength into that, they would be annihilated by Ingelram’s party’s attack during the cooldown period, wouldn’t they?

“That’s why we avoided the situation first.”

“Nonsense.”

The corner of Ingelram’s mouth slowly curved up.

“If you can catch the Golden Golem or the Blacksmith, that means you’re at least 5th floor adventurer level. Does that make sense?”

“Then would you 5th floor adventurers verify it for us?”

Aimus pointed his iron staff at the barbarian.

“Whether our skills are around 5th floor level.”

“Puhahaha!”

The barbarian’s laughter echoed loudly.

“I like this monk! A man should have this much guts!”

“Ah. Stop. Everyone calm down.”

Ingelram said in an irritated voice.

“I apologize for pretending to be Rilwid. But if I had shown this face, would you have listened to me?”

“……”

“I was sincere about finding the other party members. I was planning to find them one by one with this bat.”

“And when your numbers became more advantageous, you were planning to kill us?”

The priest pointed out.

“If we encountered the Golden Golem or the Blacksmith, you would have incited us to fight and then quietly tried to eliminate us, right?”

“……”

Ingelram smiled cunningly. Toward Aimus and Yernil.

“Just the priest.”

He said.

“I was planning to kill. I can’t let the security officers who know my face live. But, Yernil. And monk.”

Ingelram began persuading the two.

“Do you remember what I proposed to Caleb earlier?”

“……”

“I said let’s work together. I was sincere. We can become the second Black Dog. Ha. Originally, I should have made this proposal after weeding out only Neko’s team, but it’s unfortunate.”

If he could have hidden as Rilwid and wiped out only Neko’s party, he could have firmly grasped control of the situation.

If Caleb couldn’t be recruited, he could just kill him.

“The timing isn’t quite right, but I believe you’ll make a wise choice.”

He pointed at Yernil.

“You’re quite sharp-minded too, aren’t you?”

Yernil flinched in surprise.

“Me… Me?”

“Yernil, you mustn’t be swayed.”

Aimus said.

“Of course!”

Yernil drew her bowstring from behind Aimus’s back.

“How unfortunate.”

***

Combat between adventurers begins in an instant and deadly exchanges occur in a moment.

Phwip!

The arrow fired from the Elf archer’s hand traced a parabola over the barbarian’s head.

It was curved fire aimed at sniping Ingelram. However.

Ttaang!

The 5th floor fighter barbarian didn’t miss it. He jumped in place and raised his shield like an outfielder to catch the arrow.

At that moment, the odds had already tilted.

Toward Ingelram.

The wizard immediately grasped the victory scenario and tasted a small joy.

‘Pathetic fools.’

Caleb is a smart wizard, but he was overconfident. They can catch the Golden Golem or the Blacksmith among themselves? Ridiculous.

And the monk and Elf archer made a fatal mistake.

Hunting monsters on the 4th floor and fighting adventurers are completely different stories.

How much experience could these labyrinth novices have with combat between adventurers?

Ingelram wanted to ask that.

On the other hand, 5th floor wizard Ingelram had massacred countless adventurers during his raiding and theft processes.

He wanted to teach them that.

“Ground Rise Siege Engine.”

However, there’s one thing that bothers him.

That iron staff monk.

‘I’ve never seen that type before.’

Shouldn’t monks normally use fist weapons? And isn’t the way monks explore labyrinths as adventurers to dodge monster attacks with mysterious movements and unleash storm-like counterattacks to subdue them?

But an iron staff monk.

Certainly, Caleb is a peculiar wizard. This is the first party to put such a thing as the vanguard.

‘Should I kill the monk first.’

That unfamiliarity and uncertainty bothers him. It would be right to eliminate him early.

Ingelram directed the Ground Rise Siege Engine toward the monk. A spear of pointed and solid bedrock flew toward the monk like an awl.

“Guardian’s Shield.”

The shield cast by the priest covered the monk, but that didn’t matter either.

Kwajik!

Because the barbarian who had jumped struck down at the monk.

His iron staff spread horizontally from above to defend against the barbarian’s axe, but as the two weapons collided, the shield was torn.

The Ground Rise Siege Engine rising from below easily penetrated and lodged in the monk’s chest.

Kwajik!

Like this.

‘……?’

However, the monk didn’t fall.

***

Skill ‘Steel Bloodline’.

The true value of the vanguard iron staff strength monk used when clearing Turn-Based Master difficulty begins to be gradually demonstrated from when that skill is learned.

The setting is as follows.

The mental power of a monk who has completed deep training on Mount Dalai is transmitted to the heart, circulates through the blood, and makes all blood vessels throughout the body as strong as steel.

From the aorta to the capillaries in the dermis layer just below the skin’s epidermis.

Explained in terms of game system effects, it’s the ability to gain additional defense equal to armor defense. For a number of turns equal to the number of enemies from the moment of being attacked.

If you properly equip special abilities, magic equipment, and buffs here, you can see an immortal who can rampage without a scratch even when receiving concentrated fire from multiple enemies in the depths.

That’s why I cleared Turn-Based Master difficulty with a strength monk.

At this point where I learned that skill at the fountain, there probably aren’t many vanguards tougher than Aimus by 4th floor standards.

“Since Neko’s team even has a priest, if Aimus takes the vanguard role, we can catch the Blacksmith or Golden Golem too.”

“Then… Are we going to kill all of Ingelram’s party?”

Rilwid asked cautiously.

“If they don’t surrender, there’s no choice.”

We exited the furnace and are moving toward the Steel Processing Room.

“But do we have to go in this form?”

Rilwid asked cautiously again.

“Yes.”

We used Rilwid’s large-scale disguise to dress up our appearance.

“What if we get attacked…?”

“That’s why we search with the Watcher every time we move rooms.”

Rilwid is the Golden Golem.

I am the Blacksmith.

***

The iron staff that activated skill Smashing Gaia and struck down from the air was like a hydraulic press in a steel mill.

Kwaang!

The reason the barbarian dodged instead of blocking it with his shield was because he instinctively felt it.

That if he tried to block, his forearm would be crushed beyond the shield.

‘This can’t be.’

Ingelram received the biggest shock of all the things he had seen and experienced from the day he first entered the 1st floor of the labyrinth until now.

‘What is this!’

That party is definitely strange.

‘How has such a guy not been known until now?’

That party’s vanguard is literally insane.

It’s just that the other guys were overshadowed because wizard Caleb has become too famous as a super rookie at the Magic University right now.

That cunning(?) Elf archer who performed brilliant foolish acting while simultaneously sticking three arrows into the druid.

That rogue who has the Labyrinth Master’s seal stamped on his forehead, making it confusing whether he’s human or monster, and even if he’s human, whether he’s an adventurer or raider.

An even more shocking figure has appeared.

Bang!

Crack!

Staff technique that overwhelms the barbarian.

5th floor level strength.

That is…

‘It’s Radiance Power!’

Didn’t the priest’s buff go in earlier? That’s why his strength became as good as the barbarian’s. But still, for a monk to have such strength?

And how…

‘Does that make sense?’

The axe struck the monk’s shoulder, but the blade didn’t penetrate. Just a drop of blood trickled down.

“Sacred Ground of Fair Trade!”

To make matters worse, the priest activated an additional blessing.

It’s a territory control blessing that applies healing and buffs to a certain range by paying the prayers offered to Nataniel so far as a price.

“Ingelram!”

The barbarian, who was gradually being pushed back by the monk’s staff technique, shouted.

Arrows were pouring toward Ingelram.

“Magic Shield.”

Ingelram deployed the defensive magic in his 1st-tier slot.

Tang! Tatang! Tang!

While receiving the arrows with the magic shield summoned at the tip of his wand, Ingelram changed tactics.

‘I need to catch the priest first.’

Catching the monk is impossible right now.

That beyond-common-sense defense is firstly due to high-level defensive equipment, secondly because the priest’s blessing was added, and thirdly because the monk himself activated a defensive skill that Ingelram doesn’t know.

That trinity created a monster that’s unaffected even by a 5th floor barbarian’s axe. But if the effect is that powerful, the duration won’t be long.

He needs to endure until then. Pouring magic at the monk is a waste of power.

It would be better to attack the enemies’ rear first.

“Carving.”

Ingelram vigorously swung his wand in the air.

Carving, a type of atmospheric magic, subdues enemies by consecutively firing five sharply honed magic blades, and was one of Ingelram’s main techniques, but…

Pung!

Suddenly, a huge magic parasol opened at the tip of the monk’s iron staff.

“Damn. What the hell is this now…”

The parasol absorbed all the pouring carving blades.

Phwip!

And a curved arrow flew from beyond the parasol.

Kwaang!

The barbarian jumped again as before and caught the arrow, but this time the monk didn’t give him an opening.

He charged toward the barbarian who was falling after blocking the arrow, pointing his iron staff like a spear.

And…

“This… This can’t be…”

The shield broke!

The barbarian himself seemed quite shocked as he blankly looked down at his tingling empty hands.

It’s true that the shield had cracks from receiving several arrows already.

‘But could it break this easily?’

Ingelram couldn’t escape from the confusion of successive shocks, and the monk swung his iron staff.

Kwaang!

The barbarian took it with his body and was sent flying and rolling.

“That is your karma.”

Vulant’s Hammer modified the special ability Firm Declaration into Declaration of Karma.

To be able to debuff enemies’ defense.