GILF Hunter

Chapter 452: 452 Shadow

The expedition continued to advance along the passage.

Hidden within the thick darkness that lay in every direction, shadows that approached without a sound continued to raid the expedition.

A black shadow leaped out from the darkness, baring its teeth silently.

’Front and right!’

The knights, who were already on guard for an ambush, immediately noticed the attack and responded. Knights with shields stepped forward to block the monsters.

Attacking the expedition along with the Shades this time was a monster with a physical form, unlike the Shades.

A monster bound by chains of black shadow, known as a Straggler.

Its body was made of lumps of rock or broken pieces of armor, or sometimes even the skeletons of beasts, monsters, or humans.

Such things were connected by shadow chains and moved like a golem.

’Shields to the right! Unit 3 to the front!’

Having grasped the composition of the enemies, the Knight Commander immediately issued orders to change the formation.

It was quite chaotic at first, but after several encounters with the monsters, the knights were able to prepare reasonably effective countermeasures.

Along with the shield unit to block attacks, knights with the means to deal with Shades headed to the flanks.

While blocking a Shade rushing toward the torch from the right, a Straggler approached from the front.

Instead of being blocked by a shield here, knights equipped with light armor who could move quickly stepped forward.

’Be careful not to get caught.’

The knights kept their distance from the Straggler and maintained a gap.

This monster did not attack directly, but attempted to grab someone nearby and pull them away.

If caught by those hands and chains, one would be dragged into the darkness where light does not reach and eventually become one of the components of those monsters.

Stepping forward with a shield in front of such a monster would only result in the shield being grabbed and taken away, or being dragged out along with the shield.

’Got it!’

Airi’s arrow, fired from the rear, struck one of the Shades.

While physical attacks didn’t work, they weren’t particularly sturdy monsters either, so Airi could easily hunt them with just a few mana-infused arrows.

Since the field of vision was so dark, she couldn’t see the monster’s exact position, but since they were homing arrows anyway, it wasn’t a problem for Airi.

The last Shade hit by an arrow melted into the darkness and disappeared.

’Right side cleared!’

’Next, the front!’

Simultaneously, Lia and Rin took care of the two Stragglers in the lead. These were also opponents that weren’t very difficult as long as one was careful not to be caught, being only slightly sturdy.

As the monsters all fell, an eerie silence returned to the noisy passage as if it had never happened.

Since the monsters here all melted into the darkness once defeated, not even a trace of the battle could be found. It almost felt like an illusion that the previous events had even occurred.

’Phew... is it over? Airi, do you see anything else?’

’Nn. There don’t seem to be any more nearby.’

Rin let out a light breath and returned inside the formation.

Since entering the deep layers, Rin and the other members were actively participating in most of the battles.

In a situation where resources and time were limited, Rin, who could handle the monsters relatively easily, had to step forward actively to save strength as much as possible.

While the knights maintained their defense and protected the target personnel, the members of the Ian Mercenary Group stepped out to deal with the monsters—this was the best method found so far.

It might be a somewhat unfamiliar strategy for the knights... but for Ian, this was actually more familiar.

Usually, the most well-developed main dealer handles all the monsters. When specialized mercenaries with stats peaked in one direction are included, it naturally ends up being this kind of strategy.

The knights sidled up to the returning Rin.

To be honest, when they first saw Rin’s appearance after a battle, they were a bit... intimidated.

Anyway, the people gathered here were the Holy Knights of the Temple. They quickly overcame that sense of repulsion and started to strike up conversations with Rin surreptitiously.

’How can you maintain your reason like that under the influence of a demonic sword?’

’...Um. I wonder.’

It was a secret.

The secret could never be told.

’It’s a great will.... You would have surely made a name for yourself even if you became a temple knight. How about seriously considering it even now?’

’...I’ll think about it.’

Forget success; she’d be lucky if she didn’t get punished by the Goddess Statue...

If she became a Holy Knight struck by lightning in front of the Goddess Statue, her name would certainly be widely known.

Ian checked the status of the expedition after the battle. Fortunately, no major injuries had occurred, nor had any dangerous mistakes happened during combat yet.

’Let’s change the torches now and set off.’

’Yes. Torchbearers, rotate!’

Having checked the mental status of the personnel in charge of the light source, Ian issued the order for rotation.

The knight who had been holding the light heard that signal and let out a sigh of relief despite himself.

Normally, he might have said he could do more just for show, but right now he didn’t even have the energy for that.

Knights pulling out new torches lit them, and the knights who had been in charge of the torches until then were finally able to put down the light from their hands. Feeling heavy fatigue, the knight discarded the burnt-out torch.

The first torch rotation ended successfully, and Ian looked at the passage ahead.

A long passage stretched out in a straight line beyond the endless darkness.

The deep layers had a linear structure with no forks. Which room would appear was random, but in exchange, there was no need to worry at forks or go through the trouble of drawing a detailed map of everything.

Of course, they had to keep records for the report, so they were recording a simple map. Still, not having to worry about the path was a big advantage in its own way.

Walking along the passage and going slightly further forward, the space widened as a somewhat large room revealed itself.

While everyone took positions in front of the room and stood guard, Airi stepped slightly ahead to briefly examine the interior.

’Monsters?’

’None visible.’

’Nothing that looks like a trap either.’

After finishing the check for traps using a potion, Ian quietly looked around the empty room.

In the center of the room was a broken statue that could be interacted with simply, but that was just an object for reading story logs within the deep layers. It wasn’t anything to be concerned about. So, it could effectively be seen as an empty room.

After confirming there were no monsters and entering with the members, Ian muttered.

’This is... an empty room.’

’...Is that bad?’

Tanya, who had often encountered such empty rooms in the Labyrinth, asked Ian with a puzzled face.

Empty rooms were usually safe zones without monsters where they could rest comfortably, making them places of absolute benefit. However, Ian didn’t seem to like it much.

’It appeared too early. There might not be a place to rest after this.’

They had descended quite deep, but it could still be called the early part of the deep layer expedition.

Even though they had gone through a few battles, their power consumption was still almost non-existent.

A room like this was definitely the best place to use for resting or as a campsite... but the problem was that it was too early for that.

It would have been better if it had appeared further back if possible...

In the linear structure of the deep layers, which room appears in what order is determined randomly. Since it’s rare for rooms of the same type to appear several times in a row, if an empty room appeared this early, the probability of another empty room being placed after this was low.

The fact that a room where they could rest safely appeared in the early stages instead of the middle or later stages was effectively a loss.

It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.

If it were a place without a time limit, he might have considered exploring ahead and returning here to camp, but in this region, that was an excessively inefficient method.

’It can’t be helped. Frenda-san, let’s rest here before moving on. If we just pass through, there might be nowhere to rest at all after this.’

’...That’s true. I’m of the same mind.’

Frenda nodded in agreement with Ian’s opinion.

Since they couldn’t predict what place would appear next, they naturally had to make the most conservative decision possible.

Ian and Frenda relayed the instruction to the expedition to rest for a while.

It was a bit sudden, but everyone took positions in the room, set down their luggage, and prepared to rest in a hurry.

Haa...

The sound of the expedition’s knights secretly sighing spread softly. They had reflexively reacted to the word ’rest’.

Although they had only gone through a few battles since entering here, this place was one that made them feel more extreme mental fatigue than anywhere they had experienced until now.

From the time they received knight training to the period they spent active as formal knights, they had all traveled through truly diverse places.

Naturally, they had explored numerous locations, including dangerous dungeons, deep remote areas, and regions where ferocious monsters appeared... but this place was decidedly the worst among them.

There was also a conviction that even after this day, they wouldn’t be able to find a more terrible place even if they wanted to.

So, if they could return safely from this expedition, it would become an irreplaceable great medal for their future knightly lives. That was why they had volunteered for this expedition in person.

...Of course, there were almost no knights who could think that deeply right now.

They simply let out a tired sigh and lay down their bodies at the sudden word of ’rest’.