Chapter 210

As soon as we passed through the magic gate, we found ourselves in an event dungeon: The Room of Slimes.

[Event Dungeon - The Room of Slimes]

- Fight off the incoming slimes to survive!

- A swarm of slimes is approaching!

- Lv.15 Normal Slimes: 30 in number

The dungeon room was an open plain, and slimes started pouring in from all sides.

"..."

"..."

"..."

However, the party members who had entered before me didn't even bother looking at the slimes.

Lucas, Evangeline, and Junior each had their weapons drawn, all surrounding Damien.

Whoooosh...

All the darkness within the event dungeon began to gather, swirling around Damien like a dense fog.

It was somewhat similar to the state Damien had been in yesterday morning when he acted out, as if possessed. However, the volume of darkness now swirling around him was incomparably greater.

"What's going on?" I shouted frantically.

Lucas calmly reported, "As soon as we entered, the darkness within the dungeon started converging on Damien. He's unresponsive at the moment, so we're not sure if he's conscious."

"Damn it..."

If it were a mental status effect, my passive skill 'Unyielding Commander' would've restored him just by standing next to him.

The fact that he was still like that meant this was something else entirely.

'I shouldn't have brought him into the dungeon when he's not well!'

I had thought it would be safer to keep him within my line of sight, but it appeared that I had miscalculated.

The dungeons in the Lake Kingdom are the strongholds of darkness and nightmares.

It would only worsen Damien's condition, not improve it...!

Gurgle...

From Damien's back, a more vivid and voluminous dark aura than usual poured forth from [Black Queen], completely enveloping him.

His once sparkling eyes were now cloudy and listless.

"Damien! It's me, Ash! Don't you recognize me?"

I yelled, hoping to get through to him.

His cloudy eyes rolled to the side to look at me, and then...

Heh.

A sinister smile unlike any I had ever seen before appeared on Damien's lips.

"Damien is currently dreaming a happy dream."

"...!"

"Do not interfere with his happiness, human."

I had a gut feeling.

'That' was not Damien.

"Damn it!"

I muttered under my breath and at that moment,

Clang!

Damien's arms, fully consumed by the dark aura, gripped the pistol-shaped magic gun, [Cerberos], at his waist.

In the blink of an eye, the muzzle was aimed at me,

Bang! Bang-!

Flames burst forth.

***

Wham!

The next moment, sparks flew off the shield that Evangeline had wrapped around me.

Wielding her shield, she deflected the magical bullets, then clenched her magical lance forward.

"Good heavens, he's completely lost it, hasn't he? I can't believe Damien would fire at you, senior?"

Tell me about it. We might have to rethink the rankings of who's most likely to lose their minds in our party.

Crack!

Just then, Lucas clenched his teeth so hard the sound echoed within the dungeon room. He looked really pissed.

"While I acknowledge your contributions, to aim your guns at your lord... You need some serious discipline, Damien."

"Right now, Damien is unconscious due to the influence of that magic gun."

I clenched my teeth and pulled out a staff from my inventory.

"We need to subdue him without hurting him."

I shouted at Junior, who was in the middle of casting a spell.

"Junior! Can you hold off the Slime Wave on your own?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Junior's magic was powerful, but that was part of the problem. If we're not careful, Damien could get seriously hurt.

As Junior held back the oncoming slimes with her area-of-effect magic, Lucas, Evangeline, and I closed in on Damien for a physical confrontation. That was the strategy I'd devised.

"Subdue without harm... not sure that's entirely possible, Senior."

Evangeline looked down at her shield, sweating profusely from deflecting magical bullets, and gave a wry smile.

"Isn't Damien the strongest spear our party possesses?"

"And you're the strongest shield I have."

At my words, Evangeline let out an odd giggle.

Lucas then shot me a stern glance.

"And what about me, my lord?"

"...You're the strongest sword I have."

Satisfied, Lucas let out a hum and nodded his head. Now's really not the time for banter.

"We just need to take that magic gun from Damien's back... Let's go!"

On my mark, Evangeline and Lucas charged.

"Counter-sniping is something I've practiced to death at the academy!"

Evangeline, holding her shield out in front, advanced as Damien fired rounds from his twin Cerberus guns. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ping! Whiz! Ping!

However, Evangeline was a specialist in shield skills.

She effortlessly deflected the weak magical bullets from the Cerberus guns and rapidly closed the distance to Damien.

Tossing aside his emptied Cerberus guns, Damien drew a third Cerberus and a machine-gun styled magic gun called "Woodpecker" in each hand.

And then he fired, not at Evangeline but at the ground where she had stepped.

Ratatat!

The bullets ricocheted off the ground and flew up in the air.

Expecting only direct fire, Evangeline couldn't block or dodge in time, and the bullets hit her calves and thighs.

'He calculated all the ricochet angles and fired?'

This insane Far-Sight! Overpowered skill! I love it, but it's incredibly problematic when he's an enemy!

"Ah!"

Although her legs were armored, the damage was significant. Spurting blood from her legs, Evangeline collapsed to the ground. Damn it, Evangeline!

"Hup!"

Right behind her, Lucas, who had been sprinting, reached Damien.

"Let's clearly establish the pecking order of this party, Damien!"

Using his level 2 skill 'Step of Persistence,' Lucas closed the distance every time his foot touched the ground, by several meters.

Ratatat!

Damien emptied the remaining bullets from the Woodpecker, but Lucas tanked the hits with his body and got right up to Damien. His sword was already within striking range.

Vroom!

With his sword still sheathed, Lucas powerfully swung his greatsword.

Even if it wouldn't kill him, the swing of the sword carried a menacing weight, capable of easily breaking a few bones.

However.

- Bang!

Damien fired Cerberus, precisely hitting the tip of the swinging sword.

Thrown off course by the bullet, Lucas's sword narrowly missed Damien, slicing through empty air instead.

"What...?"

Frustrated, Lucas swung his longsword downward again.

- Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more times in a row.

Damien skillfully shot Lucas's sword tip, diverting the blade's course. Each time, Lucas's attack missed, slicing through nothing but air. It was an uncanny feat.

But Cerberus was out of ammo.

Without hesitation, Damien tossed his twin magic pistols to the ground and smoothly drew another magical long-gun—Hunter's Retribution—from his back.

He aimed the long-gun straight at Lucas. The muzzle was pointed precisely at Lucas's heart.

- Bang!

- Boom!

Just then, Evangeline lunged in, extending her shield to deflect the magical bullet.

Immediately after, Lucas swung his longsword downward again. Damien, unfazed, fired another round from Hunter's Retribution, hitting the tip of Lucas's sword once more.

- Bang! Bang! Bang!

- Clang! Zing! Ping!

Offense and defense intertwined in rapid succession.

As I watched the surreal melee duel unfold between two knights and a sniper, I gritted my teeth.

I wasn't idle either. I kept trying to control Damien's mind with my Level 1 skill [Gaze of Command].

The problem was, [Gaze of Command] required eye contact to activate.

But Damien's eyes—his Far-Sight—seemed to anticipate my intentions. He skillfully avoided making eye contact with me.

Even a fleeting moment of eye contact would trigger the skill, but damn his Far-Sight. He was uncannily good at evading my gaze.

I considered throwing the stun dagger [Spirit Crasher] that I got from Elize yesterday. But if Lucas's sword swings were missing, there was no way my dagger throw would land.

'At this rate, someone is really going to get hurt...!'

Hunter's Retribution had a clip of 12 rounds. It was about to run out.

Once that happened, Damien would draw his last magic gun, Black Queen... and its massive firepower would inevitably draw blood from someone.

'Isn't there a smooth way to resolve this situation...?!'

As I scanned the surroundings, something caught my eye.

Slimes.

These jelly-like monsters that Junior was currently clearing away with magic.

"...!"

An idea flashed through my mind like lightning, and I couldn't help but shout.

"This is it!"

I immediately yelled over to Junior, who was in the middle of slime disposal.

"Junior! Stop killing the slimes!"

"Huh?"

Confused, Junior looked at me, and I urgently commanded her.

"Group them all in one place!"

***

- Bang!

The last round from Hunter's Retribution was fired.

"Argh!"

Evangeline, who had been blocking with her shield, couldn't bear the continuous impact any longer. Her gauntlet shattered into pieces, and she screamed in agony.

"Damn it..."

Lucas also gritted his teeth, letting out a groan.

Lucas and Evangeline were limited to suppressive attacks, whereas Damien was shooting to kill. 

The difference in combat power was inevitable. Lucas clenched the hilt of his longsword, grinding his teeth. 

Does this mean that only blood will end this?

- Thunk!

Damien, without hesitation, tossed aside his empty 'Hunter's Retribution' and drew the shotgun he had strapped to his back for the last time. 

'Black Queen.'

A Nightmare Slayer, the most powerful equipment on the southern front, and the instigator of the current crisis.

Woosh!

As Damien grasped the Black Queen, the dark aura swirling around his body intensified.

Grrrrr...!

An evil energy emanated from the shotgun, making it hard to even breathe.

- Shing!

Lucas clenched his teeth and drew his longsword from its sheath. 

'If he fires that gun, I can't just swing my sword for suppression anymore. One of us will have to fight prepared to die.'

Damien smoothly aimed the Black Queen at Lucas's forehead. 

Lucas widened his eyes, preparing for the shot aimed at him.

At that moment when the sniper and the knight were locking eyes, charging their magic and sword skill, something happened.

- Woosh!

Suddenly, dozens of slimes rolled and poured behind Damien. The colorful, jiggling slimes looked like an avalanche.

"…?!"

Startled, Damien immediately turned around and fired the Black Queen. Bang!

A single shot penetrated and eliminated the cores of six slimes. But there were still plenty of slimes left.

Plop! Plop!

The clumps of jelly-like slimes gelled together and rained down upon Damien.

"Go, my slimes!"

Behind the wave of slimes stood Ash.

He had used his level-one skill, 'Gaze of Command,' to simultaneously mind-control dozens of slimes and direct them to attack Damien.

Even though his nose was bleeding from excessive magic power usage and he was plugging it with tissue, the third prince of the empire looked rather pleased.

"Any of you who survives and successfully subdues Damien will be permanently on our side!"

Plop! Plop!

Woosh!

Whether or not they understood Ash's words, the slimes charged like a tidal wave.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In a frenzy, Damien fired the Black Queen repeatedly, eliminating dozens of slimes by piercing their cores, but ultimately he was overwhelmed by the remaining slimes and...

Plop!

"Cough...?!"

He was encapsulated in the wiggly jelly.

"Would you really forcibly rob this child of his happy dream...?!"

Damien distorted his face and shouted.

"Living in the dreams of the past is happier for him than this hellish reality...!"

"Sleeping when he shouldn't be? Obviously, he needs to be woken up. What are you talking about?"

Ash approached the struggling Damien and swiftly snatched the Black Queen from his hand.

"The teacher's confiscating this. Pick it up after class."

When Ash gripped the shotgun, the dark aura emanating from it vanished as if it were a lie.

Ash finished his statement with a stern face.

"Serve your punishment until then. Damien... kneel and raise your hands inside that!"

Above the flailing Damien, the remaining slimes finally poured down.