One Suspect Eliminated

With a refreshing noise, Tanis fell backward onto his backside.

* 〈Thrag is confused.〉

What are you confused about? Since the ‘skeleton’ didn’t move on its own but was used as a weapon, let’s move on.

* 〈Thrag acknowledges.〉

Okay.

If they could pick on me for that, they’d have summoned an ‘Apostle’ long ago and killed me.

Big Bro Thrag’s personality really has softened a lot.

“Hi, hiiii…!”

Tanis let out a shrill scream, almost a wail, stumbling backward in a clumsy posture.

“Wh-why are you fine?!”

Why?

I showed you the reason.

“Blood spattered—how can you be unharmed?!”

Just like Tanis said, his face was smeared with red blood.

Since it got on his face the moment he stabbed with his one-handed sword, it’s only natural to think it was my blood.

“It just wasn’t my blood.”

I drew the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’, gripping the handle tightly.

Crimson blood welled at the tip of the blade, then slowly dripped to the floor.

“Th-the dagger is bleeding…?”

“Tanis.”

Quiet and firm.

Addressing him by name, Tanis looked at me, terror-stricken.

“You tried to kill me.”

I didn’t have a scratch on me, but there was unmistakable murderous intent in Tanis’s attack.

If I hadn’t used the ‘skeleton’ but took it with my own body, I would have died for sure.

“Therefore, I will kill you.”

Re-adjusting my grip on the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’, I pronounced judgment on Tanis.

Tanis gulped nervously.

What rose in his eyes was pure fear. In an instant, that fear blanched his face, and his whole body started to tremble.

But in that fleeting moment of terror, a chilling hostility began to blaze in Tanis’s eyes, and a sickly smile crept onto his tightly clenched lips.

“We’re equal rank anyway! It’s not even one-on-one, and I have Ligato’s authority on my side.”

“You seem to be mistaken.”

The smile didn’t last long.

“Do you really believe we are of the same rank?”

No longer could fear and bravado be seen on Tanis’s face.

What filled his eyes now was naked hostility. He took up his one-handed sword again.

“Shut up, you bastard!”

Kicking off the ground, Tanis charged at me.

This time, thanks to the weak glow of the ‘lighthouse,’ we could at least make out each other’s outlines, if not more.

Tanis’s one-handed sword came straight at me.

At the moment the tip of the blade reached my nose, I twisted my body slightly and let the attack slip by with barely a sheet-of-paper’s thickness between us.

“Wh-what?!”

Tanis was flustered. Honestly, I was surprised too.

I’d thought in my head that I’d dodge, but I didn’t expect to do it so naturally.

Well, in hindsight, it’s only natural.

After all, the monsters I’ve met so far in dungeons have been nothing short of monstrous.

I even recently encountered the ‘Black Knight’, a monster that defied all standards.

Maybe it’s thanks to those experiences, but avoiding Tanis’s attack wasn’t hard for me—and at the same time, I could counterattack at his side.

“You stupid barbarian! Didn’t I tell you earlier?!”

Despite the sensation of slicing, Tanis’s face didn’t change.

‘Ligato’s’ authority.

He transferred the wound to an ally.

Thanks to that, a scream of agony came from far away.

“My slaves take my wounds for me!”

I know.

“You must not want your slaves to die.”

Tanis composed himself and wielded his one-handed sword yet again.

“That’s why, when I said the slaves should go first, you took the lead yourself, didn’t you?”

I deflected his sword with the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’.

“Idiot! To be worrying about others in a situation like this… huh!?”

I locked his weapon-holding hand with the joint technique, ‘armbar’.

I knew how to use it.

Even a dog at a village school can recite poetry after three years.

Let’s not forget there’s a crazy woman right beside me who loves joint locks.

* [Using skeleton summoning.]

As a necromancer, I made up for my lack of strength with the ‘skeleton exoskeleton’.

Crack—!

Recalling Serena’s posture, I twisted his arm. Tanis’s arm snapped with a crisp sound.

“E-eek…!”

“Even if the pain and wounds are gone, the broken bone remains.”

He tried to swing the sword with his right hand, but the broken arm just flailed uselessly.

Just copying what I saw, but the effect is shocking.

No wonder Serena is so confident in close combat. Scary woman!

“Shut up!”

Tanis spat out a curse and barely managed to transfer the sword to his left hand.

Meanwhile, I let go of the ‘armbar’ and wrapped my arm around Tanis’s neck.

Guillotine choke.

Serena’s signature move.

“Gaaaah!”

However, before I could lock in the ‘guillotine choke’ completely, Tanis’s thrashing managed to shake me off.

Serena clamps it in an instant. Is this the difference in skill?

Still, it’s fine.

* [Using skeleton summoning.]

I already engraved a ‘tattoo’ on his neck.

“Guh… guhk!”

‘Ligato,’ the god of connection and bond, transfers any wound or pain to an ally bearing the mark, but cannot transfer certain ‘conditions’.

Like moving your own joints.

Or breathing air.

If he tried to pass even those on, he wouldn’t be able to move or breathe himself.

“Guhk, guh…!”

When I used ‘skeleton summoning’ to completely clamp his throat, Tanis could no longer breathe.

His eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.

His body didn’t move.

He wasn’t dead—probably just fainted from suffocation.

He looked well and truly unconscious, but in case he was faking, let’s give it another minute.

“Kahk! Kaaahk…!”

So, this bastard was faking! You should win an acting award, really.

For real, a minute later.

Tanis’s body slackened completely.

* * *

This thing’s in tatters.

Muttering curses to myself, I spread out my ‘Red Wolf Armor.’

Thanks to Tanis’s relentless stabbing, the armor was full of holes.

Looks like it’s unusable until it’s repaired. What do I do about this?

Oh.

There’s some wearable armor over there.

I stripped Tanis’s outer clothing.

Eagle Hunter’s Leather Armor

Grade: Rare

[Sturdiness] 1

[Lightness] 2

[Vitality] 1

[Agility] 1

Gonna borrow this for a while. Not sure when I’ll return it.

I examined the stripped Tanis. He wasn’t dead.

Honestly, I could just kill him, but right now we’re in the middle of a dungeon ‘mystery’.

This is the place where they matched up the number of people with the phrase: ‘Steps of equal number.’

So if Tanis were to die and it wasn’t ‘steps of equal number’ anymore, we couldn’t proceed.

Is this the end here?

As I kept following the ‘lighthouse’ glow forward, a ‘pilgrim’ door, similar to the entrance, appeared before me.

But the door wouldn’t open.

Something else necessary?

As I mulled this over, I sensed presences behind me.

Tanis’s companions.

When they arrived, the scales drawn on the door balanced, and the door began to open.

So it really needed five people. Good thing I didn’t kill him.

The bodies of those marked with ‘Ligato’s’ symbol were far from normal.

Their previous wounds, plus new ones from me subduing Tanis.

“He’s fainted.”

“We’re left tied up, and he’s fainted!”

Looking at fallen Tanis, they wore startled expressions.

Their gazes, which had always looked fearful or resigned, now swirled with suppressed anger, revenge, and a strange sense of liberation.

The companion formerly known as ‘Number Four’ picked up Tanis’s one-handed sword from the floor.

Since thanks to ‘Ligato’s’ authority the damage would be transferred back to themselves, but even so, I didn’t think anyone would be able to stop them.

Well, they’ll manage somehow. With that thought, I passed through the door.

Once through, I saw Barkal and Serena waiting for me.

“We’ve been waiting, brother.”

Barkal grinned and nodded once.

“Was that man a necromancer?”

“No.”

“Then why did he target you?”

Barkal was puzzled. Wonder if he’s really trying to remember?

“An old grudge. One you know of as well.”

“I don’t have a good memory! So I killed off all my grudges!”

Well, that’s technically true. All the bandits we saw in the Red Wastes got killed off.

“Serena.”

“Yes?”

“Your technique was a big help.”

I thanked Serena.

Her joint locks really helped me. If the opportunity arises, I’d even like to learn it properly.

“If you want, I can officially teach you! The world of joint locks is profound!”

Not thinking of going that deep, honestly.

As I recoiled at Serena’s smile, Girinil approached me.

“Where are the other four?”

At his question, I pointed behind me.

“They’re in the back. I can’t guarantee Tanis is still alive.”

“What… did he fall afoul of a dungeon trap?”

“No, I subdued him myself.”

Girinil was startled by my words. His guard approached angrily.

“What do you mean, barbarian! Did you just hurt a companion during a dungeon expedition?”

“Calm down, Roland. There’s surely a reason.”

Girinil calmed his guard, called Roland, and turned to me for an explanation.

He wanted to know what happened.

“He stabbed me from behind. The reason he was waiting in this dungeon was because he had a grudge against us.”

“You’re not lying?”

Roland squinted at me. Suddenly, Barkal interrupted.

“Open those eyes politely.”

The atmosphere was getting tense.

“If you’re suspicious, go check yourself. Tanis’s companions are alive, you can ask them.”

At my words, Roland half-closed his eyes and glanced toward the back door.

“Doesn’t seem like he’s lying. Let it go, Roland.”

“But, sir Girinil…”

“We’re almost through the dungeon. Let’s not cause any unnecessary trouble.”

Looks like this puzzle is over. Across from me, as Girinil said, stood the biggest door I’d seen so far.

But there were no inscription stones or statues. It really did feel like the end.

“I sense the Pantheon beyond that door.”

The Pantheon, huh.

What god’s temple will be here?

Anyway, our whole reason for coming was to lure the ‘necromancer’ from the banquet hall, but looks like we’ll see the Pantheon first.

Not that there’s been no progress—we did eliminate one suspect, didn’t we?

Creak—!

As I organized my thoughts, the huge central door began to open.

Then—

I saw something pouring in through the gap in the door.

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