The Genius Necromancer of the Barbarian Race-Chapter 37 : Sometimes Barbarians Lose, too

Sometimes Barbarians Lose, too
"Ugh."
Serena grimaced as she stared at the writhing, blood-black tendrils.
Up until now, as a follower of the 'Goddess of Love and Virtue', Liberas, Serena had never made her disgust so obvious in any situation.
And yet, seeing her hate something this much...
"What on earth is that? It looks way too disgusting!"
"Even Liberas cannot love that thing?"
At my question, Serena nodded her head vehemently.
That is the so-called 'Abyss' that even Liberas—who can embrace this insane humidity and heat—despises.
"I am also afraid."
Just like Serena, Barkal voiced his feelings about the Abyss.
As before, Barkal said, "I am afraid."
Even that monstrous guy gets scared—at the 'Abyss'.
"What scares me is what will happen to me after I kill that thing!"
Contrary to my expectations, Barkal picked up his axe and started approaching the 'tendril'.
"I will surely become the greatest barbarian in the Red Wolf tribe! The future itself frightens me!"
So what scares him isn't the 'Abyss', but what he'll become after defeating the Abyss.
As I stared at him—speechless—Barkal brought his axe down upon the tendril.
Slash──!
As the axe embedded itself, the pulsating tendril spewed black blood and then drooped lifelessly.
"Killed it! From now on, I am the greatest in all the world..."
Barkal continued—until I tapped him on the shoulder, motioning for him to look behind.
The direction I pointed lay littered with more than ten tendrils like the one Barkal had just killed.
"This is just a phenomenon from Abyssification. They'll keep multiplying."
"No way!"
"Then is there no way to stop the Abyssification?"
Serena and I stared at the tendrils Barkal had slain.
The black blood leaking out was sticking to the earth and trees, creating more 'tendrils'.
"Kill the dungeon master and close the dungeon."
"But, brother, the dungeon master is now..."
Serena glanced at the severed Hydra head. Next to it, a large, sunken footprint could also be seen.
Judging by the size, it belonged to the Hydra.
"The footprints are irregular."
With a hunter's glint in his eyes, Barkal began to examine them carefully.
"Fear can be seen in these tracks. The dungeon master is being pursued by something."
Barkal's words turned my unease into reality.
What makes the Abyss so terrifying isn't just phenomena like the tendrils.
The biggest problem is the creatures that live within the Abyss.
Sometimes, in dungeons undergoing 'Abyssification', an 'Abyss monster' will appear.
It seemed the dungeon master was being chased by one of those horrors.
"Simple enough."
Barkal slung his axe over his shoulder and spoke carelessly.
"Kill the dungeon master. Kill whatever's chasing it."
He's right.
Dangerous or not, since we're already here, we have to see it through to the end.
I'd like to run, but if I really did, Barkal and Thrag would definitely make a scene together.
"Then let's pursue it."
I pointed in the direction of the footprints, and both of them nodded.
* * *
Chasing the Hydra's tracks, we made our way through the swamp. Along the way, we sensed people nearby.
"Feels like another adventurer party?"
At Serena's words, we crossed the reeds and checked across.
It was an adventurer party.
But the faces looked somewhat familiar.
"It's the rats!"
Barkal, who recognized them first, shouted so that his voice rang out.
Then, Barkal burst through the reeds straight toward the adventurers.
Now that he said 'rats', I remembered—they were from 'Dark Shade'.
"Eek, eek!"
The rogue, labeled a rat by Barkal, was startled and hid behind the middle-aged man we'd seen before.
"I told you I'd kill you if we ever met again, rat!"
"You never said such a thing."
"Really!?"
At my words, Barkal nodded, then declared again.
"I'll just kill you, rat!"
So, he will kill them after all.
"Calm down, Barkal. The dungeon comes first."
Like restraining a dog, I told him to cool it, and his quivering shoulders settled down.
"I didn't expect you to take the quest."
With Barkal now calmed, I approached the members of 'Dark Shade'.
Then, Camilla came into view.
"Why?"
"Weren't you only chasing necromancers?"
"We're an adventurer party too. And—"
Camilla glanced at her companion, the rogue, then shifted her gaze back to me.
"Iushil is my hometown."
That explains why she'd accept a quest here.
Having finished, Camilla let out a sigh, as if annoyed.
"But why the hell is it so hot? This sucks."
"It's because everyone's faith is lacking!"
"... Serena, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Serena reacted to Camilla's words. She moved closer and began prattling away.
Leaving those two behind, I approached the middle-aged man named Rubelt we'd met in the alley.
"Have you seen the dungeon master?"
The footprints clearly led here.
"Dungeon master? We haven't seen one yet. Did you?"
"I saw a head."
"A head?"
Oh, right.
They don't know the dungeon master here is the Hydra.
"The dungeon master here is a Hydra. I saw one of its heads severed."
"A Hydra... then we may finish this up quickly and get out."
Rubelt chuckled, looking quite relaxed.
"Have you killed one before?"
"Yes, we've killed Hydras as dungeon masters several times. Our captain is especially talented at killing Hydras."
Rubelt glanced at Camilla as he said "captain."
She's good at killing Hydras? Doesn't look like it.
"See over there?"
Sensing my skepticism, Rubelt pointed ahead. Through the reeds, a large, burnt area could be seen.
Inside it was the roasted corpse of a Lizardman.
So that's where the savory smell was coming from.
"That's the magic power of Captain Camilla."
Quite an extensive spell. It didn't even seem like she cast it several times, yet so many Lizardmen were wiped out.
I hadn't seen it firsthand, but I could tell it was insane firepower—and what kind of god she must believe in.
"Valkatus, perhaps?"
Curious, I asked, and Rubelt stared at me, surprised.
"You really aren't like other barbarians. How did you know our captain is a devotee of Valkatus?"
Just as I guessed.
Valkatus, God of explosions and magic.
Popular among mages who value sudden bursts of power.
It was an easy deduction from the traces of magic.
Valkatus loves explosions.
The bigger, the better.
The mad bomber god.
How can you gather faith through causing explosions, of all things?
"Now that we know it's a Hydra, we need to move quickly and take out the dungeon master. No one knows how this Abyssification will unfold."
When 'Abyssification' came out of Rubelt's mouth, I clicked my tongue.
"There's a problem."
"Problem? What kind of problem?"
"We're not the ones who severed one of Hydra's heads."
"... What?"
Right, he naturally thought we did it.
"Something else attacked the Hydra."
"Something? Was it not an adventurer?"
"Probably something emerged from the Abyss."
"Th-the Abyss?"
While Rubelt and I were talking, a horrific sound came from beyond the trees, loud enough to deafen.
― Shyaaaaaaa!
Just from hearing it, you could tell something serious was happening.
Before we could process the situation, Camilla and the rest of 'Dark Shade' rushed toward the source of the sound.
We followed after them, and saw a monstrous being running through the reeds as if fleeing.
― Shyaaaaaaa!"
〈Dungeon Master〉
Seven-Headed Hydra
Wow.
It's the dungeon master.
That awful noise was the dungeon master Hydra's scream.
But it's called the Seven-Headed Hydra—yet I only see three heads.
"T-the dungeon master, Camilla!"
"I see it too!"
As soon as Hydra appeared, Camilla began preparing her magic. But behind the Hydra, something was chasing it.
Clank──!
A black horse clad in barding and a knight in jet-black full plate armor.
The knight looked at least 4 meters tall. The aura he gave off was nothing human.
"What is that?"
Rubelt was startled at the sight of the sudden newcomer.
Crunch──!
Despite its size, the black knight moved at incredible speed—instantly closing the gap and swinging the halberd in his hand.
We were a fair distance away,
Yet even there, the wind blast reached us.
At the same time, one of Hydra's heads flew off into the air above the reeds.
"That's a strong one."
To sever a Hydra's head so easily?
I could only be stunned for a moment. Barkal's voice brought me back to reality.
"That's the strongest opponent I've ever seen!"
Barkal looked like his fighting spirit was burning—a mass of muscles twitching as he stared at the black knight.
"Black one! Come fight me!"
At Barkal's resounding shout, the black knight turned his gaze toward us.
Then—
"Guh..."
* 〈The Rune of the Abyss responds.〉
* 〈The Black Knight of Famine has identified you.〉
A searing pain like a branding iron. Along with it, the glyph symbolizing the 'Rune of the Abyss' flashed on the back of my hand.
This confirmed it.
That guy had crawled up from the Abyss.
"Our honor...!"
Boom──!
Just as the excited Barkal was about to leap, an enormous explosion went off near the black knight.
Tremendous firepower. Only a mage could pull that off here.
Looking over, I saw it was Camilla's magic, just as expected.
She unleashed her spell with dazzling gemstones—likely channeling mana stored within them.
Just how much did that explosion cost?
"... No way."
But as the thick dust cleared, Camilla's face darkened.
Even amidst such a powerful blast, the black knight's armor was unscathed.
"D-do you know how expensive those gemstones were?!"
"Captain, let's run!"
Realizing their magic was useless, Rubelt quickly slung Camilla over his shoulder and bolted.
The others did the same.
"C-Camilla!?"
"If the captain's magic doesn't work, we don't have a victory plan! Cover our retreat!"
At Rubelt's quick judgment, Serena was left stunned.
Those guys...
They'd been nothing but a magical artillery crew.
"B-brother Dmihtan, what about us?"
Serena asked in a worried voice.
We need to run too.
If it wasn't even scratched by that explosion, how can we fight it?
Just as I was about to say so—
"Brother Barkal already charged in! What do we do!?"
"Uwaaaaaa!!!"
She wasn't asking what we do now—Barkal had already gone!
"Thrag, behold your warrior!"
With a shout, Barkal jumped, swinging the axe 'Erindal' with both hands.
Clang──!
'Erindal' struck the black knight square in the chest.
But the knight's armor wasn't even scratched.
The black knight swung his halberd at Barkal, who had moved in close.
He was fast, but not so fast Barkal couldn't dodge.
"Hard as a rock! But it's fine! I'll just separate your head from your bo—aaaaaaagh!"
Barkal screamed—a closer look showed his hands melting away.
Barkal staggered, and
the black knight's halberd slammed into him full force.
* 【You use Skeleton Summon.】
* 【Skeleton Promotion effect activates.】
* 【You summon a Warrior Skeleton.】