第三十九話 三腕の死神
「チッ、ギルドめ! 雑な仕事しやがって! 一旦本来のルートに引き返すぞ!」
ケルトが怒鳴って、足早に引き返していく。
ここまで地図がぐだぐだだった以上、本来のルートも少し怪しくなってくるのだが......。
いや、少なくとも担当のルートを離れるまでは、どこを歩いているのかもわからなくなるようなことはなかった。
そちらであれば合流地点までは辿り着けるはずだ......と信じたい。
「お前が先頭に立つのか? 身軽な狩人が先へ進んでくれるのはありがたいが......」
「重騎士のお前の足が遅いんだよ! ぼさっとしてないで、とっとと俺の前に出ろ!」
ケルトは主導権をどうにか掴んだと思ったら綺麗に出鼻を挫かれた形になったので、大分頭に血が上っているようだ。
「......ケルトさんって最初は怖く見えてましたけれど、ちょっとドジなのかもしれませんね。親近感が湧いてきました」
ルーチェがこそこそと俺にそう口にする。
聞こえていたらしく、ケルトが険しい顔でルーチェを振り返って睨んでいた。
ルーチェは慌ててぎこちない動きで前を向き、必死に誤魔化そうと作り笑いを浮かべていた。
そのとき、ケルトの顔がさっと蒼くなった。
「魔物が来てやがる! どっかの分岐路から、こっちに合流して来やがったんだな」
ケルトが弓を構えるとほぼ同時に、曲がり角の先から異形の剣士が現れた。
頭部はないが、その状態で俺よりも背が高い。
身体中接ぎ糸だらけで、雑に取り付けられたような腕が三本生えていた。
そのどれもが剣を握っている。
その歪で不気味な外見は、この魔物が危険であることを饒舌に語っていた。
魔物:パッチワーク
Lv :67
HP :228/228
MP :66/66
パッチワーク......。
〈百足坑道〉の主、ロックセンチピードの【Lv:60】を上回る強敵であった。
あの頃より俺のレベルも上がっているとはいえ、この魔物はロックセンチピードのような残念仕様を抱えているわけでもない。
それにこの魔物は、ステータスとスキル構成のために、レベル以上に凶悪な強さを誇っている。
「ひっ! な、なんなんですかぁ、あの魔物!」
ルーチェが悲鳴を上げる。
「......これは、厄介なときに、嫌な魔物が出てきたな。〈嘆きの墓所〉の番人だ。必ず〈
〉内はかなり広大だ。
加えて今回でいえば、二十人の冒険者が同時に突入している。
そんな中でこいつに目を付けられ、おまけにそれがよりによって行き止まりだというのは、本当に不運だとしかいいようがない。
本来であればパッチワークは足が極端に遅いので、振り切って逃げることは難しくないのだ。
元々パッチワークは討伐は推奨されておらず、遭遇した場合は基本的に逃げ切ることが想定されている。
パッチワークの稀少性と、遭遇した際には追われる立場になる構造自体が、〈嘆きの墓所〉の恐怖を煽るためのギミックだともいえる。
ただ、残念ながらここは行き止まりだ。
逃げるにしても奴の横を抜ける必要があるし、重騎士と僧侶は足が遅い。
パッチワークよりは速いが、距離を離すのに時間が掛かる。
あんな奴を背にくっ付けて動き回っていれば、いずれ何かしらの魔物から挟み撃ちに遭うだろう。
「倒すしかないな......」
パッチワークは素早さがない分、それ以外のステータスが高く、スキルにも恵まれている。
気を抜けば一瞬でHPを全て持っていかれかねない相手だ。
厳しい戦いにはなるが、こっちには四人いる。
「ケルト、急いで戻ってこい!」
俺は叫びながらケルトの許へと走る。
「......わ、悪く思うんじゃねえぞ。戦わなきゃならねぇのは、素早さのないお前らの理屈だ。分の悪い戦いを避けるのは、ギルドに入って真っ先に教わる常識だ」
ケルトが引き攣った表情で俺達を振り返る。
まさかと思った瞬間、ケルトは背を屈めて身体を丸め、地面を蹴って素早くジグザグに跳んだ。
狩人のスキルだ。
無防備になる分、瞬間速度を引き上げる。
主に敵から強引に距離を取ったり、そのまま逃げたりするために用いられる。
ケルトの動きに反応したパッチワークが刃を振るうが、それは微かに届かない。
綺麗にパッチワークの背後へ着地した。
「ケルト、お前っ......!」
「お、俺は悪くねぇ......異常事態に陥ったら、一人でも多く助かるように動くのは当たり前のことだ! 〈三腕の死神〉と、わざわざ戦ってられるか! テメェらも適当にどうにか逃げるんだな!」
ケルトが離脱した。
パッチワークの脅威は事前に知っていたのだろう。
パッチワークはレベルが高いが、それ以上に恐ろしい点がある。
攻撃力が高く、甘い行動をすれば、一撃で大ダメージを叩き込んでくることだ。
特に奴のスキルの〈デスソード〉は馬鹿みたいに威力が高い上に、避けきるのが難しい。
パッチワークの象徴のようなスキルである。
ステータスでいえば四人で囲めば充分倒せるはずの相手ではあるのだが、ゲーム時代でも冒険者の死亡率の高い魔物であった。
そのとき、ケルトの前方に、二体目のパッチワークがぬっと姿を現した。
「あ、ああ......?」
パッチワークの刃が、容赦なくケルトの身体を吹っ飛ばす。
ケルトは背を壁に叩きつけ、呻き声を上げながら床に倒れる。
腰の辺りを斬られたらしく、そこを中心に血塗れになっている。
「う、うぐぁあああ! 痛ぇ、痛ぇええっ!」
「エッ、エルマさん! パッチワークって、一体しか出ないんじゃなかったんですかぁ!」
「......本来はそうなんだが、
〉内で魔物が大量発生する現象なのだが、この際に本来ならば群れないはずの魔物が群れたり、特定条件でしか発生しないような魔物が出現することがある。
二体目のパッチワークが出現してしまったのだ。
Volume 2 - Ch 39
"Tsk, that damn Guild! Doing a shitty job like this! We are going back to our original route for now!"
Celt shouted out, turned around, and started walking fast.
With this many mistakes with our map, our original route is starting to seem suspect too....
Or maybe not; until we left our designated route, something like this where we didn't even know where we were on the map didn't happen.
If we go that way, then we should at least be able to reach our rendezvous point....at least I would like to believe so.
"Will you be at the front this time? I would appreciate it if an agile Hunter would be the one to lead...."
"You are just slow as hell, Heavy Knight! Don't just stand there, get in front of me!"
Just when Celt thought he was able to seize the leadership position, something happened to take the wind out of his sails, so he must be fairly mad.
".....at first I thought Celt-san was kind of scary, but maybe he's just a bit clumsy. I'm starting to feel a certain kind of kinship with him."
Luce whispered in secret.
It seems Celt was able to hear her, because he turned around to glare at Luce with a severe expression.
Luce quickly faced forward with awkward movements, desperately trying to laugh it off with an obviously fake laugh.
It was then that Celt's face went white.
"There is a damn monster incoming! It must've come from one of the branches in the corridors."
About the same time Celt managed to ready his bow, a strange looking swordsman appeared from around the corner.
It had no head, but even so, it was still taller than me in that state.
Its body was full of stitches, crudely connecting three arms to its body.
Each one was holding a sword.
Its warped and eerie appearance spoke volumes about how dangerous this monster was.
Monster: Patchwork
Level: 67
HP: 228/228
MP: 66/66
A Patchwork.....
An enemy that's stronger than the Dream Lord of the Centipede Pit, the Rock Centipede, which was [(Lv:60)] .
My level went up since then, but this monster doesn't have an unfortunate weakness like the Rock Centipede either.
Also, this monster is even more dangerous than its level would suggest due to its stats and Skills.
"Eeek! J-just what is that monster!"
Luce let out a scream.
"....that's an unpleasant monster to come out at a time like this. That's the sentry of the Graveyard of Sorrows. There is always a single one of them in the Dungeon and it can detect adventurers in a wide range and wanders the place looking for them."
The size of the Dungeon is pretty vast.
What's more, there are twenty adventurers that entered the Dungeon at once this time.
Counting all that, having this guy fixate on us and even catch up just as we find ourselves in a dead end cannot be called anything other than rotten luck.
Normally, the Patchwork is extremely slow, so it's not that hard to shake it off.
Fighting a Patchwork is not recommended to begin with, so running away as soon as you come across it is the generally accepted method of resolving the situation.
Since most of the time when you come across it you will get chased by it, it can be called a gimmick that bolsters the horror vibes of the Graveyard of Sorrows.
However, this is a dead end unfortunately.
Even if we tried to run away, we would need to get past it, and the Heavy Knight and Priestess have slow moment speeds.
Although they are still faster than the Patchwork, it takes some time to put enough distance between them.
If we were to run around with that guy glued to our backs, then we would most definitely run into another monster before long, getting us surrounded.
"We'll need to defeat it...."
The Patchwork has low Agility, but has high other stats in turn, and it's also pretty blessed with Skills.
It's an opponent who can take away your entire HP in a blink of an eye if you let your guard down.
This will be a hard fought battle, but there are four of us here.
"Celt, hurry and come back here!"
I shouted as I ran towards Celt.
"....don't blame me for this, o-okay? This is only an unavoidable fight for you two who have low agility. The very first thing they teach you after you join the Guild is to avoid unfavorable fights."
Celt turned back to us with a tight expression.
Just as I processed his words, Celt bent forward and curled into a crouch, then kicked off from the ground and sprinted in a zig-zag.
A Hunter's Skill.
It momentarily increases the user's movement speed in exchange for being defenceless in the meantime.
It's mainly used to put distance between the enemy and the user, or perhaps straight up run away altogether.
The Patchwork swung one of his blades in reaction to Celt's movements, but it fell short by just a bit.
He neatly landed behind the Patchwork.
"Celt, you.....!"
"Th-this is not my fault.....In an abnormal situation like this it's better to have even one more person survive! There is no way I would be able to fight a Three Armed Reaper! You all need to find some way to escape too!"
Celt has retreated.
He must've known how terrifying the Patchwork was.
Although the Patchwork is pretty high level, the reason why it's scary is something else.
With its high Attack, it can deal enormous damage if you take one wrong step.
Especially its [Death Sword] Skill can deal an absurd amount of damage and it's very hard to avoid too.
It's the characteristic Skill of the Patchwork.
If we simply go by its Status, four people should be able to surround and defeat it, but even in the game, there was a high rate of death among the adventurers that went against one of them.
At that moment, a second Patchwork appeared suddenly in front of Celt.
"Ah, aaah......?"
A blade of the Patchwork mercilessly sent Celt's body flying.
Celt impacted the wall with his back, then crumpled to the floor while moaning in pain.
It seems he was cut near the waist, at least that seems to be where the blood stain originated.
"Ugh, ughaaah! It hurts! This really huuurts!"
"E-Elma-san! Didn't you just say that there is supposed to be only one of those!?"
".....that's how it should be. This must be because of the Monster Pool."
A Monster Pool event is when monsters appear en masse in a Dungeon, causing some of them to group up when they otherwise wouldn't or a special monster to spawn when the criteria for it haven't been met.
Now, a second Patchwork has appeared.
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
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https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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