Chapter 93: Battle with the Dungeon Boss (5)

The window panel that greeted my tired eyes brought a small smile to my face.

Because I could not train my stats through ordinary effort, the 75 unallocated points was a well received reward. The experience boost was also helpful, as it raised me directly to level 45. But while the exp and unallocated points were good, the best reward was probably the stat change.

It was the first time I’ve ever seen such information pop up on one of these panels, but almost instantly, I could tell that it was a great benefit that trumped the other two by a wide margin.

Feeling the sense of accomplishment wash over me, I leisurely read the information panel once more. It was one the second read that an uneasy feeling took hold.

“Reeflech the cursed has been slain...and the curse has been passed on…” As I repeated these ominous words to myself, it was for the first time that I noticed that no other notifications had popped up.

The room had entered into a dreary silence. Only the sound of raspy breathing coming from the survivors could be heard. Even the monsters hidden within the fog of steam above did not make a single noise. Their previous whimpering had died down with the death of the Dungeon Boss.

This silence persisted for a few seconds, before, as if the chains binding them down had been unlocked, the sound of hastily retreating footsteps resonated from above.

“....”

The horde had retreated, almost as if fear had struck their very souls, spurring them on to flee with all their might.

The silence from before had returned, and now more prominent than ever.

During this quiet, unsettling time, my heavy eyes scanned through the room.

Off in the distance, I could see Cielle and Hina. Cielle was still slumped down, but her neck was craned forward, while her eyes had an discerning sharpness to them. Besides her was her sister, who had also fallen flat on the floor. I don’t know since when, but it looks like Hina had run out of mana during the last few moments of the battle. Above them was Kido’s childhood friend.

My eyes continued to wander, before they landed on Cher’s slumped figure. Her eyes were tightly shut, and a pool of blood was slowly expanding with her at its epicenter. While the shield that rested right next to her looked practically perfect, aside from a few scratch marks and dirt stains, Cher’s armor was completely tattered. It was deformed on several places, while the chest and abdominal sections showed signs of melting.

Seeing her in such a state, I could not help but feel fearful and uneasy. It was only after I saw her chest slowly rise and fall, did I finally calm down.

The remaining survivors were of course, the President and Kido.

The President, whose eyes met my own, nodded solemnly. He did not say anything, but as his brows scrunched up, and as his grip on his sword tightened, he too realized the oddity of our current situation.

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He opened his mouth, but hesitated. After a few seconds of quiet pondering, he finally managed to ask, “Did… Did we complete the dungeon?”

I shook my head in response.

As I shakingly rose to my feet, I thought about the events that transpired and about the message the window panel had shown me.

“The curse has been passed on…”

Recalling back, I remembered that close towards the end of the battle, Reeflech’s [Cursed] title had fluctuated. While that occurrence confused me before, it now somewhat made sense, especially taking into account that ominous message.

Just as I continued thought about this, from the corner of my eye, I could see Kido get up from the floor.

His whole body was drenched in an uneven mixture of sweat and blood. His face was pale, scrunched up into a grimace. It was an out of place expression, especially considering the fact that we just killed the Dungeon Boss.

As I focused my gaze on his mangled body, a brief flash of insight suddenly took hold, inadvertently causing my eyes to widen.

“It makes sense… considering how… but what if…” I hesitated, unsure whether my current train of thought had hit the mark or not, but after some brief deliberation, I steeled myself and decided to confirm my suspicions.

Just as I was about to use [Identify] on Kido, something suddenly occurred that cemented my postulations as truth. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Without the need for my skill, a brightly glowing window panel suddenly blinked into life over Kido’s head.

<Nakamura Kido [Cursed] >

Like a flashy glowing Neon sign, the window panel above his head shined brightly. Its appearance was almost identical to the window panel that usually hovered over monsters. But even ignoring their similarities, the most important aspect was the [Cursed] title that suddenly floated above his head.

The President also noticed the sudden appearance of Kido’s window panel, and almost immediately, a cold glint shined beneath his eyes. The President’s grip on his long sword tightened, as he took a few pained steps backwards.

Through dark eyes, Kido saw the President’s sudden change in attitude and let out a bitter laugh. It was a laugh that gave off the impression as if he had long since expected this sort of outcome. Yet, at the same time, it was a lonely, hollow laugh that could not hide the tearing sadness within his actions.

“So, it's come to this…” He dejectedly sighed. His shaking hands, fumbled to his pocket, only to pull out a red vial. Unexpectedly, he still had an HP potion left over.

Seeing him agonizingly try to uncork the lid with constantly trembling hands, I could not help but speak. “Even if you drink that, I don’t think it will help.” My voice was cold, almost indifferent. “That explosion skill consumed both mana and stamina… and I don’t think you have any spare stamina potions left.”

Upon hearing this, Kido’s trembling hands abruptly paused. He hesitated for a moment, before letting out a bitter laugh. Without reservation, he threw the vial to the floor, shattering the glass and spilling the red liquid within…

“What happens now…” He asked, his voice low and quiet.

“... I want… I want to get out of this dungeon.” I answered with the only thing that came to my mind. Without even thinking about it, my legs began to move forward, towards Kido’s stock still silhouette.

“How will you leave this dungeon?” He asked.

“Through the only method I can come up with…” I unhesitatingly pulled out a dagger from the back of the Dungeon Boss’s corpse. It’s blade was red, and jagged, chipped at the front. It was obviously a broken down weapon, but that did not matter.

Kido, who saw me approaching, let out a bitter laugh. He started moving backwards, his every step slow and agonizing. With a limp in his stride, he could not go far. The blade in his hand was shaking, raised high in front of him with obvious intention.

As he moved, he started to speak. “Back then, on the first day I acquired this title.” His tone was low, and neutral, almost emotionless. “Of course, I was concerned when I saw it… after all, [Cursed] doesn’t sound very positive… but there was nothing I could do. Maybe, the only thing that went right during those past few months was the fact that the [Curse] was dormant.

I did not know what it meant.” His tone suddenly intensified, and like a broken damn, the words and emotion continually flowed out. “What had cursed me, why it had cursed me, I did not know a single thing but… today-today I finally found out.”

He let out a long winded sigh, as he stared directly into my passive eyes. “I will not hide anything. Just looking at your face, I can tell that you’ve probably figured it out but… this [Curse] title made it so that, within the dungeon, the holder of the [Curse] experienced an unprecedented boost- be that in skill mastery, experience gain, stat training… as long as they were within this dungeon, they were practically king… The only drawback was… as long someone with the [Curse] was alive, they could not escape the dungeon.”

It was at this point that Kido abruptly paused. A self deprecating smile immediately surfaced on his pale face. “In fact, as long as the [Curse] was alive, nobody can escape this dungeon…”

Hearing his words immediately confirmed what I had already presumed. Without a doubt, in order to escape, there was one more person I needed to kill...

“Then…” Without saying anything else, my stride grew wider and wider. I raised my dagger up in front of me, its tip pointed directly towards Kido.

Seeing all this, Kido’s eyes narrowed. His hands quivered as he turned the tip towards my direction. His face was colored in an unhealthy light, clear that the Boss’s attack from earlier had left Kido with severe after effects. With one glance, I could tell that his HP was hovering just a little above 10%.

But that did not matter. Without any stamina remaining, it was impossible for him to put up a fight. I knew this, he knew this, but still, an extremely fierce, yet savage expression masked his face.

“I… I want to live.” He solemnly spoke, gritting through his teeth. “I know I’ve been cursed, I know that nobody else can leave this place as long as I’m alive but… I… I… I just don’t want to die.”

As the distance between the both of us disappeared, Kido staggered forward, his foot leaving behind a heavy impression on the shattered floor beneath. His body was mangled, his feet were heavy, and as his blade swung down, I could feel that, despite the intensity and determination Kido put forth to his swing, it was slow. It was unbearably slow.

I swayed to the right. Despite my own current condition, I still held the advantage. The blade fruitlessly sliced through heated air.

Kido’s sword embedded itself deep into the ground. He fruitlessly tried to pull it back out, but in his current strength, he simply did not possess the power or energy to do so. As he tightly held onto the handle of his sword, he stared up at me with tear streaked eyes, hidden beneath was a savage determination that threatened to break out of its cage.

“Hide, I..I don’t want to die. Not yet, not now, not after I’ve done so many thing to try to live… I’ve done far too many things to just die like this! Even if I have to kill you and everyone else here, I won’t die. I can’t die!”

“...”

“AAHHH!”

With a primal cry, Kido’s lunged forward. His hands were clenched into bare white fists, while his expression was one akin to a beast. Like a cornered animal, he bared his fangs and attacked.

“...”

His approach was meaningless to me. Even with all his desperation and intensity, his body, his motions, his attack, they were all unbearably slow.

I once again stepped to the side just as Kido’s body rushed forward. With the flick of my wrist, my dagger glinted faintly with unearthly light before it completely bisected Kido’s right arm.

As I watched him scream out in pain and toppled to the floor, I stood there, motionless.There was nothing else I could do. In order to escape, in order to leave this place, in order to live, I needed to kill him.

Kido was right. In this world, it was kill or be killed. It was survival. And in order to survive… he had to die.

Blood continually flowed out from his severed arm. His pale expression was frenzied, and feral. Saliva and spit drooled down from his face. His eyes swirled with madness. He had lost all sense of coherence, as he repeatedly muttered, “I want to live, I want to live I want to live….”

As I stood over him, all I could see was a broken man. A man driven to a corner, pushed into insanity. A man whose desperation, madness, and will to live all came together hand in hand.

Without speaking, I solemnly raised my dagger up in front of me, but before I could swing it down, I heard a shrill scream from behind me.

“Nooo!”

Shooting a short glance backwards, I could see Kido’s childhood friend, virtually untouched by today’s battle. Her eyes shined with dread, as she immediately ran towards us.

Unfortunately, before she could reach me, she was ruthlessly tackled to the ground by a head of red hair. Unexpectedly, she had woken sometime after the death of the Boss. Although her face was pale, and a trace of restlessness could be seen in her eyes, her arms desperately clung to the struggling girl, pinning her down and keeping her in place. Her expression was filled with pity and understanding, but nonetheless, she stayed resolute and unmoving.

Kido’s childhood friend continually writhed and struggled. Her desperate cry rang out through the room. She was constantly, uttering, “No!, No, no- Kido! Stop! No!”

She cried till she was hoarse and until her throat had started to ache, but, even after all that, she did not stop.

I did not pay her any particular mind, as i redirected my focus back to Kido. Seeing his sudden change in expression, I could not help but raise my brow in astonishment.

Unlike his previous display, Kido’s expression was serene. His head turned to face his struggling childhood friend, but his were closed the whole time. It was as if he were afraid to see the current, tear streaked face his friend was currently making.

“I’ve done a lot of things.” He quietly spoke. “I’m pretty sure that, at some point along the road, I lost sight of my true goal. I ended up killing people… I killed alot of people, even those I wanted to protect… in the end, to save myself, I killed them too... I went mad. I probably am mad, but...”

He opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he simply chuckled before he shook his head. His head turned back to face me, while his eyes opened wide. “I’m ready.”

“...”

Prompted by his words, I bent down, and unhesitatingly sunk my dagger into his chest. Without exception, the blade entered his body, as blood began to flow from his mouth.

I watched the light fade from his eyes.

With Kido’s death, a thin, paperback book materialized over his chest. The book unceremoniously plopped down on top of his body. I gave a book a single glance, but I did not say or do anything.

The hoarse cries originating from Kido’s childhood friend intensified with his death. At the same time, a familiar ding resonated through my skull, and a glowing window panel appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

<Congratulations!

You have completed the [OakWood High School] Dungeon! >