The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
Proceeding down the corridor extending from the entrance hall.
The castle’s interior, though called a dungeon, isn’t particularly complex in structure.
It was originally a residence for royalty (though only at the level of a local noble house).
Beyond the entrance lie living quarters like the dining hall and bedrooms, the soldiers’ quarters, the chapel, the throne room, and areas for entertaining guests.
According to the floor plan obtained from the Adventurers’ Guild, there are several hidden passages, but no traps.
Of course, being an old castle, some routes are labyrinthine and convoluted. Collapsed walkways might force you outside before re-entering the castle. Below ground, there are storage rooms, wells likely used for drawing groundwater, and dungeons…
But our ultimate goal is the Throne Room.
Admittedly, dungeonification in this world does alter the original castle layout somewhat, but overall it’s essentially just a normal ruin or ancient site.
What’s more, we even have a detailed floor plan of the building.
And this ‘Throne Room’, said to be the innermost part of the ‘Old Castle of Ur-Doran’, is located at the farthest point on the second floor of the castle.
Reaching it requires a slight detour since some paths are blocked by collapses, but it’s no great hardship.
…Or so I thought.
“Hey, they’re pouring out!”
We’d been clearing sporadic enemies while advancing along the corridor beside the great hall, which happened to be on our route.
Then, suddenly, we were assaulted by a massive horde of aberrations.
True, there was no chance of getting lost.
But we certainly received a warm welcome from the enemies.
Pouring out from the Great Hall like an avalanche were Flesh Armor, unarmed, mutated skeletons covered in rotting flesh, and disgusting rats about the size of large dogs, with tumors sprouting all over their bodies.
Over thirty of them in total.
The breakdown: two Fresh Armor, about ten mutated rats. The rest were all mutated skeletons.
Honestly, the former are just skeletons with extra muscle.
Their movements aren’t much different from Fresh Armor, and since they aren’t covered in armor, you can slash away at them anywhere.
Even mutated, they’re still just grunts.
The problem is the latter.
These are likely mutated Iron Rats.
When a beast that spreads plague mutates, it’s undoubtedly a highly dangerous existence.
“Nora, Lion-san, watch out for rat bites! That thing probably carries a deadly poison!”
“Understood! —You monsters! I won’t let you lay a finger on the young lady! —Haahh!!”
Lion stepped in front of Nora, thrusting her hands forward.
Several mutated rats lunged.
‘Giiiiiiiiiii’
–But the rats didn’t bite them.
A large shield made of pale light blocked the path of the deformed rats.
“Hmph!!”
With a roaring shout, Lion thrust the light shield forward once more.
A thudding shockwave erupted, repelling the monstrous rats.
So that’s Lion’s ‘Protection’.
It’s unclear how strong that light shield truly is, but if it can withstand the fierce assault of multiple monstrous creatures, it must be incredibly sturdy.
However… while the shield seems solid defensively, its offensive capabilities don’t appear to surpass those of a regular shield.
Lion san had a sword equipped in her right hand, but she seemed stretched thin fending off the wave of mutated rats with her shield, unable to shift to offense.
In that case… I, who had relatively more leeway, should support her.
I slashed down the mutated skeleton attacking me with my right sword while generating the ‘Thumb Sword’ with my left hand.
“――Projectile”
I hurled it into the torso of the mutated rat lunging at Ms. Rion again.
BANG! A cracking sound echoed as the body, about the size of a large dog, exploded.
“Whoa!?”
“Kyaa!?”
The two were startled by the sudden explosion of the mutated rat, but they quickly realized it was my attack.
Lion immediately deployed her ‘Shield of Light’, halting the rats’ advance.
Into this stalemate, I fired ‘Thumb Swords’ relentlessly.
“One more… and another one!”
I sidestepped a nearby Fresh Armor’s downward swing, then from a crouched stance, landed a ‘Projectile’ strike, taking down yet another.
I kicked away a mutated skeleton trying to latch onto my back with a spinning back kick, using the momentum to sweep my right sword in a wide arc.
I cleaved through several mutated skeletons at once.
I then intercepted the line of fire of a mutated rat, taking out both the Fresh Armor that had stepped into the line and the creature behind it.
This ‘Projectile’ had enough power to punch a deep hole through the altar of the ‘Sword-Made Dungeon’.
The 1-2mm thick steel plates the Fresh Armor wore were as good as paper.
Fwahaha…!
Feels like Gun-Kata!
Moreover, the magic consumption of the ‘Thumb Blade’ is a mere one-fiftieth that of the ‘First Blade’.
This cost-performance ratio is completely overpowered, comparable to an anti-materiel rifle. But given the situation, there’s no time to hesitate about using it.
Of course, all the while, I’m dashing freely through the corridors and the great hall, slicing and dicing the Abnormal Skeletons one after another.
These guys aren’t worth wasting the ‘Godslayer Sword’ on.
“Well, that should do it!”
Thud! The last Abnormal Rat’s head explodes, ending the rat hunt.
“I-I’m impressed…”
“What kind of ‘blessing’ power is that…”
Nora and Lion-san watched my blessing with wide eyes, but they’d also taken down a decent number of monstrous skeletons themselves.
Nora especially seemed stronger fighting with her fists than her sword; every time she threw a punch, a monstrous skeleton would explode into pieces with a loud ‘Boom!’
..But seriously, Nora, you’re amazed by the blessing, but you’re already plenty strong without one yourself, right…?
Even accounting for the effect of the Berserker’s Bracelet, this is incredible even when she’s not at full strength… She’s practically a physical—or rather, magical—elite.
This must be the difference between me, a mere mortal, and her, the heroine.
Well, I can only believe in myself and keep training.
With the rat and the armor gone, the remaining mutated skeletons weren’t much of a threat.
The three of us swept up the rest, restoring silence to the hallway.
“Phew… The throne room should be close now. …Let’s go.”
The three of us (and one unseen deity) nodded to each other and pressed onward into the depths of the castle.
◇
The innermost chamber of the throne room.
A man sat upon a large, imposing chair.
Dark skin, cheerful features.
Dressed in flashy garments, he was attended by numerous fresh armor and headless corpses that appeared to be adventurers.
“Well, well, you’re surprisingly early.”
Just as we were about to enter the hall, the man noticed us.
His fiery red eyes turned toward us.
His face looked familiar.
He was the man in the sketch the guards showed us yesterday during their inquiries.
And… it seemed he was the very person responsible for causing this ‘Demonization’.
As proof, despite his sweltering smile like midsummer sun, he radiated an ominous miasma so thick you could practically feel it drifting toward us.
And he spoke as if he already knew we’d been imprisoned in the ‘Demon Realm’.
Probably one of the Fresh Armor kneeling before him had reported our arrival.
But immediately, the man flashed a grin.
His rows of sharp white fangs glinted brightly, reflecting the hall’s light.
Indeed, they were beautifully aligned—no wonder he was called ‘White Teeth’.
Well, I’d be cracking them to pieces in a moment.
“How delightful! To think I’d acquire not just adventurers, but also the ‘canvases’ of young knights and nobles… How fortunate I am!”
The man rose from his throne, spreading his arms wide and laughing.
“Now then, my subjects. Let us welcome them as our new companions, shall we?”
The next instant.
The monstrous creatures kneeling before the man sprang to their feet like a shot and lunged at us.