Chapter 13: Those who Must Die

After reaching the fourth floor, I continue onward, defeating monsters as I go.

The monsters that appear are still the same as before. I don't have any particular difficulty in dealing with them, and I just practice sword and magic.

I had seen my classmates here and there up to the third floor, but I don't see them anymore as I descend to this floor.

It seems that most of my classmates have given up after the third floor and turned back.

"...At this rate, I should be able to get to the deepest floor soon. Leon is probably already there"

I mutter to myself as I pick up the items dropped by the monsters I have killed and put them in my tool bag.

My first dungeon exploration will soon come to an end. There is a strong enemy (boss) at the deepest part of the dungeon, but it must have been defeated by Leon who has already entered the dungeon.

It may seem a little unsatisfying... but this is the end of my first dungeon exploration.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

"Hmm...?"

I was moving forward with light footsteps, not feeling particularly overwhelmed... when suddenly I heard a scream from the direction I was going.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Shit? You son of a bitch!"

"Get back! Get back or it'll kill you!"

I heard the screams of several men and women. None of the voices sounded familiar.

As I advanced forward, suspiciously, I heard the sound of metal clashing against metal coming from the end of the dungeon.

"...Is someone fighting? It sounds like someone is having a hard time"

What is going on?

I hide behind the wall, daring not to show myself, and spy on the battle going on in front of me.

"Damn? Why is there such a strong enemy!"

"Duck, Jean!"

"Kuh... aaahhhhh!"

There was a fierce battle. A party of four is fighting against a single monster.

Two of the four had already fallen limp to the ground, and it was impossible to tell whether they were alive or dead. The swordsman and the magician are barely holding their own against the monster.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The men and women of my classmates are fighting a winged humanoid monster.

The monster stands on two legs, but it has a pointed beak on its face and its body has a hard texture like a stone. The eyes of the monster look ferocious, with a sharp intent to kill and a sense of intimidation, and it is clearly not the kind of enemy one would encounter in a beginner's dungeon.

The monster was an enemy known as a "Gargoyle" in the game.

"Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The gargoyle swings its claws and attacks my classmates as it soars through the air in the cave.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Arisa! You bastardddddddddddd!"

One of my classmates was resisting desperately, but the claws ripped her to pieces, and she fell down on the ground. Soon a man with a sword rushes to his fallen comrade.

"Damn... how dare you! How dare you do this to Arisa!"

"Gyaa, gyaa, gyaa? Human, kill? Human, kill!"

The gargoyle utters a shrill voice as it easily dodges the man's counterattack.

The torturous cry clearly shows that there is room for improvement, and it is only a matter of time before the rest of my classmates are defeated.

I wrinkle my brow in thought as I watch this hopeless battle from my hiding place.

"...Why is there a gargoyle here? I thought the fight with that thing was supposed to be at the lowest floor"

The gargoyle is an original boss at the very end of the dungeon.

The gargoyle is actually a servant of the Demon King, and has been hiding in this dungeon to kill the descendants of the heroes for the sake of the Demon King who will be resurrected in the not-so-distant future.

When Leon arrives at the deepest part of the dungeon, he is almost killed by the gargoyle, which has the goal of killing the descendants of the heroes. He fights with Ciel and Nagisa, who rush to the dungeon with his party, and in the end, he defeats the gargoyle by awakening the power of the blood of the heroes.

But before the gargoyle killed by Leon, it is supposed to run away somewhere...

"...I see. I forgot about that"

After thinking about it, I finally arrived at the answer to my question. In the game, the information was only narrated, so I had forgotten about it.

The gargoyle killed several of Leon's classmates whom it encountered on its way to escape from the dungeon.

And now Leon's classmates are dead because he let his enemy escape! Leon bites his own weakness and becomes a flag to train himself further and grow up.

"So... these are the classmates who are killed..."

I mumbled with sympathy. They were mob characters whose names did not even appear in the game, but still, when I saw them forced to die as an event, I felt pity for them.

In the game, I did not care so much about them, but now, they have their own lives, too.

They have to be taken by surprise for the sake of the main character's growth, which is a miserable treatment when I think about it again.

"...I don't know what to do. I don't think it's a good idea to help them"

Hiding in the shadows, I furrow my brow and groan.

For the hero, Leon Brave, to grow up to hate monsters and be a brave man, he needs his classmates to die here. For through their sacrifice, Leon vows to grow stronger as a brave warrior.

If I give them a helping hand here, Leon's future of winning the Demon King and saving the world may be shaken again.

"...I feel sorry for them, but I'll just have to let it pass. Don't think badly of me"

I kept my eyes down and tried to leave the place gently.

But... as my back was about to leave, my classmate's weak voice came to me.

"No... run away, Jean..."

"Run away? I'm not leaving without you!"

"I can't do it anymore... so... at least you..."

"Damn itttttttttt! You monster, get away from Arisaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"......"

A fallen magician woman is screaming to run away, and a swordsman is standing alone against a gargoyle to protect her.

As I hear these voices, my legs naturally stop as I try to get away from this place.

"Gyagyagya, die, human!"

"Ggggh...!"

The man's sword is knocked away by a sharp blow from the gargoyle.

The man's life is over. He is in mortal danger.

"Gyagyagyagya... Gbeegghhhh...!?"

With a deafening laugh, the gargoyle tries to finish him off, but a black blade created by magic slashes its face.

It's my dark magic that hit the monster in the face, just as I had intended.

"I knew it was no good. It seems I'm not cut out to be a villain"

"You're.... Baskerville?"

The man called Jean widened his eyes in surprise at the sight of me jumping out of the shadows and pointing his right hand at me.

"...Come to think of it, someone who can't grow strong due to this kind of change in the scenario can't be called a brave man. Besides... if I abandon a scene like this, I'll become a real scum"

"Human, don't you dare give me any trouble... for free!"

"Don't think that I can get away with this for free...? You make me laugh!"

The gargoyle emits an angry cry from its beak, but I snicker and draw my sword.

"Don't you dare bark at me like you're the boss character in the tutorial. I'm the greatest villain in the world, and even the hero is no match for me. If you think you can stand in front of me like a flimsy villain you can die..."