Chapter 188: Desperate Encounter with a Brick-Carrying Girl Who Carries Me to Safety (Patreon)

"Sink into a nightmare you'll never wake from!"

[Phobetor Daedalus!]

The pitch-black curse spread out in an instant. Finn's mind went blank for a heartbeat. Then, from the deepest part of his chest, a violent urge to smash everything in front of him surged upward.

He swept his spear in a wide arc, knocking away the crystal beetles around him, then leveled the spear tip at the one enemy left standing before him.

Clang—

The golden lance and the dark red twin blades collided head-on. Dix was sent flying, his back slamming hard into the passage wall behind him. He coughed up blood, his face slack with shock. "Why weren't you affected by the curse?!"

Finn's deep blue eyes were terrifyingly calm. "Do I owe you an explanation?"

He took a step forward. But the moment his foot touched the next floor tile, he froze. A boom rang out — the tile dropped straight down, a trap hidden beneath it.

"That was close…" Finn bit his thumb and, instead of flinching, smiled.

Dix's face went dark. "You… you bastard, are you cheating?!"

The livestream chat filled with question marks. A few seconds later, the comments miraculously reached a consensus.

—This guy's hacking?!—Definitely hacking!—Hacking, confirmed, plus one!

Seeing Finn dodge the trap without even breaking stride, Dix turned and ran.

Finn had been thinking of retreating back the way he'd come. But a deafening crash sounded behind him — a door slammed down, sealing his escape route. He glanced ahead at the pit that now opened before him. The bottom bristled with countless spikes, human bones even skewered among them, remnants of whoever had fallen in before. Bone-white and unsettling.

"Guess I have no choice but to push forward." Finn drew a deep breath and leaned into a sprint.

In the next instant, he shot forward with a whoosh. With every step he took, the tiles ahead crumbled one after another, mixed among sadistic mechanisms that bounced back up. Fortunately, Finn was small and light on his feet — just before spikes shot up from overhead and skewered him, he rolled and barely made it through the entire trap zone.

The livestream chat exploded.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Parkour!""Temple Run irl!""I swear I just heard a coin-collect sound effect!"

A crowd of gleeful chat trolls cheered.

Just then — in the bottom-left corner of the livestream, another split screen suddenly cut in. It showed the Evilus side. In the footage, four operatives had already circled ahead to the spot Finn was about to pass through, all poised for a brutal ambush.

"Four on one, how could this go wrong!""Bring on the divine smackdown!""Finn: I'm all buffed up, come at me however you like—"

Amid the flood of comments, in the passage ahead, Valletta raised her longsword, stepped forward, and shouted at Finn. "Finn—Lord Braver! I've missed you SO much—!!!"

The chat went even more feral.

"???""The untold story of the Braver and the Arachnia?""Watching live, front row selling melon seeds, peanuts, and bottled water—"

Finn slowly came to a stop. He looked at Valletta, a trace of mockery in his eyes. "Valletta. So you were playing dead back during the '27th Floor Nightmare.'"

Valletta split her mouth into a grin, laughing like a lunatic. "I haven't gotten to see the Braver kneeling on the ground, covered in blood, with my own eyes yet. How could I possibly bear to go meet the Guardian God so soon? I won't die until I've mounted that infuriatingly punchable face of yours right alongside your intestines as a trophy!" She grew more excited the more she talked, her eyes reddening. "Just wait—I'm going to make you pay properly! I'll make sure you never look down on me again for the rest of your life!"

Finn closed one eye, his tone as steady as ever. "Too bad. You probably won't get that chance. Because the one who dies here today will be you."

Unlike four years ago, Finn was now Level 6. Valletta was still stuck at Level 5. That single level of difference was, for a normal adventurer, an almost unbridgeable gap. Not to mention — Finn was also that ridiculously rare SSR-tier character.

The moment his words fell, the spear had already thrust forward — a flash of cold light like a shooting star tearing through the night, closing in on Valletta's throat in an instant.

But Valletta suddenly pulled out a metal orb engraved with a symbol. A flash of red light.

Buzzzz—

The metal wall in front of her crashed down. At the same time, doors on either side swung open. On one side, pitch-black lightning crashed down. On the other, disgusting green flesh and vines surged forward, sealing off every escape route.

Finn's expression darkened. His spear carved a near-perfect arc through the air, tearing through the green flesh in one stroke. Using his small, agile frame, he twisted and dodged backward through the writhing vines.

But before he could steady himself, a sudden gust of tearing wind exploded behind him.

"Die—!" A jet-black greatsword wrapped in curse-laden pressure came slashing down from behind, carrying tremendous weight.

Finn twisted his spear back to block it.

Clang—!

A shrill metallic screech and scattering sparks burst out together. And it was only then that he clearly saw who it was. Red hair. Green eyes. That cold face, devoid of almost any emotion, held nothing but the purest killing intent.

"Anyone who interferes with the plan." "Dies."

As soon as Revis finished speaking, the pressure bearing down on the spear grew heavier still. Finn instantly felt the weight of the racial gap pressing down on him — the Pallum's physical weakness was, at this moment, painfully obvious. He even felt some skill inside him stir. A surge of new power burst outward. He forced his arms to bear down, wrenching the greatsword aside.

But the next wave of attacks was already at point-blank range. Valletta, trailing vines like a Man-Eater Flower, thrust her sword straight at Finn's throat. In the distance, Ein, cloaked in black, brought down black lightning to seal off his retreat. Finn dodged left and right. Just as he tried to use the wall on his left, the ground suddenly gave out beneath his feet. The entire wall slid downward. Olivas Act, who had been hiding behind it, stepped out and slammed a gravity-wrapped fist into Finn's lower back.

Four against one. Even with a level advantage, facing four powerful First-Class adventurers at once, Finn had almost no chance of winning. His thumb was still faintly throbbing with pain. Without unleashing his magic, this really wasn't going to work.

After blocking another heavy slash from Revis, Finn arrived at that conclusion. Valletta burst into deranged laughter. "You're dead, Finn!!! The moment you stepped into this dungeon, your fate was already sealed! This place is your grave!" Her sword strikes came faster and denser, as though trying to cut off every last space he could dodge into.

Olivas Act kept crowding close, using the shockwave of his punches to rattle Finn's spear. Revis, the strongest melee threat, forced Finn to stumble with every slash. And in the distance, Ein remained unnervingly calm — she simply channeled her mana slowly, waiting for the most lethal moment to strike.

In the next instant, black lightning came whipping down from directly overhead, like a lash from the sky. Attacks came from every direction. There was no way left to dodge. No way left to dodge.

Finn shut his eyes. "Since there's no dodging this, then I won't dodge. Even if I die today, I'll drag at least one of you down with me. If even one core operative falls here, Evilus won't recover for years!"

Once he'd worked that out, he snapped his eyes open. A crimson color, like blood staining the world, spread across everything in an instant.

"Magic spear, pierce through my skull and drink deep of blood! [Hell Finegas]"

The curse in his eye — once Fianna's proudest possession — showed its truly savage side in this moment. Finn's overall abilities spiked drastically in a very short time. At the same time, his sanity was being swallowed up bit by bit. He was turning into a true berserker.

His spear swept in a wide circle, tearing apart the tight encirclement in an instant. All four operatives were riddled with countless bleeding holes at once.

The livestream chat exploded outright.

"Holy crap, holy crap, what was that?!""Before these eyes of mine, every technique shall be rendered null!""Aaaah my eyes, I feel like they just heard the call of their own kind!""Tyrant's Eye, number one in the world!!!"

In stark contrast to the chaos of the livestream, the real battlefield had descended into pure carnage. Those monstrous figures relied on their regeneration to shove forward and endure Finn's attacks. Blood mist sprayed everywhere. Severed limbs flew.

Valletta had already been kicked more than a dozen meters and lay on the ground coughing blood. Olivas Act nearly had his Magic Stone smashed to pieces; he grabbed his severed arm and fled. Ein frowned and retreated decisively, vanishing into the darkness. Only Revis remained, still holding the front line, but even her icy face showed a rare flicker of shock.

Right as Finn was consumed by his berserk state, she drove her sword straight into his chest. The immense pain snapped Finn back to a fragment of clarity. And in that same instant of being struck, he hurled his spear backhanded with all his strength.

[Tír na Nóg]

It was the ultimate spear throw that gathered the sum total of all his level-based abilities, usable only once per day. The spear's shadow pierced clean through Revis's abdomen. Immediately after, a violent explosion detonated inside her body. Half her body was blown clean apart.

Finn clutched his wound, breathing hard, and sneered. "Heh. If you want to kill me, that alone isn't enough."

Revis, lying on the ground, had half her face blasted out of shape. But she still managed to slowly turn her face back toward him. "You really do live up to the name 'Braver.' This time, let's leave it here. If you manage to survive. Next time, we fight again."

A flash of colored light. The Magic Stone, tightly wrapped in green vines, suddenly gave off a golden glow. The vines began knitting her ruined body back together.

Finn's pupils contracted sharply. Gritting through the pain, he tried to rush over to finish her off. But with a boom, a metal door slammed down in front of him, sealing the two sides apart completely.

Finn cursed under his breath. He knew perfectly well — if he lingered any longer, once Revis fully recovered, he'd be the one left dead here. So he tipped his head back, downed a bottle of Elixir, and hurried to pick a passage to retreat through.

On the 17th floor, in a dead-silent corridor, Finn clutched his chest and slid slowly down against the wall. Blood trailed a long red streak down the stone.

"The medicine isn't working well." "Was there an incurable curse laid on that sword…" He gave a bitter laugh, his breathing growing heavier.

On his way here, he'd deliberately avoided those eerie statues. He'd also barely managed to shake off the pursuers behind him. But his current condition was still dire.

"I wonder how Gareth Landrock is doing right now. If I can link up with him and hold out until Captain Natsuka's reinforcements arrive, there might still be a chance."

In the quiet corridor, only the sound of dripping blood remained. One drop. Then another.

Ten-some minutes later, footsteps finally echoed from the other side of the passage. Tap, tap, tap. Accompanied by the whirring hum of machinery, a metal door slowly slid open. A figure cloaked in black walked in.

"Is this where it ends?" Finn lowered his eyes and slowly raised his arm. But this time, his thumb didn't send its usual warning throb.

As the figure drew closer, Finn finally made out the outline. It seemed to be a woman. She had a massive bundle strapped to her back. Every step looked like a struggle, as though she were carrying an entire mountain.

Only once she got closer did she let out a small "Ohh—" Her voice was calm as still water. In a place like this, it felt strangely out of place.

"You're Captain Finn of Loki Familia, aren't you?" She looked at him, her tone as casual as bumping into an old acquaintance on the street. "Are you here mining rocks too?"

Such a laid-back greeting — on par with asking 'have you eaten yet' — felt absurdly out of place in a near-death situation like this.

Finn's mouth twitched. After a long pause, he finally managed to force out a sound. "Heh… 'Mining'… what do you mean by that?"

From the huge bundle on her back and her movements, Finn could guess at least part of it. But that word felt like it meant more than just its surface meaning.

"Uh, something like that, I guess?" Megumi Kato set the bundle down from her back. When the opening loosened, it revealed a mass of large, Adamantite chunks inside.

Finn fell silent. Then he stayed silent a while longer. Finally, clutching his wound, he laughed bitterly. "Could you take me with you too?"

"Take you along?" Megumi tapped her chin lightly with her index finger, thinking it over seriously. "I guess that's not impossible. But if you come along, it'll cut into my earnings."

Finn's mouth twitched again. He couldn't help grumbling internally: Do I really look like someone who wants to tag along and mine rocks with you in this state…

Wait. Just a rough estimate of the metal in that girl's bundle had to be worth over a hundred million valis. If she made a few more trips like this, wouldn't she just get rich outright? So then — how much would I, Finn, be worth by the pound?

No, wait. This isn't the time to be thinking about that. Getting out alive was the most important thing.

"You… can really take me with you?" Finn wasn't the type to trust a stranger easily. Especially not one wearing a black cloak, in a place like this.

But something about this girl's presence was strange. Strange enough that he felt absolutely no killing intent from her. Not just no killing intent — there was barely even a trace of the scent of someone who'd killed people or monsters before. That was a high-level adventurer's instinct speaking. And on top of that, his thumb wasn't giving him any warning of danger.

So, he decided to take the gamble.

Megumi tilted her head and started calculating the price seriously. "I can do it. But you'll need to pay valis based on your body weight. If you're, say, five hundred pounds…" She started counting on her fingers.

Finn cut her off quickly. "I'll give you two hundred million valis. I can even add interest. Equivalent items, materials, Magic Conducting tomes, anything works. Just get me out of here."

Megumi thought about it. Hm. Seemed like a fair deal. She wasn't that short on money right now, honestly. But if she could get a Grimoire and learn a new spell, that would actually be more useful. After all, the real world didn't seem all that safe either — she'd need the strength to protect her family too.

"Okay. Deal."

Once the decision was made, she poured out part of the metal chunks from her bundle, bit by bit. Then she widened the opening. "Come on. Climb in, I'll carry you."

Finn went quiet. "…Is there any other way to do this?"

"Uhh—" Megumi frowned slightly, looking a bit put out by the hassle. "Isn't this the most convenient way?"

Finn hesitated a moment, then finally resigned himself to it. His wounds couldn't wait any longer. He gritted his teeth and climbed into the bundle.

"There we go—" Megumi hoisted the bundle onto her back again. Only Finn's head stuck out of the opening; the rest of him just dangled there against her back.

The more Finn thought about it, the weirder it felt. "Hey. Why do I feel like this whole picture is off." Right now, he looked exactly like a cat being carried out for a walk in a bag by its owner.