Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 826

Every Man for Himself (3)

Maze Reiner

Surprisingly, he was a highly skilled explorer who had been designated a Rank 3 explorer by the guild. His combat ability was nowhere near what his rank suggested, but that only raised my opinion of him even more.

It proved just how skilled he must be in other areas.

And he was only thirty-three years old too…

A rank 3 adventurer at thirty-three. He might not belong to a large, famous clan, but he was still the vice-captain of a mid-sized one.

Though it was a little funny hearing him brag about it himself.

In any case, there was no denying that he was elite. This labyrinth had only been opened to the best of the best in the first place. Even setting that aside, the fact that he had survived until the first day of the dimensional collapse was proof enough.

Alright. That settles the ability assessment…

I had been sitting cross-legged so I could meet his eyes at the same level, but I slowly stood back up.

“Alright, let’s get moving,”

“Pardon…? Where?”

Ah. Did I not mention it?

“I need to find my companions.”

I gave him a brief explanation, but he still looked completely lost.

“I’m planning to search every corner of the labyrinth.”

He went silent.

“Any problem with that?”

“Ah… haha… I see… Your companions are truly fortunate. To have such a reliable captain as you, Viscount…”

What’s with that reaction?

It was obvious he was thinking about running away from me.

“So hurry up and get on.”

“…E-Excuse me? Get on…?”

I thought he was the quick-thinking type, so why was he acting so reluctant now?

Then again, he’d already said he would do whatever I told him. There was no reason for me to be asking for his approval in the first place.

“Uuh?”

Grabbing him by the collar, I hoisted him onto my shoulder.

And so, in full barbarian-tank mode…

“Hold on tight. If you fall, assume you’re dead.”

And we’re off.

***

Snow-covered plains.

BOOM.

Canyons and river mouths.

BOOM.

Mystical forests and burning fields.

BOOM.

Caves filled with flowing lava.

We only remained in each place for a few seconds before moving on.

“BETHEEELRAAAAAA!!!”

I was currently charging through the labyrinth.

BOOM!!

Each footstep thundered across the ground.

“[Grrrrrrr!!]”

Faced with an endless tide of monsters, I lowered my shield and smashed straight through them.

Naturally, the monsters weren’t simply standing around watching.

Their sole purpose was to kill any explorers who were trapped in the labyrinth

The moment they saw us, they attacked without a second of hesitation.

[Demonic Archer has cast Baptism of the Moon.]

Arrows streaked through the air toward us…

「Frost Moon Ghost has cast [Ice Spear].」

Spears of ice flew towards us.

Curses!

Sparks burst all around us.

My MP steadily drained away.

One attack after another.

“Uwaaaah!!”

The only thing proving just how reckless this plan was were Reiner’s screams as he clung to my shoulder.

“Endure it!”

“I-It almost hit my h-head…!”

“I know. Just endure it!”

I was certain of one thing.

“This is the best method!”

“D-Do you really have to find your companions?!”

That sounded a little out of line.

But I simply smirked.

The reason I was doing all this wasn’t simply to find my allies.

After all, I was a tank.

It took me a long time to bring down even a single rank 4 monster. As the waves continued, the number of monsters would inevitably keep growing.

If I stayed in one place, I would eventually be buried beneath them and die.

Like a shark that dies the moment it stops swimming, I kept running under the belief that stopping meant death.

This was the only way to survive.

Still, there was one saving grace.

I wasn’t alone.

I had managed to find a remarkably reliable companion.

[Maze Reiner has cast Lighten Load.]

[All negative effects applied to the character are transferred to Maze Reiner.]

It worked somewhat differently from a priest’s Purify or a wizard’s Dispel Curse, but the result was the same.

Every debuff that had accumulated on me disappeared in an instant.

「Maze Reiner has cast [Negative Devour].」

「The duration of all negative effects decreases proportional to Mental Stat.」

「Whenever a negative effect is removed, Soul Power and Vitality are greatly restored.」

The debuffs transferred to him were converted into HP and MP.

[Maize Rayner has cast Blood Supply.]

And then he sent that recovered health straight back to me.

Maze Reiner was an exceptionally well-designed ability user, and an incredibly rare support-type at that.

His essence rank might be low, but the synergy between his abilities was outstanding.

Explorers ought to learn from people like him. A higher-ranked essence wasn’t always the better choice.

And despite all that, his combat ability was still comparable to that of a rank 5 explorer.

He had even mentioned possessing a bow-related skill that could support me in battle when needed.

I suddenly found myself curious about how he fought.

Clench.

I tightened my grip.

Stop wasting time on pointless thoughts.

Fwoosh!

I swung the Demon Crusher with all my strength.

Rather than aiming for vital points and killing the monsters outright, I was simply overwhelming them with brute force and knocking them aside.

Clang!

The moment a small opening appeared, I raised my shield and charged through it.

Then, as the world flashed white and another region unfolded before us—

“Finally. Someone else.”

I found the second survivor.

***

The second survivor was also a man.

He looked to be in his mid-forties.

A lone survivor…

Surrounded by a mountain of corpses inside a translucent barrier, the older man sat with his eyes shut, as if he had already given up.

Yet even with his eyes closed, he couldn’t hide his fear.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Heavy impacts continued to shake the barrier from outside.

[Screeeeeeeeech-!]

Each time the monsters surrounding the barrier slammed against it and let out horrifying howls, the man trembled violently.

So he’s the last survivor…

Unlike Reiner, his situation was different.

Reiner had become separated from his group during the collapse.

This man had stayed with his companions until the very end.

The bodies surrounding him proved he was the last survivor.

Judging by that barrier, it’ll break within a minute.

Once it shattered, he would soon join his fallen allies.

At least, that was what would have happened if I hadn’t arrived.

“A mage…”

Under normal circumstances, my first thought would have been that this was an incredible stroke of luck. A mage would be extremely useful to have riding on my shoulder.

..That was what I would have thought if I were a heartless bastard incapable of understanding what he was going through.

…Will he even be mentally stable enough?

The concern crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly dismissed it.

No matter how desperate his situation was, he was still fighting to stay alive.

He hadn’t given up yet.

So—

“BETHEEERAAAAAA!!!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

The man inside the barrier snapped his eyes open in shock.

Once he realized I was real, hope began to fill his expression.

Unfortunately, there was no time for a conversation with dozens of monsters crowding around the barrier.

“Turn off the barrier when I reach it!”

Shouting that, I forced my way through the swarm and charged straight toward him.

Vwoong.

Just before I collided with the barrier, it vanished.

Honestly, I’d been worried because he’d looked so stunned.

“Looks like you’re still capable of understanding instructions.”

“A-are you here to save me?”

Why else would I be here?

“Enough talking. Get on.”

“Ah!”

I grabbed the man by the back of his shirt, as if pulling up a raddish, and pulled him up onto my other shoulder.

Then—

“I’ll hear what you can do while we move.”

Before the monsters could surround us any further, I forced my way through them and left the area.

The next field we arrived in was a little better. It was on a lower floor, and since there were no survivors here, there weren’t many monsters either.

So—

Crunch!

I casually crushed the skulls of the low-ranking monsters charging toward us and took a moment to catch my breath.

“Y-You’re Viscount Jandel…?”

“That’s right. Now start talking.”

“T-Talking? About what?”

Hmm.

He wasn’t as quick on the uptake as Reiner. I could tell he was of a lower quality.

Well, he had just lost all his allies and nearly died himself.

I decided to be a little more generous and explained,

“I don’t need your name or age. Tell me your rank, school of magic, specialty, and any trump cards you might have.”

“Ah…!”

Once I explained what information he needed to provide in order to join my barbarian-tank mode, the mage quickly understood and gave a brief introduction.

To summarize, he was a Rank 3 mage from the Sperys School, famous for its space magic.

He specialized in barriers and teleportation magic.

“Wait, if you’re from the Sperys School…”

“I used Dimensional Door during my military service, so I can’t use it anymore,” he explained.

“I see.”

Not that it mattered.

Dimensional gates were useless during a collapse anyway.

“Anything else? Any trump cards? Don’t hide anything.”

“I can teleport monsters up to Level 2 a great distance away! As long as they don’t have especially high resistance to magic, that is!”

Space magic that could instantly teleport troublesome monsters away.

Normally, it would only move them about thirty meters, but in our current situation, with the dimensional collapse still ongoing, it could send them completely out of sight.

This… might be useful.

“I am forty-three years old. My name is Elvain Cutter! I will be in your care from now on!”

I told you I didn’t need your name or age.

I gave a faint smirk before checking one last thing.

“So… are you alright?”

“What do you mean…?”

The mage looked genuinely confused.

I asked again, this time in a more careful tone.

“The bodies around you… they seemed to be your allies…”

An unusually delicate way of speaking for a barbarian.

But my consideration was wasted.

“I only have regrets.”

“Regrets? That wasn’t your fault—”

“I regret ever entering the labyrinth with trash like them. What a foolish mistake!”

“…What?”

“They practically begged me to join the expedition, so I allowed it, yet they couldn’t even protect me from monsters of that level…! I even went out of my way to handle the high-ranking ones myself! Those lowly commoners nearly got me killed!”

For a moment, I was speechless.

Trash?

He was calling the people who died protecting him trash?

Well, on the bright side…

At least he wasn’t mentally broken.

“Compared to them, you are truly virtuous and dependable, Viscount Jandel… Fufu. I promise I won’t disappoint you.”

Even so, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

…Should I just abandon him?

***

This felt like the disturbing calm before a storm.

Elvain Cutter was, without a doubt, a shameless elitist mage of high birth.

“As a blue-blooded noble yourself, Viscount Jandel, you must have noticed already… My uncle is Baron Cutter,” he explained.

“Ah, I see.”

Who the hell was that?

Baron Cutter?

Maybe I had heard of it once back when I was studying the noble houses…

So that’s why he insisted on telling me his name.

He wanted to boast.

“Ah, and my eldest sister has exchanged marriage vows with a relative of the Master of the Sperys School.”

I stayed silent.

“Ah, and that’s not all! My second eldest sister is currently discussing an engagement with Baron Vavnon…”

What was this guy’s problem?

Sure, we were in a relatively safe area for now, but was this really the time to brag about his family connections?

I was dumbfounded, but I decided to play along for the moment.

“…Yeah, you’re pretty special.”

If I were a teacher, I definitely would have put him in the special class.

“Fufu, I knew you would recognize my value, Viscount Jandel… Still, hearing it from you is truly moving!”

I said nothing.

“From what I can see, you seem to be in a similar predicament as me… From this moment on, I, Elvain Cutter, will risk my life to support you to the best of my abilities!”

For some reason, the way he said that annoyed me, but I chose to think positively.

With how delusional he was, I could at least be certain that he would follow every command I gave him to the letter.

Well, it seemed that did not apply to orders from anyone else.

“I am Maze Reiner. A Rank 3 adventurer in the same predicament as you. I will be in your care,” Rayner introduced himself.

“…Are you a noble? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a House Rayner.”

“No. My father runs a leatherworking shop in Commelby.”

“A craftsman’s family… Then how can you claim we are in similar situations?”

“……Haha.”

“And you’re a Rank 3 explorer, are you not? Do you not even know the basic common sense that mages are generally considered one rank higher than explorers of the same grade?”

It was true that a Rank 3 mage was usually regarded as far more valuable than an ordinary Rank 3 explorer…

“From now on, I’d appreciate it if you addressed me with ‘Sir’ attached to my name.”

…Should I really just abandon him here.

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