Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 418

Eye of the Storm (3)

Munch, munch.

I chew on my jerky.

Not just me, but all the team members together.

“Uh… I think I’m going to throw up. I’ve eaten too much; I can’t eat anymore…”

A few muttered complaints about being full, but those were just rare exceptions.

Even as we hurried up the incline at an alarming pace, everyone forced down the jerky.

Because we all knew.

This would be the last time we’d eat this much for a long while.

“Mr. Schuiz!! No, Sir Jandel!!”

As we were moving, Marone, the mage from Team 5, ran up to me.

“The detection magic we set up 10 minutes ago has been triggered!”

“They’re closer than we thought.”

If they ran at full speed, they could reach us in a few minutes.

“Everyone, throw away your food boxes!”

Shouting that, I was the first to toss the jerky box I was holding into the abyss below.

To increase our speed, we had to minimize our load.

Whoosh!

Most threw their boxes over the cliff as soon as the order was given, as if relieved. . But a few members hesitated, their hands trembling with reluctance.

The paladins and knights—those in frontline roles—looked especially torn.

“Damn it, I can still eat more…!”

One muttered as he shoved jerky into every pocket he had. It was a funny sight, but I couldn’t blame him.

I felt the same way.

“Why does it feel like my stomach is already emptying?”

Damn it.

“Well, I guess the good times are over now.”

“Marone, set up new detection magic. Use the time intervals to estimate their speed.”

“Yes, sir!”

Marone quickly cast another detection spell, and we picked up our pace.

Of course, it wasn’t that drastic of an increase.

If we had been walking at a brisk pace on flat ground earlier, now we were moving at the speed of a slow marathon.

About seven minutes later—

“The detection magic’s been triggered!”

Even though we had increased our speed, the gap had narrowed by three minutes.

“This is troublesome.”

The weaker members—priests and mages—were already being carried by others.

Now, there’s only one method left.

Survival comes down to what you’re willing to sacrifice.

“Discard the backpacks with the warming stones.”

We gave up the warming stones that had greatly helped us maintain our body temperature.

After the sleds, tents, and sleeping bags, they were the heaviest items we had.

The food would naturally decrease as we consumed it.

“Damn it, now we have to fight the cold, too?”

“What are you waiting for? Toss them already!”

“We’ll be running constantly anyway. Don’t dwell on it too much!”

As expected, shedding the warming stones lightened our load, and we picked up speed.

Thanks to the reduced burden on those who had to carry the non-combat members.

Before long, some hopeful news came through.

“The detection magic has been triggered. This time, exactly in 7 minutes and 37 seconds!”

The narrowing gap had finally stabilized.

Well, we’re still dying because we increased our speed.

“But it must be the same for them.”

From now on, it’s a battle of endurance.

This harsh environment is fair to everyone.

Just as we had to make tough sacrifices, so would they.

Just like now.

“Wh-what should we do? Th-they suddenly got faster. Now there’s only a 6-minute gap!”

Chewing jerky while running, without a moment’s rest for five hours.

The 7-minute gap we’d maintained had been broken.

So, what could be the reason?

The reason was clear.

“I briefly switched to a mental link to observe them—they’ve reduced in number! They’re down to about twelve!”

They, too, had made a sacrifice.

To catch us, they gave up their greatest advantage—numbers.

‘Did they send the rest back after handing off the supplies?’

Most likely.

The ones returning would be starving, but they’d be able to gorge themselves if they made it back within three days.

‘Twelve, huh…’

Our numbers now doubled theirs.

But even so—

‘I can’t be sure we’ll win.’

We’d inevitably clash at some point.

But that time wasn’t now.

Which meant—

“What do we do? They’ll catch up at this rate!”

What do you mean, what should we do?

They sacrificed something; we have to sacrifice one more thing.

That’s only fair, right?

“Discard the heavy plate armor. Of course, keep your shields and weapons so we can still fight.”

“Whaaat?”

Without further explanation, I took off the equipment covering my body and threw it over the cliff.

“Do… do we really have to go that far?”

“When you were shouting that we’d all die, what was that? Feeling regret now?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

“Then that’s settled. Discard them. Anyway, when we return to the city and sort out the loot stored in our subspace, we’ll have enough for new equipment.”

“Ha… Being told to discard equipment while being chased by enemies—you’re truly mad.”

The frontline members, who valued their plate armor like life itself, grumbled but eventually followed my orders, stripping off all their equipment and wearing only thick fur clothing.

As a result,

“Six minutes! Same as before!”

The 6-minute gap stopped narrowing and remained constant.

Perhaps they’re just as confused now.

What’s going on? Why isn’t the gap closing?

“I wonder what expressions they’ll have when they finally meet us, seeing us practically stripped.”

Good, I feel a bit more energized.

Trudge, trudge.

How much longer did we run uphill like that?

“I… I just realized for the first time that people can sleep while running.”

“Even just for a minute… I’d love to sleep…”

Our pace gradually slowed.

It was only natural; we’d been on a forced march for days without proper rest or sleep.

But…

“Six minutes… still six minutes…”

The distance between us remained constant.

As we grew tired and exhausted, so did they…

At that moment, for the first time in a while, there was a change in the situation.

“What’s going on? The detection magic should’ve been triggered by now…”

The detection magic, which had been triggering every six minutes, didn’t activate even after twenty minutes.

Why?

Is there a way to avoid the detection magic?

“No. If they had such a method, they would’ve used it earlier.”

We continued to run uphill for another 10 minutes, but the detection magic remained silent.

So I came to a conclusion.

“Looks like they’re reaching their limit too.”

They’ve stopped to rest.

In other words…

“Stop!”

We can finally take a break and catch our breath.

***

“Everyone rest! You can sleep! I’ll wake you when it’s time to depart!”

As soon as I gave the order, they couldn’t even muster a cheer before collapsing where they stood.

Some, completely drained, fell asleep the moment they hit the ground.

“Aren’t you going to rest?”

“I’ll just look around a bit.”

“Sorry. I’d like to stay with you, but I can’t hold on…”

“No need to apologize. Go and rest.”

“Yes…”

With a tired expression, Erwin turned and went to lie down next to Amelia, her usual rival, and they fell asleep huddled together.

Yes, without the warming stones, we need to share body heat.

I smirked and watched them for a while, then went round the perimeter.

Amidst the team members who had collapsed or were eating, there was someone doing something unusual.

“Kaislan, what are you writing?”

“Oh! I was recording what you said earlier, Schuiz… no, Jandel.”

“What I said…?”

Instead of answering, Kaislan quietly held out his notebook.

[“I will take on the hardest tasks. I’ll do the dirty work that no one else wants to do. I’ll step into the bloodiest places first, and if someone must get hurt, let it be me.”]

[“So… follow me.”]

[“If you’re going to throw your life away anyway, throw it to me!!”]

Whew, reading it like this makes me feel really embarrassed.

I couldn’t bring myself to scold someone who was diligently taking notes despite being sleep-deprived.

“You have a good memory.”

“Memory? No, I’ll never forget those words.”

He does have peculiar hobbies.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I scolded him about spending his precious rest time writing this and asked what he planned to do with it. But Kaislan just shrugged and smiled quietly.

“You never know.”

“Hmm?”

“Maybe this record will become a moment in great history.”

Heh, that history talk again.

Come to think of it, he’s always liked that sort of thing.

I straightened up and patted him on the shoulder.

“Then we’ll need to survive. For it to go down in history.”

“Ah, that’s true. Yes, let’s survive…”

“Save the writing for later. You can write when we get back.”

“Will do.”

After finishing my conversation with Kaislan, I headed toward where Erwin was,  the female mage, who had been leaning against her backpack with her eyes closed, opened them.

“Bjorn Jandel.”

It was Vercil Gowland.

“Oh, did I wake you? If so, sorry—”

“I’m the one who should apologize.”

“Uh?”

“I’m sorry. For abandoning you back on the first floor.”

I wondered what she was talking about, bringing up something from so long ago.

“Do you remember when I said at the banquet that I truly regretted it? I really wasn’t just saying that. When I woke up later and heard about what you did in the Crystal Cave, I felt so miserable and ashamed.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. As a leader, it was the decision you had to make. I would have done the same.”

At my sincere words, Vercil Gowland frowned.

“Don’t joke. You would never have done that.”

That’s a bit much.

If I’d been given enough escape tickets for everyone in the Crystal Cave, I would have taken the dimensional gate immediately.

I only struggled because I’d been abandoned.

It’s not like I had some heroic mission.

But perhaps she thought differently.

“You’re like the eye of the storm. No matter how fierce the winds blow from all sides, you never get swept away.”

That’s a complicated thing to say to a barbarian.

Is she trying to test me?

I stared blankly, and Vercil Goland gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Maybe that’s why people gather around you even in the midst of a fierce storm.”

“It just happened that way.”

When she made such an over-the-top statement, I responded lightly, finding it hard to accept.

She looked at me and smiled subtly.

“I guess I said something unnecessary. I didn’t mean to burden you. You were going to rest, right? Sorry for taking your time.”

“No, it’s fine. You should rest too.”

Thus ended my conversation with Vercil.

After that, I passed by the fallen team members and lay down near Erwin.

The mage would alert us if the detection spell triggered, so I planned to steal a bit of sleep.

However…

“Eye of the storm…”

Even thinking about it again, it’s a compliment that doesn’t suit me.

If the interpretation was that misfortune surrounds me and those around me are swept into disaster—

“Hey! Wake up!”

What?

It felt like I’d barely closed my eyes for a few seconds.

“Did the detection magic activate?”

“Yes. We need to leave right away.”

Damn.

Far from feeling rested, I felt even more tired,

‘Get into formation

As much as I wanted to sleep more, I quickly got up and prepared to depart.

And how much time had passed?

“Marone, what time is it?”

“5 minutes…! 5 minutes!”

As we continued to be chased, the distance between us and them started to close.

It wasn’t that they were getting faster.

It was just that we had slowed down.

“Pant, pant…”

I guess it was impossible to fully recover our stamina with just a short rest.

Given that we’ve been on a tough journey for over two months, our accumulated fatigue was bound to be different from theirs.

“What do we do? At this rate, they’ll catch up!”

“Should we fight now? If we get any more tired, we won’t even be able to put up a proper resistance.”

The members’ anxiety grew. So, I first checked the time.

[00:12]

Just past midnight.

In other words, we had exactly one day left to escape the Glacier’s Eye.

‘One day… it’s going to be tight.’

The dilemma wasn’t long.

Survival is a series of choices, after all. At every crossroads, you have to make a decision.

What will I give up this time?

My answer to that is very simple.

“Mackelly Reiadus.”

I immediately stopped the expedition and called for a mage. After all, he’s the only one in the expedition who knows how to use that spell.

“What’s going on?”

The mage, looking somewhat tense, asked as he approached.

“When I asked last time, you said you could use the portal magic, right?”

“Yes… I did say that, but… why are you asking about the portal magic spell now?”

Ah, that.

Actually, it’s nothing much.

“Use it. Right now.”

When I gave the order in a commanding tone, the mage’s expression changed to one of confusion.

“The Portal Magic…? Here… now…?”

I can understand his feelings.

The labyrinth portal magic is usually an improved version.

It can only be used once in a lifetime.

Of course, given the situation, he wouldn’t have any complaints about using up that one chance, but…

“I have no idea why you’re making such a request. The Portal Magic doesn’t work past the 7th floor.”

The modified Portal Magic spell only works up to the 6th floor.

If you try to use it on the 7th floor, you’ll just waste that precious chance.

But…

‘You think I don’t know that?’

“Mackelly Reiaduss” There wasn’t much time so I skipped the explanation and lowered my voice “I’ll explain later, so do as I say for now”.

“Okay, I’ll prepare it right away”

“How long will it take?

“Considering the mana density around us, 1 minute is enough”

“Then, Please start”

As soon as our conversation ended, the mage began preparing the spell and I fired off new instructions to the party members.

“As soon as the portal magic is complete, we’ll start moving. From now on we’ll travel in a breakthrough formation”.

“…Breakthrough formation?”

“Are you thinking of fighting them here…?”

At my command, questions arose among the members.

But the team leaders first completed the formation as I directed and then approached me.

“Out of nowhere, you’re talking about the Portal Magic. What are you thinking?”

“That too when there’s barely enough time to escape.”

“I’m most curious about the breakthrough formation. Are you thinking of turning to face them?”

They trusted me enough to follow my orders, but they were still curious about the reason.

I gave a short answer.

“From now on, we’re taking a harder path.”

“…A harder path?”

“A path that’s hard for us will be hard for them too.”

“…Wait, what does that even mean?”

Kaislan still looked confused.

That moment,

[Mackelly Reiadus has cast a Level 1 spacetime magic]

[Portal].

As the spell was completed, a brilliant light formed.

[The darkness of the labyrinth interferes with space-time]

Before it could even fully form, the Portal disappeared with a loud noise.

With this, McKelly can never use the Portal magic again.

Probably looking at me accusingly with a defeated look because of that.

But…….

What I originally wanted wasn’t to escape through the portal.

…What, what?”

The entire canyon shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck, and the crew’s faces grew tense.

[Special Condition – Momentary Stimulus has been fulfilled]

Yeah, I thought the modified portal would work.

Even though it came with penalties, it’s still classified as level 1 space-time magic.

‘Phew… it worked, but……

Although it went as expected, I couldn’t help but smile sadly.

Already, my warrior’s instincts were telling me.

[The Glacier’s Mage, Kariadea, has appeared in this area.]

Today is going to be an unusually tough day.