Why was Alia, who was supposed to be watching the others from Skull Island, here of all places?
I didn’t know yet—but I could guess at least one thing.
'If Alia, who was ordered to keep tabs on the Golden Tree Clan, ca here...'
Then there’s a high chance they ca here too.
There’s no way she would’ve entered this place without reason.
“Did you see anyone else besides my comrade?”
But Arta’s reply to my theory-based question was unexpected.
[Hard to say. So far, we’ve only confird the woman.]
“Only one?”
[Is that a problem?]
“No. Then I’ll ask this instead. What situation is my comrade in that made you say she’s about to die?”
[Maybe she’s just wandering around aimlessly, but she’s already entered the Beast’s territory. It wouldn’t be strange if they ran into each other at any mont.]
The place I’m currently inside—“mory of the End”—is a hidden field, much like Larkaz’s Labyrinth we visited before.
And the Beast is effectively the boss of this field.
But you’re saying Alia is already inside its territory?
'Fucking hell.'
Ti was tight.
No—ti was incredibly tight.
“Arta, is there anything else I should know?”
[As I already said, in order to slay the Beast, you must rember my advice—]
“So, nothing. Got it. That’ll be all.”
I had no reason to waste ti listening to the strategy all over again, so the conversation with Arta ended there.
I quickly rallied the mbers and left the secret base.
“You don’t need to say it, right?”
“Yes. I promise we’ll reach you without delay, Captain.”
With Auyen’s confident answer, the ship cut swiftly across the water.
Swoooooosh—!
Honestly, it was moving even faster than when we first ca here.
Sure, it helped that we were slamming mana stones into the engine without worrying about fuel efficiency...
But that wasn’t the only reason for this speed.
「Auyen Rockrove has cast [Tailwind].」
「Auyen Rockrove has cast [Trade Route].」
「Auyen Rockrove has cast [Ghost Ship]...」
Watching Auyen activate every skill he had, the other mbers began to look concerned.
“Uh... Navigator, sir? Are you sure you’re okay? I get that this is urgent, but there’s a saying—haste makes waste...”
“If you go all-out from the start, you might collapse halfway through.”
Spoken like true explorers—logical and grounded. And frankly, I agreed with them.
If Auyen ran out of mana and his skills failed mid-voyage, we might arrive even later.
So I asked what needed asking.
“Auyen, are you sure you’re okay?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Coming here, I had to think about getting back. But this ti, going back isn’t the point.”
And that was that.
“Understood.”
If we’re the experts in monster-slaying, then he’s the expert in navigation.
Best to just trust and leave it to him.
Swoooooosh—!
We raced across the water toward an island that hadn’t yet appeared on the horizon. How much ti had passed?
Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep—
The ten-hour tir I’d set when entering Arta’s base went off.
I’d built in a buffer, just in case... but still.
'I thought we’d be heading back at a more leisurely pace...'
Just goes to show—you never know how things will play out.
Even the Sniktura raid had ended in a way I hadn’t expected.
“...”
Maybe it was because I had nothing to do but wait until we arrived?
Staring at the endless horizon brought up all kinds of thoughts. Before I knew it, my jaw clenched, and my fists tightened.
“Don’t worry too much... It’ll be okay...”
“Yeah, seriously, Uncle. It’s gonna be fine.”
My teammates assud I was worried about Alia.
And sure—I was.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened.
“Yes, it was intense, but in the end everyone made it out okay, right? Don’t stress too much.”
Elwen ant to comfort , but that was exactly the problem—it stabbed in the chest.
A few hours ago, we’d almost been wiped out.
No—technically, we had been wiped out.
I hadn’t found a solution.
I accepted our fate.
For the first ti since becoming a barbarian, I’d prepared my last words.
Sure, things had sohow turned out alright in the end—we killed a 1st-rank monster and got a top-tier essence...
'But that wasn’t because I was any good.'
We survived today because we got lucky.
I hadn’t even considered [Star’s Proxy] at the ti.
'...Or maybe it’s because I wasn’t good enough.'
If I really think back over the fight, that total wipeout could have been avoided.
If I’d been willing to give up on Beleg sooner, the raid could’ve followed my plan exactly.
But I didn’t.
I clung to naive hope—that maybe if I sacrificed a little more, we could save everyone.
And the result of that stubbornness?
Disaster.
'Sure, it ended well. But...'
How long will luck keep saving ?
No.
Am I even the kind of person who deserves to rely on luck?
'Of course not...'
Luck carried us this far.
There won’t be a next ti.
If I go into the next situation with the sa mindset, the ending will be the worst possible one.
And once I truly realized that...
BOOOOOM—!
My head exploded.
Or rather, my thoughts collapsed in on themselves.
***
Maybe it was because I suddenly slamd my forehead into the railing?
“...”
“...”
Silence settled across the deck.
I looked up and saw the crew all avoiding eye contact like they’d just seen sothing forbidden.
“Ahem...”
“Well... I suppose I should polish my gear. Where’d I leave my whetstone...?”
Dammit.
That was reckless of .
Whatever’s going on in my head, I’m the leader—I shouldn’t show it on the outside.
'It’s not like I’m the only one suffering here.'
Just because you’re an explorer doesn’t an you don’t feel stress.
Sure, we’re all used to the threat of death, but no matter how skilled an explorer is, the pressure weighs heavy.
That’s probably why there are so many ssed-up personalities in the guild.
Everyone had just barely escaped death.
They were definitely tired and on edge.
And here I was—making them nervous too.
“Sigh... Sorry, everyone! I just... really felt like headbutting sothing for a sec!!”
I shouted it out half-jokingly, laying my heart bare—and it helped ease the mood a bit.
“...Haha, is that so?”
“Of course! Sotis you just really need to bash your head on sothing, right? Right?”
“Haha... yeah, I guess...”
The laughter was a bit awkward, but it was better than uncomfortable silence.
And thanks to my effort, even Raven—who’d been keeping her distance—ca back over to stand beside .
“Looks like you’re finally in the mood to talk again?”
“...Did you need sothing?”
“Sniktura’s essence.”
Ah, that.
I thought she’d co over to cheer up.
But I guess normal conversation like this might be better.
“So? What abilities does it have? I’ve been dying to know. Is it the color you wanted?”
“Half.”
“So... one of them is the one you were aiming for?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you answering like that? You know what I’m asking—just spill it already!”
“That can wait for later—”
“No! Later is the worst habit an explorer can have! What if you die before ‘later’ cos? I’ll be so mad I’ll magic myself into pieces!”
“...Magic yourself into pieces?”
That weird phrase made blink, and Raven quickly looked away.
“O-Oh, um... So mages believe that when they die, they don’t go to a god’s embrace or anything—they just dissolve into pure mana particles...”
Ah. So like, atheists.
If I had to pick, I guess I’d be in that camp too.
No afterlife—just decomposition into nothing.
Not that I want that to be true.
Even if it’s just wishful thinking, it’d be nice if there was a place where you could rest.
Sowhere you could et the people you’ve lost, and talk about the old days—even just once more.
“Hey? You still with ?”
Ah. Right. We were talking.
“Co on! Are you really not gonna tell ?”
“No, I was just about to. What was the question again?”
“Sniktura’s essence!”
Ah, right...
My head really was a ss.
So I just pulled the description from mory and recited it directly.
“Sniktura’s essence has two inherent physical-type abilities. One is [All-Poison {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Physiology], and the other is [Final Radiance]...”
I kept going—passive skill functions, active skill stats, the whole breakdown.
At first, Raven listened with wide eyes, but her expression gradually soured.
“No, I an—which one did you want?”
Oh. That’s what she was asking.
“I didn’t have a specific preference.”
“What?”
“I only cared about one thing—[Final Radiance].”
“What? Not [All-Poison Physiology]?”
That’s useful too, sure—but nowhere near as critical.
Alia’s core essence is [Self-Replication] from the doppelganger.
We later fused it with the Twin Hydra’s [Dual Dominion] to control her clones more effectively, and then added the Cyclops’s [Wave Link] to boost clone output to main-body levels.
“...So that [Final Radiance]—that was the skill Sniktura used at the end, right? It only triggers right before death...”
Hearing that the main ability was a passive, Raven muttered to herself, then suddenly lit up.
“Oh! That makes sense! With her clone setup, that one-ti-only trigger limitation doesn’t matter anymore!”
“Exactly.”
Sure, you can’t move for a minute when it activates, but if you just wait that out, a clone erges that’s several tis stronger than the original body.
'Once we infuse this essence and finish tuning the rest of the build, she’ll clear Floor 10 minimum.'
“Okay, but what’s the other ability?”
Oh. That.
The second one is [Form Shift].
“Ooh, that’s a really good one, isn’t it?”
“When Sniktura used it, she could freely transform into other monsters and use their traits, yeah. But in practice, it’s a little different.”
“What’s the catch?”
“You can only transform into the last monster you killed. And you don’t get any physical stat boosts.”
“Ah... I see.”
She sounded disappointed—but that’s not all there is to it.
This is a 1st-rank essence, after all.
There are lots of advanced uses.
But I’ll save that for Alia, who’s actually going to use it.
“So what’s the last ability?”
“...[Final Day].”
“Huh? That’s an actual ability?”
“It is.”
“...Your face doesn’t look good.”
“That’s because it’s... tricky.”
Honestly, I said all the abilities were fine—but this one’s the exception.
If it had been [Seed of Destruction] instead, I’d have had better use for it.
“What’s tricky about it? Is it bad?”
Tsk... Well...
“It’s technically strong, but it has a lot of activation conditions.”
“Oh, co to think of it—Sniktura never even used it in the fight, huh? What does it do?”
I spent quite a bit of ti explaining what the ability did, along with its conditions.
Raven eventually got her curiosity satisfied and wandered off.
Finally, I had a mont alone.
And then it hit .
“Oh, shit.”
This wasn’t the ti to be obsessing over soone else’s essence.
“...[Harbinger of Corruption].”
That thing... it hit , didn’t it?
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