The SSR Spearman (Doesn’t) Hide His One-Shot Damage - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21

“And this muscular one in particular! Judging by the tenacity of his life force, he won’t die from a shot or two of arrows. He’s unconscious, so he won’t feel a thing.”
“…”
“Restrain him and set him in front. If we break through quickly, it should be possible—”
“You crazy Empire bastard! Why should my comrade become a meat shield?!”

Of course, Hecate, who was part of the party, flew into a rage and lashed out at him.

“Lady of the Rom Federation, please release your lover now. He’s already unconscious, isn’t he?”
“Crazy? He’s my family! Do the Empire’s people fuck their own blood relatives or something?”
“Good heavens, a young lady shouldn’t say such things… Your words are so coarse!”

The verbal sparring dragged on, when suddenly—

‘…Hm? What’s that?’

In that instant, something that looked like writing shimmered on the wall and caught my eye.
At first glance, it looked like text carved into the stone in intaglio…
An inscription?
It seems to be some kind of hint, doesn’t it?

“Everyone, look over here. There are words carved into the wall!”

I immediately pointed at the inscription on the wall and called out to the party.
Soon, murmuring voices gathered around the wall.
The inscription read as follows.

“Pass through in order of nobility.”
“Should you not agree to this, turn back without delay.”

‘A trap with special conditions?’

This is… a special trap that appears with a truly, truly rare probability.
And it’s showing up right now?

“Order of nobility, eh… Does that not signify the dignity of bloodlines?”
“Everyone! Line up in order: duke’s houses, count’s houses, baron’s houses! Ah, anyone who isn’t the legitimate child of the principal wife, step aside!”
“Could it not be rank within the knights’ order? If the houses are equal, let’s divide them again by standing within the order!”

The men bustled about in perfect coordination, sorting themselves by rank among their own kind.
Before long, they lined up in the order of knights, then regular soldiers.
Since the Imperial Royal Knights were mostly made up of sons from noble houses, the common soldiers were naturally pushed to the back.

‘What airs they put on…’

Apparently, quite a few fellows who never received a title and were squeezed out of their families had joined the Imperial Royal Knights.

‘But why did the three Blue Cloak knights stand in the back row instead of the front?’

Now that I looked, Imperial Knight James had also been shoved to the very back row, standing in nearly the same position as the regular soldiers.
…Was he a commoner, that one?

Ding!

[TIP – The Imperial 7th Knights, responsible for enforced execution, are all commoner-born except for the Captain and Adjutant.]

At that moment, a message appeared.

‘Including James, there are three Imperial Knights in the back row…’

I stole a glance at their faces.
All three of them wore honest, upright expressions.

‘…So one of these three is the from the Quest?’

【An Eye for an Eye】
-Find those who took part in the raid on the Underground City and take your revenge!

‘If all three of them die, maybe the Quest will just clear itself?’

…Oops!
I’d let an uncharitable thought slip out.
Good thoughts. Good thoughts.
Just as I was steadying myself—

“As a member of the great Duke’s house, I shall lead the way!”

A knight who claimed to be the scion of a ducal family stepped to the front, his feet trembling as he advanced.
The procession seemed to have only just begun passing through the arrow trap.

“Wh-whoa… Whoa! The arrows really aren’t coming!”
“It’s true! Keep moving forward!”

Hm?

‘It actually works?’

Judging by how the trap wasn’t going off.
That ridiculous ranking-by-status scheme really seems to have worked.

‘If we follow the Imperial order, then after Imperial commoners comes the Rom Federation, and at the very bottom is Ailand, the vassal state.’

I was watching the Imperial knights parade along ridiculously in order of duke, count, baron, and bastard, when—

“…Hm?”

A faint muttering reached me from beside me, and I turned around without thinking.

“Ah, ahhh, no… At this rate, we’ll all die… That’s not it, we can’t go that way—”
“…?”

Hecate was beside me, chewing on her fingernails and murmuring.

“What’s wrong? The trap isn’t going off. Is there a problem?”
“This path is never meant to be taken… We have to turn back…”
“Why do you say that?”
“…It’s a hunch. We just can’t go this way!”

With that, she tore at her hair again, writhing in distress.

‘What is this? This uneasy feeling.’

Every now and then, SSR Heroes had special abilities.
The power to foresee the future, a strength no one could match, wielding a Mythic Grade piece of equipment of their own…
Depending on each one’s Unique Myth, there were cases where they carried all sorts of peculiar abilities as options.

…In that case.

‘Could this guy actually have some kind of powerful foresight?’

But the trap isn’t triggering, is it?
Did I miss something?

A community post I’d read ages ago suddenly surfaced in my mind.

-For a game that doesn’t bother with historical accuracy, it sure puts a lot of effort into it sometimes, doesn’t it?
└What are you talking about?
└Arthur can be a female character, sure, but no matter what you do, they’ve locked her out of the Rogue tree because of aptitude. Historical accuracy, apparently.
└Huh? Arthur was a woman to begin with, you know.

‘If this is the new character, she’s almost certainly tied closely to her Unique Myth.’

I fell into thought for a moment.

Hecate.
Goddess of the moon and of night.
Goddess of life and death, of thresholds, of crossroads…

…Wait.
Hold on a second.

‘The boundary between life and death?’

A hypothesis flashed through my head,
and with it came a sickening certainty.

“Rian, Ailin! Hold your positions. Do not move forward yet!”
“Huh? What’s going on, Setanta? Everyone else crossed just fine…?”
“Do not set foot on it under any circumstances!”

One of the highest-tier traits in this game is the trait.

Perhaps Hecate possesses some special ability tied to her Unique Myth.
After all, she is the goddess of life, death, and crossroads.

Yes, something like…

‘An ability to sense the boundary between life and death, the thin line where life plunges straight into death.’

In other words,
she might be able to sense the aura of ‘doomed to die.’

“Huh? But why is the path ahead blocked?”
“We passed through the trap, so there should be a way forward! It can’t be a dead end…!”

Sure enough.
Knights who had reached the far side began to panic.

“Wait! Everyone, look up! It’s not just the sides. There are holes all over the ceiling too!”
“What? Wh-what…?”

A brief silence.

“Ah… AAAAAAAAH-!”

Then, over the heads of the entire Knights’ company, a dense grid of iron spikes came pouring down.

Splat!

[…] returns to the bosom of the goddess.
[…] returns to the bosom of the goddess.

Dark red blood pooled and spread out, forming a crimson lake in the distance.
Everyone who had crossed the path was wiped out.
In an instant.

“S-Setanta… what is this…?”
“…A new line has been added to the wall.”

Beneath the inscription on the wall.
Somehow, a new phrase had appeared.

「There is no such thing as an honored order.」
「There is only the order of who goes first.」

The precious sons of the noble houses of the Empire had all been skewered on bamboo spears and died…

* * *

‘I can’t believe it.’

The Imperial knights who had crossed the arrow trap were all impaled on the spikes and wiped out.
Only three Imperial Royal Knights of the Blue Cloaks, who had been in the back rows because they were commoners, were left.

[Imperial Knight, James’s mental state is deteriorating.]

“This is a nightmare. Such an absurd reality cannot exist….”
“….”
“Isn’t that so! Someone, answer me! Where are the knights of the great Imperial Court now?”
“Well, they’re skewered on those stakes.”

When I pointed with my hand,
James laughed as if he had lost his mind.

“Ha, ha, hahaha….”

[The target Hero is under extreme stress.]
[Status Ailment – Mental Collapse!]

His eyes then rolled wildly, and he began muttering and pacing in place.

Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Majesty, Majesty, Majesty, Majesty….

Just listening to him, I felt like I might lose my mind too.

‘If you’re going to go insane, at least do it quietly.’

Already, even the ordinary soldiers nearby were starting to fall into panic.
This is exactly why managing the party’s mental state matters.
Anxiety spreads to those around you.

‘Compared to that, how composed my initial Triple Pull Heroes are.’

Perdi laughed boisterously even in the face of death,
and Rian, though still trembling, is holding up quite well.
And Ailin…

‘Hm?’

…What?
The corners of her mouth were lifted, weren’t they?

I wondered if I’d seen wrong, so I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

‘Huh, she really is smiling.’

A gentle smile.
Clear, transparent eyes.
With the fresh, bright face she’d worn before the Underground City fell, she gazed at the Blue Cloaks, skewered all together in a heap.
Knights whose armor had been soaked in blood until it was no longer blue.

[Ailin’s mental state stabilizes.]

“Setanta, thanks to your cry, we were able to survive.”
“….”

Ailin continued in her soft, languid voice.
Her expression and her tone were the same as before the Underground City was destroyed.
Remarkably, she was exactly as she used to be.

“I can only keep admiring your foresight.”
“…It wasn’t me. It was this person who sensed the danger.”
“Hm? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“This one right here. The one we stole the horses from.”

I jerked my chin toward Hecate, who was sitting on the ground, trembling badly.
Ailin’s eyes slowly turned to her.

“Your name was… Hecate, wasn’t it?”
“….”
“Thank you. May the Blessing of Ailand be with you as well!”

Ailin smiled gently and gave Hecate’s shoulder a light pat.
At that moment, Hecate flinched, her whole body jerking.
As if she were terrified.

‘Well, for now our side’s mental state seems mostly fine…’

Ailin’s attitude was a little unsettling.
But when I saw James, who had lost his mind and was muttering as he spun in place, I figured we had it relatively good.

“Setanta, I think my Mana Nerve has settled down to a reasonable degree now.”
“Oh.”
“I believe I can cast a single spell without any trouble.”

Just then, our Dark Mage’s Casting Cooldown finished too.
Now it was time to get back to the Guide.

「Pass through in order of nobility.」
「If you do not agree to this, turn back without delay.」

‘It said to turn back if we didn’t agree.’

“Everyone, let’s go back the way we came, as the inscription on the wall says. There may be a new path now!”

I drew my spear and took the lead.
The surviving Imperial soldiers exchanged dazed looks, then slowly dragged themselves to their feet and followed after me.

[Thanks to your high Charisma, your words carry added persuasive weight.]

The two Blue Cloak knights hesitated for a long while before finally gathering the half-mad James and hurrying after me.

We pressed on for who knows how long.

“Look over there! A fork in the road has suddenly appeared, one we didn’t see before!”
“What? That wasn’t there a moment ago.”
“Just as that man said, a new path has really shown itself!”

The passage we had just walked through had split into a two-way fork.

‘…The balance of this fork is completely off, though.’

The left path was a gloomy tunnel, soaked in blood.
The right was bathed in bright light, looking for all the world like a road leading straight to heaven.

‘What do I do with this?’

I narrowed my eyes and glared suspiciously ahead.
At first glance, the left led straight to the boss chamber.
The right led up to the surface.

“An exit… An exit! The gods have not abandoned us!”
“Blessed gods! Thank you for saving us!”
“Let’s take the right-hand path at once!”

Just as I expected.
The Empire’s soldiers, faces lit up with hope, began streaming toward the right-hand passage in a rush.

“We can finally get out of here! We can get treatment…!”

The soldiers whose mutations had progressed significantly were the most elated.
They had been bracing to die or turn into demonic monsters, so a lifeline dropping from above must have felt like a miracle.

‘But is this really all right?’

Ever since I’d fallen into this damned world, one rotten twist after another, each departing from the original work, had unfolded.
This shouldn’t be this easy, should it?

“…Miss Hecate, what do you make of that fork?”

I asked Hecate directly.

Probably someone with a rare trait…
A Hidden Route-exclusive SSR hero.

“You sensed the arrow trap earlier on instinct, didn’t you? What’s your gut telling you this time?”
“The right path…”
“Hm?”
“If you go right…”

Gulp.
She swallowed hard.

“You’ll definitely die. Straight into the goddess’s arms in one blow…”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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