[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 178: Absurdity (3)

...****************...

"Now, where are we going? "

After coming out of the strange cabin, now the three of them are again faced with the same question as the previous one.

The swirl of clouds did indeed take them out of the hut, but they were instead taken to the same strange place.

The three of them stood on the street, facing three stone passageways that seemed to lead to different places.

"Why don't we try to get into that place one by one? "

Cryll gave an unreasonable suggestion. Noelle could only sigh in resignation while looking at her cynically.

"Are you a masochist? I have a feeling that it will be difficult for us to return after getting in there. So we have to choose which path we think is right."

" … I'm a little bad at guessing things, so I'll leave this matter to you guys" Norman said, taking a step back.

"Then" continued Noelle. "Why don't we define the way in each of us? After that, we will decide which path we will choose."

Noelle's proposal sounds pretty good to both of them. The three stared at each other for a moment, before finally nodding.

They took a few steps back and looked for a position for themselves.

Noelle stopped right in the middle of the place, and pulled out one of her swords. The sword he took out was a type of estoc with a cross-shaped handle and a very thin blade.

Noelle stuck the tip of the estoc sword on the ground, and released her hand that held the sword. Then, the sword swayed for a moment before finally falling down with the hilt leading right into the cave that was on the right.

"Right, yes … "

Noelle nodded and looked towards Cryll and Norman.

As he thought, the two of them also had their own ways of determining directions.

Norman used a glass bottle that he turned on the ground, while Cryll used a pebble that he snapped with his finger while closing his eyes.

Everything is pointing to the right. They stared at each other for a moment, then nodded simultaneously. After that, the three immediately ran into the cave on the right, without knowing what was really there.

...****************...

"Normal cave .. I hope what's here is also as normal as it seems … "

Cryll quietly complains as he looks at the backs of Noelle and Norman investigating her surroundings.

The path that the three of them had made before, that of the cave leading to the right, seemed to be quite normal.

It was a large, dark cave filled with stalactites dripping with salt water.

Just based on that information alone was enough for the three of them to make a conclusion about where they were. This was an underwater dungeon, at least they were sure of it.

While Noelle and Norman are still investigating the surroundings, Cryll realizes something strange is starting to happen.

It was a mound of stone with an unfaced position right in front of Noelle's feet. Not only is the position unnatural, but at the base of the stone also seen sticking, but also not attached to the ground below.

Naturally, Cryll knew what it was.

" … Noelle .. I think you should back out of there right away."

Noelle turned around and tilted her head in bewilderment at Cryll, but it was too late. His one foot had already stepped on the stone, and the stone he had stepped on seemed to sink to the ground.

Just as Cryll had guessed, it was a button that would probably activate the trap.

Noelle also noticed it, and she blankly stared at the ground where she stood.

"Minus one point for you, I guess," Norman said as he prepared with his weapon.

A large magic circle then appeared. A dazzling light started to come out from there, making their gaze slightly blinded.

Shortly after, a group of enemies appeared. It was a group of skeleton-type undead.

" … Is this all? "

"Wait, why is there an undead here? "

"Forget about that. They're just a bunch of skeletons, it's not that hard to finish them off."

Cryll advances while drawing his sword, but is soon stopped by Noelle.

"What's? "

Noelle shook her head for a moment, and frowned. "Just think, why is there an undead here? In fact, we are in a dungeon that may have never been explored before. Where did the bodies come from? "

Basically, an undead is unlikely to appear by itself. It takes a catalyst to create them. The human bones were actually enough to create a skeleton, but .. With this amount, Noelle could not imagine how many catalysts it would have to use to create one.

"Forget about that. We're in a dungeon, anything can happen. Do you remember the tree that grew the head as its fruit? That doesn't make sense, does it? "

" … I think you're right."

Noelle's logic was strangely unable to function properly in this place. He was completely confused because of all the strange things that kept happening around him

Noelle pulls Langen from his scabbard, and intends to strike with Cryll.

The enemy was just a flock of ordinary skeletons, they were monsters with strength that was even much weaker than a goblin. This is no big deal.

(True, it's not a problem.)

Noelle tried to convince herself, and began to behave in an attack. But, the sound of a warning shout from Norman suddenly made him come to a realization.

"No! Don't go near them! "

Norman immediately pulled Cryll's collar, and made him move away from the skeleton herd. Seeing him, Noelle immediately lowered her own weapon and jumped back into the same position as Norman.

"What are you doing?! "

Just from the sound of his voice, Norman had realized that Cryll was quite angry. But, it couldn't be an excuse to let him approach those skeletons.

"Don't approach them. They're not done yet."

As soon as Norman told her, various information began to enter Noelle's head.

Noelle widened her eyes and almost laughed self-deprecatingly when she realized her negligence. How could he not realize it? That suspicious flow of magic, all very clear. The magic circle was still there, and a large amount of magic energy was still injected into the skeletons.

"I don't know what's going on, but I have a bad feeling … "

Noelle quietly lowered her weapon and prepared for all possibilities, while Cryll who had escaped Norman's grip also increased his vigilance.

Soon, the skeletons began to raise their hands as high as their lower ribs, and a light began to appear in them.

The alien light gathered and manifested itself in the hands of the skeletons. And when his manifestation was completed, the three of them could only put on a stiff smile while giving a look of disbelief.

"What the hell is that .. How can they have it? "

What was in the hands of those skeletons was a weapon. But, it was not a normal weapon like a sword or spear. It was a machine gun that seemed to have an automatic firing function and a large bullet capacity.

"Okay, this is starting to get scary."

"You know? I never thought that my nightmares as a child would come true today."

Noelle and Norman who understood the attack power of the weapon instantly retreated a few steps while taking a position to escape. Meanwhile, Cryll doesn't really understand modern types of weapons, so he's still quietly glued unaware of the imminent danger.

A clicking sound appeared, Noelle and Norman instantly fled at full speed in the direction they had come before. And of course, Noelle will never forget Cryll.

The blood chain Noelle created instantly bound Cryll and forcefully carried him away.

"We better remember not to do that silly way to set the course! "

"I'm bringing a compass! We should have worn that! "

While the sound of gunfire still echoed right behind them, the two had fled at a speed that they themselves probably would not have expected.

As it would be difficult to continue carrying Cryll in that position, Noelle finally released Cryll. He fled without understanding what was really going on.

Even though they had escaped as far away from the place as possible, it seemed that the skeletons were still catching up. The sound of gunfire from the barrage of bullets kept popping up, and Noelle realized that the distance with the skeletons was not too far away.

Finally, he took out two black bracelets from his spatial warehouse and gave one to Cryll, while the other he put on himself.

"Use this, and use《Accel》for me! "

"This ... Proto what is it? Are you sure?! I'm sure I've said it, but using《Accel》 in a cramped place like this is not a good idea! "

"Say that if you have something that can withstand bullets that are faster than the speed of sound! "

Of course Cryll doesn't have something like that. Maybe Geist's defense is able to protect him, but Cryll doubts that Geist can withstand a barrage of attacks from something that speeds sound like all those bullets.

"Gee! All righty! All righty! Don't blame me if something happens! "

Cryll immediately put the bracelet in his hand, and at the same time also prepare to activate《Accel》.

"《Accel》"

Waves of purplish-colored magic started flowing out from Noelle's body, and Noelle instantly stopped moving.

《Accel》has been activated on him, and now his brain has been working with terrible acceleration.

(Good, with this I can do it.)

He nodded to himself, then pulled Langen who had changed shape into a normal one-handed sword. The size is not too long, but also not too short. It was arranged to fit the area of this narrow cave.

Noelle advanced and approached all of the bullets in one step, then swung her sword to get rid of all of the bullets in one fell swoop.

After that, it instantly disables the function《Accel》. Everything has returned to normal, the world has its color.

All the bullets that were previously fired at them now fell on the ground.

Even without Noelle using《Accel》once, she could still get rid of the moving bullets by exceeding the speed of sound. Only, he doubted that he could stop many bullets at once.

"Noelle! The ceiling! "

Cryll's screams brought him back to his senses. Noelle looked up, and instantly got the stone rubble that hit her face.

She did not feel any pain, but the shock her brain received was enough to shock her so that Noelle did not move for a moment.

Meanwhile, several other pieces of rock began to fall.

Cryll and Norman advance to rescue Noelle. Cryll pulls Noelle's collar with a hook that she hides, and Norman uses reinforcement on her leg so that she can kick all the debris in the other direction.

The rocks that Norman kicked were certainly not directed carelessly. Norman carefully aimed right at that extremely long stone passageway, and blocked it just by making use of the existing stone debris.

However, Norman thought that was still not enough. He again used reinforcement on his body, and threw a hand-sized stone at the wall made from the stone rubble.

The wall instantly collapsed, and the resulting shockwave made all of the stone rubble composing the wall instantaneously bounce far forward, crashing right into the crowd of skeletons chasing after them.

The Skeletons that received the stone throw were instantly shattered, and their bones were scattered. Their weapons also fell down making the skeleton formation fall apart.

Norman intended to use the opportunity to run, but he instead received a barrage of hot lead shots from the remaining skeletons.

The physical barrier magic he possessed did not seem to be enough to stop the penetration ability of modern weapons, so Norman could only frantically move his body to have all the bullets miss.

"Normany! Get over here! "

"All right! "

Norman responds to Cryll's call, then picks up one pebble in front of him.

He held the pebble in a hand position as if he wanted to flick it.

The magic circle, and flashes appeared in his hand, his brown hair gradually started to lift upwards due to the flow of electricity present in his body, which was, and his eyes narrowed even more as he aimed at the skeletons.

He had already messed up that skeleton formation before, so it should have worked. The skeletons needed time to re-organize the formation after losing many of their members.

"Even if they carry rifles once, they are still a bunch of weak bones! "

With that shout, Norman opened his shot using one pebble.

The pebble immediately shot out, creating a flash of light that followed behind it like an after image.

The stone walls and ceilings that the pebbles passed through began to tremble, and slowly collapsed. But, at least that won't happen until all the remaining skeletons receive a very powerful blow from that one pebble that Norman fired.

The pebble hit one of the skeletons, and instantly blasted it to pieces. The resulting shockwave also destroyed the other skeleton, along with walls and ceilings that began to collapse.

"Hurry over here! "

"All right! "

Smiling triumphantly for a moment, Norman then turned around and ran after Cryll.

"Where are you guys?! "

No matter where Norman ran, he could not find Cryll or even Noelle. The detection also could not reach them.

"For seven steps from where you stand, and jump to the left! This is the secret path we just discovered! "

"Seven steps … "

Norman did everything exactly as Cryll instructed. Until finally, is jumped into the wall that is on his left, and landed right in a cave that is somewhat different from where before.

There, he sees Cryll helping Noelle lean against the wall.

"Are you guys okay? " ask Norman.

Cryll nodded, and replied, "I'm fine, but .. Noelle's acting weird."

"Any? "

Norman tilted his head in confusion, and looked at Noelle.

There, Noelle was seen silently staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.

"Did this thing damage his brain? "

"Should I hit him on the head? "

"Please don't, he'll get worse if you do that."

The two of them spent a while discussing what they should do to Noelle, but it seemed that it was already unnecessary.

Noelle regained consciousness on her own, and began massaging her own temples. "Damn it, my vision is twitching .. It feels like I can feel something touching my brain directly … "

"That's a pretty terrible parable, so please stop.

"Hmm? You … "

He was silent for a moment when he saw Cryll and Norman. Cryll begins to suspect whether Noelle is losing her memory or something, but then she realizes losing herself has been worrying about something stupid.

It took him some time until his consciousness came back completely. Noelle immediately narrowed her eyes to speed up the process of vision improvement. After that, he immediately took a stab at Cryll and Norman.

"What happened to that bunch of fucking bones? "

Cryll turned to Norman, and waited for his answer as well. But, Norman actually gave an answer that was slightly deviated from their expectations.

"I don't know if they're all dead or not, but .. I've hit them with a stone and closed the way. We should be safe."

It was indeed a little different from Noelle and Cryll's expectations, but the two of them were in no position to complain considering they themselves did nothing but run away.

"It's good to have them under control" Noelle said, trying to get up.

One hand rested on the wall, and the other held his own head which hurt as he tried to stand for the first time after some time.

"I haven't had this headache in a long time.I guess being hit by rocks is a terrible thing even if you can't feel pain once."

The headache came from his brain getting a great shock from the quaternary, so the pain-freezing ability did not work on him at all.

Now that Noelle thought about it, perhaps the absence or resistance of pain would only neutralize the pain obtained from the outside. So, if something hit his head and made his brain shake violently, he would still feel the impact.

"Ughh .. Really annoying."

Realizing that she won't be able to wake up anytime soon, Noelle sits back down, intending to lean back.

However, as he tried to lean his back against the wall behind him. He drowned right there.

It's dark, there's nothing there. Only complete darkness. And slowly, everything became clearer.

He is now in a room, painted in greenish yellow. The room was empty, there was nothing there. Right, there's nothing but walls, walls, and walls.

There were only walls, scattered all over the place, like a labyrinth.

Noelle anxiously watched her surroundings, only to fall helplessly with a sigh of resignation coming out of her mouth.

"After the skeleton with the rifle ... This time it was precisely the backroom, huh .. I'm alone here .. I hope at least Cryll and Norman will accompany me … "

His hope was instantly granted, as if there was a god of hope standing right beside him, and instantly granting his wish.

Cryll and Norman instantly emerged from the empty air, and fell to the floor with a loud enough noise.

" … Are you all right? "

Noelle asked in good faith as she was quite worried about the condition of the two of them. And the result …

"Damn it! What the fuck?! Why did that bastard bring us here! I don't want to be trapped anymore! Please take me out! "

"Noelle .. Can you stop expecting something that doesn't make sense? "

" … What happened to you? "

Noelle already had a premonition about this, but she kept asking. To him, this was like a suicide. Asking these two is tantamount to angering a baby holding a nuclear bomb detonator.

"Why don't you just think about it yourself?! "

Cryll seems to have no intention of telling Noelle about it. As a result, Norman spoke in his place.

"Just after your disappearance, an information appeared in our heads. It's your wish that we want to be stuck here."

"Ahh .. How should I say it .. Sorry, I guess … "

...****************...