Reverse Dungeon

Keith leapt lightly aside, avoiding the incoming attacks.

He sliced through the branches reaching for his ankles, severed the thicker ones that came swinging toward him, and slipped past the strikes descending from above—all while carrying Ian. His movements were seamless.

But the attacks showed no sign of stopping. At this rate, he would have to cut down the entire forest.

Keith was prepared to do exactly that if necessary, but he was not sure Ian’s stamina would hold out. The hands Ian had clenched around him were already trembling.

“Are you all right?”

“Stop worrying about me and watch where you’re going!”

Keith turned his attention forward.

Five tree trunks twisted together and came crashing toward them like a massive heap of debris. They were far too large to evade with a jump.

Keith tucked Ian into his arms and rolled forward.

As a result, Ian was sent tumbling along the ground with him.

“I’m gonna die...”

Ian gritted his teeth and clung desperately to Keith.

He was a ranged character. Why was he being treated like a rolling ball?

Sure, the game had always been like this, but still...

In [MISSING TERM], even ranged characters were expected to perform precise evasion maneuvers. You had to dodge while aiming at the same time, a style of gameplay Ian had once thought of as thrillingly unfair.

*Dodging alone is boring, isn’t it? Let’s add simultaneous controls!*

Ian had chosen his character with that exact thought in mind.

If not for Keith, he never would have dared challenge a place like this. Ian could expertly dodge a hundred monsters with his fingers, but avoiding a puppy in real life? Not a chance.

But wasn’t everyone like that?

It was not Ian’s fault. Clearly, this was the game’s fault...

“Something is coming. Be careful.”

A shadow fell over them.

They had been so focused on avoiding the attacks that they failed to notice the tree roots closing in around them.

“This is...”

Ian recognized the attack pattern immediately.

He shouted without hesitation.

“Hold your breath!”

“...!”

Psssh!

Tiny pores opened across the branches, releasing a poisonous mist. Fluorescent green fog flooded the air.

[MISSING TERM]!

Ian clamped one hand over his nose and mouth as he activated [MISSING TERM]. A refreshing wind swept through the gaps between the surrounding roots, scattering # Nоvеlight # the poisonous smoke in a burst of light.

“Ian!”

“It’s not over yet!”

Ian pulled out an arrow.

There was no time to nock it.

Before the pores in the trees could fully close, Ian stabbed the arrowhead—now imbued with [MISSING TERM]—into the largest opening.

Pshhh!

—Screeeeeeech!

The poison stopped mid-release, blocked by the arrow.

For the remaining openings, Ian drove the poison away again with [MISSING TERM].

A cool gust of wind ruffled Keith’s hair, and Ian’s as well, exposing Ian’s pale forehead and resolute eyes.

*This man...*

This was why Keith found himself unable to defy Ian’s orders.

He had never seen anyone so certain in his own actions.

Ian reached out toward Keith.

They had been separated while rolling away from the relentless assault of the tree roots. Just as Keith moved to pull Ian back into his arms, the roots shifted with renewed aggression.

They seemed to have decided that Ian, not Keith, was the greater threat.

The roots coiled tightly around Ian like a cocoon.

“Ugh!”

“...!”

Blood spurted from Ian’s lips.

Keith’s vision turned red.

He could not bear to lose anyone else.

He had suffered the pain of losing everyone and being left utterly alone far too many times already.

“Ian!”

A radiant white light flared from Keith’s sword as he sliced the roots constricting Ian into five pieces.

—Screeeeeeech!

A grotesque scream rang out as the tree roots sprayed sticky fluid everywhere—sap, or something far more sinister.

Keith did not care. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ignoring the filth splattered across his body, he dragged Ian free from the roots.

“Ian, please!”

He slapped Ian’s cheeks.

Ian did not open his eyes.

“Hey...”

Only after several frantic attempts did Ian’s mouth finally move.

“Ian? Say something.”

“Stop hitting me... My lip’s split. I can taste blood...”

Keith let out a soft, breathless laugh as the tension drained out of him. Relief washed over him, and his shoulders sagged.

“I thought you were gone.”

“Don’t say something so awful... Who’s dying here? Just... carry me, will you?”

“If I carry you over my shoulder, it will be harder to protect you.”

Instead, Keith gathered Ian into his arms.

Ian was bleeding, but he was breathing, and he was looking up at Keith with an annoyed expression.

That irritation was oddly reassuring.

If Ian still had the energy to be annoyed, then he was going to be all right.

Holding Ian close, Keith used his healing power. Ian’s breathing gradually steadied.

Crunch!

Keith snapped an incoming branch with sheer strength alone and asked, “What is the plan now?”

“Do you have one?”

Ian’s voice was faint, almost fading.

His wounds had mostly healed, but the pain from the attack still lingered. Keith felt hatred surge through him for the creature that had put Ian in this state.

“If I cut down all the trees, the centipede may crawl out.”

“How long are you planning to live here? Sure, go ahead, if you think you can.”

“You would not listen anyway, so why ask?”

“To tell you my plan, obviously. I’ll end this in a day.”

Ian’s confidence shone through even now, and Keith found himself liking that about him.

“What is the plan?”

“Climb. We need a vantage point.”

Keith scanned the area.

Among the few towering trees in the forest, he chose one and began running toward it.

Ian coughed, blood spattering from his mouth. Keith felt the discomfort in Ian’s grimace as Ian wiped the blood away.

Why did such small gestures make his chest tighten more than the roots swinging at them?

Of course, Keith always felt pain when he saw his comrades injured.

But this felt different.

*It is probably because he is so fragile.*

It would be unfair to compare Ian to his energetic subordinates. Ian was genuinely at risk of dying from a single attack.

And if that happened, it would be Keith’s failure.

He had followed Ian believing he could protect at least one person.

“The trees are not the real monster. Somewhere among these roots, the centipede’s body is hidden—the creature’s true core.”

Ian’s deduction was exactly right.

A creature that hid its body this intricately would naturally camouflage itself as part of the trees.

That meant the core itself was not as strong as it appeared. Powerful demons did not bother to hide.

Only the weak did.

“Where could it be hiding?”

“No idea. That’s why we’re going up high to look.”

“Ah...”

“But there are monsters in the treetops too.”

Ian cast [MISSING TERM] around their bodies as they climbed.

Keith understood.

“Push through them,” Ian said.

That meant the creatures were not strong enough to justify stopping.

Keith soon realized what the treetop monsters were.

“Snates.”

Snake-like monsters were coiled around the branches as if they were part of the trees. They were not particularly strong, but they were venomous and troublesome if they managed to latch on.

Keith ignored the Snates biting at him as he climbed. With [MISSING TERM] shielding them, their venom could not harm him.

But Ian was not faring nearly as well.

His usual commands stopped.

He had gone rigid.

“...?”

Keith glanced down at Ian.

Ian was pale, staring at Keith in horror.

Something was wriggling near Ian’s chest and waist.

A snake was slithering over Ian’s body.

Keith was similarly covered in them, but...

*Is he afraid of crawling things?*

Keith recalled that Ian was a royal bastard.

Despite being able to endure being bitten by demons, it seemed he could not handle snakes.

In truth, Ian, as a modern man, was being consumed by an instinctive revulsion he could not overcome. A snake climbing up his legs and biting into his stomach was simply too much.

To Keith, however, it only looked as though a pampered noble could not endure an unpleasant creature.

Without a second thought, Keith tore Ian’s clothes.

“My apologies.”

As the fabric ripped away, Ian’s pale skin was revealed beneath it, marked with red fang bites.

Keith looked away, seized by a sudden wave of embarrassment.

“Ah.”