Surviving the Game as a Barbarian
Chapter 537: Rainbow (4)

The Radiant City of Kalheum, an 8th-floor rift.

And the Rift Guardian that appears in its final boss room.

Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman.

I didn't know why he had appeared on a normal field.

But let's summarize what I knew about him.

He was a monster that used Numbered Items.

And...

'The Verdant Spear has a 3% drop rate.'

He dropped other Numbered Items too, but the single Numbered Item 'Verdant Spear' had the highest drop rate.

That's why I hunted him so much when I was building a Spear Barbarian. It was practically the best-in-slot weapon for Spear builds.

His essence was also quite good.

'Anyway, let's put aside the question of why he's here.'

As I said, if we could kill him, the reward would be substantial.

An essence would be a jackpot, and a weapon drop would also be a jackpot.

But the problem was our current condition.

'We can't win.'

I quickly made my judgment.

He wasn't unbeatable, not with our current power level.

But the situation was too unfavorable.

'First of all, the priest is practically useless now...'

And our main DPS, Erwen, was also exhausted.

And that wasn't all.

We hadn't had any casualties yet, thankfully, but everyone was exhausted...

[Bark! Cough! Bark, bark!]

[Groooooar!]

...and monsters still swarmed the area.

Survival was our top priority, not loot.

"Yandel, what do we do?"

Amelia asked, her voice grim.

There was no need to hesitate.

"We're charging towards the coast."

"The coast...? You mean... we're running away...?"

"We're charging towards the coast."

"..."

There was no other option.

But...

'We have to do what we can before we run.'

Even if we were retreating, we had to make a decision first.

We couldn't just leave a 2nd-grade essence behind.

'Collecting it in a test tube is too risky.'

It was tempting, but the risk was too high.

It would take too long.

And a lot could happen in that time.

So we had to absorb it before we ran.

But...

'Who should absorb it?'

I made my decision quickly.

And...

Kwaaang-!

As I blocked Mirayel's spear thrust with my shield...

I shouted.

"Mul Armin!"

Mul Armin, the leader of the Armin Exploration Team.

A clan leader who specialized in curses, a rather unique build for a Necromancer.

It was a little painful to give such a valuable essence to a stranger...

"Take the Harpy's essence."

...but he was the best choice.

He had also leveled up recently, so he had an empty essence slot.

"...Huh?"

"Didn't you hear me? Hurry! We don't have time!"

"Ah, yes! Understood!"

Mul Armin, who had been startled, finally reacted and rushed towards the essence. Amelia protected him as he ran.

"A-Are you sure...? I'm not even your teammate..."

Damn it, what was he talking about?

I was busy blocking the spear thrusts.

"It doesn't matter! Just hurry!"

"Yes, sir!"

I shouted, and Mul Armin quickly absorbed the essence.

Okay, that's taken care of.

I pushed Mirayel back, creating some distance.

And then I gave the order.

"Move into formation!"

"..."

"We're charging towards the coast! Now!"

"Huh...?"

Damn it, why couldn't they understand?

"We're running away!"

"Ah... Yes! Everyone, move into formation! We're retreating!"

Damn, this was embarrassing.

A barbarian baron running away...

_____________________

"Huff... Huff..."

I ran, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

I was at the back of the formation.

It's always safer at the back when you're running away.

[I won't let you escape, mortals.]

Mirayel, who always spoke before the battle in the game, was also speaking in real life.

The problem was that he kept repeating the same line.

'How many times have I heard that?'

I had tried talking to him a few times, but I hadn't gotten a proper response. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if he was sentient.

'The monsters in the Elder's village were definitely intelligent...'

It made me realize how unique the Elder's village was.

Most monsters were like this.

The Vampire Duke of the Blood Citadel.

The Knight of the Apocalypse in the White Temple.

They all spoke human language, but they weren't capable of conversation.

「Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman, has cast [Return].」

Damn it, not again.

Whizz-!

I heard the whistling sound behind me and turned around, raising my shield.

Kwaaang!

That damned spear.

Every time it hit, I could feel the shield breaking.

It was a single Numbered Item, enhanced by a skill.

'At least he only uses one skill.'

It was because he was a Rift Guardian.

They had fixed patterns.

They repeated the same actions until their HP reached a certain threshold or a specific trigger was activated.

'If it was a normal Titan, we wouldn't have been able to run away.'

But that didn't mean he was easy.

His first-phase skill was quite troublesome.

「Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman, has cast [Return].」

[Return].

A non-dodgeable, single-target projectile skill with increasing damage.

And it had a unique characteristic.

「Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman, has retrieved the Verdant Spear.」

After he threw it, no matter how far it traveled, the spear would return to his hand after a certain amount of time.

And...

「The power of [Return] increases slightly until the battle ends.」

It was a stacking skill.

It got stronger with each use.

And because of that...

Kwaaang!

...my shield, which had even blocked the Elder's sword, was now riddled with holes.

Damn, it's difficult to repair equipment here.

I sighed, looking at the mangled shield, but I quickly focused on the situation ahead.

Even though I was at the back, I could still see the front thanks to [Gigantification].

'They're doing well.'

It wasn't that I had expected the formation to collapse or the escape route to be blocked without me.

In fact, I had hoped for this.

But I still felt a little disappointed.

'Anyway, let's focus on my own task.'

A warrior's duty was to silently carry out his orders.

"The sea!"

After a while, the cliffs appeared through the trees, and we jumped down to the beach.

「Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman, has cast [Return].」

Damn it, he's relentless.

As soon as the spear disintegrated into light, another one flew towards me.

Puk-!

But this time, it hit my shoulder.

I had blocked it with my shield...

"Ah."

...but the spear had gone through the holes.

"Bjorn!"

"Yandel! Are you okay?!"

Misha and Amelia rushed towards me.

Bersil took out a potion for me. The priest's Divine Power had run out.

But I refused their help.

"Later. We have to summon the ship first."

"Ah..."

There was still some time left before the spear returned.

I pushed through the crowd and ran to the coast.

"Uh..."

"Uh..."

"Is that... okay...?"

The explorers who had been clearing the path were startled by my appearance.

A giant barbarian with a giant spear sticking out of his shoulder...

It was a shocking sight.

Splash-!

I summoned the ship and then, still in [Gigantification] mode, picked up the explorers and placed them on the deck.

After everyone was on board, I deactivated [Gigantification] and boarded the ship. We immediately activated the propulsion device and set sail.

And as the ship sped away from the island...

「Mirayel, the Celestial Spearman, has cast [Return].」

...another spear flew towards me and pierced my stomach.

"Yandel...!"

"Baron!!"

Damn it...

I clutched my stomach, my body hunched over in pain, but I looked up at the figure standing on the beach.

I had memorized his face.

"See you next time."

A barbarian never forgets his enemies.

_____________________

Swaaaaaaaaaa-!

The ship cut through the silver waves.

The deck was crowded, but no one complained.

They were just glad to be alive.

They were all resting, enjoying the relative peace.

But some of them had grim expressions.

"One casualty..."

One of the Hex Clan warriors had died while escaping the island.

It was always the warriors who died first.

I felt a pang of sadness.

"It's... a miracle. That only one person died."

"That's true. What was his name?"

"Shelianne Emertown."

I remembered her face.

She was one of the few female warriors, so she had stood out.

She always had a bright smile.

"What about the body?"

"We were able to retrieve it."

"That's good..."

After a moment of silence, I gathered the explorers and held a funeral for the fallen warrior.

Everyone was exhausted, but no one objected.

Fwoosh-!

It was a simple ceremony. We placed the body on a fireproof cloth, burned it, and then collected the ashes in an urn.

Kooong-! Crack-! Crack-!

Monsters continued to rain down during the ceremony, but they were blocked by the barrier and fell into the sea.

Drip.

Like raindrops on a window, blood streamed down the barrier.

"Rest in peace."

"Don't be too sad. We could be next."

"Don't jinx it!"

Even in this somber atmosphere, some explorers made jokes.

But no one scolded them.

Everyone coped with grief in their own way.

"That's all. Rest now. And thank you all for your hard work."

After the funeral, we rested.

The mages couldn't fully relax, since they had to maintain the barrier, but it was still much better than on the island.

We had modified the propulsion device as soon as we boarded the ship, connecting it to the mana circuit.

'We have enough magic stones, and the monster rain has subsided... We should be able to endure until the rainy season is over...'

I was relieved.

Could we finally relax?

I leaned against the wall, lost in thought, and then I took out a spare shield from my subspace pocket.

It was a 3rd-grade shield, much weaker than my usual one. I had bought it as a backup, but I hadn't expected to actually use it.

'But here we are.'

I chuckled wryly.

"Baron."

Someone approached me.

It was Mul Armin.

"What is it? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I apologize for disturbing you. But there's something I wanted to ask."

"Go ahead."

Mul hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

"Why did you give me the Harpy's essence?"

Ah, he was curious about that.

The answer was simple.

Ainar, Amelia, Erwen, and Misha were already using specific essences.

Bersil couldn't absorb essences.

'The only other candidate was Auyen...'

But it wasn't a good fit for him.

[Mimicry] could be useful, but it wasn't a core essence.

It would be a waste of its passive skill.

So I had chosen Mul.

"Because you were the one who could use it the most effectively."

"Is that... all?"

Well, there was another reason.

The Armin Exploration Team had a share of the loot.

By giving him a 2nd-grade essence now, I could prevent him from claiming a share of the more valuable loot later.

But...

'There's no need to tell him that.'

So I just shrugged.

"Yes, that's all."

"But we're just outsi—."

"Outsiders? You're already our comrades."

"Comra... des...?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

Mul Armin didn't answer.

He just stared at me in silence.

And after a while...

"Baron..."

His voice was strangely subdued.

"Never mind. I'll be going now. Please rest."

He seemed to have made up his mind about something.

_____________________

Day 6 of the rainy season.

The voyage after escaping the island was peaceful.

We still had to fight the occasional monster that climbed onto the deck, and monsters continued to rain down from the sky...

But it was nothing compared to the chaos on the island.

Anyway, thanks to the relative peace, I had time to think.

'Okay, I've made up my mind.'

I took out a pendant from my subspace pocket.

"Bjorn...?"

Misha's eyes lit up.

"..."

"Are you... giving that to me...?"

What was she talking about?

She should be aiming for something better.

I put the pendant back in my subspace pocket.

No. 7777, Garpas's Necklace.

It was time to use it.