The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 175

Chapter 175: Further Up

“It seems the warning ‘do not be dazzled’ wasn’t referring to us,” I said, resting in front of the door while explaining about Gridwen’s mechanism.

“The middle layer was created from the thoughts of those who fought over wealth… in other words, from the greed-blinded. The crystallized manifestation of those thoughts was the crystal eyes, the source of Gridwen’s power.”

“The more we hear, the more unpleasant this trap sounds. We had to destroy all the crystals in the room while fighting that thing.”

“Yeah, if we hadn’t noticed the trap, even as a party, we might have all been wiped out.”

There was a way to defeat it even alone, like fighting near the walls to gradually break the crystals with the aftermath of the battle or using wide-range attacks. However, one had to be prepared for considerable strain and exhaustion. The reason we could recover to some extent with just a short rest was that the four of us divided the burden and managed to keep the exhaustion in check.

(How did Lowd manage to overcome this alone…)

I couldn’t help but admire the feat Lowd had accomplished. There was no path other than fighting now, but I couldn’t help feeling a sense of sadness about his way of life—how he had walked alone without anyone by his side to support him. It was hard to put into words, but I felt a complex mix of emotions.

“…Shall we go?”

When I said that, Aria and the others nodded, quickly finishing their preparations, and then opened the door and ascended the stairs.

—

The door at the top of the stairs was labeled “Where the Steel Drifts.” Upon opening it and entering, the surroundings had a different appearance from before.

“What is this…”

“The magic is harder to perceive here than below.”

Everything—walls, floors—was made of metal. Lantern-like lights were installed at various points on the walls, illuminating the surroundings.

“It feels like being inside a steel ship…”

Although ships were typically made of wood, recently, steel ships had been made using processed metal that didn’t rust.

I had heard that there were rooms and corridors entirely made of metal inside, so this might be what it looked like.

“Shurin, can you sense anything further ahead?”

“The wind is flowing, so it should be safe.”

With our footsteps echoing, we proceeded down the corridor for a while until Shurin stopped. I halted too, gripping my sword.

It appeared around the corner ahead—a golem-like figure, but inside the metallic skeleton, intricate mechanisms were exposed… It resembled the metal lizardman controlled by the Juggernaut we had fought before, known as a Metal Skeleton.

“Intruders detected. Eliminate.”

With its emotionless voice, the Metal Skeleton transformed its arms and launched an attack.