Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 424: Ice Like This (4)

Active skills sealed.

It's one of the worst penalties, no need to elaborate.

Well, it's still better than being blind like James Kala.

'I'd rather have lost an arm like Didi...'

It was a penalty that significantly reduced my combat power, to the point where I thought losing an arm would have been more advantageous.

But it couldn't be helped.

That's the roll of the dice I got.

I could only hope that they got screwed over too.

'Besides... it's not that bad, except for my penalty.'

The [Soul Extraction] phase was quite tricky.

I had stumbled a bit, but I managed to regain my balance, so it seemed like I didn't lose any limbs.

It was especially difficult for mages and ability users. They were damage dealers, so they must have landed the final blow on many enemies. Now they had to fight alone, without their tanks.

But...

"How are you feeling? Any injuries?"

'Thankfully, they're all good people.'

"I-I don't know..."

Both priests were safe.

Erwen seemed a bit dazed.

Three out of the four mages had woken up, and only Akuraba was still unconscious among the ability users.

Did something happen inside?

I didn't pry.

I had to figure out their penalties first.

'Maybe the mages who spent a lot of time in the Mage Tower were more resistant to the mental attack.'

'Damn it.'

We were lucky, considering the circumstances.

We had been on the same expedition, but I didn't know anything about their past lives.

I continued testing the penalties, and then I sighed deeply.

Thud, thud.

My heavy footsteps echoed through the ice cave.

We were moving away from the entrance of the Eye of the Glacier, and then I felt a movement on my shoulder.

"Mister..."

"You're awake..."

I gently lowered Erwen to the ground, feeling a wave of relief.

'Eighth...'

Unfortunately, Erwen was also unlucky.

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia's resource recovery is restricted.」

All resource recovery disabled.

In other words, she could only consume MP and Spirit Power, but couldn't replenish them.

"...Conserve your energy unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Y-yes... I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. I'm just glad you're awake."

As time passed, the other members woke up one by one.

"I apologize for the burden. I can walk now."

Melend Kaislan had received a minor penalty.

"Ugh...! What the...?"

Raviyen touched her sword and flinched, as if she had been electrocuted. She had received a weapon restriction penalty.

"Um... why isn't anyone talking?"

Tsuon Iribun, the archer from the 5th Team, had lost his hearing.

And...

"That was... a horrible place."

Akuraba's face was pale with fear.

'Two left...'

Twenty-five minutes had passed since the [Soul Extraction] phase began, and only two members were still unconscious.

Amelia and Mckelly Leyaders, the mage from the 2nd Team.

"Please wake up..."

The team members looked at them with anxious expressions.

I was also worried.

'Why isn't she waking up...?'

She wasn't dead.

Her heart was still beating.

Thump, thump.

The tension was unbearable.

And then...

"Mckelly, there's only one minute left. Please wake up..."

One minute until the end of the [Soul Extraction] phase.

"Hmm..."

"...Emily!"

Amelia finally opened her eyes.

And...

"...Damn it."

The other one didn't.

________________________

They'll say something happened to the main force, that they couldn't rescue us.

They'll pretend everything is fine.

And...

Our only hope is to play along.

"Play along? What do you mean?"

"If we pretend we don't know we've been abandoned, the royal family won't resort to extreme measures."

It's a cowardly plan, but it's all I have.

"But we can't use that method anymore."

"..."

"The moment the Rose Knights reported the incident, the royal family decided to eliminate us."

"...Maybe they'll try to negotiate with us to silence us."

Hmm, that's a possibility.

But...

"Do you really think so?"

There's no answer.

Someone asks another question.

"So what are we going to do? We have to escape this place if we don't want to die here."

It's Puta Rikerburn, the explorer from the Keallunus family.

I'm surprised, but also amused.

"I didn't expect you to say that. You were so pessimistic before."

"You dragged us all the way here. Do you think I'm going to give up after all that?"

"Don't be so sensitive. It was a compliment. And I never said we were giving up."

"Ah..."

He realizes his mistake, and I continue.

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yes. If no one survives, who will know what happened here?"

They might suspect us, but suspicion is different from evidence.

That's why...

"We're going to kill them all. Noark and the Rose Knights."

From now on, we have to cover the sky with our hands.

_______________________

Escape?

Or fight?

The decision was made quickly.

"I... I don't know what the right choice is."

"Haha, it's nothing new. It's always been like this."

"But he always made a decision."

"I trust Bjorn Yandel's judgment. That's my choice."

"I agree. It might seem cowardly, but it's easier for me to follow someone else's lead."

Once the expedition force reached a consensus, everything became clear.

We wandered through the cave, setting up detection magic and hunting monsters for food.

"This... actually tastes good."

Monster meat wasn't bad.

Well, some of them were inedible, but most were surprisingly palatable.

"I'd rather sell these byproducts. They're worth a fortune."

"It can't be helped. We have to travel light."

We reluctantly discarded the valuable byproducts we had obtained through Distortion magic.

We couldn't afford to carry extra weight when we had to carry our injured comrades.

Half a day later.

"Yandel! Yandel!"

Marone, the mage from the 5th Team, rushes towards me.

She only acts like this when...

"Did the detection magic activate?"

"Yes, yes...! It did!"

Her news could be categorized into three types.

First, the good news.

"It was the Rose Knights! Only seven of them!"

Their numbers had decreased significantly.

They must have suffered heavy casualties.

"How were they doing?"

"Well..."

Second, the ambiguous news.

"They all looked fine... maybe one of them was limping slightly?"

Unlike our expedition force, where a third of the members had received significant penalties, they seemed to have been lucky.

Well, we couldn't be sure yet.

"A-anyway, that's not the important part!"

And finally, the bad news.

The worst possible news.

"I-I don't know why, but... they're moving with Noark!"

Oil and water had mixed.