Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 185 - 233+234 - A Flicker in the Deep

Light magic.

Originally, it was meant to be a spell wielded by Violeta, the "Light Mage," during the boss fight against Red Cell.

That's probably why her character was built to use light magic in the first place.

Too bad. Magic is just beyond Tempah.

It wasn't that he lacked intelligence—telling a history major to memorize quadratic formulas or the periodic table would stump most people.

It wasn't a shortcoming. Just a different specialty.

Without Lutz's spells, keeping Red Cell in check is tough. Millie doesn't have mage-class stats either.

Only one person here had any breathing room.

…I'm half a mage myself.

And not just because Sin's powerstat was an absurd 495.

Jhin's original class was "Librarian."

A job that acquired skills by reading books—he'd been casting "Fireball" since the early days.

It wasn't the same as how someone like Bellatris wove magic from raw mana, so he didn't fully understand the underlying mechanics.

But the feel of it… that, I know.

Jhin began tracing the cheat sheet drawn on the floor.

He drew a circle, filling it with formulas and diagrams, mimicking what had been carved out.

A skilled mage could likely do all this just by thinking. But that wasn't a realistic expectation here.

Regulate the power to exactly 0.2mm…

A glowing thread of power appeared in the air, delicate as a filament, and from it light began to spark and spill out.

The spell was taking shape.

"Grrr… You insects—!"

Red Cell hadn't hidden himself so deep underground for nothing.

He charged, panic in his eyes, but Lutz's spell surged again, and Millie's rapier knocked him back.

There was time.

[Skill 'Mediocre Light (F)' has been activated.]

Jhin narrowed his eyes, looking down at the irregular glowing orb.

It flickered like an old lantern, its brightness feeble, as though it might die out any second.

Still, this should be enough…

He locked eyes with the darkness ahead.

It wasn't the dazzling light everyone had hoped for—but it would serve.

All that mattered was that it was light magic.

CRACKLE!

Jhin hurled the orb.

It floated, pulsing unevenly, until it reached its limit and flashed in a sudden burst.

In that moment—

"Grkh…!"

Red Cell, who had been melting into the shadows, was abruptly revealed.

And Millie was on him in a heartbeat, her rapier driving clean through his heart.

Squelch!

Blood surged from the cleanly pierced heart.

"You dare—lowly humans!?"

Red Cell shrieked and began to grow in size.

A massive bat took his place.

"…Isn't this a bit cliché? Why is it always bats with vampires, no matter the era or setting?"

Clicking his tongue, Jhin re-equipped the Black Iron Suit.

Ever since his heart had been pierced in the light, Red Cell could no longer merge fully with the darkness.

"Now's our chance."

"Right!"

Without hesitation, the party launched their counterattack.

His enormous bat wings beat the air, stirring powerful gusts, but they were no match for the reinforced strength of Jhin's suit.

[Equipment 'Black Iron Suit' has activated its unique skill, 'Super Strength.']

Leaping high, Jhin grabbed both wings and ripped them apart with brute force.

At the same time, sharp stone spikes—summoned by Lutz—burst from the ground, impaling Red Cell's abdomen.

That was when Millie unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes with her rapier.

"SKREEEEE!"

Blood gushed from countless wounds. The more he bled, the smaller the bat's form became.

"Do you really think… this will end… with just this!?"

His cries of defiance meant nothing now.

He was just an elite monster.

Once his traits were identified and his weakness exploited, all that remained was for him to become experience points.

Jhin's boot slammed into his wailing maw.

Millie's rapier followed through, piercing straight through his forehead.

"Do you th-think… this is the e—"

"Ugh. Shut up."

With one final blow, Jhin finished it.

[You have defeated the Vampire Monster 'Pureblood Vampire Red Cell (C).']

For something that had made such a dramatic entrance, his end came pathetically.

A little while later, Jhin approached the trembling dwarves.

"You all okay?"

At last, the dwarves let out sighs of relief. It hadn't been long, but the memories of working side-by-side with them came flooding back.

One of them—Alberto—took off his glasses with a deep sigh.

"Yeah. I think we're alright."

"…'We'?"

That was when Jhin realized someone was missing.

The Master wasn't there.

When he asked, Alberto adjusted his glasses and replied,

"Haven't seen him since the vampire dragged him away. We heard horrible screams from deeper inside…"

He pointed toward the back of the altar chamber—where a narrow passage led into shadow.

The Master had been taken that way, and never returned.

"…Could that be the boss room?"

"I don't know. It feels like it, but we haven't even seen the scenario's main NPC yet."

One thing was certain—this was the heart of the scenario.

Because just as Alberto mentioned the Master, a new quest notification popped up before Jhin's eyes.

[New information has been acquired.]

[Quest updated.]

<Quest – Protect the Sacred Relic>

Category: Scenario

Difficulty: C+

Condition: You've discovered the vampires' altar. However, the dwarf master Kov is missing. Locate Kov.

Time limit: 1 hour

Reward: Kov's survival

Failure: Destruction of the sacred relic

Only then did Jhin realize why only Kov had been taken.

The Master's destruction rating isn't exactly low. With me out of the way, they're trying to use him instead.

The "1 hour" limit probably meant that was all the time left until the relic was destroyed.

They needed to rescue both the relic and the Master from the vampires' clutches—fast.

"We're out of time. Let's move."

After a quick regroup, the party pressed on toward the passage behind the altar.

The only path forward.

There were no lanterns this time—only an oppressive, pitch-black darkness.

"Wait."

Jhin discreetly opened his inventory and pulled out a smartphone. The others stared, unsure if he should be pulling that out in front of NPCs, but he gave them a reassuring smile.

Because, after all, he was a blacksmith.

The dwarves walking beside him jumped with surprise.

"Sin—what the heck is that?!"

The flashlight burst forth from the smartphone, dazzling in its brilliance. It was only natural they were shocked—this was a world without science, and this thing was a marvel of pure tech.

The blacksmiths' eyes lit up.

Jhin responded coolly.

"New prototype."

"What?"

"Master made it. I found it next to the Black Iron Suit."

That explanation, absurd as it was, satisfied everyone. They nodded along.

As silly as it sounded, if the Master made it, they'd believe it. He was, after all, the greatest blacksmith in the world.

If it came from his hands, no matter how strange, it had to be legit.

"Man, that's one crazy invention. How does Master even come up with this stuff?"

Jhin gave a casual shrug as the blacksmiths marveled behind him, letting the phone's light push back the heavy dark. It didn't illuminate far, but the pitch-black veil retreated bit by bit.

Then, from beside him—

"…I really don't know what to say."

Tempah, looking unusually downcast, spoke up.

"If I'd known even a little about power, none of that would've been necessary."

"…Yeah."

"Even now. If only I could've used magic properly…"

He was blaming himself. Completely unprompted.

"These kinds of scenarios… they'll keep coming, won't they?"

Jhin gave a slow nod.

This wouldn't be the last themed dungeon to appear on Earth. With time, C-rank dungeons would multiply like weeds. He'd do everything he could to stop them, but a lone player couldn't hold back a global phenomenon.

Somewhere else, another dungeon would soon awaken.

Tempah let out a dry chuckle.

"This is the first time I've ever felt like an idiot for just working out."

"That's not like you."

"I mean it. Honestly, I regretted losing to you that day too. You beat me last time… probably because of your power, right?"

Jhin nodded again.

"If the world changes, people need to change with it… I got complacent. I've got a lot to reflect on. I think I'll start investing in powertoo."

He looked like a tragic heroine in a fantasy drama.

Did he forget that he was still Princess Violeta right now?

Seeing the dwarves throw puzzled glances, Jhin spoke under his breath.

"Princess Violeta."

"Yeah?"

"I only won that bet last time thanks to my special trait. I'm a flawed blacksmith with nothing but high power."

Tempah paused, then looked around—and realization dawned. He cleared his throat and replied,

"R-right. I didn't expect you to be such a skilled blacksmith when it comes to power. My bad for underestimating you."

"No worries. I should've explained myself better from the start."

The dwarves were still eyeing them with suspicion, but this explanation would do. There was no need to spell out everything.

He is a princess, after all.

What kind of blacksmith would demand a princess reveal all her secrets?

A bit of misdirection was more than enough for now.

Jhin gave a quiet sigh of relief as he looked at Tempah. There was still something he hadn't answered.

"Don't change."

"…What?"

"You're more than enough, just as you are, Princess."

Tempah looked down at him.

He wasn't trying to be charming, but with that absurdly beautiful face, Jhin found himself briefly dazed.

Now that he thought about it, that face looked a lot like Elia—who'd been in the same group as Millie back in the day.

They'd been fierce rivals, if he remembered right.

Jhin happened to catch Millie's eye just then.

"…This is how I see it. Everyone has different strengths, and different choices to make."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a path only you can walk, Princess."

Tempah was someone who had made it this far relying purely on strength stats and his dedication to training.

power may have been his weakness—but it wasn't his flaw.

If anything, Tempah has no weaknesses outside of power.

To this day, Jhin hadn't met anyone stronger.

If they were to face off in a life-or-death battle, he wasn't sure who would win.

Either way, the damage would be catastrophic.

"Don't backtrack. Keep going forward. Leave the rest to your allies."

That was Jhin's answer.

"Don't backtrack… just keep going forward, huh…"

Tempah nodded, deep in thought.

Hopefully, he'd take that advice to heart.

Hopefully, he'd stop talking nonsense about "changing" who he was.

What would an all-strength build even do with power now?

Putting points into power at this stage was just asking for poor stat returns. A waste.

If powergot in the way—like today—you relied on your allies.

And if that failed, there were always items.

Plenty of alternatives existed.

"This tunnel just keeps going…"

They'd been walking for a while, but the darkness refused to yield. There had only been one path out of the altar, so they hadn't taken a wrong turn.

"Let's pick up the pace."

There was still time on the clock, but no reason to dawdle. They'd all healed with potions along the way.

Now it was just a straight sprint to the boss room.

Bzzzzzzt.

Then something unexpected happened.

"…Jhin?"

Even Millie looked shocked enough to use his real name.

And Jhin… couldn't even respond at first.

They all stared at the glowing phone screen.

[Bellatris.]

It was ridiculous.

But there it was—a call coming through.

From Earth.

Tap. Tap. THUMP.

Suddenly, all the dwarves collapsed.

Lutz and Tempah had moved fast—knocking them out cold.

Fortunately, the dwarves were completely non-combatant, so it had taken just seconds.

Tempah stared at the hand that had struck a dwarf's neck and muttered,

"I'll take your advice to heart."

Jhin gave a strained smile and turned back to the phone.

Still vibrating. Still glowing with the name:

Bellatris.

"Pick it up."

"…Okay."

And the call connected.

—"Oh? It worked."

"Bellatris…? What's going on?"

—"Told you it would connect."

"No seriously, how is this happening?"

He suddenly noticed how chaotic the background was on her end. Explosions. Shouting. A full-blown catastrophe.

—"You're still inside the dungeon, right?"

"Yeah. We're right in the middle of clearing it."

—"Good. But listen—you need to delay clearing it."

Jhin's brows furrowed.

"…What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

—"To be precise: even if you clear it, don't leave the dungeon. Not until the moon falls."

…Not until the moon falls?

What kind of twisted ghost story logic was that?

"Bellatris. I'm going to stop the moon."

—"That would be great… but it's too late now."

Her voice was quiet. Bitter.

—"We miscalculated. The moon's already entered Earth's orbit."

And then she said it outright.

—"No one can stop it now. Even if you clear the dungeon… the moon will crash into Earth."