Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 45: Tomb of Death ④ – Yomido’s Saturnus
To protect everyone, I will defeat the King of Death. I will release the Tomb of Death.
To protect everyone—that alone, while extreme, gave me the motivation to act.
But time won’t wait. Only two days remain.
I’m starting to feel impatient, and yet, for some reason, I don’t.
Maybe because our team is too strong. Or maybe it’s the sense of stability we have.
“Hm?”
Just as I turned right down a corridor, I noticed an intriguing corner.
Something about it bothered me. The way it curved… it felt familiar.
“What’s wrong, Wohf?”
“There’s a corner that’s caught my attention.”
“Um, um, um, I found a staircase!”
Juicy, who had been scouting ahead, called out from the end of the straight corridor.
The witch was with her.
By the way, Dagaa had been carried by Juicy until just recently.
Now he’s turned into a knife and rests on my belt. Even in the Tomb of Death, he’s whimsical as ever.
Suddenly, I wondered—does the cursed debuff relic [Offering of Death] apply to Dagaa too?
Since he’s using the relic [Sword Transformation], it probably does.
“Oh, you found something?”
“……”
Good. We can finally get out of here. But… that corner.
“Hey. What is it?”
“Excuse me. Can I just go check something real quick?”
“Hey, hey. What’s going on?”
“I just want to take a quick look.”
“Woof.”
I headed off. I couldn’t help it—I had to check.
That corner was so familiar. Or maybe…
My heart was pounding as I rounded the bend, and for the first time in this maze, I found an entrance.
I stepped inside cautiously—and yes, as I suspected…
White floor, white walls. Sterile. But more than that, I gasped.
Piled high were suits of armor, swords, shields, bottles, and other familiar junk.
No, not junk—trash. Just trash. Piles and piles of it.
This was a dump. No doubt about it—a garbage dump.
“Of course… A dungeon with a final floor would have a dump!”
I was excited. The Tomb of Death’s trash heap.
Maybe it’s the dump of another dungeon? Either way, it was my first time entering one.
“…Looks similar, but it’s not quite the same.”
I looked around. The absence of people was strange. Or more accurately, the air felt different.
Ah, that’s it. There’s no trace of people here.
Even when no one’s around, you usually feel traces—smells, atmosphere, remnants of presence.
But here, there’s none of that.
“No one’s ever entered this place, I bet.”
“Na?”
“This is the quietest garbage dump I’ve ever seen.”
Maybe that’s why it felt lonely.
I was becoming a Seeker. I wouldn’t be able to enter dumps like this anymore.
The garbage dump had been my lifeblood, my playground, my favorite and most important place.
“……”
I activated the relic [Wheel of Fortune].
A few green lights appeared. No yellow. One blue. No purple.
“Hm. Blue, huh?”
That’s it? Wait—blue!?
“Blue!?”
Blue. It’s blue. No mistake—it’s a blue light!
“Na?”
“Dagaa! It’s blue! A blue light!”
I unconsciously chased after the blue light with [Wheel of Fortune] still active.
Soon, some yellow lights appeared alongside the green ones. What is this, a treasure trove?
But now, I’m focused on the blue one. This way. Over here. In the center of that trash pile.
I used [Vanish] and struck toward the blue light. Part of the trash pile broke away.
“Vanish Knuckle!”
VANISH NUCKOOOOOOO!!
I kept hitting, again and again and again. Hit, hit—ah, the green one disappeared.
Doesn’t matter. Keep hitting. Oh, I spotted a knife! Wait—it disappeared!?
Tch. Grr. Hit hit hit. Hit. Hit. Ah! The blue light dropped!
I dug through the collapsed trash pile, searching for the blue light. Not this. Not this either. Not that one.
Is it this? No. Under here—this, this… this is it!
“This cloth pouch?”
A small dirty cloth pouch. The blue light isn’t from the bag itself.
Inside—wait, I heard a bark.
Startled, I turned around and saw Juicy. The witch and Agaro were with her too.
Oh no. I forgot about them.
“Um, um, um… Wof-sama. Is this a garbage dump?”
“Well well, so it is a dump.”
“My my, what a surprise this is.”
“I’m sorry.”
I apologized. I got so caught up, I forgot about everyone else.
Juicy came dashing straight toward me.
“Um, um… Wof-sama, I was worried.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, I was worried, but if you found this, I guess it’s understandable.”
“Well, well. It’s not unusual to get absorbed in treasure hunting. But you should have contacted us. Did you forget this place is dangerous, Wof boy?”
“S-sorry.”
“So, so… what did you find?”
“This. But… I haven’t looked inside yet.”
I showed the dirty cloth pouch.
Agaro looked dubious, while Juicy’s eyes sparkled and her tail wagged excitedly.
“Um, um… Wof-sama. What’s inside?”
“Why’re you holding such a filthy bag?”
Agaro didn’t know about my relic, so he was confused.
The witch and Juicy, on the other hand, knew.
What to do? Well, I guess it’s okay to tell Agaro.
We’ve been through a lot together. I can trust him.
“Actually—”
“Oh, oh, that’s right. That’s the legacy I gave him.”
“Legacy?”
“Yup yup. It’s called the [Emblem of Fortune]. When used, it randomly reveals treasure. I gave it to Wof boy.”
“I see. So that’s how he found this.”
“Y-yeah.”
So… I guess I’m not supposed to explain it yet. I’ll follow my mentor’s lead. I’m not great at improvising.
Hopefully Juicy picks up on the cue—wait, she’s digging?
“Woof woof! Woof woof!”
Just like before, she’s digging into the trash heap with both hands. Classic “dig here, doggo” behavior.
“She’s a dog, alright.”
“A dog indeed.”
“Woof woof, she says.”
“Na!”
Ahhh~ she’s just like a dog from home. But then, Juicy froze.
She looked at us and blushed bright red. Flustered.
“Um, um, sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. Woof.”
She sat down in embarrassment, covering her face with her hands. Her ears and tail drooped.
Agaro and I looked at each other and shared a wry smile.
Two guys unsure what kind of expression to make in moments like these.
“Well, well. As much as I’d like to linger, let’s get going.”
“Seems like there’s still a lot here, but guess we don’t have a choice.”
“Um, um… woof.”
“Yeah.”
I stashed the cloth pouch in my satchel and we left the Tomb of Death’s dump.
Then we descended the stairs.
We entered the catacombs, arriving directly beneath them.
Of course, undead were swarming—and finally, silver-ranked ones began to appear.
Undead capable of using relics. But they were still no match.
At this rate, maybe we really can take down the King of Death without much trouble.
With that feeling, we arrived at the Giant’s Tomb, where massive stone coffins lined the way.
Pale blue light streamed down at even intervals from the ceiling, illuminating exquisite murals on towering walls.
Hundreds of gigantic pillars, each with a colossal statue engraved into it.
And countless stone coffins, each as big as a three-story building.
Below the coffins wandered zombies in white hoods marked with red and black lines.
There were many of them. Agaro muttered that they were once followers of Yomido. I see.
“Finally. Feels like we’ve reached the bottom.”
“Well, well. Kon and the others are aiming for the deepest floor. And this area’s structure resembles the Death Castle. If that’s the case, then the deepest point is where the Tomb of the King of Death lies.”
“Um, um… there’s a fancy-looking altar straight ahead.”
Just as Juicy said, beyond the rows of massive pillars stood a magnificent shrine.
If you called it an altar, it certainly looked like one. So that’s the Tomb of the King of Death?
“Alright. That’s our target.”
“Uwaaaaaahhhh!!”
“Gyaaaaahhhh!!”
“Help me! Help me!!”
“Stop! Please, stop!!”
“Why is this happening to me—gahhh!!”
“This is bullsht, bullsht! No one said there’d be something like that!!”
What the hell?
We instinctively hid behind a stone sarcophagus.
A boy and girl were running desperately.
They looked about my age, or younger. They didn’t seem like explorers.
Why were they here? This place is supposed to be off-limits.
Something long, pale, and massive reached out from behind—ah, it was an arm.
A huge hand grabbed the fleeing boy and girl in its grasp.
Then it appeared—an abnormally massive figure with pallid skin.
It had the head of a deer. With majestic antlers.
It had four eyes arranged in a cross and a vertical, slit-like mouth at the center of its face.
Its thin, rotting body had four long, thick arms. Its legs were those of an ungulate.
A true abomination.
It firmly seized the boy and girl, opened the mouth in the middle of its face wide—
—and began chewing them as if they were food. Agonized screams echoed as blood sprayed everywhere.
“……”
I stayed silent. No—I could only stay silent.
I couldn’t look away.
“Is that… Saturnus?”
“Huh?”
Goya’s?
“A witch. Right?”
“Yes, yes indeed. That’s the rotten giant Saturnus of Yomido. An undead monster, mid-tier Silver rank.”
Mid-tier Silver, huh…
“U-um, who are all those people over there? There’s quite a lot of them.”
“Those are explorers. From Coon Hunt.”
“Wha—? They’re here?”
“Yeah. I’d heard rumors some of them had come.”
Even from here we could see dozens of people fleeing in a panic.
Only Coon Hunt would ignore the guild’s warnings and enter the Tomb of Death.
“My, my. What a terrible place to find yourself.”
“……”
They were being caught and eaten one after another by Saturnus.
Like someone popping candy into their mouth.
There were some adults, but many were children—my age or younger.
Hired by Coon Hunt.
What a miserable, grotesque scene.
Even for Coon Hunt, this level of carnage made me want to help—but I stayed back.
You can’t defeat a mid-tier Silver monster without Generous.
And Generous is our trump card.
“Gyaaaaahhhhhhh!!”
“Burn! Burn! Burn, damn you! You zombie!!”
Some Coon Hunt members were being attacked by the remnants of Yomido’s cultists.
“Stop, stop, stop, stop!!”
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!”
“…………”
“U-um, what should we do? Woof.”
“There’s nothing we can do. We keep moving forward.”
“……”
“Help me! Help me! Help me!!”
“I don’t want to die—Mooom!!”
“U-um, but…”
“That’s right. That’s right. We must liberate the Tomb of Death as quickly as possible. That’s what we can do right now.”
“We don’t have much time, either.”
“I don’t wanna dieeeee!!”
“Gyaaaahhhhhh!!”
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!!”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. But we have to hurry.”
“U-um… woof…”
“……”
“Stop! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”
“It hurts, it hurrrrrrrts!!”
“Please… please… plea—se…”
“Someone… someone… someone save meeeee!!”
Before I knew it, I was sprinting forward.
As I ran, I drew my Elixir Knife and activated Silent One.
“H-Hey. Wof!?”
“Woof! Wof-sama!?”
“No, no, no way—Even I can’t copy something that crazy!”
Saturnus noticed me.
It extended an arm. I tried to dodge, but it was too fast—I was easily caught.
Fast! Too fast. It stretched like a snake and grabbed me with perfect precision.
There’s no way to dodge something that fast under normal conditions.
Saturnus lifted me up in its grip.
Its four ghostly eyes glowed ominously, and its blood-smeared, slit-like mouth opened wide.
Inside were jagged red teeth, slick and squirming.
Bits of meat and cloth were stuck between them.
I trembled with rage.
I chanted:
“Silent Move.”
That action—was to defeat Saturnus without using Generous.
My vision crackled with static.
CRACK
I heard something snap. Like something breaking.