The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter

Chapter 11: Dangerous Low-Level Dungeon? (3)

The cloud lasted for a minute until everything cleared, showing the room. The hunters were unconscious, resting in the corner of the place, while the monsters, besides the king, were dead on the ground.

The door to the room was closed while the porters rested outside them. Neban knocked them out before moving them behind the door; he gave them one of the weapons he owned in case something happened.

When they wake up, Wey and Isona will notice the weapon resting in their laps.

Neban was standing in the middle of the area, trying to keep his gaze on the confused looking king. The sword was a dangerous siren call: relentless and tempting.

He could have taken the sword when he killed off the monsters but decided not to do it. And it was not because he was an honorable person. It is more fun to kill for the weapon; when it comes to fighting, he becomes bored when it is too easy.

The King of Droks kept looking at his now empty hand as he glanced around the room, seeing how his army was dead while the humans were in a corner.

Turning towards the last standing human he has been watching, the king glared, "You have finally decided to make your move, human."

The king spat out the word 'human' like it was the most disgusting thing he tasted or seen. Neban shifted on his feet as he stared the king down.

"I have a question before we fight," Neban spoke, watching as the king's naginata was transforming into a double-sided spear.

The king twirled his weapon before facing it forward, showing where his intended target is. "I will only grant you one, and only one. You will be dead before you can ask another one."

"What is so special about this weapon?" He had a question following after that, but he knew he could not step over the boundary the king stated. But, he was curious why this weapon was different from the other high-grade ones.

Monsters did guard high-grade weapons, but not like this. And why or how did high-levels appear in a low-level dungeon? It caused the dungeon's regular green entrance to have specks of red in it, which red always indicated a high-level one.

It has been twelve years, and usually, nothing stays the same for long. Does that mean everything is starting to evolve?

"I did say I grant you the chance to ask your question, but not once did I say I will answer it." The king replied before he rushed forward, the ground shaking under his feet as he ran.

Neban sighed as he summoned one of his weapons; he should have known that a monster would not give him an answer.

He did not move as the king's weapon clashed with his sword. Sparks flew as the weapons kept hitting against each other; the king was trying to push Neban back, but he stayed rooted to his spot.

Growing mad, the king conjured his fire, surrounding them in a circle as his weapon turned into one made of fire. Neban felt the heat licking his skin as he activated [Warrior's Shield]. A bright aura covered his body, acting as a barrier; he did not feel the heat anymore.

The fire caused a light to shine around them, making it hard for Neban to use his usual techniques that dealt with the shadows, but it was okay; he will play the Warrior instead.

Activating [Enhanced Strength], he came down hard with his sword when their weapons met again. The force knocked the king back, making him stumble before he caught himself. Not giving him the time to catch his bearings, Neban was already on him, expertly swinging his sword at the king's arm; he was planning to cut one of them off.

Sensing his plan, the king blocked the swing with his spear as he silently conjured earth magic, catching Neban's foot, planting it to the ground. The earth magic was able to bypass the shield.

Dropping his weapon by an inch, Neban pulled his foot out of the hold, almost tripping in the process. He sensed a weapon coming down on him, causing him to dodge and flip out of the way.

Once there was space between them, Neban faced the king; his expression was blank as the king gazed at him; his eyes were ablaze with fury.

Neban stepped forward, but the king was faster as his fire shone brighter than before; Neban could feel the heat radiating off it as their weapons clashed against each other. He moved back, the king following with each movement as he spun his spear, almost cutting Neban's cheek if he did not move his head in time.

The king was able to get through his barrier.

Glancing at a spot from the corner of his eye, he thought, 'There,' as he used [Shadow Travel]. The shaded area was small, but it was enough to appear behind the king as Neban stabbed his weapon into his back.

But, it never went through as a wall made of earth blocked it, gripping onto the tip of the sword. He can feel the smugness coming off the king as the monster teased his failed sneak attack. But, he did not react as he let go of his weapon.

And before the king could turn around, Neban swung his leg out, kicking the drok with half his strength. The kick connected, breaking through the earth barrier, causing it to crumble, as the king flew towards the wall near the door.

The wall cracked when the king landed on it, causing the room to tremble as he slid to the ground. The fire died down as the king's weapon was resting in front of him. Neban was getting ready to walk over to the monster to finish him off before he could get up, but the sound of whispers stopped him.

'Come. Come. Use me. Use me to kill your opponent. Use me.' The whispers spoke, almost sounding like it was begging him.

He turned towards the high-grade sword lying on top of the altar as the dark aura was glowing brighter than it did initially. Neban saw as the weapon started collecting the blood on the ground from the dead creatures, turning its red part darker than before.

This time, Neban could not stop the pull as he stepped forward, walking towards the weapon. A dark cloud fell from the sword, making its way towards him like it wanted to meet halfway.

His senses felt incoming danger as he quickly turned around and grabbed whatever was trying to attack him. He heard a weapon clatter to the ground. Looking up, Neban had the king lifted a few inches above the floor by his neck.

The king did not struggle against his hold, but he did grab his arm, trying to burn him with his fire. But, it did not work as Neban had the shadows again.

"Do not touch that sword." The King of Drok gritted out as he even tried to use earth magic to get himself from Neban's hold. But that attack also fell flat.

"Why?" Neban asked as he wanted to turn around to look at the sword. It was still calling him as he felt the dark clouds rubbing against his leg as a pet would do to their owner.

The king did not answer, making Neban squeeze his throat, causing the monster to choke. "Answer me. I will not touch the sword if you tell me why." It was a lie; he would take the weapon no matter what.

It was hard to resist the call of a siren.

"Kill me. I will never tell you about the sword; my duty was to protect people from it; monster or puny humans. But if you humans want to release it to the world, do it. I do not care anymore. I rather see your world burn, so we can take it."

Neban was confused and did not understand what the king was saying. Duty? Protection? From humans and monsters? The world burning? Those words should have stopped him from wanting the sword, but all it did was make him want it even more.

There was a mystery behind it, like how the dungeons were still mysterious after twelve years. And when something was unknown, Neban craved it until he solved it; he must have this sword.

He noticed the king sticking out his hand during his thoughts, summoning his weapon back to him. Neban placed his free hand on the king's chest before the weapon could connect. "Thank you for fueling my choice."

[Shadow Beam x2]

A big hole appeared in the king's chest as his weapon, that he never got to hold, fell beside them. Neban threw the monster down as a pool of blood was already flowing under the drok. He did not spare the creature a glance as he walked towards the sword.

When he was close, the whispers were louder than before, practically shouting at him.

'Grab me. Grab me. Grab me!'

Neban did not hesitate as he grabbed the sword lifting it off the altar. Once the weapon was off it, cracks appeared in the altar before it crumbled. The rocks did not hit him as he used [Warrior's Shield] to protect himself.

The sword was vibrating in his hold, practically singing before it quieted down; even the surrounding aura died. It felt anti-climatic to Neban as he inspected the weapon.

The sword was beautiful with how the silver fading into the red as the white rectangular and circular-shaped designs added to it, making the red pop out more. He ran his hand over it, mesmerized by it. It was a siren, indeed.

'Siren, huh? That is what I will name this sword: Siren.' He thought.

He made the sword disappear, going into his storage that was not in this spatial domain. Neban will look at it again when he is alone.

And speaking of alone, he turned towards the hunters that were still unconscious in the corner. He would need to use [Memory Rewrite] to make it seem like they killed all the monsters and the king. And add in how the sword magically disappeared when they killed the King of Droks.

Hopefully, that is realistic enough to where they do not feel like their memories have been tampered with.

But, first, he needed to check on his friends (?). He made sure to keep them under for a short time, unlike the hunters. As he walked towards the door, he summoned his fallen sword to him, causing that one to disappear too when it landed in his hand.

Neban pushed the door open, feeling something sharp on his throat when he did. He looked over and saw Wey and Isona sitting on the wall, pointing the spear he gave them at him. Isona was holding the top part of it while Wey was holding the bottom.

When Isona and Wey saw that it was only him, Isona took her hand off as she let out a relieved sigh. Wey set the weapon down, gazing at him. "Are you finished?" He asked.

Neban nodded, looking at his weapon, he gave them instead of their faces.

He wondered if he should give them one of his weapons? He had plenty, and F-levels were not able to afford weapons for the dungeons, to keep themselves protected. When a D-level and higher sell pieces of equipment from the dungeons or their own, the government ups the price.

It made it hard for the F-levels to buy anything. Sometimes he wonders if the government has a secret plan for all the F-levels to die. It sounds like something they would do.

"Are you alright? Do you need me to check you over?" Owain asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. Ah, he forgot that Owain was still here.

Neban shook his head as he glanced at him before turning back to Isona and Wey, "The loot?" Translation: Can you help me with collecting the loot?

The group understood as they stood up, leaving the packed bags on the wall. Owain and Isona grabbed the two empty bags as they walked back into the room.

Owain whistled at the sight while Isona stopped for a second, her face a bit pale before she took a few deep breaths and continued again. Wey did not comment at the scene, but he did look at the hunters.

Following his gaze, Neban said, "They are alive, just knocked out."

Wey nodded before joining the others in collecting the ameis and the small pieces of equipment that a few monsters dropped. There were weapons, armor, and a couple of potions, nothing special in Neban's opinion.

He walked towards the hunters, picking them up as he brought them out of the room. Once he finished, he made sure he had them sitting on the ground, near the wall, lined up against it. One by one, he touched their foreheads, using [Memory Rewrite] on them.

When he finished with the last one, he stepped backward, stretching before making his way back into the room to help the others.

****

It was already noon when they were sitting in Owain's car as he drove them to their first stop: Neban's parents' house.

Back at the dungeons, when they finished collecting, they waited for the hunters to wake up instead of dragging them outside the dungeon. It would have been suspicious if they did.

Once the hunters woke up, they were confused as they gripped their heads. But, none of them noticed that Neban messed with their memories as they believed what he planted in their minds. The hunters only asked a few questions before they were satisfied.

The hunters were disappointed about not getting the sword, but they let it go as they all walked out of the dungeons. There were a few more words exchanged before the hunters left with all the bags. They will receive their payment tomorrow morning.

The others looked at Neban, confused themselves on why the hunters remembered things differently, but he did not say anything as he walked to Owain's car, and the others did not ask anything either.

So, now they were in the car, driving in silence as Isona was leaning on Neban. He was uncomfortable with the touch, but it was not unpleasant; she was warm. And it was not just her; Wey was warm too as their legs were touching.

His stomach felt weird from both of their touches, which he did not know what the feeling meant. But, he was uncomfortable with it.

When they reached his parents' house, he quickly got out of the car, startling Isona awake (she was dozing off). He did not apologize as he made his way to the front door.

He knocked on it. Neban only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened. This time, his father was the one to answer it while he had Theo in his arms.

Theo's face lit up when he saw him, "Papa!" He looked ready to jump out of his Grandpa's arms and into Neban's. Noticing Theo's intentions, the father gave his grandson to his son.

Neban took Theo in his arms, running his hands through his son's hair. Theo was already wrapping his arms around his neck with a tight grip; the boy is going to end up choking him one day.

His father gave him a once-over, checking his appearance before asking, "Are you okay?"

Ah, his father always had a knack for noticing his hidden moods.