## Chapter 107 – (14)
Minotaur.
With the head of a bull, its strength and ferocity were no less than that of a bull.
“Don’t block, evade!”
Dana shouted, but some of the knights were already frozen, only able to raise their weapons.
The knights who blocked its attacks were all heavily damaged and sent flying into the sky.
I never knew seeing people fly would be such a common sight.
I used the ring’s power to heal the flying knights.
And I realized that the healing wasn’t infinite.
‘My internal energy is decreasing.’
Normally, it might have drained mana.
But since I didn’t have mana, it seemed the ring was stealing my internal energy to use its abilities.
It was better than not being able to use them at all, but—
“Captain Dana, let’s have the knights retreat completely.”
“…Alright, knights except for Ethan and Seonghan, secure a retreat route in advance!”
Knowing that the knights weren’t much help, Captain Dana readily listened to me.
This would allow me to conserve healing.
Cecile was among the knights retreating.
“…Don’t get hurt.”
She whispered in my ear as she passed me.
That single sentence gave me quite a bit of strength.
Thump!
As the knights moved back in droves, the Minotaur began stomping its feet.
It was a sign of a charge.
What it was looking at were the knights.
It intended to sweep away the fleeing knights all at once.
“Cecile! Throw me your sword!”
“Huh? H, here!”
At my urgent shout, Cecile threw her sword.
Cecile’s weapon was a two-handed sword like Ethan’s. I caught the large sword and threw it as it was.
Whoosh—!
With the help of weapon skills, the huge sword flew towards it with a sound that cut through the wind.
The Minotaur dodged the flying sword by ducking.
Its movement to charge while stomping its feet was momentarily stopped, and Ethan and the Captain didn’t miss the opportunity.
Slash!
The two people’s swords cut at the Minotaur’s ankles.
“Groooar!”
They couldn’t cut it off or inflict deep wounds, but it seemed they succeeded in drawing aggro.
The Minotaur’s red eyes turned to the two of them.
Even though they were the two who could cut through an orc’s thick neck, only about 5cm of wounds were inflicted.
It wasn’t a shallow wound, but it could still move quickly.
“What kind of hide is that… Keuh!”
With a thud, Ethan was hit on the back of his hand by the Minotaur and bounced back.
It seemed he had blocked it with the side of his sword, so he wasn’t seriously injured.
‘But he reacted.’
Ethan was adapting to the Minotaur’s speed.
I didn’t have to worry too much about Captain Dana and Ethan; it seemed they could take care of themselves.
In the original story, Captain Dana was in a life-threatening crisis after only one or two of those attacks.
It was proof that Captain Dana had grown compared to the original.
“Is the flame spear ready?”
Lexie nodded at my question.
It seemed preparations were complete.
Clearly, she said it was difficult to hit.
“Wait, I’ll make it so you can hit it soon.”
I shouted as I ran, to the two of them.
“Both of you, get behind me!”
At my shout, Dana and Ethan quickly moved behind me.
And I began to spin the jungle machete filled with internal energy.
As I spun the red-hot sword, a red circle formed.
Like a target.
It would be good if this red color excited it, but even if it didn’t, it didn’t matter.
Either way, it would have to pay attention to me.
The sword filled with internal energy was vibrating faintly.
It couldn’t ignore this sword.
“Kroooar!”
The entire dungeon seemed to shake at its cry.
The Minotaur, who had quickly walked over with an axe, glared and raised the axe.
“Evade!”
Captain Dana shouted, but I didn’t evade.
Instead, I raised my hand.
The hand that wasn’t holding the sword.
‘Will it work?’
No, it will.
I had experimented several times.
Whether it’s based on weight or size, it will be possible.
I didn’t doubt it.
“Seonghan!”
“Sir Knight!”
Despite Dana and Ethan’s urgent voices, I calmly reached out my hand towards its axe, and thought.
‘Go in!’
The Minotaur powerfully swung its axe, and the end of the axe instantly touched my hand.
I felt pain at the fingertip that touched the axe.
A drop of blood flowed from my fingertip.
Then the Minotaur’s axe disappeared.
Into my inventory.
Whoong!
It lost its balance while making a futile gesture and collapsed as it was.
And I took the opportunity to stab its shoulder.
Flames rose from the stabbed shoulder.
“Groooar!”
It screamed in agony as it writhed, but it wasn’t over yet.
“Shoot!”
“…Go!”
At my words, Lexie hesitated, then fired the flame spear that she had prepared for a long time.
Although the accuracy was said to be poor, it seemed to be enough to hit the Minotaur, which was collapsed right in front of her.
A huge stream of fire rotated and flew like a beam of light towards the face of the collapsed Minotaur.
Kwaaaang!
A huge explosion erupted, and the Minotaur’s face was blackened.
I was also caught in the explosion, but I overcame the crisis by using healing.
Even so, as it tried to move, Ethan and Captain Dana jumped in and stabbed their swords into both arms.
The blackened hide didn’t have the same durability as before.
The two people’s swords were deeply embedded, firmly fixing its two arms to the ground.
The Minotaur wriggled its body little by little as if making a final resistance.
“Krooo…”
I cut off the neck of the resisting Minotaur with my sword.
[You have cleared the hidden quest.]
[Defeat the Minotaur.]
[Capture the dungeon.]
[The level of internal energy increases.]
[The level of the quest board increases.]
I temporarily put aside the continuously rising message windows, and sat down on the floor, breathing heavily.
I let out a hollow laugh as I saw black smoke rising from my mouth.
“Seonghan!”
Everyone ran towards me, who had collapsed on the floor.
Everyone seemed fine.
They would take care of the cleanup.
I felt sleepy, perhaps because I had inhaled a lot of black smoke.
As a last resort, I used healing on my body and fell asleep as it was.
***
“Hmm…”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar light.
A subtle orange light was enveloping my body.
It was a light that always made me feel comfortable.
“I’m glad I bought it.”
It was the lighting I had bought.
Someone must have laid me down on my bed.
How long had I slept?
Since I couldn’t check how much time had passed inside the dungeon, I thought that I might not have slept much.
I slowly got up and checked my body condition.
Speaking of body condition, it felt lighter than usual.
The internal energy that had been reduced was full again as the level of the skill increased, and the stamina was also fine thanks to sleeping soundly as if I had fainted.
“…Wahahaha!”
“…Drink!…”
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, it was a little brighter outside the window.
I could faintly hear some sounds too.
I got up, opened the window, and leaned my head out.
Then, I heard boisterous voices.
At the same time, I smelled meat that made me hungry.
Looking in the direction of the sound, everyone seemed to be grilling meat and celebrating the dungeon raid.
Creak.
As I was watching the scene, the door to the room opened, and Captain Dana came in.
And she smiled at me as she saw me standing up.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes.”
“Come down, everyone is waiting for the protagonist.”
I nodded at her words and followed Captain Dana down.
Many knights waved their hands as they saw me and Dana coming down.
There were also knights holding meat and waving happily.
“You’re awake!”
“Good job!”
“Eat some meat!”
“It’s awkward…”
It was awkward to be welcomed by so many people, and it was also awkward to see the knights, who were always wearing black armor, wearing ordinary clothes and tearing at meat.
“Here.”
Cecile slowly approached and handed me a plate.
The plate was neatly filled with different kinds of meat.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you? I’m the one who should be thankful.”
It was a somewhat awkward atmosphere.
And one more person joined the awkward atmosphere.
“You’re awake? Here’s some meat—”
Lexie approached me with a bright expression and handed me a plate.
But I already had a plate filled with meat in my hand.
Cecile and Lexie’s eyes met.
“Eung…?”
“Eoeo?”
Some exclamations that couldn’t become words flowed from the two people’s mouths.
I quietly slipped away, sensing the atmosphere.
Captain Dana was watching the scene with an amused smile.
“You’re popular?”
“No way.”
I smiled and replied.
Since Captain Dana’s hands were empty, I offered her the plate, but Captain Dana shook her head.
“I don’t really feel like beef today.”
“Ah…”
After hearing those words, my appetite also disappeared a little.
Of all things to grill, they grilled beef.
I knew it was expensive and delicious, but after hearing those words, the scene before I fainted came to my mind and I lost my appetite a little.
“Ah… I’m sorry, I made you lose your appetite too.”
“It’s okay…”
Then suddenly, I remembered.
“Or, should I give you a massage now?”
“Huh?”
Captain Dana’s face was filled with embarrassment.
“No… it’s okay, you worked harder than me, why would I…”
“It’s okay. I like doing it. You saw my room, right?”
“…Yeah, I saw it.”
Dana smiled faintly as if she remembered my room.
Then Dana opened her mouth after much deliberation.
“Then… could I ask you for a little favor?”
Dana said, tucking her short hair behind her ear.
