Barberian

Chapter 70: Catch Them (8)

In an instant, my vision changed.

The floor was damp. Instead of the stone tiles that surrounded me on all sides of the second floor, I could feel the damp, wet earth.

Reflexively, I tried to use my perception to check my surroundings, but a terrible headache hit me and my entire body went limp.

I quickly closed my eyes and stopped perceiving.

-Poof!

I nearly fell to the floor, landing on a damp, fluffy bed.

What the hell. It's transparent, but the dampness feels strangely familiar.

This must be what it feels like to lie on a bed of pudding.

[Aldente LV.28]

[Aldente's current Blessings and Curses: 2]

[◆ Curse of the Slime]

– Your body turns to slime. It's slimy.

– Stamina +10 Wisdom-5 Finesse-5

"Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes... I'm fine."

Aldente had transformed her slime arm into a bed.

It was fascinating. She could transform her body freely.

Ain. Those who were once human but were cursed to become monsters.

I don't know much about them, as they are far fewer in number than humans.

I've heard that some are forced to carry the curse because they can't afford to remove it, while others have embraced the life of an Ain out of necessity.

Slime Ain Aldente seemed to be the latter. Ten stamina points is a lot for a tank to ignore.

I looked at Aldente's arm as it reverted from its bed form, thanked her, and stood still, contemplating my condition.

'Did I push myself too hard?

My head still aches slightly from the intense focus of the crisis, but not to the point of collapse from exhaustion like this.

'Perhaps it's magic.'

For the first time, I felt like I hadn't realized the extent of my power and had just used it.

On top of that, I wondered if I had maximized my cognition, and that's why my body couldn't hold on for a moment.

"Balkan. Is that axe...an artifact?"

"Ah, yes. I got one this time."

"Then you're drained. That's what you get for growing an axe bigger than a streetlight. I'm more surprised that you didn't destroy your artifact after all that foolishness. Must be something good, huh?"

Mage Lammel informed me that I was suffering from mana exhaustion.

She explained that it can be accompanied by anemia-like symptoms, as well as sudden dizziness and loss of stamina, so I knew I should refrain from overextending myself as much as possible.

"Time is the key to curing mana exhaustion. Get some rest. You've worked hard."

"That's right, Balkan. You've bought us a lot of time, since you took the outlaw down to the eighth floor with you."

After opening my mouth and eating together a few times, Lammel and Jubeel, who had become slightly sweeter, took care of me.

Immediately, a white powder fell on my head. It was a priest's miracle.

"I've cast a miracle to speed up your recovery, and you'll be well on your way to feeling better."

Hitolis also gave me a miracle.

As I began to feel my body slowly recovering from the emptiness, I noticed someone in worse shape than I was.

"Ugh!"

I stifled a laugh.

"Gellan! Gellan, get a grip!"

The cleric and wizard of Gellan's party looked on in dismay as Gellan rolled around on the ground, swaying from side to side.

Direct hit... by a male corruption beam from the shaman hobgoblin's staff.

Technically, I was hit and it was deflected by Serif's blessing, but there was no one here brilliant enough to see it. The situation was too urgent.

Anyway,

As a result, Gellan became an idiot.

He was an idiot before, but now he was an idiot beyond redemption.

"..."

Aldente didn't say anything, but her expression was quite bitter.

It couldn't be helped, since his formerly unharmed teammate had turned into an idiot in less than ten seconds of combat.

'The pink glow emitted by Shaman Hobgoblin's staff is the magical embodiment of the beast's male corruption pheromone.'

Whether you are a high level explorer or a low level explorer, if you're hit by a monster and exposed to its male corruption pheromones, you'll simply become a bio-dildo for the monster.

'No man has ever been able to overcome the male corruption pheromone.'

I've heard that various studies are underway to try to cure them, but nothing has worked yet, which means the odds of Gellan ever returning to his original form are pretty much zero.

"Put it in the bag and go."

Still, he was an idiot, not dead, so we decided to keep him in a bag from a humanitarian standpoint.

If it had been a party of subhuman trash or a party of rehabilitated explorers, he'd have been immediately mauled, used as bait, discarded, or rolled into a limb-amputation bio dildo.

In Gellan's case, he was lucky.

His body was shoved into the lightweight enchanted backpack we carried.

His body somehow fit, but only his head popped out."Crrrrrr! It's fucking heavy, man!"

"Don't freak out, the lightweight magic cuts the weight in half."

Gregor squealed as she was forced to carry another bag, but what the hell. She's a porter, she's supposed to be able to carry a load. Anyway, that was the end of Gellan's handling.

Now I turned my attention to the other side.

"Eighth floor center. We're in luck. If we keep going in a straight line, we'll reach the end of the line in one night."

Joy Hog, with her wounds healed by a healing potion, studied the map to get a sense of where we were and what was happening.

"The Outlaw's Mark is on the western outskirts. It's a little less monster-infested, but the roads are rough and unruly."

"From the way she's moving, she looks like she's quite the explorer. Maybe she knows the way?"

"I can't be sure... but since she's standing right next to a 8th Floor Transition Trap, I can't completely rule it out. We'll have to be very diligent if we want to get to the end first."

On the second floor, it would have been a chase, but since we were on the eighth floor, we only needed to get to the edge of the portal first.

No matter how good Gurmimi's performance was, there were only two of them.

"I don't know about the second floor, but the two of them can't hold off the eighth floor for long. If they want to survive, they'll come to the end of the floor where there's a portal to the upper floors."

"We get to the edge first, ambush them, and when they come, we take them out in one fell swoop. Right?"

"Exactly. Balkan has little common sense, but a lot of brains."

The ending was a bit shitty, but when I thought about it, it wasn't strangely wrong, so I just nodded.

Gellan was retired, but it didn't change the game.

The party's overall damage dealing is slightly lowered, but the other three members of Gellan's party are still strong.

With this much power, the eighth floor shouldn't be too difficult.

We immediately began to make progress on the eighth floor.

***

The difficulty of the Labyrinth increases dramatically every four floors.

Just as the goblins on the first floor, which were charging with ignorance at the sight of a man, become hobgoblins with evolved thinking and bodies on the fourth floor and higher.

The eighth floor introduces monsters that are more advanced in every way than the previous tiers.

"Still, that rapid growth is a bit disconcerting."

"Purrrrrrrr!"

A huge fireball began to form in the hands of the Shaman Minotaur.

It raised its arms to the sky, as if gathering energy, and began to increase the size of the fireball.

In response, the four warrior minotaurs guarding the Shaman Minotaur snorted and charged.

-Thud!

Joy Hog shoved one of the minotaurs with her shield to stop it while Aldente stretched out her slime arms and grabbed two of the minotaurs.

"One down!"

The minotaur that had broken through the front line of tanks lunged at me, fists outstretched.

With the priests and mages right behind me, I can't dodge. I swung my axe in time with its outstretched fist.

-Thud, thud, thud!

The axe sliced smoothly through the middle and index fingers of her fist and gently bisected her forearm.

"Purrrrrrrr!"

The minotaur didn't even seem to feel the pain and immediately tried to counterattack with its opposite fist.

But what the hell, I have two weapons.

-Tsk!

"Purrrrr!"

The minotaur let out a short howl as its other arm was equally split.

The axe continued up the minotaur's arm, straight for its head, and soon dropped its neck.

"Purrrrr!"

The Shaman Minotaur, who had just finished crafting the Primal Fireball, shouted. The size of the fireball was unusually large.

"Lammel! Fusilini, are you ready!"

"Alas, I just finished."

Just in time, Lammel and Gellan's mage, Fusilini, finished their response.

The two wizards' fireballs and the shaman minotaur's fireball collided in midair.

There was a tremendous explosion and an intense heat wave.

"Purrrrrrr!"

I bowed my head slightly and crossed my axes to block the hot air.

When I raised my head again, a minotaur, propelled by the intense wind, flew toward me.

I couldn't say, "Yeah, come here," and hug it since it would crush me

I tucked the axe Idelbert had given me into my waistband, picked up Zirnier's axe with both hands, and started swinging.

Honestly, I felt like a woodsman chopping firewood.

My timing was a little quick and since it would take the minotaur about two seconds to get in front of me, that left a gap.

If I swing first, it'll be a wasted swing.

The Minotaur seems to realize this, and the corners of its mouth twitch upward.

'But what if I could close the gap?'

The hilt is about a hand's length long and the Axe blade only slightly larger.

"Giant."

The magic power is well controlled, the handle is about the length of a one-handed sword, and the blade is a little bigger.

The blade landed squarely on the minotaur's head.

Zzzzzzzz!!!

I had taken advantage of a slight lapse in defense.

Still feeling like I had the upper hand, I left the minotaur lying on the ground with its skull impaled, and immediately joined the tankers to take care of the minotaurs they were holding.

It was a quick turnaround after the priest's miracle.

The battle ended with a sharp axe blade to the head of the Shaman Minotaur.

The battle ended with no casualties, but it was trickier than expected.

"I guess it's not the same as a party of explorers about to be promoted to Intermediate level after all."

"...Well, it's nothing to us. You guys are actually quite impressive, it's hard to believe that you're explorers who usually go to the seventh floor."

"Yeah, that Gellan was missing a monster every now and then and almost got his rear end pierced, but this party has none of that."

At my words, the tank Aldente and mage Fusilini ... Pasta duo from Gellan's party shook their heads.

Despite their considerable skill, they were quite modest.

For explorers, they were unusually unassertive. Did they get gaslighted by Gellan?

Hope, the priest, was about average.

If the Joy Hog party had fallen to the eighth floor alone, the battle would not have ended so cleanly.

"No. Even if I hadn't been guarding the priest and wizard, I would have finished them all off with just one blow of my sword!"

"Jubeel. Don't be so cocky. Honestly, we're not that bad."

"Ehhh. Joy Hog, are you going to keep doing that? Just admit it."

"That's why you switched places with Balkan and the rear almost got blown up because you couldn't stop the monster in time."

"Uhhhh. Hmph. That's because I, a swordsman, am relatively weak compared to Balkan, a warrior."

"Are you proud that you're weaker than him?"

"...Yes. Suddenly, breast milk..."

Jubeel's habitual bravado soon crumbled under Joy Hog's rebuttal. She even ran away, spewing breast milk.

As an aside, since Gellan became an idiot, the conversations between our party and theirs have increased slightly.

"Still, it's not the same as the eighth floor I experienced last time."

"It would have been dangerous if we hadn't used our power to offset the fireballs. Even a shaman minotaur can't make a fireball that big..."

The two mages talked amongst themselves, discussing the growth of the Shaman Minotaur.

"Did you feel it too, Hitolis?"

"Yes, in the Shaman Minotaur's shadow..."

The priests spoke of the hazy [darkness] that lurked in the shadow of the shaman minotaur.

'Is the darkness making the monsters stronger?'

"We'll have more definitive information soon enough, now that the temple investigators are out, but for now, let's get on with our work."

It was a matter of personal curiosity, but there was no time to dwell on it.

We resumed our march up the eighth floor, fighting off the fatigue of battle with a brief rest.

***

After eleven hours of nonstop walking and nine battles, two glowing portals came into view but the party's faces were not cheerful.

"...All hands, prepare for battle."

"What kind of battle preparations are you talking about, asshole?"

Familiar faces stood in front of the portal.

I didn't need to look at the tracking map since Gurmimi, the rabbit-headed outlaw, and the mage who went by the name of Reichem but called herself Talian had arrived at the end of the eighth level before our party.

They even greeted us as if to say hello.

Joy Hog and Jubeel gripped their shields and swords tighter at the unexpected appearance. Jubeel had switched places with Aldente.

"Why didn't you just jump through the portal and run?"

Gurmimi chuckled at Joey Hogg's question.

"I thought about it, but I kept thinking about how he screwed me over."

Gurmimi gently scratched the nape of her own neck with her sword, then extended it and pointed it at Balkan.

The tip of the blade swept from his forehead to his toes. The red rabbit eyes moved in response.

-Gulp. The sound of swallowing as if faced with a tasty prey.

It was a gaze Balkan had grown accustomed to by now, a gaze of immense lust and hostility.

"I'll kill all the others, but I'll enslave you for the rest of your life."

"That's a lot of words."

"...What?"

Balkan scratched the back of his neck roughly with his right hand, swinging the axe in his other hand.

"You're a talker, as usual. I thought the stronger ones kept their mouths shut."

"..."

Kududududud!

Gurmimi suddenly shut her mouth, either in acceptance of Balkan's words or in defiance.

Her grip on the hilt of her sword tightened to a crushing grip, and she poised herself for a sword strike.

The veins in her forehead pulsed, her face hard.

She looked like she was about to pounce at any moment, and her fierce aura filled the edge of the eighth layer.

The party members stiffened accordingly, each readying themselves for the miracles and magic they had in store.

Joy Hog and Jubeel, at the front of the line, gripped their weapons tightly while Balkan watched in mild admiration.

'Illusion magic. That's some quality stuff.'

At a lower level, it fooled all the explorers.

[Reichem LV.22]

I looked at Gurmimi's status window, and out of nowhere, Reichem's status window appeared.

'She was using illusion magic.'

The Gurmimi next to Reichem doesn't have any status window, so it's an illusion.

The illusion was strangely crude and didn't say or do anything. It seemed to be more precise when it was based on a person.

Balkan immediately turned away from Reichem, who glared at him like she was going to tear him to pieces and glared at the wall to his right.

[Gurmimi LV.36]

It was a plain, featureless wall of the Labyrinth, with nothing but a status window.

"There you are."

Gurmimi flinched.

I raised my axe and spoke, and the illusion magic began to waver uneasily, as if it had been pierced.

Chapter 71: Catch Them (9)

-Kagagagagak!

Gurmimi barely managed to block the axe swinging in front of her eyes.

The shock-sensitive illusion magic immediately collapsed, revealing a rabbit head with a puzzled face.

Gurmimi's mind raced with a single question.

"How could you see through the illusion?"

How did he even know about illusion magic?

Illusion magic is a very tricky and delicate magic.

Even the same mage can't easily distinguish between reality and illusion unless they've studied it deeply.

And the woman who was using illusion magic at her side now was a mage who was quite skilled at it.

Reichem's eyes widened as she watched Gurmimi's form in the distance.

Her magic had been seen through by a man who, at first glance, didn't seem to have the slightest connection to magic, a man who was so large and full of hard muscles.

It was different from their first meeting, when they'd had a tracking map and a sense of anticipation.

If you were a good explorer, you could make such judgments on instinct.

But now, what the hell?

With a clearly hostile enemy right in front of him, he's not looking at the tracking map.

Is this even possible?

It made sense if someone blessed with the timely ability to see through illusory magic had followed them into the Labyrinth.

'No one witnessed the use of illusion magic in the Labyrinth City, so when did they get the information? And how? No way. Did we get caught?'

Balkan glanced at Reichem, who had slowed to a crawl in the distance, her eyes rolling back and forth.

'Yeah. Think about it.'

He didn't answer their question since it would only put more psychological pressure on them.

And that psychological pressure will lead to burdens, which will naturally create gaps.

So what he needs to do now is swing the axe harder and harder!

-Kagakakakak!

Gurmimi tilted her straight sword, deflected the axe, and swung her sword upward from below in a circle.

-KANG!

Balkan didn't dodge, but slashed down the blade coming for his throat with the Zirnier axe in his other hand.

-Kaang!

He was only planning to parry the sword, but the blade snapped in two.

"What?"

Gurmimi's eyes widened in disbelief. She must have been surprised enough to freeze for a moment.

This was his chance.

Zzzzzzzz!!!

"Kaak!"

The axe that Idelbert had given him grazed the nape of Gurmimi's neck.

The sensation of cutting through flesh tingles through my fingertips but it was not a satisfying result.

Gurmimi's agility was such that even in that situation, she used her rabbit-like leaping ability to narrowly avoid the axe.

"Kuluk, gehek-!"

But when I say slightly, I mean slightly damaged.

Gurmimi grabbed the broken sword and clutched at her bleeding neck, which had been slashed by the axe blade.

Her white rabbit fur was stained with red blood. In a flash, Gurmimi pulled a vial of potion from her waistband and held it to her mouth.

"Talian-!"

She called urgently to Reichem, but it was futile.

"Your friend is about to be caught, isn't she?"

"..."

Reichem and Gurmimi were too confident that they would succeed in her plan.

In other words, they were certain that the illusion magic would be undetected.

That confidence was completely shattered under the status window, and the tide of battle turned.

"We got the mage, Balkan, we're coming!"

Joy Hogg and Jubeel shouted as they tied up Reichem.

With Balkan holding Gurmimi, the party had a general idea of the situation and decided to capture the pesky mage first. Still, her proximity to the seventh floor portal made her a high risk for escape.

Leaving Hitolis behind to back up Balkan, the party pounced on the illusion mage, Reichem, who was bluffing away in her Gurmimi disguise.

A single mage was no match for two tanks, a swordsman, two mages, and a cleric.

As a result, Reichem unleashed a barrage of spells, but was quickly captured by the party's synchronization.

Gurmimi glanced at the scene and made a quick decision.

'Let's run.'

They were careless and outnumbered. The ambush plan went awry and they shouldn't have fallen to the eighth floor in the first place.

'That asshole!'

Gurmimi gritted her teeth as she stared at the helmeted man in front of her, Balkan.

'That bastard ruined the whole thing by interrupting at every crucial moment. '

Pushing the regret aside, the red rabbit's eyes found a way to save herself.

She turned toward the blue glowing ascension portal.

At the same time, Gurmimi's thighs swelled up, and magic power began to gather within them.

[◆ Blessing of Windy Legs]

– Temporarily increase your Agility by a large amount.

– Permanently decreases Wisdom by 1 per use of Blessing (currently -3).

– +4 Agility, additional +8 Agility when using a blessing

Gurmimi steeled her resolve.

The permanent drop in Wisdom was a great price to pay so she decided to use a Blessing that would give her a huge stat boost to compensate.

Zzzzzzzzzz!

"Kahaak!"

Balkan, however, was not the kind of benevolent villain who waited patiently to see the hero's transformation.

The second or so that Gurmimi prepared to use the Blessing was too long for him. Without delay, he swung his axe.

He was going to cut off her legs.

Kudduddup.

'The axe won't come out?'

Gurmimi had slightly higher stats than Balkan, such as strength and agility.

And right now, Gurmimi's leg was an explosion of muscle and magic.

The strength was such that even Zirnier's axe could not easily cut through it. The blade was blocked by bone and muscle and could go no further.

"Off... Aaaaaaahhhh!!!!"

With that, Gurmimi took a step, her thighs tightening.

It was not a normal stride.

"Balkan-!"

Joy Hog's shout came from the far side of the portal, right next to the captured Reichem.

A stinging pain shot up his back, accompanied by the sensation of his arm being stretched.

Gurmimi was moving at breakneck speed, the axe embedded in her thigh, and Balkan, who was clutching the handle tightly, had come along for the ride.

The suddenness of the situation caused him to roll around on the ground, but he didn't lose his grip on Gurmimi.

Aldente tried to extend her jelly arm, but she couldn't reach Gurmimi or Balkan. The speed difference was too great.

"Get up to the seventh floor!"

Balkan said urgently and grabbed Gurmimi by the thigh.

The next moment, a blue portal of ascension swallowed Balkan and Gurmimi.

Joy Hog watched in horror, then quickly tossed the captured wizard into Gregor's pack.

"We're right behind you!"

The rest of the party bunched together and stepped through the portal.

At the end of the eighth floor, which was suddenly silent, only two portals glowed in the darkness.

***

With the sensation of floating, the landscape around them changed instantly.

I've never been on the seventh floor before.

Gurmimi gritted her teeth and managed to cross the ascension portal.

"Kaak!"

Gurmimi couldn't keep up with her speed and slammed into the wall of the Labyrinth immediately after stepping through the portal.

I, whose body was intertwined with hers, also hit the wall of the Labyrinth and fell to the floor. Luckily, Gurmimi was cushioning me, so I wasn't too badly hurt.

And I hadn't let go of the axe in my hand until that moment.

The blessing had already expired, and Gurmimi's thighs were looser than before.

Not too flabby, not too firm, just right for chopping.

I raised Idelbert's axe with my right hand and brought the blade of Zirnier's axe down.

-Kaaaah!!!

Like a sculptor chiseling marble with a hammer.

Zirnier's axe vibrated loudly, digging into the bone and muscle of her thigh in an instant.

The pain was so great that Gurmimi let out a pitiful scream.

Gurmimi, who was still trying to stab me in the back, lost her grip on the broken sword in unimaginable pain.

I immediately kicked out and knocked the sword away.

Then, as she was struggling, I struck again.

-Kaaaaaang!

Another blow, and Zirnier's axe, embedded in Gurmimi's thigh, sliced through bone and flesh and popped out.

This time, there was no scream.

Grunting and gritting her teeth, Gurmimi's body sagged. She had passed out.

"Hah."

I sighed and flopped down on my butt against Gurmimi's stomach

"Finally, I got you. You asshole."

Overall, I was lucky. It was also because Gurmimi focused on running away rather than fighting directly. If it had gone to a war of attrition, I would have been seriously injured.

"This bitch is the reason I've been through the portal so many times."

Pfft!

I slammed my fist into Gurmimi's stunned rabbit head.

I'm glad she took the up portal instead of the down portal.

Going to the ninth floor would've been a surefire way to die, but the seventh floor is much better. It's the way back to the surface anyway.

"Gurmimi's here," I think to myself, "and the Joy Hog party will find her on the tracking map.

I'm told the seventh floor is an average sized floor. They'll find me in two days, no matter how long it takes.

And that means we'll be alone for up to two days.

If we're lucky enough to be near each other, they'll be here in a day, but I'm not that lucky.

"Fuck."

Footsteps came into my recovered perceptual range, and there were quite a few of them.

My hand naturally tightened on my axe. With a sigh, I assessed my opponent.

Not Joy Hog party, at least. There are far more of them.

About thirteen. There was no hesitation in the clatter of heavy armor and the steady strides of the men. As if there's nothing to be wary of on the seventh floor.

Even if I wanted to duck, there was nowhere to hide in this open space.

I stood up quietly and faced the approaching opponents with my hand on my axe. If they were outlaws, I would resist, but if they were good explorers, I would...

Then I stopped in my tracks.

"What the hell, how did you get here already?"

They were neither outlaws nor explorers, but a familiar face.

A golden-armored paladin, Serif's escort.

[Nate Elin LV.40]

A group of investigators from the temple, led by her, watched me with interest.

Chapter 72: Get out alive (1)

The Labyrinth Investigators, sent by the Temple, gaped at the unfamiliar sight.

A sickening stench of blood wafted into their nostrils.

Blood stained the walls and floor of the Labyrinth.

There was a frothing at the mouth, red-eyed and stunned rabbit girl.

The man who had boldly laid her on the ground like a thug, then rose to his feet, a blood-soaked twin axe in his hand.

It was a creepy scene, like a crime scene of an indiscriminate killer.

"...Whoa."

His short sigh sent chills down the spines of the Paladins.

They were considered high level powers even in the temple.

It was immediately apparent that the man before them was weaker than them.

But why?

The dozen Paladins all thought the same thing.

That if they fought now, there would be a lot of blood.

There was something about the man in front of them that made them think that.

As the frightened Paladins reached for their swords, Nate Elin stopped them with her right arm behind her.

Then, looking at the man before her, she opened his mouth.

"First of all. I'd like to know what happened to you."

***

I explained the events to Nate Elin.

"...Of course."

She listened to me with a calm face, then sighed and furrowed her brow.

"You mean to tell me that you entered the Labyrinth to capture an outlaw, that the outlaw stabbed your party in the back with a second-to-eighth floor transition trap, and that you fell on the seventh floor while chasing them and battling them, and stumbled upon us?"

"Yes."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

I expected this reaction.

Honestly, I don't think I would have believed it if I were in Nate Elin's shoes.

I've been involved in more than my fair share of transference traps than I care to admit but believe it or not, I told her exactly what I went through.

"I'm serious, I need you to see this."

I pulled out a montage of Gurmimi and Reichem and showed it to Nate Elin.

"Hut, that guy is...!"

The male priest, who had been watching Nate and I interact, looked at the montage of Gurmimi and gasped, as if he had realized something.

Nate Elin looked at him and asked.

"Do you know her?"

"Ah, yes. She's a pretty notorious slave hunter and virginity hunter, half of the rape victims around the Outlaw Zone have been raped by her."

The surrounding Paladins stiffened at that.

"So, a dick hunter?"

"You fucking bitch!"

"We dare not even try it… No, ahem. To do something that goes against the teachings of the Mother Goddess!"

"How dare she commit such filthy acts as if she were breathing? That shameless bitch!! I can't forgive her!"

A group of virgins who were forced to have spider webs hanging from their lower bodies under the teachings of the Earth Mother.

The Paladins glared at Gurmimi with bloodshot eyes.

Nate Elin's expression was not pretty.

She glanced back and forth between the rabbit's head in the montage and Gurmimi on the ground beneath me, then nodded.

"The montage bears the seal of the Guard, so I'm pretty sure it's for the arrest of an outlaw."

"You believe me?"

"Yes."

Nate Elin folded the montage and handed it back to me.

"If you fell to the seventh floor by yourself, is the rest of the party still on the eighth floor?"

"Yes. But since the battle was just about over, they will probably come straight up. It'll take a day or two at the most."

Actually, it's not easy to survive alone in the labyrinth.

I'm new to the seventh floor, so I don't know any resting spots or areas with fewer monsters.

Not only that, but I have to do everything by myself, including eating, resting, and fighting.

Plus, I have to keep an eye out for outlaws who might wake up at any moment and cause trouble.

Unless you're on the first floor, where there are only goblins.

On the seventh floor, with all its traps and minotaurs, it's nearly impossible for a low level explorer to survive on his own.

But so what?

Regrets are meaningless and the past can't be undone, so I just have to grit my teeth and deal with the situation.

"...Hoo."

Nate Elin glanced at me, then sighed and looked at the Paladins behind her.

"We'll be resting around here today."

"What?"

I let out a dumbfounded sound at the out-of-the-blue statement, but it was quickly drowned out by the cheers of the Paladins.

"Rest, rest, rest!"

"Unpack your bags! Let's eat!"

"Quiet! There are monsters coming!"

"We've beaten all the monsters around here anyway, so it's no problem."

"Will the rest of the kids on the fifth floor be okay?"

"Don't worry too much. They're elite, too. Do you really think they're going to get beaten on the fifth floor?"

"Right."

They chattered excitedly, as if glad for the respite, and in one fell swoop, they laid down a bed and started a fire.

Nate Elin, who had dropped her pack and was perched on top of it, gestured roughly to me.

"Don't go hustling and bustling, just settle in. I don't mind an extra person."

I took that to mean we were on the same side for the rest of the day.

There would be no outlaws or reformed explorers to point their swords at the paladins of the temple, so safety would be assured.

'Come to think of it, she even told me not to die because Serif is worried.'

Perhaps that was why she decided to take me in.

"Thank you."

As I bowed my head in rare favor, Nate Elin turned away from me and waved her hand once more.

"If you're so grateful, you'd better be nice to Serif."

Did this woman have nothing but Serif in her head?

"Yes. I'll be very nice."

"...That's it."

Well. I'm easy to understand.

***

"You. You're messing with the wrong person."

I thought I heard the sound of teeth grinding somewhere, and then Gurmimi beneath me was looking up at me with a venomous glare.

I didn't feel much of a threat, despite the murderous tone of her voice and expression.

Since she couldn't be killed, the wound on her thigh was stopped from bleeding, but the muscles in her limbs were delicately torn to prevent her from struggling.

'I had been trained and massaged by Idelbert, and I knew where and how to squeeze to keep the body from giving out.'

Thanks to making full use of that realization, Gurmimi was left with nothing but a grin on her face and no ability to move a finger.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have touched me, you asshole."

Pfft!

"Kahak!"

I slammed my fist into the crown of her head as she struggled to look up from the floor.

"I'm the fucking leader of the Great Blues Clan! Being punched by a mere man when I can't move!"

Gurmimi, who had been beaten without being able to fight back, seemed to have realized her situation again, so she stopped threatening me and started lamenting her situation.

"Hey, let me ask you something."

"Ha. Whatever you say, I won't answer."

Gurmimi shut up as I reached for the time-tested means of communication.

The red rabbit's eyes stared up at the axe blade resting on the bridge of her nose.

"...What, what do you want to know?"

As it turns out, axes are great conversationalists. It has the power to make even the most spoiled, unredeemable scum want to talk.

"Do you know a girl named Cachile…no, Denshi? She's about as tall as my butt. She dresses like a total slut. She must have been a slave to your clan."

"Slave? ...Oh. Now that I think about it, I think I heard that Vesta gave a slave with that name to a junior wizard she loved..."

"Haven't you seen that bitch in the Outlaw District lately?"

"I don't know. I ain't interested in female slaves."

This asshole is a consistent asshole. Her eyes showed that she really didn't know and didn't care.

'I was hoping she'd know something about her, since they're from the same clan, albeit in different ranks and locations.'

The search for the snitch was unsuccessful.

Now that it was clear that the motive for the crime was to fuck and enslave a man with the Hobgoblin staff, there was only one question left.

"Talian. Or should I call her Reichem? What the fuck is she doing?"

A mage with an unusual illusion spell and a figure carrying the hobgoblin staff.

Judging by the status window, she was clearly named Reichem but Gurmimi had always called her Talian.

Maybe she wanted to hide her name? I don't know.

"...Damn, I didn't even realize that, so there's no point in using a pseudonym."

Gurmimi sighed deeply and hung her head in defeat.

And from her mouth, the truth of the matter was revealed.

***

Reichem betrayed her tutor for an absurd reason.

Professor Arpo had postponed her graduation for ten years.

'That asshole thinks I'm some kind of research slave.'

As the days passed, her hair fell out and she had female pattern baldness.

Tears streamed down her face. She lived with evil but even that was no longer enough.

"My, my son was mauled by a monster while exploring and became an idiot! I heard that the Hobgoblin staff contains the power to magically embody male corruption pheromones. If you open it, you might find a way to save my son!"

In the midst of her hellish research slavery, a golden opportunity presented itself.

After a decade of being treated like a slave, Professor Arpo had developed a great deal of trust, and he was open about his weaknesses.

His assistant, Reichem, did as the professor asked and succeeded in arranging a favor and gaining access to the Hobgoblin's staff.

In the carriage on the way to the Professor with the Hobgoblin's Staff, Reichem pondered.

'If I take this with me, will the professor live happily ever after with his son, who has been restored by miraculous odds?'

As she thought this, a great hatred rose in her heart.

'My life is ruined, but he gets to live happily ever after?'

There was an outlaw faction that she had been in contact with for some time.

Vesta of the Blues Clan, a criminal who had come to her home because she was coveting her illusion magic.

Vesta offered a great deal of money and a large number of male slaves in exchange for her services. It was a much better future than rotting away under Professor Arpo.

BANG!

Reichem used illusion magic to lure the coachman into a back alley, where he crashed the carriage into a wall.

Reichem, the research slave, died while the illusionist and outlaw of Clan Blues, Talian, was born.

Balkan sighed deeply as he watched Reichem shoved into the backpack of Joy Hog's party approaching in the distance.

"Grad students are dangerous, after all."

Chapter 73: Get out alive (2)

The mystery of Reichem's name is solved. The motive for the crime was also revealed.

Even I, a low-educated person who came from a background of manual labor, would have risen up in rebellion if I had been slaved under someone for 10 years.

Although the circumstances were understandable, the fact remains that Reichem was complicit in the slaughter and enslavement of innocent men.

When she gets to the surface, she'll get what she deserves.

"Balkan. There you are! I finally found you!"

"You've been working hard."

A day after Gurmimi's confession, Joy Hog and the others found me.

They looked tired, as if they had run nonstop to find me.

"What struggle? It's nothing compared to what you've done."

"But those people..."

The party members gaped at the Temple Investigators near me.

"I was lucky they let me stay the night with them."

Yesterday was indeed lucky.

As expected from a group of wealthy and powerful temple investigators, I was fed hot stew and bread, not preserved food.

I was offered a bowl as well, which I gratefully ate, and when I offered to stand guard, I was told to take it easy.

Not everyone in the temple is this nice.

At least the paladins and priests I've seen so far have the character of good clerics.

"What…?! Cohabitation?! The Holy Mother Earth Church will never tolerate such lewd and sleazy behavior!"

Several Paladins who were listening to me shouted in anger.

Trembling eyes glanced at my body, and the more they did so, the more furious the Paladins' reactions became.

I wondered if they reacted to the sight of a man's body because they were confirmed virgins for life.

"Balkan, you can't be serious... you're trading your body for safety..."

"That's bullshit."

I quickly explained and shared the situation with the party, as they started to get the wrong idea.

"This wizard was... Professor Arpo's assistant?!"

"No, but that doesn't make sense. The face of the assistant we saw when we received the request was different from this one..."

"She's an illusionist, she can change faces at will."

"...Now that I think about it."

"Ten years... That's terrible... She could have graduated if she held on a little longer... Why did she do that..."

The reactions were colorful.

Joy Hog was left wondering why the assistant's face looked different from the one she saw when she was assigned to get the Hobgoblin staff.

Fusilini, a wizard from the Gellan party who was said to be from the Academy, looked at Reichem sympathetically.

'She can change her face.'

I wonder if illusion magic can be used for that.

It's a shame, because it would have been a useful ability.

"Ugh! Loosen this! Loosen this!"

Gurmimi shouted as she awoke to find Joy Hog using a restraining device on her.

All the muscles in her arms and legs had been severed, so she had no way to resist except to scream.

"Kek!"

I struck Gurmimi in the nape of the neck, knocking her out again, and dropped her straight into Gregor's bag.

"Krrrrr, I can't lift it anymore, it's too heavy!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"..."

"..."

On the right side of the suitcase, there was still a delirious and idiotic Gellan, in the middle was Reichem with her eyes closed, and on the left, the head of Gurmimi, who had lost consciousness and passed out, was sticking out.

The three heads swayed wildly from side to side as they moved along.

Cerberus the Suitcase, was definitely not an ordinary sight.

"Is the party assembled?"

Nate Elin came over after hearing the commotion.

I bowed my head gravely to her.

"Yep. Thank goodness."

The words slipped out with the nuances of checking out of an inn, but Nate Elin nodded as if she didn't care.

"Okay. So you're going to head up to the surface now?"

"Yes."

Both Gurmimi and Reichem, the targets of the request, had been captured.

We hadn't come in to hunt monsters, so there was no more business in the Labyrinth.

All that remained was to safely ascend the floors and return to the surface.

"In that case, can I ask you a favor before we go?"

What favor?

I haven't forgotten your kindness last night, so there's nothing I can't do for you, but if it's a hard favor to fulfill, I might just forget about it and leave.

"It's nothing."

Nate Elin hands me something in her hand.

It was a hand-sized orb, bathed in a mysterious blue light, with a glow similar to that of the relic alloy armor that Zernier had made.

"This is an artifact that allows communication even in the labyrinth. I would like you to bring this to the remaining investigators on the 5th floor."

"You mean to the rest of the investigators on the fifth floor?"

Come to think of it, there were about twenty of them when I saw them at the entrance to the Labyrinth.

Now there are thirteen of them here, with seven vacancies.

There were hints in the conversation I'd overheard earlier. The other Paladins were talking about how they were worried about the remaining investigators on the fifth floor.

"The fifth floor is big, and we have to go all the way to the twelfth floor, so we split up to be efficient."

The fifth floor was a strange floor where five species of monsters live in their own villages.

It's a floor that most explorers skip over in favor of the Fountain Scroll, due to its enormous size, complex terrain, and many monsters.

It seems that a group of investigators sent to check on the changes in the Labyrinth since the Omen found their way into it.

Even with the high difficulty of the fifth floor, the story is told from a low-level explorer's perspective.

'I don't know about low-level explorers, but if there are seven Paladins and priests of the intermediate explorer class, they shouldn't have any trouble on the fifth floor.'

"...I don't think it's my place to judge, there are other party members."

In order to fulfill Nate Elin's request to bring the artifact to the investigators on the fifth floor, we need to find a group of investigators who are traveling through the fifth floor.

With our current party strength, this shouldn't be a problem, but it's outside of our normal schedule, so we need to coordinate with our party members.

At that, Nate Elin glanced at the party members who had been listening to the conversation.

"Since you're helping the temple, I'll pay you generously. How about a five-point contribution per person?"

"Five, five points!"

The party members' mouths dropped open at the generous offer.

Fifty contribution points are required to become a mid-level explorer.

Right now, the requests to capture the outlaw clan leader Gurmimi and the crazy graduate student Reichem were worth 5 points, which was no small feat.

"Balkan, you must take it! When else do you get a chance like this!"

"You need to maximize your contributions while you can. Just because you want to, doesn't mean you can!"

Jubeel and Lammel grabbed my arms and shook them. Their eyes were glazed over as they looked for a promotion.

I looked away from them to the rest of the party.

"Joy Hog, Hitolis, what are you going to do?"

"Fifth floor... I don't see why not. Jubeel's gotten her sword blessing, and we've grown. And you've joined the party. There's definitely more power than there used to be."

"With Aldente, Fusilini, and Hope there, perhaps this is our safest chance?"

In effect, I was asking for a favor but the members of Gellan's party were eager to accompany me.

Even as a mid-level explorer, you have to earn your way up the ranks.

Joy Hog turned the decision over to me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and pondered.

Should I accept the request or not?

'I don't want to fucking do it.'

Fifth floor? Honestly, with the power I have now, I think it's worth it.

If I could find the investigators on the fifth floor, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Once I find them, I can hand over the artifact and immediately rip off the fountain scroll to escape.

But even aside from the difficulty, there was a strong resistance to the fifth floor.

[The multiplier of 5 is dangerous]

Ever since I interpreted [her words], I've had a strange feeling of dread whenever I pass the fifth floor.

I didn't feel it this time because I went beyond it with a transference trap, but the last time I passed the fifth floor with Ellie, I had the urge to leave it immediately.

'...What should I do?'

Opportunities to get contribution points don't come easily, so should I accept the request?

Or should I trust my intuition and decline the request?

I was deep in thought.

"No, what are you guys talking about?"

I heard Nate Elin's incredulous voice.

"You don't need to go all the way to the fifth floor of the monster village. The investigators are at the fountain right now."

"What?"

What the hell is this?

I thought the Investigation Team was still on the fifth floor, investigating the Labyrinth, wasn't it?

"Look here."

Nate Elin handed me the map. It was a location tracking map of the fifth floor.

At the end of the fifth floor, near the water fountain, there were the markers of seven members of the survey team.

"These guys. I left them to investigate, and they made it all the way to the center of the fifth floor, only to turn back and stay here, unmoving. I don't think they're mortally wounded, so I'm trying to get a communication artifact to understand the situation."

What? Was that it?

I thought it would be a risky request worthy of a five on the merit scale, but no.

It's safe to say that I won't be exploring the 5th floor myself and it was a path I'd have to take to get to the surface anyway.

Five points for contribution when all I had to do was hand over a communication artifact to a group of investigators stuck in the fountain.

It was the kind of bullshit request that would make any other explorer burst into tears and question its fairness.

"Will you do it?"

"Just leave it to me."

***

Since the path was the same anyway, our party accompanied the temple investigators as they explored the seventh floor.

"Hmph. That must be the elite Paladins of the temple... they're definitely huge."

"Hmph, hmph. Still, I don't see many sword-wielding kids."

"Keep your eyes open, Jubeel. There's a Paladin over there with a much cleaner sword than you."

Nate Elin slashed the creature's neck with her pure white blade.

Our party stared at the scene in disbelief.

"That's quite a difference."

"She didn't become the direct escort of the Holy Lady's for nothing."

I stared blankly at the sword energy Nate Elin had drawn as I listened to the party's comments.

'I wonder if I could do something like that.'

My fingertips tingle as the floating pellets of magic energy kept nagging at me.

I was tempted to draw my axe and swing it right now but it would be a waste of energy. The opportunity to catch a bus doesn't come around often.

We breezed through and reached the end of the seventh floor.

"Please take good care of my request."

"Leave it to me."

After receiving a communication artifact from Nate Elin along with a location map of the fifth floor, we crossed our respective portals.

The investigators to the eighth floor, us to the sixth.

We reached the edge of the sixth floor in a flash and the portal to the fifth floor stared us in the face.

What was on the fifth floor that made [her] and I feel so repulsed by it?

"Balkan. We're ready."

I put my doubts aside and made physical contact with my party members.

We stepped through the ascension portal, and the familiar feeling of floating returned.

Boom!

"Chop-chop?

I immediately felt my gaiters getting damp. I looked down and saw ankle-deep water.

As soon as I touched the water, my stamina and energy gradually recovered.

There is only one place in the Labyrinth that offers such healing water, the fountain at the end of the fifth floor.

As luck would have it, it was at the end of the fifth floor.

"Heh, what the hell?"

"We saved a silver coin. This is the first time I've not used a scroll to transfer to the fountain on the 5th floor."

The other party members were also surprised. I can't be this lucky.

No, I'm not lucky, because the luck that should have happened on the other floors happened on the fifth floor.

"Hey, seniors?!"

Just as I was thinking that, I heard Hitolis panicked voice.

Hitolis seniors are the paladins and priests of the temple.

They were also the ones we had to hand over the communication artifact to.

I immediately turned my head toward the source of Hitolis voice.

Five paladins and two priests, dressed in the armor and robes of the temple, sat side by side at the fountain.

My gaze went straight to the Paladin seated in the center or, more accurately, to the thing he was hugging.

A very distasteful, unpleasant and repulsive black egg.

He clutched it dearly, as if it were the greatest treasure in the world.

[]

They gazed up at the top of the fountain with their mouths open in a daze, and spat out an unintelligible sound.

It seemed to be neither a language nor a meaningless breath.

[...Hara]

But my ears gradually began to recognize the unknown sound as human language.

A sensation similar to that of hearing [Her] censored voice.

[...Doubly so]

The corners of everyone's mouths twitched.

I don't know exactly what's going on, but I do know that they're in a state of immense joy and elation.

"...What the hell?"

The bizarre sight threw the party into confusion.

I silently gripped Zirnier's axe, stroking the communications artifact with my other hand.

Immediately, I heard Nate Elin's voice in my head.

-What, why you...

"Nate Elin. I think we're fucked."

-What?

I don't know what the hell is going on but my survival instincts, honed over many crises, are telling me that I'm fucked.

Tsk, tsk!

[Worship]

The black egg that the Paladin held so dearly began to crack.

[Worship!]

I immediately stiffened my legs and gripped the axe hard enough to break it.

Desperately, I scraped the magic around me.

[To ■■■ ■, who will be reborn!]

-Tsk, tsk!

[Worship!]

-Chirp!

Soon, the black egg was completely shattered.

The being enveloped in [darkness] that burst forth from it grew in size until it seemed to swallow the fountain whole.

I was like a small fish, helpless to do anything, being swallowed by the shark's jaws.

Overcoming my helpless senses, I said out loud.

"Giant."

Chapter 74: Get out alive (3)

The axe, stretched to its limit, slammed into the gaping maw of the darkness.

-Kwaaang!

The impact tore the dark being's head off the ceiling of the Labyrinth as the edge of the fifth floor vibrated violently.

The dust from the ceiling, which had never been wiped, fell in torrents, fogging the surroundings.

The creature seemed unaffected by the impact, even as the Labyrinth vibrated.

-Tsk, tsk, tsk.

If anything, it opened its mouth even wider and lunged slightly toward the fountain.

The axe that held its gills closed wobbled precariously, like a toothpick in the mouth of a snake about to devour its prey.

"Fireball!"

With a terrified scream from behind, two flame-encased spheres shot out.

-Pow!

The rapid-fire spheres struck the creature on the roof of its mouth near the blade of the axe, sending up a blast of hot air and black smoke.

Lammel and Fusilini attacked in unison.

It was a blow so powerful that it even subdued the eighth-floor shaman minotaur whose [Darkness] had sunk into the shadows.

"...No way."

"Not even the slightest damage...?"

The fireballs scattered meaninglessly, having done no damage to the inscrutable being in front of me that was [Darkness] itself.

I kept my gaze fixed on it and shouted to the party around me.

"Everyone out of the fountain! He's going for the fountain!"

I don't know why, but he's going for the fountain.

Its giant mouth is gaping open, about to swallow the fountain into its abysmally dark belly…and we are in the fountain.

While the giant axe prevents its mouth from closing, I have to climb out of the fountain to survive.

My screams awakened the party from their shock and they began to desperately scramble out of the fountain, each clutching their weapons.

But even that wasn't easy.

The eyes of the two priests, Hitolis and Hope, widened to tears at the sight of the dark entity, and they shuddered, their mouths agape.

As if confronted with something vastly beyond their comprehension, they could do nothing but laugh and go mad.

Joy Hog and Aldente each scooped one of them up and ran.

-Boom, boom, boom!

The surface of the fountain vibrated as they kicked at the healing water and the rippling water signaled the urgency of the situation.

"Balkan, what are you doing? You need to get out here!"

Jubeel, carrying the slow-moving mage Lammel, shouted urgently.

Fuck. Of course I want to run away.

-Kagagak!

But it's dangerous. That thing's teeth were no joke.

Zirnier's axe rattled.

The relic alloy blade still held, but the handle creaked as if pushed to its limits.

'If I pull out the axe right now, we'll all be eaten.'

If the party was to survive, one of us had to hold onto this axe.

Besides,

[Blessing of Radiance]

– The light of the beginning of time is imbued in you.

– It has an absolute effect on the darkness.

I had a trick up my sleeve.

'Will it work?'

I'm honestly nervous.

It's not the same as when I fought the Boss Minotaur.

That darkness was more malicious and unpleasant than Diana's curse.

'No. Don't think about it.'

Worry is a luxury. It will happen. I'll make it so.

I focused on the sensation in my fingertips, drawing up the blessing.

Immediately, my hands were filled with white light, which spread up the handle of the axe and began to bathe the great axe in a white glow.

[!!!!!]

Then an unknown screech pierced my eardrums and something leaked from my ear. Blood, perhaps.

The axe blade, bathed in its full glory, gradually pierced the dark mouth.

The sound of piercing something, something I hadn't heard before, rang out clearly.

Seizing the opportunity, I focused all my nerves on using the blessing.

'It's a little bit, but it works!'

[!!!!!!!!]

The brilliant light grew in intensity, tormenting the creature, but my damage was not insignificant.

My vision gradually turned red.

The combination of enlargement and the Blessing of Radiance had taken a serious toll on my body but I didn't stop.

Even when my head was pounding and my eyes were popping.

My mouth tasted like vomit and blood.

Drops of blood from my ears and nose dripped down my helmet, staining the fountain's healing waters red.

I willed myself to strike him down.

'I'm going out!'

Out of this fucking labyrinth! Out of this fucking labyrinth! Out of this fucking labyrinth!

I'm getting out alive!

-Poof.

Then, the sound of piercing flesh echoed through the air.

I jerked my head down, dazed.

A reddened sword protruded, piercing my stomach.

[Worship]

A searing pain boiled up from my back.

[Worship

I could hear the mutterings of the Paladins through my mangled ears.

How could they have been so dumb as to be brainwashed right next to me. No, they're Paladins, so it shouldn't be possible, but at this time, you fucking assholes.

"...!"

The Paladin who had stabbed me in the back slashed at my stomach with his blade.

Gritting my teeth and enduring the pain, I kicked him with my right foot.

-Pooh!

[Worship]

Instantly, the blade sank into my side. The sword entered from the left and pierced my right pelvis.

At the same time, I felt nerves burning from my spine to my brain.

The pain was so intense that I lost consciousness for a moment.

[Worship]

[Worship]

[Worship!]

It took less than a second, but the price was high.

Five Paladins' swords sank into my abdomen.

-Thud, thud, thud.

The axe that had lost its luster gradually began to return to its original size.

"–Balkan! Balkan!"

The voices of the party members could be faintly heard in the distance.

Thankfully, they were far away. At least they made it out of the fountain, that's good.

Now I have to run, too.

I'm not feeling strong enough.

I stare up into the air, pierced by the Paladins' swords, as dazed as they are.

The gaping maw of the great snake surrounded by darkness began to close.

I'll die here.

'Just here? So meaninglessly?'

I had accomplished nothing.

I didn't even find my sister.

I won't even be able to fulfill my promise to Diana that I'll be safe.

"No."

I straightened up.

I will not die for nothing.

I will die in old age, in a warm bed, surrounded by my wife, sons, daughters, and grandchildren.

I cannot close my eyes on the cold, dirty, disgusting, malicious dirt of this labyrinth.

I refocus my attention on the blessing at my fingertips.

As much power as I can muster.

I shoot it at him-

-Quack.

My vision fades into darkness.

***

The members of Joy Hog's party stared at the inscrutable creature before them.

It looked like a snake the size of a house, or a blackened mass of fat.

Perhaps because Balkan had blocked it with his axe, the inscrutable creature failed to devour the fountain.

Instead, it stood right in front of the fountain, chewing furiously at its mouth, as if it were trying to swallow something.

The seven investigators and Balkan, who bought the party time to escape were a blur and then they were devoured.

The voices of Hitolis and Hope's frantic screams filled the silent fifth floor.

-Gulp.

Then came the sound of something swallowing. Something slurped down the inscrutable being's torso.

[]

The being let out an unintelligible sound.

They realized that the being before them looked like a beast that had just finished a very satisfying meal.

The creature stared at the fountain for a moment, then turned its attention to them, its next prey.

Joy Hog and the rest of Gellan's party backed away, all pale and breathless.

Even if the fountain was at the end of the fifth floor, it was a long way from the portal.

Even if they run like hell, they'll be caught by that thing.

"...Balkan sacrificed himself for us."

Having made her decision, Jubeel raised her sword.

The sword's blackened hilt pointed at the inscrutable being.

The tip of the blade trembled as it failed to point clearly at the enemy.

Joy Hog's eyes narrowed as she watched.

After a moment's hesitation, she swallowed hard.

"...Yes. We'll have to do something."

Joy Hog gripped her shield tightly and behind her, Lammel raised her staff.

"Are you guys serious?"

Aldente muttered to herself as she watched them.

By her standards, this situation was impossible.

If you're going to make a sacrifice, you should think about running away. Why fight back, especially in front of something like that?

"Fuck! We're fucking tired, too, by the way."

Jubeel shouted, exasperated.

There wasn't a single sane person in this place right now.

In all her years as an explorer, she'd never heard or seen anything like this, much less experienced it.

'It's frightening. I don't understand it. I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. I feel like I'm going to pee right now. I want to run away.'

But more than those unpleasant, gross feelings.

"It's even worse to have lost a party member helplessly."

The Inscrutable One watched their resolve impassively.

It almost seemed to sneer in response.

Then, the darkness stirred.

I'm floating in the darkness.

Am I dead?

Is this the afterlife I've heard about?

I feel like I'm swimming in the excrement of unpleasant emotions.

It's dark. It's cold. It's stifling, unpleasant. I can't even move my body, like I'm being held down by scissors.

I start to lose consciousness, like sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Deeper and deeper.

Deeper and deeper into the darkness.

As I continued to sink, a strange sensation made me slowly open my eyes.

"...?"

There was a tiny hole in the deep darkness and through it, a tiny ray of light was shining.

I swam toward it, mesmerized. It was instinctive.

Immediately, the darkness grabbed my body.

The darkness transformed into a human arm, a bird's wing, a snake's tail, and many other forms as it struggled to hold on to me.

I desperately shook it off, pushing myself toward the light.

My efforts were not in vain. The harder I struggled, the closer I got to the light.

Finally, I reached the light.

A pure white light radiated from a crack no bigger than a finger.

Darkness was rampant in the world.

The light was shining outward through a tiny crack, as if trapped in darkness.

Inside the hole, I saw a woman looking at me, [Her]

A mysterious being bathed in light, who had warned me that multiples of five were dangerous.

[I told you that ■ is ■.]

The woman, looking at me through the gap, sighed heavily, as if she couldn't stop herself.

The light was so intense that I couldn't even recognize it, but I instinctively knew it was a reaction.

Her voice was muffled, but she sounded concerned.

A warm feeling settled strangely in my chest.

[I don't have any miracles left, so]

The woman continued and the emotion seemed to be growing strangely intense.

Immediately, the darkness responded. As if to interfere, it began to enclose the small hole from which the light was emanating.

I reached out toward the darkness so that the light would not be obscured by the darkness…so that I could hear [Her] more.

[Make sure to survive and come to ■■.]

A light pierced through the darkness, and it enveloped me.

***

"Ugh, ugh..."

Joy Hog looked around, stanching the bleeding from her torn-off right arm.

Jubeel had lost her left arm and sword, and had been thrown into the fountain.

Lammel's right foot and staff had been chewed off and she was losing blood.

Hitolis and Hope are still insane, and Aldente has been reduced to a bloated slime.

Party decimation was a common occurrence in the Labyrinth.

They were all still breathing, but there was no telling when their lives would end.

"Haha."

I laughed out of nowhere. Had I finally gone mad with fear?

'I guess that's it for me.'

Joy Hog turned her head away from the darkness that was writhing around its massive body and slowly closed her eyes.

She wanted to at least go in peace, to embrace death and reflect on her life so far.

-Zzzzzzzzzz!!!

A terrible scream shook the labyrinth and her eyes snapped open of their own accord.

But then she immediately frowned.

'Light.'

A blinding light was emanating from the inscrutable being shrouded in darkness.

Or, more precisely...on its torso.

'Axe marks?

-Tsk, tsk, tsk!!!

The sound of flesh being sliced was heard once again.

[keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!]

The inscrutable being let out a scream as its huge body tossed and turned, writhing in pain.

The glare grew stronger as the beam of light emanating from the inscrutable being's body doubled in size.

Another gap had opened up.

-Zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

When the third blast sounded, Joy Hog gaped in shock at the unbelievable sight she witnessed.

An axe enveloped in a blinding light that seemed to cover all the darkness in the world cut open the inscrutable creature's torso and faced the world.

Chapter 75: Get out alive (4)

As I opened my eyes in the darkness, I saw the face of a smiling Paladin.

Her face was beaming as if she had just received a romantic and emotional event, but the way her body had been severed from the neck down was quite grotesque.

"..."

I swallowed hard and looked away. The bodies of other Paladins and priests floated around in the darkness.

'Why is my body still intact?'

My memory of being stabbed by the Paladins and eaten by the Abomination was a blur.

I'd been chewed up and almost digested, but my body couldn't have been in better shape.

It was a far cry from the shattered state I was in before I was eaten.

I suddenly remembered what [She] had said about miracles.

Since I don't have the Healing Factor or anything, I wondered if my recovery was a product of that miracle.

If there are no more miracles, does that mean [she] doesn't have any more advice for me?

I don't know.

I was very curious about the truth, but there were more important matters at hand.

'I need to get out of here.'

There was no good to be gained by staying in the belly of the unpleasant creature.

Fortunately, I still had the axe in my hand, the key to my escape.

Firmly enough that the hard handle was slightly dented with handprints.

I hadn't let go until I was about to experience death.

Keeeeeee-!

With a short, sharp start-up sound, the axe was bathed in a pure white light.

The light emitted by the Radiant Blessing was even stronger than before. I wondered if the Blessing was growing.

Thanks to that, the surroundings became even more apparent. I suppressed the feeling of nausea and looked away from the corpse.

As I swam through the corpses of the priests, I touched the wall. Skin, perhaps.

'Though I'm not sure the dark-clad abomination has skin.'

If I poke the fuck out of them, they'll respond to something.

-Tsk, tsk, tsk!

[KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!]

I slammed my axe down on the wall with a glowing beam of light, and the creature, which hadn't even been touched by the fireball, began to writhe.

Inside the creature's body, I felt the shock of the world turning upside down.

I couldn't help but grin.

"You! Fucking asshole!"

-Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!!!

[KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!]

A thrill of pleasure shot through me as I pierced the creature's hide with my axe.

My body burned hot as the hideous abomination twisted and writhed and screamed in agony.

'As much as I got. No, ten times as much as I've been given.'

The sensation of slicing through the darkness with light was eerily similar, yet different, to the sensation of cutting through the flesh of a beast with an axe.

Each time the darkness screamed and scattered, the light shone ever so slightly brighter as it devoured him.

The light grew progressively stronger as it tore through the darkness.

Countless axe marks had been made on the hide of the abomination and each one was large enough to see through.

At some point, only intermittent seizures could be felt, and the creature's screams could no longer be heard.

'Not enough.'

But even if I wasn't angry I wanted to vomit out this emotion that's been simmering inside of me, all at once.

Zirnier's axe was coalesced with magic.

"Great."

The axe, enveloped in light, rapidly grew in size in the abomination's belly.

The floating investigators were pushed out of the creature's belly, and the glowing axe blade sliced the creature's head in half.

[...]

The mysterious abomination that had awakened from its black egg, the [Darkness] itself, volatilized into light and began to dissolve into thin air.

-Ting!

Something landed in the place where the giant abomination had disappeared.

A monstrous crystal. A soul stone.

It was similar in appearance to a normal monster soul stone, but the aura it emitted was strange.

It was unnerving and ominous, but at the same time, it had a tremendous amount of energy.

[...!]

As I approached the spirit stone and tried to take it in my hand, it trembled.

It was as if it was extremely afraid of me.

The abomination's soul stone stiffened up like a punk who had just met the first officer in charge.

"Hmph."

[...!!!]

I grabbed the soul stone with my Radiant Blessing hand, and it begged me in great pain.

It was clearly disciplined by the fierce violence.

'I'll keep it just in case.'

I had a surefire way to subdue him. I slipped the Abomination Soul stone into my pants pocket.

I lowered my head and caught sight of my body.

The leather armor Diana had given me had been ripped and torn in many places, reducing it to a rag.

My belly in particular was riddled with puncture marks and sharp sword marks, the marks of dog-trolling by the Temple's investigators.

The protective gear was nowhere to be seen, and most importantly, the great helm was also…

'It's broken.'

Somehow, the breeze has managed to get in.

The lower part of the helm, where the mouth and breathing holes are, is half blown off.

I realized that if someone else looked at me, they would only see my left cheek and lip.

I could already picture Zirnier fuming at me for destroying her first creation.

"Kuluk, kuluk!"

A cough woke me up and I looked around to see the rest of the Joy Hog party, each with their own injuries.

"Joy Hog! Lammel! Jubeel!"

"...Not dead yet."

Joy Hog, who had lost an arm and was coughing up blood, pointed.

"Hey, take care of Lammel over there first. Her injuries are worse. And pick up my fallen arm on the way. It can still be reattached."

Lammel injuries were serious. Her right leg was completely blown off and she was unconscious.

I picked her up and quickly dipped her into the fountain.

The fountain didn't shatter, thanks to the giant axe that had withstood the creature's attack.

The fountain was still spewing out its miraculous healing water and Lammel's complexion gradually relaxed as she soaked in it.

She looked like she was about to pass into eternity, but her injuries were healing much more quickly than with a potion.

'Even if it's not possible to completely remove it, if we just find the severed part…'

I also noticed Jubeel submerged in the fountain in an uncomfortable position.

Luckily, Jubeel was holding her left arm in her right hand.

She reassembled her torn left arm and attached it to her torso.

Then the healing water began to seep through the arm and torso, connecting them together.

A healing that even the most advanced potions could not accomplish. The healing water, the original potion, was indeed a marvel.

"Kkkkk, thank you. Balkan..."

"Are you awake, Jubeel?"

"Yes. Today is a particularly hot day for mating. Won't you take my virginity?"

"You're fine."

It was the usual Jubeel, spouting bullshit.

It's amazing how she can talk like that after having her arm torn off.

Joy Hog quickly reassembled her right arm and dipped it into the fountain. She looks around at her party and, as if relieved, falls unconscious.

Gellan's party members, Fusilini and Aldente, were also dipped into the healing waters.

Aldente had been completely blown to bits, and all we could salvage were five intact pieces of slime.

In the healing waters, the burst pieces of slime began to clump together.

"What the hell."

But then I realized what was happening.

"Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!"

Like the green jelly monster from the original AOS game, the resurrected Aldente had shrunk from a six-foot-tall behemoth to the size of a newborn baby.

Like a dead adult Groot resurrected as a baby Groot.

'The curse of the Slime. Isn't it actually a blessing?'

Even with the help of the healing water, it was a crazy ability to revive a half-dead person.

'I guess I shouldn't have removed the curse.'

I wondered if curses had their own way.

"Ugh..."

Aldente stared at me, then bowed low to me.

She didn't seem to have any memories of the adult Aldente, but she seemed to instinctively realize that I had saved her life.

I patted her head a few times, feeling strangely cute, and Baby Aldente rubbed her slime ball into my hand.

I left Baby Aldente behind and moved on to the next patient.

"..."

Hitolis and Hope, the two half-crazed priests, barely regained their senses as the abomination breathed its last.

"..."

Hope was still drooling from the corners of her mouth, but her focus was gradually returning.

Hitolis sobbed softly, tears dripping down her cheeks.

-Zap!

I slapped Hitolis on the cheek to wake her up. Now was not the time for sobbing.

"Hitolis. Are you awake?"

"We can talk about why you lost your mind later. Just calm down. You still have your miracle powers, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes..."

"Then use a healing miracle."

By now, Hope had regained her senses. I slapped her on the cheek and told her to work his miracle.

A powder of light descended over the heads of the party members immersed in the healing waters.

The miracle of healing accelerated their recovery.

'Except for Lammel, we're done with first aid.'

I walked toward the porter's bag lying in the distance.

"Krug, Krug!"

I saw Gregor hiding behind a large packer's bag, tears streaming down her face in terror.

It was too much trouble to deal with so I stunned her with a blow to the nape of her neck and checked the bag.

'One, two, three. They're all there.'

Gurmimi, Reichem, and Gellan were all there. It was as if they were perfectly restrained and couldn't escape.

Except for one more thing…

"...Monster..."

"You, you... who the hell are you?"

After regaining their senses, Reichem and Gurmimi's reactions were strangely different.

Instead of gritting their teeth and vowing to get back at me for this, they looked as if they regretted having touched something that shouldn't have been touched.

"The one who came to get you."

"..."

The two fell silent at the simple answer, their complexions turning even paler.

I dragged my legs, which had become much slower, to the fountain and sat down.

'I'm tired.'

I was tired, even though the strain was light compared to the frenzied use of the Blessing of Radiance and the use of the Giant Size, but tired was tired.

I dipped my legs into the healing water and rested, but kept my mind alert.

I didn't feel anything unusual, but I couldn't let my guard down completely.

With all the combatants in the healing water and unconscious, I had to stay alert.

Hui-yi-yi-

A cool breeze blew from far away, from where the monster village was located.

Perhaps it was my mood, but I could hear an unknown voice in the wind.

'It sounds as if the Labyrinth is crying.'

I felt the wind, and I thought to myself that the Labyrinth was crying sadly, as if it had lost something very important.

[...!!!]

I slammed the Abomination Soul stone in my pocket in anger.

A little bit of Radiant Blessing flowed into it, and the creature whimpered.

I still shudder to think of all the trouble caused by this little bastard so I had no intention of letting him go easy.

I passed the time by supporting the Soul stone with Blessings of Radiance in between healing sessions.

Often, I would open the mouths of my party members and feed them a mixture of healing water and preserved food.

With no one else to fight, I stayed awake through the night, protecting my party alone.

Exhaustion overtook me, but I chewed on the jerky Diana had made.

Over the next two days, one by one, the party members began to regain consciousness and open their eyes.

And then, the fountain transition portal opened.

***

"...Ha. Fuck."

Nate Elin cursed as she stepped through the portal, wiping her forehead at the sight that met her eyes.

'I thought it was just a mental thing.'

Nate Elin cursed herself for her complacency in the labyrinth.

She should have been more cautious.

Even though she rushed to Balkan's side as soon as she heard the ominous sound over the communications artifact, it was too late.

In the distance, the corpses of the investigators, clumped together like cow dung, reeked of rot.

Seven futures were lost but there was something more serious on her mind.

The end of the fifth floor was filled with an unpleasant aura but she hadn't felt it before on the fifth floor.

Furthermore, it didn't belong on the fifth floor at all.

'At this level, it's in the upper-middle class even among the middle class...'

No, this unpleasant aura could not even be compared to a simple monster.

It was far more ominous and disgusting.

Then, the party that must have encountered the malicious aura came into view.

"There you are."

The sound of jerky chewing could be heard and a tired-faced Balkan faced the investigators.

His half-shattered helmet and leather armor, and the wounded party members lying in the fountain behind him, told them that a life-and-death battle had taken place here.

Nate Elin, who respected and followed only one person, remembered a favor saint Serif had asked of her.

-If you ever meet Mr. Balkan in the Labyrinth, please help him out of harm's way. Do you understand, Nate Elin?

"Hah!"

Balkan suddenly let out a scream as he looked at Nate Elin, who was sighing and clutching her head.

He gestured in agony, as if he was going to faint at any moment.

"Ah, aah! My body was injured because of the monster that hatched from the egg that the Paladins of the temple had...! Ugh! That's why my comrades are in danger...! Kwaaaaak! My stomach that was stabbed and pierced by the Paladins of the temple...!"

The more he spoke, the more Nate Elin bowed her head and sighed deeply.

Balkan watched and thought to himself.

'First things first, I'm going to collect alimony.'

***

A special wing of the temple. A purification chamber filled with holy water.

"From now on, I, Senior Priest Serif Adeline, swear to serve you, Junior Explorer Balkan, faithfully."

I stared at Serif, barely clad in a bathrobe, speechless.

How did this happen...?