READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 15
The party began to tidy up the campsite and set off for the fourth floor, and from the outside, it didn’t seem all that different from before.
Leading the charge was Hugo, while Mirien, our scout and archer, kept an eye on our surroundings as we pressed on.
Our warrior, Chrome, guarded the rear, and Eri and Sia followed suit, their nerves clearly showing, with Hans trailing behind, seemingly used to it all with his trusty backpack.
In the midst of it all, Yujin followed along at a leisurely pace.
It was a pretty normal party scene. Except for…
“Uh… Yujin.”
“Yes, what is it, Hugo?”
Hugo crept up to Yujin, speaking quietly so nobody else could hear.
He casually glanced at Mirien, then made a strange face and said,
“…Well, let’s take a quick break!”
Clearly, there were things best left unsaid while Mirien was around, so he called for a break, scanning the area to make sure it was safe.
Upon hearing this, the party halted and began to relax. Hugo shot Yujin a quick glance.
Yujin nodded slightly in response, obviously having caught on to Hugo’s intent.
While the party took a breather, the two ducked away to a corner of the jungle.
Facing Yujin, Hugo asked,
“Uh… Yujin, did anything happen with Mirien last night?”
It seemed he’d noticed a strange vibe coming from Mirien, perhaps as the party leader.
“She seemed a bit off… almost scared, though she didn’t show it…”
“Ah… I see.”
Yujin shared the same feeling but recognized that Hugo had been a party leader long enough to pick up on when things were different.
‘Hugo really has a knack for this sort of thing.’
Yujin was aware of Mirien’s unease, considering he had weird transcendent senses and was involved in whatever happened the previous night.
Hugo noticed Mirien’s off mood merely by observing. It was impressive, especially considering the others didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.
Hugo continued,
“I know Yujin isn’t the type to get into fights, but since you and Mirien were on watch last night, I wondered if anything happened…”
“Well, you see… I did chat with Mirien a bit last night, just to break the ice since we’d never really talked before.”
“Oh? What did you talk about?”
“Nothing much. Just felt like I should say something to lighten the tense atmosphere during the watch. Unfortunately… she’s pretty shy so I might have been talking to myself a lot. Haha.”
“Yeah, Mirien can be like that sometimes. And then?”
“Still, it was getting dull just standing around in that stiff environment, so I did try to chat a bit more. I even tossed in a scary story for fun…”
“Oh…”
Hugo scratched his head awkwardly at that.
“I didn’t think Mirien would be spooked by stories, but… with you, Yujin…”
It seemed Hugo bought into it a little too easily. Yujin smiled sheepishly, relieved it went smoothly.
“Anyway, thanks for letting me know. Sorry if it felt like I was prying.”
“Not at all. As the party leader, it’s only right to check on changes in team dynamics.”
“Haha… appreciate your consideration.”
Hugo chuckled awkwardly and bowed his head slightly. Then he turned to Yujin and said,
“Alright, let’s head back. We should be about ready to move on.”
“Yes, let’s.”
With that, the group resumed their march.
***
The life of a demon trapped in a maze is often unbearably dull.
Confined to this prison called a maze, a demon can only dispense trivial trials to feeble mortals.
Is this even living? Most demons would certainly argue it is not.
The supposedly wise lizards and brutish muscleheads just nap or train without any real thoughts, but for demons, their life in the maze truly is like hell.
A hell of boredom.
They might go mad from the monotony if they didn’t inflict trials on mortals.
Enkeos was one such demon.
[So boring…]
Bored out of his mind.
Bored enough to wish for death.
He could no longer bear this weariness.
[Damn it, is this what it means to be a demon?]
No way. This isn’t living… not for a demon.
[Maybe I should force my way up to the upper levels? It’s no fun to give trials to mortals who come down to the lower levels anyway.]
Most of the mortals who made it to the lower levels were skilled. They’d laugh and breeze right through any trial he handed them.
Enkeos figured he’d rather take a trivial hit than end up utterly bored, so a little fun at the upper levels might be in order.
After all, the mortals in the upper levels had a bit of freshness about them. He enjoyed watching those tender sprouts unknowingly tread into trials and crumble in despair.
The ironic part was that transcendents usually stuck to the lower levels to issue trials, but exceptions exist.
If one could endure a certain “loss of rank” they could ascend to the upper levels. The downside was that the trials’ difficulty would decrease significantly… but
‘No way I can stand the boredom here. The lower levels are a complete snooze!’
There’s nothing appealing in the lower levels. Plus, Enkeos was a lowly demon.
The rank loss one faced when moving from lower to upper levels is proportional to one’s rank. So, as a low-rank demon, Enkeos wouldn’t experience as severe a loss as a higher-ranking demon.
Of course, rank is crucial for transcendents, hence few would risk such loss to ascend… but
Enkeos didn’t care. He might die of boredom if he didn’t find something to occupy himself right now.
‘Wails! Screams! Sobs! Cries!’
With murderously high hopes for the fear and despair of mortals, he ascended to the upper levels,
…completely clueless about what awaited him.
***
Meanwhile, the party moved on to the end of the fourth floor and entered the fifth.
There were battles scattered throughout, but after experiencing her earlier blunders, Eri did a decent job this time, and the rest of the crew exceeded their expected roles, so no major issues arose.
Upon entering the fifth floor, Hugo stated,
“We’ve hit the fifth floor. From here, we’ll find the goblin settlement to clear it out, and then our maze exploration for the day will be done.”
“Yes!”
“And Yujin’s gathering of magical materials needs to be factored in as well, so let’s keep that in mind as we move.”
“Let’s roll!”
And with that, the party set off to find the goblin settlement.
As they progressed, Yujin gathered magical materials along the way, and before long, they spotted a settlement.
“Settlement spotted.”
As Mirien said this, Hugo ducked into nearby foliage.
“That was quicker than expected. First, let’s have Mirien take care of any critters hanging around the settlement…”
“…Wait.”
Just as Hugo was about to lay out the plan, Mirien abruptly interrupted him. Hugo asked,
“Hmm? What’s up, Mirien?”
“There are no goblins guarding the settlement.”
“…What?”
Hugo furrowed his brow slightly at that and immediately turned to Hans.
“Hans, got binoculars?”
“Yep, right here.”
Hans retrieved a pair of binoculars from his backpack and handed them over to Hugo, who quickly pressed them to his eyes to survey the settlement.
After a moment, he muttered,
“Seriously, there’s nothing.”
“That’s strange. No goblins at all? Not even the ones meant to guard it?”
Chrome chimed in, suspicious. Hugo lowered the binoculars and responded,
“They wouldn’t be asleep inside, I doubt. Let’s check it out.”
Hugo declared as he led the party toward the settlement. Meanwhile, Yujin turned to Tiamat.
‘Tiamat, I’ve never felt such dense energy before… Could this be…’
『…Yujin, you might be right about what you’re thinking.』
Tiamat’s expression was strangely serious. She continued,
『A demon.』
Just as she spoke, the party arrived inside the settlement.
“As expected, nothing here…”
“Hold on!”
At that moment, Mirien spoke urgently, her face tense.
“Mirien? What’s wrong…”
“This… no, it can’t be… But this is definitely…”
“What the heck is going on?”
As Mirien mumbled something incomprehensible, Hugo was bewildered, just then—
Thump, thump!
From within a large tent in the settlement, heavy footsteps echoed ominously.
Every member of the party froze in place, their gazes snapping toward the tent.
Thump, thump.
A hulking green figure resembling a goblin came into view.
Standing over 2 meters tall, looking close to 3, with a pig-like face.
“An orc?”
A monster, orc stood before them.
In its grasp hung a goblin shaman dressed like an ancient sorcerer, head hanging lifelessly.
Whoosh!
The orc flung the limp goblin shaman aside, grinning widely as it bellowed,
[Welcome, mortals!]
It wasn’t just any orc.
The demon Enkeos, embedded within the orc, declared in a booming voice,
[It’s a trial!]
At the same time,
<Demon Enkeos is issuing a trial.>
In front of the party, a blue translucent screen materialized.
<Trial Description: Defeat the orc host of the demon Enkeos.>
<Will you accept the trial?>
<YES> <NO>