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Chapter 243: Unimaginable skirmish
Translator: Tseirp
We were stopped in our tracks in front of the 50th-floor boss room by the reverberating roars.
“That roar sounded like it came from within?”
“Yes. It seems like somebody has entered before us.”
“Yeah. That would explain the lack of traps or treasure chests. If the other party could reach here, doesn’t that mean that they have considerable strength?”
“I guess. They certainly are a level above the average.”
If I remember correctly, Shisho mentioned that a person would have to have the ability of an A-rank to defeat a Dullahan alone.
Thinking about it that way, the situation felt a little abnormal but the person or people inside were definitely strong.
I prayed that those strong individuals do not get cursed by the Evil God to become undead.
“I see. Either way, we have no choice but to wait here.”
“Monsters are steadily coming our way nya.”
“Luciel-sama, shall we put away the Light?”
I’ve pretty much linked my actual movements to my mental images so I should do fine from now on.
Furthermore, we were in front of the boss room so there won’t be any traps.
The only remaining purpose would be to fight monsters to both raise levels and regain my battle intuition so the decision would depend on the situation.
I first got everyone’s opinion.
“I guess it’s fine to do so now but what do you think, Lionel? If you have fulfilled your goal of leveling up, should I store the Light away?”
“If it is all right with you, I would like to raise it a little more.”
As expected, Lionel chose to raise his level more.
“What about you Cathy?”
“The numbers are high so it is mentally taxing nya. But I can fight without any issues nya.”
Cathy didn’t sound like she wanted to fight but everyone could tell that she was actually full of energy.
“What about you Kefin?”
“I wish to fight a little more. After the Empire, we’re heading to the Principality of Blange right?”
“Yeah. I’ve not planned it out yet but I do intend to go there.”
“Then if that’s the case, I want to level up a little more.”
Kefin decided to train taking our next destination into consideration. It is true that we are planning to go to a Human Supremacist country so we’ll have to prepare for it.
Seeing Kefin look at Cathy, I could tell the reason why he wanted to get stronger.
“What about you Estia?”
“I’m not that exhausted but it is about time where my weapon durability is in a precarious state.”
Estia was still using the Holy Silver Sword I passed to her in the past.
“I see. The other three had their equipment crafted by Grand-san after all. I’ll make sure to have him craft Estia’s weapon next time. For now, in terms of weapon, I remember having something in my magic bag.”
I searched my magic bag and when Estia passed me the Holy Silver Sword she held, I exchanged it for a Mithril Sword and another Holy Silver Sword I got from Shisho in the past.
“Try using them for a while and chose the one that is easier to use.”
“Thank you very much. I’ll be borrowing these two swords then.”
“Well then, either the fighting inside stops or when our movements dull, I’ll put down Object X and we’ll stop luring in monsters with the Light.”
“”””Okay!””””
Thus, we decided to defeat the monsters that spawn in the labyrinth.
Lionel would stop attacks with his large shield, drop his body and finish off with a heroic slash to dispose of the monsters.
Cathy and Kefin pull off combination attacks to release consecutive attacks from the left and right before Estia flows in to deal the final blow.
Whereas for me, I fought the same way as the mock battle with Kefin, I maintained a magical power barrier and used my magical power sword to slice up the monsters.
“Luciel-sama’s magical power infused sword has extraordinary power. Only then can it deal such one-hit kills.”
Kefin was impressed and praised me.
I had found that by being conscious of the magical power that one inject into a magical sword, one could utilize different attributes so my goal was to be able to utilize it as natural as Sir Rainstar did.
“I’m happy to hear that. However, instead of focusing on getting a hit in, my task now is to avoid fatal injuries. If I accomplish that, my survivability should increase.”
“You’re no longer going to perform sacrificial attacks nya?”
Cathy teased me as I was scolded by Shisho in the past for doing that so I laughed and replied honestly.
“I’ll do it when the chances of dying increases if I don’t do it but I won’t do it if it still looks like I can get out of the situation.”
“Even though Luciel-sama says that, I still feel that you will do it nya.”
“It is our job to make sure that Luciel-sama doesn’t have to make that choice.”
Lionel chimed in after Cathy replied and Cathy sighed seeing as she couldn’t continue teasing me.
“Without Luciel-sama and his strong defensive magic and healing magic, our offensive power will drop drastically after all.”
“I will advance too … !? This presence, that guy?”
Estia announced what was essentially the party’s overall setup so I joined in to say that I would work hard too when a strong oppressive force reminiscent of death suddenly surfaced.
“Yeah, without a doubt.”
Lionel quickly agreed with me.
“Do, do you know the identity of the one giving off that oppressive force causing my whole body to tremble?”
“Is it the Evil God?”
Cathy asked Lionel with a pale complexion without even ending her sentence with ‘nya’ but I answered in his stead.
“Yeah, it’s without a doubt the Evil God. I can’t save the person inside but I will inevitably have to purify them.”
“Everyone. Don’t move.”
Rather than Estia, the Darkness Spirit surfaced and wrapped us all in a black fog.
“This is?”
“The opponent is a God. However, it should not notice when we are within the magical power of the Darkness attribute. It’s impossible to defeat the Evil God after all so we can only wait like this.”
“Understood. Everyone, please heed Estia’s words too.”
Thus, we waited until the presence of the Evil God disappeared.
Even after that oppressive feeling was gone for more than a minute, the Darkness Spirit still did not dispel the Darkness Magic shrouding us.
“Estia, shouldn’t it be fine by now?”
“That guy is crafty. It looks like he has left but he should still be watching for our move.”
I followed the instructions of the Darkness Spirit who seemed to know the Evil God well.
“We’ll follow Estia’s instructions this time. In addition, the monsters are gradually approaching us so we should get ready. We’ll wipe them out for a short while before we enter the room.”
I suggested and everyone also agreed.
We continued on to defeat the monsters and did so two more times, waiting for the monsters to appear and sweeping them clean before choosing to advance.
When we opened the door, the boss room was unlike the others we encountered until now as it was as bright as the boss rooms of other labyrinths.
And after entering, I saw that the foe we had to fight against was no longer human but was surprisingly not undead either.
Five demons stared at us.
“Why are demons clearing a labyrinth? More importantly, we felt that the Evil God was here but why aren’t they undead?”
I began chanting while questioning them.
Upon doing so, one of the demons spoke to me high-handedly.
“An inferior race like you question a superior race like us without naming yourselves, are you looking down on us!”
“Well sorry then. I am Sage Luciel, a person who fights against monsters and demons.”
“Hoh. To send not a Healer but a Sage to dive into the labyrinth, the Empire should be at a loss.”
?! It said the exact same words as the Evil God when we encountered it in the Grandol labyrinth.
Don’t tell me the Evil God manipulated the demons to prevent me from dispelling the seal on the Darkness Dragon?
“I’ve explained that before so instead, why are demons inside the labyrinth?”
“A labyrinth is a sleeping treasure after all. Well, it was a shock to see Evil God-sama appear though.”
So we were right that the Evil God was here. If the Evil God summoned them then they would have known that it would appear.
If my previous conjecture was wrong then it means that these people should be constructed existences instead.
“You guys are not pure demons, right? I take that you all are demonized individuals from the Empire.”
“Kukuku. Don’t group us with those mockeries. We are the Empire’s Special Forces.”
It looked like they weren’t pure demons. I looked at the corner of my eyes at Lionel and Cathy’s expressions but it seemed like the two of them didn’t know anything as they shook their heads.
“So what will become of you after becoming demons? Will you guys return to be the subordinate of the Principality of Blange?”
“Kukuku. That’s why I call you an inferior species. There’s no way we will work for another country.”
“Naturally, you guys won’t let us leave right?”
“Yeah. You are a source of concern and a hindrance to Luciel-sama. We will be returning with your head.”
The enemies all drew their weapons together.
“Can I ask two last questions?”
“This great one is generous so I shall listen to your final request.”
“Then I’ll hold you to it. Is your leader the Emperor? Or General Sen’Oni?”
“The Emperor? You think I will obey that living corpse?”
The other four demons also laughed. It seems like it was Cloud who led the Demon Squad.
“Finally, if you can return to being human, would you wish to return?”
“There’s no way I would want to. Now, experience our overwhelming strength with your flesh and die.”
“It’s a shame.”
I activated Sanctuary Circle.
In that instant, Lionel took the lead as everyone attacked as one.
I caught a glimpse of Lionel’s expression which was ghastly unlike his normal countenance so it showed me that Lionel was the real General Sen’Oni.
The ones who introduced themselves as the demonized Imperial Special Forces suffered and screamed while somehow maintaining their ability to fight but they still met their disappointing ends.
The fight was over in less than a minute.
To be safe, I activated Sanctuary Circle once again and they were apparently still alive as they raised shrill cries before turning into pale flames, leaving only the Imperial Special Forces equipment behind.
A sense of emptiness welled up but for now, in order to share the labyrinth clear with everyone, I started walking back to where everyone was.
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading.
