Chapter 142: 136.1

136-1. Chapter 136 – Bottom of the Labyrinth (Part 1)

After subduing the Earth Dragon, the party went down the stairs, one step at a time, vaguely outlined by luminous moss. This should be the last stair.

Walm soles hit the stonework. He couldn’t see beyond the darkness even after counting 100 or 200 steps. And after several hundred steps, an indescribable unease hit him. He could have been under the illusion that the road to the bottom would continue forever.

“The back, has gone.”

Not a specific expression. Nevertheless, what Yuna was trying to say was perfectly conveyed to all.

Supported by the sparse glow of the luminous moss, the party continued to descend, but the path to the bottom they had taken so far was cut off.

Guess, it ran out of power?

As if to oppose this optimistic thought, Walm felt a gentle touch on his skin and for some reason, his eyes felt slightly warm. His instincts warned him not to be swallowed by the darkness.

Not only Walm, but they all stopped. Quickly, Merrill gave instructions to all in an unchanging tone of voice.

“Let’s keep going.”

Aimed the bottom with a steady step, without being ruled by impatience. Half an hour or several hours later, Walm’s disturbed sense of time had increased immeasurably. At that moment his eyes, searching for the next spot, suddenly caught sight of the bottom. The light had been cut off on the way down, but the stairs had done their work.

Walm’s vision suddenly darkened. Now he was faced with a decision. Whether or not he should light a fire. That would be enough to secure visibility for sure, but if a monster was lurking in the darkness, it would give away their whereabouts and make them all a perfect target.

“Walm”

Being called out, Walm sensed the intentions and quickly manifested fire on his palm and transferred it to the lamp, which he took out from his magic bag.

Walm then looked around. The floor was the same as before, but neither the walls nor the ceiling could be seen with the naked eye.

“All around alert, this place is out of the labyrinth’s logic. Let’s prepare ourselves.”

Merrill’s voice, urging caution, disappeared into the darkness. That alone showed that this was an anomalous space. In the Labyrinth, which was a closed space, the sounds always echoed. But here there was no echo, no matter how much noise they made. Moreover, even the staircase they had descended was gone. Not that it had been removed, it was just swallowed up by the darkness.

“Should I put some markings on the ground?”

“……I can’t see any scratches or cracks. Probably, it’s useless. It’ll just be swallowed by the Labyrinth in no time.”

“You mean, you want us to fumble around?”

The flabbergasted Marianthe let her gaze wander into the darkness.

Now that the retreat option was cut off, they had no choice but to keep going, but they didn’t know which way to go.

Is this correct……?

Whether proceeding blindly was the correct choice, Walm got lost in a dead end of thought.

As each member concocts a plan, a sound is heard in the labyrinth, which until this point had been silent.

A harsh, gigantic metal scraping noise.

Walm, mobilizing even his six senses, if any, saw fire running out of the darkness. It spread as if crawling on the ground, revealing the darkness.

The ground spread in flames, revealing a single path with no obstacles like a VIP road. Black water flowed into the trench carved in the ground and fire dwelled on the surface.

“Apparently, it’s a welcome for us.”

“That’s, a pretty polite invitation.”

“Let’s accept the invitation. Even if you get off the path, nothing good will come out after all.”

Very obvious.

Walm knew that they were going to jump into the tiger’s mouth, but he didn’t know where else to go.

“It’s a crazy world, but to think that it’s twisted to this point, I’m impressed.”

“The Labyrinth is also called a space, a playground for the Superior Beings. Only in limited places like those with a Dragon Vein, or something like that, can their influence reach…… or so I’ve heard. Well, it’s just a theory by scholars, and you know they always advocate outrageous theories. So how much can you trust it I wonder…”

“One thing’s for sure, it’s not a logical theory.”

Walm, who had been silently listening to the conversation, secretly agreed with Marianthe.

As they continued, the flaming trench branched into a complex circle. No one could grasp the whole appearance, but the radius seemed to exceed 50 meters.

“Shall we go around the circle?”

“Let’s go to the center. Something might happen.”

In response to Walm’s question, Merrill made a strong decision.

It was a space where logic was separated from the surface. It was too late for Walm to be a coward now. More so, considering the fact he jumped to the bottom voluntarily. He had to leave it to chance.

As Walm moved toward the center, his nostrils irritated. The smell that caused this was the smell he was accustomed to smelling on the battlefield.

“What, is that stench…”

“It’s the putrid smell. But it’s too thick.”

Even Walm, who had been put to sleep with hundreds of decomposing corpses, felt a stimulus similar to when smelling something he had never smelled before. It wouldn’t be surprising to find a group of corpses piled up to the height of a small mountain enshrined there.

When the party reached the center, the flame spread along the hidden trench as if it were timed. It now became where they were surrounded by flames, but only to the extent where it could be jumped over.

“They sure have a bad hobby.”

The flames continued to intersect, and Walm felt a strange sensation as he watched them.

It looks familiar. where did I see it?

As the stench continued to disturb Walm’s concentration, he frantically searched for his memories, and they all connected in one fell swoop.

“Is this a “geometric shape”?”

“Eh? “Geometric”, “shape”?”

Walm, concentrating on his thoughts, couldn’t answer Marianthe’s question. He recognized the identity of the shape he had seen in his distant memory. It was a Hexagram, which history was old and had various meanings in his previous world. In the area where Walm lived in the previous world, it was called the “Kagome-mon (Kagome crest)”, which could be seen at old shrines, because it was considered a sign to ward off evil. And this six-pointed geometric star, treated like a sacred object, was surrounded by bizarre characters, so it was hard to believe that it was the same.

Then Walm heard the sound of chains rubbing together directly above him. Judging from the doubtful faces of the others, it was definitely not an auditory hallucination of Walm’s

“Let’s get away from the center. I feel something bad may happen.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

As the party hurriedly left the place, there was a roaring sound as if metal was being stirred together, and the putrid smell became stronger than ever.

What Walm saw after he escaped from the hexagram was a gigantic chain hanging loosely from the void. Even in the dim darkness, only the center was swallowed by complete darkness and it was impossible to see through.

“You’ve got to be, kidding me…”

Even Marianthe, a first-class adventurer, was at a loss for words.

While being deprived of freedom by chains, something crawled out of the darkness. Its lifeless eyes fixed their sights on Walm and let out a roar. That alone causes the air to tremble, and a gust of rotting-smell-filled wind blew.

A type of monster Walm never wanted to see again.

The same kind of monster that caused the cataclysm of the northern countries was about to make an appearance before Walm.

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“Undead Dragon”

Hari revealed the true identity of the monster. Stagnant scales as if stained with ink or mud, irregular fangs falling out, and carrion exposed to the atmosphere clearly indicated that the dragon had become undead. The demon mask trembled with excitement as if to match its appearance to the world.

“I heard that, the record about the bottom was lost in the Unification War, but this is… we’re doomed.”

Not only among dragons and monsters in general, but also among all living creatures, one of the monsters that stood at the peak of power was about to be born from the darkness at the bottom of the Labyrinth.

“It may be fake, but still, it’s an opponent that could kill an army. What to do――?!”

While Hari was still asking for an answer, Walm had turned the kneaded mana into a fireball. He shot it at the Undead Dragon and let the blue flame dance on its head.

The enraged Undead Dragon clattered its chains.

Although it was a blue flame that had a tremendous effect on undead, its effect against dragon species was weak.

“Let’s kill it before it fully comes out.”

While the party members were in confusion, Walm tried to come up with a simple solution.

Walm had been inoculated against the horror of standing before the dragon species. In Dandurg Castle, 10,000 people were burned along with the headquarters by the Flame Emperor Dragon’s《Dragon Breath》. In comparison, the body of the Undead Dragon was damaged and rotten, and it was trapped in a chain that seemed to paralyze its movements, and it was just on the way to crawling out of the black hole. There was no reason for Walm to hesitate in attacking the Undead Dragon, which could hardly be called a sacred being.

“You’re, right.”

As soon as Merrill, who had kneaded mana, said this, she took her special stance. Mana swirled around her body, and accompanied by a dazzling flash, 《Trimagitack》was released.

The Undead Dragon twisted its body, but there was no way to dodge the attack, and the exposed parts of its huge body were enveloped in light. The impact reached Walm on the ground. The curtain of rotting flesh and blood cleared and the field of vision opened. The wound ran from cheek to shoulder, but it was only an effective blow, not a fatal one.

“It’s a blow that could crush even the scales of an Earth Dragon.”

Merrill’s face contorted as she said this.

“How many?”

“Even if I squeeze it, two shots at best.”

Not that it didn’t work, but even if Merrill fired two shots, would that be enough to finish it off? Even 《Trimagitack》 lacked firepower. So, what about the maximum firepower of 《Demon Fire》? Same answer.

Walm escaped from reality, thinking that it might be possible if there were three or four Merrill, but denied that it was nothing but an impossible delusion.

“Too bad it’s in the air, I can’t get my hands on it.”

“Even the arrows are blocked by the magical barrier and the scales, no use.”

One arm of the Undead Dragon stuck out of the black hole. Now the other arm should be freed.

Walm fired a fireball, thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to try. Nothing to lose after all.

Merrill prepared for the second shot. She frantically examined the hanging Undead Dragon to see if there was a way, but she could find no answer.

“Damn it, the upper body is out”

Cursing, Walm lowered his gaze to the ground. The summoning circle, the troublesome six-pointed geometric star, continued to glow. As he gazed at the flames, a gamble came to his mind. If it failed, it would mean they would even more lack effective hits, but it was worth a try.

“Merrill, the ground. Break the trench!!”

Merrill, who was on the verge of projecting 《Trimagitack》, believed Walm’s words and forcefully turned the trajectory and mowed down the ground. The ground was shattered by a flash of light. The trench, which emitted a suspicious glow, now only glittered faintly, as if the mana supply had been cut off. The Undead Dragon that was crawling out of the void let out an unprecedented scream and fell from the sky.

Walm looked up and saw the gigantic black hole, that appeared in the darkness, had vanished like an illusion.

“Half of its body is torn off?!!”

Marianthe screamed in disbelief. When the summoning formation was destroyed, the path that connected the space was cut off, resulting in the Undead Dragon’s lower body being torn apart.

Walm’s plan was partially successful. If there was a miscalculation, it was that the Undead Dragon, having lost half of its body, didn’t die, but dug into the ground with the claws of both arms and stood up.

“Strange, I mean even with just the upper body, it could still move?”

Hari readjusted his mace. He wanted the Undead Dragon to die quietly, as Walm wished, but even if it was rotten, it was still a dragon. As expected, it wouldn’t die so easily.

“Merrill, can you still shoot?”

“One more shoot is the limit.”

“If you aim at the severed woun―― sh*t.”

Walm recognized the signs. He couldn’t forget it. After all, with that blow, the Dandurg Castle had been driven to the brink of fall.

“Breath is coming!!”

Muddy mana poured from the Undead Dragon. The center moved from the chest to the throat.

“We can’t avoid that.”

“Mari, Bestowing Magic, to the limit!!”

“I bestow you, as much as I can, take it!”

Mana flowed from Marianthe who grabbed Merrill’s shoulder. Even for Walm, who had come into contact with various magic so far, Bestowing Magic was a rare magic that he encountered for the first time.

Though as expected, Walm couldn’t just stay still in admiration. He tried to stop the Undead Dragon from firing the attack with a fireball, but it showed no signs of flinching. A mass of compressed magic flowed from its throat into its mouth, and the huge jaw opened. From the depths of its black fangs, 《Dragon Breath》 was released. At the same time, Merrill also fired 《Trimagitack》 which sucked up all of Marianthe’s mana.

“Woaaahh, aaaahhhhhHHH!!”

A stream of dizzying mana clashed. The floor below the confluence point was shattered by an invisible force and instantly evaporated. At the end of the confrontation, the aftermath seeped through and spread to the surrounding area. As if eroding, the tri-colored flash turned black and was overwhelmed in one fell swoop. Walm created a pillar of flame and began another interception attempt, but he could not stop it. The arms of Walm and Merrill, who were in the lead, were grabbed and thrown backward.

It was Hari who did this.

“Lie down on the ground, I’ll be the shield!”

“Hari?!!”

The warrior monk jumped out in front of Walm and the others, and like a tree stretching its roots to the ground, Hari stood and surrounded his body with a magical barrier.

Hari’s magical barrier, which had been sublimated to the skill 《Indestructible Body》, allowed him to beat and bend iron with his bare hands, and even catch swords with his own body. However, even if the incoming attack was the breath that had been repeatedly interrupted, it was still a 《Dragon Breath》.

“Ugghhh, uuuuahhhhh, AAAAHHHHH――!!!”

With a scream, Hari was swallowed by the breath.

Walm felt his body tortured like a sharp stone dragged through the rippling riverbed. Yet he escaped with his life. He spat out the blood collecting in his mouth and straightened up on his halberd. The other three fared similarly.

Walm, busy moving his eyes and neck, found Hari, who was like a worn-out cloth. The skin was as if filed off, and blood oozed out from here and there, but the original form of firmness remained. It may be a small gift for gradually reducing the breath, but more than that, the mistake of the Undead Dragon, which lost half of its body and a large amount of mana after spitting out an incomplete breath, was a big mistake that could bring a turning point.

“Can you still do it?”

“There’s only half a body over there. We’re just injured. It’s enough to deal with it.”

“Marianthe, carry Hari to a safe place. Yuna, can you still do it?”

“Mm”

Small tricks would no longer work. With this in mind, they were aware that the real final battle would soon begin.

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