kscans

Chapter 134 - The Master of the Labyrinth

A horde of monsters, pressing forward as if to fill the wide passage. I couldn't see the end of their ranks—was it because of the darkness? Or was it because of their sheer numbers?

I charged headfirst into the army of bull-men, whose bodies were covered in long seaweed like fur.

My body, aided by the wind, shattered the stone floor as my flame-wreathed sword danced. I melted the descending hammers and sliced through the sweeping axes.

I cleaved through the seaweed that tried to entangle my blade like sentient armor, and through the wooden bodies of the bull-men beneath. Without stopping, I moved, pressing my assault in a single, furious burst.

My body felt light. Not for any mental reason, but because my physical abilities had actually increased.

For an Awakened Person, fighting a powerful enemy and defeating it to gain strength was a supernatural, yet normal, phenomenon.

And these bull-men were undoubtedly strong. A single blow from their powerful arms could easily tear through a thick steel plate, and their toughness suggested they could withstand a hail of rifle fire unscathed.

But, as I was now...

"Hyaah...!"

My blade danced. With every flicker of flame, the bull-men scattered steam instead of blood.

I batted away every water bullet fired at me and pushed forward, ensuring no attack reached what was behind me.

"Voh!"

I sidestepped a swinging axe, closed the distance, and cut down a bull-man with a diagonal slash. I then mowed down the one next to it and, turning, blocked a spear thrust from behind me with my left gauntlet.

The spear shaft, momentarily bent, snapped, and I beheaded its wielder.

As if waiting for that moment, axes and hammers swung down from all four sides. I leaped to avoid them all, and as I soared into the air, numerous water bullets were fired at me.

But from that angle, I could dodge them.

[Concept Interference].

Using the wind as a foothold in a triple-jump-like maneuver, I dodged and landed a short distance away from the group of bull-men.

I immediately lowered my stance, closed the distance again, and swung my sword in a sweeping motion at their feet. The wind wrapping my blade lifted the bull-men into the air.

With a reverse slash, I generated a tornado and poured a massive amount of mana into the ring on my left hand.

The front ranks were suspended in the air, helpless, while the rear ranks were blocked by the wind and their own allies, unable to attack. A crimson flame engulfed them all.

The once-dark passage was now illuminated in red.

Through the flow of mana, I sensed the bull-men in the rear ranks hardening their defenses with water and ice magic, but I didn't care. I simply increased the firepower.

The flames, fed by the storm, instantly evaporated their watery defenses and began to melt the stone floor.

After a few seconds of continuous fire, all that remained was the red-stained, warped stone floor, and the remnants of salt and gold coins scattered within it.

"Fuuu..."

I exhaled and turned my back to the red-hot floor. I wiped the sweat from my chin with my palm, but it stung a little because of the gauntlet.

Then, I rejoined Aira-san, who had been waiting a short distance away.

"The battle's over. Are you alright over there? I was careful to make sure no stray shots went your way."

"Not a single problem, Kyou-chan-kun. By the way, are you some kind of monster? I could see an incredible heat ray from a distance."

A heat ray? ...Oh, that last attack.

"You could hardly call it a heat ray. It was just a souped-up burner, where I forcefully mixed fire and wind to boost the output."

"...If my eyes don't deceive me, part of the floor has melted and deformed."

"I burned it at full power. Things like that happen."

"...I see."

Aira-san closed her eyes, her brow furrowed as if enduring a headache. I gave a small, wry smile.

"Don't worry, I'm aware that this isn't normal. I think I've become quite strong, 'among adventurers,' that is."

"Ah, so you're at least aware of that much. I was half-expecting you to be in a 'Did I do something amazing again?' sort of mood."

"We have a clear metric called 'level.' I'm 'LV: 40' now, right?"

Aira-san nodded in response to my question.

According to what she saw with her skill, I had leveled up at some point. Thanks to that, the fighting had become much easier.

So much so that I could now handle up to thirty of them at once without a problem.

"Even so, I still don't feel like I could beat the Rey Cuelebre on my own. Since this dungeon is 'B-Rank,' the boss monster should be on its level. I can't afford to be careless or arrogant."

If I had the Professor and the others for support like last time, I could probably defeat even the Rey Cuelebre with some degree of stability.

But right now, I'm alone. My chances of winning a fight against the boss monster are slim unless I can rendezvous with the Professor or Erina-san's group first.

Normally, if I encountered it, I'd want to flee without fighting, but...

"So, Aira-san. Was what you said earlier true?"

"Yes. The paths in this dungeon are 'swapping places.' Judging from the dents in the walls and the small scratches on the floor, there's no doubt. This is a path we've already passed through. And yet, we're not just going around in circles."

I put my hand to my helmeted head at her words.

Just like with that giant boulder, mana would occasionally run through the floor and walls, and then the passages we had just taken would disappear.

This was because someone... or perhaps the dungeon itself... was periodically shuffling the paths.

It wasn't a pinpoint swap, like changing the very spot we were standing on.

But the labyrinth's passages were being switched around as casually as a child rearranging plastic train tracks.

At this rate, we'd never reach the exit through normal means.

'We've reached the same conclusion! We found one of the chalk marks we made, and then a little further on, we found a scratch on the wall that you probably made, Kyou-chan. But we don't hear any sounds of you guys fighting at all!'

"...Erina-kun. Are you putting markings and numbers at the chalk marks you're making?"

'Of course!'

"Then, if we find one of your marks, I'll let you know. Let's try to meet up then."

'Roger that!'

That was a small piece of good news. It was up to luck, but our chances of meeting up had increased slightly.

The problem, however, was the purpose of these path swaps.

"Aira-san. This place used to be a workplace for people, or beings similar to them, right?"

"Yes. And they also prepared rescue measures for when those employees accidentally fell into traps."

"Which means this path changing is..."

"You've probably reached the same conclusion. If we continue on, we'll end up at the location of the 'being that is continuously swapping the paths.'"

I couldn't help but sigh at her words.

If the original employees got lost as a result of these swaps, the way to fix it would be to head to the control device.

"If a magic tool is doing the swapping, the employees could operate it with technology they already know. And if it's a gatekeeper, they could just show their employee ID or something, and that would solve it."

"We don't know how to operate an unknown magic tool, and even if there is a gatekeeper, we'll probably be treated as intruders."

"...It seems we'd be better off praying that my skills or yours can operate the magic tool."

"Or, we could meet up with Erina-san's group first and prepare a force capable of defeating the gatekeeper... who is probably the boss monster..."

Just standing still won't improve the situation. If anything, our condition will only deteriorate.

But if we move forward and there's a boss monster, our chances of winning are slim. We have no way to increase the probability of meeting up with Erina-san's group, and turning back is meaningless since the paths are changing.

To put it mildly, we were screwed. All we could do was pray for good luck.

"Sana-kuun. Do you have any ideas to break this stalemate?!"

Aira-san gave a small tug on the string she had Sana hold.

But there was no reply. This spirit basically just tilted its head at any question that couldn't be answered with a YES or NO.

"Haaah... I may be a genius, but even geniuses have their areas of expertise. And situations that require this kind of clever thinking are outside my specialty. Give me something like deciphering a language instead."

"Oh, in that case, can you help me with my classical literature homework when we get back?"

Aira-san looked at me with a blank expression.

'Kyou-chan, you haven't finished it yet?'

"I've finished math and the others... and I still have some time, technically."

'Come on! You should finish things like that before you go on a trip! ...Oh, wait, Shī-chan says she hasn't finished hers either.'

I'm the type to work hard at the beginning of summer vacation and then relax for the rest of it.

I finish certain subjects first, and then on the last day, I still have a little bit of homework left for the other subjects.

"You two... are you really worrying about summer homework in a situation like this?"

"Because we fully intend to make it back alive."

'There's no point in worrying about what happens after you're dead, senpai!'

"...In my case, unlike Erina-san, I'm consciously trying to maintain a positive mindset."

A cold sweat trickled down my face.

I'm a fairly negative person. I'm aware of this, so if I were to get seriously down in this situation, I'd either end up crying and cowering in a corner of the passage, thinking, 'It's hopeless,' or I'd become desperate and start screaming. Either way, it wouldn't end well.

"Crying and screaming here will only increase the chances of dying. So right now, I'm trying my best to think positively."

"...You sound like a professional."

"Because I heard it from a professional during the adventurer training course."

The SDF soldier who gave the lecture taught us with such terrifyingly vivid descriptions of his actual experiences.

Honestly, I think that SDF guy is better suited to be an actor or a rakugo storyteller than a warrior.

"Oh? In that case, let me say something to motivate you, my current lifeline."

"And what might that be?"

Aira-san flashed a cynical smile and pointed a thumb at herself.

"Regarding the matter of helping you with your homework. I shall do it while dressed as an 'immoral female teacher.'"

"!!"

"And when you finish your homework, as a reward, Mia will perform jump rope in a bunny girl outfit. I won't even let Baba-sama stop me. It will happen."

"!!!"

Her eyes... were serious!!

For a moment, I seriously considered kneeling and bowing my head, but we were inside a dungeon. I couldn't afford to show such an opening.

Therefore, I would answer with a salute.

Aira-san... I always believed you were someone who could get things done when it counted...!

"Uh, if Mia-san hears about this, won't her motivation to escape plummet?"

'When I told her, senpai turned bright red and crouched down!'

"See?"

"Erina-kun. In that case, tell her that I will also become a cheerleader in the most revealing outfit possible."

'Senpai raised her fist to the sky with the face of a warrior!'

"Mia-san..."

"And while we're at it, I'll expose Kyou-chan-kun's nipples too!"

"Are you sane?"

'Senpai started shadowboxing!'

"Are you insane?"

I don't get it. I don't understand you, Mia-san.

Seriously, what's with the shadowboxing? Are you planning to punch me? Are you planning to punch my nipples? What grudge do you have against these harmless nipples?

'Oh, now she's crouching down again, repeatedly saying 'that's not it' or something.'

"Seems okay, check!"

"What did you hear that made you say 'check'...?'"

Though I harbored a slight anxiety about Mia-san's strange behavior, the darkening atmosphere of the place had lightened somewhat.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes."

And so, we began to move through the passage again.

At times, we were nearly crushed by a descending ceiling.

At times, we were nearly impaled by a barrage of spears jutting out from the walls.

At times, a pitfall and a flood of water attacked us simultaneously, and at other times, we were pincered by a group of enemies.

Still, after walking for about thirty minutes...

We couldn't find Erina-san's markings along the way.

And then, our worst fears came true.

The moment we entered a straight passage, mana flowed through it. As if watching a fast-forwarded video, the corner behind us and the path ahead began to change.

I stopped and quietly re-gripped my sword. Aira-san, holding her last torch, also stared ahead with a solemn expression.

Finally, our destination had been decided.

A light leaked from the end of the passage. Brightly burning flames lined the walls of a colosseum-like room.

And in the center, a giant white figure stood, arms crossed.

Its leg bones, like several logs bound together, were human-like, yet from the ankles down, they changed to resemble hooves.

The double-bladed battle axe thrust into the stone floor radiated a golden glow like lightning.

That was all I could observe. A rumbling sound echoed from behind, vibrating the slightly inclined floor.

There was no escape. If we turned our backs, that terrifying monster would crush us along with the rolling boulder.

"Erina-san. The worst possible scenario has come true. A monster is waiting. And it seems we won't even be allowed to stand still."

'Got it. We'll try to speed up our pace as much as possible.'

"If possible, it'd be great if you could join in mid-fight."

'I'll get there if I can. With everything I've got.'

"I'm counting on it."

After finishing the exchange, I took one deep breath.

I lightly patted the back of Aira-san, who had frozen beside me, and tried my best to smile.

But I was probably only managing a very strained grin. How uncool of me.

"Let's go. It's better to fight an opponent where winning gives us a means of escape than to be made into the filling of a boulder sandwich."

I could tell just by looking. The mana cloaking the opponent and the mana that occasionally flowed through the passage were of the same quality.

It was the one responsible for changing the passages. If we could defeat it, the difficulty of escaping would be greatly reduced.

The only problem was whether we could win.

I glanced inside the birdcage she was holding.

Fusing with the spirit could, in the worst case, lead to death. Even if not, it could result in severe after-effects. So severe that even the 'Nucleus' might not be able to heal them.

...For now, we have no choice but to move forward.

"We're getting out of here alive."

"Right...!"

We ran through the passage and emerged into the space at the end.

The structure of the room was, as I thought, similar to an ancient Roman colosseum. Bowl-shaped spectator seats spread out, with a large circular area in the center.

The light from the bonfires lining the walls illuminated the figures of the enemy and ourselves. We no longer needed the torch as a light source.

A towering giant, illuminated by the flickering flames.

Its physique was at least three meters tall. The muscles of its abs and arms were so developed they were clearly visible even over its pure white fur, and it wore only a blue loincloth.

This monster needed no armor. Just by standing there, I could imagine it would shrug off a direct hit from a tank cannon like a gentle breeze.

Its neck was covered in thick fur. Above it, a face that was a mixture of human and bull. Eyes that had no whites, shining blue, and two golden horns extending from its head.

Anyone in Japan who enjoys games and anime has probably heard its name at least once.

'Minotaur.'

A man-eating monster from Greek mythology. A creature closely resembling it slowly raised its double-bladed battle axe.

The enemy had already recognized us as foes. The passage where the boulder had been rolling was now sealed shut.

I also gripped the hilt of my sword with both hands and took a low stance.

"Win, Kyou-chan-kun...!"

"---Yes!"

The sound of her feet running diagonally behind me was the gong.

The master of the labyrinth. The champion of this colosseum.

In time with the Minotaur's roar, I too let out a cry.

With our weapons in hand, we stepped forward.