Month: February 2023

I was busy with RL stuff, thought I could finish it all quick, but… life isn’t that simple.
Anyway, here it is.

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136-2. Chapter 136 – Bottom of the Labyrinth (Part 2)

Walm closed in the distance. In response, the Undead Dragon mowed down its arm.

Having detected the trajectory, Walm gradually changed his course as if to attract attention. The Undead Dragon’s blow could shatter stone slabs with ease, but its vital mobility relied on a pair of arms. This meant that a fatal blow could be avoided if there was no error in the distance calculation.

Merrill and Yuna, coming around the side and back, respectively, launched a fierce attack while Walm tried to get the dragon’s attention. Merrill lunged in and tore open the wound without stopping, and Yuna shot an arrow into the scar left by the 《Trimagitack》, which was on its throat to the chest.

All this happened while the nostrils tried their best to suppress the pungent smell that leaked, spreading on the floor.

When the Undead Dragon turned its attention to the two, Walm fired a fireball to draw it back in, as if to say that he wouldn’t allow cheating.

“I’m done carrying!”

Marianthe joined the battle line after moving Hari.

Everyone focused on cutting out the exposed flesh and torn parts, but even though it was incomplete, the total length of the Undead Dragon was still over 20 meters. Moreover, the magical barrier was still there. Hitting it was like cutting a huge stone with a small iron file.

“Don’t focus on the front!! Pay attention to the arms and fangs!”

Certainly, the Undead Dragon lacked the original mobility, but even if the movement capabilities were limited to both arms, its attacks weren’t weakened, and instead, it became more precise. In addition, the after-effects of the breath attack and repeated fatigue robbed everyone of strength and power.

“Avoid, Walm!!”

Until then, the Undead Dragon had ignored Walm as if he were a small bug. Now it turned and moved its neck to bite him with its open jaw. This sudden change sent a shiver down Walm’s spine, so that he immediately stepped on the ground and slipped on his back on the stone pavement using the halberd as a push.

And, the head of the Undead Dragon passed under his feet.

“Damn it, the halberd…”

Walm narrowly escaped death by a bite, but the halberd was flung away from the dragon’s huge body and disappeared into the darkness.

Then, Walm, thrusting his elbows to the ground and straightening up, pulled the longsword from his hip. What a pity. The halberd was a good choice against a huge opponent, but there was still one weapon left. Fortunately, it wasn’t all that bad. The Undead Dragon that had made a major attack had collapsed in its stance, exposing its weak points defenselessly.

Of course, the other three weren’t so despondent as to let this pass. On the other hand, the Undead Dragon dug its claws into the stone slab and tried to attack until it fully regained its stance.

Walm’s face hadn’t loosened with joy. The Undead Dragon still had some fighting power left after all. Aside from being undead, it was a remnant of a dragon. That alone was enough to judge it as a tough opponent.

While Walm grasped the whole body of the Undead Dragon, he focused mainly on the head and arms, which were the starting point of the attack. And he noticed a difference. Until now, the Undead Dragon had straightened itself by digging its claws into the earth. This time the claws closed as if grasping something, and he noticed pressed pebbles coming out of the gaps.

“Stones incoming!! Moveee!!!”

Shortly after Walm’s warning, the bone arm was mowed down, and the pebbles were thrown. The three dodged to avoid the dragon’s pity trick, but Yuna got caught in the attack.

Countless pebbles rained down from above onto the stone pavement. Yuna slowly slumped as the debris rolled around on the ground and disappeared into the distance.

“Yu, Yuna!?”

“Mari, don’t stop!!”

Marianthe, distracted by the collapsed Yuna, reacted too late to the approaching bone arm. She was caught by one of the arms and hurled like a catapult, falling to the ground without being able to recover.

After sinking the two, the Undead Dragon seemed satisfied with the result and so he tried to repeat the attack in the same way.

Neither Walm nor Merrill got their focus shifted on their fallen comrades. As their numbers dwindled, they could only repeat risky attacks, and at a dangerous time, moved to a distance.

Walm didn’t know how much time had passed. His breathing was frantic and his limbs were shaking. His grip strength was also weakening. He had dragged out the fight, using not-so-much mana he had left to fend off the frequent, very dangerous attacks. And now, even the Undead Dragon’s unshakable magical barrier was cracking. But if it continued like this, they would be the first to roll on the ground.

“At this rate, it’s only going to get worse for us. I’ll burn it with my skill.”

“Walm, your eyes, gonna be okay?”

“I don’t have enough mana left to melt my eyes… Can’t even say, if I could burn it, to death.”

Even in the midst of broken conversations, the onslaught didn’t stop. Walm continued the conversation with a harsh breath.

“Huff, haahh, if that’s, the case, close range then.”

“Yeah, I need a way, to jump in and…  an opening.”

“I’ll launch you with wind magic. After that, I’ll support you until my mana, runs out.”

“When the skill got activated, get away immediately. Or you’ll get caught up.”

Walm, who managed to ask for opinions, temporarily suspended the attack, moved away from the Undead Dragon, and joined forces with Merrill. When the two of them had gathered themselves together, the Undead Dragon gleefully approached.

“Walm, here I go! <Gust>!”

A gust of wind that appeared at the bottom of the labyrinth, which should have been calm, hit Walm’s body. Fortunately, the target was approaching at full speed. It literally didn’t have enough hands to deal with Walm in the air. In desperation, it tried to bite Walm, but the black fangs only bit into nothing.

Walm chose the wound on its shoulder that had been pierced by 《Trimagitack》. The blades of the longsword he had taken in his other hand penetrated like driving a wedge.

“Walm! BURN IIIIIITTTT!!!”

A blue flame overflowed from Walm’s body, and a storm blew. Within the blink of an eye, the Undead Dragon’s entire body was engulfed in flames. The rotten flesh was scorched, and decaying liquid and fat oozed out with an unpleasant sound. It was as if the entire body had melted. At the same time, the demon eyes made a sound as if they had been pierced by a burnt nail.

Still, Walm clenched his teeth as if to suppress the pain. As in his mind, he understood that as long as this pain lasted, he could be sure that the Undead Dragon would continue to burn.

“Walm, get away now! You will get caught!!!”

Merrill’s desperate cries were in vain, and the Undead Dragon grabbed Walm with its convulsing arms. His armor crumbled and his whole body creaked. His left arm snapped and bent in a direction that shouldn’t be possible.

“Gah… haaah, ugh, guhh, uuggrhhh!!”

As if to say that this was a test of endurance, Walm continued to emit blue flames. Thinking that the 《Demon Fire》 would invite everything it touched into the Netherworld.

The left half of the Undead Dragon’s body was tragically discolored, the hand that had reached for the flame source called Walm began to melt, and the fingertips that had melted had their nails peeled off. It was the Undead Dragon that failed to endure.

A dragon that had lost its intelligence instinctively feared its own loss as well. So after realizing that it was no match for fire, that even crushing a human was dangerous, it sent Walm away with the arm that had only slightly rotted flesh. The dangerous object must be kept as far away as possible.

The stone pavement welcomed Walm with the sound of dry blows. The 《Demon Fire》 was forcibly stopped by the impact and the intense pain, and a roaring noise ran through Walm’s vision. Everything was unclear. He couldn’t know front, back, left, or right, though, he still tried to get up by relying on the ground he came into contact with.

The Undead Dragon’s roar didn’t stop, indicating that the battle wasn’t yet over. And now only Merrill was left.

Walm could feel his faintly remaining mana. He could still, and had to fight, he thought. He scolded his trembling legs and tried to stand up like a newborn fawn, but his legs couldn’t follow his instruction. When he lowered his eyes to his feet, he found that his ankles were bent like soft, long onions. Still, he tried to stand up on his remaining leg, but an excruciating pain ran through his chest and he collapsed. He had difficulties breathing out, no matter how much air he inhaled.

“Aah, ugg, ah…”

Felling like drowning, his heart contracted. Lying helpless on the ground, he tried to look ahead. In his noisy vision was Merrill, swinging her sword. The Undead Dragon was charred and melted, but hadn’t yet given up its life.

“Don’t stand, Walm!! I, will take care of the rest. Please wait there.”

Pitifully, Walm could only entrust the fate of the battle to his only companion that still standing. Dozens, no, hundreds of attacks and defenses were repeated. Merrill continued to be wounded by the Undead Dragon. Although it was a gruesome fight, it was as if she was performing a sword dance. Sure, they belonged to different races, but they were both the same, covered in wounds, and the balance of the fight could easily tip with the slightest misstep.

“Just, a little, more…”

Merrill, who had kept breathing on her shoulder, tangled her legs. This small opening was too fatal.

The Undead Dragon knocked down bones that could no longer be called arms.

Walm begged Merrill with all his might to avoid it, but his crazed auditory canals picked up a familiar wind noise. The arm that was supposed to hit Merrill directly was deflected slightly and ended up just destroying the ground.

“I will, support”

Walm strained his half-consciousness and tilted his head to see the adventurer aiming two arrows at the Undead Dragon.

Yuna, who fell to the ground after being hit in the head by a stone, returned to the battle line. Fresh blood overflowed from her wounded forehead and stained her eyes red. Despite these circumstances, the skilled archer pierced the eye of the Undead Dragon, which magical barrier was cut off, as if she were threading a needle.

Walm smiled as he spat out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth.

Yuna pierced the remaining eye with the arrows. The dragon’s gigantic body shook and its posture collapsed. Merrill ran in and took a characteristic stance. Her mana was clearly lacking. Nevertheless, she chose this stance.

Merrill, who had just jumped up, slashed down her longsword. The slash was aimed at the Undead Dragon’s neck and went down from its eye socket, slashing its shoulder as if tracing the wounds she had inflicted deep with 《Trimagitack》. Her landing wasn’t exactly graceful. But who could despise her clumsiness at that moment?

Merrill had undoubtedly finished the job brilliantly.

While Walm kept watching the result, the Undead Dragon’s body collapsed like a dead tree reaching its limit. The rotting liquid flowed down, spreading a foul odor, and the rotting flesh began to melt all at once. The Undead Dragon, which had become nothing but bones, was completely dead for real.

Walm, who had been nervous all the time, finally could close his eyes in relief.

“Yuna, check on Hari and Marianthe, I’ll check on Walm.”

Even though Merrill was exhausted after so much fighting, she gathered her leftover strength to run to Walm.

“Why were you so reckless!! You idiot, wake up. Don’t let go of your consciousness.”

Don’t be so unreasonable, was what Walm wanted to reply, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t speak. For his lungs, which had abandoned their normal functions, even letting out a single word was an extremely difficult task.

Merrill removed Walm’s clothes to check on his condition.

“Not only his limbs, but also his ribs are broken, and his chest, is swollen. Damn it, is the air trapped in his chest cavity?”

“Merrill, they’re not completely okay, but Hari and Marianthe are alive.”

Yuna reported the current situation without emerging from the darkness. Despite getting knocked out in a flashy way, Walm was relieved with his muddy consciousness that they were a very persistent companion.

“Yuna, is Hari conscious!?”

“Yes. He could speak because he cast healing magic on himself.”

“Bring him here, the air continues to accumulate in Walm’s chest. If left alone, his heart may stop.”

Hari, who was carried on Yuna’s back, lay on the ground with Walm. As if there were a big fish auction in the harbor, Yuna and Merrill, as well as Marianthe, who was dragging her weak leg, surrounded the two and looked at their condition.

“I know that you’re seriously injured, but could you give me instructions, Hari?”

“For the sake of my comrade. That much. No big deal. First, take out the blood-draining needle tube and distilled liquor from my tool bag… That’s it. Wash your hands with it. Huff, huff… between, the second, and the third rib, is the puncture site. Pierce the needle there. Above the nipple. A little more to the right, there. Insert the needle vertically, slowly. As it enters the chest cavity, air will come out with the sound of the injection.”

A new pain spread through Walm’s chest, but once it reached a certain depth, strangely, he found it easier to breathe. In his fading consciousness, Walm heard the sound of air escaping from his chest.

“Nice sounds. The air, is coming, out.”

“Good. It’s a success, Walm.”

Merrill relaxed and smiled with a tired expression on her face. Walm, whose communication capabilities were limited, weakly raised his trembling arms in response.

This was the moment when the Trimagitack conquered the Great Labyrinth of Belgana.

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TN: The “Dragon” of the Undead Dragon in here is written with this kanji “龍”. The other Dragon that appeared in the story and was written with this kanji is the Flame Emperor Dragon and the other one just mentioned, the so-called Merciful Sea Dragon.

TN: Join my discord channel if you want.

This ch is too long. No choice but to split it into two.

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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.

“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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TN: Join my discord channel if you want.

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135. Chapter 135

How much time had Walm spent in the Labyrinth where even day and night were ambiguous? Not that he cared that much, because he had already descended four floors since the 35th floor, and now he should be on the 39th floor.

In addition to the three-headed wolf and the synthetic beast with which he had become familiar, he encountered monsters such as Earth Spiders and Human-Faced Beasts. The characteristics of these two monsters were as insidious as those of the other monsters, and Walm could never like them.

The hairs that covered the Earth Spider’s entire body stood upright like wires, and if you touched it, it would feel like countless needles were piercing your skin. Its chelicerae contained neurotoxins, and it shot out sticky threads from its spinneret.

The first thing you would notice about the Human-Faced Beast was its eeriness. The face, which was as if a human face had been sewn onto a giant lion, was too ugly. When it chased you, a high-pitched screech emanated from the gaps between its fangs, which were as uneven as wild grass. Got distracted, and countless sharp objects covering the tip of the tail would come at you. [TN: Basically, something like a Manticore, but since the author didn’t put how it should be called, I’ll leave it as it is.]

And yet, Walm couldn’t help but be in a dilemma about whether such monsters were somewhat reasonable compared to the monsters that were currently attacking him.

” <Gust> incoming!!”

At Merrill’s shout, Walm jumped back.

Directly from above, along with the unpleasant flapping of wings, the mana turned into a roaring gust of wind. Debris was swirled up and a gust of wind blew through, making even Walm in his armor feel like he was floating.

“You half bastard, I’ll definitely turn you into roasted skewers!”

Flying around the sky in a phantasmagoric manner was a monster called Gryphon. Like the Synthetic Beasts and Human-Faced Beasts, it was a mixed-race monster. Was it popular on the 36th floor and below to be mixed-race? Regardless of the reason, Walm was irritated by the Gryphon, which naturally had the characteristics of an eagle and a lion.

Although the magic shot down from above was considered extremely annoying in itself, there weren’t only one but two Gryphons flapping their wings. Moreover, another kind of monster was moving on the ground, not caring about the violent gusts of wind.

With the sound of a string snapping, Walm reflexively pulled back half of his body. Accompanied by an arrow-breaking sound, the cobblestone flew away as if an explosion had hurled it away. And just like that, it flew in the direction of the attacker.

It was an armor of iron without other contents. To be exact, almost all of its contents were iron. Iron golem was the name of the monster. Strangely, such a stupid monster without a brain possessed mobility comparable to that of a human being, and light emitted from within. The origin of its brilliance was Mithril. In short, although it was made of iron, underneath it was a magic stone spread thinly like human blood vessels, which connected to a core made of magic stone that had a little amount of magical silver mixed in.

If one wanted to recreate it by human hands, one would need about the amount of steel equivalent to the equipment of a squad of heavy cavalry, a large magic stone, ten craftsmen and workshops, and elves or dwarves skilled in working with magical silver. In addition, several magic users and horses for transportation would be needed to carry out this operation. In the army of the Highserk Empire, these quantities of gold coins could leisurely feed a unit the size of a company.

And the Iron Golem, which would cost as much time and effort in addition to the already large amount of materials, put pressure on the group. Although it was a humanoid monster, it had an enormous weight. Even in gusts of wind that could easily blow humans away, it calmly brandished a weapon.

Of course, Walm didn’t remain idle and had already launched a fireball from the front. But the fire only made the Iron Golem’s appearance a little more clumsy. One would be difficult enough, and there were three, armed with a sword, spear, and bow, ready to rampage.

“Unnecessarily hard, one or two attacks are impossible to finish it.”

“Let’s clean up the Gryphons first. I’ll stir them up.”

Merrill decided to postpone the time-consuming Iron Golem, since Walm’s Fireball, which was supposed to be a quick solution, didn’t seem to have much effect.

Merrill kneaded up mana and the wind swirled around. The Iron Golems, sensing signs of large-scale magic, leaned forward to intervene. Quickly, Marianthe and Hari blocked their path.

“Look over here, stupid!!”

“You are worthy to help my hitting training.”

Marianthe’s mace sparked and rubbed against the Iron Golem’s joints. As expected, the joints were thin compared to other areas. It was crushed, causing the arm to fall off and the Iron Golem to go berserk like a broken toy.

Hari struck the other Iron Golem with his weapon, the Spirit-Infusing Rod. Although the Iron Golem had human-like movement, its movements were no better than those of a second-rate adventurer.

“I’ll deal the one with the longbow――!?”

Walm tried to take care of the last Iron Golem, which had prepared its longbow to intervene, but instead was surprised by the spectacle.

Yuna, who was supposed to be not a good match for the thick Iron Golem, seemed to have something that she couldn’t compromise as the same archer. She perfectly pierced the Iron Golem’s finger that held the arrow. The arrow slid down awkwardly, and only the sound of the empty shot of the string rang out. It wasn’t any different from an instrument that couldn’t even make a sound.

To overturn the situation, the Gryphons tried to release magic, but Merrill’s speed was slightly faster. Ironically, the same <Gust> was chosen to pull the Gryphons to the ground. The wind magic shot directly above moved the Gryphons in the air as if caressing them, albeit with slight violence.

Although the place was wide, it was an enclosed space. The escape of the wind was limited, and thus the wind hitting the ceiling and walls stirred and swirled the air.

The Gryphon, which sense of balance was disturbed and couldn’t catch the wind, flapped its limbs and fell off its back.

At the same time, holding his breath and sharpening his focus was Walm. He prepared a fireball and shot it up. The fireball unleashed its contained flames upon contact with the drowning Gryphon in the air.

Explosive flames instead of a death agony blossomed in the air, and Walm’s long-cherished wish, a roasted Gryhpon’s meat, rained down from above.

Such a blissful moment could only be enjoyed for a moment as Walm must turn his attention to the second Gryphon, but Yuna’s quick shot had pierced the feathers and skin of the wings, resulting in it losing its altitude and mobility. By the time the fourth arrow pierced it, it was unable to dodge the <Ice Lance> extending from the ground and was dragged to the ground, dead.

The bones and ice shattered, and the entrails were spewed from the beak. The curled toes twitched slightly. Although the Gryphon was already dying, Merrill’s longsword showed no mercy, stroking its head before slicing it to death. No human could show mercy after being attacked from the sky and bombarded with magic after all.

Now the troublesome Gryphons bared their flesh on the ground, but there were still three Iron Golems left. As if to vent their accumulated frustration, Walm and the others attacked the Iron Golems without holding back.

Although they were outnumbered, the Iron Golems brandished their weapons and charged at them with their huge bodies, but none of the people who had survived many battles up to that floor were stupid enough to get caught.

Two heads were carefully smashed so that both were turned into just a pile of iron scrap. The remaining one was the one where the core was exposed when the arm fell off. What a good weak point to attack. When Walm threw in flames there, they spread through the blood vessel-like things made of magic stones, and fire erupted from the entire body. The last iron golem, swinging its remaining arm wildly, suddenly collapsed as if a string had been cut, ending its function.

After confirming the death and the surroundings, the party members gathered. Though they managed to come this far, they couldn’t completely avoid damage, some parts of their armor were deformed and clearly, many battle scratches had run through them. If anyone got hurt, Hari’s healing magic would heal the wound, but that wouldn’t stop the fatigue from accumulating. While their physical strength was lost, they couldn’t afford to lose their spirit too.

As Walm wanted to spit out good words to maintain the good spirit, he noticed something. Fresh dirt was stuck to Merrill’s head. Its true identity was a piece of Gryphon’s flesh scattered around when it died.

“It’s sticky. It even has the fragrant smell of roasted birds.”

It was rare, but Merrill failed to avoid them all. After letting out a voice of dissatisfaction, Merrill directed a resentful gaze at Walm.

“What? Do you hate makeup?”

Walm, seeing the splendid figure of Merrill, made a joke as usual, but for some reason this time his joke made the light atmosphere heavier and somewhat cold.

In a quieter tone than usual, Merrill said to Walm, who wasn’t sure what kind of landmine he had stepped on.

“Huff, even though we’re friends… do you think it’s okay to say that to a girl?”

“Huh? Girl?… Eh? Hah?”

Walm struggled to digest the meaning of the words.

Forcing his reverberating brain to process them at maximum speed, Walm then called Hari.

“Hari…”

“What? Of course, Merrill is a girl.”

Hari looked down at Walm and folded his arms as he said something so obvious.

“…I see, Merrill is…”

“Walm, you’re unbelievable. No, maybe I should praise you instead. I mean, how can you not know the gender of the party member who will be with you to the bottom of the Labyrinth.”

Perplexed, Walm sought help from the other members, but the women showed no mercy.

At the same time, a thick, rough hand was placed on Walm’s shoulder.

It was Hari’s.

“People make mistakes. Apologize.”

What choice did a person like Walm have? He had clearly made a fatal mistake. Even more so in the depths of the Labyrinth. It might even affect future movements.

So, with a trembling voice, Walm apologized sincerely.

“…..I, am truly sorry, for mistaking, the gender, of, my comrades.”

Walm bowed his head at an angle of more than 45 degrees and apologized. Cleary said the words, so there would be no misunderstanding.

It was vague now, but memories of the world of the past when Walm was called Takakura Raizou, crossed his mind. When he made his first big mistake after joining the company, he used to say similar things to his clients.

“Hahaha, do you really have to say it like that? Really?”

“Laughing at an apology, is, an immature behavior.”

When Walm returned his timidly lowered gaze to Merrill, the frown on her face had gone and instead an insidious smile was there.

“Fufufu, should I forgive you then?”

In terms of cooperation, the four of them had done it many times before, to the point where they could correctly guess each other’s intentions without saying much. And they teamed up to play along in this little performance. Walm realized that they were deliberately making the atmosphere heavy to pressure him to apologize.

At this point, Walm was on the verge of agonizing because of the complicated feelings that were rising up inside him, however,

CLAP!!

“Well, that was entertaining. Now, shall we get ready?”

Merrill clapped her hands and said so.

Hearing this, the other party members dispersed as if the interesting spectacle was over. Walm was still conflicted, but regardless, the others had regained their spirits, as if they had just shown a brief lighthearted performance.

After cleaning up the monsters, the party continued to move forward. Including this, only two floors remained to reach the bottom.

◆

The party wiped out strong, nameless monsters on the way, as they increased the depth of their diving. The destination they arrived at was the 40th floor, the last floor before reaching the bottom of the Great Labyrinth of Belgana.

Searching for a passage that led to the innermost, the party finally reached the one that seemed to lead to a huge hall.

Walm had encountered irregular situations several times in the Labyrinth, but so far, the large room was where he had the most irregular encounters.

“There’s no detour.”

A straight path connected to the room, as if to say, “Come,” lay before Walm.

“Obviously, something is there.”

“There’s no other way. We’ve to go forward.”

Hari turned and waited for a response from Merrill, the party’s leader.

“… Let’s go. It would be a problem if monsters came from behind while we are hesitating.”

With Hari in the lead, the group headed into the large room.

Walm carefully searched the walls and ceiling, but found nothing suspicious. Though disappointed, so be it. It wasn’t something bad after all.

However, Walm felt a faint vibration in the soles of his shoes as the party approached the center. He suspected it was just a mistake, but the vibrations only grew stronger.

“It’s, shaking?”

“Down, something’s down there!”

The unstoppable tremor finally made the earth shake and the floor rose. Parts of the walls and ceiling couldn’t withstand the shaking and fell down. A large number of cobblestones rolled in as a huge neck was lifted. Something bounced its thick tail off the rubble covering it, and its rocky arms stretched out from the gap. Its entire body was covered with stones, and two twisted horns protruded from its head.

At this sight, Hari screamed unbearably.

“This guy ―― it’s “Earth Dragon”!!!”

A monster of the same class as the Crawler that Walm had once encountered was trying to block their path.

Walm had no intention of looking silently at the flashy appearance and shot a fireball he had worked out into the crawling head. Explosive flames enveloped the body, and the flames scorched the stone pavement.

A roar came back from the raised dust. Although some soot marks and scratches remained, the Earth Dragon was still alive. Walm shot fireballs several times in succession, but it didn’t seem to flinch. Merrill also repeatedly attacked it with <Ice Lance> and <Air Blade> but was repelled by its thick scales.

“……Among the dragon species, it’s said to be one of the hardest. Ah, Attack is coming!!”

The Earth Dragon that crawled out swung its tail and ran toward the party. While the party members dodged, Merrill, who stayed behind alone, formed a diagonal ice pillar on the ground. The ram-shaped block of ice and the Earth Dragon collided head-on.

Walm expected a good fight even though he knew the ice couldn’t fight back, but the ice was shattered without a fight, much easier than he expected, and the fragments rained down on the surroundings like hail.

Hari’s and Marianthe’s battle mace struck the slowed legs, but a metallic sound resounded, a sound that shouldn’t come from a rocky creature struck by a mace.

“Guh, the surface can be scraped, but that’s it.”

The two slipped through the arms that swung down to them in a way like when people got annoyed by flying bugs and took their distance.

Walm also threw in a <Fire Lance> without delay, but it didn’t do much.

“Tearing that off isn’t easy, you know.”

“Yuna, can you aim for the eyes?”

“I hit it once, but there was a barrier on its eye, and I can’t pierce it.”

The strength that no one thought was in a living creature even reached its eyes. A thick protective layer protected the eyeballs, perhaps due to the effect of being buried in the ground for a long time.

Means to attack were sealed one by one, there was no choice but to destroy the rock-like scales one by one.

“Once, I’ll use “it” once. It’s more than good enough that I’ve been able to save it so far.”

Until now, Merrill had used a variety of magic, but now her body swirled with visible mana. The colors that resulted from the three types of attributes were indescribably vivid. At this dazzling spectacle, the demon mask trembled with excitement, oblivious to its owner.

“What are you going to do?”

It was Marianthe who answered Walm’s question.

“Right, Walm, it’s your first time. But let me tell you, the reason why Merrill is called the “Trimagitack” isn’t only because she can use three different types of attribute magic. That’s the name of her skill.”.

Merrill, wrapped in a mana that fascinated Walm, lowered her waist and made an extreme stance until the longsword was hidden behind her back. The Earth Dragon sensed the inevitable situation and tried to stop it without any arrogance. It ignored the other attack, turned its twisted horn towards Merrill, and roared.

The Earth Dragon was spreading out in Walm’s field of vision.

“Merrill!!!”

Merrill smiled at Walm’s cry announcing the danger. Immediately after, the longsword was swung in such a way as to split the air, and the mana, accompanied by a flash and a shock, overflowed into the air.

Walm’s eyes drowned in light, he needed to squint to see what was happening. A brilliant attack, which was the result of three different attributes mixed in together, reached the Earth Dragon and spiraled around it.

The stubborn scales continued to resist the torrent of mana, but when one of the scales cracked, it spread to the entire scale in an instant.

The Earth Dragon let out an echoing cry as it was swallowed by the light.

Walm’s eyes stung and felt as if heat ran through them. The ≪Holy Slash≫ he had once received in the defensive battle of the Sarajevo fortress came back to his memory. What could he do now? He could only utter a dry voice, as if he wanted to be strong.

“Haha, that’s amazing.”

The scales of the Earth Dragon, piled up like strata, were mercilessly shattered. Half of its face and throat were scraped and bruised. Seeing such a scene, Walm was speechless. The effective range was limited, but with this skill, one could break through even a “living castle wall”. No wonder Merrill was called the Trimagitack.

“I wanted, to put on a cool look after the blow, but… seems that’s not going to happen.”

Merrill, who had expended a large amount of mana, looked tiredly at the center of the explosion, from which dust continued to fall. The Earth Dragon, which had lost more than half of its face, became a one-eyed monster and let out a roar. Walm didn’t know if it was anger or grief at having its proud scales broken. The only thing for sure was that it was the best time to attack.

“Aim for the shattered parts. The skull was hard, but better than scales.”

“Well, I’ve no objections.”

It was an attack as if the insects were gathering in the wound, but the party had not much strength left after the series of fights. Merrill also used her trump card, the ≪Trimagitack≫. She couldn’t afford to incur more damage for the time being.

“Merrill will take a break, and we’ll do the rest.”

“Please let me.”

Flames began to dance, and the smell of burning flesh filled the nostrils. Arrows continued to travel lushly through the wind, iron grasped relentlessly at flesh, and the sound of dry blows echoed through the room. Each time the earth shook, the cobblestones crumbled and the walls cracked. When the chorus ended, only a mound of rocks stood still.

“Finally, huh?”

After defeating the Earth Dragon, the party took a step deeper toward the bottom of the Labyrinth.

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TN: The “Dragon” of the Earth Dragon in here is written with this kanji “竜”. The other Dragon species that have appeared in the story and were written with this kanji are the Lake Dragon and the Crawler.

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