266
Implicit Sea Moon Spirit (4)
Boom!
The giant rhino’s head fell.
An eyeball that flutters even after falling from the body. A purple electric shock crackles and wraps around the horn.
Gwuuuu-
Kwasik!
Only after swinging the inside of the skull once more with the white flame-covered holy sword did the sparkle of madness disappear from the rhino’s eyes.
Lucia pulled out her sword and stepped away from the corpse with a tired expression.
“What kind of monster has the level of recovery of a true dragon…”
“It’s not just recovery. “The hardness of their leather and the power of the primitive magic on their bodies are not far behind those of the True Dragon.”
Bjorn said as he adjusted the red-hot barrel of the shotgun.
It was a natural reaction.
Generally, when you think of monsters, you usually think of frogmen, gnolls, or at most trolls.
However, the monsters around the row that the party had just defeated were something different from common trolls.
“If this is the case even on the ground, where the environment is completely different, then how vicious monsters are inside the labyrinth…” “
Because they came from the depths of the labyrinth. “It’s a place not much different from hell.”
Dallon answered as he looked around at the rhino’s body with its head cut off.
Although it has now become an endangered species due to a recent battle, the True Dragon is originally a transcendent being capable of burning down a city of any size with a single body.
The three-horned giant rhino was a beast that would not be greatly defeated even if it faced a true dragon head-on.
The fifth layer of the labyrinth they had to go through was a place teeming with these predators.
“The strange things in the depths of the labyrinth… I thought they were just legends floating around among explorers. “It wasn’t just a rumor.”
“yes. “The important thing is why these guys came to the surface.”
In essence, it is impossible for beings from the depths of the labyrinth to crawl out to the surface.
The labyrinth was a place with distinct ecosystems on each floor, and the deeper the beings, the more reluctant they were to leave their home.
“Isn’t it because the barrier tower collapsed? “Isn’t the main role of the Battle World in the Labyrinth City to prevent monsters above a certain level from ascending to the lower levels?”
Tommy Valentino carefully shared his guess. Siena and Felber immediately disagreed.
“It won’t be like that. The barrier’s area of influence is limited to the lower levels. “It is safe to say that there will be no effect from the third floor onwards.”
“Didn’t the messenger from Geumgang Palace who took us to the main altar say the same? Just because the barrier tower collapsed doesn’t mean the Great World lost its power. “Literally, only the entrance to and from the labyrinth is closed.”
After Tommy, there were many speculations, but no clear answer was found.
Meanwhile, Dallon, who was examining the inside of the giant toad’s belly skin following the rhino’s carcass, waved his hand.
“Everyone, please come here.”
***
What he found was an old scar.
Black dead blood formed on the inside of the toad’s belly skin, and its stomach and intestines were rotting inside.
“Physical blows. In addition, thoughts and curses of the 5th level or higher are mixed in.”
“A martial artist wearing a cursed relic weapon. Or, there is a high probability that he is a warlock who has learned powerful summoning techniques or training techniques.”
“If it were a person, it would be like that.”
Considering the condition of the wound, although it had been quite a while, at the time of the injury, it could have been life-threatening.
While the giant toad was alive, it could be overcome with its unique monstrous regenerative power, but as soon as its life was cut off, it was a curse so severe that nearly a third of its internal organs rotted away in an instant.
In the first place, the large monsters in the depths of the labyrinth are creatures with such tenacious resilience that they survive even after their heads are cut off.
What does it mean that even with such recovery, the skin and leather were restored, but the tissues inside were still necrotic?
“It’s not just this guy. Both the rhinoceros and the minotaur were fatally injured some time ago.”
“They are all monsters that live on the 5th floor of the labyrinth. “Can’t we see it as a wound inflicted by themselves?”
“The predators in the depths of the labyrinth tend to strictly adhere to their respective territories. “Looking at the fact that they came up to the ground together instead of collapsing like they do now, it doesn’t seem like they are hostile to each other.”
“…Then surely.”
Sienna, who had been silent, opened her mouth. His expression slightly stiffened as if he realized the hidden meaning behind the long explanation.
“Are you saying that something appeared and drove these monsters out of their territory?”
“maybe.”
Dallen nodded. Felber sighed.
“It is a threat that will drive out monsters equivalent to the True Dragon. “Do you have any guesses?”
Felber asked with subtle anticipation. Since he thought of Dallen as a regressor, it might have been a natural expectation.
“well. I don’t know either. “I can only guess that it is a new archevillain or something worse.”
Dallon looked at the toad’s intestines and was lost in thought.
I was confident that I had experienced 50,000 different situations while playing hundreds of times, but this was the first time I had ever encountered anything like this.
Beings from the depths of the labyrinth are coming up. Something that couldn’t have happened even if it had happened in the first place.
The fact that they gave up their territory, which they had protected for hundreds of years, and came to the lower levels meant that they felt a threat to their lives as apex predators.
‘What on earth?’
It wasn’t an evil spirit.
The dragon god is dead and Laphilem is distracted by the elves. It was clear that Xun and Temomron would not even have time to do that.
The only one that has a chance is Enaxagus. Was this why he was quiet for a while?
‘…no. It’s too inefficient for him to move his heavy butt himself.’
Enaxagus, the epitome of cunning, is an evil god who does not even begin unless he can achieve satisfactory results.
So is it the Great Devil? However, just because he is an arch-demon doesn’t mean he can freely roam the depths of the labyrinth.
The fact that there were about ten of them that escaped through the narrow passage on the ground meant that the ecosystem in the lower levels of the labyrinth had already been devastated by these predators.
Even if the Great Demon could deal with one or two deep-seated monsters, it wouldn’t have been able to drive them out in such a heap.
‘It’s unknown.’
Anxiety tickling inside. Dallen stood up, wiping the toad slime on the hem of his clothes.
There was nothing that could be done right away. The only way to do this is to pass through the dark sea moonlight on the fourth floor of the labyrinth as quickly as possible and find out what is happening down there.
He said, putting the ax in his belt.
“You’d better hurry.”
***
crack.
A huge valley formed deep and long in the ground, reaching into a labyrinth at the end.
Unlike the entrance to the rift guarded by the Holy Knights, the deeper you go inside, the more complex the terrain becomes, like a maze.
A cliff that is over 10 kilometers high. Valleys and caves that intersect and divide into dozens of branches.
Because of the depth of the valley, there is little sunlight, and monsters nesting everywhere drool for lost prey.
Fortunately, according to Lucia, as long as the destination was a labyrinth, there was no need to worry about getting lost along the way.
“According to the literature of the Holy Knights, there is only one way down to the Labyrinth. “It follows the lower reaches of the Estra River.”
The Estra River was the border line that separated the Empire and the Kingdom of Noria on earth.
A waterway that passes from the middle stream to the lower stream and touches a crack, forming a huge waterfall and falling into the crack.
Starting from a waterfall dozens of kilometers high, the slow-flowing river flows down through the deep valleys of the cracks, tangled like a spider’s web, into a labyrinth.
As long as you can overcome the attacks of the monsters you encounter along the way, going down to the labyrinth isn’t that difficult.
“You’ll need a boat to go down the river.”
The Holy Knights also used the waterway inside the rift if necessary, so there was no need to build a ship from scratch.
The party found a boat of suitable size at the dock of Fortress Estra and repaired it.
Lucia and Parn took turns at the helm.
It was essential for all Paladins to learn basic navigation skills in case they were sent on a mission inside the rift.
Monsters attacked the ship two or three times a day, but of course there were no major problems.
The rock troll throwing rocks was buried in the cairn it threw, and the winged cliff goblins took their last flight as a tribe.
It was one night several days later.
[…The light is disappearing.]
Akasha muttered while enjoying the night breeze on the deck.
It was the day I burned down the nest of a twelve-legged furry spider.
“light?”
[Yes, Bjorn. The light on the ground is disappearing.]
This was not to say that sunlight does not shine.
It was a night where the sun had already set a long time ago and even the moon was obscured by clouds.
Even if it had been daytime, there was sunlight due to the high cliffs on both sides, but it would have been at a low level.
Bjorn, who was maintaining the assault ship nearby, sniffed and answered.
“Now that I think about it, I sense a familiar smell. “It’s the air of the labyrinth.”
After that night, the natural environment, such as air and light, began to change strangely.
As a few days passed, the flow of the magical wind also became distorted here and there.
The same was true of the desolate and monotonous scenery of the valley.
The cliff gradually widened and turned into an open horizon. Instead of the sparsely growing aquatic plants such as lotuses, plants with teeth and claws stuck their heads out above the water.
Gurgling. Grumpy.
Bubble….
River water with bubbling bubbles. Floating objects sticky to the bottom of a boat.
The flow slowed to the point where oars were needed. The boat reached the muddy land just as the terrible stench was stinging my nose and paralyzing me.
“We have arrived at the labyrinth.”
A place where Calchas and the cultists were wiped out many years ago.
It was a bottomless swamp on the third floor of the labyrinth.
***
Snap. Snap.
Sewage reaches up to the ankles of leather boots. Unidentifiable rotten mud and debris on the toes.
‘Fucking swamp.’
Dallen gathered his spit and grumbled.
The musty smell of everything rotting away. The stench of the third floor of the labyrinth was a nightmare that even he could not get used to.
It had been five days since the group got off the boat and started walking through the swamp.
Over the past five days, the swamp has gotten deeper and the stench has gotten worse.
For the first three days, we were able to move by walking on dry land. The water on the outskirts of the swamp was not deep, and the highlands were wet but not submerged.
From the fourth day onwards, things changed. No matter how high the terrain was, it was so muddy that your feet would sink.
The point where we arrived with the Tsarist special force has already been surpassed a long time ago.
The depth of the water would become deeper than this in the future, but it would not become shallower.
It will take about 15 more days to reach the destination. Dallen stroked his damp, damp hair.
“Dallen.”
“what.”
“Look over there.”
My eyes reflexively follow my fingertips.
There were more than twenty corpses lying in the area covered by Siena.
Corpses of explorers armed with heavily rusted armor and spear knives. There were also a few people who appeared to be wizards and priests.
“A party of explorers.”
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