Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN)

“—Well, let’s get to it. For the record, once it starts, there’s no taking it back.”

“Yes. We know.”

In the end, my proposal was accepted. They were a bit skeptical, but I had successfully touched the pride of Arken and his team in their long history as explorers. As if to provoke them, I told them they could fight us two to four, and that settled it.

They must have been convinced that there was no way they could lose to two kids whose levels were so low just a few days ago. I could see from their expressions that they were trying to show us the difference in power. According to the common sense of this world, it took years to raise even a single level. They must have never imagined that we would be at level 6 in just a few days.

—We took the oath and shared the information about the monster in question.

The name of the monster was Hang Shadow. It seemed to be a black, liquidy creature that stuck to the walls of the Labyrinth like a shadow. Its characteristic was to surprise explorers from the shadows and hang them by the neck. Apparently, it was resistant to physical attacks such as swords; only magical attacks could deal a decisive blow. It had a unique drop item, and the number of the drop items each team collected would determine the winner.

“Let’s begin!”

With that, Arken and his team split into two and broke into a run. I could see that they were serious. It seemed like just having us suffer a defeat wasn’t enough—they wanted to crush us completely.

But we, their opponents—

“You understand, right, Dia?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

—Did not move from our spot.

Arken and the others looked at us curiously, but that didn’t make them come back. Once I was sure they were out of sight, I began the chant.

“Well, let’s crush them. —Magic «Dimension Multiplied».”

I searched the area, not thinking of conserving my MP. As I grew accustomed to the magic, I expanded my senses greatly for a moment, taking in a large amount of information.

Amongst the information that was instantly picked up, I had my brain filter for only monsters with the specific shape I was looking for. By omitting superfluous information, I could suppress the unnecessary consumption of MP.

It didn’t even consume 10 MP. That wasn’t so bad.

“Dia, I found several of our targets. They’re right, these monsters may be good at lurking and hiding, but they’re sitting ducks against me. There’s no way we could lose this match.”

“That’s Christ for you… I kind of feel like there’s not room for me to do much… Well, I guess there’s no helping it this time.”

“No, your magic will still be our main offense, Dia. Don’t lose heart.”

We exchanged a few words before we started to run. We took the shortest path to our targets, even in that intricate Labyrinth. 

When the target was close, I confirmed it once again with «Dimension» and moved into sniping position.

“I found the first. Put your arm on mine like we did it with the bosses.”

“Got it. Let’s do this… «Flame Arrow»!”

A flash of light ripped through the darkness of the Labyrinth and… our target died instantly.

Immediately, we retrieved the dropped item and made our way to the next target. This tactic was very efficient, as the Hang Shadows seemed to be monsters that didn’t do much moving around.

“Okay, next. Dia, shoot.”

“O-okay. —«Flame Arrow!»”

Our second target also died instantly.

It had only been about ten minutes. Looking at my remaining MP, I’d say that we could hold for the whole hour. After making that calculation, I used the Magic «Dimension» Multiple for the second time to grasp the locations of more of our targets.

“Alright. Let’s continue at this pace.”

“—«Flame Arrow!»”

We wasted no time in hunting the Hang Shadows. Sometimes we would get into a fight with a Hang Shadow that had escaped Dia’s snipe, but I was strong against lurking monsters. As long as I had «Dimension», I could never be taken by surprise. Besides, if I focused on them, I could see their detailed ‘Status’, so I wouldn’t lose sight of them.

Within an hour, we had gotten ten Hang Shadow drops; we then went to the meeting place, the entrance room to the 6th floor, and waited for Arken and his group to come.

***

“That’s absurd…!”

“This is bullcrap…! It’s just impossible!”

“Hey, Arken! It’s your fault!”

Both parties gathered in the same room in front of the stairs where one could move from the 5th floor to the 6th floor: it was a room with only two entrances from the Main Road.

Arken and his party looked as if they couldn’t believe what they saw; all four of them were in a frenzy. Well, I could guess why. In just an hour, they had lost all their money.

On behalf of his party, Arken shouted.

“B-bullshit! You brats are playing foul! I mean, how is this possible?! Even if you’re a veteran, that brat was just at level 1 before! But ten?! Ten?! That’s impossible!!”

Arken strode up to us as if he was about to grapple.

“No, we killed ten. It’s the truth.”

“That’s right, that’s right! Quit making accusations! We’re strong… Christ is especially! This much is obvious!”

Dia was on board with my counterargument. For some reason, he also didn’t forget to pitch me up. Even at a time like that, he was still too energetic.

“That can’t be! The waiter guy is just some country bumpkin who got owned on the 1st floor! And yet…! This outcome is impossible!”

Arken and his party parroted the word impossible.

That was quite unexpected. I thought that they would make more accusations and say things like the dropped items we happened to pick up were invalid, or the ones I already had with me were invalid, or something along the line, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps they were losing their rational thoughts in the face of the unbelievable turn of events.

“Fuck! Hey, surround them!”

This turn of events was expected, however: Arken and his party chose to act by force. They brandished their weapons and blocked our way out.

I had called it. After all, a match like that was nothing more than the strong throwing around their weight.

The strong deceiving and robbing the weak—that’s all the match was for. There was no discipline in it.

I bore some resentment to their disorder. The heat that had been smoldering in me grew.

“I knew it… so this is how it’s gonna be. You brought up the match since you thought you could trample us even if we were the ones who lost and snapped. And even if you guys lost, you could still overwhelm us. You just wanted to squeeze money from the ignorant weak. That’s all you amount to…”

I composedly reproached Arken and his party.

* * *

* * *

“So what?! Only the strong survive in this world!”

Arken roared in response.

“Dueling oaths my foot… That kind of thing doesn’t matter if you just leave the country, no? It’s obvious that you’re going to get rid of us here, skip borders, and take up a different lucrative profession.”

“Hah, you know your shit! The Labyrinth isn’t the only source of money. Sorry ‘bout this, but you brats will die here!”

I thought so. That’s why I had suggested they put all their money in. I needed that kind of forceful development.

I gave up trying to butter up Arken and talked to Dia.

“See, Dia… They’re not worth it, right?”

“Y-yeah… It’s going exactly as you said, Christ…”

Dia had been downcast by the time Arken and his party decided to go with force.

He must have believed that the odds were equal. He had dreamed that if he won this match, he would be recognized by Arken. He had a fleeting dream that, even if they did have a feud, they would recognize each other as long as he had the ability to back him up.

Reality was different. All they had in store was violence in the name of bickering. Dia seemed to have a certain veneration for duels and oaths, so he seemed to be more shocked about the violation of this match than the others.

“I’ll take care of them all. You stand back, Dia.”

“I-I’ll help too…!”

“No need. I’m good enough.”

I brandished my sword.

I had about 30% of my MP left. I predicted this would happen, so I had left some in reserve for this—it was enough to wipe the floor with their faces. 

Then, I muttered.

“—Magic, «Dimension Gladiator».”

“Damn brats—!!”

At the end of my chant, Arken slashed his sword at me. A beastman swordsman and a lightweight spearman followed suit. Behind them was the magician woman who had started chanting magic.

I devised the most efficient path to suppress them based on that information, and I moved.

—First, Arken’s sword slashed only the air, almost grazing the tip of my nose.

So slow. In my eyes, Arken was just too slow. He was someone of a higher level. And yet his DEX and his AGI were far below mine. Moreover, since «Dimension Gladiator» was on, there was no way he could hit me.

There was such an absolute difference that it seemed like we were moving in different time frames altogether.

I lightly stabbed Arken’s dominant hand with my sword, evading him, and wounded both of his legs as well. As I watched him fall to the ground, I made my way to the incoming spearman. I slipped past his thrust and slashed his right hand with my sword. Without stopping, I ran towards the magician. The beastman swordsman came roaring at me, but I stabbed him in the arm before he could strike his sword down. As he was howling in pain, I kicked him in the feet and stomped on his head to jump towards the magician woman. Finally, I had the blade of my sword trained on her throat, and she stopped chanting.

—In terms of time passed, it didn’t even last a few seconds.

I spoke with the heaviest voice I could generate.

“…What I actually wanted from this match was not the money. What I want is for you, the people who humiliated Dia, to never appear in front of us again. So, as long as you disappear from our sight, I won’t chase after this matter.”

“I-Impossible…”

Within seconds, the winner was decided. I’d guess they had never experienced anything like that in their lives. They were stunned as they watched their magician under the threat of the sword.

“Make your answer quickly. Say that you will disappear, or you will force me to hurt you more than this.”

Saying so, I brought my sword closer to the woman’s neck.

“O-okay… I give up. We’ll be gone.”

It was the magician woman who acknowledged her surrender. Following her was the beastman swordsman, then the spearman. 

“God damn it…! We’ve messed up right on the Main Road; we can’t stay in this country either way…!”

Finally, Arken also went on and talked about leaving the country.

The difference in strength between them and me was crystal clear. Once I told them they could escape from further troubles, they had no choice but to go.

Above all else, they seemed to have recognized my true intention. They understood that it wasn’t about the money, and I could see that they were calculating that it would be better to obediently follow what I said.

“That’s great. That settles it. Let’s just say that we just had bad luck today.”

Saying this, I urged Arken and the others out of the room with the tip of my sword.

“If we skip borders, you really won’t chase after this matter, right?”

“Yes. But I will have to report this to the guild, so I suggest that you should leave Varte as soon as possible.”

“Tsk… Shit. Fine, we’ll be gone…”

Arken and his party then walked away. The beast/swordsman lent his shoulder to Arken, and the four walked out of the room together. On their way out, I could hear them quarreling in low voices from a distance.

I kept my attention on them and only sighed when I could no longer perceive them.

“Phew…”

“S-sorry… It became a problem because of me…”

After things were over and the other party was gone, Dia bowed, apologizing.

“No, they pissed me off too. Seeing them so miserable just feels refreshing now.”

“That’s not what I wanted… All I wanted was for them to recognize me…”

I was able to relieve my stress by whipping Arken and his party’s collective asses, but apparently, it wasn’t the case for Dia. Dia, who, for better or worse, had a pure heart, had probably envisioned a scene where both parties would praise each other for a good fight if we won the match.

But such a thing was a mere dream. Yes. No more than a dream.

“Unfortunately, that will be hard. It is just that difficult for people to mutually recognize each other.”

For example, whether I recognize this world or not. That was a question I’d have a hard time answering.

“I see… So, Christ. What do we do now?”

“Well. My MP is low, so we better head back—”

“Oh no, I can’t have you leave now.”

As I was about to suggest that we should get back, I was interrupted by a disembodied voice from overhead.

“——?!”

Surprised by the unexpected voice, I jumped backwards.

«Dimension Gladiator» was focused on Arken and his party; The room we were in was well above the Main Road; both of those factors made me careless in my surveillance.

“Forgive me. Did I surprise you? However, I can’t have you leave right now. It’s rare that I get to meet children like you two.”

The owner of the voice was hanging on the ceiling of the Labyrinth.

It was oddly shaped. The figure resembled the Hang Shadows we had hunted earlier, but—similar though they might look—it was something completely different. Hang Shadows would never take a humanoid form, and they never uttered a sound. This one, however, was a shadowy black liquid that took humanoid form and spoke with intelligence.

Its body consisted of a writhing black liquid, a perfectly smooth, mask-like face. A monstrosity, through and through, talked to us. The soles of his feet were stuck to the ceiling, and his smooth face was directed at us the whole time.

Dripping with cold sweat, I focused on it and confirmed the detailed explanation of the monstrosity.

【Guardian of the 20th Floor】 He who Stole the Principle of Darkness

He was not a human. It didn’t even show his rank as a monster. All that was written next to its Guardian notation were the words ‘He Who Stole the Principle of Darkness’.

I was astonished by the odd ‘Display’ when the monster’s featureless face laughed.

“Fufufu. I am the 20th floor’s guardian, Tida, who Stole the Principle of Darkness. Pleased to make your acquaintances.”

He then politely introduced himself as the guardian of the 20th floor.

『Opening to Boss Fight』

【Status】

Name: Kanami Aikawa

HP: 189/197,  MP: 127/262 

Class:

Level: 6

STR: 4.12, VIT: 4.21, DEX: 5.11, AGI: 7.24, WIS: 7.23, MAG: 11.43, APT: 7.00

Constitution :

• Confusion: 5.30

EXP: 2238/3200

Acquired Skills:

• Dimensional Magic: 5.02

Innate Skills:

• Swordsmanship: 1.02

• Freezing Magic: 2.02

???:

• ???

???:

• ???

Freezing Magic:

• Freeze: 1.00

• Ice: 1.01

Dimensional Magic:

• Dimension: 1.02

Inherent Magic:

• Dimension Multiple: 1.01

• Dimension Gladiator: 1.02

• Ice Arrow: 1.00