LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32
[The terrain of the 1st floor is changing.]
[The darkness temporarily vanishes.]
Grrr—
[The first Layered Ruler ‘Starter’s Epusio’ appears.]
“Crazy, a Layered Ruler? What the hell is going on?”
Berkel said that Layered Rulers would only appear from the 5th floor at the very least.
I distinctly heard during training that there were now 5 of them discovered at floors 25 through 5…?
“Ugh!”
The ground beneath my feet and the surrounding walls trembled, showing signs of change.
Boom.
Just when I was trying to steady myself on the shaking ground…
Whoosh—
All the darkness that was blocking my view suddenly disappeared.
“Haha, I guess I don’t even need a torch.”
Let’s think calmly. Why are these changes happening all of a sudden?
“Dammit. No matter how hard I think, the only suspect is dead Isaac. The timing is just too coincidental.”
When the system window popped up earlier, it certainly said conditions were met.
After all, Isaac was a mere heartbeat away from death.
What kind of grand plan does that narcissist have to stab his own heart first?
“Let’s see all you punks get wrecked… is that what this means?”
The rule that you can call forth Layered Rulers every 5 floors.
To break that and call a Layered Ruler from the 1st floor, which hadn’t been discovered for decades, happens to be known only by Isaac.
‘Does this even make sense?’
It’s not like the misfortune of the Chaos Heart triggered again, so why is this happening?
[Chaos warns that a Layered Ruler is not something you can easily overlook.]
“Chaos!”
[Chaos shares that it couldn’t intervene when Isaac spoke.]
Even though Chaos could’ve said something about Isaac’s lowly actions, it stayed silent for my sake.
─Aren, can you hear me?
Amid the sudden changes, Yeriell sent a message.
‘Yeah, how about you? Are you both unharmed?’
─Yeah! I was surprised when the walls and ground started moving suddenly, but thankfully I’m fine. Is the problem resolved?
‘The Isaac problem… is finally cleanly resolved. I no longer have to worry about that jerk, thank goodness. But.’
─But?
‘…You know I can see the opponent’s stats, characteristics, and item information differently than others, right?’
─Yeah, but why? Do you see the cause of the current situation?
‘Well, I see it, but, umm. Don’t freak out. It seems a Layered Ruler has appeared on the 1st floor.’
─Huh?
Yeriell seemed momentarily speechless as if hearing an utterly unexpected word.
‘Yeriell?’
─Uh. Are you sure it’s a Layered Ruler? It’s not that I don’t trust you, but… that’s too outrageous!
It’s understandable.
‘I doubted my eyes at first as well. But since it’s visible through my ability granted by the god, it’s definitely true. Can you come to where I am?’
─Sure! I’m already on my way, so just wait a minute. I’ll be there soon!
Great. I’ll soon join up. By the way, a Layered Ruler appears, so did it just randomly show up somewhere on the 1st floor?
…Wait! Isaac—
Chill—
“You. You’re closest to the one who woke me up.”
‘What the hell? No way!’
[Chaos shouts to retreat.]
Bang!
Whoosh—!
In the blink of an eye, as I stepped back, a pure white light congregated, taking the form of a person.
────
[Starter’s Epusio]
An entity that had been asleep for a long time in the Great Labyrinth, awakened by the cost to be severely paid by all on the 1st floor.
Having fallen to the 1st floor, half-embodied, it gathers, absorbs, summons, and makes forget.
[Possessed Traits] (Locked)
Prison of Gathering
Primordial Saraph
Summoning Hesmana
Oblivion
────
“Sigh… I wonder how long it’s been since I woke up. To become such a weak thing is truly regrettable.”
“⋯.”
It’s obvious I can’t handle this alone. What should I do?
[Chaos advises to run away.]
“First, shall I summon the offerings?”
[Starter’s Epusio casts ‘Prison of Gathering’.]
[Personnel on the 1st floor are randomly selected and teleported to the central area.]
Vroom.
Before I could do anything, a buzzing sound started, and adventurers began appearing one by one around me.
“What? This is the central area?”
“What’s that? A monster? There couldn’t be such a thing on the 1st floor!”
“What the hell! The portal to the 2nd floor was right ahead, and now this?”
Seriously. This isn’t some busy marketplace, yet panicking adventurers were raising their voices.
Crackle!
“Gaaah!”
All the adventurers who teleported to the central area turned their attention to where the sound came from.
They seemed to be trying to head north again, but running to leave the area, they encountered the light barrier surrounding it and saw a halfling burnt black.
“Oh no. This can’t be happening! I just gathered them together, and now they’re trying to escape.”
─Aren! We all arrived, but there’s a strange light blocking the way, we can’t get in!
No, if you force your way in, you’ll burn to a crisp.
‘Don’t come! Get away from there right now!’
I urgently continued.
‘The Layered Ruler just appeared in front of us and is now summoning adventurers from the 1st floor to the central area at random. It seems to be one of its traits.’
‘Since it’s clear that trying to leave means certain death, it’s obvious coming in is probably dangerous too. I’ll resolve this somehow, so don’t worry about me and stay far away.’
─Okay… Ahh, what the hell is going on, ugh.
“Shit! What the hell is happening right now?! Why does trying to leave mean burning? Why did everyone suddenly end up here?”
Is that Creave from Luke’s party?
I can see Creave and Luke. Did the other two get separated?
“Ahh, that’s, well.”
“What’s that growling again? It looks like a monster. Could it be a special breed?”
‘Growling?’
Ah. Thanks to my language trait, it seems I can only understand its language here.
Aren’t the others here yet?
“Well, from what I heard, the fact that you can’t understand what I’m saying is problematic.”
“Then what is it? If it’s not a special breed, then it’s a mutation? Who the hell are you to say it’s not?”
“I’m Heins, a mage from the Earth School. My introduction can wait; it wouldn’t make sense to call it a mutation considering this is merely the 1st floor. Such a scale of ability is impossible.”
Damn. No matter how many people are here, even if we immediately prepare for battle against a Layered Ruler, it won’t be enough.
What kind of ridiculous conversation is this?
Good thing Epusio is just watching silently about its purpose. I can’t keep still any longer.
“It’s a Layered Ruler. The monster in front of us is the Layered Ruler of the 1st floor.”
I assessed the danger of revealing my trait against the threat right in front of us.
Heins squinted his eyes and looked at me.
“What? Do you not know basic common sense?”
“I can tell by my trait. I can’t go into detail, but it seems the 1st floor Layered Ruler has its ‘first’ modifier, implying it’s an exception to the 5th-floor rule.”
“…Indeed, even I, as a mage, am seeing a form like this for the first time that can capture this many adventurers in one area.”
He adjusted his glasses, and his eyes glimmered.
“If it’s a Layered Ruler level, it makes sense. Can you swear that what you said is true?”
“I’ll bet my parents on it. Is that enough?”
Although I’m an orphan, well, I’ve staked enough that they should buy it now.
As soon as I said that, Heins nodded and parted his lips to speak when…
“Sigh… It’s meaningless to talk since you can’t understand me. You’re chattering too noisily. I don’t need to see anymore.”
[Starter’s Epusio casts ‘Primordial Saraph’.]
Epusio stretches its right arm forward.
As it opens its hand, white particles begin to gather.
Zzz—
Insane. It’s a laser!
Its target is… Creave!
Adventurers in the path of the incoming laser hurled their bodies or evaded with their traits.
Only Creave, who was startled, took the hit.
“Uwaah— huh?”
Caught off guard, Creave had a blank expression.
“What? That doesn’t hurt at all?!”
No way. How can someone not suffer damage from an attack that has a skill name?
It’s a freaking Layered Ruler!
“See? Layered Rulers are a joke. I’ve never heard of something like that appearing on the 1st floor. It’s just a mutation or a peculiar type, right?”
Creave laughing it off while standing confidently against a laser seems out of place for a monster from the 1st floor.
“Huh, foolish human. Is that really so?”
“Damage, you dumbass!”
Seeing Creave frozen in shock prompted Luke, still part of the same party, to shout and push forward.
With the two of them collapsed on the ground, and the target disappearing, Epusio’s attack quickly ceased.
Was it some psychic attack or a timed detonation? Was it waiting for the right moment to strike?
From the moment it began talking, there were signs it was dimwitted. Or is it that this is the level of 1st-floor monsters that something like this could pass through?
‘Maybe with its scent trait, it could barely pass, and it might have just been dragged along by the party leader Luke…’
[Starter’s Epusio absorbs Creave’s traits.]
Crack.
Something breaks echoed from Creave.
“Uh, E. Gaaah—!”
“Creave?!”
────
[Creave]
[Strength: F+] [Agility: E] [Durability: F+]
[Health: E-] [Magic: F+] [Luck: E+]
[Possessed Traits] (Fold)
□□ □□□
Beginner Dagger Technique
□□□ □□
────
…What the hell.
Two of Creave’s three traits, Basic Dagger Technique and Sensitive Smell, have vanished.