Hajime fully expected a hellscape filled with gruesome monsters ready to feast on their flesh, or at least a spooky damp cave-like corridor.
Instead, he found Kaori and Shizuku in a standoff with someone in shining golden armor, flanked by Ryutarou and Eri.
"Are you sure that either of you doesn't want to come with me?" Kouki asked with his usual bright smile.
Hajime instinctively wrinkled his nose. The grin seemed to shine like a bright star even in the dark room.
He had to admit, the authentic confidence Kouki showcased w, as convincing. However, neither Kaori nor Shizuku seemed impressed.
"I think we're making it very clear Kouki," Kaori said firmly.
"Hey, no need to be hostile. We're just trying to help—" Ryutarou tried to argue, but Shizuku cut him off with a scowl.
Kouki raised his hands in surrender. Eri clung to one of them and whispered something into his ear.
Kouki's eyes flicked up to the stairs, straight to Hajime. Hajime waved awkwardly. Kouki smiled, but it wasn't the usual intrepid, charming smile.
A chill ran down his back as Kouki looked away.
"Alright, if you insist." He said with a shrug.
He turned his back and walked away, with Eri clinging to his arm. Ryutarou looked between his friends unsurely, clanging his gauntlets, but followed Kouki's lead.
Neither girl welcomed Hajime as he quietly came down the rest of the steps.
"What's wrong with Kouki?" Kaori muttered a hint of concern etched in her voice. "He seemed...odd."
Hajime agreed with her words, but Shizuku only scowled harder. "He was always like that, Kaori. He just..."
She let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head, lost for words. "Let's just hope we don't bump into each other again. Come on."
There was no need for arguments on the formation. Shizuku was the only close-range attacker with the best eyesight out of the three, so naturally, she went first while Kaori and Hajime followed her 3~4 steps behind.
Kaori held her staff high, shining light in the damp cave.
"Won't this attract monsters living here?" Shizuku asked. Hajime shook his head.
"Most of the monsters here have bad eyesight. Even when they're not, they don't deal well with light." He explained.
Hajime scanned the walls as they walked forward. There were several scratch marks scraped on them as if 20 angry cats inhabited the area.
Shizuku suddenly thrust her arm out. "Stop."
Hajime and Kaori stopped at the same time, nearly bumping into each other. Shizuku silently pointed upward.
They looked up and saw pairs and pairs of beady red eyes gleaming nearby various holes dug into the wall.
They were thoroughly outnumbered.
"Turn off the lights." Shizuku hissed.
"It's fine," Hajime whispered, trying to sound as 'fine' as possible. "They don't attack first unless we don't intrude on their territory."
"We're right under their house, how are we not—"
Shizuku's retaliation was cut short by a series of horrifying high-pitched squeaking noises. Dozens of fur-covered creatures jumped down with their pickaxe-looking talons extended.
Shizuku immediately jumped into action.
She shouted, "Get back!" to her companions and unsheathed her sword.
The 3-foot-long silver blade flashed, and one of the Ratman shrieked as its chest got sliced open.
And that was when everything went wrong.
Shizuku suddenly went pale. A small whimper escaped her lips as the corpse splattered on the ground. Her grip on the weapon slackened as she stared at the dead Ratman.
"Shizuku!" Kaori shouted and pulled her out of the way.
A second Ratman, narrowly missing the top of Shizuku's head, landed on the floor. Several more followed its example and surrounded the two girls.
"Kaori, use the light! I need just a few seconds!" Hajime shouted, roughly rummaging through his sack.
Kaori wildly swung her staff.
"Get back! Back! Shoo!"
The bright light wavering around in a wide arc made the Ratmen wince and hiss. Their eyes squinted into slits as they backed away, but the circular blockade was still present.
However, as time ticked along, they seemed to adjust to the flashing lantern. Kaori held Shizuku closer and shouted over her shoulder.
"Hajime, they're coming closer! Whatever you're doing—"
"Done!" Hajime shouted triumphantly. He raised his arm high, holding a green gem in his fist. "Close your eyes!"
Kaori did as told. Hajime crushed the gem in his hand. As the jewel broke into pieces, it emitted a powerful flashbang. The horde of Ratmen squealed in unison and scurried back up the wall to their dark residence.
He eyed the Ratmen warily, but none of them seemed eager to attack them a second time.
"...it's fine now," Hajime said.
Kaori slowly opened her eyes and let go of Shizuku's shoulder.
"What was that flashbang?" She asked.
"It's a Glowstone that I intentionally tampered with," Hajime explained, brushing off green dust from his hand. "They're pretty rare, so it's not something I can pull off easily."
He turned to Shizuku, who was still staring at the one Ratman she slashed.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Shizuku jumped on the spot.
"Yeah, I'm..." She swallowed. "...I'll be fine. It was just so..." Shizuku flexed her fingers, trailing off again.
"...real." She concluded.
The other two looked at the corpse as well. A shiver ran down their back—especially Kaori, whose job was to heal wounds and injuries.
"Maybe we can fall back?" Kaori suggested. "I don't think it'll be best for us to push forward."
"That might be the better idea." Hajime agreed. "We can ask the soldiers to help us reach the 20th floor."
However, Shizuku shook her head. She wiped the blood off her blade, then threw away thhandkerchiefif
"I'm fine, let's keep going."
Neither Hajime nor Karoi was thrilled at the idea, but Shizuku was more stubborn than both of them combined.
Finally, they agreed to venture ahead.
Thankfully, they weren't ambushed again.
"Say, I've been wondering," Kaori spoke out, mostly out of boredom than anything. "If we're all going down to the 20th floor, won't we get clogged up at the staircase?"
Hajime shook his head. "Not really. This Labyrinth, The [Great Orcus Labyrinth] is called a Labyrinth for a reason.
There are multiple staircases on each step and their location changes at random. Not to mention it somehow keeps all of these monsters alive without next to no nutrition."
"I thought the monsters lived off of the crystalized mana in their heart," Shizuku asked with a frown, still keeping her senses sharp in case of an ambush.
Hajime shrugged. "Well, the crystalized mana appears when said being consumes too much mana.
Normally, it's nearly impossible to change a normal animal into a monster, and this place has them in spades.
Nobody knows what the source of the immense mana needed would be."
Kaori nodded. "Maybe there is a fairy downstairs or something."
"A fairy?"
Hajime couldn't help but smile at the innocent idea.
Kaori blushed slightly and pouted. "Hey, it was just an idea. Don't make fun of me."
"I'm not making fun. I think it's cute."
"Oh." Kaori's blush deepened, although her pout melted into a smile. "Thanks."
"There is a staircase," Shizuku noted, rather coldly than she wanted to, but neither of the couples noticed the small tone difference.
She was still furious at herself for breaking down like that. She was the one who should be the backbone of the team.
As much as she hated it, she now knew what slicing living beings felt like. The thought sent a shiver down her back.
However, Shizuku mentally slapped herself.
It was her responsibility. She'll have to eat it up. There was no option. She was the only one who could take care of her problems.
The three carefully took the steps down, wondering how many people were ahead of them.
[Line Break]
[Great Orcus Labyrinth—8th floor]
Kieeeshi!!!
A giant beetle keeled backwards, spewing green blood from its maw.
Satoru wrinkled his nose at the gruesome sight. He also quickly shook off the saliva sprayed on his ankle protector before it turned to stone.
"Hey, Magic Man!" He called.
"For the last time, don't call me that!" Kaito growled.
He flipped out an empty trump card from his belt and imbued a small portion of his mana. A small magic circle appeared on the card, glowing in a deep lavender color, and Kaito thrust it.
The glowing card whizzed through the air like an arrow. It struck the beetle straight between its hard shells, piercing it's flesh by the inside. The beetle shuddered, then its 6 legs went limp.
"How are you doing that?" Liliana—currently going by a stray adventurer "Evanna"—asked in a low astonished voice.
Kaito wrinkled his nose. "This magic item can
"I'm not talking about the cards, how are you throwing them with such precision? You didn't miss a single shot!"
"None of the targets were moving. It's not something to be amazed at."
"I can't throw cards like that at all."
"Well, I doubt you've ever practiced doing it."
"Hey man," Satoru suddenly dropped into the conversation by flinging his arm around the grumpy Kaito. "Sometimes, you just take the compliment. It's good for your health."
He turned to the "Adventurer" as Kaito shrugged his arm off with a scowl.
"How's the brooch holding up there, Ms. Evanna?"
"Oh!" Liliana jumped in her spot, not expecting to be called out of nowhere.
She quickly collected herself and cleared her throat. Even though she had riddled her cloak with various magics that conceal her identity, she was cautious not to get caught.
"It's working wondrously, thank you." She brushed the small brooch over her cloath.
She had never considered that some adventures, and soldiers to an extention, needed extra protection to shield themselves mentally from the physiological shocks they might go through.
Frankly, it was outrageously shameful to her.
'How could I have been this ignorant to my own people's hardships?'
As Liliana got temporarily distracted, a Cockatrittle quickly scuttled from her back.
"Hey!" Kaito yelled and reached for his card pack, but Liliana reacted faster.
She unplucked the brooch, hefted her sword and swung it.
"[Brilliant laceration]!"
The blade of her sword flared up in a brilliant white light, and it sliced through the middle of the beetle like as if it was made of butter.
The sensation of cutting through thick flesh made Liliana shiver. It was very unpleasant, as if someone just dump a bucket of sticky sweage water over her head.
Still, she swallowed the feeling and stood straight.
"Let's continue on." She declaried. Then she realized Kaito was staring at her, quite impressed, and felt a small tingle arise inside her.
The princess quickly hung her head again in embarrassment.
"You're not half bad, aren't you?" Satoru said to Kaito with a smile.
"I didn't do anything." Kaito pointed out.
Satoru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. You're friend is right; we should move on."
"She is not my friend!" Katio retorted, much to Liliana's unspoken distraut, but they quickly moved their legs away from the battle sight.
[Line Break]
[Great Orcus Labyrinth—???th floor]
Within the dark room, someone raised her head in what felt like a century. Or was it 2 centuries? Hell, it might be 2000 centuries for all she know.
Whatever the case was, she didn't raise her head for no reason. The last time she did was when her "Guardian Monster", giant scorpion had regenerated.
It wasn't anything to call a fair fight, but she enjoyed its company for some time before finally granting mercy and killing it off.
And this time, she raised her head, because...
"...I can feel it." She muttered.
Her voice was raspy byeyond belief, because of the lack of moisture for...however long she had been kept here.
A pair of red eyes looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling itself was nothing special, except for the big jagged crystalized mana imbedded on the wall.
"Such delicious manas...I can feel it!"
Strands of golden hair moved up to the ceiling, through the microscopic holes inside the stones that formed the ceilings and walls of the Great Labyrinths.
The entire Labyrinths started to rumbled and shake. It was the sound of the layouts of the Labyrinth shifting once more.
"Bring them to me."
The vampire queen whispered.
And the Labyrinth complied.
