"That contemptible little bastard!" Meld roared in a fury.
He struck a nearby boulder with his broadsword, and the rock cleaved in half as if made of butter.
Needless to say, he was enraged by the blatant betrayal of Hiyama against his own teammates.
"I told those damned priests that the kid was up to no good, but noooo—I was the one who had to try harder to Reach within the troubled soul and Follow through god's will; whatever in hell that means!"
"Sir, you are scaring our disciples," Jose cut in with a sigh, "Also if you further insult the Church, we'll either have to cut our ears off or arrest you for sacrilege."
Meld took a deep breath. The students had backed away from the Captain during his rage-filled rant.
The remaining members of the Petty Four, or Diaboloz, were especially nervous as their track record wasn't clean by a long shot.
Meld cleared his throat and straightened up.
"Sorry about that," He grunted, quite embarrassed by his lack of self-control, "Backstabbing is one of the worst things one can do during a battle."
"I second that," Kaito muttered.
Princess Liliana, still disguised as a mysterious adventurer, tilted her head in curiosity.
As far as she collected, the heroes were summoned from a vastly improved world; what kind of backstabbing could Kaito have received?
"So, what happens now?" Ryutaro asked, more to break the awkwardly tense air than anything.
"I think it would be wise for us to retreat. You're all shaken up by the incident," Jose said. Then, he turned his eyes to Hajime with a quizzical gaze, "But I'd call the expedition a success; there was a surprising exceptional showcase of leadership, after all."
Everyone took a moment to glance at Hajime, who sheepishly scratched his cheek. He wasn't used to being the center of a positive spotlight, but he didn't hate it, either.
Kaori huffed proudly beside him.
"See? I told you all he could be amazing!"
"Kaori, please don't."
Hajime stopped his girlfriend before she could go into detail about what an amazing guy Nagumo Hajime truly was. He was certain that he couldn't stomach that.
Still, most of the gang nodded in agreement. After all, they had all witnessed Hajime's proficiency during the battle against the Rockmounts.
"What about Hiyama?" Kouki suddenly asked out loud, forcing the attention back to him, "Shouldn't we do something about him?"
"Not really," Meld grunted. He glared at the various dark corridors that led off in different directions into the Labyrinth.
"We don't know where he ran off to. We'll have to send a team of explorers to scout the floor properly once we get back up."
"We can do the expedition!" Kouki replied.
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Ryutaro interjected.
Normally he wasn't the one to reject an upcoming adventure.
However, even he was tired after the fight against an entire flock of monsters; Not to mention the mental shock that one of their classmates—as scummy as he was—left his peers to die for his survival.
All he currently wanted was to go back to the ground, lie on a comfortable bed, and hopefully sleep the day away.
The rest of the students noticeably shared Ryutaro's lack of enthusiasm. Kouki realized it too, but he tried to convince them otherwise with his usual charisma.
"Come on, everyone!" He told his classmates, "Like it or not, Hiyama is one of us. If he is lost, it's our responsibility to find him!"
"Yeah, I don't think that sociopath is one of us," Kaito retorted with air quotes.
Liliana tilted her head in confusion once more and mimicked the movement.
Kouki tried to argue against Kaito, but Meld put a shoulder on the adolescent hero.
"He has a point, Kouki. Like it or not, a betrayer isn't welcomed back to their unit. If we were to find him, it's because we need to bring him to justice."
"Yeah, if anyone has the right to say otherwise, it would be me or him."
Kaito pointed over his shoulder at Hajime, the other victim of Hiyama's cruelty.
He also glared at the remainder of Petty Four, daring them to speak up—but they only shied back into the corner.
Everyone's gaze returned to Hajime, who internally gulped at the sudden attention. However, he mentally slapped himself a few times and spoke up.
"I...I think we should search for Hiyama as well."
"What!?" Both Kaito and Kouki exclaimed, flabbergasted for differnet reasons.
"Don't get me wrong," Hajime hurriedly added, "I don't think all of us is responsible to search for him.
It's just that...well, I personally want a closer with him. A-and the Orcus Labyrinth is also a base for a lot of crimmal organizations, isn't it? If Hiyama were to get caught by one..."
"Pardon me?" Lilana yelped, horrified at the news that various crime syndicates were located right next to one of the biggest cities in the Heiligh Kingdom.
Meld muttered a curse under his breath. The thought hadn't occured to him until it was brought up.
"That could be a serious problem. If Freidhof gets a hold of him..."
"The best we can hope for is that Hiyama would be used as a propaganda against the Kingdom," Jose finished the sentence, looking grim as well, "We'll have to start the search as soon as possible."
Meld scowled and stroked his beard. He didn't want to put the students in more danger than it was necessary, and the line had been already pushed far over the limit.
"Alright then," Meld struck the ground with his sword, "We'll take volunteers. Those who want to help us searching, raise your hands."
Kouki immediately raised his hand, followed by Eri.
Hajime tentatively raised his hand too, but he was worried that he might've edged the others to sign up on this dangerous mission.
Not a second later, Kaori raised her hand.
"Kaori, you really don't have to." Hajime tried to console her, but she shook her head.
"If you're staying here, I'm going to be here too," Kaori said firmly, making it clear that their is no room for argument.
Shizuku raises her hand as well.
"Someone has to keep an eye on both of you," she said. l
Hajime didn't even bother to convince her otherwise. If he couldn't stop Kaori from following him, there was next to nothing he could do with Shizuku.
"Are there any more volunteers?" Meld asked.
Satoru nudged Kaito on the back. Kaito scowled and smacked his hand away.
Kaito didn't want to risk his life for Hiyama under sny circumstance; as far as he cared, the bastard being stuck in the Labyrinth was a benefit for everyone.
Satrou shrugged and raised his hand, "I'm not even tired right now. Besides, the kids need a chaperon from their own world as well, or Ms. Hatayama will have a heart attack."
Meld nodded. As much as he respected the young lady for her care of her students, she could be quite hysterical from time to time.
The rest of the students were skeptical on further exploration. Liliana was the only exception, but she also feared that her absence may be noticed by her bodyguard by now.
"Alright then. Bael, Ivan. Escort the students on the way back and inform the Guild on what happened, got it?"
"Yes, Captain!"
The two knights gathered the remaining students and led them to the staircase back up to thr 19th floor.
"Hey, Mollycoddle!"
Hajime instinctively turned around. Before he could feel ashamed, a card flying at his face.
Hajime barely managed to catch it before it struck him between the eyes. He flipped it over and found a Joker drawn on it. It wasn't a card made in Tortus.
"That's one of my favorite cards. Come back with that, or else," Kaito snarled.
Hajime stared at him for a moment, then grinned. He pocketed the card and shouted, "You can count on it!"
Kaito clucked his tongue once and quickly turned his back.
"Right then..." Meld scanned the small gathering of people left in the dungeon. A total of 8, with two knights including him.
"Hajime, Kaori, Shizuku. You're accompanying me. Jose, you lead Kouki, Eri and Satoru."
Jose nodded, "Yes, Captain."
He beckoned his team to come close to him. Satoru sighed, suddenly regretting his choice to stay behind, but sulked next to the vice captain.
Kouki was unhappy with the group formation because Kaori and Shizuku was paired with Hajime yet again.
However, he couldn't call out and objection because pointing that out seemed petty in his eyes.
After a brief discussion, Jose took one of the paths on the right, and Meld took the path on the left.
As they went deeper into the Labyrinth, a sudden chill ran down Hajime's spine. He quickly looked over his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Hajime?" Kaori asked.
"Nothing," Hajime waved her concern away. For a moment, it felt like someone was watching him—someone with glinting red eyes of a predator.
Hajime shook his head and tried to swallow the growing concern in his stomach.
However, he couldn't quite get rid of the feeling that, some of them won't return to the surface for a long time.
[Line Break]
"Haa...haa..."
Hiyama collapsed next to a nearby fountain. He had ran non-stop ever since he left his lackies to die, and his hesrt pounded with exhaustion and rage.
"Those traitors..." He growled under his heavy breath. Though everyone else would say otherwise, in Hiyama's view, everything was their—and Hajime's—fault.
If those idiots had followed him, instead of that idiot Hajime, he would've been fine. Then he wouldn't have had to leave those suckers to die.
"What does that loser think he is anyway, ordering people like that?!" He shouted loudly to noone bit himself.
He kicked a fist-sized rock into the water stream in anger, making a loud splash. Then, a low growl echoed from the far depths of the Labyrinth, and he shrank into the shadow in fear.
Hiyama didn't know that he had been already vastly lucky that he wasn't interrupted by a stray monster during his blind run.
His saving grace was that the Orcus Labyrinth got wider and wider with each floor. By the 20th floor, it pared with [Town of Horaud] in size.
Hiyama rested his back on a nearby rock, sipped the stream to quench his sore throat, and contemplated his next move.
There was no chance for survival in the Labyrinth. He had to find a way up to the surface; then, he could ask the Church for help.
They couldn't possibly abandon him after everything they told him, right?
"...If only I could make my way out," He muttered.
Then, he heard some footsteps coming closer. Hiyama immediately jumped to his feet and hurriedly looked around for a place to hide.
He eventually crawled into a small crack in the side of the wall. His one eye peaked to the outside, wondering with pounding heart who'd be walking around the Great Labyrinth.
Three sets of boots came to a stop nearby the creak. None belonged to the knights of the Heiligh Kingdom, which confused Hiyama more.
He considered showing himself, wondering if he could use these three packs as a bodyguard, when one of them slammed a humongous blade on the ground.
It cleaved the hard, rocky earth with ease. The sword was about 6 feet, longer than Hiyama's total height.
And as Hiyama coward in fear of the weaponry, the owner lifted it with ease as if it was a small twig on the ground.
"Where'd those goddamned monkeys go?" He grunted. His voice was low and rugged like an old yet ferocious Lion, "The Big man said we needed at least twelve of them skinned by this week! And it's already Saturday!"
"Oh please, quit your whining, Gertison. They are nearby. We just need to track them, as usual." Another voice chimed, this one softer—yet Hiyama felt a chill run down his spine.
He had a funny feeling that this one was much more dangerous than the guy with a 6-feet tall sword, which said a lot.
The third person didn't say anything. Come to think of it, Hiyama wasn't sure if the third figure was even a person because all it did was sniff the air non-stop.
Then, he saw someone crouch down. A furry snout of a wolf sniffed around the grating, licked the surface of the stream, and growled.
"Well, Vermale? Did you pick up anything?" The soft voice asked.
The wolfman growled and turned in Hiyama's direction. Hiyama stifled a squeak of terror and tried to crawl deeper into the small hiding hole.
Meanwhile, the three strangers gathered around the small crack.
"I don't think there are going to be any monkeys inside this, Kalther," Gertison grunted.
"Oh, hardly so," Kalther agreed. He reached to his side and pulled out a long rapier from his belt. "But Vermale has never led us to anything uninteresting, has he?"
He patted the wolfman next to him on the head. The monster man sniffed and pawed his snout.
Kalther sat next to the small hole. He was about to poke into the small gap when a sudden outburst from across the corridor.
"Who's there!?"
Hiyama nearly jumped into the ceiling he was hiding in. Never in his life was he glad to hear Kouki's voice until this moment.
The three men looked up. Kouki had his sword drawn out, aimed at the strangers. Eri was behind his back, frowning at the small crack near the bottom of the wall.
"Sir Jose, is there any chance they are the good guys and this is all a huge misunderstanding?" Satrou asked, sizing the three men up.
Jose shook his head as he unsheathed his blade, "No. They are one of the more well-known collectors of Freidhof."
"You mean they are slave traders?!" Kouki exclaimed in a fury.
On the other side, Gertison lowered his head next to Kalther.
"That's the Knight of Heiligh Kingdom. Should we make a run for it?"
"No, no. There are only four of them. I think we can handle them before the cavalry arrives."
"All right!" Gertison cracked a ferocious grin as if he expected the answer.
He swung the heavy blade around and pointed at Kouki, who was starting to notice that his buster sword was tiny in comparison.
"If we take those precious artifacts under your belts, the Big man is going to love it! And you'll all make fone slaves too—especially that one!"
He nudged his chin at Eri, which poured fire over Kouki's rage.
"I'm not going to lose to a criminal!" He shouted back, but the three men only jeered.
"It would be best for us to mark one of each," Jose said, whirring his brains to devise the best strategy, "Kouki, you deal with the big man. I'll take the rapier—"
"—And that leaves me with the doggy. Got it."
Satrou slammed his fist into his hand.
As much as he was irritated at Kouki for picking a fight they could have avoided, he wouldn't miss out on serving some violent justice.
"Go!" Jose shouted, and the men all lunged at each other.
Kouki swung his blade in full force. The Holy sword shone with bright light, blinding Getison in the middle of his charge.
"[Soar unto heaven, O divine wings— Celestial Flash!]"
Kouki swung at the opening, sending a crescendo of light mana that cleaved through the rocky surface.
However, Getison roared and cut the shockwave in half. The blinding light of the magic scattered away into the air and vanished.
"What the—" Kouki gasped as the large man lumbered forward with a smirk.
Before he could react, Getison grabbed Kouki by the armor and picked him up like a stuffed puppet, then slammed him against the wall.
"Combat is not all about having the strongest swing, kiddo." He growled right into Kouki's face, making him gag from the horrid stench of the uncleaned mouth.
Getison smirked and readjusted his huge sword, preparing to impale the famed hero of the church through the stomach, when someone called from behind.
"Hey, meathead! Watch out for your back!" Satoru yelled.
He quickly zipped back from the snapping jaw of the wolfman Vermale and leaped to save Kouki.
The swordsman turned around with a snarl. His sword flipped vertically as a shield. However, Satoru slid under the blade's edge, knocking him into the Achilles' heel.
"Gah!" Gertison yelped as his knees buckled, giving Kouki room to breathe. He grabbed the hand on the armor and managed to pry it away.
"Yaaa!" With a battle cry, Kouki swung the flat side of his blade at the side of Gertison's head.
Gertison quickly ducked under the swing and tried to grab Kouki again, but he quickly backed out of his reach.
Meanwhile, Kalther and Jose exchanged fast-paced thrusts and parries, forming a semi-circle around each other.
"Don't you worry for your pupils, good knight?" Kalther asked cheerfully, "Gertison is not a foe to be taken lightly."
Jose kept his mouth shut, not bothering to engage with a criminal more than he had to.
Believe it or not, both Kouki and Satrou had the skills to take on seasoned criminals—and the Vice Captain trusted them enough to be victorious, even if Kouki was a bit more unreliable.
While the fiasco was taking place, Eri took the absence of attention on her and quietly snuck to the crack near the floor.
She peered into the eye blinking in the dark, and hissed, "What on earth are you doing inside?!"
"What do you think, you bimbo?!" Hiyama hissed back, "I'm trying to stay alive here!"
"Don't call me a bimbo; you retarded welch!" Eri snapped back. She was already regretting her choice of a lackey in her grand plan, but it was too late to back out now.
Making sure that everyone was occupied, she reached inside the crack and pulled Hiyama out. Then, she shoved a silver orb into his hand and pushed him away.
"W-wait, what do I do with—" Hiyama complained, hopelessly confused.
Eri resisted the urge to smack him and explained, "Go find somewhere secluded and read the enchantment surrounding it! It'll help you escape! Now go!"
With no room to argue, Hiyama hurriedly ran deeper into the Labyrinth with the orb clutched in his hand.
Eri sighed and turned around, only to find the wolfman Vermale growling over her head, baring his fangs together.
"Aahhh!"
She screamed in her most convincing manner yet. Eri backed away, waving her staff in an imitation of sheer panic and fell on her back.
Of course, her scream was caught by the hero of the group.
"Eri!" Kouki shouted.
He rushed to the confused wolfman in a blink of an eye. Vermale snarled at the approaching threat and swiped with his claws.
Kouki managed to narrowly sidestep it and slashed with his sword. It cut through the wolfman's right shoulder, and he howled with pain as blood splattered over the cave wall.
Kouki quickly slammed his foot into the wolfman's chest, forcing him down and put the sword tip over his heart.
"Hey! I've beaten one of your associates!" He called out to the rest of the battle raging around.
Kalther snorted, "Is that so?"
He quickly drew his sword back. Jose stumbled slighlty as his sword struck thin air. Kalther took the openeing to turn around and whizz toward Kouki.
"Watch out—" Jose tried to warn, but it was too late.
Before Kouki had even a chance to fathom what was charging to him, his vision filled with red.
"Hgh—" Kouki gasped, his voice clogged up by pain and fear as he staggered back. His empty hand automatically sprang to the source of the pain—his right eye.
"Kouki!" Eri screamed with sincerity this time.
Enraged, she tried to take aim at the attacker, but Kalther smacked her aside without a second thought.
He kicked the wolfman at the side. Vermale yelped in pain, but forcefully climbed himself up to his feet.
"Gertison! We're leaving." Kalther barked.
Gertison snarled in frustration, but after shunting away Satoru's kick, he retreated with his other two companions.
Everyone left behind gathered around Kouki, who slumped against the wall.
"Kouki, take your hand off. I need to check your wound." Jose said, trying his best to keep his voice level as usual.
"Wh-what is happening?" Kouki stammered, terrified, "Am, am I going to die?"
His hand didn't move from his bleeding face. Finally, Satoru had to pull it away by force and Jose took a quick inspection.
"Is he going to be alright?!" Eri demanded. She didn't even notice the huge bruise on her face as she huddled next to Kouki.
Jose sighed with relief, "Yes. The blade only grazed the socket. He'll be fine. Fetch me the medical kit."
"Here." Satoru handed the small backpack he had around his belt.
Jose pulled out a small flask of healing position and carefully poured it over Kouki's wound.
Kouki winced in pain as the red-transparent fluid washed over his eye.
"Wh-where's Kaori...?" He muttered. Then, he felt someone squeeze his hand.
"Well, I'm here." Eri suggested with a faint smile.
Kouki blinked with one eye for a few seconds.
"Thanks," He muttered, then passed out.
Jose cleaned the wound around his face and stood up, "I think we should go back. Kouki has spended too much mana. He needs rest."
"I need some too," Satoru yawned loudly to proove his point, "That guy, Gertison was it? He was surprisingly strong."
"Yes, the criminals around Tortus are gaining strength by the passing day, and we are hopelessly weak." Jose said with a grim expression.
"That's why we need heroes such as you...as embarrassing as it is."
The vice-captain hefted Kouki on his back, and the trio traced their way back to one of the staircases leading them upstairs.
[Line Break]
"Oooh..." Kaori softly exclaimed as they entered yet another room. But unlike the previous rooms, it was filled with glittering red minerals that twinkled like a lamp.
Hajime quickly took her wrist before Kaori could pick a small rock from a stalactite.
"Careful, that's an adereite. It might burn your skin."
Kaori quickly reeled her hand back in shock, "What do you mean?"
"The mineral isn't high temperature, but when it gets heated, it takes far too long to cool down. So when you grab it like this..."
Hajime put on a pair of gloves and used [Transmute] to take off a huge chunk of adereite from the wall.
After a few seconds, the gloves started to sizzle as the rock began to glow red. Hajime quickly dropped the huge rock, which kept shining brighter and brighter, heating the stone floor.
"It absorbs the heat from my hand and reproduces it constantly. They used to use these as charcoals before it caused enough fire downtown."
"I see..." Kaori eyed the shinning minerals with a newly obtained concern.
On the other hand, Meld chuckled from the front. "You know, you could consider enrolling as a professor in the Kingdom? I think the queen would be more than happy to have one of the heroes as a private teacher."
"Oh," Hajime pat his chest, flustered by the offer, "I, I don't think I'm quite qualified for something like that, sir. I only read about them in a library book."
Meld shrugged, "That's a step in the right direction."
They left the room filled with heating rocks. As they left the room, Hajime heard it melting through the floor. He hoped it wouldn't cause any harm to someone else.
Another half an hour passed with the search for Hiyama, but sadly, there were no signs of a degenerate anywhere.
At one point, they had accidentally run into the tribe of Rockmounts from before. Thankfully, the group's silverback was in no haste to anger Shizuku, so there wasn't any additional trouble.
Finally, Meld threw in the towel.
"We'd better go back," He grunted, "If we spend too much time down here, the others might think we got lost."
He glanced apologetically at Hajime, "Sorry for all this, son."
"I'm fine," Hajime quickly assured, but Meld shook his head.
The Captain sighed, "I should've been more active in trying to stop all the bullying that happened.
I'm very much glad and thankful that you managed to pull through. That's the courage and willpower everyone needs."
He patted Hajime on the shoulder. Hajime tried to come up with something to say, but everything that came to mind felt too cheesy, so he simply nodded.
"Why did you let it happen, Captain—erm, no offense," Kaori asked on their way back.
Meld grunted. His smile turned into a grimace, but it wasn't aimed at Kaori for asking a controversial question.
The Captain looked around to both sides as if checking for an eavesdropper in the middle of the dungeon, then sighed.
"Alright, might as well tell this to you lot while we are down here." Meld cleared his throat.
The three students perked up their ears to anticipate the story.
"You see, the Church basically rules the Heiligh Kingdom. We have a King—well, a Queen—and the royal bloodline, but they are second fiddle to the Church regarding power."
"How did that happen?" Shizuku asked with a frown.
Meld sighed again and flexed his arm as if it suddenly ached.
"Before we tried to summon all of you, the war between the human race and the demons was much more...active.
Countless battles took place on various grounds. Sadly, our army was hopelessly outmatched. Heiligh Kingdom isn't well-known for their military power.
We had to ask help from various factions: Fuhren, the Hoelscher Empire and, the Holy Church of the [Divine Mountains]."
Hajime recalled each of the names from the couple of histort literatures he had read through.
Furhen was a city of mercantile, while Hoelscher Empire was famous for their powerful soldiers and rough life styles.
But the Holy Church was something he knew very little about.
At least, they're past was shrouded in a vague mystery as most of the book regarded them as the messenger of God to give them salvation.
"The Kingdom is in debt to all of those factions at the moment, and the war isn't even officially over.
I'm not familiar with what Fuhren or the Empire ordered as payment, but the Church wanted the Kingdom to accept them as the state religion."
"So that's how they gained the upper hierarchy?" Kaori asked, "They helped saved the Kingdom, only to slowly take it as their own?"
Meld's shoulder sagged, as if Kaori's words were heavy weight crushing on his shoulders. However, he nodded grimly.
"It's the current state of this Kingdom. That's one of the reasons why we summoned heroes from another worlds."
"To obtain some sort of independence," Shizuku guessed. Meld nodded, but Shizuku remembered something from their first day at Tortus.
"Didn't someone from the Empire said something like we had only 3 months at Heiligh Kingdom?" She recalled, "What was his name again?"
"Prince Invias, and yes." Meld said, "After 2 months from now, the Empire would come to inspect all of you. If they are unsatisfied, they might take away all of you for a more practical training."
Hajime winced at the idea. Kaori and Shizuku didn't know much about the Hoelscher Empire, but they suspected that the "Practical Training" won't be anything beneficial to them from Hajime's reaction.
"Welp!" Meld clapped his hands once in an effort to bring up the mood. "Don't sweat yourselves over that. If you all try your best, then there won't be much trouble."
"We'll do our best," Kaori assured.
"Certainly," Hajime agreed.
As he said that, he realized that he liked the Heiligh Kingdom more than he thought.
The food was delicious. The beds were comfortable. The Library of the Kingdom was filled with winderous books...all seemingly minor traits, but they were all hard to find the Empire.
Besides, it was on Heiligh ground where he truely developed as a person. He wouldn't want to leave it behind if he could help it.
But as soon as Meld smiled at his pupils, his expression strickened. Shizuku noticed the disharmony a second later and shot her arm out, preventing Kaori from walking any further.
"What?" Kaori whispered, but the two warriors both put finger on their lips.
The entire Labyrinth shuddered. Suddenly, a blast of red mana swept across the cave.
"W-what was that?!" Kaori yelped in a hushed voice. All of her hair stood on end from the sudden wave of mana.
However, before anyone could answer, someone else appeared from one of the branching hallways of the corridor.
"Heh, he he...perfect. It really does look like god is on my side." Hiyama chuckled.
Behind him, a beautiful woman with long silver hair and silver eyes was floating a few inched from the ground.
She held a pair of greatswords, one in each hand, and her lifeless blue eyes scanned the four opposing humans a few feet across.
'That is not a human,' Hajime realized.
But he was taken aback a second later when the woman, or the thing, turned to Hiyama and spoke.
"...What shall I do with them, my master?"
"Hmm," Hiyama tapped his chin with a smug grin, "Start with killing of the men. I think I'll enjoy the girls before I get bored."
The 112th Apostle, given to Hiyama by Eri, nodded and raised her arms over her head.
The greatswords glowed in silver light, much brighter than any magic they witnessed before hand.
"Run," Meld muttered.
"What?" Kaori asked, too appalled by everything to properly understand the situation.
"RUN!" Shizuku repeated in a yell. She grabbed Kaori and Hajime with each arm, pulled them down to the ground and rolled to the side.
The Apostle struck down the two swords. A huge pillar of silver light roared past like a train. The ground shuddered violently and the air grew hot as it pushed against their skin.
Hajime heard Kaori scream over the ruckus, which was the only reason he refrained from screaming himself.
When the light died down, Hajime looked over Shizuku's shoulder at the sight of destruction.
There was a huge curve paved on the floor, stretching for miles and miles ahead. It was as if the laser deleted the portion of the floor out of existence.
But the most horrifying thing was the broad sword, carried by their trusted captain, lying on the side of the half-tunnel dug on the floor.
The owner of the sword was nowhere to be seen.
Hajime resisted the urge to throw up. He was so shocked at what just happened that his brain simply refused to accept it.
"W-what...w-where is..." Kaori stammered in shock, but her eyes stared to well with tears.
Meanwhile, Hiyama laughed out loud. "Yes! Look at that power! That's what you get for opposing me!Now all of you shall bow down at my feet, or else!"
"You insane bastard!" Shizuku yelled in fury, also blinking back tears.
Before anyone could stop her, she drew her sword.
Shizuku rushed toward Hiyama faster than she had ever dared to go—her form nearly becoming a blurr as she aimed to slice Hiyama across the throat; her fear of killing be damned.
However, just before she reached the target, the Apostle suddenly swooped in between.
She flicker her left hand and the sword went flying out of Shizuku's hand. Less than a second later, Shizuku was thrust into the ground by a choke slam.
"...!"
A splutter of blood shot out from her mouth as the earth caved in around her. If she hadn't grown stronger during the month of training in Tortus, she would've died instantly on the spot.
Be that as it may, the impact of the choke slam had knocked the Consciousness out of Shizuku, her body going limp as the Apostle slowly rised up.
"Hey, I told you not to damage the girls too much." Hiyama scolded, though the smile didn't leave his face.
The Apostle tilted her head in her master's direction, still holding the unconscious Shizuku in one hand, "I apologize for my mistake, my master."
"Shizuku!" Kaori cried in horror.
She lurched forward, trying to rush to her friend, but Hajime quickly pulled her back before she made that fatal mistake.
Despite it being a horrible idea, Kaori fought against Hajime's arms desperately holding her in place.
"Let me go!" She cried, "Shizuku is going to die! Let me go!"
"Yeah, let her go!" Hiyama jeered, "It'll be easier to wipe you off the earth like Meld, you scumbag!"
Hajime gritted his teeth to hold back his rage. For once, he was glad that he wasn't "Smart" so to say.
He always needed the extra second to take in all of the information. And now, that trait stopped him from acting rationally.
His heart pounded against his chest. His brain whirred in hyperspeed. A plan began forming inside his head.
First, he pressed his mouth close to his struggling girlfriend.
"Kaori, listen to me," he whispered, "I have a plan to get Shizuku safe. But you need to follow through exactly as I say. Can you trust me?"
Kaori stopped struggling. She looked up at her boyfriend with tear-riddled eyes, but nodded. If she trusted anyone, it was Hajime.
"Thank you," Hajime glanced at Hiyama once again, who was frowning at them for being too close.
Apostle floated next to Hiyama, "I can see that they are causing you discomfort, my master." She pointed at Hajime and Kaori. "Shall I exterminate them?"
"No, no. I have to get him to hand off Kaori himself." Hiyama said, mostly to himself. He cackled from the mere thought and turned to the couple.
"Now, hand over Kaori, Nagumo!" He barked in a commanding tone, "Or else I'll have my servant kill you painfully rather than instantly."
"W-wait!" Kaori spoke up, "I, I'll come to you on my own Hiyama, just please don't hurt Hajime!"
"Aww, how touching." Hiyama sneered.
His eyes narrowed as he squinted at Kaori; it was fairly believable that she'd willingly sacrifice herself to him in order to save Hajime, but Hiyama didn't trust her. Nor did he like the idea to begin with.
So he barked a second order: "Throw away your staff and crawl on all fours!"
Kaori flinched, "W-what?"
"Do it!" Hiyama yelled, quickly getting frustrated, "Or do you want to crawl over here naked?!"
Kaori glanced at Hajime with an unsure look, but there weren't any room for bargain in the first place.
Before Hiyama really pushed further, Kaori set down her staff and crawled to the most loathsome person in her life.
"Don't get up," Hiyama snarled when Kaori arrived at his feet, "I'll tell you when you get up, understand?"
"Y, yes." Kaori looked down, seemingly in shame and defeat, but secretly taking the chance to glance at Hajime.
Hiyama huffed in satisfaction and, after a brief consideration, decided to take seat on Kaori's back.
Kaori whimpered at the sudden weight applied on her back, not-so-kindly as well, but she endured the humiliation.
"Now get rid of him." Hiyama nodded toward Hajime, who sat on the ground, staring into the floor in front of him as if it wallowing in despair as well.
Apostle nodded and dropped the motionless body of Shizuku on the ground. She raised her swords once again, charging the silver light on the blades...
"W-wait!" Kaori shouted.
Hiyama frowned, but gestured at the Apostle to stop for the moment.
"You didn't really expect I'd let him live, did you Kaori?" He sneered, palming over her ass with one hand.
Kaori bit on her lips, swallowing every single curse word she wanted to throw at him, and said in a surprisingly persuasive shaking voice.
"Can I h-heal Shizuku beforehand? A-at least, show him that she is fine before..."
Hiyama narrowed his eyes again. No doubt it was a trap to get Shizuku healed...but it was already proven that Apostle could guard him faster than Shizuku could attack.
'It would be nice to violate them both in front of the filth before killing him off...Yeah...'
The more he thought about it, he liked the idea. Hiyama nodded, "Fine. You get heal her. It's my mercy."
"Thank you," Kaori said.
Hiyama spanked her hard, "Thank you, Master."
Kaori balled her fists against the ground.
"Thank you, master," she repeated. Hiyama slid off Kaori, and she sat up and hurried next to her friend left on the cold floor.
Hiyama watched closely as Kaori fumbled over Shizuku's head wound. The Apostle was keeping its eyes fixated on Hajime, dutifully carryinf out its last order.
Then, Kaori suddenly said, "W, wait, Hiy—Master, could you come over here?"
Hiyama scowled loudly, "For what? Just heal the damn bitch already!"
"Please! Just, come here for a second. Something is wrong with her."
Hiyama frowned even deeper.
But at this point, he just wanted to make the two prettiest girls in his class kneel under his feet, so he huddled next to Karoi and looked down at Shizuku.
"What's wrong with her?" He demanded.
"This." Kaori held out her hand right in front of his eyes, holding a green gem.
Before Hiyama could register what wad happening, Kaori smashed the Glowstone in her hand. It flashed a blinding light like a flash grenade and Hiyama cried out in pain as he rolled backwards, clawing at his eyes.
Kaori took the moment to hand Hiyama the best kick she could manage between his legs, adding a new layer to his pained screech.
And just in time, a tunnel opened up in the ground right next to her; a tunnel Hajime had been carefully carving with his one and only ability as a Synergist.
As soon as she entered the tunnel, it closed behind her. The floor moved like a travelator and seconds later, Kaori popped up on the other side.
"Let's go!" Hajime shouted while helping Shizuku up, who was just waking up from her coma.
"Master, your prisoners are escaping. What shall I do?" The Apostle asked in a lifeless tone.
"KILL THEM!" Hiyama shrieked, still rolling on the ground in pain, "KILL THEM ALL!"
Right as the command was given, Apostle sprang into action. it sprouted silver wings from its back and excelerated to the culprits.
In a second or two, it blocked Hajime and Kaori's path and raised her arm to strike down.
Hajime hoped to every god he can imagine that he wasn't wrong as he stretched forward and planted his hand firmly on Apostle's stomach.
Right before it sliced all three of them in one swing, he focused all of his mana on the hand and shouted, "Transmute!"
The Apostle froze in the middle of the swing.Then, its body crumbled from where Hajime's hand was placed.
"...!" Apostle's eyes widened in shock—her first sign of emotion.
However, Hajime's mana was too weak against the full might of its prowess. In mere seconds, the mangled body began to regenerate itself.
Hajime cursed under his breath, fighting the crashing wave of nausea from overusing mana.
"Hajime!" Karoi quickly grabbed him before he fell back. Shizuku was yet unable to shake off her daze, still being far from fully healed.
Kaori still tried to pull them both alongside her, even resorting to using her mana as a strength boost, which she was never good at.
However, all she managed as extra few steps before the Apostle fully recovered. And in a cruel irony, her mana hit rock bottom at the same time.
Kaori fell to the floor, Hajime and Shizuku slipping out of her grip. The Apostle loomed over them, with her arm raised.
"Wait, I changed my mind." Hiyama's voice said from over her head.
Then, she felt a hand grab a fistful of her hair and force her to look up. Hiyama was looked down into her eyes with a deranged glint in his black eyes.
"Nice little trick there, cunt."
Before Kaori can make any comment, Hiyama slapped her across the face—hard.
When Hajime stirred from the ground, Hiyama spat on his head and ordered the Apostle to keep his head down with her feet.
"But in the end, the strongest are the ones who prevail, understand?"
Kaori tried to turn her head away, utterly disgusted at the being in front of him. But Hiyama grabbed her chin with his other hand and forcefully made her look back.
"I asked if you understood," He said each slowly, as if talking to a toddler.
Hajime struggled under the pressure on his head, but he just couldn't get it out. After everything he planned, he was overpowered by brute force.
If only he had...
More power?
Hajime tensed. The voice didn't belong to anyone in the area. It was as if the voice was inside his head.
The voice continued.
I knew I sensed a strong source of mana somewhere...but an Apostle? This is unexpected.
"Help..."
Hajime grunted. It was a desperate move, but literally had no other option. Any second from now, Hiyama might molest Kaori and Shizuku for all he knew.
The telepathic voice giggled.
I will, but there is a catch.
Hajime could hear Kaori whimpering.
"I'll do it..."
Are you sure? You didn't even here it.
"Just do it!"
Suddenly, the entire Labyrinth shook once again.
Hiyama froze, his mouth half an inch away from Kaori's. Even Apostle scanned around the cave.
Just as one was about to think it was nothing, the Labyrinth shook again; more violently this time.
"What in the—" Hiyama started to say, when the Apostle suddenly tackled him to the side.
Around Hajime, Kaori and Shizuku, the floor of the Labyrinth cracked open with a flash of red light. And before anyone could move, or speak, the chuck of the floor fell down.
"What the hell!?" Hiyama shouted and scrambled over edge of the cliff.
He looked down, expecting them to be huddled down at the next floor. However, the floor beneath them had an identical hole as well.
And the floor beneath that too, continuing into a sinkhole with seemingly no end to the drop.
"Shall I go after them, Master?" Apostle suggested.
Hiyama licked his lips, considering the option. But just at the moment, another roar echoed through the corridor.
"...no," Hiyama decided, "You'll guard me safely until I get out of this cursed maze."
"Yes, My master."
Well, wasn't that a train wreck of a chapter.
I think a lot of people would fall off from the story after this(If anyone still watches this)
Sorry it took so long(again), it has been a very challenging life for me for the last month or month and a half.
But at least the story finally got into the interesting part! So I'll do my best to deliver the next chapter faster!
Before I leave, I have a question.
I prodded at the aspect on more erotic scenes(albeit very dark) in the chapter—what do you think about that?
I mainly rated the story M, because I wanted less limit on my story, but I'm not sure about going full throttle on the whole sex and what not.
By all means, it won't turn the story into the smut fic, but I would be lying if I said I didn't want to write any.
I'd appreciate some thoughts on your end. And any other questions or criticisms are, of course, welcomed.
I'll see you all at the next chapter!
Ta ta~!
