Chapter 214: Ugh
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 214: Ugh
“Found him.”
In the middle of the forest where a Labyrinth Wave was currently underway, the object Rubia had spotted in the air was Yoo Eon.
Since he had taken a form she remembered seeing once before, Rubia had a general idea of what was happening.
“Hey, hey, hey…! What is that?! Look at that!”
“What are you talking about… Holy shit, what the hell is that?!”
One by one, the people participating in the Labyrinth Opening defense began to turn their heads toward the sky and notice Yoo Eon. Rike, who was a fan of his, followed Rubia’s shout and shifted her gaze toward the air.
“H-Hngh…! He’s so cool…!”
—Crash!!
Distracted, she dropped her sword and was blown back just like Rubia had been. The barricade at the 11 o’clock position was on the verge of being completely overrun.
At that moment.
—Creeeeak…
Yoo Eon’s body seemed to swell for an instant, then his ribs split apart and his abdomen opened up as a massive creature began to pour out.
“Eek…! What is that?!”
Watching the scene, Rubia trembled violently in shock.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!!!!
“A M-Megido Serpent?!”
A roar struck their ears with heavy force. It was a monster Rubia, an explorer of the Calax Labyrinth, remembered seeing—the boss entity of the 3rd Stratum, the Megido Serpent.
The only difference was that this one was an Irregular entity.
The heavy raindrops falling from the sky began to gather around the Megido Serpent in an instant. As its massive body fell, countless monsters were already crushed to death beneath it.
The water-soaked grass gradually began to dry as a vast amount of water gathered toward the Megido Serpent’s gills. Soon, the Megido Serpent, having spread a veil of water over its entire massive frame, began to slither across the rough ground, crushing and devouring the monsters.
Naturally, the explorers who were unaware of Yoo Eon’s identity were in a state of total panic. A mysterious, demon-like figure had flown through the air, suddenly vomited out a boss-class monster from his body, and was now just watching.
“Shit…! Run, hurry—!!”
“No!! Block that thing first!!”
Due to the anomaly occurring inside the barricade perimeter meant for the Labyrinth Wave, numerous explorers began to run about in confusion.
“Wait a minute!! That person is an explorer!!!”
“An explorer…?! That thing?!”
“Dammit, now is not the time for jokes!!”
“I-I’m serious?!”
There was no time for jokes in front of the Megido Serpent, which was growing its water veil in real-time by absorbing the rain. One look was enough to tell that a mere graze from that thing would crush a person into a pile of meat.
Nevertheless, for the sake of clarification, Rubia flailed her short limbs and shouted toward Yoo Eon.
“Aven!! Over here—!!!!!”
Her shrill voice reached Yoo Eon, albeit faintly, through the Megido Serpent’s roars and the thunderous noise of its massive body moving.
—Snap!
Yoo Eon gave a thumbs-up with his left hand, and the other explorers stared at him.
“He’s… he’s really an explorer?!”
“Then does that mean that thing is a summon?!”
The swarms of monsters that had been making suicidal charges toward the 11 o’clock barricade were instantly turned into minced meat, becoming a special feast for the Megido Serpent.
However, the boss entity of the Labyrinth Opening had not yet appeared, and the explorers, who had lost their wits in the aftermath of Yoo Eon’s appearance, were struggling to handle the mounting numbers of monsters.
Yoo Eon, who had been floating blankly in the air, finally flapped his wings and began to move.
“Uh… where is he going…?”
“I-I don’t know either!”
Rubia joined back up with Rike, who had retrieved her hammer and was fighting again. The 11 o’clock position had finished reorganizing and restored the barricade, reducing the risk of a breakthrough, but requests for support were pouring in from other directions by the second.
Yoo Eon, his entire body wreathed in blue flames, suddenly shot forward like a projectile, charging toward a single point.
“Wait, h-hey?! He shouldn’t go there?!”
That place was none other than the Labyrinth Portal—the very portal that was currently in the process of opening.
“Is that crazy bastard insane?!”
Hardly anyone ever tried it, and few had even attempted it, but the curiosity of the Scholars belonging to the Page of Arcana was unstoppable.
Once, they had wondered what would happen if someone entered a Labyrinth Portal while it was in the middle of opening. To satisfy that curiosity, a Palladium-grade explorer had actually forced his way into an opening portal.
It was an opening for a labyrinth only 12 floors deep, but the result was a failure to return. And 27 minutes later, the Labyrinth Opening restarted.
When a labyrinth enters an opening state, the interior collapses, causing the monsters of every stratum to occupy the same space, blindly charging toward the portal leading to the surface.
The total number of monsters on just one floor would be in the thousands; naturally, the explorer had met his death, unable to withstand the sheer volume from dozens of floors.
—Swish!!
Not long after Yoo Eon threw himself into the Labyrinth Portal, the labyrinth stopped vomiting out monsters and went quiet.
“Shit…! What an idiot…!”
“Hurry, for now! This is our chance!”
It was unfortunate for the explorers in other areas, but this was a golden opportunity to clear out the monsters that had already reached saturation point inside the barricades. They hurriedly began to mop up the monsters and reinforce the barricades.
“Hey, you there! Do you know that guy from before?!”
“Huh?! Oh, yes!! He’s a friend, a friend!!!”
“A friend?! What’s with that guy?! Does he not know you aren’t supposed to enter an opening Labyrinth Portal?!”
“Huh…?”
Naturally, Rubia, who was a first-timer in a Labyrinth Wave defense, knew nothing of that fact. It wasn't something anyone tried, nor did anyone seem to even think about trying it. It wasn't something she had heard from her seniors in the Mayerbridge Union either.
To use an analogy, it was like having to explain why you shouldn't stab yourself in the heart. Everyone knew you'd just die. The Scholars had only pushed for it out of pure curiosity.
“W-Well…”
As the other explorers questioned her reproachfully, Rubia shrank back and stammered. Even though the monsters had stopped coming out because Yoo Eon entered the labyrinth, allowing them a moment to breathe.
—Grrrrr…
Behind the fidgeting Rubia, a massive shadow began to loom.
“H-Heck…! Isn't that thing dangerous?!”
With bone fragments and bits of flesh stuck all over its mouth, the Megido Serpent was staring blankly at Rubia. As the other explorers flinched and backed away, it turned its body back around and began to crunch and devour the corpses strewn across the ground.
“Geez. Is Aven an idiot?! Why did he go into the portal?!”
“Uuu… what should we do…?”
Rubia stomped her feet on the ground in frustration, while Rike stood beside her, equally restless.
For the Scholars, this was a favorable situation. An experiment that could never be repeated after the previous explorer was declared dead was now being performed by a nameless volunteer.
“What’s the status?!”
“I-It’s strange! The mana emitting from the portal is decreasing in real-time!”
The Scholars’ mana measuring devices were drawing a downward curve, showing that the mana inside the labyrinth was decreasing. This implied only one thing.
“No way… it couldn't be…?”
“I-It couldn't, right…?”
A senior Scholar held his breath, hoping against hope. The higher the number recorded on the measuring device, the more monsters were packed inside.
And now, that number was continuously dropping.
“Surely… I don't think he’s hunting the monsters inside….”
And for good reason—a Palladium-grade explorer had failed to survive an opening of a mere 12-floor labyrinth. Though the sight of that massive boss entity crawling out of his body had certainly been quite shocking.
“Explorer, was your name… Rubia?”
“Huh?! Oh, right! Rubia!”
“That explorer who just entered the Labyrinth Portal. Do you happen to know his grade…?”
“C-Cobalt Grade… I think that’s right….”
“Good grief…!”
By the time someone reached Cobalt Grade, the phenomenon of ‘not being someone who belongs at that grade’ usually didn't happen.
Low-grade explorers might rise through the ranks rapidly if they were lucky enough to acquire a skill with incredible performance, but Cobalt Grade was a rank that could only be reached through accumulated time and effort.
“Wait, hold on. Isn't this person that guy?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The one who got a double-rank promotion. The one who supposedly fought a Titanium Grade….”
“Oh, right! That’s him! He’s incredibly strong?!”
“Uuu… he’s so cool….”
Rubia hopped around, responding to the Scholars’ words. Rike stood behind Rubia, muttering something to herself.
Before they knew it, forty minutes had passed since Yoo Eon threw himself into the Labyrinth Portal.
—Wooooong….
As the Labyrinth Portal began to shimmer with an abnormal phenomenon, the Scholars and other explorers, who had been relaxing, picked up their weapons and began to watch the portal intently.
—Zap, crackle…!!
And then, the omen of the Labyrinth Opening restarting began. With a noisy sound like electrical sparks, the Labyrinth Portal swelled greatly.
“W-What about Aven?!”
“What do we do… uuu….”
That meant Yoo Eon had failed to return alive. Just as the Scholars were letting out deep sighs and preparing to reorganize for the Labyrinth Opening—
—Skreeeeek….
What emerged from the Labyrinth Portal with a bizarre sound was none other than Queen Arachne.
“W-Why is that thing here?!”
Explorers from Roanmarie or those who knew of Queen Arachne’s identity fell into a panic once again. Why would Queen Arachne, the boss of the 5th Stratum of Roanmarie’s Great Labyrinth, suddenly pop out in the middle of a Labyrinth Opening?
—Crackle….
As her intricately interlocking exoskeleton ground together, creating a skin-crawling sound, and her eight massive eyeballs rolled around—
“Huh…?”
“Heck!! He’s out!!!”
“Uuu… thank goodness….”
There was one person riding on Queen Arachne’s back.
“Whew, finally out.”
Yoo Eon, who had changed back into ordinary clothes at some point, spoke, and with his words, the Labyrinth Portal closed with a thunderous boom.
“W-Wait…?! It’s closing!”
“What on earth happened!”
Soon, as Yoo Eon reached his hand out into the air, the 30th-floor boss entity that was originally supposed to come out, and a 40th-floor boss entity they hadn't even known was there, appeared—their flesh swelling as bone, muscle, fat, and skin knitted together—and fell to the ground with a heavy thud!
“Unbelievable…! He went inside and took them all down?!”
Afterward, the resting Megido Serpent and Queen Arachne were deconstructed from skin to bone, as if reversing the previous process, and were absorbed through his fingertips.
“Ugh… I feel sick….”
Rubia covered her mouth and began to gag.