Chapter 220: Quite Fitting
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 220: Quite Fitting
“It’s good to have such a capable son-in-law.”
“Haha. Is that so?”
After using a teleportation artifact to reach the 40th floor, we immediately ascended to the 41st, and the environment shifted instantly.
I had heard of it before, but the 5th Stratum was a brutal savanna—oppressively hot and humid, teeming with beast-type monsters that sprinted frantically while engulfed in flames.
As for what exactly Father liked about me...
“Where did you get this, anyway?”
“Theodora has a connection with a certain factory. This was used as a cooler there, but its effectiveness was about to run out, so I took it off their hands.”
“I see! I wish the beer at the inn was a bit colder, too. Is there any way you could manage that?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
He seemed to take a real liking to the Frost Core I’d brought along. I used my wings to block the scorching sunlight, and by pulling out the Frost Core in the shade to cool ourselves down, it felt quite refreshing.
I also tend to struggle with my body growing larger and accumulating a lot of heat when I enter my combat form, so I was reaping the full benefits of the Frost Core myself.
I had fashioned a net-like structure out of keratin—something I rarely had a use for—and placed the Frost Core inside to prevent frostbite from direct contact.
I’d probably need to acquire an organ with high heat resistance later on.
—Kuaaaaaargh!!
“Father, coming from the side.”
“Right, I’ve got it.”
A massive buffalo-type monster with pink flames trailing from its back charged at us with incredible speed. Its name was an Umbra Buffalo. For some reason, most creatures living in the 5th Stratum had 'Umbra' attached to their names.
Dealing with them was quite simple.
—Slash...
Thud!!
Father opened a portal and sliced off one of its front legs with his sword. The beast tumbled across the ground and died shortly after. The moment these creatures stopped moving, the flames on their bodies would flare up and consume their entire form, leaving not even a corpse behind.
“Is that lady not coming out?”
“You mean Iris?”
Iris had told me not to summon her in the 5th Stratum. Her reason was simply that it was too hot. Considering how her magic item shop was always drafty and chilled, she likely despised the heat.
If she ever gets on my nerves, I’ll have to dump her here in the 5th Stratum and make a run for it.
“Are you alright, Father?”
“It’s still bearable. The heat is the worst part, though. It’s scarier than Horus.”
“I see.”
When the water content in my body drops, moisture stored in my other organs automatically replenishes my system. Of course, drinking water still feels refreshing to the throat, so there’s that.
“Now, let’s pick up the pace. With that artifact, we won't have to trudge through the 5th Stratum next time, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Since I had Aurora’s artifact, there was no need to do this every time I climbed the Labyrinth. Once I consumed Horus on the 50th floor, I planned to go up to the 51st floor and set up a magic formation.
* * *
With the Frost Core on my back and my wings spread, it took about two hours to reach the 45th floor. While consuming Horus was the primary objective, the next task was to eat an Umbra Valkyrie, which began appearing in the skies of the 5th Stratum from the 44th floor upward.
I’d heard they looked like black eagles wreathed in pink flames, but for some reason, I hadn't spotted any on the 44th floor.
However, on the 45th floor...
“Be careful. It hurts like hell if one of the fireballs they spit hits you.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
The monsters of the 5th Stratum shared a unique method of mana collection.
The mana they possessed was characterized by causing intense pain upon contact, and they gathered mana from the 'pain' of other living beings.
The most potent version of this effect belonged to the mana core of the Umbra Valkyrie, a semi-mid-boss entity. These creatures lacked any sense of kinship; they would dive-bomb or spit fireballs at anything they saw—human or monster—to spread their flames.
Because of them, monster encounters were relatively infrequent, but each one was incredibly dangerous. Ultimately, humans find it difficult to withstand such intense pain, and losing consciousness is as good as death.
When Iris had fed me an Umbra Valkyrie’s eye, the trace amounts of mana remaining in it had flowed through my optic nerves, and I had experienced agonizing pain.
—Whoosh!
“Hah. Good eyes they’ve got.”
Their primary method of attack was lobbing fireballs from high altitudes. Naturally, explorers without long-range interception capabilities had to keep moving to dodge them. Consequently, once spotted, one would have to run incessantly until they could reach a portal.
“What did you do in situations like this, Father?”
“I’m good at chasing, but I have my portals. I’d just pop into a cave or something using a portal to lose them.”
“And your teammates?”
“They just ran their hearts out.”
“Ah.”
Fortunately, Mr. Bontes's cat was a mana-based lifeform, so it wasn't affected by the heat and could run indefinitely, making it surprisingly convenient. That cat really is a hard worker.
“So, you have to eat that thing?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
An Umbra Valkyrie that had locked onto us was currently spitting fireballs from nearly two kilometers away. Since I was flying, we hadn't been hit yet, but the pink fireballs crashing into the ground were incinerating the low shrubs, turning the terrain into a mess.
“It didn't seem to cause actual burns on human skin, though. Even if it felt like searing pain.”
“That’s because it’s designed to burn mana first. If there’s no mana, then physical objects start to burn.”
Eventually, Father flew toward a nearby cave and dropped down. He skillfully opened a portal just before hitting the ground, tucked himself in, and then angled the exit portal upward to effectively kill his momentum and land safely.
‘Father looks safe enough, so that’s that.’
Now, the problem was how to catch that distant Umbra Valkyrie. It seemed there was only one way.
“Sigh... Phew...”
Through special training in Iris’s subspace, I had learned how to properly utilize Hersha’s mana core. As a result, I was now able to draw out power roughly equivalent to the full strength Hersha had shown in the basement of the 40th floor.
—Fwoosh!
Flames of a deep blue—distinct from those of the Umbra Valkyrie—surged over the massive greatsword. I focused my mind on the loftily burning Aura Blade, condensed the mana, and swung the sword.
—Schwing!!!
Following the trajectory of the swing, a crescent-shaped blade of energy imbued with blue flames materialized and flew toward the Umbra Valkyrie. How on earth is this a swordsman’s move, Hersha?
You’re a mage from now on. Don't you dare go around hating mages.
—Slice!
The sword energy, traveling at incredible speed, sheared through the Umbra Valkyrie’s neck before dissipating. With long-range attacks like this, he’s definitely a mage, not a swordsman.
I fired Queen Arachne’s web to snag the falling corpse of the Umbra Valkyrie. Pink flames began to crawl up the webbing, but I kept cutting the strands before they reached me, so it wasn't a major issue.
The biggest concern was whether it was safe to put this thing inside my stomach.
As I learned how to use my abilities, I realized there was a way to consume things without putting organs I intended to summon later into my stomach.
However, the downside was that for anything I was eating for the first time, I still had to keep it in my stomach for about ten seconds.
In the end, this was the method I chose.
“Right. It’s just pain, anyway. I just need to cut the nerves.”
Since the pain from the Umbra Valkyrie’s mana comes from it burning mana, there is no actual physical damage. The pain is just immense.
I created a stomach lining with severed nerve connections and swallowed the Umbra Valkyrie’s corpse whole. It went down without a hitch.
“That takes care of the Umbra Valkyrie.”
Now, only Horus remained. I heard the mid-boss of the 5th Stratum was a giant scorpion-type monster in a sandstone cave, but Iris said I didn't need to eat that one right away.
I wasn't sure why, but she insisted that Horus was the truly important one.
“Father, let’s head up to the 50th floor.”
“Oh, you finished?”
“Yes, handled it cleanly.”
“Pull that cold thing out again.”
After cooling off for a bit inside the shaded cave, we took flight toward the Labyrinth portal again.
We ignored the Umbra Valkyries we encountered after the 46th floor and hurried toward the 50th. Their attacks were launched from so far away that, while fast, they were easy to dodge by simply shifting my flight path a few times—unless I intentionally tried to get hit.
Looking at them, they seemed to be leading their shots with those sharp eyes of theirs. They must have a function that observes an opponent's movement to predict where they’ll go.
* * *
“Are there no other monsters on the 50th floor?”
“There are, but not around Horus’s nest.”
“Is Horus really that strong? Everyone makes such a fuss just hearing its name.”
The 49th floor. Our final rest in a cave near the portal.
“It’s smart. Once it sees an attack, it’ll never let itself be hit by it again.”
“Is that even possible?”
“You can win if you attack faster than it can react, I suppose.”
It seemed Father had experience raiding Horus a few times. Father’s portal skill was fast enough that even Horus would find it difficult to react to.
A portal opening in an unexpected place followed by a sudden sword thrust was certainly a threat. The biggest problem was that the creature flew through the air.
“It doesn't exactly have any long-range attacks.”
“Then doesn't that mean it eventually has to come down to the ground to catch us?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
But Horus wasn't such an easy opponent.
“It drops like a lightning bolt.”
“Like a lightning bolt?”
“Yes. It tucks its massive body in from high up in the sky and falls in an instant. If you can't react, you’re dead on the spot.”
It was a beast-type monster about the size of an elephant. I wasn't sure if 'beast-type' was the right word, as it had the body of a lion with the head and wings of a hawk.
Wasn't that a Griffin? I felt like I’d heard the name Horus somewhere before, though.
“Its magic resistance is high, too. It can shrug off most spells and keep coming. You have to cut it down with attacks that carry heavy physical force.”
“It sounds tricky.”
Binding magic didn't work. It would dodge offensive magic unless it was exceptionally fast, and even if hit, it didn't do much.
That was why Father was well-suited to face Horus. When fighting Horus, the dynamic was usually humans on the ground attacking Horus in the air, so most attacks went from bottom to top.
But using Father’s portals, one could attack from above the creature. Of course, there was a 300-meter distance limit, but that just meant waiting until it descended a bit.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to handle it?”
“Hmm, I haven't given it much thought. Weren't there explorers with flight magic?”
“The sky is its domain. They’d probably be unable to even breathe before getting snatched by its talons and slammed into the ground in the blink of an eye.”
“Not easy, then.”
Wait, if that’s the case...
“So basically, if I’m floating in the air, it’ll come to catch me.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“And since it has no long-range attacks, it has to get close.”
“Right.”
“I understand.”
“I don't think you do.”
As long as it got close, I could kill it.
“Let’s go.”
“Shouldn't you think about it a bit more?”
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m going to die.”
“That’s a very fitting testament to put on a tombstone.”