Chapter 39
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: 5th Floor - Lv. 200 Quetzalcoatl (2)
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I let out a sigh.
Amateurs always have the biggest greed.
And in my eyes, most of the Exiles on the 5th floor right now were amateurs.
This kind of thing was probably happening in every tower.
"How many are left now, I wonder?"
I muttered while flicking the blood off my sword.
It was the blood from those two who ambushed me from behind.
I did kind of blatantly show off Akasha's Eye.
In reality, it was a weapon most Exiles hadn't even glimpsed, and even without knowing what it was, it looked incredibly impressive.
Someone was bound to get greedy; it was just a matter of when.
Even if they pretended otherwise, you could see their true intentions from where their eyes lingered.
Better to nip it in the bud before internal strife hit during the boss fight.
I had put some thought into forming the party to make that happen.
The little mage frowned at the corpses.
The other one, the old man, just chuckled dryly.
"You seem used to this sort of thing."
The old man said.
I nodded lightly and asked,
"You've never cleared the 5th floor with exactly 25 people, right?"
"That's correct."
The old man admitted readily.
Their party had lingered too long on the 3rd floor and had most of their gear looted by a veteran, barely escaping with their lives.
It must have been a different channel from ours on the 3rd floor.
After that, they clawed their way through the 4th floor in desperation, only to arrive at the tail end after the other Exiles had passed.
It was a hopeless situation.
They were all starting to think about moving on to the next run.
But as people began gathering one by one, they felt a bit relieved.
No human can ever fully get used to death.
Even if it's regrettable, they struggle until the very end.
"We're probably under 25 now anyway. Well, clearing it won't be a problem."
Lightning flashed from a distant tower. Shockwaves hurt. Their lethality was higher than a typical [Lightning Bolt].
That was why I could afford to thin the herd without much worry.
Blanche was handling pretty much everything anyway.
There was no need for 'Orgel' to be strong. From what I'd heard, she didn't seem like field personnel no matter how I thought about it.
I'd barely even met Blanche in previous runs, and she spoke vaguely about not knowing her true nature.
I should have asked for more details.
Like what I needed to say to befriend her and her friends in the next run.
That run had been too hectic. I didn't even have time to properly look around.
That impatience might have ruined things.
This time, I planned to take it a bit slower.
Even settling down here permanently if we couldn't clear it didn't seem so bad.
Of course, I had no real intention of giving up.
The Quetzalcoatl fight generally took the form of an aerial battle.
At this stage, hardly any Exiles had skills or gear that allowed free flight.
The remnants of pyramids floating in the air served as footholds.
The towers were platforms to climb onto them.
Some fragments were fixed, connected to the towers.
Most orbited endlessly.
Quetzalcoatl was known as a sun god in mythology, so maybe that's where it came from.
I leaped up and started moving, and the old man and mage followed.
With the pyramid's explosion, winged serpents scattered everywhere locked onto us.
These were quite annoying: they could fly freely, had tough scales, and fangs with deadly venom.
Fewer people didn't mean fewer enemies.
If anything, we were in a pretty tough spot.
I drew my bow and glanced at the sky.
It had been half a month since this floor opened.
The jungle weather was humid and rainy.
Clouds were gathering.
The weather was whimsically unpredictable, hard to forecast. It didn't feel good.
"Get on it quick."
'Yes! Got it, Goddess!'
The Girl quite liked the existence called the goddess.
The voice coming through divine language was awfully cute, and in this male-only environment, she was the only friendly woman.
Above all, she didn't seem all that interested in Uncle.
If anything, she felt a little supportive.
What was it like? Like an old lady giggling at kids' crushes.
"Hmph, you just had some irreverent thought, didn't you?"
Like an excited middle-schooler into romance. Her voice matched that age perfectly.
"This time, you had a brilliant idea."
The mage who called herself 'big sis' came to mind.
The Girl thought she won on looks, but the other was plenty small and cute too.
Uncle wasn't into that type, was he?
The Girl considered herself fairly petite, but what did he think?
She felt like she could forgive a little perversion.
"Beat their wings to knock them down. You'll do whatever I say, so you won't make things too bothersome for me."
The goddess had been grumbling nonstop through divine language since earlier.
Uncle must have asked her to give advice to the scattering party members.
"Using a god as a coach. Your irreverence knows no bounds."
'But aren't we still your only followers?'
"Last time at the pantheon, some guy offered a prayer and I accepted right away, but he claimed it was the wrong altar and ran off."
'Goddess... you have it rough.'
Even so, she didn't stop running.
There were a lot of winged serpents, but they weren't a huge threat to the Girl.
She had already faced griffons and vampire lords.
Even as boss summons, they didn't measure up.
The Girl realized anew just how strong she had become.
The Exiles who tried to backstab her had been pathetically weak.
The other surviving Exile was weak too.
He had tried to watch over her, but the serpents' speed wasn't negligible.
Instead of matching her pace, the warrior Exile chose to fight steadily from a suitable position.
Deeper in, more serpents swarmed.
The Girl respected his decision, and the goddess approved too.
Once the baggage-like warrior vanished, their movement speed soared.
A few serpents hissed and lunged, but she brushed past them easily.
The winged reptiles twisted and plummeted with broken wings.
[Dash] could even be used for mid-air direction changes.
She had stamina to spare.
As her stats rose, power overflowed; she felt like she could run a marathon without breaking a sweat.
Thanks to spammable dashes, she practically flew through the air, slicing serpents apart.
The tingling sensation of experience filling up was quite addictive.
"You might become a hunting addict. Be careful. It's not a good thing."
When she asked what that meant, the goddess smiled bitterly and didn't answer.
Uncle would warn her when the time came.
The goddess grumbled but taught the Girl meticulously.
Several times, when the Girl got too aggressive, the goddess reined her in, and she obeyed quietly.
When a red serpent appeared, the goddess shouted.
"Grab that one. Don't let the body fall; we need the loot. That's part of Quetzalcoatl's gimmick."
She severed the serpent's neck.
Before the body could drop, she pulled it close.
"No! Bring the head!"
Oh no!
The Girl tossed the body and dove under a fragment. She barely caught the falling head.
No foothold, but a few reverse dashes let her grab the edge and hang on.
She could pull herself up with raw grip strength alone.
"Couldn't do this outside."
She was definitely stronger than her brothers now.
And probably Uncle too.
"Hng."
Ironically, the old man was a warrior.
"Old age brings aches and pains. Nothing beats smashing for arthritis relief."
"That's too convincing."
I'd never been that old, so I wouldn't know.
Still, he had clearly been a melee warrior for all seven years.
He wielded his spear with skilled, proficient motions, smashing incoming serpents' heads.
Not just thrusts; his staff techniques were excellent too.
Elderly folks often adapted quickly to the Labyrinth.
Not necessarily because of long earthly years, but perhaps their contemplative outlook on life made a difference.
I looked at my palm. No faint scars or calluses from past runs.
New calluses were forming bit by bit, but this was a new me, not the countless past selves.
Age up, reset. Mentally whatever, but the body gets pulled along by its age.
In a way, maybe not 25+97, just a young guy who'd lived a while.
My years were on brutal battlefields, not society.
That might make the difference.
Whether I pondered that or not, serpents kept coming relentlessly.
We needed as many red and blue serpents as possible.
I kept urging the little mage to scout nonstop.
I didn't expect much, but amid the chaos, her focus was impressive. Maybe she was all-in on Intelligence.
The old man pried a gem from a serpent's skull.
Gem or not, it looked like a colored stone.
Fist-sized, yet embedded in the skull.
"It's about time."
Quetzalcoatl, having shattered the pyramid and raised its head, began roaring.
Like Kacrish, it was a sealed monster, so it couldn't unleash full power from the start.
It was groggy from awakening.
Essentially a time attack. Fail to kill it in time, and it's a wipe.
Kieeeek!
The air trembled.
Serpents were reptiles.
And this game's giant monsters were generally dragon kin.
A mythic beast called a god naturally had the feature.
Air was sucked in. Lung capacity on another level from the griffon.
Fixed fragments were those linked to the towers at the edges.
Deeper in, more orbiting, moving ones.
Some fragments couldn't resist the suction and got pulled toward the central boss.
The giant serpent didn't choke on a few rock chunks.
I led the old man and mage onto a passing fragment quickly.
The mage lacked jump and arm strength, so I had to haul her up forcibly.
"Duck. Duck down."
We had to hide behind a fragment with a good angle.
The sky split with a flash.
Flames of destruction with clear intent swept the world. The overheated light was more laser than fire.
Distant thunderclouds approaching were shredded and dispersed by the beam.
After sweeping about 180 degrees, the massive feathered serpent's breath finally subsided.
Then the air roared once more.
Next was the opposite side.
Fragments were red-hot but intact.
They were part of the sealing structure, after all.
Neither the old man nor the mage seemed new to Quetzalcoatl; they looked accustomed.
These patterns killed on first sight.
The Labyrinth never kindly spoon-fed solutions like a status window.
It was just veterans' oral traditions accumulated over countless runs.
In the Labyrinth, no power surpassed information.
I'd already sipped some Healing Potion.
I made the old man and mage do the same.
At their puzzled looks, I explained.
"With fewer people, we gotta move fast. Can't wait for hot rocks to cool."
Their faces darkened.
The Girl was also taking on one of the key strategy roles.
But Uncle's most important task for her was to watch what the fixed NPC 'Blanche' was doing.
The stat and gear gap was too wide; no other Exile could handle it.
She was the only one who could survive and escape.
And yet, Uncle gripped her hands tightly, dead serious as he said she absolutely must not die.
Having her hands held first felt pretty nice.
She mustn't die. Right.
Did big sis go somewhere good?
Her closest sibling. Officially missing, but that was just death by another name.
As instructed, the Girl spotted Blanche from far away and kept watch.
Serpents vanished just approaching her.
At first, she couldn't tell what she was doing.
Closer inspection revealed thin wires slicing serpents.
Her skin-tight suit seemed full of gadgets.
Sometimes her shoes fired something to chop serpents.
Like a movie. So cool!
She carried a rifle-like gun on her back—longer and futuristic, not quite a standard rifle.
Two pistol-likes at her waist.
Uncle said never pick a fight, no matter what.
Her sense of 'fight' was unique, so don't even get close.
If it turns hostile, run without looking back.
That stirred curiosity.
Of course, no intention of disobeying Uncle.
"Don't go anywhere near her. You'll die. I don't know what she told you, but her being docile is a miracle."
'What would she be like normally?'
"The moment she finishes headcount, everyone on this floor dies. She's a maniac who slaughters indiscriminately until the kingdom."
One scary big sis.
Of course, the Hunter knew Quetzalcoatl well.
He had gone through tons of trial and error on this floor, so he knew the lower sections inside out.
According to the goddess, he had already linked up with the youngest-bearing archer.
"Angle looks perfect."
I pulled out a red gem.
The still-scorching floor was melting my shoe soles.
My feet burned too.
The Healing Potion in my mouth healed it right away.
Among the freely floating fragments, some had sockets.
The gems from mob serpents fit perfectly.
I signaled the Hunter first to slot the blue gem.
We were directly opposite the boss.
"Using a god as a walkie-talkie."
'O Chaos, if you give me the materials, I can make delicious candy. Don't you crave sweets lately?'
"You must keep your promises."
The goddess confirmed the Hunter had slotted the blue gem over there.
I slotted the red one.
Then I leaped up and used [Dash] immediately.
A massive pressure spread, like it might trigger a shockwave.
The red-gem fragment launched at terrifying speed.
The blue one flew from the opposite side.
It was like magnets.
Slot opposing gems, and insane attraction pulled the fragments together.
Angle was crucial.
Fragments moving too fast for the eye collided.
Quetzalcoatl's body was between them.
A bone-chilling explosion erupted.
The serpent, panting from breath and fatigue, let out a horrific scream.
A monster twin-tower sized writhing in agony was a spectacular sight.
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