Chapter 41

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 41

Chapter Title: 5th Floor - Lv. 98 Blanche (3)

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The girl had noticed from the moment her opponent drew the dagger that she was being given some leeway.

There was no time to wonder why.

She wasn't using any of the weapons built into her suit or hidden elsewhere on her body.

It was nothing more than simple dagger techniques or hand-to-hand combat.

And yet, the girl felt the greatest threat she'd encountered since entering the Labyrinth.

It felt like what it would be like to go toe-to-toe with Uncle, even though she'd never tried.

Her senses sharpened all over her body.

This wasn't just a matter of life or death.

The taut tension allowed her to read the highly trained skill in her opponent's movements.

This was what they called a battle between masters.

There was precision in the blade's movements.

Endlessly linear and efficient motions.

It differed slightly from the techniques of her family that the girl knew.

Blanche's slashes were clearly designed not for overwhelming power, but to ensure the attack landed.

These were movements made solely for killing humans.

The girl was different.

What she had learned targeted things that weren't human.

Even against large beasts, a simple stab wouldn't suffice.

Her motions focused on the power of a single strike, incorporating full-body rotation and maximum force.

The difference was vast.

After just three exchanges, the girl knew she couldn't win.

Her opponent wasn't a monster. She was just human.

Even against an orc, her method would have been better for dealing sufficient damage to that massive frame.

In a human-versus-human fight, the girl's movements were extremely inefficient.

But realizing that fact, and seeing her opponent's movements now, didn't mean she could immediately imitate them.

Instead, what came to mind were Uncle's movements, which she had always watched closely.

She had practiced them on her own, without showing anyone.

Those beautiful, efficient attack trajectories were well worth learning.

A few more exchanges passed.

Blanche's eyebrow twitched.

She noticed the girl's movements had changed slightly.

And that they were changing even more noticeably.

The wide slashes and thrusts were gradually becoming more concise.

Specifically, they were starting to resemble Blanche's own.

Techniques refined toward the same goal tend to resemble each other.

Even if starting from different points, if they pursue the same end, they eventually converge.

Their motions began overlapping like mirrors reflecting each other.

Blanche read traces of herself in the girl's movements.

Not because there was any particular reason to think so.

Her thoughts stopped right there.

Orgel.

This bastard.

Lightning crackled.

The voltage ramped up on the rechargeable electric stunner in her gauntlet.

Called Shockwave, it boasted killing power befitting its intense name, but now it was at minimal output.

Precisely to knock her out without killing.

The girl quickly realized this too.

She had suffered badly from electricity on the 2nd floor.

The trauma from then might have even slightly boosted her reaction speed.

In that brief moment of pure technique exchange, she unlocked a skill she hadn't used before.

She dashed past with a slash propelled by the skill's forced movement.

The first one missed.

Less than a second later, her blurry figure slashed past once more.

This one couldn't be dodged.

Blanche, charging her electric shock, felt searing pain in her side.

It had been a long time since she'd felt the sting of a laceration.

A smirk escaped her lips.

Not bad. She's been raised well.

A dagger flew at her. A highly skilled, stealthy throw.

Blanche countered by hurling one of her own, shooting it down.

The girl's eyes widened in shock.

As if she hadn't imagined it possible.

Then Blanche vanished.

Not the bluish teleport she'd seen earlier. Instant, with no delay.

Stealth? Optical camouflage?

No.

By the time the girl's thoughts barely reached Blink Dagger, her arm was already seized.

She tried to pull away, but it was futile.

Her opponent had greater raw strength.

She was twisted and slammed to the ground.

Her entire body screamed.

This body was superhuman to begin with, even more fortified after entering the Labyrinth, yet the impact shook the floor...

Her vision blurred. The last thing she saw was Blanche's distant gaze.

She blacked out wondering why she had that look in her eyes.

Am I dying? Even amid that thought, one face surfaced first.

Sorry, Uncle...

The air felt different.

Not just because it was the belly of a massive serpent.

Of course, it was humid and muggy thanks to that, but the discomfort Uncle felt now came from entering an area designated as a 'dungeon'.

Quetzalcoatl's innards were a kind of hidden dungeon.

Its enormous size had formed a small ecosystem inside its stomach.

He had skipped the entrance—its mouth—and entered midway, saving a ton of time.

Against the attacking clumps of flesh, blunt weapons worked better than blades.

A good bashing sent them staggering back.

With Quetzalcoatl still upright, descending was easy.

As long as he avoided pools of gastric acid, there were no major issues.

This hidden dungeon wasn't particularly high difficulty to begin with.

Getting inside was the real challenge.

Without the boss floor gimmicks, beating it through brute force would make Quetzalcoatl a post-kingdom monster.

And it did appear then, in fact.

He regretted using up all his Healing Potions now.

Innards were easy to wound.

Collecting that blood to make 'Quetzalcoatl's Blood' would yield a doping agent incomparable to some griffon trash.

Dragonkin blood always spiked all stats, making it the most versatile dope.

Still, no major complaints. Odd floors always wrapped up on Plan B.

Pretty lenient, not demanding tea ceremonies or asshole shows.

Happy times. His pre-planned ops hadn't gone more awry than this.

Blanche's presence nagged at him, but she was like a natural disaster anyway.

Just wait for her to pass by hiding well.

He was a bit surprised by her unexpectedly cooperative attitude, but good was good.

You couldn't anticipate every threat. When unknowns piled up, excluding some scenarios was necessary gameplay.

Boom!

A shock rippled through the serpent's entire body.

He gripped his dagger two-handed, stabbed in deep, and held firm.

Somewhere, the boss—crushed by a massive boulder again—was writhing in agony.

Seemed they were doing well outside.

Pools of digestive fluid sloshed over.

The monsters were small fry in this dungeon, but touching that meant instant death. No Healing Potions left now.

Better if phase 2 started soon.

The moment he thought that.

The snake vibrated its entire body violently.

Phase 2 began. Good. Time to grab what he could and end this boss fight quick.

Exp distribution by contribution meant solid leveling potential.

His shabby stats were finally pushing his Mind Map into mid-tier skill territory.

Mastery and minor buffs aside, this was where skill dependency ramped up seriously.

He braced himself tighter, preparing for the snake's body to go horizontal.

Then the goddess's urgent oracle rang out.

"Blanche is fighting the kid! The kid's gonna lose!"

The 'kid' the goddess meant could only be their party's girl.

Wait, why?

'Goddess of Chaos, weren't you supposed to prevent that?'

"No, that side suddenly used a periscope, then blinked in with their system."

'They used that? It takes forever to charge; they were supposed to conserve it.'

No world's Blanche easily used external gear.

With 17-run memories, she'd know about durability.

High-end gear needed saving.

But now it was a human mind, not AI. Who knew what whim led to burning it.

'Goddess, second time. Rolling the dice.'

"She's been subdued now."

'Oh god.'

He heard this run ending with a thud.

He hadn't used much time, so that was a relief?

Then he caught the odd word—far too out of place for Blanche.

'Hang on. Subdued?'

"Indeed. Hasn't killed her yet."

No way.

The time until the girl regained consciousness felt subjectively like an eternity.

By Uncle's teachings, it should have been a void of pure darkness.

A strangely cozy space she oddly didn't want to leave.

With a single door, remaining time forcibly displayed, unerasable.

Opening it led back to that 1st floor.

Meeting an exile you'd seen once in another world was just a Labyrinth urban legend.

No one had actually seen it happen.

So this was goodbye forever.

If she had a tail or ears, they'd be drooping.

That was the mood as she opened her eyes.

Blanche sat watching her.

"Huh?"

"Why are you staring like that?"

"I'm alive?"

The expressionless face sighed just like that.

"Strange. As if rumors about me have spread. I thought I'd killed every one I've faced."

"Well, wouldn't that surprise me?"

The girl decided to stop thinking altogether.

If she wanted to kill, she'd have done it from the start.

Didn't know the details, but being spared meant she could say whatever.

"Right, poor little sister. I don't know what Orgel's scheming next, but I'd love to save you if I can."

The girl felt like she was the one blurting random words now.

What the hell is this person saying?

"If someone could explain what's going on here, that'd be great."

The goddess's oracle sounded more bewildered than ever.

The Goddess of Chaos, lost in chaos.

"That's what happened?"

His body moved mechanically, pushing through the serpent's gut.

It was a dungeon in name only—the stomach wasn't that long.

His goal was toward the tail.

But the current situation was too confusing.

'What does that even mean?'

He hadn't expected last run's Blanche to spill everything.

Just her strong reaction to 'Orgel' suggested deep ties.

Probably the one who raised her?

That's all—a manager constantly meddling and caring.

He knew no more.

She'd mentioned it occasionally; that's how he learned the name.

He'd gleaned just enough for acting in between.

The game's outer lore felt formulaic, not super original.

Space spy clichés, more or less.

So even first meeting Blanche, he'd assumed high risk.

Not knowing if his guesses were spot-on.

But what the hell was happening now?

The goddess kept relaying Blanche's words to the girl.

Affectionate, even.

Her hatred was aimed solely at him.

Damn it. He hadn't heard this stuff.

Last run's Blanche! After all he'd done for her. Should've opened up more!

You rotten jerk!

Oracles delivered instructions.

The girl acted as Uncle directed.

In other words, she played the poor girl ensnared by Orgel's curse.

It actually resonated with her real self.

A girl raised as a weapon since childhood.

Different era and details, but matched the misery from her original world perfectly.

True to rumors, unbelievably, Blanche took her hand firmly.

And said she wanted to kill that Orgel guy quick and grant her freedom.

No clue how it worked, but she just nodded along.

But when it came to killing Uncle, she flinched and stopped.

"Ah, no. That's not—"

"Call me sister."

"Y-yes, sister. Anyway, no."

Blanche let out a light sigh.

"You're bound by familial bonds too, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠huh."

"Huh?"

"I was shocked seeing Orgel's face. Thought he'd changed appearances again. Too similar in mannerisms for a lie, and he knew the same things. So I have to believe."

"Y-yeah...?"

Blanche spilled words rapidly.

Her last outer-world mission was liberation of her sisters, staked by Orgel.

Those sisters—and herself.

Orgel, once humanity's strongest, had stamped out children with his genes.

She called him by name, that damned father.

The girl hiccuped.

"Remember. I'm always on your side."

With that, Blanche released her hand.

She couldn't kill the father figure she'd trusted right away, so she'd wait a bit.

But she'd shared the truth.

The girl couldn't keep up. Just nodded blankly.

This all relayed to Uncle via the goddess.

"I had no plans to, ugh! Mass-produce, hngh! Clones at all!"

The scream-like echo futilely bounced off the serpent's stomach walls before fading.

Things had gone massively sideways.

The situation was exquisitely twisted.

Facts he'd known only piecemeal, plus last run's Blanche's unspoken backstory.

Wait, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a named mob had that detailed a setup?

What the hell was the story writer's delusion limit.

Or maybe not.

Perhaps it self-assembled upon materialization.

The misunderstanding from Orgel had spread far.

For now, the outcome wasn't all bad.

She'd reach the kingdom for sure.

But he'd suffer her hatred and threats nonstop.

Still, the girl gained infinite favor from a terrifying big sis.

Everyone happy but him, maybe.

"Hey, priestess."

'What?'

"Best entertainment in my Labyrinth life. You're something else."

'Not enjoying someone else's mess too much? And where'd you learn 'fun' from?'

"Taught me, then converted to God of Rules and Coin. Not mine anymore."

'Let's not poke sore spots.'

"Sigh."

Biggest issue: getting caught this was all a misunderstanding.

Maintain status quo somehow.

Gain power to subdue Blanche, or create chance to eliminate via other events.

Or lastly.

Leverage this to angle for recruitment outright.

Last one's lowest odds, highest appeal.

First, check this floor's card.

Reached the stomach's end.

Phase 2 started; Quetzalcoatl freed from seal, airborne, path flattened.

A card gleamed, floating in midair.

Stuff like this screamed 'game world'.

These unnatural bits constantly reminded him it was a game.

Touching the card dispersed the light.

Revealed form:

Two arms, two legs.

One head, flesh-and-blood utterly average humanoid.

No, just human.

"This is..."

Forget Blanche for now.

Think max utility.

'Human' card. Disappointing short-term, but long-view, solid.

Only humans could clear the Labyrinth.

No matter elite races, final push needed human.

Slaying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monsters always fell to humans.

But now, alternative use.

[Race Mainstream], [Betrayed Human Saintess].

Her orcing was Labyrinth card fault.

Revert to human?

Then humanity's hero unit Great Saintess Mayril could rejoin mankind!

Game-changer for even floors multiple ways.

But needed consult with Trdongt.

His prior screw-ups nagged.

Should've coolly sided orcs on 2nd, shoved fairies aside.

His bad.