Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Hidden Master of the Iron Labyrinth
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Cedric and Eric first laid out everything they knew.
"For starters, we need to find the door to the heavens... or heaven, right?"
"Yeah, let's ask that directly first."
Eric pressed the white orb and asked, "Where is the door to heaven?"
And the answer, as expected...
Beeeep!!
"What's that sound? Does it mean no?!"
"Damn... it's never an easy answer."
"Th-then that means the attacks are getting stronger!"
Eric and Serkan quickly glanced at the captains holding the line on both sides.
The penalty for a wrong answer took effect immediately, as protective barriers appeared on the bodies of the incoming armor golems.
Soon after, Rolang's sword, swung at an armor golem, bounced off the barrier, leaving him exposed to the golem's attack.
But Lionel, beside him, rushed in and deflected the massive mace.
Claaang!!
"Thanks, Lionel!"
"No problem. But are they just gonna keep getting stronger like this?"
"Looks that way. Wonder how strong these golems can even get?"
"You're right! Hey, youngsters! We're fine, so keep guessing!"
""Yes, sir!""
As expected, the knight captains handled it without breaking a sweat, smoothly dispatching the approaching armor golems. The adventurers, placing firm trust in them, racked their brains.
"What if the side with the angel is fixed?"
"Nah, this riddle is about finding the door in one question. We can't ask which side is the angel or devil."
"Ugh... then..."
After that, Serkan and Eric kept thinking hard before the captains' stamina ran out, but all their answers were wrong.
The penalty for the second wrong answer: the armor golems sped up.
The third: their strength increased.
The fourth: flames spewed from the maces they wielded.
As the wrong answers piled up, the knight captains, who had been dispatching the golems quickly, began to tire, and their takedown speed noticeably slowed.
But in that moment, they noticed something odd.
"Hey, youngsters! When dealing with these armor golems, how fast do we gotta take 'em down before that powerful laser beam fires?"
"Uh, according to the Adventurer's Guild report, within five minutes!"
"Five minutes after encounter!"
"So the ones swarming here don't follow that time limit?"
"Yes?!"
"See, when those golems spot us, their eyes turn red! Look at the one in the back!"
As one knight captain said, the adventurers checked the distant approaching armor golem, and its eyes were already glowing red, as if it had spotted them.
That meant even if they cleared the ones in front, by the time the far ones arrived, five minutes would have passed.
There didn't seem to be a strict time limit here.
"But they made this place to be cleared!"
"Ugh... you think?"
"Yeah, the difficulty's insane, but now I see the path."
Freed from the time constraint, the knight captains, having come up with a good plan, charged toward the incoming armor golems.
They dove into the gaps between the enhanced golems without attacking directly, instead baiting their strikes.
This caused rear golems to smash into the front ones.
No matter how much stronger the armor golems got, the captains had seen through their simple movements and systems.
They induced the golems to attack each other while using the fallen golem corpses to build walls.
Their processing speed was markedly slower, but by focusing on evasion without expending much energy, they bought time and gradually turned the battle in their favor.
Boom!!
"Urk?!"
"Hey! You okay?!"
"Just hit by some flying debris!"
To repay the captains buying them time, the adventurers thought even harder, and their efforts bore fruit!
"Th-this is it!"
"Eric, you got the answer?!"
"Yeah! This is it!"
Eric's eyes flashed as he slammed the white orb and shouted.
Tap!
"Where do you live?!"
Woooong!!!
"I-is that the right answer?!"
"Yesssss!! Eric! I believed in youuuu!!!"
Eric's question worked because if it was an angel, it would truthfully point to the door of heaven where it lived.
If a devil, it would lie and point to heaven instead of its hellish home.
With the correct answer hit, the inscribed doorway opened, and the adventurers shouted it out at the top of their lungs.
"Hahaha!! Looks like the youngsters pulled it off!"
"Captains! This door's starting to close!!"
"Hurry over here!!"
"Hey!! Everyone hear that? Run that way!!"
"Damn!!"
"Huff...! Huff...!"
Leaving the armor golems swarming like waves from both sides, the knight captains squeezed out every ounce of strength and bolted.
Fortunately, they all made it inside before the door shut.
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Entering some space, the adventurers and knight captains collapsed on the floor, their bodies battered and bruised.
And—
"Pfft..."
"Heh heh heh..."
"Hahahahaha!"
Except for Serkan, whose soul had fled from the tension release, everyone burst into laughter as dopamine surged.
"Haa... couldn't do that twice."
"So what? It was fun, that's what matters."
"Who'da thought we'd have fun like this in our old age."
"But these youngsters are impressive. How'd they solve that tough riddle in such a pinch?"
"Honestly, we had no clue."
"It's all thanks to you captains."
"If it'd just been us... ugh, we couldn't have solved it or even held out."
As they praised each other, the knight captains used their recovery potions to restore stamina.
Noticing something off about the space, Eric stood and looked around.
"Eric, what's up?"
"Serkan, remember the last inscription on the wall?"
"The one about attacks getting stronger?"
"No, the one before that."
"The one before... huh?"
Hearing Eric, Serkan shot up, sweating bullets.
"Th-the door to the next trial opens?!"
"Yeah, this seems to be that trial room."
"My god... then we can't just sit here! Captains!!"
"""Huh?"""
Telling the knight captains about the inscription from before they entered, they dusted themselves off and stood.
"Not the end, huh..."
"Speaking of, there's a pillar in the center. Let's check it out."
Ending their brief rest, Eric's group approached the pillar, where an inscription caught their eye.
｢ Heroes, once you've caught your breath, place your hand on the black orb in the pillar. ｣
｢ Defeat the final mighty foe, and rewards shall be yours. ｣
"Pretty straightforward this time."
"Yeah. Everyone good?"
"I'm fine."
"We're good too. What about you youngsters?"
"Whatever comes, we'll survive our way."
With preparations to face the strong foe that would appear, Eric's group placed their hands on the black orb embedded in the pillar.
Then, with a heavy metallic thud from the ceiling, it shattered, and a massive figure thundered down.
So heavy was it that the floor cracked like a spiderweb amid rising dust.
As the dust settled, the being revealed had the bloated lower body of a horse and the upper body of a human clad in heavy knight armor.
The enormous centaur golem spun its great glaive like a windmill, emitting a menacing metallic screech.
[ Hiiiing!!! ]
"Man, we see all kinds of new stuff here!"
"Shut up and focus, Rolang!"
"Everyone, draw swords!!"
The knight captains gripped their weapons and charged at the hidden master of the Iron Labyrinth bearing down on them.
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As the hidden place in the Iron Labyrinth revealed itself, the magic device signaling Vallak activated when the dungeon anomaly occurred.
Confirming the signal, Vallak eagerly activated the viewing magic tool.
"Oh, some guys already reached there."
"That's the spot Big Bro Vallak hid the weapon, right? But what's that golem?"
"Yeah, insane. Who knew a golem like that was in Big Bro's dungeon."
Who'd have thought someone would solve the 'angel and devil riddle' mid-battle.
And it was natural for his brothers to be shocked by that special golem.
Before they entered his dungeon, he'd planned those special golems as hidden bosses.
But with Ferguson and other talented folks coming in, he scrapped it.
All mobs and bosses being golems would look like lazy rehashing!
Anyway, he'd figured that spot would take years to reach due to difficulty.
Guess he underestimated the outsiders.
"Never thought guys at that old knight's level would swarm in."
"Proof of how tough Big Bro Vallak's dungeon is, right?"
"Nah, doubt it."
The power level of those knights clearing it now was worlds apart from previous intruders.
That meant, like late-game bosses like us who only emerge at world's end, those endgame NPCs were already roaming the world.
Just as his brothers moving to his dungeon ruined the boss rush, the outside setups were probably wrecked too?
Game clichés and stories could flip, so one thing came to mind that he needed.
"Hmm... gotta find a way to gather info from outside the dungeon."
"Why does Big Bro Vallak care about outside...?"
"There's reasons."
Players roaming this world meant it could shift from medieval to modern overnight.
Unexpected magic tools or weapons could trivialize his dungeon.
Fail to counter, and it'd become just another dungeon!
Trends are sensitive, so he needed ongoing outside intel.
But first... time to watch how those heroes fight!