Chapter 150
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Return Path
-----------------------------------------------------------------
That remark from "Death" about making good use of my soul and skills. And the memories of someone that had flooded into my head.
'That guy... was he trying to steal my body?'
A chill ran down my spine. If it hadn't been for that other "voice" that suddenly barged in, my body might already be in that bastard's clutches by now. And as a result, what remained was this [Necromancy] skill.
'This is...'
This was a skill, but also "memories." Was it because my soul had brushed against something and pulled away? I instinctively understood. And once I acquired the "skill," I naturally began to grasp details about it.
The inexplicable memories I'd seen the moment I connected with that "Death" bastard didn't resurface at all now. What appeared instead was this [Necromancy] skill.
'......[Necromancy]'
The method to use the skill was instinctively etched into my body. In response, I unconsciously activated it.
[Necromancy lv.8]
Magic that wields the power of death.
'Kuh...!'
Then, the mana flowing through my mana circuits reversed, gradually transforming into a vicious death qi. If I willed it, I could probably swing this power around and raise corpses from the dead.
'....Why! ....It was definitely at the end...!'
And at the same time, an inexplicable memory surfaced, dizzying my mind. Caught in this bizarre sensation that even [Sensory Block] couldn't shut out, I cut off the skill's flow and heaved for breath.
'This... is my power, but at the same time, it's not mine.'
To be precise, it was "remnants." Since this power had ultimately taken root inside me, it manifested as a skill. But using this power would let the "memories" of whoever it belonged to erode me.
'....Seal it. This skill needs to be sealed.'
That's why I decided not to rejoice over this sudden lv.8 skill and to seal it away. The sensation of someone else's memories scrambling my brain... honestly, it was too much to endure.
To shake off the lingering unease, I checked my other gains. The [Regeneration] skill... well, I use it constantly and push my body hard, so it made sense for it to level up. But faster recovery for missing limbs?
'Has it gotten faster?'
I kept shoveling food into my mouth while eyeing the stump of my severed arm. And I was shocked.
"Whoa, fuck. What the hell is this."
After eating, bits of flesh and bone fragments were wriggling out from the cut surface, slowly growing. The sight was more grotesque than anything I'd imagined, and with a chunk of meat still in my mouth, I dry-heaved and spat it out.
'...Regeneration's definitely working.'
No, if others saw this, it might reek of death qi, and watching it regenerate like this... they'd probably treat me like an undeniable undead or monster. Even I thought it looked weird.
Next up... [Curse Resistance], huh. I think I got this skill from that 9th-floor ruin to begin with. It was the toughest resistance skill to level up, but this incident shot it to the top instead.
And [Mental Fortification]... I hadn't paid it much attention, but it kept rising on its own until it hit lv.7—the highest among my skills—and now it jumped straight to lv.8.
'But what's this about a big gap with the body?'
Does it mean to fully benefit from [Mental Fortification], I need to train my body too? True, [Body Fortification] is only at lv.6, so there's a gap... but who knows. It leveled up anyway, so if something like this happens again, I might endure it better.
'....There'll be an again, won't there?'
I hated how, even as I checked my skills, I had a gut feeling this wouldn't be the last time. After all, right at the end, that guy had even said "again."
The other skills were just so-so. [Limit Break]'s lv.5 effect piqued my curiosity a bit, but in this condition, I had no intention of testing it, so that's on hold too.
Anyway, I'd sorted out the skill-related gains...
'I'm sure it's dead, right?'
A bit late, but I wanted to properly finish off the knight collapsed on the floor. It had been down for a while with no movement, but better safe than sorry.
'But in the end, what the hell was this guy? A monster?'
Calling it a monster felt off—it wielded swordsmanship on a human level and even spoke...
'Well, maybe it was once human but turned undead and got sealed in the Labyrinth...'
....Even saying it myself, it sounded plausible enough to give me chills. Whatever it was in the past, I figured I'd just dismantle the armor into pieces...
-Roll.
'Hm?'
To make sure it couldn't get up again, as I started breaking apart the already tattered armor, something rolled out from inside. Thinking it might be another page, I jumped back in alarm, but the object that fell from the armor was something else.
A pitch-black stone. At a glance, it just looked like an ordinary rock, but...
"....No way, a skill stone?"
I knew deep down that kind of luck wouldn't strike me twice, but the stone in my hand looked eerily similar to the [Regeneration] skill stone I'd gotten from that troll on the 9th floor.
The solidified shape, the bizarre energy emanating from it...
"I'll stash it away for now and get it appraised later... wait, no."
Come to think of it, don't I have this? The [Appraisal] skill. And it's lv.2. After getting it, I'd spammed it on my stuff for practice, and it leveled up to 2.
'Alright... [Appraisal]'
[Unknown stone. Imbued with unknown energy.]
[84% similarity to the 'skill stone' object in the user's memories.]
'Ooh...'
It didn't outright say it was a "skill stone," but combining it with my existing knowledge to give the appraisal result seemed pretty useful. Come to think of it, when I appraised my sword, it mentioned salamander scales and such. At this point, the odds it's a skill stone are high, right?
To avoid losing it, I carefully slotted it into my inventory, then picked up the massive greatsword the knight had wielded. With my arm now clearly recovering enough to be noticeable, I headed back to the massive room where I'd faced the knight.
Traces of the fierce battle remained intact, and most of the ornate statues that had decorated the room were smashed beyond recognition.
'At least a few are left. Should I take these too?'
After all this ordeal, I felt like I should grab something. I stuffed the intact statues one by one into my inventory. I couldn't appraise their artistic value anyway, but selling them might fetch a nice price unexpectedly. Don't dawdle—grab what I can and go...
'Oh, even I recognize this one.'
I snickered at a statue depicting the human form almost perfectly, complete with abs and even male genitalia.
'It's David. As a kid, I'd see this statue and wonder if it was naughty... Huh?'
And then it hit me—a sense of wrongness.
'......Why the hell is the David statue here?'
This was another world.
I hurriedly checked the remaining statues. Most were unfamiliar to me, but a few were definitely famous Earth sculptures I could recognize.
'That's The Thinker, that's a cavalryman, and that... no, that's the Statue of Liberty.'
Not limited to any one country's works—just a collection of famous pieces. Of course, they differed in material and size from the real ones on Earth, but their shapes were unmistakably identical to what I'd seen back home.
Staring at the scene, I pulled an item from my inventory that I'd stashed away long ago.
-Clink.
An item I'd picked up from that ruin on the 9th floor. The antique shop said it had no real value, so I'd just kept it myself...
'....This was cross-shaped too.'
When I found it on the 9th floor, I didn't think much since cross motifs are common everywhere. But looking back now, this felt off too.
When I sold off the 9th-floor junk, I was told cross shapes aren't used in this world.
And given that "Death" was almost certainly involved in that 9th-floor ruin...
'Inside a ruin. One where "Death" intervened, no less, and out come symbols I'd only see on Earth. Coincidence?'
My head was a mess, but it was already bursting at the seams, so I shelved the complicated thoughts. Nothing else caught my eye in this room besides the statues, so I headed for the collapsed staircase.
'Inventory's so convenient.'
I stored the rubble in my inventory to clear a path cleanly, summoned my familiar, and had it carry me up to the floor above. Using [Sensory Transfer], I lightly scouted the upper level.
'This floor feels a bit more lived-in than below... Was where I was some kind of basement? No windows anywhere, and the only exit was stairs... Hm?'
Scouting through my familiar's vision, I spotted something in the upper corridor.
'Living Armor?'
The Living Armors I'd fought to death on this floor. The ones I'd mentally dubbed Arthas were in the upper corridor too. One difference, though...
"Why are these lying down?"
On this floor, whenever I found them, they'd stand still like statues or charge straight at me. But not a single one here was any different from a puppet with cut strings—they were all collapsed on the floor.
'Three of them, huh...'
They looked a bit off, but I confirmed their number, swung my sword one-handed to gauge my condition, and found it fine. After nonstop eating, everything except my left arm was nearly fully healed. Plenty of mana too, probably from resting well.
And after what just happened, staying here too long felt like a bad idea.
"Three is nothing... I can handle them easily right now."
I estimated, recalled my familiar, then kicked off hard with my legs and leaped up to the upper floor. Just in case, but like with [Sensory Block], mana usage was fine.
Gripping my sword in one hand, I approached the three collapsed Living Armors.
"Alright... come at me, you bastards."
"........."
"........."
"........."
".....Not coming?"
These guys used to rush me the second they spotted me, but even after getting close, the collapsed Living Armors showed no sign of moving. I kept my guard up, approached, and smashed their helmets—still nothing.
Just like ordinary armor.
"......."
Feeling an odd unease for no reason, I walked the corridor and found more suits of armor collapsed here and there in the same state.
I cautiously opened doors along the corridor and peeked inside—same situation. All attack-worthy armors were down, no traps spotted.
'Come to think of it, when I was briefly linked to that "Death" guy, I felt its presence throughout the entire ruin.'
Was it controlling the whole ruin? And putting that paper fragment in my inventory severed the connection?
That would explain why [Sensory Block] didn't work well. If these armors weren't sensing and fighting me on their own but just following "Death"'s orders—moving to preset spots and performing preset actions to attack... Never mind. Time to leave and think later.
"Outside....!!"
Outside or not, I was still in the Labyrinth, but just escaping that creepy ruin lifted a weight off my chest. Right after emerging, I activated [Stealth], and the monsters around (different from yetis) didn't notice me.
"For now... let's head back. Whatever it is, think after getting back."
Lots to ponder, but return was priority. Using [Stealth], [Sensory Block], and familiar scouting aggressively, I avoided combat as much as possible and found portals heading to the surface.
Thus, 21st floor... 20th... 18th... 16th... hopping portals upward...
"....Huh?"
"Eh?"
Around the 14th floor, I spotted a group of people. No monster presences nearby, and to conserve mana, I wasn't fueling [Stealth]. That's when their rabbit-kin scout spotted me.
Normally, you'd be wary of strangers in the Labyrinth, but after wading through monsters and finally seeing people, I couldn't help feeling glad and approached instead of fleeing. (Their apparent strength felt weaker than mine too.)
"Um, I wanted to ask..."
"H-Huh! M-Monster!"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the adventurer staring at me went pale, then pointed at part of my body.
What? What are they looking at...
"...Ah."
Then I looked at my left arm stump, still slowly growing.
On the way here, I'd kept eating rations, occasionally beating weak monsters for meat to devour, leaving my mouth blood-smeared. Worried covering it might hinder growth, I'd left the stump bare, where flesh and bone were oozing out and filling in.
Even I had to admit, it looked fucking horrifying.
"H-Humanoid monster? New species?"
"It's holding a weapon? From a missing adventurer?"
"Everyone, be careful! It looks extremely dangerous..."
"I'm a person, you fucking idiots."
A little hurt.