Labyrinth of the Dead
"Help you?"
What the hell was this guy thinking? His whole demeanor looked desperately sincere, though. Half suspicious and half curious, I spoke up.
"Sit down over there first and explain."
Karante didn't sit. He kept his head bowed and pressed on.
"My comrades have vanished..."
The short version went like this. After our duel, Karante hadn't been able to take on missions right away either. When a very easy new mission popped up, his party members told him to stay behind and rest — then left without him. And they still hadn't come back.
"It was just a D-Rank labyrinth exploration. A place we'd already been several times. An easy one."
Karante's party members had that veteran look written all over them. Experienced Participants failing to return from a mere D-Rank — from a place they'd already cleared — meant something had gone wrong. That much was obvious.
"Is there a way to go look for them?"
Rin, who had been listening quietly beside me, answered in my place.
"You can apply for a special investigation mission at the Quest Office. But there's no reward. No Points either. It's literally volunteer work!"
No reward. Walking into a place where you didn't even know what had happened, with nothing to show for it. Not the kind of condition anyone moved on without some serious loyalty.
"You've got plenty of other Participants you know besides us, don't you? Why not ask them?"
"Most Participants don't care whether another party lives or dies. Going out on a mission and never coming back is far too common here."
"Then what about me? Why do you think I'd help?"
This guy and I had been crossing blades in a death match not long ago. Things hadn't exactly gotten friendlier since. Awkward was the right word for us. So why me, of all people?
While I was turning that over, Karante answered.
"I don't know."
"...You don't know?"
"Yeah. I don't know. I just wanted to ask you."
No logic, no angle, nothing. Pure, unfiltered nonsense. And somehow that bare, simple reason hit me harder than anything polished could have. If he'd been trying to con me or lead me into a trap, his tongue would have been a lot longer.
Then, out of nowhere, a very old memory surfaced.
Elementary school, maybe? Back when family restaurants were all the rage, and every drama on television had a scene of people sitting down in one to eat pasta and steak.
They keep bringing you bread? And if you ask for chocolate syrup, they give you that too?
To a kid living in an orphanage, that place was an unknown world — somewhere I longed for. There was no way I was ever getting through those doors. The orphanage gave us allowance, sure, but it was barely enough to get by.
Then one day, a classmate I didn't particularly like started inviting friends to a birthday party at a family restaurant. I don't even remember why we didn't get along. Maybe he had a bit of money and I felt small next to him. Even so, I asked him. Take me too.
A kid swallowing every last scrap of pride because he wanted so badly to go. And that friend, to my surprise, took me. No snide remarks. No mockery. Just the memory of celebrating his birthday and eating well. The shock that they really did bring unlimited bread. That was all that stayed with me.
There is no dramatic coda where we became best friends after that. The story ends right there. But I remember the shame of asking a favor from someone you don't get along with. And I remember the kindness of the boy who took me along with no conditions attached.
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
Why the hell am I remembering that now...
"I've made things uncomfortable. I'm sorry."
Karante turned to leave. I watched his back.
"Karante. You've got less patience than you look."
"......?"
"Let's go... dammit..."
"...What?"
Karante's eyes went wide, like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
"I said let's go, you idiot! Horns growing in your ears or what?"
I turned and looked at the three sitting at the table.
"You three stay here. If a new mission comes up, take it together."
This was a worthless, piece-of-shit mission with zero reward and nothing but danger attached. I was going because of my own personal feelings. That didn't give me the right to drag them along.
"Minwoo, what are you talking about?"
Aria stared at me, well and truly pissed.
"We're not that weak. Why do you always try to do everything alone?"
"Keruk! Keruk!!"
"Is the Soul Trio just empty words...?"
"No, this doesn't even give Points, and it's nothing but risk—"
"If you're going, Kiki and I are going. That's just how it is."
Aria and Kiki's eyes were dead set. No room to argue.
"Oppa! I'm going too!"
At Rin's words, Karante's gaze wavered.
"Y-Younger Sister Witch...? Why would you go that far for us..."
"They say Magical Girl Lilia always helps people, even when everyone hates her."
"Who's Lilia...?"
"Horned people don't need to know!"
And just like that, Rin was in too.
"Thank you... all of you, truly, thank you...!"
Karante's voice shook with feeling.
"Especially you, Younger Sister Witch... I am truly grateful. The things I did to you... I regret them. Deeply. I am sorry..."
Watching that display, Rin hooked her arm through mine and whispered.
"Oppa, that guy's horn turning red is kinda creeping me out."
"Yeah, it's seriously ugly... Karante! Quit the theatrics and go get the mission already."
"Ahem... Understood."
And so our five-person party was formed. Each of us set out to carry out the mission Karante had collected from the Receptionist.
The place we arrived at was a quiet little village. The labyrinth was supposed to be a short distance beyond it. Following Karante's lead, we headed that way.
"That place is called the Labyrinth of the Dead."
According to Karante, it was a simple labyrinth that mainly spawned skeletons. The usual mission was to retrieve some object, and this time had been no different.
"The deepest we'd gone before was B4. This time the mission was to bring something back from B3."
We walked as he talked, and before we knew it the labyrinth was in front of us. What appeared were the ruins of a massive temple. It might have been magnificent once. Now, with half-collapsed pillars and moss clinging everywhere, it just looked grotesque.
"This is it?"
"Yeah. Go in there, move a little further, and there's a path down to the basement."
We followed Karante into the temple. The smell of damp moss hung in the air, along with a distinctive, lingering chill.
"What's this?"
Shattered bone fragments were scattered all over the floor.
"My comrades probably cleared out every enemy as they moved through."
"So no enemies on the way in, then. Let's move fast."
We picked up the pace and headed underground. B1 was the same — nothing left but bone fragments. From the basement down it was pitch dark, so I pulled out an LED flashlight and clipped it at my waist.
"Wh-what is that? Some kind of magic tool?"
"You don't need to know. I'm not telling you."
"......"
We moved quickly, and before long the stairs down to B2 came into view.
"Let's go down to B2."
Our five-person party took the spiral staircase deeper underground. The moment we set foot on the second basement floor, the quality of the air changed completely. A low groan rolled through the dark — cold, heavy air that stung the skin.
"Wait!"
Rin suddenly stopped us. Her eyes narrowed as she stared into the darkness beyond.
"There's something over there."
"What is it?"
"It looks like a skeleton, but... it has no head, and it's wearing armor. And it's holding a huge greatsword."
At Rin's words, Karante's face went pale.
"C-could it be a Death Knight...?"
"What's that?"
"An undead made from the corpses of knights who reached a high level in life!"
Karante drew his axe as he kept talking.
"Dammit. Those things come from much deeper. Why the hell is one on the second floor...?"
Clank. Clank. Whether it had spotted us or not, the sound of its approach grew steadily closer. I wedged the LED flashlight into a gap in the wall and summoned my bound sword.
"The moment it enters our field of view, we hit it. Rin, give the signal."
"Got it!"
Clank. Clank.
Its form began to emerge from the dark, hazy at first. Heavy plate armor encased its entire body, and it dragged a massive greatsword as tall as itself along the ground. Even without a head on its shoulders, it was pouring killing intent straight at us.
"Now!"
Rin loosed an arrow with the signal. The shaft punched into the armor near the solar plexus, and the thing paused for a fraction of a second. Then Aria's lightning slammed into it in a crackling burst, and its movements visibly slowed. Even so, it heaved the greatsword up and charged, meaning to bring the blade down on top of us.
A low hum cut through the air as Kiki threw up his barrier, caught the weapon, and shoved the whole thing back.
"Nice, Kiki!"
Karante and I broke to either side like we'd planned it in advance. Karante on the left. Me on the right.
"UOOOOOH!"
Karante's horn blazed as he swung his axe, aiming for the left leg. The blow landed with a heavy crash. The Death Knight's leg crumpled and its stance collapsed — and in that same instant I drove in fast. My sword, wrapped in Primordial Power, carved straight through its waist. The thing split in two and went down.
"Hoo..."
I caught my breath and looked at the fallen Death Knight's remains. Even after taking Rin and Aria's heaviest hits, it had still come at us with plenty of fight left. Judging by the size and weight of that greatsword, if we hadn't finished it quickly this would not have been easy. Dropping it in an instant with that kind of coordination had been the right call.
And in that moment, Karante said something he absolutely should not have said.
"You lot are so strong, this much is easy."
"Karante, you crazy bastard! Why the hell would you say something like that?!"
"Huh...? Me? Why...?"
Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.
Sounds rolled out of the darkness. This time it wasn't one or two. I swung the flashlight that way, and countless Death Knights were coming toward us.
Anyway, thanks to this bastard Karante's big mouth, we were well and truly fucked. Garon's the same way — why do Participants love planting flags so much? I will never understand it.