Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 4th Floor Hidden Labyrinth (3)
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The interior of the 4th Floor Hidden Labyrinth resembled a long dungeon corridor steeped in a gloomy atmosphere.
The walls forming the corridor writhed slightly, as if alive.
A faint red glow permeated the air, making it feel like your sanity was draining away just by looking at it.
"Let's go."
You couldn't get lost in the 4th Floor Hidden Labyrinth.
With the central boss room at its core, all eight connected rooms led in a single direction.
Just walking down the corridor would naturally lead you to the boss.
This place's boss was the Corpse Lord Golter.
A necromancer-type boss monster that commanded an undead legion.
Composed of three phases, the Corpse Lord Golter resummoned a massive undead legion each time it entered a new phase.
In the final phase, it would infinitely resummon the undead legion at regular intervals.
If you didn't want to deal with hassle, you had to take down Golter as quickly as possible after phase three began.
The undead legion wasn't particularly strong, but they inflicted a barrage of status ailments, so the longer the fight dragged on, the more damage accumulated steadily.
Even with status ailment resistance boosted, there were limits against things like rot or poison.
I headed straight toward the dungeon's center.
It wasn't long before.
- Uuooo...
- Euuuu...
An undead horde filling the corridor came into view ahead.
The creatures, staring vacantly at the walls with hollow eyes, charged at me the moment they spotted me.
Chunks of flesh and corpses packed the corridor, shoving against each other in a scene straight out of hell.
I quickly drew my staff, aimed it forward, and channeled my magic power.
A black sphere slowly expanded from the tip of my staff.
The sphere sucked in everything around it, and the moment it touched the front row of zombies, it ballooned explosively in size.
The undead charging toward me were pulled into the black hole as if accelerated.
- Boom! Boom! Boom!
Propelled by their own momentum plus the black hole's pull, the undead were devoured in an instant.
When they collided with its core, massive explosions chained off one after another.
"...Nice."
Even after swallowing the entire charging horde, the black hole remained intact.
Thanks to my boosted magic power and mana, its duration had increased.
While the black hole persisted, I swung my staff to recover the mana crystals.
"271?"
Mana crystals dropped in varying sizes per monster, but only one per creature.
So recovering 271 meant there had been 271 undead.
Something was off.
"...Someone's been here?"
This boss summons around 100 undead per phase.
By contrast, over 200 had been at my entrance.
It seemed someone had fought first, spawning a few extra undead.
"Guess I should hurry."
Bosses allowed mid-combat joins.
Since the boss appearance message had popped when I entered, it hadn't been defeated yet.
I quickened my pace.
Wuuung-
Just in case, I summoned an orbiting spell for ranged casting.
The pristine white orb hovering above my head, loaded with Frozen Spear, floated ahead.
Reaching the end of the dungeon corridor revealed a vast plaza.
The marble floor reflected the red sheen of bloodstains.
Long runes were etched in lines leading to the center.
The aligned runes pulsed with red light at regular intervals.
The boss room of the 4th Floor Hidden Labyrinth.
Upon arrival, I scanned for the boss.
That's when.
Shrieeek-
A black blade rippling with ominous energy slashed toward my throat.
"Hup-!"
【Rank: Legendary】
Accelerates the caster's subjective thought process.
I activated Thought Acceleration with a reaction speed that surprised even me.
I twisted my neck slightly to dodge the blade, then leaped back to create distance.
Faster thoughts didn't make the body move faster.
Mana infuses the body, boosting strength, stamina, and agility proportional to remaining mana.
Even with mana consumption, the boost never drops below half.
With Mana Body+ already enhancing my agility dramatically, dodging the sword the instant I registered it was easy.
Plus, with the Dragon Heart, mana shortages weren't an issue.
At a safe distance, I released Thought Acceleration and faced forward.
- Clatter.
There stood a skeleton knight shaking its black skull side to side.
"......?"
Undead Knight Plue.
An elite monster summoned by the Corpse Lord Golter in phase three to guard him.
Plue's appearance meant...
I glanced toward the boss room's center.
― Phase 3
『Incapacitated』
A massive-robed necromancer stood frozen in place, like a stuffed specimen.
Phase three, as expected.
In phase three, the Corpse Lord Golter transformed into an immobile bloodstone form.
Every three minutes, it revived all regular undead.
It also recovered life force each time its undead dealt damage.
Undead Knight Plue was excluded from revivals.
Swipe-
As my thoughts lingered, the undead knight swung its sword at me.
I sidestepped to evade, then.
- Clatter.
I detonated the air at its side, sending it flying far away.
Then I trapped it in a black hole until its health depleted.
After two black holes exhausted their durations, the kill message finally appeared.
Another undead wave had spawned during that time, but the black hole devouring Plue took them all out too.
With the boss room cleared, I slowly surveyed the surroundings.
"...Should take him down first?"
In phase three, the Corpse Lord Golter did nothing but resummon its undead legion every three minutes.
But... that direction bothered me.
Just before, when the undead legion respawned.
Besides those charging me, I'd spotted undead running the other way.
They'd headed down the corridor opposite me.
So... that way should lead to whoever started the fight.
The 4th floor boss's phase three unlocked below 25% health.
Meaning the prior party had already whittled it down to 75%.
They hadn't handled the elite, but snagging the killing blow felt a bit rude.
"Let's check it out."
If they told me not to take the finisher, I'd decide then.
Bosses didn't grant ownership just because you started first.
- Uuooo...
I hurled a black hole at the newly respawned undead, then headed down the opposite passage.
How far did I walk?
"Kuooo...."
At the corridor's end, I spotted a man in a bizarre state.
Half his body had rotted away, yet he gripped his sword with both hands, aimed forward.
At his feet... lay severed heads of undead.
The man was no longer truly alive.
Half-zombified, consumed by the dungeon's madness, he lingered undead for some reason.
Behind him... were his party members.
A robed mage stared into empty space, muttering incoherently, sanity lost.
Beside him, a man had bound the mage's limbs with spells to prevent further rampage.
And... farthest back.
A priest lay face-down, arms severed.
The 4th Floor Hidden Labyrinth was easier to enter than expected.
First, the 4th floor graveyard.
Deep in the dungeon but reachable without special gimmicks.
Red flowers were scattered there too.
If you'd bled heavily in combat on the way.
Or picked a flower, summoning an Eater.
You could stumble in here all too easily.
From the 4th floor on, return scrolls didn't work anyway.
With the boss respawned, you had to fight to leave.
They'd challenged the boss, triggered phase three, but couldn't handle it and fled.
I swallowed a bitter feeling and silently mourned them.
The priest was beyond saving if dead—no revival magic here.
The survivors, in that state, had no other options.
Once consumed by dungeon madness, even priestly purification wouldn't work.
Muttering that, I turned to finish the boss.
That's when.
"H... H-Help... J..."
"...?"
A faint but unmistakable plea for aid reached my ears.
Startled, I turned back—the armless priest was breathing shallowly, somehow alive.
I approached cautiously, but the half-zombified man didn't attack.
...No way?
I activated True Sight to check their statuses again.
The zombified man, the mage, the shaman.
Only then did I notice the spikes of holy light embedded in all three's heads.
A sacred spike, awakened by only a rare few priest classes.
It halted all status ailment progression and preserved their conditions.
The priest must have had high circle mastery.
Or awakened it right before death.
I resumed walking.
To save them, I needed to take down the boss first.