Chapter 268: The Infinite Labyrinth, Anew (5)
Chapter 268: The Infinite Labyrinth, Anew (5)
Infinite Labyrinth, 8th Floor.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Breast Milk Bullets were fired from the Breast Bunkers, powered by Breast-Shaped Magic Stones.
The milky magic bullets, possessing more lethal force than arrows, swept away the approaching goblins in a single volley. The knights let out sighs of relief.
"Phew, finally things are settling—"
"Another wave!"
"What? Dammit...!"
Before they could even catch their breath, the knights had to shove more Breast-Shaped Magic Stones into their slots inside the bunker.
"Where the hell are all these goblins coming from?!"
It was as if one was popping out every second.
Nearly sixty of them would swarm in less than a minute. What really grated on their nerves wasn't that sixty came at once, but that they came in irritatingly broken intervals.
"How long is this going to last?! I mean, is this Berserk state ever going to end?!"
"Trust the Count! He’ll calm the labyrinth down!"
"Aaaagh, I can't take it anymore!!"
The knights screamed as they slammed the Breast-Shaped Magic Stones back into the bunker's front.
The mana flowing from the stones immediately saturated the front of the bunker. From the tip of the breast-shaped shield guarding the entrance, magic bullets condensed and streaked forward.
Rat-tat-tat.
The bullets fired again, and the goblins tumbled over.
By now, the piles of goblin corpses were as tall as the goblins themselves, and the sound of their breathing could no longer be heard.
"Huff, huff."
"This is insane... How many Breast-Shaped Magic Stones do we have left?"
"We haven't even used half yet. We've got plenty of stones, senior."
"Dammit. Seriously? Wow, this is nuts. I think we're the ones who are going to break first."
The stones were plentiful.
Theoretically, they could hold out for as long as they already had.
No matter how many enemies approached, as long as they didn't run out of Breast-Shaped Magic Stones, they could keep holding the line.
But that was a matter of physics; the human mind had its limits.
Even if it was easy to deal with the enemies from behind a safe shield by simply swapping stones, the occasional poison needles from goblins or axes thrown by orcs in high arcs were still a threat.
Anything that lasted for an hour or two required a break.
But the enemies kept coming without pause, their frequency increasing, their numbers growing, and the threat of death looming ever closer. Fatigue was bound to accumulate.
"Dammit...! This is madness! At this rate, we won't be eating dinner—we'll be their dinner!"
Before they knew it, the scheduled end of the operation was drawing near.
However, the Infinite Labyrinth's Berserk state showed no signs of stopping, and anxiety began to crawl into the knights' hearts.
"Hey, do you think maybe..."
"Maybe he can't stop the Berserk state?"
Skreeeeeee!
As they looked at each other in growing unease, a deep crimson energy began to thicken throughout the labyrinth's corridors.
Rumble.
Something akin to demonic energy began to seep from the blood-stained walls, and the sound of massive footsteps echoed from the distance.
"W-What is that?!"
"It's... a Labyrinth Demon!!"
It looked like a giant beetle.
A demon, distinctly different in form from the goblins, revealed itself.
"Fire—!!"
The knights shoved the Breast-Shaped Magic Stones into the center of the earthen wall and unleashed a barrage of magic bullets.
However, the red aura surrounding the demon's body deflected the bullets as if it were armor. The demon continued its slow, deliberate advance.
Kee-hee-hee-hee.
The demon split its mouth open in a delighted grin.
Flaunting rows of shark-like teeth and blade-like claws capable of shredding a man whole, it slowly closed in on the knights.
Just as it reached the point where it could bridge the gap in a single leap—
"Aaaagh! Dammit! I don't want to die like th—huh?"
Shuaaaa.
The red energy filling the entire labyrinth vanished in an instant.
As if cold water had been poured into a boiling pot, the blood-colored demonic energy subsided.
Grrrr.
The red aura dwelling within the demon's body also began to fade.
The demon lowered its head with a look of profound disappointment, and soon its body shattered, scattering into piles of ash.
Thud.
The demon's broken body was actually a mass of multiple goblin corpses fused together.
Whether the goblins had merged upon death or the labyrinth had manifested a demon from the collective grudges of the countless slaughtered goblins, no one knew.
What was certain was that the demon was gone, and no more goblins appeared.
The Berserk state was over.
"...Phew, dammit."
The knights slumped to the floor, finally able to let out a deep breath.
"Did we get it?"
"Hey, don't say that! Don't you know the Adventurer's Code?!"
"I don't care! I'm just saying!"
Despite their bickering, the knights couldn't stop smiling.
"Man, seriously."
One knight pulled out a pocket watch with a sweat-soaked hand, shook his head, and laughed hollowly.
"It ended exactly thirty minutes before the operation's end. It's like it's telling us to spend the last thirty minutes getting ready to go home."
"......But look, didn't we rack up a ton of magic stones?"
"......Hah."
The earthen walls created by the Breast-Shaped Magic Stones began to crumble.
The knights scanned the field of goblin corpses before them. They were stunned by the sheer volume, but they grinned broadly, feeling proud of themselves.
"Fuck, look at all that money."
"That's all ours? Wow, incredible."
"But how are we going to harvest all of—"
Just as the knights' faces turned pale at the thought of the labor ahead.
"Excuse us."
A group of succubi appeared.
Each succubus wore cloth garments with a number printed on the chest. They approached the knights and handed them cold water.
"We are the Magic Stone Recovery Unit. We will collect and tally the beasts you have hunted for your settlement."
"Uh...?"
"Are you... the Succubus Farmers...?"
"Yes."
The succubus wearing a shirt with a large '8' on it took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from a knight's face, then pointed to the sack on her back.
"Harvesting the fruit is our job, after all."
* * *
After I smashed the head of the Angler Shark Queen, Neptunian.
The Berserk state stopped.
The red energy that had been shimmering throughout the labyrinth vanished completely, and I felt a sense of relief as the labyrinth began to stabilize.
"That's one hurdle cleared."
I let go of the controls for a moment.
The armor was inside the head of the Wave Queen Golem, but stepping away from the controls for a second wouldn't cause any major issues.
"Good work, Asti."
"It was nothing."
Astarotte giggled as she licked my semen off her hands.
Since the battle had been so intense, I had ended up ejaculating several times without even realizing it.
Astarotte had managed it well, allowing me to suppress the Berserk state while commanding from the headquarters.
"The Sea Elves... Tsk. What a waste."
Perhaps because the Queen was dead, or because the 30th-floor boss had been defeated.
Fwoosh.
The Sea Elves inside the boss room began to turn into mist and dissipate.
They seemed to be linked to the Queen's life force, which was quite a shame.
If their lives hadn't been tied to the boss—like the Sea Elves we had already captured and bound outside the boss room—it would have been fine, but every Sea Elf inside the room vanished.
'It's like the scenario forcibly ends once the boss is defeated.'
If I could have captured all of them to work on the Fermaton aqueduct construction, it would have been fantastic.
"Captain Laura. The battle is over. No need to go down to the 31st floor. You can return now."
[Oh, really? We can head back now?]
Below the path where the White Grainger stood, Laura waved her arms vigorously in response.
"Yeah. Everyone did a great job. Just do a quick cleanup and then we're going to have some messy sex, so leave the rest to the Succubus Farmers and come back."
[Wow!]
Laura jumped for joy.
It seemed she was happy the battle was over...
[Sex!]
...Actually, she seemed extremely happy that she could have sex now that the battle was over.
Well, I like the honesty.
There's nothing wrong with sex, after all.
[But just in case, can I check if 'that' is there?]
"That? Ah. Sure—"
I turned my gaze back.
Neptunian's body began to sublimate into light, and soon the giant golem's body also began to turn into mist.
"Dammit."
I quickly made the Living Armor sprint forward.
Even if it was the latest model, jumping down from a height of nearly ten meters would surely wreck it.
"Evelyn!"
[Slide down this way.]
As soon as I called her name, Evelyn created a long spike-spear from the ground toward me. I manipulated the Living Armor to slide down the spear like a snowboarder.
Screech!
The Vorpal Rabbit caught me with open arms.
"Thanks, Charlotte."
[Don't mention it. If it breaks, I'd just have to make a new one. Hehehe.]
Thanks to her, I landed safely.
"Attention, everyone. Let me tell you something amazing."
I pointed to my wrist while looking at the five knights who were staring at me.
"Operation over. In other words, it's ten minutes before quitting time. We finished exactly on schedule. And the most incredible part is..."
I circled the number shown to me by Amy, who had approached from the side.
"Zero casualties. Not a single person died."
Everyone's eyes widened.
Despite the chaos, everyone had survived.
We consumed a lot of magic stones, but the Berserk state was stopped, and we fully achieved our objectives.
"This is how you conquer a labyrinth."
[Uh, ex-excuse me...]
"Laura, what are you looking at that's so—"
The moment I turned my head in the direction Laura was pointing.
"......!!"
I immediately operated the Living Armor and lunged forward.
Toward the sky-blue gem descending from above.