Chapter 114: The Goddess of the Treasure Room
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: The Goddess of the Treasure Room
She was a goddess with the spirit of a spring dandelion—a cheerful, innocent yellow that popped with life in a warm, sunlit place.
After the flower wilted, its fluffy seeds would rise, ready to flutter away with a single puff of breath.
Tiny and trivial, yet adorable and lovely.
She always carried a scroll with her to jot down the things her friends needed.
She possessed ten magical treasure chests so she could offer a gift whenever she pleased.
“Look at this! Sanfriel.”
From time to time, she would present one of those chests to her friends.
“Guess what’s inside!” she would say, her hands behind her back, her face flushed red, and a bright, innocent smile.
“I put what you wanted in here!”
She is the Goddess of Gifts and Scrolls.
In the age of myths, she was the most beloved goddess, moving freely among the other gods.
Until she was devoured by the Labyrinth.
According to Nathaniel, no gift from any treasure chest was ever more precious than her smile.
…I remember reading a passage like that somewhere.
Although I wasn't an ancient literature scholar like Dalstream, I’d seen it somewhere while scraping the bottom of the barrel of this insane game, devouring every last scrap of information.
The Dandelion Goddess had ten treasure chests.
They were the chests in the treasure rooms scattered from the 1st to the 10th floors of the Labyrinth. Though, to this day, no one has ever found the 10th-floor treasure room.
Even the Compass of Greed couldn't locate the treasure room on the 10th floor.
And…
‘The treasure rooms are the slots.’
Just as I could pull out a stored spell from each magic slot in the Memory Book, the White Lion’s palm-gate was connected to the treasure rooms.
Even he didn't know about the 10th-floor treasure room. Or perhaps it didn't exist at all.
He had summoned the Lord of the Magic Tower from the 9th-floor treasure room and the Ethereal Lake from the 8th-floor treasure room.
Was that why he could only pull out a breakwater from the 7th-floor treasure room? Because a Tier 8 scroll couldn't be retrieved from a 7th-floor treasure room.
“A spherical prison.”
Now, an Ethereal Lake was trapped inside a mass of Ethereal Lake.
It was like a giant air bubble in water, as the two Ethereal Lakes, belonging to different masters, did not mix.
The one on the outside belonged to Dalstream. It was currently deconstructing its spherical prison form and transforming into a Wave Whip.
And from there, the Lord of the Magic Tower entered, while the White Lion, in turn, exited.
“Ethereal Budding.”
Like an amoeba dividing.
Or like a bud sprouting from a coelenterate, such as a hydra or a sea anemone.
The White Lion, cloaked in a lake the size of two bathtubs, slipped out of the spherical prison, leaving Dalstream and me to face the Lord of the Magic Tower.
He was heading for the surface.
The sight of that monster descending, wrapped in an Ethereal Lake, was like a scene from a nightmare.
And his destination was…
“Yernil.”
On the collapsed roof of the annex building, the White Lion landed softly and spoke.
“That’s your name, right? I heard the professor call you that earlier.”
Yernil’s breath caught in her throat, just as it had when she’d encountered him in the archives.
The first son, reborn in the Labyrinth, and the lord of the 9.5th floor.
The right hand of the Labyrinth Master.
From the moment the demon had met Dalstream and Yernil in the archives, he had never intended to let Yernil live.
Because he didn't know what she might have heard.
Or what she might have received.
-Caleb!
-Professor Dalstream!
The university’s wizards were scrambling to deal with Caleb and Dalstream, who were caught between the Lord of the Magic Tower and the Corpse Explosion scroll.
Meldini and Isilof were flying up using emergency magic, charging toward the Ethereal Lake.
Beside Yernil…
CRACK!
Aimus slammed his iron staff down with all his might, but even his monstrous strength was meaningless before the White Lion.
“My god.”
Smashing Gaia was stopped. The White Lion had simply caught it with his hand.
SQUEEZE.
The iron staff dented, taking the shape of the lion’s fingers. The lump of steel crumpled like an aluminum can.
SWISH!
Back Attack reflexively swung his blade, but it was just as useless.
“Aaargh!”
The lion snatched his wrist and twisted it. Back Attack cried out in pain and collapsed.
“You bastard!”
Back Attack forced strength into his broken arm and splayed his hand open. Sleeping gas erupted from his palm, a new skill he’d learned during their 4th-floor adventure.
The magical sleeping gas was potent enough at close range to have put Ingelam’s Avian Rogue to sleep.
“Hmph.”
The White Lion let out a light puff of air and swatted Back Attack aside.
“Don’t bother me. I don’t particularly feel like killing you.”
Then he swung the iron staff, sending Aimus flying as well.
Claws shot out from the White Lion’s fingers.
“You too.”
The monster closed in on Yernil.
“Consider yourself unlucky.”
Yernil couldn't move.
Her mind knew she had to use Sentry Relocation immediately, but her legs felt glued to the roof of the annex.
It was the kind of paralysis one feels when facing an overwhelming predator.
The kind of motor failure that freezes a rabbit in front of a tiger.
“Magic Shield!”
It was Neko who reacted in Yernil’s stead.
Just before the monster’s claws could pierce her, Neko cast a spell from behind Yernil.
A small, shimmering silver shield materialized in front of Yernil’s chest. But the monster’s claws sliced through it like tofu.
The sharp tips were about to pierce her chest.
‘Sentry Relocation!’
Finally snapping to her senses, Yernil fled in a panic.
She reappeared on the same roof, but now twenty meters away, and raised her bow.
But her target was no longer there.
“Huh…?”
“Yernil!”
Aimus screamed.
Everyone was staring at Yernil with horrified expressions.
To be precise, they were staring behind her.
That lion was skilled enough with magic to summon and activate scrolls like the Ethereal Lake, but if one were to classify him, he was far from a wizard.
It was a Leaping Ambush.
“Huk…”
She felt something warm at her waist. Slowly lowering her head, Yernil’s eyes fell upon the sharp claws that had pierced through her side and emerged from her front.
“Uh…”
The strength drained from her legs.
Blood trickled down.
She saw Neko’s horrified face. Aimus’s grim expression.
Even Back Attack, who was usually so abrasive, had gone pale at the horrific scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
“Huk… Huk…”
She couldn't breathe properly.
The spot where the claws had been, now pulled out, burned hot.
She could feel air entering the wound. It felt empty. And there was so much blood pouring out.
She tried to clamp her hand over it, but it just streamed through her fingers.
“Ugh…”
This is bad.
That was her first thought. Then, suddenly, she thought of the Fairy Forest.
She remembered the day she was cast out.
How they wouldn't listen, no matter how much she cried and begged.
She remembered their merciless faces as they sent her away.
She hadn't even lain down, but somehow her cheek was now pressed against the floor.
Lying on the ground, her dizzying consciousness spinning, she saw the sky.
The night sky.
Unlike in the Fairy Forest, the stars weren't very visible in Sohen’s night sky.
It’s cold.
It felt like all her body heat was escaping through the bleeding wound in her side.
He looks cold.
Caleb, inside the lake.
Yernil had been in that water before. It was cold.
Caleb seemed preoccupied with fighting the Lord of the Magic Tower.
This feels strange.
I’m lonely.
It felt lonely just to watch the side of his face from below.
It felt lonely that he wasn't looking down at her as she was dying.
It was mystifying that, in this moment, she felt loneliness more keenly than fear.
Something as hot as the blood flowing from her side now streamed from her eyes.
‘I wanted to fight there, too.’
Rip!
The White Lion tore the sack from her waist. From inside, he pulled out Dalstream’s unfinished thesis.
“I knew something like this must have been passed to you.”
The White Lion ripped the thesis to shreds.
The White Lion looked up at the sky, a sense of calm washing over him. The battle was still raging inside the Ethereal Lake, but Dalstream and Caleb stood no chance.
No matter how powerful the Archmage was, fighting the Lord of the Magic Tower inside the lake would be difficult. Especially since it was a lake created by an ‘enemy,’ meaning the spherical prison would constrict around them. And especially while protecting a student.
Furthermore, Isilof and Meldini outside couldn't easily help them.
A reckless use of powerful magic could end up shattering Meldini’s Ethereal Lake.
And inside the lake, the Lord of the Magic Tower was too fast to be sniped.
It hadn't gone perfectly smoothly, but it was all going according to plan.
The outcome was inevitable.
There was no way he could fail, now that he had personally intervened. However.
‘This is unsettling.’
Not because of Dalstream, but because of Caleb.
That young man had repeatedly defied the White Lion’s predictions. He was certain the boy was a possessor, but then he’d proven otherwise under lie detection magic in front of Meldini. Then there was the time he’d taken Enver to Blackdog and killed him.
Could something unexpected happen this time, too?
Or perhaps.
“Maybe I should lend a hand here.”
Just as the White Lion was about to change his target…
KRA-KOW!
A massive, powerful green hand shot up from the floor.
“Finally caught you.”
The hand snatched the White Lion’s ankle, yanking him down with incredible force. The demon’s leg was instantly pulled through the debris of the shattered roof.
“Kgh!”
This was a level of strength far beyond that of the mid-floor adventurer, Aimus.
The White Lion struggled to free his leg, but his opponent was no ordinary monster either.
CRASH!
The roof collapsed.
The White Lion was slammed onto the floor, and a heavy boot stomped down on his chest like an iron stake.
“Krom!”
“I’m sending you to Ractanius.”
The orc berserker from Blackdog raised his axe high.
“So he can have his revenge.”
The White Lion remembered now.
During the Labyrinth Eruption 12 years ago, when he had attacked Blackdog.
The White Lion had devoured a wizard named Ractanius, and Krom had been right beside him.
He’d thought Krom was dead, but after some time, he had reappeared at Blackdog.
He was built like a bear, but he was a natural at concealing his presence.
Enough to land this surprise attack.
KWHANG!
The same axe that had killed Enver came crashing down on the White Lion’s head.
“Professor!”
The Lord of the Magic Tower swam through the Ethereal Lake. We, trapped in the spherical prison, would soon be silenced and suffocated.
There was no time.
-Caleb!
-Professor!
Isilof and Meldini, floating outside the spherical prison, couldn't easily help us.
“Caleb.”
Professor Dalstream aimed his wand at me.
“I’ll get you out using Ethereal Budding.”
“Don’t!”
Because if he did that, the spell currently gathered at the tip of his wand would be dispelled.
‘Ethereal Lake, form of a Wave Whip.’
An entire lake was currently gathered at the tip of the professor’s wand.
It would unleash a massive wave—no, more like a tsunami—in whatever direction he swung it.
A direct hit would surely shatter the Lord of the Magic Tower. It was a summon with immense vitality, so it would slowly regenerate, but still.
“We can get out if we catch it!”
“Frankly, I’m not confident.”
That was because the Lord of the Magic Tower was circling us at an incredible speed.
It was a classic cliché you’d see in cartoons.
The villain circles the hero at high speed.
“I’ll…”
Usually, that cliché doesn't end until the hero manages to catch the high-speed villain, right?
“I’ll guide your aim.”
“How?”
“I’ll hit it with a Frost Ray.”
Summons of magical origin like the Lord of the Magic Tower have unique status effect resistances.
For example, think about a ‘wet’ status. How would that even work on a being that’s already semi-liquid?
It had 100% immunity to lightning attacks, so it could never be electrocuted. It could also never be frozen solid.
However, if it was hit by something like a Frost Ray, it had a 100% chance of being afflicted with ‘Slow’ for one turn.
“When it’s slowed, hit it with the whip.”
“Understood. But can you even hit it with a Frost Ray?” Dalstream asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
Honestly, hitting that monster, which was circling us at over ten rotations per second, with a Frost Ray was like plucking a star from the sky. Even Yernil probably couldn't do it. It was an impossible feat for an ordinary wizard. But.
“I’ll try.”
Because I have the Hourglass.
To be honest, I really didn't want to use this in front of Dalstream.
This professor knew far too much.
“Don’t miss your chance.”
Still, it was better than dying.
We were about to be silenced, so I had to hurry…
“Huh?”
A strange message had appeared next to the Hourglass.
[Yernil]
※Incapacitated (Death in 3 turns)
What the hell is this?
“Hah…! Hah. Shit!”
Back Attack carried Yernil out.
It had been a close call.
Krom grabbing the White Lion’s ankle had created an opening.
“Thanks, Krom! Guess all that money I blew at the casino was worth it!”
In that instant, he had used Leaping Ambush to get in and Shadow Leap to get out.
With Yernil.
“She’s not dead yet!”
“Neko!”
The orc warrior Urgash was running over, accompanied by the priest Mikhail, who was completely out of breath.
Both were constables from Neko’s team.
“Mikhail! Help! Hurry!”
A subtle camaraderie had already formed between those who had fought against powerful foes at the steel mill together.
In his haste, Urgash simply threw Mikhail onto the roof. Mikhail tumbled and rolled but immediately began casting his magic.
Mikhail, a priest of Nathaniel, quickly stopped Yernil’s bleeding.