Chapter 168: Chihuahua
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168: Chihuahua
Clang! Clang! Dong! Dong!
It sounded like the emergency bell of a medieval border town under enemy invasion.
As the frantic tolling echoed, Isilof realized the situation had taken a grave turn.
An Ascended Wizard.
Professor Meldini had used that magic. The bell was ringing in response to the ascendant’s magic power.
“Professor Meldini!”
Isilof knew all about the old professor’s spell.
It was the moment a wizard took a step into the domain of Wizus. He was finally treading the line between mortal and transcendent.
A mental fortitude that surpassed humanity would shatter all concepts of magical classes, creating a new order and gaining its own unique laws and power.
It was arguably the most powerful ability in all of Sohen.
But the penalty was immense.
A colossal power was being forced into a body that was old, sick, and dying—a body that would one day perish. It was like pouring boiling water into a glass.
That was why Meldini rarely used this magic.
The last time he had used it was twelve years ago.
“Is it as urgent as it was back then?”
Isilof worried for the old professor.
“Professor!”
He burst into the alchemy lab and saw a staircase where a bookshelf had once stood.
The chihuahua who had run ahead of them was standing before it. But instead of going down, she was covering her mouth, fighting a wave of nausea.
The reason was that she had made eye contact with Robin at the bottom of the stairs.
“Robin…”
His eyes and nose were intact, but there was nothing below his philtrum.
KABOOM!
Something erupted from the bottom of the stairs, shooting upward like liquid nitrogen exploding from a high-pressure cylinder.
It was Ethereal Gas.
Sapphire-colored dust and ice crystals scattered everywhere, glittering.
And…
THUD!
As if thrown, the Dagger Raptor shot into the air and stuck to the ceiling of the alchemy lab.
“You won’t get away!”
Below, Professor Meldini was flying up in his ethereal state.
*
The Dagger Raptor and Meldini flew together from the alchemy lab’s underground storeroom all the way outside the professor’s building.
It happened in an instant, shattering the ceiling and walls.
And we were left staring blankly at the hole in the ceiling, like a dog that had been chasing a chicken.
“Caleb.”
Yernil murmured.
“What do we do now?”
“What do you think? We chase it and kill it.”
My target hadn't changed.
“But it just resurrects even if we kill it!”
“I more or less expected this.”
“Really?”
The current situation could be seen as Sohen holding the White Lion hostage, and the Labyrinth erupting to rescue it.
Naturally, wouldn't the first choice for the Public Security Headquarters be to execute the hostage?
From their perspective, stabbing the heart of that thing trapped in permafrost would be a piece of cake.
Yet the Labyrinth was still coming to save the White Lion.
Didn't that mean they had a way to resurrect and retrieve it, no matter what Public Security did?
That’s why I thought there was a chance the Dagger Raptor could also be revived even if killed.
And…
“I also had a rough idea that the Ossuaries would be involved.”
Though I never imagined an Exit Room would just drop right here.
“How did you know about the Ossuaries?” Isel asked.
Curious, aren't you?
From here, the Gourmet Whale looked like a hazy, distant mountain. Of course, I couldn't see what was inside its mouth either.
But…
[The whale’s mouth is full of Ossuaries. Monsters from the floor-villages are on board, too…]
Someone had informed me via message.
Blackdog.
“Professor Meldini probably received a message from Public Security about the Ossuaries, too.”
The reason he hadn't alerted the university's wizards with the bell was likely because dealing with the Assembly was more urgent.
“Anyway, let’s resume the chase.”
My knowledge of the Labyrinth is limited, and that’s my fatal flaw?
Just you watch until the end, Dagger Raptor. See how this fight ends.
“Hey, boss.”
Back Attack pointed at the Exit Room and asked.
“That thing… what do you think happens if we go inside…?”
Through the doorway the Dagger Raptor had opened, a gate was visible.
*
Right. That was the problem.
If this place had now become the 1st floor of the Labyrinth, and that was an Exit Room, then the Dagger Raptor that came out of it was a Stairing Eccentric Boss.
Normally, if a boss leaves its Exit Room, the room is considered cleared, and an Exit Gate appears inside.
Usually, using that Exit Gate leads you to the stairs in front of the Labyrinth Union, but…
“I’m not sure.”
This, I really didn't know.
But there was one possibility that crossed my mind.
‘The real world.’
When the Labyrinth builds its tower on the surface and invades the Ethereal Galaxy, ten possessors can return home.
That’s what the Assembly said.
Coincidentally, there are exactly ten Exit Rooms from the 1st to the 10th floor. So if a possessor could return home through an Exit Room that appeared on the surface…
‘If I go through that now.’
My heart suddenly started pounding.
‘Does the possession end?’
I can go back to the modern world?
No. Wait a minute.
I can really escape this fucking game?
This easily?
No.
No. Let’s not get excited. Calm down. Nothing has been verified yet.
What if I go in and—Ta-da! You thought this was reality? Just kidding, it’s the Deep Layer!—the Labyrinth Master pops out?
At the very least, I need to confirm if my guess is correct through a member of the Assembly.
“…”
I glanced at Isel, but she just shrugged.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much, Isel. Your knowledge of the Assembly seems to be on par with mine.
But just then.
“The… the Exit Room.”
Someone came down the stairs, their body trembling.
University Professor Elaine.
The wizard chihuahua who was currently leading the Assembly.
“It’s an Exit Room… an Exit Room.”
Tears streamed down her pale cheeks.
“Don’t move!”
Isel’s wand pointed at the chihuahua.
“Isel? Why are you… No. It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”
The chihuahua seemed to have just noticed Isel’s betrayal, but her surprise was fleeting.
There was something far more important.
“Don’t stop me. Please. Just let me go through there. I’ll disappear quietly. You can just think of me as dead. Just let me go…”
“Chihuahua!”
Another wizard came down from above.
I recognized his face and name.
Kaal, the assistant instructor from Professor Clay’s lab.
The bell’s telepathic message had said Clay was the Assembly’s Yeti. Then this guy must be a possessor, too.
“S-Seong-hyun.”
A look of distress crossed the chihuahua’s face. ‘Seong-hyun’ was probably Kaal’s modern name.
“Is that an Exit Room?”
His eyes widened.
“Y-yeah… But w-wait a minute.”
An incredibly awkward atmosphere suddenly flowed between the two. Tense glances were exchanged.
“…”
“…”
I instantly understood the situation.
They had been cooperating as members of the Assembly, but now that a single ticket home had appeared before them, they both coveted it. So…
“Yours…”
An awkward smile appeared on the chihuahua’s lips.
“The Yeti will figure something out for you. For now, this one is…”
“You said you’d send me!”
“But…”
“No. Neither of you can touch this Exit Room.”
I quickly interjected.
Have some conscience.
If anyone is qualified to use that, isn’t it me?
I killed the Dagger Raptor, and that’s why the Exit Gate appeared. Even by Labyrinth standards, you’d be looters if you tried to take this.
But I wasn't going to use it right away.
Honestly, I was surprised by my own decision.
Have I really been in this other world for too long? Or have I just gone half-mad?
“After this battle is over, this will be handed over to the university as research material.”
A ticket home is right in front of me, yet I’m thinking of jumping back into the fray.
Still, I don’t want to just abandon this war and run away by myself.
“So don’t even dream of touching it!”
Of course, there were other reasons.
I still didn't know the details about that Exit Gate.
Judging by the reactions of these two possessors, the basis for it seems pretty solid, but I need to hear it for myself and make a careful judgment. So.
“Both of you, surrender quietly!”
I shouted threateningly, aiming my wand.
Yernil, Back Attack, and Aimus also had their weapons aimed. Isel, too.
“Ah…”
The chihuahua’s shoulders flinched at the pressure.
“Alright…”
As if giving up, she turned toward the assistant instructor, Kaal.
“Seong-hyun, you calm down, too. Lower your wand for now.”
She said in a placating tone.
“Let’s use our Dragon Ball later. We can decide whose wish to grant then. How were Son Goku and Vegeta when they met Frieza on Planet Namek?”
Huh?
Wait. Hold the fuck on.
*
“What are you talking about?”
Unsettled by the bizarre nonsense, Isel frowned and demanded an explanation.
“It’s nothing.”
The chihuahua smiled and shook her head.
The hell it’s nothing.
Are you saying Son Goku and Vegeta are you two, and Frieza is us?
“You know Stupefy, right?”
That was the signal.
Suddenly, that madman Kaal leaped down the stairs, thrusting his wand forward.
“Brain Terror!”
So that’s what Stupefy was?
“Wizard’s Shield.”
The spell that possessor Seong-hyun cast was a powerful Tier 7 magic, but Isel, befitting a professor, blocked it with incredible reaction speed.
CRASH!
A magic shield appeared in front of her, deflecting the incoming mind-destruction spell.
But there was no time to relax.
“Rapid Freeze!”
I extended my wand toward the chihuahua, but I was just short. She had already aimed her wand at the floor.
What about Yernil and Back Attack?
Their aggro was drawn to Kaal, who had made the more aggressive move. Yernil shot an arrow at him, and Back Attack leaped for an ambush.
STAB!
He stabbed Kaal in the back, but the real problem was the chihuahua.
“Inferno of Hellfire.”
Isel’s shield and Aimus’s parasol blocked the scattering sparks.
But the spell was just getting started.
“W-what is this magic!”
Isel stumbled back in alarm.
Only a handful of university professors could cast Tier 8 magic, but the Assembly members were hiding their true power.
This was the chihuahua’s Tier 8.
A spell that created a zone of incredibly high temperature around the caster.
[Book of Hellfire.]
Its power was so immense that it was a double-edged sword capable of burning even allies to death, but the caster themselves was safe.
FWOOOOSH!
Flames erupted.
In an instant, superheated flames shot up from all directions.
“Caleb!”
Yernil screamed at the extraordinary heat.
WHOOSH!
The ice covering the floor evaporated in an instant. It didn't even seem to turn to water; it went straight to steam.
The alchemy lab’s underground storeroom was an enclosed space. As it suddenly filled with superheated steam, the room turned into a kiln-like sauna.
Soon, it would be like the inside of a steamer. We were going to be cooked alive.
“Joint Ethereal Evasion.”
Isel grabbed my hand and used a spell to escape up the stairs.
‘Sentinel Reposition.’
Yernil also made it up there.
THUD!
Aimus used his iron staff like a pole to vault over.
“We’ll be burned to a crisp in an instant if we stay here! We have to get out!”
Isel pulled my arm, urging me up the stairs.
CLANK!
In that opening, the chihuahua ran across the flames and threw open the door to the Exit Room.
“Ah…”
Joy and emotion washed over her face. Her eyes welled with tears.
[Turn-Based Hourglass Cooldown: 0 seconds]
Sorry, but I can’t let you go.
“You guys go first.”
I shouted to Isel and my party members and jumped into the flames.
“Caleb!”
*
[Your turn has begun. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
My feelings were somewhat complicated.
I felt like I had become something between a ruthless adventurer surviving in a brutal labyrinth city and a modern man.
Humans are cunning animals.
When this war started, I didn't want to kill any possessors if I could help it.
I’d just said a few minutes ago that I had no ill will toward them.
I admit I even felt a certain degree of sympathy.
But.
‘Still, I don’t want to give you the Exit Room.’
Honestly, I killed the Dagger Raptor, so if this is the result, doesn't the ownership belong to me?
Let’s be frank, speaking as one modern person to another.
What’s so wrong with me wanting to keep what’s mine?
Sure, I get that you’ve been waiting for this for over a decade. I understand your circumstances are pitiful.
But I’m no saint who’s going to hand over my ticket home and wave you goodbye. Wouldn’t that just make me a pushover?
Besides.
‘You killed someone, too.’
At the bottom of the stairs.
Kaal, who had been writhing in agony from the necrosis spreading from Back Attack’s blade, was now burning in the hellfire.
Chihuahua.
You are a murderer and a robber.
You attacked me and my comrades to steal my property, the Exit Room, and you even killed your own comrade.
I did my best to arrest you safely.
So this is self-defense.
“…”
Shit.
That still doesn’t make me feel any better.
To cast a spell at that face, flushed with overwhelming joy.
“I’m sorry.”
It can’t be helped.
I will kill you, protect the Exit Room, and go hunt down the Dagger Raptor.