Chapter 186: The Labyrinth is Erupting, You Say?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 186: The Labyrinth is Erupting, You Say?
Mail traveled to every corner of the world.
To the eastern Labyrinth City of Wyndham and the western Labyrinth City of Cruaden, of course, but also to the northern Barbarian encampments and the southern Craftsman's Citadel, the Fairy Forest, the wasteland cities, and even the overgrown jungles.
The mail consisted of magical messages, stamped with the Consul's seal and protected by recipient security spells.
The recipients: 'Faction Leaders.'
The criteria: the supreme leaders of the cities affiliated with the international Labyrinth Union.
The Consul had summoned all the powers of the continent.
'The General Assembly of the Labyrinth Union.'
The concept had existed for ages, but never before had a full assembly been convened. Now, it was being held in Sohen.
"Isn't this a bit of an overreaction...?"
Magistrate Delphin was worried the Consul was blowing things out of proportion, but he pushed forward resolutely.
The destruction of the Labyrinth wasn't just Sohen's problem.
All Labyrinths could be connected through the space between the walls, just as Ingelam had been able to access the Sohen Labyrinth with the simple elevator he built on the fog cliff.
"We might not have much time."
Dalstream's warnings of a great eruption were nothing new, but recent events were certainly suspicious.
"We need to be ready for the day Bisan arrives to give his testimony."
Bisan, who had been wandering the wastelands, arrived in Sohen with a Tiger-folk warrior a week after receiving Caleb's note.
[The 1st General Assembly of the Labyrinth Union]
[Welcome to Sohen]
Banners for the General Assembly hung from Sohen's walls.
"I heard they suffered two Labyrinth eruptions in a row. They're clearly scrambling."
The Deep Layer Spirit Race member and the Tiger-folk warrior passed through Sohen's gates together.
A Constable at the entrance confirmed their identities and immediately guided them to the headquarters.
"I wonder how many have gathered."
"It'll be a miracle if even half of them showed up."
In places like the West, lords fought daily over Cruaden. The war between the Lizard and Orc factions was particularly fierce. Although Sohen was a neutral city and a ceasefire was supposed to be in effect during the assembly, it was anyone's guess how well it would be observed.
The Elf Matriarch of the Fairy Forest was an enigmatic figure who rarely left her woods, and the Beastfolk of the overgrown jungle changed leaders constantly.
If a feline or canine Beastman became king, they were relatively open to diplomacy, but the Avian-folk were arrogant and aggressive, making it highly likely they'd ignored the summons.
The East was even worse. The Fox Spirits, Dokkebi, Spirit Race, Kappa, and Tiger-folk who gathered in the valleys around Wyndham were all small in scale and completely decentralized, making it difficult to even select a 'representative.'
In fact, the Dokkebi had no concept of a leader at all.
"They don't all need to come. You can be the representative for the Spirit Race, and I'll be the one for the Tiger-folk," Mugol said casually.
"Are you sure you can be so nonchalant about this?"
It was also questionable whether the human representative of the East, the 'Eastern Emperor,' had come. The Eastern Emperor was the ruler of Wyndham and tended not to recognize Sohen as the center of the world.
He had likely sent a reply along the lines of, 'If you wish an audience with Us, you shall come to Wyndham.'
The North was an even bigger problem. The Frost Lords who led the Frostians rarely came down to Sohen. For a very physiological reason: 'Sohen is too hot for them.' Nimue was a strange case. The northern Barbarians were worse; 90% of them couldn't even read.
"Still, if the message was sent to their leadership, someone must have read it... right?"
The southern Dwarves and Halflings who ran the Craftsman's Citadel were cooperative with Sohen, so they had likely come to the assembly.
For Bisan, however, that was bad news. The South was even more dependent on the Labyrinth than Sohen.
"If the topic of closing the Labyrinth comes up, they might go wild and demand my execution."
The two arrived at the assembly hall in the Public Security Headquarters, chatting idly.
"The Consul is waiting."
The Constable opened the door, and the scene Bisan witnessed inside was unexpected.
"You son of a bitch!"
Nearly every member of the assembly had gathered.
And they were on the verge of drawing swords.
"I am no dog. I am of the Avian-folk."
"I know that!"
"Consul! Why is this bastard here? If you need a representative for the Cruaden Labyrinth, isn't it common sense to call the Lizard Lord?"
"My gifts were lacking since I came to Sohen in a hurry. How about I add that lizard's hide to the pile?"
"We should never have left Wyndham, Chancellor. Look at these curs. Are they not barbarians with no knowledge of etiquette? That one, in particular, did not even bow upon seeing Us."
"The chieftain of the Barbarians bows to no one first."
"A room full of lunatics. To think these are the world's leaders... the future of the continent is bleak, Dwarf Governor."
"You're telling me. I knew I'd be disappointed if I used our Craftsman's Citadel as the standard, but I never imagined they'd be this uncivilized."
"Do not be so arrogant, you dwarves. In Our eyes, you are no different."
"Lady Matriarch, you so rarely leave your forest. What brings you all the way here?"
"If the Frostians can come, why can't the Elves?"
"I thought you'd be too ashamed to come, seeing as you all treated Dalstream like an eccentric."
"Do not speak so carelessly of another's household affairs, especially when you know so little."
"I know at least this much: if he had been born in the Frost Kingdom, he would have been treated far better."
The Consul, sitting in the middle of this pandemonium, looked as if he had aged ten years in just a few days.
The same went for the Mayor, Cardinal Servan, Meldini, and Blackdog, who were gathered as Sohen's leadership.
"Everyone! Please, be quiet!" Magistrate Delphin shouted, ringing a bell.
"I've brought Bisan and Mugol."
The room fell silent for a few seconds as attention shifted.
"His hair is actually white!"
But it quickly grew noisy again.
"I've never seen one of the Spirit Race before."
"You are of the East. Why do you not bow to Us?"
"Tiger-folk. Join the jungle. We are building a republic of Beastfolk. Fox Spirits, Tiger-folk... you are furred beasts, and thus subject to annexation. I'm making a peaceful offer. For now."
"So that's the Taoist who studied the Abyss with Dalstream?"
"..."
Bisan swept his gaze across the room.
"Consul."
He hadn't come here for these fools.
"Where is Caleb?"
"He's entered the Labyrinth," the Consul replied.
"The Labyrinth?" Bisan tilted his head. "At a time like this?"
"Before that, Bisan, please tell us about Dalstream's research. Everyone gathered here has traveled a long and difficult way to hear it."
80 years ago, in the Labyrinth.
An elder-class Elf mage and a Spirit Race Taoist who had achieved transcendence were studying the ancient texts carved on stone tablets.
"Mana dating."
Dalstream was a master of such magic. By measuring the mana half-life of ancient artifacts, he could calculate their age.
For example.
"The Tablet of Grand Warding."
Tablets like the one that held a Tier 10 spell.
"31,456 years ago."
"This one too?"
"It's the same."
The pair traveled through the space between the walls, investigating the Labyrinths of countless cities: Sohen, Wyndham, Cruaden, the Fairy Forest, the jungle, the Craftsman's Citadel, the Barbarian encampments, and more.
The tablets were everywhere. Their inscriptions were mostly written as riddles or poems, making them difficult to interpret.
"All the tablets were erected 31,456 years ago."
It was bizarre. It meant all the tablets had been created at the exact same time.
The oldest written history on the continent, the records of the Fairy Forest, began about 10,000 years ago.
No information about 30,000 years ago remained anywhere on the continent.
Only in the Labyrinth.
Researchers called that era...
The Age of the Nine Ancient Kings.
"The accepted theory is that the tablets were erected when the people of those kings were devoured by the Labyrinth, Dalstream."
"Then were they all devoured at once?"
"Or perhaps they were devoured at different times, but the tablets were erected simultaneously."
"If they were devoured by the Labyrinth, they wouldn't have had the luxury to do such a thing. Their consciousness and souls would have been fading."
"It's hard to imagine."
Bisan gazed down as Dalstream translated and transcribed the text from a tablet.
[Beware the coming of the Labyrinth Master's turn.]
"What do you suppose a 'turn' is?"
"Do you know how to play chess?"
"In Wyndham, we play janggi."
"It's similar. I believe this world is a grand game board where Wizus and the Labyrinth Master take turns moving their pieces."
"And one of their turns is 30,000 years long?"
"I don't know the exact number. It could be tens of thousands of years from now, or it could be tomorrow."
"..."
"It will erupt again."
The inter-floor villages are the kingdoms that were devoured during the Age of the Nine Ancient Kings.
But the surface wasn't entirely consumed back then.
There is no 10.5th Floor in the Labyrinth.
There were survivors on the surface, and over the next 30,000 years, the world must have been restored.
[The Labyrinth's gluttony is never sated.]
The Labyrinth will try to finish its meal—the gods it failed to devour in the age of myths, and the leftovers it left behind on the surface.
When the Labyrinth Master's turn comes.
"...What a load of crap!"
The Dwarf Governor was the first to shout. Just as expected.
"In the end, you have no concrete evidence! Do you have any idea how much money the Union's member nations earn from the Labyrinth each year?"
"Look, Mr. Spirit Race Taoist," the Halfling Prime Minister said. "I understand that a series of strange phenomena have occurred in Sohen recently. And I understand that Dalstream, who warned of a great eruption, was killed by Labyrinth monsters."
"But as you said, it's been 30,000 years. At least 10,000 years, even if we only count from the beginning of written history. The Labyrinth erupts from time to time, but there has never been any absurd talk of it destroying the entire continent."
"And didn't the Labyrinth Master himself deny it?" the Lizard Lord asked. "During the last eruption, I heard the Consul pointed a sword at the Labyrinth Master, and that's what he said. Aren't you just putting all your faith in this one wizard named Caleb?"
"Are you even sure that wizard heard Dalstream's last words correctly?" the Orc Great King demanded. "I hear he's some hotshot wizard in Sohen these days, but we've never even heard of him!"
"Where is this wizard? Bring him here."
"The data and statistics accumulated over vast amounts of time are a hundred times more reliable than some archmage's ramblings," the Dwarf Governor shouted. "How many Deep Layer adventurers have boasted they would catch the Labyrinth Master? And why did we let them run their mouths?"
"Because we knew they couldn't win! Because we knew they probably wouldn't even meet him! That's why we left them alone. For 30,000 years, the Labyrinth has never been conquered! It's the same thing! A great eruption? Building a tower? Destroying the surface? If anyone here has heard even a similar rumor in the last 30,000 years, raise your hand."
"In the West, the Labyrinth is not some mere treasure vault," the Lizard Lord said. "The Labyrinth is power itself. In the West, they say that the faction that holds Cruaden for ten years becomes the ruler of the West. Do you know what that means? The Labyrinth gives power to adventurers! You can receive transcendent abilities directly from the gods devoured by the Labyrinth! The Labyrinth is a blessing!"
"That's right!"
"He's right!"
"And you want to destroy this blessed, sacred ground forever! Consul! Are you out of your mind!"
"Everyone, please calm down," the Elf Matriarch of the Fairy Forest said. "Did I come all this way from the Fairy Forest to see this? There must be more that Dalstream figured out just before he was killed. Bisan, please explain everything you know..."
"Are you done talking-!" the Barbarian chieftain roared. "You summoned this tedious assembly and dragged us all the way here just to drone on with this boring story! If some monster whale shows up, we just have to kill it and eat it!"
"Hmm." Bisan tapped his shoulder with the end of his fan. "Among the records of the Abyss, there is also this."
"What else is there?"
"'The walls are a symbol of division, and the Labyrinth Master is the master of the walls.'"
"So what?"
"The surface is already divided."
"We shall summarize. Listen well, you lowly commoners," the Eastern Emperor said, waving a hand over the table. "It is true that strange things have been happening in Sohen recently. However, there is no concrete evidence of a great eruption, so do not be misled, Consul. And if the Labyrinth erupts again as it did last time, We shall personally send Our army here. You may rest easy, Consul. Now, everyone is dismissed..."
Clang!
The door to the assembly hall swung open.
Caleb appeared.
"You're incredibly late, wizard."
An uproar immediately erupted from all sides.
"Weren't you one of the key figures of this assembly?"
"I heard you went into the Labyrinth?"
"It's hardly polite to summon all these people and then be absent yourself."
"Are We to be kept waiting for you?"
Caleb pulled up a chair and sat down.
"My apologies for being late. I was bringing a witness."
"A witness?"
-Aaaaaah!
-What is that!
-It's a monster!
A series of screams came from outside.
-Calm down! It's okay!
-He's an ally!
Yernil, Aimus, and Back Attack could be heard shouting as well.
"What..."
The atmosphere in the assembly hall froze in an instant. Most of the people gathered here had once been famous adventurers, and half of them were still active.
"What is it!"
"What are you bringing in here!"
As the mood turned hostile, the Barbarian hastily raised his axe, a Frostian prepared a spell, and the Dwarf Governor drew a crossbow.
"This was at my request. Everyone, calm down!" the Consul shouted.
"You requested what..."
The lords of the Labyrinth Union Assembly witnessed what was entering the room and were struck speechless.
"A pleasure to meet you, my juniors who rule the continent."
It was a spider.
An enormous spider.
Its upper body was human-like, dressed in an old-fashioned shirt, a lace-trimmed cravat, and a formal jacket, holding a cane in its left hand.
And with the giant abdomen and eight legs of its lower body, it scuttled d-d-d-dak through the narrow doorway.
The Spider Doctor removed his fedora, placed it against his chest, and bowed politely.
"It was not my intention, but I overheard your voices from outside the door. It seems that soon," the Spider Doctor said, "you will all share our fate."