Chapter 195: This is the Sohen Labyrinth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 195: This is the Sohen Labyrinth
Welcome!
First time in the Sohen Labyrinth?
Normally, the difficulty of a labyrinth varies by floor, not by region.
But honestly, Sohen might just be a cut above the rest right now.
Why?
Because the Turn-Based Wizard is here.
And because of that, he’s caught the eye of the Labyrinth Master.
This, my dear Lizard Lord, is the hell-mode labyrinth of Sohen, where the White Lion roams and Dagger Raptors soar.
Back in Cruaden, you must have been pretty proud of yourself, coming from the Deep Layer and all.
But the Sohen Labyrinth always shows you something beyond your wildest imagination.
I was getting ready to fight you myself, but instead, I found your corpses.
“How do you think they died?”
“Hard to say.”
How long had they been dead?
I’m no police forensics team; I can’t estimate the time of death from rigor mortis.
Besides, they’re a cold-blooded species, so their bodies are naturally cool. There’s no way to check their body temperature.
But…
‘Ancient Fungus is growing on them.’
This was something I knew from the game’s mechanics. On the 8th floor, corpses left for an hour would begin to grow fungus.
Some players even used to leave bodies to rot on purpose just to harvest the fungus items.
In any case, it meant they’d been dead for over an hour.
“And it wasn’t from an infection.”
Why?
The medicine in their inventory was untouched.
For the same reason, they probably weren’t killed by other adventurers.
If I were a murderer, I would’ve at least taken the medicine from the bodies. It’s small, but it’s incredibly valuable on the 8th floor.
But the Lizard party’s belongings and equipment were all still there.
Who killed them?
He might not have been a monster on the level of Krom, Meldini, or Mugol, but this guy was still a big shot who threw his weight around in the west.
The other three lizards, while not Deep Layer-level, were probably on par with 9th or 10th-floor adventurers.
At the very least, no monster on the 8th floor was capable of wiping them all out.
“Another Glutton?”
Back Attack joked.
It was certainly possible that an eccentric boss from a lower floor had come up the stairs, just like the Glutton.
But the Glutton that beat up Clorence and our party was a boss in a completely different weight class at the time. These guys, however…
‘Even if the 10th-floor exit boss came up, could it have crushed the Lizard Lord’s party?’
It was hard to say without knowing their exact skill level.
But there were no signs of a fierce struggle nearby. The four-lizard party had put up almost no resistance. They were simply taken out in an instant.
“Could it be an Inter-floor Lord?” Yernil asked.
That was a possibility.
And it reminded me of something.
Back on the 6th floor, when we were fighting the Glutton, I tried to summon the Spider Doctor with a capsule, but he never showed up.
The reason was the 6.5th Floor’s Mushroom Beetle.
The Spider Doctor and the beetle were in a standoff, keeping each other in check, which was why they couldn’t approach while the Glutton and I were fighting to the death.
It was like a proxy war during the Cold War era.
Bearhim had said the beetle was trying to capture me alive.
What did that thing want with me?
And…
‘What are the other Inter-floor Lords doing right now?’
The 1.5th Floor Dagger Raptor was dead.
The 2.5th Floor Gourmet Whale was beaten half to death.
The 3.5th Floor Spider Doctor was in a temporary alliance with me.
The 9.5th Floor White Lion was likely resurrecting or recovering.
But the five in between…?
The 5th floor of the Labyrinth, the Desert of Dehydration.
After a long journey, Hijikata’s party stumbled upon the stairs leading down to the 6th floor and stopped dead in their tracks.
Because in front of those stairs stood something bizarre.
It was a cobra.
A cobra with a wide, flat hood flared out on both sides of its head and neck.
But it was so enormous, it could rival Gildal in size.
Hijikata knew at first glance.
‘An Inter-floor Lord.’
The monster had no legs, but it had broad shoulders and arms.
It wore a perfectly fitted steel breastplate, and though its long body was bare, its hard scales glistened like armor.
“L-let’s go back.”
Soyul nudged Hijikata in the ribs.
But the enemy had already noticed them long ago.
Gildal’s massive frame had been thudding against the ground as he walked. The cobra lord’s sensitive organs had detected the vibrations in the 5th-floor desert sand from the start.
“No need to be afraid. I have no intention of harming you,” it said.
“I’d heard an Eastern party was wandering around the 5th floor. So it was you, was it?”
“…”
“I have little interest in you.”
A hiss escaped the monster’s mouth.
“The ones I want to see are the lizards. They’re my juniors, you see.”
It started counting the years on its fingers, then gave up.
“Very, very distant juniors. Can you believe it? I was once the lord who led the western lizards.”
“…”
“Anyway, I wanted to see them.”
The cobra flicked its tongue.
“But it seems I’m out of luck. If I haven’t seen them by now, I must be a step too late, right? They must have already gone down the stairs. So fast. Are they using a Stair Scroll?”
It chuckled.
“There’s nothing to be gained from rushing down.”
Hijikata mustered his courage and asked, “What’s on the 6th floor?”
“Hijikata.”
Gadozumi, unnerved by him even speaking to the monster, poked Hijikata’s arm.
“I have to ask.”
But Hijikata didn’t back down.
Caleb’s party had entered the 6th floor. They were planning to go all the way down to the 10th. He didn’t know where they were now, but still.
“There’s nothing special on the 6th floor,” the cobra replied.
“Nothing special on the 7th, either. But the 8th floor is different.”
“Is there another Inter-floor Lord there?”
“Who do you think would be there?” the cobra said.
“You know the Dagger Raptor, don’t you? The Gourmet Whale, too. And… hmm. Right, I heard the Spider Doctor went up to the surface and babbled on about some things?”
“…”
“The Inter-floor Lords of the Labyrinth are the Labyrinth Master’s servants. And we each have a distinct role. The Gourmet Whale is the fortress itself, and the Dagger Raptor is a type of scout. The Spider Doctor is a medic. The White Lion is a spy.”
The cobra’s tail slapped against the stairs. Thwack.
“And on the 8.5th floor… resides the Master’s most cherished soldier.”
The 4th floor, the Ironworks.
“Run!”
A party was fleeing for their lives. The one shouting from the rear was the dwarf wizard, Astin.
“I said run!”
“You’re the one in last place, you stupid dwarf!” yelled Remus, the halfling crossbowman.
“That’s why you should leave me and run! You dwarf!” Astin yelled back.
“I’ll carry you both and run!”
The barbarian Greg hoisted Astin onto one shoulder and Remus onto the other and started running.
“Uwoooooooh!”
“Nathaniel!”
Leading the way and clearing a path was the lizard paladin, Bernard.
“Why do you give me such a trial!” he screamed, glancing back.
“How can something like that…”
A monster was chasing them.
“An Inter-floor Lord is here! Nathaniel!”
It was a bipedal bull.
Hadn’t they said the White Lion walked on two legs? Bernard was low-ranking in the temple, but he had seen that monster when he visited the Public Security Headquarters with Bishop Azello.
This was just like the White Lion. The only difference was that its body was more muscular, and its head was a bull’s, not a lion’s.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The bull was charging at an incredible speed, looking like it would shatter the very ground.
“You son of a bitch! Eat this!”
From his perch on the violently bouncing barbarian’s shoulder, the crossbowman Remus fired his weapon.
Ting!
The bull deflected the bolt with its horn.
“Damn it!”
“Rise!”
From the opposite shoulder, the dwarf wizard Astin cast a spell.
“Earthen Wall of Warding!”
A wall of dirt shot up from the ground, blocking the bull’s path, but…
KABOOM!
The monster smashed it to pieces in a single blow with its massive two-handed hammer.
“It’s catching up!” the two dwarves yelled in unison. The monster’s hammer fell upon them like a meteor.
‘Barbarian Leap.’
At the last second, the barbarian Greg jumped, launching himself forward.
“That crazy…”
And in mid-air, the dwarves saw it clearly.
The ground within a twenty-meter radius of where the One-horned Ox’s hammer had struck was shattered as if by an earthquake.
It was so powerful that the bull’s own foot got stuck in the cracked rock.
“Don’t run,” the bull suddenly roared at Greg as it pulled its foot free.
“That’s not very barbarian-like!”
“What… what did you say!”
Greg landed and set the dwarves down.
“To hear such an insult… You go on ahead. I have to fight this bastard…”
“Are you insane?!”
The halfling and the dwarf grabbed the barbarian’s arms and pulled with all their might.
“Let’s run! It’s obviously not an opponent we can handle!”
“Get a grip!”
Bernard, who had been clearing a path by taking down two golems up ahead, also grabbed the barbarian by the hair and pulled.
Just as the bull was about to charge again.
“Cumulonimbus.”
A spell that had become the trademark of a certain wizard appeared over the battlefield.
“Caleb!”
“…Sorry, it’s not him!” Avison shouted.
Avison, the youngest wizard of the Berten family, was now a capable mid-level adventurer who could pull his own weight.
And he had revamped his magic build by studying the papers Caleb had written.
Whoooosh!
A downpour began. Avison’s Cumulonimbus couldn’t summon six clouds at once like Caleb’s.
The localized heavy rain certainly looked unimpressive. But.
“Ray of Frost!”
To be honest, Avison was confident he could take first place as Caleb’s number one fan, not just in Sohen, but across all races on the entire continent.
He had been captivated while intensively studying the wizard’s insane tales of heroism.
And he had learned a lot from them.
Crrrack!
Drenched by the downpour and soaked, the bull was momentarily frozen.
Of course, due to the overwhelming level difference, it lasted for only a fraction of a second.
“Hmph!”
The monster shook off the ice clinging to its body and tried to resume the chase, but…
“Whoa!”
Its foot wouldn’t move.
The hammer had shattered the ground, the immense force had created a depression, and the downpour had instantly formed a puddle.
The moment it freed its ankle from the rocks, it found itself trapped in ice.
“This way!” Emma shouted in the distance.
“Hurry up and run!” Birtanen yelled.
Jikal was already sprinting toward Bernard’s party without a word.
“Let’s go!”
Jikal grabbed Astin, the slowest member of the other party, and used Shadow Leap.
The barbarian Greg picked up the halfling crossbowman Remus and jumped.
“Hahaha!”
Watching the runts get away, the monstrous bull laughed heartily.
“What a cute little trick!”
The water had expanded as it froze, wedging its foot in tight.
It couldn’t get any leverage. A swing of its hammer would shatter the ice instantly, but it would also injure its foot.
CRUNCH!
But the monstrous bull could easily crush such a sheet of ice with its bare fists.
“Hardly a barbarian.”
Whether the Lizard Lord died here or not, I had to keep moving.
But I had to keep in mind that there was something here far beyond the 8th floor’s level—something on par with an Inter-floor Lord.
“Back Attack!”
After traveling for about half a day more, we encountered another racial leader.
This time, it was the Orc Great King.
“Raghat!”
“You are in the presence of the Orc Great King.”
“Here we go again.”
“But where are your other party members?” Aimus asked.
The Orc Great King was alone.
“They’re all dead. There’s a monster roaming the 8th floor right now.”
Looks like he ran into it, too.
He seemed to have barely escaped with his life, and he was in such a hurry that he had no supplies.
Even worse…
“Hey, you… you wouldn’t happen to have some medicine to spare?”
He had no medicine.
I gave him a pill in exchange for information.
“What kind of monster was it?”
“Its lower body was like a horse, and its upper body was human-shaped, holding a spear.”
I had never heard of a creature like that.
No field monster on any floor of the Labyrinth matched that description. It had to be an Inter-floor Lord.
“So the wounds on those lizards must have been from a spear,” Back Attack said.
“Ah, so you saw the lizards’ bodies.”
The Orc Great King chuckled darkly.
“It was a damn satisfying sight. I was depressed because my team got wiped out, but seeing them was some consolation. Fungus was just starting to sprout on their heads, one or two spots.”
Snap!
Something in my head just broke.
“The fungus was just starting to sprout, you say?”
“Yeah.”
“When we saw them, they were covered in it.”
To survive in the Labyrinth, good instincts are essential.
“Looks like I saw the bodies earlier than you did.”
“But you didn’t take their antiviral medicine?”
“Couldn’t find it.”
“Does that make any sense?”
Losing your supplies and having no medicine is the worst-case scenario on the 8th floor. If I were you, I would’ve stripped those lizards bare and rummaged through every single pocket and bag.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t find the medicine.
“You didn’t even look, did you?”