Chapter 200: The Speed-Reading Wizard
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: The Speed-Reading Wizard
Bearhim once told me, ‘Not all Inter-floor Lords are loyal to the Labyrinth Master. They all have their own schemes and greed, and they're constantly fighting amongst themselves.’
I knew what was about to happen in front of this altar.
The Lancer didn’t slow down. On the contrary, he aimed his spear straight ahead and charged the Dwarf Governor as if to land a lance charge.
“Took you long enough.”
Something like a horn sprouted from the crown of the Dwarf Governor’s head. To be precise, it wasn’t a horn, but a fin.
His skin swelled to a massive size, turning a pale gray. His arms and legs were webbed, his skin smooth. His teeth were as sharp as a saw.
“It’s a shark.”
Just as Yernil said. It was a shark.
An eagle, a whale, a spider, a lion, and now a shark.
Is the Labyrinth Master running a damn zoo down here or what?
Relocate Sentry.
Though it was about twice the size of Aimus, the monster was, surprisingly, a Ranger type.
It wasn’t a bow or a gun, but something like a cannon that it carried on its shoulder.
Its new position was atop the stairs at the front of the altar.
BOOM!
A cannonball, fired with a burst of flame, scorched the ground.
A thick cloud of smoke and dust billowed up like a forest fire.
Clang! Clang!
The Lancer didn’t even flinch. The monster charged through the smoke and dust.
With his left arm, which had a shield attached to the forearm, he pulled something out and brought it to his lips.
—Bwooooo!
It was a war horn.
The Lancer was the Labyrinth Master’s vanguard.
He was the assault commander who, at the moment of the Great Eruption, would lead the army one step ahead of the Labyrinth Master and be the first to charge.
“Waaaaah—!”
Suddenly, the 8th floor’s Primitive Spearmen and Primitive Rangers began to react.
And…
Rumble!
The sky twisted as something began to open.
I knew what that was.
A Void Vortex.
It was a spell normally triggered by a bead obtained from defeating the Glutton, a special area on the 7th floor.
It would create a portal based on the Labyrinth’s water system, allowing one to open a gate to any area connected by a Blessing Fountain.
The shark came from the 7th floor.
He must be the lord of the 7.5th floor. And what was emerging from the massive Void Vortex in the sky was…
The water from the 7th floor!
A void waterfall poured down.
Not rain, a waterfall. It was more appropriate to call it a water bomb. It wasn’t water droplets the size of a fingernail, but a torrential flow, as if a faucet had been turned on full blast.
The first things to emerge with the current were Void Torpedoes.
BOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!!
It was like a carpet bombing from the sky to the ground.
Shunk!
Ignoring them completely, the Lancer charged, taking the torpedoes with his body as his spear tip pierced the shark’s lower belly.
Poof!
A massive amount of water burst explosively from the wound.
“Hahahaha!”
The shark, however, just burst out laughing.
He violently shook off the Lancer and swam into the cascading waterfall.
“Fucking bastard.”
Enraged, the Lancer began to climb the altar steps, chasing the shark.
“And you dare call yourself the Master’s Ranger?!”
“Being loyal to the Labyrinth is one thing. Cooperating with a bastard like you is another.”
Now, a massive ‘ship’ was emerging from the hole in the sky. It was a pirate ship. A vessel of incredible size floated down, bobbing in the air.
Mermaid Crossbowmen and Water Ghosts poured out into the flooded surroundings.
And then.
Crumbling Sky.
The Glutton’s massive octopus leg slammed down on the top of the altar.
Screeeech!
The Lancer reared up, braking hard, and suddenly shot his right arm into the air.
He wasn’t holding a spear with his hand; his right arm was the spear…
WHOOSH!
He threw the spear, arm and all. It detached cleanly from below his shoulder, like a lizard’s tail, and flew. The power of that throw was insane.
“My god.”
Half of the Glutton’s head was blown away in an instant.
“This is a straight-up monster brawl,” Back Attack muttered with a sigh.
“I thought Sohen’s Deep Layer adventurers were strong, but those things are…”
Aimus couldn’t hide his shock either.
“Let’s use this chance while they’re fighting to escape…” Yernil said, somewhat frightened.
“What are you talking about?”
For me, this situation was perfect.
“Let’s approach from the rear and get to the top of the altar.”
*
The two Inter-floor Lords were duking it out.
The primitive army that was supposed to be guarding the altar was at war with the pirate ship.
The conditions couldn’t be better for taking care of business at the altar. At a glance, it looked like we were jumping into the jaws of death, but that wasn’t the case. We had a surefire escape route and the means to subdue our enemies.
The entire altar is soaked.
To create such a fucking perfect setup for a lightning and frost-build wizard…
Honestly, the Labyrinth has done nothing but screw me over until now, but it felt like it was all for this one lucky moment.
“Plus, we even have underwater breathing masks.”
And we also had the rope buckle from the 7th floor. On top of that, Aimus had the Tidal Iron Staff.
“This way!”
I covered myself and Yernil with the Universal Camouflage Chameleon, while Aimus and Back Attack turned invisible.
Just like before.
“Owl’s Hunt.”
I also cast a noise-suppression spell, and we bypassed the main entrance where the battle was raging to circle around to the rear.
The plan was to use the iron staff to catch the current pouring down the back stairs and surf our way up the reverse tide.
“Let’s go!”
*
Kabooom!
Torpedoes rained down.
Crossbow bolts fired by mermaids.
Water Ghosts floated everywhere, grabbing onto anything they could.
A Primitive Spearman ran among them, stabbing mermaids to death with his spear.
Thwip!
The bows of the drenched Primitive Archers were still perfectly taut. The altar was a pandemonium of arrows and crossbow bolts flying up and down the stairs.
We were breaking through the chaos, riding the tidal wave.
The water pressure blasting from the iron staff easily deflected most projectiles.
When monsters leaped at us…
Dagger Throw.
Three-Point Shot!
Yernil and Back Attack intercepted them.
Since everyone was in a ‘Wet’ state, it was better for me to conserve my magic. Instead…
Compass of Greed.
I took the item from my pocket and gripped it tightly. I had to unlock the hidden power of this legendary-grade item here.
The primitive altar was a medium that manifested the power of the gods devoured by the Labyrinth; appraising a legendary relic like this would be a simple task for them.
CRASH!
Four seconds after leaving the ground, we reached the top of the altar in an instant.
“Wait!” the shark, who had been firing his cannon at the Lancer from below, shouted.
“Stop for a second, you idiot! Something got on top!”
“Caleb!”
“We’re spotted!” Aimus and Back Attack yelled.
“What is it?”
The Lancer narrowed his eyes, staring at the top of the altar.
Whoooosh!
The shark swam against the cascading waterfall, rushing toward the top of the altar.
And I jumped into the fountain at the summit.
“Cover me for a second!”
“How are we supposed to cover you for a second?!” Aimus shrieked, raising his iron staff.
Don’t worry, Aimus.
My ‘second’ is a little different.
*
Normally, a Blessing Fountain is a structure about six meters in diameter and three meters high, decorated with a statue.
The dimensions are generally consistent, and the water level inside is about one meter. It’s not like you couldn’t submerge yourself if you lay down, but the volume of water isn’t that great.
However, there are a few exceptions among the fountains.
For example, the oasis on the 5th floor is itself a Blessing Fountain and boasts an enormous scale.
The same went for the fountain atop the 8th-floor altar.
What was here was like a massive water tank, large enough to swim in. Gildal might have been tall enough, but at my height, if I stood straight on the bottom, my head wouldn’t even break the surface.
Bglrglrgl!
Inside the air provided by the bubble mask, my vision of the bottom was perfectly clear.
There were two things to take care of in the altar’s Blessing Fountain.
One was to release the hidden power of the Compass of Greed, and the other was the secret magic tome.
The Tier 6 magic, ‘Ethereal Lightning.’
It fundamentally possessed the same properties as lightning, but this lightning, borrowing the wisdom of Wizus, was capable of distinguishing friend from foe.
A living lightning that could accurately electrocute only the target, even if they were both submerged in water.
It was a guided spell that moved at the speed of a negative charge, and it possessed a power greater than any other lightning magic.
Ethereal Lightning could well be called the judgment of Wizus sent down to the mortal plane.
Shhhk!
I opened the book.
“Memorize!”
I opened the Memory Book at the same time.
To learn from a spellbook, a process of ‘recitation’ is required. By reading the spellbook aloud, the incantation characters contained within must be transplanted into the Memory Book.
Of course, I couldn’t afford to leisurely read a book with a monster shark and a Lancer on my tail.
But.
[Your Turn. Time Remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
A wizard of silent casting can read an entire spellbook in a mere moment.
*
“Move.”
First, I used Psychokinesis.
[Your Turn. Time Remaining: 59 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■□]
It was to turn the pages of the spellbook.
Then, with the air bubble covering my face, I recited the spellbook like a literary boy reading poetry.
“It is the tree of heaven, living for a moment, yet holding eternity.”
Even back in the game, I’d always liked the verses for Ethereal Lightning.
“Its roots, set in the clouds, drink from the Ethereal Galaxy, and its branches, growing upside down, shall split the void.”
The metaphor of a heavenly tree growing upside down was interesting.
“The God of Wisdom imbued the lightning with his authority. How could you have arrived here by human will alone?”
That last part pissed me off a little right now. I have no desire to be a hamster running on Wizus’s wheel.
[Your Turn. Time Remaining: 47 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■□□□]
“You are a part of the heavenly tree’s inverted branches. Follow the plan of the God of Wisdom.”
“With this power, annihilate the enemies of the Ethereal Galaxy.”
“Now the lightning of Wizus is with you, so fear not.”
[You have learned ‘Ethereal Lightning’.]
[Acquired the Binding Grimoire of Compression, Electrostatic Coat, and Ethereal Lightning.]
Previously, I could bind the first two to create Ball Lightning.
Now, a Tier 6 spell was being added to the mix.
What this created was…
『Tome of Judgment Lightning』
-The Tier 7 magic ‘Judgment Lightning’ has been recorded in your Memory Book.
*
Whoooosh!
Toward the snout of the monster shark charging like a Void Torpedo.
CLANG!
Aimus swung his iron staff with perfect timing. If he were a batter, he might have felt the satisfaction of a home run.
But the shark was extremely agile while swimming.
He was knocked back by Aimus’s staff but immediately soared up into the middle of the waterfall.
And his cannon aimed at the ground again.
TWANG!
Yernil’s arrow and the cannonball flew at the same time. The cannonball, fired with high-temperature flames, should have instantly crushed its targets, but…
Three-Point Shot.
Resistance Nullification Mark!
Magic Arrowhead - Flash Freeze.
Two arrows struck the cannonball in succession, freezing it solid. It was similar to what Caleb had done on the 7th floor. By teleporting a wand and remotely casting a frost spell in the midst of enemies, only a specific section would freeze, leaving allies unharmed.
A crystal chunk formed in the middle of the void waterfall, solidifying the cannonball.
Leaping Ambush.
Back Attack didn’t miss the opening.
His Blade of Flank Necrosis, appearing precisely behind the monster shark, sliced open its back.
Blood erupted. Tissue necrosis began. The fire magic inherent in the dagger should have also taken effect, but it couldn’t ignite underwater.
Instead.
Shadow Leap!
Back Attack grabbed the monster and leaped.
Right in front of the Lancer charging up the stairs.
“Take your friend and get lost!”
Back Attack threw the shark. The stairs were slippery with water. The Lancer couldn’t ride a tidal wave like Aimus. He was running up the steps with his hooves, his balance unstable.
He should have fallen from the collision with the monster shark’s body, but…
BOOM!
To everyone’s surprise, the Lancer leaped into the air. Despite his massive frame, he was as agile as Back Attack. And just as the tip of his spear was about to pierce Back Attack…
Rhinoceros Horn!
This time, Aimus charged head-on, ramming the Lancer.
CRASH!
His Darkstone defense shattered.
The monster’s defense was immense, but Aimus’s ‘Mantra of Karma’ was still active. He hadn’t fought any other monster since the Lancer had struck him, so the mantra’s arrow of karma was still aimed at him.
Clank!
But as the Lancer fell, the monster shark leaped up over him.
A powerful energy was gathering in the massive cannon on its shoulder. It was an attack that was impossible to dodge and difficult to block.
Steel Parasol!
Aimus instinctively opened the parasol, but he might fail to defend…
Huh?
Yernil saw it as she drew her bowstring.
Something was rising from the fountain.
It was a sapphire-colored lightning, shimmering beautifully like an ethereal lake.
Like a sunrise over the ocean.
A mass of high-energy Ethereal Lightning materialized atop the altar, crackling as it discharged blue currents in all directions.