Chapter 211: The Life-or-Death Struggle on the 9.5th Floor (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 211: The Life-or-Death Struggle on the 9.5th Floor (3)
If you had to assign them positions, the Inter-floor Lords of the 7th, 8th, and 9th floors are members of a party led directly by the Labyrinth Master.
Below them are the troop types participating in the war. The Dagger Raptor, for instance, is a scout. The Spider Doctor is a medic, the One-horned Ox is an engineer. So what about the Mushroom Beetle?
“He’s logistics,” Cobra said.
Birtanen’s party listened with interest as he rattled off the details of the Inter-floor Lords.
“Then what about you, Cobra?”
“I am a trap.”
“How can that be a troop type?” Bernard asked.
“The Labyrinth’s magical branches are a bit different from what you know. The Gourmet Whale is a ‘fortress,’ isn’t it?”
“I see.”
“Wait a minute, then…”
An idea struck Jikal, and his ears perked up.
“You holding us here in this oasis, talking to us… Don’t tell me this is a trap too!”
At that, everyone’s face turned pale.
“Calm down. It’s not like that.”
The Trap Cobra’s tongue flickered.
“I just want to watch for a bit. Hmm, well. I don’t have the guts to defy the Labyrinth Master like that spider fellow, but I’m not exactly eager to cooperate either.”
He was an observer.
Unlike the beetle, who was trying desperately to join the Labyrinth Master’s party, and unlike the Spider Doctor, who had thrown everything away to reclaim his body.
He was the king of the ancient lizards, one who had not yet decided what should become of the Labyrinth and the Ethereal Galaxy.
“But in the end, things will go the Labyrinth Master’s way.”
“…”
“Whether I participate, refuse, or interfere. You can’t stop a flood by piling up a few pebbles.”
“The Consul said he’s going to eliminate the Labyrinth Master. Do you think he’ll fail?” Avison asked.
“Hahaha!”
The Trap Cobra burst out laughing at his question.
“How naive you are. Can you even imagine how many factions have tried to destroy the Labyrinth over the last tens of thousands of years?”
“…”
“Even if the Consul gathered every adventurer on the surface right now, they wouldn’t rank very high in that long and vicious history.”
The Trap Cobra said.
“No one can stop the Labyrinth Master.”
“…”
“Ah, but of course.”
He added at the end, as if remembering something.
“It seems that wizard is around now, though.”
“That wizard?”
“…”
The Trap Cobra didn’t answer.
Instead, he tilted his head, sensing a strange current in the water.
It felt as if a drain plug had been pulled at the bottom of a bathtub; a flow of water was stirring from the depths of the oasis.
Rumble…
The amount of water being drained wasn’t much, but the Trap Cobra’s keen senses could feel it.
‘What is this?’
*
The Forest of Death surrounded the citadel, its trees frozen solid by the blizzard. The densely packed trunks served as support.
There was a skill whose power was maximized in such a space.
‘Sinhojise.’
The Tiger-folk Deep Layer warrior shot up, bouncing between the trees like a pinball.
Inside the storm, the beetle abandoned the combat doll buried in the citadel’s rubble and pulled out a new one. But just before sending it to the ground…
Swish!
The tip of a monster’s blade shot up right beside him, slicing off one of the beetle’s wings.
CRUNCH!
As the beetle faltered, Mugol latched onto its body with all his might. With one of its two pairs of wings gone, its flight was unstable.
It was even more unstable with a tiger the size of a house clinging to it. And it was worse still with a raging blizzard hammering down on them.
Whoooosh!
The beetle drew a diagonal line across the sky as it plummeted, crashing onto a slope and tumbling over and over.
“You son of a bitch…”
The fallen beetle swung hard and clocked Mugol on the jaw. Mugol’s head snapped to the side, but he didn’t budge.
“Mugol!”
Bipa was rushing toward them.
“He killed the Lancer!”
“What?”
Mugol’s eyes widened.
“Caleb killed him!”
“…”
Mugol wasn’t the only one in shock. The beetle was, too. Both of them froze with blank expressions.
In Mugol’s opinion, at least, the Lancer had been the most difficult of all the Inter-floor Lords here to deal with.
“Let’s grab this guy and get out of here!” Bipa shouted.
No puppeteer could properly control their dolls without being close enough.
“So let’s drag him away and kill him!”
Hadn’t the Mushroom Beetle already summoned a combat doll and dropped it near Caleb’s party? This was the perfect chance to neutralize that doll and take down an Inter-floor Lord at the same time.
“But what about Caleb?”
“Don’t worry about them!”
Bipa had seen how Caleb killed the frozen Lancer.
“That guy is completely insane…”
*
“Perfectly healed, Caleb.”
In the blink of an eye—poof!—the Spider Doctor had treated the wound in my chest.
It was truly amazing.
Did it even take five seconds? The gash healed on its own, and my fading consciousness became sharp and clear. There was no pain anymore.
“Thank you.”
I had two individuals at or above the cardinal level, the Spider Doctor and Bipa, so I took a crazy gamble trusting in them, and it paid off.
“Don’t mention it. I have to do my part if I want to get my body back, don’t I?”
I glanced over at the Iron Cavalry.
There was no sign of life from his frozen body.
There was only a single arrow for the last hit, embedded in his forehead.
“He’s dead,” the Spider Doctor pronounced.
“Good.”
I picked up an orb from the small puddle on the ground.
‘Void Vortex Orb.’
The orb was connected to the Labyrinth’s waterways. By forming a gate, one could travel through it to a Fountain of Blessing.
There was a Fountain of Blessing on every floor of the Labyrinth, except for the 10th. The 5th floor, however, had two.
One was a standard-type Fountain of Blessing.
And…
‘The Oasis of Life.’
Unlike the fountain, the oasis held a large volume of water and was quite deep. The gate installed at its bottom gradually drained water to the other side due to the water pressure.
Just like a magic stone thrown beyond an exit gate.
The water welling up from where I’d placed the orb had formed a small puddle.
And the Oasis of Life was a special zone that averaged out the health percentages of all targets submerged in its water.
Anyone in the water together would either all die together, or no one would die at all. It was one or the other.
So, how about this?
What if a frail, squishy wizard summoned a small puddle of oasis water on the ground, then entered it with the Labyrinth’s strongest tank monster and killed himself?
The health of the monster and the squishy wizard would be averaged out, and it would plummet.
Even a monster that wouldn’t flinch after being hit by a dozen Judgment Lightning spells couldn’t withstand the oasis’s effect.
‘I was lucky.’
The Spider Doctor, who could pull me out as I was dying and heal me completely.
The Iron Cavalry’s body, frozen and incapacitated.
The White Lion and the Hunter Shark, who had lost their angle for backup because of the rubble and the storm.
And Bipa and Mugol, who had circled around to deal exclusively with the beetle.
If even one of these elements had been missing, I would never have used such a strategy.
“You crazy bastard…”
Bipa tossed out an insult that veterans like me take as the highest form of praise, then vanished.
“Bipa and Mugol will handle the beetle.”
That side could no longer coordinate its forces. The Deep Layer’s strongest duo, Bipa and Mugol, were a good match for taking down one Inter-floor Lord. Bipa himself had been confident.
“We have to take down the White Lion and the Hunter Shark ourselves.”
If the Spider Doctor were in peak condition, I’d tell him to grab one of his fellow Inter-floor Lords and have a duel, but he still hadn’t fully recovered from the dagger he took to the forehead.
Besides, position-wise, the Spider Doctor was a healer, not someone who fought on the front lines.
Therefore…
“Aimus, Back Attack, Yernil, and the Spider Doctor. The four of you will take on the Hunter Shark.”
“What!”
Aimus, Back Attack, and Yernil were all aghast. The Spider Doctor looked a little surprised.
“Are you crazy, Caleb!”
Yernil was especially shocked and shook my shoulders frantically.
But I was certain this was the best distribution of our forces.
“Aimus. Can I have some potion bottles?”
I got three empty bottles from Aimus.
Then I used them to scoop up the water from the Oasis of Life pooled on the ground.
Drinking the water from the oasis has the same effect as immersing your body in it.
The duration is one hour.
During that time, those who drank it share their health percentages.
“No. How are you going to take on the White Lion alone, boss!”
“I’m not alone, am I?”
I handed a bottle of oasis water to him.
To the Emperor.
“Bottoms up. Let’s go hunt the White Lion together.”
The Emperor looked like he wanted to cry.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die. You saw what I did, right?”
Emperor.
To be honest, I wanted to throw you into the puddle earlier too.
I just gave you a live demonstration to earn your cooperation.
“Drink up!”
It’s the only way we all survive.
*
The fact that the Lancer was dead was a riddle his mind couldn’t solve, no matter how he thought about it.
‘What the fuck did he do inside that blizzard?’
The Wizard King who had mastered all the magic in the world. The Labyrinth Master’s right hand, the White Lion, couldn’t even begin to guess.
It felt like some kind of magic show. The amazing disappearing Lancer!
“Be careful. This is no ordinary enemy.”
“And where the hell did that beetle bastard go?”
The Hunter Shark ground his teeth and charged up through the storm.
And from within the blizzard, something was descending at incredible speed.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
There were only three beings here with the weight to cause such violent tremors.
The Lancer. He was dead, so not him.
Mugol. His stride would be wider.
Then…
‘The Monk!’
Aimus aimed his massive iron staff and cast Rhinoceros Horn.
CRASH!
He slammed into the Hunter Shark with all his might, flipping him over.
Fwoosh!
A massive volley of arrows rained down from the sky. Yernil was providing support fire while running through the storm.
And.
Clang!
The White Lion blocked Back Attack’s pouncing ambush.
Among rogues who have reached the pinnacle of their craft, it’s common to counter each other’s pouncing ambushes.
“Tch.”
Back Attack retracted his blade and leaped back.
“I was thinking of doing it for him.”
“Doing what for him?”
“Taking you down.”
Swish!
Dodging the White Lion’s slash, Back Attack used Shadow Leap.
After landing next to Yernil, he used Pack Hunter.
Then, Mirror Rogue.
Now numbering eight, Back Attack slowly closed in, tightening the encirclement.
“No matter how many of you there are, you can’t catch me. Where’s Caleb?”
“The boss wants a one-on-one showdown with you.”
“…”
The White Lion was 100% certain, without a shred of doubt.
‘It’s a trap.’
No matter how skilled Caleb was, there was no way he’d challenge him alone. The man was a wizard, after all.
The White Lion, on the other hand, had once held the title of Wizard King but had since abandoned it.
A rogue-type has the worst possible matchup against a wizard.
“He’s up there.”
Back Attack pointed to the other side of the building, beyond the citadel’s ruins.
“He’s waiting for you there.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true.”
The Spider Doctor said, skittering up the hill.
He formed a four-man party position with Aimus at the front.
“He told us to take on the Hunter Shark,” Yernil said.
“If you want to meet Caleb, we’ll let you pass alone,” Aimus said, aiming his iron staff.
“A wizard challenging a rogue to a one-on-one. You’re not going? Isn’t this the perfect chance?” Back Attack taunted.
“Scared?”
A smirk crept onto the White Lion’s lips.
He was still certain.
This was a trap.
But it was also an opportunity. It was true that all of Caleb’s core members were here.
“He was always one to gamble with his own life.”
It would be much harder to deal with Caleb if he joined these four. But if they were split up…
“Can you hold out until I kill that wizard and return?” the White Lion asked.
The Hunter Shark slung his main cannon over his shoulder and grinned.
“I’ll kill all four of them and be waiting for you.”
“It won’t be easy with the Spider Doctor here.”
“That eagle bastard or this guy, what’s the difference.”
“Hmph. Fine.”
The White Lion strode toward Aimus’s group.
“Move.”
*
The White Lion broke through the party and dashed down the snow-covered path. Between the frozen trees.
He circled back around the building’s outer wall he had just left.
The rain from the cumulonimbus had almost stopped.
The blizzard had also weakened. Still, the ice on the Forest of Death would not thaw anytime soon.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
The White Lion followed the forest path back to the citadel’s rear gate.
“I’ve been waiting.”
There, in the middle of the ice forest, blanketed in white snow, stood the wizard.
His small, slight frame looked even more fragile in the frigid woods.
But his gaze was sharp and fiery.
Just like the Labyrinth Master’s.