Chapter 221: The Ones Who Won't Let Go
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 221: The Ones Who Won't Let Go
Blackdog.
He was the only other possessor in Sohen besides me.
His real name in the modern world was Fernando Perez.
He was a member of a Mexican crime cartel, and a sicario at that.
I didn't know what that meant either, but from his explanation, it sounded like a mid-level manager within the organization.
‘He was a criminal from the start.’
Of course, everyone has their reasons. He had his own sob story about growing up poor in the slums, but at the end of the day, he was still a criminal.
And not just some neighborhood punk, but a high-ranking member of a cartel.
He was untrustworthy from the get-go.
And in Sohen, Blackdog had achieved pretty much everything he’d ever wanted.
Over a decade after his possession, he had conquered the back alleys and now reigned as a king of the underworld.
It wasn't public knowledge, but who knows what kind of brutal crimes he must have committed in the process.
When I was studying abroad at MIT, I knew a grad student from Mexico who told me the cartels over there were fucking terrifying.
Things like cutting off a rival member’s limbs and beating them to death with them.
Blackdog, dropped into Sohen without a single person he knew, must have had an equally cruel and arduous journey to take over the back alleys.
He overcame all of that, got married here, and started a family. He also had plenty of friends, like Krom, Nimue, and Rococo.
Running numerous businesses in the underworld, Blackdog wielded absolute power that not even the Consul could touch.
So, would this man really give all that up to help kill the Labyrinth Master?
“We have to kill him,” Blackdog said.
“What choice do we have? If the Labyrinth erupts and wipes out the surface, the underworld will be gone all the same, won’t it?”
So that’s how he saw it.
Until recently, I’d thought the same.
But the story the White Lion told me was unsettling. The Labyrinth was a source of infinite treasure, a place that could grant any wish, and the Deep Layer’s magic, the ‘materialization of illusions,’ was the power of world creation itself.
The White Lion had said that when the Labyrinth Master recovered the Hourglass, the true power of the Labyrinth’s abyss would be unleashed.
Within the world unfolding in the Labyrinth Master’s mind, there was an inter-floor village that was a perfect replica of the ancient elves’ fairy forest.
One far more beautiful than the real thing.
A river where golden white lotuses swam, children playing in the fields and competing in bowfishing.
A path through the bushes where the sound of cicadas could be heard. At its end, the Wizard King’s fortress and his flag.
And the Fairy Queen and their daughter.
The White Lion said he had seen these things. That those ‘devoured’ by the Labyrinth could reach such a utopia.
If the Labyrinth Master defeated Wizus and let the world flow according to its natural order.
What if the Labyrinth Master presented the same logic to Blackdog?
What if…
“What if he offered to make you an Inter-floor Lord?”
Might as well rip the band-aid off.
If I tried to hide it from Blackdog, the Labyrinth Master would eventually tell him the same thing and try to persuade him anyway.
“What if he offered to perfectly recreate the organization you rule, Blackdog, along with the back alleys, your family and friends, and this very city of Sohen, and let you live happily within it for all eternity?”
“…”
“Would you still join the fight to kill the Labyrinth Master?”
If he was going to back out, it was better he did it now.
It would mean one less variable for me to calculate later.
“Does that even make sense?” Nimue, the Frostian Mage, said with a smirk.
“Did you discover some new secret in the Labyrinth we don’t know about?” Krom asked.
“The White Lion said something similar.”
“…”
Blackdog scratched his cheek.
After a moment of thought, he spoke.
“I trust you a great deal. But the White Lion is a different story.”
“I see.”
“I can’t bet my family, my party, and the entire underworld on something that hasn’t been proven. I’ll just kill the Labyrinth Master and sit this one out.”
“…”
“And besides,” Blackdog said, hesitating for a moment. “To be honest, I’m a little worried about that other side, too.”
He had left his mother behind in Mexico.
Setting the cartel aside, his elderly mother, who had raised him by herself, was still alone in a Mexican slum.
For the past decade, as he took over the back alleys, she must have been his greatest worry and the source of his deepest longing.
“Krom, Nimue, and Rococo will take good care of my family. Maybe even the Consul and Cardinal Peterson.”
Blackdog looked at his friends with a lonely expression.
“It’s time for me to go.”
*
“Sorry, but I can’t let you go.”
Birtanen crossed his arms and glared.
Trap Cobra stared back at him with a look of disbelief.
“I don’t need your permission to move.”
A hissing sound escaped Cobra’s lips.
“I may not be a loyal retainer like the White Lion, but I can’t refuse a summons from the Labyrinth Master. I’m going to the 10th floor.”
“Then you’ll fight Caleb there!?” Avison shouted.
Trap Cobra had told them that Caleb fought an Inter-floor Lord on the 9.5th floor.
And just now, the Gourmet Whale’s clone had said Caleb killed the Lancer.
Caleb’s party was heading for the 10th floor, and if they were already on the 9.5th, they would reach their destination soon.
But…
“The Labyrinth Master is trying to kill Caleb on the 10th floor, isn’t he?”
The picture was crystal clear.
The Labyrinth Master was gathering the Inter-floor Lords on the 10th floor to ambush Caleb!
Trap Cobra, in particular, was dangerous.
The master of all traps in the Labyrinth.
If he, guided by the Labyrinth Master, set up traps on the 10th floor, wouldn't even Caleb be forced to fall into one?
“You’ve been unusually friendly to us for an Inter-floor Lord. We appreciate that. But we can’t let you go!”
Birtanen splashed through the oasis, running.
“That’s right!” Bernard, the Lizard Paladin, raised his head. “You speak the truth. We must detain you here! Surrender peacefully!”
“Seriously…”
Trap Cobra let out a deep sigh, while the Gourmet Whale’s clone next to him burst into laughter.
“This is what you get for all your pranks, Cobra. They don’t take you seriously!”
“…”
“Grab him and shove him into the oasis!” Jikal shouted.
Greg the Barbarian lunged from behind and clung to Cobra’s neck.
Birtanen and Bernard joined in.
Splash!
They grabbed Cobra and dragged him into the water.
“Don’t attack!” Avison yelled.
All eight adventurers and Cobra were now submerged in the oasis.
If anyone attacked, their health percentages would be averaged out, and everyone would share the damage.
“But that means Cobra can’t attack us either!” Avison shouted.
“We don’t want to fight you! We just want to buy Caleb some time! We can’t let you go to the 10th floor!”
*
I still hadn’t solved the mystery of the 10th-floor fountain, the fox bead, and my past.
Instead, I decided to look around a bit.
I tucked the bead safely into my pocket.
We couldn’t go far. We couldn’t get lost. We would explore the immediate area and then return to the fountain to acquire our skills.
There was no chance the exit room would be cleared in the meantime.
The Consul, preparing for the great Labyrinth Master subjugation, had restricted access to the upper floors.
The only ones who had ignored that were Blackdog’s party and ours. So there could only be one of the two parties here…
“There are dead monsters here,” Blackdog said.
He was right.
About two hours after leaving the fountain, we suddenly came across a pile of monster corpses.
They were translucent like ghosts, their limbs indistinct silhouettes, each with a silver dagger embedded deep in its chest.
In the game, they were called the ‘Silver Dagger Alliance.’
“Let’s take a look.”
We moved closer to the monster corpses to examine their wounds.
One had a hole blown clean through its forehead, as if hit by magic with incredible piercing power.
Another monster was completely burned to a crisp.
Traces of fire were everywhere.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of the 10th floor’s umbilical maze were normally a bumpy, fleshy pink, like the inside of an intestine, but now they were all charred black.
Burned.
“There’s someone else here besides the eight of us,” Rococo said.
It was easy to get lost in the winding maze.
Could we have mistaken these for monsters we’d killed earlier?
No.
Because neither I nor Nimue, a Frostian, possessed fire magic this powerful.
“Maybe it’s not an adventurer,” Nimue suggested.
“Fire is one of the Labyrinth Master’s specialties.”
“So the Labyrinth Master came up here?”
“Who knows. He came up to Sohen, didn’t he?”
To be honest, that was bothering me too.
It was one of the differences between the game and this place.
In the game, the Labyrinth Master couldn’t leave the Deep Layer, but in this world, he had appeared on the surface.
Of course, he probably couldn’t just freely go up and down the stairs like other Inter-floor Lords or eccentric bosses.
If he could, he would have come down to the lower floors to hunt me down long ago.
But what if…
‘What if he can go up just one floor with the Gourmet Whale.’
That creature had once ferried the Labyrinth Master to the surface.
Just like an astronaut could leave the atmosphere in a spaceship without any problems.
The Labyrinth Master had been able to travel outside the Deep Layer while aboard the Gourmet Whale.
“But that whale is enormous,” Back Attack said.
“This place seems way too narrow for it to come up.”
“He’s right.”
The passages in the 10th-floor maze were narrow, and the ceilings were low. It would be difficult for the Gourmet Whale to come up here…
“It’s the Gourmet Whale!”
Yernil’s sudden shout made everyone jump in surprise.
But it was true.
At the far end of the maze, the Gourmet Whale appeared.
Not the super-massive beast that had appeared over Sohen, but a human-sized clone.
“Gourmet Whale!”
When we fought the Labyrinth Master in the skies of Sohen, that thing had just watched the battle like a commentator.
It was probably in a ‘projection’ state.
Meaning it had no combat ability, but still.
“What are you? Why are you here?”
I could feel the tension spike among all eight adventurers.
Krom and Aimus strode forward to the front.
“The Master summoned you to the Deep Layer, but you did not come,” the Gourmet Whale said.
“He has ordered me to bring Caleb’s party to him.”
“And we’re supposed to go just because he says so?” Back Attack scoffed.
“It would be in your best interest. Caleb, if you wish to know how to use that fox bead.”
Seeing my shoulders flinch, a smile spread across the Gourmet Whale’s lips.
“The Master is aware of your struggle with that bead. He will explain its secret to you. Let us go together.”
“You’ll just kill us after you tell us!” Yernil shouted.
“I’m not going down there,” I answered as firmly as I could.
But they must have known I would refuse.
Honestly, going down there made no sense.
Which meant they had another plan…?
“Very well. Then.”
The Gourmet Whale bowed its head and placed a hand on the floor.
I wondered what it was doing, but it was marking a ‘location.’
Clank!
A rumbling sound came from the floor as the ground gave way. Beneath it, a magical staircase materialized with a series of clunks.
“I have no choice but to invite only Blackdog’s party. You wished to see the Labyrinth Master, did you not?”
What the hell is this bastard doing?
“The Master wishes to speak with you. Please, enter.”
No. Wait a minute.
Was it okay to let Blackdog go like this?
If he went down there, the Labyrinth Master would undoubtedly spew the same bullshit logic as the White Lion.
“It was fun, even if it was for a short while.”
Nimue ruffled my hair and stepped forward, patting Krom on the shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait…”
I grabbed the arm of Blackdog, who was about to step forward.
“Are you really going to raid the Labyrinth Master?”
“Yeah.”
“The four of you in your party won’t be enough.”
“We won’t know until we try.”
“…You know you can’t do it.”
“Why do you think we can’t? Before I was possessed, I killed the Labyrinth Master countless times.”
Ah, fuck.
Right.
Blackdog had almost no experience fighting the Labyrinth Master ‘in reality.’ Inside the Gourmet Whale’s mouth, he had floundered before falling back to the surface.
All the data he had on the Labyrinth Master was from the game.
“You said you even cleared Nirvana difficulty.”
The peak of Mount Stupid on the Dunning-Kruger curve.
That’s exactly where Blackdog was right now.
“The Consul can’t succeed. This is something only a possessor would know. The Labyrinth Master raid has to be done with a 4-person party. Gathering a bunch of riffraff is useless.”
“…”
“And the only person in Sohen, maybe even on the entire continent, who has ever beaten the Labyrinth Master is me.”
Blackdog said, “I’m the only one who can take him down. Caleb. Move.”
“No!”
He’s way beyond Nirvana difficulty, you idiot!