Chapter 228: The Deep Layer's Pursuit Force
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 228: The Deep Layer's Pursuit Force
Since the stairs to the 9th floor were in the same direction as the fountain, it meant we could run alongside Krom's party until we reached it.
The three from the Deep Layer added significant strength to our party.
Strong enough for us to grab the Fox Bead and escape.
“Annihilation Ray.”
“Steel Thunderbolt.”
“Flashpoint.”
We dashed through the 10th-floor maze, blocking and dodging the barrage of spells from the Silver Dagger Federation.
The 10th floor was the most visceral representation of the Labyrinth Intestine Theory.
A narrow path, twisted like a demon's winding intestines.
The floor, ceiling, and walls were all made of crimson flesh. It was as if we were inside the intestinal wall itself.
Normally, the 10th floor was difficult to navigate but sparsely populated with monsters. Now, however, was a different story.
Monsters were budding from the crimson walls, looking much like the ragged zombies Antonelli had once created.
“They’re dregs,” Krom shouted, clearing a path with his axe.
They were adventurers digested by the Labyrinth.
They weren't quite good enough to become Exit Bosses, but they had become part of the Labyrinth all the same.
Naturally, they could still use the skills and magic they had in life.
‘Repositioning of the Watchmen.’
The monsters that evaded Krom's axe fired off magic and arrows.
Boom!
Aimus hastily opened his parasol.
From behind it, Yernil and Back Attack returned fire.
And while Krom cleared the path ahead, I focused on our rear.
“Spherical Lightning.”
I set the spell in place to delay the Labyrinth Master's pursuit force.
“Ice Wall.”
Nimue added her magic to the effort.
At the fork ahead, I checked the compass.
“This way!”
Monsters were everywhere, but my mind was focused on one thing only: the Labyrinth Master.
He floated in the air, leisurely approaching with his Deep Layer army, escorted by the Black Iron Knights and the Silver Dagger Federation.
‘He's doing this on purpose.’
That bastard knew I had the Hourglass.
He might have even guessed that some, or all, of my abilities originated from the Hourglass.
Like ‘Remote Wand Control,’ for example.
It was the same inside the Gourmet Whale's mouth. The moment I seized control of the wand he was controlling remotely, he cackled with glee and said, ‘I knew you had it.’
That's why he was acting this way.
He was waiting for me to flip the Hourglass and use my turn. Then he'd throw his Deep Layer army in front as meat shields to block me, and attack while my Hourglass was on cooldown.
I didn't know the extent of his knowledge about the Hourglass, but there was no other reason for him to hang back at a safe distance instead of engaging us directly.
Just by suppressing my use of the Hourglass, that bastard was already pulling more than his weight.
And my combat effectiveness was cut by more than half.
“Another fork!” Krom shouted.
“The stairs to the 9th floor are to the right!” Nimue yelled.
“No! We go left!” I roared.
“Are you crazy?! The stairs are to the right!”
“The fountain is to the left! Trust me!”
We'd be caught if we went right anyway.
Making a break for the stairs was never an option in my mind.
We ran this far for the Fox Bead.
“I have a way out!”
There was no time to explain. I just pulled the Vortex Orb from inside my coat and shook it, hoping they'd understand just by seeing it.
“……”
Krom's eyes narrowed.
The orb had lost its light and was dim, and it still had a long cooldown time remaining, but…
“Got it.”
Krom made his decision.
Even if they took the path to the right, they wouldn't get far.
“Left!”
We rounded the corner one by one.
“Huh?”
There was a gate ahead.
Not stairs.
And definitely not an exit gate.
It was…
*
The Tier 8 Rogue skill, Dimensional Gate.
Blackdog had that skill.
He'd used it when we were planning the operation to take down the Gourmet Whale.
‘Shit…’
Standing before us was the Inter-floor Lord of the 10.5th floor.
“It’s a kind of tag,” the Black Lion said, twirling a knife in his hand.
“If I catch you, you join my side.”
Behind him, a horde of Abyss Monsters waited.
Krom aimed his axe, his face contorted in a deep scowl.
“Dammit.”
We were trapped in the narrow passage, surrounded from both front and back. Aimus naturally moved to cover our rear, giving us a vanguard on both sides.
“What do we do?” Yernil asked, nudging my arm.
What do we do?
I didn't know either.
Should I give up the Fox Bead and flip the Hourglass here?
Or…
“Caleb.”
While I hesitated, Rococo called my name.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure we can escape this way?”
“I am.”
“Good.”
The former cardinal of Sanfriel, the God of Challenging Spirit and Sacrifice.
Rococo took a scripture from his robes.
“You’re going to use that?” Krom frowned.
“There’s no other way.”
Of course, I knew what it was.
I'd felt it when interrogating the White Lion, but this man, Rococo, was truly insane.
“Sanfriel’s Deathmatch.”
To think he had that spell.
A Tier 7 Sanfriel priest spell.
Its effect was powerful, but the risk was immense.
And the fact that the priest alone shouldered all the risk was fitting for a follower of the God of Sacrifice.
Piiing!
A small blue light appeared above everyone's head.
The same happened above the enemies’ heads, only their lights were red.
Suddenly, Krom lowered his weapon, like a soldier who had given up and was calmly awaiting death.
Clang!
He waited until the greatsword of a Black Iron Knight struck his neck.
“……!”
Our party flinched in shock, but Krom had taken the hit intentionally.
Krom's body turned ethereal, like a ghost's, and the greatsword passed right through him.
And that wasn't all.
Thwack!
Blood spurted from the shoulder of the Black Iron Knight who had swung the sword.
“Wh-what was that?” Back Attack and Yernil’s eyes went wide.
“It’s Rococo’s spell.”
For the duration of the spell, all damage dealt to allies is nullified.
At the same time, any damage the enemies would take is also nullified.
So where does all that nullified damage go?
It’s randomly redirected to one of the individuals with a red light.
“But Rococo has a red light too, doesn’t he?” Yernil asked, horrified.
That was the problem.
We all received blue lights, but the caster himself did not.
“A spell this powerful and convenient couldn't possibly come without a risk.”
The caster himself participates in the deathmatch.
Sanfriel is the God of Challenging Spirit and Sacrifice.
If there were a game of Russian Roulette to save his party, he would be the first to grab the revolver and pull the trigger.
“……”
The enemies were bewildered.
The Black Iron Knights and the Silver Dagger Federation were intelligent monsters. They hesitated, realizing their attacks were ineffective and could even harm them instead.
However.
“Kill.”
The Labyrinth Master flicked a finger at them.
“Fuck…” A metallic rasp escaped Krom’s lips. The Black Iron Knights had suddenly started stabbing each other.
Crack!
This time, the knights’ self-inflicted chaos caused a crack to appear on the Black Lion’s face. As blood poured out, he pulled a scroll with his left hand. Tier 5 Rapid Regeneration.
“Run!” Nimue screamed.
“We have to get out while he’s buying us time!”
“Pursue.”
The Labyrinth Master flicked his finger again.
*
Spells like Sanfriel’s Deathmatch were the kind I hated most.
I avoided them in games whenever possible.
Probabilistic skills and spells were too difficult to predict.
‘This is dangerous.’
How long could Rococo last against that horde of monsters chasing us, committing mass suicide as they came?
Since the enemies vastly outnumbered us, the probability of Rococo being hit was very low. But what about the probability of him not being hit until the very end?
It was like a game of musical chairs.
If five people start the game, the chance of being eliminated in the first round is only 20%, but the chance of surviving until the end is also only 20%.
Sanfriel’s Deathmatch had a maximum capacity of thirty people.
Since six of us had blue lights, it was essentially a game of musical chairs with twenty-four participants.
The probability of Rococo avoiding the first hit was almost 96%.
But the probability of him avoiding both the first and second hits dropped sharply to around 92%. Every time damage was dealt—whether to a red light or a blue one—the chance of Rococo being the target would rapidly increase.
Moreover, as the number of enemies dwindled, that probability would grow exponentially.
Rococo wouldn't die instantly, thanks to a priest's unique healing abilities, but this strategy was still dangerous.
We had to secure the fountain before then…
“The fountain!” Yernil shouted.
She had heard the sound of water.
Rounding the corner, we could see it with our own eyes. A fountain stood about 300 meters ahead. The compass was pointing right at it.
“Go!”
We all leaped onto the fountain at once.
And then, I activated the Hourglass.
*
[It is your turn. Time remaining: 60 seconds]
[Action Points: ■■■■■■]
There was a reason we had to come this far.
First, for the Fox Bead, and second, to use the Vortex Orb.
‘Time Trader.’
I'd remove the cooldown with Time Trader.
The Vortex Orb provides a portal based on the Labyrinth's waterways.
Even when used on dry land, it can take you to any fountain in the Labyrinth.
One person at a time.
‘If we traveled like that, half of us would die.’
But using the orb near a massive Void Waterfall or a fountain changes the scale of the vortex.
On the dry ground of the White Lion's Fortress on the 9.5th floor, all it did was summon a small puddle from the 5th-floor oasis. And in the Deep Layer Illusion, it could only transport a single Fox Bead. But when we escaped the Primitive Altar on the 8th floor, didn't it transport all four of us at once?
That was because the altar had a fountain, and the Void Waterfall summoned by the Hunter Shark had flooded the area.
“Void Vortex.”
I summoned a vortex in the fountain.
Just as water pressure is strongest near the tap, the magical water flowing through the Labyrinth is most potent near a fountain.
“Destination: the 1st floor fountain.”
Let's get out of here as fast as possible.
Then we'll go to the surface and tell the Consul that the Labyrinth is erupting from the Abyss and they need to respond immediately.
‘I wonder what happened to Birtanen's party.’
That was another worry.
Most of what I saw in the illusion was based on reality. It showed Birtanen's and Bernard's parties holding a cobra captive at the oasis, right?
They could be in danger if they're facing an Inter-floor Lord.
Saving them and getting them out would be best, but right now, reporting the state of the Deep Layer was more urgent.
But…
‘What is that bastard planning?’
In the turn-based state, even the Labyrinth Master is frozen.
He, too, cannot interfere with the absolute domain of the Hourglass.
I studied the frozen Labyrinth Master closely. The demon was floating slightly in the air, escorted by his Deep Layer army, simply watching us with a relaxed smile.
What does he want?
That I was heading for the fountain, that I was tracking the Fox Bead, that I had the Vortex Orb, and that I was a Time Trader who could eliminate cooldowns.
The Labyrinth Master knew all of this.
So why did he let me get this far?
There were too many things I couldn't understand.
First of all, if he could subdue Blackdog like this, there was no need to make us wander the 10th floor.
Why did he wait for our party to descend from the 6th floor all the way to the 10th?
It seemed like he was trying his best to force us into the illusion as well.
Why?
And what was he after now?
This was bad.
I couldn't predict what move he was planning.
This was the first time this had happened since I was possessed into this game.
‘I think I'm losing this tactical battle.’