My Husband Conquers the Labyrinth Tower's 3rd Floor
In the central passage leading to the temple at the heart of Labyrinth Tower's 3rd floor, dozens of players formed a defensive formation, battling waves of charging monsters.
"You think we're gonna lose to those lowly Republic scum? Show them the Empire's greatness! Prove the imperial spirit that our Founding Emperor demonstrated!"
"We can't lose to the Empire! Let's show them the power of freedom!"
As their battle heated up...
Labyrinth Tower 3rd Floor's 66th Evil God Temple has been cleared by player Ahenobarbus and 3 others.
"......What?"
"Haa... We were too late again."
The clear notification floating before the players' eyes sapped their will to fight.
Ownership of the 66th Evil God Temple has been granted to player Ahenobarbus, who earned the most contributions in the main quest.
"Ahenobarbus...? Ha. So there's some bastard daring to impersonate His Imperial Majesty the Founding Emperor?"
"Pfft. Hilarious. All that boasting about your noble bloodline, and it gets trampled and tossed aside so easily."
"Aang? You done talking, you bastard?"
"Yeah, I'm done."
"Fine! Right here, I'll personally show you Republic lowlifes the nobility of our blue blood!"
"We'll show this outdated old fogey the freedom of the new era."
The moment Count Schmidt and Executioner Leighton were about to clash...
Due to player Ahenobarbus's choice, all maps within the 66th Evil God Temple are now closed to players.
Expulsion proceedings have begun for currently connected players.
-5
-4
-3
"What? Expulsion?"
"......Looks like this race's winner isn't as merciful as the Beast King."
-2
-1
Fwaah!
As the countdown ended, every player connected to that floor was ejected to the 1st floor of the Labyrinth Tower in a burst of white light.
Only one player remained on the 3rd floor.
"I can't let anyone else disturb my nest with my master."
The new master of the 3rd floor dismissed the interface screen floating in the air.
"......Not only did you awaken my memories of my master, but you granted me an entire dimension where we can live alone together, away from this world she can't escape. How can I ever repay this grace?"
Ahenobarbus turned and walked toward the room where his master awaited.
"I praise you. My god."
Crunch.
"......"
At a restaurant near the dorms, I'd grabbed a table with Valtburg for breakfast and ordered two bowls of soup.
The food arrived, but unlike his usual self, Valtburg listlessly stirred the inside of his bowl with his spoon.
I could kinda guess why he was so down.
"......Buddy."
"What."
"What do we do."
"What do you mean 'what'? We wait three days."
"Uwaaaah, how am I supposed to wait! How do I survive three days without Luddera!"
Valtburg clutched his head with both hands and wailed.
Death in Luddera comes with penalties for players.
I'd added them based on virtual reality games from my past life, figuring a game wouldn't function properly without any.
Normal death: partial EXP loss and 24-hour login ban.
Death with high Chaos value: additional penalties.
And since the Labyrinth Tower was Luddera's endgame content, its penalties were harsher—if you died inside, you got banned for three days.
The Founding Emperor had ambushed and killed Valtburg, so now he was stuck out for three days.
"Aaaah, I wanna play Luddera!"
"Don't yell it, idiot."
"Ughghgh......"
Having confirmed the penalty with his own eyes, Valtburg had turned into this mess.
I'd suspected he was obsessed, but breaking down after just a few days off was next level.
"I'm gonna kill that bastard! I didn't even do anything!"
Kill him, huh.
Pretty extreme words, but he probably meant PK—player kill—in Luddera.
Not that killing the Founding Emperor was possible, even in-game.
Level 500+.
That meant full godhood.
Though it was only quantifiable inside my creation, Luddera, the last time I'd seen him, the Emperor had seized perfect divine power.
Even his master, Kartesia, trapped by mortal limits, couldn't match him.
The Demon King and Dragon Lord paled in comparison.
No way Valtburg, still under level 100 and short of the Master wall, could handle him.
"Dude, didn't you see him one-shot an Archdemon? Totally different league. And now he's conquered the 3rd floor. Just chalk it up to stepping in shit and forget it."
"But... but...!"
Valtburg's eyes welled up misty.
Ugh. Not a girl, but a guy—and with that golden sun-kissed handsome face—crying wasn't something I wanted to see.
"Albus... Aren't you pissed? You got banned from Luddera too, right?"
"Eh... yeah."
I averted my gaze slightly as I answered.
Unlike him, I hadn't died to the Emperor's attack, so I could log into Luddera freely.
Not that it mattered—I could nullify penalties with my authority anyway.
But to avoid suspicion, I'd told him I died too, so he thought I was banned as well.
Anyway, I had something more urgent than Luddera right now.
Hm. I felt an alien power swirling in my hand.
I could only wield mana normally—that was my limit.
But after yesterday's incident, when I logged out, this weird energy started flowing through my hand on its own.
It was definitely from my body, but I couldn't control it with my will.
I needed to figure out what this was before logging back in.
"There you are."
That's when Perigit al Brigand showed up.
"Perigit? What're you doing here?"
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Valtburg asked her, but she ignored him and questioned me instead.
"Uh... yeah, just died and logged out."
"I see. I died too and got booted from that world."
Perigit nodded.
"Hey! Why're you ignoring me!"
"...Hm? Oh, stinky human. You were here too?"
"It's Valtburg! We adventured together yesterday! Don't tell me you forgot!"
"Albus, regrettably, yesterday's pilgrimage failed. We were flung to a completely different place mid-journey for a new adventure—surely the GM's will. And so I pondered: why did the GM guide us thus? Why allow such a death?"
"Hey! Stop ignoring me!"
Valtburg kept yelling, but Perigit ignored him and continued.
"Then the answer dawned on me. Considering the GM's omnipotence, this must be his decree for me."
...Huh? What? Omnipotence? Me?
This girl was seriously misunderstanding something.
"What should have been an encounter ending at the GM's sanctuary with you was blocked—meaning he commands me to stay with you."
......?
How'd she arrive at that conclusion?
"So, let's get along from now on. Albus."
Perigit extended her hand to me.
"Uh... uh-huh."
I shook it without thinking.
A powerhouse on the cusp of Sword Master, direct heir to the Beast King with an ironclad backing and bloodline.
No urge to defy her words.
If anything, getting chummy with her was a win.
Thanks a bunch, even.
As long as she didn't find out I was the GM, she'd make a perfect backer.
Sure, her head was a bit off, but considering most top powerhouses were cracked somewhere, she was practically a saintess.
"Ha. The GM's will my ass. She's just smitten with Albus at first sight and making excuses to tag along... Guhek!"
Valtburg, arms crossed and grumbling snarkily, suddenly clutched his gut and doubled over.
"Sh-shut your trap."
"Urk... you violent shorty bitch...!"
From his pained grimace, Perigit must've punched his gut lightning-fast without me noticing.
Flap flap.
Perigit's face flushed red, her ears twitching furiously... She was pretty pissed.
Jingle.
"Crazy..."
"Saintess?"
"Why are you here...!"
The restaurant entrance grew rowdy.
"What's up? Who came? This is the academy—no big deal unless it's someone huge."
His pain easing, Valtburg turned his head—then froze solid.
If this guy was shocked, it had to be some high noble, right?
Still, just a fancy noble.
More surprising than Perigit in front of me?
She was the Beast King's daughter.
So I thought as I turned—
"Found you!"
A golden-haired holy beauty smiled radiantly at me.
"My lord husband!"
......?
Whoosh!
"I missed you so much, my looord husband!"
In the blink of an eye I hadn't registered, a warm, soft sensation enveloped me.
The beauty I'd never met was hugging me.
Wh-who are you?