Labyrinth"s Mystery
“It"s boring right?”
“It"s because Mistress overdid it.”
“You"re the one who finished them off.”
Ellis and Reeve had been banned from entering either the Workshop Guild or the Adventurer"s Guild until the restructuring of the city had been completed.
The reason for this was due to all the money that had been taken from guild members due to them being challenged at Warren Numbers.
“I guess we should be aiming at tourists and countryside aristocrats after all.”
“Mistress, please, endure those feelings.”
Frau hadn"t taken to the game herself, and Claire was more than content to steadily gain wealth from the proceeds of the Flint-Claire brand steamers, meaning she was living a more frugal lifestyle. Katie had always been living a carefree life doing whatever she wanted, so the thought of getting rich quick had never even crossed her mind.
Honestly, until the new male-only street Cross Town was finished, there was nothing to do. Cross Town had already begun construction in the city"s center while a shopping mall was being moved to the area between Lily Garden and the city.
“How about visiting the Demon Labyrinth?”
Frau licked her lips while wiping down her Flying Phoenix and Exorcism Minotaur maul with a soft cloth.
The Demon Labyrinth was the highest level dungeon around Warren. The monsters that sp.a.w.n there have a number of resistances. Magic and physical attacks do little to them while they hit hard and are able to produce powerful magic. It"s a dungeon that is left almost completely unattended.
Ellis thought about it for a moment.
Frau has already become pretty much a heavy tank. She had also been wanting to fully test out Flying Phoenix and Exorcism, so challenging this upper level dungeon would seem to be the right choice.
The trouble was that none of the new abilities had benefited Claire, so she had not been strengthened at all. For Ellis as well, even though she had acquired the Mad G.o.d estoc, her defense had not improved at all. She should be able to kill most enemies with a single attack, but they should be able to do the same to her as well.
Mimetic, Sacrifice, Shadow: these were the three abilities she could use to increase her defense.
“Frau, if things get dangerous, can we still use the Ring of Return to retreat?”
Frau gave a thumbs up. Although, Katie and Reeve had already started getting dressed since the moment Frau had first proposed the idea.
“Muscle brains.”
Ellis and Claire shared a look and sighed before slowly putting on their own equipment.
“Really?” Helen asked surprised.
“Really,” Frau smiled.
“Okay…but if things start to go bad, please return here right away.” The Adventurer"s Guild receptionist was naturally showing some concern for the daughter of the Adventurer"s Guild master.
“We"ll be using Magical Horses, so a guide is unnecessary.”
Helen reluctantly nodded her head before handing over a ring and map over to Ellis.
“Right. We"ll do our best.”
And so, they were off to the best Warren had to offer.
“After all, I have the most painful role.”
Eliminating traps, unlocking doors, and holding her breath, all of the work Ellis had to do was starting to stress her out.
Unlike Wight Labyrinth, Demon Labyrinth is more orthodox. It is a long labyrinth with 50 rooms.
And from the very beginning, six Zangel cla.s.s demons stepped forward.
The formation started with Claire loading a {Lightning Shower} into her Guidance dress and Ellis unlocking the door. Frau and Katie would take positions in front of them while Reeve would be the one to open the door.
At the instant that Reeve would open the door, Claire would release {Lightning Shower} in the center of the room. Ellis would take the opportunity to dive into the room and hide in the shadows.
Katie and Frau would then rush in.
If there are a small number of enemies, Katie would pa.s.s through them to apply status effects to hamper their movement while Frau would charge from the front and crush them.
Finally, Reeve would dispose of any small fry that that survived and were trying to surround Frau and Katie.
For the six normal demons of Zangel cla.s.s, Ellis did not plan on changing their usual strategy.
On the other hand, if there was only one opponent, Ellis would not hesitate to mercilessly dispose of them.
One room contained a rotten giant that had been a mid-boss back when Wight Labyrinth had been a unique labyrinth.
It was completely immune to Claire" {Lightning Shower}.
It resisted the Stupor from Katie"s claws.
But when Frau hit his leg with her maul, the rotten giant fell to his knee.
That was when Ellis shoved her estoc into its back.
“That feels good……”
Treasure chests in each room averaged to be about 20 thousand ril. A total of 1 million ril for 50 rooms. Not bad, but no magic tools had appeared either.
“We"ve been kind of unlucky so far huh?”
Frau let out an unusual complaint as the fights so far had been disappointingly easy. Is this just the case for the early stages of the labyrinth?
Either way, the fully equipped girls continued on through the demons.
As they advanced further, Zabinas grade high demons also appeared.
Frau was able to counter the high demon"s {Ice Fog} before striking his left knee. Reeve aimed for the right one while Katie aimed for its back.
Things were different this time. Their attacks went through, crushing the high demon"s knees and gouging out his back.
Although Claire took this opportunity to blast his head with an {Explosion}, it did very little damage.
In the end, Ellis stabbed it with her Mad G.o.d estoc to finish it.
Claire gave Ellis a displeased look, looking not satisfied in the least.
“This looks like the last room.”
Four girls had their fighting spirits raised at Ellis"s words.
“Frau, the boss her is unknown isn"t it?”
“Yes, I have no idea what will come out.”
Hmm.
“Trap cancellation is complete. Claire, use {Explosion} this time instead of {Lightning Shower}.
“Yes, Ellis.”
“Well then, I"ll open it.”
At Reeve"s signal, five people rushed into the room. This time Ellis ran straight into the room, measuring the distance away from the boss and using Silence. But, there was no response. It was resistant.
When Ellis moved her body to the left, Claire released her {Explosion}.
The central figure was enveloped in a large ball of light.
Using that light as cover, Katie ran in, circling around to the boss"s right while Frau stood squarely in front of it.
In the center of the room, a Rotten Demon wearing luxurious clothes stood before them.
“{Bind}”
The demon started off by trying to restrict Frau"s movement.
“{Flare Burst}”
And then with a single spell, the demon had blown away the double that Ellis had created along with shattering Ellis and Claire"s Sacrificial dolls. The other three were able to survive but had been burned.
“Now, you"re first.”
The demon drew out its claws and approached Frau.
“Dangerous!”
Ellis realized she wasn"t going to have enough time to use Full Recovery.
However, the truth was that {Bind} hadn"t worked on Frau. She saw the demon coming, scoffed, and charged forward as well.
That"s the way it is.
A woman who had already become a human heavy tank that is immune to bondage, poison, 20 physical damage and 15 magical damage along with a percent chance of completely nullifying the enemy"s attack.
“Yaaugh!”
Frau released a battle cry as her thin, crimson maul pounded into the side of the demon"s head.
“Gah…..”
Nevertheless, the demon remained standing.
Until Katie"s Brave Ripper, Reeve"s saber, and Ellis"s estoc all found their way into its flesh as well.
The demon fell with a frown on its face.
“This is actually a little frustrating.”
Ellis"s weapon was truly ridiculous having most likely been the reason that the demon had fallen when it did.
But things could have gotten rough there.
Ellis and Claire would have both met their ends if the demon had decided to cast another spell instead of charging forward with its claws.
Something would have to be done about this.
“For now, let"s open the treasure chest and rejoice.”
Ellis confirmed the trap. It was a corrosion trap that would destroy everything inside the treasure chest.
It was an obnoxious trap that did no physical damage to a person, but the mental damage might be unbearable.
This trap was carefully canceled.
When the chest was opened, a pile of gold coins, a ring, and a scroll were sitting there.
Claire immediately jumped at the scroll.
Ellis appreciated the ring.
Grand Magical ring - When the wearer uses magic, the required MP is reduced by 5. However, it cannot become less than 1. Magical tools are excluded. Required MP: 0. Autonomous type.
The t.i.tle of the scroll was Spell Encyclopedia Part 1. Ellis wasn"t sure what the contents would be.
“I"ll take this. I will not allow anyone to have a dissenting opinion!”
Ellis sensed an awkward feeling with the other three girls who were unaware of why Claire was being so forceful here. Of course, Ellis had never seen Claire this unusually excited before either.
“Then shall we head home?”
“Wait just a second, little girls.”
A cold shiver ran down the five"s spines.
They had been careless.
………..
“Little missies, are you a Hero or a Demon king?”
Ellis struggled to answer before being finally able to choke out, “We"re neither.”
And then Ellis turned around.
A resurrected demon was standing there.
Dangerous!
DangerousDangerousDangerous!!!
Seeing the desperation and anxiety in Ellis"s expression, the demon puffed out his chest and released a fit of rattling laughter.
“Relax, it"s you missies victory this time. If you challenge this labyrinth again, after a certain point you should receive a lot of rewards.”
Ellis didn"t know what to say.
The demon was making a strange face, saying strange things.
And then the demon realized their circ.u.mstances.
“Ah, n.o.body from the back of a labyrinth has ever told you why labyrinth"s exist. I suppose time serves as the best piece of evidence.”
Katie, who has little time to dwell on absurdities or shyness, spoke up.
“Mr. Demon, why do labyrinths exist?”
The demon answered while still releasing his rattling laughter.
“It"s to purify the remnants from the last divine war.”
“The purpose of labyrinths is for them to act as devices to cleanse the chaos born between the Demon Lord and Hero the last time they appeared in this world. They gather up the dark energy soaked into the ground, and adventurers slowly disperse it every time they clear one.”
Ellis was starting to understand.
“Then, does that mean that a labyrinth will stop working after it"s served its purpose?”
“Yeah. If the treasure is gone, then the labyrinth will disappear. It"s only about ten clears for mine, but it"ll take hundreds or even thousands of times for beginner or intermediate labyrinths.”
“Treasure?”
“They"re magic tools we used back during Demon/G.o.d war. We put them in as further incentive to permanently clear labyrinths for those too lazy or selfish to do it otherwise.”
“By the way, who are you?”
“n.o.body really. I"m just another demon who served the Demon Lord during the Demon/G.o.d war.”
That"s a little more than just a n.o.body.
“Why do the Demon Lord and Hero fight?”
“Dunno. They just show up every once in awhile and start killing each other. It"s a physiological phenomena.”
“What will happen to you now?”
“After you missies have here 10 times, I"ll die and become a Buddha. Ah, I suppose I"d be a Devil instead of a Buddha. Though that"s a bit of unpleasant talk. You missies should head home already. But even if you missies remember me, all my memories will disappear once you leave. Just because I"m the same demon you"ll meet next time doesn"t mean you should hold back.”
And then Ellis"s group was forced to activate the Ring of Return and returned to the Adventurer"s Guild.
“There are a few things we will have to plan out.”
Ellis went about organizing all the new information that had just been unloaded on them.
But in the back of her mind, one thought continued to nag at her.
If the Wight Labyrinth were to be permanently cleared and disappear, what kind of faces would the Brave party end up making?
Ellis broke out into an ecstatic grin.