Chapter 23
When Frau opened the door, Claire dashed forward and cast her {Fire Bullet} that was loaded into her Guidance dress .
{Fire bullet} = launches a ball of fire with attack power 10 to one enemy . Required MP: 5 .
Besides the fact that this spell sends out an attack with enough power to kill an ordinary person, it can also serve as a light to illuminate the room .
Following the trajectory of the fireball, Ellis, Reeve, and Katie jumped in after it . Katie took the center while Reeve and Ellis followed closely by her side . Frau jumped in afterwards providing cover and protection for Claire . Claire stood back and would cast the appropriate spell when the need arised .
“They’re skeletons!” When Katie confirmed the identity of the enemy, she shouted out to alert everyone else .
There were dozens of skeletons all closely knit in the room, and they were all marching toward Ellis’s group . Claire’s spell had punctured the leading skeleton causing it to light up a bright orange .
Using that light, Katie ran into the herd of skeletons . It looked almost as if she was dancing the way she moved past her enemies . Activating Stupor, Katie nicked every skeleton she passed by, resulting in about half of them being unable to move . Subsequently, Reeve and Frau followed through with their bastard sword and maul to plow through their forces .
Ellis stuck to the shadows and observed the whole state of the battle .
Sneaky .
When she discovered a skeleton parting from the rest of the group, she soundlessly snuck up behind and cut it with her estoc . The skeleton collapsed after one blow .
Claire judged that the others should be able to handle the mob, so she decided to take a support role and cast {Light} to brighten up the interior .
Katie exited out of the other side of the mob and stopped her dance-like movements . She began to take careful blows to kill the skeletons one by one instead of the suppression she had done up until now . Meanwhile Frau was just swinging her maul at random and killing every skeleton in her reach . Reeve’s bastard sword aimed to claim one skeleton after another, making sure that no skeleton took Frau from behind .
After all that, in a short amount of time every skeleton was annihilated before these five girls .
“Well, I guess it’s my turn again . ” Ellis replenished the magic power in everyone’s Spirit rings . As long as she makes sure to do this after every fight, Frau, Reeve, and Katie should never run out of magic power . That’s why a large determinant factor for how fast they proceed through this labyrinth relies on the amount of MP Claire ends up having to spend .
After everyone was refreshed, Ellis moved on to the treasure chest in the corner of the room .
“This is a little excessive, isn’t it?”
This time its an explosion trap . Unlike the electric shock on the door, this is a trap that would prove fatal to everyone nearby . Truly an advanced labyrinth . Every trap is powerful .
Ellis instructed everyone to back away from the treasure chest just in case, and she proceeded to cancel the trap carefully . The air in the room became heavier than it was during the battle .
*Click*
With the sound of the lock releasing, Reeve and the others gathered back around Ellis . After wiping away the sweat that accumulated on her brow, Ellis slowly opened the treasure chest .
Truly an advanced labyrinth . The chest was practically overflowing with money . Almost 30 thousand ril . In addition, Ellis noticed a faint light shining from within the chest as well . It was a Silence amulet .
Silence amulet–Seals one opponent’s magic . Required MP: 5 . Command word: {Shut up} .
Ellis put on the Silence amulet for now just in case .
“And already a magic tool . How auspicious . ”
Everyone smiled at Frau’s words .
There were several groups of zombies and skeletons after that, and each one was cleared in a similar fashion . There were treasure chests in each room, but they all only held money inside .
They were now on the fifth room’s door, and the pattern decorating the door is clearly different from those in the past . As soon as Ellis had released the trap, Frau put out a word of warning .
“This is probably a mid-boss room . ”
Everyone nodded to Frau’s speculation . As a precaution, Claire cast {Shell} for everyone .
{Shell} = Reduces magic damage by 1 once . Required MP: 2 .
Since Claire had not yet increased the affinity of Shell, the required magic power had not gone down at all . Since she had to cast it on five people, it would put a heavy strain on her . Luckily this can be supplemented with a Spirit ring .
Once Claire was finished casting her spell, Ellis replenished the magic power in Claire’s ring .
“Is everyone ready?”
Frau opened the door once everyone got in place . At the same time, Claire fired off a {Fire Bullet} into the room . Her spell went through an arc in the air and landed in the center of the room . Ellis, who had already moved into the shadows of the room, could feel the enemy, but she could not find its location .
Claire cast {Light} at the back of the pack as everyone slowly inched forward into the room . By the time they all made it to the room’s center, every inch of the room was illuminated, but there was no one around .
Silence filled the room .
……… ………
Suddenly the swordswoman slit the air .
“There!”
Reeve suddenly threw her throwing dagger to an empty spot in the room . Then, the dagger suddenly stopped as if it had hit an invisible wall and began floating there .
Ellis activated her Ice ring towards the dagger . No, to be more precise, the air where the dagger was stuck .
When the cold wind struck, a humanoid ice sculpture was left standing where nothing was before . Afterwards, Frau’s maul shattered the ice without question .
“I saw a chance . ”
The white frost humanoid that was crushed by Frau’s maul changed its color to a crimson reminiscent of blood on the floor . Eventually, it turned black and then vanished .
“The boss of the fifth room was a Transparent Assassin . ”
“That was awesome Reeve!”
Ellis’s straightforward praise forced Reeve to smile slightly with pride .
“The throwing daggers were really helpful . ”
The treasure box in this room held 50 thousand ril plus a Purification short sword . A group of undead similar to the previous rooms will probably continue on from here . The traps are also the same as before, so the burden on Ellis is shrinking .
Ellis was able to clear each room while humming a little song .
However, if it was a normal party, especially one that relied on magic power, this would be a much different story . This labyrinth would normally take several days because the members would have to take breaks to restore their magic power .
Frau, who was aware of this, had prepared several boxed lunches to prepare for a several day long exploration . But even she was swinging her double damage maul around while humming a little tune .
So without realizing just how much of a cheat-like existence these girls really were, they made it to the fifteenth room’s door .
The 15th room . The decoration on this door was also different .
As Frau opened the door the same way she had before, Claire launched a {Fire Bullet} . This time the spell made contact with something, but the bullet only lightly burned the monster’s flesh .
The slowly fading flame revealed a huge shadow in the room .
The five girls were in awe at the existence that stood before them . It looked almost like any other zombie, but it was several times bigger .
“Rotten Giant… . . ”
The moment Frau muttered such, the monster addressed Katie who the first person to appear before it .
Katie blocked its massive blow with her gauntlets and even jumped back to regulate some of the damage, but she still received an enormous shock . She was blown away, and she cried out in pain as her back slammed into the caves wall . Ellis immediately used the Full Recovery ring .
“{Work}, Katie . ”
Once she regained her physical condition, Katie immediately got back up and moved to the giant’s rear while Frau distracted it from the front .
Frau smashed the monster’s left knee with her maul .
Once the monster fell to its knee from Frau’s blow, Reeve ran in and cut off its left arm right at the shoulder .
“How do you like that!?”
The giant who’s arm was sliced off immediately picked up the severed arm with its right hand . Then he placed the severed part back to its shoulder, and bubbles started to form . In no time at all the arm was reattached .
“It can regenerate! Pin it down!”
The left knee that Frau crushed was also restoring itself .
But the five did not let up .
Katie attacked the giant’s back while activating Stupor on her claws . She swiftly carved her claws through its back with a four hit combo that had a 50 percent chance of restricting its movement with every blow . Even if it’s a large flesh giant like this, the effect of the magic still works .
“Now!”
Everyone concentrated their attacks on Reeve’s signal .
Frau breaks its left knee once again while Reeve cuts off its right arm after the fall . Claire lets out her largest magic {Explosion} for a direct attack on the giant’s head .
{Explosion} = Does an area of effect attack for 20 damage . Required MP: 10 .
As the monster’s head was billowing smoke, Ellis jumped into the sky and pierced its heart with her estoc .
The giant slumped over before tumbling down completely .
Even when they kicked it, the giant did not move . Just to be sure though, Reeve chopped up its body, and Claire burned the parts with {Fire Bullets} .
In the treasure chest, the reward was a total of 100 thousand ril and some black plate armor .
Resistance plate armor–Magical damage reduction of 10 . Required MP: 0 . Autonomous type .
“I’ve never even heard of such armor!”
Frau looked back at the four with excitement .
Ellis was also surprised by the Resistance ability . Reducing magical damage of 10 would mean completely invalidating {Fire Bullets} and {Freezing} .
“I wonder if it will work on Frau and Reeve’s armor . ”
Ellis tried copying the ability on the spot . The result was that not only Frau’s half plate armor and Reeve’s leather armor, but Katie’s bra top was also able to have the ability copied to it . Ellis didn’t try to copy the ability to her and Claire’s outfits because she hadn’t done any experiments with armor before . She did not want to take the risk of invalidating the abilities their armor already had at the moment .
Ellis and the others decided to take a break in this room . They all sat in a circle, and they started eating the lunch Frau had made .
“We got a huge reward from the boss just now . ” Reeve was saying while gazing at the massive amount of money they had already made .
“The giant was fun . ” It seems Katie was drunk off the pleasure from the four consecutive blows she pulled off on the giant’s back .
“I’m looking forward to the last boss . ” Frau was eating while playing with her maul .
But not everyone was overjoyed with how things had gone .
“Ellis . I guess I’m no good……”
Certainly Claire’s doubts and anxiety were understandable . In the last fight, she had to use her {Explosion} magic which she had sealed away .
But she has to get over it .
Ellis finished her lunch while holding Claire’s hand and listening to all her worries .
“Come now . It’s time for the second half!”
Even in the following rooms the labyrinth continued to throw out undead enemies without ever getting sick of it . Apparently this labyrinth enjoys cutting down on the party’s spirit .
Annoying .
Unfortunately for it, Ellis’s party was a group with infinite magical power and boundless optimism .
Before them now was another luxurious door . Ellis released the this door’s trap as she had done all the others . It was a melting trap . Whoever opened the door would have acid poured on them and be turned into a puddle . Terrible . And seriously overkill . This is probably the last boss’s room .
As Ellis started her work canceling the trap, Frau began explaining .
“There isn’t much information about the wight . It fights using mostly magic, so watch out for that . It also apparently has a resistance to physical damage . Watch out whenever you hit it . ”
Claire cast {Shell} on everyone the same way as before .
Let’s go… .
Everyone moved on Frau’s signal . Claire’s {Fire Bullet} traveled in a straight line and made direct contact with a humanoid figure .
Even though Katie moved through the shadows, her attack was dodged .
The dagger Reeve threw passed right through it .
The blow from Frau’s maul ended up crushing the stone directly below the shadow .
……
A silent pressure filled the room right before it was dyed a bright red .
“{Flare Burst}…… . ”
At the same time that Reeve, Frau, and Katie were blown away by the intense flames, Claire and Ellis’s dolls shattered .
Ellis quickly released Silence from her hiding spot in the shadows .
“[Shut up]!”
Ellis felt a sense of resistance, but she instinctively knew it worked . She immediately started to shout out her instructions .
“Everyone besides Claire, [Freeze]!”
Moved by Ellis’s words; Reeve, Katie, and Frau endured the pain of their burns and unleashed the magic of their Ice rings .
The spells were concentrated on a single point, and the movements of the shadow eventually ceased as it was encased in ice .
“Claire, NOW!”
Claire kneaded together her magic power for the strongest spell she knew .
“{Explosion}!”
The frost covered shadow was dyed in crimson .
After the smoke cleared, the shadow slowly dissipated, and in its place an object was left behind .
“The wight is immune to all physical attacks . Including Purification . ”
Ellis felt a cold sweat run down her back . Ellis went around healing everyone with the Full Recovery ring and gave Claire a new Sacrificial doll while she thought about what would have happened had the Silence amulet not been in that first treasure box . And if that Resistance armor wasn’t in the second chance, then the entire party would have been wiped out . Even with {Shell}, the three had only barely survived .
While holding back the urge to vomit, Ellis picked up the object that the wight had left behind .
Demon Lord’s Mark–Restricts the behavior of the Demon lord . Unique .
“What is this?” Ellis walked over to Frau who was looking how Ellis felt .
“Unique means that there are no other items like it, but I have never heard of a demon lord before . I’ll ask my father about it when we get back . ”
Ellis continued looking around the room and opened up the treasure box . There was a million ril inside along with four silver bracelets and one gold bracelet .
Bond bracelet–Any supporting magic cast on the wearer of the gold bracelet also affects those wearing the silver bracelet . Required MP: 0 . Autonomous type . Unique .
“We got something amazing . ”
As Ellis put the gold bracelet on herself, she handed over the silver bracelets to everyone else . Then she continued to cast [Full Recovery] on herself . The four others were wrapped in the same gleam as her .
“This is incredibly useful, isn’t it?”
Frau can recover rather quickly, huh?
“This is also unique . Okay, let’s head home for today . ”
“That’s right . ”
“I agree . ”
“I want to go bed . ”
While there were three people who recovered rather quickly, there was still one person who could be considered normal .
“Ellis . Can we take tomorrow off?” Claire asked with tears in her eyes .
“As soon as we get home . ”
Ellis hugged Claire close to her chest and then activated the Ring of Return .
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