THE TERROR OF THE GREAT ELROE LABYRINTH
A vaguely unreal scene unfolds in my unfocused vision.
It’s as if I’m looking in from the other side of a thin film, like watching an old movie.
The faint light of a torch illuminates the people around me.
Several of them are familiar faces.
I can see Mr. Hyrince and the saint, Yaana.
Two of the other men don’t look familiar, but the third one… Isn’t that Basgath’s son, Goyef?
They keep walking somewhere, until they cross paths with something.
A spider monster: a Nightmare’s Vestige.
After a hard fight, the group defeats it. In that moment, I have a strange vision of a girl.
A girl whose features I can’t see, who can only be described as white.
I jump to my feet.
Was that a dream?
About when Julius defeated a Nightmare’s Vestige in the past?
Did I dream about it because of that conversation with Basgath?
Or was Julius trying to tell me something?
That last idea is probably just wishful thinking on my part.
Absently, I touch the white scarf wrapped around my neck, a memento of my brother.
“We’re about to enter the large passage. Keep yer wits about yeh.”
With that, Mr. Basgath leads us forward.
Once I cross the threshold, I stare around me in surprise.
It’s huge.
Sure, I was briefed on this already, but it’s totally different from the cramped passages we’ve been traveling in all this time.
It could easily be three hundred feet wide.
The ceiling looks equally high.
Just like Basgath said, it’s more like a vast hall than a passage.
But my shock lasts only for a moment.
I quickly return to my senses, looking around carefully.
No signs of any monsters nearby.
Relieved, I still keep my guard up as we move forward.
The passage is enormous.
But there are large boulders and such scattered about, impeding our vision.
Something could be lurking in the shadows of the rocks.
I keep an eye out for any signs as we steadily progress.
After a while, Basgath pauses.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s strange. I haven’t seen any monsters.”
Basgath’s voice and expression can’t quite hide his consternation.
Is that really such a bad thing?
“Are there usually more around here?”
“Aye. It’s strange that we’ve not seen any after coming this far.”
Under his breath, he adds, “It’s like when we saw the Nightmare.”
Now that makes me nervous.
“Is there any way to reach a different route?”
It’s probably best to assume that something strange is going on.
In which case, we should take precautions.
“There’s a side path a short distance ahead. We’ll switch to another route there.”
Basgath seems to agree, as he doesn’t hesitate to craft an alternate plan.
We all catch on to Basgath’s agitated state, and no one objects to this.
But we made our decision a little too late.
Something is already coming this way.
A dragon.
First, we see a silhouette that resembles a slimmed-down tyrannosaurus.
However, its hands are strangely large, and each of its claws glitters like a flawlessly crafted sword.
“An earth dragon. Damn! And in the Upper Stratum—does that mean it evolved?!”
Basgath clicks his tongue.
All of us get ready for battle.
Steeling myself, I Appraise our opponent.
<Earth dragon Ekisa
LV 2
Status:
HP: 2,808/2,808 (green)
SP: 3,655/3,655 (yellow)
Average Offensive Ability: 2,498 (details)
Average Magical Ability: 1,298 (details)
Average Speed Ability: 3,600 (details)
MP: 1,312/1,312 (blue)
: 2,032/3,645 (red)
Average Defensive Ability: 2,455 (details)
Average Resistance Ability: 2,452 (details)
Skills:
[Earth Dragon LV 1]
[Imperial Scales LV 4]
[Hard Armor LV 1]
[Steel Body LV 1]
[HP Rapid Recovery LV 1]
[MP Recovery Speed LV 1]
[MP Lessened Consumption LV 1]
[Magic Power Perception LV 3]
[Magic Power Operation LV 3]
[Magic Power Attack LV 1]
[SP Rapid Recovery LV 2]
[SP Minimized Consumption LV 2]
[Terrain Attack LV 5]
[Terrain Enhancement LV 5]
[Destruction Enhancement LV 7]
[Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 6]
[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 6]
[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 6]
[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 3]
[Hit LV 10]
[Evasion LV 10]
[Probability Correction LV 4]
[Danger Perception LV 7]
[Presence Perception LV 7]
[Heat Perception LV 7]
[Motion Perception LV 5]
[Earth Magic LV 1]
[Destruction Resistance LV 2]
[Cutting Resistance LV 5]
[Piercing Resistance LV 5]
[Impact Resistance LV 6]
[Shock Resistance LV 2]
[Terrain Nullification]
[Lightning Resistance LV 7]
[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 2]
[Rot Resistance LV 1]
[Pain Nullification]
[Pain Mitigation LV 4]
[Night Vision LV 10]
[Vision Expansion LV 5]
[Vision Enhancement LV 5]
[Auditory Enhancement LV 4]
[Olfactory Enhancement LV 4]
[Longevity LV 7]
[Magic Hoard LV 1]
[Ultimate Movement LV 1]
[Fortune LV 1]
[Herculean Strength LV 5]
[Sturdy LV 5]
[Monk LV 1]
[Talisman LV 5]
[Skanda LV 1]
Skill Points: 19,500
Titles:
[Monster Slayer]
[Monster Slaughterer]
[Dragon]
[Champion]
>
High stats.
Especially its overwhelming speed.
“This thing is fast, everyone. Be careful!” I shout.
At the same time, the earth dragon lunges forward.
Hyrince’s shield catches its claws as they swing down.
“Geh?!”
His face distorts with pain.
But thanks to his quick reaction, the dragon stops in place for a moment.
Basgath and I waste no time in slashing at its left and right feet respectively.
Katia and Ms. Oka unleash their magic on it, too.
Katia’s Flame Magic burns the dragon’s face, and Ms. Oka’s Wind Magic knocks it off its feet.
The dragon shrieks in pain and tumbles backward.
However, the actual damage is minimal.
My sword sliced about halfway through its right leg.
But Basgath’s cut barely made a scratch on its left.
He couldn’t break through its tough defenses.
The dragon rises again.
Its face is free of burns, despite taking a direct hit of Flame Magic.
“This doesn’t look good,” Basgath mutters.
His face is covered in sweat.
My hands are sweating, too, in response to the unexpectedly powerful defense of our opponent.
I had intended to cut its leg clean off with that attack.
Instead, I only ended up with a strike that was too shallow.
In fact, I nearly lost my grip on my sword because of all that resistance.
Magic barely has any effect, either.
The Imperial Scales skill dramatically reduces the impact of magic.
Katia and Ms. Oka are some of the strongest magic users of their races.
But the earth dragon is utterly unfazed by their attacks.
Still, it’s not as though it didn’t do any damage whatsoever.
This opponent isn’t unbeatable.
Then the dragon leaps from the ground.
Despite having no wings, it easily moves through the air.
It’s using Dimensional Maneuvering.
And its eyes are fixed directly on Anna, who is hovering at the back of our party.
Anna activates some magic.
But her electric attack doesn’t cause any damage.
The earth dragon has Lightning Resistance.
On top of its already high magic resistance, Lightning Magic doesn’t stand a chance.
Hyrince throws himself between the charging dragon and Anna.
His shield blocks the earth dragon’s claws.
Just like before.
This time, however, the dragon doesn’t pause, instead opting to retreat immediately.
We can’t keep up fast enough to strike back.
“Lightning won’t work—it has resistance! Same for Earth! Switch to other attributes! Katia, you stick with magic! Basgath, you also use magic to distract it!”
I quickly relay information to the others.
It has resistance to physical attacks, too, but there’s nothing we can do about that.
If Basgath’s strength wasn’t enough to cause any damage, then only myself and one other person will be able to reduce its HP with physical attacks.
“Hiyah!”
That other person is Fei, who just punched the earth dragon in the face.
Its enormous body flies back almost comically, rolling along the ground.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who pauses dumbstruck for a moment.
Katia often accuses me of being a cheater, but isn’t Fei the real cheater here?
The earth dragon stands up, glowers at Fei, and runs toward her with a roar.
Its claws swing toward her.
Fei raises her arms to defend herself.
Her arms sparkle a metallic white, but it’s no illusion.
It’s a skill called Steel Body, which hardens the user’s body like metal.
Since she also has Hard Armor, which toughens the skin, Fei’s defense is even higher than her stats imply.
Whether she’s in human form or not, she’s still a light dragon who was originally a defense-oriented earth wyrm.
A dragon who can square off with another dragon.
Even the earth dragon seems surprised to have its attack blocked head-on, and it pauses for a moment.
Seeing this, Ms. Oka activates her magic.
A vortex of wind engulfs the earth dragon.
This spell isn’t intended to cause damage.
It’s intended to hold the dragon in place.
Binding Wind, a Gale Magic spell.
The earth dragon struggles to escape.
With its Imperial Scales, it won’t be contained for long.
Katia’s Flame Magic strikes next.
It merges with Ms. Oka’s Binding Wind, forming a tornado of flame around the earth dragon.
The earth dragon howls in pain.
Anna pummels it with more Wind Magic, and Basgath uses Dark Magic.
Hyrince seizes the chance to use Healing Magic on himself.
The earth dragon’s attack damaged him, even with his shield protecting him.
The dragon’s HP is steadily decreasing.
But then it shakes off the flame tornado.
The shine of a charging breath attack gathers in its maw.
As my friends catch their breath, I step in front of them.
My magic collides with the dragon’s breath.
The spell I use is the level-7 Holy Light Magic spell.
Its rather uncool name is Holy Light Beam.
But in spite of the cheesy title, it’s quite powerful.
The ray of light forces the dragon’s breath back into its mouth.
Its jaw snaps, and the earth dragon’s body slowly hits the ground.
The dragon’s HP has reached 0.
<Experience has reached the required level. Schlain Zagan Analeit has increased from LV 28 to LV 29.>
<All basic attributes have increased.>
<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>
<Skill points acquired.>
<Condition satisfied. Acquired title [Dragon Slayer].>
<Acquired skills [Lifeblood LV 1] [Dragon Power LV 1] as a result of title [Dragon Slayer].>
<[Lifeblood LV 1] has been integrated into [Lifeblood LV 6].>
<Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Lifeblood LV 6] has become [Lifeblood LV 7].>
It looks like I gained a title by defeating the dragon.
“Dragon Slayer? Well, I suppose we’re proper legends now.”
Katia chuckles.
Apparently, everyone who participated in the battle got the title, not just the person who dealt the finishing blow.
“Whew. So we managed to slay a dragon… I didn’t know how that’d go, to be honest.”
Basgath cautiously approaches the earth dragon’s corpse.
“Any of yeh mind if I take this thing?”
“No, please do.”
Monster parts can have all kinds of uses.
Dragons are considered especially valuable.
Since Basgath has a Spatial Storage item, he can carry even the largest of carcasses.
The dragon corpse is sucked into Basgath’s bag.
“Was that the most dangerous monster in the large passage?”
“Don’t be stupid. A big-shot monster like this normally wouldn’t be here at all. The most difficult monster in the large passage oughta be an earth wyrm, a rank below this thing. More than likely, this thing was an earth wyrm that evolved.”
“Yeah. Its level was pretty low.”
“Exactly. I’d bet we didn’t see any other monsters because this guy was runnin’ around eating ’em all.”
When monsters gain a lot of experience, they sometimes evolve.
This means they become a higher-class monster and revert to level 1.
And monsters that have recently evolved become very hungry and belligerent.
The dragon was a low level, and its SP was already reduced at the start of the fight.
That means it had probably evolved not too long ago.
“Dragon Slayer, eh? Guess I only ever fought wyrms with Julius and the others. That’ll make a nice souvenir to show off to them in the next life…”
Hyrince laughs bleakly.
“We were only able to win because you blocked its attack.”
“Blocking was all I could manage. But I guess I did my job as a tank.”
“Yes, very much so. That’s why there weren’t any casualties. Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. It’s what I’m here for. Besides, you’re the one who finished it off. Good job, kid.”
Hyrince ruffles my hair a bit roughly.
“Cut it out, please!”
I laugh as I dodge away from his hand.
Having defeated a powerful enemy, we all start to relax a little.
Then a chill runs down my spine.
I turn around.
Something else returns my gaze.
Eight glittering eyes, looking down at us from on top of a rock.
A monster known as a Nightmare’s Vestige.
There it stands, on top of the boulder.
Its bloodred eyes are fixed on me coldly.
It isn’t particularly large.
But it has a greater presence than any monster we’ve faced so far.
I can’t move.
Neither can anyone else.
It’s like we’re frozen in place, unable to even tremble.
The white spider monster seems to have its claws around our hearts.
“Hero?”
Suddenly, I hear a voice.
But not in the form of sound.
Telepathy.
It wasn’t directed at me.
I just happen to be overhearing it on its way to someone else.
“Hero.”
Then, suddenly, that someone else is here.
Not just here. It’s everywhere.
“Ruler?”
“Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.”
“Cannot be Appraised?”
“Cannot be Appraised.” “Cannot be Appraised.” “Cannot be Appraised.” “Cannot be Appraised.” “Cannot be Appraised.” “Cannot be Appraised.”
“Ruler?”
“Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.” “Ruler.”
“Reincarnation?”
“Reincarnation.” “Reincarnation.” “Reincarnation.” “Reincarnation.” “Reincarnation.” “Reincarnation.”
“But they’re weak?”
“Weak.” “Weak.” “Weak.” “Weak.” “Weak.” “Weak.”
“Weak. Weak.” “Weak. Weak.” “Weak. Weak.” “Weak. Weak.” “Weak. Weak.” “Weak. Weak.”
The telepathic voice echoes all around.
Then they appear, on the floor, on the wall, on the ceiling, everywhere.
Red eyes, tons of them.
Then white, filling up my vision.
The bizarre spectacle forces my thoughts to grind to a halt.
No, I have to think.
They’re using language for a specific purpose—they must be.
And one particular word stands out.
“You know about reincarnations?!”
I steady my resolve and speak.
Basgath’s eyes widen, but I had to ask, no matter what.
“We do.” “We do.”
“Of course we do.”
The answer is immediate.
We’re communicating with each other.
These things aren’t monsters that lack intelligence.
“Why do you know that?”
“Master.” “Master.”
“Mother.” “Mother.”
“Is this ‘Master’ a reincarnation?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You’ll find out.”
“You’ll know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Proclamation.”
“Pronouncement.”
“The beginning of the end.”
“The world begins.”
“The world ends.”
The white shadows gradually disappear.
“Please, wait! What does that mean?!”
“You don’t need to know.”
“You’ll die anyway.”
“Everyone will die.”
“Just struggle to survive.”
Implicitly, I felt like they were saying, We’ll let you live until then.
With that, the Nightmare’s Vestiges disappear.
“You fool!”
Basgath’s fist strikes my face.
I accept the punch with resignation.
Basgath tries to strike me again, but Hyrince grabs him and holds him back.
“I told yeh, didn’t I? If yeh see a Nightmare’s Vestige, don’t do anything!”
Even in a choke hold, Basgath is still yelling with rage.
At this rate, he might even shake off Hyrince and come at me again.
“Now, now.” Ms. Oka steps in. “We still got through safely, didn’t we?”
Basgath reluctantly stops struggling.
He still seems angry, but at least there’s no sign he’ll become violent again.
“I’m sorry. I just had to ask.”
“Even if it killed yeh?”
Basgath glares at me.
I don’t know how to respond.
“If yeh want to die, that’s yer choice, boy. But not if yeh get others involved, too. Die alone if that’s what yeh want.”
“Basgath, that’s going too far.”
Ms. Oka scolds him, but I think he’s right.
I made a selfish choice while dealing with the dangerous Nightmare’s Vestiges simply because I was too curious.
Basgath pushes Hyrince away.
Perhaps judging that he won’t strike me anymore, Hyrince releases him.
Immediately, Basgath staggers over to a rock some ways away, leans against it, and slides to the ground.
Looking closer, I realize that his face is pale.
Basgath did say that he encountered the Nightmare a long time ago.
Maybe that encounter traumatized him.
Looking around at the others, I see that Katia and Anna have dropped to their knees, and Hyrince looks a little pale.
Even Fei’s expression is stiff.
Our teacher is the only one who appears calm.
“Are you all right?”
I address Katia and Anna first.
“I can’t seem to stand at the moment.”
“I’m so ashamed…”
They both look almost on the verge of tears.
Judging by the goose bumps on their skin, they are a little grossed out as well as terrified.
Even if they were comparatively small for monsters, we were still essentially surrounded by giant spiders.
It makes sense that the girls would be distressed. I’m disturbed as well.
“If they’d attacked us, do you think you could’ve handled it, Fei?”
“I…don’t think so.”
Fei responds to my question uncertainly.
“One of them probably would’ve been fine, but with such a huge number of them, I’m not so sure.”
“I figured.”
If there was only one, even I might have been able to handle it.
I didn’t Appraise them, of course, so I don’t know their exact stats, but they certainly seemed at least as strong as that earth dragon, if not stronger.
Since Fei was able to hold her own against the earth dragon, maybe she could’ve fought off a Nightmare’s Vestige, too.
But that’s assuming there was only one of them.
Against a group so large that I couldn’t even count them all, winning would probably be impossible.
Which is why carelessly speaking to the Nightmare’s Vestige in that situation was a reckless act that put everyone’s lives in danger.
I have no right to complain about Basgath hitting me.
As our guide, he’s in charge of keeping all of us safe. There’s no way he could let my selfish decision slide.
“You certainly seem calm, don’t you?”
The color starting to return to her face, Katia raises her eyebrows at Ms. Oka.
“Hmm? I wouldn’t say that. Sure, they were cute on the outside, but I didn’t like their tone one bit.”
“Cute…?”
Wow. So she actually did think that.
Ms. Oka always had unusual tastes, even in our old lives.
At the time, I thought it was just for show, but apparently she really does like spiders and stuff.
Surprising.
“By the way, what do you think of what they were saying?”
The Nightmare’s Vestiges spoke in nothing but repetitive riddles.
“I don’t know. We don’t have enough information.”
First of all, what exactly are those monsters we call the “Nightmare’s Vestiges”?
They seemed to know a thing or two about us, meaning they must have a high-level Appraisal skill.
More importantly, they were intelligent enough to understand human language.
Not to mention stealthy enough to gather in such a large number without our noticing.
They also worked together seamlessly, even going as far as using Telepathy.
How could mere fragments be this powerful?
It doesn’t make sense to consider them ordinary monsters.
What in the world are they?
What is their connection to the monster known as the “Nightmare” that was around when they first appeared?
“The beginning of the end. Everyone will die…”
Those ominous, nightmarish words.
They stay in my mind, repeating over and over.
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