Chapter 65
Translator: Raizu
Editor: Sushi
Chapter 65 – The End of a Labyrinth
Me and Shisuha continued running away from the Behemoth that was fervently chasing after us, all the while thinking of how to overcome this situation. If I wanted to escape, I could just use the Escape Device.
But leaving behind Team Noru isn’t an option for me. I thought about using the device once, then going to the teleportation trap room again and making use of the trap to link up.
However, there’s no guarantee that my team will be transferred to where we intend to go to. There’s also the option of simply leaving, and waiting for team Noru to conquer this place… but that’s the last resort.
[What do we do! We can neither proceed nor backtrack with that thing in the way!]
[I’m trying to think of a solution! Dammit, isn’t there something, anything…. Ah, hold on, maybe we can use “those”!]
Various ideas came to mind, but none of those ideas would work unless we did something about the Behemoth.
And then… it came to me. Among the many items I had, there was a combination that could let us overcome the monster in our way.
[What do you mean by “those”?!]
[The Magic Dynamite and Magic Blade! Since it ignores defense, the blade should be able to cut through that membrane!]
[But, we can’t attack with those(items) without getting closer! How are we supposed to stop that thing!?]
[I’ll stop it! Then, you jam the ignited sticks into the Goblin’s cockpit! All the explosions should be enough to burn through its 8000HP!]
[Eh, but…]
[It’ll work! I won’t die instantly from it’s regular attacks! Don’t worry!]
I took out 3 green stick-like objects from my bag, along with the white tube-like handle which is the Magic Blade.
They have been sitting in my bag all this time as there was no opportunity to use them, now is their time to shine.
●Magic Dynamite
Consume MP to ignite.
Explodes a few seconds after ignition, deals about 3000 damage.
Handle with care. Please use as soon as possible after materializing.
After using the defense ignoring Blade to slice open the “cockpit”, the Dynamite should do the rest of the work. My guess is that we would need to do this multiple times, if we tried to cut down that 8000HP with normal attacks.
In fact I don’t think Shisuha can afford to actually attack the target, while trying to stay on the Behemoth. This is why I’m so cocksure my plan will work, as I only need to stop the Behemoth from moving for a short period of time.
The Behemoth has the Piercing Charge skill too, so we need to finish this before it decides to use it. If the skill gives it a speed boost, it will catch up to us. We need to act quickly.
Also this kind of plan needs to be done in the heat of the moment, else my resolve will waver.
[Alright, let’s do this! I’m leaving the healing and dynamite chucking in your hands!]
[Wai-, what!? Eeeh!? Okursan wutdoyou――]
And so, I handed the items I took out from my bag to Shisuha. I then turned my running body around and dug in, bracing myself against the Behemoth.
To be honest my legs were shaking in my boots, when I thought of having to receive an attack worth 4500 attack power. This is definitely gonna hurt.
However I currently have an excess of 4000 defense with Shisuha’s defense buff, so I’m pretty sure I won’t be dying here yet.
Shortly after I stood my ground, the tremor generating massive body of the Behemoth entered my field of view. It certainly is large.
I felt like I was facing a speeding Dump Truck, and I simply stood in its way.
The Behemoth let out a bellowing roar, as it charged towards me with the intent to send me flying.
[――Bufuuー!? Err, ey, Shisuha, hurry―― Shisuha, go now!]
[Geez! I’ll at least applaud your stupidity!]
Towards the head of the Behemoth that hurtled at me, I thrust out my mighty Pot Lid as though a shield bash, after which I gripped Pot Lid with both hands as I held my ground.
At the moment of contact, the impact alone was enough to make me feel like my whole body was going to fall apart, as the shock travelled through my body. My feet which I dug into the ground were getting pushed back, against the titanic body I was holding up.
And so with my bravery, I managed to stop its movement for a little while.
I sort of heard Shisuha’s complaining, which was followed by light flowing to and wrapping around my body. The pain my entire body was experiencing soon lightened.
I might not be able to see what’s happening from where I was, but I could tell that she was moving according to the plan.
I desperately gripped onto Pot Lid against the Behemoth, as I prayed for my ordeal to end. I can’t afford to get knocked back now, so I desperately held my ground with everything I had.
While I was focused on stopping the Behemoth, the sound of explosions that I had been waiting for finally resounded through the room. Sounds like Shisuha was successful in setting off the Dynamite on the Goblin, after climbing up onto the Behemoth’s back.
The Behemoth that I was holding off stopped moving entirely, moments after the explosions went off.
[Whew this is gonna sting for awhile… We managed to do it.]
After confirming that the Behemoth is fully out of commision, I sat down on the ground butt first. My heart was still very doki doki, from my clash with the Behemoth. My body felt hot because of that, so I reactively took off my helmet.
I felt a sense of achievement, that I actually clashed with a monster of such proportions head on, upon laying eyes on the Behemoth before me again.
It wouldn’t have come to such a drastic plan, if team Noru was with us. I feel that this forceful approach only happened due to the “it’s only me and Shisuha” situation, and the desperation that came with it.
The unmoving Behemoth dispersed into particles of light a short while later, leaving behind the typical loot of fang, horn, and hide.
It was somehow linked to the Goblin as expected. If Estel was here, she could’ve sniped the Goblin and ended the encounter instantly… If it was only the Behemoth that appeared, it would’ve been GG for my team right there.
The light from the walls dimmed down, and the blockades covering the passageways retracted. Turns out that was the Boss.
It’s finally over… That took forever. That’s one less thing to worry about.
[Okursan.]
[Oh, Shisuha good job there. Mang, I knew you’d be able to pull it of――Fugoh!?]
As I was relaxing, Shisuha approached me.
It was really a job well done by her. I keep telling her she needs to act more like a Priestess, but I can’t help but be thankful to her sleek moves this time.
I wanted to praise her, to celebrate this victory of our 2 man party. But she ignores me, proceeds to crouch in front of me, then grabs my cheeks with her hands, all the while with a smile on her face.
[Why did you not wait to hear my opinion, before rushing out so rashly? Please, do give me a convincing reason for your actions.]
Her face was still smiling, but her eyes said otherwise. W, what’s she so angry about?
I’d understand if she just lashed out at me, but her politeness inversely scares me.
[Dare wus no udder wey, light? Dare wus no felling wut wood haf hairpunn’d udderweiss…]
(There was no other way, right? There was no telling what would have happened otherwise…)
[That doesn’t mean you had to take such a risk… You just suddenly turned and went straight at it(the monster). I was so surprised I almost had a heart attack!]
I won’t deny that I went about the plan quite recklessly, before I myself could get cold feet.
However, I also thought it was bad if we simply continued to run and let the behemoth decide to use its skill at that moment.
She frowns and lets go of my cheeks while yelling at me, albeit still with a smile on her face.
[Puhaa, i-, it’s totally my bad this time. But, I went ahead with my plan only because I knew Shisuha would be there to heal me. It was because I am together with you, that I was able to execute my bold plan.]
In fact I would’ve used the Escape Device and fled without resorting to that stunt I just pulled, if Shisuha wasn’t with me. Even if healing magic was the only thing she could support me with, that alone is enough to give me peace of mind.
[Ahhー, enough! That’s just cheating, when you say it like that! The line between bravery and recklessness is only so thin! The next time you do something like this again, I’ll crush “that thing” of yours!]
Shisuha’s cheeks reddened as she yelled at me some more.
A, also what is “that thing” she talked about crushing… I might need to get permission from her, if something like this ever happens again…
[So, what do we do about this?]
[Hーmm… it certainly looks suspicious.]
After proceeding through the now open passageway at the end of the room, we arrived at a set of large metallic doors similar to those we saw in the previous Labyrinth.
I really don’t want to entertain the thought of this being another trap room, and that we need to fight our way through again. That thought alone, makes me kinda not want to proceed…
[But we won’t get anywhere if we don’t go inside though.]
[Figures… Not like we have any other choice.]
We have finally reached this point after overcoming that room. Pulling back now would be unf…
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I’ll just take a slight peek inside before deciding, just like that time with the big shiny Slime.
So I pushed the creaking metal door, and peeked into the room.
[Ahhー! Okurdono!]
Beyond the doors, was a narrow room with totally black walls illuminated by some sort of lighting. Noru and Estel were inside said room.
The girls were wary upon hearing the door opening, as they had their weapons ready.
But once my identity was confirmed, Noru came running at me elatedly
[Ooohh! You girls are al――bugeh!? Wai-, N, Noru…]
[Geeez! I was so very worried! Now Imma give you a hug. Huuuuuuuuug!]
The room has been ascertained to be safe, so my team entered as well. I pat my chest in relief, as my party has finally linked back up.
Noru, who ran to where I was, gave me a big ol’ hug. I was flustered by her hug at first, then I got mighty worried as I could hear the sound of my armor getting crushed by her embrace.
J, just how much strength is she putting into this hug!? She’s putting so much power into her hug, that I probably wouldn’t survive if I wasn’t wearing my armor!
[Noru you can stop now, Onii-san looks troubled by what you are doing.]
[Ah, um, pardon me…]
[Uh, yeah, it’s all good.]
[Are you alright Onii-san? Did you get hurt anywhere? Did you cry because we weren’t there? Did you do anything strange to Shisuha?]
[Just what do you take me for!]
Noru released her bearhug after Estel reprimanded her. Unexpectedly, I felt a hint of shyness from Noru’s voice.
As though tagging in, Estel came next and checked up on me as she cheekily tilted her head slightly.
She started with words of actual concern at first, but she then shows concern for some other weird topics…
[I am glad that the 2 of you are safe and not in pieces!]
[I feel the same too, Noru-san.]
Shisuha appeared relieved from reuniting with the rest of our team.
But unlike how she interacted with me earlier, she’s back to her usual act already.
[Have you girls been here for a while now?]
[That is indeed the case.]
[Why didn’t you contact me before entering the door on your side?]
[Well stuff happened…]
So I got to hear about what happened on their side, what they experienced was pretty different from my team’s.
They had Orcs in addition to the Goblins, and apparently lots of traps ranging from pathways that try to crush you, to cliched rolling boulders.
They arrived at the end room in the heat of escaping the traps, then sorta defeated the boss and ended up in here.
I looked behind them after hearing the details, and sure enough there’s another door.
[I did try to call you with the Transceiver before we entered the door. But Okurdono never did pick up no matter how many times I tried.]
[I didn’t get any notifications at all on my end…. That means our communications were already jammed at that point in time.]
It seems that radio waves were jammed at some point, maybe after a certain amount of time has passed? It’s almost as if this Labyrinth was created with “people like me” in mind.
The way the entrance formed felt unnatural and sudden too… It’s kinda scary when you think about it this way.
[Well I’m just glad that all of us made it through this time. This was a good practice run for Labyrinth conquering.]
[Thankfully the enemies here are weak, but such undertakings are normally a lot more dangerous. Onii-san you’d better reflect about that.]
We did learn about traps that separate the party, we’ll need to be more careful in future Labyrinths.
If this was the Labyrinth at the capital, we may not have been able to link back up safely like this time.
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I should give everyone an Escape Device the next time we do this, so all of us can escape when we have to.
Which means I’ll need to roll the Gacha more…
[So… What are we supposed to do next?]
[There is something further deeper inside the room, but nothing else besides that.]
There’s only the door where my team came in from, the door where Noru’s team entered from and the path leading further into the room.
Monsters didn’t spawn in this room, which means this is the final room of this Labyrinth.
Mufufu, this is where we are supposed to find some phat loot. We went through so much trouble to get here, the treasure had better be worth it.
[Guhehe, it’s time to show me your treasure, oh pretty little dungeon.]
[Somehow, Okursan sounded like he was plotting to do something bad.]
[He’s not even trying to hide his greed.]
[Haaa, right when I thought he became a little bit manlier just now…. Okursan will still only be Okursan after all.]
I snickered as I rubbed my hands, and the girls look at me in dismay.
Eーhh, I think it’s fine to be happier about this sort of stuff…
[What’s this pedestal thingie?]
[Aaand… nothing happens when you put your hand on it.]
At the end of the room, stood a single pedestal rather than a treasure chest.
A transparent rectangular plate was fixed at the tip of the pole. Noru placed her hand on said plate, but nothing happened.
Here I was thinking we’d get some loot, and we get this weird ass pedestal instead. It would have been nice if we at least got some reward for successfully conquering this Labyrinth, but I have yet to get any notifications on my smartphone either.
[Hey Onii-san. Maybe, you’re meant to put your smartphone on the plate?]
[Nnー? The size does seem appropriate…]
So I placed my smartphone on the plate, like what Estel said. Then the plate suddenly shone and light flowed out, which was absorbed into my smartphone.
The light subsided after a while, my smartphone then vibrated and displayed something on its screen.
【Black Nigurd has been released】
Nn? Black? What’s that? And what does it mean by…released?
Not really knowing what it means, I tried to mess with my smartphone to find out.
But before I could do so, the room began to shake and a Magic Formation appeared beneath our feet.
[Uooh!? N, not again!?]
[Let us stay close to each other this time!]
I’ve had enough of getting separated again, so everyone was staying in physical contact with each other.
Our field of vision then gets flooded with light just like that time when we were first transferred.
[Nn…. nn? Huh?]
[Looks like we have been transferred outside this time.]
My eyes were closed due to the blinding light, but I quickly opened them after the light subsided. And what I saw, were the trees of the forest from before we entered the Labyrinth.
So the transfer wasn’t a trap, but an exit of sorts from the Labyrinth instead. This Labyrinth sure does feel politely designed at times.
[I guess this means we have conquered it?]
[I think it’s safe to assume so. Look, it’s crumbling.]
Looking at what Estel was pointing to, a small hill has formed from the crumbling soil. The hill is where the entrance to the Labyrinth should have been.
The entrance collapsing means….we can’t enter this Labyrinth anymore!? Eh, wait!
[Ah, Ahhhー!? Wha, what about my manastone farming planー!?]
[That’s what you are worrying about in this situation…]
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[But isn’t it fine? We’ve gathered quite a lot this time, did we not?]
Although Shisuha did coax me into giving up my dungeon camping plan, the farming efficiency here was through the roof. I did want to hunt here again, just without going into the room with the transfer trap.
Our trip here brought my manastone count to 764. This is unquestionably a net profit, if you think about just the number we obtained here in 1 day.
[Muuー…I guess you’re right… nn?]
[Ara, did you get a new notification?]
[Ooh! There’s a reward for conquering these places, just like what happened with the Prime Subjugation! Letssee, manastones and a SSR Cost Reduction. And… wha?]
It’s a pity that we can’t enter this Labyrinth again, but the outcome to this little experiment can be considered good for all intents and purposes.
Night had fallen by the time we got out, I then swiped about my smartphone as I considered my options to get us back home. It was at that moment, when my smartphone vibrated from a new notification.
This timing could only be… the Completion Reward! I almost thought there wasn’t one, but it appears we needed to get out of the Labyrinth first for it to register.
I opened the notification gleefully, and it showed 【Labyrinth Completion Reward: 150 Manastones, SSR Cost Reduction】.
Additionally, there was also an announcement for a new Gacha event just like that time with the Prime Subjugation.
However, when I saw【Labyrinth Completion Achievement, launch of ―― Gacha！】, words escaped me as I dropped my smartphone.
[Wa wa, Okurdono! Why did you drop the smartphone? Oh, it says, Complete Gacha?]
Noru caught the smartphone that I dropped before it hit the ground, then read what was displayed in my place.
Complete Gacha… the name of a Forbidden form of Gacha that never existed in GC.
●【War Maiden】Noru Fagna
Level 51→63
HP 6120→6670
MP 1560→1800
Attack Power 1500→1740
Defense Power 795→915
Agility 169→193
Magic Resistance 40
Cost 13
●Estel
Level 46→59
HP 1230→1490
MP 2240→2630
Attack Power 735→995
Defense Power 295→360
Agility 18→20
Magic Resistance 40
Cost 22
●Shisuha・Alvy
Level 40→54
HP 1550→1900
MP 1800→2150
Attack Power 550→760
Defense Power 350→560
Agility 45→59
Magic Resistance 20
Cost 20
●【Leader】Okura Heihachi
Level 50→62
HP 1360→1600
MP 390→510
Attack Power 585→765
Defense Power 525→705
Agility 94→114
Magic Resistance 10