Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~ -
Chapter 51.1: Underground Labyrinth
TN : WARNING!!! THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ONLY UNSUITABLE FOR THOSE WITH WEAK WILLPOWER, IT ALSO THE FINAL AND MOST ANNOYING CHAPTER IN THIS SERIES!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OR WAIT TILL I RELEASE CHAPTER 52 IN MARCH!!! OR YOU CAN BECOME $20 TIER PATRON TO READ 8 ADVANCE CHAPTER[INCLUDING THE ONE RELEASED LAST WEEK] BY CLICKING ON THE PICTURE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!!!
◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki
We were walking inside a hidden passage right beside the one that was booby-trapped .
「This path seems to have been used often… 」
「That’s because it’s a safer one . There are many traces of people passing through here recently . 」
Nao spoke as she turned around .
Since coming to this world, Nao’s appearance had changed a little . With beast ears protruding from the top of her head and a tail coming out of her buttocks, she was in what we called a demi-beast state .
When she fully transformed, she became a beautiful winged leopard .
Her beast form heightened Nao’s perception and physical abilities to an entirely new level . On the other hand, she had to use less armor and her dexterity and mental resistance decreased .
In short, the beast transformation had its pros and cons, hence why it was limited .
「They really are using this road, then . Nevertheless, there’s almost no reaction at all . 」
「Yup, it’s just an empty passage . 」
「Geez! Please stop it, you two! This is much better than that trap-filled passage!」
Sahoko was right . This was much better for us .
We were advancing steadily, and it gave me time to think about the reason behind the mass kidnappings, which remained a mystery . What could the Minotaurs be aiming for with that?
Was there even a reason behind those kidnappings?
Things became much easier than when they were on the ground floor and Godan and co swept the monsters ahead of them .
We traversed the 1st underground floor and reached the 2nd underground floor, but there was nothing special so far .
This passage was discovered by the Freedom Fighters who had entered this dungeon . I wonder how many people fell victim to the trap room before this passage was found .
The Freedom Fighters had mapped out the labyrinth to the 4th underground floor . So far we have had it easy since the path ahead had already been explored .
However, from the 5th underground floor and beyond, there was almost no information .
No one had returned .
Exploring the 5th underground floor and beyond was our responsibility now .
Suddenly, Shizufae and her group stopped in front of a ladder heading downwards .
「What’s the matter, Shizufae? 」
「Reiji-sama, we’re about to reach the 3rd underground floor . I have to warn you; the demons on this floor are troublesome . 」
「Is that so? What kind of demons are there? 」
「There are Akephalos and Evil Eyes . They loiter around in groups of three and four . 」
Akephalos were humanoid demons that had no heads . They had eyes in both palms of their hands and a huge mouth on their stomach . They were similar to a Chinese apparition called Kei Ten .
Aside from having an iron-like body, Akephalos could spit a powerful acid from their stomach mouth . When they were armed, they were a force to be reckoned with .
Evil Eyes were demons that resembled huge eyeballs with tentacles around their bodies . Firing a light ray from their single eye that could charm, stun and petrify their targets was how they killed their prey . They stunned then entangled their victims with their tentacles .
Both of those demons were quite dangerous for normal people .
Shizufae and her party met one of those Akephalos a long time ago when they ventured deep into the labyrinth . They had barely managed to escape .
At that time, half of the parties that entered the labyrinth were annihilated .
Godan had gone ahead of us .
Would he be alright?
Shizufae seemed anxious when remembering that past encounter .
「Don’t worry, Shizufae . We’re with you . 」
「Reiji-sama…」
Once Reiji reassured her, Shizufae’s complexion brightened considerably . Novis, who stood by her side, did not seem to like that reaction .
「Godan and the others are ahead of us, don’t worry about it . Let’s hurry up . 」
◆ Freedom Fighter Girl, Shizufae
「Air Bullet!! 」
Madia fired a spell that ranked lower than Sonic Web, but it managed to make the Giant Bat lose its sense of direction anyway .
I ran with Big Sis Kenya to where we predicted they would fall .
Even we could defeat demons of this level .
Reiji-sama and the others were behind us . We should do our best until we reached the 4th underground floor . Reiji-sama didn’t need to fight the small fry .
Novis, Leylia-san, and Nora-san had just defeated the zombies coming from the right when a shout came from behind us .
「Stop right there, Shizufae-san!! 」
I stopped walking the moment Nao-sama’s warning registered in my ears . I noticed she was in her half-beast form, which gave her an extremely keen perception .
Nao-sama pointed at the part of the wall that was broken .
「Something is coming…」
A huge eyeball appeared from the broken wall .
Behind the eyeball was a disgusting mass of wriggling tentacles .
「Evil Eye!! 」
「O Light!! Protect Everyone!! 」
Saint-sama promptly reacted, her voice resounding in the area .
In the next moment, the demon’s eyeball shone . I unintentionally covered my eyes, but nothing happened to me . When I opened my eyes, I saw light particles around me .
It seemed like Saint-sama protected me with her magic .
Sage-sama moved in front of me .
「Get back, Shizufae-san . 」
「Sage-sama!! Evil Eye has high magic resistance . Magic won’t work on it!! 」
Madia warned Sage-sama . It was true, Evil Eye had powerful magic resistance . We should fight with swords instead of magic in this place .
「It’s alright, look . Bullet Blast!! 」
A red light appeared in front of Sage-sama and flew toward the Evil Eye . Then, the moment it came into contact with that eyeball, it exploded and killed it for good .
「No way… It got defeated… With magic . 」
Madia was dumbfounded .
「Oops, there are more of them coming this way . 」
Nao-sama pointed in a different direction .
「Now it’s Rino’s turn, right? Salamander-san, please!! 」
A fire lizard came out from Rino-sama’s hand and killed the approaching slimes . From the slimes’ color, I knew that they were the dangerous kind that could discharge a powerful acid from their bodies .
Reiji-sama’s wives easily dispatched two dangerous enemies at once .
「Let’s get going . 」
Everyone started moving again when Reiji-sama said so .
It was as if there was nothing to do here .
「Cool… To kill those demons that easily…」
Novis muttered so with a vexed voice and I agreed with him .
Black haired sage, Chiyuki-sama .
Snow white saint, Sahoko-sama .
Rino-sama’s spirits .
Nao-sama with her excellent searching abilities .
And Reiji-sama, the Hero of Light who gathered them all .
They were all gifted with both brains and beauty .
And it seemed that the girl who was hailed as the Sword Maiden wasn’t here at the moment . That person seemed to be as amazing as the others .
I didn’t know that such amazing people existed in this world . I knew that I could never win against that kind of line up .
Reiji-sama and his party advanced steadily . No demons could stop them .
「Let’s follow them . 」
Everyone immediately agreed with me .
Thus, our party started moving again .
◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki
「OOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!」
We caught up with Godan and the others on the 4th underground floor . They were in the midst of a battle against an Akephalos .
Godan’s axe and the Akephalos’s shield clashed .
After repelling Godan’s axe, the Akephalos attacked Godan with its sword, but Godan dodged it with a backstep .
It was a good match, but Godan seemed to be slightly inferior to his opponent . The Akephalos was 2 meters tall, around the same height as Godan .
The other Freedom Fighters lay around them . It seemed they were caught up in the Akephalos and Godan fight . Upon a closer look, some of those Freedom Fighters’ shields and armor were loose .
After it had got away from Godan, the Akephalos’ abdominal mouth opened .
「F^CK!! 」
Godan hid behind a giant shield .
The Akephalos spat some sort of liquid on its surroundings .
「GUWAAAAAAAAAA!! 」
Godan, who protected the Freedom Fighters behind him with his shield, ended up drenched with the Akephalos’s liquid .
Smoke rose from the bodies of the Freedom Fighters that got splashed with the liquid from the Akephalos . The liquid seemed to melt even metal armor .
Godan’s enchanted shield might have no problem warding off that liquid .
Meanwhile the sorcerer and dwarf Freedom Fighters were covering for Godan .
「Woah, this is a bad situation…」
As Nao said, they were going to lose sooner or later . Although Godan was putting up a good fight against the demon, he had no resistance against that fluid .
Nevertheless, his battle looked different from the other Freedom Fighters, or should I say “as expected of the Hero of Earth”?
But he had reached his limits . We should save him .
「Leave this place to me . My hands are itching from doing nothing . 」
Reiji unsheathed his sword and walked towards the Akephalos .
He was composed . Oh, well… That kind of opponent would be killed in one hit by Reiji .
「Here I go, SUNDERING LIGHT!! 」
Reiji closed in the distance between him and the Akephalos . In just a moment, he tore the demon apart with a series of slashes faster than the eye could see .
The demon’s body split apart and crumbled .
「Wooow…」
「This is the first time I see such swordcraft . 」
「This is the power of the Hero of Light . 」
The Freedom Fighters who saw that scene remarked full of wonder .
「My deepest gratitude, Master of Light . 」
Godan went to Reiji and bowed his head to show his gratitude .
Meanwhile, Sahoko healed the injured Freedom Fighters . The advance party of Freedom Fighters was almost completely incapacitated, to the point they could barely move ahead .
「We’re almost there . Our turn will come on the next floor . 」
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