Chapter 15

Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth

Chapter 15: Guardian of the 10th Floor and Guardian of the 20th Floor

In this world, I am one of the strong. I don’t know why, but the world had been giving me favorable treatments.

Between my talent, my ‘System’, and my magic, I am strong. I figured that it was the case, seeing that I managed to get Arken and his goons to do my biddings after just a few days in this world.

—Simply put, I was getting cocky.

In just a few days, I had acquired strength that rivaled that of the skilled people of this world, and I arrogantly assumed that nothing could defeat me on the 1st floor. I was wrong. The threat to my life was right in front of me, and it talked.

“I sensed that some people hunted Hang Shadows at a pretty rapid pace, you see. I came to check on them. I had assumed it might be a party of six… I guess I was wrong.”

The black liquid human, who introduced himself as Tida, spoke to me as his body fell to the ground with a wet splotch.

Dia and I were left speechless with how bizarre the situation was. A danger alarm in my head kept ringing.

That thing is dangerous. A one-sided monologue is the characteristic of the strong, and it shows too little fear to us. It’s a threat.

“And guess what? What I found was a pair of interesting-looking children. Well, how about it…? Would you like to take my trial here? Humans have reached all the way to the 23rd floor, but nobody has taken this up, the Twentieth Trial. If you can defeat me, you can become Heroes, you know?”

The featureless face spoke to us with a chuckle. His invitation sounded like a deal with the devil; it made me want to turn my heels and run as fast as I could.

However, I kept my anxiety reined in and devised ways to escape from that devil. In the meantime, Dia started talking to Tida on my behalf.

“S-so it’s you… You’re the Floor Boss of the 20th floor that no one has been able to beat…?”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah, you look exactly as the rumors say… It’s well known that even mankind’s strongest explorer, Glenn Walker, would keep himself away from the trials of the 10th and the 20th floors…”

“That’s a nostalgic name, Glenn-kun. The last time I fought him was a few years ago, I recall. He was walking down the right track, but he was lacking a little something.”

Dia seemed to recognize that Tida monster. Apparently, he was quite the legend amongst explorers. 

“Hotfoot it out of here, Dia!”

There was no reason for us to take risks there. If that thing really was the boss of the 20th floor, it was only natural to even consider taking it on with full MP and excellent physical condition, and after leveling up a good few times too.

We were only on the 5th floor. At the very least, that was not the kind of opponent we were ready to fight there that day.

I shouted and headed to the exit at the same time.

“We are in the middle of a conversation. I won’t let you get away. Alty, please do.”

I saw a young girl standing where I ran to and stopped.

“——!”

The girl called Alty was as bizarre as Tida.

She was a short, red-haired girl, and her body was wrapped around with a bandage-like article with inscriptions throughout its length. Above all else, her legs were not flesh and blood—they were fire itself.

Greenish flames erupted from beneath the bandages and floated in the air.

“Road’s closed.”

The girl called Alty intently blocked us, emitting an odd, intimidating aura. I picked up the girl’s information, not trying to force my way through.

【Guardian of the 10th Floor】 One who Stole the Principle of Fire

“…!!”

I was left speechless. If the information was correct, that girl was the 10th floor’s guardian.

I’m telling you…! This is the 5th damn floor…!!

“Christ, we have to do it. We can defeat anyone. I believe we can.”

Dia’s voice came from behind me. He understood that we were caught in a pincer, and he had already drawn his sword, looking determined.

—No.

That is not true. Even if Dia is eager to take them on, I am not. This is wrong. If they really are bosses of the 10th and 20th floors, then it’s wrong for them to be here.

“Hold on, Dia!”

I couldn’t bear to see him and shouted at him to stop.

Then, I turned around and decided that I should talk to the monster named Tida.

Yeah. We could converse with that monster. That meant there should be a way out of a fight.

“Excuse me…Tida-san, right?”

“No honorifics, please. You are a human, I am a monster. Do not be mistaken.”

“Forgive me then, Tida. We do not want to partake in this trial of yours. We want to get out of the Labyrinth as soon as possible…”

I politely indicated that we had no intention of fighting him.

“Oh, you don’t want to fight me? But you see… I am a monster and you are a human. It is kind of an unwritten rule of this world that, when human meets monster, they fight, no?”

This bastard…!

His words implied that he was merely inviting us to take in his trial, but in fact, he didn’t give us any veto. My voice was trembling in front of Tida, whose liquidy body was bubbling with fighting spirit.

“In the end, you just want to fight us… No questions asked, huh.”

I approached Dia while maintaining the conversation. No matter how the die rolled, I had to coordinate with Dia.

“The Trials of the Labyrinth are for those who are worthy. You are worthy. I felt it.”

Tida looked like a bird of prey who couldn’t wait to get his hands on his prey. He praised us, and he looked very eager to lay us to waste.

“Just accept this fate, Christ. We’re in the Labyrinth. This is common.”

Dia was just the same. He was smiling in the face of Tida, a strong enemy. He didn’t hide his fighting spirit as if to say that the only one who could face such an adversary was him.

Dia’s recklessness had been brought to light in the worst possible way.

“Ooh, the dainty one sure knows it well. Yup, you two are excellent. Very excellent. Your talents of course, but more than that, your faces too. The two of you look very similar to those Heroes.”

“Come to think of it, they do…”

Tida was elated by Dia’s fighting spirit while Alty mumbled something from behind us.

“Let us start, then.”

Then, Tida uttered the ultimatum.

Immediately, I stuck behind Dia and took up a position against Alty. Seeing this, Tida spoke up as though he just remembered something.

“Aah, we do not wish to fight you two on two. You need to fight a labyrinth boss one at a time.”

Tida reduced their advantage by half in the same light tone anyone would talk about fashion. The way he was trying to comply with some kind of rule made me ponder if there was any way to break through from there.

“Which of us should go first, Alty? If we follow the correct order, you should go first, since you are in charge of floors one to ten.”

“No, I’ll pass. I still have things to do in this world… I’m close to solving that misgiving…”

“I see. I will do it, then. You can shut this room tight, Alty. Can you please seal it with that flame?”

“Got it.”

As I watched the turn of events, shaking in my shoes, the two monsters were happily setting up the arrangements. I wanted to escape if I had the chance, but it was not easy to find any chance at all.

However, from what they said, it seemed like I could avoid a two-on-two fight if we just waited.

Alty spewed flames from her body, creating a wall of black fame that closed both exits of the room.

“We’re on top of the Line, so it won’t hold that long. Bye, then, Tida.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

With that, Alty disappeared into the flames. The stomach-churning situation of being sandwiched between two bosses had passed.

However, her souvenir had left us with no way out.

* * *

* * *

“Now, the arena is set. Going forward, this place is the 20th floor. The very floor that belongs to Tida, who Stole the Principle of Darkness. I apologize for the hasty formation, as I came here unplanned, but please do think of this flame-encircled space as the 20th floor. Hence, you shall partake in the Trial of the Twentieth Floor!”

The featureless face laughed.

He must have been serious that time. The magic power that surrounded Tida pulsated as the space convulsed. The last remaining bit of humanity in Tida was chipped away, and his body transformed.

His arms became huge blades. His legs curved in a manner similar to a beast’s hooves.

“—Magic, «Dimension Gladiator»!”

I casted the magic. As I did, the black liquid that kept Tida’s humanoid form bent like a jelly… and he leaped.

I grasped that, in a blink of an eye, Tida had approached Dia and swung his arm-blade at him.

“DIA!”

I thrusted my own sword between them, protecting Dia from Tida’s assault.

“—! I knew it, you can see me!”

I was bathed in a cold sweat while Tida was shouting in joy.

I could see his movements, but my body couldn’t keep up with them. The fact that I could barely match his speed, even with magic, made me shudder.

«Dimension» was the very foundation of my strength. If it didn’t work, I had nothing left.

Hence why deserting a fight was always an option for me. That, and removing the threat as soon as possible. Although, that option was no longer realistic if my opponent was faster than me, and I doubted that the wall of black flames was just an ordinary flame. Which meant… we had no escape.

“Damn you—!!”

With a ray of hope, I swung my single-handed sword at Tida’s black torso.

However, what was heard was a metallic ring. My side-swipe blow was blocked by Tida’s hard, transformed arm. 

Then, Tida made his move. He swung his hand along the flat of my sword. His aim was my hand.

I let go of my sword, dodging his attack. My sword was flung into the air for a few moments. I quickly regained my grip on it mid-air and then struck Tida in the face.

The attack occurred in a fraction of a second; it was probably my best trickshot with the use of «Dimension».

And yet, Tida was looking closely at the blade and dodged it. He even laughed.

“Fu-fufufu! That Dexterity, that Agility, you’re a golden egg amongst the humans! You are worthy, after all!!”

“—«Flame Arrow!»”

A flash of light pierced Tida’s black torso.

It was magic casted by Dia. who had been chanting as I pushed him all over the place. A hole bored in the black torso, and Tida stiffened.

“Eat this!!”

Without missing the opportunity, I closed in on Tida and separated his head from his shoulders.

“We did it!”

Dia was delighted that our coordinated attack was effective. We were able to open a gaping hole in the monster’s torso and cut his body into two. He seemed convinced that we had won the battle.

I, however, had my face distorted and kept my distance from the enemy. An abnormal amount of cold sweat hadn’t stopped running down my back since then.

“—Ha, haha. It won’t end so easily. I am a monster, after all.”

Tida’s featureless face perversely warped.

The hole in his torso sealed, and the blades on his arms were further transformed. His arms joined, transforming into a large mallet, which had already struck my body with great force before I knew it.

“—Ghak!!”

I was particularly adept at dodging slashes and thrusts by a paper-thin margin but was susceptible to wide-surfaced blunt attacks. I was caught by surprise by the sudden change of his weapon, and the edge of the mallet managed to graze my body.

A graze though it was, my body was lifted into air and sent soaring from the incredible impact.

I was blown several meters away, rolling on the stone-cold ground.

A dull ache ran through my body for the first time in a while. Only then did I realize…

That was the first time I sustained damage ever since I started using «Dimension». Cracks began to appear in the solid faith I had in my magic.

“But wow, dainty one, your magic took a lot of me. You too, nimble one. Your attacks are superb. I think I died twice in total just then.”

Tida unraveled the mallet arm and spoke in full joy, now swinging around his arms like whips. 

I checked on my own ‘Status’, then pondered the traits of my enemy.

—Yeah, those are the traits of a video game boss, alright.

Does he have a main body separated elsewhere? Does he have a core, a weak point, that can only be crushed with special attacks? Or, judging from his dialogue, does he have to be killed repeatedly? No, this is more complicated than that.

What a joke. Bosses in video games are designed to be defeated. This is no video game.

To begin with, there are even enemies who are basically roadblocks that cannot be defeated at all.

“It seems like you are calculating methods to defeat me. How I wish to tell you the method, but seeing that this is a Trial, I regretfully have to keep it to myself.”

Shit… Talk about a guy who knows how to grind my gears. Fucking tell me if your ass wants it, damn it…!

“What do we do, Christ?!”

“What we always do! Riddle him with magic when there’s an opportunity to!!”

I instructed Dia and jumped with all my might. In the end, I had too little information. All I can do now is…

“——Magic, «Dimension Gladiator»!!”

Slice that shit-eating grin into a bunch of dice!

“Faster!”

Frankly speaking, my sword wouldn’t do shit if I just swung it at him. My MP especially was not looking good. I have to keep the battle in my favor no matter what. And to do so, I had no choice but to take a gamble.

I instantly zeroed the distance between us and lowered my stance. Then, I pulled my sword out from my left hip, gripping it with my right hand. That was all I did, but I put all of my strength into that one attack—a single flash that gave devil’s care about MAG or STR, it was borne purely out of my top speed.

Tida saw this flash with his eyes and went to strike it down with his right blade-arm. He was just that fast.

Thanks to «Dimension Gladiator», I perceived the world in less than one-tenth of a second; I was even able to grasp movement in space in units less than one millimeter. 

Time was compressed.

It even felt like magic power was circulating around my body and a chemical reaction happened in my doped-up brain. Within the very definite—and infinitely slow—space of time, I pondered, and pondered, and pondered further.

What is my most optimal approach to win using this momentary attack…?

First, I struck Tida’s blade away from my sword with the back of my other hand. This technique was accurate down to a degree even smaller than the millimeters, so it was natural that his blade ended up slightly off my attack. Next, I twisted myself to the limits of what the human body could allow, maintaining my speed all the while. I succeeded in dodging Tida’s blade-arm then, not letting it even touch me.

——As a result.

Tida’s stomach was split into two by my flash.

“More——!”

Even so, I didn’t lower my guard or relax my grip. Tida, cut in two as he was, still tried to swing his blades. However, my brilliant senses allowed me to dodge them one after another, all by paper-thin margins. Finally, I slashed Tida’s head up to down, then side to side, and then diagonally, and again, and again, and again and again and again—— 

“YooouuUUUUUUUUUo————!!”

I slashed, and slashed, and slashed, and continued to slash.

Tida’s body was dismembered, dropping to the ground piece by piece. At the end of it, he was nothing but a bunch of black, gelatinous objects scattered on the ground, and he stopped moving, not even a twitch.

“Haa, haa, haaa——!”

I defeated it. If that didn’t lay him down, then what would?

Even so, I still had my hunches. The ice-cold grip on the corners of my heart wouldn’t melt.

One of the black gelatinous objects wriggled, forming a mouth, and spoke.

“——kAh, KahA, hAHahA, i wAs nO mATch… NOt mY aGIlity, noT My DeXtErity EItheR. iN tHAt CaSe, MAgic. I shall fight you with magic.”

“DIAA!! SHOOOT—!!”

I screamed in terror.

“Leave not a even a trace of dust!! —«Flame Arrow!!»”

At the sound of my roar, Dia’s most powerful magic was unleashed.

The «Flame Arrow» he shot was not the usual instantaneous piercing kind—it had a wider range and a longer exposure time, making it almost like a different kind of magic altogether.

The overwhelming amount of heat burned away Tida’s body that had been scattered on the ground. 

However, unlike what his chant had implied, the magic did leave some dust behind. Some remaining fragments wriggled, gathering in one place. Then, Tida’s chant was completed.

“Fu, fUFu. —mAGic, «VaRIabLe cuRSe».”

The moment he finished casting, a black curtain draped over my vision.

____

____