CH 30

Chapter 30: To the Next Level

When Kareena purified the remains of Kobold Road that had turned into a demon wolf, it became the largest magic stone I had seen so far.

At the same time, the surrounding magical power rapidly diminished, and a faint rumbling began. It grew louder and louder, and from the area where the bones and skin of Kobold Road, where it had initially been, piled up at the back of the barrier, the ground began to sink.

"This is bad, run!"

Cecily shouted.

We started running towards the crack we had first entered, pursued by the sinking ground.

By the time it finally stopped, most of the ground inside the husk had been lost, sinking to a depth of over ten meters over a wide area.

And from a part of it, it seemed that new lateral passages were extending.

"From there, it must be the second level of the labyrinth," Kareena muttered to convince herself.

"I don't sense anything nearby. But if we go a little further, I can feel quite a number of monsters," Laruk said, sensing the presence. The barrier must have been lifted, and I can feel a different presence of monsters than before. However, I recognize this sensation.

When I looked at Laruk, she grinned.

"You know, don't you? It seems like the next one is a group of orcs."

That's right, it felt like I had fought them before.

"Karena-sama! Are you all right?"

At that moment, I noticed that allies were approaching. It seems that Bata and Valon, who had been excluded from the party formation due to the barrier being broken, were now able to enter.

In other words, the entrance to the second level of the labyrinth is now connected.

When I tried, I could indeed see the entire long first level of the labyrinth with my map skill.

Karena and Cecily were explaining the barrier and the boss battle to Bata and the others. Bata and the others seemed unchanged, and it seemed that no monsters had emerged.

"What will you do?"

Valon asked.

"As soon as everyone is ready, I intend to go down," Karena replied without hesitation.

Certainly, in the current battle, except for me and Lina, no one else is injured, and we are already fine. It hasn't even been an hour since we entered the labyrinth, so we should proceed to the second level.

As a scout, Laruk will be the first to go down, so Bata takes out a rope from his backpack and hands it to her, just in case.

"It's rather bothersome for me, though."

Nevertheless, considering the return, Laruk holds the end of the rope held by Greon, who serves as the anchor, and descends agilely into the sunken underground.

The surrounding walls are faintly glowing, but as a precaution, Beth floats a fireball in midair and turns it into a light source.

I also use my detection skill to the maximum, but for now, there is no sign of monsters nearby.

Larouque gave a signal by pulling the rope twice, and Bata firmly grabbed the rope and descended.

At that stage, Greon securely tied the opposite end of the rope to the crack of the empty shell that had entered. I solidified the area with clay and made it difficult to remove.

Then, one by one, everyone descended to the bottom of the hole and gathered before heading towards the side tunnel.

"They're getting closer. Probably more than 10... maybe around 20," Larouque called for caution.

A major collapse occurred, and the barrier was broken. The oaks on the underground second floor should have noticed the anomaly as well.

"This area is open and not suitable for dealing with a large number of enemies, and the footing is also poor," everyone agreed with Bata's voice and began running quietly.

Arriving at the entrance of the side tunnel before the oaks, we hid in the shadow of the entrance. Thanks to our party coordination, communication was smooth. Greon and Larouque on the left side, Bata and Valon, and Beth. On the right side, me and Lina, Cecily, and Karina concealed ourselves.

The footsteps grew closer. Have they noticed our presence?

Most likely. About 10 meters from the entrance, within the range shown by my map skill, the red light spots indicating the approaching enemies stopped for a moment and approached cautiously.

Can we convey this mental image to everyone through party coordination?

Was it information obtained by Larouque's reconnaissance? The light spots varied in size, and it seemed like the higher-level ones were located towards the back.

Our vanguard members wielded swords, while Larouque, Karina, and Valon readied their bows a few steps away.

Some of the approaching red light spots, as if making up their minds, jumped out from the depths of the cave.

Arrows and fireballs flew.

The disarrayed first wave of orcs split to the left and right, attacking us who had taken cover in the shadows. We fought back.

Cecily brought down an orc with a club, and I landed a slashing blow on one of them. Perhaps thanks to Zagoo's training, I felt like I could see the enemy's movements better than before.

On the other side, Greon defeated one. And then, as an arrow pierced and immobilized another, Bata swung his weapon. Wait! From the shadow of the entrance...

"Don't come out!" Larouque shouted. The two who were not part of the party hadn't received the shared information. They should have known.

A wall of clay appeared to protect Bata, but due to the lack of remaining MP, it was delayed for a moment and too small to cover his whole body.

Several arrows pierced Bata's body. His chestplate repelled them, but they struck his abdomen, legs, and leather parts.

I realized as I saw him collapse on his knees. The first wave was disposable from the beginning.

Beth rode the swirling flames on the wind and sent them into the cave.

Shouts echoed, but the points of light didn't diminish much. Had she managed to dodge them by hiding herself?

Greon said something to Beth.

Beth nodded and created a "magic shield," holding it up as she walked.

Maintaining the magic while moving required considerable concentration, leaving no room to look around leisurely. Greon stood beside Beth, ready to protect her if anything happened.

As soon as they emerged from the shadows of the entrance, a rain of arrows poured down, but they were all deflected.

The orcs wouldn't be able to see the transparent shield clearly, so they wouldn't understand the situation.

We also crouched down and jumped into the shadow of the magic shield from the opposite side.

At that moment, the opponents seemed to realize that their arrows were ineffective, and high-level individuals who had been holding back until then charged forward.

The orc leader.

The front guy collided with an invisible wall and fell. Beth, whose raised sword had been approaching, closed her eyes in fear and turned away.

Since we couldn't shoot arrows from behind Beth's shield, we engaged in close combat with the enemies who had surrounded us.

Greon and Cecily intercepted one group, while Rina and I dealt with the other.

I was definitely able to use my sword much better than before. However, I was gradually being pushed back by the opponent labeled as <Orc Leader LV7>.

Rina was also fighting against another orc.

When I felt a sense of urgency, a thin sword pierced the orc leader's neck from the side. It was Karina. She was a big help. She could use her sword quite well too.

The balance was disrupted, and I was able to take down the guy who had been fighting Rina.

Greon and Cecily had also subdued their respective opponents.

The remaining orcs were held in check by Laruk and Valon's arrows and couldn't approach, but seeing that the assault team had been wiped out, they turned to retreat.

"Let's run!"

At Cecily's voice, Beth canceled the magic shield and began an incantation of flames. As they moved away, everyone shot arrows.

I also squeezed out the remaining MP and tried to create a wall in front of the orcs, but it consumed a lot more MP due to the distance. As a result, I could only create an obstacle about the height of tripping over.

Still, it seemed that we managed to take down two more beasts with someone's arrow and Beth's fireball.

Leaving the two with the priest for treatment, we cautiously continued ahead. However, after advancing about 200 meters, we had no choice but to give up pursuit due to the presence of multiple lateral passages and the numerous signs of enemies lurking there.

In the end, the ones we managed to take down in this battle were twelve orcs and five orc leaders. About half of them seemed to be armed with bows. Although their bows were crudely made compared to the ones we use, they apparently make their own bows with a decent level of strength.

The enemy also had ranged weapons and tactical thinking, so it wasn't as easy as we thought.

Fortunately, Bata's injury wasn't life-threatening.

With Karina and Valon repeatedly casting healing spells, he finally recovered enough to walk on his own.

If the party doesn't coordinate, having a large number of members can actually be more dangerous, as we learned from experience.

So, we had Bata and Valon secure our retreat point at the top of the rope, and from there, only six members of the party proceeded ahead.

We proceeded with extra caution, sharing the information obtained through Laruuk's scouting and my map skills with everyone.

As we approached a location with three lateral tunnels, not keeping too much distance, we carefully searched for signs. The first tunnel was empty, the second had a group of ten, and the third was deep and unknown.

The tunnel with the group of ten was fortunately not very deep. It gave the impression of being a nest.

There, Beth struck it with flames. The red dots of light seemed to retreat to the very back of the hole.

To conserve MP, I approached the entrance of the hole and sealed it with a clay wall.

It may seem cruel, but this should consume the oxygen inside until the magical fire burns out.

There were signs of struggling for a while, but eventually, the response faded away.

The orcs, like us, seemed to be creatures that breathe oxygen.

To recover even a little MP, I removed the clay wall.

And then, unlike the ones we had seen before, the last lateral tunnel extended deep in such a way that it was unclear. However, it was narrower in exchange. Moreover, it seemed to be inclined upwards.

Laruuk carefully investigated but couldn't sense any monsters for now.

However, this narrow tunnel seemed different from the others.

"Um, is this perhaps a cave that leads to the surface?"

Beth cautiously brought it up.

"That's the one we filled up the other day, right? I have the same feeling," Laruuk agreed, gazing into the unseen depths of the cave.

Recently, during a sweep of the territory, we encountered a deep cave that appeared to be the lair of the orc leaders who ambushed us. We couldn't determine how far it extended, so we sealed off the entrance. However, if it connects to this second underground floor of the labyrinth, many things would make sense.

While it wouldn't be surprising for kobolds to emerge in the first floor of the labyrinth, it's strange that we didn't come across any orcs there. Yet, there were numerous orcs wandering around our territory. And their numbers have increased recently.

If we consider that this cave has recently become accessible, it would explain it.

"Let's fill it up. As a precaution, let's set fire to it here as well."

Under Kareena's instruction, we execute the suffocation tactic once again.

However, we need to leave this side of the wall intact, just in case.

My MP is running dangerously low. The headache is getting worse.

"Let's call it a day here."

"No, we don't have to turn back just because I ran out of MP..."

It's not like I have a strong sense of responsibility, but I feel a little guilty.

"That's not it."

It wasn't Kareena who continued the words but Larouque.

"Look over there."

She pointed to a place a little far away, where we could see that hazy, mist-like barrier of light again. We had reached the territory of the boss on the second floor.

In front of that, there are no more signs of monsters.

"Tomorrow, we'll conquer that, right?"

Cecily confirmed with a slow nod, and Kareena responded in agreement.