Chapter 251: Elder Lich Subjugation Battle (2)

Chapter 251: Elder Lich
Subjugation Battle (2)

A
fierce wind made me furrow my brow every time it hit my face.

Flying
through the sky was very romantic and something ordinary people could
never experience, but it was far from my taste.

Should
I say it feels unstable because my feet aren’t touching the ground?

Thanks
to my excellent sense of balance, I didn’t show any unseemly
appearances like falling, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I had
thought. I’m also getting a bit motion sick.

If
there’s one good thing, it’s that the strong wind is pushing away the
hot and humid air of the 17th floor.

“Hey
kid. Can’t you fly straight?”

-Crunch!

“Kieeek!”

When
I pulled the iron chain, a sharp cry immediately rang out.

It
was a sound from the wyvern whose mouth was chained like a racehorse
by Nuer’s binding magic.

I
quietly placed Bunny on the nape of the broken-toothed wyvern that
had now become our party’s mount.

“Kieek…”

The
monster, sharp-witted for its kind, seemed to sense that the axe
could slice its neck in an instant and closed its mouth, beginning to
fly at low altitude.

“This
is my first time riding a wyvern…”

“Mine
too.”

“…this
is also my first time.”

“It’s
my first time too. Take it easy. Hoot…”

“Ah,
Jubeel…”

Behind
me controlling the wyvern like a jockey, party members who all
claimed it was their first time sat in a line with their hands on
each other’s waists.

Though
none of them seemed eager, they had no choice but to avoid falling.

Ellie
and Rubia watched the quickly passing forest with sparkling eyes.

Nuer
was slightly surprised by the new experience, and Jubeel was just
being Jubeel.

Denshi
threw cautious glances at the monsters and explorers looking up at us
from below.

“Everyone
be alert! The wyvern… huh?”

“…what?
Did I just see things?”

“Those
people on that low-flying wyvern, they’re really humans right?”

“What
kind of dragon knight is that? Wearing dragon scale armor and even
riding a wyvern…with such a huge axe on their back?”

“Not
even a necromancer…I’ve never heard of anyone controlling monsters
like that…”

Since
we weren’t flying very high, the explorers who looked like dwarves,
if not ants, gaped their mouths.

Fortunately,
all of them showing surprised expressions didn’t have the courage to
fight with the wyvern.

The
explorers who just stared at us with faces full of questions were
pushed back by the fast-flying wyvern and disappeared behind us.

“There’s
a portal ahead!”

At
Denshi’s voice, I raised my head and saw the descent portal to the
18th floor ahead.

We
had fallen at the entrance of the 16th floor, so the distance to the
portal was quite far.

Considering
that the 16th floor was wider than other floors, it might have taken
not just half a day, but several days of walking.

However,
riding the wyvern, we broke through the 16th floor in less than eight
hours.

After
that, we fell to the middle of the 17th floor and reached its edge in
four hours – truly an amazing speed.

Since
we needed to get to the 19th floor quickly, meeting the wyvern had
turned out to be tremendous luck.

“Keeeek…!”

But
that luck was starting to run out.

Facing
the portal, the wyvern twisted its body with a pained cry.

“W-what?”

“Why
is it suddenly resisting like this…!”

When
a body as large as a wyvern twisted, those sitting on top naturally
were affected.

To
those party members who each grabbed the wyvern’s scales to avoid
falling, I said:

“I
tried to cross the descent portal like this, but this guy is
desperately struggling!”

Even
though I had half-embedded the axe in its neck beyond just holding it
there, the wyvern continued its desperate struggle, refusing to head
toward the 18th floor.

That
resistance was stronger than imagined, and since it would be terrible
if anyone fell, I had no choice but to move the wyvern’s reins
elsewhere.

When
I tried to go somewhere other than the portal, the creature regained
its composure and landed on the ground.

I
quickly got the party members off the wyvern’s back.

“Keeeek!”

The
wyvern that had dropped us off in front of the portal immediately
flapped its wings and flew away in the opposite direction.

“Why
did that bastard suddenly act like that? Ugh, my stomach…”

Seeing
Jubeel complaining of motion sickness while rubbing his chest, Nuer
answered.

“It
refused to move between floors. Wyverns have quite high intelligence.
It probably didn’t want to leave its territory.”

“But
it just crossed from the 16th floor to the 17th floor, didn’t it?”

“There
was your threat, and it probably thought the 17th floor was still
within its safe zone. Even if it hasn’t reached full maturity,
wyverns are among the upper ranks of monsters in the 16th and 17th
floors.”

But
it seems the 18th floor is different.

“To
begin with, monsters crossing floors isn’t common in the middle
floors, let alone the lower floors. Let’s give up, leader. Just
getting past the 16th floor like this is enough of an achievement.”

Nuer
was right.

Though
it was disappointing we couldn’t bring the wyvern along, just
skipping the 16th and 17th floors for free was enough of an
achievement.

After
checking our equipment for anything we might have dropped while
settling our upset stomachs, we headed back to the portal.

Fortunately,
where we made our emergency landing wasn’t too far from the portal.

After
walking for about ten minutes, we reached the edge of the floor and
crossed the portal again.

***

After
crossing the portal to the 18th floor, my first impression was: did
we really cross a portal?

That’s
how similar the environment of the 18th floor was to the 16th floor.

The
weather was terribly hot and humid making us sweat naturally, and
tall trees formed a forest.

However,
there was one difference.

“Why
is the ground so mushy?”

It
was ground that sank like a tidal flat.

Every
time we took a step, the swamp’s muddy bottom gripped our feet and
stuck to them.

Almost
up to our ankles.

As
a result, not only did our pace slow down, but our stamina dropped
rapidly with every movement.

The
weather was already hot and humid, and now I couldn’t even walk as I
wanted – irritation came flooding in.

The
labyrinth’s evil intention to exploit cracks in the party due to this
was clear.

“It’ll
be like this all the way to the 19th floor. The 19th floor, where
everywhere is swamp terrain, is worse than here, not better.”

I
heard the 17th floor was similar too, but since we only spent time on
the wyvern’s back there, we never got to step on the ground.

I
nodded along, figuring it must be so since this was coming from Nuer,
who had the most labyrinth experience in our party.

She
had created a weak barrier around her legs, worried that her childish
yellow fashion might get dirty with mud.

Her
steps also looked a bit lighter, appearing quite refreshed among the
party members who were all sweating profusely.

“Hey.
Why is Nuer the only one using that good thing?”

“Because
magic I use on myself consumes little mana. Using it on all of you
would consume too much mana. Then I wouldn’t be able to use magic
when we encounter monsters.”

“…really?”

“Yup.”

Seeing
Nuer sucking on her pacifier necklace with nothing more to say, I
sighed.

The
heat of the 18th floor was clearly different from the desert-like
heat of the 13th floor.

It
was like the heat of a tropical region during monsoon season – full
of humidity that raised the discomfort index and made it hard to
breathe.

I
drew up mana pooled in my heart to drive away this heat.

After
drinking the 21st floor mountain mana potion that Nuer had given me,
my mana took on the properties of cold.

When
I first awakened this property, my mana was strong enough to freeze a
whole inn room, and it grew even stronger after receiving the
dragon’s heart blessing and investing free points in wisdom stats.

And
after creating the mana armor, my mana control ability had also risen
to quite a decent level.

As
I operated the cold mana little by little inside my body, the sticky
heat clinging to my skin instantly retreated and my steps became
lighter.

-Crackle!

I
could only understand why even my steps became lighter after looking
at the ground.

The
swamp’s muddy ground where I was about to step had frozen like a
midwinter lake.

“Wow.
What is this, master? Did you freeze the ground?”

Denshi,
who was behind me, exclaimed in admiration while stepping on the ice
floor.

Though
Denshi wore light armor to utilize her agility, her body weight
wasn’t very light due to the solid fat mass on her chest and plump
thighs.

However,
the ice floor was easily supporting Denshi.

Come
to think of it, given that it supported me, the heaviest in the group
wearing full armor, it was natural that it would easily support
Denshi who wasn’t even half my weight.

“It’s
like a degraded version of Ice Age…”

“What?”

When
I turned my head at Ellie’s mumbling, she tilted her head slightly.

“It’s
an applied magic that ice mages usually use…you didn’t know when
you used it, right?”

“Nope.”

“I
thought so. It feels like you just froze the surroundings with your
mana’s property and scale rather than using magic.”

“That’s
good, right?”

“It
is good. Mother’s mana property is ice-type too, right?”

If
it’s good, that’s fine.

The
important fact right now was that my cold property mana would make
the stuffy and slow floor exploration faster.

Just
before my armored feet touched the swamp bottom, the cool icy mana
froze the ground, creating an ice floor.

Though
I couldn’t instantly freeze the entire surrounding area, it was
enough for the party to walk on the ice floor in close formation.

Although
mana was continuously consumed, it was only at a level that could be
covered by natural recovery.

Even
if the mana consumption was large, I had the mana recovery herbs that
Fusilini had given me before, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

“…by
the way, isn’t this too smooth?”

Jubeel
expressed doubt while fiddling with her scabbard.

Indeed,
something did feel strange.

“There
aren’t many monsters.”

Whether
explorers heading to deeper floors had swept everything away, or if
there were other explorer parties nearby, despite walking through the
18th floor for quite a while, we hadn’t encountered many monsters.

Compared
to hearing news about monsters wielding magi running wild before
entering the labyrinth and even seeing that devastation, it was
eerily quiet.

You
could call it an explorer’s intuition but all of this didn’t seem
entirely normal.

In
other words, it could also be described as a strangely chilling
feeling down your spine.

Not
just me, but the party members were also gradually feeling this
sensation.

“Master.”

And
that strange sensation was confirmed by Denshi’s voice.

“We’re
being tracked from 6 o’clock. Judging by the footsteps, it’s five
women and one…creature?”

“Everyone
be alert.”

At
those words, all party members tensed up.

“Everyone
stick close to me. I’ll use a blessing.”

Nuer
said while storing binding magic stock in her wand.

Though
there was a condition that we had to stay still, Nuer possessed a
concealment blessing.

And
that concealment blessing applied to those in contact with Nuer.

“I’ll
be the bait first to test the waters.”

Everyone
nodded at my words.

Since
we didn’t know the names or purposes of those following us, it made
sense for me, who could hold out the longest among the party members,
to meet them.

Though
Rubia was a tank, if the situation turned bad and the followers
attacked the concealed party, she needed to protect them, so we
couldn’t rashly expose her.

However,

“What
are you saying?! We can’t–”

“Miss
Ordia. Trust the master. This is the right choice now.”

Denshi
pulled back Ellie, who was the only one panicking at those words.

When
a party faces an emergency situation, they must completely follow the
leader’s judgment.

I
gave a small thumbs up to Denshi who controlled Ellie, and confirmed
that Nuer had used the concealment blessing.

Turning
away from them who were only faintly detectable even with perception,
I focused my awareness toward those approaching us.

“…what?”

However,
when comparing the energy and presence of those approaching through
the mud, I could only tilt my head in confusion because I never
thought they would come here.

Eventually,
those who had only been felt within my perception range appeared
before my eyes, pushing through the swamp forest.

“…what?
Balkan? Why are you here…?”

“Dduruddu
parapappa!”

The
human mage Fusilini who recognized me immediately despite my full
armor and helmet, and the mud-covered wet slime beastkin Aldente.

And
beside them, the giant horse beastkin Kentarina, and the
eyepatch-wearing black mage and necromancer Amel Drexia riding on her
back.

Behind
them were also the temple’s female paladin and the priest Hope who
was said to have become a shut-in after receiving a great shock.

The
one-eyed Amel Drexia wearing an eyepatch turned toward me.

“…Balkan.
Your party should be enough.”

She
spoke to me in a desperate voice after muttering quietly.

“Could
you perhaps help us?”

“Help?”

“Yes.
Help. I’ll definitely repay the debt, please.”

I
thought for a moment and nodded slightly.

It
was a gesture indicating I would at least listen.

Amel
Drexia swallowed for a moment, then carefully stated her business.

“The
black mages who went on an expedition to the 19th floor have all gone
missing.”