Chapter 109: To Escape All Together

It hit. The red flash of light burst the giant’s head.

‘Isn’t this crazy!’

She said she could kill it in one hit, and she really did it!

“This is… the power of 10th circle magic…”

Helena, collapsed on the ground, grinned as she expounded on the greatness of 10th circle magic.

No, she said she’d use 9th circle magic, but it was 10th circle?

No wonder a 7th floor mid-boss level demon died in one hit. There was a reason for it.

I think she probably killed it with a level higher magic to match because it was stronger than expected.

“I’m… going to faint now…”

With these words, Helena lost consciousness.

It was natural for her to faint after drawing out all the power of her prime using the Apostle’s body.

The Apostle’s body must be in a state where all its magic circuits have been burned out.

‘We might need to find a new body…’

The body couldn’t withstand Helena’s magic.

Since she used the body as disposable, we’ll need to prepare an equally powerful body, but that’s not easy.

‘The battle isn’t over yet.’

Let’s stop these stray thoughts here. There are still dungeon troll groups and heretics left. We can’t let our guard down until we’ve completely swept them away.

“The giant is dead!!!”

I shouted towards my companions who were swinging their weapons in the dungeon troll group.

The warrior’s roar echoed, informing the companions that the giant had been killed.

“What did you say!!!”

Sasaro shouted back.

I filled my lungs with air again and shouted once more.

“The giant!!!! Is dead!!!!!”

Soon, Rosie, covered in blood, started literally smashing the dungeon trolls while shouting in response to my cry.

Rosie, drawing out her last remaining strength to smash the trolls’ heads.

We’ve won. Now that the giant is dead, we just need to deal with the remaining small fry.

“Hahaha!! That magician is crazy! A 10th circle insane light cannon! It’s been 20 years since I’ve seen Red Meteor in person!”

The Saint, her pure white holy robes dyed bright red, came running towards us laughing.

Now that the Saint, who had been tying up the giant’s feet, has joined us. The remaining small fry are finished.

“Paramel!!! What happened to Raphael!!”

“Combat impossible! He’s unconscious!”

“Oh no. Porter, join up with Paramel and protect that magician. Roy! Fall back!”

“Yes!!!”

The Saint gave orders.

I carried the fallen Helena on my back and ran towards Paramel’s direction.

At that moment, Roy, covered in wounds, quickly caught up with me from among the dungeon trolls and took Helena from me.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. How about you?”

“As you can see, I’m full of wounds. Can that Paramel person use healing magic?”

“From what I saw earlier, he could even reattach a blown-off lower body.”

“Oh! So he’s an amazing person!”

“He is amazing. They’re all inquisitors after all.”

Soon, Roy, the unconscious Helena, and I were able to join up with Paramel.

And then I saw it. Raphael vomiting blood.

“Oh no..! Raphael! Paramel, what’s happening to Raphael?”

“I, I don’t know either…! Raphael.. Raphael is dying. He used up too much life force.. Damn it.. Raphael..!”

After charging at the giant earlier. Raphael’s condition was serious.

He’s dying. Raphael, vomiting blood and hovering between life and death.

His lower body had been blown off once, and something seemed to have twisted in the process of his body being shattered multiple times.

“Huk.. Damn it.. The healing magic isn’t working.. Raphael.. Raphael… I’m sorry.. Raphael…”

In the end, Paramel started crying, shedding tears.

“No, what’s happening to this person?”

“He says the healing magic isn’t working. The outside looks fine but. Is the inside completely messed up? This is driving me crazy. Paramel! Pull yourself together! If you stop healing, Raphael will die!!”

“The, the divine power.. Now…”

“Ah…”

Looking closely, Paramel wasn’t in a normal state either.

It seems he used up all his divine power, as well as magic power and life force, to heal Raphael.

His fingertips were blackened and dead, and slightly trembling.

He was saving Raphael while on the verge of fainting himself.

The current Paramel was barely maintaining a simple barrier.

‘What should we do.’

The Saint is dealing with the incoming dungeon trolls. It seems she used most of her divine power to hunt the giant, so now she’s only fighting in hand-to-hand combat.

We couldn’t ask Rosie for help either. And Sasaro….

“Huh? Sasaro.”

Where did Sasaro go?

Sasaro is nowhere to be seen.

“….”

For a moment, my mind went blank.

He was definitely alive until just now. He even answered my shout.

Why.

“Damn..”

The situation is getting messed up again.

Yeah, of course they wouldn’t just let us go. I knew it. This is the labyrinth. The worst place that doesn’t show happy endings. The place that only gives rewards after you roll and roll and roll like a dog.. That’s the labyrinth.

“Paramel. Rest.”

“What…? But, but…”

“Raphael is already dead.”

“Ah… Aah… No….”

Raphael had breathed his last.

I don’t know the reason, but I guess the problem was that he used up too much life force.

I collected Raphael’s body into my spatial pocket.

Then I grabbed the shoulder of the crying Paramel.

“Paramel. Mr. Paramel!”

“Ah. Aah. Yes.”

“Pull yourself together. There are still heretics. And dungeon trolls too. We need to focus.”

“I’m sorry.. I must have despaired for a moment….”

Paramel’s eyes returned to their normal state.

I was worried he might completely lose it for a moment, but thankfully, like a proper inquisitor, he quickly returned to normal.

“It’s sad, but let’s open the victory celebration for the giant hunt on the surface.”

If I can just escape safely, I can resurrect Raphael again.

Let’s go outside, resurrect Raphael. And then have a drink to celebrate.

Now is not the time to share the joy of successfully hunting the giant with our comrades.

“Roy.”

“Yes.”

“Can you dive back into that troll group with me?”

“Of course. Just give the order.”

Roy showed strong faith in me.

It seems he’s developed a strong trust in me for resurrecting him.

That’s fortunate. To have a companion who trusts me unconditionally.

“Paramel. Please take care of Halsi.”

“Where are you going…”

“Sasaro is nowhere to be seen. He might have been killed and dragged away by the heretics. So from now on, Roy and I are going to search for Sasaro.”

“Sa, Sasaro-nim.. is not visible?”

“Yes. Since the heretic bastards can also use resurrection rituals. They probably… dragged Sasaro away to resurrect him and use him as a slave.”

If they got their hands on an inquisitor’s corpse, they’d definitely try to take it.

Since they also have the power of resurrection. I don’t know what that Black Saint bastard does, but he’s not the type to just leave an inquisitor’s corpse alone.

So we need to retrieve Sasaro’s body. Even if he’s already dead, we need to recover him to the end and resurrect him.

I can’t stand seeing him die caught up in a flag. He said this was his last labyrinth expedition.

Sasaro’s words about wanting to retire and do farming with his wife and children are echoing in my ears.

“When the Saint and Rosie draw the aggro of the trolls, we need to retrieve Sasaro’s body. We can’t resurrect him if he’s eaten, right?”

“Ah.. I should come too…”

“Who will protect Helena if you come? And in your current state, you’ll be more of a hindrance if you come along.”

Paramel understood. If Paramel follows us in his divine power-depleted state, he’ll be more of a hindrance.

“Roy, let’s run.”

“Yes!”

We ran back to the battlefield.

The dungeon trolls were swarming towards the Saint to kill her, and Rosie was rampaging, entangled with the dungeon trolls.

Those two are drawing the attention of the trolls.

From now on, I need to find Sasaro’s body in this chaotic place.

‘Where is it. Where did you go?’

To avoid drawing the aggro of the trolls, I tracked Sasaro’s traces while keeping my body as low as possible, using scattered corpses as cover.

“Sion! Here! Look at this!”

Roy found traces of the heretics.

There were marks on the ground as if something had been dragged.

“This is..!”

“It’s a path leading underground.”

As we quickly followed the heretics’ traces, we came across a half-collapsed hut.

When we entered it, an entrance leading underground revealed itself under the floorboards.

He was dragged in. Down here.

“The blood hasn’t even coagulated, and the traces are so fresh. It seems they just dragged him down. What should we do? Continue tracking?”

“….”

I deliberated over and over.

It’s too dangerous. There will be heretics down there.

Of course, since we’ve significantly reduced their numbers, they won’t crawl out like bugs, but…

If we encounter an Apostle and the Black Saint or Yetis, Roy and I will be torn apart.

Should we challenge it? Or abandon Sasaro?

At this crossroads of choice, I asked Roy.

“Roy.”

“Yes.”

“For the survival of the team… can you die for us?”

Roy closed his mouth for a moment, then soon asked me back.

“Can you resurrect me again?”

“Yes. I’ll definitely resurrect you.”

“Hahaha.. Then. Let me offer this body.”

As soon as I heard Roy’s answer, I immediately entered the underground.

Below the floor division.

The area below the garden district is also in a maze-like state.

‘If we get lost, we can use the teleportation scroll.’

The teleportation scroll is a kind of return scroll.

Using this, we can go anywhere. Even if we get lost, we can return to the entrance.

Of course, since level movement is impossible, we can only move freely within the 5th floor, but that’s enough anyway.

‘What was the concept of the area below the garden district again?’

I remember Olivia telling me.

‘Ah.’

It was a hatchery. The demons that appear are insect-type demons.

The boss of the hatchery was a cockatrice, wasn’t it?

‘Maybe because of the heretics, I don’t sense the presence of demons.’

Since we couldn’t light a torch to reveal our presence, we shook fairy dust that emitted a faint light to illuminate the path ahead.

There’s a trail of blood. Roy and I continued to advance following that direction.

After wandering in the complex labyrinth for about 10 minutes, we finally discovered the place where Sasaro had been dragged.

“That, that is….”

“Shh…”

Roy covered his mouth.

Through the slightly open door, the interior of the room was visible.

‘Damn.. What is that…’

A pale pink lump of flesh, wriggling like a larva, was devouring Sasaro’s corpse.