Chapter 255: Labyrinth Saint (1)

Chapter 255: Labyrinth
Saint (1)

My
gaze never lost sight of the prey.

The
head of the Elder Lich, cut by the oversized axe blessed with
radiance, flew through the air.

I
felt the magi in its eye socket directed at me and at that moment.

—That,
holy power.

I
felt as if the creature’s magi was speaking to me.

—You?
The one who destroyed my laboratory.

I
instinctively knew that this wasn’t a simple illusion.

A
woman’s voice flowed from the Elder Lich, which had neither mouth nor
vocal organs and as the magi illuminating the Elder Lich’s eyes
rippled, it reflected like a mirror the existence that must be
somewhere.

The
woman in white robes dwelling in the Elder Lich’s eyes took me in.

The
moment our eyes met, I instinctively furrowed my brow.

With
unfocused eyes, she gave the impression of a slightly mad scientist.

Her
eye sockets were sunken with dark circles, and the red bloodstains
soaking the ends of her pure white robes gave an eerily creepy
feeling.

From
the woman who seemed to possess an unstable mind, magi of sloth
similar to, no, even greater than the Elder Lich’s flowed out.

[So
this monster is that lowly being’s subordinate.]

According
to Bunny, the Elder Lich’s master, the being who had spread Elder
Liches on the 19th floor, as the Vice Commander had said, that woman
in white robes was clearly a worshipper of sloth.

—Stay
right there and wait.

Was
it revenge, or curiosity about the one who defeated the Elder Lich?

—You
too, I’ll make you fertilizer for my great experiment.

The
sloth worshipper looked straight at me and raised her corners of her
mouth like a madwoman.

-Crack!

And
then, cracks began to form in the Elder Lich’s skeletal body.

I
took my eyes off the sloth worshipper and glared at the Elder Lich’s
body.

The
sphere full of magi that had been created while the Elder Lich was
blocking my advance with its undead army now shone from within its
body.

What
had been prepared as a final strike had now become a self-destruct
device.

Boom—

Just
before the bone fragments of the shattered Elder Lich scattered in
all directions like a post-explosion grenade and the roar sounded the
world stopped regardless of my will.

[Blessing
of Time of Judgment]

– Once
per day, gain a time of judgment.

– Activates
unconsciously when an unperceived threat to life approaches.

– Wisdom
+3, +10 when conditions are maximally met

Condition:
Enter the time of judgment.

An
unperceived threat to life.

But
even with this blessing activated, just staying still wouldn’t change
the future.

Even
in time flowing slowly as if stopped, the sharp bone fragments
beginning to scatter in all directions were coated with sticky magi,
which even Zirnier armor couldn’t block.

It
wasn’t just me who was in danger.

The
party members and expedition members nearby were too. Those without
even decent armor like mine would surely suffer massive damage.

I
did what I could in the current situation. I quickly swung my axe
toward it.

[Quickly
eat it, Bunny!]

[No.
If I eat something like that, I’ll get indigestion. My stomach will
obviously hurt for days. Do you truly have no human heart?]

[No
time for wordplay!]

[Tch.
Just this once.]

Perhaps
because the situation was that urgent, Bunny followed my words
without threatening to add another contract, and immediately opened
her maw wide.

As
tremendous magi burst forth from the self-destructing Elder Lich and
its fragments scattered everywhere.

-Chomp!

Bunny,
opening her maw like a beast, swallowed the exploding Elder Lich.

-Boom!

An
enormous roar and massive vibration were felt from the axe that had
swallowed the explosion’s aftermath.

My
mouth automatically closed from the shock traveling up my hand
holding the axe.

When
I thrust Bunny’s uncontrollably vibrating axe blade straight into the
swamp ground, the swamp began to bubble like lava, absorbing some of
the explosion’s aftermath.

[Feels
like everything I’ve eaten until now is coming up…ugh. You. You’ll
definitely have to repay this debt.]

[Okay,
okay. Well done. Really.]

[Hmph.
Pathetic guy. Praise me more.]

I
nodded at Bunny who was grumbling as if she’d finally caught an
opportunity after a long time.

Whatever
the case, thanks to her we were able to minimize the damage.

While
stroking the axe handle saying “really well done,” I looked
around.

“The
undead…are collapsing…”

One
of the expedition members who had been captured muttered.

As
they said, when the Elder Lich who held control over the undead
perished, the undead that had been rushing in like waves began
sinking into the swamp one by one.

The
death of countless undead who would have become the army of the Elder
Lich and the sloth worshipper and caused greater chaos if more time
had passed.

“It’s
over. It’s over…! The Elder Lich is really dead…!”

“We’re
free! We’re finally free!”

By
defeating alone the monster that led countless undead, I felt my
existence rising to an even higher level.

[LV.47
Nam Soo-jin]

[Stamina:(17+18)
Strength:(17+11) Agility:(17+11) Wisdom:(8+9-3) Finesse:(5+11)]

[Free
Points: 16 points]

“Damn.”

Looking
at my status window, I saw my level had risen beyond imagination.

The
last time I checked was when I was slashing the undead until just
now.

Back
then I was level 39 and had used up all my free points.

Though
I had cut down dozens of undead after that, the experience gained
wasn’t very satisfying given my level.

But
an 8-level increase at once?

It
was one of the highest increases so far, and proof that this Elder
Lich had been no easy opponent.

‘If
I hadn’t gained an advantage in compatibility through the blessing of
radiance, it might have really been dangerous.’

That’s
how powerful the Elder Lich’s magi was.

Even
Ellie, who could handle high-power magic capable of melting even
monsters that wielded magi, couldn’t break through the Elder Lich’s
barrier in one go but now there was no need to worry about such
things.

The
Elder Lich had been consumed by Bunny without even leaving a soul
stone behind, and the undead it controlled had sunk into the swamp.

I
hunted monsters and grew using their souls as fertilizer.

While
continuing the happy contemplation of how to use the free points, the
evidence of growth, I realized this wasn’t the time for such
thoughts.

‘The
sloth worshipper….’

After
I killed the Elder Lich, she had somehow saw me.

As
expected, she knew about what happened on the 16th floor too, and
since I had killed another monster she controlled, it was almost
certain she would target me.

—You
too, I’ll make you fertilizer for my great experiment.

Along
with the words the sloth worshipper had muttered, I recalled the
sloth experiment records that Idelbert and I had discovered.

‘Records
of the eternal sleep body experiment…was it?’

I
don’t remember the exact contents, but I remember it was about trying
to create superior bodies by crossbreeding monsters like wyverns and
bone jaguars with humans.

If
I get caught by the sloth worshipper, I might become a sperm donor
for monsters.

Since
I had absolutely no desire to be fucked by monsters and donate sperm,
I needed to leave the 19th floor before she came.

I
recalled the scenery of the place where the sloth worshipper had
been.

A
place near the wall where pink tentacles writhed savagely, tightening
like vaginal walls.

It
was clearly the tentacle maze where supremely powerful succubi were
said to dwell.

That
infamous maze stretching from the 23rd to 25th floors would take time
to escape from even for a sloth worshipper.

In
other words, there was a bit of time to spare.

“Thank
you! Thank you so much!”

“You
and the party you led saved us!”

The
expedition members who still didn’t know my name approached and bowed
their heads in gratitude.

“Brother!
Thank you so— ugh…”

Jeremy,
who stood at the front as if representing them, tried to express
gratitude but grimaced and grabbed his arm.

“Are
you hurt?”

“Ah.
Yes… When the Elder Lich exploded earlier, some fragments hit me.
But it’s bearable.”

There
was a small hole in Jeremy’s forearm that he was holding.

Though
Bunny had swallowed the explosion’s aftermath, he couldn’t completely
consume all those bone fragments that had burst out at high speed.

I
wanted to give him a healing potion if I could, but unfortunately I
had none.

‘Even
the healing potions I had managed to get were all used up during the
battle with the Elder Lich.’

“Just
put some spit on it. You’re a man.”

“No,
brother, that’s something even a woman wouldn’t easily say…”

“I’ll
tell another party’s priest to heal you on the way. Shouldn’t you all
rest in Eden too? Get ready to leave first.”

“Ah,
yes!”

While
it wasn’t entirely unpleasant to receive gratitude from others, there
wasn’t time for this, so I quickly responded and gave instructions to
prepare to leave the 19th floor.

Stories
about what they’d been doing all this time could wait until we
returned to Eden.

After
briefly watching Jeremy and the expedition members smoothly following
my words, I headed toward my party members.

Finding
them was easy. They were gathered in a circle not far from where I
had faced the Elder Lich.

“…?”

It
was strange.

Clearly
when the battle started, they had begun fighting from the opposite
side from me.

Though
that gap had narrowed each time the Elder Lich retreated while
controlling the undead, there was no reason for them to be huddled
together as if examining someone who had fallen…

‘Shit.’

A
chill ran down my spine for a moment.

I
immediately ran to the party members gathered in a circle.

As
expected, a terrible smell of blood wafted over.

“…Balkan.”

Jubeel,
who noticed my approach, stopped me. Her complexion was not good,
even as an understatement.

I
swallowed my resolve and asked.

“Who
died?”

“No,
they’re not dead…not dead yet.”

Not
dead yet.

Meaning
they might die soon.

“You
shouldn’t look. The injuries are too severe—”

“Move
aside, Jubeel.”

“……”

After
looking back and forth between my face and behind her for a moment,
Jubeel finally clenched her fist.

As
I walked down the path she cleared, the party members one by one
looked at me and lowered their heads as if apologetic.

Rubia
was quite injured but alive. Ellie and Nuer were fine too, having
been well protected.

The
Amel Drexia party also had some injuries but was in relatively good
condition.

Then,
there was only one person left.

“…Ah…”

I
looked at the woman lying in front of Priest Hope, who was
desperately pouring out healing miracles.

“Mas…ter…”

Denshi
looked at me and smiled painfully.

“Thank…
goodness… you’re… alive…”

With
fist-sized holes in her abdomen and forearm, she gave me a faint
smile as she bled out her intestines and blood from where she had
been pierced by the Elder Lich’s bone fragments.