Chapter 64: Malicious Movements

We were attacked while picking up corpses after killing three gardeners.

“They’re pushing in from the front!”

“Rica! We need to fall back!”

“Oh no!!!”

Upper levels of the labyrinth.

The most basic monster of the botanical garden, the gardener.

Their official name is Leprechaun, a monster that runs on two legs and bites human arms and legs with strong teeth.

They can be seen as the goblins of the botanical garden.

I can handle one to four of them alone without any problem.

But when their numbers increase, it becomes difficult to manage.

‘Over thirty…!’

The gardeners are rushing in.

There were far more of them than expected.

The space was too large to face them all and pass through, risking being surrounded.

Above all, thirty wasn’t the end.

More were pouring in through other entrances to the room.

It seems the aggro was properly drawn.

They’ll probably keep swarming here.

For now, the best strategy was to get out of this place.

Stamina is finite, and if we keep knocking down enemies without rest, a moment will surely come when we make a mistake with our blades.

Since one mistake leads to death.

We had to flee.

“How many are there!”

“I don’t know! There are more than ten, so let’s just run!!!”

A sudden monster wave due to a rapid increase in monster numbers.

As Rica swung her sword at the incoming gardeners, three were cut down.

However, latecomers quickly filled their places.

They keep coming.

At this rate, there’s no end.

Continuing to face them here is the worst option.

We need to either move to a narrow path to face them or shake them off and run away completely.

“Rica!! It’s too much! Fall back!”

“Ugh..!! Damn it! I’m caught!!!”

I called Rica, but she wasn’t in a situation where she could fall back.

Rica, who had been buying time for us to escape from behind, was finally caught by the rushing gardeners.

The weapons they have are large mouths and teeth, and immunity to fear.

These guys don’t fear death.

This is a much more terrifying trait than one might think.

Even as their comrades were cut in half right before their eyes, the Leprechauns didn’t stop.

Rather, they cling on even more fervently.

From their perspective, we are a meal and a precious source of protein.

To avoid cannibalism, they have no choice but to consume adventurers.

‘It’s impossible. Rica is completely caught.’

The damage doesn’t seem too severe yet.

But once her armor is torn off, it’s over.

The moment the chain mail is ripped apart, those guys will chew and swallow Rica’s raw flesh.

The smell of human blood makes monsters even more excited, and there was no way to rescue Rica from a pack of excited monsters.

“Young Lady! Take the two and fall back!”

“Ah!!! Wait! There are some in front too!!!”

“There are fewer, so deal with them yourself!”

There were gardeners in the escape direction too, but fewer in number.

The Young Lady and Rien should be able to handle that much. No, they must handle it.

‘Rica is in danger.’

Even endurance has its limits.

We need to rescue our party’s tank before the situation gets worse.

“Rica! Are you alive!”

“Kiyaaah!!!”

Rica let out a battle cry as she slashed through the gardeners.

The gardeners caught in her relentless sword strikes were swept away, bursting green juice.

It’s like a lawnmower mercilessly cutting through weeds. She seems to be swinging widely because there are too many enemies, but I could see her strength gradually draining.

We need to break through and clear a path before Rica’s strength drops further.

“Hup..!!!!!”

I ran towards Rica, who was struggling amidst the gardeners.

To pull Rica out while the Young Lady took the two rear positions back.

“Damn it!! I’m surrounded! I’m sorry!”

“Forget it! Just keep swinging your sword!!!”

This is no time for apologies.

What apology when you should be swinging your weapon for dear life.

This isn’t Rica’s fault to begin with, it’s a labyrinth-style bad luck and adventurer hazing.

Who could have known they would suddenly swarm out like this?

If we had someone with detection abilities like Hachi, it might have been different.

This was truly a situation impossible to deal with, so it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

“Hyaaah!!!”

I rushed towards the gardeners clinging to Rica, summoning every ounce of strength I had.

Kwang!

Gardeners bouncing off my shield.

Since our goal now is to escape, there’s no time to kill them one by one.

We need to push them away recklessly and pull Rica out.

“Get out of the way!!!”

Not systematic swordsmanship, but indiscriminate slashing.

I beheaded a charging gardener and swung my sword again to cut in half the body of a gardener biting Rica’s leg. For every one killed, two more are added.

Swinging my sword frantically, it got stuck in one’s back. The sword won’t come out, as if wedged.

With no time to pull out the sword stuck in its back, I immediately took out an axe from my inventory and swung it horizontally, slashing the faces of the incoming gardeners.

Green juice splattered.

A bitter taste spread in my mouth.

Green juice must have entered my mouth while killing the gardeners.

It tasted like rotten broccoli.

“Rica! Fall back! Come back!”

“Y-Yes!!”

The screaming of gardeners from all directions.

We fell back, smashing through the gathered ones to the point of deafening our ears.

I swung my sword like mad at the gardeners in front of me, cutting a path.

Gardeners’ heads and arms rolled on the floor, and green juice splattered all over my body.

Perhaps because it’s not blood, their body fluids smelled of cabbage and broccoli.

In the midst of this disaster scene that vegans would love to death, we who were about to become victims barely escaped and entered a narrow corridor.

“Rica!!”

“Ah! Let’s run!”

“Before we run, I’m going to block the path! Go ahead first!”

“What!?”

“I said go first because I’m going to block the path!”

“Ah, alright!”

I sent Rica ahead first.

As Rica, who had been running behind me, passed me and went ahead, the gardeners immediately changed their target to me and charged, baring their teeth.

Clang-!

While forcibly swinging my shield to knock away the charging ones, I frantically pulled out rocks and wooden boxes in the middle of the corridor.

The so-called “blocking the path with trash” technique.

These are things I prepared after feeling the rapid increase in monster numbers during the last rescue operation.

Literally, I filled my inventory with large and heavy objects, then pull them out at urgent times like this to block the path.

Who knew junk picked up from the dump would be so helpful.

It was really good that I brought abandoned furniture.

In an instant, the trash piled up to form a barricade.

The gardeners were blocked by the wall of trash and couldn’t come to our side.

Bang! Crash!

“Phew.”

With the path blocked, the gardeners frantically hit the obstacles trying to break through.

This was possible because of the narrow corridor.

If it was a wide space, we would have had to block the entrance, but blocking the middle of the corridor was easier to prevent the enemies’ entry than blocking the entrance.

“Sion! Are you okay!?”

“How’s Rica?”

“Her calf was lightly bitten, so Erika is treating her now.”

“Haah. Thank goodness. Young Lady, are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“How about Rien?”

“Rien is fine too. We’re okay. You? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

“Well, I’m in pretty healthy condition, all things considered.”

“Haah. That’s a relief.”

Although we were overwhelmed without being able to properly deal with the gardeners suddenly popping out, everyone survived without major injuries.

This doesn’t even count as bad luck.

Considering we were ambushed by a surprise wave, this could be seen as quite a good result.

“It’s really strange that the gardeners are acting collectively.”

Before the Great Shift, they moved in groups of about 5.

“There were clearly more than ten just now.”

“Ten…? It looked like at least thirty…”

“Counting the ones crowded at the opposite entrance. There might have been more than thirty.”

“Huh. Was it that many?”

“Didn’t gardeners keep getting replenished no matter how many Rica-ssi killed?”

“Ah.. So they were coming in stepping over corpses. I didn’t notice because I was in a daze. To think they kept coming in.. Whew.”

Rica’s face turned pale as she now realized she had almost died again.

“No matter how much their numbers increased, it shouldn’t have been this much, right? Right, Sion.”

“That’s right. This is indeed strange.”

Although they might be crowded in nests, they didn’t roam around in groups like this, ambushing as if hunting adventurers.

The monsters’ behavior has definitely become more systematic and hostile.

It’s not just that their numbers increased.

Their behavior patterns have changed.

As if their AI was upgraded.

‘Considering that Olivia is a possessed person.’

From a game perspective, the monsters’ behavior patterns must have also been upgraded once.

“Still, it’s fortunate that everyone survived.”

“That was close.”

“My hands are still… shaking…”

Erika and Rien seemed to be slightly panicked.

It’s understandable to be shocked when suddenly overwhelmed without any warning.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that the gardeners are weak.

If we don’t let our guard down, we can break through sufficiently.

As long as we wear armor properly, we don’t have to worry about taking fatal damage from their biting attacks.

“For now, let’s put some distance between us and that group.”

We moved again.

---

14 hours have passed since entering the labyrinth.

It’s about time to end today’s schedule.

We entered a suitable room.

We roughly blocked the room’s entrance with wooden planks we had prepared in advance.

The gardeners will think the wall is blocked and just pass by.

“Let’s sleep here for today.”

“Ugh… I’m tired..”

“My legs hurt so much..”

Rien and Erika, lacking in stamina, sat down making dying noises.

Despite giving them 1-hour breaks every 4 hours, the two looked extremely tired.

“Phew. It’s really tough when seriously trying to conquer.”

“Porter, give me some water.”

Rica soaked in sweat and the Young Lady frowning as if her legs hurt.

Both didn’t particularly complain but looked very tired.

“Here’s the water.”

“Thanks. Whew. That’s refreshing.”

Rica stretched out after moistening her throat.

Compared to when we entered the labyrinth, their speech has definitely decreased.

The Young Lady didn’t open her mouth much from the beginning, seeming a bit tense, but Rica was clearly active at first, yet now she’s just drinking water endlessly as if drained.

“Everyone sit down and rest a bit. I’ll distribute some dry food, so eat it with water.”

I distributed food to my companions.

The women received the thoroughly dried food without complaint.

They eat it reluctantly despite it not tasting good.

They all seemed to realize that if they don’t eat properly, they’ll collapse.

“Haah. I’m sleepy.”

“Let’s decide on a night watch and get some sleep.”

“Ah, I can set up a barrier. We’ll know right away if something approaches.”

Erika said she could set up an alarm barrier.

If something approaches from outside, Erika will wake up immediately.

Woong-

As she recited a short prayer and offered it, a faint light spread out from her for a moment.

This set up an alarm barrier in this room.

With this, we should be able to sleep without a night watch.

“Then let’s all get some sleep.”

The air in the labyrinth was slightly cool, but bearable.

I closed my eyes wrapped in a blanket.

We’ve had our share of bad luck with today’s monster wave, so nothing else should happen now.

-Excuse me, is there a ‘person’ in here?

Just before falling asleep, a voice was heard from beyond the wooden planks blocking the entrance.

It seems the labyrinth’s malicious events aren’t over yet.