Chapter 67: Those Who Crossed the Line

“To our safe return.”

Sion raised his glass and offered a light toast.

The companions clinked their glasses together, rejoicing in their safe return.

Warm food and alcohol.

Under the soft lighting, they talked about what happened during this expedition.

How much they could get from selling the monsters.

What might happen next time they enter the labyrinth.

They discussed the parts where they were lacking.

They also exchanged opinions on how to deal with monsters below the 2nd floor in the future.

Everything was going smoothly.

Although the labyrinth was a frightening and dangerous place.

The blessings of mana adaptation and abilities were too sweet.

For those pursuing power, these two blessings given by the labyrinth were sweet fruits that were hard to escape once tasted.

The atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.

Hoping that the next labyrinth trip would also end safely without any problems, they clinked glasses for who knows how many times.

They weren’t drunk.

Just slightly elated.

The tavern was noisy, filled with loud sounds.

Not just Sion’s party, but many others who had returned from the labyrinth gathered here to drink.

Soon, Lea gently placed her hand on Sion’s thigh.

Sending a signal.

Sion quietly felt the Young Lady’s touch while drinking ale.

The Young Lady’s beautiful fingers gradually extending more brazenly.

It seemed like they would soon reach.

They were climbing up his thigh, heading towards his crotch.

In this crowded place, Lea nonchalantly caressed Sion’s crotch under the table.

Finally, unable to endure, Sion whispered softly to Lea.

“Um, Young Lady.”

“Hm? What?”

“If you keep… touching like that…”

“What? Will it get big like last time?”

At the Young Lady’s question, Sion couldn’t answer and just gulped down his ale.

Lea smiled with her eyes seeing Sion’s expression.

He’s not saying he dislikes it, and is quietly feeling her touch.

Rien and Rica are laughing and chattering, while Erika seems to have noticed something and is glancing at her.

Lea was excited.

She wanted to go to the bathroom together and see that huge thing she saw that day once more.

“Hey Sion.”

“What..”

“Don’t you want to go to the bathroom?”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“Yes. Don’t you want to go into the third stall of the bathroom?”

“Ah, Young Lady…”

Sion realized what Lea wanted to say.

She probably means to wait for her in the third bathroom stall.

Sion fell into anguish.

If he goes to the bathroom like this, he’ll probably end up doing it with the Young Lady with high probability.

“You just need to become Gold Badge within 6 months, right? Will you keep enduring with me by your side? I’ll tease you every day. And touch you to make you frustrated like this? How long will you endure?”

“…”

“Honestly, you want to quickly pull out now, don’t you? With it so hard like this. Your dick is quite assertive, huh? Will you refuse? Sion. If it were me, I’d already be in the third stall.”

“…Gulp.”

“Want me to show you my breasts? Lower your head a bit. There, I pulled open my neckline. Look. Can you see this? Concentrated Young Lady breasts. Want me to let you lick them?”

Sion closed and opened his eyes.

He ended up seeing the Young Lady’s breasts. He saw her pink nipples.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Sion thought he couldn’t endure anymore.

Just as he stood up, thinking of waiting for the Young Lady in the third bathroom stall.

A commotion broke out outside the tavern.

“What’s that.”

“That sound just now… It was definitely a scream.”

“Oh, I’ll go check while going to the bathroom.”

Sion came out of the tavern wondering what was happening.

Soon he saw a bright light.

“What on earth is…”

“Fire. It’s fire!”

Flames were soaring.

The center of the city was brightly lit.

Something is burning. Like the arson that day.

Reddish flames were engulfing the city.

Soon Rica also came out of the store to assess the situation.

“Porter, what’s that? What’s happening?”

“It looks like a fire. From that direction…”

“Fire? Huh? Whoa! Get down!!!”

Kwang-!!!!

Something flew from the direction where flames were soaring.

Rica rushed to Sion and pushed him away from the flying projectile, and the two rolled on the ground together.

Covered in dirt and dust all over, they quickly got up.

There was no time to keep rolling. Because something had entered the tavern where Lea and the others were.

“This is crazy!”

A “large mass” whose form was hard to recognize smashed through the wall of the tavern where Sion was.

Sion couldn’t properly observe what the large mass that barely grazed past him was.

But he felt like he saw eyeballs.

Eyeballs the size of a person on fire.

Huge eyeballs.

-Kyaaaah!!!!

-What is it!

-Kuaaah!!!

Screams of people could be heard from inside the wrecked store.

The building swayed from the severe impact.

At the same time, the smell of blood permeated. The smell of blood coming from inside the store.

Soon after, people who had remained inside the tavern fled with expressions of shock and terror.

Not everyone escaped. Only a few were barely able to escape, and Lea and her companions were not among those few escapees.

Something is rampaging inside the store.

Death is being scattered in all directions.

Sion felt as if thick tar had been poured over him from head to toe.

A stench struck his nose.

It’s the scent of the labyrinth.

A smell he thought he could never encounter on this street.

But this is the second time he’s smelled the labyrinth in this city.

He remembers.

The heretics were definitely emitting a similar scent too.

Something that should be in the labyrinth has crawled up.

“Young Lady!!”

Sion and Rica rushed back into the store.

The smashed tavern was already a mess of blood and corpses.

People directly hit by the flying projectile were crushed and turned into meat pieces.

Corpses are strewn about. The smell of blood filled the store.

And Lea and her companions who couldn’t escape were trembling in a corner of the store.

Sion also trembled seeing something absorbing corpses in front of the entrance.

“Sion!!! Run away!!!”

Lea shouted towards Sion.

Something that shouldn’t be outside the labyrinth was blocking between Sion and Lea.

“Why is that here..”

Sion was at a loss for words.

What he glimpsed was correct.

Those are eyeballs.

Labyrinth 6th floor, Crystal Cave.

The monster from there.

“Observer.”

The exact same appearance as the information he had accessed in advance through Monster Anatomy Appreciation.

Tentacles crawled out from a body composed of huge eyeballs and grabbed adventurers fallen on the floor.

Also, as its body split horizontally, hideous fangs and a tongue that had grown haphazardly were revealed.

Soon, people were sucked into its mouth.

It’s devouring the dead.

It will probably set its sights on the living soon too.

If left like this, Lea, Rien, and Erika would certainly be caught by that monster’s tentacles and eaten.

Sion had to make a decision.

Save them?

Or flee?

The Observer is in an injured state.

It seemed to be trying to recover by urgently escaping from where the flames were soaring and then devouring civilians.

That means adventurers who were confronting it might already be coming here too.

If we buy time, there’s a high chance adventurers who can catch the Observer will arrive here.

Now, here’s the question.

Can an apprentice warrior who hasn’t even earned a Silver Badge possibly stop a monster from the 6th underground floor, which is considered the entrance to the deep levels?

Impossible.

The conclusion was quickly drawn.

Sion judged.

The moment he charges in, he dies.

He will definitely die with 100% probability.

He would be torn apart by tentacles that can rip even iron, and die.

Sion would surely be smashed like a crushed watermelon and swallowed into its mouth.

Then should he give up facing it here?

Lea is right in front of him. She’s shouting for him to run away.

Even in this situation, she didn’t ask for help. Rather, she told him to quickly run away.

The moment Sion turns around and runs away as she shouts, Lea will become that monster’s meal.

To save Lea, he needed to jump in right now and draw its attention.

But if he jumps in, he’ll clearly be torn apart so much he can’t even be resurrected.

“Fuck.”

Soon he made a decision.

Sion jumped in front of the Observer.

“Rica!!! The Young Lady is the priority!!”

Sion shouted to Rica.

Rica ran towards Lea without hesitation.

Because her duty is to protect her lord.

Without even time to grieve Sion’s sacrifice, she headed for Lea, and as soon as Sion confirmed Rica passing by, he fully opened his inventory.

While Rica safely extracts Lea and the others from the store, he needs to do his best to draw the Observer’s attention.

A desperate attempt for that.

Objects pour out.

From garbage put in for blocking paths to all kinds of food and monster corpses, everything poured out indiscriminately like a tidal wave towards the Observer.

The Observer is a monster from the deep levels.

Its understanding of human objects would be somewhat low.

Sion aimed for this point.

From its perspective, how would it react if unidentified objects are randomly poured out?

It would probably judge them as dangerous and turn all its attention to Sion himself.

Success.

Sion successfully drew the Observer’s attention. Moreover, according to its characteristic of trying to judge unfamiliar things, the Observer completely focused on the objects Sion was pouring out.

-!!!

Soon, its tentacles swung and started grinding up all the objects pouring out.

Fragments of ground-up objects splattered in all directions.

Sion poured out objects even faster, and Lea was dragged out, caught in Rica’s hand.

“Sion!!!”

Lea struggles to break free from Rica’s grasp. Rica didn’t let go of Lea.

Because running there now would only add one more corpse.

“Rien! Erika! Get up right now!”

“Da-Damn it.!!! Dammit!!!”

Rien, whose legs had given out and collapsed, forcibly got up again.

She had fallen into a state of fear, frightened by the mana waves emitted by the Observer.

Erika too was in a panic state, shocked by the thick thoughts, negative energy, and malice that had crawled up from deep in the labyrinth emitted by the Observer.

“Get up!”

Rica slapped Erika’s cheek.

With the strong impact that made her head turn, Erika finally came to her senses and got up whimpering.

They had to escape quickly.

Because Sion wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

‘This is the limit.’

There are no more objects to pour out.

Moreover, the Observer also noticed that the objects spewed out by Sion’s spatial pocket weren’t very threatening.

There wasn’t much time left to confront it.

Now a one-sided toying would soon begin.

‘Ah, it’s done.’

Just when he thought it was really over, Rica took the others and escaped from the store full of blood and flesh.

“Haah. Fuck.”

There were no more objects left to pour out.

The Observer’s tentacles struck down towards Sion.

If he gets hit, he’ll probably be split in half.

“I don’t want to die!”

Sion twisted his body.

Solely with the thought of wanting to live, he dodged the Observer’s tentacles once.

Bang-!

The tavern floor was smashed, and Sion dodged the follow-up attack again with tears in his eyes.

“Huh?”

A divinely inspired dodge. A situation where even he doesn’t understand how he dodged.

All the potential remaining in Shaka’s remnants had been drawn out.

Sion had already experienced a similar feeling once before.

“Kid! Are you crazy!”

Instead of being completely torn apart and rolling on the floor, the doll’s head shouted.

It’s still time for the sun to be up.

If he hadn’t taken out the doll from his inventory instead, since it’s daytime when it’s difficult for the three villainess sisters to act, he wouldn’t have been able to receive help.

Moreover, he was able to receive their help because this is outside the labyrinth.

“Just dodge for now!”

Instead, possessing the doll, they helped Sion with all their might.

Because Sion is the only one who can grant their wish.

Desperately drawing out Sion’s potential, they made it so he wouldn’t die in one hit.

A strange exchange of offense and defense continues.

Sion moved according to instinct without properly recognizing how he was dodging all those attacks, and the Observer continued its attacks without understanding how the bug in front of it was avoiding its tentacle attacks.

“Hey hey!!! Close your eyes!!!”

When his muscles were reaching their limit, the villainess possessing the doll shouted again.

Sion immediately closed his eyes, and soon the Observer’s eyeballs emitted light and a spell was fired.

Beeeep-!

A spell of mind control.

Sion reduced its effect by closing his eyes.

“Th-This….!!!!”

However, a moment’s gap was enough to kill Sion.

A tentacle flies towards his neck.

This is the end now.

The bug’s desperate struggle ultimately led to death.

‘Did I act rashly for nothing? I wanted to do it with Lady Lea once before dying.’

The Observer’s tentacle digging into his neck.

Flesh is cut. Blood spurts out.

Soon Sion’s vision spun around.

“Haah… I’m sorry. We were too late. Because of those damn heretics..”

Moira, covered in blood, whispered while holding Sion.

“Fria! Heal this guy! Save him!”

Fading vision.

Sion saw Moira’s back as she rushed towards the Observer.

Moira, who charged in without hesitation and started slicing up the Observer.

She counterattacked and cut up all the flying tentacles, and soon the Observer was split in half like a crushed pumpkin and met its death.

So it could be caught that easily.

Is this what it means to be Platinum Badge?

Sion felt his body gradually getting colder.

Death was approaching.

Too much blood poured out from his neck.

“Please endure a little longer. I’ll save you.”

Saint Fria poured in holy power to forcibly reattach Sion’s neck.

As long as his breath doesn’t stop, she can definitely save him.

As Fria’s holy power enveloped his body, Sion felt sleepiness overtaking him.

“Fria. How is his condition?”

“Good. He’ll be able to walk around normally within 3 hours.”

“Those damn heretics. Those sons of bitches crossed the line today.”

Moira saw it. Countless citizens of the city dying at the hands of heretics.

The more horrific point is that the corpses were damaged to the extent they can’t even be resurrected.

Moira was enraged. She also felt the need to completely revise the original plans.

Due to the economic recession caused by the increased difficulty of the underground city, hunting heretics had been pushed back in priority.

But now it’s different.

Because heretics have now become the target that needs to be eliminated first.

“So is it finally starting? Huhuhu. This is quite exciting. Sshup. Heretic hunting after so long.. Heheh. Hahaha…”

“Stop laughing so creepily, it’s disgusting, Fria.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry about that. It’s been so long since I’ve killed. I got a little excited. I’m sorry, Moira. Don’t be angry. Huhuhuhu.”

Sometimes there are such humans.

The type of pleasure killers who can’t endure their desire to kill people.

Saint Fria belongs to that type.

However, because she holds the position of saint in the Goddess religion, it was difficult for her to freely engage in massacres.

In such a situation, heretics who can be killed freely without any criticism have returned from deep in the labyrinth after decades.

“I’m looking forward to it. To think I can even receive rewards for killing people.”

“Those things can no longer be considered the same as us. So, Fria. Please, I’m begging you, don’t think of it as murder and enjoy it.”

“But they look similar to us, don’t they? That’s enough for me.”

“…Crazy bitch. Fine. Let’s stop talking. I’ll take this child back to the guild, so you follow too.”

“Okay. It’s been a while since I’ve visited the guild!”

“I didn’t want to let someone like you back into the guild. Haah.”

Moira found it difficult to understand Saint Fria.

But she understands that the saint is the strongest iron hammer possessed by the church.

Soon judgment will fall.

An all-out war against the heretics who attacked the city.

The planned subjugation of the underground city will probably be canceled.

Because a full-scale heretic hunt will begin.

To erase the darkness that has hidden in the labyrinth and become one with it.

The city’s heresy inquisitors will take out their hammers.

And at the center of it will be one porter.