Chapter 68

Chapter 68

I Installed a Dating App and Girls from Another World Became Obsessed with Me.

Episode 68: Master Of The Maze (2)

Crete, an island spanning the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Greece, was famous as a travel destination visited by millions of foreign tourists every year.

The endlessly unfolding beautiful emerald beaches and the horizon stretching beyond them.

From the high mountain ranges connecting east to west to the Samaria Gorge that makes you dizzy just by looking at it.

In addition to such beautiful nature, the number of visitors to Crete Island who were fascinated by the city landscape, like a painting, was by no means small.

Until just 50 years ago.

[Disaster of Crete]

August 14, 19xx.

A report was submitted to the EU Joint Hunter Association stating that a gate had appeared in Crete Province, Southern Greece.

Immediately, the association dispatched inspectors, and it wasn’t long before the gate’s grade was determined.

Grade A.

News of a sudden appearance of a top-tier gate shook the entire Europe. Unless there was an S-class hunter or a 7th Circle mage or higher, capturing it was a distant possibility.

And on the day such an announcement was made, the airports and ports on Crete Island, the center of the incident, were in chaos due to the influx of 600,000 residents and 40,000 foreign tourists who rushed in like angry waves.

Hundreds of people were trampled to death.

Amidst such confusion, a summit of the European Union was held.

The topic was whether to dispatch an S-class hunter belonging to the EU Joint Hunter Association to Crete Island.

Since the minutes of the meeting were not disclosed, no one knew exactly what was discussed, but it was clear that the outcome of that meeting eventually led to Greece’s withdrawal from the EU.

The S-class hunter would not come.

Greece had to stop the gate with its own hunters and a small number of mages.

The operation to enter the gate was not even a topic for discussion from the start. In a situation where the country’s hunters and mages were already deserting, anyone who dared to suggest such a thing knew what would happen without even seeing it.

August 19, 19xx.

On an unexpectedly hot day, the gate of Labyrinthos, an A-grade gate that would later be called the Disaster of Crete, opened earlier than expected, and from that day on, Greece had to give up everything related to Crete Island, having lost dozens of high-level hunters and 10 mages.

At the center of that disaster was the boss of the Labyrinthos, an A-grade demonic beast.

“Minotaur…!”

-!!!!!

The Minotaur, which was at the center of the event called the Disaster of Crete, roared.

“Kyahhh!!”

“Kuhk?!”

An intense killing intent swept through the entire body, feeling as if the body was being sliced alive. This led to the loss of will to fight, but that wasn’t the only problem.

‘Fear…!’

A debuff emitted by high-level demonic beasts.

Before I could even think that my body had frozen due to fear, the situation changed rapidly.

Because a predator would not miss prey that had frozen and could not escape.

The Minotaur, letting out a thunderous roar that seemed to make my mind go blank again, lifted its massive axe.

At that sight, my body moved one step faster than my head.

Magic coursed through the not-yet-fully recovered magic circuit with rough momentum.

With a dizzying pain that felt like I would lose consciousness, my body, frozen by fear, moved.

“Noel, dodge!!”

Confirming that my body could move, I immediately hugged Noel and rolled to the side.

Immediately after, the massive axe struck where we had been.

Kwaaaang!!!!

With a tremendous impact, a large amount of dust spread out.

Beyond the small crater, the Minotaur’s red eyes, flickering ominously with a bloodthirsty light, were directed at us.

At that terrifying sight, I almost froze again for a moment.

“…Master, behind me.”

Perhaps her body had relaxed from rolling on the floor, Noel, who had picked up the hammer lying on the ground, stood in front of me.

Pulling a mage back was an excellent judgment as a vanguard, but I heard it clearly.

Noel’s voice was slightly trembling.

This was proof that she had calculated that she could not face the Minotaur in her current state, not only being restricted in power but also not in good physical condition.

“Noel, listen carefully.”

I placed my hand on Noel’s shoulder.

I also knew that the Minotaur was a monster that I couldn’t even dare to confront, let alone win against.

But was that really the Minotaur that was called the Disaster of Crete?

Just like I mistook the Skeleton Mage that appeared as the 2nd Floor boss for a Lich, if such an absurd monster appeared as the boss on the 3rd Floor, the World Tree wouldn’t have failed to give a warning.

“Just hold on for exactly one minute, like when you drew the golem’s attention.”

I handed Noel a bottle of holy water.

I knew it was a difficult request, but without that one minute of warm-up time, I couldn’t handle lightning like I did before.

Of course, I wasn’t putting her forward without any backup plan.

If Noel were in danger, I could just de-summon her, and for me, if I returned to Earth, it was over.

Actually, if you thought about it that way, I could retreat right now, finish reorganizing, and come back here. It meant I didn’t have to fight while dragging my messed-up body.

But by fighting just as I pleased, would I really be able to move on to the next level?

‘…No.’

Even now, the magic power that was overflowing throughout my body, not just filling the Circle, was telling me.

Break through the limit and move on to the next stage.

What I needed now was a trigger.

“What’s one minute? I can easily handle 10 minutes.”

Noel, with her usual bright smile, drank the holy water and then ran towards the Minotaur.

Her speed increased steadily, as if exceeding her full power and reaching a limit.

Kwang!

The ground dented every time she pushed off it.

She was moving her body to the limit allowed by the power restriction.

Kung! The moment Noel kicked off the ground and leaped in a single bound, jumping above the Minotaur’s head, the hammer she was swinging doubled in size.

“Hwaaaa!!!”

A tremendous vortex of magic power swirled around the hammer, and then struck the Minotaur’s head directly.

[Moon Breaker]

With tremendous wind pressure, the Minotaur staggered, then collapsed onto one knee and fell over.

My surprise at the sight was momentary; I couldn’t waste the precious time Noel had created for me.

The holy water I quickly drank seeped into my body, calming my hands that were trembling slightly from the pain.

Of course, that was only for a moment.

As immense magic power and the element of lightning once again surged along the magic circuit, a pain that felt like my mind was going blank swept over me.

It felt like my head would shatter, but this wasn’t the time to complain.

My body felt like a rag, but it was a magic I had cast before.

The first time was always the hardest.

A swirling lightning storm gathered above my palm.

“Noel!”

As soon as the magic was completed, I shouted at the top of my lungs. Hearing my shout, Noel immediately reacted and tried to withdraw from the front line, but the Minotaur seemed to have no intention of letting go of Noel, who was evading all its attacks, and continued its fast and heavy onslaught.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

In the face of attacks that could easily lead to serious injury if she wasn’t careful, Noel was busy dodging rather than escaping.

However, waiting any longer meant Noel could get caught in the magic.

I couldn’t wait anymore.

“De-summo-”

“Master!”

On the fingertips of Noel, who was either dodging or batting away the Minotaur’s fierce attacks, intense magic power was boiling up once again.

At that sight, I controlled the magic with all my might.

To buy time until Noel could return to my side.

“All out!!”

The hammer didn’t grow as large as in the previous attack, but the momentum I felt was on a different level.

[The restriction imposed at the request of Noel Ronidelia is weakened.]

[Cost: ???]

“I hate cows!!!”

[Sun Breaker]

A powerful wave of light covered the hammer, and Noel burrowed into the Minotaur’s embrace at a speed that couldn’t be tracked by the eye.

As its unguarded, defenseless abdomen was exposed, at the moment Noel’s hammer struck, a sun rose in the dark dungeon.

Kwaang! Kwang- Kwaaang!

With a tremendous shockwave, the Minotaur was sent flying backward and slammed into the dungeon wall.

The sight of its massive body flying like a skipped stone was something hard to believe even when seen with one’s own eyes.

Noel, who had squeezed out her full power, returned to my side with weary steps and half-collapsed into my arms.

As if she had not even a speck of stamina or magic power left, she fell asleep as if fainting, and I gently stroked Noel’s head.

“…You worked hard.”

Hugging Noel as tightly as I could, I deployed a barrier that enveloped us.

It would have been great if the battle had ended with the previous blow, but unfortunately, the Minotaur was getting back on its feet amidst the debris of the wall.

However, seeing it battered and bleeding, it was an undeniable fact that Noel’s attack had dealt damage to the creature.

It was an opportunity Noel had created, even accepting a cost.

[Ball Lightning]

Once again, a thundercloud, filled with tremendous magic power and destructive lightning, appeared.

The moment I gave up control over the magic, along with a pain that felt like my magic circuit was burning, the unstable, fluctuating thundercloud began to expand rapidly.

‘?!’

Caught off guard by the extremely unstable state of the magic, I unconsciously poured most of my remaining magic power into the barrier.

Soon, a flash of light that turned everything white erupted from the thundercloud, filling the corridor.

Everything around was losing its form and being shattered by the devastating lightning strike.

Not only the tent I hadn’t managed to pack, but even the dungeon walls were crumbling.

At that sight, I was certain.

No matter how much of a Minotaur it was, unless it was a boss entity, it wouldn’t be able to withstand this.

As the lightning storm, like a fleeting moment, gradually subsided, the surrounding scenery came into view.

The immense geographical change, large enough to create a small clearing in the labyrinthine dungeon, was immediately apparent.

It was surprising even to myself that I could use magic of such power.

However.

“…Shit.”

From the start, I didn’t expect to kill the Minotaur with a single magic spell.

Nevertheless, I thought that at the very least, with Noel’s full-power final blow and the unintentionally strengthened magic, I could at least render it critically injured.

But perhaps I had underestimated my opponent too much?

If I had the ability to peek at the monster’s status window, the Minotaur would surely have this characteristic attached to it.

[Rapid Regeneration]

The Minotaur, standing half-dead far away, had its flesh rapidly recovering. Even the wounds that had been seared and burned by the lightning were slowly healing, and I was left speechless.

Looking at me, the creature raised the corners of its mouth, as if mocking me.