episode_0024

A basement filled with the smell of blood and damp humidity.

Black somethings are heavily smeared on the walls and floor of this unpleasant place, to the point where you’d want a dehumidifier.

Relying only on the small light created by Aria, I descend the stairs.

This quiet place where only footsteps are heard.

As it happened to be time to talk, I naturally threw a question at Aria.

“Did you come to subjugate the black magicians?”

“……The request content is my escort.”

It seems she has no intention of revealing her true intentions.

In any case, I am a person working for money now.

I am merely providing the escort as she desires.

As soon as I completely descended the stairs, a four-way path became visible.

When Aria gave a signal, the 4 paladins split into groups of 2 and headed towards the side passages.

They also created small lights like Aria, held them like torches, and moved.

“We’ll go this way.”

Aria and I went straight.

Walking through the unpleasant underground passage.

I really don’t know why there is a path in a place like this.

“”……””

We walked for 1 minute in silence.

It was Aria who broke the long silence.

Despite being the one I was escorting, she walked ahead first, speaking without looking at me.

“They say the black magicians caused a commotion on the 2nd floor this time.”

“Yes. What on earth are they doing in the labyrinth?”

“How much do you know?”

“……”

How should I answer this?

Since it seemed she already knew everything anyway, I decided to answer honestly.

“I heard that the Apostle of the Evil God appeared.”

“Yes. It is confirmed that it was born around 1 month ago, and the reason for such actions on the 2nd floor is still being investigated.”

“I see.”

The time the Apostle of the Evil God was born is similar to the time I was transmigrated.

Could it be….

“By any chance, do you know about the birth of the labyrinth?”

“I heard the Evil God created it.”

“To be precise, the current labyrinth is where two gods are waging war in real-time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Literally. The Main God protecting the continent, and the Evil God opposing Him. A power struggle between the two is unfolding. Our Ariel Church’s purpose is to follow the Main God and eliminate the black magicians who are followers of the Evil God.”

“I see.”

“Cards.”

Her gaze turned towards my left sleeve.

“They say the Evil God created the labyrinth to destroy the continent, and the Main God created cards to give power to resist it.”

It’s a story I read in a book from the library.

That the Main God is bestowing grace in the form of cards.

How much does He like cards, anyway?

KWAANG!!!!

But then, suddenly, the interior began to shake violently.

A strong roar.

It was difficult to steady myself due to the felt vibration, so I grabbed the nearby wall.

But while I was doing this, Aria was standing perfectly fine, as if nothing was wrong.

Just by looking, she doesn’t seem like an ordinary person to the extent that she needs my escort.

“If you go forward, there is one minion summoned by the black magician, a Death Knight, remaining. Please defeat that.”

“What will the Sister do?”

“Because I must purify this place.”

Float.

One floating light circled around me.

“Then….”

Aria leaving behind.

Watching her disappear, I walked forward.

This cluster of light following me.

It seems like it’s monitoring me.

What on earth does she want?

I’m starting to get a slight idea, but it’s not clear yet.

First, let’s deal with the Death Knight up ahead.

The end of the passage.

A considerably wide space appeared.

The ceiling was broken, so a few streaks of light illuminated the interior brightly.

Something was sitting in the center where the light reached.

A huge warrior leaning his back against a greatsword shimmering with black mana, the Death Knight.

Seeing that the eye light inside the helmet wasn’t shining, it seemed it hadn’t woken up yet.

It hadn’t entered combat state yet.

That is, I could start by landing a big hit.

I don’t know when it will wake up, but it’s clear that it won’t wake up until I provoke it.

I draw and shuffle the deck until the desired card appears.

There are many options.

Assuming I use [Charge] first.

I could freeze it with [Freeze], then just shatter it.

I could deal powerful damage with [Lightning].

The same goes for [Immolation].

What I liked the most was, after all, [Lightning].

That card which was always responsible for my finishing blow.

Although it’s a magic with a narrow range that can only defeat about one person at a time. Among my cards, it is undoubtedly the most powerful card in one-on-one combat.

Preparation is complete.

[Lightning]

I gather the electricity swirling around my body into one place.

I strongly throw the electricity gathered in my right hand towards the Death Knight.

ZAP!!!

A single streak of lightning flying.

The lightning broke the shield surrounding the Death Knight.

SHATTER!!!

The weakened lightning entering through the shattered black shield.

Unable to penetrate the Death Knight’s armor, it disperses futilely in all directions.

“……”

I didn’t know there was a shield.

It seems it wasn’t just blankly sleeping.

『Combat Start. Draw 3 cards.』

『Energy 4/4』

[Earth Wall (1)] [Ice Shield (1)] [Strike (1)]

The first hand isn’t good for now.

There’s no choice but to trust the relic and endure.

Grrr.

The Death Knight, emitting a low howl, draws the sword on its back.

Two green eye lights pop out from inside the dark helmet.

“No, to tell me to defeat something like that alone.”

Even so, isn’t that asking too much?

But now it’s too late to turn back.

[Earth Wall]

The earth wall strengthened by the effect of the relic [Cat’s Paw] rises.

SWOOSH!!

The reinforced earth wall is shattered into pieces by just one sword strike from the Death Knight.

DRAG!!

The Death Knight approaches, holding the heavy greatsword in its right hand and dragging it along the ground.

Seeing that its speed is not fast, it seems to be a power type rather than a speed type.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s incredibly slow.

To the extent that if I had a running race with it, I’d be confident in losing with a 50% chance.

I discard 2 cards and return to the passage.

Because there was no mention that I shouldn’t break this place.

[Ice Shield]

[Strike]

Protecting my back with an Ice Shield, I collapse the passage pillars with Strike.

CRASH!!

The pillar slightly bent by the Strike.

As expected, a mere Strike wasn’t enough.

Then what about the Golem?

HUM!!

The automatic defense golem emerging from subspace.

It charged towards the Death Knight, but then.

“……?!”

Seeing the scary-looking Death Knight, it runs away towards me.

It usually acts as it pleases before I give a separate command, but I didn’t know it could have the emotion of fear.

I give it a command. To break the pillars.

As soon as I did, the golem darted out and swung its fist towards the pillar.

CRASH!!!

The fragments of the collapsing pillar block the passage.

『Until next draw 45… 44…』

Of course, I can’t escape with just this.

I continue to give the command to break the pillars.

CRASH!!!

The collapsing pillars make it difficult for the Death Knight to pass through the passage.

Originally, it was already big and had to fold its body as if crumpling it to enter the passage.

Since the broken stones are blocking the way, the Death Knight cannot easily approach me, like blood passing through a completely blocked blood vessel.

Grrr.

As if it’s slowly starting to dislike that, the Death Knight’s eye light becomes thinner.

I had a premonition that it would do something.

“Shield.”

The golem, hearing my words, created a small shield, and I stood behind it holding an Ice Shield, preparing for an attack.

SWOOOSH!!!

As expected, a strong black slash approached, cutting through the passage.

SHATTER!!!

After lightly reducing the damage with the shield.

I held up the Ice Shield diagonally and deflected it to the side.

The slash flying off to a useless place.

But it wouldn’t end with just this.

The Death Knight charging through the place where the slash had passed.

『Until next draw 12… 11…』

“Self-destruct.”

The golem, hearing my command, was trembling all over as if afraid, but then its whole body turned red, and it charged towards the Death Knight.

BOOOM!!!

A powerful explosion pushes back the Death Knight and shakes the passage.

Stones from the collapsing ceiling fall down on the Death Knight in a shower.

The Death Knight, holding its greatsword high to block them.

It’s an opening.

『Until next draw 3… 2…』

It would have been good if I had drawn right at this moment, but unfortunately, such convenient things didn’t happen.

『Until next draw 0』

『It’s your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

[Mana Overload (0)] [Freeze (2)] [Immolation (3)] [Body Enhancement (0)] [Terrain Manipulation (3)]

It’s a good hand.

I discard 2 cards.

[Body Enhancement]

[Mana Overload]

My body becoming lighter.

And the swirling interior.

This feeling of omnipotence refreshes my uneasy mind.

『Energy 8/4』

Energy that became double due to the effect of Mana Overload.

Of course, the energy will decrease by 1 on the next turn.

Satisfied that I chose the Energy relic, I immediately cast a card.

[Terrain Manipulation]

Although it’s a magic that became completely useless on the 2nd floor, in this place where there is nothing but ground all around, it is the best magic.

I extend my hand downwards.

Clods of earth falling towards the Death Knight.

“……!!!”

Seeing the Death Knight immediately dodging to the side, I cast a card.

[Freeze]

Cold air gathering on my body.

The Death Knight, immediately sensing something strange, unleashes a black slash.

“……”

My eyes, strengthened by Body Enhancement, could detect the precursor of that slash beforehand.

After lightly blocking it by moving the terrain, I create a wave of terrain and push it towards the Death Knight.

A wave of earth filling half of the narrow passage swallows the Death Knight’s lower body.

Cold air flying towards the fixed target.

At that moment, the Death Knight thrusts its greatsword into the ground.

Black mana spreading in all directions drives away the cold air.

Soon, an aura in the shape of a circle is created around the Death Knight.

CRUMBLE.

The earth that started to dry and wither falls off the Death Knight’s body in a shower.

Before it completely escapes from the earth, I inflict as much damage as possible.

[Immolation]

Although it doesn’t leave a mark so it lacks tracking ability.

Still, it’s good for hitting a stationary opponent.

“……?!!!”

When the Death Knight’s surprised eye light turned downwards, a spear of flame that had pierced through the floor had already penetrated the Death Knight’s body.

GROOOAN!!!!

The Death Knight lets out a strong roar and spews black mana in all directions.

I raise the terrain to take cover behind it and observe the situation.

The greenish core visible through the Death Knight’s shattered armor.

The core had been pierced by the spear of flame and was on the verge of shattering.

To finish it, I raise the terrain, make it like a sharp spike, and attack the Death Knight’s core.

SHATTER!!!

As if it had already reached its limit, the Death Knight’s core shatters with just a slight impact.

Ding!

『Check your card rewards.』

As soon as I saw the status window, the tension subsided.

It’s a really good thing that I don’t need to ask “Did I defeat it?”.

[Triple Strike (1) – Vanish] – Deals strong impact 3 times.

[Rain (0)] – Makes it rain for 3 turns.

[Severance (1)] – Slashes the enemy with a strong cleave.

But what kind of reward is this?

For hunting a considerably strong Death Knight, it’s meager.

Still, since it’s better to pick something than nothing, I chose [Rain], which might be helpful in real life.

Slide.

Watching the cards returning to the deck, I approached the Death Knight.

When the core shattered, the surrounding armor, sword, etc., lost their form and vanished.

The only thing left here was the shattered core.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t obtain any spoils.

Of course, it doesn’t matter to me since I got card rewards.

“……”

By the way, I’ve come further than where I parted with Aria, but she’s not visible.

Where on earth did she go?

Since there was nothing I could do anyway, I proceeded further into the passage.

I arrived at the wide room where I had found the Death Knight earlier.

“What’s that?”

A room was hidden.

If it was left behind to be guarded by a Death Knight, wasn’t something precious hidden there?

Since Aria didn’t specifically restrict my actions, taking a look around might be alright.

I enter the room that the Death Knight had been tightly guarding.

A library where all sorts of documents are recorded.

The letters written in the books are automatically translated and readable.

[Regarding Black Magic]

[History of the Labyrinth]

[Introduction to Labyrinthology]

All of them are filled with information I want to read.

On the desk in the center, numerous books were already spread open.

[Apostle of the Evil God]

As soon as I saw the phrase written as, I naturally began to read the book.

[A being chosen by the Great Evil God.]

[According to prophecy, the apostles of two gods are simultaneously chosen and transmigrated into the continent.]

[If the apostle of the Main God is found, they must be quickly eliminated.]

[Its characteristics are…]

Unfortunately, the letters after that were smudged and not clearly visible.

Even looking at the back pages, all the other letters were fine.

Only the description about the characteristics of the Main God’s apostle was precisely removed.

I also read other books.

Numerous books state that the Main God and the Apostle of the Evil God who rule this world will definitely appear, but their characteristics are not mentioned anywhere.

Just then, the title of one book among the stacked books caught my eye.

[The Witch of the Forest]

Could it be referring to that monster I saw on the 2nd floor?

Thinking that I might be able to grasp a clue, I quickly reached out my hand towards the book, but.

“Can you read the letters?”

Aria’s voice was heard.

Turning my head slightly, I saw Aria was already at the doorway.

I cleverly said, looking back at the book as if it was nothing unusual.

“Didn’t you come looking to obtain something like this in the first place?”

“Black magicians use their own unique script. That script hasn’t been deciphered yet.”

“……”

“But, how can you read that?”

This is certainly something I hadn’t thought of.

I thought it was a transmigration privilege that automatically translated things.

If the performance is too outstanding, and I end up reading things that others can’t even read.

Couldn’t I attract suspicion like this?

I placed my hand on my deck and raised my head.

Aria, looking at me with a smile, her head tilted slightly.

Seeing that smile sent chills down my spine.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

『Deck List』

『Elementalist’s Deck』

[Strike] [Strike] [Strike] [Strike]

[Shield] [Shield] [Shield] [Shield]

[Charge] [Wind Blade] [Electrocution] [Fireball]

[Vortex] [Freeze] [Body Enhancement] [Flash]

[Ice Shield] [Darkness] [Immolation] [Water Spray]

[Ice Arrow] [Earth Wall] [Momentum – Power]

[Pause] [Fireball] [Lightning]

[Terrain Manipulation – Power] [Tsunami] [Force Field]

[Mana Overload] [Hail (New)] [Rain (New)]

Attack Cards 13 cards

Skill Cards 15 cards

Power Cards 2 cards

Curse Cards 0 cards

Total 32 cards.