episode_0059

By the time I regained consciousness, we were already well underway.

The sounds of countless explorers and monsters fighting could be heard.

A situation filled with fear, where the sounds of flesh tearing and grotesque screams drowned out human voices.

“Are you alright? I already sprayed some potion.”

Grace was visible.

I immediately spread my senses to survey the surroundings.

Right now, I was being held by Luca and moving.

My party members were around me, and other explorers were next to them.

That group of explorers stretched forward like a long, drawn-out procession.

Like me, some seemed injured, with a few explorers not moving at all, being carried or clinging onto someone.

Clang!!!

A bird falling from the sky strikes the protective shield.

The shield created by the priest is still protecting us, but it seems to be reaching its limit with the continuous attacks falling upon it.

“…I really want to kill all of those.”

Luca, whose one arm had been blown off, muttered.

A blood-stained cloth was visible, as if he had already stopped the bleeding.

Of course, he could regenerate it by paying a massive amount of money upon returning to the Labyrinth City, but losing an arm must still be unimaginable pain.

“Okay, I’m conscious. What’s the situation?”

“We’re being gnawed away bit by bit.”

“The lake?”

“That…”

Seeing Grace hesitate to speak, I knew the situation wasn’t going according to our plans.

“We defeated that giant bird earlier, so now only the black yetis and those birds are left. But as we get closer to the lake, the number of birds is unimaginably high. So we can’t approach and are looking for a place to regroup first.”

Kyaaaaak!!!

A sudden scream is heard.

An explorer is grabbed by a black bird and pulled back up into the sky.

Seeing that, I unleashed a magic circle.

[Strike]

A weak shockwave hits the bird’s body.

Thanks to the fast casting time, which is the advantage of the useless Strike, I was able to save one explorer.

Grace rescues the falling person.

I was slightly impressed by her astonishing movements, running at high speed to evade the birds’ attacks, saving the person, and returning back inside the shield created by the priest.

“Thank you! Mage-nim!”

The rescued man returned to his party members.

Seeing only 3 people remaining, it seemed one had already died.

Despite that, they didn’t grieve and continued forward.

Like explorers who are used to death.

However, even amidst that, there was one person who found mental management difficult.

Thump!!

Erica, who had stepped outside the shield, is attacked by a bird.

Of course, her sturdy body sustained no injuries, but she is the one leading this group right now.

The fact that she is shaken creates unfavorable results for everyone.

“Erica became an explorer around the same time as me, and her party members have barely changed until now. She must not be used to death yet.”

Kylek said calmly.

Come to think of it, the mage in Erica’s party must have been his former colleague. Kylek, as if he didn’t care at all, shot an arrow expressionlessly towards the yeti in front.

But Erica became increasingly unstable.

She even missed the yeti right in front of her and took a hit.

Seeing her like that, Kylek clenched his teeth and moved away from his original position, advancing towards the front.

And immediately shouted into Erica’s ear.

“Snap out of it! Erica!!!”

At that, a startled Erica looked at Kylek’s face.

“Don’t you know what everyone will think if you, the one leading everyone right now, show an attitude like that!!”

Kylek’s voice boomed, filling the surroundings.

“…That’s true.”

Erica avoided Kylek’s eyes, as if she knew it herself.

Kylek, who was watching her, said calmly.

“Do you not have the confidence to lead everyone? Or are you just scared? Were you originally this kind of person?”

“……”

“If so, I will do it!!”

At that moment, a bird lunged at Kylek.

However, as if he had already predicted it, Kylek easily dodged, lightly pushed its shoulder to make it lose balance, and then shot an arrow, snapping its neck.

“Follow me!!! We’ll go straight to the lake and end this at once!”

Kylek took the lead.

The explorers looked at Erica, but after seeing her eyes fixed on the ground, they began to follow Kylek.

The atmosphere was gradually sinking.

Like this, there’s no solution.

“Let’s go to Kylek.”

“…Alright.”

We quickly ran and joined Kylek’s side.

“Ivan. Do you have any ideas?”

“First, I need to assess the situation. Morale seems too low as well.”

First, we need to eliminate the despair that has spread among everyone.

Humans, by nature, are creatures influenced by atmosphere.

At least, I need to make them believe, or rather, mistake the current situation as positive.

By overwhelming the current situation.

“I see it over there.”

The lake began to appear.

The massive bones seen when first entering the 5th floor were nowhere to be found; there was only a giant hot spring radiating warmth.

There were almost no yetis visible here.

However, an enormous number of birds were floating on the surface of the lake, watching this place.

As if he had already been attacked by them once, Kylek spoke to me with clenched teeth.

“If we get just a little closer, all those guys there will attack us!”

“Then we need to kill them all before they can fly.”

Long-range attacks are the mage’s role.

The only mages left here are me and the mage from the Magic Tower.

Since I was incapacitated, it must have been difficult for them to deal with those guys.

Now, I am here.

First, I quickly planned with the Magic Tower mage.

Many explorers joined in on the foundation we built, adding substance.

Soon, a perfect plan was born.

“Let’s begin!!!”

The Magic Tower mage began creating a large number of water arrows.

Countless water arrows.

Unfortunately, it was said that these alone had no lethal power.

Swish!!!

As soon as he shot the barrage of water arrows, I also unleashed a magic circle.

[Purgatory (5)] – Creates a purgatory that sucks in everything.

A single black dot appeared on the lake.

Everything around it began to be sucked into that spot.

Wyverns and yetis withstood this, but the birds could not.

Unlike the heavy and sturdy yetis, the birds were fragile despite gaining high speed.

Kyaaaaah!!!

They tried to escape with grotesque screams, but it was already too late.

Most of the birds began to be sucked in there.

Of course, some were escaping from that spot, but it didn’t matter.

The goal was to reduce their numbers for now.

Most of the birds began to be sucked into the black spot.

All the birds couldn’t avoid the water arrows and were hit.

Seeing the soaking wet birds, I activated a whole cluster of magic circles.

[Electrocution]

[Lightning]

[Thunder Shock]

As I unleashed all types of lightning magic I possessed, the surrounding weather changed.

The electricity gathered around me brightened the world and pushed back the extreme night, if only slightly.

Crackling!!!

The accumulating electricity immediately split into countless branches and flew forward at once.

And pierced, burned, and annihilated all the birds in front of me.

Only a few survived.

That is, we had a chance to rush towards the lake.

“I’ll go.”

As planned, Erica, having received water breathing magic from the Magic Tower mage, ran towards the lake.

Countless birds rushed towards her.

However, compared to the hundreds of birds that brutally fell upon a single target, the number of birds now was visible to the eye.

Therefore, they could not pierce the body of Erica, a high-floor explorer.

She immediately dived into the lake. And not long after, a strong light emanated from the lake.

Simultaneously, all the black birds began to disappear.

And dawn began to rise in the dark sky.

“Could it really be over?”

“We’re alive!!!”

The atmosphere, which had been so heavy, began to gradually revive.

But the extreme night was not yet over.

It didn’t get any brighter; only a shallow dawn illuminated this place.

Nevertheless, the glimmer of hope that had bloomed was enough to lift the mood.

“Achoo!!!”

Someone coughed loudly, as if tension had eased.

“Come to think of it, my clothes got completely soaked when I went into the wave.”

Perhaps because the adrenaline that had been pumping through me disappeared, a chill also began to pierce my body.

I immediately unleashed a magic circle.

[Fire Dragon]

The dragon of flame that rose from the ground was sharing its warmth with everyone around.

Using that dragon as a stove, I walked towards the lake.

“Erica!!!”

Erica was sitting quietly in front of the lake, looking at the water’s surface.

Completely soaked, she soon stood in front of a campfire that had been lit.

I raised the terrain to build a small wall and ceiling overlooking the lake.

We rested inside, protected from the strong wind.

Not long after. A group of explorers stood up.

“May we go recover the bodies?”

A task only possible for explorers who had found some respite.

There was no reason to refuse.

A few guides and explorers departed, and Luca also left on a journey to find his arm.

The atmosphere among the remaining people wasn’t bad.

But Erica was staring blankly at the lake, her expression still not good.

I could hear the reason from Kylek, who was silently standing guard outside.

“They weren’t lovers, but it felt almost like that. Though I don’t know how it was now.”

There was a reason her emotions were particularly heightened.

“…Is that so.”

I have no intention of blaming Erica.

Because I haven’t yet lost someone I’ve grown attached to since coming here.

Because I can’t speak about emotions I haven’t experienced.

“Mage-nim!! We’ve connected with another location!”

Hans, who came out of the small dirt house I made, called out to me.

Following Hans’s guidance, I headed towards the Magic Tower mage.

The Blue Faction Leader was waiting there.

[Both the East and West Lakes have been concluded.]

“Were there any significant problems?”

[Fortunately, it seems about 2 people died. Your side seems to have suffered considerable damage.]

“…Yes.”

Originally, there was no information about a boss-level monster appearing in the lake, so minimal forces were sent to the south, the furthest from Leviathan.

That turned out to be detrimental.

“12 casualties.”

[More died than expected. If you hadn’t been here, you would have been annihilated.]

“You flatter me.”

[A giant cat appeared on our side. You said a bird appeared on yours.]

“That’s right.”

[The west felt similar, they said.]

“Has there been no contact from the north?”

[…That’s right. At this point, we can’t help but consider the worst.]

“Annihilation?”

[Either everyone died or some survived. Anyway, we plan to head north after regrouping as well.]

“How about waiting for the labyrinth reset as is?”

[I’m not sure about the south, but a being even stronger than the yeti appeared here.]

“Then please come south. It seems there are about two days left until the labyrinth reset.”

[Actually, I think so too. The fact that there’s no contact from the north is very suspicious.]

“Please come south. I will persuade the Knight-nim well.”

[…I will connect you.]

Of course, I had no way to persuade the knight-nim, who was a noble.

He was also a very short-tempered person.

This is when I use a connection.

“Hans. Did you hear that?”

“…Yes?”

[What is it?]

I immediately brought Hans forward.

The knight and Hans talked for a while.

Before long, the knight decided to come here.

As soon as the call ended, I went outside.

“Where are you going?”

“Since troops are coming, I need to build a castle.”

I looked around the lake area.

It would be good to make this a natural fortress, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough stamina left for that.

I built earth walls on the path leading in and stacked magic circles while moving cards.

And built a small castle like I did when fighting in the back alley.

Thanks to that, I could be exhausted until the knight and Blue Faction Leader arrived.

*

Time flows.

Blocking the continuously incoming yetis is only possible up to this point.

It was truly difficult to stay conscious when yetis that threw rocks appeared, as well as yetis that threw yetis like catapults.

There were quite a number of casualties.

Fortunately, there were no deaths in our party.

But there were some injuries.

Just the kind that can be recovered with potions.

The yetis kept surging in.

But now there is no fear.

Naturally.

Because it’s almost time for the labyrinth reset.

“10!!!”

Grace shouted.

9.

Even in the difficult fight, hope was etched on everyone’s faces.

But despite that, they continued to swing their weapons.

Because it’s not over until it’s over.

8

7

6

I unleashed all the magic circles on my body.

The yetis were swept away.

Coincidentally, the Blue Faction Leader also unveiled the largest magic he had prepared so far.

Three giant water dragons moved wildly through the crumbling castle, slicing at the clinging yetis.

Simultaneously with Grace shouting, I also counted the numbers in my heart.

3!

2!

1!!!

Ding! The clock announcing midnight rings.

The time of the labyrinth reset.

All of us, satisfied with our victory, were looking around.

“”……””

Huh?

Why isn’t anything happening?