CH. 243: Man-made labyrinth

This is the last chapter of this month. See ya all on 2nd of next month!

A yellow magic lamp flickered, casting a shadow over the eerie sculptures depicting beasts in the halls.

A cat beastman leaned sluggishly on a wooden chair, swinging his chair back and forth. Another man cleaned the blood dripping down the cat beastman's head and wrapped bandages with shaking heads.

"C-Captain Jura."

Jura turned a blind eye to his subordinate's timid call. The memory of a talking golden-winged siren kept playing in his mind. Its fluent words were like any human on the street. How could a monster speak a human's language? While he was utterly flabbergasted, someone knocked him out with a blunt weapon.

If his subordinates waited a minute more to arrive on the 20th floor, they'd have recovered nothing more than his eaten corpse.

"The fuck was that bitch?"

His subordinate hunched over. "C-Captain?"

Jura growled and shoved the man. He tossed his bandages and poured down the potion on his head.

"Fuckers. Go search every corner of the twentieth floor. I want her today."

"Y-Yes."

His subordinates fled the cave.

Now alone in the room, he covered his face while clutching his whip. "I'll sell that fucking bitch and her comrades to the slaves."

"What are you on about, huh?" A rough voice boomed beside his ears.

Jura scrunched his nose slightly before standing straight with a forced smile. The man who appeared had dirty black hair and a muscular chest revealed from his battle clothes. The quartz goggles on his eyes failed to hide his red eyes filled with contempt.

Jura wanted to whip this artisan into shape for all his arrogance. But he couldn't afford to offend Dix Perdix, the captain of Ikelos Familia, for they held the keys to the man-made labyrinth.

Dix narrowed his eyes as though guessing Jura's intentions. He gave a half-hearted shrug and pointed at his head.

"Who smashed your head now?"

"I… fell."

Jura lied. Nobody would believe him even if told the truth, calling him drunk or something.

"A level four adventurer bled from falling? What a joke," Dix sneered. "How is your plan going?"

"The rumors are spread. The fish might come soon."

"Good. Wipe those damn idiots of justice from existence," Dix spat before walking back, disappearing into the halls.

Ikelos Familia, the traders of the black market—they and Astraea Familia never saw eye to eye. Dix sheltered them in Knossos to give them the best spot to ambush them. The only thing stopping Ikelos Familia from expanding their business overseas was Astraea Familia's daily patrol around the market area. It was easy to assume Dix wanted to exterminate Astraea Familia more than Evilus themselves, going as far as to allow them entry into Knossos, the man-made labyrinth built by Daedalus. Jura had seen these tunnels expanding till the 18th floor to Dix's base, but he couldn't see how far they stretched under the streets of Orario.

This was one big mess.

Jura slapped his forehead and guffawed. He loved it more than anything.

"I'm gonna catch you, little asshole."

His whip caught fire.

***

(Asahi POV)

I found nothing on the last floor of Water City, the 27th floor. Rini, who tagged along for the ride, couldn't sense anyone around. The caves had only monsters. So it was a trap specific for Astraea Familia? Do I really have to use them as bait to lure the Evilus out?

"Onii-san."

"It's nothing."

Should I search the 25th and 26th floors too? I had a hunch I wasn't going to find a thing. The instinct skill was useful in cases like these. These rats… where are they hiding?

(My love, I can tell where they are.)

'Geez. I want to find them myself. There is no fun with your help.'

I was serious when I said about having enough of Klyscha's help. She was my wife, and accepting her help was my right. But it made me a bit complacent in improving. I had my own pride too!

(My Love… you are so adorable sometimes.)

'Uh, thank you?'

(Okay, I won't spoil your fun. Why not take Aimi next time? She is an expert hunter and tracker.)

'Better idea.'

It will give Aimi something to do other than slaughtering poor monsters every hour of the day.

"Let's go to the 44th floor and kill some stronger monsters."

Rini and I could resist the fire with our monstrous defense stats while other would need special equipment, other than Saya. The tsundere was having fun idling in the house with a tiny bump on her belly. I couldn't wait to see what becomes of our child.

"Yes!" Rini agreed.

Klyscha sent us through the void.

The floor filled with sweltering heat appeared. The crimson cracks stretching everywhere glowed deeply, as if a splash of burning lava would leap out any second. Distorted rocks laid in our path, seemingly giving no signs of being odd. But my senses picked up the mana inside the rocks. The Life Sense skill only bolstered the fact.

A monster hiding in plain sight. A similar monster popped up in the Water City.

"Onii-san, you sense it?"

"Let's smash."

"H-Here?" Rini glanced at me with upturned eyes.

She misunderstood me, completely. My Rini stepped into the adult world...

(Rini has seen the light!)

The goddess was going wild.

"I meant smashing the monsters with our fists!"

"Ah, sorry. I-I, that. I'm—"

I pulled her cheeks before she could apologise and ruffled her hair. "I'll smash you soon. Don't worry."

"Onii-san…"

*Krawwwwwr!*

The rock monster roared as though jealous of our interactions. It stood on its feet, becoming a giant red humanoid reaching three meters at least. Its crimson mana stone glowed deep within its chest.

Rini dashed forward and punched the giant's chest. It barely moved two steps before coming to halt. The two beady eyes glared down at Rini as if provoking her for her height.

*Crack*

A massive fissure enveloped the glowing stone. Red debris fell off the wound.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*

The magic stone wasn't spared from Rini's wrath as it split into pieces.

—You earned 3650 XP for killing [Level 26 Flame Rock]

Flame Rock… the naming sense of Orario was surprisingly simple.

Rini turned around. With a hand on her hip, she formed a victory smile with her gauntlet, flashing a beaming smile at the same time.

The anime influenced her a little too much. Well, she looked adorable enough to be my hug pillow tonight.

I spotted a few scratches on her gauntlet. It won't be safe if she kept smashing into blazing monsters like this monster.

Finishing Saeko's sword would be tomorrow's goal. Crafting another katana won't be hard after that. Then, Maya's equipment and upgrading Rini's gauntlets.

(My love will be busy.)

'I'll always find time to cuddle with you.'

(Umu.)

"Well done. Time to go wild."

"Yes, Onii-san!"

I treaded deeper into the dungeon, killing the Flame Rock in the way. The corridors were simple and not messy unlike the earlier floors. Not long after, the dungeon started collapsing the wall on us, still failing in its goal to kill us. The dungeon might as well give up on killing demons like us.

The red-scaled lizardmen I met on the 37th floor made a return. Looking almost the same, except for its red glaring eyes glowing in the dim scarlet light.

As strong as it tried to be, it got defeated in one punch.

The easy floor got conquered in less than thirty minutes.

(The strongest siblings!)

'Yep.'