Grab Hold of Hope

Hajime felt something cold and hard digging into his back. The unpleasant sensation

jolted Hajime's hazy consciousness awake.

"….Where…."

Hajime shook his head, got to his feet, and examined his surroundings. The room he

was in was pitch-black, but as he had the Night Vision skill, that was no impediment

to him. A cursory glance told him he was inside the trunk of a tree, but one that was

about twice as large as the one they'd entered after the Treant battle. There was one

other significant difference between this trunk and the other. This trunk wasn't empty.

Rectangular objects had been placed at regularly spaced intervals along the

circumference of the trunk. Each one was large enough to fit a person inside it.

They're like coffins. From the looks of it, Hajime had awoken from within one of the

aforementioned coffins. Aside from that, the room was empty. There didn't appear to

be any exits either. Hajime examined the coffins to either side of him, then dashed over

to the one on the right.

"This…. looks like amber."

Lying inside the coffin was Yue. Not Yue in her transfigured goblin state, but the old,

original Yue. She was suspended in some kind of strange, yellowish-brown semi-solid.

As Hajime had said, the strange substance resembled the kind of amber people often

found preserved fossils in. At first, Hajime had worried she might have been dead, but

then his Sense Presence had picked up on Yue's heartbeat. Furthermore, this Yue

didn't appear to be a fake. This was without a doubt, the real Yue.

There were a total of nine amber coffins in the tree trunk. Hajime checked each one in

turn, and as he'd expected he found the rest of his party encased inside them.

I guess we were all teleported directly into them after the fight with the Treant. Hajime

thought back to the illusion he'd been trapped in until just now. That dream had been

like a Venus flytrap. Had he let himself be lured too deep inside, he would never have

escaped. Chances were, everyone else was seeing similar visions. If they managed to

escape from that world of sweet illusions, they'd likely break free of the amber as he

had. At the very least, that was the conclusion Hajime came to after examining the

coffins.

"Well, at least Yue and Tio are back in their original bodies. All that's left is to see if

they can make it back on their own or not…. though I guess there's no need to worry

on that front."

As far as Hajime could tell, everyone had been returned to their original forms the

moment the party had cleared the floor the Treant was guarding. Hajime sat down on

the edge of Yue's coffin and reached out toward her. Naturally, the amber prevented

him from touching her, but he still caressed the area above her face.

"Hurry up and return to me, Yue. It's been ages since I heard your real voice…."

Hajime toyed with the idea of smashing the amber, but even if that released Yue from

her illusion, it would likely result in them failing the trial and thus failing to clear the

labyrinth.

"….But you know, Yue looked damn good in a school uniform. Shea too…. I'm amazed

dream me was able to keep his composure with those two around. I should ask them

to wear them when we get back to Japan."

Just then, Yue's amber began to glow. Hajime took his hand off it and put some distance

between himself and the coffin. Before long the light faded and the amber started

melting away. The liquified amber vanished into the sides of the coffin as if being

absorbed by them. In less than five minutes, it was all gone.

After confirming that Yue was still breathing, the last of Hajime's worries disappeared

and he gently lifted her up. He didn't want to leave her lying there in the cold. And

more importantly, he just wanted an excuse to hug her. As he brushed the hair out of

her face, Yue's eyes slowly blinked open.

"Welcome back, Yue. How're you feeling?"

"Mmm…. Hajime?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Yue still seemed a little dazed, but her gaze didn't stray from Hajime. Even after she

was fully alert, she continued observing him carefully.

"Are you the real Hajime?"

"I can probably guess why you're asking that, but…. it's better if you decide that for

yourself. Do I look like the real Hajime or a fake?"

From her reaction, Hajime had no doubt that a fake version of him had appeared in

Yue's illusion. It made him happy to know that he was part of Yue's ideal world.

"Just so you know, I'm certain the Yue in my arms right now is the real Yue."

Yue blinked in confusion a few times, then smiled faintly as she realized what Hajime

was trying to say. Like Hajime, she was happy to know that she had been part of his

ideal world. Her expression softened and she questioned his resolve.

"How can you be sure?" Yue already knew the answer, but she asked anyway. It was

important that she heard it from Hajime's mouth.

Hajime understood that as well, so he shrugged his shoulders and replied.

"Because I don't sense anything off about you. Something deep inside my souls telling

me that the Yue in front of me right now is the one who's special to me."

"Fufu…. I feel the same way about you, Hajime. I can tell you're the real one. Sorry, I

asked such a pointless question."

"It's fine, you just woke up after all."

Hajime shrugged his shoulders, and Yue wrapped her arms around his neck. He

hugged her back and squeezed her tight. Cough!

"How was the me in your illusion?"

"You looked great in my school uniform."

That hadn't been the response Yue was expecting, but she chuckled regardless. It was

funny how easy Hajime's mind was to read.

"Mmm…. I'll wear it for you sometime, then."

"I'll be looking forward to it. How about you, how was your illusion?"

Cough! Cough!

Yue buried her face in Hajime's neck and kissed it over and over.

"….You looked great sitting on the throne in royal robes."

"Sorry, I'd be willing to wear royal robes for you, but I don't think I'll ever sit on a

throne. Actually, why the heck was I even on a throne?"

"Because I was the queen. And we already had 11 children."

"What the heck kind of fantasy was that!? And why the hell's our family so big!? Are

you planning to make a soccer team out of just our kids!?" Hajime so so shocked he

pulled Yue off him and stared at her.

Yue licked her lips seductively in place of a reply. Hajime's heart skipped a beat and

his ironclad confidence in his ability to keep his cool no matter the situation wavered

a little.

"Fufu, look forward to it…."

"….Hah, I guess I'm no match for you, after all, Yue."

Cough! Cough! Cough!!!

Hajime threw up his hands in defeat, and Yue smiled playfully in response. Now this is

the Yue I remember. Hajime wrapped his arms behind Yue and hugged her tight. Yue

was longing for the same thing he was, so she obediently closed her eyes and lifted her

chin. Hajime was captivated by her soft, rosy cheeks, bewitching lips, and the tiny

tongue that occasionally darted out between them.

The two of them leaned into each other, their lips drawing closer and closer. Just before

they touched, however, the two of them were interrupted.

Ack! Cough! Cough! Hic! Ack! Cough!

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

They thought they'd just been imagining the coughing they'd been hearing, but it

seemed not. Unable to ignore it any longer, the two exchanged glances and, after a brief

pause, turned toward the source of the sound. Standing there was none other than

Shea.

"Look, I know, I know, you don't want me around anyway. Even though I worked so

hard to come back to reality…. this is what I've returned to. Ugh…. I even tried to

remind you guys I was here by coughing…. But you…. just ignored me…. Reality is just

too cruel."

Her bunny ears were drooping, and she was sobbing uncontrollably. Hajime couldn't

help but pity her a little. It appeared Shea had awoken not long after Yue, but as the

two of them had had eyes only for each other, so they hadn't noticed her. Truly, it was

a shame.

Shea tottered over to a corner of the room, sat down cradling her knees, and sulked.

However, Hajime didn't miss the suggestive glances she occasionally threw his way.

Whatever the case, it had been cruel of them to ignore Shea right after she'd completed

her ordeal and shattered her illusion. And so, Hajime and Yue smiled wryly to each

other and went to comfort Shea. After a few minutes of fondling her ears, her tiny tail

was wagging with excitement. As Hajime caressed her soft fur, he spouted words of

comfort.

"Yep, a Shea without bunny ears just isn't any good. Shea's only Shea because she has

those. In fact, without them, she wouldn't be Shea. The ears are Shea's true essence."

"Umm, I have no idea what you're trying to say, but I'm more than just my rabbit ears.

Though you're obsessing them even more than usual today, Hajime-san. Did

something happen inside your illusion?"

"Yeah, dream you didn't have any bunny ears. You were just a boring Shea."

"Mmm…. does that even still count as Shea?"

"Excuse me Yue-san. While I admit my ears are my trademark, I'm still me without

them."

A chill ran down Shea's spine. They don't really care more about my ears than me, do

they? Hajime then asked her what kind of illusion she'd been shown, and Shea

explained that she'd been living in a world where all of her family, even the ones the

empire had killed, were alive and well. Even her friend Mona, who'd died when she

was young, had been there. On top of that Hajime and Yue had been with her as well.

She'd spent her days living happily in the sea of trees with everyone.

Incidentally, Yue's illusion had been one where she hadn't been betrayed and her

nation still stood. On top of that, Shea, Kaori, and Tio were all her friends while Hajime

was her husband, and as she'd mentioned before, they had 11 kids.

"As for me, I'd never been summoned to this world and was living my life peacefully

with Yue and Shea in Japan. I guess the labyrinth wanted to show me a world where I

didn't have to suffer through Orcus' labyrinth, but still had all the happiness I'd found

along the way."

"I see…. That definitely sounds like an ideal world."

"….How did you break your illusion, Shea?"

Shea grinned at that question and replied.

"Well, I couldn't just deny who I am, not that I wanted to anyway, so I just told Haltina

'How dare you use my family to manipulate me, you cheating monster!' and started

smashing everything."

"I see…." Yue nodded in understanding. Hajime smiled and nodded as well. In her

illusion, Shea had likely been the same weak girl she'd been before meeting Hajime

and Yue. That was probably what she hadn't been able to accept.

"Since I met you guys before the empire found us in my illusion, we all started living

together without having to fight anyone. So I spent all my time being protected by you

two. But you know, I think deep down I knew there was no way I'd really be allowed

to stay with you guys if I was that weak. I mean, it was nice that Hajime-san said he'd

protect me, and I was happy when Yue-san said she'd take care of everything…. It

really felt good letting myself get spoiled. But the more time I spent like that, the more

it started to feel wrong somehow…. and before I knew it, I'd decided to fight for myself.

Together with all of you."

"So that's how you got back…."

"That's right! I want to keep fighting together with you two, Hajime-san, Yue-san. Even

if it means I have to go through even more painful things in the future."

She's become a lot tougher now…. Hajime thought to himself.

When they'd first met, she'd just been a worthless loser of a rabbit, but now she'd

changed completely. And the impetus for her change had been her desire to stand

together with Hajime and Yue. That, and her love for Hajime specifically. Though

Hajime didn't feel the same about Shea as he did about Yue, he couldn't deny that he

felt something for her. He wrapped his arms around Shea's head and hugged her close.

Yue, who'd already guessed Hajime's feelings, smiled kindly.

"U-Umm, Hajime-san?"

"What're you getting all flustered for….? Welcome back, Shea. You did good."

"Ah…. Thank you!" Shea grinned. Though Hajime hadn't said it, he'd clearly been

implying that she belonged with them. Her smile was so pure and full of happiness

that Hajime couldn't help but be charmed by it.

The trio huddled together in a group hug and continued talking about their respective

illusions. After a few minutes, another one of the amber coffins began to glow. Another

one of their comrades had broken free of the prison of temptation and returned to

reality.

"I'm pretty sure that coffin had…." Yue increased the intensity of her magical light,

illuminating the figure breaking free of its amber cage. And after a few more

seconds—

"Pathetic! Master would never punish me in such a lukewarm manner! If you wish to

mimic him, you must do better than that!"

"...."

Naturally, the person shaking her fist in the air was none other than Tio. That outburst

had been enough to give Hajime and the others a decent idea of what kind of illusion

Tio had been seeing, and they all glared coldly at her. Hajime's gaze, in particular, was

colder than the Siberian tundra. I don't even want to imagine what kind of things I was

doing in her dream.

Upon realizing she was being watched, Tio shivered with excitement. She turned

around, her expression ecstatic. When she realized who it was staring at her, her smile

grew wider. She locked eyes with Hajime and ran over to him like a puppy dashing

toward her owner.

"Masteeeeeeeeer, I have returned! Praise meee!" She tried to knock down Hajime the

same way she had back when she'd been a goblin. Naturally, Hajime responded with a

rubber bullet from Donner.

"Awah!?" There was a loud bang, and Tio flipped backward through the air. She landed

headfirst into the ground and groaned in rapture. Hajime's next course of action was

to step on her. It was the only way he could stop her from writhing in such a creepy

manner.

"Damn perverted dragon. What the hell did you make me do in your illusion?"

"Nhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah this is what I longed for! Oh, to be shot and stepped on

the moment I return to reality! To be gazed at as if I'm nothing more than trash! A fake

could never hope to grant me such exquisite pleasure! This is the Master I know and

love!"

"Die, you damn pervert."

"Abababaaba!"

Unable to listen to another word, Hajime jolted Tio with a surprisingly powerful

Lightning Field. She arched her back, spasmed for a few seconds, then fell to the

ground. White smoke rose from her limp body. Her expression was so disgusting that

it couldn't be described without needing to be censored. That being said, she certainly

looked happy. Of course, her happiness only made Hajime angrier.

"Ahaha…. I guess even the creator of a labyrinth couldn't understand Tio-san's fetishes.

Haltina tried to create a pervert's ideal world, but in the end, Tio-san escaped because

it wasn't good enough."

"Haltina, you have my respect." Yue stood up straight and saluted. Hajime could have

sworn he saw a vision of Haltina salute back with tears in their eyes.

"It truly is a blessing to be able to enjoy Master's rewards. The real Master is truly

peerless." Tio bounced back from Hajime's attack looking no worse for the wear.

Annoyed, Hajime took aim with Donner to put another bullet in her, but then stopped.

"...." He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Tio's expression.

"Hmm? What seems to be the matter, Master? Have you finally fallen for my beauty?

Nufufu."

Tio flashed him a winsome smile, and Hajime breathed a prolonged sigh. He stepped

in close and patted Tio on the head. She looked at him blankly as he did that, so he

spoke his mind.

"If you want me to fall for you, don't force yourself to smile. Even your usual perverted

expression is better than that. Anyway…. welcome back, Tio."

Tio's eyes went wide in surprise, and she blinked a few times before covering her eyes

and blushing in embarrassment.

"Mmm, thank you, Master," she muttered. It was then that Yue and Shea noticed what

Hajime had already puzzled out. Out of everyone here, Tio was the one who'd lived the

longest. As one of the near-extinct dragon tribe, she'd seen the most horrors and

experienced the most suffering. She undoubtedly had more regrets than the others.

Considering all she had lost, the illusion the labyrinth had shown her must have been

far more wonderful than anything it could have shown Hajime or the others. It would

have been a veritable treasure trove, filled with all the people and things she'd lost

over the centuries.

That was likely the reason why it had taken her longer to wake up than the others too.

However, she'd tried to act normal in an attempt to cover up the feelings she'd bottled

inside. It was only thanks to Hajime's sharp perception that he'd noticed something

was off.

"Welcome back, Tio-san."

"Mmm…. I'm glad you're back, Tio."

"Shea, Yue…. Thank you." Hajime and the others smiled at Tio's bashful response,

which made her blush even harder.

A short while later, another one of the amber coffins began to glow. It appeared the

next person to escape the world of illusions would be Kaori. Hajime and the others

rushed over as she gasped for breath and opened her eyes. When she spotted her

friends standing around her, she breathed a sigh of relief. However, when her eyes met

Hajime's, she blushed bright red and backpedaled all the way to the wall. This was the

first time she'd ever backed away from Hajime, and he was somewhat confused. He

turned to Yue and the others, hoping they might have an explanation. Worried about

what they might say, Kaori hurriedly tried to explain her odd behavior.

"Ah, u-um, it's not what you think, Hajime-kun! I just, uh…. Anyway, it's nothing really!

I'm not trying to avoid you or anything!"

"I don't really mind…. Something must've happened in your illusion to make you act

like that, right? What the heck did you see in there?"

"Huh? Um, I…." Kaori's blush spread all the way up her face, and she trailed off. With a

garbled groan, she squatted down on the ground and cradled her head. She couldn't

bring herself to meet Hajime's gaze.

The other girls were more or less able to guess what kind of illusion Kaori had been

based on her reaction. Tio grinned and said "Oho…." while Shea blushed and muttered

"So bold, Kaori-san…." while looking away. Yue, on the other hand, pulled no punches.

"Kaori, you pervert." She glared coldly down at Kaori, who twitched and hurriedly

tried to deny it.

"I-I am not! D-Don't just accuse me like that!"

"Then what kind of dream were you in?"

"W-Well…. I-I was just living an ordinary everyday life."

"I see…. An ordinary everyday life where you seduced Hajime every night."

"I did not! I might have pushed him down at first, but after that, it was Hajime-kun

who…. Ah!"

"You're too dangerous to be allowed near Hajime anymore."

"Th-That's not true! Hajime-kun, don't listen to her, okay? I'd never do anything like

that to you."

"Yeah yeah, I know, don't worry."

"Ugh…."

It seemed Kaori had done quite a few naughty things with the Hajime in her illusion.

Apparently, Kaori had shaken Hajime off and escaped just before they'd gone all the

way, but she still seemed to be regretting that choice a little. The entire time she was

explaining her dream, she shot covert glances at Hajime to judge his reaction. That

only made Yue want to tease her more, and she whispered something into Kaori's ear

that caused her to cover her face in embarrassment again. Yue was like a cat, toying

with her food before she went in for the kill. And Kaori was the poor mouse caught in

her clutches.

"Anyway, looks like all of us managed to escape safely."

"Yep. What are we going to do about the hero and his friends?" Shea asked as she

glanced over at the remaining amber coffins.

"Let me think…. Worst case, we can always break them out, but for now, let's wait and

see if they can break out with their own strength. If they can't, then there was no point

bringing them here in the first place."

"How long should we wait?"

"However long it takes for me to eat and rest up, I guess? I could have broken out of

the illusion the normal way, but I got kinda pissed and used all my mana to smash it

by force, so I need to rest for a little bit anyway."

"Why do you always do things like this?" Shea said with a sigh.

Hajime never thought he'd see the day he'd be lectured by Shea of all people.

"I know I know, it was dumb. I've been letting this labyrinth rile me up way too easily."

"Yep. But well, I can see why you'd be mad, since it keeps using Yue-san as bait…."

"That's not a good enough excuse. If I keep letting this stuff get to me, it'll turn into a

weakness that can be exploited. It's gonna be hard, but I'll try and learn how to keep

my cool in here."

Hajime's resolve truly was admirable, and Shea watched him with admiration. Then,

after a quick glance over at Yue, who was still bullying Kaori while Tio watched on, she

leaned in close to Hajime and whispered something.

"Umm, Hajime-san?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ended up like Yue-san had…. would you have gotten mad on my behalf, too?"

She then looked away, embarrassed, though her ears were still pointed in Hajime's

direction. Even if he wouldn't get as mad about her fake being used to manipulate him

as he would if it were Yue, she still wanted to believe it would at least upset him.

Hajime thought about giving a noncommittal answer, but after seeing the faint

glimmer of hope in Shea's eyes he scratched his cheek awkwardly and decided to

speak honestly this time.

"The reason I felt like shattering that shitty illusion wasn't just because of Yue. You

were in my dream as well. And well…. I didn't want any Shea except for the one sitting

in front of me."

"Ah…. Ehehe, I see." Shea smiled, and her tail and ears began wagging back and forth.

He reaction was so cute that Hajime reflexively started fondling her again.

Afterward, Kaori came crying to Hajime when she couldn't take Yue's bullying

anymore, and Shea disentangled herself from him to comfort her. Meanwhile, Yue

puffed her chest out proudly and Tio…. Well, Tio's reaction wasn't important.

Regardless, the five of them continued horsing around while they ate, and before they

knew it three hours had passed. However, none of the hero's party had awoken.

"Guess it's about time…."

"Mmm…. Yeah."

"I guess that's that. It's not like we can keep waiting forever."

Hajime looked at the coffins, considering how best to forcibly remove Kouki and the

others from them. Yue and Shea both seemed to agree that there was no point in

waiting any longer too. However, Kaori didn't.

"Can…. Can we wait just a little bit longer? I'm sure Shizuku-chan won't let something

like this beat her…."

Kaori understood best just how desperately Shizuku and the others wanted to clear

this labyrinth and obtain ancient magic of their own. After all, having even one would

help them tremendously in gathering the others. Also, Kaori personally wanted

Shizuku and the others to get stronger because she believed they'd help in finding a

way back home.

For his part, Hajime wanted them to grow stronger as well, in preparation for the

battles to come, so he shrugged his shoulders and agreed to Kaori's plea. Kaori smiled

and attempted to hug him, only to be blocked by Yue. While the two of them were

grappling with each other, one of the coffins started to glow.

"That one's…. Shizuku-chan!"

"I figured Yaegashi would be the fastest."

"Indeed, Shizuku has a good head on her shoulders. It does not surprise me that she

discovered the illusion first."

Kaori forgot her previous quarrel and dashed over to Shizuku's coffin. Shizuku

groaned and opened her eyes, and Kaori helped her into a sitting position.

"This place is…. Kaori?"

"It's me, Shizuku-chan. Welcome back."

"So I made it back to reality. Phew…. That was tiring…."

Shizuku sighed and shook her head. She then smiled at Kaori and muttered, "Thanks."

Seeing that she'd awoken, Hajime and the others walked over as well.

"You sure took your sweet time. Still, I'm glad you made it."

"Huh? Oh, N-Nagumo-kun…. Y-Yeah. It was tough, but I managed somehow." For some

reason, Shizuku started stuttering when she talked to Hajime.

Yue and the others stared suspiciously at her, since the reaction was definitely odd.

Shizuku coughed a few times to hide her strange behavior and examined her

surroundings. However, she couldn't hide the faint blush that had appeared on her

cheeks.

"….So Kouki and the others are still inside?"

"Yep. We got out a few hours ago, but you're the only one who's escaped since then,

Shizuku-chan."

"I see. It certainly was a grueling trial. Sorry I made you guys wait so long."

"Don't worry about it, Shizuku-san. If anything, you should be glad you made it

through. Also, if you don't mind, there's something I want to ask you…."

"Thank you, Shea. And feel free."

Shizuku felt a sliver of dread from Shea's tone, but she tried her best to remain calm.

However, the one who ended up asking was not Shea, but Yue.

"...…"

"Wh-What is it?"

"...…."

"Um, I won't know what you want if you just stare at me like that, Yue."

Yue was standing right next to Shizuku and staring intently at her. She neither moved

nor blinked nor showed any kind of expression. She just stood there and stared. There

was something intimidating about being stared at silently from point-blank like that.

Despite Yue's beauty, Shizuku couldn't help but feel a little terrified.

Shizuku tried to avoid Yue's gaze, but it bored into her whether she met it or not.

Finally, Yue asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Shizuku…. what kind of dream did you see?"

"Huh? It was a totally normal one. I was just living my everyday life like a normal girl."

"Normal? Who else was in it?"

"Everyone. Everyone I know anyway."

"I see…."

Shizuku met Yue's gaze as she said that. Her voice neither wavered nor trembled.

However, her vague reply made it clear that she didn't want to go into details about

the contents of her dream. Yue and the others understood that, so they decided not to

press her any further for now. Shizuku breathed a sigh of relief as she realized Yue was

backing off.

The party then brought Shizuku over to the center of the room, where they'd prepared

some tea. Tired as she was, Shizuku was grateful for the break. As she sat down, she

muttered to herself.

"I can't believe I was a princess. And of all the people, the prince had to be…."

Few people heard her quiet grumbling.

A few hours later, Shizuku had fully recovered. None of her remaining party members

had escaped from their coffins, so Hajime decided it was time to finally break them

out by force. They couldn't afford to delay their progress any further. Either Hajime or

Yue could have easily smashed the amber, but they decided to leave it in the hands of

the person most suited for it.

"Alright Kaori, we're counting on you. Just make sure you don't accidentally

disintegrate their bodies too."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. If I'm not in the middle of a fight, I can control the power

perfectly."

Kaori placed her hands on the amber and started pouring her mana into it. Her silver

mana glinted like moonlight inside the dim tree trunk.

"Disintegrate."

Kaori had no need to say anything to cast her spell, but she did anyway to help her

focus. The amber didn't melt like it had for the others, but instead withered away and

dispersed as it was broken down into particles too small to see. It took only a few

minutes to disintegrate the amber surrounding Kouki, Ryutarou, and Suzu. Worried

that the unorthodox method of freeing them might have affected their bodies

somehow, Kaori ran a diagnosis on them, but it appeared they were in perfect health.

"….Huh? Kaori? Shizuku? Where am I? I thought the two of you were…."

"Huh? Where is this? I thought I was…."

"Huh? No, Eri, don't…."

Before long, the three of them woke up from their respective dreams. As they hadn't

realized they were in the middle of an illusion, they were confused by the sudden

change in scenery.

Suzu's hand was stretched out toward the ceiling, and it was obvious from her words

what it was she was trying to grab onto. She must have been dreaming about Eri.

Considering how much Eri's betrayal had hurt Suzu, it was hardly surprising that she

hadn't been able to break free from her dream.

Shizuku and Kaori watched Suzu with pained expressions on their faces. Suzu was

always the one who acted the most cheerful out of everyone, but that betrayal had left

deep scars on her heart. Scars that hadn't fully healed yet.

"Are the three of you alright?"

"Suzu-chan…."

Finally, the three of them started to realize that what they'd been seeing until just now

was an illusion. Each of them had a different reaction to that knowledge. Ryutarou

looked a little depressed, but then scratched his head awkwardly and spoke wistfully.

"Well, I guess that's just how it is."

Kouki, on the other hand, looked darkly at the ground and balled his trembling hands

into fists. Suzu tried to play it off with a smile, but everyone could tell her smile was

hollow. Unable to bear seeing it any longer, Kaori and Shizuku hugged Suzu tight.

However, it appeared the labyrinth wasn't going to give them time to come to terms

with their feelings. Another magic circle began to glow underneath their feet. It

appeared once all members broke free of their amber coffins, the challengers were

sent on to the next stage.

"Amanogawa, Taniguchi. There's no time to reflect on your visions. If you don't pull

yourselves together, the things you desire will fall forever out of your reach."

"Ah…. You don't need to tell me twice."

Y-Yeah, you're right!"

There was a blinding flash, and Hajime and the others were once again teleported.

The party found themselves once more in a sea of trees. Unlike before though, they

could see the ceiling and had a clear guidepost for where they were meant to go. From

what Hajime could tell, this space was similar to the forest he'd encountered in the

Great Orcus Labyrinth and was situated in an enclosed, underground space. While

most of the trees were of uniform size, there was one further in that was much larger

than the rest. If this room followed the same pattern as the others, that was where

their next teleportation circle was.

"Looks like we all made it together this time," Hajime said as he looked over the party.

He'd been worried they'd get hit with more fakes, but it appeared that had been a

needless concern.

"Hajime, are there any fakes?"

"Nope, everyone's real. At least, that's what my eye and my instincts tell me."

"If you think we're fine, then we're definitely fine Hajime-san."

Shea and the others relaxed visibly. The party then set off through the dense jungle

toward the large tree in the distance. Hajime glanced back to make sure everyone was

still with him and noticed Kouki and Suzu both had dark expressions still. Hajime

could understand why Suzu still wasn't over her dream. Going from an illusion where

your best friend was still with you into a reality where she'd betrayed and nearly killed

you was about as traumatic as it got. The dream had likely reopened the emotional

wounds that had barely begun to heal.

That still left Kouki, however. Hajime had no idea what he'd seen, but judging by

Kouki's sunken eyes, and the neutral expression he was struggling to keep, it must

have left quite the negative impression on him. That, or he was frustrated at failing to

overcome yet another trial. But while Hajime did sympathize, this was a labyrinth. A

murderous maze where the party could be thrown into a life-threatening situation at

any moment. If Suzu and Kouki kept carrying that emotional baggage with them, they

wouldn't last long.

"Amanogawa, Taniguchi. Are you guys really serious about tackling this labyrinth?"

"Wha!? O-Of course we are!"

"Huh? Y-Yeah, I am!"

Hajime's sharp glare pierced through the both of them. Ryutarou seethed at Hajime's

caustic words, but before he could come to his friends' defense, Hajime continued.

"This is a labyrinth. Death lurks around every corner. We might be thrown into hell at

any second. If you can't focus anymore, you may as well give up here. Otherwise, you'll

die."

"W-Wait, I…."

"Regardless of your reasons, the fact of the matter was that you couldn't clear the last

trial. At the very least, you need the determination to pass all the others if you want to

survive. And I don't see that determination from either of you. If your will's been

broken, then you're worth less than dead weight."

"...…"

"I'm not sure if I can or not, but I'll try to open a portal back to the surface from here.

If I can't, I can create a barrier around you guys to keep you safe until we return. So

decide, here and now. Are you willing to do this, or not? I won't let anyone with

halfhearted feelings continue on with us."

Silence followed Hajime's speech. Kouki grit his teeth in an attempt to hold in his rage.

He wasn't angry at Hajime, but at himself for being so weak. He'd unconsciously felt a

sense of safety, knowing that even if he was distracted Hajime and the others would

be able to clean up anything that came their way.

The whole reason he was here was because he didn't agree with Hajime's methods or

his morals, and he wanted the strength to prove that Hajime was mistaken. And yet,

after forcing his way into Hajime's party, here he was relying on him. He wanted to

punch himself. But if he let himself get carried away by his anger, he'd just be proving

to Hajime that he didn't have the mettle to keep going. Kouki took in a few deep

breaths, letting his anger and impatience dissipate, then slapped his cheeks.

"Nagumo. I'm fine now. I can keep going!"

The light had returned to his eyes. Hajime gave Kouki a small nod, then turned to Suzu.

Suzu started trembling, but then she too slapped her cheeks and renewed her resolve.

"I'll go too. I'm not done yet!"

"I see. Good. Remember to stay focused."

That was all Hajime said before turning around and resuming his trek. Ryutarou

stepped up behind Kouki and gave him a slap on the back.

"Ow!" Kouki exclaimed, then gave his best friend a rueful smile. Kaori and the others

encouraged Suzu in a similar fashion, and she gave them a slightly less forced smile.

The party advanced in a straight line toward the giant tree. The forest was deathly

silent. Not only was the sound of insects absent, but there wasn't even any wind to

rustle the leaves. The surrounding silence made the noise of Hajime and the others'

advance even more pronounced.

"Hmmm…. There's something ominous in the air."

"Yeah…. It's like when we were ambushed in Orcus."

"You're right…. but I can't sense any monsters anywhere."

Tio raised her eyebrows suspiciously, while Kaori and Shizuku thought back to the

time Cattleya had ambushed them in the Great Orcus Labyrinth.

"I've sent my Arachnae up ahead to scout, but they didn't find anything either. I doubt

we'll get through this forest without anything happening, but…."

Hajime was referring to his multipurpose spider-shaped golems.

"….Hm? Rain?"

"You're right, it has started raining."

Kouki scrunched up his face and looked up at the sky. Suzu held out her hand and

nodded in agreement. A second later, chills ran down their spine as they realized what

they'd just said. There was no way it could be raining inside a tree.

"Tch, Yue!"

"Okay…. Hallowed Ground."

Realizing what was going on, Hajime called out to Yue. Without a moment's delay, Yue

deployed a barrier. A second later, a heavy downpour hit them. Yue's Hallowed Ground

had come up just in time to keep the rain off them. However, no one looked relieved.

In fact, they now looked more worried than before.

Considering what was happening outside, it was only natural. The liquid sliding down

Yue's Hallowed Ground was most definitely not rainwater. It was either poison or

some kind of strange new monster.

It was Shizuku who noticed first.

"Nagumo-kun, look."

Despite her strained voice, she was still calm enough to analyze the situation. And

what she saw was some strange opaque milky liquid oozing out of the trees, the

foliage, and the ground.

"Are those slimes? Damn. Not only are they masking their presence, but I also can't

even see them with my Demon Eye. Just what kind of concealment magic are they

using?"

"Nagumo, they're at our feet!"

Hajime mentally clicked his tongue, then looked down to see the slimes sprouting

from the ground directly underneath them. As Hallowed Ground formed a fully

spherical barrier, it prevented the white slimes from burrowing through from

underground, but it couldn't protect against creatures that were in the part of the soil

it encompassed. The few slimes that had sprouted within Yue's barrier attacked the

party.

"Kyaaa! You little…. Disintegrate!"

Kaori hurriedly attempted to obliterate the slime that was crawling up her leg. The

slime burst into tiny white particles and crumbled away. Slimes tended to attack by

engulfing their target and dissolving them, as it was the best way to make use of their

high physical resistance. But it appeared Kaori had managed to get rid of it before it

could do anything.

"Raaaaaah! Get off me!" Ryutarou slammed a fist into the slime trying to swallow him

from behind. His gauntlet artifact sent ripples through the slime's body, and it burst

apart.

"Hey, Ryutarou, stop! Don't send their pieces flying over here!"

"You muscle-headed moron! Don't use your full strength against them!"

"Huh? Oh, my bad!"

"Bleh, I'm all sticky. This stuff's disgusting."

Kouki and Shizuku protested hotly against Ryutarou's hasty actions, while Suzu

examined the white goop covering her.

"Seriously dude, you gotta stop doing this. Are you alright Shizu—"

"Yes, I'm just fine, Kouki. At least these things die pretty easily…. Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Huh?"

For labyrinth monsters, these white slimes were quite weak. Shizuku kept her guard

up in case they had another trick up their sleeve as she gave Kouki a puzzled look.

Kouki averted his gaze, doing his best not to look at Shizuku. Not only that, he was

avoiding looking at Suzu as well. Even though there were slimes popping up from

everywhere, he kept his gaze focused firmly ahead. Shizuku grew even more curious

about Kouki's strange behavior, but she put in the back of her mind for now and

focused on eliminating the slimes with her katana's special skill, Thunder Blossom.

The reason for Kouki's strange behavior lay in the milky-white composition of the

slimes. More specifically, the fact that both Shizuku and Suzu had been splattered with

their dead bodies. It wasn't hard to imagine what being drenched in milky-white liquid

looked like from a guy's perspective. Though it appeared neither Shizuku or Suzu had

noticed that yet. Naturally, Yue and the others weren't spared from the deluge of white

either.

As Yue was using fire magic to burn away the slimes their corpses weren't splashing

onto her, but she'd been hit by a little bit of the initial deluge, and sticky white liquid

dripped down her cheeks and neck. Shea, on the other hand, had used Drucken's

shockwave to blow away the first wave of slimes, landing her in the same situation as

Ryutarou. She was splattered with the white liquid of the monsters she'd killed.

Tio had had it even worse though. She'd been hit by most of the splatter of Shea's first

few kills and was completely drenched. Shea hadn't aimed for Tio or anything like that,

Tio had just been unlucky enough to be standing in the wrong spot. She resembled

one of those variety show contestants who'd had a pie thrown in their face. Her black

hair and kimono were slathered in sticky white liquid. It was hard to look at her and

not be aroused.

Kaori, however, had come out relatively untouched. Thanks to her disintegration

abilities, she didn't need to worry about the slimes she defeated splattering her.

However, traces of the slime who'd first caught onto her leg were still there, so she

wasn't in that much better shape than the others.

Hajime had opted to surround his entire body with Lightning Field, making him more

or less invincible against the slimes. As he electrocuted wave after wave, he considered

poking out Kouki and Ryutarou's eyes again so that they wouldn't accidentally see Yue

or the others in compromising poses. But while the slimes appeared weak, there was

no telling what might happen inside a labyrinth. Hajime didn't particularly want to

leave two party members vulnerable by robbing them of their sight.

Besides, if they end up seeing something, I can always just beat the memories out of them

later. Kouki shuddered. He instinctively sensed the threat Hajime posed and did his

best not to look in Yue and the others' direction.

Soon enough, the party had wiped out the few slimes who'd made their way into the

barrier. After making sure there were no enemies left inside, Hajime turned his

attention to the wriggling mass outside. He sent his Cross Bits and chakrams out of

the barrier and started mowing down slimes.

"You've gotta be kidding me…."

From the visual feed his Cross Bits sent back to his Demon Eye, Hajime could tell there

was an enormous amount of slimes waiting outside the barrier. To make matters

worse, more were still raining down from the sky. The forest was buried under a sea

of milky-white slimes. Had Yue not been able to put up a barrier as fast as she had, the

party might have been overrun by the sheer number of them.

"Yue, reinforce the barrier. I'm gonna blow everything up at once."

"Okay…. Leave it to me."

Hajime sent all seven of his Cross Bits and all seven of his chakram up into the sky.

"Are you fucking serious!? You're going to bring that hellfire back!?"

"Not this again…."

"Ugh, if it wasn't for Kaorin's restoration magic, my barrier would have been destroyed

back then. I thought we were all done for. Honestly, I was more scared of Nagumo-kun

than the enemy!"

Ryutarou trembled in fear while Shizuku's eyes glazed over. Suzu teared up, as

memories of Hajime's traumatizing attack came back to her. Kouki looked silently up

at the sky. He was more worried about being blinded right now than anything.

Unfortunately for Ryutarou, he'd already made the mistake of looking. While Hajime

was currently busy dealing with the slimes, he made a mental note to put Ryutarou

through his special memory-erasure course later.

"Kaori, use your disintegration to get rid of all the slime goop on you guys. It doesn't

look pretty," Hajime sent to Kaori via telepathy.

How come he only sent that to me? And why telepathy? Kaori tilted her head, but in the

next second she realized what Hajime had meant by "it doesn't look pretty." She looked

down at herself and blushed. "Yeah, this isn't…." she muttered. The reason Hajime had

used telepathy was out of consideration for Shizuku and the others, who still hadn't

noticed. It'd be embarrassing if a guy pointed it out to them.

"Th-Thank you, Hajime-kun. I'll clean us up right away. Also, please don't hurt

Ryutarou-kun too much."

"….I'll think about it."

Kaori had already guessed what Hajime was thinking of doing to Ryutarou. She smiled

ruefully at his response and swiftly dissolved the sticky liquid clinging to everyone.

Hajime returned his attention to the feed from the sky that his Cross Bits were sending

him.

How long is this slime rain going to go on for? Is there an infinite amount stored up there?

In that case, I'll have to do something about the ceiling first. He glanced down at the

rising tide of slimes and decided to push his chakrams even faster toward the ceiling.

The rotating chakrams sliced through the slimes falling in their path and lodged

themselves into the ceiling. Half-sunk into the bedrock as they were, the chakrams

resembled mini-arches. It just so happened that the inside of those arches were

portals that Hajime could control at will.

Hajime then took a few spare charkam and a lot of Arachnae out of his Treasure Trove.

Shizuku, Suzu, and Kaori froze when they saw a swarm of mechanical spiders appear

in mid-air. Hajime paid no attention to their discomfort and dropped them through

the chakrams. They reappeared through the portals on the ceiling, and started

scuttling around in all directions. Since they weren't combat-oriented, Hajime could

control up to 100 of them at once. The swarm of spiders glowed red as they scuttled

across the ceiling, and Hajime activated his Transmutation through each of them.

Hajime's goal was to seal up all the cracks the slimes were dripping down through. His

plan worked. With every crack he sealed, the deluge of slimes slowed.

"Alright, that's the ceiling dealt with. Now we just have to get rid of the slimes on the

ground…. I guess I'll have to burn everything down again."

Hajime sounded more like a terrorist than a Synergist, and Kouki's expression

cramped up. Hajime ignored him and manipulated his chakram to dislodge

themselves from the ceiling and circle above the sea of slimes. Then, like before, he

started teleporting vast quantities of taur through them.

"This is what you get for spraying that disgusting goop over Yue and the others."

It felt as if these slimes had been purposely designed white by Haltina in order to

create a situation like the one that had just happened.

This liberator sure likes to mess with people. She reminds me of the one in Reisen Gorge.

Haltina's little prank had gone too far though, and now Hajime was pissed. While he

didn't let his anger show, it was clearly boiling beneath the surface. His resolve to

overcome his temper seemed to already be forgotten.

"He's turning into a devil, Shizushizu! I'm scaaared!"

Suzu hugged Shizuku, terrified. Like a protective mother, Shizuku gently patted Suzu

on the back.

"Holy shit, Kouki. That guy's totally gonna get arrested one day."

"What a coincidence, Ryutarou. I was thinking the same thing. He'll probably show up

on the news one day."

Considering Hajime was about to scorch an entire forest with a smile, Kouki and

Ryutarou were justified in thinking he'd end up a terrorist. In a sense, he was actually

more terrifying than a terrorist. Hajime's smile twitched a little as he heard Ryutarou's

assessment.

Do I really look that evil? He didn't really care that much about Ryutarou or Kouki's

opinions of him, but he was worried he might have creeped out Yue and the others

too. And so, he glanced back at Yue.

"….Hm? I prefer you like this." As always, Yue could tell what Hajime was thinking

without him having to say a word. And after hearing his beloved Yue's opinion,

Hajime's evil grin grew eviller.

"You're amazing Yue-san. Even now you keep finding ways to make Hajime-san like

you more. And so naturally too. I didn't think that was possible. But I won't lose to you!

Even when you're acting like a brute and evil incarnate, you're cool, Hajime-san!"

Spurred on by Shea's cheering, Tio and Kaori also voiced their support for Terrorist

Hajime.

"Will you all please shut up?"

Hajime glared at the lot of them. Then with a sigh, he returned his attention to the task

at hand. It didn't take long for a layer of black to cover the sea of white.

"This should be enough."

Hajime grinned, and the counterattack-cum-elimination began. A series of explosions

rocked the forest, and the earth shook so hard they could feel it through the barrier.

The very air trembled as Hajime rained down a barrage of bombs from his Cross Bits.

These particular bombs were basically napalm bombs. Hajime had filled them with

yet more taur, and as they landed in the sea of slimes, they burst apart, spraying 3000-

degree flames everywhere. In contrast to the earlier white rain that had poured down,

now there was a rain of black as Hajime sent more taur down into the burning

conflagration. The mass of slimes writhed and squirmed, but all they succeeded in

doing was sucking the taur further inside the blob. That helped spread the napalm's

flames even further. In seconds, the sea of slimes had turned into a sea of flames. The

conflagration licked at the nearby trees, threatening to set the whole forest alight. The

crimson tide was like a physical manifestation of Hajime's anger, and it charred

everything it touched. Soil transformed into lava, and the air itself burned away. Kouki

and the others swore they heard the slimes screaming in pain as they were scorched

to cinders.

Outside the barrier, a veritable hell awaited. A hell of fire and screams. Eventually, even

the slimes crowding around Yue's barrier started to burn. The view of hell became

visible to Kouki and the others who didn't have remote viewing tools. They all watched

with haggard expressions as the world burned away. Finally, the flames withered

away. The ground had been turned into a sea of bubbling lava, the trees and plants

burned to ash. Smoke blanketed the forest's remains.

"That was a good blaze." Hajime looked proudly at his handiwork. In response, Yue

smiled faintly at him and asked a question.

"Can I drop my barrier now?"

"Hold on just a bit longer. Let me make sure none of the slimes burrowed underground."

The spiritstone ring on Hajime's finger began to glow. Countless black objects dropped

from the ceiling, thin threads trailing behind them. Hajime's Arachnae.

"Kyaaa!?" Shizuku squealed as the numerous mechanical spiders hit the ground. No

one had expected such a cute scream to come out of Shizuku's mouth, but they were

tactful enough to ignore it. Though they couldn't suppress their faint grins as Shizuku

blushed in embarrassment. Hajime set his Arachnae to transmuting the ground on

their path to the large tree. He closed his eyes in concentration and spoke.

"It'll take some time to transmute the whole path. We still don't know how many of

those slimes are left. Even if it takes more time, it'll be more convenient to secure our

route than stop and kill them each time they pop up. I know it's a pain, but please keep

the barrier up until I'm done, Yue."

"Okay…."

Realizing they were safe for now, Kouki and the others relaxed. Thanks to Kaori,

everyone had been cleaned of slime goop as well. Unfortunately, though, Ryutarou's

fate remained unchanged.

"Rest while you have the chance," Hajime said, then sat cross-legged on the ground.

Transmuting the area around their path was going to take time. And while Hajime

wasn't physically exhausted yet, it was a rule of thumb among adventurers to rest

when the opportunity presented itself. The rest of the party followed suit, resting as

best as they could.

Some time later, the glowing barrier around them faded away. Hajime then felt

something soft lean against his back. He turned around, confused, and found Yue

hugging him. Just as he was about to ask why she'd suddenly dispelled her barrier—

"Haaah…. Haaah…. Hajime I feel…. strange…. I need you."

"Hey, Yue. This isn't the time for…. Yue? What's wrong?"

Yue's breathing was ragged, and her eyes were brimming with desire. Had this been

night and the two of them safely tucked in bed Hajime wouldn't have minded, but this

was hardly the time. Nor could he imagine Yue getting this aroused in the middle of a

labyrinth. Something was wrong with her.

Hajime's expression grew serious, and he pulled Yue off him. His touch alone was

enough to send shivers down Yue's spine, and her whole body flushed with heat.

Unable to control herself, Yue tried to press herself against Hajime. Still unsure of what

had happened, he held her at arm's length and tried to discern what was wrong. Just

then though, a shadow fell over him. He looked up and saw Shea.

"Hajime-san…. I…. I can't…. Haaah…. Haaah…."

"You too, Shea?"

"Haaah…. Haaah, I think there's something wrong with me, Hajime-san."

"Wait, hold up."

Shea ignored Hajime and wrapped herself around his right arm. She held it between

her cleavage and thighs, making it impossible for him to escape. Even her bunny ears

wrapped around his neck. Like Yue, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes blurry with

desire. She rarely acted this sexy, and Hajime nearly found himself overwhelmed.

Whatever had happened to Yue, had happened to Shea too.

"Wait…. don't tell me…." A possible cause sprung to mind. And if his guess was right, it

wasn't just Yue and Shea who'd been affected. Alarmed, he looked over the rest of his

comrades. As he'd feared, Kaori and the rest were suffering from the same symptoms

as Yue and Shea.

"Hajime-kun, I—" Kaori crawled over to Hajime and looked up at him with pleading

eyes. Tio, on the other hand, was just sitting there spacing out. However she didn't

respond to Hajime's calls, so he assumed the worst. Even Kouki and the rest weren't

exempt from the strange transformation.

"U-Ugh…. What is this?"

"Uwaaah…." Suzu crouched down and hugged her knees, while Ryutarou had a vacant

look to him. Kouki, however, watched Shizuku with bloodshot eyes. He then suddenly

got to his feet and reached out to her.

"Fufufu…. Like hell I'll lose here."

Shizuku alone appeared to have any control left. After writhing for a few seconds, she

bit her lip so hard she drew blood. Then, she used the pain to anchor her

consciousness and sat down with her back ramrod straight. And after that, she closed

her eyes, as if concentrating on something.

Hajime guessed she was attempting to meditate. That, or she knew some special

Yaegashi-style focusing technique. Whatever it was it appeared to be working, as her

blush receded and she regained her composure.

However, she also seemed to be having a difficult time maintaining that state. Even the

slightest lapse in concentration seemed like it would cause her to relapse. Because of

that, she didn't notice Kouki reaching out to her. He continued muttering her name in

a deranged manner as he staggered forward. At the same time, Ryutarou started

toward Suzu, who was still kneeling and holding her head.

"Goddammit…. So this is what those slimes were for."

Hajime pulled three bolas out of his Treasure Trove, then flung them all with a quick

snap of his wrist. Each found its mark, and Kouki, Ryutarou, and Suzu were all

immobilized. The bolas' weights pulsed red and the spatial magic stored in them fixed

them in place. After struggling fruitlessly for a few seconds, Kouki and Ryutarou once

again stretched their hands out, looking for anyone to grab onto. Meanwhile, Suzu

gazed at Shizuku with unrestrained lust. Fortunately, Hajime's bolas were powerful

enough to have even restrained one of God's Apostles for a few seconds. A group of

half-insane students had no hope of breaking free.

For the present, Hajime had prevented them from doing something they would later

regret. Hajime tried to think of a way out of this situation while he kept Kaori from

climbing any further up his left arm, Shea from climbing any further up his right arm,

and Yue from sucking the blood out of his neck. While he was racking his brains, Tio

suddenly called out to him

"Master, are you alright? It appears those monsters' fluids contained a powerful

aphrodisiac."

Not only was Tio's expression normal, her gait was measured and even. More

importantly, she was processing their current situation.

Is this really Tio? Hajime thought to himself. Regardless of whether Tio realized what

Hajime was thinking or not, she continued her explanation.

"The pleasure delivered by the aphrodisiac is so extreme that it has rendered everyone

incapable of using magic. Furthermore, the more time passes, the stronger its effects

will become. Worst of all though, the aphrodisiac doesn't affect one's body, but one's

mind. In fact, it would be more accurate to call whatever special magic these monsters

had a form of hypnosis than an aphrodisiac. There are creatures capable of such feats."

Tio's observations were perceptive and well-reasoned. Upon seeing such a levelheaded Tio, Hajime thought,

Yeah, there's no way this is Tio.

"The reason you were likely spared the hypnosis' effects was because after the first

few drops of rain hit you, you activated Lightning Field to keep any and all bits of slime

off of you. The few drops that did make contact with your skin were not concentrated

enough to pierce your natural defenses."

"I-I see?"

"Indeed, this would be our only silver lining. That being said, this trial has still proven

itself quite arduous. It is hard to imagine any normal challenger escaping from that

mass of slimes completely untouched. And if the battle dragged on, said challengers

would find themselves eliminated. Even if they were able to overcome the deluge of

slimes, they would still end up driven to intercourse by the effects of slimes' hypnosis."

"Y-Yeah, you're right…."

"I imagine that was this part of the trial's aim. Whether you can overcome your desires

and press onwards with your comrades…. Or perhaps it was to test whether you and

your comrades could maintain trust with each other even after committing unsavory

acts…. Regardless of which it may be, this labyrinth's Liberator is quite the

troublesome one."

"Uh, Tio."

"Mmm? What is it, Master?"

While all of Tio's points made sense, there was one thing that didn't. Hajime looked

from Yue and the others, who were still trying to fling themselves at him, to Tio, who

appeared perfectly calm.

"I understand everything you said, and your hypothesis makes sense. I pretty much

agree with all your points. There's just one thing I don't understand. How come you're

fine? I'm pretty sure you're the one who got the most soaked out of all of us. You

practically looked like an actress on a JAV cover."

"I did indeed. In fact, the hypnosis is affecting me even now. It's because of the pleasure

coursing through my body that I still cannot properly use my magic. Do not

underestimate me though, Master. Who do you think I am?"

"Tio…."

Hajime's eyes widened in surprise as Tio puffed her chest out proudly. He couldn't

help but be impressed. She was able to maintain her sanity through such a crippling

onslaught of pleasure. It was times like these that he was reminded that despite her

extremely perverted nature, she was a wise dragon who'd lived for centuries. A paltry

toxin like this was nothing for someone of—

"I am your servant and your servant alone, Master! Such tepid pleasure cannot hope

to compare to the exquisite pain which you grace me with on a daily basis! Please do

not think of me as some loose woman who'll let any old sadist slap her arse!"

"Oh." Hajime's expression changed in an instant as Tio shot a fist into the air and

declared her undying loyalty. He once again gazed at her like she was trash, which

made Tio blush and shiver in excitement.

"I guess I should have expected as much from you, Tio-san. Or perhaps I should call

you Clarence-san. You really are something else. Now I'd like it if you didn't get any

closer."

"M-Master's being polite!? And calling me by my last name!? I can't believe you would

act so distant toward me now of all times! Haaah…. Haaah…. Th-This is not good. I can

feel myself giving in to the pleasure…."

Though she'd been fine until now, Tio suddenly started slipping. She fell to all fours

and struggled to retain her sanity. Hajime turned to Yue, Shea, and Kaori, and

pointedly ignored Tio.

He gave them a look of absolute confidence and spoke his mind.

"Yue, Shea, Kaori. There's no way you guys actually got done in by these weakling

monsters. You've all managed to keep your sanity, haven't you?"

Still flushed and panting, the three of them looked up at Hajime with clear eyes and

said simultaneously, "Mmm…. Of course."

"Ugh. Of course I have."

"Th-That's right! Haaah…. Haaah, I'm just fine!"

As expected, the three of them were able to fight back against the pleasure that

assailed their senses. Though they had to grit their teeth to do it. Hajime gave each of

them a quick look over, then smiled in satisfaction.

"Listen up, this is another one of the labyrinth's shitty trials. I refuse to believe that

you can't overcome something like this. Look, even Yaegashi and our resident pervert

were able to control themselves. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to lose to that

perverted dragon."

At Hajime's provocative challenge, Yue grimaced and forcibly pulled herself away from

him. She then gave him a fearless smile reminiscent of his own.

"Seeing as restoration magic couldn't fix Yue's goblinification, I doubt it'll do anything

here either. Besides, it's not like any of you can use magic right now anyway. However,

I still have some Ambrosia left. I bet even Haltina didn't expect us to have that. I know

the slimes' poison is mental, but Ambrosia's the legendary cure-all. Do you guys think

you need it? If so, it might be worth a shot."

There was no telling if it would work or not, and Hajime had scant few vials left. Still,

it meant there was a chance they could be freed from this unbearable pleasure hell.

Despite that, the three all shook their heads immediately.

"Mmm…. I'm fine."

"I don't need any."

"I'm good."

They were determined to overcome this trial with their own strength.

"That's what I thought," Hajime said with a warm smile.

They returned his smile, glad that Hajime had that much faith in them. He put some

distance between himself and them, thinking it would be easier for them to resist if he

wasn't around. Contrary to his expectations though, Yue and the others crowded

around him again.

"Hajime, hug me."

"Won't that make things worse?"

"Absolutely not! There's no one this world who'd feel worse after being hugged by you,

Hajime-san!"

"Shea-san's right. If anything, it'll help us calm down…. Please."

Hajime smiled ruefully and wrapped the three of them up in his arms. He scooped

Shea in with his right, Kaori with his left, and squished Yue between the two of them.

The three of them trembled for a few seconds, then relaxed and slowly calmed their

heavy breathing. They closed their eyes, focusing on maintaining their sanity. Soon

enough, their temperature returned to normal, and their heartbeat slowed. Hajime

closed his eyes and smiled. He then lifted them up slowly, careful not to stimulate them

too much. Just then, Tio called out to him.

"Master, could you embrace me as well?"

"Surely you jest, Clarence-san."

"No…. I won't be able to resist without youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Her anguished scream echoed through the quiet forest.

Some time later. The liquified floor had cooled and hardened, and the smoldering

embers had all died out. A single shiny, metallic pathway cut through the barren

wasteland that remained. It made a straight line to the giant tree in the distance.

"….Mmm?"

"Huh?"

"Oh?"

Yue, Shea, and Kaori all opened their eyes.

"Hm? Is…. it over? Are you guys alright?" Hajime looked worriedly down at the three

girls still in his arms.

They all looked at each other, then nodded confidently.

"….Mmm. It looks like we weathered it."

"Yep! All that pleasure I was feeling is totally gone now."

"I don't feel anything anymore…. And it looks like the rest of my senses are back to

normal."

Sounds like they're good. They'd overcome pleasure so overwhelming it could drive

normal people insane through willpower alone. Once it passed a certain threshold,

pleasure was no different from pain. Hajime could only begin to guess how much the

three of them must have suffered. Chances were, it was the hardest trial any of them

had faced thus far. He looked proudly down at them and spoke.

"I knew you could do it. Good work, you three. I had faith the whole time, so I wasn't

really worried…. but it still must have been tough."

"Mmm..."

"Ehehe, you're making me blush."

"Fufu, thank you, Hajime-kun. It was thanks to your support that I was able to pull

through."

There was no reason for them to keep hugging Hajime any longer, but none of the girls

seemed willing to pull away. Instead, they hugged him tighter and looked happily up

at him, blushing. The pleading look in their eyes made it clear they wanted to hear

more praise. In all honesty, he found it harder to resist their earnest approach than

their advances when they were under the influence of the slimes' hypnosis. He'd

unconsciously begun to let them go, but now hugged them tighter as well. They stayed

like that for a few seconds, until Shizuku awkwardly interrupted them.

"Ahem! Sorry for interrupting, but could you leave the flirting for after we're out of

here? Also, you can release Kouki and the others now."

"Hm? Oh yeah, sure Yaegashi. You were pretty amazing too, you know? I guess I should

have known a swordsman of your caliber would have no trouble resisting. Was that

meditation something you learned at your dojo?"

"I knew you could do it, Shizuku-chan! Even though you don't have the body of a God's

Apostle like me, you were still able to resist! That's really amazing!"

Shizuku's irritation faded and she blushed as Hajime and Kaori heaped on the praise.

She looked away in embarrassment and muttered something.

"Th-Thank you. My father and grandfather taught me how to still my heart since I was

young, so while it was close, I managed to overcome it somehow…. Also, did you

restrain Kouki and the others to protect me? I wouldn't have been able to do anything

while I was focusing on meditating, so thanks for helping me out, Nagumo-kun."

"Don't mention it. Anyway…. it looks like Amanogawa and them fainted. They probably

couldn't hold out against the pleasure. Yaegashi, I'll prepare a change of clothes and

make a changing room for you guys, so wake them up for me. I'll leave explaining

everything to you."

"A change of clothes? Changing room….? Oh." Shizuku tilted her head in confusion, but

then realized what Hajime was getting at when she looked down at her clothes.

Shizuku blushed to the tips of her ears.

A trial of pleasure was terrifying in more ways than one. Though she hadn't moved an

inch, Shizuku's clothes were soaked through with sweat. She wasn't the only one

either, everyone else was drenched as well. No doubt it was uncomfortable to be

walking around covered in sweat.

Of course, sweat was all it was. There weren't any other liquids mixed in there at all.

At the very least, that was what Shizuku's silent glare seemed to be implying as she

blushed and sat down to cover her lower half. Since anything he said would probably

only make it worse, Hajime decided not to meet Shizuku's gaze.

Yue and the others stepped back and sat down as well, looking almost as embarrassed

as Shizuku.

"All the clothes I have are made in my size, so they might be a bit too tight for

Sakagami…. Maybe some of my looser clothes will work, though." As he said that,

Hajime pulled out some spare sets of clothes he'd bought in town a while back, and

transmuted a covered hut from the earth. A simple but functional changing room. He

also disengaged the bolas tying Kouki, Ryutarou, and Suzu. Without anything to

support them, the three of them crumpled to the ground. Shizuku caught Suzu as she

fell, but Kouki and Ryutarou had no one to help them so they hit the ground with dull

thuds. Considering their sturdiness as the hero and his companion, it was probably

fine to leave them be.

"As for Taniguchi…. I imagine only Yue's stuff would fit."

"Mmm…. I have a few outfits like this, so she can wear one of those." Yue pulled a spare

change of clothes from her own Treasure Trove and Hajime looked over at Shea and

Kaori. Always the helpful one, Shea stepped forward.

"In that case, Shizuku-san can wear one of my—"

"Please no." Shizuku got on her knees and knelt before Shea.

"What's wrong with my clothes!?" Shea exclaimed, her bunny ears hopping back and

forth.

"Nah, I get where Yaegashi's coming from. The only clothes you own are those super

revealing ones…. Do those even count as clothes?"

"What do you have against my clothes!? Stop laughing at them!"

Even though she was a close-combat fighter, her clothes barely even covered the

places they needed to.

"U-Umm, Shizuku-chan? It's okay, I have some clothes that you might like. I bought

them last time we were in the capital because I thought they'd suit you, so please don't

look like you've resigned yourself to death."

"Kaori! My friend! My soulmate!"

She really doesn't want to wear Shea's clothes, huh? Hajime had never seen Shizuku

look so happy.

"I don't understand…." Shea muttered, her bunny ears drooping. Naturally, everyone

ignored her. Having narrowly avoided wearing an outfit that would have revealed her

arms, legs, belly, and most of her chest, Shizuku slapped Kouki and the others awake,

then explained to them what had happened and headed to the changing room.

Yue created warm water with magic for them to shower in, and Shizuku sighed in

exhaustion as she washed herself down. Hajime kept an eye on their surroundings and

recalled his Arachnae while Yue and the others cleaned themselves.

He'd transmuted the ceiling, their surroundings, and their path to the tree, so unless

the slimes could teleport he was relatively certain they wouldn't run into anymore.

Furthermore, thanks to the blaze he'd created, their view of the surrounding area was

stellar. No other monsters could ambush them, and chances were most of the ones

that might have had already been turned to dust by the earlier conflagration. Of

course, that didn't mean Hajime had any intention of lowering his guard.

"Master, please don't forget about me. I'm the only person you haven't made a

changing room for…."

A timid voice interrupted Hajime's thoughts. Up until Tio had been writhing in

pleasure on the ground. Everyone had known she was there, but as she'd appeared to

be enjoying herself, they'd ignored her. Even though she'd been the only one to

overcome the trial at first, she'd ended up suffering from it the longest. It was rather

sad. And so, Hajime glanced back at Tio.

"Oh, you're still here, Clarence-san?"

"Ah!? M-Master, how long are you planning to act like that for? It certainly was a

refreshing way of being insulted, but I'm beginning to feel somewhat…. left out. Could

you please return to speaking to me the way you used to? I much preferred it when

you called me Tio."

"What are you talking about, Clarence-san? This is how I always talk to you. Oh, please

refrain from getting any closer."

"Ah!? M-Master, I'm deeply sorry! I swear to never get ahead of myself like that ever

again! Please, I beg of you, return to normal!"

"...."

It was rare to see Tio beg or cry. She crawled to Hajime's feet and threw herself at

them. Hajime watched her with dead eyes. While Tio was still blushing a little, it

appeared she really did find being called by her last name painful, as opposed to

enjoyable. She wasn't going into a panting fit at least. Hajime had expected her to

derive pleasure from this too, but the fact that she didn't meant he finally had a way to

truly punish her. He grinned. Tio shivered as she watched the corners of Hajime's

mouth rise up.

Am I perhaps doomed to suffer this fate forever? Tio nearly burst into sobs.

"Masteeer. Please…. call me Tio."

Hajime rejoiced upon finally discovering a way to truly punish Tio. Seeing her cry

before him tickled at Hajime's sadistic urges. For once he was witnessing Tio truly

distressed, instead of enjoying her distress. Looking at it objectively, Hajime was quite

the pervert himself considering how sadistic he was acting. For better or worse

though, he didn't notice it himself.

"If you insist. Look, I already know you're a hopeless pervert, but try to rein it in a little

at least…. Tio," he added with a shrug.

Tio's eyes sparkled at the mention of her name, and she gave Hajime an innocent,

childish smile. That smile was so dazzling, he nearly found himself captivated by it.

Not only was Tio wise and knowledgeable, but she was also perceptive when it came

to the feelings of others. Furthermore, she was constantly doing her best to get along

with everyone, and never lost her cool. Her combat skills, courage, and decisiveness

were nothing to scoff at either. She also had a strong sense of duty, and impeccable

looks. If she hadn't been a raging masochist, she really would have been the perfect

woman.

"Seriously, why are you so hopeless?"

Is it my fault after all? Hajime thought sadly to himself. It was, of course. He was the

one who'd driven a pile bunker into Tio.

Yeah, I guess I can't really deny this one. Hajime gave Tio a waning smile.

"What's wrong, Master?"

"….It's nothing. Anyway, you go change too."

"Mmm, very well…. Though I would not mind if you were to change me yourself,

Master. Feel free to clean me up as well, if you wish."

Tio gave Hajime an expectant look as he transmuted another changing room for her.

What happened to reining it in? Hajime pulled a grenade out of his Treasure Trove.

"Is that so? Well in that case, how about I blow all that dirt right off you?"

"Ah!? I-I shall change right away!" Tio shook her heard and ran into the changing room.

As he watched the failure of a dragon run off, Hajime was once again reminded that

her "condition" was his responsibility. He smiled ruefully to himself and shook his

head.

Soon enough, everyone had cleaned themselves up and changed into fresh clothes. As

usual, Kouki, Suzu, and even Ryutarou were depressed at their inability to overcome

the trial. They hunched forward, as if carrying a basket of stones on their back, and

black clouds followed them wherever they went. They remembered everything they'd

done under the influence of the hypnosis. Tio had hypothesized that this trial of

pleasure was one that was meant to test the bonds between comrades, and Kouki,

Suzu, and Ryutarou's reaction seemed to be proof that she was right. Kouki and

Ryutarou were unable to meet Shizuku or Suzu's eyes, and kept their distance. Suzu,

too, was blushing bright red and hiding behind Shizuku. Shizuku tried to patch things

up between her friends, but she was having a hard time thinking of something to say.

Not only had she nearly assaulted her friends, but she'd also revealed her own

perverseness. That kind of trauma wasn't easy to recover from. There was no way to

address the fact that they'd all nearly sexually assaulted each other without it being

awkward. And naturally, Kouki and the others couldn't help but feel guilty about it.

Suzu especially. Not only had she nearly assaulted her friends, but she'd also revealed

her own pervertedness. That kind of trauma wasn't easy to recover from.

"Suzu, let's just forget all about this. There's nothing you could have done. And the

whole incident ended without anyone doing something they'd really regret, so it's

better just to never think about it again. I mean everyone has a few skeletons in the

closet, right?"

"Shizushizu…."

"Look, even I've done things I'd rather not remember. There was this one time I went

to the 18+ corner of a store and got into an argument about the girls on the cover of

this one porn game! Just thinking about how the other guys in the store looked at me….

is enough to make me depressed…."

Incidentally, the cause of that whole affair had been Kaori. The person Shizuku had

been arguing with was also Kaori. After that little incident, the two of them had been

banned from the store. Quite a depressing outcome.

Hajime and the others all looked at Kaori.

"Don't look at me…." she whimpered and covered her face in shame.

"Shizushizu, you like porn games?"

"No, I don't! That was just an unfortunate accident."

"….Hahaha. I can't imagine you ever arguing about a porn game, Shizushizu…. Kukuku."

"I can't believe you'd laugh at me like that, Suzu…."

Despite her words, Shizuku seemed relieved that Suzu had returned to normal.

Shizuku knew normal means of comforting Suzu wouldn't have worked, so she'd

reluctantly dug up one of the buried events of her dark past and tried to share in Suzu's

embarrassment. And from the looks of it, her self-sacrifice had paid off splendidly.

Shizuku really was a master at looking after others. She didn't even hesitate to throw

herself under the bus in order to make them feel better. Hajime, Yue, Shea, and Tio all

applauded Shizuku's admirable efforts. Seeing that Suzu had recovered, Kouki forced

himself past his shame and looked up at Hajime.

"Nagumo…. Sorry for causing you trouble. And thanks for stopping us."

"Yeah, thanks for the save, Nagumo. You saved our hides."

Ryutarou looked up and thanked Hajime as well.

"Yeah, you better be grateful. Never forget the debts that you owe me. Because you'll

be paying them back by being my meat shields when the time comes. You better not

try and skip out on me. Because I'll chase you down to the ends of the earth if that's

what it takes."

Hajime sounded completely like a yakuza member shaking down a poor debtor. But

he was deadly serious. If Kouki or Ryutarou tried to avoid repaying their debts, Hajime

really would chase them down to the ends of the earth. He wasn't one to help someone

he didn't like for free. Kouki and Ryutarou smiled sadly at each other. They'd been

swindled through and through by Hajime. Still, Hajime had saved them from

committing a crime they knew they'd regret for the rest of their lives, so even if the

debt was large, it had been worth incurring.

"Yaegashi, Taniguchi, what's with the sympathetic looks? You do realize you're in the

same boat as them, right?"

"What!?"

Shizuku and Suzu both jumped. Their faces fell, and their expressions matched Kouki

and Ryutarou's. They looked at Hajime as if he were a loan shark from hell. The

camaraderie they felt at being Hajime's debtors did a good job of wiping away any

lingering awkwardness they felt around each other.

The party resumed their journey and made it the rest of the way to the tree without

any more attacks from slimes. Like every other large tree they'd seen thus far, this one

had an opening leading into its hollow trunk. As usual, once they stepped inside the

hollow closed in around them and a magic circle appeared at their feet. There was a

familiar blinding flash of light, and the group was teleported once more.

"Hm? We did teleport, right?"

"Yeah…. Hajime, look. There's an exit."

The place they'd been taken to was the inside of another tree trunk. It looked identical

to the one they'd entered so for a moment Hajime thought they hadn't teleported at

all, but then Yue pointed to the one difference between this tree and their old one. This

time, too, everyone had safely been teleported together. Hajime's Demon Eye didn't

sense any fakes. Meaning whatever was waiting for them lay up ahead. Hajime nodded

to his comrades and stepped out of the tree trunk. What he saw shocked him

speechless. After a few seconds, he finally found his voice.

"This looks…. just like Verbergen."

Yue nodded in agreement. Outside the tree, there was a single passage. But it was no

normal passage. It was a giant tree branch that extended out from the tree they'd just

exited. The branch was easily five meters wide. Hajime gazed back and saw the tree's

trunk was wider than he could measure. The fact that they were next to one of its

branches meant they had to be a good way up in the air.

Hajime looked around and saw that their branch entwined around various others

jutting out from other trees, creating a web of crisscrossing wooden paths. Hajime had

described it as the same as Verbergen's aerial pathways, but Verbergen's didn't hold a

candle to these. These were much larger, much grander, and much more complex.

Their twisting patterns created optical illusions that made the maze of branches

appear even more complex than it was.

"I'm…. pretty sure we're still underground, but…."

High above them, a stone ceiling covered the sky. At the very center of this

underground space towered a tree so massive it appeared to be a pillar connecting

heaven and earth. Its top wasn't visible, meaning that it rose up above the ceiling.

There was only one tree Hajime had seen that was that large.

"Is that the Grand Tree?" Yue muttered.

Shea nodded.

"I believe so. This must be the space directly underneath the Grand Tree."

"But that means the part we saw on the surface was just…."

Kaori's voice trembled a little. The vast scale of the Grand Tree had shaken her. Tio

scratched her chin and spoke her hypothesis.

"I see…. This is undoubtedly Uralt. If there are branches growing down here, then that

would mean the tree's roots lie even further underground. Meaning the part of the

tree visible from the surface is little more than the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. To

think there were things in this world that could surprise me even now, after all these

centuries. I never dreamed the Grand Tree spanned such a distance."

"H-How big do you think it is in total?" Kouki asked timidly.

No one had an answer. Everyone looked up at the ceiling, overwhelmed by the size of

the tree. Though they couldn't see through the ceiling, they could easily imagine it

sprawling ever upward toward the surface. For a few minutes, everyone stood there

in awed silence.

The silence was broken when Shea's bunny ears twitched. She'd picked up on

something. Then, she strained her senses, trying to figure out where the sound had

come from. She could just barely make out a faint, somewhat unpleasant rustling noise

coming from below.

Goosebumps rose on her arms, and she scrunched up her face in annoyance. Her ears

and tail stood on end. Confused as to why her body was reacting like this, Shea peeked

down over the edge of the branch.

"Hmm, it's too dark to make out what's down there…. Maybe if I use body

strengthening on my eyes, I'll—"

Shea used body strengthening to improve her eyesight, then froze in place.

"What'd you see, Shea?"

She didn't respond. The hair on her ears and tail puffed out far more than it ever had

before. In fact, her tail now looked twice as large as it normally did. Like the rest of

her, it was also frozen in place.

Wondering what could have gotten her so riled up, Hajime peered over the branch

himself. The combination of Night Vision and Farsight allowed him to see the ground

below with perfect clarity. But for once, that was a curse, not a blessing. Like Shea, he

stiffened up.

"H-Hajime? What did you see?"

"Hajime-kun!?"

"M-Master, are you alright?"

Seeing Hajime get goosebumps made Yue and the others exceedingly worried. Hajime

turned around, his neck creaking like a badly-oiled door.

When they saw his expression, even Kouki and the others looked shocked. The

arrogant, fearless monster of the abyss had gone white as a sheet. What on earth did

he see?

Hajime looked at Yue for a few seconds then muttered "Ahhh, I can feel myself being

cleansed," to himself.

"….There's a devil down there. A real, bonafide devil."

"Devil?"

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion. Kouki, Ryutarou, and Suzu all muttered, "Well

there's definitely a devil up here at least," simultaneously, their gazes piercing through

Hajime. Hajime responded by glaring them to tears.

"Umm, Nagumo-kun? By devil…. do you mean that devil?"

Shizuku spared a glance at Kouki, who was still in tears, before turning to Hajime. The

image of the biblical devil flashed across her mind. Hajime picked up on what she was

referring to and shook her head.

"No, this devil's way worse. The devil of hell's nothing compared to this guy. You've all

seen this devil before…. The black devil that dwells in kitchen corners, I mean…."

Hajime's description only made Kouki and the others more confused. In response,

Hajime pulled out a single Cross Bit and sent it down below. He then pulled up a small

crystal display to show everyone what its sensors picked up on. Yue and the others

crowded around, and as soon as the blurry image came into focus—

"Aaah!?"

There were dozens of them. And for each one that was visible, there were likely dozens

more. The terrifying devils whose name started with C. They scuttled around the

ground, spreading chaos in their wake. From shadow to shadow they crawled, these

devils who were sturdier than any other living creature. Whether in Tortus or on earth,

these devils possessed the unique magic capable of striking fear into the hearts of all.

The bane of mothers and restaurant owners everywhere.

Cockroaches.

Down below, hundreds, no thousands, no millions of them scuttled about. It was a

veritable sea of black. They surged and swelled, creating artificial waves in their

artificial sea. The sound they made was one only cockroaches ever did.

"H-How could you show that to us…."

"Bleh, there's so many of theeem."

The blood drained from Shizuku and Suzu's faces. And like Hajime, goosebumps had

risen on their arms. Kouki and Ryutarou turned away with a groan, struggling not to

throw up. Returning to her senses, Shea covered her ears with both hands and

squatted down, trembling. Tio was in better shape, but not by much. Kaori, on the

other hand, had completely fainted.

"Hajime, burn it all down," Yue muttered dangerously.

Kaori's eyes snapped open, and she sat straight up. Apparently, she agreed with Yue

this time. Though there was fear in her eyes, it was joined by a burning hatred. She

was the most eager to see these monstrosities punished.

"I'm gonna disintegrate them all!" she whispered furiously.

"I think we'd better not. Look at how many there are…. What if some of them escape

and come up to us?"

"...…"

The thought of countless cockroaches rushing at them chilled them to the bone. Both

Yue and Kaori lost any will to fight. Just imagining what could happen had broken

them.

"We'll be fine as long as we don't fall…. I hope. Let's just keep going and get out of here.

If we stick around too long, they might come after us."

Everyone nodded, suddenly serious. Their expressions were much sterner than usual.

The party advanced across the sturdy branches.

Their first checkpoint was a spot in the distance where four branches met to form a

large platform. They moved cautiously, afraid that the cockroach swarm would assault

them at any turn, but they made it across multiple branches without incident. Soon

enough, they'd arrived at their destination. The platform was about the size of a

residential park, meaning it was large enough to take a short break on.

"Now then, let's see what we can find…. See anything guys?"

"Mmm…. Not really."

"Nothing here."

"Nagumo. What if what we're looking for's on the other side of the tree?"

As the group discussed where to head next, they were suddenly interrupted by the

sound of flapping wings. The sound they'd feared the most. Judging from how loud it

was, it wasn't just a few pairs of wings either.

"Ah!?"

The party's expressions froze, and they hurried over to the edge of the platform and

looked down. As they'd feared, the tidal wave of cockroaches was climbing their way

up to them.

"Fuuuuuuck!"

"Mmm!? Draconic Thunder."

"Get away from meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Nooooooooooooooo! Disintegrate, disintegrate, disintegrate!"

"Begone, foul creatures! Dragonbreath!"

Everyone's hair stood on end, and they fired off their strongest attacks in a panic.

Hajime unleashed a barrage of rockets from his Orkans, Yue summoned her Draconic

Thunder, Shea fired off explosive slugs one after another, Kaori sent down a wave of

disintegration, and Tio unleashed her malefic breath. Kouki and the others fired off

their best long-range attacks as well. Everyone except Shizuku, who looked like she

was about to faint.

Fortunately, their overpowered firepower was effective. Countless crimson flowers

blossomed in the darkness below, rimmed with crackling electricity. The space in

between was filled with pale blue ripples and beams of silver and black. The

occasional white flash could be seen as well, bearing down like God's wrath itself. It

was a one-sided elimination. The amount of death and destruction Hajime and the

others were unleashing was greater than that any army on earth could muster.

Unfortunately, their barrage barely put a dent in the ungodly number of cockroaches.

The party's best efforts didn't even slow the black wave's inexorable advance. It was

like trying to fight the ocean. The cockroaches flew in perfect formation, fanning out

to the right and left to cover any avenues of escape.

"Ugh! L-Let this be a holy ground that d-d-denies thine enemies passage— Hallowed

Ground!" Suzu erected a barrier in tears.

The wave of cockroaches flew up above Hajime and the others, then, as if being pulled

down by gravity, crashed into them as one solid mass. The party's field of vision was

filled with wriggling black bodies. Many of the cockroaches were squished on impact

and left disgusting brown streaks as their bodies slid down the barrier. Those that

survived crawled all around the barrier's surface, seeking for a way in.

"I-I can't—"

Disgusted beyond reason, Suzu fainted. Kouki rushed over to Suzu and grabbed her as

she fell.

"Suzu, don't fall asleep! If you fall asleep it's all over for us!"

That was no exaggeration. If the party was swallowed up by that wave of cockroaches,

they would no doubt be utterly broken mentally. No amount of ancient magic could

wipe away the trauma of an event like that.

"Yue, we need a backup barrier."

"Okay…. I won't let them break this one!" Yue deployed her own Hallowed Ground that

overlapped with Suzu's.

"It's just one thing after another in this labyrinth…."

"Indeed. I see now why this labyrinth requires challengers to have cleared other ones

first. It appears to be much more difficult than the rest."

Though her expression was stiff, Tio was still able to calmly analyze their situation.

Kaori, who was trembling in the back, screamed.

"L-L-Less analyzing and more killing!"

Shizuku turned to Kaori with a heartfelt smile and attempted to calm her best friend

down. It was hard to believe she'd fainted just moments before.

"Kaori, don't worry. Those things are just flecks of black sesame. You know, I really like

black sesame pudding and black sesame rice. Black sesame rice with soy sauce is

especially delicious."

"Oh no, Shizuku-chan's broken down!"

Shizuku's eyes had indeed glazed over. Realizing they had no choice but to annihilate

them all, Hajime rubbed his arms and opened up his Treasure Trove. Before he could

pull anything out though, the cockroaches started to pull back. Confused, Hajime

watched as they formed a sphere in the mid-air. A few of them split off and created a

ring around the giant sphere. More split off and created a second ring around the first.

From there, cockroaches started creating lines connecting the two rings to each other

at various points. Hajime's lips twitched as he watched them create geometric shapes

within the rings one after another.

"Hey, are you serious….? Are they really making a magic circle?"

This isn't good. Hajime's instincts warned him it was dangerous to let the cockroaches

finish. Hajime and the others fired an even fiercer barrage at the mass of cockroaches,

but those not part of the magic circle threw themselves forward to block the attacks.

They were literally meat shields. Hundreds of thousands of cockroaches dropped dead

every second, yet the mass didn't seem to be shrinking at all.

Before long, the cockroaches' magic circle was complete. It spanned 15 meters in

diameter and was glowing a dark red. The sphere it surrounded started pulsing, like a

massive, disgusting egg about to hatch. The cockroaches on the outer shell of the

cockroach egg were pushed outward and fell to their deaths.

And finally, the egg burst….

Finally, the egg burst, revealing a massive, three-meter long, giant cockroach. It didn't

look like the regular, oval-shaped cockroaches that were flying around either. No, it

looked like some horrifying cross between a human and a cockroach.

Six spiked limbs jutted out from its torso. The limbs themselves were like that of a

cockroach's, but the very ends had fingers like they were human hands. Each of those

fingers was a razor-sharp blade. The cockroach's head was fitted with two pitch-black

eyeballs and powerful mandibles. Three pairs of translucent wings sprouted from its

back, and it had a tail near its waist. Considering how intimidating and blasphemous

it looked, Hajime guessed that it was this floor's final guardian.

"Gichichichichichi!"

It let out a revolting, inhuman scream, and wreathed itself in dark red mana. The

cockroaches around it rearranged themselves and started creating another magic

circle. It appeared the giant human-shaped one could control the others at will.

More cockroaches flew to the center of the magic circle and started creating multiple

spheres. These were smaller than the ones that had created the human-shaped one,

but they were still big enough that whatever came out of them would be trouble.

"Tch, like I'll let— Wha!?"

"Mmm!?"

Hajime and Yue made to attack the cockroach swarm, but then stopped when they felt

a vast torrent of mana at their feet. They both looked down, but at a glance, it seemed

the platform they were on hadn't changed at all. Hajime activated his Demon Eye and

saw that another swarm of cockroaches had created another magic circle underneath

the branches.

The other magic circle up in the sky was just a distraction to keep the party's attention

away from this one. And it had worked. Hajime only had time to curse before the magic

circle beneath them activated. A pillar of dark crimson mana shot up from underneath

the branches. It spiraled around them like a tornado, and Hajime was forced to cover

his eyes from the intensity of its light. Then, there was a blinding crimson flash, and

the entire room was filled with light.

After a few seconds, the light dispersed. Hajime looked down at himself and found he

was unhurt.

"What on earth was that? Yue, are you—"

Upon seeing Yue, Hajime stopped mid-sentence, stunned. Was it because he'd been

captivated by her, even in the middle of battle? No. The opposite, actually.

He was neither relieved at finding her safe, nor happy to see her. No, he was disgusted.

Disgusted to the point that he was filled with hatred. For the first time in his life,

Hajime felt that way toward Yue. And from the looks of it, Yue felt the same way. Her

mouth was twisted into a faint snarl, and there was murder in her eyes.

"Yue."

"Hajime…."

They both frowned in displeasure at the same time.

"I fucking hate you."

"I wish I could kill you."

Neither of them bothered to hide their disdain. At the same time, they drew their

weapons. Hajime pointed Donner at Yue's forehead, while she pointed a hand glowing

with pale blue flames at his chest.

Just barely, the two of them managed to stop themselves from firing. Something in

their memories told them this situation was wrong. Had it not been for their instincts,

they would likely have tried to kill each other.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing you two?" Shea interrupted their charged

glaring contest with an angry yell. However, it wasn't because she was trying to stop

them from killing each other.

"The hell do you think you're doing, playing around in the middle of a battle? I'll

murder you worms!" In fact, she seemed more than ready to join in herself. Her eyes

held nothing but hatred. She tapped Drucken threateningly against her shoulder. If it

wasn't for the fact that they were in a life-and-death battle in the middle of a labyrinth,

she would have attacked them already.