Chapter 49 - Harvest

Compared to the vast and interconnected maze, this passage could only be described as narrow.

At the end of the corridor was a large stone wall, and above it, a few shadowy figures flickered in the dim light.

"Shiro, how's it going on your side?"

With both Physical Boost and Strength Enhancement active, Nagami and C.C. were tugging on a thick, flexible, yet incredibly strong strand of spider silk.

Tied to the end of the thread was a boulder several meters in diameter.

Behind it stood three monsters, their glowing red eyes glaring ominously in the dark—Elro Randanirus.

Still a bizarre name.

These monsters resembled dinosaurs, with the key difference being their size—barely one to two meters long, roughly human height.

They usually moved in trios and were mockingly called "The Intimate Trio" by locals due to their extremely strong coordination.

The fact that they could survive in the lower layers of the labyrinth was largely due to their venomous abilities.

Today, the unlucky trio had stumbled across something they could dedicate their entire lives to—being C.C.'s temporary labor force.

After all, moving such a massive boulder would be impossible with just two people and Shiraori's petite frame.

Technically, they could have done it.

Human ingenuity lies in tool-making.

If they carved the rock into a more spherical shape, they could have rolled it—but why bother with all that when you can just conscript monsters?

"All set on my end too, your immortal 'ordinary' person reporting in~"

Shiraori's voice carried over with a hint of sarcasm as she walked toward them.

Her expression as she looked at the boy and girl was filled with subtle complexity. "The webs are in place."

"Perfect. Take a break. Once your MP recovers a bit, lay another set. Then we begin the harvest."

With a soft smile on her refined face, C.C. reached out and gently patted Shiraori's head in a comforting gesture, even giving one of her Pikachu-like ears a little stroke.

"…Are you treating me like a pet or something?"

Shiraori let out a sigh, her eyes dull and expression blank, yet she didn't brush C.C.'s hand away.

"Of course not. We're besties! This is a symbol of our deep friendship~"

Despite her words, C.C. didn't stop petting her.

And since Shiraori wasn't resisting, her smile only grew more radiant.

What puzzled her, though, was that if Nagami tried to do the same thing, Shiraori would definitely dodge.

So unfair!

Is this the infamous "beautiful girl privilege"?

Unacceptable! Outrageous! When will men rise again?!

"Hmph, like I'd believe anything that comes out of your mouth!"

Shiraori crossed her arms, letting her skills slowly regenerate her depleted MP.

Laying ordinary webs didn't cost much mana—but she'd enhanced every single thread with special skills, which had drained her pool completely.

While she rested, Nagami had been keeping the trio of unfortunate monsters busy hauling stones.

Eager to please him, they gave it everything they had—until they literally dropped dead from SP exhaustion, their bodies still moving instinctively to complete the task.

'Sigh, this is exactly why I hate this Geass ability...'

Nagami looked down at their bodies and saw in them the shadows of so many people from his past life.

Always eager to serve. Always obedient.

The modern term for them would be—simp dogs.

By the time Shiraori had finished setting the last of the webs, Nagami's preparations were also complete.

"I'm going now! Really going this time!" Shiraori looked back at Nagami every few steps like a reluctant child.

"Bon voyage~"

With her Herculean Speed skill active, not even a monkey enhanced by the "Vengeance" skill could keep up with her.

Nagami's own speed was nowhere close.

So naturally, the task of baiting the enemy could only fall to her.

Thinking about all the delicious experience points they'd earn if this plan succeeded, and the fact that Nagami couldn't die, Shiraori gritted her teeth and launched forward.

Her motion blurred, leaving a fading afterimage in her wake.

C.C. came from the world of Lelouch, which is why the first strategy Nagami thought of was classic "lift the floor trap."

Lelouch would've approved.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any explosives handy, so that plan had to be shelved.

They went with something more low-tech but effective.

A distant roar snapped Nagami out of his musings. C.C. also looked up toward the pitch-black tunnel, her golden eyes turning sharp—on the verge of burning red.

"They're coming! Get ready!"

Even before her words fully landed, a white blur streaked into view like a ghostly arc of light.

Shiraori darted into the trap zone, holding a skull still dripping with blood.

"Wait, seriously?! You ate the whole thing before coming back?!"

Nagami's eye twitched. He barely restrained the urge to yell.

"I don't believe in wasting food."

Shiraori raised a tiny fist with righteous conviction.

The aura of heroic justice radiated from her small body like a tiny paladin of virtue.

"Hah… What, do I need to give you an award for resourcefulness now?"

Nagami glanced at the spider girl now hiding behind him and then turned his gaze forward.

His expression turned serious.

Closing his eyes, he reopened them to reveal a glowing, six-pointed star of deep violet.

The ground trembled under the thunderous approach. Ragged, guttural breathing filled the air.

Then, they appeared—the vengeance troop.

An ocean of monkeys flooded his field of vision.

Their crimson eyes blazed with hatred, their long fangs bared.

Their curved spines hunched low like wild beasts, their claws tearing through the earth.

Dust and debris exploded under their stampede, and the snarls that tore from their throats were like metal grinding on stone.

Madness. Rage. Bloodlust.

The real hunt was about to begin.

"Tsk tsk, they really do look terrifying, don't they?" With a snap of her fingers, a magic circle materialized in C.C.'s open palm—intricate and beautiful, and burning with fierce flames that erupted into existence.

As her slender white fingers danced through the air, a towering column of fire erupted just two seconds later, wrapping itself around a massive, spherical boulder bound tightly in layers of spider silk.

They weren't exactly sure how this world's system calculated experience points, so this was an added insurance policy: the flames were cast by C.C., and the webs spun by Shiraori.

Surely, if the incoming rage chimps were crushed by a flaming, webbed boulder, the system would give them the proper XP.

Otherwise, that would be straight-up robbery.

Still, it might be overkill—but better safe than sorry.

"Activating trap card—Physical Fireball Technique!"

With a flick of telekinesis, Nagami shattered the square-shaped stone block that had been holding the massive boulder in place.

The burning rock, cloaked in flames and spider silk, immediately began to roll forward under the pull of gravity, gaining speed and momentum with terrifying force.

The enemies charging their way were no joke—when buffed by their Vengeance Skill, even a single Rage Ape's combat power could rival that of a higher-tier evolved monster.

But powerful skills often come with drawbacks.

In this case, the troop of charging monkeys seemed to be under the effect of some kind of intelligence-debuff—they didn't even try to dodge until the burning heat was practically licking at their fur.

The air displaced by the rolling boulder fanned the flames, turning them into a raging inferno.

The apes at the front were the first to be crushed—limbs shattered, blood sprayed, and the flames eagerly spread along the remains.

The explosion of fire and sound that followed hurled more of the humanoid monsters backward, their shrieks of agony echoing as the blaze consumed their bodies.

Unlike the mid-level lava monsters found in the central layers of the Great Labyrinth, the creatures on both the upper and lower levels were more susceptible to fire.

Especially the poisonous ones—Shiraori being a prime example.

Now, standing side-by-side like high-caliber artillery platforms, Nagami and C.C. looked down from the cliffside as they unleashed fire upon any survivors.

Scarlet magic circles formed around them one after another, and flaming meteors streaked across the sky like crimson comets, reducing everything they touched to ash.

Naturally, their MP was dropping fast.

But with Nagami's absurdly high mana pool—far beyond anyone else at his level—the blue bar didn't dip too drastically.

And then...

[Sufficient experience accumulated]

[Entity "Nagami??C.C" has leveled up from LV12 to LV13]

A gentle, ghostly glow enveloped the slowly diminishing MP gauge.

In that instant, it was as if a mysterious spring had been tapped—Nagami's mana bar surged upward.

"Nagami! Nagami! I leveled up!" Shiraori couldn't hide her excitement as she spun joyfully in place.

"Keep it together, keep it together—it's only just beginning~" Nagami's six-pointed star-shaped pupils spun slowly.

His narrowed eyes gleamed with a blade-like sharpness, the kind that could slice through even the coldest blizzard—wild and defiant.

[Skill Proficiency Reward Acquired]

[Fireball has been upgraded from LV4 to LV5]