Chapter 47: The Labyrinth’s Depths- A Fight for Survival

I slowly opened my eyelids due to the sudden bright light.

Although I could still see some afterimages, thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any problems with my vision.

In front of me was the corpse of an orc shaman, and around me…

“Ugh?”

A walking clump of stone extended what seemed to be a fist toward me.

Since staying still would mean getting hit, I quickly swung the sword I was holding, but something grabbed the back of my neck a moment faster.

With a sudden jerk, I was dragged back, and I saw a massive greatsword swing.

The stone that collided with the sword didn’t shatter, but instead split into two with a clean cut.

I found myself in an awkward stance with my neck being held by Emma, who was small in stature. Fortunately, as the stone split and collapsed, Emma sighed and let go of my clothes.

“This is turning into a hassle.”

“What…?”

As I was about to voice my confusion, I realized something was off.

The walls around me were blocking the room as if we had entered an indoor space.

The structures were unfamiliar, and there was a monster that had appeared out of nowhere.

Though I was surprised, it wasn’t so chaotic that I couldn’t tell that something was very wrong.

“This is forced transference. The necklace you cut, it broke, and we got forcibly shifted to the depths of the labyrinth.”

I remembered the necklace I had sliced along with the orc.

It had looked a little unusual, but I hadn’t paid it much attention.

Now it seemed that the necklace was the cause of the situation.

“I… I’m sorry.”

“No, no. You don’t need to apologize. It’s actually our fault for not explaining it properly and warning you first. We never thought those leftover monsters on the outskirts would have it.”

“But… you’re saying it’s a teleportation magic…? I thought teleportation magic was a high-level spell.”

“Like you said, there’s no way an orc shaman could create an artifact like that. They probably just stumbled upon it and are using it without knowing where it leads. They carry it around just hoping for good luck to save their lives.”

“That’s a new fact for me.”

“Well, let’s end the lesson here and try to find a way out.”

Emma dragged the greatsword along, scanning the area. I couldn’t just stand still, so I looked around as well.

However, all I could see were the fallen orc shaman, the collapsed stone golem, and just a single door—no other indoor decorations in sight.

The only source of light in the room was the glowing stones embedded in the ceiling.

“First, we need to get out of here and then we can figure out what to do.”

Emma quickly realized there was nothing else around, so she headed toward the only exit, the door.

With a loud creak, she opened the door without a second thought. I couldn’t decide if I should call it careless or bold.

But Emma’s confident attitude had a reason behind it.

Clank, clank, clank.

As the door opened, arrows flew in without making a sound. They seemed to be aimed at whoever was entering, with their trajectory slightly pointed outward.

Fortunately, Emma easily knocked every arrow away with her greatsword. With a broad swing of her sword, she knocked them all aside effortlessly.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Despite looking younger than me, Emma had a charisma that made people follow her.

Her voice, though cute and childlike, carried an air of boldness, and the slender back beneath her greatsword held a surprising strength.

As I followed her out of the room, we found ourselves in a plain corridor, nothing out of the ordinary except for the unfamiliar structures.

When I tried to walk next to Emma, she motioned for me to step back.

“If you’re next to me, you’ll get in the way of my sword swings. Just stay behind me. I know the labyrinth better than you, Elysia.”

Although I was hesitant about using Emma as a shield, I had no arguments to make, so I distanced myself and followed her again.

Emma, leading the way, crushed all the monsters and traps of the labyrinth as she advanced. My role was to either deal with the monsters left behind or avoid the traps she hadn’t destroyed, trailing behind her. Occasionally, we reached a crossroads, but Emma didn’t seem to hesitate, entering whichever path without much thought.

How much time passed, I wondered. At least a few hours had gone by, but honestly, it wasn’t a particularly difficult labyrinth.

If I had been alone, I might not have known, but Emma, as she claimed, was familiar with the labyrinth and was navigating it with ease.

So much so that I was starting to doubt if we were even still in the labyrinth.

“Well… I’m not sure whether we’re lucky or unlucky.”

Emma spoke as we approached a door. However, the door before us was quite different from the ones we had passed before.

Compared to the others, this door was several times larger, with ornate patterns that clearly suggested something was behind it, and an unsettling aura that could be felt even beyond the door.

It was rare for a labyrinth to be this overt about what lay ahead, but no matter how I thought about it, it seemed like the owner of the labyrinth was waiting on the other side of this door.

“The best option would’ve been to exit the labyrinth, but instead, we’ve come all the way to its deepest part. Now, we have two choices: either we break through the labyrinth completely, or we turn back. Of course, we could always wait here for a rescue, but if that were the plan, we wouldn’t need to move in the first place.”

“What do you think is the better choice, Emma?”

Since Emma knew more about the labyrinth than I did, it was only natural for me to follow her judgment.

With no immediate danger, Emma sat down on the spot and began explaining.

“Both options come with risks. The biggest one is that we don’t know how strong the labyrinth’s owner is. If it’s someone manageable, that’s great, but considering there were high-level monsters blocking the path earlier, I can’t say for sure that we’ll be fine.”

She sighed before continuing.

“Then there’s the option to turn back. That’s risky too. So far, the traps and monsters haven’t been that dangerous, but there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way. We don’t even know how deep the labyrinth goes. For all we know, we could spend a week trying to climb up and still not reach the entrance.”

“So, if we defeat the labyrinth’s owner, can we return?”

“If it’s a labyrinth created for some specific purpose, maybe not. But if it’s one made artificially by someone from the past, there should be an exit created by the original designer to leave the labyrinth. So, it’s very likely that there’s a direct path to the entrance somewhere.”

It seemed like Emma was giving me a choice, but judging by the way she explained things, she had already made up her mind.

I agreed with her thinking, so after a brief moment of hesitation, I spoke.

“Then, let’s break through. We’ve come this far, and if both options are risky, it’s better to push forward and break through.”

Emma smiled at my words.

“Your daughter makes friends well. I like the straightforwardness. This is how a swordsman should be.”

With that, Emma stood up.

“Then, I’ll handle the labyrinth’s owner. If there are any guards around, Elysia, you’ll handle them. There are a lot of things to consider, but we can’t predict everything, so we’ll have to make decisions as we go.”

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

After what could hardly be called a strategy meeting, Emma stood before the door.

“Shall we go?”

With those words, Emma kicked the door open with a powerful slam, rather than opening it cautiously.

As we entered the boss room, we saw a skeleton sitting in a chair holding a staff. It wasn’t just any skeleton—each joint emanated a strong aura. It was likely a lich. Liches are classified as high-level monsters, but they are far more dangerous than that.

The true danger of a lich isn’t just its magical power, but its immortality.

As long as its vessel isn’t destroyed, it can’t die. Of course, it’s limited in that it can’t stray too far from its vessel, but even without that limitation, it possesses absurd abilities.

“This works out well. I’ll handle that thing, and you look for the vessel.”

Without even waiting for my response, Emma immediately charged towards the lich.

The lich, noticing Emma rushing at it, quickly began casting spells.

Unlike an orc shaman, the magic it unleashed was fast and powerful.

A huge fireball flew toward Emma. However, a much larger flame erupted from Emma’s greatsword, easily splitting the fireball in two as she continued forward.

The lich, showing no signs of surprise, kept casting various spells, but Emma, with her massive sword, either sliced through or blocked each spell, letting none of them land.

Then, when the lich came within Emma’s range, she swung her greatsword powerfully, striking at it.

However, even the flaming greatsword that split all the magic could not break through the lich’s barrier and stopped short.

At least the lich’s barrier wasn’t entirely intact; it was cracked, and a hole had been torn in it.

I, too, couldn’t just stand by and watch, so I began to move. However, there was a sense of unease that I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

I wondered if it was the lich’s magical power, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The feeling was too familiar for it to be magic.

It felt like something else, something more instinctive.

That’s when I realized I had to decide whether to look for the hidden vessel or follow my instincts.

But the decision didn’t take long.

Hadn’t Craig told me to follow my instincts?

Of course, what Craig had meant was to trust my instincts when it came to my sword, but advice should always be flexible.

So, I moved according to my instincts—into the battleground, where magic exploded and flaming swords were swung.

Emma, focused on the fight, didn’t even notice me approaching.

And then, I realized what that sense of unease had been.

It was a faint killing intent. It had been suppressed and hidden, but I could still feel the faint scent of murderous intent leaking out.

Such a dirty killing intent would not come from a mere mage or a noble warrior.

No, it was the kind of killing intent I was all too familiar with—the killing intent of an assassin.

The figure hidden in the shadows seemed to sense that its plan was failing and moved immediately.

Fortunately, I was able to react quickly, moving one step ahead.

Clang!

I deflected the sword that was aimed at Emma’s nape. Only then did Emma seem to realize the presence of the figure in the shadows and me, pulling back to create distance, shouting out.

“I’ve got this!”

I wondered if there were any more hidden enemies, but if there had been, they would have shown themselves when the attack was made just now.

Emma was in close combat with the lich, and I was standing a bit further away, facing off against another skeleton.

“Heh.”

A laugh unintentionally escaped me. My face was probably smiling.

Looking at the dark skeleton in front of me, it was no wonder I was smiling.

It’s one of my own kind, isn’t it?