Chapter 4:
The Divine Labyrinth / Divine Tomb
REPORTS FROM our scouts indicated that there were no eucharists or other enemies outside of the labyrinth and that entering through the city’s underground sewers wasn’t an option. The labyrinth had seeped its membrane into the ground, completely sealing off all routes in. We decided to split our forces into those that would remain on standby outside the capital, and those who would advance into the city to take on Vicius—the heroes included. Cattlea was placed in charge of the large group of soldiers who were to remain outside of Eno. I went with Lokiella to the side of the labyrinth to get a look at it.
“It’s so weird how quiet the city is,” I said.
It seemed that almost all the citizens who had been on the outside of the labyrinth when it formed had fled through the outer gates. The small number that remained were in the process of being safely evacuated by our forces.
“Doesn’t seem like there are any traps being laid for us yet. Well… The labyrinth itself is designed to disappear completely once its caster leaves, so there should be no danger of Vicius coming out to say hello. As for those disciples…who knows. I can’t imagine she’d send them out here and sacrifice her advantage when she’s so clearly luring us inside that labyrinth… Not to mention…”
Before arriving, we’d considered the possibility that Vicius might launch a surprise attack the moment we arrived in the city.
“With the scale of this labyrinth… I think this is the range of her divine carving’s effect. I can feel something active inside, but there’s nothing like that on the outside of the membrane.”
In other words, she’s only got her buffs so long as she’s in there—meaning there’s even less advantage to venturing out.
“So what do you think?” I asked, as Lokiella placed a palm to the side of the labyrinth membrane.
“Yep, it doesn’t seem like even Vicius has been able to pull off manipulating a conception magic spell. She hasn’t tampered with it. It operates within the bounds of all the rules I explained.”
There are lots of possibilities that having Lokiella around lets me discount entirely… And the fewer maybes, the better.
We returned to the entrance of the labyrinth.
“Looks like everybody’s here.”
Everyone who would be heading inside had gathered there, at the only entrance. Lokiella had just determined that there was only one entrance. The entrance was shaped like a half-moon—simple and lacking grandeur. There was a white space just over the threshold, a little bigger than a six-tatami mat room. The room was separated from us by a thin, semi-transparent membrane. According to Lokiella, the barrier could be penetrated by anyone.
But first…
“Let me go over the details. We can only enter one by one,” I said, explaining to everyone the news that Lokiella had given me. “Once you’re through that membrane, you’ll be transported somewhere within the labyrinth.”
The location an entrant would be sent to was apparently random, but the faster someone followed another entrant in, the more likely the two of them would be sent somewhere close to the same location.
That should make it easier for us to regroup once we’re in there. The problem is that none of this is guaranteed. Some of our group might get teleported somewhere far away from the rest.
I remembered the way that Lokiella had explained it to me.
“It’s meant to make it hard to know who you’ll encounter during your training. The system makes it easy to team up with the divines you’re interested in grouping with if you enter right after they do, raising your odds of winning the game. It also lets you reduce the chances of meeting someone you want to avoid by entering much later than them. The important thing, though, is that none of this is guaranteed—it’s all down to luck. Reality doesn’t always go the way you want it. This training’s meant to teach us that lesson, and how messy and unclear reality can be.”
So this competition’s about chance encounters too. And that’s why sound is made to travel so poorly in the labyrinth. Generally speaking, you’ll only be able to hear whatever’s near you once you’re in there. The white walls absorb most of the noise. I wish we could use those sound spheres to mark our locations, like we did in our fight against the Thirteen Orders of Alion…but that tactic isn’t going to fly in this Divine Labyrinth. Unless you’re in close proximity to someone else, you won’t know who’s nearby.
There are going to be a lot of random encounters in there. Lokiella said that was what made it so interesting as a training exercise…
There was also a limit to how many people could enter—a number anywhere from 50 to 100.
“The caster and any enemies inside like eucharists and disciples won’t be counted as part of that number, though. It only counts new entrants from the outside,” Lokiella had explained.
But we can’t be sure what that upper limit is either. According to Lokiella, it’s random, determined at the time the labyrinth is activated. Sometimes the number of possible entrants can surpass 100, and sometimes it can be only 50.
That was the reason I’d left most of our army outside of the city walls. I also decided to take all those who weren’t suited to single combat out of the running. In the end, the party that would be heading into the labyrinth were:
Seras Ashrain.
Eve Speed.
Munin.
Sogou Ayaka.
The Takao sisters.
Ikusaba Asagi.
Geo Shadowblade.
Amia Plum Lynx.
Kil Mail.
Loa.
Nyantan Kikipat.
Captain of the Holy Knights of Neah, Makia Renaufia.
Holy Knight of Neah, Esmeralda Nedith.
Leader of the Black Dragon Knights, Gus Dolnfedd.
Chester Ord, of the Princeps Elector House of Ord.
Selected members of the Holy Knights of Neah.
Selected members of the Black Dragon Knights.
Selected members of the Band of the Sun.
Selected members of the Monster Slayer Knights.
Selected members of the Alionese army.
Selected members of the Country at the End of the World—including members of the Kurosaga clan.
Then there’s me, Piggymaru, and Lokiella.
There are likely going to be eucharists in the labyrinth, not just the disciples. If it turns out there are a lot of them, it’s going to be important that we don’t use up our strength. Vicius knows all about our MP and will try to whittle it down. We need to send all these people in so that we don’t get overwhelmed by their numbers while we’re inside. Of course, there’s another reason for having this many of us in there too—making sure that I can get to Vicius while I’m still in good condition to fight. It’s possible my status-effect skills might be able to kill these disciples with minimal MP cost. The best-case scenario would be me taking them all out so that we can preserve the rest of our strength.
The Black Dragon Knights wouldn’t be taking their dragons into the labyrinth. It wasn’t an environment suited to flight, so they wouldn’t be capable of using the air to their advantage. A dragon would also take up the spot of a person who could otherwise join us. Gratrah and her harpies were left behind for the same reason—they would be unable to fly. Nyaki, Lise, and Banewolf were also going to remain outside, as they lacked the combat strength to join us. I decided Slei would stay behind too, as would Fugi of the Kurosaga.
Many of the heroes offered to join us, but Sogou asked me to refuse them. I turned them all down.
Her goal is protecting her classmates… Well, no. Now, I suppose, it’s to protect those that need her protection. In any case, all the heroes except for Sogou Ayaka, the Takao sisters, and Ikusaba Asagi were left outside. The chance of death is an unavoidable consequence of entering this labyrinth. Some of these people might even encounter a disciple the moment they’re teleported in there. My main priority is making sure that Sogou can move freely, without worrying about the safety of the other heroes. In terms of combat ability, it’d be hard for me to send most of the heroes in there, anyway—I don’t want them dragging Sogou down once they’re on the inside.