“Yes! I made it! Outside!” Gruszka gloated.
This is bad! He opened the door and jumped right in!
“I’m telling you that it’s dangerous!” Datil roared.
“Wait! That doesn’t go outside! Stop!” Fresa yelled.
Datil and Fresa chased Gruszka into the room, and I was still in Fresa’s hands. Damn it! The door’s closed! The small room had no lights and was illuminated only by Datil’s lantern. It felt cold and was mostly blank, looking oddly modern. It was completely different from any building that I’d seen in this world before.
Beep! Beep! “Confirmed entry of multiple persons. Locking onto [3] necks. Decapitation will commence in 59...58...57...”
Don’t say something so terrifying so casually! That’s not the only thing that’s scary though.
“Wh-What is this?!”
“This is terrible!”
The room was filled with skeletons. I imagined this place looking more like clean room storage, but it’s actually more like a horror movie.
“Eek! N-No... Nooooo!”
See? Even the audience is screaming. Anyway, this isn’t ideal. At this rate, they’re all gonna die.
“Fresa-san, where are we?” Datil asked.
“Judging from Apple-san’s look, probably not anywhere good,” she replied.
Correct. If you guys had heard that announcement, you’d be way more scared.
“The door—ugh—won’t open. Could you please stand back a little?” Datil said. He rammed his body against the door and tried to use his sword to pry it open. “No good. It won’t even budge.”
Okay, it’s do or die here. Grida, let’s attack the door with our full power!
“Okay! With one hundred percent of my power, unchain the wind, entreat the moon!”
Ding! “The spell is incomplete. Please recite the full spell to activate magic.”
Strength at a hundred percent! Unchain the wind, entreat the moon!
Ding! “The spell is incomplete. Please recite the full spell to activate magic.”
No good. Our spells are totally nullified!
“Intruders will be removed in 35...34...33...”
We don’t have much time! At this rate, all three of their heads will fly! Wait, hold on. That’s weird.
“What’s wrong, Furutsu?” Grida asked.
Why are there corpses in here? I thought you were supposed to get decapitated and then thrown out of this room.
“You’re right. How strange.”
Decapitated and thrown out...? Oh! That’s it!
“15...14...13...”
Then I might be able to protect them with that thing! Grida, could you take out an item from the storage real quick?
“10...9...8...”
“Huh?! But why?” Grida said.
I’ll explain later! We don’t have time! Put it over there!
“Are you sure?! Um, so I take this and put it there...”
Thump!
“3...2...1... Decapitation will commence.”
Thud! Clank! Whoosh! Three odd sounds echoed in the chamber.
“Wh-What was that?!” Datil cried.
“Huh? What was that sound?” Fresa yelled.
“Ahhhhhh! I can’t see! Why?! H-Help!” Gruszka wailed.
Everyone’s safe. Great! I knew it!
“That’s amazing! But how?” Grida asked.
Look at the corpses around you. Their necks aren’t severed, are they?
“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”
Once this room detects multiple people, it cuts their heads off and spits them out. If your head isn’t severed, you won’t be attacked again, but you also won’t be able to leave this room. That means...
“You don’t mean...”
Yeah. They’re trapped in this room forever. The corpses in this room most likely died from starvation, suicide, or turning against each other.
“I feel bad for them. But why didn’t they get decapitated?”
Armor. These skeletons are all wearing armor or helmets that guard the neck area.
“Oh, you’re right!”
In fact, some of them aren’t even steel. Look over there. That’s leather armor fitted together with rivets. If armor that lousy could block this attack, half-decent stuff should be plenty. Perkunas’s Mantle and Loga’s Leather Armor are more than decent. They even have special effects that protect unguarded areas—these are legendary equips.
“I can’t see anything! What’s going on?!” Gruszka cried.
With Fresa and Datil’s super equips, there was no worry of them being decapitated in the first place. Man, I feel like I wasted energy worrying over them.
“It’s dark! Help me! Help!”
So our only problem is that guy over there, screaming and crying.
“Look, Fresa-san! Your rotten luck saved this two-bit villain’s life,” Datil said.
“Hey, don’t say it like that!” she said with a pout.
On top of Gruszka’s head was the large pot that Fresa had pulled from the Hoard Lottery. It went down to his shoulders, protecting his neck area.
“What is this?! Help! I can’t see!” Gruszka yelled.
It’s a bit dented from that decapitation attempt, but it’ll still be useful for cooking. Grida, could you please collect it?
“Okay!”
Now then. It took a bit to fully analyze the item, but it seems like Fresa’s mantle has finally activated.
“After deliberation, it has been confirmed that a physical slicing attack has been aimed toward the user. A lightning counterattack will be fired.”
We heard a cracking sound and were surrounded by a bright light. Squeak! “S-S-System...d-d-dowwwwn.” Beep! “Systeeeeemmmm...” Creak! Boom!
The once blank room was suddenly charred and black—it was a shocking sight. Thanks to the change in color, we could now see the once-invisible seams in the wall as smoke billowed from the burned surface. Perkunas’s Mantle fired lightning bolts equivalent to the opponent’s evil intentions. Since she was almost decapitated, I’d say the intentions were pretty malicious. A large lightning bolt is probably a fair trade here.
“Datil, look! The door’s opening!” Fresa said. The lightning bolt must have unlocked the door, as the tightly shut exit was now wide open.
“That was easier than I expected,” Datil said.
“Heeey, don’t be so breezy about it! Look at all the people in here that couldn’t find an exit and starved to death!”
The room was filled with corpses. Those that survived the initial decapitation probably tried to do whatever they could to escape, only to die in despair. Fresa’s right. This isn’t something we should just hand-wave away.
“You’re right. Apologies for my comment.”
We were just very lucky.
“We’re able to leave this room because I rolled this mantle in the lottery, okay?” Fresa said proudly.
You just wanted to brag?! For a moment, I had a better opinion of you, but you’re making me retract it a few seconds later! I’ve never had to do this before!
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Datil said, with a tired look on his face. “You’re amazing. Thanks.”
“Wh-What are we dawdling for?! Let’s leave this place immediately!” Gruszka said, shakily looking around.
“Hey! You’re still alive thanks to the pot that I pulled earlier, okay? You should be more gracious toward me!” Fresa said.
“A pot? What are you talking about?”
I mean, the pot was suddenly on his head, and just as suddenly gone. I doubt he has a clue of what went on.
“Besides, just who are you lot, anyway?!” he said.
“We’ve said it before. We’re just normal Rank E adventurers,” Datil replied while Fresa giggled behind him. Gruszka narrowed his eyes with suspicion. “Now then, shall we go, Fresa-san?”
“I don’t mind, but the bandit chief here seems to be a bit of a scaredy-cat,” Fresa said.
“Hmph! Say as you will. You guys are the strange ones here!” Gruszka said.
He’s not wrong. It’s pretty abnormal for you guys to be talking like normal in this situation.
“Oh, strange, you say? That’s a bit rude of you, isn’t it? We can leave you here, if you’d like,” Datil said. Gruszka gulped and fell silent.
As Datil and Fresa chuckled to each other, looking at the now silent Gruszka following close behind them, they decided to leave the room. Datil stood in the front with a lantern in hand. Fresa was behind him, and Gruszka, still nervously glancing around, brought up the rear.
“There’s only one path to take. Not much of a labyrinth, is it?” Datil said. We went deeper down the dark hallway.
This Gaokerena Palace is very cleanly built. It feels like it’s not of this world.
“These walls are made out of an odd material, right, Datil?” The hallways felt strangely modern in terms of architecture. It felt as though we were in a science fiction novel.
“Yes. This isn’t wood, stone, or steel.”
Like the walls in the room we’d just left, there were no visible seams. As the lantern lit up the hallways, they glowed back with a pale and mysterious blue light. The walls and ceilings were covered in uniform patterns, pointing even further to the fact that these were man-made.
“I don’t see anything. Do you?” Fresa asked.
“There’s no demons or traps,” Datil replied.
As a side note, there weren’t any announcements either. The silence was a little unnerving.
“Datil, do you think this area is a safe space, or something?”
No. That’s unfortunately not the case, Fresa, because...
“Absolutely not! Do you not remember what I said about my subordinate?! It’s very dangerous!” Gruszka said behind us.
Exactly. Gruszka told us that the only person that came out of this labyrinth was on the verge of dying.
“If we’re talking purely in terms of fighting abilities, my subordinate’s skills surpassed mine.”
In other words, there’s something in here that would leave a capable warrior on the verge of death.
“So there are demons or traps then?” Datil said.
“Could be. Let’s stay cautious,” Fresa said.
Let’s not forget the large tree at the end of the labyrinth that they apparently saw. The truth lies deeper inside.