162 - - five-tier structure

"Wow, those are big ants."

"It's beautiful, but it's kind of weird because it looks fake.

"Huh!　How did you beat this? It doesn't have a scratch on it at all."

"Moo just knocked it over with a pop!"

"Don't lie to me, little guy. You've got Sola and Yuril to thank for that."

"Come here a minute, boys."

Thor calls the youngsters, who are fussing around a dead ant carcass lying on the ground, to a stone lid through which the entrance to the sixth level can be seen.

Now that we have some assurance, we just need to make one last check.

"At the end of this back passage, there are still some dangerous ants left, so I don't want to provoke them. We'll go down in parties and turn right back around. Rorolf and the others first.

"Yes!"

If more than ten people are grouped together, there is a high possibility that the monsters will notice and gather.

We send the usual five men down the narrow passage, and after a short pause, Thor also enters the ramp.

The three brothers, perhaps sensing the presence of a swallowing presence, tread cautiously.

After confirming that Roloff and the others had reached the sixth layer, Thor caught up with them and joined them.

When he checked, he found that the curse that had been invoked had been to reduce the fighting spirit of all of them, including Thor, by half.

"It seems that the curse is determined by the composition of the group that has passed through the passage, and it remains for a certain period of time."

"It's a terrible hostility. ....... The will to reduce the strength of the battle is strongly conveyed."

Thor nodded silently in reply to Dialgo's words, which were tinged with fear.

Since there were four rearguards in the previous search, the spells were concentrated on magic, and this probably made it possible to reach the seventh layer with less impact on the main force, Straccia.

It seems that the Kongo class has something more than simply good luck.

We immediately turned back and sent Ninessa, Kugase, and Chita to the sixth layer next.

Since they are not involved in the battle to kill the master of the labyrinth this time, it is somewhat easier to get in and out of the labyrinth since nothing happens when they touch the stone lid.

The curse of the rear guard was, as expected, .

"Well, all we have to do now is to defeat the master of the labyrinth and make the curse stick.

"What, you mean we have to wait here until tomorrow?　Pops."

No, we'll do it now."

At the brief reply, the brown-horned girl looked at the red and blue ant carcasses that were still lying on the ground.

Then she looked at Thor, shifted her gaze to the motionless labyrinth master, and finally stared at him again.

"Ram-chan, the old man is talking nonsense. He must have been hit by some kind of crazy curse or something.

"Yes, it seems so at first, but you'll get used to it."

"Even Ram-chan is going crazy. Help me, Sora!

"Don't worry, Thor-chan will take care of it!"

"If you get scared, hide behind Moo and you'll be safe."

"Well, I'm going to bring him back to life now, so Roloff and the others can surround the blue ants, the blue ones over there, and hit them all at once. Garudo, will you go with them just in case?

"Yeah, okay. That's him.

"All right, it's finally time, boys!"

We're invincible now. We have no enemies!　Hey, bro.

"No, you have a lot of curses left, so don't be too rash."

The lack of fighting with monsters and the fact that Yuril was away from home saved us a lot of time in getting here.

However, because of this, we have overwhelmingly not used in time.

In particular, the three brothers were put off, so they only had as their only trait.

Kugase, whose face is tense, questions the Rorolfs as they begin their preparations without a care in the world.

"Why are you accepting this as a matter of course!

"Because, you know. Because that's what Thor's brother says.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. He's still a little new at this.

"What's shallow?"

What is it?

Leaving the brown-horned girl stunned and open-mouthed, the ants' carcass is surrounded by a vanguard of ants with weapons and shields at the ready.

Kugase was completely speechless when he witnessed the impossible sight of the monster rising from the dead.

As the monster tried to get up with its whole body shaking, two hatchets were swung down on its abdomen, and a spear pierced its head immediately.

Its wings were stopped by a shield as it tried to spread out, and its struggling legs were mowed down by two one-handed axes that swiveled.

Before the red jade ant could regrow its forehead horns, the waiting straccia swung its blades, and a series of arrows bit into its head.

He manages to shoot out a red light, but this time, due to the shimmering flames, he is unable to aim at anything and ends up unable to do anything.

The battle was over in less than ten minutes.

"All right, touch them in order. Let's start with the vanguard.

All three of the Purple-Eyed Warriors were cursed with the curse of .

Sora and Mu quickly reverse the curse.

Activation: Automatic / Effect: Small / Range: Self.

"Oh, isn't this guy kinda bad?"

"That's too much, Brother Thor!"

Next we have the shield duo.

Although the brown-horned duo looked a bit alike, Garudo and Dialgo had a different result.

The senior long-shield wielder had a , a nasty curse that increases the recoil of a martial art.

The younger one, a circular shield user, had a curse that caused . This, too, is quickly reversed by Sora and others.

Activation: automatic / Effect: small / Range: self.

The seems to increase the overall defense, while this one seems to suppress damage.

"Thank you for this, Mr. Thor!"

"I would have preferred that one too, if I had to say. No, I'm retired now, so it doesn't matter. ......"

"You can touch Ninessa and Kugase, too."

While Ninessa nodded nonchalantly and approached Thor's side, Kugase, surprise still plastered on his face, made no move.

"Hey, hurry up! I want to be back up there by the end of the day."

"Hey, why aren't you guys surprised?　It's crazy!　It's impossible!"

The fact that the master of the labyrinth can be resurrected at will by human hands is an event that does not exist in the knowledge Kugase has been taught, or in the things he has seen and heard.

Even in the temples in his home country, no one had ever been able to do such a thing.

The girl's legs trembled and she did not move, afraid that her common sense was being shattered.

Suddenly, someone touched her back.

When she turned around, her hand was extended by a girl of the Soukin tribe, who was her senior and friend.

Kugase, who felt unintentionally relaxed, let out a sigh of relief.

"La, Ram-chan ......"

But what came back was a strong push on his back.　

"Thor wants to see you. What are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"No, I'm not. I was just watching the battle earlier and didn't do anything.

"Because, what?"

We're getting nowhere. Little guy, you did it.

"Lai!"

Moo responded cheerfully and ran over to him, spreading his small palms as wide as he could and slamming them into Kugase's buttocks.

A rather bouncy sound is produced, and the child's hand is bounced back in a big way.

Moe jumped up and let out a joyful laugh at the pleasant sensation.

"Hey!　What the hell are you doing, you little biscuit!"

Rummella's hand is once again placed on the back of the girl, who is shaking her horns in anger.

The second time, however, the touch was gentle, as if to calm her down.

"What's wrong with you, you don't look like you should be here. You're already bothering me."

"...... ram, thank you."

"Come on, get on with it. They're waiting for you."

Feeling distracted, Kugase finally takes a step forward, realizing that his legs have stopped shaking.

The brown-horned girl muttered quietly as she walked toward Thor.　

"Well, I feel like I've been forced into a trick. ......"

While the girls were playing, Ninessa was talking with Thor.

"I see, so that's how you reverse all the curses. That's amazing, isn't it, Sora?"

"Yeah, I never thought it could be used like this."

"The stronger the curse, the more powerful the property. ....... And there are so many ....... Hmmm, it's ironic in a way.

The effect is small, so it is mostly a 20% increase, but the two adventurers had been working together for many years and knew how difficult it was to increase the number by that much.

In the case of magical power, results are seen only in the early stages of training, and once a certain level is reached, there is almost no significant change.

Once you reach a certain level, there is little change from there.

In other words, in this one day, the result is equivalent to several years of effort.

Moreover, the increase in the number of times one can use magic techniques is beyond the realm of training, since it is not something that can be done by hard work.

"Thank you again, Mr. Thor. For giving us this opportunity."

"Well, I have an ulterior motive. Yes, sir.

Thor casually continued to speak to his old acquaintance who bowed deeply.

"And you didn't really want to come along with me for my characteristics, did you?"

Ninessa smiled vaguely at the question and returned a question instead of an answer.

"If you can bring the master of the labyrinth back to life over and over again, how about the other way around?"

"Reverse?"

"Yes, if it is possible to open a miasma, is it also possible to close it?"

"Are you talking about that big black pillar-like pit?"

Thor shook his head as Ninessa gave a small nod of affirmation.

"I'm afraid I can only help you after the master of the labyrinth has been defeated. The maze itself is the domain of the god of destruction. Until the master is defeated, there's nothing I can do.

At Thor's answer, the red-haired flame wielder simply nodded silently, showing no sign of disappointment.

Kugasse arrived, and the conversation between the two ended with a strange feeling of discomfort.

"First of all, Ninessa," he said, ". Sora, please.

"Yes, no!"

Activation: Automatic / Effect: Small / Scope: Self.

This is a magical version of the previous one.

"Next is Kugase.

Good luck, Mr. Cu!

"You're sure you're really, really okay with this, aren't you?　After all, there's no such thing as overwork."

"Tei!"

"Ouch! Ah!"

"Come on, Moo-chan, you know I always tell you not to spank."

The curse that appeared on the earth-user girl, who looked like she was about to cry, was .

When the spell is reversed, it changes as follows.

Activation: Automatic / Effect: Small / Scope: Self.

"So that's how it turned out..."

"Isn't that great!　I believed you, old man."

The Thunder Seiju sharpened its senses to find the weak point of the target.

The rate of secondary effects from cooling is important for the ice tree.

The Fire Spirit Tree focuses on how to burn the target quickly.

The tree of the earth spirit, which is based on the strengthening of the target by layering magical techniques.

The water spirit tree spreads its branches over a wide area in order to heal a large number of people quickly at once.

So far, the five layers of permanent curses have been generated as if they were aimed at the characteristics of each of these trees.

"And now, Chita-san..."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm asking you to be aware of the wind spirit tree."

The result is from .

This was another curse aimed at the wind user who was saving his magical power.

"Well, we've done everything. Let's go one more time.

"What, are you still going to do that?　Pops. Well, I guess it's a good thing that we can get a lot of treasure.

"I'm a person who likes to investigate everything that interests me. Please use the same arrangement as before.

The three brothers were happily shattering the wings of the carcass of the blue jade ants, as if they had noticed it during the previous battle.

They seemed to have regenerated in less than a second, and they let out a frustrated sound.

The second time, they seemed to have gotten the hang of it, and the battle was over in half the five minutes.

"Okay, Garudo, come here."

"Oh, it's me?"

"I'm going to fiddle with the branches of the technical tree for a bit. Be careful not to put it back in.

"Yeah, whatever you want."

A bearded man with one eyebrow raised, his face relaxed, gives his old friend a light poke on the shoulder.

With his permission, Thor quickly brings Garudo's upper branch martial art, Fue Kongo, back to the stage of a branch mass.

"Okay, try touching it with this."

"Like this?　How's that?"

"Oh, just as I thought."

The brown-horned shieldman showed . It is the same as Diargo of the same tribe.

Next, Chita-san, may I ask you again?

"Yes?"

"This time, please be aware of the Fubuki tree."

"Let me see."

The result is from .

As expected, it is now clear that each tree corresponds to the other.

And for those who have the upper branch martial arts, there must be a specific curse to make them more threatening.

Since there is no recoil for the upper branch magic technique, the seems to be a substitute for it.

Then, can be considered as a curse that is related to some conditions.

"We'll find out more about that tomorrow.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Thor scratched the bottom of his chin and muttered to himself.