298 - - question of the labyrinth

"I guess it's not over yet."

As Raszel had reported, the black fountain behind the labyrinth master had vanished without a trace.

Only a few hollows remain in the reddish-brown ground.

Thor compares the small head of the red skeleton handed to him with the other keys.

They are almost the same in size and shape, except for the color. It seems to serve the same purpose.

He checks the surrounding walls again, but does not see any place where he could use it.

"Next, let's start looking for a door. ......"

"You don't seem too surprised, Thor."

"Oh. I thought it might be possible.

The basis for this is the four pillars in the contraption in the upper level of the underworld.

After the white, blue, and red pillars, the monsters corresponding to the black pillars had to be defeated in order to challenge the dragon of corpses.

And the keys of skulls in the same color as those pillars.

The fact that they are colored on purpose makes them very suspicious.

"But then again, this labyrinth seems unnatural..."

"Yes. It's a little strange that the labyrinth master, when we defeat him, dutifully gives us the key to the next level of the labyrinth, even though it's full of troublesome stumbling blocks.

Yuril seemed to feel the same way.

The silver-haired beauty continued, the tips of her long ears slightly twitching.

"At first I thought they were using the prison system as it is, but now I feel a strong sense of discomfort. I can't think of any reason to lead us all the way down to the lower levels.

"We don't want them to come!"

Sola is right that the purpose of the miasma pit is to unleash the monsters that have been generated in large numbers underground to the surface at once.

The passageways leading deep underground are for that purpose, not for intruders.

An obvious example is the nest hole of the Bossalian jewel ants.

In that case, too, tough ants were gathered at the level near the miasma, and were quickly sent to the surface through a wide vertical hole.

"I heard that the hole sealed by the master was also just a snake that kept coming out."

The current boundary town of Dadang used to be a deep forest, and there was a fixed dungeon called the "Fearless Serpent Hole in the Great Miasma Forest".

Dhadan and his friends, who used to be adventurers, said that they had reached the multi-headed serpent that guarded the dungeon by slaying the monsters that gushed out from the deep pit.

However, this abandoned underground prison is a strange structure, clearly divided into levels, and the only way to move between them is by stairs with a key.

It is a labyrinth that is not at all suited for monsters to exit to the surface.

"I get the impression that this is more of a lure. If this is the case, please visit ......"

I wonder if it's a trap. Using the labyrinth itself."

Yes, it is possible.

"And either way, we're going to have to go deeper."

Whatever their intentions, in the end Thor and his friends cannot overlook the miasma.

No matter what awaits them, heading for the lowest level is still an option.

Thor scratches the bottom of his chin involuntarily and looks around at his companions.

Moldamo was clearly discouraged, even to the casual observer.

His usual quiet and unassuming appearance was quite different.

Beside him, Ricoli was trying her best to comfort her sister with a horrified look on her face.

His eyelids were lifted from the familiar half-open eyes.

Rummella, on the other hand, had an expression reminiscent of the surface of a still lake.

However, her reaction seems to be somewhat sluggish.

Her consciousness seems to be a little distracted, as if the words around her are falling on deaf ears.

Balconia, whose hair and mustache have been restored to their original state, was chatting animatedly with Rasel.

The swordsman, on the other hand, occasionally lifts the edges of his lips in a gesture of amusement.

The former bluntness seems to have eased somewhat.

Moe straddles the shoulder of the cheerful fireman and strokes his hair insistently.

His inorganic purple eyes looked much like they had when we first met, when his expression was hard.

The most energetic were probably Kugase and the twins.

They are cheering loudly every time they dig into the body of the master of the labyrinth.

"Look at this, Miss Kiki!　This is definitely first class!"

It seems that a large magic stone was found among the faces that lined the necks of the demon tribe.

The size of the stone was large enough to hold up with both hands, and I could hear the excited conversation among the three of them.

"Please help me a little. It's still in the back.　

"I'm afraid I can't. I can't do it, I'm afraid. My arms aren't strong enough."

"Well, that sounds fake."

"It's just a reaction to using the Kamieda martial arts. I won't be able to move properly for half a day.

"That's a lot of work. Then you should use clay figures,...... I don't have much magic left in me either.

Before we knew it, we had become friends.

But there is no doubt that they are nearing their limits.

"Okay, that's enough for today."