311 - - Seal of the Great Hole and Celebration of Victory

The audience, who had been watching with bated breath, slowly exhaled from the bottom of their lungs as pieces of black bone scattered and spread across the stone floor.

A few seconds later, they let out a loud cry.

"We did it!　Tall girl!"

Sola shouts as she jumps up.

She rushes over to him and jumps on Thor, who quietly sheathes his sword.

"I knew you were a man who could do it, Tor-chan!

The child proudly boasts that he has shared with us, but it is too late for him to say anything.

"Mr. Thor, you really are a fine ......."

Yuril, whose ear tips are dyed red, puts his hand over his mouth and lets out a small tearful cry.

He must have been deeply moved by the fact that he had been watching over them closely for several decades.

"We did it!　Yes!　Yes!　You did it, old man!"

"Ow!　Ouch!　You're hurting me, Cu!　All right, don't slap me on the back!"

Kugase, overexcited, is flailing his arms around, oblivious to his friend's screams.

"I'm stunned, I can't believe you actually beat him. ......"

"That's great, Lili."

"Yeah, he's a great guy. I'll be proud to have crossed swords with him for the rest of my life."

"Yes, I will never forget that we fought side by side. Well then, let the feast begin. Please help us, Mr. Raszel. We must hurry with the preparations.

Beside the twins and the swordsman, who are nodding to each other with crossed arms, a flame wizard with a short mustache begins to turn over the luggage with a panicked look on his face.

"Looks like you don't have any ............."

"Yeah, I don't see it."

The disappointment in their voices is evident in the faces of two members of the Soukei tribe, Licori and Mordamo.

The twins look around at these words, frowning as they exchange a few words with each other.

"Now that you mention it, I don't see any miasma holes anywhere..."

"Again. Come on, you f*cking labyrinth!"

"There's also a sign of it: ....... Nene, where's the probe?"

The younger sister, a lightning user, shook her head in disappointment at her sister's question.

It seems that magic cannot be used in this room yet.

"Kugase, you know what's strange about the walls, don't you? Sniff them quickly!"

"Don't treat people like dogs!　Besides, I don't know how thick this room is."

Kugase lifts the corner of his forehead as he complains back, and looks around the walls on all sides.

Finally, he turns his attention to the throne on which the black skeleton was sitting, and notices an indentation the size of a human head above it.

The girl ponders for a moment and then suddenly claps her fists together.

"Hmmm, you may have fooled me with my horns, but you couldn't fool this clear-headed girl!

"I think that's a keyhole. It looks just like the hole you insert the key into on a skeleton.

But it's so big, Lili. Oh, yeah!

"Yes. If it's the right bone, you'll find it lying right there."

"Why are you telling me all this?　I was just about to tell you!"

Ignoring Kugase, who is still stomping his feet, the twins pick up the head of the labyrinth master who has just been knocked down.

Luckily, there seems to be no missing parts on the disfigured skull.

Nodding to each other, the twins approach the throne room in the back, still holding the black bone.

Just as they are about to insert the skull into the hole in the wall, a voice comes from behind them.

"Wait a minute!"

The voice was Thor.

Sora was on his right hand, Yuril was clinging to his left, and Mu was hanging from the back of his neck.

"What, do you want to do it?"

"No, I just need to move around a little. Okay, good."

Thor, who had moved with the three to the wall, glanced toward the center of the room and nodded.

Kikiriri's head twitches at this unfamiliar action, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he presses the skeleton against the hole in the wall.

The black skull fits snugly into the wall.

But it does not move from there.

The twins turn their heads to see if there is any change, but their eyes are wide as if in unison.

A large hole has appeared in the center of the room, where Thor and his friends were standing just a moment ago.

"What is this!"

"The floor suddenly fell out!　Pops, that was a close call."

Kikiriri and Kugase rush to the hole, shouting loudly, but when they look inside, they shout again in unison.

"What is this?

Perhaps intrigued by the sound of his voice, Sora, who had removed his hand from Thor, also approached the hole.

She is just as surprised as Thor and Thora at what she sees inside.

"Wow!　This is amazing!"

The hole is about five paces wide and deep enough for several adults.

The walls are not uneven at all, and the hole is cut vertically.

The problem is the bottom of the hole.

What we saw there was a burning, bright red pool of lava.

It was boiling, and the tremendous heat could be felt all the way to the top of the hole.

The twins and Kugase commented to each other as the air seared their faces.

"If we fall in, we won't survive for sure.

"Isn't this a trap, even if it isn't!　If you were standing here, you'd be drowned for sure."

"You're a real piece of shit, right up to the last minute."

Perhaps I had guessed wrong, Rummella mumbled with a troubled look on his face.

"So, the big noxious hole is nowhere to be found ...... after all."

"No, there is. Look, there it is.

Thor's voice and his lifted finger caused everyone to look up overhead in unison.

The sight on the ceiling made them speechless with amazement.

Before they knew it, the black haze that had been layered on top of each other had faded away.

Instead, what emerged from the depths was a pitch-black fountain that stretched across the ceiling.

Strangely enough, the quiet surface of the water defied gravity and did not seem to drip down to us.

"Is that...?"

"Ah, you've been hiding in the most unexpected places."

I had imagined that the miasma was leaking from the holes in the ground, but it could be said that this was a way of hiding the miasma by taking advantage of it.

Perhaps it was a device to make the black shadow-like tent disappear when it was exposed to the heat of the lava.　

"I really didn't expect to see it on my head.

"It was a surprise."

"How do you seal it?　Mr. Lam, can you reach me?"

The water girl's lips lifted gently at Sola's question.

She then held up her hands as if holding them out above her head.

The bitter waters of grief, your new home. Now go. Release me at once!

At the same time as she cried out, drops of water welled up in both of Rummella's eyes.

They looked just like tears, but the color was clearly different.

The clear blue liquid flowed out of the girl's two eyes, one after the other, and then they seemed to be sucked into the sky.

The blue tears reach the black fountain on the ceiling and immediately spread to the surface.

Thor and the others continued to gaze at the fantastic sight of the black surface of the water being covered with blue, as if mesmerized.

Soon the last drop is squeezed out of Rummella's eye and sucked into the fountain above her head to form a crown of drops.

The moment the miasma is completely contained, Thor's back relaxes.

He sits down on the ground.

"Are you all right?　Thor-chan."

"Yeah, I'm just a little out of it."

"Congratulations again, Thor and Rummella."

Rummella bows her head deeply at Yuril's congratulatory words.

Her eyes were filled with genuine tears, which were already streaming down her cheeks.

The girl's tears must have been the trigger that brought back to everyone's mind all the unspeakable hardships they had gone through.

Just as they were about to be soaked in the joy of being released from the situation, a loud voice rang out in the room.

"Now, now, here you go. Let the celebration begin!　Come in, come in, come in."

It was Barconia with a mug in his hand who was shouting out a cheerful call that seemed to ruin the atmosphere.

He handed the sake cups filled with waves of black barley wine to his stunned companions one after another.

We also have some fire wine and honey wine. We also have some old cask wine, if you have a little. Oh, we have some apple water for Mumu and Sora. Yes, gentlemen! Then, Master Thor, please.

"Oh, yeah. Well, to victory.

"To victory!"

Cheers!

To our new land!

"To our brothers and sisters who have led us here!"

Thor and the others raise and tilt their cups as they shout.

Then Razzel appears with a large boiling pot in his arms.

The delicious smell of the pot immediately arouses Sora's reaction.

"Ah, this is the pot I've been hearing about for a while!

Yes, it's the feast you've been waiting for. This is a traditional Zuma flame pot. I'd like to explain the various aspects of it, but I think it would be quicker if you try it first.

Barconia removes the lid from the pot with these words, but Moe and Kugase, who look into the pot with great vigor, are disappointed.

There's nothing in it!　It's just soup stock, isn't it?"

"Moo, you tricked me. ......"

"That's not funny. Shall we hang him up and shave his beard and hair?

"Yeah, I got it. I'll pull every last one of them out."

"Oh, calm down. Now, now. Please, Mr. Raszel.

In response to the call, Rassel steps forward again.

In his hand was a knife as thin as a willow leaf and a delicious-looking piece of meat.

The swordsman lifted up the meat and suddenly ran the knife just past the meat.

Immediately, the thinly stripped piece of meat swam in the air and landed in the pot.

Barconia picks it up with his chopsticks, lets it swim in the pot a few times, and then easily pulls it up onto a plate.

Here, it's ready. There are two kinds of sauce: one with ground sesame seeds and the other with a squeeze of green yuzu. Please put whichever you like.

"Oh, is it cooked properly?　You should cook it more thoroughly."

It's all right. Come on, let's take a bite.

"Mmm, what's this?

"Yum!"

"It's so soft!"

"Pops, more, please!"

Barconia nodded his head while tugging at his mustache.

We've prepared plenty of vegetables. Just a quick dip in them will give you a surprisingly delicious taste.

Can I have that one, please?

I want vegetables, too. Hurry up!

Thor smiled knowingly at the sight of everyone gathered around the pot, making a big fuss.

Then Sora, with a small plate of meat piled high, comes up to him with a happy look on her face.

"Here you go, Thor! Ahhh..."

"Oh, thank you. I'll have some."

Thor opened his mouth open, and Sola rolled her eyes, then hurriedly lifted up the meat.

After watching him chew and swallow a few times, the girl asked him happily.

"Is it good, Thor?"

"Yeah, it's the best I've ever tasted."

Sola looked up with a big smile on her childhood friend's face as she nodded in agreement.

She looked up at her childhood friend with a big smile on her face, noticing Thor's tense expression hidden behind it.