CH 23

The life and death struggle between “Twilight’s Sword” and the Lich was endlessly continuing. 

As a Sherpa, Rowe could only watch the scene as a bystander. 

Surprinsingly, the six-armed undead king, which had been using various active Gifts, started drawing magic formations with its free hands.

“[Definite Strike].”

The one that played an active role here was Nuuk.

“[Throwing]!”

The iron balls shot as finger bullets deflected the Lich’s arm. It wasn’t enough to break bone, but the magic formation Collapsed and scattered. 

It was necessary to prevent even a single dark-type magic from being activated. 

This battle depended on how much Nuuk could stay focused.

“–Now!”

On Berii’s signal, the Lich’s back was wrapped in scorching flames. 

This time, the one that dealt the most effective damage to the Lich was undoubtedly the Salamander she was carrying. Berii handled the positioning and timing of the attack, and the Salamander handled the use of its active Gift. 

Just like a mobile turret.

Yuika was trying to use the Slime Men to envelop the Lich. She thought that if its movements could be sealed, then Magikan’s speciality of light-type magic could decide everything in one go. 

But the slow-moving Slime Men’s tentacles were unable to grasp the Lich that was gliding in the air, on the contrary, they were retaliated at by the shadow claws, and one by one, removed from the battle. 

Looking around at the battle situation in the room, Rowe thought. 

The traditional battle tactics that “Twilight’s Sword” had used up to now will likely not pass.

The Lich’s attacks don’t reduce physical strength, but mental strength. There’s no means of recovery. Furthermore, it seems to  be able to call out Skeleton Soldiers at fixed intervals.

Until now, stalling the battlefront had been been a prerequisite for “Twilight’s Sword”’s victory, but this battle is the opposite. 

A long-term battle will be disadvantageous. There is no choice but to bring it into the short-term. 

Yuika was also aware of this.

The 4 Garrison that were supposed to be waiting in reserve were quickly sent to the frontlines. 

“’[Withering Hand]’…”

“–[Springhare]!!”

Yuika avoided the shadow claws with a Gift for high-speed movement.

Noticing an opportunity, she gave detailed instructions to the two Minotaurs to pull the Skeleton Soldiers away from the Lich. 

Even though they were monsters that boasted enormous endurance, they couldn’t keep swinging around their gigantic battleaxes against enemies that endlessly sprung up. The movements of the Minotaurs were gradually dulling.

“Princess, Salamander, already at its limit!”　

The Salamander held by Berii was limp after using too much [Artillery].

It wasn’t just the monsters. Yuika, Berii, and Nuuk who had to constantly change their positions while continuously attacking and evading, were also exhausting their endurance, and the one looking out for chances at the rear, Magikan, also did not have much magic power remaining.

As Rowe had thought, the scales of battle would tip towards their disadvantage given the passage of time. 

But it was at this moment when the Slime Men pulled it off. 

Slowly and steadily wrapping around the back of the Lich, one succeeded in entwining its tentacles around the bony tail, and although for an extremely short time, succeeded in sealing the enemy’s movements. 

“Magikan!”

Along with Yuika’s signal, standing by at the rear, a magic formation was drawn over the Minotaur’s head. 

“’Light Blade’ — Hoi.”

“[Counter Clock]…”

The same pattern as the opening attack.

However–

“[Repeat Magic]!”

With a slight delay in timing, a second blade of light manifested. A splendid attack that aimed at the cooldown time. Although the first blade was diverted by the invisible wall, the second blade passed through, two of the Lich’s arms were lopped off. 

“Buruoooooururuguuu.”

From the ends of the amputated arms, something like black smoke rose.

[Repeat Magic] — an unfair Gift that reactivated previously used magic, so naturally, the magic power consumed was many times more. 

After downing a magic potion, Magikan shouted towards the front line.

“Soon, my magic will cease!”　

Following that, the battle situation was once again balanced.  

The number of Skeleton Soldiers that the Lich could summoned was apparently somehow dependent on the number of arms it had, so the number it could summon at once was reduced from 6 to 4. The two Minotaurs facing the group of Skeleton Soldiers started to overwhelm them, and seeing the chance of victory, Yuika mobilized the last remaining reserve — “Minorin 3” into the frontline. 

The shadow claws released by the Lich were not that fast, but neither a huge amount of physical strength or sturdy armour had any meaning against them. A single blow would cause a fatal injury to the mind.

And mental death is synonymous with physical death.

The slower allied monsters would eventually fall prey to the claws, and collapse one after the other. 

However, the monsters controlled by Yuika knew not fear. After repeating several brute force attacks, finally — the Minotaur’s battleaxe smashed one of the Lich’s arms. 

“Roooouuuu.”

Perhaps realising its disadvantage, the Lich tried to fall back by gliding backwards in the air. 

“I won’t permit that!”

That movement was not overlooked by Magikan.

Collecting his remaining magical power, he used an earth-type magic. 

“’Earthen Fortress’.”

The ground behind the Lich erupted into a fan-shaped wall. This magic was originally probably used for defence. Magikan used it to hinder the movements of the enemy. 

The Lich collided backwards with the earthen wall, and its posture was unbalanced. 

Then — at some point having retrieved his flail, Nuuk used [Throwing], and Berii used [Whirlwind] with her twin swords as they burst into their Clutch attack.

Another arm was destroyed. 

While twisting its giant body wrapped in black, the Lich stuck out its remaining two arms. 

“[Withering Hand]…”

The last Minotaur and the Garrison were pierced by the shadow claws, and collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. 

With this, their allied monsters were almost entirely eliminated. It would probably now be difficult to defeat even a single Skeleton Soldier. 

As if it had seen through this situation, the Lich spread its two hands. 

In this battle, that characteristic pose was something they had been shown many times. 

“[Hidden World Door]…… ”

“[Springhare]!”

Draw close when it summoned the Skeleton Soldiers — this moment when the opponent would be completely defenceless was exactly what Yuika had been waiting for. 

With her explosive power doubled for the duration of a breath, Yuika used her high-speed movement Gift to leap.

Facing off in mid-air were the “Spirit Messenger” and the “Undead King”.

“It’s over!”

Rowe saw.

In this situation where if her attack were to miss, everything would be over, Yuika was laughing. 

Her glossy black hair was dishevelled, her obsidian-like eyes were gleaming, and she had a satisfied smile like a black panther in the moment of taking down prey.

In that lifeless left eye, her Estoc was sucked in, and the tip of her sword penetrated the monster core. 

“–[Phantasmagoric Needle].”

The surviving monsters were, 1 Skeleton Knight, the 1 Slime Man that managed to contain the movements of the enemy, and 1 Salamander that was gasping for breath, that was all. 

On the contrary, the monsters lost were, 13 Bicorns, 3 Minotaurs, 4 Garrison, as well as 6 Slime Men. 

It had truly been an all out battle. 

Yuika slightly staggered due to sleep deprivation and the effects from having to face many fierce battles.

Magikan had overused magic, and was in the situation where his magic power had run dry. 

Nuuk had achieved the spectacular feat of downing 1 enemy Skeleton Soldier through martial arts joint locking techniques, but after that had been cornered by another Skeleton Soldier, and beaten black and blue. As usual, his face was expressionless, but his face was swollen and full of blood. 

And Berii… was unable to immerse herself in the aftertaste of victory, and was kneeling crestfallen with both knees on the ground. 

She was hugging her own two shoulders, and her teeth were chattering.

Yuika peered at her worriedly, but Berii couldn’t return a smile, even as a reassurance.

“What’s wrong, Berry?”

“A little, scratched, maybe…”

The Lich’s [Withering Hand], she wasn’t able to completely dodge it. 

“Darling, come here!”

Mental wounds are difficult to heal.　

According to the writings of a past Adventurer who possessed the higher ranked version of [Appraisal], [God’s Eyes], among the hidden parameters that humans had, there exists one known as Sanity Value. 

It will probably be easier to understand if you think of it as a kind of breakwater. Waves that don’t exceed this threshold value — after you stop taking mental damage, then there’s no problem. Your mental strength is temporarily depleted, but if you take a proper break, you can return to your original condition. 

The danger is in cases when you are hit by a big enough wave that overcomes your Sanity Value, then there will be chances of you being afflicted by trauma. 

Confusion, withdrawal, madness, mental death — the resulting conditions are various, but one of the hidden parameters, the Default State of your mental condition can end up being rewritten. 

In other words, the abnormal state becomes judged as your normal state, and any acts to recover from your abnormal state will become meaningless. 

Fortunately, Berii was able to recognize her symptoms, had a calm grasp of her own condition, and was able to infer the cause.

She was also able to properly speak.

It was likely she did not receive enough damage to overcome her Sanity Value, Rowe judged. 

“No need to worry. After drinking a mind potion and slowly resting, you’ll recover.”

I deliberately said this out loud this in order to reassure Berii. 

In addition, I gave Yuika the mind potion so that she could personally feed Berii by hand. 

This was also a way of stabilising Berii’s mind.

“Ah, thanks, Princess…”

Her trembling stopped, and she took a big breath, Rowe offered the special candy that he had prepared for Yuika, as he had expected that she would definitely end up short of sleep. 

“This is a candy that has been kneaded with a distilled mind potion. The taste is not that great, but the effect is guaranteed. Please suck on it for a while.”

“……yea.”

Only during a time like this would Berii not be disgusted and quietly receive it. She didn’t even look like she had the energy to refuse or pretend to be tough.

“Rowe, I’ll leave Berii to you.”

Yuika left them and moved towards the front of the silent Lich. 

Even though this was a monster that could be chosen as a Labyrinth Boss, she couldn’t let her guard down. If more monsters appeared during their current situation when their battle strength had been significantly reduced, then that would be the end of the chapter for them. 

There was a need to name the Lich and have it watch the surroundings. 

The opponent who they had crossed paths in two fierce battles — they had probably grown curious at this giant undead king wrapped in a black robe. Nuuk and Magikan raised their voices in admiration while observing from a slight distance away. 

However, now with a sense of accomplishment and relief behind them, the Lich felt slightly disappointing. 

Do, do, do, do…

A faint vibration was being transmitted.

In fact, this phenomenon had already occurred in the middle of their battle, but due to the thick demonic spirit and the intensity of the battle, no one was able to notice it. 

Dodododododododo…….

The rhythm of the vibration accelerated sharply, and they became strong enough that they could see effects of the shaking in their field of view.

“……Earthquake?”

Yuika stopped and paid attention to her surroundings.

Immediately afterwards, the faintly shining ground undulated like a raging sea.

“Everyone, take cover!”

Throughout the room, uplifts and subsidence occurred, looking up at the ceiling, large clumps of luminescent moss fell. 

The position of the passageway was changing, the walls of the room were closing in.

This wasn’t an earthquake. 

Gogogogogigigigigigi …….

“Labyrinth Collapse. Careful!”

Rowe’s scream drowned out by the sound of rumbling giant chunks of rock grinding against each other. 

From only a short distance away, Rowe and Yuika locked eyes with each other. 

Cutting off their line of sight was the ground rising into a wall. 

Furthermore, the ground itself was also moving–

On the 50th Floor, a new labyrinth had formed.