CH 38

The labyrinth was similar yet different from a dungeon. Dungeons were a mixture of natural-generated environments and artificial elements, while labyrinths were entirely artificial. 

Unlike dungeons, labyrinths possessed a few more dangerous elements besides monsters – traps, baits, and barriers.

“Follow my footsteps exactly. If you step in the wrong place, you will fall into a trap.”

“From here, never lean against the wall. If you want to get skewered by the spears from these walls, then be my guest.”

“Do not make eye contact with that stone statue for more than five seconds. Those with weak mental fortitudes are asking to be enchanted.”

Fortunately, Entler knew every corner of the labyrinth as if it was his backyard. His family had served the Evergrove County for several generations after all. He knew exactly where the traps were located, and what kinds of monsters would show up.  As such, the subjugation team never experienced any difficult hardship along the way.

*** 

“Dismantle the corpses and secure the materials and mana stones. I will be scouting ahead.”

“Yes, Sir Entler!”

The porters busily got to work, and the mercenaries treated their minor injuries while the templars prayed next to them. The templars performed the same ritual after every battle. 

Mercenaries were very susceptible to superstitions, so they started gesturing in the air and even began repeating the prayers after the templars, though they could only mumble half-intelligible words.

Naturally, Eugene felt aversive to their rituals. As such, he often retreated to a place where he could not hear them.

“Wow! How surprising. Water flows inside this labyrinth.” Mirian chatted while looking at mercenaries refilling their leather pouches with water flowing from a lion statue’s mouth.

Eugene was also fascinated.

Unlike dungeons, it seemed labyrinths met the minimum requirements for humans to survive.

‘It might be not too bad to live in a labyrinth if there were no monsters. Worse comes to worst, I could hide in a labyrinth like this and…’

“This is definitely a suitable place for evil things to hide. Would you not agree, Sir Eugene?”

“Well… Perhaps.”

Eugene raised his head at the prickling voice of one of the templars. He approached Eugene after he was done praying.

“To think it would radiate so much evil energy! An evil land like this must be purified in the name of God as soon as possible.”

“Are you all right, Sir Eugene? If you ever feel affected by the evil energy, please let us know at any time. We will pray for you. We can fight off the evil energy with the power of our prayer.”

“No, I think I am fine.” Eugene urgently shook his head.

“Dear Brother, did you not see? Sir Eugene slashed apart several evil monsters with every swing of his blade. Something so extraordinary could not be possible without the power of faith.”

Actually, it was very possible thanks to Eugene’s incredible strength and the sharp blade of Wolfslaughter. However, Eugene kept silent.

“By the way, thank you so much for your help earlier. If it weren’t for you, I might have suffered a serious injury.”

“Well, I was only fighting against the…”

The templars raised their voices without any regard for Eugene’s response.

“Excellent skills, deep faith, and passionate comradeship! What other knight could be so befitting the spirit of the templars if not Sir Eugene? Brothers, would you not agree?”

“Speak no more. Sir Eugene is a brother of true faith.”

“Kukekekekeke….kek! Keugh! Kuagh!” Mirian burst into laughter at the templars’ enthusiastic response, then eventually burst into a fit of cough.

‘What’s wrong with these guys?’ Eugene sighed inwardly. He wasn’t even acting very friendly toward the templars. But for some reason, they seemed to be hugely amicable towards him.

However, it was only natural for the templars to admire Eugene. Although the dangers of the labyrinth were reduced over the years, it was thanks to Eugene that no deaths had been reported until now.

Eugene only fought without much thought, but a templar and several mercenaries had been saved by his ‘valiant efforts.’ Moreover, Eugene did not brag even once despite his performance. This was unlike any other knights.

Templars took humility as an important virtue, so their high evaluation of Eugene was inevitable.

That wasn’t all…

The templars were told that Eugene participated in the subjugation this time to save his friend rather than to hunt monsters. Templars were rather poor judges of character due to their secluded practice. Thus, such reasons were enough for them to view Eugene as the incarnation of honor and loyalty.

The templars were certain that such an honorable knight could relate to their noble purpose.

“Sir Eugene. I tell you this because of your honor, courage, and faithfulness toward your friend and God.”

The templar named Robin looked around and suddenly lowered his voice. “You should know the minotaur is one of the high-ranking monsters of a labyrinth, right? But here, in the Mount Morrison Labyrinth, a minotaur has never been spotted. For over ten years.”

“Really?”

“It’s because everyone who saw never lived to tell the tale. In other words, the monster might know quite a bit about humans.”

“I see.” Eugene responded half-heartedly

However, Robin continued talking excitedly. “It is an extremely dangerous monster. We cannot leave it alone. Moreover, I heard a friend of yours was unable to return from the last subjugation. So we decided that the minotaur…”

Eugene’s interest was piqued when Robin mentioned Galfredik.

“Sir Eugene! Master Romari!”

However, the templar’s words were cut off by Entler’s shouts. He has just returned from a reconnaissance with several mercenaries.

“Sir, please excuse me. Let us talk about this more later.”

“No, not at all. I was being unnecessarily talkative. Haha.” Robin responded with an awkward laugh while sharing a glance with his colleagues. Eugene instinctively sensed that he would never hear the entire story. He hid his regrets and moved his steps.

*** 

“There was nothing unusual in the square located up ahead. We will set up a garrison there.”

The real purpose of the subjugation was to confirm whether the previous subjugation party was dead or alive. As such, Entler planned to secure a position in the labyrinth before searching ahead, unlike other times.

“Are the areas beyond the square unexplored?”

“No. Further inside from the square, the passage splits into three. I have confirmed that one leads to a dead end. However, the other two…”

A group had been annihilated except one person after exploring one of the two passages. That was where they had encountered a cyclops. And no one ever came back alive from the last passage.

In other words, one of the two passageways led to the center of Mount Morrison Labyrinth. However, since the incident, further exploration was stopped, according to the custom of stopping an expedition after encountering a high-ranking monster. As such, deeper areas still remained largely unexplored.

“According to Sir Lugates, Sir Galfredik did not heed his warning and headed into an unexplored area. But no one knows which of the two he entered.”

“…..”

Eugene nodded silently.

However, he couldn’t blindly believe Entler’s words, nor Lugates’ testimony. Although he was a bit hot-headed, Galfredik was more perceptive in an evil land compared to anyone else. Eugene was convinced that Galfredik would not have recklessly entered an unexplored area. If he had, there would have been a good reason.

“We have the mercenaries’ morale to think about as well. For now, we will confirm the passageway where the cyclops is supposed to be located.”

“What are you planning to do if we encounter the cyclops?”

“As planned, Master Romari will step forward. We will decide whether to fight or to run after seeing how effective magic is against it.”

“You, sir, are the subjugation leader, so I will do as you say.”

“Good. Anyways, Sir Eugene, please take care of those mischievous bunch over there.”

Eugene turned his gaze towards the templars after hearing Entler’s request. The warriors were seated together and speaking in whispers. When they met Eugene’s eyes, they smiled brightly. For some reason, their smiles appeared a little sorrowful.

“I will make sure to keep our friends under control.”

“Good. Templars from St. Lagren’s monastery are famous for being stubborn, but for some reason, they seem to listen to your words. It seems you are highly faithful. Are you perhaps thinking of becoming a holy knight?”

“…Not at all.”

“Pffff!”

“Hmm? Master Romari, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“N, no. I choked on something. I’m fine.”

“That is a relief. Anyways, your performance is crucial for this subjugation, so make sure you always take care of yourself. Then, I will return after giving out orders to the mercenaries.”

“Okay.”

Entler headed over to the resting mercenaries, and Eugene turned towards Romari.

“If you ever hint at my identity, intentional or not. You know, right?”

Eugene tapped Wolfslaughter, and Romari quickly nodded.

“I will be careful. By the way, when you were talking to the templars earlier. What did they say?”

“Those people. I think they are here to kill the minotaur of this labyrinth.”

“The templars? It’s obvious that there would be a minotaur in a labyrinth, but why…? In addition, I think it might be impossible with the three of them.”

“I am not sure either. I will keep an eye on them, so you keep looking for traces of Galfredik.”

“I’ve been working on it. I have not discovered anything out of the ordinary yet.”

“Work harder.”

“I-I might find something when we get to the square. Apparently, the last subjugation party stayed there for quite a while.”

“Good. I will trust you.”

Romari felt relieved. Compared to their first meeting, Eugene even felt a little merciful towards her.

‘Even so, I shouldn’t tick him off. If this ends well, we will never have to see each other again. I should keep him happy until then.’

The members of Blood Shadow School didn’t care much about knights, nobles, and even the king, but they held respect and fear toward the Origin Vampires. After a moment of self-reflection, Romari once again solidified her determination.

*** 

The group arrived at a spacious square at the end of the long passage. A large, rectangular structure with stairs on all sides stood erect in the middle of the square. The square seemed to be the perfect location for a garrison.

“Place the materials from monsters in there. You go ahead and create barriers and obstacles with our secured resources.’

“Yes, Sir Entler.”

The porters, slaves, and mercenaries started to busy themselves with work. In the meantime, Eugene climbed down the structure with Entler and Romari. He asked while pointing at a large hole located on one side of the square.

“Is that the place? Is that where the unexplored area is?”

“That’s right. We will organize a search team and a reconnaissance to the area in just a… Huh?”

Entler suddenly narrowed his eyes. 

The templars had been hanging around the square, pretending to be investigating something. However, they seemed to be slowly heading towards the hole without arousing suspicion.

Suddenly, they started bolting towards the hole as if they felt Entler’s gaze.

“Those crazy bastards!” Entler shouted.

“Leave it to me.” Eugene proclaimed and shot forward.

“I will go as well!” Romari followed quickly after feeling Eugene’s gaze. 

Eugene shouted towards Partec, who was feeling bewildered.

“Follow Sir Entler’s orders until I return!”

“Y-yes!”

Eugene started dashing across the square, and Romari whispered after catching up with him using magic.

“Sir Eugene, did you let the templars leave on purpose?”

“Yes. So that we could head into the unexplored area.”

“As expected! Just what I would expect from a member of the shrewd, I-I mean, intelligent Tribe of the Night.”

“Stop talking nonsense and make sure you find traces of Galfredik.”

“Yes!”

“I am going to look for him too!”

A vampire, a wizard, and a spirit ran through the labyrinth.

*** 

“Heuk! Heuk! Are they still following us?”

“I think they gave up. Let’s catch our breaths, brothers!”

The templars stopped sprinting.

“Phew! I don’t know if I could ever face Sir Eugene again. But he is different from the knights of the Evergrove Territory. He possesses a deep faith, so I am sure he will understand.”

“Yes! A true knight must destroy evil in any situation. I am certain Sir Eugene will agree with us.”

“Yes. We are following God’s will.”

While steadying their breathing, the templars self-rationalized through prayer and drawing the holy symbol. They gazed at each other.

The passage had split into three in front of them.

“This is where it begins. Let us get started, brothers.”

The templars nodded with stiff expressions, then took something out of their pockets before swallowing it.

“Hmm!”

“My God…”

The templars shuddered as energy filled their bodies. However, their appearance had turned quite strange. Now, it was hard to see them as the noble, devoted warriors of God and the church.

Their eyes turned red and became littered with small capillaries, while thick, blue blood vessels popped out of their foreheads and necks.

“Let us enter. In the name of our glorious God….”

“In the name of God!”

The templars performed their holy gesture before taking out their shields and shortswords from their backs.

Clink! Clink!

The templars stepped forward while radiating strange heat from their bodies. They were headed into the central passage, where no one had ever returned alive from.