Chapter 1049 – Monster in the Trapdoor
000
Distant past. A man was ordered by the king to create a labyrinth from which no one could escape.
The man who devoted all his skills faithfully carried out the king’s orders and succeeded in creating a labyrinth that no one, not even the creator himself, could escape.
And after many things happened, the man became the target of the king’s petty grudge and ended up trapped in the labyrinth with his son.
After spending several days in the labyrinth with his son, the only way out was a small window leading to a cliff so steep that he would not have been able to survive if he fell.
So, his father gave up.
It is God’s will that they die here.
However, the son did not give up.
If there is even the slightest chance of escape, you should bet on that possibility.
My son collected feathers from birds flying in from the window and wax from a beehive built near the window, and made artificial wings made of feathers.
And, with his father, he spread his wings and flew out of the window, and jumped out of the labyrinth towards the cliff…
“The two of them couldn’t defy gravity and fell off the cliff and drowned in the sea…”
“Don’t fabricate myths!”
Laila can’t stand the old story that Artis tells her and ends up throwing a tantrum.
＂In the end, you died, right?＂
“That’s because my son went up so high in the sky that the wax melted in the sunlight!?”
Because the middle part was omitted too much, the lessons of the myth were not conveyed properly.
“Anyway… Humans can’t fly. Without the help of tools.”
“You’re speaking so confidently in front of people who are doing well in front of you…”
If Artis’ stubbornness wasn’t resolved, Lila could only shake her head.
Of course, if she can’t fly on her own, she might just have Kshat catch her and climb up like Fleur, but perhaps because she has a strong perception that ‘humans can’t fly’, she manipulates reality so absurdly that those who touch her are also pinned to the ground. It was causing this.
If she thought once that she could fly with that strong will, she would be able to fly like an arrow and escape this space.
“Ah, it’s perfect! Come up on that hippogriff you created!”
What Lila was pointing with her finger at was a magical beast with paper-thin wings that had been created in front of Attis.
＂If I could ride, I would have done the same.＂
Created from Artis’ imagination, it looked as if the illustration drawn in an illustration had been ripped out and enlarged, and that was because that was how Artis pictured the hippogriff in his head.
In other words, I have never seen a hippogriff moving in three dimensions, so I cannot imagine it.
… Or maybe it’s because more of the knowledge contained in her head comes from the encyclopedia than from the living, moving, winged demon beast.
“Hey… Then how about doing it like this?”
At that time, Kshat, who kept moving her legs to keep her from sinking, opened her mouth.
While others could just float still, she was floating by swimming in the sky, so she expended more stamina while waiting for Artis than the others.
She talks.
＂There is a high probability that the Guardian is the reason we cannot wake up. In that case, we can at least go outside, resolve the situation, and then wake up Artis.”
＂Ah~! That’s right! That will work!”
According to Kshat’s idea, Laila had such a method! She had the same expression and nodded her head.
“Wait, you’re going to leave me behind?”
Of course, Artis looked dissatisfied with Laila’s words.
“Okay. Even if you go outside, Artis won’t be of any help in battle anyway. I’m waiting quietly here. I’ll take it out when the situation is over.”
When Lila answered like that, Artis quietly crossed her arms and looked up at her.
“It’s a logical decision… But I forgot something.”
＂… What is it? ＂
“That means I am the leader of this expedition! Where are the crew leaving the captain alone!?”
＂Let’s go~＂
Laila clearly ignored Attis’ words, and following Laila’s words, others began to move upward one by one.
“Hey! For a moment! Are you really leaving me behind!? At the very least, I have to let my disciples stay! You’re the same when it comes to not being able to fight!”
“I’m sorry, Professor! I’ll wake you up in no time!”
When he heard that even his disciples were abandoning him, Attis seemed a little genuinely embarrassed.
The students who walked away while waving his hands reminded Artis of the students who were his students in the past but had left the classroom after becoming successful, so Artis could not help but receive mental damage.
Attis, who was looking up at the sky alone, could only watch in anger as they became smaller than dots.
001
Like that, to the sky.
As Kuon’s group continues upward, following the traces of her magical power, the gray sky slowly begins to turn black.
Is it because we are getting closer to space, the infinite place that extends beyond the sky?
No matter how much Lila was, she had never been to such a high place before, so she couldn’t tell whether the scene unfolding around her was truly the same as the real universe.
“Whoa… I can barely see the ground…”
When Sasha accidentally looks down below her, the ground is barely visible, obscured by her clouds.
“If you think she’s going to fall, her body will lose its ability to float, and she’ll fall, so be careful.”
＂Wow!＂
As soon as Lila said that, Schrödinger fell next to her.
It seemed like he was reacting to the word ‘falling’ that Lila said.
In an instant, everyone just followed her with their eyes as she disappeared behind the clouds.
＂Is it okay…＂
＂… Well, I won’t die.＂
Lila speaks as if she is giving up on Schrödinger too easily compared to her worried Kuon.
Then he turned to her Kuon and asked a question.
“So? How much higher do we have to go? “I guess it’s not like we really have to fly to space like this, right?”
＂Ugh. Over there.”
When Kuon raises her hand in response, she points her finger to a slightly higher place.
Then, there was something like a huge trapdoor hanging from the ceiling, perched in the black sky.
“Wow, it’s big.”
“Ah. If there were a castle where giants lived, would they have a door like that?”
Sasha and Melusine react as if they were surprised.
And Amelia will remember that, unfortunately, she has never seen a trapdoor like that in the castle of the giants she visited before.
＂Something. “It’s more ordinary than I thought.”
Lastly, Lila looks a little discouraged.
It is natural that images are important when escaping from a dream, but it appears in the form of a trapdoor.
Anyway, that is the border between dreams and reality, and if Kuon’s magic can be felt beyond, it will be the only way out.
“I feel sorry for Mr. Quartz and the half-ghosts who are waiting in reality. Let’s get out without delay.”
As Lila said that, she first increased her speed and flew towards her trapdoor.
If others move as if following behind Laila-
At that time.
＂Wooong!!!＂
With a loud cry coming from below, something black flew at the speed of lightning.
As he quickly passed by the others, he finally passed her, who was the first to go in front of her.
And he will talk.
＂Whahahaha! The first one to pass is me!”
＂Schrödinger!?＂
Surprisingly, Schrödinger, who had fallen down at Lila’s words, flies up in an instant and at incredible speed, passing by Lila and heading towards the trapdoor.
When she stretches out her hand and sees her close enough to reach, and all of her other personnel, including Layla, look at her in confusion-
“That’s it! It has arrived!”
Said she, pulling on the doorknob of her attic door.
That moment.
There was a squeaking sound and the trapdoor opened─
＂Huh, huh?＂
─Does not open.
Even when she twisted her body in the air and tried to pull the triple accelerator, the door did not move from its position.
＂What, what? Why is this like this?”
She let out a confused voice, and those who were flying toward her door stopped for a moment to look at the situation.
“The door won’t open?”
“Maybe Kuon should open it?”
“That’s a possibility…”
It was that moment when everyone put their thoughts and guesses into her mouth and tried to find a way to resolve the situation.
“Hey! Cat! Come back here! Right now!”
When Melusine raised her voice like that, Schrödinger raised his voice and looked back, saying, ‘Why!?’.
Then.
[KIKIKIKI…]
A strange yet unpleasant sound.
It sounded like the laughter of a living creature, but also like the sound of insect wings flapping.
And when Schrödinger tensed his body upon hearing that sound, he felt the hairs on his entire body, including his own, stand on end.
The next moment, the moment I hurriedly turned my head towards the direction from which the sound came.
Shrug!
With a sound, something appeared and swallowed Schrödinger!
＂Ugh!?＂
＂W-what!?＂
The thing that swallowed Schrödinger slowly began to reveal its form, perhaps because it was able to hide its own body.
What appeared in the air was a strange creature with a nose so long that it resembled a giant elephant.
At the same time, its body was thick and stubby like a bear, but its claws were sharp like a tiger.
Above all, what looked like insect wings growing from its back were trembling and making a loud noise.
The entire body was colored in bright colors such as yellow, green, and pink, but rather than feeling lightness or fancy, it was closer to the discomfort of seeing paint scattered without order that could be felt in a gap in another dimension.
The huge monster that suddenly appears sucks Schrödinger into its nose without the party having time to do anything.
Because of Schrödinger’s limbs struggling inside, part of his nose popped up and sank repeatedly.
Soon, he absorbed Schrödinger to the end and-
‘Gulp’
It was swallowed up.
＂Ooh, wow!!!?＂
Among the group watching that scene, some of Attis’ disciples who were not combatants would make panicked voices and try to get away from him.
Of course, a person was swallowed whole before our eyes.
Lila and other combat-capable personnel would have immediately prepared for battle.
The monster smiled evilly at the group approaching the door and moved its nose as if it were a hand.
Then he pointed his huge nose towards his companions and-
＇Huooooo-!＇
While making a sound, it began to suck in the people around it along with the strong sound of the wind.
＂W-What is this suction power…!?＂
Naturally, the group, who are floating in the air and have no means of holding on, try to hold on by flying in the opposite direction, but even that is not possible due to the strong suction power.
Lila was the first to swing her staff in protest.
＂Either it or eat it!＂
A familiar fireball appears and flies away at the same time.
However, the fireball was sucked inward towards the guy’s nose and-
Gulp!
＂Ha!?＂
It was natural for a confused voice to come out of Lila’s mouth.
No matter how simple the magic was, it was able to erase the fire by sucking it in and swallowing it.
It wasn’t just that.
Even the arrows thrown by Sasha and the ice blades fired by Melusin after Layla were sucked in through the suction power of her nose and disappeared.
It disappeared as if it had never been there from the beginning-
After the guy stopped inhaling, there was silence throughout the space for a moment.
＂Uh, it stopped…?＂
Someone must have muttered that.
But, it was as if those words were a trigger.
The guy compressed his nose like a spring.
Soon, it continues to stretch out with great force.
Then.
Kwagwagwagwang!!
＂Wow!＂
＂What is this!!＂
In an instant, the surroundings turned into a hellish landscape.
The disciples of Attis scream in fear and panic.
From its nose, Lila’s fireballs, Sasha’s arrows, and Melusine’s ice blades, which it had sucked in earlier, multiplied tens or hundreds of times in number and poured out toward the party.
＂Profit…!＂
Lila, who was so embarrassed that she made such a sound without even realizing it, had to focus all her attention on avoiding it, as there were limits to how much she could protect her body.
It was the same for everyone else, and dodging hundreds of attacks was quite a difficult task for them as well.
That’s enough, but what about the disciples of Attis who are not combat personnel?
＂Aaaaah!＂
＂Ugh!!＂
One by one, screams rang out as they were hit by the monster’s attacks.
Pop! And a fireball explodes, or an arrow flies and gets stuck.
＂Such…!＂
Amelia was embarrassed and raised her voice, but fortunately, neither those who were hit by flames nor those who were hit by arrows or blades suffered any damage to their bodies.
In the end, is it because this world is a dream?
However, the damage must have been sustained, as she fainted and was left floating on the spot.
And, after confirming that the person had fainted, the monster once again activated its nose in suction mode.
Shuuuuung! While making a sound, he sucked the fainted disciples of Attis into his nose and swallowed them again with a ‘gulp’.
[KIKIKIKI…]
The guy laughs as if swallowing people is fun.
“… If we don’t do something about that guy, I don’t think he’ll be able to get through the trapdoor…”
“Uh, yes… The people who were sucked in, if we don’t do something about it.”
Lyla and Kuon said that and took up a fighting stance, but the monster was still spinning in the air as if it had nothing to be afraid of, and was just laughing at us.
