Chapter 174 – 39. The Underground Labyrinth. (2)
In the wide and large hallway, numerous iron doors of unknown purpose were attached to each other. While they were curious about what was inside, at the same time, a fear that they did not want to open grew rapidly in the hearts of the mercenaries.
Occasionally, when the doll in the box went crazy, Pergamond, who was wearing the box, lightly hit the corner of the floor with his fist and cursed at him to be quiet. Of course, a doll possessed by evil spirits would not blink an eye at such a threat.
Progress was not very fast. I didn’t know what was going to pop out, so I walked with a close watch, so I had no choice but to slow down naturally.
The space in the basement was quite large. After walking through the winding maze-like corridors for a long time, they arrived at a door.
It looked distinctly different from the ordinary iron doors that were close to each other in the hallway. It was much bigger and more massive, so it seemed like it wouldn’t budge from anything.
“Are you here?”
“Yes, it leads this way.”
Allen thought that there might be a passage to the labyrinth beyond this door, which she thought was close to certainty. Before entering this place, he first ordered the crew to rest. Of course, even if it’s a break, I’m wearing all my equipment so that I can respond at any time in an emergency.
Then, he briefly summoned the patriarch to look at the door. I wondered if it might have been a magical device. No matter how stupid the Mage Tower was, he wouldn’t have made the door to the labyrinth open easily.
The door opener put his hand on the door and let the mana flow lightly. I could see his eyeballs busily moving back and forth under his closed eyelids.
After completing the investigation, the Squatton Master reported to Danju.
“I think there was some kind of magical design in the past. But now it doesn’t work because mana hasn’t been replenished for a long time.”
“Then can you open it?”
“… I will try.”
In fact, he had the intention of breaking through the door with her magic if the situation had to come, and he hoped that the solution would be as easy as possible.
“Yeah, good job. Get some rest too.”
After the investigation, Allen sat down next to Louis Danzoo. No matter how much she entrusted the exploration this time almost arbitrarily, as a single leader leading a mercenary corps, it was right to share the minimum information. That way, even if an unexpected situation arises, you can respond appropriately.
“There doesn’t seem to be much problem with opening the door, but the next one is a problem.”
“…… Are you saying there is a culprit behind this door?”
“Yes. Of course, it won’t show up right away. Unless even the magician of the Mage Tower is an idiot, there’s no way he wouldn’t hide such a dangerous being.”
That’s all there is to share.
Even Allen didn’t know exactly how the underground labyrinth was under the mage tower. She just knows that there are all kinds of impure beings.
Anyway, the break was over, and the sucker was attached to the door again. As she slowly pushed mana through the next door, naturally, the light of her magic orb gradually became dim. However, when blue patterns began to glow on the plain surface of the door, the surroundings became brighter than when the magical marbles were lit up.
Ah.
It was such a spectacle that even Allen couldn’t help but be surprised. Of course, the mercenaries were surprised by the sight they saw for the first time and watched with their mouths wide open.
A squeak, a squeak, I heard the sound of the locks that had been engaged unlocking one by one from top to bottom. The door, which had all the locks down to the floor unlocked, began to open by itself with a loud groan. At the same time, a strong wind blowing towards them.
ㅡㅡ!!
It was a chilling wind that made my hamstrings tingle.
“Everyone line up! This is the real start! So everyone, get your head right! If you say sorry, you really fall behind!”
Allen shouted and rearmed the minds of her men.
“Depart!”
Inside the gate was a natural cave. The corridors built one by one with bricks disappeared, and the raw cave walls greeted them.
A place so cool that you can’t even imagine the heat of the desert. The difference between above ground and below ground was astonishingly striking.
Compared to the wide hallway we passed through earlier, the passageway in this cave was low and narrow enough for two or three people to pass side by side. Allen-Pergamond, the tallest among the mercenaries,’s head was only a span or two apart from the ceiling of the aisle.
The damp air of the cave was permeated with an unpleasant odor. It feels like your lungs are being polluted every time you breathe.
As the group proceeded cautiously step by step, they confirmed that the space in the aisle was suddenly widening. Allen glanced behind him, gave him a look to tell him to relax, and moved forward again.
…… And which space did you reach?
The first thing that greeted them was the terrible stench mixed in the air. Next, there are huge iron pillars that are stuck like bars in a concave space.
It was designed like a prison, and it was arranged neatly on the walls of the cave. …… A prison that doesn’t look like it was built to confine people.
At this chilling sight, the sound of gasping for breath and the sound of saliva running down the throat continued to flow from the mercenaries.
Allen nodded his head and moved closer with his men to the grate. Along with the nasty smell of rotting flesh, I saw a dead and fallen monster at the far end of space. There were traces of cave bugs that ate the corpse around it.
There was a row of spaces where corpses rotted. However, there were not a few places where the iron bars were bent or torn. The magic-enhanced iron pillar ran out of mana and seemed unable to withstand the monster’s might.
…… In other words, there are many monsters who have escaped from cages right here.
I don’t know how long they’re still alive, but considering the nature of the labyrinth, there might be surprisingly many of them alive.
“…… It sounds like a very dangerous place.”
Seeing a lot of us without owners, the furry Gis threw out a word of concern. It seems that not one or two escaped from the monster cage.
Occasionally, the bodies of monsters that had escaped were strewn about in the wide prison hallways. Judging by the lack of body parts, it appears to have been eaten by the same monster.
The Lewis-Mercenaries, who had little experience in this direction, seemed quite nervous. A monster is also a monster, but it feels like being engulfed in this terrifying labyrinth.
Of course, Allen wasn’t unaware that this was just the tip of the iceberg. The Labyrinth of the Magic Tower was not a labyrinth created naturally, but a labyrinth created by magicians. It is a space that shows the low bottom of human beings.
In the passage of the cave, there were also many bizarre patterns that could not be understood. Allen recognized at once that it was the mark of the devil. Perhaps that was one of the processes of all sorts of experiments.
The wizards of the Mage Tower were the ones who forced the same comrades to swallow black mana and even turned them into black magicians. It’s about wearing the devil’s pattern, it’s not even a job.
It was an example of how perverse the appetite for knowledge can be when it reaches its limit. The door opener, Mister Pattong, had a face that looked like he was going to vomit at the low side of the wizard. … A terrible shame as a wizard walking the same path.
After the monster passage ended, another prison came out this time. This time, it is a space that can be called a real prison.
In a place where the iron bars were rather thin compared to the cages of the monsters, corpses with rotted flesh exposed white bones were strewn about. The Mage Tower was destroyed, and those who were imprisoned in it must have finally eaten each other because they couldn’t overcome the hunger. Then, the last survivor also starved to death.
Of course, there were no holes in the thin iron bars. All of them would have already starved to death before the monster started targeting its coveted prey.
These prisons, each containing 10 or 10 people, were run along the aisles. There are even dozens of them. …… Perhaps they were used for human experimentation or as sacrifices. Those beings that no one would find even if they were caught anyway were scattered all over the continent.
Here and there in the hallway, there were also a number of skeletons dangling from the ceiling like hanged criminals. It’s probably a warning that if you do something stupid, you’ll come here.
After passing through those two areas, I finally came to a large space. And the numerous entrances to passageways that are wide open on the walls of the large space. It must be a place for secret experiments over there.
…… Right then.
The blind saintess who was scanning her surroundings suddenly raised her head.
At the same time, a monster with multiple pairs of hairy legs, clinging to the ceiling like a spider, jumped down toward the mercenary group.
“Hey, stop it!!”
To be honest, there was no time to catch up. He attacked the crowd in two lines at once. Compared to the other blunt legs, the legs that looked like sharp hooks pierced the stomachs of the mercenaries.
The one caught on the hook is Cory, a newbie, and a female mercenary belonging to the Lewis Mercenary Corps.
At that moment, the gum milk tester rushed in like a thunderbolt and severed Cory’s leg with a sword, but he could not save the other mercenary.
The monster grabbed the mercenary with a hook and shoved it into a hole studded with hundreds of teeth on its thick stomach. Aaaaah, the female mercenary who was crushed in an instant with a scream.
The monster, which had been starving for a long time, again attacked the prey, but was exterminated by the mercenaries who had already taken up formation.
The mercenaries cut off all of his legs to prevent any unexpected situation in advance, and hurriedly cut off the stomach with a colleague, but the mercenary was already shredded with pieces of meat.
Oops.
Kancho, who had alopecia areata who saw that horrible appearance, vomited several times, not befitting his size, and eventually vomited out what was inside.
Corey, whose belly was stuck in the hook, also writhed and urinated in the terrible shock and pain. Fortunately, Luca’s healing healed the wound, but it did not evoke the terrifying atmosphere that the monster had once swept away.
“…… Take a break Minor wounds are treated with potions. Don’t spare it If it becomes contaminated, it will be a big problem.”
After giving these and other instructions, Allen also sat down on the cold stone floor to calm his rough breath.
……… The labyrinth, which he entered again because of money, was like shit from the start.
