Chapter 45: Meet The Heroes

Izumi woke up when the sun only started rising. He got up from his bed and put on his clothes. He checked his clothes and saw that they were dirty and some places were torn so he used (Alteration). Once finished, he was wearing the same clothes he came with, but they looked brand-new.

'Alright, let's go see Hori-san,' he thought before going to open the door.

Just as he was opening the door, he saw Hajime and his group come out of their room.

"Good morning, where are you guys going?"

They all greeted him before Hajime answered,

"We are going to the Adventurers Guild to get information about the Gruen Volcano Labyrinth."

"Ah that one," Izumi nodded as he remembered the reading in the novels about it.

"I should also register myself as an adventurer too. I also need to get a map," he said.

The older boy nodded and they all went to the Adventurers Guild.

As they entered, a chubby receptionist recognized Hajime's group.

"Oh, it's you guys. What brings you here?" she said, before turning to Izumi, "I don't recognize you. Are new in town?"

"Yes, I'm new. I'm hoping to register as an adventurer and purchase a map." Izumi replied to the smiling receptionist.

"No problem, then please show me your status plate and fill up this form," she said.

"Do you look at the stats of the person when registering the person?

"No, that's only for the person's discretion unless asked." Izumi nodded,

"Then, I'll leave it to you," he said before handing the plate.

A few minutes later, she came back with the status plate.

"Here you go, you are now a Blue-Rank Adventurer. Also here is a map. It will be five Luta."

Izumi simply projected a red coin before handing it to her. He was not worried that it would disappear since there was no influence of Gaia like in Nasuverse. Therefore, it will be staying for a long time.

"Thank you for registering," she said before turning towards Hajime,

"What can I do for you lad?"

"I need some information about the Gruen Volcano Labyrinth."

"Yes, that's a dangerous one. Let me check," she said before returning with a huge file and giving the information about the Labyrinth.

"Since it will be dangerous, I would suggest making a detour by Furhen since it's the biggest business town on the continent. You're bound to find good equipment to take on the Labyrinth. We also happen to have an escort request to Furhen. How about it?"

"Sure why not? It's not like we are in a hurry," Hajime said before taking the request.

"All right, I'll just mark this down in the register."

Once she finished writing it down, she bid them farewell and they all left the gates of the city.

Outside of the gates, Hajime and Izumi stood in front of each other,

"Well then. I guess this is where we part ways." Izumi said

"Yes, thank you for helping us clear Miledi's Labyrinth," Hajime replied.

"I only did it for the magic. Do you mind doing me a small favour?"

"What is it?"

"Can you just show me you're (Transmute) skill?"

One of Hajime's eyebrows rose at the odd request. He faced his palm towards the ground and raised a tiny platform. Izumi quickly cast (Structural Analysis) on Hajime while the latter was using the spell.

Yue noticed Izumi casting a spell and asked,

"What did you do?"

"I simply cast an analysis spell to see how his skill worked. It will help me in my magic and the Grand Orcus Labyrinth." he then said to the group,

"Wait, I never told you which Ancient Magic is there? How did you know?" Hajime asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Hajime's eyebrow twitched at the response.

"But, I'll give you two words as a hint: Multiverse theory. Now then, I'll be going in." Izumi said before they could answer leaving the annoyed group.

He then turned invisible before flying away.

Yue, Shea and Hajime saw the younger boy materialize his armour before turning invisible and letting out a sigh of frustration.

"He's annoying in a different way! Miledi would make you pull your hair out, but he would drive you into a self-existence crisis!" Shea shouted.

"Hn," Yue replied.

Hajime simply looked at the spot Izumi turned invisible,

'Multiverse Theory? Where have I heard this before?'

At that moment, they saw an approaching caravan and walked towards it when the driver introduced himself as the one who put up the request

Up in the sky, Izumi saw the group approaching the caravan before turning around. He took out the map he had brought.

The reason he had asked Hajime to show his skill was that he wanted to go see the difference between (Transmute) and (Alteration). Izumi noticed that (Transmute) was earth manipulation to a molecular level while (Alteration) was Alchemy. When he acquires (Creation Magic) from the Great Orcus Labyrinth, he could use it to boost his spells from alchemy like (Alteration) or (Projection) to an unimaginable degree.

He looked down on the map to mark where Horaud Town was since it was the entrance of the Great Orcus Labyrinth. After marking it down, he put the map in his pocket and looked up to see where the castle of the royal family was.

'There it is!' Izumi spotted the castle.

It was easy to find since it was the most elevated building in the kingdom. He then flew at top speed towards it.

After 15 minutes of flight, he finally arrived in front of the castle.

"That's one big castle," Izumi told himself when he observed the castle. He looked around and saw the training grounds behind the castle. He could see numerous knights, but no heroes. He frowned at their absence.

'Where is she?'

He created multiple drones and sent them to search for Hori. As he sent his drones, he landed on the roof of the castle and waited for the news from his drones. He searched through the whole castle, but couldn't find any of them.

'Where are they? Are they in the Labyrinth?' he thought.

He noticed that none of the people that were summoned were here and that included Aiko-sensei and the students that refused to fight. Shaking his head, he did one last sweep. He was about to pull his drones back when they sensed something. He connected himself to the drone's camera and saw. what he had sensed. A nun. One would say that the presence of a nun in the royal castle is normal since the Holy Church is right in their backyard signifying their deep connection. But, this nun was different. Izumi could sense the abundance of power inside her that she hid well. If it was any other person, they would've ignored her.

'So that's Noint, Ehit's bitch huh?', he said as he observed the stoic nun walking in the hallway.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked directly at the drone that Izumi was using. But it seems that she couldn't see the drone itself. He quickly dematerialized it before he could be found out.

'She sensed that? That's impressive.'

He was about to pull his drone back when he sensed something he recognized. Holy power, or more specifically corrupted Holy Power. The only beings that could have this kind of energy are Fallen Angels and they don't exist in Tortus except for one: Kyouko Hori.

He sent a drone towards the source of power and entered one of the rooms that he assumed were for the heroes from Earth. The drone phased through the door and looked around. Finally, he found the thing that was emanating Holy power even in a small quantity: A black feather.

'This confirms it, Hori has unlocked her Fallen Angel heritage. The question is: Did she already know about it or did she unlock it upon arriving here.' Izumi thought.

Seeing that he didn't find them here. He made his way to the Great Orcus Labyrinth as that would be the only other place the heroes would be. He dematerialized his drones and it took a few minutes to arrive at Horaud Town where the dungeon is located.

The Great Orcus Labyrinth is a Labyrinth created by the synergist Oscar Orcus. It consisted is a dungeon divided by multiple floors with stronger monsters the more you went down. It is commonly known that the Labyrinth consisted of hundred floors, but what the population didn't know was that the Labyrinth was divided into two parts consisting of hundred floors: The Upper level and the True Labyrinth. The difference in strength between the monsters of the hundredth floors of the Upper Level and the monsters of the first floor of the True Labyrinth is massive. But, once cleared, the reward of completion is the Ancient Magic: Creation Magic.

Creation Magic grants the user control over objects, structures (be it physical or magical) or minerals, allowing the user to shape or transform them in any way they wish. It is the only form of Magic that allows for the creation of an "Artifact". The true power of this magic is the ability to 'interfere with any inorganic material'.

Arriving in front of the entrance, he presented his status plate identifying himself as an Adventurer and went inside. On the first floor, he saw many adventurers and knights hunting monsters. Not wasting time, he went invisible and simply went through the stairs floor by floor.

The monsters he encountered on the way were quickly dealt with. He didn't have time to waste since he must first see Hori.

On floor ten, the monsters were dealt with a single punch each On floor twenty, the monsters were dealt once again with a punch. On floor thirty, he decided to use his new magic.

By this point, there weren't any people around so he could rampage around. A group of tiger-like monsters was running towards him. He lifted his hands towards the incoming monsters,

"I've always wanted to try this ever since I got this magic. Shinra Tensei!" Izumi shouted excitedly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, an invisible wave erupted from his hand and all the monsters were thrown backwards at a force so powerful, they smashed against the surroundings just like a bug hitting the window of a moving car.

"Oh shit." he cursed.

Izumi grimaced at the horrible way they died, not that he felt sorry for them. He grimaced since he didn't control his strength. It did take quite a chunk of mana to perform that move.

'That reminds me if I get Spirit Magic, will it be like True Magic Heavens Feel? Could I add more magic circuits in my soul using that Ancient Magic? Or maybe, will I be able to materialize my soul. So many questions, so little answers.'

Izumi continued on his massacre until he started to feel a group of people at the edge of his Observation Haki when he reached floor sixty.

"They must be the heroes. I'm getting closer to them. It looks like they are on floor seventy.."

Since Izumi could feel them, that meant he knew exactly where they were. He stopped in his tracks and cast (Gate). He didn't have a full understanding of space so the spell consumed more mana than necessary. The space in front of him warped and twisted before forming a circle with the interior of it showing the backs of people fighting monsters. Izumi noticed the familiar bridge with the Traum soldiers and the Behemoth on the other side of the bridge.

"We can do it, guys! We will defeat these monsters," shouted Kouki Amanogawa to his classmates.

"OHHHHH!" shouted the rest.

As the Traum soldiers materialized, The Behemoth was also spawned.

"Here they come! Meld to the left! Shizuku to the right! Suzu, create a barrier to hold the Traum soldier!"

"Yes!" Suzu created a barrier holding the soldiers back.

"Hori and Eri take them out with your magic while Hiyama will be your vanguard!"

"Yes!" they shouted.

"Ryutarou, can you hold the Behemoth for a moment?"

"No problem! Herculean Strength!" his friend answered.

The muscular had activated his skill. His arms glowed blue and he was about to grab the Behemoth's horns when, suddenly, they heard a male voice.

"Railgun."

Not a beat later, a huge beam appeared from behind and travelled the room before blowing a hole through the Behemoth's head and impacting the wall behind.

*BOOOOMMM!*

"WHAT THE HELL!?" shouted everyone.

The eyes could barely see what happened. Out of nowhere, a beam appeared and utterly destroyed the monster. What remained was simply the lower part of its body as the upper half and its head was swallowed by it. The beast finally fell down as it didn't have anything left to control its legs.

The group looked behind and saw a person in a completely black suit. The latter had his arm in front and the heroes could see the lingering sparks of electricity around his hand. The person then swiped his arm towards the Traum soldiers and the monsters simply disintegrated into the sand. With the last of the monsters disappearing, the floor was complete.

Kouki placed himself in between the newcomer and his group before brandishing his Holy Sword Uralt in front of him.

"Who are you and what are you doing here!?"

Izumi lowered his hand and placed them inside his pockets.

"You know when someone helps you, you're supposed to say "thank you". It's called manners," he said.

"Are you mocking me?" Kouki asked angrily.

"No, I'm just teaching basic decency."

"You bastard-" "Kouki!" Kouki was about to attack Izumi when he heard someone shout making him stop in his track.

"What Shizuku?"

"Don't be reckless. You saw how he defeated the Behemoth in one shot. Also, he also appears to be alone which means he cleared all the floors before on his own." Shizuka analyzed before turning towards Izumi,

"Am I right?"

Izumi smiled beneath his mask,

'At least she's level-headed.'

"Spot on."

"I see than thank you for helping us. May we know who helped us?"

"Sure!"

Izumi dematerialized his armour.

"My name is Miyamura Izumi and I came here because of someone."

"And who is that?" asked Captain Meld.

"Hori Kyouko."

They all looked at the person in question, but the latter simply had a look of confusion.

"Hori-san do you know this person?" asked Kouki.

Izumi suddenly felt something wrong. He looked at Hori, but she didn't quite look like herself. She had a stoic look when she was the most expressive person Izumi had met. It didn't fit her face to have such an expression. Also, alarms began to ring in his head when he told his name, but she didn't react to it.

"Who?" dread began to fill Izumi as he looked at his friend who didn't recognize him.

"Hori-san it's me. Miyamura Izumi. We are in the same class as Tooru, Yoshikawa and Iura."

Hori stepped back as she looked at him in confusion.

"I don't know who you are. I only know that I was summoned by Lord Ehit to gain back his favour and return to his side as his apostle," she said to him as her black wings opened a little.

Izumi stood still in shock,

"What are you talking about. You were never an apostle."

"Alright, that's enough. She doesn't know you. So go away." Kouki interjected.

Izumi ignored him and looked at Hori's expression. She looked more subdued as if her emotions were suppressed. For anyone who didn't know her long enough, they would not think too much, but Izumi nearly spend every day with her.

Suddenly, he noticed the cuffs on her wrist. He cast (Structural Analysis) on it. When he received the information and its memories, rage as he had never known, began to boil inside him.

For those who were observing on the side, it was as if a sudden pressure descended on him. Hiyama and some knights fell unconscious while the others were brought to their knees as the unbearable weight was pressing on them.

"What's going on!?" shouted Ryutarou on his knees

"I can't... breathe." gasped Kaori.

"What's happening it's like a weight is pressed onto us!?" shouted Shizuku.

Kouki who had dropped his sword and was struggling to stand struggled to look at Izumi and saw him giving the most intense glare he had ever seen.

"What... did you do?" he managed to ask.

The only one not on the ground was Hori who looked at everyone on their knees or unconscious, but she couldn't do anything as she also couldn't move.

Izumi then spoke.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you?"