Chapter 51: The Underground Labyrinth

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༺ The Underground Labyrinth ༻

"Uh… why did this place transform?"

"… Who knows?"

"What do you mean, who knows?! You're the one who said you knew the secrets of this place!"

Ferloche, who took the lead after entering the basement of the church, or rather the labyrinth, is now trembling and screaming.

Despite being the Saintess of the Sun God Church, and someone who must have surely experienced plenty of horrors in the previous timeline, she still seems to be afraid of the dark.

Of course, I hate dark places as well. But I have no choice since Ferloche's life is at stake here.

"D-Do you know the way forward?"

"No, just hurry up and get a move on already."

Despite Ferloche's life being at risk, she still walks at the very front. While it is quite boring for me, I can't lead the way due to my body being in a battered state.

Therefore, it would be better for Ferloche, who has the 'Blessing of the Sun God' to lead the way for our safety.

"Oh! The road splits in two here."

After walking for a long time, we came across a forked road. Judging from this, it seems this labyrinth has a very typical design. A cliché fork of one correct path and either a wrong path or a trap.

"Fr-Frey! Which way should we go?"

"Hmmmm.."

If only I had 1 stack, I would have secretly attempted both paths without Ferloche noticing, but currently it's too much for my body to handle.

So, I guess I'll have to choose the next best thing.

"…You, get behind me."

"Yes?"

"Watch my back for a bit."

I dragged Ferloche behind me as she was still tiptoeing and trying to gauge what was ahead of the two paths. After confirming she was looking elsewhere astutely, I secretly began channeling stellar mana

"Ugh.."

After I continued to channel stellar mana forwards, I could intuitively feel something was 'wrong' with the entrance on the left.

"…The right."

The feeling of incongruity was unusual, so I opened my eyes and pointed to the right, when suddenly a loud sound resounded from the passage to the left.

Surprised, I quickly tried to grab Ferloche and go to the passage on the right, only to find that she was no longer there. Ferloche, who had been on the lookout, had suddenly vanished.

"Ferloche!?"

"Yes?"

Confused, I called out to her loudly, and to my surprise, her answer came back from the passage on the left.

In a rush, I grabbed the sword from my waist and jumped into the passage on the left. There, I found Ferloche smiling triumphantly, covered in stone dust.

"A labyrinth like this, you just have to destroy everything!"

"….Sigh…"

In front of her was a shattered boulder that must have been rolling at her at a breakneck speed.

"Let's keep going."

Freed from the thought that I wasted stellar mana for nothing, I began to break through the maze at high speed with the siege weapon called 'Ferloche.'

– Crack!

"…By the way, how was this huge space created in the cellar of the church?"

Around the time we broke through the 5th fork, Ferloche, who snapped the neck of an undead orc that appeared out of nowhere, asked me a question while holding the drooping corpse of the orc.

"Over time."

"Right… After all, the corruption of the Church has been going on for quite some time."

Soon after hearing my answer, she nodded her head and began to purify the undead orcs by channeling her holy power.

'…Is this "that" person's work?'

Of course, what I told Ferloche was not the truth. Even in the Sun God Church, it would be unreasonable to create such a huge underground space, and the possibility of being caught is very high.

So, magical ability must have been a factor, and if it is something that deserves a 'main quest' distinction, it is highly likely that the 'spatial manipulation magic' used by the 'Aide'.

"…Ah, look at this!"

While speculating as such, Ferloche, who was leading in front of me, stopped and began looking around curiously.

I looked forward, wondering what was going on, and instead of the continuous, cracked cellar wall, white and bare marble was adorning the walls of all sides, and warm light was leaking through the attached sun-shaped ornaments.

"Is this….sunlight?"

"I also noticed the sunlight shining on my body. But why is the sunlight leaking out of those ornaments?"

Hearing her words, I felt a little reluctant to touch the ornaments, so I tried to step away, remembering that touching a suspicious object in a place like this is like committing suicide…

"Woah.. that's amazing…"

Unlike me, Ferloche had already taken off some of the ornaments and was messing around with them.

"Hey, Hey…!"

– Clank!!

"…Shit."

I tried to yell at her to return the ornaments to the original space in a hurry, but a strange mechanical sound resounded.

"Kyaaa!?"

In a panic, I wrapped my arms around Ferloche and pulled out my sword, and began scanning the surroundings vigilantly, but nothing happened after a while.

"Y-You… What are you doing?"

Then Ferloche, who was staring blankly at me, looked puzzled.

"Nothing, you just look especially beautiful today."

Upon hearing those words, I immediately changed my expression to a sinister look and began groping Ferloche.

"…Let me go."

Her expression turned cold, and she pushed me away. Despite the light push, her strength combined with the ❰Blessing of the Sun God❱, I would have been completely blown away if I hadn't braced myself.

"…Eugh."

I wasn't blown away completely, but was still pushed away quite far. I crashed against the wall hard and let out a groan.

– Screech…

"…Huh?"

Then something completely unexpected happened.

The door that had been hidden in the place where I hit the wall collapsed backwards.

As I was staring blankly at the scene, Ferloche headed inside without hesitation.

"… I think I've seen this somewhere."

"What?"

I, who was trying to stop her from entering in a hurry, stopped when she said that she seemed to have seen this place before.

"…..!!!"

And, after a while, I had no choice but to freeze upon seeing the sight.

– In the beginning, there was the Sun God, the Moon God, and the Star God.

"Wh-Why is this here…?"

This is because 'Hangul' characters were written on the cracked and faded slabs.

"This must have been a space created by the 'Aide'…? However, why in the world is the language used by my ancestor written here?"

I watched the phrases that were somehow familiar to me with a bewildered expression, and then looked around.

"Ah! That's right! I saw it when I went to the Western Continent!"

"…You went to the Western Continent?"

When I inquired with my brows furrowed, Ferloche hesitated for a moment, then, after fidgeting with her fingers for a moment, she opened her mouth.

"Yes, when I went on a pilgrimage with the Church… The Western Continental Branch of the Sun God Church was managing a space quite similar to this one."

"Hmm…"

"I was curious, so I went to take a look… but I couldn't enter because I was told it was supposed to be a top secret. If it's a secret that even the Saintess can't know, it must be an important secret!"

Saying that, I stared blankly at the Saintess whose eyes twinkled in excitement, then I turned my gaze to the slate and began to read the rest of the content.

– Under the protection of the three Gods, for a long time, the world was in peace and balance was maintained. However, a crisis came unexpectedly.

"…Crisis?"

– One day, the Sun was split in half…

The contents of the slate were cut off there.

"What have you been looking at?"

"There's quite a strange text here."

I was quite regretful that I couldn't read further, but Ferloche, who was approaching me all of a sudden, picked up the ornament that emanated sunlight and began illuminating the slabs.

"Um… what is this? I've never seen a text like this before…"

– Ruuumble!!!

"Kyaa!?"

Ferloche, who had been muttering while looking at the text illuminated by sunlight, screamed as the entire room suddenly quaked.

"…It's collapsing!"

"shit."

Eventually, the room began to crumble, and for some reason, I momentarily stared blankly at the slab that had begun to crack, then dashed to the exit with Ferloche.

'…I got an unexpected clue.'

As I stared blankly at the room buried in the piles of rubble, I silently fell into deep thought.

There was no mention of the 'Moon god' or the 'Star god' in the Prophecy. If there was such a thing, there is no way that the former Hero would not have written it down.

However, the slab I just saw clearly had 'Hangul' characters written on it.

In other words, there exist clues that are not mentioned in the prophetic book or the system.

'Anyway, I must visit the Western Continent no matter what.'

Full of anticipation that maybe I could find a new hope for my future, I decided to visit the Western Continent as soon as possible, then got up and started dusting the dirt from my clothes.

"Ugh… my butt hurts…"

"Give me that."

"Please no!"

Soon after, I found Ferloche, who was sitting on the floor while grabbing her butt. I tried to take the ornament she was holding, but Ferloche twisted her body to avoid my hand.

"For some reason, it feels warm… Maybe like a mother?"

My heart ached when she said that the ornament reminded her of her mother. I heaved a deep sigh recalling the fact that Ferloche was an orphan and said.

"If you don't want to be locked up with me and live with me for the rest of your life, don't touch anything from now on."

"…All right."

Ferloche then nodded with a cold expression on her face. Apparently, she didn't like that idea at all.

"Then, let's go."

Having placed Ferloche in front of me again, I encouraged her to move faster, and muttered inwardly.

'…Is someone following us?'

I kept sensing someone's presence since earlier.

"Wow… there are a lot of ornaments? Since there are so many, if I just take one…"

"Don't even think about it."

The sunlight from the ornaments attached to the long passageway continued to illuminate us.

Seeing that it emits light of a certain intensity at regular intervals, it seems that it is not just a simple ornament, but I decided to ignore it because the completion of the 'Main Quest' is more urgent right now.

"Ah! There's light over there!"

"…Yes, I think so."

After walking for a long time, a light began to appear in the distance.

I didn't know what was going to pop out this time, so I approached the light feeling quite anxious. And eventually we arrived at a door.

"…A magical seal is embedded on it."

As I got closer and touched it with my hand, a fairly complex magic circle appeared.

Of course, I am a swordsman, but I do know about magic because Serena used to teach me when we would play house back in the day. Thus I accumulated a lot of knowledge in the previous timeline, so I was able to analyze this easily.

'…An advanced sealing magic.'

However, that didn't mean I could undo the magic circle, so I was looking at the magic seal that was formed through the overlapping of various complicated spells with a perplexed expression.

"Why aren't you going in?"

"…There is a sealing magic circle."

"A sealing magic circle?"

As I spoke in a low voice and pointed to the magic seal that appeared in front of me, Ferloche, who had tilted her head for a moment, looked at me and said,

"…If it's a sealing magic circle, you can undo it, can't you?"

Her appearance was so pure and innocent that I wanted to pat her on the head, but I closed my eyes tightly and barely endured it. I then kindly explained.

"Even if ten Magic Tower mages come her, they can't dispel it within a day."

"Why?"

"Different sealing magic and anti-destruction magic spells are stacked together, creating a kind of synergistic effect designed to protect each other… A person possessing a high magical sensitivity has to take a long time to undo them one by one."

"…..???"

He tried hard to explain, but Ferloche only tilted her head in confusion.

"…It's basically like an extremely sturdy and rusted lock, meaning that it will take a lot of time and effort to open it even if you put the key in it."

"Oh…"

In the end, after toning down the explanationg as much as possible to to fit Ferloche's level of intelligence, she began to nod her head as if she understood.

"Then the solution is simple!"

"…What?"

After nodding her head for a while, Ferloche suddenly crossed her arms and said with a triumphant expression.

"If the key doesn't work… we just have to break the lock!"

"...…"

After she had spoken, I looked at Ferloche with a hopeless expression while she kept grinning at me. I instantly opened my mouth at the sudden thought that crossed my mind.

"Wait. Can you designate the 'Magic Seal' as the target of 'Blessing of the Sun God'?"

"Hey, how did you know that I had the 'Blessing of the Sun God'!?"

"Can you or can you not?"

"I've never done it before…"

Saying that, Ferloche had a troubled expression on her face, so I forcefully grabbed her arms and put her hands in front of the magic seal and said.

"Use the Blessing of the Sun God on the magic seal."

"…Al-All right, I get it, so let go!"

She freed her hand, then nervously took a deep breath, and powerfully thrust her fist into the magic seal.

– Clang!!!

Then, the colorful sealing magic circle that was burning in front of her was shattered.

"…It shattered, it's like breaking glass."

Realizing the value of the 'Blessing of the Sun God' once again, I opened the door and entered the room with Ferloche, who was shaking her head and smiling proudly.

"…it's very spacious here."

Then, a huge space that resembled a large arena entered our vision.

"You! It's time to tell the truth!"

Ferloche, who was watching the arena with her mouth agape, glared at me with a sudden frown and began to rant.

"Why did a place that looked like a small warehouse from the outside become such a vast space when we entered! Why is there a complex labyrinth with vicious traps!?"

"…Crazy Bastards."

"W-Well?"

However, I ignored her and looked up at the ceiling and spat out swear words.

"Why are you…!"

Once Ferloche followed me and looked up, she began swearing as well.

"Sacrificial… magic circle…"

This is because, on the high ceiling, a sacrificial magic circle that was several times larger than the one used in the 'Raid on the Commoner's Dormitory' case was drawn.

"Hey, what is this? How did this happen?"

"....."

"Come on, tell me the truth quickly! Frey!"

Ferloche, who witnessed the scene, trembled as her complexion turned pale.

"I wonder…"

"Ah….."

Of course, I didn't know either. Ferloche frowned with a stiff expression on her face, and then clenched her teeth and clasped her hands. She then said.

"Aha! If I destroy it with my 'Sun God's Power like before…"

"Your power can only target one individual. And that magic circle is scattered everywhere just like in the 'Commoner's Dormitory Incident'."

"Of course, but…!"

"Besides, how do you plan to destroy the magic circle that is drawn so high up? It's impossible unless you can stretch your arms that far or shoot it."

"Ugh…"

Upon hearing this, Ferloche, who became disheartened, suddenly opened her eyes and began to look around.

"…What are you trying to do again?"

"Something's strange."

Then suddenly she started scanning the surrounding with a frown on her face and opened her mouth with a serious expression on her face.

"I can feel a sinister aura and holy power at the same time…"

"Where…?"

"…Below us."

Upon hearing her words, the moment she looked down involuntarily, the ground suddenly began to vibrate.

– Rumbleeeeeee!!!

"Fuck!"

Due to the quake, she lost her balance and collapsed on her butt. While Ferloche was on the verge of crying, a white spear rose from the ground right in front of her.

"Heuuughhhh…"

"Ugh…"

"This is crazy…"

Before long, countless undead began to emerge from the ground, fully armed.

"There are… too many… just like… back then…"

As Ferloche's complexion turned pale in horror while watching this scene.

The reason why Ferloche, who can unleash overwhelming force due to the 'Blessing of the Sun God,' is so terrified, is due to the fact that her blessing is vulnerable against 'multiple enemies.'

The ❰Blessing of the Sun God❱ is a 1:1 specialized technique that can show overwhelming force by designating only one enemy. However, it can be easily neutralized if several enemies attack in unison.

That was the main reason why she was caught by the Demon King in the previous timeline.

That being said…

"…Why are you acting like this?"

"This is a horrible situation!"

"Is it?"

But you don't have to worry at all. Because they are 'undead'.

"Shut up and use your holy power."

"…Ah."

The undead are incredibly vulnerable to ｢Holy Power｣ and ｢Fire｣. It is potent enough to make the undead incapacitated upon slight contact.

"Sun God in heaven, watch over us… no, watch over me and bestow your power…"

– Whooosh…!

After Ferloche hurriedly cast her spell, scorching holy power was radiated in all directions.

""Keeeeeeeeek!""

Then the countless undead who made contact with her holy power began to writhe in pain..

"Ah! There's a way out over there!"

While the undead were losing their minds from the pain, Ferloche, who found an exit far away, screamed and began running towards the exit with a cheerful expression, but..

– Whoosh!

"…AH!"

An arrow that flew at a ferocious speed pierced her leg, and she had no choice but to collapse on the ground again.

"…Damn, you can't even stop that."

Meanwhile, I drew my sword and struck the six arrows rushing towards her, and looked at the arrow stuck in her legs with a dissatisfied face.

"Uh, why…? Why did the undead not…?"

"These guys are the 'Paladins' who were buried in the church's cellar."

"Huh?"

I don't know whose sinister scheme is this, but they resurrected paladins with holy attributes as undead.

It's not that they just possessed holy power, but it's completely fused with the dark mana.

Because of this, they didn't become incapacitated even after receiving Ferloche's holy power, but rather, they seem to have been strengthened.

I don't know how this absurd situation happened, but there is one thing I must do right now.

"By the way, have you used enough holy power? Ferloche?"

"Ye-Yes…?"

"Is that the last of your remaining holy power? Now, you won't even have the strength to move now."

"How did you…"

Of course, I was guessing from the intensity of the holy power I felt when she had emanated her holy power back in the orphanage's warehouse.

What I am going to say now to Ferloche, who is on the ground trembling with a desperate expression on her face, directly opposes her hopes.

"…What are you going to do? Since I was planning for this from the start."

"…..!"

Upon hearing that, Ferloche began to close her eyes tightly. I slowly approached her and raised the corners of my lips.

"The truce or whatever… You shouldn't have trusted me, a member of the Demon King's Army."

"Y-You…"

"Isn't it great that we're here? I purposely prepared this place to deal with you, who recovers her holy power from sunlight."

Hearing those words, Ferloche's expression gradually turned pale.

Seeing her figure, I'm quite worried about what to do next if I survive from here… but I have no choice but to save Ferloche from those undead who will soon be fully awakened.

"…Are you going to kill me?"

"Well… what should I do? Should I kill this poor little person with no one to hear her screams?"

I arrived right in front of Ferloche, and whispered to her with a sinister smile.

"Or, you could stay here and embrace me…"

"Ugh!!"

But at that moment, Ferloche pulled out the arrow from her own leg, threw it at me, and dashed towards the exit with all her might.

"Keugh!!"

Thanks to her, I plopped down with a wound on my abdomen as she managed to make it to the exit and opened the door. I looked at her fading back for a moment, then muttered to myself.

"…The thing coming out of that ornament must have really been sunlight."

If she continues to recover because of the sunlight radiating from that ornament, Ferloche will be able to get out of here safely.

With that in mind, I smiled gently and fiddled with my sword. I then turned my gaze towards the undead, who flinched when they laid their eyes upon me.

I don't even know what the hell is the purpose of this wretched place; I don't even know who the large magic circle on the ceiling is targeting…

But, I will buy as much time as possible by blocking the undead here.

So Ferloche, who was exhausted from her lack of holy power, could escape safely.

"Screeeech!!!"

"Are there any more traps in front of her? Will Ferloche be able to escape?"

I raised my sword while glaring at the undead paladins, who let out a war cry. I muttered under my breath as I swathed my body in stellar mana.

"…Now is not the time for me to worry about others."

Today, my heart seems to be throbbing several times more.

You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02