Chapter 18: A True Monster (1)

Wind whipped past his ears as he plummeted down into the abyss, the minuscule speck of light above had already faded long ago. Pure darkness surrounded him, empty and lifeless. He could hear the sound of turbulent water streams pouring out from the crevices in the walls, cascading down and intersecting.

The speed in which he fell was alarming to say the least, mainly due to the fact that air resistance didn't apply to him. Each passing second was accompanied by a multitude of different sounds, picking up on ongoing battles from great distances away.

'Alright, let's stop here…'

Shifting his body upright, he made use of his movement skill to slow his descent, gradually decelerating and reducing his momentum. Not long after, he was able to steady himself in the air, standing with absolutely no ground beneath his feet.

Though he'd long gotten used to it, it was still a shocking experience.

Delving even deeper, he managed to find a wall, using it as a foundation to run at full speed. Passing through many small openings and crevices, Aziel eventually came upon the uneven terrain below.

The surroundings were dimly lit, though one could still see due to the green glow stones scattered along the walls. Rocks and boulders could be found in every direction, stalagmites of all sizes pillared from the ground.

Landing softly, he took great care to keep the bag currently slung over his shoulders from getting damaged. Afterall, it contained all the resources he acquired before entering the labyrinth.

He looked around, finding nothing but the jagged labyrinth walls stretching as far as the eye could see. There seemed to be different passages split up, tunneling through this seemingly endless floor. Nothing could be heard except for the occasional echo of dripping water and pebbles clattering to the ground.

Although the darkness would've impeded anyone else, Aziel, of course, remained unaffected by such issues. His gaze was clear, piercing through the obscure veil around him, and taking note of everything he came across.

'Yea, I'm ready to get the hell up out of here…'

Shaking his head, he rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation.

While he harbored no fear of this place, it didn't change the fact that the atmosphere was gloomy and utterly depressing. The air was also quite thick, and as if that wasn't enough, a musky stench hung over the entire floor.

'Smells like someone crawled in here and died.'

Casting a quick glance over the area, he realized his thoughts weren't too far off the mark, as large puddles of blood lay a few dozen meters out from where he stood. Judging by the fact that it hadn't dried yet, it seemed whatever had previously transpired occurred within hours or a few days ago. Moreover, all signs indicated that more than just one creature died in this area.

'Damn. Forcing me to be careful, huh…'

The location in which he currently stood was the first floor of the 'True Orcus Labyrinth'. It was a place that harbored far more dangerous monsters than what appeared on the upper-level floors, drastically outstripping them to the point of no comparison. Truthfully speaking, the True Labyrinth was so absurd that a party who'd successfully cleared all 100 floors of the upper level could easily be killed by the weaker monsters of Aziel's current floor.

Of course, it also meant that Aziel was fully capable of losing his life with the stats he had at present. Although he was a monster in his own right, even the creatures dwelling on the first floor outclassed him in terms of sheer speed and power, further denoting the harsh difficulty that lay in completing this Labyrinth.

Still, Aziel wasn't too concerned about that, instead deciding to transmute a human sized path through the nearest wall, gradually carving out a room big enough to fit tens of people. Closing the entrance behind him, the entire room was immediately drowned in darkness, making the obvious lack of light source even more apparent.

Ignoring that fact, he removed the large bag he was carrying, placing it on the ground and unfastening its straps. After rummaging through it for a few seconds, he pulled out a sheathed knife, its slightly modern looking design noticeable upon close inspection.

An 'M-9 Bayonet'.

A multi-purpose knife with a 7-inch blade, suitable for high-quality combat and utility. Back on earth, it was a weapon he'd come across more than a handful of times, thus increasing his familiarity with it in a rather unconventional manner.

'Garbage. The bastard expected me to use this…? I should just break this shit and redo it.'

He wore a mildly dissatisfied expression, scrutinizing the knife seriously.

As he rapidly progressed in his transmutation ability, he was able to quickly identify the faults in most creations, bringing with it an aversion towards any item he hadn't deemed 'perfect'. While his perfectionist tendencies had existed from the beginning, they weren't as prominent as they are now.

Silently strapping the knife to his thigh, he put off the modification plan for later. It would likely be a while before he advanced to the next floor, taking a far more cautious approach than he had when he was back up on the surface. Moving recklessly was a luxury for those who couldn't be defeated, something he also couldn't afford at the moment.

After finishing his current base of operations, Aziel exited the room, leaving behind his supplies in case of any mishaps. There were never any certainties when it came to things like this, but he would at least try his best to reduce the margin of error.

The various winding paths stretching out ahead gave no indication of any proper direction, prompting one to decide at random the most suitable passageway to follow. However, Aziel surveyed the area, taking notice of a long tunnel that was 20 meters wide, resembling a cave.

It wasn't anything like the orderly rectangular passageways that could be found in the upper floors, as boulders and other obstructions showed up at random intervals, leading down an ever-twisting path. Even the narrow stretches were at least 10 meters wide, though it bore no real significance, failing to hinder Aziels progress in any way.

He easily stuck to the shadows, sheer experience dwelling within every movement as he advanced. It was an arduous trek, one that would tire out most ordinary people mentally and physically. Before Aziel realized it, he had already been walking for hours on end, showing no visible signs of fatigue despite that fact.

Not long after, he found himself at a fork in the road, bearing closer resemblance to a street intersection than a fork. Just as he determined which path to take, he picked up on the sound of multiple nails tapping against the labyrinth's rocky terrain, and the subtle sniffing of a creature tracking its prey.

A low growl could be heard alongside the crackling of electricity. Aziel instantly changed direction, heading towards where the noise originated from with silent footsteps as he erased his presence, activating the 'Tracking Evasion' skill to its fullest capacity.

It served as a means to completely eliminate all traces of himself, such as fallen hair, blood, skin particles, and any other evidence of his existence, dissipating into dust with no discernable scent given off. This denied the possibility of anything tracking him down with even the most extraordinary methods.

From within the shadows, he eventually caught sight of multiple creatures, seemingly in the midst of a fight as one sided as it may be. Of the two species currently battling, one of them was a giant ball of white fur, with rather long ears: just like a rabbit.

However, it was the size of a dog, standing on relatively thick hind legs, while veins pulsing dark red mana trailed down its body, appearing quite ominous.

The Kick Master Rabbit.

It was a deadly monster reigning second on the food chain of this floor.

'Big ass legs….This shit is actually real life…'

Aziel watched it closely, his posture as still as a statue. Although he held little regard for the creature, he still acknowledged its capability of posing a threat to his life.

Meanwhile, the creature, or rather, 'creatures' it fought also had similar white fur, but were instead some sort of wolf monsters. They were as big as large dogs, with two tails sprouting from its rear, and just like the Rabbit, pulsing veins of dark red mana ran down its body.

Twin Tailed Wolves.

There were 5 in total, crackling red lightning danced around their fur, gathering at the tips of their tails in a lethal charge of electricity. This was their skill, the ability to coat themselves in a field of lightning and fired as a long-ranged attack.

'Fierce looking, but they aren't worth a damn…'

Judging by the current state of the ongoing battle, his remark held some truth. The Rabbit leapt through the air, flipping a single time as it dropped a powerful axe kick down onto a Twin-Tailed wolf's head with a loud 'boom', pulverizing its skull. Blood splattered, leaving the wolf sprawled out across the ground. It certainly wasn't labeled a Kick Master Rabbit for nothing.

Despite the Twin-Tailed Wolves attempts at retaliation, they stood no chance against the Rabbit under these conditions, thus paving the way for a complete and utter slaughter. It was a repeated scene of gruesome deaths, Twin-Tailed wolf corpses lay scattered across the labyrinth's ground, staining its surroundings in crimson.

Throughout the entire 'battle', the Kick Master Rabbit remained unscathed, its brutal attacks powerful enough to smash craters into the ground. Its speed was fast enough to evade natural eyesight, leaving behind afterimages as it traveled, mainly due to the creature's inherent skill; 'Supersonic Step'.

It made the Traum Soldiers up on the 65th floor appear less than fodder and was possibly even stronger than the Behemoth as well.

Gazing at the monster casually hopping around and sniffing as if nothing happened, Aziel made no move to attack, waiting for the true opponent to arrive. And he didn't have to wait long, as the Kick Master Rabbit suddenly stiffened up, its fur standing on end. A moment later, it began trembling, not out of excitement or anything, but pure terror.

The only time a scene like this would occur was if…A Predator Had Come.

Without an ounce of hesitation, the Kick Master Rabbit dashed off, not stopping for a second to look back. However, regardless of its agile maneuvers, the monster's body was cut in half the moment it landed. A fountain of blood spilled forth. The same powerful monster who'd effortlessly defeated the Twin-Tailed Wolves had been dispatched in a single blow.

While the cause of this astonishing situation lumbered over with a low growl, its massive body was over two meters tall, possessing white fur and glowing veins of dark red mana just like all the other creatures on this floor. The newly arrived monster closely resembled a bear in physique, though unlike a bear, it had huge forearms that extended down to its feet, with menacing sharp claws over 30 centimeters long.

The Claw Bear.

It was on a completely different level.

Aziel's gaze sharpened, radiating a silent killing intent that went unnoticed by the terrifying monster ahead.

'It's good that I don't even have to go looking for you. I'm about to murder this bitch…'

It was the first time he felt such a dire threat to his life upon coming to this world, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling either. More than once in his life had he experienced the sensation of death approaching, but unlike before, he was now powerful–Overwhelmingly So.

Thus, he and those who endanger him couldn't be allowed to coexist.

'There's no other choice, you have to die.'