Chapter 52: Grand Gruen Volcano Part 1

Izumi had packed their stuff and waited for Hori to finish up. He went downstairs of the inn and saw the owner, Foss Seluo.

The elderly man had been cleaning the tables to prepare for the arrival of the clients. He then saw Izumi walk down the stairs.

"Ah! Good morning, Izumi-sama. Have you slept well?"

"Good morning to you too, Foss. And I had a great sleep," the teen replied.

"I'm glad. What can I do for you today?" Could you prepare a table for two so that we can eat breakfast?"

"Alright, and what can I get you?"

"Whatever you recommend," Izumi replied.

Foss closed his notebook with a slap and smiled,

"No problem, come back in fifteen minutes and everything will be ready."

"Thanks, Foss," Izumi and he returned to his room.

However, on his way back, he came across a rather unexpected person, Yue.

"Good morning, Yue." he greeted her.

The small girl was making her way downstairs when she came upon Izumi.

"Miyamura. Good morning."

"Are you getting breakfast?"

"Hn. Hajime is still asleep so I wanted to bring food for him."

Izumi nodded,

"You know, when Kyouko and I were raiding the Orcus Labyrinth, we stumbled upon a room. Inside a giant room. When we opened the door, we saw a dark pathway. We walked until the end and saw some oddly shaped rubble of rubble on a platform. If I were to piece it back together, it would form a cube."

In the last sentence, Yue flinched when she recognized what Izumi was talking about. The boy dug into his pocket and took out the Orcus Labyrinth.

"Do you remember this?"

"Hn. You copied it using your magic."

"That's right, but the thing is to copy said objects. I need to analyze them first. I learn what they are, how they are made, the materials used," Izumi then looked at her in the eyes," their history."

At that moment, Yue froze having realized the implication of what he was saying.

"What are you getting at?" she asked.

When I analyzed that seal's history. I learnt the true story of your so-called betrayal."

This time, Yue was starting to get angry.

"What do you mean, by " so-called betrayal". Are you saying that my betrayal was a lie?"

Izumi shook his head,

"If you want to know more, you must return to that place. Your uncle has left you a message there."

"What do you mean? Tell me!" she snapped.

Izumi shook his head again,

"Are you going to believe what I tell? Answer me honestly."

The girl couldn't answer.

"See. It's better if you go see it with your own eyes."

The boy sighed,

"Well, I've said my piece. Now, it's your choice to believe it or not," he said before going back to her room leaving a conflicted Yue in the hallway.

When he and Kyouko were speedrunning the Orcus Labyrinth, they came upon the very room Yue was sealed in. Izumi wanted to enter it to see if the remains of the seal that imprisoned an immortal vampire were still there in hopes to analyze it. When they arrived, they saw a large amount of rubble still there. Izumi and Kyouko approached it and the boy analyzed its contents. He wasn't prepared to see what happened.

Deinleed Galdea Vesperito Avatarl, who was Yue's uncle, had never meant to betray her! He had staged a coup against his niece and sealed her in Sealstone hoping that she wouldn't fall into the hands of Ehit. He saw the memories of the Sealstone as the uncle placed her in. He also saw him recording a message inside an artifact that Yue would need to find to see the message. Unfortunately, the Sealstone didn't have the location of the artifact. Izumi was surprised at the development since it wasn't in the story. Of course, the stories he had read were incomplete works. He had only read up to where they would go in the Frost Caverns of Schnee because that's where the novel who was the most advanced ended.

Izumi sighed once more,

'The stories are useless since I don't have information on how Ehit fights. It's the first time I'm going to fight someone without information, not including the bastards of the Outer Gods. And just my luck, it had to be a god,' he thought before opening the door.

He entered the room and produced five screens with Dark Matter. He then connected it to the drones he had stationed at each labyrinth. The first screen showed the entrance of the Gran Gruen Volcano located in the scorching deserts. The next showed the Sunken Ruins of Melusine. The third showed the entrance of the Haltina Forest. The one after showed the entrance of the Divine Mountain. Finally, the last one was underwater and it showed the entrance of the Frozen Caverns of Schnee.

Over the three days, Izumi had sent his drones all over the world in search of the Labyrinth and memorize the places in his mind that he would then use to open a portal. It would drastically reduce the travelling time. If he estimates, it would take him less than a month to complete them all and reap the rewards.

As he was observing the surroundings of the drones, the door opened and Kyouko walked after taking her bath.

"Hah! That bath felt good!" she said before noticing Izumi with four screens in front of him.

"Hm? What are you doing, Izumi?"

"I'm committing to memory the places where the Labyrinths are."

"Eh? You already found them all?" she asked not expecting the news.

The boy looked at her and couldn't help but stare. Kyouko's hair was still wet from the bath as it flowed down her body with her skin still rosy from the heat. Her body had also undergone some changes. Her breast had gotten bigger, she had gotten taller and her figure had gotten bigger. If before they were A-cup, they were now B-cup or borderline C-cup. The girl, sensing his stare, blushed,

"W-What are you looking at!?" she blurted out.

The boy raised an eyebrow,

"I'm enjoying the view," he replied without hesitation although there was a slight red on his face.

The girl's blush intensified. She then smirked and didn't say anything before opting to go to him and slap him lightly on the shoulder before kissing him on the lips. The boy was surprised by her action. It has been some sort of game between them with who would catch who off guard with a kiss. This time Kyouko started the battle, but Izumi wouldn't go down like that. He reciprocated the kiss and pried her mouth open. Startled, the girl couldn't help but open her mouth and his tongue invaded. The battle of the tongue had now begun with each side trying to dominate. After ten seconds, they let each other go and panted with blush apparent on their cheeks.

"That was amazing," said Izumi.

"Y-Yeah."

They stared at each other's eyes and were getting lost in them when Kyouko cleared her throat and looked at the screen and tried to change the subjects.

"So where are the Labyrinths and which one will we go to first

Izumi pointed at the first screen showing the desert.

"The first one we will go to is the Gran Gruen Volcano. Just like its name says. It's in the Gruen Volcano."

He then pointed at the second screen,

"this one is the Sunken Ruins of Melusine."

"It's underwater?"

Izumi hummed in answer before pointing at the third screen.

"This is the Divine Mountain."

"The one where the church headquarters is right?"

"Yes, that's right."

He then showed the screen depicting the entrance of the forest.

"This is the Haltina Forest. And finally, this is the Frozen Caverns of Schnee.", he finished by pointing at the final screen showing an icy landscape.

"I see, so we are just going to open a portal to the Gruen Volcano, right?"

"Yup. Now let's go downstairs and eat breakfast. I asked Foss to prepare us a table." Izumi said before getting up from the bed and leaving the room with Kyouko.

They soon arrived downstairs and saw Foss put some utensils and glasses on a table. The latter looked up when she heard footsteps.

"Oh! Kouyko-sama. Izumi-sama. I have prepared the table for you just as asked."

"Thanks, Foss," Kyouko replied with a smile.

"It is my pleasure, Kyouko-sama. Now, if you'll just excuse me, I will be back with your food," he said before going back to the kitchen.

They both sat down at their tables and Foss came out of the kitchen with hot and steaming food.

"Oh! you finally got some spices, Foss?" asked Kyouko seeing the curry on her plate.

"That's correct, Kyouko-sama. Thanks to the merchants and Hajime-dono's party, I was finally able to acquire spices."

"Thank you, Foss," Izumi said.

"My pleasure," the old man replied.

The couple soon began to eat.

Through their meal, Aiko-sensei walked down the stairs and noticed the couple eating.

"Oh! Good morning Hori-chan and Izumi-kun."

"Good morning, Aiko-sensei!" they both replied.

Over the three days, the teacher couldn't stop grieving for the student that died in front of her. She would hole herself up in her room. However, she slowly made progress with the help of her students and Kyouko.

The teacher took a seat beside them and asked,

"Are you leaving today?"

"Yeah, we still need to complete the labyrinths," replied Hori.

At the mention of the labyrinths, Aiko's face fell a little. Seeing her expression, Izumi waved a hand and a dome of dark matter that soon turned invisible creating a soundproof barrier.

"Now that no one is listening, I assume that Hajime has told you about the real story behind the Labyrinths and Ehit, am I right?" Izumi asked.

Aiko nodded,

"Nagumo-kun told me about how this world is a simple board game for Ehit."

"That's right. However, there are three new variables in his game. Hajime's party, Kyouko and I, and you."

"Me?" the woman asked confused.

"Have you forgotten, Aiko-sensei? You became the goddess of Fertility." Kyouko interjected.

"But I'm not a goddess! I'm only human after all."

Izumi shook his head,

"That does not matter. It's not about you being a goddess or not, it's about the belief of the people. You brought a stop to over six hundred thousand monsters at once."

"I see when Hajime declared himself as my sword and shield, you were included too. And with that meteorite, it would be considered an act by me."

"That's right. You are very intelligent Aiko-sensei."

The woman looked offended,

"Of course, I'm still a teacher even if I'm not yours."

Kyouko giggled.

"Anyway, because of this achievement, people's faith will turn to you instead of the Holy Church. Do you know where I'm getting at?" he asked before taking a spoon of rice.

Aiko looked at Hori and Izumi before a sudden thought occurred to her.

"You think that the Church will do something to me," she stated.

"It's not that they think. We know that they will do something," Hori replied.

"How?"

"Because that's what they did to me."

At that Aiko was surprised.

"What! What do you mean? What did they do to you?"

"They were brainwashing me." the girl snarled.

"W-What?" Aiko stuttered confused.

"Those bracers they put on her? They weren't simply meant to seal her powers. That was only a secondary effect. The main effect is to brainwash the victim." Izumi replied, anger seeping out of his voice.

"O-Oh my God." the woman's lips trembled.

'There is no God,' the boy thought.

Aiko looked at Hori as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I'm sorry Hori-chan. I'm so so sorry. I didn't know. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen."

The girl hugged the woman and comforted her,

"I know Aiko-sensei, I know. It's okay. I don't blame you."

"B-but I sh-should have noticed."

"It doesn't matter now. Izumi saved me. Now we are just gathering all the Ancient Magic to return home."

"Then what about your wings?"

"What about them?"

"If you are not a Fallen Apostle, then how do you have them?"

"Oh. That's because I'm half human and half Fallen Angel."

"Fallen Angel like in the Bible?"

"Exactly like the Bible."

Aiko looked confused,

"Are you saying the Bible is real?"

"What she's saying is that the myths and legends of Earth are real," Izumi interjected.

They then proceeded to explain to her about the hidden side of Earth. At the end of the explanation, Aiko looked like she was having an existential crisis.

"T-This is crazy. How do we not know about this?"

"Aiko-sensei, they are mythical beings. Do you think they wouldn't know how to stay hidden from the mundane world?" Izumi asked.

"Oh, right."

"Here let me show you proof of their existence," Izumi said holding out his index fingers.

"How?"

"Like this. You too Kyouko," he said before looking at his girlfriend."

He held out his fingers and touched their forehead. It glowed and memories of his fight against the Halphas peerage appeared in their mind. He made sure that it wouldn't compromise any other information."

As soon as he was done,

"T-This is incredible. And stuff like this happens often?" Aiko asked.

"Well, not often. But when they appear, I deal with them quickly."

"Izumi, you have to let me come the next time they come." Kyouko looked at the boy directly in the eyes and the latter sweatdropped.

"Sure..."

Kyouko smiled.

"Anyways, we can deal with our Earth when we return, let's go back to you. I have something for you."

Izumi held out his hand and inside was a ring.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-What!? This is t-too fast? And you have a girlfriend!" Aiko stammered as her face became completely red.

"I-z-u-m-i. Why are you giving a ring to another girl and in front of me" the atmosphere around Hori froze as Holy energy sparked out of her?

The boy looked at both of them confused,

"What the hell of you guys talking about? This is a safety precaution."

"Eh?" they both let out, confused.

Izumi sighed,

"This ring is for Aiko to protect herself."

He showed the ring to them. It was a simple black ring with a small bump. He turned to Aiko,

"When the Church makes their move, they will most likely try to kidnap you to lure me, Hori or Hajime to them and eliminate them after branding us as heretics. This ring will act as a beacon when that happens. It also has a few spells that will protect you. Finally, do you see this button?"

Izumi showed the bump on the ring and Aiko nodded.

"Press it only when you are captured by an Apostle. When pressed, it will release a needle that will inject a liquid with Sealstone dissolved inside. The needle will fly towards the target that has ill intentions against you using Mind magic. Once the needle enters their body, it will automatically enter their bloodstream and stop their mana from circulating like poison. However, you will have only three uses. So use it wisely."

Aiko was shocked at the ring's capability.

"Are you sure that an Apostle will come after me?"

"I don't know since I killed the last one, but Ehit may send another one. We never know."

"I see, then I'll gladly accept it. But why a ring?"

"It's easier to hide. I also added a mental illusion so that no one notices it even if they look at your hand."

Aiko put the ring on and stood up before bowing to the couple.

"Thank you Hori-chan, Izumi-kun for helping me."

"It's okay sensei, you tried to help me even if you couldn't. I will always be grateful." Kyouko waved her hands.

"No problem Aiko-sensei."

they soon finished their meals and it was time to go.

"Alright, it's time to go Kyouko," Izumi said.

"You're right,"

At that moment, they saw Hajime and his party also getting ready to leave. Izumi saw Yue who had a conflicted expression but didn't say anything.

'It's now her choice on how she would proceed with the new information."

They soon said their farewells and the party left in their car.

Izumi and Kyouko were standing just outside of the inn. The boy opened a portal and was soon assaulted by the hit air and wind of the volcano. Izumi smirked and dramatically bowed to Hori,

"After you Milady."

The girl grinned and played along,

"Why thank you, good sir," and stepped through the portal with Izumi right behind her. The portal then closed.

The couple were now in front of the Gran Gruen Volcano Labyrinth and it was now time to clear it.