The Ant Nest Labyrinth contains a total of eight different mana crystals and has eight guardians protecting them. Among them, six guardians are queen ants of the six most powerful ant nests that have managed to survive for the past few thousand years. The remaining two guardians include a giant walking mushroom and an ancient Lich. All eight are at least A-rank monsters and extremely dangerous. That is what I was told by Malph with information from a thousand years ago, but as for how it is now, it might be a bit more or less.
It's a bit ironic, but fortunately, thanks to Laplace's magic circle, the mana of those crystals hasn't become uncontrollably powerful, so the monsters in the labyrinth haven't gotten stronger; they even seem weaker than they were 1000 years ago. But the reason no one has conquered this labyrinth for so long is that even with reduced difficulty, it remains dangerous. Occasionally, some A or S-rank adventurers wander in for the experience and end up losing their lives here.
The reasons are quite varied. Strength is one part. As mentioned, while the monsters here have reduced power, they are still strong; A-rank and B-rank monsters run around wild everywhere. If you aren't careful, you get killed instantly.
Poisoning and falling into traps happen as often as daily meals. Sometimes, walking halfway through, a stalactite falls and pierces your head; it's not unheard of. I once luckily escaped death by using my sword to slash a falling stalactite that had pierced through the head of an A-rank monster.
Getting lost and starving to death happens too. As I said, it is a giant labyrinth; just foolishly turn the wrong way once, and you are lost with death guaranteed.
Furthermore, the entrance to the labyrinth is located in a rather sketchy place. Besides the entrance from Lan Xin's castle, the entrance people usually use is in a place called the Blood Swamp. That place is also surrounded by dangerous monsters, so sometimes adventurers don't even dare to venture near it. Only those who are truly desperate, like Nelu's group, would seek it out.
Thinking about it makes me pity them. I hope everyone rests in peace.
But anyway, I—someone granted the power of the Blood Tribe—am quite confident that I won't die easily. As long as I don't suffer internal organ damage, wounds on the skin or cutting into flesh can be recovered quite quickly.
Ye, basically I've become the Mercari version of Deadpool. I can recover quite fast, but in return, it has limits. For example, as I said, I can't withstand damage to organs and bones. Meaning if my lung is punctured, it stays punctured until healed by magic because the crappy version of the Blood Tribe blood I have doesn't help with that. The eye also counts as a type of organ, so it wasn't fully restored, turning me into a One-Eyed Dragon like Date Masamune.
And if a bone is severed, consider that part lost. In general, I have an ability that automatically uses elementary healing magic, roughly speaking.
Actually, I don't just recover forever naturally; it consumes mana. The principle is like the 'law of conservation of mana'; if I suddenly gain something miraculously, it means I am consuming mana. And if I run out of mana, I'm dead for sure. A bit more info: eating is also the fastest and most stable way to replenish mana, so just after destroying the first ant nest, I ate all the food Nin Nin prepared for me.
"Sigh… so I have to go back to eating these disgusting things…"
So I returned to the diet of consuming the nutrient fluid secreted by the ants. Since they are labyrinth monsters, they 'probably' have a lot of mana, so I took a large amount just in case. Well, at least it's less disgusting than mole meat.
However, the battle with the A-rank queen ant was truly not easy; don't let my saying I finished it make you think everything went smoothly. Initially, I almost died from poison, luckily I ran away in time. After that, I spent four whole days waging guerrilla warfare to eliminate most of the soldier ants protecting it.
When only the queen ant was left, the battle wasn't much easier. I hit it forever but couldn't get through its thick skin; chopping at the joints worked sometimes and sometimes not. Using magic didn't faze it either.
And the attack power of that monster wasn't mediocre. It just wiggled and rammed me once, and I flew all the way to the other side of the cave. Luckily, thanks to the Blood Tribe Battle Aura, I was able to withstand it quite well; if it were me from a year ago, I would have died several times over.
But if I can't penetrate the enemy's armor the usual way, I have to resort to unorthodox methods.
"Fireball!"
Basically, I threw fire magic all over the place. Ah, not playing the game of burning up all the air like with the spider the other day; that is a rather risky method, so I won't play stupid like that again. In return, I intentionally converted my mana into fire magic and then absorbed it back to enhance my battle aura.
So I was able to use up to two layers of battle aura on my body through the 'fire absorption' technique, boosting my strength for a moment.
And so, when combined with the Perfect Reverse strike…
*Whoosh*
I was able to slash off the A-rank queen ant's head with one sword stroke. Pretty cool.
Although summarizing it like that feels like I'm conquering the labyrinth quite easily, it's not really the case. As mentioned, I spent four or five days straight fighting one ant nest. My resources were also completely drained. Exploiting ant nectar like this isn't a great idea, so I had to utilize another type of resource.
That is the pile of magic crystals obtained from this ant nest. He he he.
"If I could bring this stuff back to sell, I'd be filthy rich, right?"
Although not the highest quality or anything because it was continuously absorbed by the seal's magic circle for Lan Xin, it is good, and quite big too. If converted to money, I don't think this huge stone is worth less than a thousand Asura gold coins. Converted to Japanese Yen, that's about 100 million yen; terrifying, isn't it?
I could totally retire with just this thing. Even buy a large farm.
But unfortunately, it is just an item I need to destroy the next ant nest more easily.
…
Basically, after recalculating tactics to conquer this entire labyrinth, I went to 'audit' (learn for free) some magic from Lord Lan Xin's library. Specifically, Saint and King-tier fire magic. Later, I was discovered by him and was taught directly.
Because I don't have enough mana to cast such strong moves, I only studied their principles and magic circles. So then I carried a few… dozen Saint and King-tier fire magic circles with me.
To do what?
"Activate! Flash Over! Grand Exodus Flame!"
A fire immediately erupted throughout the second queen ant's room, burning all the eggs and a significant portion of the weak soldier ants. Normally I couldn't activate such strong magic, but thanks to that crystal worth a fortune, I could.
So utilizing that seemingly infinite amount of fire, I continuously absorbed mana to strengthen my battle aura. I used defensive techniques of the Water God Style to defend, blocking a series of attacks from the panicked monsters. Then used combat techniques of the North God Style and Blood God Style to deliver powerful attacks.
Thanks to the roaring fire of the three fire pillars of Grand Exodus Flame, I could use it to grasp the rhythm of the queen ant, and like the first one, the second one had its head slashed off by my Perfect Reverse.
So the second one was destroyed; the resources consumed were half the mana of the first magic crystal and two days.
I collected a slightly smaller mana crystal and a few new magic items.
In general, I made a profit. Everything is progressing quite well. Although I also got injured all over my body. And still not used to absorbing fire while fighting, so I got severe burns and had to self-heal for the next two days.
Up to this point, things went quite smoothly because I had prepared quite a lot. First of all, I had a full map of this entire place thanks to Malph's help. Although told it was drawn over a thousand years ago, the changes weren't too many, so I utilized it quite a bit.
The battles were all with ants, and after the first one, the other nests seemed to repeat exactly like the beginning, so the later nests went quite easily. If there were differences, there would be a few new ant types like ones that could spit acid, quite scary but if dodged, it's fine. I was also briefed by Malph on how to fight all species in this labyrinth, so they were quite easy to deal with.
Besides, regarding food, although a bit disgusting, I got used to eating the gross stuff here. And luckily I brought spices and such, so the meals weren't as bad as before.
And of course, I also got stronger. Honestly, I'm quite surprised by my ability. Maybe I have approached Ghislaine's power if I absorb enough 'fire'. And if considering only normal strength, maybe I'm equal to Isolde when I first met her.
Yeah, I might have reached Water Saint power. Maybe, probably.
So I think with the power of Ghislaine or perhaps Isolde now, if prepared carefully, they would also easily conquer this labyrinth.
…
After fully recovering, I set off for ant nest number three. The way there was a bit long, even passing the place of the Mushroom and Lich guardians. But I wanted to save things I had no combat experience with for last and clear the ants first.
And there is another important reason, because that is the nest near where I encountered that hunting spider. There is a possibility I will find the bodies of Ken and the others. Although I don't want to see that tragic scene, I have prepared myself mentally.
Anyway, I need to find the sword the Boreas family gave me.
It took me five days to get there.
Because I got lost. Twice.
Because the labyrinth had changed quite a bit compared to Malph's map, I turned wrong and circled back to the beginning, twice. By the third time, I understood the problem and went the right way. And I also encountered another hunting spider, though not as big as the one I met, but because of the trauma from last time, I had to wait a very long time for it to crawl elsewhere to continue on my way.
But finally, I arrived at ant nest number three.
This ant nest seems to be the largest compared to the other two and will probably be the largest of all because it was the first nest when this labyrinth was formed.
The room containing the mana crystal here is twice as big as the first place I arrived. Unlike normal caves formed just of earth and stone for passages and large rooms, this place has traces of bricks and stones and even a statue of a large muscular man. Although the upper half of its body was broken off, the lower part is still over ten meters high.
The height of this room must also be over forty or fifty meters. And the size of this room, like an ancient ruin, is equally huge. It must be as big as Tokyo Dome, including the stands. And like Tokyo Dome, this place has a terrain like a basin, the entrance is above sloping down gradually with the center being the lowest area.
In the middle of that is a mana crystal not as big as I thought. It is only about the size of an adult human but has a quite special feature: it has a quite colorful purple hue. Just like a giant tourmaline. Not only that, it is transparent enough that I can look through it, showing its purity must be of a higher level than any magic crystal I have ever seen in my life.
This thing is more than a fortune; it is a treasure, something over five thousand years old, an embodiment of history. It needs to be displayed in a museum!
But unfortunately, perhaps after completing this labyrinth, it will also be used up of mana and turn into a giant pebble. Sigh.
Anyway, corresponding to that crystal, obviously, there will be a guardian that isn't mediocre.
Standing tall in front of the crystal is not just one, but two huge fat queen ants. Two of them, exactly two! They just lay there eating and breeding continuously like a machine. Not only that, their size is also bigger compared to the first two I destroyed. And the guard ants are also bulkier, have thicker armor, and even have wings.
In general, this will likely be the hardest battle compared to all these ant nests. But I prepared too.
Basically, unlike last time, I will use my two sticky hands to move on the wall like Spider-Man. I placed a dozen magic circles and then placed fragments of the crystals I have to form a network of magic traps covering this whole place. My plan is to blow up the ceiling, letting earth and stalactites fall to crush them all to death.
Honestly, I'm quite like a terrorist, walking into someone's peaceful home and blowing everything to smithereens in the name of justice. But well, what can you do. Have to do it.
…
After spending nearly half a day climbing in the dark with absolute silence, I was done and exhausted.
I returned to my shelter, ate a full meal, slept a comfortable sleep, and then activated the explosion.
*Boom boom boom! Rumble rumble rumble!*
The explosion sound was truly pleasant to the ears, I swear. And even more pleasant was the screeching of the queen ant and her guard soldiers. Meanwhile, I sat in my small sturdy shelter sipping a cup of hot tea.
After waiting for everything to finish, I went back to the ant cave and checked my results.
"Oh wow."
It was literally a flat ground. The entire original ground had been leveled by earth and stones; the original basin now rose slightly like a natural mound. The huge statue from before was now buried.
It seemed the ant colony was wiped out; only a few injured ones or those lucky enough to survive were also neatly cleaned up by me.
Absolutely no queen ant in sight. However, I could tell that at least one of the two was still alive because the weak worker ants were still trying to remove each stone to save their queen. Seeing that scene, I felt both pity and sympathy for these guys.
So I decided to sit and wait for them to finish rescuing their queen and then slash them all at once.
So ant nest number three was cleared just like that.
I collected that pure purple mana crystal even though it was shattered. But even if a crystal is broken, the mana is still there, so I didn't hesitate to pick up every single piece to carry along, preparing for the next terrorist act.
And I think I identified the wrong place.
The place I thought was the hatchery where I fought the spider doesn't seem to be the hatchery near this third ant nest. I tried searching around but saw no spider corpse, no signs of fighting, no bloodstains either, only piles of ant eggs stacked up.
So I used fireball to burn this place down, then spent a day reorganizing my gear and planning the next step.
Maybe as said, the problem lies in the fact that this place has changed quite a bit after a thousand years, so the map is only for reference. So I decided to scrap the old plan and go to each ant nest to be sure.
Also convenient while free, I took out the pile of magic items I picked up along the way from the ant nests and checked their functions. Whatever is usable I keep, whatever is too nonsense I stash at ant nest number three waiting for the day to come back and get it later.
Among the things I found was a red turban. Putting it on, I look like those Sikh uncles. Keeps the head quite warm. And besides that function, it has the ability to harden like a helmet. If hit against a rock, it's unharmed, quite cool. If I had a motorcycle, it would be great.
Besides, I also found a rope capable of standing straight and rigid even without needing to be tied. I will use it to climb high places without having to struggle, quite convenient.
As for the rest, there are things that are also interesting but since they don't fit what I am doing, I stored them back at 'base'.
After spending another day harvesting 'food' which is ant carcasses and resting to regain strength as well as retrieving the pile of magic circles, I set off again.
Ant nests number four and five were quite small, only equal to number two or nearly equal to number one, so I decided to save firepower and fight a war of attrition with them. Although I tried to be as careful as possible, I still got injured, not too heavily but it was still a quite valuable combat experience so I won't repeat mistakes later.
So after another month of continuous moving and fighting, the number of ant nests remaining is only one. Plus two other labyrinth guardians, so only three big battles left and I'm done.
Honestly, I am quite tired. I thought I should go back to the castle and rest for a while but well, had to continue the unfinished work. I worry that just by slacking off a bit, I won't want to finish everything anymore.
So I set off again, going to the last ant nest.
But um. It seems I shouldn't call it an ant nest anymore. Because this place seems to have changed owners; from the guardian being a queen ant, now it changed to a hunting spider even bigger than the one I fought back then.
It is twice, even three times as big.
And it laid a bunch of other baby spiders crawling all over the place. They are as big as a small puppy. But with that terribly large number plus the memories from back then, I shuddered in fear.
Indeed, I thought about giving up.
However, I luckily decided to continue without wasting time thinking too much. So I found a niche nearby to crawl into to think of a plan and prepare.
…
Number of enemies in that cave: unimaginably crowded.
Strongest enemy: a giant hunting spider that will probably be extremely tough.
Things to fear: poison, poison, and poison.
I wrote those lines on paper with a face wrinkling like a gorilla. Truly thinking back and forth, I just need to get hit by poison once and I'll meet my maker with such a large number of spiders. That's not even mentioning the power of the spider queen, which is probably at a destructive level.
Is it a female spider? I guess so, maybe it is a pair with the spider I killed the other day. After all, besides that huge thing, there are no other spiders of large size.
For now, I have the same plan, use fire magic and bomb to destroy a large number of enemies. As for the spider queen, I don't think I should use the old tactic but do something to kill it as fast as possible before it shoots poison from its legs again. I have Blood Tribe battle aura now but still fear it might pierce through.
…
So I returned to the front of the spider cave with a 'secret weapon in hand', a King-tier fire magic circle unused; perhaps I will take a large purple mana crystal to activate it.
This thing was originally a special weapon I intended to use for the battle with the Lich, but since I have PTSD with spiders, I decided to go all out. The Lich at most uses spells to curse me, not crawling in swarms and biting me to paralysis for half a year!
I pasted that huge fire magic circle onto my palm, then placed the mana stone on the back of my hand.
With a deep inhale, I heroically shouted:
"Activate! Plasma Fireball!"
Immediately the mana crystal vibrated; I could see its size decreasing rapidly at a dizzying speed. The lines drawn on the magic circle began to glow a brilliant red then turned into a ghostly blue. They started to accumulate, creating a light in the palm of my hand. It was a flame but didn't burn; it carried the form of air but was hotter than the thousand-degree furnace that trained me all this time.
The spiders began to realize my existence and started moving. But those foolish baby spiders just needed to step closer and the terrible heat of the Plasma Fireball burned them to ashes.
I had to continuously use 'fire absorption' to keep my body from burning and continue maintaining this terrifyingly strong magic.
However, my body started to tremble. Sweat poured out to the point of shivering.
Calm down, just a little more.
I continued to grit my teeth and endure, and when I thought I couldn't hold it anymore, that ball shot out, sweeping through the entire room, turning everything standing near it within a ten-meter radius into ash immediately.
And when it touched the wall at the end of the room, it exploded into a dazzling blue firework. The heat from that very thing melted even the stones, turning them into streams of red liquid like lava, causing the initially lucky surviving baby spiders to sink into a sea of fire.
The whole room, originally full of the black color of spider hair, now only remained a single deadly red color.
"What the hell…"
Is this really King-tier magic!? Terrifyingly strong! If it were used in the middle of a city like Roa, that place would be wiped off the map!
Ah, however, that is when used on human targets. Of course, the monsters in this damn labyrinth were only partially destroyed.
Although it seemed the swarming baby spiders were wiped out by that terrible plasma ball as well as the sea of fire caused by its aftermath. The spider queen, despite having a part of its body blown away and catching fire, still stood tall.
A chill suddenly ran through my body.
And the thing that scared me the most in the world appeared.
From within that seemingly empty body that was burning, another thing crawled out as if it just evolved and escaped from the shell.
Yes, it is a spider, of course; could it be anything else? A cute puppy? I wish.
But that spider seemed to carry the shape of a completely different creature. It now only had six legs; its two front legs had two sharp claws, the hindmost two legs had large muscle fibers. Its entire body was covered in a glossy black shell extremely eye-catching. Overall, this creature was the size of a large bear but slender like a cheetah.
Ah no, it still has eight legs; it's just that its other two legs turned into wings. And it is flying up there.
"..."
I took a deep breath. In times like this, the only way is to use my ultimate skill.
"Nigerundayo!"
And I turned my back to run, with all my might, but that damn spider was too fast; it immediately appeared right behind my back and swung a slash.
I quickly used Ken's sword to block and utilized Flow to counterattack but was blocked by the remaining front limb of the monster.
The clanging sound of metal rang out harshly. I had to quickly keep distance, but it continued to cling and unleashed continuous attacks without a single pause. It was fast and strong; every attack of the monster created deadly whistling sounds.
Not only that, just by blocking the attack, its claws shot out black slimy fluids with extremely strong acidity. It completely penetrated the battle aura layer. Just getting two or three drops on me, my entire left arm was corroded down to the flesh. The pain this thing created was so stinging that I felt burning in the furnace was gentle.
This damn thing…
If I can't block with the sword, I can only dodge and absorb fire from the surroundings to gradually heal my wounds.
However, when I thought I could grasp the rhythm of the match, this freak spider spun around, delivering a heaven-shaking kick right into my waist, sending me flying up to the cave ceiling. That terrifyingly strong force caused all the air to be violently pushed out of my lungs.
"Urgh!"
My head was dizzy, my whole body in stinging pain like just being hit by a sledgehammer. Then I fell, like an inanimate ball being juggled. The monster flew up again with its wings and continuously unleashed attacks. Luckily, I was still sane enough to put out my left hand and use a "Wind Push" to push myself out of its attack trajectory.
"Hah…"
I landed in the four-legs stance of the North God Style to minimize the pressure of the fall. However, I think I cracked a few leg bones.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh*
But giving me not a second of rest, the spider attacked again, swinging deadly blows with two front limbs, occasionally unleashing a stinging kick with the hind leg unexpectedly. More surprisingly, it knew how to use magic; besides the sea of fire created by me, that bastard spider used its magic to create a sandstorm covering the entire room, limiting my vision. And know what the sandstorm is also good for? It can extinguish fire. So the fires burning loudly everywhere were all extinguished.
Not only that, those tiny sand grains sometimes suddenly turned into stone bullets shooting straight at me. Or stalactites from high above suddenly aimed at me and fell.
I don't think I am facing a monster anymore. It truly resembles a warrior. Not only strong but also intelligent. I once heard other adventurers say that high-rank monsters are often very smart; now I understand the meaning of that sentence.
I must have taken hits countless times, each time pushing my body to a new limit level. Some wounds could recover, some could not. I think I crushed one side of my lung. Blood kept gushing from my mouth continuously even though I tried using both incantation-less healing magic and blood tribe power to recover. But I stood up again, absorbing the meager flames still burning to continue fighting.
This is a war of attrition. But what is being put up for attrition here is the amount of mana I currently have and my very life right now. I am fighting a battle that I probably cannot win if I cannot find an effective way to fight back.
In this situation, what can I do?
While being beaten half to death, I started to review the entire situation.
I used my strongest magic attack. I still have two mana stones completely untouched and a few odd pieces of the purple mana stone; that is a large amount of mana but I cannot use it efficiently in the current situation.
Using Water God Style, the sword stance I am most familiar with to block or flow, is useless due to that damn black fluid. Forcing me to only use Blood God Style and North God Style to cope. I also can't be too confident in my dodging ability as well as the defensive ability of Blood God Style because clearly, it was born to deal with fast and predictable fights, not ever-changing ones like this. I can adapt, but I don't think I will achieve that ability before being beaten to a pulp by that monster.
But does that mean I will be beaten until death?
Ha ha, hell no.
Joking aside, when I turned to run away, I already had a plan.
*Whoosh*
And I just need to wait for the moment that bastard throws a kick like this.
"Flow!"
I dropped my sword from my left hand and used Flow to catch that damn spider's leg. Then used all my battle aura to grip it tightly in my hand. Meanwhile, the right arm immediately activated the King-tier magic circle once again, with all the purple stone fragments I hid in the glove.
Of course, I will be attacked, but with my inherent dodging ability, what those two front limbs of the monster can unleash is meaningless. And it can kick with the remaining leg, of course, it is kicking thud-thud into my face right now. But it is only enough to make me crack a delightful smile. Because now it no longer has a pivot leg, that kick isn't unreasonably strong anymore. If it wants to spin to swing the leg, it can't either.
And magic? I'm standing right there taking the hit.
"Let's see who is tougher! Ke ke ke!!!" Don't know since when I caught Lord Lan Xin's laughing style, but whatever. I am extremely excited right now.
The blue fireball appeared once again; its heat radiated to the point where earth and stones had to melt.
"Reeeeeeeeeeee!"
The monster spider probably also understood my intention and started thrashing like a fish out of water. Unfortunately, my hand still held its leg tight. The more it struggled, the tighter I gripped. With the amount of mana stones I prepared, obviously, it wasn't enough to complete the spell, but it didn't matter much. I will use my own mana to maintain it. I started to have difficulty breathing, but I knew this was the only way.
And when the ball took shape, I smashed it straight into the spider I was holding; the ball shattered into a deadly blue firework with the temperature of the sun. The entire spider's body began to burn, melt, and disintegrate into smoke and ash, one part after another.
That's how I, a 12-year-old kid, just killed my first S-rank monster.
Meanwhile, still I, the one using that insane attack, couldn't dodge much either. My whole body caught that fire, setting me ablaze.
I had to use 'cold breathing' and 'fire absorption' continuously to convert, but the heat that wanted to bite through even the bones continued to corrode through the flesh.
My whole body was burning, even worse than when I was first thrown into the furnace. This pain, I'm used to it. I still tried to focus, endure, and absorb.
But my body reached its limit.
And that is why I collapsed, right next to the mutant spider that had burned to ash.
I won, but it also means I am near death, once again.
Is it worth it?
Ah well, I think so.
With the remaining two mana crystals, I think it won't be enough to maintain the barrier for Lord Lan Xin's castle. And so he will be free. Isn't that the meaning of this whole thing? I am repaying the favor to the person who saved me. That is fair.
But I won't die. Definitely won't die… Even though maybe I will lose an arm because my bone will be melted off. But at least all of my vital organs will still be intact. Maybe I will need around a week to fully recover.
All I need to do now is lay rest and enjoy this moment of victory.
"You are truly a mad lad, Baby Dragon named Atur."
And suddenly that voice rang out, making me startle and open my eyes wide again.
That pale white face looked down at me with an extremely annoyed expression, making me jump. That face belonged to a tall figure with a familiar cloak covering the whole body.
"Lord Lan Xin!?"
"Ye ye, that's me. Let's skip the tearful reunion scene for now, let me save your pity dragon life again."
Lan Xin waved his hand looking annoyed, then brought a finger to his mouth, biting it lightly with a long fang.
A drop of blood fell again, straight into my mouth. Just a moment after, a strange feeling ran straight from my lip to the rest of my body. The pain suddenly stopped, just like that. And miraculously, my shattering body began to heal again as if I were some supernatural entity. What the hell is this?
"I didn't expect to spend up to two drops of blood for a dragon like you. Tsk tsk." Lan Xin shook his head and turned his back, delivering a kick to the sudden spider I just killed earlier. "One more drop of my blood and you will turn into a monster, so don't dream of me giving you another drop, understand!?"
"Understood…"
Although I don't really understand what is happening, I just nodded.
But my body really healed completely. Wow, maybe last time I was recovered exactly like this? Pretty cool. But it seems based on what Lord Lan Xin said, I only have a maximum of two times to experience this, and I have used both up.
"But how can you be here?" Putting aside the incident of me just being saved, must ask the important thing first. "I thought you-"
"I was locked in that castle, right? I was afraid of Laplace's sun, right?" Lan Xin immediately grumbled. "You think I was really imprisoned there? If my son could get out of that thing, and you also overcame it, do you think I can't do it? Think a little."
Ah yeah, right. Maybe that's true.
"And since it has come to this, I'll tell the truth. There is no such thing as temporarily removing the barrier for 5 minutes every 100 years." Then Lord Lan Xin suddenly returned to his usual joking mode. "I lied, ke ke ke! At that time I was really taking a walk and just picked you up."
Ah so it was a lie, then it makes sense. No wonder I kept feeling something was wrong from the beginning.
Well let's be real here. If he only had five minutes to go out every hundred years, and somehow met me. The chance for that event to occur is like 1/10 million. Isn't it too absurd to be real?
"But why did you lie?" I really don't understand.
"Yup!" WHAT THE HELL FOR!? "Because I don't want you rushing into insane training only to realize the reason you wanted to leave wasn't worth the suffering. I'll only stop when I see you truly want to leave, baby dragon."
"So you were 'testing' me?" I glared at him.
"You could say that."
"Sigh… I see."
Ah whatever, I think I'm so used to this guy's quirks that nothing surprises me anymore. Perhaps I shouldn't ask.
"But what the hell are you doing, baby dragon Atur?" Lan Xin raised an eyebrow. "You just escaped the labyrinth, and now you're slaughtering everything in this place. What for?"
"Because I want to free you from your imprisonment as a gift for saving my life," I answered truthfully.
"Are you stupid?"
"Probably."
"I understand you have good intentions, baby dragon Atur." Suddenly, Lan Xin looked strangely serious. "But I don't need you to break the seal. I have no intention of leaving. It's best you stop what you're doing because, with this seal, I don't have to deal with the troublesome things out there. I really don't care about those non-blood tribes. Understand?"
"I understand."
So for Lord Lan Xin, being isolated is a blessing. Sigh... shouldn't I have realized this? In the end, I spent so much effort trying to free someone who wants to leave whenever they please? How ridiculous is that?
And why did that Man-God tell me to do this!?
Wait, that god never said I should 'free Lan Xin,' only told me to conquer the labyrinth... Is there another hidden meaning? But I can't go against Lord Lan Xin's wishes, can I? What should I do? My head hurts, aaaaaaa!!!
"Anyway, have you found 'that thing' yet?"
"What thing?" I asked, startled by Lord Lan Xin's sudden question.
"The thing you wanted to find before you leave."
"Ah! Right… I almost forgot."
Then I realized my other goal was to find Ken, so I immediately stood up straight, taking his sword and Nelu's with me. My feet immediately headed towards the egg incubation room.
And at that very moment, I found the old room again.
The incubation place no longer had a single corpse, but falling rocks and bloodstains still marked the ground. I no longer saw the Lion's Tongue sword; the spider corpse had also disappeared.
But I saw them, two figures standing in front of a small cave crevice.
One man wore a knight's metal armor. The other wore light cloth armor. Their bodies had decomposed, revealing white bones.
My heart sank a little when I realized who they were.
Ken and Nelu. They turned into undead and were killed again, by something. But I recognized the cave entrance they were next to; it was the place where I had been inside and crawled away.
So they were right next to me right when I woke up.
And I was too blind and tired to see. I didn't go out the way they had protected me but went the opposite way, deeper inside.
In the end, I really lived and returned.
I used fire magic to burn those two bodies decisively.
The fire flared up and quickly went out, leaving two piles of white ash.
"Sigh."
I found what I wanted to see. I had prepared myself mentally, but I couldn't hold back a sigh. I didn't cry, just sighed; sounds cold for two people who sacrificed themselves for me, doesn't it?
Maybe so. I don't know either.
What I could feel when I'm collecting their ashes was an indescribable emptiness. The only sound in the room was the rustling, it's too low to say it's a noise, but it's too loud for the blank space I'm currently in.
I wasn't sad, just disappointed. I was disappointed for having placed too much hope on an impossibility.
Close both jars carefully and place it into my bag, I looked back at Jikiki and Gangton's bloodstains. They were still there even though the bodies were gone. I remembered why The Diggers went down here. They were trying to pay off debt.
That debt really wasn't too big. If converted to Asura currency, it was only worth three gold coins, meaning not even equal to one month of Ghislaine's salary. But for them, it was a huge amount of money, and they didn't know what to do to earn it other than risking their lives.
This Vasile is a dead land; I remember Nelu saying that while he protected me when I was paralyzed. His entire clan was wiped out by monsters. He had to fight for his life, living by deceiving others and then becoming an adventurer. He did that not because he was a bad person, he did that because he just wanted to survive.
I don't know too much about Gangton or Jikiki. But they probably didn't have a peaceful life either. That is why they went down here, even though death was lurking.
Perhaps from the beginning, they really had no choice.
I suddenly understood the Man-God's meaning about ignoring them. Being residents of this place, perhaps sooner or later they would die. Saving them wouldn't help anything. The thing to do is to take care of oneself.
I understand that point; it is logical and accurate.
I don't know why I find it so... hopeless, and so depressed.
And also because of that, perhaps I understood the meaning of the Man-God's second piece of advice given to me.
"Lord Lan Xin." I called the man standing at the end of the room staring at me. "I think I will continue to conquer this labyrinth to break the seal for your castle."
"Huh?" I couldn't see his reaction, but judging by his voice, Lan Xin seemed displeased. "Why do you want that?"
"Because it is what needs to be done." I replied firmly and looked at the Great Demon King. "Vasile, the land which you are supposed to govern, now needs you to protect it."
"I don't want to." Lan Xin replied indifferently. "I don't care about what is not Blood Tribe. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
I knew he would say that, but I wouldn't back down. And that is why I clenched my fist and walked towards him. "Even if you don't want to, I will break that seal. Just the presence of the castle reappearing. It will have some meaning. Maybe the people of this place will see that the lord who is supposed to protect them has returned and will have more hope."
I don't know if it actually works, but it's still better than doing nothing.
"And I will definitely stop you from doing that." A murderous aura radiated from Lan Xin even though he's still smiling. "What do you think you can do? Fight me? If you can win, I might agree. Ke ke ke!"
"No, I don't think I will fight the person who saved my life twice."
Of course, I can't. With his strength, just one hand is enough to take my life. I know that.
"Ke ke ke. So what do you intend to do, Baby Dragon Atur?"
But I can't give up. Because if I stop, my life will be full of regrets again. That is why I resorted to the last method I could.
I knelt down, with utmost reverence, and banged my head on the ground. "Please! I beg you to save this land!"
Although I don't know what this place looks like. For over a year, I was only underground. But I heard through the stories of Nelu, Jikiki, and through Gangton's sad look as well as the death of the guy named Johjoh. This place needs saving. I know it's not my business. But I owe Nelu; he sacrificed himself to save me, a strange kid, which shouldn't have been his business either.
I felt the despair in him, and his friends too. And ask me if I can ignore it? Master Reida taught me that if there is a debt, pay it.
I will pay; this is how I will pay it.
I couldn't save Ken, Nelu. But I won't let their deaths be meaningless.
"A dragon kneeling to me? Truly a novel sight." Lan Xin smiled slightly. He still didn't seem shaken. "However, this much won't make me spend my mind worrying about them. Give up."
"Never."
"Oh ho? So what do you intend to do? Kneel there forever?"
"If necessary, then fine. You cannot leave. Because if you leave, I will continue my goal and continue to destroy the magic crystals."
"So that's it. You intend to tie me down here. Clever." Lan Xin rubbed his chin. The sharp nail of his index finger scratched lightly on his pale cheek. "However, why don't I just kill you right here?"
"Because you swore to help me leave this place safely." I replied immediately. "If you kill me, you go against your oath!"
"Ah. I think I did say that." Lan Xin snapped his fingers. "True, I am forced to keep you alive and safe because I made an oath. Well, didn't expect a day I would be silenced by my own words. Ke keke."
It seems I'm on the right track, good.
"But here's a thing, answer me this." Lan Xin sat down right opposite me and grinned. "Now if I let you break the seal, I can still close the castle door, right? Then your breaking the seal won't help this land at all?"
"I think I know how to help it just by doing that."
"Oh? Enlighten me. If you give an answer that satisfies me, I promise to help you."
Another promise, although I actually don't need this promise much.
Because the words I am about to say will surely not satisfy Lan Xin. On the contrary, they might drive him crazy. But I will still say them. And I took a deep breath, using the cold of this place to provide the courage for me to speak these blasphemous words.
Having gathered my courage, I looked up, facing Lan Xin directly.
"If you lock the door tight, I will proclaim myself Great Blood Demon King Lan Xin, lord of the land of Vasile, and protect it myself."
Lan Xin's pupils constricted continuously; he was shocked. Well, anyone would be shocked to hear a brat stealing the identity of a Great Demon King. But I hadn't finished yet.
"I will take the magic crystals I obtained as resources and proof that I conquered this entire labyrinth myself. I also have blood tribe blood, right? That way, from race to power, I have enough to prove my lie. And as you said, you won't bother with those who are not blood tribe. So you don't care what they believe, right? If you get angry, then you do care."
That was all the cards in my hand. And I played them all. It's a completely crazy plan, I know. But I will do it because it is what needs to be done. Even if it drives a Great Demon King crazy.
And I tried to regulate my breathing, waiting for the wrath.
"Ke... ke ke ke!"
But contrary to expectations, the Great Demon King laughed.
"Ke ke ke ke ke!"
He burst out laughing like a madman. His voice echoed throughout the cave.
"Ke ke ke ke ke ke!!!"
And he just kept laughing, with his chin raised high. Making the whole space colder than ever.
The laughter echoed for ten minutes. Then he stopped. His face was filled with various emotions. But what I could see most clearly was something extremely proud.
"Honestly, you are no different from my son, Baby Dragon Atur. He also couldn't confront me, so he decided to fight by himself no matter how hopeless it was. Well..."
Lan Xin smiled; it was an unreasonably gentle smile.
"He truly knew how to care for those he had no obligation to. They even cursed him because of his lineage. They would call him a 'Vampire' with all the hatred in the world like an insect. And yet he rushed into battles not for fame but truly because it was what he believed was right."
The Great Demon King's eyes suddenly became very gentle but also full of painful regret.
"Perhaps that is why he could smile even when rushing into death, huh? You young and stupid pups always surprise me with your stupidity."
I didn't answer. At times like this, I can only be silent, waiting for the Great Demon King's final thought.
And he didn't disappoint me.
"Alright. You have satisfied me, you damn baby dragon. That's why I will keep my promise."
Lan Xin said and stood up straight.
"I will help you conquer this labyrinth and rebuild my Vasile." The Great Demon King turned his back and glided into the darkness. "Accompany me, Baby Dragon Atur! Let the world know our existence once more!"
Looking at that back, I couldn't help but smile.
Then I stood up and ran after him, leaving behind the final tragic deaths of the land that I, though I haven't seen even once in my life, have sworn to protect.