The Legendary Labyrinth in the Skies – Part 03

There was a crackle. It was brief, only sounded once, but Sara glanced at Hikaru.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.”

Hikaru knew what it was. Lavia was trying to use the spell for crossing worlds back in Japan, and she had failed again.

The distress signal from Lavia came at increasingly longer intervals, which worried Hikaru. Still, it made him feel like she was taking each attempt seriously, intensifying his desire to see her again.

“Forget that. There’s hostiles up ahead,” Hikaru said.

The path had shifted from the fortress-like corridor to something resembling the cave-like environment when the Four Eastern Stars first entered the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas, just as the adventurers had described.

Hikaru’s Mana Detection picked up a powerful magical presence about a hundred meters ahead.

“Hmm. It’s hard to sense Golems since they’re not living creatures.”

Sara, whose forte was detection, seemed a bit frustrated to be outdone by Hikaru. With her sharp nose and keen ears, she could usually detect enemies earlier, but Golems, being inanimate until activated, eluded her senses.

The corridor ended, opening into a vast cavernous space.

“This is where the fourth floor connects to the fifth floor,” she said.

“Looks like it,” Hikaru replied.

“But that thing wasn’t there before, was it?”

At the far end of the space, the wall typically had the number 4 glowing faintly in blue, but now the wall was dark, with only a faint trace of the number visible. There should have been a staircase to the lower floor below the number.

But it wasn’t visible, because a massive Golem was blocking the way.

“It definitely wasn’t there before.”

Such an imposing sight would be unforgettable.

The Golem had ten evenly spaced legs, supporting its body like a spider. At the center of its body was a turret with three cannons, spaced 120 degrees apart. Its height—though hard to gauge from this distance—seemed to be about five meters. Including the legs supporting the turret, its width exceeded ten meters.

The floating island is a moving fortress, but this Golem is like a small mobile fortress itself. Though small, it’s still much larger than me.

Hikaru could see it clearly with his Mana Detection. The Golem was imbued with mana. It wasn’t moving currently, but it would likely activate if they got closer.

“Just to be sure, that thing moves, right?” Selyse asked with a half-smile.

“Of course,” Hikaru answered. “It looks to be pretty mobile too.”

The tips of its legs were spherical, suggesting it could roll to move forward.

“What do they plan to do with something like that?” Selyse wondered. “No, it’s obvious. A showdown with the Man Gnomes.”

“It was probably made for that purpose, but now it’s being used as a gatekeeper.”

“It seems they consider you to be quite a formidable opponent.”

“No.”

Hikaru doubted Soaarunay was aware of his infiltration. If she was, some kind of message would likely appear on the walls. Since the number indicating the floor wasn’t lit, she probably couldn’t tell where the intruders were. Maybe the magic connection was severed during the fortress transformation.

This means this route is the correct one.

The path guarded by such a huge gatekeeper had to be the right one.

“Silver Face, can you somehow handle that thing with your stealth abilities?” Selyse asked.

“I can’t.”

“What?”

“You look very surprised. What do you think I am?”

“Oh, sorry. I thought you could do anything.”

Not everything, obviously.

What to do?

“That’s enough chit-chat,” Sara said. “It’s starting to move.”

Even though they weren’t moving, the Golem began to activate on its own. How was that possible?

No, the Golem is programmed to move on its own. It’s not just a stationary trap. Let’s think while moving.

Hikaru quickly refocused his thoughts.

“It’s coming! Spread out to the sides! Sophie and Paula, retreat to the corridor!”

The Four Eastern Stars moved immediately, and Paula pulled Sophie back down the path they came from.

There was a high-pitched whirring sound as the spheres on the Golem’s ten legs began to spin.

Like a train starting up, it began to accelerate slowly but soon exceeded 30 kilometers per hour.

“It’s fast!”

The cavern was almost 100 meters in length. With a ten-meter-wide metal mass hurtling towards them at 30 kilometers per hour, there wasn’t much room to escape. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

“Lead it to the wall!” Sara shouted.

Her idea made sense to Hikaru, but even though it seemed like it would crash into the wall, the Golem turned with a grinding noise, heading straight for Sara.

“Oh no.”

“Sara!”

Hikaru’s eyes widened. If Sara sprinted at full speed, she might be able to outpace the Golem, but she had slowed down to lead it into the wall.

Just as the Golem was about to engulf her, she leaped gracefully. She stepped on one of the Golem’s legs with her right foot and was propelled several meters away, effectively dodging the attack.

“Ouch!”

She landed on all fours like a cat, absorbing the impact with her entire body. Still, the extra force she couldn’t contain brought tears to her eyes.

“How did she do that?” Hikaru wondered.

Sara’s agility was incredible. Selyse’s sword skills and Serika and Sophie’s impressive magical abilities often overshadowed Sara’s skill, but her high rank of B was well-deserved.

“Stay away from the Golem! I’ll cast a spell!” shouted Serika, positioned at the opposite end of the cavern.

“Rapid Fire!”

Serika’s staff glowed bright red, and arrows of light shot from it. Superheated fire projectiles flew toward the Golem, illuminating the dim cavern. But the Golem accelerated further, narrowly avoiding the shots.

“There’s more where that came from!”

Serika’s barrage continued. The fire projectiles destroyed the cavern walls as they chased the Golem, but just as they were about to hit it, the Golem’s leg touched the wall, and it climbed, scraping against the surface.

“Up?!”

After Serika’s spell missed, the Golem jumped off the wall, half-rotating before landing. The floor cracked, and the impact shook Hikaru’s footing.

A high-pitched mechanical sound erupted. Hikaru’s Instinct instantly warned him of danger.

“Run!”

At that moment, Serika was closest to the entrance with Sophie and Paula, Selyse was heading there, and Hikaru and Sara were near the exit to the fifth floor where the Golem had been.

“Huh, what? Selyse?!”

Without questioning Hikaru’s words, Selyse grabbed Serika and dashed towards the entrance.

The Golem’s three cannons glowed blue and fired beams of magical energy that easily tore through the walls.

The turret rotated, the cannons moving up and down, and the laser beams sliced through the cavern like a disco ball’s light show.

“Whoa!”

“Sara, over here!”

“Coming!”

As Hikaru and Sara dove into the stairway leading to the fifth floor, a laser beam narrowly missed their heads. The wall was torn, and the smell of melted minerals filled the air.

“Wh-What is that thing?!”

“Calm down, Sara.”

“Why are you so calm?!”

Even Sara was losing her composure. An enemy that launched such deadly attacks indiscriminately was rare.

If it had been a powerful monster, like the gigantic chirema the Four Eastern Stars had encountered in this dungeon, they might have been mentally prepared. But this Golem was something else. It could climb walls and fire beams. They had only escaped because they happened to be near the corridor. If they had been further away, the laser would have torn their bodies apart.

Hikaru wasn’t calm either. He just knew that panicking would lead to death.

“Sara, it’s not over yet.”

“What?”

“It’s coming towards us.”

“No way!”

Amid the sounds of the laser destroying everything, they heard the grinding noise of the Golem moving towards them.

“This way! Run!”

“But isn’t it too big to fit in this corridor?”

“I’m out of here!”

“What?!”

Hikaru’s Instinct told him to run.

They dashed down the stairs, the sound of destruction echoing through the narrow passage, the sound of the laser beams tearing through the walls.

A heavy thud indicated that the Golem had collided with the narrow entrance to the stairs.

“See, it can’t fit through.”

Sara glanced back in shock.

With a clank, six of the Golem’s legs detached, leaving just four—two at the front and two at the back, forming a slimmer body.

“It’s coming!”

The Golem charged down the stairs at incredible speed.

“Silver Face! You went ahead without me?! That’s so mean!”

Hikaru was already gone, having left Sara behind when she slowed down to look back. She sprinted after him, but the Golem, smashing the stairs as it descended, gained speed on the slope.

Sara eventually reached the entrance to the fifth floor, but the Golem landed right after her.

“Shit.”

When Sara turned back, she saw the Golem charging at her, firing laser beams. It was unstable with only four legs, but still deadly enough to crush or burn her.

But Sara didn’t focus on the Golem. Above the passageway she had just exited, where the number 5 should have been displayed, a masked boy clung to the wall.

As soon as the Golem entered the fifth floor, Hikaru dropped down gently. It looked as if he was casually jumping onto a bed.

The turret spun rapidly. Sara watched as Hikaru dodged a laser beam aimed at his neck.

Hikaru landed on the turret and began spinning with it. Despite the high-speed rotation, he showed no sign of panic. Sara thought he had incredible nerve, jumping onto a Golem that could kill him instantly.

Hikaru held a dagger that looked like it was carved from animal bone. He thrust it into the center of the three cannons and twisted it.

There was a vibration as the laser beam narrowed like a faucet closing, and the Golem’s glow faded away.

Sara jumped to the side, and the Golem sped past where she had been, crashing into the wall and collapsing.

“Whew.”

Hikaru had jumped off before that happened, but his steps were a bit unsteady.

“I feel dizzy.”

Naturally, spinning at such high speed was disorienting. Being tossed around by the updraft of a Fire Drakon’s hairball and swung around by a turret made this a rather spin-heavy day, he thought. Hikaru made his way to Sara.

“…”

“Sara, are you okay?”

“…”

“Sara? Did you get hurt somewhere?”

“I see why Selyse fell for you.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing. I’m all about pure love, so I don’t plan on getting into any messy love triangles.”

“What?” Hikaru looked utterly confused.

“So, what was your plan, using me as bait?”

Hikaru looked away with a start. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Nope. You left me behind and ran, didn’t you?”

“Well, the idea was that if I hid behind the wall, the Golem wouldn’t detect me. I hid up the wall, because I wanted to act before it spotted me. I wasn’t trying to use you as bait.”

“You saw the Golem charging at me and thought, Perfect, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Maybe just a little.”

“See!”

Sara stepped closer and poked Hikaru’s side with her index finger.

“Whoa, hey, what are you doing?!”

“Bad boys need to be punished!”

“Stop, that tickles… hahaha!”

“You can’t escape!”

“You’re too athletic!”

Selyse rushed in. “Silver Face! Sara! Where are you—”

She saw the two of them playing around and the inactive Golem behind them.

“I see.”

“It’s not what it looks like, Selyse! Really, it’s not!”

It took Sara about thirty minutes to get the blank-faced Selyse back into a good mood.