Volume 7, Chapter 10 – The Subjugation, Ahead of Schedule

By the time Yisi’s group emerged from the labyrinth, it was already dusk. The sun cast long shadows across the plaza at the labyrinth’s entrance, and people who had finished their day’s work could be seen all around. Nearby taverns had lit their torches, and the city was filled with the lively prelude to the coming nightlife.

Finally letting out a sigh of relief after leaving the labyrinth, Dominic and his team collapsed onto the ground, ignoring the stares of the people around them.

One exhausted young man complained as he looked up at the sky.

“Hah… hah, finally, we can rest. Just fighting the guardian was enough, but on the way back, we got lost and couldn’t find our camp. We had to fight off monster attacks all the way back to the surface. My brain is fried from the tension.”

“I swear I’m going back home to get married after this subjugation. This guardian was way stronger than the last one. If this keeps up, I’ll lose my life one day.”

In contrast to the adventurers sprawled on the ground, Tiffany looked puzzled. She tilted her head at Yisi curiously.

“Are they tired?”

Yisi immediately bent down and made a hushing gesture.

“Shh, be quiet.”

Tiffany felt at ease because she subconsciously believed that with Yisi’s protection, they wouldn’t be attacked on the way back. But for these adventurers, every part of the labyrinth was exceptionally dangerous. A man-eating spider suddenly dropping from the ceiling, or an Earth Fiend suddenly dragging the last person in the party down into the dirt—these were vicious monsters that required the adventurers to keep their nerves taut and never relax for a moment. Compounded by the complex underground environment and poor lighting, it had taken Dominic’s party nearly eight hours to return to the surface from the twelfth floor. Anyone would have been exhausted.

Compared to the other adventurers, although the level 28 Dominic also showed signs of fatigue, he was in much better shape and had not collapsed onto the ground.

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“Thank you so much, Cardinal Yisi. Without your help and guidance, our group would surely still be trapped in the labyrinth.”

“No… I should be the one thanking you. If you and your party hadn’t drawn the Frost Spider’s attention, my Pepe would have been trapped—” Before she could finish, Yisi suddenly felt a pinch on her arm. But since the pain wasn’t very strong, she toughed it out and finished her sentence, “—would have been trapped in the guardian’s room.”

“Keep pretending.”

Pepe’s whisper came from behind her.

No, no, I’m just saving myself trouble. This is a necessary show of weakness. If these adventurers discovered how strong I am and asked me to eliminate the labyrinth’s monsters, I’d never have any peace. The world is full of clingy people, like Sandra.

Dominic said with a wry smile.

“Even so, if we hadn’t explored today, our subjugation tomorrow would have surely ended in heavy losses. I never expected that guardian to suddenly become stronger after being injured; that never happened in our previous reconnaissance. And this is all thanks to your efforts, Cardinal Yisi. Forgive me for asking, but how did you manage to injure the guardian in such a short time? My companions and I were focused on escaping, so we didn’t see your fight with the guardian. But in the time it took us to turn our heads, you had injured it and turned it red. Did you use the legendary Holy Art of the Church?”

The one who answered Dominic was Tiffany.

She picked up Yisi’s right hand, pried her fingers open one by one, formed them into a hand-chop, and, with a very serious expression, gestured for Yisi to swing down.

“With her hand.”

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Thump.

Yisi reflexively chopped Tiffany on the head. That girl had said something unnecessary again.

Fortunately, Dominic and the other adventurers just took Tiffany’s words as a joke and didn’t pay them any mind.

“Yisi, that hurt.”

“That’s your punishment for talking out of turn,” Yisi turned to Dominic with a wry smile. “I’m sorry, Tiffany is always saying things like that. As for how I injured the guardian, I apologize, but it’s not convenient for me to disclose the details.”

“Ooh, I knew it! It must be the Church’s Holy Art! A miraculous magic like that couldn’t be anything else. But speaking of which, Cardinal Yisi, why are you traveling with a pureblood?”

Dominic tilted his head slightly, looking at Edith standing behind Yisi. Because her prey had been stolen, Edith’s face was full of displeasure. However, after seeing the terrifying sight of the enraged Frost Spider—Yisi’s single blow had directly pushed it into its first berserk state, doubling its strength and speed and turning it into an opponent Edith absolutely could not defeat—her anger had subsided significantly. Just as Yisi had said, she couldn’t beat the guardian.

Yisi answered Dominic directly.

“I was only granted a crest by the Church; I have not officially joined. Therefore, I don’t need to abide by the Church’s rules. Pepe is my family.”

Whether pleased or not, Yisi’s ears caught Pepe letting out a soft huff. But since the sound was very quiet, Yisi chose to pretend she hadn’t heard it. “Well then, if you have no further business, Lord Dominic, my companions and I will be heading to the church. Ah, that’s right, our carriage is still at your residence. We’ll come to retrieve it a little later.”

“Ah, I’ll have my brother Derrick send the carriage to the church. Hmm—there he is.”

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His gaze went past Yisi. Dominic first shrugged at her, then opened his arms to a man who was heading straight for him.

It was Dominic’s younger brother, the third son of the House of Marquis Taris, Derrick Taris. For some reason, Derrick was followed by a crowd of adventurers with vastly different equipment and mismatched levels.

“Brother!”

Derrick, having found his reinforcements, embraced Dominic. Although the two looked nothing like biological brothers, and the age difference in their appearance could be described as uncle and nephew, their brotherly bond seemed to be quite strong.

Patting the slightly balding Derrick, Dominic took two steps back.

“Derrick? What are you doing here?”

“I heard from Lady Enya—you may not know who she is, Lady Enya is Yisi Enya, the one granted the Crest of Mistilteinn by the Church—Lady Enya said she was going to the twelfth floor to save her companions, so I quickly gathered people to go to the twelfth floor and inform you to assist her. I didn’t expect to run into you right at the labyrinth entrance…” Midway through his sentence, Derrick glanced at the people around him. As if seeing something unbelievable, his mouth dropped open to the point where his jaw could dislocate at any moment. “Lady Enya, you brought your companions out alive!”

Dominic should probably teach his little brother the art of conversation.

Of course, Yisi didn’t let her thoughts show on her face. She replied with a polite smile.

“Thanks to Lord Dominic, we all returned safely.”

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“Rather than thanks to me, it’s more like we all owe our thanks to Cardinal Yisi. Derrick, I’ve decided to move tomorrow night’s subjugation to tonight. I’ll need you to pull an all-nighter preparing the supplies.”

Derrick showed no dissatisfaction with Dominic’s demand for overtime. As if he were long used to it, his eyes were instead filled with thought and worry.

Almost subconsciously, Yisi’s gaze fell on Derrick’s balding head, which reflected the light of the evening sun.

Oh, Derrick, so that’s how your hair disappeared—from being overworked by your brother.

“Subjugate the guardian tonight? Brother, it’s not impossible, but you’ll have to go back down into the labyrinth right away. Won’t you be too tired?”

Besides Derrick, Dominic’s other teammates also showed reluctance.

“Dominic, your brother is right. Everyone is already exhausted. If we go down now and fight the guardian at night, we, the main force, will only be able to perform at half our usual combat strength.”

Dominic patted the longsword at his waist, his expression solemn.

“Even so, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The twelfth-floor guardian is now heavily wounded. If we wait until tomorrow, it will likely recover to its full state and be even harder to deal with than it was today. Wasn’t it the same with the tenth-floor guardian we challenged before? We failed the first time, and when we went back the second time, it had completely changed. Even if our team can’t perform at full strength, we still have the other three teams to rely on. We can’t let this chance slip by.”

“We could just ask the Cardinal to help us again.”