Volume 7, Chapter 15 – Labyrinth – The Lowest Floor

“How careless of me…”

To think that Pepe was standing at the door before I started doing all those things. The evening wind must have blown the door open, and she just happened to be passing by. Pepe wasn’t the type to open doors quietly.

Sighing softly, Yisi looked at the glass cube in her hand, which was about the size of an ordinary person’s fist.

“I guess I’ll have to use the most foolish method now.”

She would have to dismantle the stone golems she had gotten from the church and copy them step by step. However, after her experience making the cube golem, Yisi naturally had doubts about whether she could truly replicate them. Not to mention that different magic circuits required different magic liquid formulas, just figuring out the complex, three-dimensional structure would take an unknown amount of time.

“Well, it’s not like I can finish it in a short while. I should go out and get some fresh air first.”

Making the stone golems was important, but finding the Source of Mana was equally important. Not just to help Evelyn, but also because she absolutely had to drag out the Demon Lord Tartaros and give him a good beating. The peeping tom gave her goosebumps all over.

After storing the workbench and all the stone materials in the room, Yisi clapped her hands.

“Now then, let’s go find a place where the Source of Mana might be hidden—[Short-Distance Teleportation].”

Her body appeared in the sky, several thousand meters above the ground.

Although it was already mid-spring, the night air was still cold. The chilly wind sweeping across the land made her clothes rustle loudly, causing Yisi to shiver.

“It’s cold… [Blessing of Warmth].”

A thin, red membrane appeared on Yisi’s skin, and the chill from the wind instantly vanished. Yisi began to observe the city of Gota.

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From high above, the entire city of Gota was a size larger than Mitters Bayer. The northern mining district alone occupied half of the city’s area. And due to the earthquake ten years ago, the northern mining district, which was dotted with mines of all sizes, had collapsed. The dark earth, as if sucked in by something, formed a funnel-shaped depression leading deep into the ground. According to the [Omniscient Map], the labyrinth entrance was directly below this depression. The labyrinth’s root system extended as far as the Water Tree in the distance, its area so vast that it would take dozens of Gota cities combined to match it. The tip of the iceberg was probably the best way to describe this situation.

According to Tartaros, the Source of Mana was in Gota. After a day of observation, there were only two places in and around the city where the Source of Mana could possibly be hidden. The first was the Water Tree, several kilometers away from the city, and the second was, naturally, the underground labyrinth with its countless treasures.

“Although Tartaros deliberately used the mystifying term [Mana], ‘mana’ just translates to ‘magic power’. The Source of Mana is the Source of Magic Power. In that case, the target is quite clear.”

Magic cores and magic crystals could both be sources of magic power, and a ley line rich in magic could also be called a Source of Magic Power. In short, she was looking for a thing or a place with abundant magic power.

“Let’s start by searching the lowest level of the labyrinth.”

The first things to check were, of course, the treasures guarded by the labyrinth’s guardians, and then the treasure chests hidden within the labyrinth itself.

Including the very first floor, there were many treasure chests hidden throughout the labyrinth. These chests contained magic items or potions, and occasionally, weapon blueprints and magic books from the Age of Gods. Any one of these would be priceless if taken outside. Adventurers who were not strong enough to challenge the guardians made their living by teaming up to kill monsters and uncover these chests. Even on the first five floors, which had been visited by many adventurers, there were still undiscovered chests, though the frequency of their discovery had greatly decreased compared to the beginning. This was all information the fat head priest had proactively provided.

[Advanced Teleportation]

Activating the teleportation magic again, Yisi appeared on the fiftieth underground floor of the labyrinth. The entire labyrinth had fifty-one floors. The reason she teleported to the fiftieth was that the [Omniscient Map] showed the lowest floor was just an ordinary great hall, with neither treasure nor a powerful guardian. If the labyrinth were a game, this kind of design with no positive feedback would definitely ruin the game developer’s reputation. The deepest part of a labyrinth should at the very least be filled with countless treasures, or at least feature a magnificent scene with a red carpet leading straight to a throne, giving the challenger a sense of accomplishment for conquering the labyrinth.

“Speaking of which, how was the labyrinth formed? It has guardians and treasures, and the monsters on each floor are conveniently stronger than the last. It absolutely cannot be a coincidence brought about by an earthquake.”

Could it have existed here long ago, and the entrance was just exposed by the earthquake?

The environment of the lowest floor was as if someone were waiting for a challenger to step in, but for some unknown reason, there was nothing inside.

“There’s no use pondering it here. I should go find the guardian of the fiftieth floor first.”

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If the Source of Mana was within the labyrinth, then the treasure guarded by the fiftieth-floor guardian was the most likely suspect. The [Omniscient Map] showed that the guardians of the fiftieth floor were nine Cerberuses, each with a strength between level 40 and 50. The strongest one among them was even over level 60. Among the people whose levels were clearly known, only Alvier VI had reached such a realm.

“If something like this were to run loose on the surface, it would be a disaster. I wonder how the creator of the labyrinth managed to capture them here. Well, for me, I just need to sneak a peek at what’s in the treasure chest behind them.”

Although the [Omniscient Map] could show what kind of items appeared in what places, if the item itself had no name, even if the map could see through the chest, she would only see a string of [???] symbols, just like Mary’s other race—to this day, Mary’s race was still listed as [Half-elf] and a string of question marks.

“I don’t know if touching the monsters here will trigger a riot. I should probably hide just in case. [Concealment].”

Compared to the higher-level [Complete Concealment], [Concealment] only made her visually disappear, like hanging a layer of optical camouflage on her body. Although people couldn’t see her, if she made a sound or touched an object, they could find her by following the sound.

However, against these monsters without high intelligence, just being visually hidden was enough.

Perhaps because it was close to the bottom of the labyrinth, the overall environment of the fiftieth underground floor was as luxurious as a Demon Lord’s castle in a story. The corridors were paved with thick, cyan stone bricks. There were no withered branches or vines on the ground, no cobwebs or small insects in the corners or on the ceiling. There were even glowing luminous stones placed on both sides of the walls, emitting a faint, cold light. In Yisi’s understanding, luminous stones in this world were, if not priceless, at least something only the rich and powerful could afford. Just by taking these luminous stones out, one could become rich instantly.

“But if I dare to go up and pry out a luminous stone, I’ll definitely be burned to ashes.”

The luminous stones were enchanted with an extremely powerful magic barrier, at least of the fifth-tier magic level. For an ordinary person to touch them without preparation would be nothing short of suicide.

After walking through the labyrinth for a while, Yisi soon arrived at the door of the room where the guardian Cerberuses were. However, she did not immediately enter, but instead lowered her head, looking thoughtful.

“Something feels strange… was it intentionally set up like this?”

Along the way, she had not seen any animal-type monsters, not even a single rat or a small insect. The fiftieth floor was either filled with rock and plant type monsters, or creations like golems. And those mobile plant-type monsters mostly had bite marks on them, as if something, in its hunger, had taken a couple of random bites out of them.

Perhaps only the labyrinth itself knew.

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Shaking her head to clear the miscellaneous thoughts, Yisi stepped into the guardian’s room.

“The area is as large as the Frost Spider’s room.”

A spacious room that could accommodate at least twenty thousand people appeared before Yisi’s eyes. The biggest difference from the Frost Spider’s room was the presence of a small lake and a waterfall. A magic crystal as bright as the sun even hung from the high dome. Near the lake, nine sleeping Cerberuses were lying on the floor.

Other than the flames burning on their backs, their three heads, and their pure black fur, the Cerberuses’ bodies were no different in size from ordinary large dogs. If she were to walk to their front, she might be able to see their ferocious faces, which distinguished them from ordinary dogs. Unfortunately, from her position, she could only see their tails as they lay down.

The fact that they were asleep saved her some trouble. She wouldn’t have to deliberately bypass them to get the treasure.

With these thoughts, Yisi looked at the treasure hanging at the far end of the room. Perhaps to lure adventurers, the treasure was intentionally placed in the most conspicuous spot high up on the wall. The map showed the item inside as [????].

“[Flight].”

Monsters’ senses were much keener than humans’. If she walked to the treasure, she would likely wake them when passing by. Therefore, Yisi chose to fly.

However, even with flight, as Yisi flew over the Cerberuses’ heads, they suddenly sprang up from the floor.

They were awake.

Can I be detected even like this?

Even though [Concealment] was only a tenth-tier spell, it wasn’t something a Cerberus of this level could see through. Curious as to how they had discovered her, Yisi hovered motionlessly ten meters above their heads, holding her breath and observing.

“Grrr…”

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Seemingly unaware of Yisi’s exact location, the Cerberuses sniffed the air while circling around her position. Occasionally, a few of them would let out low, warning growls.

After about half a minute, they finally pinpointed Yisi’s location. The nine Cerberuses stared at the same spot from different directions and bared their fangs in unison.

And during this time, Yisi also realized why she had been discovered.

Smell.

As a vampire who had to replenish her blood with every meal, the scent of blood on her, while not as overwhelmingly thick as Pepe’s, was not something that could be ignored. To these Cerberuses, just by standing here, she was constantly announcing her presence.

How careless of me. In [Ragnarøk], no player had ever used smell to find a player using [Concealment]. Everyone only used hearing and detection magic to rule out assassins. Over time, she had also excluded smell from her considerations.

Next time, I should probably take a bath before going out.

With a helpless, wry smile, Yisi glanced down at the Cerberuses, which could pounce at any moment. Since her [Concealment] spell had not yet been dispelled, they had not attacked directly.

Her goal was to get the treasure, not to kill the guardian. But to show that she had been here, she might as well leave them a gift.

Yisi took out a sack of chili powder from her inventory. Under the “expectant” gazes of the Cerberuses, she dispelled her [Concealment] spell. At that very moment, the Cerberuses’ eyes instantly turned blood-red. They opened their mouths in unison and shot out pillars of fire as thick as water buckets.

Then, they magnificently bombarded the chili powder.

Poof.

It exploded spectacularly.