Volume 7, Chapter 31 – Out of the Blue

“Even with a labyrinth so convenient for leveling up nearby, they’re still so weak. I don’t see any powerful adventurers.”

“And the monsters here are very low-level, too.”

Completely different from their initial tension upon entering the labyrinth, Camilla and Mary now looked around with great relaxation. Since entering, Yisi had been following the directions of the [Omniscient Map], leading her companions deep underground. The quests Edith had taken only went as deep as the tenth floor, so Yisi planned to go there first and complete the quests from the bottom up.

Yisi sighed helplessly.

“It’s not that the adventurers here are too weak, but that you all are too talented and have been training since you were young.”

Among the adventurers on the first to fourth floors, there was almost no one above level 7. The vast majority were still at the level of ordinary people, around levels 1 to 3. At the same time, because the more difficult monsters had long been cleared out by higher-level adventurers, the monsters here were also low-level, mostly goblins or insect-types. If low-level adventurers wanted to challenge higher-level monsters, they had to go below the fifth floor. And below the fifth floor was a considerable distance from the surface. Once a new adventurer was injured below the fifth floor, it would be difficult to return to the surface safely. Therefore, most new adventurers only dared to linger above the fifth floor, which led to their current difficulty in leveling up.

Of course, leveling up was also inextricably linked to talent. Camilla aside, Mary’s leveling speed far surpassed everyone else in the group. By killing the same number of monsters, Mary could gain a full level, while the others would only gain about 70% of the experience.

“But it’s gotten quiet all of a sudden. I can’t hear the sounds of adventurers fighting, the airflow has slowed down, and there’s the stench of monsters in the air.”

Her half-elf ears twitched, and a look of vigilance flashed in Mary’s purple eyes.

“[Fifth Floor].”

Tiffany pointed to a stone monument not far behind them, on which the words [Fifth Floor] were carved in the language of the Hels Kingdom.

“I remember that stronger monsters start to appear from the fifth floor. Mary, Refina, be careful.”

“Yes, Miss Camilla~”

“Tsk.”

As soon as Mary’s voice fell, Edith thrust Gungnir towards the side wall with extreme speed.

Crack.

It was the sound of a carapace being pierced.

But it wasn’t over. In fact, it was just the beginning.

The wall Edith had stabbed began to ripple like water. As if an illusion was being broken, the original gray wall gradually disappeared, replaced by a large butterfly the height of two people. Edith’s spear had struck its wing.

“It’s an Illusion Butterfly. They don’t live alone. Use magic to blast the nearby walls.”

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“Mary and Refina, support me. Tiffany, go help Edith!”

“Yes!”

With their experience in coordinating with each other, Camilla’s group quickly split into two. Camilla began to chant a spell, while Mary and Refina stood guard not far from her. As if in response to their actions, one watery ripple after another appeared on the gray walls. In just a few breaths, more than ten large butterflies appeared in their vision, sealing off the passage in front and behind with their size, intending to surround and kill them.

“The next time I see a butterfly, I’ll definitely have no desire to touch it…”

Yisi couldn’t help but mutter. Although these butterflies had huge wings, they were only a tool for casting illusions and did not grant them the ability to fly. They moved entirely by crawling on their legs. And with their magnified size, their multi-legged appearance and fly-like compound eyes were overwhelmingly disgusting.

“Even if I destroy its head, its body still moves. A useless struggle,” Edith clicked her tongue, withdrawing the green-blood-stained Gungnir and crushing the Illusion Butterfly’s head with her boot. Her gaze fell on the butterfly behind Yisi and Laxy. “You? Or me?”

“I’ll leave it to you, Pepe.”

“I knew you’d say that.”

If I didn’t leave it to her, Pepe would be unhappy.

Grumbling internally, Yisi stepped aside to make way.

The Illusion Butterfly monster itself was only around level 5, but it often caused even experienced adventurers to stumble. The reason was inextricably linked to their ability to create illusions and the poisonous powder on their wings. Yisi had discovered this group of butterflies long before they had even set foot on the fifth floor. However, considering that her companions had almost no experience with illusion-casting monsters, she hadn’t informed them in advance. Instead, she had followed alongside, observing how they would react. From the looks of it now, their performance was basically a failure.

If Edith hadn’t noticed something was amiss with her excellent vampiric night vision, her companions would have unknowingly inhaled the butterfly’s powder and fallen into an illusion. She would have to strengthen their crisis awareness and their knowledge of various monsters later.

“My Lord, have you not had your family learn any detection-type magic?” Laxy, who had been observing the battle just like Yisi, frowned. “If the pureblood lady had not noticed the abnormality just now, we might already be in a crisis.”

“Huh? You didn’t notice the Illusion Butterflies when we came in, Laxy?”

Hit with a crucial point, Laxy suddenly froze, then lowered her head as if finding it difficult to speak.

“No… There seems to be something wrong with my body. Originally, an illusion of this level would be seen through the moment it entered my sight, but I didn’t feel anything abnormal just now. If I could find a First-Rank Angel, I should be able to find out what the problem is.”

Before answering, Yisi glanced at the battlefield. The revealed Illusion Butterflies were no challenge for her companions at all. A single spell from Camilla could pin a whole butterfly to the wall, and Refina and Mary could also finish them off with overwhelming force. There was no need for her to worry. The training they had done in the Hermion Forest was now paying off.

“First-Rank… speaking of which, I’ve always had a question. Is the rank you speak of, Laxy, unrelated to level?”

If the first rank refers to angels between levels 10 and 20, then Laxy, as a Third-Rank Angel, should be between levels 30 and 40. But her strength clearly exceeded that range. And if a First-Rank Angel could repair a Third-Rank Angel, then the first rank should be higher than the third.

Laxy nodded.

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“Yes. All angels have the potential to grow, just like humans. An angel might only be level 10 in their youth, but they will reach at least level 30 upon entering adulthood. Therefore, we do not classify our ranks by level. Rank only represents an angel’s status in the Kingdom of God.”

“The Kingdom of God? Status? I thought all angels were equal. Is this a rule set by the gods?”

“Without hierarchy, there is no order. The Kingdom of God is the nation where angels live. The First-Rank Angels, created by the Goddess’s own hand, have the right to serve the Goddess. And with the exception of the first and second rank, all other angels are created by the First-Rank Angels.”

“So that’s why you said that if you could find a First-Rank Angel, you could find out the cause.”

The creator would, of course, know what was wrong with their creation.

“Yes. There are a total of seven ranks of angels, from top to bottom. The Second-Rank Angels are responsible for making laws and discussing foreign policy. The Third-Rank Angels, which is my rank, are responsible for educating the next generation of angels and coordinating internal relations. The Fourth-Rank Angels are enforcers, responsible for implementing the laws and policies formulated by the second rank. They are also the strongest in combat among all angels. The Fifth-Rank Angels are also enforcers, but they only deal with internal conflicts among angels. The sixth and seventh ranks refer to angels whose minds have not yet matured.”

Even though they were created beings, they still had a concept of an immature mind?

Yisi didn’t voice her inner question. Perhaps it was like artificial intelligence. Even if they were the most calculating beings from birth, they still had to slowly learn the complex social interactions of human society to truly become indistinguishable from humans. In the era she came from, people were always stuck on this final hurdle.

Speaking of which, even though Laxy was not created by a god’s own hand, she still called herself a God-Forged Angel—pointing this out would inevitably seem tactless, so Yisi chose to bury this complaint in her heart.

“Then have you ever seen the Goddess, Laxy? And why were you sealed in an ice coffin? From your description, the angels in the past seem to have formed a nation-like collective, but now they have vanished from the continent. Where did they go?”

A series of questions filled Laxy’s proper face with complexity. As if wracking her brain, she remained silent for a long time before stammering out a reply—to Yisi, it seemed more like her brain couldn’t process the ancient information, so her reaction was very slow.

“My deepest apologies… I have never seen the Goddess. The Kingdom of God has always been led by the First and Second Rank Angels. Only the First-Rank Angels who created us have seen the Goddess in person. As for why I was sealed in an ice coffin, it was because… because…”

Laxy’s brows furrowed tightly, and a look of anger and ferocity flashed in her purple eyes, but it quickly vanished as if it had never been there. Yisi could vaguely feel that the disappearance of the negative emotions was not because Laxy was consciously suppressing them, but more like her body had triggered some kind of mechanism, causing the emotions and related memories to be wiped clean.

“It seems it was because… the Kingdom of God had a conflict with the natives at that time… no… the Kingdom of God had a conflict with the Demon Lords… the war between the Blood Clan and humans? Pawns in a game? No… that’s not right…”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

Seeing that Laxy was clearly not in a good state, Yisi quickly stopped her.

Thinking about it, it was quite normal. The one who could seal Laxy in an ice coffin could certainly have killed her, so it wasn’t impossible that they had also erased her memories. But Yisi was more inclined to believe that Laxy’s memories had become faulty from being sealed for too long, just like a machine that rusts from disuse.

Speaking of which, since Laxy was created by angels, that means she isn’t a divine product. So, if I have enough knowledge, can I also diagnose the problem with her body?

The key to a puppet is nothing more than its magic circuit and power source. As long as I understand the magic circuit and the formula for the magic liquid, I can replicate it myself. With [Foundry Platform – Tier 4], the craftsmanship is definitely not a problem.

I hope that the scroll I got from the thirteenth floor has enough knowledge. Although Yisi felt the chances were slim.

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Puzzled by Yisi’s thoughtful expression, Laxy quietly reached behind her back and took out the golden rapier hidden in her storage space.

It’s time to tell her about the reward. I hope this will motivate my lord to level up.

But to Laxy’s surprise, Yisi quickly snapped out of her seemingly complex thoughts. A rapier with a red and white color scheme appeared out of thin air in her hand.

“You mentioned you use a sword as your weapon, Laxy. I think this should suit you. We’re about to reach the tenth floor of the labyrinth. It would be better if you had a weapon.”

“This…”

Even without Yisi’s explanation, Laxy could tell the quality of the weapon before her. Although the rapier didn’t emit any glow and looked like a decorative weapon, with Laxy’s experience, she knew that this was definitely a Crimson Gold-grade magic weapon with high user requirements. If the user didn’t reach a certain level, it would be impossible to use.

Even in the Kingdom of God where angels lived, only the highest-ranking battle angels had the authority to wield such a weapon.

“Although there’s a restriction that the user must be over level 40, you’re level 41, so it’s just right for you.”

This was a weapon from [Ragnarøk]. Yisi was being generous only because Laxy was one of her own.

Quietly returning her own golden longsword to her storage space, Laxy asked hesitantly.

“Such a valuable item… My lord, are you serious?”

“Of course. Besides you, no one else can use it anyway.”

It’s a good thing I didn’t take out the incentive I had prepared. That would have been embarrassing.

As Laxy secretly felt relieved, she also felt puzzled.

“But why doesn’t my lord keep such a valuable weapon for herself? Even in the Kingdom of God, such a magic weapon is a rare and precious item… Could it be that my lord is a person of power and influence in this world?”

“No, the pureblood lady over there is the real noble. I’m just a commoner.”

“I see… that makes sense.”

Following Yisi’s gesture, Laxy took in Edith’s battle. Her movements were as smooth as flowing water. Even Laxy, who specialized in guidance, could only find faults that weren’t really faults. The only thing she didn’t understand was why Edith was deliberately holding back her strength and not using the gem-like sword from last night that had nearly vaporized the Frost Spider. If she were to use her full power, these Illusion Butterflies would be nothing but ants.

The strange hobbies of the powerful…

Laxy frowned slightly.

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Although I would very much like to be under the command of the pureblood lady, I have already been taken in by my lord. There’s nothing to be done about it. I should be happy that my lord is a kind person. The pureblood lady seems to be a cruel person. If I were to be with her for a long time, I would surely become dissatisfied. If my lord were a little more diligent, she could surpass the pureblood lady one day. Perhaps I should find a time to remind my lord that the pureblood lady is hiding her strength…

“Don’t you like it, Laxy?”

Yisi nudged the rapier in her hand. Only then did Laxy remember that she had not yet accepted Yisi’s gift.

“Ah, I was just thinking about something else… In that case, I will temporarily hold on to this valuable item for my lord. When you surpass level 40 and reach the quasi-hero realm, I will hand it over to you.”

“No, no, that’s not necessary at all. In fact, if you really did that, I would feel guilty,” at this point, Yisi cupped her hand over her mouth and made a whispering gesture. “Actually, I’m much stronger than Pepe over there. Definitely beyond your expectations, Laxy. So just think of this sword as your own. Consider it my welcome gift to you.”

“But my lord…”

Laxy trailed off. Her master probably hadn’t realized the pureblood lady’s true strength yet.

Should I tell her now?

After a moment’s pause, Laxy shook her head.

The pureblood lady helped release me from my seal. If I tell my lord her secret, wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with enmity? I’ll tell my lord when the pureblood lady becomes a threat to her. In the meantime, I will protect my lord well.

Recalling the fledgling angels she had taught in the past, Laxy couldn’t help but look at Yisi with the gaze of one watching over a young angel.

“Master, there’s no path ahead!”

Mary’s voice came from the front. While Yisi and Laxy were talking, the group had already dismembered the Illusion Butterflies.

Camilla also walked up.

“Onee-sama, the path ahead has been deliberately destroyed. Do we need to take a detour?”

“No, if we use a rope to go down from the destroyed part, we’ll be right at the tenth floor.”

This was also why she had chosen this path. The labyrinth was a maze of passages. There were at least ten paths from the fourth floor to the fifth, and she had chosen the one that was closest to the tenth. To be safe, Yisi reconfirmed the [Omniscient Map], then raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“What’s wrong, Onee-sama?”

“Oh my… it seems we have a problem.”

On the cliff below, which had been empty just a moment ago, there was now a group of adventurers trapped between two opposing forces. Among them was the elf from Dominic’s team, Nana.