Volume 7, Chapter 45 – Labyrinth and Picnic

Labyrinth Eleventh Floor, the Hunting Ground.

To fulfill the promise Edith had made yesterday to return to the labyrinth at night, Yisi had brought her companions to the tenth floor in the evening. Now, the group was strolling through a very spacious labyrinth plaza.

“There are so many sparkling ores on the ceiling. It feels just like daytime.”

Pointing at the ceiling over a hundred meters above the ground, a starry sky was reflected in Mary’s purple eyes.

“Those are fluorescent stones. They only glow after nightfall.”

Answering Mary, Yisi looked around. The plaza, illuminated by the ores, was at least the size of ten sports fields combined. Due to the flat terrain, a wide variety of monsters lived here, and thus it was used as a hunting ground by many core adventurers. Looking out, there were at least over a hundred people. These adventurers were divided by team, each occupying an area to fight monsters. The sounds of battle echoed throughout the plaza.

“Ah, I’m so sleepy.”

Although she had slept until nearly eleven in the morning, the thought of having gone to bed after midnight for two consecutive days made it easy to understand why she felt a drowsiness that made it hard to keep her eyes open.

Yisi, who was leading her companions through the labyrinth, couldn’t help but yawn.

“Even though the amount of sleep is the same, changing from sleeping at two and waking at eleven to sleeping at nine and waking at six feels like a much better deal. And I wouldn’t be as tired as I am now. Why do I have to stay up so late?”

Edith, walking beside Yisi, raised an eyebrow.

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“No one forced you to sleep so late. What were you doing last night?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

Just making a power core for Laxy. As she had expected, processing an irregular magic crystal into a near-perfect sphere was extremely difficult in terms of concentration. Even with a convenient tool like the foundry platform, she had failed no less than five times. In the end, she had to switch to her third form and apply various concentration-boosting spells to herself before she was able to create a single qualifying core. The whole process had taken about two hours.

“Instead of what you did last night, Yisi, you should tell me what’s going on. I don’t remember there being a labyrinth near Mitters Bayer, and the climate here is clearly not that of the central continent. Where did you take me?”

The one who spoke was Evelyn, with her silver twin-tails and long, narrow, dark green eyes. Before the sun had set, Yisi had, as she had planned yesterday, brought Andrea and Evelyn to Gota. She was originally supposed to do it after lunch, but Edith had said they would wait until night to enter the labyrinth, so Yisi had postponed it a little.

“Well, in short, it’s a labyrinth. If you want to go back and continue handling your official duties, Evelyn, I can send you back.”

“I’d rather not. Although the work will just pile up if I don’t deal with it, it’s not a bad excuse to be lazy, saying you forcefully brought me here.”

“Hey, hey, weren’t you the one who proactively said you wanted to come after I suggested it?”

“Hmph.” With an unaccepting expression, Evelyn turned her face to the side. “And what’s the deal with this angel over here? It’s been less than a month since you left Mitters Bayer, and you already have another pretty woman by your side. You really don’t know any restraint.”

“Huh?” Noticing Andrea, who was walking at the very front with Mary and the Cerberuses, turn her head, Yisi explained righteously—more for Andrea’s ears than for Evelyn’s. “Laxy is a noble angel. How could I possibly have any ideas about her? In the end, Laxy is a Third-Rank Angel who presides over guidance; it’s impossible for her to have romantic feelings. Right?”

Yisi’s words made everyone turn their gazes to Laxy, who had been following at the end of the group without a word.

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Seemingly not expecting to be mentioned, Laxy first showed a momentary look of astonishment, which then gradually returned to her usual serious expression.

“My lord seems to have some misunderstanding about me. Although Third-Rank Angels do not have the three great desires of humans, we still have a yearning for beauty. Different angels have very different tastes. In our Kingdom of God, there are angels who like men, and angels who like women. Of course, there are also angels with fetishes. Personally, I prefer a strong and considerate man with a gentlemanly demeanor.”

I didn’t expect Laxy to have such a girlish side.

Yisi opportunely changed the subject.

“Is it alright for you two to just suddenly leave your territories, Andrea and Evelyn?”

Apart from Andrea and Mary, who were walking at the very front with the Cerberuses, Tiffany followed behind Mary. After them were Camilla, Yisi, and Edith walking side-by-side. Evelyn and Refina were positioned slightly behind Yisi and Edith, respectively, with Laxy at the very end.

Andrea, wearing a night-colored dress, turned her head. Unlike when they had parted, when her hair was down, Andrea now had her pink hair tied into shoulder-length twin-tails.

“I’ve already let Boris know. When he heard I was going with you, Lady Yisi, he agreed without a second thought. He just said a lot of unnecessary things, like telling me not to stay over at your house.”

“Well, well, Boris has watched you grow up, Andrea. It’s only normal for him to worry.”

“I’ve also spoken with the cardinals. There’s no problem. More importantly, why did you call Andrea and me here today, Yisi?”

Evelyn’s words made Yisi feel a little awkward.

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“It’s nothing particularly serious… I just suddenly had some free time and wanted to relax with everyone. There’s a particularly beautiful place in the labyrinth that’s perfect for a meal.”

“We’ve even prepared all the ingredients~”

Mary, at the front of the group, pointed to the various packages on the backs of the nine Cerberuses.

With a look of someone at a loss for words, Evelyn’s expression gradually became complex.

“I can’t tell if this is an adventure or a picnic. Although I’ve never been to a labyrinth, I’ve heard from my subordinates that it’s a place fraught with danger, where you could face a life-threatening situation at any moment…”

“R-run!”

“Get out of my way!”

As soon as Evelyn’s words fell, two disheveled adventurers with tattered clothes came running towards them. From the [Omniscient Map], the two were being chased by a group of monsters called [Labyrinth Porcupines]. The monsters’ levels ranged from 10 to 30.

Hearing the rumbling footsteps of the monster horde, the other adventurers in the hunting ground all turned their gazes. When they saw the Labyrinth Porcupines, their faces instantly turned ashen.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!!! Did those two idiots go and challenge the strongest Labyrinth Porcupines in the hunting ground!?”

“Just two people going after the Labyrinth Porcupines, that’s just asking for death.”

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“Stop wasting time! Those guys are leading the monsters over here!”

“Damn it, if you’re going to die, don’t drag us down with you!”

“Aaaah, and the Forest Witches! The Forest Witches are here too!”

In the blink of an eye, the entire hunting ground was thrown into chaos. Countless adventurers were forced to stop their battles with their own monsters and desperately run towards the entrance. And pursued by the strongest Labyrinth Porcupines and Forest Witches, the other monsters in the hunting ground, just like the adventurers, fled towards the entrance, fearing they would be turned into dinner.

However, in the eyes of the adventurers, both the Labyrinth Porcupines and the monsters being driven by them were extremely dangerous. No one wanted to be caught in the middle of a monster horde. If one were to look down from above the hunting ground at this moment, they would see the black dots of adventurers and monsters swarming towards the entrance in a cone shape, reminiscent of a wildebeest migration.

This feels a lot like a mob pulling in a game.

In [Ragnarøk], bored players would often do this kind of thing, deliberately angering the strongest regional boss in a group hunting area, then using a teleport scroll to escape, leaving the players who were still hunting and couldn’t react in time to be one-shotted by the boss.

“Wh-what should we do… Master.”

Mary turned back nervously. Evelyn also looked like she was facing a great enemy, immediately holding the Staff of Divine Retribution she carried with her at the ready. However, when it came time to use her magic power, she suddenly remembered that she was now too far from the Tower of Ymir and couldn’t use her magic power at all.

Evelyn could only anxiously shake Yisi’s arm.

“Don’t just stand there! Hurry up and think of something!”