Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 122

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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122. Sewers (1)

The task assigned to the Princess is simple.

Cast purification magic on the magic stone that Grey designed and Prince Willow crafted.

It sounds easy since she only needs to cast magic, but in reality, it’s not.

Unlike casting magic comfortably, she needs to accurately inject mana along the mana circuits carved into the magic stone.

Wouldn’t it be easy since she just needs to follow the mana circuits?

This is also a thought only an outsider would have.

The mana circuits carved into the magic stone are for maintaining the imbued magic, not for guiding magic.

‘Rather, the circuits make mana operation more difficult.’

If she’s careless, the mana blown into the magic stone could draw in the stone’s own mana and cause it to explode.

She needs to cast magic while suppressing even the magic stone’s mana interference.

That’s why mages who could imbue magic were rare.

Even if not as precious as alchemists, they were the most valuable type among mages.

‘Making me do this. Where’s that old brat’s conscience?’

Of course, Grey didn’t give Serena the assignment without a plan.

Serena looked down at the practice paper the old brat had left with a sour expression.

The paper had a circuit diagram drawn with magic stone powder made by an alchemist’s hands.

Grey had made it for her to practice with before leaving.

‘Just one sheet.’

Honestly, Serena wasn’t confident.

Though she learned magic quickly, magic acquisition and mana operation were different fields.

But this damn old brat, thinking he’s so great that others must be too, made just one practice paper and left to give electric massages to fish.

‘Even a hundred sheets wouldn’t be enough.’

Serena glared at the paper and sighed.

‘What good will glaring do? I need to practice with tension like it’s real combat.’

She needed to show maximum effort with this one sheet to have grounds for requesting additional practice papers.

‘Should I load if things go wrong? Would the Minotaur God look unfavorably on this too?’

The Minotaur God had warned against abusing regression for changing treasure chest rewards.

Save-load grinding for equipment enhancement would probably be judged similarly.

‘Maybe for precious one-of-a-kind equipment, but for equipment that can be remade with a little effort, he probably won’t allow it.’

Thinking she couldn’t use regression made her even more nervous.

Serena turned her head to relieve tension.

If Lavenda were here, she would have pressed pressure points to relieve tension, but it was unfortunate she wasn’t nearby.

‘Whew.’

The Princess took a deep breath and cast purification magic on the practice paper.

“What I desire is, hup.”

As soon as she injected mana into the paper, the mana reacted with the magic stone powder and fluctuated wildly.

Like an unbridled colt, no. Colts are cute and have no malice.

The mana rampaged like bikers using Liberation Day as an excuse.

Far from moving along the circuit diagram, it radiated mana in all directions, threatening to tear the paper.

Serena used all her strength to suppress the rampaging mana and guide it to move along the circuit diagram. She also had to maintain casting the purification magic simultaneously.

‘This is insane.’

Her heart pounded harder than when being chased by monsters at full speed.

When she forcibly changed the direction of the straight-moving mana to match the circuit diagram, her ears suddenly felt stuffy and tinnitus began.

Heat rose to her face.

After her ears felt stuffy, tinnitus severe enough to make her head throb began.

Every time she held back mana trying to escape the circuit diagram, she felt her head temperature rising.

Then at one moment, she felt warmth at the crown of her head, and suddenly mana operation became smooth.

‘What?’

It was similar to when she cast magic while getting nosebleeds from tangled mana while facing Lucas.

‘Isn’t this somewhat dangerous?’

In the martial arts novels and fantasy stories Serena read in her previous life, descriptions of protagonists in danger from overusing their minds were exactly like this.

‘Why is my crown getting warm!’

This was a fantasy world without upper dantian, so why was her crown burning?

After her ears, her nose also felt stuffy, then hot liquid flowed from her nose.

Nosebleed trickled down and pooled on Serena’s lips.

If Philia had remained in the lobby, she would have screamed at the top of her lungs.

‘This is dangerous, right? Should I stop? But I can’t interrupt this midway.’

Magic imbuing had to be restarted from the beginning if stopped midway.

Proper workshops had devices to halt work, but the lobby didn’t, so she had to succeed in one go.

In the end, Serena had only one way to survive.

Complete the circuit diagram before her head got any hotter.

Serena activated positive thinking for the first time in a while.

‘If I die from this, the Minotaur God will understand. I practiced properly and it’s fine!’

Since it’s not intentional, this regression would be justified!

With the mindset that dying was fine, Serena pushed her mind to its limits.

After a forced march that disregarded life, the Princess succeeded in magic imbuing on her first attempt.

The circuit diagram drawn on the paper flashed with light, then mana flowed along the circuits.

Since the paper had no mana, the mana flowed a few times before losing its light and disappearing.

“Huff, huff.”

Serena breathed roughly, ignoring the nosebleed entering her mouth.

Her crown, which had been warm to the point of being hot, cooled down pleasantly.

“Lady Serena! Good heavens!”

Count Randy covered Serena’s nose with a handkerchief.

“Are you alright?”

“Count, huff. Would you be alright?”

The tinnitus that had been stabbing her head subsided and her ears cleared.

Serena moved her body, which was more exhausted and tingly than after sprinting at full speed while chased by monsters.

Everything moved well without any hindrance.

‘I thought I was going to die.’

She hadn’t realized it at all, but everyone in the lobby had surrounded Serena.

“We thought something terrible had happened!”

Ralph sniffled, having worried greatly.

“Do you know how shocked we were when the Princess got a nosebleed? Are you okay now?”

“I apologize. We wanted to forcibly stop you midway, but Lady Serena was so concentrated that we couldn’t find an opening.”

Count Randy’s face also lacked color.

Serena blew her nose into Count Randy’s handkerchief. Once the bleeding stopped, her nose cleared refreshingly.

“With Grey absent, we almost had a disaster. Why did you push yourself so hard?”

Even Prince Willow had turned pale and offered water to Serena.

“Is your mana alright?”

Serena checked her condition.

Contrary to her death-defying resolve, she was perfectly fine.

Her mana also moved as intended, and it even felt easier to operate than before.

‘I became stronger after overcoming a life-threatening crisis! Like hell. It just feels easy because I’m moving comfortably after doing something difficult.’

She briefly tasted the feeling of being a genius with a terminal illness, but Serena knew herself well.

She wasn’t a genius, and this time was simply good luck.

‘Because I thought it was okay to die.’

Serena recalled a great person’s saying: “If you wish to live, you will die; if you wish to die, you will live.” It perfectly fit the current situation.

“Why on earth did you push yourself so hard?”

Prince Willow brought something over as if he couldn’t understand Serena at all.

“I made plenty of wooden spares for Your Highness’s enchantment practice, but was there a reason you absolutely had to succeed on the first try?”

Serena’s eyes widened as she looked at what the prince had brought.

Wooden blocks carved with mana circuit diagrams. Anyone could see they were practice tools.

The blood that had been flowing smoothly in Serena’s head after the difficult task ended stopped again.

“Th-these! Are all for practice?”

“Yes. After trying lightly with paper, we were planning to do serious practice with these. To surpass Grey’s expected progress. Grey would be really pleased to hear this.”

The blood drained from Serena’s entire body.

Prince Willow looked at the practice tools he had worked hard to craft but were now useless with a bitter expression.

“I think I understand why Grey likes Your Highness Serena. Your Highness and Grey are in a realm I dare not reach or imagine.”

The blood that had grown cold began to boil hot.

People who noticed the Princess’s ominous gaze tried to stop the prince, but the prince lost in his own world didn’t stop talking.

“I failed countless times even when practicing with wood before carving magic stones, but Your Highness succeeded in one try. The difference in talent is so great that I don’t even feel jealous.”

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand…”

“Your Highness Serena could become a Grand Mage who follows in Grandfather’s footsteps,”

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

When Serena snatched the practice tool she was holding, Prince Willow was startled and stopped speaking.

“Pardon?”

“That these existed!”

The Princess was angry enough to match how close she had come to dying and was about to throw the practice tool at Prince Willow.

“Huff, whew.”

She remembered that it could become a diplomatic issue if they left the labyrinth.

‘I really want to throw it though.’

Also, having parents who were a drug-addicted father who was violent without recognizing his own child and a mother who suffered from delusions that her daughter would kill her, she hated violence.

‘Hold back. I can’t hit people when swept up by emotions.’

She lowered the hand that was about to throw the wood.

“Aw~ just throw it.”

Olive was disappointed to miss such good entertainment.

“Next time, please tell me in advance.”

Prince Willow looked at the veins bulging on the Princess’s hand gripping the practice tool and answered seriously.

“To endure this. Your Highness Serena will become an even greater person than Grandfather.”

The Empire’s prince had a talent for earning beatings with his mouth.

‘Would I endure this because I’m nice? I’m self-censoring because my parents were disasters.’

Serena suppressed her anger by recalling a compilation of Prince Willow’s death scenes.

***

Waterproof leather boots made from Labyrinth Alligator hide by a genius alchemist.

Pendants enchanted with purification magic created jointly by Heuji’s Grand Princess, the Empire’s old man, and the 5th Prince.

New weapons obtained in the labyrinth, Ralph’s new armor, and even purified water prepared for emergencies.

Serena and the assault team had finished preparing to explore the 6th layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth.

“I want to look around the 4th layer more~”

“We’re trying to confirm if the magic was properly enchanted. We only returned from the entrance of the 6th layer, didn’t we? Since there might be more equipment we need, our purpose is just to look around the 21st floor.”

“That’s true~”

Though they had made full preparations, the party’s morale was low due to the environment of the 6th layer.

‘I don’t want to go either.’

Serena hid her true feelings and knelt before the statue.

Pretending to clean the statue, she updated her regression point and stood up, then the assault team that had been waiting for the Princess began to move.

“Everyone please return safely.”

The remaining party, excluding the cursed prince, saw off the assault team to the front of the teleportation room.

Serena selected the 20th floor in the teleportation room, and light from the magic circle enveloped the group.

The air of the 5th layer was fresh as always.

The party breathed deeply as if wanting to prevent the pollution of their noses and lungs that was to come.

And they stepped onto the stairs leading to the 21st floor of the 6th layer.

“Princess~ didn’t the god tell you the path of the 6th layer in advance?”

“He hasn’t said anything.”

“I’m more curious about the 6th layer’s path than other layers~”

“The Labyrinth God must have His reasons for everything.”

“The god probably doesn’t want to see the Princess suffer in dirty places either~”

Listening to Olive’s grumbling as they went down the stairs, the stench wafting up from below gradually became more terrible.

The group descended toward the stench and arrived at its source.

Dark sewers where dirty water rippled and swayed. The goal was exploration, not conquest.

The group endured the stench and dipped their new shoes into the sewage.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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