Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 164

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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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164. 25th Floor of 7th Layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth Strategy (2)

 

Magic can be prepared by chanting spells in advance and then cast whenever the caster desires.

 

As long as one’s concentration and mental strength can maintain the mental image until then.

 

Lightning Strike is even a 5th-tier spell.

 

Its power rivals 6th-tier magic, but hitting the target is extremely difficult, making it a spell only seen in chaotic battles, large monster subjugations, or siege warfare.

 

She was being told to prepare such magic in advance, then find and hit the problematic monster as soon as the door opened.

 

Serena quietly stared at the guide who seemed to say whatever came to mind.

 

Olive continued chattering, seemingly oblivious to the Princess’s chilling gaze that could bring frost in midsummer.

 

“Zero will find the monster. Hey, Zero. You remember the location, right? You can hit it with an arrow as soon as you see it, right?”

 

“Possible.”

 

“Then the Princess just needs to drop the lightning she prepared in advance on the monster. Easy.”

 

Simple, right?

 

Having explained the plan, Olive sent Serena a look urging her to quickly prepare the magic.

 

Serena narrowed her single eye and consulted with Count Randy.

 

“Should I take this as nonsense due to lack of magical knowledge, or as an assassination plot against me?”

 

“It would be the former.”

 

“Aw~ Princess, you’re exaggerating! You can do it! Olive believes in you!”

 

Olive winked while putting on a cute voice.

 

“Princess, you’re the best! Well, not the best, but the second-best mage I’ve seen!”

 

“To me as well, Lady Serena is the second-best mage.”

 

The first mage must have been so powerful that they couldn’t even call the Princess the best as empty flattery.

 

“To me, Princess is the greatest mage! I don’t know much about magic, but if it’s the Princess, you can do it!”

 

Ralph, who had witnessed the first mage yet simultaneously hadn’t witnessed them, shouted honestly.

 

“…Eight, nine…”

 

The Taciturn Archer was quietly muttering something to himself, folding his fingers while counting numbers.

 

He seemed to be counting the number of mages superior to Serena among those he had witnessed.

 

‘Don’t count that! And why are there so many!’

 

Olive and Count Randy were praising her as second only to the Grand Mage, so would it hurt for Ying to do the same?

 

The tension eased due to the archer’s absurd behavior.

 

Serena released the tension that had somehow built up in her shoulders and neck and stretched.

 

“I’ll at least try.”

 

‘With Lightning Strike, even if it doesn’t hit directly but just nearby, the wooden doll should break.’

 

Serena took a deep breath and slowly chanted the magic spell.

 

“What I desire is.”

 

A thunderous sound and intense light that penetrates even the windows and walls of the Royal Palace, as if the world might shatter.

 

A heavenly message that seems to completely destroy petty and complacent thoughts, declaring that even if reborn, you remain a worthless person.

 

A powerful force that would perfectly destroy whatever it may be.

 

“Lightning that would shatter even a giant tree into pieces.”

 

Since Serena’s mental image of thunder and lightning was instantaneous destruction, she couldn’t maintain the image for long.

 

When the Princess signaled with a pained expression, Olive quickly opened the door.

 

Whoosh.

 

Before closing the door, Ying, who had memorized the guard doll’s location, quickly scanned near the remembered spot to find the problematic doll and shot a bolt.

 

The bolt pierced through the air and hit dead center in the bland face of the guard doll.

 

The moment the monsters maintaining guard posture all turned to look at the party near the door.

 

Crackle! BOOM!

 

Literally, lightning struck from a clear sky.

 

The entire 25th Floor was engulfed in bright light as intense flash struck down into the plaza.

 

The guard doll directly hit by lightning was shattered to pieces, and nearby dolls were also caught in the magic and turned to kindling. Wood and stone fragments poured down like hail in all directions.

 

The lightning’s destructive power was so strong that the entire plaza shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

 

“Princess, that was really intense!”

 

“Choose your words carefully if you don’t want more flicks. Is it dead?”

 

“It’s dead! I’ll close the door!”

 

As Olive closed the door, Serena grabbed the back of her neck and crouched down.

 

While maintaining the mental image, she had been concentrating so intensely that she didn’t notice, but after using the magic, the back of her neck was stiff and the top of her head felt slightly tingly.

 

‘This isn’t something a person should do.’

 

She would never do it again.

 

The Princess firmly resolved while massaging her neck and shoulders.

 

“As expected of the Princess! I knew you’d succeed!”

 

“Don’t make plans like this in the future. It was a bit dangerous.”

 

Perhaps sensing the sincerity in Serena’s words, Olive, who had been grinning broadly, quickly changed her expression and nodded.

 

“Then~ shall we see the results of the Princess’s hard work?”

 

The guide opened the door.

 

Cheerful music accompanied by the sound of fireworks bursting, a plaza where the festival atmosphere was in full swing.

 

There was no trace of the massive lightning strike, and a joyful, festive plaza welcomed the party.

 

Since the problematic doll had been defeated, the guard dolls only patrolled their designated areas and paid no attention to the party.

 

Though it looked safe, one must never let their guard down in the Labyrinth.

 

The guide ran alone into the plaza and tried to attract attention in front of a guard doll.

 

When Olive only performed antics without bothering other dolls, the guard doll didn’t react and continued its patrol.

 

“Good. Come in.”

 

Seeing Olive’s signal, the party entered the 25th Floor.

 

The journey from Plaza 10 to Plaza 1 had begun.

 

“Wow!”

 

Ralph exclaimed in admiration while comparing the Prince’s drawing with the 25th Floor.

 

“His Highness the Prince’s drawing skills are amazing! It’s as if he drew it after seeing it directly!”

 

“That’s because the kid explained it well~”

 

As Olive said, Neet had earnestly described the 25th Floor with her limited vocabulary. Neet’s contribution was significant too.

 

“Hmm. Grey says that having good memorization doesn’t mean one is smart, but Neet is a smart child. If her illness is cured, her future looks promising.”

 

Prince Willow had added Neet’s descriptions to parts he wasn’t certain about.

 

The most helpful part of the Prince’s drawing was the colors.

 

He had paid attention to parts that would be difficult to recognize if colors changed slightly, like sign colors, roofs, flags, and wall paintings.

 

‘People with color blindness or color weakness would die if they entered the Labyrinth.’

 

Serena shook her head in disbelief after reading the part where hot pink had changed to pastel pink among the past problems Neet had shared.

 

Each person’s area to memorize had been decided in advance in the lobby.

 

The party scattered to observe their assigned areas and record distinctive features.

 

Serena reflected the plaza with her mirror just in case.

 

She had worried about discovering another person, but only reflected wooden dolls.

 

‘It’s better to have no newcomers until the Number Siblings adapt completely.’

 

Thanks to obtaining paper and pen on the 24th Floor, there was no need to conserve paper. Serena meticulously recorded noteworthy parts of her assigned area and moved to Plaza 9.

 

The anomaly that occurred in Plaza 9 was fortunately one of the past problems Neet had shared.

 

“The sign picture is different there! The beer mug contains blood!”

 

“Nice, one easy freebie.”

 

In Plaza 8, Olive discovered the anomaly.

 

The guide sneered at a jester juggling with skulls instead of balls.

 

“Where did they get such small skulls.”

 

The anomaly in Plaza 7 was easy to spot but extremely disgusting.

 

“The strawberries on the cake have been replaced with eyeballs.”

 

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

 

Blood-stained eyeballs sat cutely on top of white cream.

 

Olive was examining the eyeballs closely when she discovered something.

 

“This red stuff isn’t blood, it’s syrup? The color and texture are different from blood.”

 

“Aaaah! I don’t need that information!”

 

The Young Knight trembled even more, finding eyeballs pickled in syrup more terrifying than blood-soaked ones.

 

Serena also quickly moved away as the pain of having her eye plucked out by the god came flooding back.

 

‘Humanly, or rather divinely speaking, shouldn’t a god extract it painlessly? How could he just shove his finger into my eye like that. Ugh.’

 

At the time, it happened so quickly that the shock was greater than the pain, but now the pain felt vivid in hindsight.

 

Sadly for the Knight, who was feeling queasy from seeing the syrup-pickled eyeball, the anomaly at Plaza 6 was very bloody.

 

“Wow.”

 

The party, even the Taciturn Archer, opened their mouths in amazement.

 

Bright red blood was gushing from the massive fountain in the center of the plaza.

 

Thanks to this, a fishy smell of blood filled the entire plaza, and the area around the fountain was red with splattered blood droplets.

 

“It’s easy to spot, which is good. But this is a bit much.”

 

Even the Guide clicked her tongue, but Count Randy bravely approached the fountain to examine the blood.

 

“It’s human blood.”

 

“Are you a vampire, Count? You can tell just by looking?”

 

“Of course not. I used a reagent that distinguishes between human, monster, and animal blood.”

 

Count Randy crossed his arms and muttered.

 

“Human blood is used a lot in alchemical ingredients. If this weren’t an anomaly, it would have been convenient for material procurement. Somewhat disappointing.”

 

“Eek.”

 

When Olive distanced herself from him, Count Randy grumbled.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? Wouldn’t this be a useful fountain since it could provide a stable supply of blood without harming anyone?”

 

It would be great if he could collect plenty of blood from the blood fountain, but the blood disappears once they open the door and leave.

 

Count Randy walked toward the door with regret.

 

The party members followed the alchemist with faces showing they had mentally distanced themselves half a step from Count Randy.

 

And so they arrived at Plaza 5.

 

Here too, the party quickly discovered something different from the original Plaza 10.

 

The problem was the type of difference.

 

“Isn’t that a statue of the Labyrinth God?”

 

An ugly statue with 2-head-tall proportions. The only evidence that it could be recognized as a sculpture was the roughly drawn eyes on the face.

 

It was a statue of the Labyrinth God like those on the 1st and 13th floors of Heuji’s Labyrinth.

 

“Since something that wasn’t there before appeared, isn’t it an anomaly?”

 

“But don’t statue positions change? The statue position had changed on the 13th floor.”

 

“I don’t know about other things, but since it’s specifically a statue that appeared, I’m not sure~”

 

Olive scratched the back of her head, genuinely puzzled.

 

“Usually that unlucky statue— I mean! This noble statue sometimes appears and disappears, and its position changes around too.”

 

The Guide shared new labyrinth information with the party.

 

‘I see. Statues can move locations or disappear even when they were there before. No wonder Olive and Ying didn’t worry about the statue’s position changing on the 13th floor.’

 

The statue’s location information wasn’t important.

 

What was important was one thing.

 

‘Is this a divine message telling me to save?’

 

The statue appeared at Plaza 5, exactly halfway between Plaza 10 and Plaza 1.

 

Serena wondered if this was the god’s intention suggesting it would be good to save here.

 

‘I did regret it to death for not saving on the 13th floor.’

 

Back then, the Princess had resolved to update her return point immediately upon seeing any statue in the future, to save unconditionally without question.

 

But the characteristics of the 7th floor prevented the Princess from acting.

 

‘But this is a floor where we find changes. A statue that wasn’t there suddenly appeared—is this an anomaly or not?’

 

Everyone seemed to have similar concerns as Serena, wearing puzzled expressions.

 

Among the hesitating party members, the Guide’s cheerful voice rang out.

 

“What’s there to worry about? This is a labyrinth, so a Labyrinth God statue could suddenly appear. Let’s ignore this and look for real anomalies.”

 

Olive was impressed by her own words.

 

“Hmm~ That’s logical. Traveling with educated people makes me feel smarter too!”

 

“Olive’s words make sense, so let’s look for other anomalies first.”

 

“Yes, understood.”

 

The party members scattered to their assigned areas, but the Princess couldn’t leave the statue.

 

To be or not to be.

 

If the prince in that famous story that even Serena knew had agonized over “to be or not to be,” then the greatest dilemma for Serena, reincarnated as a princess, was exactly this.

 

To save or not to save.

 

‘What are you hesitating for, Serena? Did you forget all that suffering and regret? When you see a statue, always save.’

 

Serena steeled her resolve and reached out to touch the statue, then frowned.

 

It might have been her imagination, but the statue’s eyes seemed duller than usual.

 

‘Could it be?’

 

The Princess quickly closed her eyes and pressed acupressure points good for eye health.

 

Even when she looked again with slightly clearer eyes, it was the same.

 

Serena pointed at the statue and shouted.

 

“This is fake!”

 

“The statue is fake?”

 

“The eye color isn’t vivid crimson! It’s a bit lighter! The Labyrinth God has vivid crimson eyes that you can never forget once you see them!”

 

The eye color painted on the stone statue was lighter than crimson, closer to orange.

 

Fortunately, there was a comparison available, and party members who compared the Princess’s and the statue’s eye colors began nodding one by one.

 

“The eye color is definitely different!”

 

“The one in the lobby was darker.”

 

“This one is similar to the Princess’s eyes.”

 

What they thought was a statue turned out to be fake. So what was the conclusion?

 

“It’s an anomaly! Everyone forward!”

 

On the 25th floor, when you discover an anomaly, you must advance.

 

The party went straight ahead, opened the door in the wall that was only visible up close, entered the room, and opened the next door.

 

A sign reading “4th Square” greeted the party.

 

“Wow~ Now they’re even using gods to deceive. Ruthless, truly ruthless.”

 

“We almost fell for it.”

 

“As expected of the Princess! Befitting an apostle chosen by the Labyrinth God, you immediately recognized the fake statue!”

 

‘It was just a lucky guess.’

 

She had only discovered it by chance while agonizing over whether to save or not.

 

But since there was no harm in Ralph’s misunderstanding, she didn’t correct him and let it be.

 

While everyone else was pleased and thought nothing of it, Serena alone trembled in fear.

 

‘What would have happened if I touched the fake statue? What if it wasn’t just an anomaly but a trap that erases your save data?’

 

From now on, even when discovering a statue, she should check the eye color instead of saving immediately.

 

The Princess established a new guideline.

—————
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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