Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 214

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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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214. The Result of Choice

“Huff, huff. That startled me.”

The Young Knight, who had gained practical experience from the 1st to 30th floors of the Labyrinth, moved his body according to the experience and training he had accumulated even when his mind went blank from surprise.

Olive, Ying, and Count Alpha were also seasoned warriors, and they had received blessings that unconditionally added flame attribute attacks to physical attacks, so the battle ended in victory for the 1st Group conquest team.

However, the overall mental exhaustion was significant.

The Party, who were too shocked to say anything, heard another ominous sound in their ears.

Clank. Scrape.

The closed bars opened. The sound of bipedal creatures stepping on sand could be heard.

Olive gripped her dagger properly with a serious face devoid of any smile.

“They’re coming again! Get ready!”

This opponent was one of the battle options from the third crossroads.

‘No way?’

The Princess’s thoughts, which always flowed in negative directions, presented an ominous prediction.

Serena, reflecting on how she had just stood there awkwardly holding only her staff after being startled by the previous battle, shouted to the Party.

“Everyone conserve your stamina! We might have to fight 7 more times!”

“Yes? Understood!”

“Waaah! So it really is that!”

Ralph didn’t understand the Princess’s words, but he followed the order.

Olive, seeing the second goblin party, made a groaning sound as if she had inwardly suspected it.

“I’ll take care of all the warriors. Olive and Ying, please handle the goblins in the rear.”

Count Alpha swung his heavy axe at two bulked-up Goblin Champions. The Goblin Champions died from the fire axe without any benefit from their muscle training.

The Archer’s arrow and the Guide’s dagger hit the neck of a Goblin Shaman who was chanting spells.

“Haah! Hiyah!”

Ralph earnestly put spirit into his attacks while faithfully pursuing a Goblin Archer and succeeded in slashing its belly.

“Huff, huff.”

Although the Party was superior in overall strength, Ralph’s breathing became rough as if the three consecutive battles were burdensome.

“Knight, if it’s too hard, fall back. Another one’s coming.”

“Leave it to me. What I desire is the hot flames that steal away fighting spirit!”

Serena cast Flame Explosion at the center of the monster group the moment the bars opened.

Knowing it would be enhanced by the blessing, she adjusted the power to be weaker than before.

Though the power was reduced, fire was still fire. The flames that erupted in the middle of the goblin party swallowed the Shaman and Archer in the rear and burned the Goblin Champion’s back black.

The goblin rolled around on the sand in pain with its body on fire. Ralph hurried to finish off the goblin, but Olive stopped him.

“Knight, wait! It seems like the door opens when we kill them all, so let’s catch our breath.”

A Goblin Shaman would need to be finished off since it could cast curses, but what survived was the Goblin Champion that had been at the front. Serena also caught her breath and agreed with Olive’s opinion.

Kieeeek.

Ralph looked back and forth between the goblin suffering from third-degree burns all over its body and the Party breathing roughly, then sheathed his sword with a grim expression.

“Damn. What kind of bolt from the blue is this.”

Serena listened to Olive grumbling while drinking water and taking a deep breath.

The smell of burnt monster flesh hit her brain directly through her nose.

It was a stench she didn’t want to smell, different in meaning from the 6th Layer’s sewer.

“Lady Serena. Please conserve your mana. I’ll use an attack potion next time.”

The estimated remaining battles were 6 times. Serena gauged her remaining mana and shook her head.

“No. The Count’s potions are useful, so it’s better to save them more. I still have the blessing, so my mana is sufficient.”

“Are we really fighting consecutive battles with the monsters we passed by at the crossroads?”

Count Alpha calmly assessed the situation while wiping cold sweat. Ralph opened his mouth as if he realized something after hearing those words.

“Count Alpha’s guess is correct. Fortunately, it seems like only one representative appears instead of all the monsters that were at the crossroads.”

If they had to fight all the monsters that were at the crossroads, what would 10 consecutive battles be? It would have exceeded 20 consecutive battles.

“So this was a layer where we shouldn’t have unconditionally chosen only easy paths with rewards, but should have chosen battles to reduce the monsters we’d face in the Leader’s Chamber.”

Count Randy perfectly grasped the characteristic of the 9th Layer.

The Guide, who had shouted “Always the easy path!” when there were easy and difficult paths and had chosen only treasure chest paths, hung her head low.

“I’m really sorry. I expected the battles to be somewhat difficult, but I never imagined 10 consecutive battles.”

Olive was ready to kneel if the Party demanded it, showing her remorse.

Her plain and sincere apology without strange jokes or shabby excuses touched everyone’s hearts.

Serena assessed the Party’s mood and forgave the Guide on everyone’s behalf.

“It’s fine. I also thought like you that the battles would only become slightly more difficult, and didn’t expect them to come out this dirty.”

’10 consecutive battles, seriously? You really die if you don’t know.’

It was fortunate that a 4-star Knight who was better at catching monsters than people had been added. Without Count Alpha, the Party might have been completely wiped out.

‘The treasure chest rewards weren’t even that great. It might have been better to just fight.’

Compared to opening treasure chests 10 times, the rewards the Party obtained were unsatisfactory.

The decorative knot Neet gave might have had Luck +5 or something attached, but since this was reality, there was no such thing, and only normal or high-grade treasure chests kept appearing.

Olive clung to the bars and cried pitifully every time she saw a rare-grade treasure chest blocked by bars.

‘Was opening only rare chests and choosing battles the ideal strategy?’

But when choosing at crossroads, you couldn’t know the treasure chest grades.

Rather than aiming for the slim chance of hitting it big with random rewards, it would be better strategy to steadily fight battles and reduce the number of monsters to face in the Leader’s Chamber.

‘Fighting at crossroads also makes resting more comfortable.’

At least at crossroads, you could rest comfortably after fighting once.

They made a mistake on the 31st Floor, but let’s not make mistakes on the 32nd Floor. Serena was earnestly devising ideal strategy when she heard the chilling sound of metal moving.

Scrape.

“The door is opening!”

The closed bars rose upward. They were about to release monsters.

“This can’t be! The goblin is still alive?”

The burned goblin was still letting out painful groans on the sand.

If monsters were being additionally deployed while the previous monster was still alive, there was only one conclusion.

“Everyone prepare! There’s a time limit!”

After a certain time passes, the next enemy appears whether the battle has ended or not.

“Aaaaah! That’s dirty! Give us time to rest!”

Olive shouted what Serena wanted to say and suddenly disappeared.

The disappeared Guide appeared in front of the bars. The dagger the Guide had borrowed from the Archer showed off its chilling sharpness, leaving thin lines on the necks of five goblins.

The thin lines opened and green blood different from humans spurted out.

Goblins collapsed where the green blood stained the white sand a sickening green color.

“Waaaah! Let me rest!”

Olive made crying sounds while hiding her body against the wall where the bars opened.

The goblins, unaware that an assassin was hiding, came out in formation and instantly lost their Shaman and Archer.

The flustered Champion lost its head to Count Alpha’s axe and was pierced by Ralph’s sword before it could let out a battle cry.

“Sob sob. I hate fighting.”

“For someone who says that, you fight well.”

“Sob sob. Next is 6.”

“Take cover.”

Perhaps stimulated by Olive’s performance, Ying nocked 3 arrows on her bow and drew the string.

Would there be a chance to see the Triple Shot that had flown away helplessly in the Labyrinth Chicken’s wing flapping?

Serena blinked her single eye as the arrows rose high enough to reach the sky beyond the arena.

Though they weren’t magic arrows, thanks to the Book-Eating Fox’s blessing, they caught fire and the arrows that soared high changed direction downward.

The fire arrows fell like meteors onto the heads of three goblins that had just entered the arena.

It was a perfect prediction shot that even accounted for the movement path of goblins trying to emerge, blocked by the pile of goblin corpses in front of the door.

“That’s amazing!”

Ralph, moved by the Archer’s skill, found strength and crossed swords with a Goblin Champion.

Ralph’s sword stabbed through a gap in the Goblin Champion’s plate armor. The Goblin Champion, stabbed in the side, coughed up blood and collapsed.

Count Alpha, who faced two Goblin Champions simultaneously, defeated both at around the same time as Ralph.

“Phew.”

The experienced knight’s breathing had become rough.

But the labyrinth, as if it didn’t care about the party’s fatigue, sent out the next batter.

Clank.

The bars opened mercilessly. This time, all the goblins that appeared had the same profession.

Goblin Thieves holding daggers in reverse grip scattered in all directions as soon as they stepped on the green-tinted sand.

Though Olive managed to catch one with a surprise attack, four of them shot toward the Princess, Alchemist, and Archer like arrows.

While they didn’t completely disappear from sight like Olive, the Goblin Thieves were very agile.

Moreover, the Knight who should have been protecting the Princess and Alchemist was out of formation due to consecutive battles.

By the time I saw the Goblin Archer’s feet kick off the sand, it had already reached right in front of Serena.

‘Can’t dodge!’

“Gah!”

I heard the sound of Count Randy beside me meeting his end.

Ying wrapped around Serena, ignoring the Goblin Thief’s dagger attacking her, but it was already too late.

Before the Archer’s tall frame could block Serena, the goblin’s dagger pierced Serena’s throat.

‘This hurts more than Zero Express.’

Serena narrowed her eyes while caressing her throat, which hurt more than when she asked Ying for favors.

The dreamlike space where she met the Minotaur God just before post-death regression welcomed her.

‘It’s been a while.’

Though she wasn’t certain due to all the events in the labyrinth, her most recent death was when she used Zero Express to check if treasure chest rewards were random and got scolded by the Minotaur God.

From Alligator Rius, the ruler of the sewers, to Maws and Labyrinth Books. There were also Gem Books that had become twice as difficult due to Book-Eating Foxes.

She had nearly died several times, but somehow managed to survive each time.

‘Didn’t I last almost a month?’

To survive a month while conquering a 10th-level labyrinth. Serena felt proud and pleased with herself as she asked the god with crimson eyes.

“Is there no bonus for living long?”

“Time is an ambiguous concept in labyrinths. The criteria are unclear, making it difficult to apply.”

She could sense regret in the god’s gentle voice. The Minotaur God seemed to wish for Serena to live as long as possible while conquering the labyrinth.

‘If that’s the case, give me invincibility instead of regression.’

Such trivial thoughts ended there. Since the time for private audience with the god was very short, the Princess briefly and simply stated her real business.

“Is it true that Richard wished for the appearance of a 10th-level labyrinth?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then was the labyrinth’s creation in Heuji City the will of the heavenly, great one?”

Serena felt somewhat wronged. Heuji City wasn’t a corrupt city like those in religious myths from her past life, but an ordinary city living well – so why did a labyrinth have to appear and turn the city into ruins?

‘It wasn’t because it happened to be right in front of Richard, was it?’

Reading the Princess’s thoughts, the Minotaur God answered.

“I don’t know where labyrinths will be created until just before it happens. Especially since this is the first 10th-level labyrinth, it took time to grant the wish.”

A Minotaur God who doesn’t know where labyrinths are created?

It was an absurd excuse, but Serena intuitively realized.

What the Minotaur God said was the truth.

‘Labyrinths are mysterious places where time and space are tangled. So even the god who governs labyrinths can’t sense the location until before the labyrinth is created?’

It was almost time to wake from the dream. Serena hurriedly threw out an additional question.

“If I may dare to speculate, the wishes that can be made change according to the labyrinth’s grade. Richard’s desired wish was so grand that it couldn’t be fulfilled even with an 8th-level labyrinth, so Richard wished for the appearance of a 10th-level labyrinth.”

“That’s right.”

“If my imperfect memory is correct, the great labyrinth once said that Richard’s wish was my death. As a lowly being of the earth, I cannot combine these two stories. I earnestly beseech you, please bestow your heavenly, great wisdom.”

‘Quickly, quickly!’

Her consciousness was becoming hazy. It felt like she would wake from the dream at any moment.

The Minotaur God, knowing all of Serena’s thoughts, leisurely took his time before opening his mouth just before Serena was about to open her eyes.

“That child wishes for everyone’s death.”

The Princess opened her eyes. The Number Siblings were laughing joyfully as they unwrapped their bundle of mushrooms.

“We picked lots of mushrooms! It’s a mushroom feast!”

“Woong!”

“I hope everyone enjoys eating them!”

A boy and girl laughing and chattering not from desire for delicacies, but from the joy of being able to eat mushrooms to their fill.

Count Randy, who stepped forward since Serena didn’t, warning that carelessly picking mushrooms was dangerous and advising that these mushrooms should only be eaten raw.

People watching and each adding their own comments.

‘It’s not just me he wants to kill. Everyone… He wishes for all to die?’

What kind of spiteful mentality was that?

The Princess held her head at words she absolutely couldn’t understand.

‘Don’t tell me this guy is trying to wish for human extinction or world destruction?’

Doesn’t it sometimes appear in fiction?

Life is suffering. So I’ll free everyone from suffering through death!

That kind of nonsense spouting bastard.

‘Richard was that type?’

The Princess’s orange eyes rolled around, unable to find their center.

‘Richard aside, what about the Minotaur God? He seems ready to grant the wish if Richard conquers the labyrinth. Can’t the god just not grant the wish? What are the other heavenly gods doing? Ah!’

At the sudden realization, Serena slapped her mental knee.

‘That’s why the gods sent oracles to the priests!’

I wondered why they sent group oracles – the great heavenly ones had somewhat anticipated this situation.

‘Then why didn’t they tell us in advance! If we killed Richard before the labyrinth appeared, it would be over!’

No matter how legendary a Sword Master he was, he couldn’t face all of Heuji’s forces.

Unable to voice her complaints, Serena screamed internally when an uncooked red-spotted mushroom appeared before her.

“Lady Serena. It’s delicious!”

Heuji Jeolmi, who always offered anything delicious and good to his master first, presented the mushroom with a brightly smiling face.

Philia was beautiful from every angle. Seeing the face of her friend who had been with her for half a lifetime and always renewed her beauty brought peace to Serena’s heart.

Serena accepted and ate the mushroom. The mushroom was fragrant and delicious. As she ate while admiring the beauty, her throbbing headache subsided.

“Want to sleep together tonight?”

“Really? I’d love to!”

Several people who saw Heuji Jeolmi’s beauty as she smiled as if she owned the world fell under the status ailment of charm and dropped the mushrooms they were eating.

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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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