Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 258

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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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258. Heuji’s Labyrinth 11th Floor (2)

Assassin Moles and Miner Lizardmen constantly blocked the expedition team’s path.

The Assassin Moles used their racial characteristics to stealthily approach and target the Magic Princess, Alchemist, and Priest at the center of the party.

They emerged from various locations. Sometimes they burst out from the floor in the traditional manner, while other times they ambushed from walls or the ceiling.

Fortunately, the Guide kept her promise to never be fooled again and warned of the moles’ approach in advance.

However, there were times when even Olive’s keen senses failed to detect the moles.

Screech-!

This happened when the Assassin Moles didn’t approach the party, but waited for the party to come to them before ambushing.

Two Assassin Moles that had been lying in ambush targeted the mage and priest protected at the center of the party. The moles’ claws couldn’t reach them and struck a transparent mana barrier.

The mana barrier couldn’t completely block the front-pawed moles’ attack. The moles’ claws quickly tore through the mana barrier.

However, the brief time the mana barrier bought was enough for Ralph and Count Alpha. The two knights enlarged their shields to block the narrow tunnel and protect the mage, priest, and alchemist from the moles.

The Archer shot bolts to attack the moles. Serena also cast her most confident ice arrow magic, hitting the moles’ heads.

Squeak, squeak squeak.

The Assassin Moles attacked the magic shields with their front paws. The magic shields blocked the sharp front paw attacks. When the two knights didn’t budge and arrows, magic, and daggers flew from behind the knights, the moles twitched their elongated snouts and suddenly began digging into the floor.

The tunnel floor made of solid stone was quickly hollowed out without loud noise or trembling.

“They’re escaping! Catch them before they get away!”

“Hold your breath for a moment!”

The Alchemist squeezed his hand through a gap in the shields and sprinkled something. When what the Alchemist sprinkled touched the Assassin Moles, something amazing happened.

The labyrinth moles that had been digging soil so fast their front paws left afterimages stopped working and collapsed. The fallen Assassin Moles rubbed their noses with their front paws and couldn’t regain their senses.

“Now’s the time!”

The knights’ swords and axes, which had focused on defense rather than attack due to the narrow tunnel, fell upon the labyrinth moles. The hole the moles had dug to escape became their grave.

“Count, what did you spray? Huh? A new attack potion?”

The Guide, who had been speaking, scrunched up her face. Her sense of smell, which was as keen as her hearing if not better, caught a terrible odor.

“Ugh. What is this smell? Ugh.”

“Whoop!”

“Hmm.”

Ralph and Count Alpha also smelled the stench and quickly held their breath.

‘What is this smell? This is still the 6th layer, am I having hallucinations of being on the 11th floor?’

Serena also quickly distanced herself from the slowly approaching stench. The Effort Priest also hurriedly ran away and Ying quietly covered her nose.

“It’s fermented durian water. Since moles are animals with sensitive smell, I thought it might work on Assassin Moles too, so I sprayed it.”

The Alchemist, who was the only one who knew what the substance was, answered in a nasal voice while holding his breath. Count Randy smiled proudly.

“Among wild animals, there are species that prefer the smell of durian, so I wasn’t sure if it would work, but fortunately it seems to work on moles.”

“Oh my~ All the fur is ruined.”

If they removed the durian smell, the soft and dense fur that was the advantage of mole pelts would all be damaged.

Olive clicked her tongue while dismembering the mole carcasses and led the party to escape from the scene of the biochemical disaster.

Since there was no wind in the tunnel, the stagnant air moved along with the party’s movement. The expedition team could only escape the rotten durian smell after walking for quite a while.

“I thought I was going to die!”

“Inhale! Exhale~ Inhale! Exhale~”

“Hehe, Bindo made an effort to hold his breath.”

People eagerly breathed in the tunnel air, which wasn’t very clean but was better than the durian smell. Seeing this, Count Randy cautiously gauged the mood.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Huh. If they had escaped, they would have brought friends back. It was right to catch them there. Huh.”

Count Randy’s face returned to a smile at Olive’s praise.

Strangely, from then on, the frequency of Assassin Mole appearances dropped dramatically. Serena speculated on the reason in her own way.

‘Are they avoiding us because we’re dirty?’

Not because they’re afraid of poop, but because they’re avoiding it for being dirty. Maybe the Assassin Moles were also avoiding attacking the foul-smelling party rather than confronting them?

“Sniff sniff.”

It wasn’t just Serena who thought this way, as everyone occasionally checked their own body odor.

Regardless of being concerned about the smell, the reduction in battles was a good thing. The tunnels on the 11th floor were sized for Miner Lizardmen, so most sections made it difficult for the two knights to swing their weapons.

Narrow tunnels with low ceilings. It would have been troublesome if the Miner Lizardmen had come with spears to attack.

Fortunately, the Miner Lizardmen only carried equipment befitting miners. The various gem rough stones and metal ingots that came from the Miner Lizardmen’s pouches became a joy for the Guide and Alchemist.

“Uhahaha, the pouches are bursting! The path may be dirty, but the rewards are certain!”

According to the experienced labyrinth adventurer, mine-type layers had disgustingly complex and twisted paths, but in return had many treasure chests and generous rewards.

Indeed, after just a few battles with Miner Lizardmen, the party’s pouches became heavy. Count Randy examined the places where the Miner Lizardmen had been mining and his eyes sparkled.

“To be able to mine various minerals in one place. Truly a mystery of the labyrinth.”

To Serena, who had grown up seeing only finished gems, they all looked like stones, but the Alchemist’s eyes seemed to see something different.

“Semi-precious stones are scattered everywhere, so only collect the valuable ones.”

The party moved forward, dropping semi-precious rough stones and easily obtainable metals instead of white pebbles and bread crumbs.

Crossroads appeared after just a short walk.

Olive handed her pouch, which seemed about to tear from weight, to Ralph and checked the path. The Guide pointed out the crossroads to the group.

“Now, everyone see ahead? You can see three branching paths, right? Huh?”

Serena doubted her ears when she heard the Guide’s words.

‘Three branches? But there are four?’

Serena blinked hard just in case and looked again. One, two, three, four. It was definitely four branching paths.

But everyone else seemed calm, as if they saw three branches like Olive said.

“Yes.”

‘Are they all seeing hallucinations? Or is it a hidden path that only my eyes can see?’

Serena, who had become frightened, was about to speak the truth she saw when the Archer slowly shook her head.

‘Does Ying also see four branching paths?’

Having a colleague who saw the same thing made her no longer afraid. Serena calmly waited for Olive to finish speaking.

“But what’s this? My goodness! When I got close to this wall and looked carefully, what I thought was a shadow was actually a path? They deliberately installed lighting here to hide it.”

‘So that’s what it was?’

Fortunately, neither Olive nor the party members had fallen for hallucinations. The deception using light and shadow simply didn’t work on the Princess and the Priest of Darkness, who could see well in the dark thanks to the blessing of darkness.

“My entrance was a bit late, so the explanation was a tiiiny bit delayed! But it’s a common trick, so you’d be foolish to fall for it!”

After finishing her explanation, the Guide stealthily walked over and pointed to the hidden crossroads. At Olive’s gesture, Ralph rushed toward the concealed path and swung his sword. Intense light burst from the knight’s sword.

Kieek!

The Miner Lizardmen who had been targeting the party from behind a wall dug at a clever angle cried out in agony from the strong light. The Imperial Knight’s heavy axe separated the Lizardman’s upper and lower body.

“Like this. Since guys who use such tricks are hiding, you’d be foolish to fall for the same thing!”

“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”

While Olive happily looted the Lizardman’s pouch, dirt dust fell from the ceiling again. Thinking it might be the Assassin Moles that had been quiet, Serena cast another layer of mana barrier around herself, the Alchemist, and the Priest.

‘I’ve been feeling this since I first cast the mana barrier, but magic casting has become strangely easier.’

Since the first attack by the Assassin Moles, Serena had been continuously maintaining the mana barrier. Even though she had learned it through harsh scolding from the Old Man, it was arduous work requiring mental concentration, but strangely maintaining the magic was easy.

“Hehehe, good. Very good indeed. Make an effort.”

The only reason she could guess was the Effort Priest beside her who kept talking about effort.

‘Has he been continuously casting buffs?’

Serena asked the Priest out of slight anxiety.

“The miracle you’re casting now doesn’t have aftereffects, right?”

“Hehehe, of course. The divine magic bestowed upon the Fire Knight was special.”

The Princess inwardly sighed in relief.

“Does the Princess also need special blessing?”

“No. I don’t need it.”

“A commendable attitude, hehehe.”

Meanwhile, Olive stood on her tiptoes to feel around the ceiling, then stabbed it with her dagger.

With a cute sound like a small bird chirping “peep,” dirt crumbled down along with something heavy that fell.

Pee, pee.

The creature chirping cutely like a small bird was a worm about the size of Serena’s arm. Serena was horrified by the worm’s disgusting appearance and movement that would appear in nightmares.

‘It’s an earth dragon!’

A worm of that size deserved to have “dragon” attached to it as proper courtesy. Unlike the Princess who found the worm disgusting, the Guide and Alchemist cheered.

“Yes! A Labyrinth Worm!”

“Olive! Quickly kill it and process it!”

“Is it a useful monster?”

After the mole, now a worm. Ralph, who came from a farming background, looked puzzled as he watched people get excited over worms that were scattered all over the fields back home.

Olive, who had instantly severed the worm’s head, grinned wickedly as she cut through the worm’s body that continued writhing even after being separated.

“Don’t you dare compare a Labyrinth Worm to a regular worm! This one actually has!”

“Earth Dragon Stones come out!”

Earth Dragon Stone. One of the main ingredients for high-grade antidotes. It had many other uses besides antidotes.

The plump, long body of the Labyrinth Worm kept wriggling whether it was cut horizontally or vertically.

Olive fumbled around inside the halved worm and picked up a small stone. At first glance, it looked like candy rolled in sand that someone had stepped on.

“I call it worm poop.”

“It’s an Earth Dragon Stone! Worm poop, how could you say such a thing.”

The alchemist glared at the labyrinth adventurer who called precious alchemical materials poop. Count Randy carefully washed the Earth Dragon Stone clean, wrapped it preciously, and put it in his subspace bag.

Regardless of the party continuously getting richer, their necks and backs were becoming increasingly hunched.

Among the guide’s enthusiastic labyrinth stories, there was one labyrinth where they had to crawl for half the journey, so the guide brought welcome news to the Princess who could only massage her back without making any groaning sounds.

“There’s a large chamber ahead.”

“Lady Serena, let’s rest there for a moment.”

Count Randy, who had been enduring back and neck pain just like Serena, brightened up. Count Alpha’s face, who was suffering the most due to his tall height, also showed signs of relief.

But Olive wagged her index finger and clicked her tongue softly.

“Listen to the end. That place is crawling with mining Lizardmen. Fortunately, they’re all busy digging stones, so we’ll have to sneak past them.”

‘That’s too dangerous.’

That was the thought that came to mind as soon as she heard Olive’s words. Everyone seemed to think similarly as their faces darkened. But no one asked if there was another route.

They believed that there was a reason why the guide, who preferred comfortable and easy paths, had chosen a dangerous route. It was trust built through conquering labyrinths together.

“Heh heh heh.”

The newcomer Bald Priest seemed to trust Olive’s efforts.

“Since no one’s objecting, I’m feeling good. I’ll still explain though. Why we have to go through here. There’s no other path besides this one.”

Olive spread out the magic map and pointed to the crossroads the group had passed.

“Even if we had chosen a different path here, it probably would have led to that chamber eventually. That place seems to be one of the main mining sites.”

“If we get caught while sneaking past, it’ll be more dangerous. How about we just kill them all and pass through?”

“There are roughly over 40 of them.”

Everyone made serious expressions at the unexpectedly large number.

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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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