Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 259

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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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259. Burial

Forty Lizardmen. Common sense dictated they should retreat without fighting. But they absolutely had to pass through that cavern.

Count Alpha, who had been the commander of the monster subjugation unit, was the first to voice his opinion.

“How about waiting until the monsters leave the cavern?”

It wasn’t a bad idea. If this weren’t a labyrinth.

“If they were monsters outside the labyrinth, that’d be fine~ But this is a labyrinth, so they don’t eat or sleep and just endure.”

Those were fake monsters made for the labyrinth, so they didn’t need to eat. The waiting party would give up first.

Serena gripped her magic staff properly.

“How about blinding the Lizardmen with light explosion magic and then moving immediately? If we don’t fight and hurry, wouldn’t that be fine?”

Both the guide and the Imperial Knight wore skeptical expressions.

“There are too many monsters. If some of them spot us, it’ll be dangerous.”

“We’ll also leave traces of our passage. They’ll chase us as soon as their sight returns.”

Ralph clenched both fists tightly.

“How about wiping them out with the Princess’s magic? We could reduce their numbers with powerful magic and throw them into chaos.”

In a game, this would be the standard strategy. But unfortunately, in reality, especially in an environment like the 11th layer, it couldn’t be used.

“No, it’s dangerous. The tunnel will collapse.”

“The tunnel can collapse even in a labyrinth?”

“The probability is fifty-fifty, but you won’t know until it collapses. If it does collapse, we’re screwed, so going safely is best.”

‘In a game, it wouldn’t collapse.’

In games, tunnels only collapse when the story progresses. Serena looked at Count Randy, the party’s intellectual, with genuine regret.

Count Randy seemed to want to meet his lord’s expectations and was lost in thought, earnestly rubbing his chin. Thinking she might be putting too much burden on the Count, Serena looked at someone else.

“Hehe.”

The priest who offered no opinions while laughing good-naturedly, as if watching others work hard was pleasant.

‘Usually in situations like this, isn’t it standard for the new party member to break through the blocked obstacle?’

Looking at the bald priest with faint hope, the bald priest only smiled brightly. He seemed delighted to watch the young people clutch their heads in anguish.

“Poison… No. The cavern is too wide. Fire… No. We’d be in danger too. Acid? There are too many…”

The alchemist rummaged through his spatial bag, pondering ways to clear a path. Serena was also checking her list of usable spells when dirt fell from the ceiling again.

‘Another worm?’

Labyrinth Worms were said to attack by spitting stones. As Serena grabbed her magic staff and moved away from where the dirt was falling, the entire tunnel suddenly shook.

Olive’s face contorted as she urgently shouted.

“Everyone run to the cavern!”

The guide’s expression was ominous. The expedition team put aside their worries about fighting forty Lizardmen and ran toward the cavern.

‘What? What is it?’

The entire tunnel shook as dirt and stones poured down from the ceiling like rain. The falling stones and dirt hit the magic barrier and dropped, obscuring Serena’s vision.

The two knights couldn’t pick up speed in the narrow tunnel and had to keep stopping. Count Alpha, whose large frame and armor completely blocked the path, lay down flat to clear the way for the Princess.

“Your Highness! Please hurry!”

Ralph saw this and lay down as well. Serena bent her waist and knees and stepped over the two knights to advance. Olive extended her hand, perhaps intending to grab the slow Princess and run.

Serena took Olive’s hand. Without even a moment to straighten her bent waist, the guide sprinted.

Looking back to see if the companions behind were safe was a luxury. As the cavern drew near, they could see a group of Lizardmen fleeing in panic just like the expedition team.

“Princess, maintain your magic barrier at full strength and run!”

Olive ignored the Lizardmen and chose the path that looked most structurally sound among the many paths in the cavern.

Several Lizardmen who had been in confusion from the vibrations shaking the entire tunnel saw Olive and Serena and charged at them.

Olive suddenly found herself blocking the Lizardmen. In the midst of the urgent and chaotic situation, Serena was about to cast her most confident magic when the tunnel shook again.

Both humans and Lizardmen lost their balance and either fell or crashed into walls. Olive managed to keep her balance and was checking on Serena’s safety when she was horrified.

“Princess, get away!”

She had judged it relatively safe because the walls and ceiling were massive rocks with wooden pillars supporting the ceiling, but that wasn’t the case.

The massive rock had cracked from the recent vibration. Part of the cracked rock was precariously fixed to the ceiling, looking like it would fall at any moment.

The Princess’s head was right under that stone. Hearing Olive’s warning and looking up, the Princess’s single eye filled with horror.

Thud!

The stone fell before Serena could dodge. Serena braced for the coming impact and squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them upon hearing an unfamiliar sound.

The stone had crashed nearby rather than on Serena’s head. It had bounced off after hitting the magic barrier.

Both Serena and Olive felt relief simultaneously.

Crack.

Then an ominous sound came from the wooden pillar supporting the ceiling. That sound was similar to thunder, making the Princess’s heart sink.

The startled guide reached out her hand, but it was too late.

The tunnel ceiling collapsed, and broken rocks poured down on the guide and Princess.

***

Rumble. Boom. Grumble.

‘Is it going to rain heavily?’

The sky’s condition has been ominous since morning. The purple-haired girl frowned at the low, heavy dark clouds.

She wished it would just rain refreshingly, but no rain fell and only the humidity increased, making her skin sticky and unpleasant.

‘What scenery is there to look down at on a day like this?’

Climbing the stairs of the highest tower in the Royal Palace was hot and humid.

The girl couldn’t bear the rising discomfort despite people being around and clicked her tongue.

“How is the Crown Princess’s condition?”

“Today she has been lucid continuously since coughing this morning. She even joked with her maids.”

“Really?”

At the news that her mother was in good spirits, hope and expectation that the girl thought were dead stirred within her. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

The girl tried to trample the budding hope herself, but strangely, that was difficult today.

‘This is all because of Countess Nex. She’s too good at flattery.’

Calling the girl a genius of the century, saying she would rewrite the kingdom’s magical history. Her magic tutor’s shameless flattery had inflated the girl’s ego.

The girl took deep breaths, trying to deflate her inflated ego.

‘Will mother praise me?’

When the girl creates ice with magic, everyone claps their hands in joy.

Though she had never once been embraced by her mother, whether from blood ties or lingering attachment from her previous life, the girl couldn’t give up on her mother.

Like her sibling, she wanted to receive praise from her mother. Like her sibling, she wanted to be embraced by her mother. Like her sibling, she wanted to receive her mother’s attention and love, and even if it was the violence of a madwoman who had lost her reason, she wanted just once to receive a gaze that wasn’t filled with terror.

The girl’s mother regained her reason on days with thunder and lightning. Since mother was in good spirits, perhaps today they could have a normal conversation. If her sibling acted as a bridge, she might even hear a word of praise.

Rumble.

The sound that started in the sky reached the ground. The girl’s heart pounded helplessly. Like someone falling in first love, harboring baseless hope, the girl opened the heavy door with her own hands.

She came face to face with her mother strangling her sibling.

The wide-open window rattled dangerously in the fierce wind, and the curtains fluttered as if they would tear. The light flashing outside the window concealed the unbelievable scene, but it wasn’t eternal.

“Gah, sa, save me…”

“Die! Let’s die, Seraph! Before those terrifying orange-eyed monsters kill you and me, let’s die!”

“Sister. Save me, gah.”

The girl lost her reason and rushed at her mother and sibling. When the girl came to her senses, her sibling was collapsed on the floor breathing weakly, and her mother was half-hanging over the window.

The traces of their struggle were clearly visible on both the girl’s and mother’s bodies.

People who came running after hearing the girl’s scream took care of the collapsed sibling.

The noblewoman with purple hair wet from rain was terrified and strangled herself.

“What, what have I done? Trying to kill Seraph!”

“Mother. Seraph is fine. So please come down slowly.”

“I can’t anymore. I can’t bear it anymore.”

“Mother. You’re just excited right now. You’ll be fine once you calm down. So please.”

“I didn’t want to become Crown Princess. Neither Nana nor Kipan were suited for that. If only you hadn’t existed, it would have been fine. If only you hadn’t been born with orange eyes, neither Kipan nor I would have been trapped in the Royal Palace!”

It was the resentment she had always heard since the girl was born. Excited from witnessing the terrible scene, the girl responded to her mother’s resentment for the first time.

“I didn’t choose to be born like this! Can’t you act like a mother for once?”

The girl with orange eyes, a regular feature of nightmares, glared at her. Crown Princess Melang’s sick mind couldn’t bear her daughter’s gaze.

“You’re right. If I’m a parent, I should act like one. But I almost killed Seraph. That child I loved so much. With my own hands! Ah, I can’t bear it anymore! I can’t breathe staying here.”

The noblewoman strangled her own neck with rain-soaked hands, scratched until she bled, then threw herself out the window. There was no warning or last words. She didn’t even give the girl a chance to stop her.

Thunder drowned out the sound of the Crown Princess hitting the ground. The torrential rain that began pouring in earnest diluted the red blood staining her purple hair.

“Someone fell from the tower!”

“That person? Could it be Her Highness the Crown Princess?”

“Kyaaaah! Your Highness!”

“Check the Prince and Princess’s safety first!”

Even when the loud sounds of many people climbing the stairs echoed, they were repeatedly drowned out by thunder.

Her heart, which had been fluttering as if in love, now beat precariously loud enough to drown out even thunder.

Before everyone reached the top of the tower, Serena declared to the few who were present:

“Her Highness the Crown Princess fell from the tower in an unfortunate accident. Seraph fainted from the shock of witnessing it.”

When the girl declared the truth, no one dared to question or oppose it.

Even her cousin brother, who had rushed over faster than her father or grandfather, didn’t question Serena’s declaration.

He simply stroked her head gently with his large, warm hands and offered words of comfort.

No one comforted the girl except Richard. Serena had no choice but to lean on Richard and shed tears into her cousin brother’s large, reliable hands.

***

The Princess opened her eyes. Was it because her chest felt tight, making breathing difficult? Or was it because the sound of wooden beams breaking resembled thunder? She had recalled that terrible memory.

‘Am I still not dead?’

It would have been better if she had died and opened her eyes before the Minotaur God. Her whole body felt heavy and painful, and her surroundings were dark. Every forced breath brought dust and dirt into her nose, making her mouth feel stuffy and rough.

Thanks to her goggles, the area around her eyes was unharmed.

‘The tunnel collapsed. Am I buried? What about the others?’

Serena tried to move her body buried under dirt and stones but failed. She was buried in dirt and couldn’t move an inch.

‘It would be better to die like this.’

Feeling the weight of dirt and stones pressing on her chest, Serena let out a resigned breath.

‘I should die like this and restart, preparing for the tunnel collapse. Ah.’

The regressor thinking about the next cycle recalled the meaningful words the Effort Priest had said when entering the 11th layer.

‘He told me to try not to die on this layer. Did he foresee this?’

Even effort has its limits. How am I supposed to survive being buried alone in a mine? Serena gritted her teeth in anger.

‘Even while I’m doing this, oxygen must be running out.’

As she clenched her fist in anger, she grasped something hard and elongated. It was her magic staff.

How impressive that she hadn’t let go of her weapon. I’ve really become a proper Labyrinth Adventurer, Serena thought with self-praise, then remembered:

‘My staff has an oxygen generator attached to it.’

Since the magic staff was close by, she wouldn’t die from lack of oxygen. With that thought, she somehow felt a sense of duty to try to survive.

Shouldn’t she at least request rescue, asking to be saved? Had she thought of death too easily just because she was a regressor?

‘This is all because I remembered that day.’

If she stayed like this, she felt she would be buried in memories of that day. Serena bit her tongue to regain her senses. The sharp pain brought her mind into focus.

“Save me!”

The Princess put strength into her chest and stomach and shouted with all her might.

“Help me! There’s someone here!”

Shout. Like the Bald Priest who never gave up on rescue even while buried in snow and freezing to death.

“Someone save me!”

Was it because she didn’t give up and kept trying? At some point, the weight of dirt pressing down on her body became lighter. It wasn’t a mistake due to dulled senses. Someone was clearing away the dirt and stones pressing on Serena’s body.

As the dirt and stones were removed, light entered the Princess’s single eye. Serena gazed at her savior through blurred vision.

Her savior’s golden hair sparkled brilliantly.

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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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