Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 84

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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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84. Light and Darkness of the Labyrinth (2)

The party collected the Mysterious Stranger’s body and buried it in the cemetery. They knew it would be as if it never happened when they regressed.

However, Serena didn’t want to leave the Mysterious Stranger, who had trembled in fear of being left alone in the labyrinth, abandoned.

Serena deliberately laid Lavenda to rest next to Krom’s grave.

“Sob, Lavenda…”

The atmosphere when burying Lavenda was incomparably darker than when they buried Krom.

Ralph blamed himself for everything and wouldn’t stop reproaching himself.

He even occasionally slapped his own cheek while muttering, “You don’t even deserve to cry.”

Olive, who had sometimes flirted with Lavenda, wasn’t deeply saddened.

She seemed to have become numb to death itself after experiencing many deaths of people she knew.

“…”

Ying helped Serena wash Lavenda’s body and dress her, but remained expressionless as always.

Finally, Count Randy was.

“…”

Count Randy’s condition was the most serious. His beloved wife and niece were both missing, their life and death unknown.

Serena had actually prepared herself for the possibility that Count Randy, who had gone to the cave alone, might not return.

Surprisingly, Count Randy returned to the lobby with vacant eyes and even participated in Lavenda’s funeral.

When the moment of silence for the deceased ended, Count Randy spoke to the Princess.

“We must quickly conquer the labyrinth.”

The light of obsession rising from his excited, dilated pupils was very familiar to Serena.

‘Mother.’

The look in Crown Princess Melang’s eyes, who had been tormented by the delusion that people with orange eyes were trying to kill her and the obsession that she therefore had to kill people with orange eyes, was similar to Count Randy’s eyes now.

“If it were my wife, she would wish for Serena-nim’s happiness. So I must fulfill my wife’s wishes. We must quickly escape this labyrinth!”

Count Randy grabbed Serena and led her toward the passage to the labyrinth.

‘He’s not in a state where reasoning will work.’

Olive pressed hard on a specific spot on Count Randy’s neck, knocking him unconscious.

She laid Count Randy down properly and scratched her head.

“Well, the Count isn’t wrong. We do need to get out of this labyrinth, and to do that, we need to conquer it.”

“If we don’t want to escape to a future 10 or 200 years later like the people in the stories, we also need to solve the time difference problem.”

“Right. That’s exactly the problem. Originally, each floor can have different time flows, but not this severely. Zero, do you know anything?”

“This is a labyrinth.”

It meant that since this was a labyrinth, anything could happen, so they shouldn’t be surprised by the current situation.

“Just because it’s a labyrinth, can this happen?”

Ralph’s protest was useless. Olive pouted with a troubled expression.

“What can I do about the labyrinth?”

“Is that how it is…”

All sorts of mysterious and inexplicable things happen in labyrinths, so what happened today was unavoidable. This labyrinth was originally that kind of labyrinth.

This defeatist thinking dominated the party.

Olive openly displayed her rebellious nature, and Ralph was a courageous young boy who would defy superiors for justice.

Serena was quite surprised that these two would submit to the labyrinth, as she hadn’t expected it.

‘I thought they would argue that there’s no such law.’

Perhaps because they were born and raised in a world where labyrinths existed, their preconceptions were stronger than Serena’s.

‘I need to think of something myself.’

Serena didn’t give up. She didn’t want to give up. If she gave up here, similar incidents would just recur even after regression.

Of course, knowing the path to the stairs in advance and Ralph not falling into traps would allow them to save time.

But she couldn’t conquer the labyrinth while worrying about how many hours might pass in the lobby with each step taken on the 4th layer.

What if the 5th layer had an even worse time difference than the 4th layer?

This labyrinth was expected to have at least 50 floors, and if the time difference became worse the deeper they went, wouldn’t it be impossible to leave a remaining party in the lobby?

‘There must be something. It can’t just be because it’s a labyrinth. There must definitely be something that’s causing this.’

She opened her left eye hoping there might be a tip, but there was nothing.

Then ultimately, she could only rely on herself.

‘Think of something, Serena! You’re a reincarnated one! Prove the creativity and diverse thinking of a reincarnated person! Even if you can’t make soap, you’ve played plenty of games with dungeons!’

Amid the settling silence, time flowed fairly.

Dawn arrived in the lobby where darkness had fallen.

Serena stared blankly at the lobby that brightened from the east according to the sun’s movement, even without a sun.

The lobby where light intensity changed according to time flow, and the 4th layer with extreme light and darkness.

‘Time. Light. Darkness.’

The clear crystal sound still ringing in her ears. The lighting that the Guide and Knight had excitedly struck, flashing noisily like a club.

Serena’s eyes widened. Her eyes literally snapped open.

What if. Just what if.

‘What if light and darkness represented day and night, and each time the crystal was struck, that much time passed?’

That would explain the one-year time difference. They had struck the crystal hundreds of times.

Having formed a hypothesis, she needed to prove whether it was correct through experimentation.

Serena jumped up from her seat. Since it had come to this, she decided to complete the proof before regressing, even if the atmosphere was a bit gloomy.

For that, she needed someone to stay in the lobby.

‘Count Randy won’t do. If I leave him alone, he’ll make an irreversible choice. Olive is absolutely necessary, and Ralph? Should I leave Ralph behind? No. He’s not in good condition either.’

After excluding people who couldn’t be left alone and those who were needed, Ying remained.

‘Good. Ying will wait quietly and well.’

Serena approached Ying, who was silently maintaining her bow.

“Ying. I’ve formed a hypothesis about this incident, and I’d like your help.”

Ying was about to nod before Serena finished speaking, so Serena stopped her.

“It’s a very difficult task. While I go to the 4th layer to conduct experiments, you’ll need to stay in the lobby and record the passing days. You might have to be alone even longer than Lavenda waited.”

“I’ll do it.”

Even after hearing Serena’s explanation, Ying maintained her original attitude.

Serena felt grateful to Ying for readily accepting the difficult request, but also felt uneasy.

‘What kind of religion is this.’

Serena, who had been an atheist, wouldn’t believe in gods just because she came to a world where gods actually existed. She didn’t doubt their existence, but she didn’t think she had to follow divine will or commands.

Ying was a faithful servant of the Deity of Darkness, so she accepted Serena’s request simply because darkness had commanded it.

‘It’s a double-edged sword.’

The Deity of Darkness seemed favorable toward Serena now, but what if the Deity of Darkness designated Serena as an enemy?

The reliable archer would transform into a terrifying enemy without blood, tears, or regard for their accumulated bond.

‘Good thoughts don’t come to mind, only bad ones. Let’s handle what’s in front of us first.’

Ying’s problem was a distant future issue, and now was the time to solve the time difference problem with the 4th layer.

Serena gathered the party and declared they would conquer the 4th layer.

***

Serena decided to quickly descend to the 14th floor of the 4th layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth, then conduct experiments while searching for the stairs.

She hadn’t found clues yet, so she didn’t know how to arrange the light and darkness.

However, unifying the entire 14th floor with either light or darkness could be done alongside the experiments.

‘Since I have to strike the crystals enthusiastically anyway, doing it together would be convenient.’

With that thought, Serena said she would find all the crystals on the 14th floor.

Ralph and Count Randy lacked energy, so only Olive reacted similarly to usual.

They decided to find all the crystals first and unify them with light.

When she struck the last crystal, Olive reacted.

“The air flow changed. Unifying with brightness must have been the right answer. The Princess’s guess was correct.”

No one praised Serena for being amazing. Olive scratched her cheek, seeming unable to adapt to the party’s atmosphere.

“…”

Count Randy tried to take the lead despite not knowing the way. Instead of restraining the Count, Olive ran ahead to maintain the lead position and began guiding the way.

When they went down to the 15th floor, they could see two crystals similar to those attached to the walls, but much larger in size.

One was white, no, a blindingly bright crystal, and the other was a crystal containing darkness that seemed to absorb all the surrounding light.

When the entire party came down the stairs, both crystals emitted light and absorbed light. The glowing crystal was overwhelmingly dominant.

Flash! A blinding light illuminated the entire 15th floor.

When Serena barely adjusted to the light, a group of goblins appeared in the leader’s chamber.

It was a powerful combination of a Goblin Shaman, two Goblin Champions, a poison dart-shooting goblin riding a Labyrinth Rat Leader, and an archer mixed in.

Kiaaaaaaak! X 2

The Goblin Champions simultaneously let out battle cries to boost their allies’ attack power and morale.

The Goblin Shaman prepared to cast a spell from behind to dull the enemies’ senses, while the archer and Goblin Rider tried to keep the enemies in check.

“Lady Serena. Please use Mana Explosion on this bottle.”

“What?”

Count Randy didn’t wait for Serena’s answer and suddenly threw a bottle he had taken from his chest.

Serena hurriedly cast Mana Explosion on the bottle that had fallen in the middle of the goblin party.

She had learned it from Grey after much nagging, saying it would be useful when undead appeared on the 4th layer, but had never had occasion to use it.

“What I desire is an explosion that engulfs the enemy!”

Count Randy had demanded it so urgently that she thought the explosion’s power would be weak, but there was no need to worry.

Kiiiiik!

Kyaaaaaaak-!

Kkokkok!

The bottle burst and the liquid inside scattered over the goblin party.

White smoke rose from the areas touched by the liquid as the monsters’ flesh melted.

The monsters screamed and writhed in agony as their flesh burned and melted. Even knowing they were monsters, they rolled on the ground in such pain that it evoked pity.

When Ralph, unable to bear watching, tried to put them out of their misery, Count Randy stopped him.

“Don’t go near them, it’s dangerous if you touch it.”

“You set off something that dangerous without warning?”

“I calculated the range.”

Serena didn’t trust the genius alchemist’s calculations.

If Serena had cast Mana Explosion more strongly, some of that terrible substance would have splattered on the party as well.

Serena gave Olive, who was about to confront the count, a look and approached the sealed door on one side of the leader’s chamber. When she placed her hand on it, the door opened without fail.

“We can continue forward.”

Count Randy demanded they force their way through the assault. Serena sighed.

“We need to bring Ying.”

Whether the fact that the archer was waiting alone was persuasive, Count Randy didn’t insist and stood on the teleportation magic circle.

“The treasure chest… Well, yes, this isn’t the time for that.”

As soon as Serena arrived on the 1st floor, she ran to the lobby. Fortunately, Ying was waiting for the Princess in exactly the same state as when she had last seen her.

Her expression was unchanged and hard to read as always, but she seemed happy nonetheless. Ying waved her hand at Serena.

“How many days have passed in the lobby?”

Serena had hit the crystals exactly 100 times while going around the 14th floor. If Serena’s guess was correct, 50 days should have passed in the lobby.

“50 days.”

“Perfect!”

Serena’s hypothesis was correct. One day had passed for every two times she hit the crystal on the 14th floor!

Ying’s monotone report was sweeter than the lullaby Philia sang.

“Excellent!”

Serena cheered and asked Ying again.

“Ying! Kill me!”

She expected a dagger to fly at her throat immediately, but Ying slightly frowned.

“Serious?”

“Yes! Kill me!”

After leaving her alone for 50 days, she was now suddenly ordering her to kill her.

It was such a strange request that even the Loyal Servant of Darkness had doubts.

“It’s to start over.”

“Mm.”

It seemed the Deity of Darkness hadn’t told his faithful servant about the Princess’s regression.

It appeared he only told her specifically when the assault team was wiped out and only Ying survived to return.

Ying’s dagger pierced her throat later than usual.

This time there were many things to ask about.

As soon as Serena saw the god with crimson eyes, she started with questions.

Questions about the labyrinth’s time differential? She wouldn’t ask since he’d just tell her to find out herself anyway. The real question she needed to ask was this.

“I heard that the difficulty increases when many people gather in the labyrinth. How many people are safe in this labyrinth?”

‘If he tells me to find out by dying, I’m grabbing him by the collar.’

Whether the Minotaur God knew Serena’s impudent thoughts or not, he answered in a gentle voice.

“On perfectly conquered floors, it doesn’t matter how many people gather.”

This meant that on the perfectly conquered 1st and 2nd layers, it would be fine even if hundreds of people gathered. Serena moved on to the next question.

“Why do time and space distort in the labyrinth?”

“Because it’s more fun that way, isn’t it?”

‘I don’t find it fun.’

“Do you have any intention of making it normal?”

“Not right now.”

The dream ended with the Minotaur God’s uninteresting answer.

“Darling, you must return safely!”

“Of course! Following your orders is my joy and happiness!”

Listening to the count couple’s feather-flying display of affection brought peace back to Serena’s heart.

‘Everyone’s alive.’

Lavenda was greeting the assault team with a bright and lively complexion.

Serena let out a sigh of relief while rubbing her throat that still ached from the pain.

“Kek.”

Her throat was choked by a hand wrapped in black bandages.

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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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