The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 131

106. Labyrinth of the Minotaur (2)

“It’s hot……”

Viola muttered, no longer bothering to wipe the sweat from her chin.

“Grace, how long have we been in this labyrinth?”

“Well… I’d say at least half a day has passed.”

Grace replied with a sigh, clearly wanting to shed his armor.

“It hasn’t even been half a day since we entered,” Beykan countered.

“…Huh? Only that long?” Viola asked, surprised.

“The scenery keeps repeating, so it feels longer,” Kinu Mukari said, offering them a water bottle.

“How can you two be so sure?”

“It’s simple. You can calculate the time based on the number of steps. The Master also marks the path at regular intervals.”

“A skilled hunter would check with their breathing, but I’m not quite there yet.”

“……”

The two spoke casually.

Walking while counting steps wasn’t something ordinary people could do.

“Honestly, this is nothing. What’s surprising is that nothing has happened since we entered the labyrinth. That’s probably why you’re confused about the time.”

At his words, everyone looked at Karil’s back.

The labyrinth’s path was a complex maze.

But Karil strode forward without hesitation.

There were no operating mechanisms or traps, and not a single monster. All they had done was follow Karil.

“It’s amazing that barbarians like you and continentals like us are subjugating a lair together,” Viola said, prompting bitter smiles.

They had subjugated three lairs and fought together on the Twin Armor battlefield.

Beykan, Kinu, and Grace acknowledged each other as warriors, regardless of their tribes.

“It’s best to drink plenty of water. Unlike gray orcs or lizardmen, the air in an S-class lair contains strong magical power, so you’ll tire easily even with minimal exertion.”

“Barbarians are lucky in that regard.”

“That’s one reason they become excellent hunters. Ironically, the Empire calls that heresy.”

“……”

“Don’t step there,” Karil warned, pointing to the marble floor.

Viola hurriedly avoided the spot.

“The trap will activate.”

He stopped only after passing the last trap, as if he knew the labyrinth intimately.

“Here is……”

“Is this the stone cave where the boss is?” Viola asked, tossing her empty water bottle. At the end of the labyrinth, they faced a huge statue.

“A person……?”

The statue depicted a man sitting on a throne like a king. He rested his hand on the handle of a thick bastard sword stuck into the floor, looking down with a lifelike expression.

“He’s not human. He’s a demihuman [a creature with mixed human and animal features]. The owner of the lair and the king of the monsters: Minos.”

Karil pointed to two beast statues next to the throne.

“This monster with a human body and a hawk’s head is Iacos of the East. And this monster, resembling a wyvern [a dragon-like creature with two legs and barbed tail], is Rhadamanthus of the West.”

Two monsters guarded Minos.

The group looked at the statues nervously.

The huge monsters, necks bound by thick iron chains, seemed ready to attack, inspiring fear.

“These are the guys we have to catch,” Karil stated.

Koo-goo-goo-goo……

An unknown roar echoed from below the labyrinth.

“Beykan, Kinu, remove the chains from the statues. The rest of you, step back.”

Karil pointed to the gold and silver treasures scattered around the throne.

“The statue reacts to magic. If you’re tempted by the jewels and approach, it will activate.”

“Huh…… So they’re using jewels to lure adventurers. A petty method for an S-class lair.”

Viola subtly moved behind Grace.

“These petty methods work surprisingly well. Famous adventurers don’t always come with a sense of duty.”

“Ahem……” Viola nodded.

Swish…… Swish……

Koo-oong!

Beykan and Kinu climbed onto each statue and released the chains.

The chains crashed to the floor from Minos’s hand.

“Hiss……!”

The chain was thicker than Beykan’s forearm. When he slung it over his shoulder, his legs buckled slightly under the weight.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Every lair has a strategy. You can ignore it in lower-level lairs, but higher levels are different.”

Beykan nodded.

He had experienced this when hunting the owner of Wedgevine Ridge.

The Sand Serpent was an S-class monster like the Sea King. Even a Sword Master would struggle to defeat it with brute force.

Reverse scale.

But Karil knew the Serpent’s weakness and exploited it perfectly.

Beykan and Kinu followed his orders without question, not just because he was their master.

‘Everything the Master does has a reason.’

‘Everything is proven by the results.’

From the Ridge to the Bottomless Cliff, his actions defied common sense.

“Let’s go in,” Karil said, confirming the two carried the chains.

Swish…… Swish……

The sound of the chains echoed in the silent labyrinth.

“Kugh……?!”

As soon as she opened the door, Viola covered her nose and involuntarily held her breath.

Unlike the neatly organized paths of the labyrinth she had seen so far, the inside of the entrance was a complete mess.

Inside the seemingly endless depths of the underground, there was a terrible stench of blood and shattered remains.

“What on earth is this smell?”

“It’s the smell of death, of rotting corpses. This place is definitely different from what we’ve seen so far,” Beykan stated grimly.

“How awful. It seems like this has been here for quite some time.”

Viola, who had only seen recently deceased bodies due to the current conflict, couldn’t possibly recognize the foul odor of old, decaying corpses.

“……Is it really that bad?”

She shot a look at Beykan and Kinu’s nonchalant remarks, a silent question in her eyes.

Squish-

Viola misstepped while walking, and something cold seeped into her shoe, causing her to startle.

“Ugh…….”

It seemed she had stepped into a puddle.

“There are no torches here. Grace, light a fire with magic.”

“Understood, Princess.”

“Actually, I don’t think using magic is a very good idea,” Karil interjected, stopping Grace as he was about to cast a spell.

“Why is that? Is there a trap here that reacts to magic, like the statues earlier?” Grace asked, puzzled.

“No, it’s not that. But the sight might not be very pleasant.”

Grace hesitated at his words, and Viola spoke up.

“It’s hard to walk in the dark. I’ve seen enough battlefields by now, so it doesn’t matter.” She said, trying to sound nonchalant. Grace focused his magic on his palm.

“Light.”

Two orbs of light materialized above his hand.

The darkness vanished instantly as the orbs floated, and light permeated the underground.

“…….”

Viola was silent, as if turned to stone.

No, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say that she was speechless.

Chunks of flesh, torn and ripped intestines, and broken bones were scattered everywhere, sticking to the walls.

“Ugh……!!”

Moreover, Viola realized that the puddle she had stepped in earlier was actually a pool of blood that had rotted and turned brown, and she retched.

“What on earth is this…….”

The closed door of the underground cave could not be opened from the inside, so there was no escape.

What on earth had happened here?

“If you pass through here, you’ll find the place where Minos’s monsters are. This is where they eat their prey.”

“Prey? No matter how I look at it, that’s…….”

Viola glanced at a skull that was half-broken and rolling on the floor.

“Yes. It’s human.”

“Crazy…….”

It was a word that a princess shouldn’t say, but Viola was disgusted by the sight of monsters eating humans.

“Are you saying they fed humans as prey? The owner of this labyrinth…….”

“Well, humans kill demi-humans too. From a monster’s point of view, dwarves, elves, and humans might all just be the same prey.”

“But……. Isn’t that different?”

Grace retorted, clearly agitated by Karil’s words.

He seemed to know what he wanted to say.

“Well, if they’re the same humans, the Empire’s actions of taking tens of thousands of lives under the name of heresy look even more heinous to me,” Beykan countered, his voice firm.

“Th, that’s…….”

Grace looked at Beykan and fell silent.

“Don’t think that the Edict of Heresy Extermination [a decree ordering the persecution of those deemed heretics] is the will of all kingdoms. The Three Kingdoms of Istria have at least lived in contact with the barbarians of the South. We don’t have much aversion to you,” Viola said, addressing Beykan directly.

“If we had the same thoughts as the Emperor of the Empire, we would not have tolerated you the moment we knew that the owner of Tatur was with the barbarians of the South.”

“What do you mean by not tolerating……?” Kinu Mukali asked in a low, growling voice. However, Viola was not intimidated by that appearance and instead shrugged lightly and said.

“We would have informed the Empire.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Of course. Although we are a small country, we have our own will.”

Karil smiled lightly at her words.

“I think so too. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have left my troops in Twin Armor. Lord Marze and Lord Aven are at least able to distinguish who is the enemy and who is the ally.”

“Hmph……. The same goes for the Kingdom of Penria,” Viola replied to Karil with a somewhat sulky expression.

Thud- Thud- Thud-

Karil cut through the path of gruesome corpses and stood in front of the entrance where the last huge iron bars were erected.

“Lord Grace, I cannot forgive what the Empire has done, but I also sympathize with your words.”

Karil finished speaking and stretched out his arms towards Beykan and Kinu with his palms facing up.

Clang- Clang-

Then, the two men took off the chains they were carrying on their shoulders and placed the ends in his hands.

“I’ve seen enough corpses to be sick of them, but even I think this sight is too much to just pass by.”

Grip.

Karil gripped the thick chains and moved forward.

[Krrr…….]

A low growl was heard from behind the iron bars.

“I don’t know if those corpses are from the old Empire era 250 years ago or from the magic era 1,000 years ago. However, the existence of a demon cave means that it hasn’t been conquered for that long.”

The wyvern’s red eyes watched Karil.

“That means it’s a difficult monster, but I can’t just stand by and watch. Even if it’s not for some fancy reason like a sense of duty.”

The two monsters showed their sharp teeth, wary of him as he approached, holding the chains like a trainer.

Karil looked at them and said.

“So, first of all, I need to put a leash on those bastards so they can’t open their damn mouths anymore.”