NOVEL WEB Chapter 55
Forbidden Six Labyrinths – Haise and Sasha’s Journey 2
“Come on, what’s wrong?! Show yourself!!”
A demon man roars.
Moments later, a battered Haise steps forward slowly.
The demon man sneers and stretches his hand toward Haise.
“Boy. Before I kill you, I have a question… Where did you get that ‘gun’?”
“…It’s my ability.”
“An ability? Hah, you mean a skill, don’t you? Ah, so that’s how it is. Then let’s make a deal… I’ll spare your life if you come to the demon realm and let us study that gun.”
“…”
“The demons crave great power. To prepare for the Seven Great Calamities and for the day humans bare their fangs against us. Boy… come to the demon realm.”
“…”
Haise remains silent.
Then… he smiles faintly.
This irritates the demon man, who glares at him.
“Then I have a question for you.”
“…?”
“The Forbidden Six Labyrinths… Five are in the human realm, right?”
“…That’s what you’re curious about?
The vast underground labyrinth, The Infinite Labyrinth of Delmadrome.
The lake with a unique ecosystem, The Great Salt Lake of Dilolomans.
The forest where mysterious magnetic fields distort the senses, The Frenzied Magnetic Sky Forest.
The flying castle that appeared only once in history, The Floating Castle of Drena de Stal.
The mysterious mountain range in the demon realm, The Necrofantasia Mountain.
And the one whose very existence is uncertain, The Divine’s Garden from ancient legends.
The one in the demon realm is Necrofantasia Mountain. In other words… the other five are in the human realm.”
The Frenzied Magnetic Sky Forest, The Floating Castle of Drena de Stal, and The Divine’s Garden.
Haise smiles.
The path to becoming the strongest is now within his sights.
“Thanks. You have no reason to lie to me, so I can trust you. Three more… and the last one in the demon realm. I’ll conquer them all.”
“Are you an idiot? Let me tell you something. The dungeons you humans call the Forbidden Six Labyrinths are actually prisons sealing away ancient beasts, the Catastrophe Seven, that destroyed civilizations!”
“Doesn’t matter. Heh… Now I’m even more fired up.”
Haise smiles.
The demon man finds his grin infuriating.
“I don’t know what you’re after, but it’s meaningless.”
“It’s not.”
“…What?”
“Clearing the Forbidden Six Labyrinths is my path to becoming the strongest. At the end of this path, someone is waiting for me.”
“I don’t understand.”
Haise raises his right arm.
“I made a promise. With her… with Sasha. That we’d meet again as adventurers who cleared the Forbidden Six Labyrinths.”
◇◇◇◇◇
Finally, Sasha’s fighting spirit fades.
Panting heavily, she uses her sword to support herself, her pale face turned toward Noches.
“Oh my, my, my… You’re at your limit, aren’t you?”
“Hah… hah… hah…”
“Fufu, why don’t you just give up? I’ll take good care of you along with those boys~.”
“Not a chance…”
Sasha points her trembling sword.
Reynold and Tycoon haven’t given up either.
Piasora mutters something, glaring at Noches, and Robin does the same.
Noches smirks.
“Come on, give it up already. You can’t win. There’s no way out of this situation.”
“You’re wrong…”
“No, I’m not. It’s already over.”
“It’s not over. I… I have to show it.”
“…?”
Sasha steadies her breath and raises her sword.
“I made a promise. That with the best team, I would conquer the Forbidden Six Labyrinths!! Just like he fights to become the ‘strongest,’ I’ll move forward toward ‘the best’!! I won’t lose to him. I’ll forge ahead and wait for him!!”
Noches tilts her head, confused by Sasha’s words.
But Sasha doesn’t care.
“I will…”
◇◇◇◇◇
“I will…”
◇◇◇◇◇
“As S-Class Adventurers, we will forge ahead!!”
◇◇◇◇◇
Somewhere, Sasha’s voice seemed to echo.
Haise clenched his raised hand tightly, then opened it with force.
“This is my trump card.”
As Haise swung his right hand downward, Choco Latte appeared, grabbing him and bolting forward.
The demon man laughed.
“Hahahahahaha!! A trump card? Running away is your trump card? Fine, Yamata no Orochi Jr., kill that brat───”
But then something appeared above the demon man’s head.
“Huh?”
It was a lump of iron.
A massive, five-meter-long ‘iron cylinder.’
The demon man didn’t know it.
The GBU-28 Bunker Buster Earth Penetration Bomb.
Haise’s trump card, the strongest ‘weapon’ he could wield.
With the full awakening of his ability [Weapon Master], this ultimate weapon surpassed ordinary arms.
Until now, his strongest ‘weapons’ were a rocket launcher and an anti-materiel rifle. But the most powerful ‘destructive force’ lay in this bunker buster.
“───”
What went through the demon man’s mind?
The falling iron cylinder crushed him, pierced through Yamata no Orochi Jr.’s body, and hit the ground───unleashing a terrifying flash, shockwave, roar, and explosion.
[NuuuuuuuuuuuuGaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!]
“───!!”
Haise and Choco Latte shielded themselves with beast carcasses stored in his item box, huddling beside a sturdy-looking building.
But the explosion destroyed the building, scattered the carcasses, and blew them away.
[You… alone───!!]
Choco Latte grabbed a beast carcass and pulled Haise to safety.
“───”
Haise lost consciousness.
◇◇◇◇◇
“Grant me strength now!!”
Sasha raised her sword just as Tycoon abandoned defense to unleash magic.
“[Ultima]!! Guh… ah…!!”
“Oooooooohhhhhh!!”
Tentacles struck Tycoon, hurling him away.
Reynold, unable to block all attacks, was also thrown aside.
But just before they fell, Tycoon’s strongest support magic enveloped Sasha.
“This… is bad.”
As Noches moved to command the Shoggoth:
“───P!!”
“!?”
Robin bit down, crushing her tooth, and unleashed a ‘sure-hit’ power from her mouth.
The sharp tooth shards pierced Noches’ eye.
“Argh!? You…!”
“Piasora!!”
“I pray for thee—[Messializer]!!”
Once every thirty days, the Saint’s ultimate healing technique.
A miracle that restored Sasha’s body, mind, and spirit to peak condition.
Golden fighting spirit overflowed from Sasha, her physical abilities amplified tenfold. With the Saint’s miracle, there was no backlash—a moment of unrivaled strength.
“Golden Sword, [Ultimate Technique]!!”
Sasha raised her blade, channeling her full fighting spirit.
She swung her sword at Noches and the Shoggoth.
“[Excalibur]!!”
Golden light enveloped the surroundings, consuming both Noches and the Shoggoth.
“N-no… waaaayyyyy!!”
Only Noches and the Shoggoth were annihilated.
Piasora and Robin, freed from the Shoggoth’s grasp, collapsed. Reynold and Tycoon supported them.
“Hey, you okay?!”
“Yeah… Hmph, being saved by you of all people…”
“Don’t say it like that. Whoa, nice view.”
“~~~!! You pervert!! Don’t look!!”
Though Reynold caught sight of Piasora’s bare skin, he quickly pulled a blanket from his item box and covered her.
“You safe?”
“Yeah… Ow, my molar’s broken.”
“Have Piasora fix it. And…”
“Oh…”
Robin shyly covered her chest.
Tycoon quietly handed her a blanket.
“Thanks…”
“Don’t mention it. Looks like it’s over for now.”
“Yeah.”
“Sasha, they’re safe. You…”
As Tycoon called out, the support magic dissipated, and Sasha collapsed.