Chapter 170: Three Moves to Kill the Ape and Escape to Safety (Patreon)

Behind him came the monster's enraged roar.

On either side, man-eating vines lashed and thrashed at him without end. The Silverback, driven even more feral by its wounds, thundered after him on heavy footfalls that shook the very ground.

"Damn it, of all times to pass out now."

The Flying Thunder God Kunai, at its core, was a magic blade engraved with spatial magic.

To complete a teleport, the user had to activate it with their own magic power.

The problem was, Ryuu wasn't waking up at all right now.

So—

"Sis, wake up already!"

"Can I at least get you somewhere safe first?"

"You can sleep flat on your back, face-down, or with your butt in the air for all I care — I'm not picky!"

Natsuka grumbled as he ran, feeling like he was about to fall apart.

Using the recoil from jets of flame, he zigzagged through the narrow corridor in one Z-shaped dodge after another. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dozen-odd vine whips lashed at him from every side at once, and he dodged every single one by the narrowest of margins.

The next instant, he gritted his teeth, flung four or five sticks of explosives back over his shoulder, and in the same motion swung a blade of conjured flame in a hard slash behind him.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The explosion and its flames burst outward together.

But the Silverback shoved straight through the blast, roaring as it swung a massive fist wrapped in green flesh down hard onto Natsuka's back.

Argh!

"How much is the Fallen Sprite even paying you to work this hard?"

"Can I offer you double?!"

Grumbling aside.

In that split-second of crisis, Natsuka spun around, torqued his hips, and slammed a fist wreathed in spirit-light straight into the oncoming blow. A low hum resonated through the air—

Flame and green flesh burst apart together between their two fists.

Both Natsuka and the Silverback were knocked back several steps.

He glanced down at his own fist, faintly surprised.

"Huh?"

"My strength went up again?"

"Which cutie's been secretly raising her affection for me again?"

But clearly there was no time to dwell on that right now.

He'd also immediately noticed the Abnormal on the Silverback's body.

"It's that face on its back."

"It's sensed the Sprite's aura on me."

"It's craving my magic power."

Put plainly, the thing was acting like a male monkey driven wild with rut, nothing left in its eyes but raw instinct.

Looked like there was no getting around putting it down hard.

Natsuka gently set Ryuu down against the wall so she could rest steady.

Then he turned, facing his opponent once more.

"Let's settle this."

In that moment, his eyes changed completely.

Spirit-light erupted around his whole body.

This time, he wasn't using Pinnacle of Hard Work—

but switched to Pinnacle of Great Wisdom.

"Three moves."

"That'll finish you."

The words had barely left his mouth.

Flames roared up from his body, and in an instant he looked like a burning silhouette given human shape.

The Silverback, too, worked itself into a full frenzy.

But just as it lunged to pounce—

Natsuka had already closed the distance first, driving a fist straight into its gut.

Whump!

The Silverback spat out a mouthful of drool as its body folded violently forward.

First move.

Savage Bite!

Natsuka's expression had gone chillingly cold.

Just as the Silverback's arms tried to crush him in a death grip, his body dissolved into a streak of starlight and vanished on the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already directly above the ape's head.

He found himself eye to eye with the faceless parasite of the Fallen Sprite.

The next instant, a reinforced Gear Fourth kick dropped from above like a red-hot battleaxe.

Second move.

Thunder Axe!

Boom!

The Silverback's skull took another crushing blow, flesh scorching and splitting open until pale white bone showed through.

Its massive body was slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, the impact rattling the very floor tiles.

Yet it still wasn't dead — it rolled and tried to lunge up again.

As if sensing the parasite's injury—

the bluish blotches across the ape's body suddenly writhed, and vine whips shot out one after another as if coming alive, all lashing wildly at Natsuka in midair.

Natsuka's form flickered again.

This time, he raised both hands slightly, compressing all the roiling flames around him into his palms.

"Third move."

"Eight Wine Cups!"

As he swept his hand forward—

the mass of highly compressed, pale flame hit the ground in an instant, tracing a straight line of fire across the floor as it shot toward the Silverback.

The moment it reached its target—

BOOM—

A terrifying pillar of fire shot straight up into the air, swallowing the Silverback whole.

AAAAAGH—

A shriek so piercing it made eardrums ache rang out again and again.

The monster writhed and thrashed wildly inside the pillar of flame, its flesh melting, scattering, and charring away bit by bit.

After a good while—

the flames finally began to fade.

Natsuka walked up to the charred remains and saw, on its back, the human face — burned nearly beyond recognition — still twitching faintly, trying to heal itself.

"It's over."

He raised the rusty blade in his hand and, without hesitation, drove it down in one clean stroke, gouging out the multicolored Magic Stone.

Meanwhile.

Knossos, central control room.

Barca and Thanatos stared through a surveillance system built from monster eyeballs at the two Black-and-White Blades outside the gate.

"What do we do, Barca-chan?" Thanatos frowned. "Would these two count as your 'rats' too?"

Barca's face had darkened to a frightening degree, his lips trembling faintly.

"Don't bother me."

"First, deal with the rats inside the labyrinth."

"We absolutely cannot let them carry the key out."

"But Valletta-chan went off to trade intel with Olivas, and she's still not back," Thanatos said, spreading his hands. "As for the rest of those useless underlings, they're no match for those two."

A near-pathological madness slowly surfaced in Barca's eyes.

"No one is going to stop me from fulfilling my ancestor's dying wish."

"Release the sample Enyo sent us."

"Didn't he brag that thing could destroy an entire city?"

"A couple of measly rats shouldn't be hard to handle, then."

Thanatos's frown deepened further.

"Barca-chan, our cooperation hasn't even officially begun yet."

"If we damage such an important sample this early, we'll be at a real disadvantage."

"I don't want to keep being led around by the nose by that sneaky, shadow-lurking Enyo."

"Then what do you suggest?" Barca snapped his head around. "Are we supposed to just stand by and watch those two rats hand the key straight to Freya?"

Just as the two of them argued—

the images on the control screens suddenly shifted again.

"Hey, where'd that rat go?"

"...Gone," came the reply.

"What do you mean, gone?!"

Barca hurriedly pulled up more feeds.

Soon he discovered that a third of the surveillance equipment on the 18th floor had already been destroyed.

The hall where Ryuu had once stopped was now nothing but a floor of ash.

"How dare they destroy my labyrinth…"

"How dare they destroy my labyrinth!!"

Barca let out a furious roar, as if every nerve in his body had been struck raw, his emotions snapping out of control in an instant.

Thanatos frowned as well and immediately pulled a follower aside to issue orders.

"Have everyone search every inch of the place."

"If necessary, wipe them out."

"I'll remember your contributions."

"Yes, Lord Thanatos!"

But the order had barely gone out—

Click.

Another monitor screen went dark.

Right after, two more clicks sounded, and three more screens blacked out.

And the blackouts didn't stop there.

They kept happening, at a rate of four screens per minute.

Thanatos stared at the feeds vanishing one after another, his expression slowly freezing.

"Hey, Barca-chan."

"Are you sure…"

"that there really are only the two rats you mentioned in the labyrinth?"

In the cold, pitch-black tunnels of the labyrinth—

Natsuka carried the useless elf on his back with one hand, not slowing his stride.

Mm.

No wonder she was a battle-hardened adventurer.

These muscles were genuinely toned, and had pretty good spring to them too.

While his mind wandered off in ridiculous directions, he raised his other hand and, reaching through a Spatial Gate, pried every one of the crimson crystals off the wall by force.

These special red crystals could not only transmit images but also carry messages.

They were, without a doubt, quite rare magic materials.

"This Knossos is basically a giant treasure vault."

Natsuka marveled as he kept prying crystals loose, his eyes practically shining.

With the communication principle behind Eye Crystals in hand—

plus the imaging and messaging properties of these red crystals—

he'd already started sketching out an idea in his head.

Once he got out, he was definitely making an other-world version of a cellphone.

It'd make keeping in touch with Familia members far more convenient from now on.

Using the labyrinth key on Ryuu's person, after unlocking several more heavy doors—

Natsuka finally rejoined Lyra.

"I've already scouted the route ahead."

"Follow me."

"Got it."

Along the way, Lyra had already casually taken apart every monster statue used for surveillance.

The group used this brief window to move quickly toward the western side of the labyrinth.

Before long—

the three of them stopped in a corridor at the labyrinth's westernmost edge.

In theory, only three walls now stood between them and the exit.

Natsuka gently set Ryuu down on the ground, letting her lean against something stable.

"This should be about far enough."

"Let's find a way to wake her up first."

Then send her straight through with a Spatial Gate.

The labyrinth's structure was absurdly complex.

Even though only three walls seemed to separate them from the exit right now—

if they honestly tried to find their way around, who knew how much longer they'd be stuck wandering inside.

Natsuka didn't rush to speak. He just crouched beside her, quietly watching Ryuu for a while.

Her face was pale, her breathing ragged, as if all the life had been drained out of her.

He fished a Mental Recovery Potion out of his pocket, pinched it open with his fingers, and gently parted Ryuu's lips to pour the liquid slowly into her mouth.

The air carried a smell of damp and rust, and the surroundings were so quiet that only their breathing remained.

About five minutes passed.

"Ooh, she's waking up, she's waking up! Lion—"

Call after call drilled into her ears, and her hazy, nearly scattered consciousness gradually began to gather itself back together.

Ryuu slowly opened her eyes. Before her vision even cleared, the first thing she saw was Natsuka's striking red hair.

Her throat was dry, her voice as faint as if she were dreaming—

"Alise… have you come to judge me?"

Lyra lunged forward without a word and grabbed Ryuu by the collar, her small face taut with anger.

"You useless elf! Two whole years, and you haven't grown one bit! And now you're dragging a junior into a hellhole like this to die with you!"

It was no surprise she was furious.

She'd brushed up against the edges of this labyrinth herself before — the traps and routes alone were nothing an ordinary rookie could handle.

In her view, even back when Evilus had been at its most brazen, as long as they held Knossos to the death, it might not have fallen even if Loki Familia and Freya Familia pressed the attack together.

Ryuu blinked dazedly, and all she could see was Lyra's small face, seething with barely-contained fury.

She instinctively hunched her shoulders and murmured, low—

"I'm sorry."

There was so much she wanted to say.

She wanted to say she'd failed as a senior.

She wanted to say she hadn't been able to protect the wish Adi left behind.

She wanted to say that everyone must be utterly disappointed in her.

But when it reached her lips, all that remained were those three bitter words.

Lyra scoffed, let go of her collar, and puffed out her cheeks.

"Knowing you're wrong isn't too late yet. Get up, we need to run now."

"Run?" Ryuu's eyes drifted, clearly not keeping up.

"Is there... danger in the Heavenly Realm too?"

Lyra froze for a second, then a vein practically bulged at her temple.

"You idiot, you don't even know whether you're dead or alive?!"

She lunged forward and kicked Ryuu square in the backside.

The kick sent Ryuu toppling sideways, nearly sprawling flat.

"Get moving already! Do you have any idea how long we had to struggle just to find you?!"

"Charging headfirst all alone into a labyrinth that's obviously lethal at first glance — did that idiot Alise mess up your head?! Don't you dare tell anyone you learned anything from me once we're out of here!"

Getting scolded out of nowhere like that made Ryuu's stubborn streak flare right back up.

She jerked her head up, eyes rimmed faintly red, her voice trembling.

"And whose fault is that? You all decided on your own to protect me, and then went and died on your own, leaving me all alone!"

"If you had complaints, you should have lived — kept on living, standing right in front of me like this, and told me off properly, straight to my face!"

Lyra's face twitched, and her voice rose.

"That's because all of us believed you were the one most suited to carry on Lady Astraea's justice — that's why we fought with everything we had to keep you alive!"

Seeing the argument about to boil over, Natsuka raised a hand and cut them off.

"Enough."

He pressed a Flying Thunder God Kunai into Ryuu's palm.

"Save the fighting for after we're out. Let's move."

Ryuu looked down at the kunai in her hand, still dazed.

The next second, she jerked her head up, her face changing completely.

"Mister Natsuka... are you dead too?!"

"Dead, my ass."

Natsuka flicked her forehead in irritation.

"We're still inside the labyrinth right now."

As he spoke, he grabbed Ryuu's wrist.

"Pour your magic power into it."

Ryuu's mind hadn't caught up yet, but her body obeyed on instinct.

Natsuka took the chance to pull her along and flick the kunai out.

Two whooshes, and space gave a faint shudder.

The next moment, the group appeared right in front of a massive metal door.

Ryuu stared blankly at the door, her eyes widening the longer she looked.

This structure was far too familiar.

Lavish, sturdy, oppressive — nothing the Dungeon could ever naturally produce.

Her gaze slowly shifted to Lyra, her breathing gone ragged.

"You… you… YOU?!"

"What about me?!"

Lyra's face darkened, and she kicked out at her again.

"Save it — talk when we're back!"

This time, Ryuu didn't dodge.

She just stared at her old comrade in utter disbelief, as if afraid Lyra might vanish the next instant.

Natsuka had no time to explain things slowly here.

He pulled out the key and slid it into the lock.

Accompanied by a low humming sound, the heavy metal door slowly parted open to either side.

The three of them filed through the gap one after another.

It was only when she actually stepped through the door and saw the forest, the rock walls, and the vast ceiling lit by the giant Magic Stone outside the labyrinth that Ryuu finally seemed to come back to herself.

Looking at all the familiar sights, her chest gave a violent jolt.

So she really hadn't died.

She really was still alive.

"No time to space out — let's move."

Natsuka urged in a low voice.

Lyra pulled her hood back up, covering most of her face.

It had been two years since the fall of Astraea Familia, but that didn't mean no one would recognize her face.

The three of them kept their movements quiet all the way back to an inn in Rivira.

Only after the door clicked shut did Natsuka let out a long breath.

Once he'd confirmed the area was safe, the mood in the room dropped instead.

Natsuka and Lyra both turned at once, fixing unfriendly stares on the elf they'd just retrieved.

"Talk."

"Why did you go running into a place like that all alone?"

But Ryuu didn't answer right away.

Instead, she gripped Lyra's hand tightly, feeling it over and over as if she couldn't believe it, not even sparing her arms and shoulders.

"Are you really Lyra?"

"Not, like, a sister who just happens to look the same?"

Lyra smacked her hand away with a sharp slap.