“The Gate of the Underworld has opened.”
“Yes?”
The girl, confirming the tilt of the balance, closed the Witch Note.
The flowers on one side of the tomb were withering black, having died.
The souls of the deceased wandering outside are sucked into the gate made by the King of the Underworld, not the embrace of Lost Paradise.
As with recent witches, it was the first time that signs of demons appeared within the magic tower since the ‘Age of Torch’, when adventurers swept the continent, began to come to an end.
“Libra, do you mean to say that there has been a change in the tower?”
“‘Changed’ is an inaccurate expression, Baker. Someone ‘brought’ it in.”
The witches for their kin.
The vampires for blood.
The dead crave death as instinct.
If the Gate of the Underworld has opened in the Great Labyrinth, it was clear that there was an intention to bring about someone’s death.
“Then shall I send the magicians of the Hundred Families to check it out right away? Or should we summon the pillars in the name of the Seven Sages?”
“Any magician cannot easily intervene while the trial is underway. Post-mortem investigations will be handled by others in the middle floors, not me.”
It would be a sight to see pure-blooded magicians gathering after a long time.
Should one go down to the middle floors if bored?
You’ll see a scene where Ice and Fire magicians fight with Meteor fiercely.
Unlike Libra, who yawned leisurely, Baker, who is in charge of practical affairs, was impatient.
Due to the nature of ‘balancing the cost’, there is a side effect of reducing lifespan if an inexperienced person forcibly draws out the power of Mystery.
Astrology magicians aim for gradual and chronic growth.
The increase in the difficulty of the trial meant that it would chip away at the potential of newcomers.
“There are our disciples inside too. They are still inexperienced in handling Mysteries properly….”
“It’s okay, the damage probably won’t be significant.”
“Is it possible that you also found that out using the scale?”
“No.”
Libra shook her head.
Future predictions require sacrificing one-tenth of the souls tied to the ‘noble layer’.
The reason she could assert this was based on the predictions she had made so far.
Instead of the flowers that have turned to ashes, a new wreath is placed on the scales in front of the tombstone.
As the ‘Balance That Weighs the Price’ weighed the souls, records that were originally off-limits began to appear.
====
— Administrator: I’m going to catch the rascal who’s been running away now
— Administrator: Reply
— ThunderLightningEmperor: I’m listening
— BlessingsToYou: Me too (๑•﹏•)
— OwlOwlOwl: Hoot
— Administrator: Since I won’t be able to continue managing the forum for a while, I hope you guys can take care of the troublemakers yourselves
— Administrator: This time, if you guys manage without any new troublemakers, I’ll consider holding a meeting
— Administrator: But come to think of it, why should I ask you guys for a favor?
— Administrator: Owl
— OwlOwlOwl: Hoot
— Administrator: Bang!
— OwlOwlOwl: Ho…
— Administrator: That’s more like it
====
Having checked the absent profile of the Administrator, Libra immediately closed the Witch Note.
She had no interest in a gallery without the Administrator.
But at the same time, by suddenly hiding his appearance at this time, she got one step closer to his identity.
Paradise Lost on the 92nd floor.
In the center of the garden filled only with tombs and flowers stood a monument as large as the one marking the invitations to the Tower of the 1st floor.
The difference from the one on the 1st floor was that only writings by one person filled this place.
All of them were about the Administrator that Libra had obtained through the Libra.
(TLN: Libra as in the balance and Libra as in the person, this is so confusing.)
[Administrator hates it when the forum gets dirty]
[Administrator likes women with big b*easts]
[Administrator has an attachment to ice dispensers]
[Administrator likes mint chocolate]
[Administrator supports spears in the spear vs. sword debate]
[Administrator doesn’t think Meteor is ice magic]
[Administrator now has remnants of the dragons that have disappeared]
[Administrator … ]
.
.
.
[Administrator can detect the movement of souls]
[Administrator can interfere with the trials of the Magic Tower]
[Administrator is currently on the 10th floor]
“Ah, I wanted to be a Sub-Manager too.”
She murmured as she wrote down the new facts she had learned on the monument stone.
She had confidence that if given the chance, she would truly excel, but she also longed to be loved by the Administrator.
Her desire to dedicate this paradise to the Great Labyrinth was strong, but it wasn’t the right thing to do.
If the Administrator with such abilities decided to hide, she wouldn’t be able to find him even if he stood right in front of her.
“It’s the 10th floor… Should I at least go down to the middle floors?”
Because if she received the cold shoulder from him, she wouldn’t have the courage to live anymore.
She put aside her regret as the ‘AstronomicalCemetery’ and sought another way to meet the owner of the forum.
*
“Gasp, pant! Wait a moment!”
“Clark! Stop right there!”
I threw my spear at everything approaching without a Witch Note, navigating the labyrinth without one.
Thanks to the doll Prina gave me, even in the darkness, I could see relatively clearly.
While I ran straight ahead at every intersection, the magicians were running out of stamina.
Arthur approached me and asked if this was the right direction to the exit.
“Is this the right direction for the exit? I don’t doubt your skills, but you haven’t hesitated at all since earlier…”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“There are three paths my intuition points to, two of which overlap, but one of them seems to be leading.”
Each adventurer had their own unique ‘Intuition’.
Just as magicians search for schools of magic that suit their aptitude, adventurers’ intuition points to different things.
In my case, it was finding the target at the tip of the spear.
It was unclear exactly what was at the end, but at least one of the three was certain to be the Gate of the Underworld.
“Why just one? Why not go toward the two that overlap?”
“Because there’s nothing I’m looking for over there.”
What was originally a leisurely exploration of the labyrinth had suddenly turned into a race against time.
Before coming here, I had shut down the “Tactical Nuclear Research Institute” board and blocked all related individuals, but their influence might still be lingering.
If I left the forum for too long, there could be significant casualties during that time.
Even if the guards did their best to contain the situation, the casualties would continue to rise.
Mariel had to be found quickly and thrown out.
Her Mystery were the only deterrent against nuclear war.
“If everyone’s rested, let’s go. We’re almost there now.”
“Re-really?”
After seven hours of non-stop movement, I finally felt the chill of sweat on my forehead.
Along the way, I saw scattered frozen corpses of the undead.
When we discovered a corridor blocked by a massive ice wall in the labyrinth, I immediately opened the Witch Note.
Although I couldn’t access forum, I could detect signals from numerous Notes inside.
‘Here it is.’
I placed my hand on the ice wall and attempted interference. It was still just first-order magic. However, everything depended on compatibility.
For someone like me who had been constantly licking Vina’s ice cake, first-year ice magic manipulation was like eating a simple shaved ice dessert.
As I concentrated, disconnecting the verses being cast, the moment Arthur and his party arrived, the magic was destroyed.
Bam!!
“Gasp!”
“Aahhh!”
“Who, who are you?!”
“Don’t worry! We’re from the Mittier school!”
“Hiding in a place like this. Clark’s guidance was accurate.”
When the magicians of the Glesia School gathered inside saw me, they screamed in horror.
They had been staying in the labyrinth for over three days and were already heavily cursed by the fog.
None of them could be properly identified as they all looked like beasts, but I followed the direction my intuition pointed to the innermost one.
Then, I poked my spear at the only yellow-feathered chick who had fallen asleep in the corner.
“Eeek!? W-who are you? Interrupting my sweet rest!”
“I said I was coming to get you.”
“S-Supervisor!?”
Ah, familiar screams.
I had found the right place.
*
“The undead pouring in from the exit direction couldn’t be pierced through.”
“So, are we going to siege here?”
“If we endure for four more days, we’ll be automatically transferred to the 9th floor.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Really?”
Hearing Sera’s intention to siege here even if the ascent fails, I shook my head.
The Gate of the Underworld is a kind of summoning circle that even among demons, summons the undead.
It’s not just simple magic; it’s akin to the Mystery ‘Parchment of the Multiverse’ of the Summoning School, which needs to be quickly eradicated.
Currently, the level of undead roaming the Grand Labyrinth seemed manageable, at most resembling those that came out of the first gate, but as time passes, the second and third gates will open.
“Unbelievable…!”
Sera’s expression upon hearing that… It couldn’t be discerned due to the curse, but it seemed she was also unaware.
Regardless, since it was impossible to continue like this, we had to leave from here. At least, the first gate that hadn’t fully opened yet could be broken by me alone, but the problem was the undead that had already been released.
“Are there any mages from other Schools nearby?”
“We tried to gather as much as possible on the way here, but some might still be around.”
“It might be better to split the personnel. Those who can move should gather as many survivors as possible, and we’ll head towards the gate.”
“Do the undead speak like us? Can they distinguish us in the fog?”
“If that’s the case, then there’s no problem.”
Unlike me, who could confirm the coordinates of all the Witch Notes, the mages from Mittier and Glesia couldn’t identify the IPs.
But to my question, Arthur confidently nodded his head.
Have they reached the point where they can even distinguish between the skin colors of the living and the dead?
My doubts were soon answered.
“Hey, there!”
“Eek!? Y-Yes?”
“What kind of magic is Meteor?”
“S-Summoning…?”
“Kill them!”
Fire, or maybe ice.
To survive in the Labyrinth, the remaining mages had no choice but to abandon their beliefs.
