Chapter 94

This time, there are cruel descriptions, so please be cautious if you are sensitive to such content.

Karon and the veteran members of the group were running through a tunnel made of trees on the 12th floor.

"Karon, it's a fork in the road. What do we do?"

"Right! Normally, the middle route is the shortcut to the 11th floor, but that kid might be chasing us from behind.

After we get through this tunnel, it will be a grassland. If we keep going, there's a small spring. There, monsters hardly appear.

We'll bide our time until night and then use the transfer stone to escape."

Karon and the others are unaware. They don't know that someone is eagerly waiting for their prey just ahead.

"I've been waiting for you."

Marifa pinched the hem of her skirt and greeted them with a curtsy.

Karon and the others couldn't hide their confusion at the sudden appearance of a maid-clad dark elf.

"Who are you? We're in a hurry."

One of Karon's followers brandished his weapon threateningly, but Marifa smiled and then instantly became expressionless.

"How dare you... You, who are lower than dust, have laid hands on my master."

"You're that kid's ally!?"

The man who had been drawing his bow quickly released an arrow. The arrow, slicing through the air, aimed straight for Marifa's forehead. However, the arrow never reached Marifa. Suke, standing behind her, fluffed up his fur and deflected the arrow.

"What... A sheep wolf blocking my arrow!?"

"That's ridiculous. A sheep wolf is a rank 3 monster. It's impossible for it to block a service arrow."

Ignoring Karon and the others' shock, Marifa now drew her bow, and Karon and the others raised their shields. It's common knowledge that dark elves are skilled with bows.

The arrow Marifa shot pierced the trees far above Karon and the others, and splinters rained down on them.

"Hah, what? We were on guard for nothing.

For a dark elf, you're not much of a shot."

Karon, who had been wary of Yuu's companions, now showed a relieved expression upon realizing Marifa's lack of skill. The other members also quickly regained their smiles and appeared relaxed.

"Heh. What do you mean by laying hands on your master? Why don't we take care of him—gahhhhhh!"

One of the men suddenly clutched his stomach in pain, sweat pouring from his body, clearly unable to move.

"Hey, what's—"

As Karon tried to rush to the man's aid, he was also struck by the same intense pain.

While enduring the pain, Karon looked around and saw that the remaining members were also suffering.

"Do you now understand the depth of your sins?"

Marifa, accompanied by Suke, looked down at Karon and the others.

Karon noticed something writhing in Marifa's hand.

At first, he thought it was a black dress glove, but as Marifa approached, he realized it was not a glove but thousands of ants.

"You... You're an insect user... gahhhhh."

"Good for someone of your lowly status to notice. These are bullet ants.

When stung by these ants, you will experience excruciating pain. Ah, since you've experienced it firsthand, there's no need for me to explain further."

"You put ants... on the arrow... and..."

"Of course, I did."

Karon and the others had little time left. One of the members had already died from shock due to the pain.

Another member, in the midst of the pain, tried to throw a hand axe at Marifa, but Koro, who had been hiding, bit the man's wrist and tore it off.

"Aaaaaah! My arm!"

"Koro, you'll upset your stomach if you eat it."

Ignoring the man's cries, Marifa stroked Koro's head, and Koro dropped the wrist and narrowed his eyes. Suke, watching this, also rubbed his head against Marifa's leg.

"You are Karon, the Leaf Lord of the Power Leaf, correct? You will suffer greatly before you die."

Karon couldn't understand what Marifa was saying. Already suffering from the bullet ants' attacks, there was no way he could die easily.

"F-fuck you!"

In the midst of the pain, Karon cast the second-tier black magic 'Fire Wall.' A wall of flames about five meters high blocked Marifa's path.

The wall of fire also engulfed Karon and the others. Unable to escape, the Power Leaf members were consumed by the flames.

After a while, the screams of the Power Leaf members faded. Marifa used the first-tier elemental magic 'Water Ball' to extinguish the fire, and the blackened bodies of the Power Leaf members lay scattered.

"One body is missing... They fled without knowing the hell that awaited them.

Still, I've done a bad thing to Nina and Rena."

Suke and Koro tilted their heads next to Marifa.

Nina and the others, who had been chasing Yuu, had actually caught up during the battle between Yuu and Karon. With her keen ears, Marifa knew that Karon and the others were planning to escape. Understanding that Yuu couldn't abandon the pixies, they had decided to deal with the fleeing Karon and the others themselves.

Marifa, waiting ahead, had given Nina and the others false information, suggesting they ambush Karon and the others on different routes. Nina and the others were waiting on a route that Karon and the others would not take.

Marifa couldn't bear to let them go. She wanted to personally make Karon and the others, who had attacked and injured Yuu, suffer the agony of hell.

At the entrance to the Labyrinth of the Enchanted Forest, a man staggered a few dozen meters away.

"Guh... I drank a third-tier potion, so why am I like this?"

The man was Karon. In that moment, Karon had used the Fire Wall to engulf himself, burning the bullet ants and escaping with a transfer stone. The cost was severe burns all over his body, but the third-tier potion he had bought at a high price from a noble-only item shop in the capital had completely healed the burns. Despite this, Karon's vision was narrowing, and his body was being attacked by intense itching.

"Anyway, I need to get back to the city and meet up with my comrades... and return to the capital.

Heh heh heh. I'll make those brats regret being born. I'll show them hell. One of the Wudon Five Knights is a pawn of Mr. Barley. No matter how strong that kid is, he can't win."

"Ah, what's wrong?"

An old man in a butler's uniform stood in front of Karon. Karon immediately became wary and reached for the hilt of the dagger at his waist.

The Marmar Forest was relatively safe until the labyrinth was discovered. Now, it was a dangerous place, and ordinary people rarely came here. It was understandable that Karon was wary of the old man in a butler's uniform.

"Butler... You're that dark elf's ally!"

"Hmm? A dark elf.

I see. You must be from the Power Leaf, then."

"Don't play dumb! You know I'm the Power Leaf Lord Karon, and you've come to finish me off!"

"Ho... So you are Karon Baldoessa.

I didn't recognize you because you look so different from the images I have."

"Different... look?"

"It seems you don't understand your current state. Would you like to check it out?

By the way, my name is Nung."

Karon took the mirror Nung handed him and gasped in horror.

"What is this! This... is my face...?"

Karon's face was covered in something resembling warts. Upon closer inspection, small larvae could be seen wriggling in the protrusions.

"They're chiggers. You must have been infected in the labyrinth.

However, it's unusual for them to hatch so quickly. Did you fight an insect user?"

"Aaaaaah! That dark elf woman! Damn it! I won't forgive her! I'll kill her! Even if she screams, I won't forgive her! My face... This is too much. This is too horrible. Aaaaah, it itches! My face, my arms, my legs, my whole body!"

Karon, half-mad, tore off his armor and scratched his body. Blood gushed out, and the larvae that hatched also flew out. Each time a larva flew out, Karon screamed in pain he had never experienced before.

"Well, my business is with you, Karon.

I have a message from my master."

"W-what?"

"'Don't let the minister's dog get too cocky in my territory.' I have delivered the message.

Also, the people in Kammer have already been taken care of, so you can rest assured."

"Y-you—"

Karon's words were cut off.

The last thing Karon saw was the sky and ground flipping, and the emotionless eyes of the old man looking down at him.

"I'll bring some meat pies to thank Yuu and the others."

After confirming Karon's death, Nung walked lightly into the forest and disappeared.