Chapter 44

Bodies littered the ground.

This phrase aptly described the scene now spread across the bottom of the Reisen Grand Canyon. Some monsters had their heads flattened and sunk into the ground, others had their heads crushed and lay sprawled out, and there were even those that were completely charred. Although the methods of death varied, all the monsters were killed with a single blow.

Of course, this place was a hell on earth, an execution ground, a place that everyone avoided at all costs. The one capable of such feats here was...

"One-hit kill, you know!"

Clang!!

"...Obstructing"

Gulp!!

"Annoying"

Do Bang!!

Aichi, Tsuki, and Sia. After leaving Brook Town (a group of fans of Tsuki and Sia had seen them off), they rode on a magic-powered motorcycle and arrived at the entrance of the Reisen Grand Canyon, a place they had once passed through. They then proceeded along the canyon, camping as they went, and two days ago, they passed the cave that concealed the transfer magic circle of the Orkus Great Labyrinth. They continued to move forward.

The Reisen Grand Canyon had not changed much, and the monsters still attacked without learning their lesson.

Sia's large hammer, swung with immense arm strength, truly delivered a one-hit kill, crushing the monsters. The attacks far exceeded the monsters' durability, and they were helplessly destroyed and killed. This was a destructive force that could make even a moon rabbit's face turn pale.

Tsuki, facing monsters that approached at close range, ignored the rule that magic could not be used here and forcibly activated it to slaughter them. Tsuki not only possessed vast magical power herself but also had a series of magic crystal jewelry that stored vast amounts of magical power, making her a continuous bomber. Due to the canyon's bottom decomposing magical power, she could only launch short-range attacks in extremely short periods, but the combination of ultra-high-temperature flames and instantaneous activation left no monsters uncharred and dead.

Aichi was no exception. He could accurately hit the heads of monsters from the motorcycle with Dona. Despite the high consumption of magical power required to continuously activate the lightning-wrapped motorcycle, he showed no signs of running out of magical power.

The hellish beasts that dominated the canyon bottom were treated like mere pests. Aichi and his companions searched for clues to the great labyrinth while effortlessly killing the monsters. The road was almost blocked by the bodies of the monsters.

"Haa, where is the Reisen labyrinth? It's too vague, after all."

They had already carefully observed, noticed, and searched for caves along the way, but found nothing. Unconsciously, Aichi let out a complaint.

"Well, this is just a side trip on the way to the great volcano, right? If we find it, it's a bonus. We might find clues after clearing the labyrinth of the great volcano."

"Yeah, that's true..."

"Hmm... But the monsters are annoying."

"Aa, for Miss Tsuki, this is the worst place, you know~"

The group grumbled in the wind, though they were troubled by the numerous monsters, they continued to travel for three days. This day also ended without any results, and looking up at the sky from the canyon bottom, they could see the waning gibbous moon casting a beautiful light. Aichi and his companions were preparing to camp for the night. They set up the tent and prepared dinner. They had bought ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils in the town, and now they were taking them out. The tent and cooking utensils were actually all Aichi's carefully crafted divine artifacts.

The tent was equipped with a "heating stone" and a "cooling stone" created by generation magic, maintaining a comfortable temperature at all times. Additionally, using the cooling stone, they had a "refrigerator" and a "freezer." The metal frame used for support was also embedded with a "breath-sealing stone," making it difficult for enemies to detect them.

Among the cooking utensils, there were frying pans and woks that could adjust heat by the amount of magical power input, eliminating the need for fire, and a knife that, when infused with magical power, activated a "wind claw" and had a sharp blade. There was even something like a steam cleaner. Each of these made their travel dining life more colorful and were Aichi's beloved creations. Moreover, since they couldn't be used by those who couldn't directly manipulate magic, they had a certain anti-theft property.

"Divine magic is so convenient."

This was what Aichi said when he made the cooking utensils and the tent equipped with heating and cooling.

By the way, today's dinner was Kuru-Kuru bird stewed in tomatoes. The Kuru-Kuru bird was essentially a chicken that could fly. Its meat and taste were the same as chicken, the most popular bird meat in the world. Cut into bite-sized pieces, coated in flour, and fried, then cooked in a tomato broth with various vegetables, the dish was complete. The flavor of butter and meat juices were locked in the meatballs, and the scent of tomatoes filled the air through the nose. The moment it entered the mouth, these flavors spread. The meat was chewed, and the tomato broth had seeped into the warm potatoes (or similar), while the natural sweetness of carrots (or similar) and onions (or similar) reached the tongue. The broth infused with fat and the soft bread were also delicious.

After a satisfying dinner, Aichi and his companions, immersed in the afterglow, began their usual post-dinner chat in the tent. Thanks to the breath-sealing stone, the number of approaching monsters was much less than usual. Occasionally, a monster would come by, and Aichi would handle it with a shot from the tent window. Normally, during sleeping hours, the three would take turns keeping watch until morning.

This day, it was almost time to sleep, and Tsuki and Sia were preparing to go to bed. Aichi was the first to keep watch. The tent had soft bedding, making camping sleep quite comfortable. Before getting into the bedding, Sia suddenly went outside the tent.

Aichi was a bit surprised, and Sia said with a serious face.

"Just a bit, I'm going to pick some flowers" (Note: "Picking flowers" is a polite term for a woman urinating).

"Where are there flowers in the canyon bottom?"

"Mr. Aichi!"

Aichi's overly rude comment made Sia's serious face collapse, and she glared at him tightly. Aichi, of course, knew what she meant, but he said "Sorry, sorry" with a smile that didn't look apologetic at all. Sia pouted and angrily left the tent. After a while...

"Mr. Aichi! Miss Tsuki! It's terrible! Please come here quickly!"

Sia shouted, seemingly forgetting the possibility of attracting monsters. What is it? Aichi and Tsuki exchanged glances and rushed out of the tent.

Running in the direction of Sia's voice, they found a huge boulder lying against the canyon wall, with a gap between the wall and the boulder. Sia was waving her arms excitedly in front of the gap. Her face was flushed with excitement, as if she had seen something unbelievable.

"Over here, over here! I found it!"

"Got it, got it. Stop pulling, you're using full body enhancement, aren't you? You're too excited."

"...Annoying."

Sia, excitedly pulling Aichi and Tsuki's hands, made Aichi feel she was pulling a bit too hard, while Tsuki frowned in annoyance. Guided by Sia, they entered the gap between the wall and the boulder. The wall behind the boulder was indented, revealing a surprisingly spacious alcove. Arriving at the center of this alcove, Sia pointed to a part of the wall, her face beaming with pride.

Aichi and Tsuki turned their gaze to where she was pointing and involuntarily exclaimed "Huh?" in surprise.

In front of them, there was a rectangular sign carved directly into the wall, with beautiful decorations around it, and the sign was inscribed with round, elegant cursive script.

"Welcome to the Surprise Great Labyrinth of Milly Reisen!"

The exclamation marks and question marks on the sign were strangely infuriating.

"...What is this?"

"...What is this?"

Aichi and Tsuki's voices overlapped, and their expressions perfectly matched the phrase "Saw something unbelievable!" They stared blankly at the sign, which seemed out of place in the hellish canyon bottom.

"This, this is probably the entrance! The great labyrinth! I found it while... cough, while picking flowers. Wow, I really found the Reisen Grand Canyon's great labyrinth."

Sia's cheerful voice echoed in the space, and Aichi and Tsuki gradually relaxed from their stiffness, looking at each other with expressions of speechless confusion.

"...Tsuki. Do you think it's real?"

"......Hmm."

"That took a while. What's your basis?"

"...Milly..."

"Of course, that's the point..."

The name "Milly" appeared in Oscar's notes as the first name of Reisen. While the name Reisen was widely known, the first name Milly was rarely known. Therefore, a place that recorded this name was very likely to be the great labyrinth of Reisen.

Still, it was a bit hard to believe that it was so straightforward...

"Why is it so casual..."

There was a reason for this. For Aichi, recalling the numerous life-and-death battles in the Orkus Great Labyrinth, he imagined that other labyrinths would be the same, and this casual sign made Aichi feel a bit deflated. Tsuki, too, had the cruelty of the great labyrinth deeply etched into her bones, and she was a bit puzzled, suspecting it might be a prank.

"But, where is the entrance? We can't go in from the back..."

Sia, not noticing Aichi and Tsuki's subtle psychological changes, muttered to herself while cautiously looking around, then knocked on the wall at the back of the alcove.

"Hey, Sia. Be too..."

Clunk!

"Ouch!"

"Be too careful, it might move." Aichi's words were cut off as Sia touched the wall at the back of the alcove, and the wall suddenly rotated, pulling Sia in. Her figure disappeared behind the wall, like a hidden door in a ninja house.

"..."

The discovery of the great labyrinth's entrance was confirmed, and the reliability of the sign increased. Indeed, the great labyrinth of Reisen was here. The entrance had a sign that seemed like an invitation to an amusement park, and there were many complaints like "Is it okay for a great labyrinth to be so casual?" or "Is the Orkus Great Labyrinth too serious?" But Aichi and Tsuki just silently stared at the rotating door that had swallowed Sia, exchanged glances, and sighed, placing their hands on the rotating door like Sia.

The mechanism of the door activated, and Aichi and Tsuki were simultaneously transported to the other side. Inside, it was pitch black. The moment the rotating door stopped with a click, returning to its original position,

Swish, swish, swish!

Numerous whistling sounds flew towards Aichi and Tsuki from the darkness. Aichi's "Night Vision" revealed their true nature. They were arrows. Countless completely non-reflective black arrows flew to eliminate the intruders.

Aichi, holding Dona in his right hand, used his left hand to knock down all the incoming arrows.

The sound of metal clashing echoed, and not a single arrow was missed.

There were twenty arrows, all black and matte, as if cut from the same piece of metal. The last arrow was knocked down with a clink, and the room fell silent again.

At the same time, the walls emitted a faint light, illuminating the surroundings. Aichi and Tsuki found themselves in a ten-meter square room, with a neatly paved passage leading inside. In the center of the room was a stone slab, inscribed with some words in the same round, elegant cursive script as the sign outside.

"Scared? Hey, are you scared? You little brat, hehehe."

"Or hurt? Did someone die? ...Huhuhu."

"..."

Aichi and Tsuki's minds were unusually aligned. That is, "I hate it~." Moreover, the parts "hehehe" and "huhuhu" were carved deeper, as if to emphasize them, which made them even angrier. Especially, if someone in the group had really died, the surviving companions would certainly be enraged.

Veins appeared on Aichi and Tsuki's foreheads, and they looked annoyed. Then, suddenly, Tsuki muttered something.

"...Where's Sia?"

"Ah."

Hearing Tsuki's mutter, Aichi, as if remembering, hurriedly looked back at the rotating door. The door rotated 180 degrees with each use, and Sia was not in the room, meaning she was likely rotated out when Aichi and Tsuki entered. A considerable amount of time had passed, and Sia had not returned, giving Aichi a bad feeling. He immediately made the rotating door work again.

Sure enough, Sia was... well, sewn onto the rotating door.

"Ugh, gah, Mr. Aichi... Don't look at me... But, please help me down. Gah, don't let your eyes wander..."

To put it mildly, it was a pitiful sight. It seemed Sia had noticed the whistling sound of the arrows and, despite not being able to see, had managed to dodge them using her innate detection ability. However, she had only just managed to dodge, and her clothes were pierced in several places, pinning her in a position that resembled ancient hieroglyphs. Her rabbit ears were bent in a zigzag to avoid the arrows, clearly a close call, and they were trembling. However, the reason Sia was crying did not seem to be fear of death. Rather, it was...

"Come to think of it, you did say you were going to pick flowers... Well, what is it. It happens..."

"No way! Ugh, why didn't you go first, past me!!"

As a woman, she absolutely did not want to be seen in such a state, especially by the man she had a crush on, and Sia burst into tears. Her rabbit ears drooped. Of course, the ugly sight she had shown when they first met, which would have woken up a hundred-year love, was already "at this point" for Aichi. So he did not particularly avert his gaze or show any surprise. This made Sia's heart ache even more.

"...Don't move."

Indeed, as a woman, Tsuki understood what Sia was thinking and, with a hint of sympathy in her expressionless face, freed Sia from the "execution platform."

"...This is beyond help. Novice."

"Embarrassing... Gah."

"...Aichi, get the change of clothes."

"Okay."

Aichi matter-of-factly took out Sia's change of clothes from the "Treasure Vault," and Sia, blushing, quickly changed.

Then, Sia, ready to tackle the labyrinth, noticed the stone slab.

Sia's face was down, her hair hiding her expression. For a moment, she was silent, then slowly took out Doryuken and instantly extended it, striking the stone slab with all her might.

Crash!

The slab shattered with a destructive sound.

She was quite angry, swinging Doryuken repeatedly as if facing her father's killer.

Then, under the broken slab, some words carved into the ground were revealed. They read...

"Regret? This slab will automatically repair itself after a certain time~ Hahaha!!"

"Yaaaaah!!!"

The silent Sia finally erupted, swinging Doryuken even more fiercely. The entire room shook as if a small earthquake had occurred, and the exaggerated impact sounds echoed multiple times.

Aichi glanced at the frenzied Sia and muttered softly.

"Milly Reisen, even if she has nothing to do with the 'Liberator,' she is a problem as an enemy of humanity."

"Strongly agree."

Clearly, this Reisen great labyrinth was, in a different sense from the Orkus Great Labyrinth, a place where ordinary methods did not work.