Chapter 46

At the entrance of a certain passage, there was a wall for some reason. Normally, it should just be to prevent passage. However, a few minutes ago, there was no such wall, and one could easily pass through to the room inside.

In the silence, suddenly, the wall that blocked passage began to emit red sparks, and a hole appeared that a person could crouch and pass through. The person who made this hole and came out from inside was, of course...

"Haa haa, I was a little anxious..."

"...Yeah, the whole collapse was troublesome."

"No, no, it wasn't just troublesome, right? Normally, it would have been fatal."

It was Aichi, Tsuki, and Shia. After Aichi and the others entered the horizontal passage of the scorpion's room, they wandered around the maze for a while. Then, they encountered a typical trap—where the entire ceiling pressed down, a devious and cruel trap.

They couldn't escape from there; the distance to the deeper passage was too far. Aichi and Shia immediately decided to use their arm strength to hold up the ceiling. Taking advantage of this gap, Aichi used alchemy to create a hole in the ceiling. However, due to the strong magical decomposition effect, the alchemy was extremely difficult, and the speed was only a quarter of normal, with a range of just over a meter. Even so, it consumed dozens of times the usual amount of magic power. In this narrow space, the three of them clung together, and Aichi slowly dug toward the exit using alchemy.

"Damn it, [High-Speed Magic Recovery] isn't working. There's no progress at all."

"...At least take a recovery potion... the ones we prepared earlier?"

"Hurry up, hurry up! Please recover fully~"

"Why are you so calm...?"

Finally, they came out, and Aichi, looking a bit tired, sat down against the wall. Tsuki made a gesture to drink the potion, and Shia took out a magic recovery potion from her side bag. Using the magic power stored in the magic crystals was also an option, but since the convenient magic crystals could be used at will, it was necessary to save them for emergencies. Therefore, taking a recovery potion in this situation was indeed more appropriate.

Aichi, like a salaryman in a certain game, said, "I'm out of energy," and took the recovery potion from Tsuki and Shia, drinking it in one gulp. The taste was like a health drink. Compared to drawing magic power from the magic crystals, the recovery speed was slower, and the amount of recovery was minimal, but Aichi seemed to have regained a considerable amount of vitality. "Alright!" he said, full of energy, and stood up.

Then, he noticed again—or rather, the annoying text that always appeared.

"Pu pu~, you were anxious~. So~ ugly."

These annoying texts, which he had seen before, all appeared at places with traps. Milly Lysen... she must have gone to great lengths to harass them, without even finding it troublesome. (Mysterious voice: No, no, no, I'm enjoying it~)

"I wasn't anxious! Absolutely not anxious! Not ugly at all~!"

Aichi's gaze drifted backward, and Shia, after seeing the unpleasant text, let out a low growl, "Gururuu!" and rebutted the text. Shia's animosity toward Milly had already reached the sky. Every time she saw these unpleasant texts, she reacted this way. If Milly were still alive, she would probably say, "Here comes the sucker!" and smile maliciously.

"Alright, alright, let's go. Don't mind these one by one."

"...Agreed."

"Uu, yes..."

After that, as they proceeded along the passage, they reached a room where numerous traps awaited them. Suddenly, poisonous arrows flew from all directions, followed by a pitfall with a dissolving liquid inside, and then the ground turned to sand like the ability of Arifonta (Note: Arifonta, a giant ant monster from the fifth episode of Ultraman Ace, which turns the ground into a sand vortex and sucks people in to eat them). In the center, a worm-like monster was waiting, and then there were the annoying texts... Aichi and the others were almost at their limit from the stress.

After breaking through all the traps, they came to the largest passage they had encountered since entering the maze. It was about six or seven meters wide. The structure was a steep slope that gently curved to the right. It seemed to be a downward spiral passage.

Aichi and the others advanced cautiously. It was impossible for such a unique passage to not have traps.

And, their suspicion was correct. "Kata!" The familiar sound rang out, and some mechanism was activated. It felt like the traps were being triggered regardless of whether the switches were touched or not. If that was the case, how were these switches even made! Aichi couldn't help but want to make a grand complaint. But, thinking that such a complaint would only make Milly Lysen happy, he held back.

What kind of trap was this? Aichi and the others thought, being cautious about their surroundings, and then they heard...

Gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu

It was clearly the sound of something heavy rolling.

"..."

The three of them looked at each other silently, then turned to look up the slope. Because of the angle, they couldn't see beyond the curve. The sound gradually grew louder, and then from the depths of the curve... a boulder as large as the passage rolled down. A giant boulder made of rock. It was a classic RPG trap. Surely, there would be annoying text waiting for them at the end of their desperate escape.

Tsuki and Shia immediately turned and ran like rabbits. But, after a few steps, they stopped. Because Aichi hadn't followed.

"...Hmm, Aichi?"

"Aichi-sama!? If you don't escape quickly, you'll be crushed!"

The two called out to Aichi, but he didn't respond. Instead, he crouched down, bent his knees, and extended his right hand straight forward, palm facing the boulder. Then, with his left arm pulled back to the limit, a mechanical sound, "Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" rang out. Aichi stared at the boulder, which was rumbling closer, and a fierce smile appeared on his lips.

"Again and again, I won't be taken down! That's not my style!"

The mechanical sound from his prosthetic hand and Aichi's words became even more intense.

Then...

Bang!!!

With a terrifying sound of destruction, the boulder and Aichi's prosthetic hand collided violently. The pressure from the boulder was channeled into the ground through Aichi's feet, and despite the spikes Aichi had alchemized into the soles of his shoes, he still slid back a bit. Then, with Aichi's strike as the center, the boulder began to crack and shatter, and its momentum visibly slowed.

"AAAAAAH!!"

Aichi pulled his left fist out with a burst of energy. The boulder, which had been barely holding up against Aichi's punch, collapsed in that instant, and Aichi's punch ultimately triumphed. The boulder shattered and scattered into pieces with a loud rumble.

Aichi kept his stance after pulling his fist back, and then suddenly relaxed and stood up straight. The unique mechanical sound from his prosthetic hand had stopped. Aichi clenched and then opened his prosthetic hand, confirming that it was functioning normally, and then turned to look at Tsuki and Shia, his face clear and refreshed.

"I did it!"

Aichi's expression clearly showed his satisfaction. He himself seemed to have accumulated a lot of stress from the traps that triggered without touching any switches and the annoying texts that followed.

This time, Aichi used the [Power Arm], which had once knocked out one of the elders of Fiarabel, Kien, with a single punch, and also used magic to vibrate his prosthetic hand, causing the target to shatter, a technique known as vibration shattering. This move put a lot of strain on his prosthetic hand and required maintenance after each use. It was one of his trump cards, but he couldn't help but use it.

Seeing Aichi turn back with a satisfied look, Tsuki and Shia greeted him enthusiastically.

"Aichi-sama! As expected! So cool! It was very satisfying!"

"...Yeah, satisfying."

"Ha ha ha, right, right. This way, we can slowly proceed down this path..."

Their praise made Aichi feel very good, but before he could finish his sentence, the remaining words were drowned out by that sound.

Gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu gururu

This sound was very familiar, and Aichi's smile froze. Shia's smile also froze, and Tsuki's face twitched while maintaining a blank expression. Aichi, like a rusty machine, turned his head stiffly to look behind him, and what he saw was...

...a large metal boulder glowing black.

"Liar."

Aichi's smile twitched as he muttered softly.

"Um, Aichi-sama. Is it just me, or does it seem to be spraying some strange liquid as it rolls?"

"...It's melting."

Indeed, the metal boulder had countless small holes on its surface, and as it rolled, it sprayed a liquid that made a dangerous "sizzle" sound wherever it touched, causing it to melt.

Aichi confirmed this and exhaled once, maintaining his smile as he turned back to Tsuki and the others. Then, his smile suddenly disappeared, and he shouted, "Run! Damn it!" with a pale face, starting off like a sprinter and dashing down the slope.

Tsuki and Shia, after a brief glance at each other, turned and ran after Aichi at full speed.

Behind them, the metal boulder, spraying the dissolving liquid, made a terrifying sound and gradually accelerated as it approached.

"No, no, no, no, no!! I absolutely hate being crushed and dissolved~!"

"...Yeah, just run."

Shia's cries echoed through the passage.

"By the way, Aichi-sama! Running first is too much! Heartless! Devil!"

"You're so talkative! Mistake, mistake! Just run!"

"Leaving me behind, what kind of logic is that! Do you not care about me at all!? Uwa~ If I die, I'll come back as a monster and scare you to death!"

"...Shia, surprisingly calm?"

Even while running for their lives, Shia still took the time to choose her words carefully to complain. Tsuki looked at her in surprise.

As they ran, they saw the end of the passage. Using [Far Sight], they confirmed that there was a large space ahead. However, something seemed off within the visible range; they couldn't see the floor of the room or any further. Probably, the exit of the passage they were running through was near the ceiling of the room.

"Vertical drop!"

"Okay."

"Got it!"

Aichi and the others jumped into the room in front of the passage, falling straight down to the exit below.

Then,

"Slip!?"

"Uh!?"

"Q!?"

Three different groans. The area directly below the exit was clearly a swimming pool filled with some kind of terrible liquid.

"Damn it!"

Aichi immediately shot several small knives and grappling hooks from his prosthetic hand. The grappling hooks hit the wall, and he used his right hand to catch Tsuki and prevent her from falling.

Then, the metal boulder, spraying the dissolving liquid, flew over their heads and landed in the pool below. It sank with a sizzle, emitting smoke.

"[Wind Wall]"

Tsuki's magic blew away the scattered dissolving liquid. They remained cautious for a moment, but nothing special happened, and Aichi's shoulders gradually relaxed.

"Gururu, I'm crying, anyway... I'm... Uu, gururu"

Suddenly, they heard a sob from the side. Turning to look, they saw several knives piercing through Shia's clothes, pinning her to the wall.

"? Why are you crying suddenly?"

"...Emotionally unstable?"

"See my state, right? Why was Tsuki-sama gently caught, but I was pinned? Aichi-sama, be a bit more gentle, please?"

"No, I helped you properly."

"Different. In this situation, how girls want to be helped... you understand, right!? I want to be caught and helped like Tsuki-sama!"

"...Shia"

"Gururu, what is it, Tsuki-sama?"

"...Face reality"

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Shia, we acknowledge you as a partner, which means we don't treat you like trash... I love Tsuki, and even if I move fast, there's no way to catch both of you. Right?"

"Uu~"

Even if he said that, it was partly an excuse. "...It was planned to pin you from the start..." Shia's eyes welled up with tears as she muttered softly. Tsuki's cheeks turned pink at the word "love," and she hugged Aichi tighter, rubbing her head against his chest.

"I also want to be helped to the extent of being held, and I will make you fall in love with me!"

"You're persistent~"

"...Determined... can't be careless"

Below them was a pool of dissolving liquid, and they were hanging in the air, yet they still managed to play out a love drama. Aichi and the others were indeed quite calm.

Aichi and the others used the grappling hooks to swing like a pendulum, leaping over the pool of dissolving liquid and landing on the floor of the room.

This room was a large rectangular space with considerable depth. The walls on both sides had numerous niches, each containing an armored knight equipped with a shield and a sword, about two meters tall. The knights stood in a row, extending into the depths of the room. At the far end, there was a large staircase, and in the front, there seemed to be an altar, with a grand door on the back wall. On the altar, there was a rhomboid yellow crystal.

Aichi looked around, subtly frowning.

"Indeed, it's a door. Have we reached Milly's residence? If so, it's a great relief... Am I the only one who feels a bad omen from the armored knights?"

"...It's fine, they will keep their word."

"Does that mean we will be attacked? Not fine at all!"

As they talked, Aichi and the others moved toward the center of the room, and as expected, the familiar sound they had heard many times rang out.

Kata!

Aichi and the others stopped at this moment. Internally, they thought, "As expected," and looked around. The parts of the helmets that looked like eyes began to glow. Then, with a clanking sound, the knights stepped out of the niches. There were fifty of them in total.

The knights suddenly crouched, placed their large shields in front of them, and raised their large swords in a thrusting stance, completing the encirclement as they stepped out of the niches.

"Ha ha, they really kept their word. It would be good to destroy them before they move. Well, now... Tsuki, Shia, shall we go?"

"Okay."

"Isn't the number a bit much? But, I'll go..."

Aichi drew Dona and Shuraku. Using the machine gun Meserai would be more effective with this number, but they didn't know how many traps were set in the room. If the bullets scattered and triggered all the traps, they wouldn't be able to handle it. Therefore, he chose only two electromagnetic cannons this time.

Tsuki responded with enthusiasm. In this maze, she knew her firepower was the weakest. But she had no intention of being a burden. As Aichi's partner, she couldn't become a liability in such a harsh environment. Moreover, now, or perhaps, there was a one in ten thousand chance that her rival was right beside her, so she couldn't let anyone see her helpless.

On the other hand, Shia showed a slight sign of nervousness. Although she was the one who could perform the best in the team, she still lacked substantial combat experience. She had only fought monsters in the valley for about five days and had only two weeks of combat experience from sparring with Tsuki. Additionally, being from the gentle Helia race, it was understandable that she would feel nervous in a