Chapter 68
Chapter 68: The Protagonist (6)
He saw an overwhelmingly massive existence.
It was the kind of monster that would make any human recoil in fear and terror, desperate to flee.
However, the Pilgrim Riferoze advanced forward without hesitation, leading the charge.
"Follow me!!!"
Riferoze was simply fearless.
Her white hair fluttering as she rushed toward the monster.
Behind her, a pristine white afterimage streaked across the air.
"Everyone, follow the Pilgrim and face the Floor Master!"
The white-haired girl, radiating golden Divine Power, illuminated the path for the raid party, and emboldened by her light, the party prepared for a majestic battle.
Uweeeee!!!
'Dammit…….'
The only one hesitating at this moment was the one called the Slayer—the world's first Possessor.
'……Is something that massive really the boss?'
When he was possessed with only the [Warrior] class, he had no advance information about the Labyrinth.
However, since he had a home he wanted to return to and family he wished to see again, he had spent countless years making the Labyrinth his residence.
"So you're the Slayer? Your salvation isn't in the Labyrinth—it's outside the Labyrinth."
Until Riferoze Astia, the white-haired girl, came looking for him.
The Slayer was not a good match against Riferoze.
For him, Divine Power was poison.
No matter how monstrously strong he was, there was nothing he could do against his natural predator.
'My dear, my daughter—.'
The countless flicks to the head—a form of punishment—broke the Slayer's spirit.
The humiliation of being struck and the spiritual agony that seared his soul revived his shattered reason.
Thus, the Slayer was dragged before the raid party of the highest floor.
Humiliation?
No—he was simply grateful not to have been beaten to death.
For someone who had lived in the Labyrinth, experiencing such a high concentration of Divine Power was something he hadn't felt in a very long time.
That girl who beat him was truly a monster.
A monster even greater than the massive Floor Master.
'She's a real monster.'
Leonardo, the prince leading the raid party, felt the same way upon seeing Riferoze.
Though it was unsettling that he shared the same sentiment as the Slayer, who had been troubling the raid party.
'This head of mine almost cracked from a flick.'
It was his first time being flicked as a prince, and his head nearly split open.
Moreover, seeing Riferoze face off against that massive Floor Master……
Well, what could he do?
"Ha-ha! Is this all you've got?"
A slender, white-haired, long-haired woman.
Wielding a great sword as large as her own body, she was crossing blades with the Floor Master that soared up to the red sky of the Labyrinth.
Kwaaang!!!
With a single slash, lava split apart and the earth beneath it shattered.
And the Floor Master's massive bones exploded, scattering in all directions.
"—To think the ground we were standing on was the Floor Master's body itself."
The prince muttered absently as he dispersed the fragments with the power of moonlight.
'How in the world did that witch know about this?'
The Pilgrim of Astia.
The only being who could stand equal with the Pope.
This was how Riferoze Astia was known.
'A revelation from God?'
Riferoze, who had brought the Slayer along, informed the raid party about the Floor Master.
"If you keep stepping on the Floor Master, you'll die instantly right after it awakens."
Her words were exactly right.
The very bones the prince had been stepping on while avoiding lava were the Floor Master itself.
Upon awakening, the Floor Master unleashed an aura that induced instant death, and thanks to Riferoze, the raid party was able to avoid it.
'She even knows the strategy for defeating it—.'
Furthermore, she had revealed a secret method for dealing with the Floor Master.
"Your Highness, it's really exactly as the Pilgrim said!"
Riferoze Astia truly knew the pattern of the 32nd Floor's Floor Master in advance—the first to appear.
"Everyone, target its weak points—!!!"
The massive bones possessed an overwhelming size of several hundred meters.
Their shape resembled a wingless dragon.
"Now!!!"
The prince seized the timing Riferoze had indicated, unleashing a concentrated attack toward the Floor Master's eye socket.
Swish!
The beginning was the power of moonlight that the prince wielded.
An aura imbued with Moonlight advanced straight toward the Floor Master, and countless attacks followed, cutting through the sky with the lunar glow.
The combined force of high-level adventurers and elite warriors selected by the Empire reached the Floor Master's eye.
Thud!
The collective mass of tremendous power quietly struck the Floor Master, but the result was different.
Crack!
As if the world itself was crumbling, a tremendous sound echoed, and one of the Floor Master's eyeballs was destroyed.
Uweeeee!!!
The Floor Master raised its head and unleashed a terrible scream.
"Luke, use Taunt now!"
At that moment, Riferoze, who had been fighting the Floor Master at the front line, shouted.
'How does that woman know about skills?'
The Possessor Luke was a Possessor who had reached max level after completing his third class change.
Moreover, having lived in the Labyrinth for decades, he had become a powerhouse who transcended the limits.
Yet this white-haired, long-haired girl possessed knowledge of Possessor skills.
'Regardless…… her words really do come true.'
[Warrior]
[Berserker]
[Blood Warrior]
He grew stronger as he fought.
He recovered as he bled.
He was truly the strongest independent force—one who could fight for dozens of days without dying.
"Hwaaaaah!!!"
Red effects bloomed across Luke's body.
When the supreme taunt [Vendetta] was activated, the Floor Master's attention turned toward Luke.
It was a means to prevent the [Instant Death Skill] that would be activated when one eye was destroyed.
Thud!
The Floor Master's massive foot swung toward Luke.
Black wisps that induced instant death rose from the foot.
[Reprieve of Death]
Luke hunched his shoulders and took the motion for his skill.
His ultimate ability activated.
***
[The protagonist of the world is already decided. That protagonist is the Holy Saint Erik. We Possessors must receive recognition from him to be forgiven for our sins.
Only then can we accept Divine Power.
Just like me lol.]
[Photo bathing in Divine Power]
'Is this right?'
Park Chang-ho felt a serious doubt as he looked at the newly posted article.
The public opinion was not good.
If this continued, Kang Pung-ho might transform into a man.
'I don't know the reason, but…….'
The thought of stopping this filled Park Chang-ho's mind.
So he grabbed the hand of Nishida Ryo, who was typing in midair, and spoke seriously.
"Let's consult about this first."
"Why should I do the task I was given together with you?"
Nishida Ryo had poor situational awareness.
He lacked tact, was dull, and didn't see that as a problem—a typical arrogant person.
'If Erik would just beat him up…….'
But the current Erik didn't pay attention to whatever the Possessors did.
He was completely absorbed in Jang Du-sik's antics.
"Hey, brother, are you visible over there?"
"Huh, Du-sik. Did you really become a War Mage?"
"It seems like I'm halfway there. I won't know for sure until I meet my wife and check."
Jang Du-sik was recounting his legendary struggles alone on the 5th Floor, boasting about the new magic he had learned.
"When I squeezed myself to the limit, I finally understood what circulating magic power means."
"Even when our master beat us, he couldn't enhance magic power……."
Erik expressed admiration repeatedly as he watched Jang Du-sik.
Watching these two, Park Chang-ho suddenly had a brilliant idea to persuade Nishida Ryo.
'Teaching through beating is the basic principle of this world, right?'
Since there was a possibility of being severely punished if he used his fists, Park Chang-ho decided to beat him with his words instead.
"Nishida, are you going to keep acting like that alone?"
Since there was much accumulated frustration, he showed no hesitation in his cutting remarks directed at Nishida.
"What?"
"When we saw your portrait earlier, even your family thought you were pathetic. Are you going to live like that here too?"
Indeed, the most efficient method of persuasion is to probe at the other person's weak points.
At least, this was what Park Chang-ho, who had lived for two years since possession, believed.
"……You, you. How dare you bring up my family!!! And you saw it all!"
This was truly effective.
Nishida Ryo, who had maintained an iron expression throughout, crumbled.
"Wh, what."
"You? Listen to what you're doing, you bastard. If this keeps up, Kang Pung-ho will become a man and you'll be marked as an idiot, living exactly like you did on Earth."
At those words, even Kang Pung-ho joined in pressuring Nishida.
"That's right! Nishida, you were wrong!"
Since Kang Pung-ho hated the idea of becoming a man more than death itself, she thought Park Chang-ho's words were harsh, but ultimately she had to take his side.
Thanks to the two combining forces and creating a 2:1 dynamic, they managed to prevent Nishida's rampage.
'If you think carelessly like you did on Earth, you can't survive here.'
The words Kang Pung-ho had said to Nishida were, in fact, the same words she had said to herself.
She recalled the circumstances of how she came to the detention camp.
"Well, now that I have friends, this strange world feels survivable. You guys, actually—."
She had trusted the adventurers.
She had revealed to them the fact that she was a Possessor.
"What? So you're saying you weren't actually Janson from the start?"
"No, I've always been me since we started being together—."
"Cut the bullshit! How are we supposed to believe that? Since when!"
Her colleagues did a complete 180, threatening and targeting Park Chang-ho.
With her weakness exposed, Park Chang-ho had to endure difficult days.
'I was just enslaved to work and then thrown away.'
She had been exploited by the colleagues she trusted.
She was squeezed to her limits and ultimately betrayed, sold out for a bounty of 20,000 gold.
Though she didn't speak of these circumstances, seeing Park Chang-ho with tears in her eyes, Nishida had no choice but to nod.
It reminded him of the eyes of his late mother, who had told him to step outside his room and see the world.
***
"……Brother, the strategy really is working, right?"
More than ten days had passed.
Days had also flowed by on the outside.
Jang Du-sik directed reproachful words at Erik, like someone confined to a prison.
Slap!
"Ugh! P-please, let's talk about this!"
Erik was also impatient.
But what could be done?
The raid party on the highest floor of the Labyrinth had to kill the Floor Master for this disaster to end.
"P-please, S-Saint."
One reason for Erik's impatience was that the Possessors were sharing information from the [Community].
At first, there were only good news.
"The Community response is great! We've built up anticipation that salvation will come to Possessors."
"Everyone seems to be looking forward to the upcoming Possessor self-reporting period!"
"M-more than that! There's also huge attention on the fact that Possessors can have their desired gender recognized and get new names!"
It was definitely like this, but as with any community, new topics quickly emerged, pushing this conversation to the background.
However, these new topics of interest were not very welcome from Erik's perspective.
"What is it this time?"
"Um…… The Imperial Daily officially decided to call Priest Ruelle's church the 'Imperial Capital Central Church'—."
"And?"
"There's talk that the World Tree is withering, but this is just circulating in the Community."
For the past ten days.
The three Possessors had been organizing information from the [Community] and reporting it to Erik.
But as time passed, Erik's expression grew increasingly sinister.
[Ruelle's Church officially recognized by the Empire.]
[In a state that worships the Emperor, is this the first time they've given a church the name 'Imperial Capital Central'?]
[Photo]
Information with authentication photos, such as [Imperial Daily] reports.
[The World Tree is withering. Waiting for that one's return…….]
Or posts like this.
Since the Community was anonymous, there were many parts that were difficult to verify, and posts disappeared over time.
Therefore, the three Possessors had extracted only the most important information for their reports.
'Why does he keep getting angry…….'
The Possessors were going mad.
Erik demanded reports but remained angry the entire time he listened.
He wasn't shouting or clenching his trapezius muscles.
'But that's why it's scarier.'
Isn't it said that silent anger is the most terrifying?
"H-hey, brother. What about doing some loot box opening to change your mood?"
It was to this extent that even Jang Du-sik, reading Erik's mood, made this suggestion.
"—Enough."
Erik's agitation was indescribable.
Despite Jang Du-sik uttering provocative words like [loot box opening].
"What about that photo?"
"…… Tens of thousands of citizens surrounded the church—. A-and, Priest opened the church bell tower and waved her hand—."
"—Stop."
Silence fell everywhere.
He'd rather a Floor Master appeared; at least nothing emerged because of that bastard's worth.
[Rare Red-grade Box]
Still, rewards accumulated steadily.
Though insignificant compared to Black grade, the red grade also gave many high-tier items.
Moreover, this also allowed for 150-pull gacha draws matching the increased number of Floor Masters.
Of course, it all belonged to Erik.
"Ugh."
Watching the anxious Possessors, Erik organized his thoughts.
Weren't they his believers now?
'There's no helping it.'
Since the Slayer had targeted them, Ruelle's safety was an extremely important matter.
Moreover, she was Erik's benefactor in saving his life and the family he'd spent the longest time with in this world.
'For someone with that beauty and that attention-seeking nature to have made it this far was commendable.'
However, at this point, Ruelle's popularity was not something Erik could solve by doing anything.
In the first place, Ruelle possessed the qualities of a star from birth.
To put it nicely, she was the type to become a star or protagonist; to put it harshly, she was an attention-seeker.
"Keke, Erik. Ruelle lives in the Imperial Capital. The fact alone makes your efforts meaningless."
Riferoze Astia.
Erik's master was a believer in violence supremacy and religious fanaticism, but her intuition was exceptionally accurate.
'So it ends up like this.'
Judging from how things were going.
According to the Possessors' explanations:
'Prayers are always at full capacity, the church courtyard is packed with believers……. Citizens from the capital crowd even beyond the walls to see Ruelle's face, they say.'
She was merely a priest in name; she might as well be called an idol.
Gold coins overflowed from the donation boxes so much that the number of boxes increased, they said……
If it were the usual Erik, he would try by any means to smooth this over, but now it was different.
'Divine Edifice.'
The continuous notifications of GP acquisition that kept coming to mind.
[+238 GP]
By Erik's estimation, the more factions that followed or praised him, the more GP he would acquire. The structure seemed designed to maximize acquisition.
Since it currently seemed to only apply to the imperial forces inside the Labyrinth, the amount was this meager, wasn't it?
That meant if he worked together with Ruelle, preparing a flowerpot for the World Tree could be resolved in an instant.
'Perhaps…….'
If he told her this GP was needed to plant a tree, Ruelle would surely agree without hesitation.
Having thought this far—
―The 33rd Floor has been opened.
―Reprieve: 60 days.
The voice of the Labyrinth, which had been silent for dozens of days, shook all directions.
"Now we can finally leave."