Chapter 62
"I think it’s a kind of devil," Mariel said.
Mariel, clutching her white spear, said it in a cold tone that people had never heard from her.
"I used to be during my lifetime, but not anymore, Elyos," Beltiar replied.
"The essence never changes," Mariel said.
"I was born again under the great Death Ruler," Beltiar said.
"...The Death Ruler? That sounds like a dangerous name. Where is your master?" Mariel asked.
When Mariel asked, Beltiar flinched and looked at Lee Shin who was standing behind Mariel. When he made eye contact with Lee Shin, he quickly turned away.
"You do not deserve to see my master. Go back, or you will suffer death," Beltiar said.
"Your guys... You’re not the monsters of the labyrinth." Alice, full of conviction, said, glaring at the undead.
May was stunned when he heard what Alice said, so he rapidly activated his mana power.
"I guess you’re not planning on going back! If that’s the case, die–all of you!" May shouted.
When May took out his wand and struck the ground, the ground in front of Alice soared and headed toward her. Surprised by his fast casting speed, Alice looked serious and her stone-hard fist was wrapped in her psychokinetic power.
"Ugh, you undead!" At first glance, she seemed relaxed, but Alice frowned as May’s mana power got increasingly stronger.
"How dare you!" Fletta turned to help Alice.
"You play with me," Warrie rushed towards Fletta.
While Fletta was on his way to help Alice, Warrie rushed toward Fletta. He had no choice but to pick up his sword and fight back.
"Tsk!" Fletta clicked his tongue.
Warrie’s strength made it difficult for Fletta to extend his sword. Warrie stared into Fletta’s eyes with his red eyes. Their eyes met for a short moment. Fletta looked away because it felt uncomfortable. They had just been looking at each other, but it felt like Warrie was reading his mind. Therefore, Fletta's eyes flickered for a moment.
"It is our duty to punish the Demon, so I will put an end to your life here," said Mariel.
"Hahaha! Bring it on! I'll show you the power of the black mana.” Beltiar laughed at her.
Chang—!
There was a loud sound as the greatsword and the spear clashed.
‘So the skills that she had been showing us so far were not all.’
Lee Shin looked at Mariel from the back, and he was surprised to see Mariel’s true strength. He did not expect Mariel to show a comparable level of strength to Beltiar. Lee Shin also turned to Shun as if he was accusing Shun of not attacking. When Shun noticed that, he quickly activated his mana power.
A bullet of ice formed on the tip of Shun’s wand. The mana that gathered in a circle spun at a tremendous speed and shot toward Lee Shin. It was a new magic that Shun had developed after seeing Cigarate’s bullet of red flame and understanding the flow of mana. As if he wanted to be evaluated for the magic, Shun presented his magic to Lee Shin.
Swoosh! Wooosh!
A membrane of fire appeared from the tip of the wand and another shield was laid over its outer surface. After noticing at once that Shun had maximized his penetrating power, Lee Shin immediately used his defensive magic accordingly. Since he had only revealed his flame spells so far, he was planning on defending the attack by using only the flame spell and other basic spells. Lee Shin tried to reduce the power of the bullet of ice with the membrane of fire and reduced its penetrating power with layers of shield.
[Silpheed Web]
The mucus-like web rapidly reduced the spinning of the bullet of ice. Lee Shin had revealed his new skill of casting three magic spells simultaneously, but the other three challengers did not have the time to notice that, since they were already too focused on their own battles.
Woosh— Bang!
The bullet made by Shun disappeared, leaving behind only a small explosion. Knowing that it was only a series of basic spells, Shun realized that there was a great difference between the magical ability of his master and himself.
‘I want to learn.’
A bright light flashed from Shun's head, and his mana power blazed up like an active volcano.
‘What's wrong with him all of a sudden?’
All he had to do was attack Lee Shin a few times and receive Lee Shin’s attack a few times. However, Lee Shin could tell that his aura was getting stronger over time. It was obvious that Shun’s mana power was getting overheated.
'I guess he is just too excited.’
Lee Shin could understand Shun, because he was one of the wizards whose desire was to test every skill they possessed against a wizard they had longed to fight with. There was no way Lee Shin would not be able to understand that.
‘Alright then, show me all you want. I’ll teach you a lesson.’
Lee Shin also moved his mana power accordingly. Mana dissipated like dust, and Shun's mana poured out like it was an inexhaustible supply. Therefore, the frost began to form all over the floor, walls, and ceilings.
Crack— Crack—
"Huh? What's going on all of the sudden?”
Fletta and Mariel, who had been fighting fiercely next to Lee Shin, stopped for a moment and looked at Shun.
"Shit..." Alice was stunned, and cursed when she felt Shun’s mana wave.
"Water can change into anything," Shun said.
When the three challengers heard Shun, they got goosebumps all over their bodies in an instant. They knew what he meant when he said it could change into anything. Shun’s mana power that had been fluttering around like dust, and the gradually solidifying fragments of ice were aiming for their blind spots.
"Be careful, everyone!" Mariel shouted urgently.
The density of the mana power increased rapidly. Fletta and Alice flinched momentarily at Mariel’s cry, because there was no way to avoid the attack.
Crack! Crunch!
The two, who had foreseen the bleak future to come, looked puzzled when there was no change.
"...What the heck?"
There were ice pellets all over the place, and they shivered. Besides, hundreds of sharp icicles were pointing at Lee Shin, but they were all frozen on the spot due to the mana power that Lee Shin scattered.
"Is he a Dual… Wizard?"
A Dual Wizard was a wizard that used two elements at a high quality. Alice was not stupid enough to not believe what she had seen. What if those icicles were pointing at her? What if they were pointing at Fletta or Mariel? Would they have been able to stop those from approaching them? Alice did not know.
Crash— Crack!
With a single hand gesture by Lee Shin, all of those icicles fell at once and the pieces of ice scattered on the floor.
"...That was mind-blowing,” Fletta muttered.
That remark was as far as Fletta's appreciation went, but Mariel continued to exclaim in admiration. Lee Shin, who had completely blocked Shun's magic, gave Shun, who had his head down, some advice.
"Water can change into everything, but if you’re too focused on that, you won’t be able to use ice properly,” Lee Shin muttered and suggested to Shun.
"All right... I got it," Shun replied.
After hearing Shun’s response, Lee Shin quickly looked around. Since the undead all stopped fighting, Lee Shin reproached them using his eyes for not continuing their battles. When the undead noticed that, May, Warrie, and Beltiar quickly resumed their attacks.
Shocked by the sudden attack, the three challengers glanced at Lee Shin. Lee Shin was panting and he seemed no longer able to use magic, as if he had run out of his mana power after blocking that critical attack.
‘If it wasn't for Lee Shin... We would have all been dead by that monstrous undead. I have to step up now!’
‘Damn it, is Lee Shin out of mana power now? Fortunately, that Skeleton Wizard guy seemed like he lost all his strength too.’
‘Where the hell did these monsters come from?’
May's spells had become more precise and stronger, and Alice was now struggling to even block the spells.
Woong—!
The psychokinesis that had been holding May's stones eventually failed to last. Therefore, the stones that had been floating in the air stopped for a moment, then accelerated and flew toward Alice.
"No!" Lee Shin cried out.
Alice, who had closed her eyes tightly, opened her eyes when she heard a familiar voice. Before she even realized it, Lee Shin stood in front of her, defending her.
"Huh? W-w-what are you doing!" Alice shouted in surprise.
Alice had thought she would certainly be crushed by the pile of stones, but she saw the stones flying over Lee Shin’s shoulders. The wind howled as a few stones that were about to strike them froze in mid-air, but most of the stones continued to fly toward them.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Suddenly, Warrie, who had been battling Fletta, pushed him off and appeared behind Lee Shin, knocking out all the stones. Fletta freaked out because he thought that the Skeleton was trying to sneak an attack on Lee Shin and Alice; but the Skeleton was actually protecting them.
In such an incomprehensible situation, not only Fletta, but Alice and Mariel as well tried hard to understand what was going on. However, they could not come up with a reason.
Alice was not sure why that Skeleton was doing that all of the sudden. Besides, she was worried that the Skeleton might turn around and stab Lee Shin and herself with that sword; but fortunately, that did not happen. The fight between Beltiar and Mariel had also stopped for a while, and there was a momentary lull.
It was not just the three challengers who were perplexed. May, who had attacked with the stones; Warrie, who had blocked those stones; and even Shun and Beltiar, who had been watching them on the side, were stunned to see what happened.
‘You son of a bitch! Our master almost got hurt!’
‘Did I know that would happen? What am I supposed to do if the master just jumps in out of nowhere?’
‘Can't you even control that much? You can just pretend like the stones missed them and shoot them somewhere else!’
‘Do you think it's easy to change the route all of a sudden? Ugh, what do I expect from you, you idiot!’
‘Fuck!’
May and Warrie did not say anything out loud, but enough remarks were exchanged through their eyes. Then they began to move again. After a momentary pause, Warrie bounced off the ground and redirected the attack to May.
Chang!
The intangible shield and the sword clashed.
"Thinking about it, I really didn’t like you! You’re going to die here!" Warrie shouted all of the sudden.
May's mana power was unstable for a moment, because he was shocked by the Warrie’s ridiculous act. However, he took the situation calmly and responded to Warrie accordingly.
"Alright, you idiot! Let’s have a fight then!” May shouted.
A fight between May and Warrie began out of nowhere. Mana power flashed here and there, and loud noises reverberated around due to the clashes between the two.
Since it was becoming more difficult to fight back, Fletta thought it would be a good chance to run away while the Skeletons were fighting each other. He supported Alice and Lee Shin, and they retreated.
On the other hand, Mariel did not know what to do. Thanks to the two Skeletons who were fighting each other, Mariel’s burden was reduced. However, the other two undead were formidable; and if the challengers had to join the fight again and deal with them, it could have been really dangerous.
"Mariel! We should run away when they’re busy fighting with each other!” Fletta shouted.
"...Okay," Mariel replied.
Mariel glared at Beltiar for a second and retreated. However, the undead did not come after the challengers.
"Mr. Lee Shin and Ms. Alice! Are you guys okay?" Mariel asked.
"Uh, I think I’m fine but..." Alice looked at Lee Shin with a slightly puzzled face, because Lee Shin looked very pale.
"Mr. Lee Shin!" Mariel cried out.
"Hey! Are you okay? Did you get beaten up by that Skeleton? Why did you do such a thing if you’re not feeling well..." Fletta asked.
"I'm... I'm fine… Don’t worry about it, we’re a team… I only thought of saving our team member, so I did it without even realizing it…” Lee Shin replied.
There seemed to be no open wounds that were clearly visible on Lee Shin’s body, but his complexion did not look good. It looked as if he had suffered an internal injury. The thought that he had jumped in to save his team member even in this state of injury moved Mariel, and she started tearing up.
"Mr. Lee Shin... I'm so touched. I've never met a human being with such a warm heart," said Mariel.
"No... Don’t mention it. I just did what I had to,” Lee Shin replied.
"Hey you, Lee Shin, you were such a nice guy, weren't you?" Fletta said.
It was not just Mariel, but Fletta was also looking at Lee Shin as if he had fallen in love with Lee Shin. Standing at the side, Alice seemed hesitant to say anything.
"Thank… you..." said Alice.
"No, don’t mention it. I'm glad that you're okay," Lee Shin replied.
When Alice heard what Lee Shin said to her, she blushed. However, Lee Shin had no time to pay attention to her response.
[You acquired a deep favorability from Mariel.]
[Hidden Quest - Communicating with Elyos.]
[Save Mariel, the Elyos, from a crisis while maintaining the deep favorability.]
[Reward - Divinity Stat]
‘Nice.’
It was worth the hassle. Originally, Lee Shin thought of working much harder than this, but since the angel Mariel was much simpler than what Lee Shin had thought, it was easier for Lee Shin to get Mariel’s favorability.
Only then was Lee Shin able to see Fletta and Alice. Fletta was looking at Lee Shin in a way that was very unsettling, and Alice was staring at the wall on the other side with a bright red face. Lee Shin did not understand what was going on with these people, but there was no need to pay attention to them anymore.
"Let's get going no—”.
"No wait! Don't move!" Mariel shouted.
Lee Shin, who was moving his body casually, suddenly could not move as if there was a restraint. Mariel pressed his shoulders down, and he lay on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Lee Shin asked.
"Stay like that for a moment. I'll heal your body,” said Mariel.
Divine power appeared at Mariel’s fingertips. No matter how good Lee Shin's physical ability was, he was tired from constantly moving in the labyrinth for almost two days. However, with a touch from Mariel, the golden glow of her divine power spread throughout his body, and it began to relieve his fatigue, as if every part of his body had been massaged.
"Huh?" Mariel had a puzzled look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Fletta asked when he saw Mariel’s confusion while treating Lee Shin.
"Umm… Are you all good, Lee Shin?” Mariel asked.
‘Oh, my.’
Lee Shin had twisted his inner mana blood to make him look temporarily unwell. However, after accomplishing the hidden quest, Lee Shin had undone it. Therefore, Mariel was puzzled when Lee Shin seemed too normal while she was treating him. Lee Shin quickly caused his physical condition to deteriorate again.
"Keugh…" Lee Shin gasped.
"Mr. Lee, Lee Shin!" Mariel cried out.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Fletta asked.
"Oh my god, what's wrong with him?" Alice asked.
The three were shocked to see Lee Shin throwing up blood and panting all of the sudden. Therefore, they checked his condition again.
"Ms. Mariel! What’s going on?" Fletta asked.
"Huh? What's going on here?” Mariel seemed to panic.
"Mariel! What the hell are you doing? He got worse!" Alice shouted.
"I'm sorry! This can't be happening. I'll try again!" Mariel replied.
"Be careful this time!" Alice shouted.
"Alright!" Mariel replied.
At Alice's series of requests, Mariel took a deep breath and attempted to treat him once again. This time, Lee Shin's complexion improved.
"Are you okay?" Mariel asked.
"Yeah, thanks to you, I got better. Thank you again," Lee Shin replied.
After getting up, Lee Shin checked the time.
'It's time for the monsters to show up soon.’
It was an event that occurred repeatedly at a certain time. A wave of monsters would appear in front of challengers who stayed in the labyrinth for a long time. At one point, the summoned monsters roamed the labyrinth and attacked the challengers. It was a way to prevent the challengers from taking time to slowly explore the labyrinth.
Lee Shin had to win first place in this wave, because that’s how he would be able to get the reward. To do so, the best thing to do was to find the starting point of the wave and kill the monsters there.
"We have to move quickly, because the wave will start soon,” Lee Shin said.
"Where are you going? No matter where you are, the monsters will come.”
"I agree, wouldn’t it be better to stay here, closer to the exit? Since this is the end part of the labyrinth, I think it will be less burdensome when we encounter the wave.”
Both Alice and Fletta had a point. However, Lee Shin had a different intention than the two.
"I'm not trying to avoid the monsters," Lee Shin said.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Fletta asked.
"No way..." Alice looked at Lee Shin with a look of consternation, because what she thought Lee Shin was trying to do next was crazy.
"I'm going to go to the starting point of the wave and defeat all the monsters,” said Lee Shin.
"That's crazy! How can you defeat all those monsters!" Alice strongly opposed Lee Shin’s suggestion.
However, the other two challengers seemed to agree with his idea.
"It sounds fun. Plus, if we kill them all, we'll also get a lot of rewards," said Fletta.
"Are you trying to take on all the burden so that other challengers don’t get hurt? You are truly amazing, Mr. Lee Shin!” Mariel was the only one who greatly misunderstood Lee Shin’s intentions, but he did not bother to correct her.
"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to. I'm going anyway," said Lee Shin.
After seeing Lee Shin’s determination, Alice bit her lips and fell into agony.
‘What is she thinking about?’
Just like Alice said, this was a very dangerous thing to do. There was no reason for Alice to join him and take risks because she had the ability to find her way out. Besides, Lee Shin was sure that she was considering his option because of the favorability toward them.
The next moment, Alice said quietly, “...I'll go with you."
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