◆Serpent’s Queen; Diadona

  The temple located at the peak of the highest mountain was the sanctuary of the Bird Women.

  The nest-like palace, which was made by interlacing numerous pillars constructed from blue crystals, was an extremely beautiful sight to behold.

  I was currently here visiting the owner of this palace, Casa.

  「You’re the last person I expected to visit this place, Diadona.」


  Casa spoke to me.

  She was definitely cautious of me.

  I mean, after all, we were former enemies.

  I stood by Nargol on the mother’s side, while Casa stood by Orgis on the father’s side.

  「Cease your vigilance, Casa. I’ve not come to fight you.」


  Our parents had long since perished, thus I had no more reason to make an enemy out of Casa.

  The goddess in front of me was blessed with the power of future vision in exchange for the impairment of her eyes.

  She was definitely someone I wanted as my ally.

  「… Then let me hear your business for visiting me. You’ve not come for a mere light chat, right, Diadona?」


  「That’ll save me a lot of hassle then. I’ll get to the point, will you become my ally?」


  「Since you’re talking about “ally”, you are bound to have an “enemy”. Who’s your “enemy” this time? 」


  「Mina’s children of course.」


  Casa made a face as if she already expected my answer.

  「As I thought. May I hear your reason? You’ve been obedient up until now after all.」


  「It’s because Rena, the daughter of that annoying Melfina, has summoned the Hero of Light from the Spirit World. The fact that he can make a miniature sun* itself is already made him an extremely dangerous existence.」[TL* : Maybe referring to one of Reiji’s magic]

  Originally, there was only eternal night in this world.

  That was until Orgis created the sun to make a bright world for Mina, the goddess who came from the Spirit World.

  I had no idea what kind of methods Orgis had used to make that sun. However, that very same accursed sun was giving birth to light in this world.

  Though he was our father, he was such an idiotic man. Doing that would only reveal Mina’s existence to our mother.

  As a result, half of that sun got smashed by our mother, making it so that it could only shine the world for half a day.

  Oudith, who inherited Orgis’ power, was trying to return the sun back to its original state, but it took everything for him to just maintain it for a while.

  And then, that Hero of Light appeared.

  He also held the same power as Orgis.

  The sun might end up being returned to its original state if Oudith and the Hero of Light were to work together.

  If that were to happen, the world really might fall into the hands of Mina’s children.

  Naturally, I wouldn’t let that happen.

  Eternal night was the most suitable form of this world.

  「Hero of Light? That one should be defeated by the Dark Knight. I don’t think he’s such big threat though…」


  「Defeated yes, but he’s still alive. Modes will remain undefeated as long as that Dark Knight is by his side. But what about the other gods? According to the rumor, even though that Dark Knight is protecting Modes, he has no intention to kill the Hero of Light.」


  「And that Hero of Light… has become Labrys’ captive right now. What are you worrying about, Diadona?」


  I shook my head upon hearing that.

  「You’re wrong. The barrier that trapped him got destroyed just now. Zarxis returned in a hurry as soon as he heard the news. I’ll go with him since, at this rate, Labrys might be killed.」


  In fact, I came along with Zarxis today. But, he went ahead as soon as he sensed that someone had destroyed his barrier.

  Thus, I might have to chase after him later just to be safe.

  But first, I needed to finish my business with Casa.

  「I won’t thank you even if you save Labrys, you know.」


  I knew she would say those words.

  Labrys, God of Lust had gained too much hate from the other gods. Thus, no one would thank us for saving him.

  「That’s right. But still, the Hero of Light is Rena’s lover you know. There’s no way Labrys, who loves Rena, will allow that Hero of Light to exist.」


  There’s no way that Labrys, the very incarnation of lust, would give up on Rena. That’s why he wouldn’t forgive the existence of her lover, that Hero of Light. And that hatred for him was something that we needed.

  「I see. Rena’s lover huh. Well in this case, that Hero of Light isn’t just buying grudge from Labrys, he basically made an enemies out of so many male gods.」


  I agreed with Casa.

  Rena’s beauty had surpassed Ishtar, the Goddess of Love and Beauty herself.

  It might not even be an exaggeration to call her the most beautiful Goddess.

  Due to this, there were various marriage proposals from many male Gods, not just limiting to Elios’ god, that kept coming to Rena.

  Regardless of that, Rena didn’t appear to have any intimate relationships with any male Gods.

  Well, she might’ve raised her bar very high considering she was brought up alongside her twin brother, Alfos, the most handsome male God in the world.

  Those male Gods that were her admirers had gone into an uproar when they heard that Rena had gotten herself a lover.

  「Sometimes I wonder, what are those male Gods see in that Goddess… I mean, look at her nasty personality.」


  「Even I… have to agree with you in that regard.」


  Casa agreed with me.

  Rena’s nasty personality was definitely inherited from that annoying Melfina.

  It wasn’t just Rena. The Goddess’ who were descendants of Mina’s lineage were all beauties. But that very same beauty also made them too full of themselves.

  And most annoying of all, they thought that ugly existences should be eradicated from this world.

  「Well it’s about the time for me to leave, Casa. Contact me again after you’ve made your choice.」


  I bid my farewell to Casa.

  I left Casa’s temple and headed toward the Minon plains to save Labrys.

  ===

  ◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  「Come forth, Bonnacons!」


  Seven cows surrounded by fire appeared as soon as Labyrs finished his chant.

  Bonnacon, who sprayed their red hot sh*t towards us, was a middle tier spirit. It was truly a disgusting attack method that was killing us mentally.

  「RINO-SAN!!」


  I shouted to Rino in a hurry.

  「Leave it to me, Chiyuki-san!! Please protect everyone, Kelpie-san!!」


  Rino summoned the Kelpies, a middle tier spirit.

  The seven Kelpies she summoned shot water from their mouths to protext us from that blazing sh*t.

  Seeing that their sh*t attack failed, the Bonnacons changed their target from us to the Kelpies.

  The result of the battle ended with both sides being annihilated.

  「TAKE THIS!!」


  Nao threw her boomerang with a shot. But that boomerang went back without being able to even scratch Labrys’ naked arm.

  On top of wearing armor magic, Labrys’ muscular body had steel-like skin.

  Nao’s attack couldn’t so much as leave a cut on Labrys’ skin.

  「Uuh, it’s useless. Nao can’t gather her strength.」


  Nao spoke with a vexed voice.

  「Nao-san, retreat to protect Sahoko-san!! Leave the offense to me and Reiji!!」


  I fired a few icicle lances toward Labrys while giving the order.

  On top of having an extremely tough defense, neither fire or thunder magic worked on Labrys.

  That’s why I used ice magic.

  「HUMPH!! IT’S NOT EVEN STRONG ENOUGH TO SCRATCH MY BACK!!」


  But my magic couldn’t leave a single wound on Labrys’ skin either.

  This room was giving a huge advantage for Labrys.

  It seems that the power of our magic was halved in this room.

  But, I expected that.

  My magic was just a distraction to create an opening for Reiji.

  「EAT THIS!! SUNDERING FLASH!!」


  「Humph!!」


  Labrys’ shield magic that he conjured in a split second instantly split in half due to the sheer force of that attack.

  The two swords were slashing relentlessly at Labrys. Each slash worked to erase all of Labrys’ shield magic.

  「D*AMN IT!!」


  Reiji shouted in frustration.

  「MY TURN!!!」


  Labrys swung his giant tomahawk, sending out a shockwave attack towards us.

  「O Light!! Protect Everyone!!」


  A wall of light appeared in front of us along with Sahoko’s shouted chant.

  But, that shockwave destroyed the wall of light and blew us back.

  We might die if we received a direct hit from that shockwave.

  「NO~~~!!」


  Rino raised her voice.

  The power of that giant tomahawk was no joke.

  Sahoko’s defensive magic was easily torn apart by it.

  「HOW DARE YOU TRY TO HURT MY WOMAN!!!」


  As the only one of us who dodged that shockwave, Reiji had closed in towards Labrys.

  「Humph!!」


  Labrys attacked Reiji with his tomahawk.

  Reiji dodged Labrys’ tomahawk with a swift turn and slashed at his leg with his sword.

  But, in the next moment, the room shone and the wound had already healed itself.

  「YOU CRETIN!! TAKE THIS!!!」


  The pair of horns on Labrys’ head then released a bolt of lightning.

  The raining thunderbolts were attacking a large area that not even Reiji could dodge such an attack.

  One of Reiji’s swords was flicked away from his hand, causing him to pause for a moment.

  Labrys didn’t let go of that momentary opening and swung his tomahawk towards Reiji.

  Reiji’s body was sent flying at receiving the full force of that attack.

  But, just as he was about to impact against a wall, Reiji bent his body over like a spring and landed with his feet against the wall, dispersing most of the impact from Labrys’ attack.

  「LIGHT WINGS SUNDERING HEAVEN!!」


  Reiji kicked off the wall and transformed into an arrow of light.

  「BUMOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!」


  Labrys was blown away by this attack.

  「Did we beat him!?」


  Reiji looked towards Labrys.

  But, Labrys rose again, as though nothing had happened to him.

  In the next moment, Labrys’ shield shone.

  It seems that the shield was able to reduce Reiji’s destructive power by half.

  「Gugugu… not bad, Hero of Light. But, this level of attack is only on the level of tickling my skin!!! LABYRINTH, GIVE ME POWER!!」


  The entire room was enveloped by a flash of blinding light, which then gathered around Labrys.

  This feeling was similar to the battle against golem on the 4th floor.

  This might be Labrys’ means to heal himself.

  「I won’t lose as long as this labyrinth exists. You cretins can’t defeat me.」


  Labrys roared as he laughed at us.

  「This is bas–!! Let’s retreat, Reiji-kun!!」


  I screamed at Reiji.

  「Understood!! Everyone, regroup!!」


  Everyone regrouped at once.

  And then, I sang the aria of my spell.

  「NO WAY!? IT DOESN’T WORK!!」


  I was extremely surprised by this fact.

  We couldn’t use teleportation.

  「My bad, teleportation is sealed starting from the 11th floor and below. You can’t run from me anymore.」


  Labrys was smiling delightfully seeing our panicked faces.

  「This is bad, we’re…」


  Nao didn’t need to finish her sentence, I knew she wanted to say “We’re screwed”.

  ===

  ◆Goddess of Wisdom and Victory; Rena

  The Valkyries and I were waiting on top of Labrys’ labyrinth to welcome Reiji and co’s (supposed) return to the surface.

  「Are you okay, Rena-sama? Reiji and co are…」


  Nier shot a worried look towards the ground while standing atop my warship.

  「What are you worrying about, Nier?」


  「N-NO! I’M NOT WORRYING AT ALL!!」


  Nier replied with a flustered voice.

  Nier’s innocent gestures and demeanor made her an easy prey for any sc*mbag.

  「It’s okay Nier. He(Kuroki) is strong, no one can defeat him.」


  Nier looked at me upon hearing my confident remark.

  「You really trust him(Reiji) isn’t it, Rena-sama.」


  For some reason, Nier’s face became gloomy when she spoke those words.

  「Of course, he(Kuroki) is my knight after all.」


  My knight, Kuroki, was currently infiltrating this labyrinth. That’s why, there was no reason to worry.

  But, Nier was most likely misunderstanding something.

  The other Valkyries were also looking down with worry.

  Should I make myself look like I’m worried like the others as well?

  I went towards the Valkyiries who were looking down in worry.

  「Cease your worry, everyone. Reiji will be okay.」


  The Valkyries smiled upon hearing my remark.

  Did that reassure them?

  「Please return as soon as possible… that girl is coming to get you.」


  I muttered those words while looking at the direction where that girl, Kuna, was coming from.

  ===

  ◆Silver Witch; Kuna

  「Just a bit more and we’ll arrive at Kuroki’s location, Glorious.」


  I rode on the back of the Demon Dragon, Glorious.

  The ring on my left hand told me about Kuroki’s position.

  I’ve already reached my limit; I’m suffering from a serious deficiency of Kuroki.

  Obviously, I had to ride Glorious, flying here all the way from Nargol, to meet him again.

  「Wait for Kuna, Kuroki.」


  ===

  ◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  「I’m almost at my limit, Chiyuki-san.」


  Rino spoke to me with a weary look on her face.

  Even the lively Rino was extremely exhausted. Her cute face was a mess right now.

  Maybe it was supposed to be more difficult for anyone but Labrys to be able to use magic within this labyrinth. I mean, the consumption rate of my mana had far exceeded my predictions. Even Sahoko had exhausted herself after chanting both defensive and healing spells so many times at this point.

  Currently, the only one who was least affected by this situation was Reiji.

  Reiji was currently fighting head on against Labrys. But, it was only a matter of time till he exhausted his stamina too.

  Labrys, on the other hand, could theoretically fight forever thanks to the power of this labyrinth.

  It was the worst possible situation.

  But, we mustn’t give up. We had to continue to fight back alongside Reiji.

  「Stand up, Rino-san. Sahoko-san… we must assist Reiji-kun.」


  I propped my body up to stand.

  I will fight till the end.

  Reiji and Labrys’ fierce combat unfolded again in front of me.

  Reiji hadn’t given up yet.

  He was one to fight regardless of any disadvantage and at the last moment, he would turn the table against his opponents. [TL : IN YOUR DREAM.]

  That’s why I mustn’t give up.

  Both Rino and Sahoko also propped themselves up.

  「W-W-WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE!!!? HOW CAN YOU STILL FIGHT IN THIS SITUATION!!?」


  Labrys screamed at us in frustration.

  To be honest, he spoke too many lines for a boss.

  「HUMPH, YOU CAN’T STOP US!!!」


  Reiji flashed a refreshing smile as he readied his two swords.

  Labrys becamse increasingly irritated upon seeing him prepare for another clash.

  「SUIT YOURSELF THEN!! I ACTUALLY RATHER RELUCTANT TO USE THIS MOVE BUT, ALL OF YOU CRETIN MIGHT BE AS WELL DISAPPEAR ALTOGETHER!!!」


  Labrys’ body suddenly turned red.

  「No way, he was just playing around until now!!!」


  Nao voiced her surprise.

  Even I couldn’t believe it. Did he still have an ace in the hole?

  「O FLAME OF MOROK DWELLING IN MY BODY!! REDUCE EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM TO ASHES!!」


  Labrys’ body was wrapped in blazing flames as soon as he finished his chant.

  Within the next moment, the flame exploded outwards, burning everything in this room.

  「O LIGHT!!!」


  Sahoko used every last bit of her mana and deployed a defensive spell.

  That light wrapped our body, protecting us from the blazing flame.

  「THANKS, SAHOKO-SAN!!」


  I looked at Sahoko’s direction.

  Sahoko replied with a frail smile on her face.

  It seems she’d exhausted herself from using this magic.

  「KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!」


  「NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!」


  Various desperate screams of pain resounded from behind Labrys.

  It seems that his flames had also attacked the women behind Labrys.

  They tried to escape, only to become human torches till they were burnt black beyond recognition.

  「DEAR!! WHY ARE YOU KILLING YOUR WOMEN TOO!!?」


  「HUMPH!! KNOW YOUR PLACE, YOU LOWLY S*W!!! I JUST NEED TO FIND NEW ONES!!」


  Labrys replied with a bored face.

  「YOU BAST*AAAARD!!!」[TL : YOU TOO!!!]

  I shouted at Labrys.

  Unforgivable.

  「EURIA!!!」


  Reiji was running in a hurry toward Euria’s position.

  He was barely able to save Euria from the flames by a hair’s breadth.

  Reiji came back towards us while holding Euria in his embrace.

  「Why did you save me, Reiji-sama? I’m an evil woman who tricked you.」


  Euria looked at Reiji with a puzzled look on her face.

  「Don’t worry about it, Euria. I never abandon my woman.」[TL : WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU ALMOST LEFT CHIYUKI AND NAO DEAD IN ROC KINGDOM? D*CK HEAD!!]

  Reiji flashed his usual refreshing smile.

  「Reiji-sama…」


  Euria looked at Reiji with tears overflowing from her eyes.

  I glared at Reiji upon seeing those.

  I don’t mind that he wanted to save her but, you should at least worry about Sahoko whose burden has now only increased with another person to protect now.

  Are you even aware of that? [TL : No, his brain is trapped in his d*ck after all]

  「My Morok Flame won’t cease to burn as long as I have mana. Let see how long you can survive under this kind of situation.」


  Labrys came at us again.

  Reiji faced off against Labrys again after setting Euria’s down.

  I tried to invoke ice magic to counter the blistering heat, but my magic wouldn’t invoke no matter how hard I tried.

  I glanced towards Rino. It seems she can’t use her spirit magic either.

  The reason behind that was most likely the Morok Flame. [TL : I’m tempted to change “Morok Flame” to “Moron Flame”]

  Through this, Labrys had literally blocked everyone but Reiji’s combat powers.

  「No one can protect you anymore, Hero!!」


  「So what!! I alone am enough to kick your a*s!!」


  Their battle began anew.

  The rest of us couldn’t do anything but be forced into being passive onlookers of their battle.

  I felt really frustrated at seeing our current situation.

  「HOW!! HOW CAN YOU STILL FIGHT!! HOW CAN YOU STILL FIGHT IN THIS KIND OF HOPELESS SITUATION!!」


  「MY WOMEN ARE RIGHT BEHIND ME!!! LIKE H*LL I’M GONNA LET THEM SEE AN UNCOOL SIDE OF ME!!」


  「THEN THOSE WOMEN OF YOURS WILL DIE FIRST!!!」


  Labrys pretended to look at Reiji as he dashed toward us.

  「EVERYONE SPREAD OUT!!」


  Every one of us spread out in different directions upon hearing my command.

  The most I was worried about was Sahoko, but, seeing her escaping along with Nao to a safe location, I heaved a sigh in relief.

  「NO~~~~~! DADD~~~~~Y!!!」


  Euria screamed to the top of her lungs.

  Labrys was clearly aiming for Euria.

  「YOU B*STAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!」


  Reiji sprinted at unbelieveable speed and arrived in the nick of time in front of Euria to protect her from Labrys’ flame.

  Euria’s legs turned jello as she fell on her butt. Honestly, she was only a hindrance.

  Reiji became a target for Labrys’ attack since that useless Euria couldn’t move at all from her spot.

  Though Reiji could fend off Labrys’ attack with his two swords, his situation turned for the worse.

  「UWAAAAAA!」


  One of Reiji’s swords broke, and he was blown back along with Euria.

  「Reiji-kun!!!」


  I squeezed every single bit of my mana and fired mana bullets at Labrys.

  I have to distract Labrys away from Reiji.

  So, I kept firing mana bullets at Labrys.

  「YOU B*TCH!! I’LL KILL YOU FIRST!!」


  Labrys’ attention finally shifted from Reiji.

  Now I just need to keep moving.

  「… Eh?」


  I fell back to the floor when I tried to stand up. I… couldn’t move my body.

  「Mana… exhaustion.」


  I couldn’t gather mana in my body.

  Even my legs refused to move.

  「Chiyuki-san!!!」


  Though I could see Nao sprinting as fast as she could in my direction, the distance between us was simply too large. She won’t make it in time.

  Labrys was already swinging down his tomahawk.

  I saw the tomahawk approach me in the world of slow motion.

  What this… the end of me?

  Tears welled up in my eyes as I faced my end.

  Someone, please save me.

  I couldn’t help but ask for someone to save me.

  I instinctively closed my eyes.

  「MOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!」


  Suddenly, Labrys let out a pained scream.

  His tomahawk had missed its target.

  When I opened my eyes, someone wearing black clothing stood before me.

  I caught the sight of Labrys thrown quite far away from me.

  It seems my savior hit Labrys with his full power.

  「Are you okay?」


  The man in black clothes asked me.

  I’ve heard this same voice before. It was the same voice of that person who saved my life back in Rox kingdom.

  He turned around, and looked at me.

  「You are…」


  What was this person doing in this place?

  Why did he save me?

  My train of thought was frozen in that very moment.

  「Please get back, leave the rest to me.」


  His body then wrapped itself in a black flame.

  When the black flame dissipated, his figure was replaced with the Dark Knight donned in jet black armor.

  Then I noticed.

  The one who saved me back in Rox kingdom was him, the Dark Knight.