266
The Silent Moon of the Abyss (4)
Thud!
The massive head of the rhinoceros crashed to the ground.
Even severed from its body, its eyes rolled wildly, and a purple electric current crackled around its horn.
Groooan—
Crack!
Only after Lucia stirred the inside of its skull with her holy sword, wreathed in white flames, did the madness in the rhino’s eyes finally fade.
Lucia withdrew her sword and stepped back from the carcass, her face pale.
“What kind of monster has the regenerative power of a true dragon…?”
“It’s not just the regeneration,” Bjorn replied, tending to the red-hot barrel of his shotgun. “These creatures have skin as tough as steel and primitive magic that rivals a true dragon’s might.”
It was a natural reaction.
When people think of monsters, they usually imagine frogmen, gnolls, or at most, trolls. But the creatures they had just defeated were on a completely different level.
“If they’re this formidable on the surface, what kind of horrors must lurk deeper in the labyrinth…?”
“These came from the depths of the labyrinth. Down there, it’s no different from hell,” Dalen said, examining the decapitated rhino’s body.
True dragons, now nearly extinct due to recent battles, were once beings capable of incinerating entire cities on their own. The three-horned giant rhino was a beast that could stand toe-to-toe with such a dragon.
And the fifth layer of the labyrinth, which they had to traverse, was teeming with such predators.
“I thought the tales of the labyrinth’s deep horrors were just legends among explorers. But it seems they weren’t just rumors.”
“Indeed. The real question is why these creatures have surfaced.”
Creatures from the labyrinth’s depths emerging to the surface was unheard of. Each layer of the labyrinth had a distinct ecosystem, and the deeper the creatures, the less they wanted to leave their domain.
“Could it be because the barrier tower collapsed? The main role of the grand barrier in the labyrinth city is to prevent monsters above a certain level from ascending to the lower layers, isn’t it?” Tommy Valentino cautiously suggested. Sienna and Felber quickly countered.
“That’s unlikely. The barrier’s influence is limited to the lower layers. From the third layer onward, it’s practically nonexistent.”
“Didn’t the envoy from the Golden Palace who guided us to the main base say the same? The collapse of the barrier tower doesn’t mean the grand barrier has lost its power. It just means the entrances to the labyrinth are closed.”
Despite various speculations, no clear answer emerged.
Meanwhile, Dalen, who had been examining the giant toad’s belly, waved them over.
“Come take a look at this.”
What he found were old scars.
Inside the toad’s belly were clots of blackened, dead blood, and further in, decaying stomach and intestines.
“Physical trauma, combined with a curse of at least the fifth rank.”
“A warrior wielding a cursed artifact, or perhaps a dark sorcerer skilled in powerful summoning or taming magic.”
“If it’s a person, yes.”
The state of the wounds suggested they were inflicted a long time ago, but at the time, they could have been life-threatening.
While the giant toad was alive, its monstrous regenerative abilities had kept the damage at bay, but as soon as it died, nearly a third of its innards rotted away due to the severe curse.
Creatures from the labyrinth’s depths are known for their tenacious regenerative powers, able to survive even decapitation.
Yet, despite such resilience, only the skin and hide had healed, while the internal tissues remained necrotic. This was significant.
“It’s not just this one. The rhino and the minotaur, too, all suffered severe injuries recently.”
“All creatures from the fifth layer of the labyrinth. Could it be they wounded each other?”
“Predators from the labyrinth’s depths strictly adhere to their territories. The fact that they surfaced together without annihilating each other suggests they aren’t hostile to one another.”
”…Then, could it be?”
Sienna, who had been silent, spoke up, her expression hardening as she grasped the implications of the lengthy discussion.
“Something appeared and drove these monsters out of their territory?”
“Most likely.”
Dalen nodded, and Felber let out a low hum.
“A threat capable of driving out monsters comparable to true dragons. Do you have any idea what it could be?”
Felber asked with a hint of expectation. Considering Dalen as a sort of time traveler, it was a natural expectation.
“Well, I can’t say for sure. My best guess is a new archdemon or something even greater.”
Dalen pondered over the toad’s innards.
Despite having experienced countless scenarios over hundreds of cycles, this was a first.
Creatures from the labyrinth’s depths ascending was unprecedented and should never have happened.
For them to abandon their territories, which they had guarded for centuries, and ascend to the lower layers meant they felt their lives were threatened.
‘What could it be?’
It wasn’t an evil god.
The dragon god was dead, and the Raphaelem were preoccupied with the elves. Suum and Temomron were likely too busy to be involved.
The only possibility was Enaxagus. Was this why it had been quiet for so long?
’…No. For it to move its heavy self directly would be too inefficient.’
Enaxagus, the epitome of cunning, wouldn’t start something unless it was sure to yield satisfactory results.
Then could it be an archdemon? But even an archdemon couldn’t roam the labyrinth’s depths at will.
The fact that about ten creatures had emerged through the narrow surface passage meant the lower layers of the labyrinth had already been ravaged by such predators.
An archdemon might handle one or two deep monsters, but driving out so many at once seemed impossible.
‘It’s a mystery.’
A nagging sense of unease gnawed at him. Dalen wiped the toad’s viscera off his clothes and stood up.
There was nothing they could do immediately. The only option was to quickly pass through the fourth layer of the labyrinth, the Silent Moon of the Abyss, and find out what was happening below.
He sheathed his axe at his waist and spoke.
“We should hurry.”
The Rift.
A deep, long chasm that stretched underground, reaching the labyrinth at its end.
Unlike the entrance guarded by the Holy Knights, the interior became increasingly complex and maze-like.
Towering cliffs over ten kilometers high, crisscrossing valleys and caves.
Due to the depth of the chasm, sunlight barely reached inside, and monsters lurking everywhere drooled at the prospect of lost prey.
Fortunately, according to Lucia, there was no risk of getting lost as long as their destination was the labyrinth.
“According to the Holy Knights’ records, there’s only one path to the labyrinth. We follow the Estra River downstream.”
The Estra River marked the border between the Empire and the Kingdom of Noria on the surface.
As it flowed from the midstream to the downstream, it connected with the Rift, becoming a massive waterfall that plunged into the chasm.
Starting from the waterfall, the slow-flowing downstream of the river wound through the tangled depths of the Rift, leading to the labyrinth.
As long as they could fend off the occasional monster attack, reaching the labyrinth wasn’t too difficult.
“We’ll need a boat to follow the river.”
The Holy Knights also used the waterway inside the Rift when necessary, so there was no need to build a boat from scratch.
The group found a suitably sized boat at the Estra Fortress dock and repaired it.
Lucia and Farn took turns at the helm.
In preparation for potential missions inside the Rift, all Holy Knights were required to learn basic navigation skills.
Monsters attacked the boat two or three times a day, but naturally, it wasn’t much of a problem.
The rock-throwing stone trolls ended up buried under their own boulders, and the winged cliff goblins met their end in one final flight as a tribe.
Several days passed in this manner.
One night, Akasha, who was enjoying the night breeze on the deck, murmured.
”[…The light is fading.]”
It was the day they had burned the nest of a twelve-legged hairy spider.
“Light?”
“[Yes, Bjorn. The light of the surface is disappearing.]”
She wasn’t talking about the absence of sunlight.
The sun had long set, and the moon was faintly obscured by clouds.
Even if it were daytime, the towering cliffs on either side would render the sunlight negligible.
Bjorn, who was adjusting the fuse nearby, sniffed the air and replied.
“Now that you mention it, there’s a familiar scent. It’s the air of the labyrinth.”
After that night, the natural environment, like air and light, began to change in strange ways.
A few days later, even the flow of magical winds twisted and turned.
The barren and monotonous landscape of the chasm was no exception.
The cliff gradually widened, transforming into a vast, open horizon. Instead of the occasional water lilies and other aquatic plants, there were now plants with teeth and claws poking their heads above the water’s surface.
Gurgle. Glug.
Bloop…
The river bubbled and frothed, with sticky debris clinging to the bottom of the boat.
The current slowed to a crawl, barely requiring the use of oars. The stench was so overpowering it numbed the senses, and just then, the boat hit the squelchy shore.
“We’ve arrived at the labyrinth.”
This was the place where, years ago, Calchas and his cultists had been wiped out.
The third level of the labyrinth—a bottomless swamp.
Splash. Splash.
The murky water reached up to the ankles of their leather boots. Unidentifiable rotten mud and debris clung to their toes.
“Damn swamp.”
Dalen spat, grumbling under his breath.
The stench of decay from all manner of things rotting away was unbearable. The reek of the labyrinth’s third level was a nightmare he could never get used to.
It had been five days since the group disembarked and began trudging through the swamp.
Over those five days, the swamp had grown deeper, and the stench more intense.
For the first three days, they could still find patches of dry land to walk on. The outer edges of the swamp were shallow, and the high ground, though damp, wasn’t submerged.
But by the fourth day, everything changed. No matter how high the terrain, their feet sank into the mire.
They had long since passed the point where the Tsar’s special forces had first arrived.
The water would only get deeper from here, not shallower.
It might take another fortnight to reach their destination. Dalen ran a hand through his damp, matted hair.
“Dalen.”
“What?”
“Look over there.”
His gaze instinctively followed the direction of the pointing finger.
Where Sienna indicated, there were about twenty bodies strewn about.
The corpses were clad in rusted armor and armed with spears and swords. Among them were a few who appeared to be mages and priests.
“An explorer party.”