The Devil’s Sacred Sword (6)
“Are you sure about this information?”
The explorer, having listened to the bald man’s tale, asked again. He seemed to be a skilled adventurer, yet his expression remained skeptical despite the bald man’s persuasion.
“I’m telling you, it’s true. Why else would so many people gather to form a hunting party?”
The bald man whispered insistently. Their conversation was so quiet it could easily be drowned out by the bustling crowd.
But Dalen, with his superhuman senses and sharp intellect, could clearly pick up even the faintest of sounds.
“This isn’t an official hunting party like last time. Isn’t it just a bunch of nobodies drawn in by rumors?”
“Ah, but I saw it with my own eyes. That rookie paladin’s sacred sword stabbed the demon right in the gut, spilling its innards.”
A hunting party, and an unofficial one at that.
‘So that’s why so many explorers have gathered here.’
Dalen nodded to himself. On a typical day, fewer than two hundred explorers would venture into the labyrinth. But now, nearly four hundred people filled the hall.
He had wondered what was going on, and the recent conversation gave him a clue.
‘A wounded low-level demon is indeed a tempting target for explorers.’
Demons in the labyrinth were dangerous, but they were also the most coveted prey. The Golden Palace offered substantial rewards to those who managed to slay a demon.
Moreover, the city’s barrier suppressed the ascent of demons and monsters, growing stronger the more powerful the creature. A demon that managed to reach the first floor of the labyrinth was likely a weakling among the lowest ranks.
‘And if it’s injured, they probably think they can handle it themselves.’
A tempting prey, now even easier to catch due to its injuries. And to top it off, the demon carried the sacred sword, a treasure beyond measure.
It would be strange if the explorers weren’t enticed by such a prospect.
’…No need to concern myself with this.’
Despite the allure, Dalen dismissed it as unimportant. As the nameless explorer had said, most of those swept up by such rumors were nobodies.
Retired mercenaries who had spent their life savings to enter the Silver Zone for one last big score, or naive youngsters dreaming of becoming explorers after hearing tales of wealth.
They weren’t even worth considering as competition.
‘And if that demon had died here, it wouldn’t have appeared as a boss monster later on.’
In the game, the demon wielding the sacred sword became active several years from now. This meant that the demon at this point in time would escape somewhere, grow stronger with the sword, and reemerge years later.
In other words, the explorers gathered here wouldn’t be able to deal with the demon.
Rumble.
The hall began to shake. Dalen tightened his armor straps and checked his gear once more.
“The door is opening. Get ready.”
“R-Ready?”
Lucia turned her head in surprise, her voice urgent.
“When the portal opens, don’t we just walk through? What do you mean, get ready…?”
“You see, the portal doesn’t just open right in front of us.”
Rumble―!
As they spoke, the vibrations from the barrier tower intensified. Dalen steadied the swaying Lucia by holding her shoulder.
Balancing himself with ease, he gestured with his chin toward the floor of the hall.
Hum―
A faint resonance accompanied by a slowly emerging light from the floor. Initially dim, the light gradually brightened to fill the entire hall.
Lucia’s face turned to one of bewilderment as she looked at the glowing floor.
Dalen smiled at her and said, “The labyrinth is below us. Naturally, the door opens from below.”
As soon as he finished speaking.
Whoosh―
With a tremor that seemed to shake the entire barrier tower, the light from the floor flickered out.
Whoosh―
“Aaaah!”
Dalen and Lucia’s bodies plummeted into the dark underground.
The fall was brief. It wasn’t a physical drop but a form of spatial transference magic through the portal.
Hum―
The air vibrated as the effects of the spatial transference gradually subsided. Dalen quickly expanded his senses, checking for any immediate threats.
As his vision, which had gone pitch black, slowly returned, he felt solid ground beneath his feet.
‘Seems like there’s no immediate danger.’
Dalen surveyed his surroundings. He stood on a low hill surrounded by forest. Despite it being broad daylight, the pervasive darkness and the alien flora and fauna indicated this was not the surface world.
‘The labyrinth.’
A subterranean realm teeming with monsters and demons. At the same time, the labyrinth was a world with its own ecosystem.
The crunch of the earth beneath his feet was different from the surface, and even the sounds of insects were unlike anything heard on the continent…
“Aaaah!”
…Though it wasn’t a place where insects screamed at the top of their lungs.
”…Could you keep it down?”
Dalen shook Lucia’s shoulder, who was still screaming. She blinked her eyes open and stopped, looking startled.
Hiccup.
After gasping from the rough handling, she looked down at her feet.
“Huh?”
Naturally, her feet were firmly planted on solid ground. Her face flushed red as she stammered.
“I-I don’t understand…”
“The portal in the barrier tower is actually spatial transference magic. Literal portals aren’t cost-effective to open and close daily.”
Though the labyrinth was underground, it wasn’t a place one could simply dig down to reach. In the game’s lore, the labyrinth was described as a space partially existing in another dimension.
Considering the immense cost of portal spells, even Falcion couldn’t afford to open and close a portal to the labyrinth every day.
‘That’s why they devised spatial transference magic.’
Even that was different from typical spatial transference magic. While normal spatial transference specified exact coordinates, the barrier tower’s magic randomly dropped individuals somewhere on the first floor of the labyrinth.
“The flow of magical winds inside the labyrinth is vastly different from the surface, making it difficult to pinpoint coordinates.”
Explaining what he knew from the game’s lore, Dalen looked up at the sky.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. Everyone screams the first time.”
“Isn’t this your first time in the labyrinth too, Dalen?”
“I’m an experienced newcomer.”
“Experienced…?”
Lucia tilted her head, not understanding the Korean phrase. Dalen chuckled softly and scanned the sky.
Though it varied by floor, the labyrinth was essentially a world unto itself. Vast lands, self-sustaining flora and fauna. The sky was dotted with stars, and towering mountain ranges lined the horizon.
The stars in the dim sky served as navigational markers for explorers, much like constellations on the surface.
Dalen observed the constellations to roughly estimate his current location. Fortunately, the stars were almost identical to those he had seen on his monitor.
‘Northwest of the return monument.’
In the labyrinth’s first floor, the return monument served as the reference point for directions. It was the only safe zone and the exit to the surface, protected by a powerful barrier.
Dalen and Lucia stood in the middle of a small forest northwest of the return monument.
Meanwhile, the place where Paladin Barrett and the hunting party were defeated by the demon was in the opposite direction.
A large cave southeast of the return monument.
‘It’ll take quite a while to get there on foot.’
Time was of the essence. Even a low-level demon was still a demon. The cave it had hidden in would gradually transform into a fortified lair, protected by powerful magic.
Demons were known to be twice as strong in their own lairs, so it was best to deal with it before the lair was fully established.
‘If I can reach its lair within a week… that should do it.’
Dalen stroked his chin thoughtfully. With that method, he could reach the demon’s base much faster than walking. Recovering bodies and earning money along the way was a bonus.
As he mapped out the route in his mind, Lucia rummaged through her bag and pulled out a scroll.
“I brought a map. If we look here…”
“We should head that way.”
Dalen pointed in a direction. Lucia stared blankly at his hand, then alternated between the stars in the sky and the map in her hand.
“We’re around here, right?”
She pointed to a spot on the map. It was in the middle of the forest northwest of the return monument.
‘She knows how to read stars and maps. The Paladin Order must provide thorough training.’
Though why they left out the part about the portal opening from below was a mystery.
Dalen nodded at Lucia, who wore a puzzled expression.
“That’s right. You’ve got it.”
“Then isn’t that direction west? According to the map, there’s a red line indicating danger if we head that way…”
Ah, the map was more detailed than I expected. Didn’t see that coming.
Dalen paused for a moment, then spoke with a calm demeanor.
“The map’s wrong.”
“What? But there’s even a skull mark here…”
“Probably just a smudge.”
The apprentice knight looked bewildered. Dalen chuckled and swiftly rolled up the map.
“You hired me for a reason, didn’t you? Trust me, just this once.”
He placed the neatly rolled map into Lucia’s hands.
“That place isn’t dangerous. It’s where you’ll find the second fastest way to travel on the first floor of the labyrinth.”
It took them a couple of hours to make it out of the forest.
The labyrinthine woods were a maze of confusing paths, but Dalen’s extraordinary sense of direction made it seem like child’s play.
Lucia, however, had a different experience.
The similar-looking rocks and trees disoriented her, and some of the bizarrely twisted trees were enough to make her feel nauseous just by looking at them.
A couple of hours later…
“Phew.”
As they emerged into an open plain, Lucia exhaled deeply, as if releasing a breath she’d been holding.
“Wow. That forest was no joke. I thought I’d get dizzy and pass out.”
“Are you prone to motion sickness?”
“I’m fine with carriages, but horseback riding is tough. I can manage if I draw on the power of my holy tattoos, but…”
“That’s just a waste of energy.”
Lucia nodded. Dalen patted her back, thinking to himself.
Who would’ve thought the demon slayer walked everywhere because of motion sickness?
Suppressing a chuckle, he surveyed the ground around them.
The soil outside the forest was dry and sandy, easily disturbed by the slightest breeze, leaving no trace.
But even such a sandy ground couldn’t hide from the eyes of a seasoned labyrinth guide.
Dalen crouched low, bringing his senses to full alert.
Tiny footprints began to reveal themselves.
The faint scents of various beasts and monsters tickled his nose.
His heightened senses bombarded his mind with stimuli, and his superhuman intelligence sorted through them, extracting the necessary information.
After a few minutes…
“Hmm.”
Dalen lifted his head. By then, Lucia had calmed down and approached him.
“Dalen? What are you doing?”
“Looking for tracks.”
He turned his head to the side.
“Seems like having a paladin with me brings good luck.”
Good luck? Lucia tilted her head in confusion and followed Dalen’s gaze.
It led to a nearby hill.
Lucia tilted her head again.
“What are you looking at? It’s just an empty hill.”
“Just wait a moment.”
Dalen chuckled softly.
His extraordinary perception could vividly see beyond the seemingly empty hill.
The ground beneath them vibrated rhythmically.
The distant howls of four-legged beasts reached his ears.
The mode of transport he often used on the first floor of the labyrinth was drawing near.
“Wait. Could it be…!”
And soon enough, as Lucia began to sense it too…
Awooo—
Atop the hill, a pack of wolves with hyena-headed riders appeared, howling into the air.
“Hyena-headed wolf scouts!”
Lucia shouted.
With a swift motion, she drew her sword and unstrapped her shield. Her tattoos began to glow on her arms.
Dalen drew an axe from his belt and started walking leisurely toward the hill.
Awooo—!
The gnoll scouts, having spotted the two, charged at full speed. Lucia crouched low and shouted.
“Dalen! It’s dangerous!”
Dalen didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up his pace.
Thud, thud, thud—
The gnoll scouts kicked up a cloud of dust as they charged.
A massive warrior with an axe sprinted toward them.
The distance between them was never that great to begin with, and it quickly closed until they could see each other’s eyes.
Grrr! Grrrr!
The wolves, covered in armor-like skin, and the gnoll riders wielding crude weapons numbered about a dozen.
The lead gnoll rider grinned with its protruding snout, raising a spear that looked about two meters long.
It was a move that clearly intended to skewer its prey in one go.
Dalen grinned fiercely at the sight.
The anticipation of a long-awaited battle set his muscles ablaze with excitement.
With each step, his feet dug into the sandy ground.
His hand, gripping the axe, itched with eagerness.
As the distance between the gnoll rider and Dalen closed to mere meters…
“Dalen!”
Lucia shouted, her tattoos glowing brightly, and at the same time, Dalen’s hand blurred.
Whish—
The hand axe became a faint shadow as it flew through the air.
In the dim light of the labyrinth, the faint starlight didn’t create a visible arc.
Grrr—screech!
Thus, the gnoll rider didn’t realize something was coming until the axe embedded itself in its forehead.
Grrr…
The gnoll rider, axe lodged in its head, rolled its eyes and slipped from the saddle.
Boom!
Simultaneously, the ground where Dalen had stood exploded, and his figure appeared atop the lead armored wolf.
Crunch!
Using the falling gnoll rider’s chest as a springboard, he executed an acrobatic maneuver, landing in the saddle.
Grrr? Grrrr!
The following gnoll riders looked at Dalen in shock.
From their perspective, something flashed, their leader fell, and their prey was suddenly sitting in the saddle.
Thud, thud, thud—
Turning to see their bewildered faces, Dalen wore a fierce smile.
On the saddle of the armored wolf, unaware its master had changed, Dalen’s hand now held a sword drawn from his belt, gleaming as it awaited its first battle.