Chapter 9 - The Big Eyes
The "Infinite Corridor" in the eighth layer of the Labyrinth of No Return.
This corridor, which even A-ranked parties are at the mercy of, has yet to be cleared even by Sarah and the other top-ranked conquerors.
Only the legendary king's party has been able to pass through here.
I have acquired the skills of [Premonition Lv5] and [Insight Lv5], and have tried to take some measures, but I don't think it will be that easy.
Our party has a lot of strong luck, but our level itself is slightly inferior to other A-rank parties.
The [Auto Mapping] that I was secretly confident in didn't work here either.
That's why, when I came out into the hall, I misunderstood that I was back at the entrance of the infinite corridor.
"Okay, go back in and--"
"Wait! Alec. There's something in here."
Serina, who has the [Enemy Counter] skill, raises her voice sharply.
"What?"
I look at the end of the hall.
There's nothing there.
It doesn't look like there's anything there, but it was definitely intimidating.
Something is looking at us.
"Combat ready!"
I immediately send out a warning order.
Immediately, Ione and Meena spread out to the left and right, and Jouga and Serina stood in front of me.
"All right, Letty, give it a big one, bite it all over the hall."
"Okay, if you say so, I'll do it!"
I don't understand why she's so weak in the real thing, but maybe it's because she can't see her opponent that Letty is so relaxed.
"The air is flowing, and it has never stopped since ancient times. Wake up, storm that is invisible but powerful, like the breath of a giant, like the flapping wings of a divine dragon, summon the black eternal darkness to the singularity! Black Hole Tornado!"
As the Grand Mage Letty chanted the spell, drawing intricate markings while glowing the jewel on the tip of her rod, a swirl of air began to form in the hall - and then quickly disappeared. Nothing happened. It's supposed to be a wind spell.
"Eh?"
"That's unusual, Letty. Did you fail?"
I ask without blame her.
"It's not. This feeling of ...... resist, no, my magic has been cancelled!?"
It's more than defensive, it's like magic has been blocked. If so, the opponent must be a person of tremendous magical power.
As I tried to look up into the void, I suddenly felt an image enter my mind.
The image was only for a moment, but it was of us being tied up, followed by our lives being sucked out of us.
"Kkuhh! Get back! Don't look at it!"
I hurriedly hid my eyes and averted my gaze to the floor.
The scenery shakes, and I feel dizzy. It seems that I was already in the grip of gold bondage.
『You have defeated my technique. Impudent.』
The echoing voice echoed in my brain.
"W-What's going on? I can't move my body!"
"Tsk, me too."
Juga and Luka must have looked right into its unseeing eyes for real.
"Check your status! Serina!"
"It was a close call, but I can move."
"Alright!"
Now, no matter what our opponent is, we can win if I just give it Serina special move.
The question is, how do we get a hold of its position?
"Ione, can you find it with your [Mind's Eye]?"
"I'll try."
"Serina, keep an eye on Ione's position."
"Understood."
Ione closes her eyes and then raises her sword to the top. And ......
"Kkhh, it's no good. I can't move even with my [Mind's eye]."
I don't know what kind of technique it is, but the enemy seems to have some nasty skills.
I thought about doing a wild hit of Ice Javelin, but Letty's spell had been canceled earlier.
I guess it's better to assume that this is an opponent that magic won't work against.
Then, skill for skill.
I'll have to do something about this.
"I'll do it. The rest of you stay on alert."
""" Roger that! """
Close my eyes and make a list of potential skills.
【See through】
【Rocket Start】
【Alteration Technique】
【Bludgeoning】
【Train Molester】
【Distance Focus】
Damn, that's a lot of candidates.
This is a lot to choose from. I can get all of them, but I only have to use one.
I don't have time to try out all of them one by one against the boss class of the eighth layer.
I'm not sure what the point of [See through] is when I already have [Detection]. And See through is a lower level skill than [Detection].
I'd like to use the [Alteration technique] at least once, but it's useless if the Alteration stops everyone from moving.
The one that seems to work is the one at the bottom of the list, [Distance Focus], but ...... it also seems to be an early skill. It's not very strong at least.
I had a feeling that [Rocket Start], which allows you to hit the ground running even if you're stopped, was the big one, but no, wait, if you're stopped before you try to ram it in, no matter how fast you are, isn't that a bad idea?
It's not [Rocket Propulsion].
I can't be sure, but this is not the time to gamble.
Naturally, I compared the last two remaining skills: ......
【Bludgeoning】
【Train Molester】
I chose one of them.
【Train Molester Lv 5】 New!
【Train Molester!】
I used it right away.
A man who is molesting on the train.
It should never be noticed by the people around.
You never know where the railroad police are lurking.
Naturally, a man's eyes may be looking elsewhere, but he will not miss the target's buttocks.
In order to do so, he is required to use his "senses" to perfectly measure the distance between them.
What is the maximum level of this ability?
He is able to enter the narrow, crowded train in all directions, approach the target without being detected, and not let the target know that she is in danger until he puts his hand out.
He is dressed like a gentleman businessman, his hand holding the suspension ring, but his other hand is underneath.
His "invisible hand" is undetectable to anyone.
I walked nonchalantly, looking to the side, and extended my hand.
『Unuu!?』
The echoing voice upset me.
My left hand felt like it was touching the skin of a rough crocodile.
This guy is pretty big.
"Ouryaaa!"
I thrust the sword in my right hand straight into it.
『Ghh! You shit face, this lolicon!』
"Serina! It's here!"
"Got it!"
When Serina closed her eyes and she came running in my direction―――She used a Starlight Attack on me as well.
"Starlight Attack!"
"You idiot!"
I managed to duck just in time, but that was a pretty close call.
『That's ridiculous. ...... I'm the one who sees everything. How could I have missed it? That's impossible. ......』
The huge eyeballs that had been invisible until then trembled as it was slashed by Serina and then turned into smoke.
""" We did it! """
"Member Serina, we need to talk."
I call her out quietly as everyone doing gut-pose with joy.
"I wonder what it is. Also, stop calling me "member". I hate it so much."
"Didn't you just try to kill me?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, you say!?"
"Serina-san!"
"Don't panic, Meena. Anyway, I had to make sure I hit the monster. I'm sure Alec won't mind if he gets hit by my special move."
"Of course."
Meena easily affirmed.
"No, no, no, no, I'm in danger, too if I get hit by your special move."
"Is that so? But I feel like you won't die even if I kill you, especially since you've been taking a lot of skills to become tough lately."
"No matter how tough I am, I'm still in danger because your skills are "One Hit Kill"."
"Hmm... But, you know, you were okay."
"If you do it again, you'll be expelled."
"I understand."
"Alec~, The monster only have one drop of this ring, but I need it appraised."
Lily handed it to me unamused, as if she thought it was a crappy item herself.
Let's see.
I took the silver ring and tried to appraise it with my skills.
【Name】 Ring of Proof
【Type】 Equipment
【Material】 Mithril
【Defense】 10
【Defense Range】 1%
【Weight】 １
【Description】
A sign that you have defeated the Watchers of Hell.
No defense is expected.
However, if you take it to a certain place,......?
"Hmmm, perhaps this is a warp item, a key."
I say.
"A key?"
"Yeah. I told you about it before. First layer, behind the big warrior statue, there's a place you can enter from the ceiling."
It was on the fourth layer, when the level 86 "Immortal King of Shadows" came out. I was floating around, trying to get back to the surface as quickly as possible, when I found it.
That thing.
"Oh, I heard that."
"There was a magic circle at the end of that passage, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can straight go to the ninth layer there, ......."
""" Oohhh..."""
Everyone's in an uproar.
"W-wait a minute. Brother, didn't you say that this is the lowest layer, the bottom?"
Jouga is a little confused.
"I told you to keep that in mind, but I'm telling you, the old king went lower than this layer."
"Are you serious? But Sarah and the others haven't gone to the ninth layer yet, right?"
"Yeah. If they do make it to the ninth layer, they'll be the second group in history to do so, and the first in 500 years."
"Uwoohhhh, unbelievable!"
"That's impossible!"
Letty denied with a sharp voice.
"Hmm? Why it is impossible?"
Luka asked curiously.
"No, because I'm a poor goddess, remember? Because I fail when I'm on the verge. ......"
I guess she've been traumatized by her past failures, and they've left too strong an impression on her mind.
I told her.
"Don't worry, Letty. I've made it this far even with you. No, let me be clear. I wouldn't have made it this far without you."
"W-wh-what are you saying? It was because of Alec and everyone else. ...... I didn't do anything."
"Kaah, what are you talking about, Letty? You're a genius, aren't you? You're using a lot of awesome magic."
Jouga says, spreading his hands wide.
"That's right! You are a really great teacher. I'd say you're a rank A teacher!"
Nene also said clearly.
"S-Stop it, I'm not very good at being praised like that, you know."
Letty's embarrassment was met with laughter from the others. That's not like Letty.
"Oh well, once you get to the ninth layer, you'll gain confidence even if you don't like it, Letty. Everyone else will definitely admire you."
"Only if we can get to the ninth layer."
"Yeah. Let's get back to the surface."
We walked up the stairs, feeling a little elated, wondering what the unknown ninth layer would be like and what would become of this party.
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