Chapter 8 - The Two Sides of Gallard
The ninth layer of the Labyrinth of No Return, the western area.
There are dark zone passages here and there, so we have to stay alert for both traps and enemies.
"Alright, I guess this is the end of the line. Saki, open the treasure chest and collect it."
"Yes, sir. *shwip*,*shwip*,*shwip*,*shwip*,*shwip*, Ah, it's failed."
I felt a sting in my neck, but no other traps seemed to have been triggered. I sighed lightly.
"Phew, it looks like a poisonous needle. I'm not sure I understand why it's aimed backwards instead of at the person who opened it."
"I'm sorry, darling, but it seems that the success rate of this trap is not 100% even at the maximum level skills."
"It can't be helped."
I've already given Saki the points and let her take as many trap removal skills as she can.
"Alec-san, quickly get the antidote."
Thalia gives me an antidote potion, she's a very thoughtful person.
"No, the poison doesn't work on me, so you can put it away."
"Huh, do you have some kind of disabling item?"
"Well, something like that."
"I'm impressed!"
Thalia looked at me with a look of real respect, but at this rate, the Gallard Squads must be weak when it comes to disabling abnormalities. Well, it's not that they're weak, it's just that I'm earning an extraordinary amount of skill points.
"It's only natural since it's my Master. It's not only poison, but also petrification and confusion."
Meena puffed out her chest as if to say "ahem".
"Ehh? Even petrification!?"
"That's enough bragging about your master, Meena, we don't want the PK players to know about it, and we don't know where their ears are."
"Hah, I-I'm so sorry!"
"Darling, it looks like the treasure is a scroll."
"Then, you can keep it, Lily. I'll have an expert examine it later."
I'll tell her that, since Letty, the expert, is not here at the moment, having infiltrated the Gallard Squads.
"All right."
"Is there anyone who's tired or wants to take a break?"
"No problem, brother."
"Anytime you're ready."
"Yeah, I'm good."
"How about you, Thalia?"
Hannah thoughtfully asked the newcomer.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Thalia, you don't have to push yourself too hard, but after the way you've been fighting, I'd put you in the first team."
I said honestly. She's a lot more capable than I thought.
"Thank you very much. But I'm really okay."
"All right, then. Let's head back to the junction."
""" Okay! """
On our way back down the passage, we ran into Sarah's party.
"Yoo-hoo, Alec."
"You guys came here too?"
It seems that Sarah and the others have finally found the main boss of the Infinite Corridor.
Well, looking at their abilities, it's not surprising that they found the ninth layer before we did.
"Yeah. But the traps here are really tough. It gave me a scare, and Jamie got hurt."
"Hmph, it's just a scratch."
The big muscular woman turns away and says she's not happy, but I guess she's already recovered and doesn't have a bandage on.
"Noo, you were dying, weren't you? If I hadn't cast a healing spell, Jamie would have died a long time ago."
The priest, Sierra, says with a wry smile, I guess Sarah's party is small in number, so their individual abilities are high. Especially Sierra's recovery magic is probably at a much higher level than Fianna's.
"Right-right."
"It's just a scratch."
Jamie continues to say.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. So, Alec, what are the traps ahead?"
Lunette, the magician, asks.
"There's a big pendulum hammer waiting for you in the third dark zone. It's sure to graze you."
"Ah~, I hate it when magic like that is hard to prevent. Even if Sarah can dodge it, we..."
"Just walk around the edge and you'll be fine."
"Oooh, thanks for the info~, Alec. I'll buy you a drink sometime!"
"Yeah."
"You believe that? Sarah."
Jamie gave me a scornful look.
"Alec would never lie about something like this."
"Hmph, I don't know about that."
"Well, then, only Jamie can go in the middle."
Sarah burst into laughed
"Yeah, I'll do that."
Well, do what you want. If Sarah decides not to die, then she probably won't die at all.
"Sarah seems to like this guy, but I don't trust people who give out information easily. He might sneak in a trick or two like Gallard did."
Jamie said, but it's a word that bothers me a little. What are Gallard's 'tricks'?
"I told you, Alec's not like that!"
"Hmph, I don't know 'bout that."
"Geez~, Then you don't have to trust on him, Jamie. Well, Alec, everyone else, see you later!"
"Yeah"
Sarah and the others walked in the direction we came from.
"Somehow, Sarah and the others, they had a lot of time on their hands."
After they passed by, Serina turned around and said with a sigh,
"I guess it just looked that way. I heard Jamie almost died, and Sarah said she had a close call."
Those four are basically optimistic, and all four of them have a lot of guts. I guess it's their strength that they can remain calm and relaxed even in extreme situations.
As we approached the small room where the Greater Demon was, we could hear someone arguing.
"Garrard, I still think we should retreat here, the party won't be able to function if we lose four people!"
"No, we've come in two parties this time so that we can have fewer people decreased. If we join up, we can function."
"But the damage is too great. There will be more deaths."
"That will be unavoidable. The ninth layer is a place that only the first king's party could reach. I'm sure everyone knew that the danger was high. I said so at the inn too, didn't I?"
"That's ...... true, but..."
"But please think about the way back, Gallard-san. If there's four of us by the time we get here, there could be eight of us by the time we leave."
"No, we're not going to go that far because we're not going to mess with the Greater Demon anymore."
"Come on! Ready for battle! I hear something!"
"What!? Oh, shit! Damn it, not again!"
When the other side heard our footsteps, they started to panic, so I quickly called out to them.
"Wait, wait, it's me, Alec's party!"
Some of them were relieved, but most of them kept their swords drawn and ready.
"Yaa, Alec-san"
Among them, only Gallard put his sword away with a friendly smile on his face.
"Don't let your guard down"
Gallard added in a whisper to his companions, apparently wary of us.
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