Thump thump thump!
The Minotaur King charged, shaking the earth.
Even as it charged, the axe, swinging with three pairs of arms, cut through the surroundings. If you got into the gap, it was obvious that you would end up like fruit being ground in a blender.
“Hey, Labo! You’re not going to throw us in front of that bull’s throat, are you?!”
Oldman quickly took out his shield and stood in front, shouting.
“Explain the next plan quickly! Before I get crushed by those hooves!”
“Well, it’s simple. It’s bullfighting.”
Labo waved the blood-red cloak on his back.
“Let them charge and dodge.”
“Easier said than done… … ?!”
The Minotaur King appeared in front of them in an instant. The group screamed and threw themselves in all directions.
“Whoaaaaah?!”
Kwajik!
Fortunately, no one was stepped on and they managed to evade, and the Minotaur King passed by the group with a terrifying momentum and slammed his body into the wall behind them.
Kugu palace!
The buildings that formed the walls of the labyrinth came crashing down.
“There is a game genre called ‘Dungeon Exploration.’”
Everyone was looking at the collapsed building with bewildered eyes, but Labo spoke calmly and walked towards it.
“It’s a game genre where you explore a dungeon made of square tiles, uncover the map, defeat the boss, and proceed to the next map.”
Damn it.
There was another space inside the building’s wall. Labo, who entered it first, gestured inward.
“What I liked most about playing that genre of games was… … .”
The other group that followed slowly opened their eyes wide at the same time.
“… … It was when I was breaking down a wall and making a path out of nothing, and eating the items hidden behind the wall.”
Right next to the Minotaur King, who is staggering around after breaking the wall and falling into a stun state.
A treasure chest made of jewels was radiating a brilliant light.
“Treasure chest?!”
Everyone who saw the box cheered at the same time. Labo grinned.
“I created this dungeon with that kind of feeling in mind.”
“Oh my god! It’s a box, a box!”
“Open it, I want to open it!”
Oldman and Uggle King ran forward.
“Ah, if I just go… … .”
Before Labo could finish speaking, Oldman and Uggle King arrived in front of the treasure chest.
Labo muttered softly.
“… …There’s a trap.”
Bam!
“Ugh!”
Oldman, who was running one step faster, fell into the trap on the ground.
The trap was full of poisonous snakes, and Oldman was screaming and struggling inside.
“Ugh! What is this!”
“Haha, sir! I got caught! The treasure chest is mine!”
Aggle King, who had avoided the trap by jumping, reached out towards the treasure chest.
Labo, who was watching the scene, said one more thing.
“And the Minotaur stun was lifted.”
“What? Eww!”
Goooooo!
The Minotaur, released from its stun, swung its axe, and the Aggle King, who was hit once, was sent flying into the wall and crashed down.
Aggle King, who had fallen into a downed state in one room, passed out, groaning.
“Was I treated as if I were on the same level as those guys… … .”
Cain made a face of disgust. Beside him, the doctor laughed, carrying his luggage on his back.
“So, Mr. Labo. Will it be like this from now on?”
“okay.”
As Labo swung his cloak to lure him away, the Minotaur King charged again.
Thump thump thump!
Taat!
Labo dodged the charge with a light jump, and the Minotaur King this time punched a hole in the side wall.
bang!
Once again, a new space appeared in the labyrinth, and inside it too was a treasure chest.
“I’ll lure him and make a path. You follow me and collect the treasure chest.”
“We’re heading to the next location to lure the Minotaur King,” Labo added.
“Ah, you know how to avoid traps.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
Oldman and Uggle King, who had recovered through the magic of the oasis, looked at each other for a moment,
“But let’s open the treasure chest first!”
“I’ll open it. Get out of my way, old man!”
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At the same time, they ran towards the treasure chest.
At the same time that the two people were grabbing the treasure chest,
Bam!
The treasure chest opened its ‘mouth’ wide. Then, a muscular arm shot out from within the box and grabbed the two.
“Ugh! What is this!”
“Hey, this is a mimic!”
It was a Mimic, a monster disguised as a treasure chest.
Labo belatedly shouted at the two who were being caught and chewed by Mimic.
“Oh, there are mimics too! Just dodge them well!”
“Say it sooner, say it sooner! Kyaak!”
“I’m not going to die again, ugyaak!”
Cain sighed as he watched the two dying and drew his sword from his waist.
The legendary sword I obtained a while ago was the ‘Shadowless Sword’.
Cain spoke, holding out a sword with no visible blade, just a guard and a handle.
“It doesn’t matter whether those two fall or not, but if you catch the Mimic, he’ll give you some good items. So kill him.”
“Okay, let’s do it quickly. We can’t go slower than Mr. Labo can clear the road.”
“I agree,” said Rabbit to the doctor.
“Please leave the mimic emotions and trap checks to me. I have those skills marked as well!”
“Oh, that’s great! I’ll trust you with it, Miss Rabbit.”
As the group headed towards Mimic, Aggle King had already been swallowed by Mimic’s stomach.
Just before being swallowed by the Mimic, Oldman, who had barely managed to hold on by blocking the Mimic’s teeth with both arms, screamed.
“Save me quickly! Quickly!”
“How shameless to fall into a trap like that, Commander.”
The grumbling Cain stabbed Mimic’s stomach with his knife.
Then, the surprised Mimic’s hand fell away from Oldman, and Oldman, who had lost his support, fell straight into Mimic’s stomach.
“Eww… … !”
Gulp.
“… … .”
The group had to stare blankly at Mimic for a while, patting his stomach and smacking his lips.
* * *
The group headed to the center of the city, opening the treasure chest inside the wall that Labo had drilled.
Traps were plentiful, and while they were often mimics rather than treasure chests, more often than not they were just treasure chests.
And the content was very rich.
The minimum was unique, and legendary ones dropped frequently.
“It’s an item, but I find this more interesting.”
The Doctor was carefully reading a piece of parchment that had fallen next to the treasure chest.
“Fragments of documents that give us a hint at the story… … Also called Intel. They’re all hidden here.”
“Hey, what’s it about?”
Oasis, who was also very interested in the story, asked with sparkling eyes.
“This is a document that contains the story of the fall of the ‘Swallowed Kingdom.’ How did such a prosperous kingdom fall into darkness overnight… … That’s the main story.”
The doctor handed Oasis a bundle of documents he had collected.
“It’s written mostly from the perspective of ordinary citizens, but it’s almost like cosmic horror.”
Oasis’ face turned slightly pale as he read the document.
“Somehow, it’s a bit creepy… … .”
The story of the kingdom’s downfall as seen through the eyes of ordinary citizens was a horror novel unto itself.
Oasis shrugged his shoulders.
“The common reference seems to be to the ‘three demons’… … These three demons laid waste to the city, and the forces of the Dark Cult that appeared afterward plunged the city into darkness.”
The Doctor lifted his beak mask and looked around the labyrinth.
“Scenario nerds could probably rot away in this dungeon for weeks. They never know what’s hidden behind the walls… … .”
Rabbit, who was reading another document next to him, chuckled.
“Achievement gays would be like that too? There must be a hidden achievement for this. Oh, I wonder what the hidden achievement reward is~.”
The difficulty was definitely easier than the previous dungeon, ‘Tomb of the Slain Knights’, but there were incomparably more hidden elements.
“If that was my usual play pattern, I would have spent a month just on this. It’s also fun to thoroughly search for hidden elements… … .”
The doctor licked his lips and stroked the unbroken building with his hand.
That was when.
A message floated over everyone’s heads.
Boss Monster: Defeated the Minotaur King!
“Oh my, this is so bad.”
The doctor hurriedly gathered the documents into his bosom.
“Mr. Labo, you’re going too far ahead. Let’s catch up!”
The group that had been scattered all over the place to retrieve the treasure chest gathered together one by one.
As we followed the broken road, we saw Labo sitting and resting not far away.
Next to him was the corpse of the Minotaur King, stretched out on his back.
“You’re late.”
Labo spat out a calm voice towards the group.
“If you had come sooner, we could have caught it together.”
The aggrieved king clicked his tongue.
“You can handle it easily even by yourself… … .”
“If we catch it together, we can at least share the experience… … And it was a bit hard. It was during the ultimate cooldown… … Oasis, can you heal me?”
“Yes, master!”
Even though the skill cost was halved due to the Demon King level effect and even the blood sucking effect was added, Labo’s skill consumed a lot of HP.
It seems like there was quite a fierce battle, as its HP was quite low.
‘No, isn’t it weird to catch it alone in the first place…?’
Aggle King thought about this while sweating profusely.
The Minotaur King didn’t give any special items, but since we had already looted a lot from the treasure chests as we passed, no one had any complaints.
While Oasis was busy putting heels in for its master, Labo pointed inside the city.
“If I had more time, I would like to lure some boss monsters from other places and get some items, but let’s stop here for now and go over there.”
When the group looked in the direction Labo was pointing,
Inside the collapsed wall, at the end of a wide avenue, a huge palace was visible.
“Now, the path to the end of this dungeon is open.”
* * *
The Ashen Palace.
An ancient palace covered in ash and dust, with dust blowing everywhere.
As with the city outside, there was no sign of any living human being within the palace.
Labo and his party stepped inside, stepping on torn and dirty carpets.
When you reach the audience room at the end of the passage where all the plants in the bottles have dried up and died.
Hehehehe… … Ahehehehe… … .
An old man was seen crouching on the throne and sobbing.
A faded golden crown rested on the old man’s head.
King of the Swallowed Kingdom? Florence Gargantua
The king of this kingdom was Florence Gargantua.
My son, my dear son… … What on earth is going on… … .
The king, who had been sobbing and mumbling, seemed to sense someone’s presence and suddenly raised his head.
The king was as skinny as a scarecrow. Only a pale skin clung to his bones, and his bleached white hair flowed weakly.
The area where his eyes should be was blackened and covered with dirty bandages.
Who are you…?
The king’s voice was trembling.
Who is it? Who has come? By any chance, Cadmus? My son, are you back?
The king, who was trying to get up in a hurry, fell to the floor. As if he couldn’t see ahead, he felt around on the floor.
That was when.
Fall, fall.
A woman approached the throne.
It was an old woman in funeral attire. Her face, covered by a black veil, a Mourning Bail, was expressionless.
On his head, a faded golden crown, like that of the king.
The Queen of the Swallowed Kingdom? Operte Gargantua
Honey, who’s out there…?
The king asked the queen. The queen smiled gently.
No, Your Majesty. No one came.
The queen embraced her husband and sat him back on the throne, taking hold of the king’s hand.
You can just relax there.
But, honey. Cardmos… … .
Cardmos is here.
The queen took a small doll out of her pocket and held it up to the king.
Here, in your arms. Right?
Ah, yeah… … .
The king hugged the doll with a happy expression and rubbed his cheek against it.
Cadmus, my proud son… … You will be the king of this world, my son… … .
The queen, who had been looking at her husband with sad eyes for a moment, turned back to the group.
This is the ‘Palace of Disconnection’. Time, life, suffering… everything has stopped, disconnected from reality, in our own paradise.
The queen’s voice was cold and hard, as if frost was falling, unlike when she spoke to her husband.
My poor husband, my king… …don’t bother him. Adventurer, leave this place. And don’t come back ever again.
“We are going to ‘Muganok’.”
Hehe, Labo laughed evilly.
“I wonder if I can get the key there, Your Majesty.”
At Labo’s words, the queen’s expression hardened eerily.
“You’re going to spit it out anyway if you kill me. Right?”
Sling-!
Labo drew his sword.
At the same time, a plume of ash swirled up behind the queen’s back, engulfed in flames.
