Chapter 98: Flame Axe

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Having cleared floor 920, we decided to make a brief return to the ground.

While conquering the labyrinth, there a a number of things we’ve realized.

According to what Bahamut was saying, the labyrinth has a sort of immunization process, so if we use [Teleport] then the magic circle would be destroyed by the immunization function. But then I realized there’s an inconsistency if that’s true.

That being the weapon summoning of the now lost Cleaver and Sentinel.

If it was going to reject [Teleport] within the labyrinth, then from the second time onward is the moment that immunity should have shown itself…

And yet we were able to safely use them, up to the point of destruction.

I did a number of investigations on this, but… I suppose the conclusion I reached would be the difference between “installation” and “deployment”?

In other words, in the case of a fixed “installation,” within the labyrinth, the labyrinth will treat it as an alteration, starting up the immunity to deal with it.

As a test, I “installed” a [Light Ball] magic circle within the labyrinth, and when I tried to use it to light up the corridor, some cilia or tentacle-like things grew in a the blink of an eye and destroyed it.

However, when I placed a [Light Ball] on the floor without fixing it in place, merely “deploying” it, there was absolutely no response.

Most likely, the moment something exhibiting a magical effect is fixed within the labyrinth, it becomes aware that ‘the labyrinth has been altered.’

Which meant, ‘couldn’t we use [Teleport] all we like as long as it’s not fixed in place?’ Is what I thought, but…

To be honest, I didn’t have that kind of courage.

Not having it at a fixed point means not knowing where we will be transferred to.

If we were to draw a magic circle on a cloth or stone tablet, and a passing dragon decided to gobble it up, then we were to [Teleport]…

Or if we were to hang a magic circle like a curtain over one of the holes in the World Tree’s…

With the former, we would start being digested the moment we [Teleported], and get annihilated.

With the latter, it could mean a ropeless bungee jump from the 812th floor, at a height of 16000 meters.

Those kinds of conquering methods are gambles, where that one-in-a-million chance of failure leads to certain death. They are rejected outright.

But well, heading home is another matter altogether.

The [Teleport] location is the house’s basement, and in times of emergency the surrounding doors and walls in all directions have [Toughness] cast on them.

Moreover, Bahamut is standing guard there. You could call it flawless.

So with that in mind, our journeys start with placing a wind barrier on Yig (a measure against altitude sickness), and have him carry us to floor 812 as a shortcut.

Then we make a golem, cheat our way up by running past all the floors we’ve conquered. And for returning, we use a [Teleport] magic circle and poof, we move to the basement. Such has become our established transportation method.

~*~

And one more thing I realized.

I guess you could call it an abnormality about us ourselves, or with all our members aside from me?

Unlike the unbreakable-bodied Demon Lord, undead lich and vampire making up the Demon Lord party, or Bahamut, who made a 100 person “army” to conquer the place, we are normal people.

I felt something was off about us keeping pace with them in conquering this place.

People are creatures who have a difficult time maintaining nervous tension.

And we’re moving about for days and weeks inside the labyrinth; the greatest of stress-inducing environments.

It’s obvious just how reckless an act that is.

Despite that, we are doing so easily.

Naturally we build up fatigue inside the labyrinth, but when we get back to the house and take a day to refresh, we’re as good as new in no time at all.

Our wounds didn’t heal, but our mental recovery speed was pretty incredible.

Plus everyone maintained perfect health in these five years, not getting sick once.

Naturally I thought this was odd. And then something came to mind.

The water we’ve been drinking… The stuff we’ve been carrying with water bags into the labyrinth; it came from the World Tree’s roots.

In other words, it’s a type of sap.

Of course it came from cutting into the cilia of it, so it’s probably not as effective as the rumored miracle medicine, “Elixer,” but apparently it’s effective in mental recovery and maintaining good health.

As a result, we were able to keep delving into the labyrinth in both good mind and body.

Yeah, except for the one whose “Adaptability” removes the effect; me…

Also the water is keeping Haster full of vim and vigor every night. Please do something about that.

~*~

“I wonder what this could be…”

“What do you mean…? It’s an axe.”

“I know it’s an axe! I’m wondering why something like this useless thing would appear right now!”

Upon defeating Efreet, one of its wings remained after it disappeared.

And then the wing turned into an axe, and now we’re here.

“Is it really that useless? I’m feeling some pretty absurd magic power coming from it though?”

“Ya darn right, from what I’m seein’, it’s [Enchanted] with [Hellfire] way stronger than my Guren. Ain’t no reason to call it useless.”

“And how would that escape my notice with “Appraisal”? I’m calling it useless for a different reason.”

“Really?”

“By the way, its name is Agni Blaze. Really rings with a 14 year old’s sensibilities.”

Even though the axe is nearly two meters, it’s extremely light. Even I can carry it around.

I’ve already got Third Eye though, so I’m not going to be using it.

“Well, just give it a try please, Miss Levy. The command word is ‘Ignite’.”

“…? ‘Ignite’.”

The moment she said that, a raging flame burst forth from Agni Blaze.

Normally you would think of red for a flame, but what came from the axe had passed into being white, and gave off a very pure light, which seemed to fill the entire area.

“NUWAAAAA?!”

Oh by the way, the flames were coming from the entire axe, so Miss Levy’s hands were very thoroughly fried.

… We’ve got Marielle. It’s no big deal.

“See?”

“‘See?’ my ass! Y’know that burned, right?!”

“Come now, I will heal you. Show me your hands if you would.”

Oh, if she needs to touch it directly for her magic, it must have been a pretty nasty injury. I’m repenting a little bit.

As should probably be expected of Marielle, being the water apprentice, unlike Miss Bella of Forest Bear, she can use regular healing magic from a distance for lighter injuries.

But of course heavy wounds requires direct contact for the healing.

“Yep, that’s some absurd magic power.”

“Isn’t it? A failure as a weapon though.”

“It’s useless.”

“It certainly is.”

“Hey! Ya’ll master and apprentice pair over there! Ain’t gonna say nothin’ after seein’ my misery?!”

Miss Levy was apparently dissatisfied about Haster and I nodding to each other.

“Isn’t this just reaping what you sow?”

“Ya’ll were the one who told me to use it though!”

“You are not a child; don’t stomp on the ground like that. I just thought you wouldn’t be very convinced if I had explained it to you instead.”

“I wouldn’t have thought fire would come from the handle.”

“Hey, do you think the Demon Lord’s group ahead of us already has this?”

At Alec’s words I realized how serious this situation is.

With Demon Lord Masayoshi’s “Full Guard,” he could use this axe as much as he wants.

“They probably… Do.”

The guardians at every five floors have a set species.

What we fought is the same thing the Demon Lord fought.

And since they plowed their way through there, that means they’ve already obtained Agni Blaze too…

“Whether we can use it or not, I guess we’ll need to think up countermeasures.”

“This is trouble…”

We haven’t just been leveling the whole time in these five years.

That Demon Lord can’t be taken down by force. So we’ve been thinking up all sorts of countermeasures against him.

But we didn’t expect the matters of consideration to increase at this point.

“Luckily it doesn’t look like Agni Blaze has [Toughness] cast on it, so Masayoshi shouldn’t be able to swing it as it is.”

“But they took Sentinel with them, right? They might be able to analyze its [Enchantments] like Yuuri does.”

“You certainly discovered a troublesome technique. To think you would purposely leave it incomplete and fill it with magic afterward…”

“Sentinel should have run out of magic power by now, and yet… Based on the traces of their battles left behind, they’re still using it. Which means…”

The labyrinth’s corridors are getting narrower as we get closer to the top.

And traces of sections carved out like they were hit by explosions can be seen here and there.

Of course the World Tree is regenerating to heal those traces, but there’s enough destructive power that it leaves marks behind that can’t be healed.

“I’m sure that lich could analyze it and handle the magic power refilling easily enough.”

That speed and accuracy… His spell activation is so precise it could be put in a textbook.

He has enough practice to do so freely and easily.

It was the first time I’ve seen accuracy comparable to Haster’s since coming to this world.

Ah, aside from Bahamut.

“Bahamut, huh… I wonder how he would deal with this?”

“That axe? I’d just burn him to a crisp before he got close!”

“Our opponent isn’t so easily dealt with, and besides, we can’t breathe fire!”

This dragon king has made himself completely at home in our house lately.

And he mixed himself naturally into our meeting at some point, too!

“Ah, well, I was just thinking it’s about time for dinner.”

“Are you a dog?! Don’t you see anything wrong with showing up out of nowhere only when it’s time for food?!”

We held our meeting while drinking tea as soon as we got back, so the dinner prep hasn’t been done yet.

Being the only one not receiving the effects of the water we’re using, I am the most fatigued one here.

I’d like to take things a little easier…

“Then I’ll make the food today.”

Haster said as he stood from his chair.

Will this be okay? He’s good at cooking, but it’s… Pretty wild.

“Oooh, come to think of it, I haven’t eaten the sage’s cooking yet!”

“Sir Haster’s cooking… Be still, my beating heart!”

“I’m not giving him to you, okay Marielle?”

“I-I am not trying to take anyone!”

We explained Haster’s situation to Marielle too.

I mean, we’re companions, so we kinda had to.

Thirty minutes after he stood up. He randomly and skillfully cut up some meat, fried it, sliced up some vegetables… And before we knew it, dinner was served.

Presented to us was the orthodox steak, and salad with raspberries on top?

“I can’t believe Haster cooked something normal…”

“Don’t be rude. Even I can do some real cooking.”

“Time to dig in!”

“Master’s cooking always has a battlefield kind of taste for some reason.”

“Alec, you’re joining me for magic practice tomorrow.”

“Am I going to die?!”

Haster hasn’t been a match for Alec in swordsmanship lately, so he opposes him with magic.

When that happens, Alec doesn’t stand a chance of winning.

Miss Levy and Bahamut munched on the served food without saying a word.

Alec, Marle, and I sent suspicious gazes at it.

Marielle viewed the steak while drooling for a slightly different reason.

“Ooh, what flavor! Such a simple flavor, and plenty chewy; this is good meat. And this salad with its sour fruit is refreshingly delicious.”

“I am glad it meets your tastes.”

“By the way, what meat is this?”

“Some komodo dragon we hunted in the labyrinth.”

“Buffuoo?!”

Bahamut spit the meat he had in his mouth out. That’s filthy.

By the way, komodo dragons are a type of low rank dragon. Their wings have degenerated, so they look like giant lizards.

They’re low rank, so we can relax knowing it shouldn’t give immortality like Fafnir.

“Y-you knowingly gave me, the dragon king…”

“While we’re on the topic, the salad has snake strawberries on it.”

“Geffuu?!”

In my previous world, snake strawberries meant ‘strawberries that grow where there are snakes,’ but in this world, snake strawberries are ‘strawberries that snakes would die from if they ate them’.

Though those are both just folklore; there’s no snakes where they grow, and they won’t die by eating them.

They have some strong acidity, and give just a slight tingling sensation. They are eaten as a child’s snack.

“It would seem I really need to settle things with you at some point…”

“Bring it on. I’ll show you my power after training in the labyrinth.”

Fufufufufu… They both laughed with disturbing smiles on their faces.

Well in any case, that’s how we got a new piece of equipment.

… Which is useless of course.