Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 107 : What Should Be Placed on the Scale?
“……!”
Inside the labyrinth where pitch-black darkness had fallen.
Sherazade, who was about to inadvertently take a step, stopped her movent.
The arm blocking her path and the index finger placed against my lips.
Understanding the aning of the motion, Sherazade held her breath while stopping her steps.
Tap.
A sharp sound, though invisible, was heard in her ears.
Tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
The sound of small pebbles bouncing off the floor.
Just as Sherazade realized that the object bouncing away was a piece of marble I had thrown.
Creak--
Thud!
Along with the sound of gears interlocking, a heavy impact sound covered the place where the marble piece was staying.
Beep beep beep-
What revealed themselves along with a sharp operation sound were three Stone Golems hidden in the ceiling.
Only then could Sherazade understand why I had stopped her and thrown the marble piece.
The golems that appeared were guys that reacted to sound.
Clatter!
A sound slightly harder than the sound of the marble flying earlier resonated.
Clang-!
Before that resonance even ended, I drew my sword and dashed toward them.
Screech-
The golem, crafted to mimic a human form, vomited sulfur fire from its widely opened snout and swung its arm.
“Master, look out!”
Looking at the flas that seed ready to swallow in an instant, Sherazade shouted at the top of her lungs.
However, it didn't take that long for it to be revealed that opening its mouth rashly in front of was a mistake.
I set up the Family Sword to prevent the guy from closing its snout, and then I thrust Axion straight inside!
Cr-crack-
With this single strike, the guy's core hidden sowhere in the uvula was shattered.
Hiss-
Leaving behind the golem that stopped operating while spewing steam, my gaze reached the guy staying in the rear.
At that mont, a magic circle engraved with geotric patterns was inscribed behind my back.
Crack-ackle-!
The super-high voltage current that poured out opening the door of the magic circle turned the rear golem into tattered rags just like that.
“Wow! Amazing! Master caught two of them! Now we just have to catch one more!”
Sherazade encouraged by raising her voice as much as possible.
Thud! Thud!
The last guy, who had succeeded in taking my back by using the sacrifice of its comrades as a stepping stone, raised both hands high to crush .
However.
Grind-g-grind!
For so reason, the golem's attack could not strike down.
Swish-
In that interval, two swords hacked the golem apart just like that.
Crash!
Confirming that the third golem had completely collapsed, only then did I gesture to Sherazade.
Sherazade approached with quick steps and examined the debris of the golem.
“Wow!”
And realizing the reason why the third golem's movents looked uncomfortable, Sherazade burst into admiration.
A piece of marble was deeply embedded between the guy's arm joints responsible for contraction and expansion.
It had already been two days since the two of us entered the labyrinth.
She had already seen finishing the design and engaging in battle several tis before.
But every ti she saw this kind of sight, admiration inevitably leaked out anew.
“Master, you've beaten a lot of people in your life, right?”
The strength of using magic and the sword simultaneously was impressive, but what was more amazing than that was the battle sense shown mont by mont.
I seed to instinctively know how to produce maximum results with minimum power during battle.
This was impossible unless sufficient experience was accumulated, no matter how outstanding a genius one was.
“I haven't beaten that many people.”
However, I just gave an answer in a tone implying it was still nothing much.
“Though there were tis I hit a lot when I absolutely had to.”
Perhaps thanks to using magic to my heart's content for the first ti in a while over the past two days, I felt refreshed.
Because there was no need to hide magic in front of her, who was being bound by the Geas.
‘It seems she already knows to so extent anyway.’
Since Sherazade possessed sharp senses unlike her usual appearance which only looked innocent, she seed to have noticed that there were many things I was hiding.
Crunch.
“Let's go. We're almost there now.”
I stepped on the debris of the golem and hurried my steps.
“Master, let's go together!”
Sherazade followed behind with quick steps while holding the staff in both hands.
***
“Hmm…….”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
24 hours after that.
The two of us finally reached the deepest part of the labyrinth.
It was not an easy journey, but thanks to taking appropriate asures at the right places, we succeeded in reaching the destination without great difficulty.
However.
‘Sohow, the road here was too easy for a labyrinth storing the legacy of the Falber Knight Order.’
My expression as I faced the final gateway blocking the path was unusual.
What appeared in front of the two of us were two stone chambers.
Between them, a large crystal ball emitting red light was placed.
Looking at the rune characters flashing on the surface of the crystal ball, I was lost in deep thought for a long ti.
Seeing that I closed my eyes from ti to ti, deciphering the rune characters didn't seem to be the problem.
‘So the reason two mages were needed was to do sothing like this…….’
My contemplation continued for a while longer after that.
“Master, Master!”
Eventually, unable to overco the boredom, Sherazade waved her palm in front of my eyes.
“We're going back.”
“Huh?”
“I said we have to go out. The preparation was insufficient. Retreat for now.”
Hearing my decision, Sherazade opened her two eyes wide.
Because the word ‘retreat’ really didn't suit .
“Why?”
“I told you. Preparation was insufficient.”
“So I'm asking what preparation was lacking?”
I pointed at the crystal ball emitting light and spoke.
“Sherazade, do you know why I brought you here?”
“Was there a reason?”
“I didn't co here knowing perfect guide information either. What I could confirm beforehand was the legacy the labyrinth holds, its origin, location, how to open the door, and that two mages are required. That was all. I didn't know the reason for the last condition either.”
“Two mages?”
“Right. According to the records, it said two mages who trust each other are needed.”
“Then there's no problem. Both I and the Master are mages.”
Sherazade, who answered while swinging the staff in her hand, suddenly made a startled expression.
“Master, don't tell you don't trust ?”
“It's not like that.”
“That's a relief. If the Master had affird it, I would have been very sad.”
Sherazade breathed a sigh of relief at my answer, but her expression did not brighten.
“Trust is only a necessary condition to clear this labyrinth, not a sufficient condition. It seems the guy who made this gateway is a very vicious villain.”
I lifted a finger, pointed at the two stone chambers located side by side, and bit my lip.
I could guarantee that the person who made this dungeon must have had a quite cruel nature.
“The na of that stone chamber is the ‘Scales of Trust’. It was written on the crystal ball over there like this. ‘If you want to obtain our legacy, you must place evidence to prove your trust on the scale.’”
“Then we can just place it right now.”
“If it was that easy a task, I would have placed it long ago. Didn't I tell you? The na of this gateway is the Scales of Trust. To prove it, what the person sitting on the other side must endure is the weight of terror.”
I stared intently at the crystal twinkling with a bewitching light.
“Two people enter the stone chambers separately. The person who enters the left stone chamber will deal with various monsters inside a subspace.”
“Are the monsters appearing in the subspace very dangerous?”
“No. They probably won't be that strong. Since the amount of mana imprinted on the core doesn't seem to be trendously large. If so, there will be a limit to the level of the monsters too.”
In fact, the final gateway's thod was vicious, but the intensity of the direct threat wasn't strong.
I paid attention once again to check the mana amount of the crystal ball, then turned my gaze to Sherazade.
‘Sherazade's current realm is roughly around the mid-to-late 6th Circle. If so, even if the worst situation occurs, she won't be placed in serious danger.’
“The problem is the person who has to enter the right stone chamber and endure.”
“The right stone chamber?”
“Right. Actually, the real trial this gateway aims for is in the right stone chamber. I told you a mont ago, right? That one has to endure the weight of terror.”
How on earth could one asure the weight of terror?
“The person who enters the right stone chamber will dream a nightmare while the person in the left stone chamber defeats the monsters. And a nightmare created by their most painful mories at that.”
“A nightmare!”
Sherazade, who heard the explanation, let her jaw drop.
“As you also know, dreams possess unexpectedly great power. There are quite a few cases where a sane person's mind collapsed after suffering from nightmares. Judging by the setup, the person entering the right stone chamber will experience a quite terrible experience.”
During the continental war in the past, Alexar had to use all kinds of magic to deal with enemies.
However, there were two magics even he refrained from bringing out if possible.
‘Necromancy’ and ‘Curse of Nightmares’.
These two magics had risks that were too high, and their effects were also excessively vicious.
Furthermore, judging by the content of the runes, the spell used while making this labyrinth was probably.
‘Tongue of Marbada.’
Recalling that terrible na, I unwittingly shook my head.
It might be different for , but could Sherazade endure the wounds given by that terrible nightmare?
I shook my head.
Judging by her words and actions so far, Sherazade hadn't yet recovered her complete mories from before she fell asleep.
But to throw her, who hadn't fully found stability yet, into a swamp of nightmares alone?
At least for , it was an impossible task.
If I did such a thing…….
‘What difference is there between and Gillian?’
Eventually, I decided to neatly wrap up this labyrinth exploration around here.
“We'll go back up after taking a break for about thirty minutes. Know that and get ready.”
I imdiately moistened my throat and prepared to go back the way we ca.
However…….
“I don't want to!”
“What?”
“I said I don't want to. I won't go back.”
Sherazade refused to go back, wearing a determined expression she hadn't shown until now.
“I believe I said no.”
“It's okay.”
“I don't know what's okay, but if I say no, it ans no.”
“I said it's really okay. The master is saying we should go back because you're worried about right now. Even though there's sothing the Master absolutely needs behind this.”
“I won't die without it. So stop talking nonsense and just rest. Since I plan to increase the speed when we go back.”
In fact, it wasn't a problem that could be dismissed simply by saying ‘I won't die without it’.
I knew of quite a few dungeons where artifacts were hidden, but I didn't know of a dungeon where a sword technique, and one that was this perfect for Haken at that, was hidden.
In other words, if I failed to clear the labyrinth, I would be placed in a situation where I had to wait indefinitely for a sword technique worth teaching Haken to be obtained.
However, no matter how urgent the situation was.
‘That doesn't beco an excuse to push a comrade into a deadly place.’
I didn't have even the slightest intention of giving up even the justification my revenge held using the situation as an excuse.
Having already made up my mind, I dismissed Sherazade's argunt and closed my eyes while leaning against the wall.
However…….
“……I believe I told you to stop?”
Sherazade moved her steps toward the crystal ball despite my dissuasion.
Eventually, I had to open my closed eyes.
“Do you think I'm doing this because I can't endure a re nightmare when I'm not a child?”
“Do you think nightmares distinguish between adults and children? If adults could be free from them, legends about Dream Demons wouldn't have even appeared in the first place. I'm telling you for the last ti. Sit down.”
“Master, it will really be okay. I'm not human. So nightmares made based on humans are nothing to . Yeah, so……. If I run away here too, I won't be able to forgive myself anymore.”
Sherazade showed the most determined expression since she t .
Sherazade, who closed her eyes once and opened them, tried to persuade while forcing a smile.
“Sherazade. This is the last ti I'm saying it with words.”
I also made a cold expression that I had never shown to Sherazade until now.
Wooooong-
And from the place where our two hearts were located, the covenant of ‘Geas’ began to twinkle while emitting light.
Looking at the shining chains, I spoke.
“You, do you know what Marbada is?”
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