195. Labyrinth final layer (2)
Aria.
The apostle wearing a black robe said to have been sent by the god of darkness had eyes full of excitement.
Originally, it is common sense to recognize challengers belonging to other camps as enemies…
“Please do not feel pressured and give me an order.”
Apparently, this woman had no such concept at all, so she was completely defenseless.
To the extent that if I made up my mind right here and swung my sword, I could kill him in a matter of seconds.
“…”
I opened my mouth soon after frowning at him.
‘What is the purpose…?’
My head hurts now because of my actions outside of common sense.
Of course, I think I know how things went.
Perhaps the dark god gave this woman an order, like an oracle or something.
The content is presumably a command to assist me.
But still I didn’t understand.
To give up the reward that can be obtained by reaching the deepest part of this giant tree labyrinth just by order of a god?
It’s a mindset that I can’t quite comprehend.
‘Is this really a real favor without any tricks?’
After thinking about it for a while, I heard words from Dam Chun-wu.
―…At times like this, I realize that you are truly a challenger from the 40th floor and earlier. There is nothing to worry about. It won’t do you any harm.
‘What is that…’
– Being an apostle is not a role play. Without fanatical faith in God, it is impossible to be selected as a preliminary apostle, let alone an apostle.
‘…’
―Seeing that he has this level of divinity, he must be an official apostle, but at that level, he has faith beyond a fanatic.
‘In a word, he’s a fanatic who can die even if the God of Darkness tells him to die.’
-Yes. So there is nothing to worry about. If the God of Darkness really asked you to assist, this apostle will act according to your will.
At least it was good news.
Considering Catherine Bennett, who fainted in the aftermath of the release of < Advent >, and the other team members, I can’t fight leisurely here.
Therefore, it would be better to accept even the undesirable favor.
That’s the right decision.
“I said my name was Aria.”
But…
“If you really intend to follow my orders, I won’t refuse.”
Shouldn’t there be at least minimal preparations?
“But there are conditions.”
Arya, who was still on her knees, immediately designated a skill and activated it.
「The skill ‘Master/Servant Contract’ is activated.」
「Designates 4th-class apostle ‘Arya’ as the subject of the contract.」
“If you accept the Master/Servant contract, I will truly trust you.”
It was a master-servant contract skill learned from a preliminary apostle who served the ruling god.
―…Before, they talked about morality and what, but this is not even stabbed by conscience?
As there is a saying to cross a stone bridge by knocking on it…
‘Sure. It’s a skill that’s not meant to be used in the first place, but I have to use it like this. And they’re potential enemies anyway.’
It was right to remove the buds that could cause danger later.
―Crazy man…
Because that’s the path with no regrets.
***
Surprisingly, Arya did not reject the master-servant contract.
chuck.
“…if that’s really Han Seong-yoon’s will, I’ll do it.”
Now he even prostrated himself and immediately accepted the master-servant contract.
「A master-servant contract was established with mutual consent.」
「All stats of 4th-level apostle ‘Arya’ will increase by +14.」
「4th-class apostle ‘Arya’ will never go against the master-servant relationship.」
Even if it is a useless ability , It’s name is an A+ level skill…
‘…This raises stats by 14?’
The Master/Servant contract skill showed a crazy increase in stats.
I fell silent at the significant increase in my abilities.
In the master-servant contract skill description, the ability increase rate of the subordinate designated as a subordinate was set at 10%.
In other words…
this apostle named Aria has all types of abilities exceeding 140.
Even if that’s because he entered the labyrinth and his stats must have been lowered.
‘How the hell is this possible…?’
Of course, I can hit this level as many times as I can by activating various abilities…
But what was surprising was the surprise.
As I was quietly admiring him, Arya stood up and took off her robe.
“I can’t believe you bestowed such grace on me when I first saw you…! Indeed, he is generous enough to remind me of the God of Darkness…!”
Only then did the blurry appearance come into view.
Gray hair, a flushed face as if suffering from a slight fever, and even sparkling eyes that felt absolute devotion…
.
I don’t know what the hell he heard about me from the dark god… but
it wasn’t hard to see that he basically had a lot of goodwill towards me.
I was able to give orders to Arya with some peace of mind.
“…For now, please restore and protect my comrades.”
Catherine Bennett is suffering from the aftereffects of < Advent > and the rest of the team is in a situation where even life and death are unclear… It
was only natural to protect her colleagues with the highest priority.
But Arya took one look at Katherine Bennet and then mumbled and looked at me wide.
“…Seongyoon Han. We’re sorry, but this prospective apostle cannot be cured. It is beyond my ability.”
It was a reaction as if he didn’t know what to do with his troubles.
“Does out of ability mean that there is no healing ability at all?”
“Not like that! Even though I don’t have the ability to heal, it was bestowed on me by the God of Darkness…!”
“Okay, let’s get to the point.”
“…This prospective apostle suffers from the aftereffects of < Advent > and even a fever. This is not an area that can be treated.”
“Fever?”
When I first heard the words, I frowned, and the blade of the Blood Heaven Demon Sword trembled and the words resonated in my head.
―Fever is like the growing pains you suffer from in the process of being injected with divine power.
Are you experiencing growing pains?
It was absurd.
Previously, on the 11th floor stage, I killed a prospective apostle and acquired divine power.
At that time, I also acquired divinity for the first time, but I never suffered from a fever.
‘In my case, there was no growing pain even after gaining divine power.’
―… Pretending to know that a guy who doesn’t even seem to have gone through a normal divinity acquisition path. That’s what you’re special about, and it’s not like that in general.
‘Then is it normally different?’
-yes. Those with low physical abilities cannot withstand the divinity injected from the gods and suffer from high fevers. I’ll have to wait until I get used to the power given to me.
‘…How long will the fever last?’
―Usually for about a day. However, the duration varies depending on the level of divinity injected… If it is a preliminary apostle level holy power, you will not be able to open your eyes unconditionally for a week.
‘…If that’s real, things aren’t good.’
In the Holy Ground on the 7th floor, trials are conducted mainly with battles between different factions and the struggle for the Holy Grail Fragments.
Of course, I collected more than one [Grail Fragment], which is the entry condition for the 8th floor, but that’s why it’s a more problematic situation.
‘Since they have more [Grail Fragments] than other camps, they must be easy targets.’
So, now that other camps are aiming at me, I must have expected some degree of it…
It was very unreasonable to go around with a colleague who had fallen like this.
It was worth it.
Because there might still be deities who can use < Advent > on the 7th floor.
Even if that wasn’t the case, it was very difficult to fight against those protected by the gods.
But it wasn’t that the situation was out of control.
“…I know roughly what the situation is. Then please protect Catherine instead of me.”
It is because Arya, an apostle sent by the God of Darkness, exists.
“I will follow your orders.”
She took a restrained stance and immediately put Katherine Bennet on her back.
Because of the master-servant relationship, you can’t refuse an order, so you don’t have to worry about betrayal, so it’s like this.
But I couldn’t be completely relieved.
This is also the fault of the team members.
‘Now that the barrier is gone, I don’t know what will happen to Kim Seung-hun and Oh Chun-seok.’
Since they did not possess divinity, there was a high possibility that they would be fatally injured in the aftermath of the divine power.
So I quickly took Arya and moved to the point where I had set up a barrier with my guardian skill.
And…
“…”
I couldn’t help but frown at the sight that appeared soon after.
***
―…Hmm. Your condition is worse than you think. It wouldn’t be strange if he died soon.
Are ominous premonitions always wrong?
Originally, Kim Seung-hun and Oh Chun-seok were spread around the pit covered with barriers, bleeding.
Even with the skin dyed black.
“Sacred poisoning.”
As I approached them, frowning, Arya spoke as if explaining.
“Perhaps the essence of the soul was damaged by exposure to divine power.”
“Essence strike…?”
“That’s right. This is often the case. If a person with a low spirituality is exposed to the power of a godhead even a little, they will be hit in essence like this.”
“…”
This was a symptom I could recognize.
As soon as the god of proof drew attention on the 11th floor, he immediately crossed the line of fire
.
-There is nothing to worry about. This poisoning can be cured with a few months of meditation.
Damcheonwu said that he would be fine if he rested for a few months… but
‘It’s impossible to rest for several months while going down the labyrinth.’
It was no different from being in a very unsuitable state for going down the labyrinth.
I’ll probably die for real if I go on like this.
so.
“I can’t help it…”
It was the timing to make the most rational decision.
‘Let’s consume all [HP] and return it to Earth.’
According to the law of the labyrinth-only system, when all [HP] is consumed, you are expelled from the labyrinth.
The law was still being applied steadily.
Thanks to the [Box of Life] I got while descending the labyrinth, I don’t have to worry too much about it… but my
teammates don’t, so I was able to get them out of the labyrinth for sure.
The only question is whether there will be any problems if they are expelled like that.
“Even if they are expelled from the labyrinth, there won’t be much of a problem.”
After hearing my explanation for that part, Aria immediately said that she didn’t have to worry.
“Anyway, even if you are expelled from the labyrinth, you will only lose a few abilities or skills.”
“Specs down…”
For the penalty that comes at the cost of saving his life, he wasn’t so hopeless.
Whether it’s skills or stats, in the end, you can recover as long as you’re alive.
“If you slowly reduce [HP], you will be able to safely get your comrades out of the labyrinth.”
“Is that so.”
Because of the master-servant contract, he couldn’t even lie, so the information itself was clear.
-It’s fortunate in misfortune. To be able to get out of this place to the point of losing a little bit of strength. It’s like a miracle to them.
He also advised that sending Dam Chun-wu out of the labyrinth was the right choice.
―Even if people who do not qualify are here, they will only leave with irreparable wounds. Return it to its original place.
Without hesitation, I moved right away.
It wasn’t difficult to consume [HP] itself.
By inflicting a stab wound that caused continuous bleeding, the two quickly exhausted all [HP].
It was worth it.
After the barrier disappeared, he must have been exposed to battles between various deities using < Advent >.
Considering that, even if the damage to the soul was excluded, it would have been enough damage.
The bleeding itself wasn’t threatening enough to bring death to the challenger…
but it was still possible to cause consumption of [HP], a system dedicated to the labyrinth.
「Challenger ‘Seunghun Kim’ consumes all of her HP and is banished back to her original world.」
「Challenger ‘Chunseok Oh’ consumes all of her HP and is banished back to her original world.」
Looking at the teammates disappearing in the light, I felt bitterness on my lips. It was also a while.
There was no time to deeply feel the regret.
“11 out of 20 deity camps have lost their [Grail Fragments].” A
message popped up saying that nearly half of the deity camps had already met the elimination condition… “Conditions
satisfied .”
Things started to happen.
「The holy war begins to accelerate gradually.」
「The remaining time is reduced by half and the remaining time goes by faster.」
「For some deities with very low spirits, the powers of ‘Apotheosis’ and ‘Incarnation’ are temporarily applied. [Holy Grail] will be given to the divinity faction that collects 10 or more [Holy Grail Fragments].”
…
Is it really a stage with the concept of a holy war in the Holy Land? 「
The < Transcendence > faction’s
divinity is of a very low rank, so the conditions have been met
. 」
“Apotheosis” will be released from the seal only on the 7th floor stage.」
“This is how…?”
It seems to be a bit more balanced now.
