After the illusion ended, they headed deeper into the old castle. Rihito and Shizuku searched every single room, floor by floor, but they still didn't find a way out of this place.
"Did you find something?" Rihito came out searching the last room on this floor.
Shizuku shook her head. "I didn't find anything on my side."
"I see. Then there is only one other place the exit might be."
"It might be in the dungeon," Shizuku voiced his thoughts.
"Yeah, I was about to say that. Well, we should get going."
Returning back to the ground floor, we quickly found the entrance to the dungeon and headed inside.
Rihito saw how dark it was, and he created a light orb to illuminate the area.
We then continued to follow the path.
"Rihito, are we really going to leave this world as it is?" Shizuku asked.
Rihito, without stopping his pace, responds, "In an ideal case, if we manage to get all the ancient magic without any hindrance and use that magic to find a way, then yes."
Hearing his response, Shizuku felt slightly sad for this world, but she was willing to accept it. If she had to choose between the denizens of this world and her friends, she would choose her friends ten times out of ten.
"But," Rihito continued, getting Shizuku's attention.
"That damn god will likely get in the way and try to stop us from going back to our world, in which case we might have to deal with it," Rihito said, reflecting on his previous encounter with the apostle.
Shizuku, hearing all that, just stared at his back. A smile appeared on her face. "I see." After that, they silently continued towards the end, where a magic circle was waiting for them.
"There it is." At the end of the corridor, there was a magic circle.
Finally finding the magic circle, they were eager to escape this place and were about to step into it. But suddenly, just as Rihito was about to enter the magic circle, he sensed malicious intent directed at him. To defend himself, he unleashed a burst of mana that blasted a white, cloud-like entity.
"Gyaaa!!"
Upon hearing the sudden shriek, Shizuku instinctively drew her katana, preparing for a fight.
"Damnit, I messed up," the specter-like ghost thing grunted.
"Damn you, give me yourrr bodddyyy!" The ghost lunges at him, screaming in a manner that felt straight out of a horror movie.
Rihito responded by using
Rihito also discovered something intriguing about it: he cannot detect it with his mana sense. Its incorporeal form is entirely blended with the surrounding mana, rendering it almost impossible to perceive through conventional means. He guessed that unless it chooses to reveal itself or has already taken possession of a person, it can only be detected in these two circumstances. Additionally, it might be sensed if someone is able to detect its malicious intent just before it attempts to possess someone, which is nearly impossible unless they have reflexes like his.
[Ah, maybe someone with a strong will also be able to push it away.] Except for himself, he can think of only one guy right now who can pull it off.
"Rihito, what is that?" Shizuku asked, curious about the cloud-like thing.
"It's a ghost," he answered nonchalantly.
Shizuku's face paled. "G-ghost." She immediately hid behind Rihito.
Ghosts are the second-worst thing that scares her, right after insects, or rather, cockroaches.
"Damn you mongrels, do you know who I am? I am the king of this castle. You should be honoured and hand me your body," the ghost spouted, acting like an arrogant, whiny child.
"..."
Shizuku observed the ghost behaving like a child and felt foolish for being scared of it. "So, what should we do with it?" She still hadn't moved from Rihito's back.
"Hmmm… let me try something," Rihito said, thinking of an idea. He then pointed his finger at the ghost. Before activating his skill, he warned Shizuku, "You should close your eyes."
Nodding at him, she agreed.
Rihito had thoroughly examined the ghost and was now eager to conduct an experiment: he wanted to see how the ghost would react to a holy attack. He had wanted to try this for some time, but he had never had a suitable subject for the test.
Now seeing this ghost suddenly appearing in front of him, it was God-sent for him.
'Not the jackass god of this world.'
He activated the skill "
The ghost was suddenly surrounded by a blinding light, followed by an inhuman scream, "Ahhhhhhhhh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…"
Just as the light of purification disappeared, the ghost and its screams disappeared with it.
"..."
Shizuku was truly unnerved by the inhuman scream and asked, "What did you do to it?"
At first, I was unsure whether a Holy-type attack would be effective against a ghost, so I decided to increase the power of the attack by 100 to test it. The result is evident," he said, gesturing toward the space where the ghost had just been.
"…"
[Note to myself not to die and become an evil spirit.] Shizuku thought.
"Let's just leave." Shizuku has had enough of this place.
Shizuku and Rihito stepped onto the magic circle, which activated, and they both disappeared.
…
In a completely different section of the labyrinth, within a water-filled chamber, a temple-like structure floated, surrounded by four large pillars and lacking any walls. At the center of the temple, on the altar, a magic circle was situated. From the temple, paths extended in all four directions, leading to four circular pedestals.
On one of the four pedestals, suddenly, a magic circle appeared as two people teleported in.
As soon as Rihito teleports in, he uses
"Is this area clear?" Shizuku asks in a battle-ready stance.
"Yeah, we are clear, and not only that," he pointed at the center of this place.
"We have completed the trial."
Shizuku, noticing the altar and magic circle on top of it, sighs in relief.
Just then, two of the other altars started to glow, signifying someone's arrival.
Hajime and Kaori teleported in from the pedestal on his left, while Shea, Tohru, and others arrived from his right.
"So, you guys are also here, perfect timing."
Hajime scanned the area and said, "Hmm… it seems everyone has arrived at the end," noticing that all were present.
As always, Shea, sensing Rihito's presence, rushed over and clung to him. "Rihito!"
Tohru, following after Shea nervously, stands in front and says in a subdued voice, "Master."
Rihito, noticing the usually nonchalant Tohru appearing so subdued, understood. He smiled and gently patted her head. "I'm not mad, Tohru. Just be mindful of when and where you use those strong attacks next time. As long as you do that, I will almost never be mad at you."
Tohru realises that Rihito is not upset with her; in fact, he deeply cares for her. As she feels him patting her, an unusual warmth begins to spread through her body. She looks at him, and, in that moment, she just wants to leap at him, push him down, and then…
Suddenly, Tohru feels a sharp pain in her nose.
"Ouch!" Tohru groans and holds her nose.
"Oye," with a flick at her nose, I snapped her from her trance.
"Now don't go and start to lose yourself," Rihito sighed, noticing the predatory eyes she was looking at him with.
"Let's have a proper date first," I whispered in her ear.
"Yes!" Tohru happily nods, hearing it.
Feeling the sudden tug on the left hand, Rihito looked at Shea. Her expression said, 'Stop flirting with her in front of me.'
"..."
"Cough. Alright, we should go ahead and claim our prize," he tried diverting the atmosphere.
He tried to urge everyone, only to see Shizuku and Kaori whispering with each other.
He heard Shizuku whisper, 'Good job, it's only a matter of time.'
From Kaori, 'We have to be number 1.'
[Yeah, I will act like I didn't hear anything.]
My attention then went to Hajime, who, as always, used violence and beat Tio up. Now acting all lovey-dovey with Yue.
Hajime, noticing my gaze, coughed a little. "What are you guys waiting for?"
"..."
We then stood at the altar, and the magic circle did its work; scanning the memories related to this labyrinth, in about a minute, the ancient magic was inscribed in our heads.
"So, this is Restoration magic?" I whispered.
[No, not just that; it's only on the surface.] With
[With this magic, that will definitely work.]
After the ancient magic was cast, the magic circle began to glow even brighter as it faded away, and from its center, a long stone block rose up.
Then, just like the Oscar Orcus, a holographic message from Meiru Melusine appeared. It showed a girl with similar features to Myu and Remia sitting on a block of stone.
The girl in the magical hologram slowly opened her ruby-like eyes.
"I am Meiru Melusine.
Adventures, I congratulate and commend you for having reached this point."
"Hey, Rihito, doesn't she look similar to Myu and Remia?" Shea asks.
I nodded and said, "Yeah, she does," which others also agreed with.
We then again fell into silence, wanting to hear what Melusine had to say.
"I must implore you.
Don't rely on the gods.
Rely only on yourself to get what you want.
Move forward with your decision and with your own power, and don't let gods fool you with their sweet words.
Real happiness lies under real freedom.
I really hope, unlike us, happiness falls on you like a gentle rain."
with a gently smiling at the end, the message ended.
With that message, the hologram disappeared, leaving a circular insignia of Melusine on top of the block.
Rihito then stepped forward and picked up the insignia.
"Well, that's that," I said, showing the insignia.
"So, this is the proof of labyrinth completion," Kaori said, seeing an insignia of the labyrinth for the first time in person.
"With this, we have four insignia. Enough with this dungeon; we should get…" before Hajime could finish. The whole place started to shake.
"..."
"Really, can't we catch a break?" Hajime groaned as the ceiling burst open, and a large amount of water gushed out.
"Ugh, not again," Hajime groaned.
"I didn't do anything," Tohru suddenly said. She didn't want to be scolded by Rihito, especially when a date with him was coming up.
"Don't worry about that," calming Tohru, I noticed Hajime pulled out the submarine.
"Everyone, get inside," I commanded.
"Krrriiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!" A familiar screech reverberated.
"Oh, come on! Really, now, of all time," I grumbled, as we saw the sea angel crawl out from the ceiling.
…
Chapter end
.
.
==Insert IMG of some goodshit==
.
.
******************************************************************************************
Author note:
...
(If you like my story, give me power stones. If you don't have power stones. Then, please comment and rate my Fanfiction. It will motivate me plenty to write more. Thank you.)
Join My Patreon. Currently, there are 6 advanced chapters present, and soon more chapters will be uploaded.
link: [email protected]/RoneMix71
Change @ to a