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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Labyrinth
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*Thud, thud, thud!*
While running down a dark corridor.
She drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, and turned.
Without stopping her forward momentum, she slid across the floor, identifying her target and releasing the arrow in the same motion.
The entire sequence took but an instant.
A seemingly wild shot, fired without even taking a proper stance, let alone aiming.
*Fwoosh!*
"Gah?!"
But the moment the arrow split the air.
It embedded itself squarely between the pursuing soldier's eyes.
The soldier behind him tried to use his comrade's sacrifice as an opportunity to close the distance, but…
*Thwack!*
The result was the same.
A dark elf with a bow.
Arsha's arrows never missed, no matter when or how she fired.
It was the supernatural ability of her one and only combat class, the 2-star [Archer], which she had honed to the level of [Master] over hundreds of years fighting for her clan.
But one person could not hold off ten.
The soldiers, protecting their vitals with shields and armor, continued to close in, even as arrows pierced their limbs.
A bow and arrows alone were not enough to stop the charging soldiers.
That was the limit of a 2-star class.
Capable of wielding supernatural abilities.
Outstanding as an individual.
But in the end, this was the best a low-level Awakened One could do, unable to defeat dozens, or hundreds, of foes.
"—You shouldn't lay a hand on another man's concubine so carelessly."
*Swoosh!*
That was why.
She couldn't help but marvel at the boy who had cut down the charging soldiers in an instant.
Had he overwhelmed them with a supernatural ability, she would have accepted it calmly.
After all, any 3-star combat class Awakened One beyond the [Beginner] level could do as much.
But the sight of a boy decimating over a dozen soldiers with nothing more than 2-star physical enhancement was truly mystifying.
Moreover, that wasn't the only astonishing thing about Dion.
*Rumble!*
"Ugh!"
"Tsk, tsk. You should watch your step in a labyrinth. You never know where a trap might be."
Navigating the complex labyrinth without ever getting lost was the least of it.
He could spot cleverly hidden traps with a mere glance and use them to block the soldiers.
At times, he would even charge into a horde of monsters, forcing them to fight the soldiers.
The fact that they hadn't been caught yet was largely thanks to the various stratagems he employed, which were even more effective than his martial prowess.
'…I wonder just how Parsha raised the Young Master.'
Combat ability.
Cunning.
Composure.
Even his knowledge of the labyrinth.
He displayed astounding talent in every aspect, regardless of his class or traits.
Most of all, as Arsha provided cover for the boy who fought as skillfully as if he had been through dozens of such battles, she thought.
'At this rate, we might actually be able to escape.'
Dozens of soldiers had already fallen at their hands—or more accurately, at Dion's.
Furthermore, with Parsha also hunting down soldiers at a furious pace, a rough estimate suggested that the number of their pursuers had been cut by more than half.
Indeed, the frequency of encounters with soldiers popping out from every corner was noticeably decreasing.
Searching this vast labyrinth required a massive number of troops. If they could just thin out the soldiers a little more, they might be able to shake off the pursuit completely and escape.
Just as she began to feel a glimmer of hope that this seemingly absurd plan might actually succeed.
Arsha's eyes caught sight of a soldier hiding at the far end of the corridor.
'—An Awakened One!'
Probably a [Bowman].
The moment she recognized him as an Awakened One just from the way he held his bow.
She saw the bowman aiming at Dion, who was busy fighting other soldiers, and hastily reached for an arrow.
Or rather, she tried to.
Until her fingers, reaching for her quiver, grasped nothing but empty air.
'My arrows…!'
Despite having collected arrows from fallen soldiers along the way, her quiver was now empty.
Exhausted from the continuous fighting, she had only just realized it. Arsha bit her lip.
And instead of an arrow, she drew and threw her backup weapon, a knife.
*Fwing!*
"Gah?!"
The knife flew like the wind and struck the bowman squarely in the neck.
A precise throw, made possible by her talent as an [Archer].
But perhaps due to the elves' lesser physical strength, the bowman, though his neck was pierced, did not die instantly. His face twisted as he released the bowstring.
—Not at his original target, Dion, but at Arsha.
*Thwack!*
"Ugh…!"
Tearing flesh.
Splattering blood.
The arrow, fired accurately as befitting an Awakened One, even if only a 1-star.
Moreover, having just thrown her knife, she was off balance. The arrow pierced her thigh, and Arsha choked back a scream.
But the bowman's revenge didn't end there.
As if determined to take Arsha with him before he died, his eyes burned with fury.
As she saw the arrow nocked on his bowstring and braced for the end.
*THWACK!!!*
A sword was embedded in the bowman's head.
A heavy, sharp, blood-soaked weapon, incomparable to the knife she had thrown.
Realizing who had thrown it, Arsha's eyes widened.
*Slash!*
"Young Master!"
Was it because he had suddenly thrown his sword in the middle of a fierce fight?
Seeing the boy's back slashed by the soldiers, Arsha cried out involuntarily.
The boy spun like a top.
And struck the jaw of the soldier who had cut him with the palm of his hand.
*CRACK!*
The strength of physical enhancement.
Explosive rotational force and striking power.
The result was a soldier whose jaw and the top of his head had rotated 180 degrees, his neck bent at a grotesque angle.
Before the corpse could fall, Dion snatched the sword from its hand and, with a lightning-fast swing, finished off the remaining soldiers in an instant.
As Dion approached her, Arsha spoke.
Or, tried to speak.
"Young Master, why…"
*Yank!*
"Hngh!?!?"
Arsha's back arched like a bow.
Dion had suddenly shoved his hand into her mouth and yanked out the arrow embedded in her thigh.
Her teeth dug into the back of his hand.
Her slender body convulsed.
Meanwhile, Dion skillfully staunched the bleeding and muttered.
"Hmm, deeper than I thought. It'll be hard for you to move for a while."
"Ha, ah…"
Hearing his words, Arsha, who was breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain, felt her long eyelashes tremble.
Countless soldiers were still pursuing them.
Her sensitive ears could already hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching.
The meaning of being unable to use her leg in this situation was all too clear.
"…Leave me and go."
"Leave you behind, Arsha?"
"Yes. I can't hold them off for long, but I will buy you as much time as possible."
"Really? Well then, I have no choice."
Arsha's golden eyes deepened, her resolve firm.
Dion gazed at her for a moment before finally nodding.
And…
*Heave.*
"Up we go."
"Y-Young Master?"
An arm supporting her back.
A hand wrapping around her thighs.
As Arsha, flustered, realized she was being held like a princess.
Dion lightly kicked the ground amidst the soldiers' corpses.
A soldier's quiver popped into the air and landed softly on Arsha's petite chest.
"Here, do your best with this."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You said you couldn't hold them off for long, right? I'm asking you to hold out for as long as you possibly can."
"…"
"—I'll be your legs and your shield."
*Thud, thud, thud!*
*It's impossible.*
Before Arsha could even voice her denial, Dion started running.
Thanks to his physical enhancement ability, Dion ran through the labyrinth like the wind, even while carrying her—an adult, however light she might be.
But Arsha could see.
The drops of blood trailing behind the running boy.
Seeing this, she bit her lip, then finally reached out and wrapped her arms around Dion's neck.
And…
"Understood."
*Fwoosh!*
She aimed her bow over Dion's shoulder and struck a pursuing soldier.
The dark elf archer, managing a perfect shot even from her unstable position, calmly finished her sentence.
"Then, as you said, I shall do my utmost."
"Yes, that's Parsha's mother for you."
In the arms of the smiling boy, she drew her bowstring once more, and they continued their struggle.
And as they fought alongside Dion, shaking off soldiers and sometimes engaging in close combat, Arsha felt a strange sensation.
It should have been much harder than before, especially with her injury.
Yet, it felt easier, more comfortable, than when she had been fighting on her own two feet.
It wasn't just because she was getting used to fighting while being carried.
If anything, it was the opposite.
'…I don't understand why the Young Master seems so accustomed to even a situation like this.'
It was impressive enough that he was skillfully using the labyrinth's structure to deal with the soldiers.
But as she personally experienced the boy's incredible feat of naturally shifting his stance to create a line of sight for her shots, even helping her balance, every time she fired her bow.
Just as she once again wondered just how her daughter had raised this young master.
"Gah?!"
"H-How…"
"…What is this?"
The soldiers pursuing them suddenly began to collapse.
Convulsing and foaming at the mouth as if in a collective seizure.
Arsha had heard of something like this before, but before she could recall the memory.
Dion clicked his tongue.
"Ah, damn."
"Young Master?"
"—Arsha, hold on tight."
Hearing a hint of trouble in his voice, something she hadn't even when he was injured, Arsha reflexively wrapped her arms around the boy's neck.
The moment Dion began to sprint down the corridor at a speed even faster than before.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle!*
"…?!"
Arsha's eyes widened.
Just as the convulsing soldiers' bodies began to swell.
Crows burst forth, tearing their bodies to shreds.
'Black magic!'
Hundreds of crows, each grotesque in appearance and exuding an ominous aura.
The moment they appeared, they began to chase fiercely after Dion and Arsha.
Arsha instinctively fired an arrow, but it was useless.
Even if she shot down a few crows, the remaining hundreds continued to swarm, filling the corridor.
They rapidly closed the distance on Dion, who was running at full speed.
"Young Master!"
"Just a little longer!"
*Thud, thud, thud, thud!*
Dion's immediate response to Arsha's warning shout showed he was already aware.
And then, the boy sprinting down the corridor stepped on a protruding stone on the floor.
*Click.*
The moment the stone pressed inward.
*RUMBLE!*
Thick stone doors slammed shut in front of and behind them.
A trap meant to imprison anyone who entered.
But the boy, already prepared, slipped under the descending door like the wind.
The crows, a step too slow, slammed into the stone door.
Arsha finally let out a sigh of relief, but…
Her relief was premature.
A few of the crows had managed to squeeze through the gap just before the door closed completely.
*Flap!*
"…!"
And so, the crows that had been skimming perilously close to the ground finally caught up to them.
Their bodies swelled dramatically.
The moment Arsha's eyes widened.
*BOOM—!!!*
A deafening explosion shook the labyrinth.