Chapter 113: Cultist Nymph and Pluto's Underground Labyrinth (11)

༺ Cultist Nymph and Pluto's Underground Labyrinth (11) ༻

The humongous bull-like monster's head, tucked to the side of its gigantic body, spoke in a quiet yet deep voice.

In the darkest and hottest region in the depths of the abyss lies the throne made of Titan's bones. Only one person is the rightful owner of that place. And countless entities are aiming for that position...

"What nonsense are you saying, you bastard sonuvabitch."

No need to understand it. I'll cut your neck and send your existence to the depths of the abyss anyway. See it for yourself once you reach there.

Swish—

Thud—

The headless monster bull grasped the halberd he had previously inserted on the ground once more.

Unless luck is on your side, you will die by my hands, to die. Well then—

I'm coming.

Thump— Thump— Thump—!

The huge body of the abominable monster rushed towards me at full speed. Carrying its heavy-looking body and weapon, it closed the distance with me. Was this what it would look like if a two-legged tank came rushing at full speed?

A tank with two legs instead of tracks or wheels. Shit! Just thinking about it made it all look very silly.

Roaaar—!!!

But what I was seeing right in front of me was beyond anything I could ever imagine, and it almost made me wet my pants here and now. So, this is why that damn Gundam was so powerful.

Die, demigod—!

Swish—

The massive halberd shot up in the air and immediately came crashing down as if it could split through everything on its path. The giant body, paired with the colossal weapon, made movements spanning an incredibly wide area.

"Damn!"

Thanks to that, I could seize the opportunity by pressing myself against the wall, narrowly dodging its attack.

Thud—!

The impact of the axe hitting the ground caused the worn and decrepit flooring of the underground labyrinth to quake as if they were screaming in agony. At that time, I also felt my legs weaken for a moment.

I didn't expect that you would be able to dodge that. 5 points. Well, then, let's see if you can avoid this too.

That demonic monster lifted the halberd that just struck the ground, swung it forcefully from right to left, and aimed it toward the wall where I was pressed against.

Swish—

The sensation of the halberd narrowly grazing past my head sent shivers down my spine.

Thud—!

Had I been any later in ducking down, I would have also needed to carry my severed head on my sides.

Geesh, it seems like I got a bit carried away. A large weapon is indeed not a good fit to use in narrow corridors.

The halberd was now stuck in a wall.

The monster bull tried to pull it out with one of his hands.

Seizing this opportunity, as that monster was hindered for a moment, I forcefully swung my tightly-held club towards the monster's thick legs.

Thwack—!

Grrroooaaaah!!

I thought it would be useless against its incredibly thick muscles and skin, but seeing the way that massive amalgamation of muscles and fur wailed loudly into the air, as I struck its thigh, made my hairs stand on end.

That branch. It's a weapon that was blessed by a Goddess! You damned coward!

"Damn it! Who the hell are you calling coward, you fucking idiot!"

Nevertheless, knowing that my attack worked, a glimmer of hope surged inside the depths of my heart.

My strength level had already increased to 7 and my club seemed to be working against the monster more than I had expected it to!

With the thought that I couldn't miss this opportunity, I vigorously pounded its torso.

"Feel the wrath of my club, you sonuvabitch!"

Grrraaaah! S-Stoooop, y-you little rat-like bastard!

At that moment, the monster who had been screaming continuously due to my strikes abandoned its weapon, still stuck in the wall and tried to grab me with its bare hands.

I will twist your neck and strangle you to death!

Its palm was thick and tough, like the heavy lid of a cauldron. It sent a shiver of horror down my spine, evoking a sense of impending danger. So, I rolled backwards, avoiding its attack and creating some distance between us.

Graaaah!!!

The monster let out a tremendous scream when it missed its attack. Its roar made me feel like my heart was going to burst at any second.

I'll squeeze you to death!!

The monster bull charged towards me with a thumping sound after leaving its head behind on the ground and then pressed both of its hands on my shoulders.

Grrrooooom.

"Argh!"

The headless monster's arms pressed me to the ground with the clear intent to crush me to death.

Was this exactly what it felt like to be crushed to death by an elephant's legs? Honestly, I really, really didn't want to learn about how it would feel.

"Damn it all—!"

I couldn't just let myself be crushed to death like this.

Therefore, I clenched my teeth and grabbed onto this wicked monster's arms to reduce its leverage on my body while simultaneously kicking my legs up with all my strength and precisely striking between its legs— towards its groin.

Thwack—

Soon, a terrible scream broke out from the severed head lying on the labyrinth floor in the distance. Then, the large body of the minotaur twitched and collapsed onto the floor.

Thud—

"...Huh, you damn monster, you shouldn't have called me a coward...!"

I looked down at the filthy monster and picked up the club I had dropped before. Should I smash its body to pieces and kill it? I was briefly lost in a dilemma as to what to do with this fucker.

Tap— Tap—

I felt a small weight running towards me through the corridor from afar. Was it another monster? A goblin? No, that direction was leading to the exit.

At that moment, I swiftly prepared myself for what was about to happen.

"Hassan! I have come to help you! A-As expected, you're still alive! Thank goodness!"

A short girl with pink hair fashioned into a twin tail appeared at the perfect time. Paranoy and the ice mage Velmina were also following closely behind her while staggering every now and then.

"I suggested we escape as fast as possible, but Miss Luna was too stubborn."

Did Luna come back because she wasn't able to bear abandoning me in this place? The thought of having such a loyal comrade, even though she looked so fragile and meek, touched my heart and filled it with endless warmth.

"Great, damn it! Let's all beat this monster together! Crush it!!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Seemingly understanding my words, Luna took out the thick Silence Totem she was carrying on her back.

Luna and I used our clubs to start beating the monstrous bull's body, lying on the ground, with all our might, fully intent on crushing it into meat paste.

"I'll take care of the lower body, Luna, you smash the upper body!"

"I got it!"

Thwack— Thwack— Bam— Thunk—

"How... how barbaric... these savages from outside the continent..."

"What are you doing, Miss Velmina? Damn it! Do you think we are having fun here or something? Aren't you a mage? Just do something already!!"

"W-What!? O-Oh, right! Step aside for a while! Frost Spear...! "

Crackle— Crackle—

Several thick spears, completely made of ice, began to slowly manifest in the air before us. Soon, they flew like tactical bullets and pierced through the huge fur-covered body of the monster.

Gruaaaah!!

At that moment, the separated head of the monster bull, lying in the distance, screamed out a loud roar of absolute agony.

Rumble— Rumble—

The humongous body of the bull, beaten and thrashed with all of our might, started crumbling away before melting into the ground.

Yes, it really melted away.

Its skin and muscles peeled away quickly, forming a pool of red liquid-like substance that seeped into the floor of the chilling labyrinth corridor.

I was finally relieved when I saw the body of the monster disappear completely from my sight, not a single bone of his body left in existence.

"Shit, we did it! Take that, you bastard bull critic!!"

"L-Look at this! Hassan! There's a skull left!"

Luna swiftly ran towards a white object lying on the ground and picked it up, proudly displaying it to all of us. It was an astonishingly huge skull.

Judging from the fact that it had horns on its head, it was probably the remains of the severed head that the monster bull had been holding on its side earlier.

The body had completely melted into a strange liquid and had seeped down between the cracks of the floor. Was it able to avoid the melting procedure because the skull was separated from the body? Of course, I couldn't be sure of anything here.

"W-What an amazing skull..."

The important thing here was that Luna was staring at the skull with her eyes opened wide; as if it was a very precious item.

"I-It looks like it would be the perfect material for a new amulet mask. I wonder if I will have good luck when we roll the dice..."

Velmina, the mage who was examining the collapsed body on the ground, calmly responded to Luna's words.

"It looks like an incredibly rare relic. I can also feel extraordinary mana coming from it. Indeed, we have to roll the dice to decide ownership for something like this, right?"

This only meant it was time for the highlight of party hunting— item looting and distribution.

There were often cases where the acquired items could not be precisely divided into equal shares among the people who entered the labyrinth, so the ownership of those things would be decided by leaving it to luck.

"I-I'll give it a try too..."

Upon hearing the words item looting, even the dwarven warrior, Didier, who had been lying unconscious until now as though he had fainted, began to stir and wriggle his body up.

Damn it! That dwarven bastard didn't move a finger when he got hit by that blow but suddenly recovered when it came to the distribution of the loot. Had he been aiming for this from the start?

"Here, I have the dice..."

Didier, who usually carried the dice for guild quests, rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a square wooden cube.

It was a typical dice engraved with markings from 1 to 6. And it was Luna who received the dice from the nearly dying dwarven warrior's hand.

"T-Then, I'll roll first!"

Luna grabbed the dice with both hands as if it were something sacred or magical and then began to recite a spell in a trembling and nervous voice.

"Oh, Mother of Night, Lady Knox! Please guide my hand! Huuuaaahhhh...."

Then she started bending and stretching her legs, shaking her hands all over the place, and doing a strange dance out of the blue.

Watching her doing a movement similar to a spider preparing itself to court potential mates, my feelings became tinged with an indescribable complexity.

"Luna, what kind of dance is that?"

"It's good-luck voodoo...! I wish for...!! Good luck!!!"

I wasn't sure what this good luck sorcery was, but I could sense how much effort Luna was putting into the dice's markings and her overflowing desire for the monster skull.

Meanwhile, Velmina, the mage, crossed her arms and nodded in amusement while looking at Luna, who was immersed in her strange dance for quite some time already.

"Hmm, the flowing energy of magical power in the air is changing. Indeed, we can achieve something similar to magic with a primitive dance like this."

Luna's dance had similarities to magic? Could it be that this good luck sorcery was legit? Hearing such information, even that ridiculous dance suddenly started to look like something that made a sliver of a sense in my eyes.

"No, I was mistaken. Sorcery seems to be indeed nothing more than mere superstition."

"I-I see."

As I felt flustered by the mage's behavior...

Luna, who had been shaking the dice in her hands, abruptly stopped her bizarre dance.

"Hiyaaaaat-!!"

Luna shouted loud enough to even make the stone walls tremble, and at the same time, she threw the dice to the ground.

Rattle—

On the cold stone floor filled with half-ruined bricks, a fairly worn-out wooden dice spun round and round like a spinning top.

Slowly, it began to lose its force and stopped moving.

Eventually, everyone stared at it nervously.

The result was thus revealed.

"It's a one."

"Arghhhhhh! Hissssss! Hiiiiik!"

Luna collapsed as if she couldn't believe that she rolled the lowest number possible. What the hell was the meaning of the dance she had just performed then?

"How interesting. Then, it's my turn to throw it."

Roll—

Velmina calmly picked up the dice from the floor and rolled it casually like a normal person.

The result of the roll was a 4. It was a fairly good result. Since the only numbers higher than 4 were 5 and 6.

"Mr. Hassan, I-I'm fine. I didn't make any contribution..."

The proselyte— Paranoy gave up her bid in good faith. Then the only ones left were me and that one-legged dwarven warrior.

"Hassan...!"

Luna looked at me with teary eyes, sending me a hopeful gaze. Did she really want that bull skull that much?

For some reason, it felt burdensome, but at the same time, I couldn't help but imagine how delighted Luna would be if I won the dice roll and handed her the skull she wanted so much.

Damn it! I actually had a way to turn that imaginary scene into a reality.

"Huff..."

After taking a brief breath, I threw the dice in my hand to the floor.

Spin—

Just like Luna's turn, the dice started spinning like a spinning top. And finally, when the rotation stopped, the number on the top side was revealed-.

"It's a 1. Haha, unexpectedly, it has become a battle between the mage and me."

"Damn it!"

"Aaaarghhh!"

Luna screamed as if she couldn't believe it.

It was a damn 1 that came out for me. I couldn't face Luna anymore! It honestly felt like I had made a terrible mistake right now!

Luna, I'm sorry! I had always been unlucky with things like this!

While Luna and I were looking extremely disappointed, Didier stepped forward while stroking his blood-stained beard with pride.

"Even though I have long lost this leg of mine, I have been bestowed with incredible luck in return."

Slowly—

Didier threw the dice into the air as if tossing out sticks.

The end result was a five. It was a fucking 5.

Consequently, the minotaur's skull ended up in the hands of the dwarven warrior.

"As expected, it seems that the Goddess of Fate is favoring me even now."

Didier accepted the monster skull from Luna's hand, who had been hesitating to give it to him even till the very last second. After examining its shape, he added a remark.

"However, I'll give this to you, Party Leader bro."

What the hell?

"Are you serious?"

"Originally, I would have been dead to that monster bull. Had our roles been reversed, I would have fled without looking back for even a second. But you, my brother, didn't do that. This is my way of expressing gratitude."

Didier rubbed his nose awkwardly beneath his lush red beard. If not for the blood from the nosebleed that had hardened on his fingers, it would have been quite a heartwarming sight.

"Here, take it. You deserve it, brother. I watched you fighting against that freakishly huge monster without backing down. Holy! I thought I was looking at a scene directly out of a myth!"

"Well, that's kind of exaggerated but thanks anyway."

And then, when I held the bull skull in my hands—

Ding—

『Achievement from 'Labyrinth Entrance': you obtained an Epic-grade relic, the 'Bull skull'.』

『Task Points +100.』

『Completing the task will increase your karma.』

『Strength +2.』

The words that were shown to me gave me a great deal of surprise.

"Oh, damn!"

I earned an achievement while my task points and strength also increased? Strength was the thing I was currently focusing on investing in. Holy shit! I was truly overjoyed!

I felt so happy that the thoughts of being in a life-or-death crisis, mere moments ago, completely vanished from my head. It might be because of my current euphoria, but my body was feeling strangely vigorous.

"C-Congratulations, Hassan..."

While I was feeling very excited, I noticed Luna watching me from the side as if holding back something she wanted to say. She hesitantly offered her congratulations.

Luna had really liked this skull. Didn't she say that she wanted to make a mask out of it?

"Luna, do you want this?"

"Uh, y-yes... I really want it..."

"I don't want to give it away though!"

"Y-You're so mean!"

"Just kidding!"