Chapter 54: Concealed Location

“It looks like a gem.”

It was a golem made of red transparent stone. Rather than a crystal, it looked more like a garnet. It had eight legs and four arms, its appearance unchanged.

As the Crystal Golem approached, they felt a slight increase in the surrounding temperature. Around the golem, they could see the flickering of air twisted by high heat.

“What intense heat.”

Just approaching made their throats feel like they were being burned.

“Protect Lady Olivia! Retreat!”

Joseph immediately decided to withdraw. The Takt soldiers quickly agreed with his judgment.

As everyone surrounded Olivia and began to retreat, another scream arose.

“No way! Iron Golems!”

“They’re swarming out like crazy!”

“How many of them are there!?”

Sounds of metal pounding the ground echoed from various side paths. The knights and Takt soldiers turned their eyes to Lucius.

“Yu, can you handle the surrounding Iron Golems? I will deal with that one.”

“Understood.”

Yu nodded and manifested as a tiger-man, wielding a large sword, easily cleaving an Iron Golem nearby.

Joseph exclaimed in amazement, “Wow.”

Lucius also manifested as chiyou, instantly creating six floating black plates surrounding him.

He immediately transformed them into a sword and shield, attacking the Crystal Golem. The Golem blocked the strike with its arms, but one arm was severed.

Despite being protected by the armor, intense heat spread through Lucius’s arm. In that moment of distraction, the Crystal Golem hugged him tightly.

A fiery embrace.

Lucius was firmly held by three arms, feeling the heat all over his body.

“Persistent!”

Using chiyou’s overwhelming strength, Lucius forcibly tore off the golem’s arms.

The remaining three arms were also shattered, and the red gem scattered on the ground with a dry sound.

Lucius imbued his brilliant sword with light, slashing through the Golem’s torso.

The upper body flew and crashed into the nearby wall, flames rising. The lower body collapsed, leaving behind a puddle of red-hot magma.

Silence fell.

Are the knights okay?

When Lucius looked back, he saw Olivia on her griffin, emitting countless lines of light in all directions.

When the lines of light touched the Iron Golems, they pierced through them in an instant. Dozens, hundreds of Iron Golems were showered with light.

It looks like a beehive…

After the light subsided, the Iron Golems were left with numerous holes all over their bodies. The twenty or so Iron Golems were all destroyed at once.

On the other hand, around Yu, a mountain of scrap metal was formed. The once smoothly cut Iron Golems now lay in a pitiful state.

The knights and Takt soldiers were left speechless by the trio’s battle.

“Unbelievable, in an instant…”

“W-What kind of people are they?”

“Does it even matter if we’re here…?”

“Hey! When it comes down to it, we can be the meat wall or anything, right?”

Especially towards Lucius, who defeated the Crystal Golem, they looked up with awe.

“I can’t believe there was even a Crystal Golem.”

Joseph was not relieved but rather perplexed.

“It was probably around a Class-1 among magical creature. If it appeared in a group, it might have been troublesome, but as a single entity, it wasn’t too difficult,” Lucius replied.

Joseph chuckled at Lucius’s words.

“As rare as it is for a labyrinth to appear, that thing is a summoner of knight squads, you know? However, the problem lies above that.”

“The Iron Golem, was it?”

“That’s right. As far as the records go, it has appeared four times in the past, and without exception, it caused catastrophic damage. Every labyrinth it appeared in was closed off, and there was always a Crystal Golem present in those labyrinths.”

“So, there might be a Maken Golem in this labyrinth too.”

“It’s only a possibility.”

Suddenly, something white behind the Crystal Golem began to move.

—A white slime!? Was it hiding behind the Crystal Golem!?

Lucius couldn’t help but shout.

“A Class-1 False Core!”

Reacting to the voice, the white slime flew out like a bullet. It wasn’t as fast as the blackish-brown slime they saw yesterday, but it was still quick.

Without canceling Chiyou’s manifestation, Lucius chased after the slime.

“Lucius, wait! I’m coming too!”

Olivia also followed Lucius while still riding on her griffin.

“Wait, please!”

The knights and soldiers also followed suit.

The white slime swiftly hopped back along the path it came from. Lucius chased after it, sprinting down the path.

Just when they were about to reach it, the white slime stopped in the middle of the road.

Now!

But suddenly, the white slime’s figure vanished. It seemed to have jumped into an ordinary-looking wall.

It disappeared!?

Taking advantage of his armored body, Lucius slammed into the wall the white slime jumped into.

“Ugh! … Huh?”

He had prepared for impact, but he passed right through the wall as if it wasn’t there at all.

“Illusionary wall…”

Immediately after Lucius, Olivia and the others slipped through the wall too.

Everyone was left bewildered.

“We’ve explored this area many times, but we never knew about this place.”

The white slime was no longer visible, but the pathway ahead seemed to be a straight path.

As they cautiously moved forward along the unexplored dim path, they found scattered items on the ground.

Personal belongings and weapons.

It was as if people had disappeared, leaving behind a significant number of items.

“These are items supplied to the knights. They’re still new.”

Joseph inspected a nearly spoiled portable ration.

“I wonder what happened to the people?”

“They were probably attacked. I assume they didn’t survive.”

“Is this everyone!?”

Seeing the scattered bags and weapons around, it was clear that it wasn’t just items for ten or twenty people.

“They were here.”

Olivia exclaimed and flew over the abandoned items on her griffin.

In the dark recesses of the corridor, they could indeed see something white.

A Class-1 False Core.

“Olivia-sama! Please wait! There might be something there!”

“No, I have to catch it now before it escapes!”

Despite Joseph’s attempt to stop her, Olivia was already flying at high speed on her griffin.

Closing the distance in an instant, Olivia reached out and touched the white slime.

“I did it!”

Suddenly, the surroundings lit up, and light engulfed Olivia and her griffin.

What is this?

Next, they heard the sound of air being torn apart.

They soon realized it was the sound of thunder.

Without hesitation, Lucius rushed towards Olivia, who was about to be swallowed by the lightning.

Through the smoke rising from her body, he saw the griffin, still trying to defend Olivia.

Thank goodness, she’s safe.

Olivia was leaning against the wall with the white False Core in her arms. The griffin must have protected her as there were no visible injuries.

With her back against the wall, Olivia’s clothing had come undone, revealing her lower abdomen.

As she clutched the white False Core against her, it entered her body. It seemed to have accidentally touched her navel and was absorbed.

Olivia’s face twisted as if she were experiencing both pain and pleasure.

“That’s a False Core.”

But there was no time to watch slowly.

Lucius moved between Olivia and the one who had just emitted lightning, creating a sword and shield from magic.

“There’s something here.”

At the end of his gaze was a dim figure. It seemed to be a person, and light reflected off their armor and spear.

It wasn’t just one or two; there were at least thirty.

—Goblins, but there was something odd about them.

They were all much larger than normal Goblins, almost the size of adults.

Moreover, they were equipped abnormally well, with meticulously treated armor that was coated with oil, not rust. Their spears were also unfamiliar.

And they resembled the weapons and shields the Empire used during the Honogura calamity, which Blue Sun had wielded.

Why would Goblins have Empire equipment?

One of the Goblins at the forefront pointed his spear forward and charged straight ahead.

Electricity surged around the spear he held.

Lucius blocked it with his shield, but a tremendous surge of electricity exploded.

The released heat was no less intense than the Crystal Golem’s flames.

What is this power!?

Heat enveloped the area, and although Chiyou was unscathed, the Goblin that emitted the lightning was charred black.

It was a suicide attack that didn’t consider its own life.

“Ugh…”

Lucius felt Olivia behind him, waking up from the heat.

“Olivia! Run away quickly!”

His voice signaled the start of the battle.

Goblins clad in Empire equipment rushed in all at once.

Realizing the situation, the griffin grabbed Olivia with its front legs and quickly distanced itself.

At the same time, Lucius surrounded his sword with light.

The horizontal sweep of Chiyou.

A merciless slash that could even cut through the breath of an evil dragon.

In one stroke, he cut about ten Goblins, splitting them into upper and lower halves.

They were 6th-class monsters against special-class monsters. Despite having some equipment, they weren’t a match.

But at that moment, laughter resounded from the airborne Goblin’s upper body.

It exploded.

“Huh?”

The impact was like a flash and explosion akin to a dragon’s breath.

A powerful light was emitted.

The tremendous shock passed through Lucius, but he could endure it as chiyou.

A self-destruct!?

The shockwave deflected by the shield gouged the left and right walls.

Rocks crumbled, and dust billowed up.

Through the dust cloud, they could see the adjacent corridor. The wall that separated the corridors had collapsed.

Returning his gaze to the front, he saw more Goblins joining from behind the Goblins in front of him.

It was dark and hard to see deep inside, but there seemed to be a considerable number of Goblins based on their footsteps.

“Are you alright!?”

Lucius called out to the knights and Takt soldiers behind him.

Yu, Joseph, and others had already manifested their weapons.

“Everyone, manifest your weapons! Protect Olivia-sama and move back! Retreat to the Mirage Wall!”

Everyone immediately started to retreat.

On the other hand, Joseph stepped forward and lined up beside Lucius, blocking the path.

“Joseph-san, please don’t push yourself.”

“I’ll hold them off with you until we can retreat.”

Joseph was trembling, particularly wary of the Goblins.

“Do you know those Goblins?”

“They are Empire Beast Soldiers.”

“Beast Soldiers? Goblins?”

“Yes, the Empire uses magically enhanced humanoid monsters like Goblins and Trolls as disposable special attack troops.”

Why would Empire Beast Soldiers be in the labyrinth? That question crossed his mind, but there was no time for that now.

The Goblins kept coming at them, one after another.

Yu quickly stood beside Lucius and sliced the legs of several Goblins.

“Lucius, when Beast Soldiers are near death, they’re trained to self-destruct. Cut off their legs to limit their movement.”

“Self-destruct… Training…”

They weren’t bound by a contract like a Pact, but rather forcibly altered and controlled by magic. In the end, they were made to self-destruct.

They were treated as mere expendable tools, not as living creatures.

“They’re coming!”

Lucius refocused his mind at Yu’s words.

He lowered his body and cut the Goblins’ legs.

Yu and Joseph also joined the battle.

Still, they couldn’t completely stop the Goblins from emerging one after another from the depths.

Several Goblins slipped past the three and started attacking the knights from the northern team in the rear.

The current squad wasn’t organized for group combat, as their purpose was exploration. That’s why the retreat was progressing slowly.

Furthermore, Yu was managing, but Joseph was getting injured and burned each time the waves of Goblins approached.

Damn it, if only I could use the Dragon Flame…

The Forbidden Dragon’s spell was difficult to control due to its destructive power, but it was a convenient spell for both group and single combat. If he could use the Dragon Flame, he might turn them to ashes before they could self-destruct.

But using it would literally shorten his lifespan.

As Lucius felt frustrated, he heard a woman’s voice.

“Follow the sound of the wall collapsing…”

Looking to the side, he saw the main force led by Shaulia. They were visible beyond the collapsed wall.

“Captain Shaulia! We need assistance with the retreat—”

Before Joseph could finish his sentence, Shaulia quickly intervened.

“All units, manifest your weapons! Form a defensive formation! Ensuring the safety of Lord Takt takes top priority.”

Most of the squad merged with the northern support team and were dispatched around Olivia.

Shaula manifested her Dragon Form, piercing the Goblins’ limbs with her spear as she stood in front of Joseph.

“Captain Joseph’s squad will handle the Goblins that slipped through.”

“I apologize…”

“Captain Shaulia, thank you for your support!”

“No time for chit-chat! If there are Beast Soldiers, the Empire’s Vanguard must be nearby!”

As Shaula said, something was visible at the end of the line of Goblins covering the ground.

They were probably scouting their situation.

Lucius squinted and focused on the outline of the figure.

Four knights.

They seemed to be riding silver-armored horses while wearing silver armor themselves.

“Those are Imperial soldiers.”

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