Chapter 81 - Trail of Flames (1)

Slash!

Viola's sword cut across the Professor's nose bridge.

Though Viola had intended to completely crush his head by exploding her aura upon approach, the Professor's defensive magic blocked it.

Word Fixation.

Word Magic was instantaneous magic.

While this usually made it extremely vulnerable in terms of constantly deployed defensive magic, the Professor had transcended even this limitation.

He compensated for this weakness by layering Word Magic on top of already manifested Word Magic to fix it in place.

Though it was an absurdly difficult double-chanting, the Professor executed it as naturally as breathing.

The problem was that even for a mage of the Professor's caliber, taking two consecutive hits from Viola meant death.

The first strike would break his defensive magic, the second his life.

Walking this tightrope between life and death, where one misstep would sever his lifeline, the Professor still managed to converse.

"Isn't it strange? For passages opening to the Third Floor, there are too few monsters in the labyrinth."

Viola ignored him.

The wind pressure from her straight sword swing shook the plaza.

In the trembling space that seemed ready to collapse, the Professor spoke as if both boasting and lecturing a student.

"It required long preparation. The monsters from the Third Floor are unfortunately organic types. Not only are they difficult to manage, but if we threw them all in at once, the ecosystem would completely collapse and they'd devour each other to extinction,” the Professor spoke as if were truly regretful.

Viola didn't react.

The Professor was the one at a disadvantage anyway.

If he wanted to make the mistake of unnecessary talking despite being a Word Mage, she'd let him.

Let him talk all he wants.

Meanwhile, I’ll take his neck.

"So I thought. What if we could make them non-organic? Ah, not undead though. That's not my specialty. Besides, controlling those already at eternal rest wouldn't suit my aesthetics."

Slash!

He was cut.

Viola felt the sensation of her slash connecting.

Sensory manipulation through illusion magic didn't work on Viola.

This sensation was real.

The Professor had definitely lost an arm.

But as if even the pain couldn't dampen his elation about his impending grand achievement, the Professor continued speaking, "I've been pondering constantly. How to follow the Holy Maiden's mercy that seeks to save even infidels, while still delivering appropriate punishment to those infidels."

At that moment.

The Professor's demeanor changed completely.

His smile vanished, replaced by an expression cold as death, transforming his previously relaxed atmosphere into intense tension.

The Professor asked, "Do you know the most painful way for a living being to die?"

His lips twitched.

With an expression of ecstasy, as he imagined the light that would soon fill the Second Floor of the Abyss, he answered his own question, "Burning to death."

Viola was an Explorer who had reached the Abyss' limit point.

Having heard this much, it was impossible for her not to realize what scheme he had been plotting.

Realizing what the Professor had prepared, Viola spat out two words mixing bewilderment and rage."You madman."

The Professor imagined the final phase that must have already begun.

Flames would engulf the Second Floor.

That light would be purifying flames.

The Labyrinth would become a massive crematorium and incinerator.

Imagining this, the Professor couldn't suppress his laughter.

"Struggle all you want as you imagine your precious disciples burning."

A murderer who took pleasure in killing.

Because of this, he who was once a professor at the Nippur School, was dubbed…

Murderous Professor.

§

After leaving the plaza, we regrouped with Arthur's party who had evacuated earlier.

With both Hernan and Arthur in poor condition, and Deina completely unconscious, they hadn't gotten far, making it easy to catch up.

"Arthur, how are you?"

"I can... manage. Took a potion too. Phew, how about you all?"

"We're fine."

"I can't keep up. Your growth rate..."

Arthur's complaint-like joke actually eased our worries.

If he could make such remarks, his condition must be okay.

"Hey, weakling. Hand her over."

"Mr. Hernan, let me carry the luggage."

Rei took Deina on his back, while Leaf hung Hernan's backpack on her staff.

We look like refugees.

Well, it’s not far from the truth.

Viola and the Professor.

Their combat power was in a different league.

They could destroy the Labyrinth’s walls which even Expert Explorers found difficult as if they were mere styrofoam.

Getting caught in the aftermath of their clash would be fatal.

Like refugees fleeing a natural disaster, we moved as fast as possible to distance ourselves from them.

But when do things ever go smoothly?

While advancing and dealing with monsters popping up everywhere with magic bullet, we stopped for the first time.

"Holy shit..."

Rei's cursing? That's rare nowadays.

Usually, I'd chide her about speaking more elegantly, but not now.

I felt like cursing too.

Ahead of us, flames filled the Labyrinth corridor.

Not ordinary flames—the mana waves irritating our skin along with the intense heat revealed its true nature.

"Blazing Death..."

Like the First Floor, the Second Floor had various apex predators.

Excluding Sentinels, which were classified as golems and didn't need food, the rest form the Second Floor's monster ecosystem through biological activities.

Among the Second Floor's apex predators, there were Shadow Stalkers, and the Voracious Wall that mimics normal Labyrinth walls similar to the Amalgamated Man-Eating Forest.

However, if we had to pick the most threatening one... probably this one.

Sentinels, despite their strength, wouldn't attack first unless one entered their territory.

But this thing was different.

Blazing Death.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t an independent entity like a fire spirit.

Blazing Death was a parasite.

They inhabit corpses, using them as fuel while burning and searching for their next host.

Usually, they were rarely strong enough to be a serious problem since, surprisingly, the Second Floor’s ecosystem didn’t preserve corpses well.

In such an environment, the corpses they could find were often very unimpressive.

Yet Blazing Death was classified as an apex predator because they possessed lethal attacking power and...

Their power increases depending on their host.

And right now, the Blazing Death's host was...

A Third Floor monster.

There seemed too few.

The monsters that came up from the Third Floor.

I'd wondered where all those monsters went, but it had to be this?

This couldn’t be a natural phenomenon.

No, it was definitely intentional.

Someone, with malicious intent, deliberately turned the monsters coming up from the Third Floor into Blazing Death hosts.

When I glimpsed the malice lurking behind those walking fireballs.

I finally understood the full picture of what was happening here.

The Abyss Worshipers.

Specifically the Cult of the End, who desired destruction outside the Abyss.

They intended to turn this Second Floor into a hell of flames.

To eliminate all the countless Explorers scattered throughout the vast Second Floor, not just us.

"These crazy bastards."

What kind of people would think of turning the entire Labyrinth into a sea of flames?

It's like something that pig in the north, who only knows how to threaten people, would plan.

But unlike that pig, these Abyss Worshipers had the madness to actually execute it.

"Ahem! This is my turn to step up!"

The one who boldly stepped forward was none other than Leaf.

With Undine already summoned floating beside her, Leaf pointed her staff forward and shouted, "Undine! Full throttle!"

Bubble bubble bubble.

As bubbling sounds came from Undine, water gathered in the air.

CHWAAAAAH—!

The water cannon burst forth and engulfed the Blazing Death.

Ordinary water couldn't extinguish a Blazing Death, but Leaf's water was infused with mana.

Moreover, water controlled by a spirit fed with High Elf mana was sufficient to extinguish the Blazing Death.

The moment fire and water met.

Steam exploded outward, obscuring our vision.

"Everyone protect yourselves! You could get steam burns!" Hernan, like the experienced Explorer he was, immediately shouted.

This level of steam was covered by autonomous defensive magic anyway.

The problem was the unconscious Deina, but Rei solved that by extending her defensive magic.

"Let's go!"

Leaf marched forward confidently with heavy steps as if saying she'd take the lead.

But those steps didn't last long.

"Eh? Again?"

More flames blocked our path.

The heat was even stronger than before.

Either the host was stronger, or more Blazing Death had gathered.

Either way, it's the worst.

These flames would probably spread until they filled the entire Second Floor.

The released flames would continue to spread, using the entire Second Floor ecosystem as fuel, only extinguishing when there was nothing left to burn.

"...It's impossible. Even if we break through once or twice, it's over the moment our mana runs out."

"Shut up if you're going to be negative. Roman, can't we use that?"

I shook my head heavily.

Blink was nearly invincible, but it had one weakness.

I can't avoid area effects.

If the entire area within Blink's range was burning, using Blink was meaningless.

Though my Blink had an incredibly wide range since it could be cast consecutively, even that became meaningless if these flames filled the entire Second Floor.

There's no answer.

Arthur and Hernan were barely holding on.

They probably would have been fine if it wasn’t for that crazy Professor's Power Word Kill.

If Viola hadn't blocked it, those three, including Deina, would have died on the spot.

In the end, our team has to solve this...

Leaf has limits. No matter how much mana Leaf has, unlike me, it's not infinite.

Guess I have to step up.

"Leaf, hold on a bit."

"Huh? Are we waiting for Viola?"

"No."

Would the Professor not have known Viola would come?

He remained calm even after seeing Viola.

He was probably confident that he had a means prepared to bind Viola.

We have to solve this ourselves.

"I'm going to form a pact with a Devil right here."

You heard me, both of you?

A Devil with the power to overcome this situation.

Give me your recommendations.