Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 75
Only Noblemtl
“Run! Don’t look at the loot!”
Those were the first words Taylor uttered as he entered the palace. He was in the front, Shiva in the middle, and Alan, who was riding in the carriage, was at the back.
The first place we encountered was a grid-shaped hallway. It was so wide that two trucks could pass by at the same time.
bang!
Before I could look around, there was a loud explosion. A shell fell from Taylor’s automatic shotgun. Before the shell could make a loud clank, another explosion occurred.
“It’s a suicide bombing!”
A bee bigger than an adult’s fist appeared and flew around everywhere. It didn’t look good as it was spewing out smoke.
However, their durability was poor and they were unstable, so if a small lead bullet hit their body, they would explode immediately. They were less powerful than the spiders that Alan handled, but there were too many of them, so it was a problem.
Even in the drizzle, clothes are made to be wet. While Taylor cleared the way, Shiva recited the sacred spell.
“Merciful mother, with a heart that is not broken even in the face of harsh storms, you raise your children···.”
pop!
A bee burst near Shiva. There was no harm done, but the spell was broken along with the concentration.
“Next… I don’t know. [Embrace of Loving Kindness]”
Shiva skipped the spell and immediately unleashed his holy spell. White waves radiated from him, coating the bodies of Alan and Taylor.
Alan glanced at Shiva for a moment and then turned away. A lot of the process was omitted, but it was a success anyway.
The white protective shield, which had many steps omitted, did its job well. Occasionally, a bee would break through the net and cling to the body, but even when it exploded, the damage was minimal, to the point of only causing a stinging sensation.
With some free time, Alan studied the flight paths of the suicide bombers to see where they were coming from.
‘Beyond the fog, it’s there.’
I couldn’t see it because of the black fog, but I could roughly guess its location.
‘200m ahead, ceiling.’
Alan took out his magic launcher, aimed straight ahead, and fired a nullifying magic bullet. The shot went into the fog, and soon a crackling sound was heard.
thud!
I also felt the vibration of something falling. Since I was running anyway, I could quickly confirm what it was.
A huge bee, like a bull, was lying on the ground, its legs flailing. Looking at the machine gun attached to its butt, I could guess how it fought.
There was a beehive on the ceiling, and there were suicide bees hanging from it, probably because they had been hit directly by the nullifying bullets. They would occasionally fall to the floor and explode, but they weren’t a big threat.
Taylor just walked past the loot.
“Brother! Are you just going to go?”
“If you stay still, they’ll keep coming! Move until I tell them to stop!”
It was as Taylor said. Allen glanced behind him and caught the sound of countless wings beating beyond the fog. He aimed the launcher backward and fired again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bees hit by the nullifying bullets fell like corn, causing successive explosions.
As we exited the hallway, Shiva raised his voice.
“It’s completely different from the city!”
“The enemies that appear outside the palace are extremely weak. Instead, you can think of them as being cornered inside the palace.”
Alan, who seemed to have some free time, answered.
“Where are we going next?”
“That’s not for us to decide.”
That was exactly what he said. When you see the automatons coming towards you, you move to the place with the lowest density, and that becomes your next path.
Shiva glanced back as if he felt something was missing.
“It’s a waste to waste the loot. One magic stone could feed ten people with free meals and more than that···.”
“I took some, if not all.”
When Alan gestured, the surprisingly well-running box stuck out its drawer like a tongue. Inside was a magic stone that had been forcibly removed.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have given it more claws.”
After a short conversation, the place we arrived at this time was a lake. The liquid that filled it was so black that it was impossible to tell if it was water or oil. Judging by the foul smell, there was a 100% chance that it would not be good if you put it in your mouth.
Taylor glanced at the lake and opened his mouth.
“Let’s get through here as quickly as possible.”
“Are those the problems?”
“okay.”
There were small boats where Alan’s finger was pointing, slowly approaching us.
The black cloth covering the ship slid down and the underground people got up. Judging from the long cylinders they were holding, I could guess how they were harassing the explorers.
He slung it over his shoulder like a recoilless gun and aimed it at me.
“Slow.”
Boom!
Of course, before that, Alan’s magic bullet blew up the ship. Sibana Taylor was not nearby either, because he used a magic bullet specifically for firepower, the water column rose high. The underground people became underground people and flew around in all directions.
The box’s camera moved like a crab’s eye, looking back and forth between Alan and the blast site, then started to roll its wheels as it tried to enter the lake.
“Stop.”
Alan immediately dried the box. He had a feeling that the lake would be difficult to search, and that even a little bit of black water would make maintenance difficult.
First of all, the smell was a problem. Alan was enjoying the refreshing scent thanks to the mask, but he could guess it by looking at Taylor and Shiva’s frowning expressions.
The ships that harassed the explorers with one-sided bombardment, and which they tended to ignore because there was nothing to gain from them, were sunk by Allen’s bombardment.
Thanks to this, the group safely passed the lake and arrived at the corridor. The garden surrounded by the corridor was devoid of life.
There was a gardener who took care of the withered plants. He looked like a scarecrow and carried a huge pair of pruning shears.
The heads of the gardeners who were pretending to trim trees all turned at once. It was quite strange that only their heads turned, perhaps because they were automatons.
Those who identified the intruders approached them while making a clanking motion with their scissors. The combination of their appearance and the way they approached them while bouncing around like a pogo stick created an unpleasant feeling.
The long scissors blades also emitted a blue light like manasod.
“Are you sure it’s what I think it is?”
“yes.”
Alan solved Shiva’s mystery. The Mana Sword itself was a weapon made with gardener’s scissors in mind.
Taylor drew his shotgun and mana sword at the same time. He fed the gardener who was approaching from above with his magic-enhanced shotgun, and then cut the one fluttering like a kite with its string cut in two with his mana sword.
Shiva seemed relieved to meet the automaton in close combat. Dwarves were already at a physical disadvantage, and their fighting style was such that they had been beaten unilaterally up until now, using only their limbs.
He avoided the scissors aimed at his neck with a bouncy step, and quickly dodged into the gardener’s arms using his strong legs.
He aimed for the gardener’s chest with a Superman punch that threw his entire body. The white-tinted fist crushed the fragile armor and dug in in one breath. However, because his arms were short, it couldn’t get through his back.
Shiva, having shaken off the gardener, recited a short prayer.
“To your mother in one room… May you rest in peace.”
Alan stood still and watched. The gardener who was rushing at him was quickly cleared by the leopard. Each claw had a mana sword attached to it, making it extremely powerful.
The gardener, who looked so graceful, was easily torn apart by the leopard’s paws. He was so slow that there was nothing he could do.
After passing through the corridors and killing enemies, and running along the connected corridors for a while, Alan, who was concentrating on the battle, suddenly realized that the underground people who were rushing towards him had disappeared.
“Is it over now?”
“Okay. Now that there are no automatons following us, let’s walk.”
As soon as Taylor finished speaking, the group slowly moved. Only then did the senses that had spread outward slowly begin to return. They could feel the sweat running down their skin, and their strong pulses pounded throughout their bodies.
Shiva drank some water and sprinkled it on his beard, and Taylor, who had taken the water jug, wet his head. His body was so hot that a little steam was visible.
“Do you see the door over there? Let’s take a rest in front of it.”
After hearing Taylor’s words, Alan looked around. There were windows lining both sides of the dark hallway, blocked by rocks of the same material as the cave.
At the end of the corridor, a semicircular hall greeted Alan. The circular part had corridors leading into the hall connected like fan ribs, and the flat part had a large door.
Taylor sat down on a folding chair pulled from the cart. Her once reddened skin had returned to its original color.
“There are guards beyond that door. And this is the only area where you can rest since the automaton won’t come out.”
“There are no other parties.”
“If we had, it would have been much easier to break through. The road to get here was a bit tough, so we had to combine our strength.”
“Why aren’t there any underground people here? Is it because it’s the area where the king resides?”
“Or it could mean to be quiet in front of the king.”
The group drank water little by little several times and filled their calories with high-sugar foods.
Shiva, who was squeezing the water out of his beard, asked Taylor.
“Brother, what do we do when we’re fighting the guards and another party comes up?”
“I remember giving you a memory correction.”
“I can’t leave out my mother’s words···.”
“Didn’t you fail to complete your prayer earlier? What on earth are you wearing….”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed, then quickly returned to normal.
“Well, it’s not important, so let’s skip it. You said that the door leading to the next floor from the primeval forest moves, right? Half of it applies here too. When you go down to the 21st floor, you have to pass through the guards, but when you go up to the 20th floor, you appear in one of the buildings in the city.”
“The labyrinth really is a mess.”
“Not even for a day or two.”
Alan, who got up from his seat, slowly stretched his body. As he lightly ran around, his cold body began to heat up again. The other two also finished their gymnastics and opened the door to the competition.
Despite its bulky appearance, the door opened really easily. There was no squeaking noise that usually comes from old hinges.
Alan shone his headlamp around the area. There were stone pillars thick enough that four adults could not wrap their arms around them. They were buried in the rock at the ceiling, so it was difficult to tell their original height.
“It feels like a temple. I guess that means the king’s authority was that great?”
Taylor and Shiva locked eyes and closed their mouths as if they had made a promise. If they answered here, other questions would pop up.
Alan was unaware of the collusion and was busy looking around. There were letters and reliefs on the stone pillars, but he could not confirm whether it was due to the passage of time or the intention of the labyrinth’s creator.
It was also a familiar thing, as the books obtained from the labyrinth could not be translated.
Alan cast his gaze into the distance. He saw a throne on a high platform. It was the only chair in the empty grand hall.
Let’s reach the middle of Daejeon, which is wider than the sports field.
Boom boom!
Footsteps were heard from behind the stone pillar closest to the throne, and a huge silhouette easily over 3 meters tall appeared.
A monster made of metal armor, it was a guard. It was thicker and more destructive than the heavy armor’s power suit.
The guard stood tall in the middle of the path leading to the throne. His visor was up, revealing the white, rough face characteristic of the Underworld.
While the other underground people would turn and rush at the explorer at the sight of him, the guards would calmly and impassively look at the intruder.
Crunch!
Finally, the visor closed, and suddenly the interior became bright. It was because the stone pillars were emitting a soft light. As the light came on, the shadows of the pillars spread out in all directions.
Thump thump thump!
The shadows twisted, and with louder footsteps than before, automatons emerged from behind the stone pillars.
End