¡Boom!
The moment I grabbed Erwen close to me and prepared for the fall, the ground beneath us fell away, throwing my body into free fall. However, the usual sensation of plummeting with gravity did not occur.
¡Vwoong!
My body floated above the ground falling as if defiant against that gravity. It was floatation magic.
«Are you all okay?», a voice called me.
I hurriedly looked around, only to see the village chief and Gahuin floating in the air as well. This time I gave the latter a real compliment.
«We are alive thanks to you. Good job».
He hadn't been able to give an order in the midst of Chaos, so he didn't expect him to be able to respond so effectively.
«...Not something to flatter me about.»
He was shy enough to be an old man. Maybe his response was a little awkward because not long ago we had been fighting among ourselves.
I decided to focus on what needed to be checked first. «How long can you keep the spell?».
«I should be able to hold it long enough until we land on the ground».
Very well, if that was the case...
«That's a relief. So from now on, slowly... No, get us down as quickly as possible without getting hurt», I decided, coming to the conclusion that we wouldn't be able to respond properly if something happened while we were still floating. The order made Gahuin reconsider, and he began to slowly lower us off the cliff.
¡Bum! ¡Crackle! Burning ...
Our environment was literally hell. Everything we could see crumbled in the darkness, and huge stones fell from above, narrowly avoiding us.
«Now it looks like we're doing some adventure».
Even as he fell, the village chief looked around with open curiosity. It was the first time I saw him so animated. I had the feeling that at this point I might also have a loose screw in my head, but I didn't have time to notice it.
What was that from before?
Just before the archbishop exploded, the Soil Lord had consumed him before jumping into the darkness. The one we believed to be our enemy acted in a way that benefited us.
«Erwen, did you control that guy? Did you tell him to grab the archbishop and jump down?». I checked the possibility that first came to mind, but unfortunately, it wasn't the answer.
«No. I tried, but it didn't work».
Hoh, so the Soil Lord did it of his own free will?
«Maybe that monster wasn't our enemy». The village chief seemed to have heard our conversation as he gave his opinion on the matter.
Honestly, he wasn't wrong to think so. As soon as I saw the Soil Lord, I immediately thought that he would be the boss monster.
However, thinking about it now, maybe he's supposed to be our helper.
It gave me the same feeling as Hamsick when we saw it in Chapter II. More importantly, it also gave us the clue that high-ranking beings would try to be of help to Erwen.
Boom! Rumble! Shock!
Out of nowhere, a huge piece of rubble fell directly on Gahuin's head.
It was a dangerous situation, but thanks to the barrier he had created beforehand just for this scenario, he was not so hurt.
«Ah...»
I heard that accident he made. And as expected, my intuition did not fail me.
«What happened?» I asked.
«That... that rock... disturbed the calculation of the floating magic spell».
«Did you alter the calculation? What do you mean by...?
It happened before I could finish the sentence.
«Ah...»
Our descent stopped, and we floated in the air for a moment.
«¡Kyaaaaak!»
And then, we begin free fall.
***
My head hurt, my lungs felt hungry for air as if they had been pierced by something, and my spine wasn't moving properly.
But I survived.
And the others?
The last thing I remembered as I fell helplessly was grabbing Erwen tighter against me and landing on my back after seeing the ground rapidly approaching me.
«MM...ter! My...ter! Can you... me...?».
I could hear Erwen's panicked voice through the ringing in my ear. It sounded like a broken radio.
I also heard the voice of the village chief.
«Don't tremble... alone... wait... drank... potion... soon...»
«...Lord!»
«He can't hear us...»
Feeling my hearing slowly return, I slowly opened my eyes as well.
«Sir...!»
Gasping, I gasped: «I'm... fine... so... stop».
«Ah ah! Sorry». Only then did Erwen separate from my body and that helped me breathe better. «Wait a minute. You are healing little by little and soon you will be able to move».
«How long... was I unconscious?»
«About five minutes».
«And Gahuin...?» I questioned, trying to get an idea of our situation.
The village chief responded by pointing his finger.
I forced my tense neck to move and could see Gahuin collapsed next to me with a broken leg.
«He is not dead», explained the village chief. «It seems that he used magic at the last moment to try to stop our fall as much as possible. I've given him a potion... but I don't know when he'll wake up».
Alright, so there we were.
«Y tu?» The question.
«I'm fine. I stayed awake until the end and lessened the shock as much as I could».
How enviable. If my defense stats were normal, my body wouldn't have broken like that.
«...What about the enemies?»
«There is nothing around us at the moment, so don't move and focus on healing yourself».
«Understood. But the way you speak...»
«Am I not your superior in age and nobility? We've been through a life or death situation together, so I'll talk to you more freely.»
Well, that was fine. Even with this sudden change in his way of speaking, no one around us would suspect otherwise.
«Then... I'll rest a little more...». I lay down again and closed my eyes, and my body soon recovered enough that I could move on my own.
«Do you want water?»
«Oh, thanks».
After receiving the water from Erwen, I got up, and the village chief asked me as if he had been waiting for me: «So what are you going to do now?».
From when he was on the Losing Team to the Anabada Clan, this was a phrase he had always heard whenever something happened. People always asked me for answers. At some point, I became frustrated with this fact, but now I took it as my destiny. Nor would I like the other side of the coin, in which I would have to cede all my responsibilities to another person and limit myself to following the orders they gave me.
«Are we going to wait until Sir Versilus wakes up?»
I wasn't sure which was the best option. It was the first time I was in this crack. He was proceeding peculiarly, we had seen the Soil Lord, and now, we even had a priest from Karui...
To be honest, this was hurting my brain.
«No, we will take Gahuin with us and keep an eye on the surroundings».
We should do what we can for now. Things could get worse if we waited.
«I'll take Erwen and Gahuin, so Count Saintred, stay ahead.»
«Sure.»
He was giving her the most dangerous position, but the village chief accepted it without problems. It wasn't simply because he knew he was best suited for the role.
«You must keep your promise».
For having risked his body in this crack, he had promised her that he would give her Karui's Heart in the city.
«Don't worry», I reassured him. «I'm not going to retract it».
«I'm glad to hear it. Oh, and if things go wrong later, look at the notebook I gave you».
«Notebook?»
«I put it in the bag I gave you. I have written down everything that may interest you, so it will be useful to you later».
I didn't know he had given me his notebook. I had received the bag just before entering the crack and the village chief had even told me to leave it outside just in case.
I'll have to check the notebook as soon as I get out of here...
We continued wading through the rubble and moving through the area and at some point the sound disappeared and silence found us. Everyone already knew what it meant.
[You have entered the Cancellation area. All essence abilities are sealed].
The Lord of the Ground was close to us.
So should we try to avoid it?
I didn't know what the answer was, but I signaled to the village chief, who seemed to be waiting for an order from me.
Continuad.
Since we knew nothing about this Chapter, we had to continue moving forward to obtain more information.
And I can't ignore the possibility that the boss is a useful NPC.
If only a theory, the proof that he dragged the archbishop towards him and jumped off the cliff before he exploded was enough for me to at least consider the possibility.
And so, after continuing to advance, we ended up meeting again with the Lord of Silence, Siliut. In the suffocating silence, we saw him buried halfway under some rocks.
As expected, it didn't seem right. Of the three arms exposed to air, two had protruding bones. He simply blinked, seemingly without the strength to move from the rubble.
Although I was relieved that he wasn't a threat to us, I also felt a chill. I knew the power of the ability, but I never thought it would be strong enough to reduce a Soil Lord to that state. What would have happened if that explosion had hit us head-on?
The archbishop... does not appear anywhere.
After taking a look around, I release Erwen before slowly approaching the monster.
Lord of Silence, Siliut.
Although I got closer, he didn't move, not even a little. He just looked at me with tired eyes.
After getting close enough to touch him, I carefully extended my arm towards his face. When I made contact, he remained silent, as if to say that there was no need for him to fight us.
Why have you helped us?
I wanted to ask, but my voice refused to make any sound. Even if I could talk, I didn't expect that guy to answer me either. That's why I came to my own conclusion.
...Of course, you must have your reasons too.
Now he knew something more about this maze. The Rift Guardians and the Ground Lords were beings that truly existed, and had their own stories and motives. Maybe not only them, but also all the monsters in the maze. In a sense, they were more sad than me, who had been dragged from another world to suffer here.
When I moved my hand away from his face and away, the village chief looked at me and made a sign with his hands.
Let's kill him.
It was a simple wave of my hands, but I just shook my head silently and gestured for him to back away. Although skeptical, he delivered for now because of our promise.
As soon as we left the area, the village chief asked: «Why haven't you killed him? Considering the state he was in, it didn't seem that dangerous to fight him».
Well, I didn't know. Why did I make that decision?
«Still, it is a creature that helped us. I have a feeling something could go wrong if we kill her. We can...» I hesitated. «We can kill her after getting a little more information».
What I told the village chief was not a lie.
«Hmm, I guess that's an option».
Despite its easy acceptance, I was still confused.
The reason I gave him might not have been the only one.
The Soil Lord essence, the soil treasure, and even the Soil Stone used to open a crack... I wasn't sure about it, but there was a chance that we could easily obtain these rewards just by killing him here. However, I also had a feeling that wouldn't be the case.
It's definitely not something like sympathy... definitely.
It was difficult for me to explain it. I could only say that it was an impulsive decision-
[Come here...]
At that moment, the unknown voice was heard again, and I froze. The direction of the sound was directly opposite to where the Ground Lord was. As a result, I was sure of one thing.
So that's not what created that sound...
It was not the Lord of the Ground who had called us like a pervert with those words and had tried to attract us. I was also a little wary of him because he never appeared in the base game.
«So do you want me to get in front as we get closer to that voice?».
When I nodded, the village chief walked ahead of us, and after walking some distance behind him with Erwen, we saw whose voice it was.
[Good...]
[Yes, come here and get into my arms...]
It was something completely unexpected.
«¿Un Come souls…?»
A rare rank 5 monster. Every time the maze opened, exactly one of these appeared in the Great Demon Realm, and upon defeating it, it gave a random amount of experience of between 100 and 200.
«I will grant you the wish you wish for...»
What is this? Wasn't a boss monster supposed to appear here?
[The Soul Eater has summoned the Soul Cavalry].
And the skills he used seemed to be the same as always.
«¡Kaaaaak!»
When the village chief slashed at him, the Soul Eater was pierced by his sword and was instantly defeated.
[Has defeated a un Come almas].
It was pretty confusing, but I wasn't going to complain. If this were a novel, it would be a random MacGuffin that happened to be here. A normal monster that seemed like a good thing, but was actually nothing. That was a possible interpretation of this monster.
But what the hell is this now?
I couldn't help but be startled by what I saw next.
[Guardian Defeat Bonus. EXP +3]
A rainbow essence appeared from where he was, meaning he was a Guardian...
¡Vwoong!
And a portal appeared to indicate that the crack had been cleared: a blue portal and a red one.
Two portals?