We spent the night in a safe area in a volcano of rock and lava, which Saber had reached, and then resumed our investigation of the second level.
From that, we figured out that the volcano with the grasslands we descended into was to the southeast, and the volcano with rock and lava was at the southwest end.
So beyond the volcano of rock and lava, there was only the labyrinth wall.
Therefore, after descending from the volcano of rock and lava, we headed straight north.
And now, we have arrived at a volcano in the middle of the northwest side, where water is streaming like a waterfall from the crater, and this water covers the entire volcano.
“I could see it from afar, but it’s really a waterfall.”
“That’s true. And doesn’t that water seem to be flowing from the crater?”
“It does.”
I can understand Prim, Mana, and Athena’s feelings.
Should we call it a waterfall volcano?
Although we’ve crossed three volcanoes to reach this one, they were deserts, dense forests, and glaciers, which were still somewhat understandable.
But this volcano is truly incomprehensible.
Well, even if it’s a volcano, it’s a mountain, so I can understand having a waterfall.
But why is the water coming from the crater, and why is the entire mountain covered in water?
The mountain path seems okay, but from here, it looks like walls of water on both sides.
“It kind of reminds me of an aquarium.”
“I agree.”
Mako seemed to think the same thing I did, and it’s understandable.
Although we can’t see the entire mountain path, walls of water on both sides are reminiscent of the aquarium at Hakkeijima.
“Huh? Does Earth have such facilities?”
“Ah, yes. It’s a facility for raising and observing aquatic creatures like fish.”
“There are many scholars and researchers too.”
Ah, I’ve heard about the scholars and researchers.
Although they study creatures that live in water, it must be difficult to investigate by actually diving in.
But at an aquarium, it might be easier to study the ecology of small and medium-sized aquatic creatures, as there are quite a few of them.
“There are such facilities too. However, with the Helios Orb, aquatic life usually means monsters, and they tend to be large, so it might be difficult.”
Hilde looks disappointed, but the Helios Orb doesn’t have facilities like zoos or aquariums.
There are several reasons for this, but the critical ones are that many large monsters inhabit it, and raising high-ranking monsters is impossible without a familiar or summon contract.
Only monsters like the C-rank Battle Horse, Wyvern, Grantpus, and Preciser are kept here.
“That applies to terrestrial creatures too. Anyway, about that water—doesn’t it look quite deep?”
“It looks deep. I understand there’s a mountain path, but it looks quite small.”
Putting that aside, the biggest problem right now is the mountain path of the waterfall volcano, as Mako and Meena’s anxious voices suggest.
The mountain path is wide enough for a beast carriage to pass, but it looks like it’s separated by glass or something on both sides.
Moreover, the mountain path looks quite narrow, so we have no idea how much water there is.
“However, we don’t have the option to not go.”
“That’s right.”
Rudyia looks annoyed, and Aria looks worried, but I understand how they feel.
But we’re here to investigate, so we can’t turn back.
“We need to be prepared for underwater combat, but do any of you have experience?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
“I have a little bit from Veil Lake.”
“I don’t have practical combat experience, but I’ve trained for it.”
I also have experience from the ship to Valentia, but only I, Flam, and Mako have experience.
Mako said she only has practical training experience, but Nereid Valkyrie, one of the Valkyries like Mako, is my relative, so she probably trained with her aunt.
“Given the location, Prim and I are at a disadvantage.”
“You’re right.”
Conversely, those at a disadvantage are Prim and Rudyia, who excel at fire-attribute magic.
Even Prim’s Extreme Flame Wing and Blazing Flame Wing won’t be fully effective underwater, which is obvious.
For Rudyia, it’s even more serious, as her Dragon Spirit Magic is also fire-attribute, so her combat power will be halved or worse.
“It’s hard to tell from here, but the mountain path should be wide enough for beast carriages to pass each other, right?”
“Certainly, judging from the volcanoes we’ve encountered so far, it should be about that width.”
The volcanoes we’ve crossed so far had paths at least wide enough for beast carriages to pass each other, and some were wide enough for five to line up.
I can only guess, but I suspect that being wide enough for beast carriages to pass is a mandatory requirement for labyrinths.
I can’t understand the labyrinth’s intentions, so this is just a guess.
“That’s a relief, I suppose.”
“If not, then I and Rudyia would be out of commission.”
Even though Rudyia and Prim say that, it’s impossible for them to be out of commission.
If we engage in underwater combat, fire-attribute magic will not only be less effective but useless.
However, both Prim and Rudyia have gained aptitude for wind and lightning attribute magic, and more importantly, they have evolved into Ancient Foxy and Ancient Dragonewt, respectively. So, even if it becomes an underwater battle, they should be able to handle monsters up to around G-rank.
“More importantly, are we really going to fight underwater?”
“It depends on the monsters. Since we’re surrounded by water, the monsters that appear are sure to be aquatic. In that case, we might be attacked unilaterally from underwater. So, we’ll either use bows and arrows or lightning-attribute magic for interception, or we’ll have to go in and fight directly.”
“The former assumes we have archers and aptitude for lightning-attribute magic, so preparing to fight underwater won’t be in vain.”
Undines, Water Dragon Dragonewts, and Dragonians are said to be adept at underwater combat as well.
However, in either case, there is a critical problem.
“In the latter case, there’s a significant issue due to racial differences. While there are many Undine hunters in Torencia, it would place a heavy burden on them, which is also a problem.”
“That’s the part.”
As Hilde says, Torencia has many Undines, or rather, Yokai Race, and many of them become hunters.
However, to fight in the second level of this Krater Labyrinth, it’s tough unless they’ve evolved to at least High Class, and of course, it’s not a matter of one person bearing the burden.
Aquatic monsters weaken to about one rank lower when they leave the water, but while they are in the water, they are their rank or even stronger, depending on the individual, and it’s not guaranteed that only one will appear.
“To confirm that, we need to investigate thoroughly.”
“That’s right.”
Yuri and Flam re-energize themselves.
Flam, an archer and Ancient Undine, is arguably the strongest asset in this volcano, but Yuri, who has contracted with the water spirit Laks, is also a reliable ally.
Especially since Laks has evolved into a G-rank Souler, her combat power is now higher than that of an ordinary High Class.
However, the timing of a spirit’s evolution is even more difficult to understand than that of a human’s. Laks apparently evolved into a Souler of S-rank, the equivalent of a mid-level spirit, during the conquest of the Instant Labyrinth.
Indeed, after leaving the Instant Labyrinth, I felt that Laks had grown a bit larger, but I never imagined she had evolved.
However, thanks to Laks’s evolution, Yuri’s water-attribute magic had the power and accuracy comparable to High Class even when she was Normal Class.
Therefore, Yuri’s water-attribute magic, now evolved into Human-Half High Elf, likely possesses upper-tier power even among High Class.
“We can’t just stand here forever, so let’s go.”
“Yes, let’s.”
“Yes. The mountain path doesn’t seem to be completely submerged, so if the monsters are away from the water, even I and Rudyia can handle them.”
“I doubt that will be the case.”
As Mana says, let’s move forward.
I consoled Prim and Rudyia, who were self-deprecating, and instructed Viola to advance the beast carriage.
After about ten minutes, we reached the foot of the waterfall volcano, and the mountain path was as wide as we expected, allowing beast carriages to pass each other.
However, the water volume was greater than we anticipated.
The water volume was such that walls of water, as if in a fish tank, were formed on both sides of the mountain path, and these water walls were at least five meters high.
In fact, it feels like the volcano itself is made of water.
“This mountain path truly feels like we’re walking through water.”
“It’s more like we’re floating on water, rather than walking through it. It’s truly amazing.”
“The reason the mountain path looked narrow is that it’s connected above.”
It seems we should consider this waterfall volcano to be a mountain made entirely of water.
I have no idea how it works, but the mountain path is like an aquarium’s aqua-tube.
There seem to be several routes along this mountain path, and some parts are like aqua tunnels, so we should be prepared for monsters to attack from anywhere.
In fact, I can see fish-like shadows in the distance, and I assume those are the monsters.
“We can… touch the water, can’t we? I suppose that’s natural, given that monsters will attack.”
Flam was dipping her hand into the wall of water, and it turned out to be seawater.
If so, then the monsters appearing will be sea monsters.
“Naturally. So, are we aiming for the summit here as well?”
“Since all the volcanoes so far have had safe areas near the summit, this one likely does too. Besides, with this high of a difficulty, there’s also a possibility that an entrance to the third level is here. We can’t afford not to go.”
So far, all the volcanoes have had safe areas at their summits, so it’s highly probable that this one does too.
Well, I question whether we can even call this watery mountain a volcano.
“Since there are underwater volcanoes, it’s fine to call it a volcano, isn’t it?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Come to think of it, Earth does have underwater volcanoes.
The only volcano confirmed in the Helios Orb is Seryado Volcano, so I had completely forgotten.
“Are there volcanoes at the bottom of the sea?”
“I don’t know if there are any in the Helios Orb, but there are on Earth.”
“I hear they erupt occasionally, but I believe the eruption scale is smaller than terrestrial volcanoes.”
“I’m not an expert, but I think there are islands formed by volcanic activity on the seabed.”
This is about all the knowledge I have about underwater volcanoes, but Mako seems to know a bit more than I do.
“That’s quite an amazing story in itself. So, this watery mountain is also a volcano, then?”
“That applies to all the volcanoes on the second level, but I’m not sure if they actually erupt.”
That’s certainly true.
The volcanoes we’ve encountered so far all had magma visible in their craters without exception, and there were even lava pools on their slopes.
So, they could erupt at any moment, but considering this is a labyrinth, it’s questionable whether they actually will erupt.
If they were to erupt, there’s no guarantee that humans would be present on the second level, and more importantly, most of the monsters inhabiting an erupting volcano would likely be wiped out.
Furthermore, an eruption would alter the terrain, potentially blocking off safe areas near the crater, entrances to the first and third levels, and we don’t even know how it would affect the labyrinth itself.
Therefore, I suspect that the volcanoes in the labyrinth will not erupt.
“What Lord Yamato says may be true.”
“Indeed. Hunters can escape using Escaping, but if they can’t advance, no one will enter the labyrinth, and conquest will be impossible.”
It is believed that labyrinths, despite differences in difficulty and nature, want humans to recover and manage the labyrinth cores.
Destroying a labyrinth core means the death of the labyrinth and the disappearance of the labyrinth itself.
If it’s not conquered, it won’t disappear, but conversely, the threat level of the labyrinth will increase, and if the goal is simply conquest, then deploying a few Ancient Class individuals would probably suffice.
In that case, the labyrinth core would likely be destroyed.
It’s not exactly a roundabout way of committing suicide, but it’s understandable if we’re thought to have a desire for destruction.
“However, I don’t understand the labyrinth’s intentions.”
“Does anyone?”
That’s true.
“Hmm? What’s that… they’re coming.”
“The transparency is high, so as long as we keep a good watch, we can avoid a one-sided surprise attack.”
As Meena says, the water covering this volcano is very transparent.
Therefore, it’s easy to spot approaching monsters, and we can confirm the fish shadows heading our way right now.
“Yamato-san, I’ll get a feel for underwater combat while we have the chance.”
Flam said that, and indeed, it’s best to get a feel for it quickly.
Especially since Flam will be fighting in her true Undine form after dispelling her humanization magic.
“Understood. Then I’ll join you.”
“In that case, I will too.”
In my and Mako’s case, we’ll use Ozone Ball, a C-class wind术式.
Ozone Ball is a spell that surrounds us with oxygen, making it usable not only on land but also underwater.
However, prolonged use can cause severe damage to the human body, so the limit is about thirty minutes at most.
Conversely, Undines who have dispelled their humanization magic can breathe underwater, so unlike me and Mako, there’s no time limit.
The same applies to Water Dragon Dragonewts and Dragonians; unlike Undines, they can move freely underwater.
“Here we go!”
Flam, who jumped into the wall of water in front of us from the rear deck of the beast carriage, immediately dispelled her humanization magic.
In her true Undine form, Flam swam freely through the water, aimed her Lapis Light Longbow at the approaching fish-like monsters, and nocked an arrow.
Mako and I followed Flam using Ozone Ball, but Flam continued to move at high speed while shooting arrows, not staying in one place.
The fish-like monsters dodged the first few arrows, but they couldn’t evade the arrows coming from all directions and died with arrows embedded all over their bodies.
“We didn’t even get to act.”
“Undines are amazing.”
“I haven’t fought underwater since evolving into an Ancient Undine, so I was a bit disoriented.”
Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Flam fight underwater in a while.
I used to hunt with Flam in Veil Lake several times when she was a High Undine, but her swimming speed and arrow power are now orders of magnitude greater than they were then, so it’s understandable that Flam struggled to get a feel for it.
Flam evolved at the same time as Meena during the Deseo progression, but there wasn’t really time to practice underwater combat, so it can’t be helped.
However, after actually fighting underwater for a brief period, Flam was able to get a feel for it, and now she just needs to improve her accuracy.
“Well then, let’s get to it.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll provide support.”
Several of the fish-like monsters that Flam defeated are seen approaching us.
I drew Magic Silver Sword Usugre and Multi Edge, Mako readied Magic Fan Rurizakura, and Flam readied her Lapis Light Longbow, entering an interception formation.
