Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN) – Chapter 180

As he ran, Palinkron shouted.

“Release the runaway ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ to ‘Full Release’ and—proceed with ‘Assimilation’!”

In sync with Palinkron’s pulsating magic, the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ began to tremble. This meant the very earth was shaking. The sudden earthquake threw me and Rainer off guard. All the while, Palinkron continued to make the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ pulse.

The black ground warped.
The ground beneath our feet lost its firmness and began to undulate.
Then, as if emerging from beneath the sea, new monsters crawled out of the ground.

“Gah, again! Maria incinerated them!”

However, this time the monster summoning was different from before. While previously the monsters had been mostly medium-sized, the ones emerging now were all large, even gargantuan.

A horde of monsters, too large to fit in the corridors of a labyrinth, crawling out one after another was a maddeningly mythic sight. According to my ‘Display,’ all the monsters were of high rank.

“Of course! That’s not all of it! The range of the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ covers half the mainland! The humans targeted for conversion aren’t tens of thousands on the battlefield! Hundreds of thousands—no, millions of living beings were swallowed by the continent! Hahaha, so there’s plenty more in stock!”

Palinkron revealed the truth of the summoning’s source as if to taunt us.

“Sacrificing innocent people again, you—!!”
“Who cares! I don’t give a damn! No matter how many people are converted, it has nothing to do with me!!”

The monster summoning accelerated.
A giant centipede appeared, splitting the sky and swimming through the darkness. Tree forks pierced the heavens, sprouting from the earth. In the meantime, phantom birds, in gaseous form, flew amidst the darkness. High-ranking monsters I’d never seen before were summoned at a rate too fast to count.
It became clear that Palinkron had intentionally suppressed their speed until now.

While we were held back by the earthquake, a wall of giant monsters formed.
To our front right stood a cyclops with four legs. To our front left, a swarm of bats with gaping mouths. Yet, we pushed forward.

“Rainer!!”
“Yeah!!”

Considering our advantages, we switched positions and unleashed our magic.

“Zea-!”
“Midgard Freeze!”

Rainer moved to the left, blowing away the swarm of bats with wind magic.
I moved to the right, freezing the cyclops’s legs with ice magic.

And then, without losing speed, we broke through the monsters.

The monsters being summoned now were strong. That was certain.
But they lacked coordination. Unlike our previous battle, they didn’t attack in unison.
If I looked closely, I saw some monsters attacking Palinkron. A giant flying centipede attacked him, tearing at his liquid body.

“Palinkron, you too!”
“Yeah, I’m not controlling them anymore. I’m supposed to be immortal, after all. It’s not my style because it’s not subtle, but this kind of self-destructive tactic will do.”

Palinkron had said the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ went berserk because of Hairi. That might be the reason.
Palinkron dodged attacks from all directions, then focused on one monster and charged.

“—Well, I’ll take at least one into my body.”

He placed his hand on a giant wolf with eight eyes, letting the black liquid of his body attack. The black liquid moved like living tentacles, clinging to the giant wolf.
Palinkron leaped onto the giant wolf’s back, merging his lower body with the wolf’s body.

With wolf legs, Palinkron’s form became even further removed from humanoid.
This slightly reduced the number of monsters attacking Palinkron. By merging with the monster, he might have tricked them into thinking he was one of them.
In contrast, the number of monsters attacking us remained the same.

Monsters of various kinds blocked the path to Palinkron.

“Gah, Rainer! I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to help you!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t need your help! We just happen to have the same enemy right now!!”

Rainer retorted, pushing me away.
However, Rainer was clearly struggling. Even with the wind magic surrounding him, this was the ‘core’ of the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin.’ Level reduction was unavoidable. I could see on my ‘Display’ that he was consuming the levels he had gained thanks to Hairi.

But I had the answer to that problem.
I had a certain conviction.

“Rainer! Use this!!”

With that, I threw ‘Aris Family’s Treasure Sword Rowen’ to Rainer.

“This is Rowen-san…!”

Rainer, caught the sword deftly in mid-air, and muttered, gazing at its blade.
From that moment, the influence of the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ that had been eroding Rainer disappeared. His body’s dissolution stopped due to the blessing of ‘Thief of Principles.’
It was as I expected.
And, more importantly, even I, who should have no longer possessed any ‘Thief of Principles’ magic stones, was not suffering from level reduction.

—Just as I thought.
Even without Rowen, I was unaffected by the ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin.’
I thought that with Maria gone, only two ‘Thief of Principles’ magic stones remained here, ‘Earth’ and ‘Dark.’ But that wasn’t the case. There was a third magic stone here.

No, perhaps not just three—!

Hope emerged.
I found not only a chance to win the battle but also a light in the darkness.
Rainer, who had received ‘Aris Family’s Treasure Sword Rowen,’ smiled happily.

“Rowen-san! Let’s continue where we left off that day!!”

The crystal sword shone.
Then, the arms of the Tree Fork monster attacking from above were sliced off.

“—Quart Blade! Size!!”

Rainer’s sword flashes further.
He split the torso of the Tree Fork monster, which reached the sky, vertically as if splitting firewood.
With the combination of Rowen’s ‘Swordsmanship’ and ‘Magic Power Wind Blade Conversion,’ a power that could be called a ‘Sword that Severes Evil’ descended upon Rainer.

I, too, drew ‘Crescent Pectoral Azure’s Straight Sword’ from my ‘Inventory’ and activated ‘Magic Power Ice Conversion’ to match him.

“—Ice Blade, Ice Edge!!”

That new spell name was an spur-of-the-moment idea. I was just imitating him—but I thought it sounded cool. That alone filled me with fighting spirit and exhilarated me. It was enough reason to shout the new spell name.
This spell, ‘Ice Blade, Ice Edge,’ didn’t extend a blade of ice, but rather a blade of cold air.
Using a blade of cold air instead of a physical sword, I sliced a gaseous phantom in half.
The monster, which should have had no physical form, froze mid-air and fell to the ground.

With new resolve, my ice sword gained even greater power.
But I also realized it was different.
I was sure that my attribute was neither ‘Ice’ nor ‘Water.’
Up until today, I had tried various freezing magic spells through trial and error. However, I had never managed to draw out power beyond the effective range of ‘Ice’ and ‘Freeze.’ It was clear that I was unable to reach the true potential of freezing magic.
If so, my attribute must be—…

As I searched for the answer in my mind, Rainer next to me was defeating intangible enemies just as I was.

“—Zea-wind Madness!! I’m not just about swords! Master Aid’s teachings, Ms. Hairi’s power! Now, my wind magic is the strongest technique of the Helvishein family!!”

He blew away monsters that must have weighed over ten tons.
The power of that wind far surpassed that of the wind knights I knew.

With our combined strength, the path was being cleared.
The path to Palinkron was only a little further—

But finally, a giant flying centipede, over a kilometer long, stood like a castle wall, blocking our way. Rainer and I reinforced our bodies with strength and our minds with will.

“Brother—no, Ms. Hairi is here! I can’t show any more weakness! Christ!!”
“Yeah! Match me, Rainer!!”

Wind blades and ice blades drew trajectories of telepathic connection.
Although our swordsmanship was improvisational, it had reached the level of a ‘technique.’
It was a technique unique to us two, attunement born from using the same ‘Swordsmanship,’ resonance born from having the same teacher. I felt we had reached a level that could be called resonant swordsmanship, not resonance magic, and shouted.

“—Aleis Style Resonant Swordsmanship! ‘Snow Wind’!!”
“—!?”

As the centipede’s body, split by our slashes, fell to the ground piece by piece, I uttered my finishing line.
The Rainer next to me looked surprised, but I had no intention of apologizing. I was just fighting as usual, putting on a brave face. In a good way, this was a valid tactic for strengthening one’s resolve, so please forgive me.

With our resonant swordsmanship, the monster wall was broken through.
And finally, we reached Palinkron.

“Palinkron!!”

Before the nemesis I had been seeking, my throat naturally cried out his name.
Palinkron, blocking our swords with his black blades, replied. It seemed he had finished his preparations while we were fighting the monsters. His magic power, weakened by the consecutive battles, now surged, and the volume of his black liquid had increased manyfold.

“Hahaha, you have a good look on your face, boy! As expected, you’ve completely overcome the ‘Twentieth Ordeal’! Well, there was no need to confirm it, but as a guardian, I should now end this battle…—but it has nothing to do with me!!”

Our two swords were blocked by his black blades, and our movements were momentarily halted. Seizing that brief time, Palinkron attacked from a blind spot with his increased number of arms.
Human ‘Swordsmanship’ no longer worked against him. However, our ‘Swordsmanship’ was Rowen’s ‘Swordsmanship.’ No matter how many arms he had, or how gigantic he was, we would cut him down with our swords.

“—Ah, it has nothing to do with me! Who cares about a labyrinth! This is nowhere! I am here, and my enemy is before me! That’s all! That’s all there is to this battle!!”

We deflected his multi-armed black blades.
Then, we aimed for his unprotected areas, those not covered by blades, and cut them at the base of his arms. With precise swordsmanship, we reduced Palinkron’s number of arms.
However, Palinkron continued to shout regardless. He asserted his claims, undeterred by his disadvantage.

“What’s important are us, here! The ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’ is just a weapon! The ‘Thousand Year Memory’ is in the past! The ‘Three Apostles’ are outsiders! The ‘Deepest Part of the Labyrinth’ is just a catalyst! And ‘Guardian’ is merely a position! That’s how it is, isn’t it, Hein!!”

With the force of his shout, he repelled our swords with his black blades, turning the tide of the battle.
Despite his arms being cut off, reducing his number of attacks, and being cornered by two disciples of Rowen, Palinkron surpassed us with his ‘Swordsmanship’ alone.
Just as we had changed thanks to Hairi, Palinkron had also changed with ‘Something.’
We were convinced of this through our offense and defense.

“I’m no longer swayed by things like ‘Legacy,’ and my debt to Teeda is settled! Here, there is only Palinkron! There is only ‘Me’! ‘I’ am ‘Me’!!”

Palinkron, who had repelled us, dashed across the battlefield with his wolf legs, swinging his black blades.
But he wasn’t just attacking. While running, he absorbed the corpses of the monsters we had cut down using his black wings.
Fusion after fusion overlapped.
His black wings grew larger, and his body took on the characteristics of various monsters, like a chimera.

Palinkron was leveling up, transforming into a ‘monster.’
Looking back now, it seemed he had a strong aversion to becoming stronger himself. He had even said he was “scared.” That’s why he used such sneaky tactics. He relied on others, never trying to fight himself.
Now, Palinkron was trying to become stronger to fight head-on.
He was no longer afraid of anything.
He must have received that courage from Hairi.

Then, Palinkron spread his black wings, awaiting us. The left half of his face was now a black Noh mask. And his black arms continued to increase. Parts of the monsters he had absorbed protruded from his swollen, fluid torso. His lower body was supported by an entire giant wolf, its massive frame supporting his enlarged upper body. A ‘monster,’ nothing less. Yet—
This was my enemy.
Palinkron.

“Palinkron!!”
“Yeah, come on, boy! Come to kill me!!”

Though he now seemed like nothing more than a ‘monster,’ I called out his name.
And I fought him as if he were human—fighting with the intent to kill a human.
It was my first time.
Come to think of it, I had always fought in a way that seemed to protect the enemy.

This was the moment when all my bad habits would disappear—a battle where I could fight with all my emotions, with true intent to kill.

“Yeah, I’ll kill you!! Palinkron!!”

I poured out all my strength.
I could feel the magic power within my body more intensely than ever before.

And I searched for the third ‘Magic Stone.’
The ‘Magic Stone’ of ‘The One Who Steals Earthly Principles’ possessed the principle that “this crystal can never be broken.” It continuously emanated a corresponding power.
Then, what about the third ‘Magic Stone’ ‘here’?
What principle had it stolen, and what principle did it embody?

To draw out a fraction of that power, I released only dimensional attribute magic power.
The magic to use was ‘Form.’
I imagined it flowing into my blade.
The image of eroding the world with a new ‘Principle’—!

“—Dimensional Severance Sword!!”

The blue ice blade turned into a purplish-blue blade.
This sword shifted the world.
My sword flash was read and blocked by Palinkron’s hard, black blade—but the sword swung through as if cutting water.
There was no resistance.
Naturally. After all, I hadn’t cut anything.
However, despite not cutting anything, ‘Dimensional Severance Sword’ bisected the black blade’s blade in the middle.
This cutting, which seemed like a contradiction, was the true value of this magic.
Palinkron immediately tried to repair his black blade. As long as it wasn’t frozen, he could recover it as many times as he wanted. But—

“—What!?”

Palinkron cried out.
It wasn’t that the black blade didn’t repair. He probably expected it to not stick together properly, but the reality exceeded his expectations.
The severed tip of the blade floated in the air, not falling.
Palinkron was astonished, realizing it hadn’t been cut, but shifted.
This magic, ‘Dimensional Severance Sword,’ had no attack power. It merely shifted space, changing its visible position.
Among dimensional magic, it was likely a low-level spell. Once accustomed to the positional difference, it should be easy to use the black blades in the same way again.
However, I had no intention of giving him time to get used to it. Rainer, standing beside me, moved without being told.

“Tear off his limbs!—Zea-wind Madness!!”

Several of the black blades became unusable, weakening Palinkron’s defense. Then, Rainer’s gale struck. To this, I added my cold air.

“Wind of winter, solidify the darkness! Resonance Magic, Dimension Winter—Sakufu!!”

Rainer accepted my cold air. Though we had practiced nothing, the magic intertwined inexplicably, and a fearsome resonant spell was completed on the fly.
The wind of that magic moved like a living thing, sweeping away all layers of warm air. Then, it robbed the temperature of all matter that had lost its thermal defense. It was a magic wind that froze everything it touched.
Sensing danger, Palinkron tried to counter with magic.

“This magic is—damn it! Dark—!”
“Dimension Winter—!! Stop his magic with all your might!!”

I interfered with his magic with cold air before it could be cast.
As a result, ‘Dimension Winter—Sakufu’ enveloped Palinkron’s body before his dark magic could be completed.
Deprived of temperature, his black liquid body froze. Furthermore, his movements were sealed by the gale.
His weapon, the black blades, were shifted by ‘Dimensional Severance Sword,’ making their movements clumsy. His dark magic spell, currently under construction, was being delayed by the full-force ‘Dimension Winter.’
A decisive opening—

—Now is the time.
I shouted a signal to Rainer, telling him that now was the time to strike.

“Let’s go, Rainer!! Aleis Style Resonant Swordsmanship—”
“—Lu, —Snow Wind!!”

For the second time, the two Rowen blades crossed.
The two divine-speed, artistic slashes tore through Palinkron’s body.
Palinkron’s black arms were severed at the base, losing his weapons. His torso was cut in half, separating his upper and lower bodies. His black wings and wolf legs were also chopped, rendering him unable to move.
Palinkron was split into countless pieces.
But still—Palinkron laughed.
Palinkron continued to laugh, still not finished.