Depths of the Otherworldly Labyrinth (WN) – Chapter 215

Elizabeth Vools is strong.

I have to escape. But the magic that shakes the ground emanating from her feet won’t let me go.

“—Flame Flamberge!”

Bes-chan draws her sword from her waist, flames wreathed around it. My body instinctively trembles at the sight of this familiar magic. However, unlike Maria’s Flame Flamberge, her flames seem to be merely supportive. The heat wasn’t enough to cleave through enemies with fire alone, so my trembling stopped quickly.

But I can’t let my guard down. Her main attack is likely not fire, but earth-attribute magic.

“Knight Commander… Seeing this country’s landscape, I’ve finally remembered. It’s me. Your subordinate, Elizabeth…”

The magic she unleashed was dangerous, but her words were gentle.

Perhaps I could overcome this without fighting, I harbored a glimmer of hope.

“The confectionery you taught me… I’ve become very good at it. I kept practicing, even after you were gone… for a long, long time…”

In her free hand, she held a small parcel.

I knew what was inside was her usual treat.

“I waited, believing you would return. Yes, I waited. I waited alone until the very end. Believing you would come back to save me…”

Bes-chan approached me as she revealed her thoughts.

Then, she held out the cookies from the parcel and asked.

“You finally ate them the other day, didn’t you? How did they taste? Did they truly taste like your hometown?”

She was asking for my opinion on the cookies from a few days ago. From this, I understood that unlike the other knights, she retained her memories.

“Bes-chan, you remember yesterday…?”

“Yes, barely. It’s probably thanks to the purity of the blood flowing through this body.”

I nodded slowly.

Seeing my reaction, I took a step forward.

I knew she had a lot to say to me. But Reinand was in danger right now. If I told her that her grandfather was in danger, we should be able to cooperate.

“Bes-chan! Right now, due to Rowen and Nosfy, everything in ‘Viais’ has gone haywire! They’re dragging ‘Viais’ back to the era of war, involving everyone… those two are about to do something unforgivable! And Reinand is facing them alone—”

“What about it?”

However, my cry was interrupted by an incredibly cold voice.

Surprised by her unchanged coldness even when I mentioned Reinand’s name, I asked again.

“Wha-what about it…? Is it okay for you, Bes-chan, to see the town like this…?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“No, it can’t be fine, can it!? They’re casually trying to recreate a thousand-year-old war, you know!? That’s unacceptable!!”

“And so?”

“And so…?”

I noticed the abnormality in Bes-chan’s continued cold responses. The gap in our awareness was too great. She wasn’t angry about this situation. Rather, she was angry about something else. It was probably about the person right in front of her—

“So, it’s not a good time to be leisurely talking with me? The war ended a thousand years ago, so no one should remember it anymore? Lord Uzun doesn’t care about the sins he committed a thousand years ago? Is that what you’re saying? Of all people, you’re saying that?”

—Me.

She fixed her gaze solely on me, completely ignoring the surrounding situation. The invasion by the enemy from the ‘South’, the war itself from a thousand years ago, or Rowen and the others toying with their world—none of it mattered to Bes-chan. She was only looking at me.

“Listen carefully, Knight Commander. The others may have pitifully worn themselves out, but this war for Elizabeth Vools is still ongoing. You taught me this. War isn’t over until it’s forgotten. It’s not over until the bereaved families are eradicated. As long as even a single trace remains, the war never truly ends. Yes, it never ends! You must never pretend it never happened!”

Finally, she expressed her true emotions. And I understood the meaning of her anger. Bes-chan probably couldn’t forgive me, who was making light of the events from a thousand years ago, more than anything. But there was nothing I could do about it right now. Without a way to regain my memories, I couldn’t say anything back to her.

I had no choice but to retreat in silence.

As I stepped back, Bes-chan approached me accusingly.

“That silence is your answer, isn’t it? You’ve forgotten. The past, Viais, your subordinates, me—everything. You forgot, abandoned, and ran away.”

Perhaps I was dreaming to ask for her cooperation. My perception of ‘Now’ and ‘Here’ was too blurred.

“That day, in that place, Lord Uzunami told me he would become my ‘family’ when I was all alone… But you’ve forgotten that too, haven’t you…”

With a fragile smile that seemed on the verge of breaking, Bes-chan dropped the parcel in her hand onto the ground. Her smile was so full of pain, it felt as though a small touch would shatter her heart.

“Then, there is nothing left but to fight. You are the last lingering desire that binds me… —Flame Axel.”

—Here it comes.

The moment I thought that, her body vanished from my sight. Then, the ground shook violently. Following that tremor, the ground where she had been standing was gouged out with a bursting sound, scattering brown soil.

My ‘Dimension’ had captured the cause of this phenomenon. It was unchanted earth and fire magic. It was the acceleration magic Reinand had shown me once—’Flame Axel’. Bes-chan, empowered by this magic, kicked off the ground.

In an instant, she was in my face. The speed was terrifying. Her legs glowed a faint red due to the heat magic of ‘Flame Axel’. It was likely a magic that temporarily increased muscular strength. The sudden acceleration due to her abnormal strength easily ignored the concept of distance.

“Tch! —Magic ‘Dimension – Decisive Calculation’!”

Her flame-wreathed sword swung. Reading its trajectory, I twisted my body violently. I narrowly dodged the attack—

“—’Corrode’!! ‘Flame Flamberge’!!”

The flames that grazed my sleeve ignited as if doused in oil. If this continued, the flames would spread to my entire body. I immediately tore off my sleeve from the shoulder and discarded it.

However, during that action, Bes-chan’s counter-attack was already upon me.

“‘Default’!”

Judging that evasion was no longer possible, I leaped several meters back using spatial compression with dimensional magic.

“—’Grasp Hold’!! ‘Earthquake’!!”

But the moment I landed, an earthquake hit, making my knees buckle as if I had been tripped. I had lost my balance to the point of stumbling awkwardly. And as I regained my posture, Bes-chan had already closed the distance again.

“Gah! —This!”

Facing her furious onslaught, I was forced to draw my sword. My two swords, the ‘Crescent Pectoral Azure’s Straight Sword’ and the ‘Flame Flamberge’, clashed.

I no longer had the luxury of being considerate because we were acquaintances. I intended to cut her skin slightly and overwhelm her with ‘Swordsmanship’ to make her falter—but surprisingly, the swordplay that unfolded before me was an even match.

“What—!?”

I had a significant advantage in ‘Swordsmanship’, ‘Speed’, and ‘Technique’. My ‘Strength’ might be inferior due to the magic, but that shouldn’t be so important in a sword fight.

Yet, I couldn’t push her back. Bes-chan parried my near-godspeed sword strikes one after another.

The reason for this inexplicable stalemate was quickly apparent. The information from ‘Dimension’ provided the answer.

As the cruel stat difference indicated, Bes-chan often couldn’t follow my attacks with her eyes. In those moments, she resorted to intercepting with ‘intuition’. For an expert of her caliber, this intuition was undoubtedly backed by experience. But even so, her ‘intuition’ was too sharp. It felt like my moves were being read. Moreover, it was a read so accurate and bold, it could be called ‘familiar reading’. In other words—

—Bes-chan is accustomed to fighting me.

If the experience backing her ‘intuition’ wasn’t from fighting me, this situation couldn’t be explained. It was likely that her lost memories of a thousand years ago included long days of training with me. During those days, there must have been many situations where I was fighting with restraint, just like now.

I immediately changed my combat strategy. This meant that ordinary dimensional magic wouldn’t be enough to outwit her.

I abandoned the idea of taking Bes-chan to Reinand. Not only was it difficult to get her cooperation, but it was even harder to bring her along. Besides, in addition to her power being dangerous, I didn’t want Reinand to see her in this state, as if she had forgotten about her grandfather.

“—Sorry, Bes-chan! I can’t fight you right now!”

Slipping through a gap in our swordplay, I leaped backward. Then, kicking off the alley wall, I ascended to the rooftops. This should slightly mitigate the influence of her preferred ‘ground’ magic.

“I won’t let you escape!”

Bes-chan also kicked off the ground, gouging it, and leaped up. However, without waiting for her to land, I ran away across the rooftops.

This time, I wouldn’t use ‘Default’. Instead of compressing distance with dimensional magic, I aimed for a pure contest of ‘Speed’ and ‘Stamina’.

Comparing our raw stats, the difference between us was clear. While she might be able to keep up somewhat with the enhancement from ‘Flame Axel’, I could just wait for her MP to run out then. Even in an MP comparison, I would win.

“—Flame Axel!!”

Bes-chan converted all the magic in her body into speed to chase me. Using ‘Flame Axel’, the distance closed to zero in an instant. However, I didn’t panic. Each time she caught up, I calmly parried with my sword and created an opening to disengage. This continued.

A game of tag began in the skies of Viais. I leaped from rooftop to rooftop, cutting through the wind. In the fiery sky, the clash of swords continued. And about two minutes after this chase began—much earlier than planned—Bes-chan started to lose momentum.

“Haa, haa, haa!!”

From her pained expression, I could tell it wasn’t just simple exhaustion. It was most likely due to ‘Flame Axel’. It wasn’t strictly a muscle-boosting magic, but rather magic that pushed muscles beyond their limits.

Seeing the distance between us widen, I immediately took off my shoes and went barefoot.

“If you say my footsteps are distinctive…”

My soles might get injured, but it was unavoidable now. I put my ‘Scorched Otherworld Boots’ into my ‘Inventory’ to make my footsteps as quiet as possible.

Seeing this from afar, Bes-chan was surprised—and despaired.

“Ah, ahh, ah…! He took them off…! As expected, the Commander is running away…!? He hasn’t changed…! Ahh, the Commander really ran away from ‘here’…!!”

Her expression and words suggested she couldn’t bear to see this. But I couldn’t understand her true feelings. Deciding it was unavoidable for now, I immediately changed my direction towards the mansion where Reinand and Nosfy were.

And as I outran Bes-chan and she disappeared from my sight, I heard a wail.

“Ah, Commander…! Commander, Commander, Commander, Commandeer—!!”

That cry shook Viais. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop anymore. All I could do now was to restore ‘Viais’ to normal as quickly as possible and return everyone to a peaceful world. I continued to run across the rooftops at a speed that even the knights on the street couldn’t follow, while paying the utmost attention to any tailing.

◆◆◆◆◆

“Haa, haa, haa!!”

While escaping across the rooftops of Viais, I double-checked. ‘Here’ was dangerous. My—no, my past self, Primordial Kanami’s—enemies were too numerous. If I spent time here, the obstacles would only increase. Moreover, I would be facing many seasoned knights who knew me well, despite me knowing nothing about them.

I had to rendezvous with Rainer and Reinand as soon as possible and escape into the labyrinth. However, the more I hurried, the more my attention was scattered. On my way to the mansion, I was almost discovered by several knights, and I was forced to use the brute-force ‘Default’. Unlike the monsters in the labyrinth, individual knights were thinking and searching for me, which was extremely troublesome.

“Haa, haa! But, almost there…!!”

I was out of breath from the full dash over such a long distance. Taking precautions and making a detour was also a cause for my exhaustion. However, as a result of that exertion—

“I-I’m here…”

I finally reached the mansion. By visiting in person, I could sense the atmosphere of the building. And I was convinced that this mansion was the same place Reinand had lived. The grounds had expanded, additions had been made, and the workshop had been demolished, but the traces of that house were still there.

I immediately ran through the mansion’s garden and roughly opened the mansion’s door. If the information from ‘Dimension’ was correct, there were only three people here—

“—Reinand-san!!”

I shouted as soon as I opened the door. However, Reinand didn’t reply. It was a soft, girlish voice that answered.

“…Heh heh. As expected, Lord Uzunami.”

In the entrance hall, adorned with magnificent furnishings, were Reinand and Nosfy, just as ‘Dimension’ had informed. However, their conditions were vastly different. Nosfy was completely unscathed, while Reinand was so battered and bruised he had no energy to respond. An arrow of light, presumably magic, was deeply embedded in his right thigh, forcing him to his knees. He had numerous minor cuts all over his body, and his clothes were in tatters. One of his arms was bent at an unnatural angle, and his great axe lay on the floor. Seeing him covered in blood, I knew he was in danger even before checking the ‘Display’.

And the girl who had pushed Reinand this far turned her body towards me. With the same smile I had seen this morning and during the day—

“—In such a short time, you escaped from that Lord and navigated through a hostile city. Heh heh, as always. Truly ‘as always’.”

Nosfy had been pointing her weapon, a flag, at Reinand, but as her interest shifted to me, she lowered the tip of the flag to the ground. For Reinand’s safety, I approached them, shouting loudly to draw their attention.

“Nosfy—!! Stop it already! Fix ‘here’ right now! You did all of this, didn’t you!?”

I pointed my ‘Crescent Pectoral Azure’s Straight Sword’ at Nosfy, my voice laced with anger and hostility. But even under the full pressure of my attack, she remained unfazed.

“Yes, at the Lord’s request, I did ‘tinker’ with ‘here’. Since you say so, I don’t mind fixing it… but after I fix it, what do you intend to do, Lord Uzunami?”

“That—”

“You plan to take Helvishein and Vools and flee into the ‘future’, don’t you? Lord Uzunami.”

It seemed she had already decided the answer before I could even speak. With a malicious smile, she snatched the words from my mouth and then shook her head sadly. Her sad expression seemed several times more suspicious than usual.

“Ah, that won’t do. No, it won’t do, Lord Uzunami. Then, wouldn’t the Lord become disheartened again? Weren’t you going to cheer up the Lord? Weren’t you going to grant my selfish wish? That would be breaking our promise.”

She said it was fine to have selfish wishes, yet she said such convenient things…! No, I understood. She was different from the Lord. The Lord was suffering. The Lord was hesitant. The Lord was crying. But she was the opposite.

“That’s why! For that purpose, I’m going to the surface to bring Aid! If I have Aid, he can fulfill his lingering desire! He can be happy! That’s all it takes!!”

“But if you and Lord Uzunami go to the surface, the Lord’s face will be clouded…! Ah, I don’t want to see the Lord like that…! Please, don’t make my friend, the Lord, cry, Lord Uzunami!!”

“It will only be a few days until I bring Aid back! You can be patient for that long!!”

“—But rest assured! Lord Uzunami! We have devised and prepared a plan that everyone can agree with! Heh heh heh, I thought of it together with the Lord!!”

I shouted, and Nosfy laughed. On the surface, it seemed like we were having a verbal exchange. Both I and Nosfy retained enough composure to be able to do so. But it was no longer a conversation. Nosfy had no intention of listening to me. She was simply speaking rapidly and self-centrically.

“What a surprise! Lord Uzunami, you don’t need to go to the ‘surface’! If you all live together ‘here’, everything will be resolved! Without making the Lord sad, you can fulfill her lingering desire! Of course, it might take a thousand years—or perhaps ten thousand years—until the Lord completely disappears!!”

“Ten thousand years!? You intend to stay here for ten thousand years!?”

“Yes, I believe it will take about that long. Therefore, Lord Uzunami, won’t you look back on the past together ‘here’ for about ten thousand years? This is not a bad deal for you either, Lord Uzunami. Didn’t you feel a sense of guilt while passing through the town? Heh heh, if you do it now, you can atone for your sins ‘here’. Confession is a good thing. It lightens the heart, doesn’t it?”

The knights I had just escaped from, and Bes-chan, came to mind. I asked again, unable to easily dismiss them.

“You… you’re saying that this ‘Viais’ is my fault?”

“Yes. Once, tens of thousands of people lived in this Viais. You deceived—and killed—them all. If this isn’t a sin, what is? Therefore, Lord Uzunami, you must receive punishment for the sin of murder. Otherwise, the calculation won’t match. In any case, Lord Uzunami should reflect ‘here’ for at least ten thousand years. Yes—my friend the Lord spent a thousand years doing what she did, and you should do the same. Without a doubt, you have that obligation. …Oh, and of course, I will apologize with you, so don’t worry! Heh heh, a life of continuously apologizing ‘here’—how exciting!”

“Exciting…? So, that’s also connected to resolving Nosfy’s lingering desire…?”

“Eh? It’s not connected, is it? Because ‘I want to stay here for tens of thousands of years’ is the Lord’s wish, and ‘you turned this place into hell’ is your sin, Lord Uzunami. I have nothing to do with it. There’s no way I can disappear. Rather, I think my body will become more concentrated due to the stress of being confined underground for ten thousand years.”

“Y-you—!”

Ah, there’s no mistake. She’s an ‘enemy’. She’s an ‘enemy’! She doesn’t care about my attempts to get closer. This isn’t even a negotiation. Above all, Nosfy is looking at my confused expression—

“Yes, without a doubt, ‘here’ is a world for Lord and Lord Uzunami alone! This situation is not what I desired! I am merely a bystander! Therefore, my lingering desire is safe! Unscathed! I cannot disappear! Heh heh, ah, it’s truly a shame!!”

“This isn’t what you desire!? Don’t lie! Then why! Why are you making that face!!”

—She was laughing. From this morning, she had been laughing so happily. Not with the mature laughter she had when summoned to the 60th floor, but with a child-like, innocent laughter. Without needing to observe closely, I could see that this was her true feeling. Right now, Nosfy was thoroughly enjoying herself by tormenting me. At the same time, the question from last night was resolved. When I refused the pact, she had diminished her lingering desire. The reason was now clear. At that moment, Nosfy must have been delighted by the sight of my suffering. And now, having realized her own desire, she had dedicated herself solely to tormenting me.

“That face…? Ah, was I laughing? Heh heh, ha ha ha! Seeing your desperate struggle, Lord Uzunami, I burst out laughing? Perhaps all morning? Ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, but heh heh, my laughter just won’t stop, heh, heh…! Heh heh, ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA—!!”

Nosfy’s words were filled with nothing but malice. Her body trembled as if suppressing hiccups, and she covered her distorted mouth with both hands. Above all, that smile—that mocking smile—!

“—Magic ‘Dimension – Decisive Calculation’!!”

I had reached my limit. I charged forward without a plan and swung my sword.