Maki’s sudden words made me doubt my own ears.
“Mass suicide within the Labyrinth.”
This was an action that didn’t exist in the Game. However, it was effective.
(Was my planning lacking?)
The act of Maki and the others attacking the village wasn’t part of the Game’s events. Unexpected actions bring about unexpected reactions. It was a natural consequence.
Should I have proceeded strictly within the scope of the quest to be safe? No, there was no hope of saving Rifa unless I deviated from the path at some point.
“Soma?”
Maki’s voice, as she approached, brought me back to my senses. That’s right, now isn’t the time to be thinking about that!
“I’m going to stop them! Lead the way!”
Even if they were Cultists, in this world, they were still undeniably Human. I didn’t think persuasion would work, but I wanted to stop them from committing suicide if at all possible. Besides…
“O-Okay. This way!”
Led by Maki this time, I ran through the Labyrinth again. Mitsuki ran up alongside me and whispered.
“…You’ve already figured out what they’re trying to revive, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. It’s probably ‘that’.”
A normal Demon resurrection wouldn’t require so many sacrifices, and reviving it wouldn’t lead to Game Over. Also, the name of this place, “Labyrinth of Sealing,” felt similar to that other place.
“In that case, you understand, don’t you? That resurrection absolutely must not be allowed to happen.”
“Of course, I understand.”
After all, resurrection means Game Over. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I was the one most aware of its danger. Rather…
“But it’s surprising. I thought Mitsuki would be eager to fight.”
I had thought Mitsuki would be enthusiastic about a revival. But at my words, Mitsuki’s cat ears twitched as if saying, “How dare you!”
“What you say is truly disheartening. I’ve heard much about the threat of ‘that’ from my father. While I do wish to fight it personally, we must avoid a situation where innocent people are harmed as a result of my failure.”
“I see.”
That was a characteristic way of thinking for the Hisame family, who devoted themselves to protecting non-combatants. I had never heard the phrase “innocent people” used in earnest before. Well, if they were killed for no reason due to a Battle junkie’s selfishness, it would be truly unforgivable.
“More importantly, you must be extremely careful.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes, you tend to do outrageous things at times, so please refrain from reckless actions. …Though I suppose it’s useless to say that. If you’re going to do something, at least consult with me or Ringo beforehand.”
I had very little trust. And to have that pointed out by a Battle junkie felt truly disheartening.
“I get it. This time, I’ll hold back too. If I do anything, I’ll at least consult you first.”
“…I’m counting on you.”
Just as we reached an agreement, Maki, who was leading the way, turned around and shouted.
“Hey! What have you two been whispering about for so long! Almost…”
“!”
Mitsuki’s warning was a moment too late.
“Kyaaa?!”
Maki, who should have been a high-level character, was sent flying backward with surprising ease. As I confirmed Mitsuki catching her out of the corner of my eye, I glared at the ‘thing’ that had sent Maki flying.
“…Well done, Princess. I assumed if I let you escape, you might lead us to whoever interfered with our plans, and it appears my assumption was correct.”
It was a voice I remembered from the Game. The voice of the Village Chief of Saiga Village, which I had heard multiple times during quests and before Game Over. However, his appearance was no longer human.
“Demon…”
A black, rough body, two twisted horns. Bat-like, jet-black wings sprouting from his back. The Demon controlling the Cultists had revealed its true form.
Maki was the first to react, recovering from the impact.
“Why are you here?! Where are the Knights’ Order?!”
At her words, the Village Chief, revealing his true form, offered a smile with only his mouth.
“Ah, those fools? I believe they are scattered around here. If I had known the Knights were so weak, I wouldn’t have wasted my pawns like this.”
“N-No way…!”
Maki’s face paled at the Demon’s reply, but…
“No, I didn’t kill them. I’m having the remaining ‘pawn’ disarm them. After all, if I were to kill them, we would be offering a substandard sacrifice to ‘that person’ for the final offering.”
The Demon denied it. However, the more pressing issue was the phrase “final offering.” I hastily looked at the wall, noticing the number had changed to “one.”
There were over twenty villagers in that village. Even if some of them weren’t suitable as sacrifices for a Demon, the remaining villagers alone should have been enough to provide seventeen sacrifices.
(This is bad…!)
If this followed the quest, Rifa should be sent to the altar. The fact that there were no signs of it yet was likely due to the quest proceeding irregularly. But that wasn’t the only oddity.
(Was he really this strong?)
The Demon before me. I had fought him in Saiga Village, but he was just a boss for a low-level quest. Honestly, he wasn’t an opponent the Knights’ Order should have lost to. Even accounting for complacency, Maki, who boasted excellent stats, being blown away was strange.
“You look perplexed. Even if you saw through our plan, you likely didn’t know about this stone.”
“That necklace… Rifa-san was wearing it…”
As Mitsuki muttered from behind, the Demon held out a pendant that glowed bright red. It was identical to the cursed equipment Rifa had been wearing.
“Do you know what this stone is?”
“Isn’t that… a mineral mined in this Labyrinth?”
“Close. Oh, so very close. You’ve grasped the truth that it exists only here.”
The Demon laughed at Mitsuki’s response.
“You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? That this Labyrinth seals a shard of “that person,” our only God.”
“As expected… the Evil God ‘Dis-Aster’.”
At his words, Mitsuki muttered with a stern voice.
(As I thought…)
The only being whose resurrection would cause a forced Game Over was probably none other than that. The shard of the Evil God I encountered in the depths of the Hidden Dungeon, the “Labyrinth of Sealing Evils,” had been ridiculously powerful. If that were unleashed and able to move freely without any restrictions, the destruction of the world wouldn’t be unimaginable.
“The shard of Dis-Aster here is not very large, but it was still strictly sealed. Beyond the large door at the center of the Labyrinth is the ‘Sealing Chamber.’ That is where Dis-Aster’s shard is sealed.”
“Wasn’t that place… the ‘Altar of Sacrifice’…?”
The Demon, catching my muttered words, replied.
“No, it is also the ‘Altar of Sacrifice’ now. We spent many years manipulating the mechanism of this Labyrinth, which originally collected and converted the abundant power within it into power for Dis-Aster’s sealing. We have now reconfigured it to collect the abundant power within the Labyrinth and convert it into power for Dis-Aster’s resurrection.”
“So they repurposed the sealing mechanism for resurrection…”
I didn’t know if that was a setting from the Game or an added detail that emerged once this world became reality. However, hearing that, I began to understand how the deaths in this place could lead to the Evil God’s resurrection.
“However, to deliver power to Dis-Aster, it was necessary to directly touch the shard of Dis-Aster once to create a pathway for the power. But the door before the ‘Sealing Altar’ was too strong, and we couldn’t reach the location of Dis-Aster’s shard no matter what we did. Our plan faltered there for a time.”
Even as the Demon spoke, I wondered why he was rambling on. Was there some trick? I had to remain vigilant.
“But at that moment, we found it within this Labyrinth. A tiny, tiny shard of Dis-Aster, expelled during the sealing!”
“A tiny shard…? Don’t tell me?!”
Mitsuki seemed to understand what the Demon said. And a moment later, I understood too.
(Oh no, oh no, oh no! This is bad!)
Realizing the terrible mistake I had made, my face turned pale. I instinctively clenched my left fist tightly.
“Yes, that’s right. What we found were three tiny shards, the size of the tip of a fingernail. We embedded them in gemstones and processed them into ‘necklaces’.”
The Demon happily surveyed our panicked expressions as he continued.
“That ‘necklace with a red gem’ brought us wonderful benefits. First, for a Demon like myself, wearing it greatly increased my power in this space overflowing with Dis-Aster’s magic. Enough to overpower the Knights’ Order.”
“That’s why everyone…!”
Maki cried out. The secret to the Demon’s strength was the red stone necklace and the miasma in this Labyrinth. I had only fought the Village Chief above ground. If we had fought him in the Labyrinth, he would have been even stronger.
“And for humans, as they wear it, Dis-Aster’s magic gradually permeates their bodies, turning them into high-quality sacrifices. …That’s right. Wearing that necklace for two years would turn someone into a prime sacrifice.”
“So that’s why you raised Rifa?!”
The other mystery, the reason this Demon was fixated on Rifa as the final sacrifice, was also revealed. He had been ‘raising’ her as a sacrifice by making her wear the necklace embedded with the Evil God’s shard. But the Demon continued to smile.
“And the final effect. Even though Dis-Aster’s shard is sealed, it possesses a nature that draws things towards it. It seeks to become a larger shard and revive itself. Specifically, smaller shards are drawn to larger shards and attempt to be absorbed. What can be achieved by maximizing this nature, do you know?”
The answer was something I had seen many times in the quest. The red glowing necklace, and Rifa disappearing to the altar.
“Transferring… along with the wearer, to the location of the ‘Evil God’s Shard’…”
“Precisely. Once used, the small shard is absorbed by the larger shard, making it disposable. Furthermore, there is no way back from the ‘Sealing Chamber,’ so it’s a one-way trip. However, thanks to this, the preparations for Dis-Aster’s resurrection are complete. We lost one ‘pawn’ and one small shard at that time, but it was a minor sacrifice.”
“You…!”
I was about to fly into a rage at his attitude of seeing people as nothing more than disposable tools, but the Demon remained unmoved.
“…Do you still not understand why I am so at ease? The seal in the ‘Sealing Chamber’ was troublesome, but once inside, it becomes the strongest barrier. No matter what happens within, no one can interfere.”
As the Demon spoke, he raised the necklace.
“Damn it!!”
Mitsuki reacted as if jolted and started to rush towards the Demon.
“Stop! If you do that…!”
I desperately shouted. I was probably the only one who knew precisely what would happen if he used the necklace. I had to stop him at all costs.
However…
“…You’re too late.”
The necklace glowed mercilessly.
“Now, Rifa! It’s time for you to fulfill your role!”
Mitsuki, leaping out, was too late, even faster than my desperate shouts.
“No one but the resurrected ‘Him’ can break through that door! —Victory is ours!”
The Demon’s necklace emitted a wicked glow, and his form vanished—
“—Huh?”
“—Eh?”
—Suddenly, the transformed Village Chief’s demonic face appeared right in front of me.
“Gyahhh!!”
It was quite grotesque when stared at up close. I hastily scooped up Rifa, who had appeared beside me, and ran. Feeling pathetic, I hid behind Mitsuki.
—However, everyone else was just as flustered.
Rifa, in my arms, blinked in surprise. “W-What? Big brother? Where’s Ringo big sister…?” Mitsuki, unable to grasp what had happened, her cat ears twitching. And the Demon, staring blankly at the shattered red necklace, was speechless.
However, with the abundance of prior information, Mitsuki and the Demon quickly realized. And then they noticed.
“N-No way…!”
“No way!”
They both cried out and turned to face me simultaneously. The Demon looked at me with a look of incredulous shock, and Mitsuki, who usually wore a mask-like expression, also wore an expression of astonishment, as if thinking, “What is this guy even doing?” The pressure from their stares was terrifying.
“Uh… umm…”
Overwhelmed by their pressure, I scratched my head as if trying to brush it off.
“—I wonder if bringing this was a mistake, perhaps.”
I offered a dry chuckle, holding the object in my left hand. Just when I had parted ways with Mitsuki and the others, I had found the bright red stone on top of the altar. It had begun to pulsate ominously.
