The rest of us have gotten up from our resting spots to see what the male Slayer, being of the thief subclass, is pointing at. It's a spiral staircase going downwards at one of this arena room’s corner walls. We glance at each other with confused looks until the archer Slayer breaks the hesitant silence.
“Is it unusual for a stronger Beast to be hiding this deep? I mean normally, it should appear in front of us straightaway after all the lower-ranked Beasts are slayed. Then again, we should be glad it didn't because we were quite exhausted from the kobolds attacking back there. Still, it's odd for another room to be located way underground.”
“Hmmm~ well it's not uncommon for Labyrinths to go through an evolving stage,” Ms Han explains with her speculation on the reason it's being located beneath us. Once, it was only one Beast to defeat to close the gate. Eventually a few groups of lower-ranked Beasts were spawned as if their duty was to be an army of bodyguards for their leader. As expected, the higher the rank of a Labyrinth, the more groups of lower-ranked Beasts exist. I speculate this kind of phenomenon pattern exists to be sort of like an ecosystem, with a heavy emphasis on the food chain, like how our world is. Till today, the pattern still exists in a cohesive, at least predictable, manner except for the Labyrinth we're in now. Come to think of it, there should've been another group of Beasts as like what Ms Han said way earlier on, this Labyrinth was officially measured as E-rank by the Alliance. There's no way this sort of room setup is considered a Labyrinth's regular evolution.
“Then all the more reason we're going down there, Slayer Han,” Jang replies with an arrogant demand. More like an order that I don't want to comply with. Jung-han and I look at each other, and by the way he shakes his head at my sight, is a signal of his agreement with me that whatever is down there, it's a bad omen which I too felt.
“Hold up, Slayer Jang. It's best if we inform the Alliance…”
“About your bad feeling that's only based on mere speculation? Look, Han. I don't want you to let the Alliance send another raid team with higher ranks. You're ruining the motivation of this raid wanting to go back home with a decent loot. The younger ones here don't want to go empty-handed, am I right, you all?”
While I’ve always known that other higher-ranked Slayers, who are around or close to my age, rarely have the intuition to know that there's an uneasy feeling surrounding them, I'm a bit shocked that they rather listen, which is indicated by head nods and indirect words of agreement, to Jang whose words reflect his greed and recklessness than Ms Han whose words reflect her emphasis on everyone's safety. The next thing I see is the majority of our raid team raises up their hand as their answer to Jang's question on who's going down with him. Only me, Jung-han, and Ms Han never raise our hand.
“You've got a death wish, old man? If that's the case, count me out. I'm going back home.”
That voice belongs to Slayer Ban, who has a medium brown bob cut and grayish-brown eyes and a beauty mark under her right eye, and she too ain't impressed with Jang's unreasonable command. Looking at her appearance properly, she's just a few inches taller than me; her clothes exuding the tomboy look.
“Fine, you brat,” Jang replies with a fierce look. “You've the choice to leave and go back on the way out…on one condition. You forfeit your share from the kobolds' mana stones.”
“What?! That's not fair! Without my skill to detect where those kobolds were coming from, you all would've gotten serious injuries!”
“Hmph! As if a tiny girl like you played a major role earlier on! I've heard inquisitors have the weakest combat skills and why am I not surprised? You practically stand there doing nothing.”
“Wha…Stop with the accusations of me being incompetent! I did put up my defensive barrier like the thief and healer guys over there. Or am I correct that you’re a misogynist and a literal fat pig?”
“How dare you make such slurs at me! Guess what? It was too invisible for me to see you performing such a skill. The others too can't see your skill at all, right?”
The younger Slayers stay silent as a sign that Jang is right in making his petty views on Slayer Ban. It's likely that they don't wanna experience rankism like me and since it's rumored that Jang has successfully sucked up to powerful supporters who agreed to scratch his back after he scratches theirs. Jung-han seems to be the only younger member to protest for the inquisitor girl’s unfair treatment. Ms Han keeps a disappointing look as she sighs at her partner's impudency. As much as I wanna protest and announce that I'll join Slayer Ban on going back home empty-handed, I need to keep my share of the loot for my uncle's sake since the debt left by his late ex-wife has not yet been cleared up. It's also the reason why I can't buy healing potions from any shops with a permit license signed by the Alliance.
“Fine! You win, you deaf pig! But don't regret that I didn't warn you that you're making a stupid mistake going down there!”
And so, Slayer Ban has left the arena room with a frustrated look, throwing her mana stone hard at the thief man that he fell off backwards. After I can no longer see the sight of the tomboy-looking Slayer, Jang demands anyone who's following him don't make petty complaints or whisper unnecessary stuff about his judgment. Thus, we start walking down the mysterious staircase leading to the strongest Beast's so-called hideout.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Are we there yet?”
“I should've eaten another hamburger.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“How many more steps do we have to take? It feels like we've been going in circles!”
“It feels like an hour has passed already and yet…”
“You kids! Didn't I tell you to not complain earlier on!?”
As the younger Slayers keep on complaining to Jang about the staircase being a long pathway, I look around to see how dark the staircase would've been. I'm glad the elementalist had an affinity for fire to begin with since E-rank Slayers being of that subclass have only one affinity and that him having the compatibility with fire should be enough for everyone's safety in a Labyrinth like this.
“Psst~ Slayer Kang,” Ms Han, who's walking in front of me, calls me when I notice she's handing one of her potions, which is in red color and that means it's a healing one, behind her back. “You should have this. That bandage may not last long in covering your wound.”
“Ms Han, I can't…” I hesitantly answer back.
“I insist, Slayer Kang. Besides, I've got enough healing potions in my pouch.”
“Then…if you insist…”
So I take the healing potion and put it in my nylon sling bag which my life-draining dagger is still safely kept.
“Whatever the reason you decide to stay, I hope you still prioritize your safety, Slayer Kang. I hope all of us can go back home safely.”
I nod and smile as an agreement to her promising hope and sincereness about other people. Even though we know each other from the few raids we join coincidentally, I feel like Ms Han is like a mother figure to me. It's a fact that if my mom were still here today, she would've been around her age right now.
I wonder if my mom would still be here if…
“Joo-yeon, I've been thinking…”
Jung-han's sudden words of those have pulled my mind back to reality. My eyes are on him looking like a hesitant teddy bear though I sometimes wonder if a crew cut like Jung-han's would look cute on an actual teddy bear.
“About what, Jung-han?” I ask in an optimistic voice to improve the mood we're in.
“After this raid is over, I hope you can take another job that doesn't involve slaying Beasts at all. Maybe as a secretary to a guildmaster…you know…”
This sentence from him is an obvious indication that he's seriously thinking about Chun's words on that day; that I, who is possibly the world's weakest healer, should stop participating in any Labyrinth’s raid when it's a fact the only thing I've healed so far was a bruised knee of Gi-young, who's my other cousin & Ga-young's younger brother, during my awakening as a Slayer two years ago.
“That's what I've been planning to do, Jung-han. I believe I'm not cut out for raids anymore.”
“I see…but, but! That doesn't mean we can't see each other since I'm willing to visit whichever guild you're planning to work at, Joo-yeon! In fact, I’ll still be by your side…uhm…what I meant is…”
Jung-han starts to look flustered; what's more is that he's blushing more than what he did this morning. I can't help but wonder if he's really lying about having no fever at all.
“Thank you, Jung-han. For taking care of me during our raids together. You're a good man after all, and whoever has you as their boyfriend is one lucky person.”
“Do you mean that, Joo-yeon?”
“Well you're the best boyfriend material anyone can ask for. I mean you'll be with them until the end, right?”
“Then, Joo-yeon…if you don't mind, would you…I mean can I be…”
Before Jung-han can finish his sentence and I still have a look of confusion once he starts to stutter cutely, Jang has called out to everyone that we've arrived at the hideout’s entrance door. Jung-han looks a bit upset at him interrupting the conversation he's having with me. As the thief Slayer is taking out his picklocks, Mrs Park, who seems to look slightly older than Ms Han and that her subclass is an illusionist, accidentally pushes the entrance door. It seems that this door was never locked to begin with. Once it's opened, we walk in to find the hideout, which has the same rune letters that coincidentally become our main light source on its ceiling, being another spacious circled room. It's even more spacious than the arena one we were at hours ago.
I see the walls are almost covered with wooden-framed paintings which almost stand from the ceiling to the floor; there are thirty of them with each of the paintings seemingly having a nature theme, or probably some historical setting; one of them has a temple-like building standing on a hill surrounded by a stormy sea. It's odd how there's not a single figure painted into these works of art. The height of this room is estimated to be around fifty meters tall. Beneath our feet is a painted floor in the color of an ocean; as for the ceiling, it's painted in a purplish-black that I've notice the rune letters have a thick silver outline in each of them. Around the middle area of this room, we see pillars forming two circles, which have one surrounding the other.
As the rest of us chatter about the paintings and the architectural structure being made with so much beauty and elaboration, the thief Slayer spots a huge box, which looks like a treasure chest, in the middle of the room as he calls out to us that the box should be filling the loot’s quota of the day.
“I'm gonna pick its lock right now!,” he exclaims with excitement, running towards the box but not forgetting to put up the same defensive barrier, which he used earlier on, around his body. The younger raid members and (unsurprisingly) Jang shout words of celebration though I keep quiet because there's one thing that we almost forgot about…
“But where's the final Beast?” I mutter insecurely. Jung-han too looks anxious as he keeps looking around the room. Then, Ms Han suddenly tells everyone that there's some instructions written in one of the paintings. She claims it's written in the Irish language.
“You know how to read, Slayer Han?”
“Well, I did my college studies in Ireland for around ten years. It's safe to say that I can read basic sentences at least. Let's see what's written here…”
These are the words the instructions as read by Ms Han:
“Three Rules to leave the Cinniúint Tomb”
1. You must not feel your fear.
2. But if you have to feel your fear, use your fear wisely.
3. But if you can't use your fear wisely, you must turn your fear into a weapon.
Those who can't obey these rules…will…be killed.”
The sound of an opened lock is heard across the room. It's the thief Slayer who manages to open the huge box. All of us turn our heads towards him, watching from afar as he celebrates this achievement of his. I see him opening the box which has his face of joy turn immediately into a confused one.
“Hey, y'all. This box is empty! It only has some huge rune letter carved at the bottom…”
Before he can finish his sentence, all of us are hit by a swift, violent wind that makes our eyes almost blinded. One of us manages to witness the wind “eating up” the entrance door. As it dissipates, all of us see an empty spot on the wall. That spot shows us that the entrance door has disappeared completely like an eraser who has done its job.
As some of the younger Slayers start to panic, demanding Jang to tell them where the entrance door is, we hear something hard is pierced behind us. We turn around once more to see the thief Slayer’s forehead is shot by a slightly huge arrow. The next thing we witness is the huge box behind him growing bigger and opening its mouth showing its humongous teeth. The huge box has become a mimic. It then proceeds to chomp the thief Slayer's head. The headless body plops to its side, spilling a huge pool of blood.