Chapter 299 – The Shadow of the Distant Knight

The Boundary Labyrinth was originally something that spread out underground. The place we’re currently in is a maze within the labyrinth, and since it’s further underground than the fortress, I’m not quite sure what to call it… but since it was called the Fortress Underground Maze in BFO, I’ll go with that.

Anyway, as the name “maze” rather than “labyrinth” suggests, I remember it not being that large-scale. After all, it’s just one floor within the Blazing Fortress.

However, its nature seems to be among the more troublesome types. When you touch the walls or ceiling, you can feel they’re heated up as if baked by midsummer sunlight.

It’s not so hot that you can’t touch them… but without countermeasures, it would be like being in a steam bath.

“Thanks to Tephra, it’s not too hot,” said Seraphina, smiling from her perch on Irmhild’s shoulder.

“That’s right. It helps that we can extend our exploration time too.”

…Thanks to the blessing, it seems we can manage without using cooling magic tools for now. It saves magical power, and we won’t have our vitality or concentration drained by the heat. As a result, we can extend our exploration time.

The party formation has me and Sheila, who’s serving as scout, taking the lead. Slightly behind them, Irmhild and Seraphina follow to detect Bomb Rocks.

Further back in order are Grace, Ashley, Marlene, Claudia, and Rosemary.

Lavigne follows behind Rosemary. Lavigne’s role is to detect scents, footsteps, and other presences from the rear. Ignis serves as the rearguard, with Eclair perched on its shoulder constantly monitoring the back as we advance.

We’ve hidden Caduceus near the center of the formation. Position-wise, that would be between Marlene and Claudia.

As we proceed down the passageway… it seems we’re coming to a wider corridor. Across the passageway is a small room… I can see a treasure chest in the back of the small room—but.

There don’t appear to be any enemies within our line of sight, but first I’ll send two Aqua Golems ahead to eliminate any ambush opportunities from corners. No surprise attacks from left or right.

I step into the passageway along with Sheila. A faint metallic sound. Sheila and I reacted almost simultaneously.

“—Above!”

Sheila leaped forward while shifting form, protecting her back with her shield as she turned and fired a Sticky Thread in the direction she faced. I deployed a shield overhead and prepared to receive the attack right where I stood.

Two Living Armors wielding spears jumped down from above. I could see there was space in the area right above the passageway exit where they could conceal themselves for ambushes.

I caught the spear tip with my shield at a diagonal angle, letting it slide down right in front of me. The other one got entangled in Sheila’s Sticky Thread and was pulled away with brute force.

“Move aside.”

I swept away the Living Armor that had stabbed its spear into the floor with Ouroboros from behind. The moment the strike landed, Spark Light burst out, crushing its back and sending it flying. The Living Armor, with both arms raised, crashed into a pillar with a loud clatter.

…Oh? It seems there was a Bomb Rock camouflaged as part of the pillar it hit. Apparently it reacted to the Living Armor’s impact, glowing and exploding without checking its target. The Living Armor’s parts scattered in all directions.

Thanks to the distance, only the Living Armor’s helmet came rolling over to us. Saved us some trouble.

The Living Armor Sheila was dealing with had also been finished off by the time I turned around. It seemed she had pulled it close with Sticky Thread and sliced it in two from the waist with her Pearl Sword imbued with Fighting Spirit.

The fact that she deployed a shield to her back when counterattacking the Living Armor, preparing for any unexpected Bomb Rock explosions, shows that our countermeasures are paying off well.

“Are you injured?” Grace asked.

“No problem here. Sheila?”

“I’m fine too. But Living Armors don’t have any scent and don’t make sounds until they move, so they’re troublesome.”

“…Yeah. They seem calculated enough to be ignored by Golems. Their ambush position was also placed where it couldn’t be seen from the passageway we entered from.”

I looked again at the space above the passageway exit. It felt like a waiting area carved square into the wall. Only groups like Living Armors could patiently wait in ambush in such narrow spaces…

Luring attention to the treasure chest room visible ahead while ambushing from above. Quite elaborate.

Now then… what about that treasure chest? First, I’ll send the Aqua Golems ahead. Have them step into the room and check for any spaces to the sides or above.

“Hmm. Checking for traps.”

Once safety was confirmed, Sheila carefully looked around the small room… and immediately pulled her head back in.

“…The ceiling is dangerous.”

She said this while pointing upward. I also looked up into the room… I see. There’s a slight gap between the ceiling and walls.

A ceiling drop trap, huh? A mechanism where the ceiling falls and crushes anyone inside the room when triggered. Probably a trap linked to the iron treasure chest conspicuously placed at the very back of the room.

After seeing this trap… those Living Armors from earlier might have had the role of launching surprise attacks from behind if intruders headed straight for the small room, preventing escape from the trap room.

Since we didn’t head straight for the trap room, they switched to an ambush from above. Couldn’t be more troublesome.

Anyway, when the trap activates, it crushes the entire room along with the treasure chest at the back. Is the chest itself the trap?

“Shall we try collecting it?”

There’s some distance, but… I cut off my magical power circulation once and emitted Earth Magic Magnetic Wave from outside the room, pulling the treasure chest toward me with force. The moment it was pulled from its position, I heard something activate. With a roar, a massive stone block—barely deserving the name “ceiling”—crushed the entire small room. Just before that, I had pulled the treasure chest out of the room with magnetism.

It seems the trap was activated by the weight of the treasure chest and its contents. Probably a mechanism where it won’t activate if something else is placed inside the box?

“Theodore-kun, as expected.”

Irmhild smiled happily and clasped her hands together.

I immediately moved to investigate the treasure chest.

“Not the keyhole part… but the contents? I sense magical power.”

“If that’s the case, it’s probably not a magic trap… I think.”

“If it turns out to be a magic trap, I’ll transfer it to another area. Somewhere like the Great Corruption Lake shouldn’t be a problem.”

Claudia said this quietly with her eyes closed.

“Hmm. I’ll check if there are traps.”

Saying this, Sheila moved to unlock it.

She inserted a tool into the keyhole and worked on it… before long, there was the sound of the lock opening, and the treasure chest opened its mouth.

“…A Wand?”

A type of magic staff. Size-wise, it’s only about as long as my waist.

The primarily black wand has delicate silver decorations, with a large blue-glowing stone set at the end. Probably some kind of magic stone.

“I sense considerable magical power… but appraisal should wait until we return.”

“Understood. I’ll transfer it safely then.”

When I handed the Wand to Claudia, she immediately transferred it away.

Being a magic staff, it wasn’t heavy. And at the bottom of the treasure chest, a magic array was drawn in an inconspicuous color.

So then—the construction was such that the trap wouldn’t activate if magical power remained in the treasure chest, rather than based on weight. Probably designed so you could successfully collect just the contents by leaving something like a Magic Slave in the box.

Even if there’s some kind of mechanism, it’s likely a legitimate magic wand. Depending on its performance, having a party member use it might be good. Well, for now we’ll put it on hold.

It must have been quite some time since we started wandering through the maze. Caduceus is handling the mapping. The approximate length of each passageway. The positions of corners and rooms are accurately memorized, so we know exactly how we got here from the entrance.

It’s easy to understand since it displays our traveled path transformed into a three-dimensional representation. Thanks to that, we’re getting a rough idea of the maze’s overall layout.

“…Let’s continue in this direction. From the entrance, this would be the farthest location in terms of distance.”

Given this maze’s troublesome nature, I suspect the exit might be in a place that requires detours, even if you know about them.

We continue advancing cautiously as before. We don’t have to worry about being affected by the heat, and we don’t need to collect Transference Stones. We should allocate that much more awareness to vigilance.

As we scattered the Living Armors and Heavy Armors that attack with surprise attacks and pincer movements as their basics, along with Bomb Rocks and Hellhounds—we eventually found a door slightly different in nature from what we’d seen so far.

It was the same kind of door as the one we descended into the maze from. After carefully checking for traps and opening the door, we saw a spiral staircase leading upward.

“Will this take us to the castle courtyard? Be careful since Bomb Rocks sometimes camouflage themselves as garden stones. And of course, don’t let your guard down on the spiral staircase either.”

“Understood.”

After confirming that everyone, starting with Grace, nodded, we began ascending the spiral staircase.

Well then… If we emerge into the courtyard, the Sub-Guardian should be there, along with the return stone monument.

“The Sub-Guardian in the courtyard was a Lava Chimera, right?”

“Yeah. A chimera that spits molten rock. There are Elephas Soldiers with it too.”

I’m pretending I read about it in documents, but I have fought the real thing in BFO, after all.

For countermeasures, we should probably focus on water magic. There are also bipedal elephant warriors that appear simultaneously… those might be in Grace’s area of expertise.

More problematic than that is the terrain. The courtyard has artificial ponds and waterways… but what flows through them is lava.

We can handle this by focusing on aerial combat and avoiding getting close to the lava areas. I’ll handle the Lava Chimera.

And—the spiral staircase was coming to an end. We opened the door and advanced into the courtyard. There, illuminated in vivid red, was a scorching world even hotter than the underground maze.

Lava flowing down from the castle walls poured into the waterways at the courtyard’s edge, forming artificial ponds and small streams that crossed the courtyard.

This much was as expected. But—

“That is—”

The corpse of a decapitated Elephas Soldier lay scattered in the courtyard. Evidence of Bomb Rocks detonating here and there was visible.

And—the corpse of a Lava Chimera with its upper body plunged into a lava pool, motionless, and the figure of a single knight sitting atop its massive body, carrying an absurdly long sword.

A knight clad in silver armor polished enough to reflect the scenery.

When the knight noticed our presence, it stood up with sword in hand. And spoke.

“—Are you those who seek the Orb?”

“The Orb…?”

Who is this? They don’t feel like a demon…

As I took a defensive stance and looked at the knight, the knight continued.

“If you do not seek the Orb, then depart via that stone monument.”

“And if we say we do seek it?”

“That much is obvious. My master commanded me to measure whether you possess power worthy of entrusting the Orb. Know that though the door’s Seal remains unbroken, you cannot advance to the door unless you demonstrate your power to me.”

This knight… essentially serves the same role as the Water Dragon in the Water Spirit Hall, then.

“I am the shadow left by the Mirror Knight Lazaro. I awakened with the water’s release and, by my master’s command, have been awaiting you here.”

“Mirror Knight…!”

It was Rosemary who reacted to those words.

“You know of him?”

“Yes. A legendary knight of Verdgar…”

When Grace asked, Rosemary furrowed her brows and said.

“I said I am a shadow. I am Lazaro yet not Lazaro. Merely a remnant incorporated into the labyrinth, inheriting only the ideal and techniques.”

“…A magical creature’s… replica, I suppose?”

When Claudia said this, Lazaro raised his sword before his eyes, holding it aloft as if presenting it.

“That understanding will suffice. I have honed my skills continuously for this day to come. Therefore—know that whether you be descendants of my master or masters of the labyrinth, I cannot let you pass unless you demonstrate power worthy of entrustment. This is proof of my loyalty to the royal family, the final mission bestowed upon me by the king.”

Lazaro’s words—were probably directed at Marlene, Rosemary, and Claudia.

So then, the master who created this shadow of Lazaro would be… the Verdgar king of that time and the Seven Sages who cooperated with him, I suppose?

The fact that it’s not the original person itself is probably because human bodies and minds cannot withstand the vast flow of time.

It’s different from Claudia.

“Understood…”

I nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

“So we fight our way through. That’s fine, right?”

“Exactly.”

Lazaro leaped and landed in the center of the courtyard.

We were supposed to fight the Sub-Guardian… but this has turned out quite different from our plans.

“I’ll fight alone. Everyone, don’t interfere.”

After telling everyone this, I stepped forward.

“Commendable, youth.”

His voice tone had a somewhat pleased ring to it.

I can’t see the face beneath the helmet… but is he smiling? His standing posture, sword lowered in natural stance, shows no openings. Naturally, I could feel my own face twisting into a joyful expression.