My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C94

Chapter 94: Right route

"It seems this labyrinth will be under military control."

At dawn the next day, the adventurers lined up in front of the labyrinth and exchanged information with each other. The main characters are Iriane, the LV24 knight Reja, and the LV20 knight Demos, who each lead a high-level party.

Given his long career, he seems to have a variety of sources of information.

We newcomers listen to the exchanges around us.

What I learned is that the amount of monsters in the twin labyrinths tends to be much larger than normal, so instead of simply completing the subjugation and sealing it away, I decided to train the soldiers of the royal capital to fight against monsters. It seems like they're going to keep it for later use.

If you kill the worms, not many new monsters will spawn, so it seems like they want to do it before that happens so that there are always a certain number of monsters.

And for the local Ozark village, it would be economically advantageous for adventurers and the military to continue using the labyrinth over the long term, rather than immediately closing it down, which would also lead to tax revenue for the royal capital.

"But isn't that dangerous? Monsters are always spawning near the royal capital."

Pezos, a LV12 adventurer leading a relatively young party, asked from behind. Reja answers with a face that says this is a valid question.

``Probably, starting tomorrow, they will remove the limit on the number of parties that can challenge the labyrinth and make it completely open.That way, the number of adventurers will increase and the number of monsters will be kept below a certain number. It's about locking people out and using it exclusively."

"Besides, it seems that the floors of this labyrinth are relatively shallow. It looks like it's at most 3 or 4 floors. That's why I don't think high-level monsters will appear."

Iriane added. Is this the result of Jonas and his group's investigation the other day? How do we know? Well, it's a labyrinth that was just discovered, so it certainly hasn't been around for a long time.

"Once it's completely open, parties will flood in from all over the place and it's going to be competition, so make money while you can."

This is Demos, who was injured in a boss battle once and retreated. I guess they have a strong desire to get that back.

“What will be the order of entry once it becomes open?”

When I came up with the idea and asked, Reja told me.

``It's a case-by-case basis, but I think they'll continue to use partitions in the quarters to let people in every half hour or so.However, even if there are more than 10 groups, there's no limit.You can just pull out the group in front of you without any hesitation. They, or even worse, sometimes there are outcasts who use area magic without paying attention to the presence of other parties, so be careful.''

It would be a shame to die from being hit by another adventurer's stray bullet.

Since some of our party retired from the battle the day before yesterday, we were originally supposed to start 4th.

However, due to his achievement in discovering another route that leads to the "Twin Labyrinth", he was given the second start after Iriane and the others, with the condition that he would conquer that route.

It seems that Iriane and the others are heading to the original second floor they are conquering.

Before we knew it, adventurers started calling the original route that Iriane and his friends had opened by defeating the floor master the ``left route,'' and the slightly narrower cave we found the ``right route.'' Ta.

That's why I entered the labyrinth right after dawn.

Maybe it was because we had a day in the middle of the day, but even on the first floor that had been conquered, there was a slight sign of monsters in the side hole, but we left it alone and moved on.

When I entered the worm's shell and arrived in front of the clay wall on the right route of the second floor that had been sealed, I felt a strong presence of monsters.

After forming the party, Carmilla sensed that there were already about ten of them wandering around on the other side of the wall. Moreover, it seemed like they had sensed our presence and were starting to gather even more. The second floor of the left route was a group of orcs, but I wonder what's going on here.

Since I don't know the type of opponent, I'll make Lina a magician for now and give Nolte a bow.

I gave a signal and absorbed the clay wall.

There's someone who suddenly flies out. Is it a bat?

<Vampire bat LV3> <Vampire bat LV3>...

"It's going to suck blood! Be careful not to get bitten."

Lina and I use magic and Nolte's arrows to aim at the person coming towards us. Since the movement is fast and the target is small, I imagine it creating a slightly wider and thinner wall of flame rather than a narrowed fireball. The bat's wings burst into flames and the fire spreads.

It wasn't an instant fatal injury because it was a thin wall of fire, but the momentum was reduced. Lina's fireball aims at that. The one that broke through and came towards us was knocked down by Carmilla with a dagger that was as quick as a bat.

After the first wave of about 10 bats were repelled, the vampire bats kept a short distance from each other and watched the situation while flying around inside the cave.

Even stronger magic is approaching from behind.

What appeared from the depths of the dimly lit cave was a gigantic humanoid monster.

<Ogre LV9> <Ogre LV8> <Ogre LV8>

Isn't he almost 3 meters tall? He has a huge club. There are three of them. The level would be too high to make it two floors, even though the left route was for orcs.

Moreover, the bats don't seem to want to suck the ogre's blood, but they're sneaky.

There's no point in complaining, so I make the ceramic autonomous giant "Haniwa Golem" appear. He also carries a ceramic sword with a blade length of 2 meters.

His physique and weight are probably higher than Ogre's. I made it to the limit size so it wouldn't touch the ceiling of the labyrinth. However, there is only one here. Should I have made more?

"Exterminate the ogres! Just take them one at a time starting from the ones that come this way."

The commands are simple. I don't know how much combat power it has.

The Haniwa Golem doesn't say anything, but it moves forward with a thud.

The ogres were surprised by the sudden appearance of a huge body bigger than them. That means you have a certain level of intelligence. I became wary and slowed down, but the next moment, the largest one lunged at the golem.

The golem swung the club and the ceramic sword slashed it away. Then, the sword was swung down, and the ogre tried to block it with the remaining hilt of the club, but he was cut down. Purple blood splattered and the ogre's giant body collapsed.

The two remaining ones attack from the left and right without flinching. The golem was attacked from the left side with a sword, but the ogre's club on the right hit the golem's shoulder with a dull sound. He stumbles slightly, but doesn't fall.

Lina's fireball hit the right ogre's face as she swung it again.

Nolte's arrow also hit the ogre's body, which let out a cry of pain and fell back. Meanwhile, Carmilla crept up to the feet of the ogre on her left and thrust the dagger into its calf. Haniwa Golem's great sword swung down again from above the ogre's head, which staggered, and struck it completely.

During that time, I gathered the "fire" from the surrounding air and focused it on the face of the ogre, which had fallen down and was trying to get back up.

The ogre's head was engulfed in flames, but the firepower was not as great as Lina's fireball. A sudden thought occurred to me, and I then visualized raising the temperature while thinking of ``heat control.'' I felt like the flames became more intense. The ogre rolled around for a while, then stopped moving. Maybe it was effective.

What else? However, the vampire bats that had previously run away came flying back from behind the giant body, perhaps attracted by the spattered blood.

"It's a bat! Leave the ogre to the golem!"

As I called out to my friends, I also changed my aim to the bat. It is impossible to immediately collect the fireworks that were just released.

For now, I create wind to prevent the swarm of bats from approaching.

Lina's flames enveloped the bats, which were stuck in the air as if caught in a net of adverse wind. The light spots on the map disappear.

The battle ended when Haniwa Golem cut down the remaining ogre on the right hand.

“Master, there are still many more to come.”

Carmilla says without letting down her guard. I can feel it too. Beyond this point, there are many side holes of various sizes, and the number of monsters is almost impossible to count.

While Lina and Nolte, who had changed into monk mode, were collecting the magic stone, Carmilla and I stood the golem in front of us and walked slowly, exploring the surroundings. In order for Monk Lina to earn experience points, the formation is removed only during purification, so be even more careful.

The two of them met up just as the small side hole became visible. The hole is about 1 meter in diameter and is too narrow for a person to enter. I don't know what kind of monster dug it, but it looks like it's now a nest for vampire bats.

In this narrow space, it would be difficult and dangerous to go inside and mop up the area. Moreover, this hole seems to be connected somewhere and I can feel the flow of air. In this case, I can't use the ``suffocation strategy'' that I often do by throwing flames to seal the hole...

"Would you like to try it?"

Once I put the golem away, I asked Lina to prepare fire magic, and I imagined collecting ``wind element''. Don't attack. The idea is to collect the wind from the back of the side cave towards this side, towards the main cave.

...When you activate the magic, the air pressure gradually decreases and a flow of air begins to form from the side hole to the main cave, making it even stronger... Because it is a narrow side hole, the flow of air becomes more intense. A red dot of light approaches the map.

"It's coming!"

A bat that came flying on the wind from the back of the hole was intercepted by a wall of flame that Lina shot against the wind. Vampire bats that were ready to rush into the fire started to burst into flames one after another into the main cave. Carmilla and Nolte took care of anything that was moving.

I think I was able to wipe out most of the vampire bats in that side hole in less than three minutes. As of now, our members are unharmed, but their MP has been consumed considerably.

I saw another party approaching on my map skill. There are starts every 5 or 6 minutes, so if the following guys choose this route, they won't have as many fights as the first group, so it's time to catch up.

It was those six monks who appeared.

If you look closely at ``Identification (Intermediate)'', you'll see that there are not only monk-type spells, but also adventurer-like skills and ex-warrior-like melee attack skills. It seems that he had various jobs before becoming a monk.

"Shiro, it seems like there are a lot of monsters here too."

The leader, LV15 monk Bosco, spoke to me.

"Ah, I just fought an ogre in the main passage. I just wiped out the vampire bats in this side hole, but it seems like it's connected all the way, so I might not have done everything."

“I see, there were quite a lot of side holes on the left route as well.”

Bosco and his friends were exploring the second floor of the main labyrinth the day before yesterday.

I also sensed a presence that looked like an ogre from ahead, so I decided to attack it together with Bosco and the others. After confirming that there were four ogres, I made the Haniwa Golem appear again, and the monks looked at me in surprise.

With the golem in the lead, Bosco and others take charge of the left hand, and we take charge of the right hand, aiming at those who pass by the golem.

The monk group doesn't have magic attacks, so it seems like they fight with bows at long distances, and swords and maces when they get closer. Since hand-to-hand combat is tough against a huge ogre, it seems like the plan is to finish it off with a bow as much as possible, keeping a distance of about 30 steps from the golem.

We will also position ourselves accordingly.

Lina uses a fireball, and I use a bow along with Nolte to prioritize MP recovery. Carmilla doesn't have a direct role in situations like this, but when someone tries to break through despite the arrows, her role is to act as our protector and approach hiddenly and hit them with her dagger. He worked hard.

As our numbers increased, the danger decreased, and we, including the golem, shared the spoils with the two ogres, and the monk group with the two.

After that, there is a large hole in the side, and from behind.

We proceeded while dividing up the party that had come, a group that was in charge of the front, and a group that was destroying the side hole, but we were unable to reach the bottom of the floor.

There were many small side holes that people couldn't enter, so I used fire magic to reduce their number to a certain extent, and sealed the rest with clay and earth magic.

By the time we were running out of MP, we were heading down an unexpectedly deep and large hole. It was probably dug by an orc or a kobold, and was about 2 meters in diameter, enough for a person to walk through. Unlike the worm cave, the walls didn't emit light, so Nolte proceeded while holding up the newly acquired lantern.

As I carefully walked through the winding hole for several hundred meters, clearing out vampire bats and orcs, I noticed a faint light leaking from the depths of the hole.

This is probably true. There are also signs of other parties.

I fought an encounter with a vampire bat that I can't remember the number of times, and as I chased after the rest of the group, the presence of the bat disappeared in an instant, as if it had been burned away by someone's magic. And then we found ourselves in another main cave of the worm labyrinth with glowing walls.

"Shiro, you guys, right?"

It was Iriane's party. I heard that he was heading back to the exit to pull up today, just like we were.

In other words, this is the second floor of the "left route". When I told them that we came from the right route, Iriane also had a satisfied look on her face.

The labyrinth here looks really big.

However, when I think about it, I can say that the labyrinths that I've seen so far, which have almost a single path, are just caves and don't really feel like labyrinths. There's no room for hesitation. RPG-like labyrinths are more likely to have this kind of surface area.

As I was pulling up with Iriane and the others, I was thinking about gamer-like things.