Chapter 791
Chapter 791: Red Ocean (3)
Treasure invites trouble. This adage shines particularly bright in the labyrinth. Even I had once faced someone who turned into a plunderer over a mere subspace bag during my rookie days. Such incidents were so common that I even seriously considered removing the workshop seal on my subspace bag or dulling the sheen of my Lithium Breastplate with charcoal.
But……
‘I thought those days were behind me.’
I gained fame, formed a team, grew that team into a clan, became a noble, became the chieftain of the barbarians…… The more I gained, the less I felt the need to hide anything. No, rather, I began displaying everything I could. I judged that it was now more beneficial to do so. But what is this now?
“……”
The weight of the air shifted as soon as he posed his subtle question. After that, neither of us uttered a single word. One by one, my comrades began drawing their weapons one by one, ready to engage in battle at any moment and the other side did the same.
“……”
“……”
In the tense silence, we locked eyes. He seemed to be deliberating. Of course, there was a lot to gain if he could take me down. Just the known Numbered items I owned were quite numerous, including even a Single-digit Numbered item. And even beyond that, he likely assumed there were far more unknown treasures in my possession as well. People are creatures of imagination after all. Especially when it benefits them.
“…How are you getting along with your new team members?”
He probably developed this greed after considering our team’s composition. Erwen and Ainar, members of the Seven Powerful, weren’t present. Meanwhile, Beleg was arguably a has-been who had once retired, and Missha’s combat abilities weren’t widely known.
‘Raven and Kaislan are somewhat famous, but……’
Maybe he thought it might be worth a shot. After all, his side had well over forty people, while we had only six.
“I have no reason to report clan internal affairs to you. So what is it you want to say?”
“Haha, why so aggressive? I just wanted to tell you to be careful.”
“……?”
“You know, those rumors about you facing twenty Orcules members alone or defeating Demon Eyes in a single strike… Ignorant fools might believe such ridiculous stories, but anyone capable enough to enter the labyrinth wouldn’t believe such absurd feats.”
Ah, so that’s it. Now I understood. At first, I couldn’t figure out why he was looking at me so greedily, but it turns out, he thinks all the stories about my strength are wildly exaggerated.
“We’re gentlemen, so we’ll just pass by this time—.”
What a load of nonsense. This cowardly bastard is just too scared to take the risk.
“Meiruta Clan.”
I cut off his words and spoke quickly.
“Total members 121, though only 48 entered this exploration. You made an agreement with the Dvorad Clan, which is of a similar size, but since you haven’t joined up yet, I guess you’re planning to meet up on the sixth floor.”
“How do you……?”
“At my position, there are things you naturally come to know. For example, the fact that your clan, despite being cleared of charges in court, has repeatedly faced accusations of plundering.”
“……”
“Do you covet what I have?”
He didn’t answer my question. I couldn’t help but find it amusing. How he saw me as an easy mark when I stayed quiet, but now that I’m being assertive, he’s too flustered to know what to do.
“…Haha, what are you saying? I was just giving you advice to be careful—.”
“Prepare for battle.”
I cut off his words and addressed my team members.
“From this moment, the leader of the Meiruta Clan is to be considered a plunderer and a noble killer and is to be executed on the spot.”
“……W-What are you saying!”
“Anyone who tries to help the leader will be treated as an accomplice and dealt with in the same manner.”
“W-wait!!”
As I took one step forward after my brief announcement, he stepped back just as much, interrupting my words.
“A-Are you seriously going to attack me right now?”
“I’m merely eliminating a criminal.”
“Wh-what did I even do? Think carefully! Even if it’s you, if you act like this—.”
“If I act like this, what?”
“……”
“Do you really think I can’t handle the consequences?”
He wasn’t able answer my question and just opening and closing his mouth like a crucian carp. Of course, he must know too. Even if I killed them all under the false pretense of their guilt, it was within my power to sweep the matter under the rug.
“Illya Adnus.”
“…Hah, so it comes to this after all.”
Just calling his name was enough for the Guild Master to understand my intention, and he removed the helmet he had been wearing.
“G-Guild Master……?”
“Why is the Guild Master here with the Anabada Clan……”
Everyone was shocked, but that’s not really the question they should be asking right now.
“You are all currently participating in an act of plundering.”
“W-We never did such—.”
“To my eyes, it clearly appeared to be an act of plundering. But you’re saying it wasn’t. Then, will you participate in your leader’s criminal act?”
The Meiruta Clan members answered the Guild Master’s question with their actions. Unconsciously, they took steps backward……
‘Okay. That settles it.’
When making a move, it’s crucial not to give the opponent time to think. The moment they retreated, I charged forward.
And……
“……Ugh!!”
After grabbing the Meiruta Clan leader’s head with one hand.
Craaaaash-!
I slammed him straight into the ground.
Needless to say, even in this situation, the members took no action. Or more precisely, they couldn’t. Maybe they would if their leader had shown strong charisma and given some order. But among the regular members, there was no one who could make such a weighty decision in this situation.
“……”
“……”
Once again, silence fell in the labyrinth.
But this silence felt completely different from before.
While earlier it was a tension-filled silence where no one knew when conflict might erupt……
“……”
Now it was a silence marking the point where the winner and the loser had been decided. The loser has no choices left and could only wait for the winner’s mercy.
“What will you do?”
The Guild Master clicked his tongue briefly as he approached my side.
“There would be no problem executing him here. He had a bad reputation anyway, and if we dig into him back in the city, I’m sure we’ll find even more dirt. Besides, they’re the ones who broke the unwritten rule by approaching first, aren’t they?”
“Sp-spare me…… P-Please… I was wrong.”
“So, what will you do?”
The Guild Master asked as if he couldn’t hear the man’s pathetic pleas to live, and I too ignored him like I couldn’t hear anything as I made my final decision.
“Execute him.”
“What……? No, you can’t do this! I didn’t do anything!”
Well, his words aren’t exactly wrong. The problem is that he harbored even slight ill intentions in the first place.
‘What if these guys had encountered Team 2 instead of us?’
What if they ambushed us while climbing floors, and someone died as a result?
I had no intention of letting such a situation happen and then consoling myself by saying there was nothing I could have done.
Yeah, so……
I need to show them.
Who Bjorn Yandel is. And what happens when they mess with us.
Crunch-!
No words were necessary. I brought my hammer down, and with that, everything was over. As I finalized my judgment, the Guild Master approached me.
“Well done. These types of people are like cockroaches. Especially in how they multiply endlessly if left alone.”
I paid no mind to the Guild Master’s words of consolation and instead scanned the expressions of my comrades. Raven, who had spent quite a long time in military service, showed surprisingly little change in expression, and the same was true for Beleg. Kaislan, on the other hand, seemed to be watching the situation with a look of satisfaction.
However……
“……”
Only Missha, who had been with me the longest, gave me a slightly concerned look, but she didn’t say anything particular in the moment.
“What… What’s going to happen to us now?”
“Are you the vice-leader?”
“Y-Yes, Baron… No, Viscount……”
The vice-leader trembled in fear, unable to meet my eyes. Well, losing their leader so unexpectedly must have made me look like some kind of demon to them. In fact, from their perspective, it probably seemed like I had suddenly killed him out of a fit of anger.
“I have a few questions.”
“W-we really had no such intentions! Even when we sensed your presence, I-I said we should leave, but the leader acted on his own—”.
“That’s not what I’m want to ask about.”
“Huh? Then, what……”
“I understand you planned to regroup on the fifth floor, nut how did you get here so quickly?”
This was actually a question I had the moment I saw these guys. We were progressing through the exploration at an extremely fast pace and yet these guys managed to catch up to us. And with a group of 48 people at that.
“Th-that’s because the leader included six members with [Banner of Swiftness] in the expedition this time! Ah, [Banner of Swiftness] is…..”
“No need to explain. I know what it is.”
[Banner of Swiftness] is an aura-type skill that significantly boosts movement speed proportional to the number of people receiving the buff. Though it consumes a lot of MP, they could have managed that by taking turns using it……
‘But is this exploration strategy really beneficial?’
While I was pondering this, the Guild Master interjected with a mocking tone.
“You’re using an outdated exploration strategy, I see.”
“Huh……?”
“It’s a strategy that only becomes most efficient once everyone gathers on the fifth floor, isn’t it? Sure, it does allow you to pass through the fifth floor quickly…… But starting from the sixth floor, you need to board a boat, so it becomes useless, and from the seventh floor onward, stability becomes more important than speed. That’s why it had a brief trend in the past but ended up falling out of use.”
“…Ah, is-is that so……? I had no idea. I heard the leader paid a lot of money to learn this exploration strategy……”
“Then he wasted his money.”
Anyway, that solved the mystery. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to suddenly encounter such a large group on the fifth floor.
“Then, we’ll……”
“You’ll move with us. You’re heading to the sixth floor anyway, right?”
“Yes……?”
“Do you have any complaints?”
“No……”
Since it’s come to this, we might as well quickly get to the sixth floor and rest or something.
***
[There are 53 individuals within range. The effect of the Banner of Swiftness increases by 315%. All movement-related stats have greatly increased, and stamina consumption while moving has significantly decreased.]
[You have entered the Great Sea on the sixth floor.]
***
Traveling alongside the Meiruta Clan while benefiting from their buffs allowed us to reach the sixth floor before the end of the 16th day, despite spending some time dealing with various matters.
Laemia, the Island of Beginnings.
Along the coastline, there were quite a few clans preparing to set sail or waiting for teammates who hadn’t yet arrived.
“Looks like not many ships have set sail yet.”
“That’s good news. Since Team 2 hasn’t arrived yet, let’s head to the mountain first.”
“Um……”
“You all come along too.”
Upon arriving at the sixth floor, we climbed up the mountain at the island’s center, bringing the Meiruta Clan with us.
And……
“I could somewhat see it from below, but I’ve never seen so many trees growing here before.”
“Everyone, take out your axes.”
We began logging in earnest. After all, the trees that grow here are incredibly expensive. Usually, people have already chopped most of the trees down to stumps, but since the labyrinth hadn’t been opened in a while, the trees were densely packed……
‘As expected, everyone’s thinking the same thing.’
There were already quite a few explorers chopping down trees around us. No wonder I’d only seen explorers guarding ships or barracks along the coast.
‘Still, there’s no group with as many people as ours.’
After all, the reason we split into two teams in the first place was because of these trees on the sixth floor. The team that arrives first was supposed to start harvesting these trees in advance.
These guys are probably also farming resources until the rest of their group arrives.
Chop-chop-! Craaash-!
We continued logging, competing with the other explorers. At this point, it was getting hard to tell if we came to explore the labyrinth or do manual labor……
‘Once the labyrinth fully opens again, the price of this lumber will skyrocket.’
Knowing it would be far more profitable than hunting, I, my team members, and the 47 volunteers we picked up on the fifth floor all worked hard chopping down trees. However, there was a problem……
One day, two days, three days, four days……
The number of explorers logging increased. The mountain quickly turned barren with the trees disappearing at a rapid pace. Eventually, there was nothing left to chop, and the explorers moved on.
“……Fuck.”
…Team 2 still hadn’t arrived.