Chapter 15: Spit
“We discussed it among the three of us earlier. If it is possible to conquer the Sealed Labyrinth, we have come to the conclusion that it does not matter who does it.”
That was the reason they had been waiting for us. It was Saintess Mika who spoke. I thought it was a roundabout way of saying, “Let’s open the door together.” I stared intently at Saintess Mika. When was the last time I looked directly at her face like this? She didn’t flinch and held my gaze without looking away.
Turning my attention to Ange, she had her hat pulled low, obscuring her eyes. Meanwhile, Eris kept her head down, not lifting her face at all.
“What do you two think?”
I asked Ash and Sensei, but I already knew their answer without needing to hear it. As if they understood my feelings, both simply nodded in agreement.
“I would like to accept your opinions. Once we are ready, let’s open the door together.”
I replied to the three of them.
Swallowing the swirling emotions within me, I began preparing for the boss attack, starting with a meal, and confirmed that everyone was ready for battle—
“Let’s go.”
I pushed the door open with both hands and stepped into the room. It was completely dark inside.
“Hey! Everyone! Be careful!”
I warned everyone while casting Light Magic to illuminate the area—
“Sensei! Ash!”
There was no response from either of them.
“Mika! Set up a Barrier to protect yourself!”
Still, there was no reply.
“Angelica! Start chanting Mille-Feuille just in case!”
For some reason, I couldn’t sense anyone’s presence.
“Eris! Anything could come at us! Don’t let your guard down!!”
Once again, there was no response from anyone—then, after a while, a blinding light appeared far ahead. Worrying about the members who didn’t respond, I reluctantly began to move forward.
As I reached the source of the light, an even more intense glow erupted. I couldn’t help but close my eyes. But after a moment, the brightness faded, and when I cautiously opened my eyelids—
“Ah! I knew it! Damn it!”
What illuminated the surroundings was the moonlight and the starry sky. Before my eyes lay an endless wasteland—one filled with countless swords thrust into the ground.
Neither Sensei nor Ash were here, nor were Mika and the others. But at least Sensei was on the other side, so I felt a bit of relief—just as I thought that, I sensed a presence behind me. In an instant, I drew Gram and pointed it at the source of the presence.
“───Holy Knight Yamada.”
The voice that escaped from the blade pressed against her throat belonged to none other than Sword Saint Eris herself.
Eris felt a solid sense of accomplishment for having made it this far in the Sealed Labyrinth while conserving most of her abilities. Learning from her previous failure, she had grown stronger. She had also succeeded in spreading countermeasures. The strategy was simple: a careful and swift extermination of the Fog, which was crucial for destroying the Sealed Domain. If that fact hadn’t been known, humanity would undoubtedly have taken a leisurely approach again. In that case, by now, people would have been swallowed by the horde of Fog, leading to a repeat of the last Sealed Domain incident—or worse, a national catastrophe.
Even so, she felt a looming threat from the Sealed Labyrinth after finishing her battle with Angel Alter. If the fighting continued like this, she couldn’t be sure that she or the five of them would make it out safely. Therefore, to minimize sacrifices, just like in the last boss room, she had resolved that, in the worst-case scenario, she would handle this boss battle alone.
“Since I’m here, you all don’t need to be tense.”
She spoke soothingly to everyone as she stepped through the door, but immediately realized that the presence of the other members had vanished. Reluctantly summoning a sphere of light to secure her vision, she spotted the intense glow ahead. She dashed toward it, but then—
“What… is this…?”
She—Sensei—trembled and let out a voice. The place she arrived at was far from the fourth-layer boss room; it was, in fact, the entrance to the Sealed Labyrinth.
This concludes this chapter. After a few interludes, we will return to the conquest of the Sealed Labyrinth.
I apologize for the personal note, but the latest chapter of “The Holy Knight Me” has been published on Manga BANG. This time, it features the debut of a certain beautiful girl that the author particularly likes! If you have the chance, please give it a read!