[LU-EL@LIVESTREAM - GODDESS’S VESSEL]

[Luvira@Goddess: Labyrinth Canyon—A maze of naturally formed canyons spanning over 50 miles in diameter.]

[Luvira@Goddess: The passages between the canyons are wide enough for two or three carriages to pass side by side, making it difficult to continue traveling above by jumping from canyon to canyon. Meanwhile, the canyon walls range from 20 to 30 meters in height, making it time-consuming to repeatedly climb up and check for directions.]

[Luvira@Goddess: Without a map, even those living near the area would get lost inside Labyrinth Canyon—including both humans and monsters.]

[Poru@Sage: So this second stage is gonna be like the first part of Maze Runner. That makes it easier to understand—Hahaha!]

[Luvira@Goddess: Stop mentioning other franchises here! And you should be grateful for making me do another boring info dump!]

[Poru@Astronaut: We’re eternally grateful for bestowing us with your knowledge, Luvira-sama.]

[Luvira@Goddess: Of course, you all should be!]

[Poru@Knight: What kind of monsters are lurking in this area, Luvira-sama?]

[Poru@Beast: And what kind of beasts are nesting here?]

[Poru@Ghost: Are there any ghosts?]

[Poru@Undead: Most likely there will be undead again.]

[Luvira@Goddess: SHEESH—Stop asking too many questions. Just watch and wait for our dear Livestreamer to show us.]

***

I would prefer not to encounter anything!

Lu-el shouted internally, not because he couldn’t retort back to the goddess by talking normally without looking like a weirdo for suddenly saying something out of place.

Rather, he simply didn’t have the energy to talk as he continuously took deep breaths to ease his exhaustion.

Going back to before Lu-el and Weed’s group entered the Labyrinth Canyon, they took a half-hour break and ate a light meal before continuing the marathon.

Lu-el had run marathons before, back in his high school days, and even more during his first year of college in an attempt to make up attendance credits for missing classes.

He usually had enough stamina for a straight 30-mile, five-hour run, which they had just completed.

But the sudden withdrawal of his enhanced strength made him far more exhausted than he had expected.

Surely, taking the Lust Elixir—the reward he got for surviving and streaming for a week—would restore his stamina.

However, it would also boost his lust, giving him the same arousal as Weed and his fellow erection buddies.

At least he would only drink it when necessary—or so Lu-el decided.

As for Weed and everyone else in their group who were suffering from severe erections, they were in much worse condition than Lu-el, even though a 100-mile marathon was a regular part of their training as hunters.

"It’s not going down..." Weed said, groaning in slight pain while still trying to catch his breath as he lay completely naked on the ground like the rest.

"If you’re all going to relieve yourselves, at least do it somewhere we can’t see or hear," Lu-el said, noticing that Weed and the other young hunters seemed ready to touch themselves.

And that erection was supposed to last for an entire week, Lu-el thought, doubting Sera’s warning while watching them slowly get up and walk toward the corner of the canyon walls.

***

After finishing half of the meat sandwiches prepared by the maids, and with their 30-minute break coming to an end, Weed and his fellow erection buddies returned feeling slightly relieved and ready to resume the marathon.

Their group entered Labyrinth Canyon while carefully following the designated route on the map.

Considering they hadn’t encountered even a single monster after several hours of running, Lu-el thought that the soldiers assigned by the Duchess to prepare the Goddess’s Trial for her daughter had at least cleared the designated routes of monsters.

It was probably a test of stamina to complete a full marathon, intelligence to avoid getting lost inside the maze, and the ability to work together as a group. They likely wouldn’t have to fight monsters unless they strayed from the designated route—or so Lu-el assumed.

However, monsters soon became the least of their concerns when Weed and his fellow erection buddies collapsed onto the ground one after another.

"I should’ve told them to forfeit rather than continue running butt-naked," Lu-el murmured, feeling guilty upon seeing Weed and everyone else in such a sorry state—not that he could’ve warned them about the week-long erection caused by the laced juice they drank without drawing suspicion toward himself.

Setting aside his guilt, panicking in this situation would accomplish nothing.

Lu-el could simply continue by himself and finish the marathon. After all, he needed to win the Goddess’s Trial as he had promised Kaori.

However, he still owed Daichi, Mikoto, and Manami for looking after him and Kaori. Surely, they would think less of him if he abandoned the young hunters from their village.

Luckily for Lu-el, the remaining young hunters would never abandon their friends either.

There were 26 of them. With a dozen young hunters collapsing, the other half could carry them. Still, that would leave their group defenseless, with only him and another hunter capable of fighting.

"You can run while carrying two of them, right?" Lu-el asked, assigning six hunters as carriers while the other seven would fight alongside him to defend the group.

After all, they were just about to encounter their first enemies inside Labyrinth Canyon.

"Those men..."

"Aren’t they..."

"It’s not like there’d be another group running around here naked and aroused," Lu-el said, answering the first hunter’s remark before responding to the second. "Since they can still walk even with those grave wounds, they’ve most likely turned undead."

Lu-el grabbed the battle axe strapped to his back and took his stance, ready to intercept the incoming dozen naked undead—as the seven other hunters did the same while the remaining six began picking up those who had collapsed.

The first naked undead that rushed toward Lu-el had its neck cut open and still spilling blackened blood, so he finished it off by completely beheading it with a single swift strike of his axe.

He followed up with a wide, powerful return slash that cut through the bodies of two undead that were about to jump on him, tearing them in half through their already wounded torsos.

Recovering his stance, Lu-el raised his axe for a downward slash that split the fourth naked undead in half—from the shoulder, down through the body, all the way to its bleeding, rod-less and balls-less crotch—until his axe embedded itself into the ground.

"They’re weaker than I expected," Lu-el thought, wondering whether he had become more skillful at wielding his weapon or if his battle axe was simply overpowered—until he noticed the magic bracelet the undead was still wearing.

"So even after becoming undead, the bracelet is still restraining their enhanced strength."

In that condition, the other hunters wouldn’t have much trouble fighting the undead unlike during their encounter at Fumoto Village—or so Lu-el thought.

Still, he yanked his axe from the ground and rushed toward the other hunters to help them finish off the naked undead.

***

"Just what happened to this group?" one of the young hunters asked as they piled the corpses together in one spot after the fight.

"They probably fought another group," answered another hunter, giving his assumption, which was immediately followed by more speculation.

"Do you think they got left behind and attacked by monsters?"

"But their injuries are from blades and other weapons, though."

"But their wounds are still fresh. They wouldn’t immediately turn undead unless they were killed by monsters."

"No, even deaths caused by monsters don’t turn corpses into undead that fast."

"Whatever the reason or whatever actually happened, we need to move now," Lu-el said, cutting into the young hunters’ conversation.

"We have less than three hours before sunset," he added, knowing it would be difficult and dangerous to navigate the maze in the dark, even with lanterns.

Although they wanted to burn the corpses so the undead wouldn’t rise again as some twisted monster, they didn’t have oil or wood with them since their lanterns were powered by mana reserves.

And even if they wanted to bring the undead’s weapons—which were the only proof of their identities—the group was already carrying too much in their hands and over their shoulders.

"Keep up and don’t fall behind," Lu-el said, leading the group onward, unaware—and not even suspecting—the danger following behind them or the one literally on their backs.