Chapter 126: Chapter 126 - Adventurer Party(Part 10)

"You guys look unusually serious, did something happen?" I inquired as I greeted them.

It’s the 20th of December, 2015, the morning of the final day of this team up thing. I’d just arrived at the spot we were supposed to meet up at, and the first thing I noticed was the somewhat grim expressions the trio had on their faces.

"Well, it could be nothing, but there is a cause for concern. We’ll explain on the way to the Labyrinth, once Ilex shows up," Replied Ekspen, who had a weary look in his eyes.

Yeah, he’s definitely at least a little bit hungover. I went back to the hotel shortly after I finished my drink last night, Ilex left at the same time too. These three stayed behind to finish up the food and drinks they’d ordered, I’m guessing Ekspen must have had another drink or two.

The other two look fine, they probably stopped drinking after we left. I then glanced back as I heard footsteps approaching, to see Ilex walking over.

"Alright, let’s head out now, shall we?" Suggested Sakri, as she stretched her arms up.

As we left the town and made our way to the Labyrinth, Ekspen began explaining why they seemed so concerned and why...

"Last night, a party of Adventurers made their way into the Labyrinth, to gather some Magic plants and herbs for a quest. It was a party of four, one Platinum and three Gold ranks, and the quest was a simple one, one that shouldn’t have taken them any further down that the tenth floor, at most.

However, they haven’t returned, and there’s been no sign of them since. It has the Guild quite concerned that some Disastrous Grades must have wandered up the higher floors," Remarked Ekspen with a grimace.

"Wait, I thought Gold ranks weren’t allowed to go into the Labyrinth?" I frowned in confusion.

"Y-yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Spoke up Ilex in agreement.

"Well, usually, yes, that’s the case. Though it can be approved if it’s a party that’s mostly made up of Platinum and Diamond ranks. An exception was made for this party because two of the Gold ranks were on the verge of being promoted to Platinum, and because the quest was a relatively simple one.

Normally, Adventurers bear the full responsibility of what happens during their quests, the Guild isn’t liable for any injuries or deaths. But in this case, while there are unlikely to be any legal repercussions, the Guild’s reputation is severely at stake.

After all, they effectively broke their own rules to make this exception, there’s a reason why only high ranked Adventurers are allowed into the Labyrinths. There’s no telling what happened to the Adventurers, but we should assume the worst and prepare for anything," Ekspen instructed us.

Hm...if I had to wager a guess, they dead. Maybe they came across a Disastrous Grade that was a bad match up for them? Guess we’ll just have to see for ourselves to find out.

"I must say, this was quite a poor decision by the Guild, making an exception like this," Frowned Dispo with a look of disapproval.

"Yeah, it would’ve been one thing if they had gone into the Labyrinth on their own, without informing the Guild. But since the Guild actually approved their quest when they really shouldn’t have, they should rightfully be accused of negligence in this matter," Added Sakri in agreement.

As we then entered the Labyrinth, I activated my sensory Skills, keeping an eye out for any Monsters.

"We’ll take the route that the missing party most likely took...given what their quest was, it shouldn’t be too hard to determine which paths they took. I’ll direct you two," Remarked Ekspen, as Ilex and I led the way.

"Fine by me," I replied, as Ilex nodded as well.

We should be able to make some pretty efficient progress today, we’ve wiped out a fairly large number of Monsters over the last two days, so most that remain here on the upper floors will most likely opt to hide.

Logically, you’d think that hunting weaker Monsters to extinction wouldn’t be too difficult, but whenever a species loses a large number of their kind, the surviving Monsters go and hide while procreating.

There are a lot of unmapped routes in the Labyrinth, a few even on the upper floors, so there’s plenty of places where Monsters can hide to recover their numbers.

You could go months without seeing certain Monster species, if they’d been severely eradicated before going into hiding. It also depends on how frequently they’re able to procreate and multiply.

That’s why there’s almost always Goblins around in the Labyrinth, they multiply rapidly and grow to full maturity in a matter of weeks, so wiping them out completely is next to impossible.

Hm? What the...? What am I sensing...this can’t be right. No fucking way, how is this even possible? I halted and held up my arm to signal the others, before increasing the power of my Super Hearing to get a better idea of what I was sensing...

"What is it? Do you sense some Monsters?" Inquired Ekspen cautiously.

"Oh, a lot more than just ’some’. Fifty...or maybe sixty? It’s hard to get an accurate read on their numbers with this many...," I trailed off with a grimace.

"I’m sorry, did you say sixty?" Frowned Sakri in disbelief.

"Yeah...and it’s several different species, but they’re hardly attacking each other from what I can sense," I informed them warily.

What the hell is this? This can’t be natural...why are there so many Monsters up here?

"This isn’t good, it could mean that there’s a Monster or Monsters further down so powerful that it scared all the weaker Monsters into going up higher," Remarked Dispo, clenching his fists.

"We can’t very well leave this alone...Ilex, would you be able to restrain that many Monsters with Shadow Bind?" Inquired Ekspen, a serious look on his face.

"So long as they’re all standing on shadows, yes," He replied with a nod, before turning to me, "Um, are there any Monsters that are flying or staying above the shadows?"

"Yeah, most of the ones I’m sensing are on the ground, but I can sense a fair number of Taratects and Cockatrices, and well as another group of flying Monsters I haven’t encountered before," I surmised with a frown, before asking him, "You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but...with that large a number, can you restrain all the grounded Monsters without them being able to break free?"

"W-well, uh...," He began hesitantly, before answering, "Yes, so long as I don’t move. If I have both feet on the ground, breaking free from Shadow Bind is effectively impossible, regardless of the number. But if I move, each time I lift one foot up, the binding grows weaker."

"In that case, restrain all the Monsters you can...I’ll take it from there," I suggested, as I held up my index finger and formed an ember of blue flames by my fingertip.

"Are you two sure you can handle this on your own?" Inquired Sakri uncertainly.

"Hm...could you guys handle some of the flying Monsters and the Taratects if necessary? I’m pretty sure that it’s only Common and Intermediate Grade Monsters up ahead, but I’m concerned about the flying Monster I don’t recognize, there’s quite a lot of them," I informed them.

"You can count on us," Nodded Ekspen affirmatively.

"Yeah, leave it to us," Added Dispo in agreement.

We then made our way forward, while I began charging up my Mana and compressing it in my palm, to boost the intensity of my attack. I’d like to use both hands, ideally, but my maximum output isn’t yet high enough to the point where I can fire two of these Spells simultaneously.

I suppose I could split the output between both hands, but I think I’ll just fire the Spell twice instead. The area up ahead is a pretty wide space, so one blast won’t be enough to engulf all the Monsters in my blue flames.

"Holy shit, that’s a lot of Monsters," Muttered Ekspen incredulously, as the Monsters came into sight.

"Here I go...," Muttered Ilex, as the Monsters took notice of us and turned in this direction.

He stepped forward and onto a shadow cast by a nearby pillar, chanting to activate his Skill, several of the Monsters freezing up...since this area is much wider than most other parts of the Labyrinth, there are a lot more spots that aren’t covered by shadows, so he can’t restrain all the grounded Monsters.

But this is good enough, he’s managed to restrain most of them...since they’re all fairly close together, most of them have their own shadows overlapping with each other.

Elemental Flame: Dragon Fire Inferno!

I fired out a powerful, intense blast of pale blue flames, which quietly but rapidly roared towards the Monsters, bursting out into a scorching blaze as it struck several of them, the flames rapidly spreading out.

The other three then shot forward as the flying Monsters began to swoop down towards us, I shot a few of them down with lightning bolts from my right hand, while charging up another blue flame Spell in my left hand...huh, maybe I underestimated how much I’ve improved with my blue flames.

Most of the grounded Monsters have already turned to ash, and the flames are spreading rapidly, setting several more of them ablaze...

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