The Greatest Genius Alchemist Of All Time Wants To Retire - Chapter 23 - Falling Down Threats
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- Chapter 23 - Falling Down Threats
Translator: Xean
Editor: SevenTails
“What’s bothering you, Elle?” Fii asked me two days later when we were preparing to leave.
“Ah, it’s about what happened a month ago.”
“A month ago…?”
“A month ago… That was when the Giant Spiders were first spotted in our Elven village and the news of the Third Labyrinth’s clearing arrived.”
“… correct.”
As Monica pointed out, I think this case has something to do with our First Labyrinth’s dive. In fact, it would be strange if there wasn’t a relationship. That same labyrinth, which had been empty for hundreds of years. The labyrinth which has been known for hundreds of years to have been safe as long as you didn’t enter the labyrinth or go near it.
Yet the strange thing happened and demons began pouring out of the labyrinth.
Giant Spiders were classified as a B-class demon.
The danger levels of demons were divided, from highest to lower, into S → A → B → C → D → E → F. B-class were demons that ordinary humans can’t deal with. Only those with special skills, such as alchemists and knights, can deal with demons of danger level C and above.
All the demons inside the labyrinths were C-class or higher. In other words, the fact that they could flood to the outside meant that there was a considerable danger to ordinary people. That’s why a lot of people were getting killed. No wonder the chairman sent me and Fii.
“Maybe there’s something in the labyrinths that are interacting with each other.”
“I see. Maybe Elle is right.”
“That seems possible, doesn’t it?”
We were definitely onto something. The Giant Spiders overflowing from the labyrinth had somewhat of a habit of collecting things, which was very unusual. The existence of Giant Spiders has been known for a long time, but they were not known to have such traits. In other words, Giant Spiders inside the labyrinth may be a special type of subspecies.
While talking about it, we were making the same preparations as we did last time in the Elven village and then immediately headed for the labyrinth.
“… Well, let’s get rid of the ice blocking the entrance.”
I used alchemy to melt the ice.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
And so, we began our second labyrinth expedition.
“ “…” ”
The three of us proceeded carefully. It was easier now because we were just following the same path as before. After a while, we arrived at the plaza. There were no signs of Giant Spiders, unlike before, until we noticed a Giant Spider on the wall.
“Ah, is that… do you want me to defeat it?”
“Hyii-!!! I still can’t get used to them…”
“Wait you two. There’s something’s wrong with it. Let’s observe it for now.”
I wondered if that Giant Spider came from the second underground floor.
Still, it was behaving strangely. It seemed to be wandering around, hesitating to go down the stairs to the second level, but… why was it hesitating? I didn’t have a complete grasp of the ecosystem there, so it was hard to say, but it was certainly strange.
After a few minutes of wandering, the Giant Spider descended the stairs.
“Let’s go after it!”
“Yes!”
“Ehhh?!!! Please no more of this…”
We went down the stairs and in no time, reached the second level. It was not a hallway, but another plaza. It was smaller compared to the previous one. We found the Giant Spider from earlier and other Giant Spiders surrounding it. A moment later, we witnessed something incredible.
“What…?”
“Hii-!!!”
“Ugh! Isn’t that cannibalism?”
As Fii said, they were cannibalizing each other. The Giant Spider that came down from the first floor was bound by threads and preyed on alive. With a sharp cry ‘Kyii’, the Giant Spider was gradually eaten from the legs to its head, until nothing was left.
Cannibalism. Was that really part of the ecosystem here? The Giant Spider wandered around and came here to be eaten? I thought that something wasn’t right, didn’t think it could only be cannibalism. Though it was common among demons, so this should strike as particularly surprising…
As I was assessing the situation, the dozens of Giant Spiders finally noticed us. They came running at an extraordinary speed and spit out strings, trying to restrain us.
“Let’s go!”
“ “Roger!” ”
We all used ice alchemy. The plan was to freeze the strings and block them. Then, I would stab their heads with icicles. That’s how it was supposed to go but…
“What! The icicle spear!”
The icicle was resisted. As I cast the alchemy formation and unfolded it onto the Giant Spider’s head, my alchemized icicle spear was resisted and countered.
At least it was still frozen in place. Such a troublesome thing, I had no choice but to use <<Usubakagerō>> to cut off each of their heads and then let Monica burn them. Since Monica had the highest magic power capacity among us, just this amount is apparently nothing for her.
“Fii, what do you think of this?”
“… I’ve never heard of a case of a demon using alchemy. I’ve heard a lot of rumours about it in my line of work, but this is the first time I’ve seen this.”
“Is that so? I did a quick check of its body as I was killing it and noticed that the alchemy formations on it were the same as the ones we’re using. It’s not anything special, it’s just ordinary alchemy formation, but with this, apparently, alchemy is not just for human beings…”
“… I guess that’s right.”
If we really think about it, we didn’t really know how alchemy was born. We only knew that it was created by the founder.
“Well, do you think alchemy is a lost technology?”
“Alchemy, a lost technology? That’s…”
Alchemy. It was the name we humans gave it. In the past, it was also known as magic and witchcraft. We’ve discovered the principles and theories behind them and thus developed it into the now known alchemy. In other words, it was not surprising that there was something similar to alchemy in the past, just like the existence of the labyrinths. How were they created? Such large and well-built underground facilities. There were no signs of collapse either. Maybe the spiders created this labyrinth?
“… you have a point. This is starting to get bad. Ah, speaking of which, I researched how many floors there are to the Third labyrinth before we came here.”
“You should have said something like that earlier…”
“I was scared to come here, but now, I’m more interested in solving the mystery behind it. So I’m kind of okay now. Although I heard there were 50 floors…”
“50 floors. That’s deep.”
“I don’t know if it’s only the Third Labyrinth or if it’s the same for the other labyrinths… But that should give us an idea, right?”
“Yes, it’s better to have a rough idea. It’s easier to move forward knowing this.”
After a while, Monica came back from cremating the Giant Spiders’ carcasses.
“Were you talking about something? What is it?”
“Actually…”
I briefly told her what Fii and I discussed.
“… I see. Certainly, there are such stories even in Elven lore. Alchemy, or rather magic, was incredibly prosperous a long time ago, but at one point it led the path to extinction. There was even a city called the City of Magic somewhere.”
“A magical city or something similar to the current kingdom that used to exist in the past…”
The kingdom of Canovaria was almost entirely composed of alchemy. Alchemy was the key to infrastructure and many other things. It was no exaggeration to say that it’s a modern-day magical city.
“Let’s not spend too much time on this. Assuming there are 50 floors, we’d better move on quickly.”
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
We then proceeded through the labyrinth. We made it through the second, third, and fourth floors, but we hadn’t seen any Giant Spiders that used alchemy since then. All we saw were the ordinary type. When we reached the 9th floor, we decided to take a break. The three of us ate portable food, drank water, and relaxed for a bit.
“Ha-a… This is tiring… But we’ve made a lot of progress with the 9th floor.”
“A-ah… It’s all going well… for now at least.”
“Also, I might have gotten a little used to it too! I used to hate it, but now I only think it’s just a bit creepy! I knew that a woman such as me could overcome it. Fu-fu-fu-fu.”
“If that’s the case, it’ll be a big help. The better shape you are in, the easier we can clear this maze. You have created the alchemy formation for the transfer points, right Fii?”
“Of course! I’ve done it on every floor. We can’t jump all the way to the entrance from this level, but with the transfer points, we can return through them easily.”
“Really, it’s too large to be able to use transfer.”
Then, after deciding our future plans, we headed for the 10th floor.
“So this is the 10th floor. It’s quite big and spacious.”
When we got to the 10th floor, we arrived at a fairly large place. It was a level larger than the plaza on the first level. Furthermore, we could already see the stairs to the 11th level, but suddenly, a door blocked down the way to the 11th level and even the stairs back to the 9th level where we came from.
“… Eh? We’re trapped!”
“Wh-what is this?”
“With these kinds of walls, it will be difficult to destroy them. Alchemy is completely ineffective. Fii! Is the transfer alchemy available!!?”
“It’s no good! The connection between this and the other floors have been cut off! I can’t feel the First Quality Prima-materia!”
“Are we trapped or…”
Then I felt something moving on the ceiling. I thought it was the usual Giant Spider, but what was that? That demon was…
“That… kind of body…”
“Ehhh… What’s that?”
“Ugyaaaah!!! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!”
Yes, the Giant Spider on the ceiling was well over 10 meters in size. (EN: 10 meters = 30.8ft)
The Giant Spider screeched loudly, but the pitch was nothing compared to the normal ones.
We were stunned by its extraordinary nature.
We, who were completely trapped, had no choice but to fight this demon.