Bab 258: Disgust
Not knowing the state he reduced Lauren to, Alex was sitting on the floor reflecting on what his "ideal world" was while waiting for everyone else to wake up. It didn't take more than a couples minutes before the first person woke up however, and Hajime stood up from the amber encasing him. He turned to look around and noticed just Alex sitting there before searching the others for Kaori. After verifying that Kaori was ok and turned back to normal, Hajime then made his way over to Alex and sat beside him before asking,
"How long have you been out?" Alex shrugged and answered noncommittally,
"A few minutes." Seeing Alex wasn't apparently in the mood for conversation, Hajime pulled out some items and started tinkering while he waited for the others to wake up. They didn't have long to wait however, as one by one everyone started waking up before it was just Ryutarou and Suzu left in the amber.
""""Alex!""""
Several of the girls cried out as they woke up, before rushing to his side and snuggling up to him. Some of them then started explaining what they had been through in their ideal world, all of which involving him except Kaori's of course. Though when he was asked what his ideal world was Alex pointedly avoided the questions, drawing several suspicious looks from the girls in response. The conversation was interrupted however when Hajime asked,
"What about those two, should we wake them up already?" Alex glanced at Suzu and Ryutarou while thinking for a moment, in the novel neither had been able to break free of the dream themselves and ultimately failed the labyrinth, however Alex wasn't sure if things would be the same this time around so he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and answered,
"We'll wait another hour or so, take this chance to properly rest up while they try to break free themselves." No one argued since, even though they were technically asleep the whole time, the dream world left them mentally tired and they wanted to rest. Alex himself seemed to be the prime choice for a bed, which prompted a small fight amongst the girls before Shia, Anne, and Yue won out. With everyone else relaxing, Grayfia then took it upon herself to start preparing food for them once everyone was awake before moving on. Though he wanted to reflect on his "ideal world" more, Alex himself couldn't help leaning his head back against the cave wall and drifting off. It felt like he had just started dozing off when Grayfia woke him up, while saying,
"It's almost time up, and Suzu's awake." Alex's eyes flew open as he looked around and saw a dejected Suzu trying to orient herself after exiting the amber. As it was fairly obvious what her ideal world involved still being friends with Eri, he didn't say anything to the small girl and let her be alone with her thoughts. By this point the only one left dreaming was Ryutarou, which Alex also had a good idea of what his dream was. Though they could forcibly wake Ryutarou from his dream, Alex decided to try a different method first and stood up while gently shifting the still sleeping girls. He then made his way over to Ryutarou's amber and kneeled down while those who were awake watched, and whispered even though by this point it was fairly hypocritical of him to say,
"If you lay even a single finger on her, you'll join Kouki on magical girl island." The effect was almost instantaneous even though Ryutarou shouldn't have been able to hear him, and the amber around him started disappearing rapidly before the man himself started to sit up and muttered,
"I think I heard a voice saying I passed..." Then he saw Alex standing there and became covered in a cold sweat before turning away suddenly. Ryutarou had been having a very pleasant dream that involved a certain vampire princess, but then as things started to get heated between them in the dream he felt a deep chill and was essentially scared out of it, only to find Alex staring at him the moment he woke up. Though he didn't know it, Ryutarou currently didn't have anything to be scared of from Alex since he himself had such a dream about others, though if Ryutarou tried to act on his dream then it would be a different story. With everyone having passed the trial, Alex stood and said them,
"Let's eat since we don't know exactly how long we were in there, and then we'll continue." At his words a collective growl seemed to pass through the room, a testimony to their empty stomachs. After eating they then moved towards another cave which unsurprisingly at this point had another transfer magic circle to take them to the next area.
***
When the light cleared everyone found themselves staring at another vast forest that spread out as far they could see, along with another giant tree in the distance that was obviously their current goal. After confirming that everyone was themselves, they set off towards the giant tree while keeping their guard up.
"It's kinda eerie..." Anne muttered as they walked, the silence of the forest unnerving her. Since she grew up in a primitive world she spent a fair amount of time in the wild, and as such knew that at all times there was at least some noise that indicated the presence of life, except this time there was no noise whatsoever. Shia also seemed effected by the distinct lack of noise, her rabbit ears being several times more sensitive than their own. This continued until Alex felt a single drop fall from the sky and land on his hand, before he suddenly exclaimed,
"Kuroka, barrier now!!!" Though everyone jumped as Alex nearly shouted, Kuroka quickly put up a domed barrier that covered them right before a torrent of rain started falling.
"You wanted me to keep off rain~Nya?" Kuroka asked dubiously, to which Alex replied,
"And tell me, how is rain that falls underground not suspicious?" Everyone was silent at this while Kuroka made a barrier under them to ensure that none of what was falling would effect them, and was glad she did not a minute later when she saw what was happening outside. As the rain outside continued to accumulate they all realized it wasn't rain at all, but instead a white slime that to several of the girls had a look similar to something they were all familiar with as several of them turned towards Alex. He pretended not to notice and asked,
"Anne, can you pick up and move the ground beneath us while Kuroka maintains the barrier? Then we can continue moving without having to bother with this stuff." Anne then pumped her fists cutely while saying,
"I'll do my best!" Before sitting down cross legged with her eyes closed as if to concentrate. While she did that Kuroka made a few modifications to the barrier so that it could be moved, right before the ground started cracking around them. Everyone braced themselves as the ground below them started raising up before they rose slightly above the tree line.
"So there's no consequences for going above the trees huh?" Hajime muttered as everyone else let out a sigh of relief, as they were unsure of what would happen if they simply tried to fly above the trees to reach their destination. Once they had gotten to a decent height, Anne opened her eyes and focused on the giant tree in the distance before they slowly started flying towards it amongst the still falling slime. After several minutes Alex was about to praise Anne for her efforts, but when he turned back towards her he saw her face was already coated with a thin layer of sweat. Realizing that lifting such a large piece of earth along with all of them for so long must have been really taxing on her strength, Alex tried to help by kneeling down and placing a hand against the ground they were on. Almost instantly Anne felt the large weight she was lifting nearly vanish as Alex used his gravity control to make it nearly weightless, and she sent him a gratified smile in response to making her job easier. Though this could be considered a good training opportunity, Anne would rather train in a more controlled environment instead of when everyone was relying on her to avoid a suspicious substance. It took her over an hour to finally reach the tree that was their target, a feat that was only possible because Alex used gravity magic to help her, and because he used his boosted gear to transfer a large amount of magic power to her to replenish her reserves. As they finally arrived at the tree, everyone saw a large cavelike opening that was distinctly different from the previous ones due to the fact that it seemingly kept going back instead of jut being a teleportation spot. As Anne set down the earth they were riding on, everyone filed off into the cave while Suzu and Yue helped Kuroka maintain barriers to prevent any of the slime coming close to them. It was at this time that Kuroka questioned,
"I wonder what that slime actually does~Nya?" Alex chuckled lightly at her question, which drew everyone's eyes before he stated,
"I got some on me earlier right as it started falling, though it didn't effect me due to my high levels of resistance to such poisons and such. It's basically a high level aphrodisiac that would make those subject to it mindlessly attack anyone nearby." As everyone heard what the slime was their faces all stared twitching as they imagined what would have happened if it got on them. Kuroka then muttered,
"It might actually be interesting to use later~Nya." Though her comment earned her a few glares from the others, Alex silently agreed and collected a sample of the slime in secret as they moved on. Everyone followed the cave for several minutes before they reached the opening, only to find themselves in a place unlike where they'd been before.
"Woah..." Shia muttered as she took in what was around them. The cave had left them standing on what seemed to be a massive branch that was spread several meters on both sides and seemed to stretch out forever. As everyone walked around the massive branch to examine it, Shizuku asked absentmindedly,
"Just how big is this tree?" Tio then replied,
"This one would speculate that we are nearing the roots, however the size of this specimen is truly cause for awe."
"It reminds me of the world tree Yggdrasil from Norse mythology." Rias muttered, a speculation that made those who knew of what she talking about nod in agreement. While everyone took a few minutes to admire their surroundings, Shia suddenly frowned and went to look over the edge of the branch.
"Nya~What are you doing rabbit?" Kuroka asked as she made her way over.
"I can hear something moving down there, but it's too dark to tell what it is." Shia explained, not rising to Kuroka's bait. Kuroka smirked and looked over the side as well to see if her feline night vision could help determine what was down there, only to instantly pale and fly back while screaming,
"NYAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Before anyone could tell what set the cat girl off, she flew into Alex's chest as if for comfort while shaking. Though everyone's first thought was that Kuroka was just flirting, they quickly dismissed this because she was never one to act timid. Curious as to what could scare her so badly each person made their way to the sides of the branch to look deep into the darkness below them, only to give up since they couldn't see through the lack of light. This was only until Hajime stepped forward and looked down with his enhanced night vision he acquired from Orcus, only for him to also quickly jump back while exclaiming,
"It's horrible! This is the worst case scenario!" Seeing even Hajime react in such a way everyone quickly backed away from the edge as they waited for either one to say what they saw, with Shia even using her hands to lay her ears flat as if to try and block out the noise she was hearing. Though it took a moment for Hajime to say anything else, he finally stated,
"It's- an army of cockroaches! There must be millions down there!" As everyone took in what he said, there was a drastic reaction amongst the group as fear and revulsion overtook them. The only exceptions seemed to be Alex and Grayfia, the latter of which stepped forward and mockingly said to Kuroka,
"Don't tell me the big bad kitty cat is scared of a few wittle cockroaches?" Everyone looked at the silver haired maid in surprise, as they never expected her of all people to start taunting someone, until Kuroka retorted without her tick,
"If they're not so bad, then why don't you go down and deal with them? Huh miss 'Queen of Annihilation'?" Though Grayfia acted as Kuroka's suggestion wasn't a big deal, she couldn't hide the slightly green shade that now colored her face. Before any more wisecracks could be made Alex stepped forward while holding the still trembling Kuroka and said,
"That's enough everyone, this is most likely the boss room of the labyrinth so let's figure out how we're going to attack them." There was a shared reaction of repulsion at Alex's idea, and Shizuku asked hesitantly,
"Can't we just try and sneak forward? Just because they're there doesn't mean we have to fight them!" Though everyone looked supportive of Shizuku's idea, Alex shut it down by replying with a slightly sadistic smile,
"But what if they're programmed to attack us any once we get halfway across or something? I'd much rather start a fight on our terms than wait until a literal tidal wave of cockroaches comes at us." Shizuku paled at the image Alex described, before nearly passing out from fright as Kaori caught her. Though he received a few glares from talking that way to Shizuku, everyone couldn't deny what he said as every fight was preferable to on ones own terms. Their spirits were raised with what Alex said next however, as a nearly equally sadistic spread on their faces as the one Alex had.
"We're not going to pussyfoot around though, Rias, Yue, Grayfia, and Kuroka, each of you are going to go full power and cause as much destruction as possible to their numbers. For the first time since coming to this world, we are really going to cut loose!" Immediately after Alex's declaration Suzu, Ryutarou, and Shizuku shuddered once more for entirely different reasons. With permission to go all out the girls wasted no time activating their skills.
"'EXTINGUISHED STAR!'" Rias cried out as she immediately started amassing magic power that condensed into a massive and menacing reddish-black sphere that was nearly the size of a house. Though those who hadn't seen this skill yet didn't realize it was made even more deadly than the last time Rias used it in battle, as she added gravity magic to the deadly black orb to make it so that anything caught in its pull would almost never be able to escape.
"'...HEAVENLY DRAGONS...!'" Yue declared, as five dragons of differing elements formed around her composed of lightning, blue fire, swirling wind, ice, and stone. What made this attack even more terrifying was that, even though it wasn't as powerful as Rias's 'Extinguished Star', with her addition of gravity magic the was no escape from the gaping maw of the five dragons as they chased down their prey.
"For the crime of making me shake in fear, I'll show you hell~Nyan!" Kuroka shouted, as several massive wheels of black fire formed around her, along with several magic circles ready to start billowing the petrification smoke at a moments notice. She had the look of a monster on a warpath as she prepared to destroy the hated cockroaches, but in terms of inspiring terror there was one other that had outdone her by strides.
"You will experience firsthand the might of the Queen of Hell, promotion bishop!" Grayfia declared as a massive silver aura enveloped her with her 'Intimidation' and 'Aura of Terror' active. Even if they weren't the target of her ire, both Suzu and Ryutarou cowered in fear of being caught in aftermath of the Queen of Hell's rage as she started forming a gigantic mass of demonic power to launch her attack.
"Haaa, haaa, such wonderful expressions, this one wishes they were pointed this way! However mineself cannot stand to be left behind in such a display of power, witness the might of the powerful dragon race!" Her piece said, Tio stopped acting like a pervert as she was momentarily obscured from view before a massive pure black dragon appeared in her stead. As they all lined up on one side of the branch Alex turned towards the remaining people, Kaori, Shia, Shizuku, Ryutarou, and Suzu before saying,
"You guys will be responsible for any that might slip through our net, make sure they stay off of Rias and Yue specifically." As they all nodded Alex lined up on the other side of the branch along with Anne and Hajime as the latter started summoning his army of cross bits. The seconds ticked by while they awaited Rias's Extinguished Star to start the attack, as she stopped restricting the gravitational pull hundreds of cockroaches got sucked into the sphere of death, prompting the tidal wave of dog-sized killer insects that surged forward. As they moved up however thousands got pulled into the literal black hole that floated just above them, while those that went to the sides were bombarded by elemental dragons, wheels of fire, an actual dragons breath, and a ridiculous amount of demonic power. On the other side Hajime was carpet bombing the tidal wave of insects while Alex was using his 'Demonic Dragons Breath' to turn them to ash, before using his ability to manipulate fire to turn any uncontrolled flames into an army of flaming monsters that also relentlessly attacked the cockroaches. Anne stood off to the side with a look of regret plastered across her face, but after taking a few seconds to prepare herself she stepped off of the edge of the branch and plummeted down towards sea of insects below.
"'Sky Dragons Claws'!" She shouted after applying enhanced speed and strength onto herself, before swirling blades of winds wrapped around her arms started shredding everything in front of her. Using her telekinesis to keep just above the sea of disgusting things, she used her sky dragon slayer magic to do her part in the ongoing fight. Meanwhile,
"EEEEEEK! STAY AWAY!!!" Shizuku cried as she used her spatial magic to cut down the approaching cockroaches from a distance, as they climbed onto the branch from the sides beyond the others bombardment and tried to attack them. Thankfully her sword was enchanted with Alex's black demonic flames, so after cutting a few members of the swarm the black fire was quickly spreading to the densely packed insects nearby before going out.
"SHORYA!!" Shia gave a cute yell as she threw her hammer into the oncoming insects to smash them to bits, before the hammer reached a certain point and started flying back towards her hand only to be thrown again immediately after. Her eyes were already a blood red as she fought the urges to go berserk on the swarm, the only thing keeping her sane was that she really didn't want to dive into them headfirst once she lost control. Meanwhile Ryutarou and Suzu, who had already promoted, were using their skills to keep any cockroaches that slipped through them away from Rias and Yue, the only ones present that didn't have a way to physically defend themselves without letting up on their attacks. Soon things started to get more intense as Alex saw the cockroaches were now attacking while covered with a black mist, but before he could shout a warning a bloodcurdling scream tore through the air. Alex glanced back to see part of Ryutarou's hand dissolving from trying to punch one of the cockroaches, before Kaori stepped in and healed it with regeneration magic. She then announced,
"The black smoke dissolves whatever it touches so be careful!" As she said this Shizuku and Shia fell back within Suzu's barrier to avoid losing their weapons to the black smoke, while Alex focused on another issue. From his side he witnessed a swarm of the cockroaches gathering together, before they eventually formed one giant cockroach that was as large as a building. That wasn't all as Alex could also see several cockroaches coming together to form what seemed to be a magic circle, the effects of which was something Alex wanted to avoid most of all. The boss cockroach was relatively easy to deal with, as Alex just used his demonic black flames on it to set it on fire, and as more cockroaches swarmed to it to heal and reform it they were also set aflame. As for the magic circle, he quickly shouted out,
"They're forming a magic circle! Don't let them finish it or it'll be bad for us!" When everyone heard this they immediately reacted, as it was well known by now that The Great Labyrinths were full of nasty surprises with this one being one of the worst. As the cockroaches started trying to create magic circles in several locations, they were instantly the focus of everyone's fury regardless of their attempts to prevent interference.
With their boss stuck in an endless cycle of burning while others swarmed to try and heal it, none of their magic circles being allowed to activate, and the constant barrage of massive area of effect attacks courtesy of most of their group, it didn't take more than thirty minutes for literally millions of cockroaches to be shredded, obliterated, smashed, turned to ash, or be sucked into Rias's 'Extinguished Star'. As the tidal waves turned into rivers, then into trickles, Alex took extreme joy in watching the last of them jump onto the boss in a last ditch effort to regenerate it before it too was turned into ash along with the rest of its kind.
"And good riddance!" Anne said as everyone regrouped, having been the first to retreat when the cockroaches started surrounding themselves with the black smoke.
"I wonder what the magic circle they were trying to make would've done." Shia wondered out loud, to which Alex answered,
"Knowing this labyrinth, nothing good." Everyone nodded in agreement while Alex was especially grateful they managed to avoid that specific spell. It was a particularly bad one that switched the emotions of those it effected, which meant that they would all despise the one they loved while the disgusting cockroaches would suddenly seem cute and cuddly. Alex's thoughts were interrupted when a portion of the great tree close to the caves ceiling started shining as a new opening appeared along with a new pathway for them to take to reach it. Without hesitation everyone started making their way towards the new opening while Alex stated,
"After a large boss-like battle like that, I'm sure this is the end of the labyrinth." There was a noticeable stir at Alex's words, as no one wanted to stay in this messed up labyrinth any longer than necessary. As per the usual by now, as everyone filed into the cave a teleportation magic circle shined beneath their feet, and as the light died down the first thing they saw was a garden spread out before them.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Harry_Dresden
Harry_Dresden Thanks for reading!
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