Capítulo 113: Never Give Up
"Roxy! Are you ok? Where's Rudeus?"
"Huh? W-what?"
Roxy looked up at us in confusion.
"You guys are finally back! What happened? How did I get here? I woke up in this room all alone!"
"We got separated", Elinalise answered her. "Rudeus and Geese are still missing."
"Geese abducted you and Rudeus chased after you!"
"What!? He abducted me?"
"Stop it Eris!", Talhand chastised me. "We don't know what happened yet."
"I saw it myself! You guys were still sleeping!"
"You said the first thing you saw was Rudeus calling out for Roxy and running into that teleportation trap. None of us knows what happened prior to that. What if Roxy was sleepwalking and Geese tried to stop her?"
"Then what about him drugging all of us with the food he prepared?"
"I must say that is hard to explain", Elinalise admitted. "But I've known Geese for longer than you've been alive. This just isn't like him."
While the three of us argued amongst ourselves, the reality of the situation began to set in for Roxy as her face began to go pale.
"Rudeus is missing? He went after me and now he's missing?"
The three of us stopped arguing. Elinalise answered her question.
"It's going to be ok. Rudeus can take care of himself."
"That's true...", Roxy seemed to have calmed down a little. "But hasn't it been several days? What if he runs out of food?"
"That's why we're going to keep looking for him!"
"That's right", Elinalise agreed. "If we work together and proceed carefully, I have no doubt that we can search this entire labyrinth."
"Are you feeling up to it?", Talhand questioned.
"I'm hungry, but otherwise alright", Roxy answered.
"Then let's take a break to eat before progressing further."
Talhand pulled out some of the rations he had been carrying and we all ate our fill. Afterwards, Elinalise explained our new game plan for finding Rudeus and Geese and the new formation we would adopt now that we had Roxy with us. I joined Elinalise in the Front while Talhand guarded the rear. Roxy took up the position of midrange caster while fighting from the center.
Our party continued onward through the fourth floor. We encountered a new type of monster here called 'Armored Warriors'. Bladed attacks were useless against them so the best Elinalise and I could do was distract them and defend Roxy and Talhand as they pelted them with magic.
"Honestly Roxy, your healing magic is a real lifesaver", Elinalise said as Roxy healed a gash on her abdomen left by an Armored Warrior. "This is why it's important to always have a healer in your party."
"Although healing isn't my specialty, I have to agree with you. It's an invaluable skill to have."
Talhand continued carving tracking marks routinely as we traveled. There were a few times that we backtracked and likely would have gotten lost if not for his markings.
It was hard to keep track of time in the labyrinth, but it feels like it had to have been at least a full week before we reached the end of the fourth floor. After defeating three giant Armored Warriors at the end of the floor, we stepped through another large teleportation circle which sent us to yet another floor.
"Just how far down does this labyrinth go?", I asked.
"Don't know", Talhand answered. "Nobody has ever made it to the end. Speaking of which, I think this is a good time to head back to town and resupply."
"Head back? But we still haven't found Rudeus."
"He's right", Elinalise agreed. "We can't keep going on like this forever. We need to think carefully about how to proceed. We don't even know for sure that he's down here. What if he got sent to the first floor and is looking for us back there?"
Roxy nodded her head in agreement as well.
"I want to find Rudeus as much as you do but he would do the same thing in our position."
"You're wrong. Rudeus would never give up if he knew you were in danger."
"Give up? Why would you say that", Roxy said with a scowl. "I would never give up on Rudeus! I care about him just as much as you do!"
I balled my hand into a fist in anger but released it shortly. Deep down I know Roxy is right. It's not fair for me to blame her for what happened.
I held in my frustrations as we followed our markings back the way we came until we arrived at the entrance of the labyrinth and then made our way to town.
Talhand went to go buy food and supplies at the market and Elinalise went to the Adventurers Guild to check if anyone had heard any information about Rudeus or Geese. I went with Roxy as she secured a room at one of the Inns for us.
Unsurprisingly, Elinalise was unable to recruit anyone to join our expedition into the Teleportation Labyrinth, but she did find some important information.
"Geese has betrayed us."
"What did you hear?", Talhand asked her.
"Several adventurers overheard him looking for an escort out of town. He found a merchant caravan to ride with, using his rank as an adventurer to get a job as a guard. It seems the merchants he's traveling with were on their way back to the Central Continent."
"Ugh...", Talhand sighed. "That's sad to hear. No sense going after him. Not sure what his reasons are, but he's made his choice. The more important thing is to find Rudeus."
"Unfortunately nobody has seen or heard from him since he left for the dungeon with Eris. I can only presume that he's still down there, either looking for us or..."
"He's still alive", I shouted. "There's nothing in this world that could beat him."
"Eris is right", Roxy agreed. "Rudeus is a survivor. Even if he didn't have food I'm sure he could survive on the meat of the monsters. He must be lost down there."
"That settles it then", Elinalise said. "Try to get a good night's rest. We're back to the Labyrinth tomorrow."
That's exactly what we did. We made quick progress back to the fifth floor. It only took us a couple days to reach back where we left off thanks to the detailed markings Talhand has been leaving.
The fifth floor introduced yet another monster, the Devouring Devil. Apparently these guys were considered 'A' ranked monsters, but I found them quite easy to deal with. Much easier than the Armored Warriors anyway.
The Devouring Devils had razor sharp fangs and long pointed claws and were quick for their size. However, they seemed to prioritize offense over defense and I was much quicker than them making them easy targets.
We spent another week making our way through the fifth floor, and then another week and a half on the sixth. By the time we reached the end of the sixth floor we were greeted by three large glowing circles instead of two.
"Something about this room feels ominous", Elinalise said warily. "I can't help but feel that the Labyrinth's guardian must be close."
"She's right. Stay on Guard", Talhand advised.
"But which one of these circles will take us forward?"
"I leaned forward to inspect each of them. They all looked slightly different from one another but it meant nothing to me."
"Wait, over here!"
Talhand called us all to the circle on the left. On the ground beside it was a beautifully polished fist-sized rock with the number 'six' carved into it.
"Six? What does that mean?", I asked.
"Hmm... we're already on the sixth floor. Does this mean it will take us somewhere else on the sixth floor? Maybe back to the start?"
"I'm pretty sure the other two magic circles are both random warps. Their designs look similar to the teleportation traps all throughout the labyrinth."
"Didn't you say that nobody has ever reached the end of this Labyrinth?", I asked Talhand.
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Well then who else could have left this marking besides Rudeus?"
"You're right!", Elinalise said as though it was a revelation. "This must be the way he went. Guardian room or not this is the path we need to follow."
"Alright, let's do this! Everyone be on guard!", Talhand warned.
We all stepped into the circle together, but none of us expected what we found next.
Immediately after stepping through the magic circle I found myself pinched between tightly packed slimy bodies in a pitch black room. The only light came from Talhand's torch but there were so many bodies in this room it was like being in a dense forest and the light struggled to make its way through.
*Hisssss!*
"It's a Devouring Devil's nest!", Elinalise shouted.
The battle that followed was complete chaos. I relied on pure instinct as I cleaved my way through countless bodies of Devouring Devils. We didn't have the time to get into formation and it was all I could manage to keep myself alive; I didn't have the luxury of worrying about the others.
While I fought I could hear Roxy chanting magic incantations and the clashing of steel as Elinalise and Talhand fought in close combat. By the time the battle quieted down all four of us were covered in slime and guts as hundreds of dead monsters littered the ground across the entire room.
"Is everyone... hah... hah... Is everyone alright?", Elinalise called out immediately after the battle as she looked around the room.
"I'm fine", I yelled back.
"I'll survive", Talhand said gruffly.
"Roxy?", Elinalise called out.
No response.
"Roxy!?", she yelled out in a panicked voice as the three of us scoured the room.
"Over there!", Talhand yelled out.
Laying beside a pile of Devouring Devil corpses, Roxy was breathing heavily, covered in blood.
"She's still breathing! Hurry up and stop the bleeding!"
We all rushed to her aid. Roxy had several gashes on her abdomen and on her right thigh. More worrying though was a deep slash going across her face that had destroyed her right eye and deep bite marks on her neck.
Elinalise immediately ripped off the sleeve of her shirt and firmly held it against Roxy's neck. Talhand grabbed clean cloth from his bag of traveling gear and started wrapping all of Roxy's wounds in bandages.
"Roxy, you need to cast healing magic on yourself! Roxy, can you hear me!? Roxy!", Elinalise was shouting at her.
Roxy's one good eye was losing its focus as she stared off into the distance.
*SLAP*
"Eris, what are you doing!", Elinalise yelled in anger.
I slapped Roxy hard in the face.
"If you die, I'll never forgive you!"
Roxy turned her head back and looked my way.
"And Rudeus will never forgive himself!", I yelled out even louder.
Somehow, my words seemed to reach Roxy as she weakly lifted up her hand and placed it against her neck. Slowly and weakly, words began to escape her mouth.
"Let this divine *cough* power be satisfying as nourishment... giving one strength *cough* to rise again... [Healing]"
Roxy's hand emitted a green glow and the color began to return to her face as her wounds began to slowly close.
*Cough Cough Cough!*
Roxy sat up and violently coughed out blood.
"Hah... Hah... Hah...", she struggled to catch her breath.
"Roxy! You did it!", Elinalise yelled out as she hugged her.
"Once ya finish up with yourself", Talhand said in a tired voice as he plopped down to the ground. "I could use a little help myself."
As he said this he pulled back his cloak to reveal a fist sized hole punched through his armor into his abdomen. He was bleeding pretty badly as well.
Once Roxy caught her breath she cast advanced tier healing magic on herself and then healed Talhand as well. Elinalise had a few cuts and bruises as well, but Roxy was about out of mana so she decided she could wait for healing. I was the only one who made it out of that battle unscathed.
We managed to find a small crevice not far from the nest to hide in. We decided to rest there to let Roxy recover some mana. It took us a full day before we made it back to the room with three magic circles.
"Hmph!", I snorted as I picked up the polished stone and threw it against the wall. "It definitely wasn't Rudeus that left this message!"
"I believe you're right. But then who else could it have been? Was it Geese perhaps?", Elinalise wondered.
"Either way... Where do we go from here? I'm fairly certain that each of the other two circles are both random warps..."
"Then there must be another way forward", Talhand commented.
'You know... this room actually looks really familiar. It feels like I've seen something just like this before.'
~Meanwhile~
***** Rudeus' POV, 1 month prior *****
"Wait!"
I charged into the magic circle after Geese and Roxy, but the moment after I stepped in, my whole perspective changed.
All I could see around me was an incredibly thick layer of mana. It's like I was swimming in it. It was smothering me; choking me.
I tried to cast a [Blast] spell to blow away the mana, but the spell never manifested. It felt like my mana for the spell was quickly overwhelmed.
"Hya!"
I tried once again but this time tried to force it. It was no different than how I've been practicing to manifest my spells while Sylphy practiced [Disturb Magic] against them.
I forced more and more mana into the [Blast] spell until it finally began to take form and push the thick layer of mana a short distance from me. The small pocket of space gave me room to breathe at least. I felt like the level of mana it took me to force my spell to manifest was at least emperor level.
After a couple minutes I began to tire and stopped casting [Blast]. The thick layer of mana quickly coalesced back around me, smothering me once again.
"Ha!"
Once again I forced out the [Blast] spell at emperor tier strength to allow myself to breathe. I have a feeling I know where I am. This must be how Zenith got trapped in that magic crystal in the Boss room...
My thoughts raced as I continually poured more and more mana into my spell to keep it going. I need to find a way out of here soon, but it's already a strain to keep this mana at bay. If only I was wearing my magic armor; I had taken it off to rest.
'I don't want to lose my sense of self. I can't let that happen!'
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Coolex
Coolex Hopefully you guys liked this chapter. It felt like I was taking a little too long with exploring the Labyrinth so I tried to hurry through it a little. In the LN the author spent a lot of time in here and was very thorough but to be honest I didn't want to spend ten chapters detailing the labyrinth.
Now for the bad news. I'm leaving for a trip tomorrow and will be gone for a week and a half. I feel bad taking a break from writing after this sort of cliffhanger but the next chapter won't be until Thursday the 22nd, and possibly not until the Sunday after that, I don't want to try and rush for an important chapter.
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