Chapter 33 I'Ll Never Spill The Beans!!
With Judas regaining consciousness, all the attackers woke up.
We surrounded them, wondering what to do next.
Meanwhile, Judas and his friends, despite still bearing the pain of their untreated wounds, wore defiant grins on their faces.
By the way, their eyes had returned to their original color from gold.
For some reason, they reverted back to normal when they put on the "Anti-Magic Ring".
"Hah! No matter how much we're tortured, I'll never spill the beans!!"
It seems they're determined not to talk even after being tortured.
I let out a voice of admiration, saying "Hmm".
"You said it well. As enemies, I don't dislike that kind of resolve."
"Uh...?"
Judas looked puzzled at my reaction.
I, on the other hand, wore a gentle, encouraging smile.
"Then, let's see how long you can keep your mouth shut."
"...Eh?"
"Yeah, I'll try it too."
Logan followed my proposal.
"As you know, I was the captain of the knights until just recently. Necronia may not be at war, but I've learned the techniques of interrogation and torture for dealing with prisoners, I'm afraid."
"Whoa, that's impressive."
"If you're interested, I can teach you too, Aaron. We have 12 people here who can be our practice subjects, and we still have plenty of healing potions. Even if we fail a little, it won't decrease the number."
"That's true. If you're going to say that, then I'll learn from you. ...Even if their numbers decrease due to mistakes."
"Heh, don't worry about it. We still have 6 people even if we lose half. We can practice with them without hesitation."
"That's true... Well, in that case, please take care of me, Judas."
As Logan and I continued our casual conversation, Judas's face began to pale.
Even so, they still refused to open their mouths, instead glaring at us with defiant eyes.
This is no choice but to continue the interrogation, I thought. I pulled out Black Radiance from its scabbard and――,
"Wait, you guys!"
Ail looked like he was about to faint, his mouth agape.
"What's going on? Is Ail going to take over?"
He seemed confident too.
I thought so, but it seemed I was wrong.
"Of course, we need to extract information from them, but it's not something we should do here. Fundamentally, monsters shouldn't be able to invade the Guardian's territory, but we're in a labyrinth, right? I think we should head back to the surface and do the interrogation there."
"Hmm... yeah, that's right."
Ail's words seemed to convince Logan as well.
As for me, I didn't want to continue the interrogation here either. Although the risk of being attacked by monsters was low, we were in a labyrinth, and it was ridiculously hot here.
Judas and the others wouldn't spill the beans easily, and it would be better to take our time and interrogate them after we got back to the surface.
"I don't have any objections either."
"Alright, then Let's move on to the 46th floor to achieve our original goal!"
"""Yes!"""
"""Got it!"""
And so, we decided to put the interrogation on hold and move on to the 46th floor.
Today had been eventful, but despite that, our clan members were about to set foot on the 46th floor for the first time, and the atmosphere was filled with excitement.
As we began to move to the next floor――,
"Cough, cough...!!"
"Ugh, oh no...!!"
"...can't...breathe...!!"
The Judas group, still seated on the ground, suddenly started coughing and vomiting.
I couldn't help but look at them――and we all widened our eyes in shock.
The Judas group was bleeding from their mouths and noses, without exception.
"Could it be that they drank poison!?"
"Are they trying to kill themselves!?"
We shouted out in surprise, but the thought that this was ridiculous couldn't be shaken off.
We had considered the possibility that Judas and his friends might harm themselves from the very beginning. That's why, when we restrained them, we made sure they didn't have any poison in their mouths, and we also checked to see if they had any hidden weapons on their bodies that could be used for self-harm. On top of that, we had also recovered their Storage Rings, so we judged that they wouldn't be able to harm themselves.
Besides, we had healing potions. There was no way they could die from minor self-inflicted injuries.
"Give them the antidote potion!!"
We quickly rushed over to Judas and his friends and tried to give them the antidote potion from the Storage Ring.
Although we don't usually use antidote potions, there are monsters with poison in the "Dragon Mountain floor", and our clan's consumable items are supplied by the [Four Great Families of the Seals]. With the Storage Ring, we all carried most potions with us.
So, our movements to give them the potion were swift—however,
"No use... they're already dead."
When we lifted up the bodies of Judas and his friends, who had collapsed, they were already gone.
Their faces were twisted in agony, their eyes wide open.
"What a joke...!!"
Logan muttered in dismay.
His feelings were palpable. Although it wasn't like all our hard work had been for nothing, at least half of it had been wasted. One of the main goals of the ≪Labyrinth Conquest Team≫ was to capture Judas and his friends and extract information about the "enemy" from them.
But now, that was impossible.
Thinking about all our hard work, it was only natural to feel a sense of despair and frustration.
But Logan's thoughts seemed to be slightly different.
"...Ail, Aaron."
"What's up?"
"What's wrong?"
When Logan called out our names, Ail and I turned around.
Logan had a very stern expression and asked us,
"Do you think they committed suicide?"
As I looked down at Judas's face, I saw a mix of emotions amidst the pain. It was as if they themselves were surprised about something.
"In other words... they didn't commit suicide, but were killed by someone else? Well, when you think about it, it's like they're surprised that they ended up vomiting blood..."
I agreed with Logan's thoughts.
On the other hand, Ail expressed a skeptical opinion.
"Hmm... it's dangerous to jump to conclusions like that. The poison that killed them in such a short time must have been incredibly painful. It's possible that they were just shocked and didn't think about anything else."
"That's true... when you think about it, it's possible that's what happened..."
You can't understand how painful the poison was until you experience it yourself, after all.
Ail's opinion made me waver.
No, I'm not an expert in this kind of thing.
But Logan didn't seem convinced.
"No, but... at the moment they died, they seemed to be looking at... someone..."
"There's no point in thinking about it now. Let's just divide up the bodies and store them in the Storage Ring before they get absorbed into the labyrinth. We can investigate the truth later, after we get out of this place. We might forget, but this is the ultra-deep floor, you know?"
"...Yeah, that's right... let's do that..."
Although Logan didn't seem entirely convinced, he nodded.
Ail was right.
We couldn't come up with an answer even if we thought about it now, and we wouldn't find any conclusive evidence. And this place was deep within the labyrinth, not a safe location.
It would be better to investigate after we returned to the surface.
We moved on to the next floor, feeling somewhat dejected.
* * *
[God's Remains Labyrinth] 46th Floor.
After descending the stairs at the top of the volcano, we found ourselves in a cave similar to the "Dragon Mountain floor". And when we emerged from the cave, we were greeted by a vast, open sky with nothing to obstruct our view.
We're on one of the small islands, and it seems like this island is floating in the air.
That's because if you look down from the edge of the island, you can see a vast sea of clouds far below. This island itself isn't being supported by anything, and it's defying gravity, floating in mid-air.
It's not just one island, either ―― within our line of sight, there are nearly 100 islands.
On top of the islands, there are lush plants, and structures that look like ruins. The size of the islands varies, from ones that would be cramped even if our whole clan got on, to massive castle-like buildings.
"Amazing..."
"Beautiful, isn't it..."
"It's like a fantastical landscape..."
"What would happen if we fell off this island?"
"We'd probably just die, right?"
"The wind is pretty strong, too ―― if we're not careful, it'll be bad."
"Luckily, it doesn't seem like it'll be hard to move around... but can we really ride on top of that?"
"It's kinda scary, isn't it..."
As we gaze out at the 46th floor, our clan members chat among themselves.
Some people let out a sigh, overwhelmed by the fantastical landscape that's hard to believe is part of this world. Others worry about falling off the island. The wind is pretty strong, and if we're not careful, we might slip off our footing and fall.
But no one is worried about how to explore this place.
The distance between islands is at least several dozen meters, even in the closest areas. But for those who can't fly, it's not a hopeless situation.
The reason is the existence of the "stairway" that connects the floating islands.
If I had to describe it, it's like a "glass stairway that shines faintly". It's slightly glowing, so it's easy to spot, and it's made of a transparent material that looks like a bridge, connecting the islands.
If you look closely, there are some floating islands that aren't connected by stairways or bridges, but most of them are connected, so we won't have any trouble moving around.
Even if the stairway to the next layer is on a solitary floating island that's not connected to any other island, our ≪Labyrinth Conquest Team≫ has a few magicians who can fly. If I and Logan protect everyone from monsters, and they carry our clan members, we should be able to proceed without any problems.
――Well, let's stop thinking about exploring the 46th floor for now.
"Alright, everyone!"
Lady Eva's sharp gaze gathered everyone's attention, and the atmosphere in the room became tense.
"From now on, we, mages from the [Four Great Families of the Seals] will set up a teleportation circle on this island... or rather, inside the cave. During that time, monsters won't be able to enter the cave, but please don't let your guard down."
After Eva's words, the clan members nodded, and then Logan took a step forward.
"Only mages and the members of the ≪Iron Wall Alliance≫ will enter the cave. The rest of you will stay outside and keep watch."
I was a bit curious about how they would set up the teleportation circle, but it might be a secret technique. Well, even if it's a secret, it's not like anyone outside the [Four Great Families of the Seals] can use it anyway.
Anyway, an hour later, the new teleportation circle was successfully set up on the 46th floor.
Our ≪Labyrinth Conquest Team≫, despite having lost 12 members, had achieved our apparent goal, and we were about to return to the surface using the newly set up teleportation circle――.
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