Chapter 249 That Was Quite A Near-total Wipeout...
Driven by a sense of justice, we finally reached the 49th floor.
However, despite my desire for world peace, we couldn't move through the labyrinth any faster.
There were several reasons.
First, the members of the Extermination Team were still affected by the magic. On the 48th floor, the weather was calm and peaceful, like daytime, but when I looked at the clock, it was already past sunset. If we kept exploring without a break, fatigue would lower our efficiency and increase danger――among other things.
Fiona explained all this to me, and I reluctantly accepted it, but then I wondered why I had taken down Patricia and countless undead so quickly.
Feeling disappointed, we activated the barrier magic tool in the cave at the bottom of the stairs and decided to camp.
As time passed, for some reason, the "boob alien" and the pigs had already regained their sanity. After a few minutes, the other members of the Extermination Team started to come back to their senses one by one.
Then, the conversation quickly turned to the 48th floor.
"I heard that if you get attacked, you return to normal, but that means you have to take at least one hit while defenseless. I never expected to be affected that much..."
Logan muttered this with a serious expression.
He was no exception; he was one of those who got lost in the cat.
"That was quite a near-total wipeout..."
Ail agreed with Logan's words. Then, Io shot a blaming look at me.
"Aaron, I didn't hear that floor was like that."
"Hey, are you trying to blame me?"
I mean, you were all like, "Aww, Bunny-chan is so cute! Are you going to eat? Hmm?" in baby talk on the 48th floor.
"I didn't hear anything either. It seems Noah couldn't talk for a while because of the contract..."
I look at Lucia.
It was Lucia who told me about the information on the Sky floor beforehand. But all Lucia said about the 48th floor was, "It's a calm and sleepy floor. There's nothing special to be careful about."
Lucia herself was making a difficult face and mumbling, "Mmm..."
"This is strange... According to Ickle's memory, I shouldn't have had that kind of experience... Plus, I should have been able to clear it without much trouble..."
"Hey, hey... I do think we could have cleared it like that, but I think there would have been some damage."
Even though I didn't feel like fighting, if I thought it was dangerous, I could have at least defended or dodged. However, considering that I wouldn't have come back to my senses without strong pain or a strong mental shock, it seems that a certain amount of damage was necessary to return to normal.
"Well, Fiona seemed to be sane, so she could have managed on her own..."
The army of Patricia and the undead was indeed powerful, but if Fiona got serious, she could take them down alone.
However, she probably needed [God's Descent], so she couldn't avoid getting worn out before fighting the [Evil God].
Right now, Fiona is already in a state of high exhaustion for a certain reason. On top of that, I don't want to tire her out in a battle where she has to use [God's Descent].
"It's not like I wasn't completely unaffected, either."
Fiona says with a wry smile.
"Thanks to Lucia over there, I managed to stay sane, but for some reason, I got optimistic on the 48th floor and delayed dealing with things until the last minute... I noticed the monsters were suspicious, and if I really wanted to, I think I could have forced a solution..."
Fiona didn't eliminate the cats and rabbits until just before the final island because, at that point, the Extermination Team members were still somewhat aware, and there was a chance they could be protected. She was also worried about them fighting among themselves.
However, the biggest reason was probably that even if they got rid of them along the way, they would just come back.
Well, if we had eliminated the monsters first, activated the barrier magic tool, returned everyone to sanity, and dealt with the cats and rabbits that kept coming closer as they moved forward, maybe it would have worked out.
Still, we couldn't completely ignore the influence of the flowers blooming on the islands, so it wasn't like we were totally unaffected...
On top of that, there was a huge group of over 80 people. They had picked up stragglers from somewhere, which wasn't very realistic.
The main issue was definitely the lack of prior information.
"Mmmmm...!?" Lucia tilted her head in confusion and groaned, so I asked her again.
"Did Ickle not have any information about the 48th floor?"
"Um... rather, in Ickle's memory, I only remember walking normally to the end and defeating the area boss without any issues."
"I'll answer that question."
It was Noah who spoke up.
"First of all, Ickle probably doesn't have much memory of this floor. Because of her young mind, she was affected by magic more strongly than anyone else and must have lost her sanity."
I see... So, when Ickle cleared the 48th floor, she lost her sanity and became all fuzzy, which means she didn't have accurate memories――right?
"But, Ickle's words about clearing it normally aren't completely wrong. In fact, when we cleared it, it wasn't as dangerous as this time."
"What do you mean?"
When I asked, it seemed there were several big differences between this time and when Ickle and the others cleared it.
One difference was the number of people exploring.
Noah and the others didn't explore with a large group like us, so they only brought one or 2 cats or rabbits with them. Because we had more people, the number of monsters accompanying us increased, which likely made the holy magic that affects the mind stronger.
It seems that if you only have one or 2, the magic isn't a strong stimulus, and even if you successfully defend or dodge when attacked by enemies, the magic's effect disappears.
Another difference was the area boss, the hero of the Age of Gods.
When Noah and the others cleared it, it seems they only faced opponents whose names weren't even known, and they could easily defend against their attacks, regain their sanity, and then win without much trouble.
It's said that there were no powerful heroes like Patricia.
"So, to sum up Sir Noah's explanation..."
Logan summarized the discussion so far.
"It seems that the difficulty of the 48th floor changes greatly depending on the number of people. With fewer people, it's relatively easy, and as the number increases, it becomes more difficult... right?"
"Well, if we ever clear it again, it might be better for each party to explore the 48th floor separately."
That said, since the ≪Great Transition≫ is currently happening, we probably won't have to conquer the current Sky floor again.
Lucia, who is supposed to be an adult in spirit, was easily captivated by a cat on floor 48. According to her, it was Ickle's influence.
When we defeated Patricia and the undead army, we didn't even get the magic stone, which should have been a guaranteed drop.
I asked Lucia about the reason, and it seems it was because we defeated them with that "Slash." She mentioned something complicated about stabilizing materialization before magical energy binding, but as long as we know the cause, that stuff doesn't really matter.
Oh, and by the way.
While camping, Lucia was strangely talking to various people and asking weird questions.
"L-Logan, can I ask you something...?"
"Huh? Lady Lucia, what's up?"
"Um... who defeated Albis again?"
"That would be, of course, Gle――oh, no, wait, it was Aaron who defeated him."
"――!! Yay, I did it...! I'm back in my original timeline...!!"
In that moment, Lucia's expression lit up.
I wondered if Logan was confused about his memories.
While I was silently watching, Lucia then went over to Fiona.
"Hey, hey! Fiona!"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Who defeated Albis!?"
Fiona answered immediately.
"――It was Glen, right?"
"!? !? !? ...N-no way...!! I still hadn't come back yet...!?"
Lucia's expression turned to despair.
With unfocused eyes staring into the void, Fiona poked Lucia's trembling cheeks while giggling, "Hehe."
"......"
Even Fiona, who was teasing Lucia, was cute.
* * *
After spending the night, it was the 4th day of exploration.
In the labyrinth's 49th floor, which should have been early morning on the surface, a sky full of stars spread out.
Until now, the floating islands had been connected by glowing bridges and stairs, but now they floated at different heights and distances, with nothing to walk on in between.
Additionally, the shapes of the floating islands were different from before.
The islands had roughly become spherical and were floating gently.
"There's no need to worry, even though there are no bridges or stairs."
Lucia told the entire Extermination Team before they set off.
"These floating islands have strong gravity, so if you jump closer, you'll fall toward the island you approached. In other words, you'll be jumping and falling from one island to another."
It was hard to imagine, but it seemed like you could land anywhere on the surface of the spherical islands. Well, if you didn't think too hard about it, it just meant you had to jump between the islands.
However, Lucia continued,
"Some islands emit something like repulsive force instead of gravity. In other words, they are in a state of anti-gravity. This means that if you get too close, you'll be pushed away and might fall under the clouds without being able to land. So before you jump, you need to check if you can land on the island by throwing something to confirm."
It seems like there are floating islands mixed in that act like traps. But if you know about it in advance, you can easily avoid them. After all, you can just throw a stone and see if it gets bounced back.
But then, I turned around and said,
"Boob Alien."
"What is it, Master?"
"Carry Chloe for me."
"Leave it to meeeee!!!"
The "Boob Alien" shouted. In response, Chloe raised her voice, "W-wait a minute!"
"I'm still fine, you know!? I just rested!"
"That's not the point."
I explained.
In this level, where you have to jump to other floating islands, you need to jump a good distance to overcome the gravity of the islands. If you're in a combat job that uses aura, your physical abilities are high, so it's normal for them. And if you're a member of the "Wooden Sword Way," even magicians have learned flying magic, so they can handle it. Noah can move by teleporting.
Chloe should be able to teleport too, but she's not good at sports. If by any chance she accidentally teleports to a "bouncing island" and gets thrown into the air, I can easily imagine her getting confused, freezing up, and falling all the way down below the clouds.
To prevent that, I thought it would be best for Chloe to be carried from the start; that's what this is about.
"W-well then! It doesn't have to be a guy, right!?"
Chloe disagrees, but it's not like having a guy is a bad thing. Besides, if it's "Boob Alien," carrying Chloe might actually boost his physical ability. It's more efficient and reasonable than having someone else carry her. It's not like I'm trying to annoy the witch or anything.
"Don't be so picky!"
I brushed off Chloe's objections.
"W-What?!"
"Come on, Lady Chloe! Get on my back――no, I mean, hurry up! It's dangerous if you fall, so hold on tight――no, I mean, cling to me!!"
"I-I don't want to...!!"
"Don't worry! I'm a gentleman!"
Even though she's reluctant, Chloe seems to want to avoid being a bother, so she lets the "Boob Alien" carry her. I used a carrying strap I took from the ring, with Fiona helping me secure both of their bodies.
Then, for some reason, the quiet "Boob Alien" spoke softly, "Lady Chloe..."
"W-What is it...?"
The "Boob Alien" smiled gently and gave a thumbs up.
"Nice boob!"
"Ugh!!"
Since I got to see Chloe's annoyed face, I guess it's time to set off.
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