Chapter 33 - Chapter 33: Preparations for the Decisive Battle

Chapter 33: Preparations for the Decisive Battle

"Dammit!"

"Those guys attacked without a single word. This counts as legitimate self-defense, right, Shirazawa?"

From the depths of the labyrinth came Shiro's indignant voice.

"Uh... if you want to put it that way, I guess you're not wrong." Shirazawa rubbed his nose. If the old man Ronandt heard that, he'd probably be fuming.

"How do we handle this guy?" Shiro asked, kicking the unconscious, bleeding-out Buirimus.

At the exact moment the teleportation array had activated, Shirazawa had forcibly interfered with the magic formula to drag this man back out. Although Shiro didn't fully understand the significance of the move, she knew Shirazawa wouldn't do anything to harm her.

"Give him a quick end." Shirazawa casually swung a scythe-foot, adding a to send this gentleman to meet his maker.

In the original timeline, Buirimus would have taken full responsibility for this failed mission. Despite Ronandt's best efforts to dissuade the King from punishment, Buirimus would eventually be exiled to the border to fight the Demon Race to atone for his mistakes. At that time, his child would have only just been born. Years later, after his wife and daughter were attacked and their fates became unknown, Buirimus would do something incredibly foolish in his desperation to earn merit and return to the capital.

That act would lead to the tragic fate of Sasajima Kyouya, who reincarnated as a goblin. Kyouya's tribesmen would be slaughtered, and he would be enslaved by Buirimus. Under forced control, Kyouya would be made to kill his own beloved sister and even forced to consume her flesh—all so Buirimus could force him to obtain titles like to boost his strength and finish his mission faster.

Sasajima Kyouya was a reincarnator with a fate even more miserable than Shiro's, imprisoned and tortured by humans until he went mad. It wouldn't be until he awakened the Ruler skill that he would kill Buirimus and escape, eventually evolving into an Oni and joining the Demon Lord's army.

From a "God's eye" perspective, Buirimus hadn't necessarily done anything "wrong" by human standards. Humans hunting monsters is the natural law of survival. Just as humans don't care about the feelings of the cattle they eat, the law of the jungle—survival of the fittest—dictates the world.

But from Shirazawa's current perspective... *Sorry, Wrath is one of mine.* I can only send you to your death. As for your family... well, I'll see to it they are looked after.

[Experience conditions met. Level Lv26 raised to Lv27.]

After killing Buirimus, Shirazawa let out a long sigh. "I wonder if doing this will let Wrath escape his nightmare..."

"Wrath? What's that? Does it taste good?" Hearing his mutterings, Shiro suddenly leaned in close.

"Uh... Aside from eating, don't you have any other pursuits?"

"Who says? Defeating Araba, leaving the labyrinth, and saving the world—those are my pursuits too." Shiro talked nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

Shirazawa was speechless. "I think you want to leave the labyrinth to eat a feast, not to save any worlds."

"Hmph!" Shiro snorted. "Is there a problem with saving the world and eating a feast at the same time?"

"Fine, you win." Shirazawa stopped arguing. "Anyway, we've found the exit. Next, we can prepare to deal with Araba."

The reason he let Ronandt go was to find that exit. Creatures appraised by the two are "marked" via a sub-skill effect of . The movements of marked individuals are fed back into a 3D map in their minds. Just like Mother, the Earth Dragons Gehre and Kagna—their current locations were all under surveillance. As they roamed the Lower Stratum, they mapped out the terrain, giving Shirazawa and Shiro a perfect grasp of the area.

Araba was also under surveillance. They could check his status panel at any time to formulate a battle plan based on his skills and attributes. Ronandt served as their GPS, heading straight for the exit and saving them the massive amount of time it would have taken to find it themselves. If they had really wanted to kill him, Ronandt never would have escaped.

"Wah-ha-ha-ha! Is the final battle finally starting?" Shiro rubbed her claws excitedly. "I can't wait!"

"Let's go. We'll set up the battlefield first, then go settle the score."

"Right!"

The two left the ruined nest one after the other, using to teleport directly back to the Lower Stratum.

...

"As a high-ranking Earth Dragon, Araba's mastery over Earth Magic is far beyond the norm. We have to keep our feet off the ground for the entire fight, otherwise, he'll likely suppress us."

At the bottom of the labyrinth, Shirazawa and Shiro looked over their carefully selected battlefield. Fighting on the ground was a disadvantage, so they chose aerial combat. The most suitable area for this was the Great Chasm where they had first encountered Araba. Back then, they had leaped from the Upper Stratum to the Lower Stratum while fleeing human adventurers. This area provided ample space to deploy various tactics.

Shirazawa looked upward. "The aerial kings of the labyrinth, the uncrowned monarchs: the Elroe Higher Finjicote!"

This was the territory of the giant bees. Through , he peered through layers of darkness to see a massive hive at the top of the canyon. Endless swarms of bees gathered around it, forming a biological fortress. They had been hunted by these bees before, and the memory still made them shiver.

"Elroe Higher Finjicote, huh..." Shiro recalled some unpleasant memories, and her rear end felt a phantom ache. "The same thing won't happen twice!"

Just as the words left her mouth, a giant bee appeared out of nowhere behind her and aimed its stinger right for her backside.

"AH——!!" A piercing scream echoed through the canyon.

"DIE!" With a swing of her scythe, the bee—with a combat power of less than 500—was angrily chopped into eighteen pieces.

"Pfft~" Shirazawa struggled to hold back his laughter. "I—I didn't see anything."

"Shut up!" Shiro glared at him, puffing out her cheeks. "Dammit, was I so distracted that I didn't even notice it approaching?" She gnashed her fangs. "These delinquent bees... I'm going to slaughter them all today!"

Shirazawa: "..." *Godspeed, Elroe Higher Finjicote.*

A furious Shiro went into full-power mode. Treading on platforms, she leaped toward the ceiling. The hive was high up, but that was no obstacle for them— was simply too practical.

*Hummm—*

A magnificent magic circle bloomed with light, and Shiro's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Magic Minds 1, 2, 3, and 4!"

"No. 1 ready... No. 2 ready... ready... eady..."

"Fire!"

*BOOM!*

A tide of magic soared into the sky. Thousands of magic bullets trailed streaks of light, screaming toward the hive.

*Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—!!*

Explosions kicked up clouds of smoke and stone. Densely packed bee corpses rained down from mid-air, carpeting the ground.

"Wa-ha-ha-ha! This is the price for messing with me! Die! Die! Die!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha—"

Shirazawa watched the slightly crazed Shiro and silently took two steps back. Truly, when a woman goes wild, it is a terrifying thing.