An Unexpected Reunion

Progress was slow and steady.

True to its name, the Hill of Lament led upward, the path climbing ever higher.

Slow or not, after a considerable amount of time, they'd gained significant altitude.

This was their first labyrinth, and a high-difficulty one at that, so Azu judged that caution was the right call.

She understood that what Yohane wanted most was for them to come home safe.

They'd encountered enemies several more times since the first fight. The Knight Zombies in this labyrinth followed behavioral patterns, and once they figured those out, things got a bit easier.

They grew more efficient at dispatching them, and their pace gradually picked up.

The loot from monsters increased along with it.

Their bags still had room, but at this rate, they might fill up before completing the labyrinth.

If that happened, the plan was to discuss it and turn back.

No reckless moves. Play it safe.

As for detecting enemies, Alexia's magic meant they avoided any ambushes.

The Knight Zombies could be tracked by the clanking of their armor or spotted visually, but this labyrinth also harbored Slimes.

Slimes clung to ceilings or hid in narrow crevices, waiting to ambush. They couldn't afford to let their guard down.

"There!"

At Alexia's alert, Azu slashed the Slime as it lunged.

Slashing attacks had no real effect on a viscous liquid like a Slime, but bisecting it bought time.

The moment the two halves tried to rejoin, they hit it with fire magic.

The moisture boiled off, and the Slime shuddered before dissolving into nothing.

"So that's how you kill a Slime."

"You can also destroy the core. But… look."

Alexia stood beside Azu and pointed at the Slime's remains. A tiny stone sat within them.

The Slime had been larger than Azu's face, but the stone was smaller than her pinky finger.

Trying to pinpoint and cut that tiny stone through the creature's translucent body mid-combat seemed a bit difficult.

"That would be tough."

"See? Faster and safer to just take it down with magic."

"Oh, I can take them down with my mace pretty easily, though."

"That's just you, I think."

A mace strike against a Slime's liquid body would normally lose most of its force.

Shattering the core inside on top of that required absurd physical strength.

Alexia grabbed Elza's arm.

Unmistakably soft. A maiden's arm, through and through.

Where she hid that kind of power was a mystery.

"Come on, what? That tickles."

Elza laughed and squirmed.

The Slime had dropped a rare mineral.

Gold mica, as it was called.

Apparently, when no humans were around, the creatures dissolved minerals and absorbed them for sustenance.

You'd think that meant they wouldn't bother targeting humans, but that was just a monster's nature.

Gold mica was in demand as a component for enchanted tools. Not as valuable as gold itself or gemstones, but worth a fair amount.

She stashed that in her bag too and took a breather.

Would Yohane be happy with this haul?

"Shall we rest up after we go a bit further?"

"Sounds good. I'm parched."

"Fine by me."

With everyone in agreement, they pressed on toward a suitable resting spot.

A wider area came into view up ahead.

It looked like a good place to stop, but then Alexia seemed to detect something.

"Someone's there. In combat…? No, they're being overwhelmed."

Hearing that, Azu drew her sword and advanced ahead.

If nothing was wrong, all the better.

But they might need to intervene.

Either way, they needed eyes on the situation.

In the space of a breath, she closed the distance and the scene became clear.

Several adventurers lay sprawled on the ground, and a girl carrying an oversized pack, likely a porter, was cornered by multiple Knight Zombies.

One of them had raised its sword high, the blade poised to fall. Azu struck from behind, aiming for the neck.

The neck was shielded by thick armor, and her blow produced only a metallic ring and a slight stagger.

But she forced mana into the Sealed Sword Grungaus and forcibly activated its effect.

The sword's effect let her deal damage to the neck, armor and all.

Without the Apostle's power, Azu's strength alone couldn't sever the head yet, but she'd managed to stop the attack.

She swung again at the same spot. The second hit finally took the head off.

Even with its head and body separated, the Knight Zombie wouldn't die, but without its head, the body flailed blindly, unable to process its surroundings.

She grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her to safety.

"Wh-who?"

The girl squeezed her eyes shut and forced out the words through tears.

She must have thought it was all over.

"Kazusa. It's been a while."

"… Azu?"

The porter was Kazusa, the girl Azu had once partied with in the Wind Labyrinth.

The unexpected encounter surprised her, but with the fight still unfinished, there was no time for a proper reunion.

Elza and Alexia caught up, and together they faced the Knight Zombies.

The headless one stumbled right off a cliff.

What a waste. It would have dropped something.

But she refocused immediately.

One of the Knight Zombies looked different from the rest.

Where the others wore white armor, this one's was black, and its sword had a reddish sheen.

Azu mentally dubbed it the Black Knight Zombie.

"That one, that one's bad news! It took out everyone!"

Kazusa screamed.

The fallen adventurers appeared to be the party Kazusa had come here with.

Alexia conjured a bow of fire, nocked a flaming arrow, and loosed it at the Knight Zombies.

They blocked with their shields, but the arrows were magical.

The instant an arrow struck, it detonated and blasted the shield away.

Follow-up fireballs slammed into the Knight Zombies.

While the chaos unfolded, Azu brought Kazusa to Elza.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, but…"

The fallen adventurers were bleeding badly.

Not one of them was moving.

Treatment wouldn't save them now.

"Leave this to us for now."

Kazusa nodded and retreated.

Azu leveled her sword at the smoke-filled area.

Ordinary Knight Zombies should have taken serious damage from that barrage, but the Black Knight Zombie was probably… …

Just as she'd predicted, it emerged from the smoke virtually unscathed.

It appeared to have intercepted the magic with the gauntlet on its right arm.

Marks were visible on it.

Azu raised her sword into a stance, and the Black Knight mirrored her.

For a brief moment, she noticed the similarity in their stances.

The Ash King's swordsmanship.

So much time had passed since she'd first seen it, and her own version had been adapted and personalized by now.

But that stance, she had never once forgotten it.

This was only a resemblance, nothing more.

She gripped the sword in both hands, raised it to eye level, and pointed the tip at her enemy.

The Black Knight seemed to register the same thing. For a single instant, silence blanketed the space between them.

Then, simultaneously, they kicked off the ground.