Shadowed Gaze: The Highserk War Saga - Chapter 113

Walm’s darkened vision rapidly cleared. Though the darkness might have been enough to make him lose his sense of balance, Walm’s feet were firmly planted on the ground. The visibility was far from ideal, but clusters of luminescent moss grew on the floor, walls, and ceiling, illuminating the labyrinth.

Traces of divine intervention on the surface, a playground of the gods, a world outside the realm of reason—these were the grandiose names Walm had learned about while investigating the labyrinth. He couldn’t laugh at those who named it so. Even for Walm, who had grown accustomed to worlds with different rules, this place felt different.

That said, Walm wasn’t a scholar or researcher driven to solve the mysteries of the world. Pondering the labyrinth’s secrets more than necessary would only slow him down. He had already experienced a world governed by different principles, so there was no need to be bewildered now.

Breathing deeply to calm his rising excitement, Walm regained his flexibility and began searching for the footsteps of the ones who had entered before him. Although not much time had passed since the adventurers ahead had leaped in, there was no sign of them. He crouched to examine the ground but found no fresh traces. Walm’s mind kept turning.

“Are the spawning points separate?”

If not, the continuous influx of labyrinth challengers would cause a traffic jam. How large was this place? Considering that commoners without military or war experience could carry enough supplies to return from the lower levels, it should be possible to traverse it in no more than a day, perhaps even half a day. Judging by the equipment of the novice adventurers, Walm could likely handle the anticipated enemies even on his own. Though Walm had no intention of being overconfident in his skills, his extensive combat experience had given him a good sense of his limits.

Walm raised his halberd and started down the passage. The ceiling was unusually high, and the passage was wide enough for two carts to pass through comfortably. The corridor led to a small room, from which multiple new corridors branched out. Choosing one of these, Walm found another similar room and passage. Repeating this process several times, Walm roughly grasped the structure of the ruins.

Essentially, it resembled a grid. The corridors were the lines, and the intersections were the small rooms, with some paths cut off and ending in dead ends. Among the small stones and glowing moss that had fallen from the ruins, weeds were fiercely competing for survival.

As Walm left the small room and proceeded down the passage, he noticed a shadow approaching from ahead. The sound of slapping footsteps seemed out of place and somewhat eerie. Walm tensed as the figure emerged.

“A goblin, huh?”

The familiar appearance of the creature remained unchanged in the labyrinth. Humanoid, about the height of a child, with more developed canine teeth than a human’s. Its ears were pointed and smaller than a human’s, and its skin was still covered in green pimples. Goblins, while low-ranking monsters, were known to be cunning enough to flee if the situation turned unfavorable. Or so they should have been.

The goblin charged at Walm upon seeing him, akin to a powerful individual or a variant driven by rampage. Walm lowered his stance and thrust his spear at the goblin as it closed in. The spearhead struck true, and the goblin’s head flew through the air, bouncing on the floor a few times before coming to a halt.

Walm, who remained vigilant of his surroundings, detected no further attacks.

“Well, yeah, it’s a goblin.”

Walm approached the corpse and, to be sure, pierced its heart, receiving no response. The goblin was unarmed and naked. Examining its battered head, he found nothing unusual.

“Do they attack when you get close, or are they just roaming around? Well, both seem likely.”

After finishing his inspection, Walm was about to leave when he sensed new presences approaching. Drawn by the sound of battle, more goblins were coming. Unsure whether to confront them or not, Walm chose to flee. He wasn’t so deranged as to take pleasure in killing unarmed goblins.

They weren’t edible, and their corpses could at best be ground up for fertilizer, not worth scavenging. Silently, Walm quickly left the area. After crossing several more corridors and rooms, he stopped and checked for any pursuit. There was none.

Continuing his exploration, Walm dispatched several unfortunate goblins he encountered along the way until he reached a different kind of room.

“A staircase.”

It was a staircase, beckoning him downward. Prodding the floor and railing with his halberd and finding no changes, Walm descended. His footsteps echoed, but no other sounds accompanied them. After descending about a hundred steps, he reached a room similar to the ones he had seen before.

“So, I need to walk around the corridors and find the stairs again to continue.”

He lightly tapped his shoulder with the haft of his halberd. As he descended the floors, he had been informed that the enemies would become more formidable. Keeping his guard up, Walm moved forward. The first opponent he encountered was another goblin, this time armed with a club.

“So, you’ve learned how to use a club.”

Walm spoke as if impressed. It was indeed a significant improvement. The goblin raised its club high and charged straight at him. In respect, Walm thrust his halberd. The spearhead swiftly decapitated the goblin as before.

The goblin’s club fell to the floor with a clattering sound, evoking a sense of melancholy. Walm picked up the club and swung it a few times. It was of better quality than he had expected. With the goblin’s strength, repeatedly striking could probably crush a melon or a human head. He stored his first find in his magic bag. If it became a nuisance, it could at least serve as firewood.

Walm continued to nonchalantly cut down the goblins that stood in his way. To be blunt, he didn’t even struggle. After slaying about seven goblins, he descended further.

Preparing himself for whatever greeting the goblins on this new level might have, Walm heard multiple footsteps approaching from the corridor.

“Overwhelming with numbers, huh? Not a bad strategy.”

Two goblins, paired up, charged at him with clubs raised. Walm struck out with his halberd as he had before. By now, he had grown accustomed to decapitating goblins.

The goblin’s companion, undeterred by its partner’s death, rushed at Walm, completely focused on him. The retracting blade of the halberd bit into the goblin’s neck, shattering and severing its spine. The goblin, nearly decapitated, continued to convulse, its arterial blood staining the floor.

Walm continued onward as if nothing had happened. Given that multiple goblins attacked simultaneously on this level, he heard battle cries and sounds of combat from somewhere.

It was likely a party hunting on the lower levels. Although he hadn’t encountered them yet, Walm had learned at the tavern that orcs and silver wolves were popular targets on the lower floors. Orcs were good for their meat, and silver wolf pelts were highly valued.

The adventurers were probably engaging the goblins they encountered while making their way to the floors where their prey appeared. In the labyrinth, it was a rule not to form parties of more than five people. This wasn’t a guild preference but a principle established by the slab found when the labyrinth was discovered, based on the experience of sacrifices. If broken, something was guaranteed to happen. Though the details were unclear, most parties that broke the rule never returned to the surface.

Walm had read these rules at the reception and knew that approaching a fighting party was generally not recommended. Breaking rules seldom ended well. Walm moved away from the sounds of combat.

Crossing the dim corridor and stepping into a small room, Walm sensed an anomaly on the floor. Lying there was a goblin slain by a predecessor. It wasn’t much different from the goblins Walm had played with, but half of its body seemed to be merging into the labyrinth, being swallowed.

“Must be the labyrinth’s self-purification, like digestion.”

Not only monsters, but even abandoned weapons, armor, and human corpses were said to be consumed by the labyrinth. Whether the soul was absorbed when one died in the labyrinth remained uncertain, but the sight gave weight to the idea.

Feeling an eerie chill, Walm slipped past the liquefied corpse and hurried on.

Translator – Lyxxna