Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

The banshee, unable to do anything against the mental attack negation of the chaos eye, was repelled. Sensing its imminent demise, its eyes and spirit body trembled as if shaken by an earthquake.

Crackle.

The sword, enveloped in a chilling cold, began to turn purple as it crackled with lightning.

“Kii, kiiii.”

The banshee, barely managing to regain its composure, tried to escape, but I wasn’t going to let it get away.

‘Lightning Strike!’

Without a word, I fiercely slashed with my sword, fully charged with electricity.

A purple line was etched onto the banshee’s spirit body from head to toe, signaling its death.

“Kiihieeek!!!”

Rumble—

The thunderous roar followed shortly after.

The massive amount of mana infused into the sword, combined with the extreme cold and lightning, completely obliterated the banshee, leaving no trace behind.

“Ugh.”

As expected, the recoil from the Lightning Strike hit my entire body.

Is this the power of the incomprehensible seal’s pain tolerance increase? It definitely hurts less than the first time I used the skill.

‘Damn. It still stops me in my tracks, though. It’s still bloody painful.’

At least the headache had lessened when I used the lightning earlier, confirming that the trait I had acquired was indeed having a positive effect.

I shook off the temporary pain from the recoil with a quick jump in place.

“Are you okay with the skill’s recoil?”

Yeriel asked if I needed healing, and I smiled, assuring her that I’d take an extra potion if needed.

By the way, I’d heard that when ghost-type monsters like the banshee are destroyed, they sometimes leave behind unique remnants nearby with a certain probability… but it seemed like I was out of luck this time.

As I bent down to search the ground covered in weeds, I instructed my teammates to also look around for any sparkling objects.

‘Why can’t they just drop the remnants right where they were defeated?’

We all searched the area between the tombstones and the black grass for a moment.

“Found it! Is this what we’re looking for?”

Lumia discovered a tiny blue gemstone, no bigger than a baby’s fingernail, a short distance away from where the banshee had disappeared.

Although the banshee wasn’t a grand classification like an upper species or a mutant, it possessed various resistances and tricky traits, making its remnants valuable.

Known as the Banshee’s Tears, these remnants could fetch at least a gold coin when sold.

I put the gemstone, which Lumia had handed to me, into my backpack and asked, “Anyone injured?”

“Don’t worry, no one’s hurt.”

Yeriel and Lumia, who were at the rear, were obviously unharmed, and Veronica, who had blocked the flames, also seemed to have suffered no damage, perhaps due to the excellent performance of her newly acquired shield.

Well, if even I, who had been at the forefront of the battle, was unharmed, there was no need to worry.

“Let’s go. We’re almost at the portal.”

The seventh floor was just ahead.

.

.

.

After walking for about two hours, as expected, a horde of monsters ambushed us right before we reached the portal.

A horde of over ten Poisonous Ghouls and Dark Ghouls combined.

“Waaah!”

Clang!

I easily deflected the black claws they swung at me and focused on the front.

Dark Ghouls.

Like the Poisonous Ghouls emerging from the ground of the Sanctuary, they barely surpassed the level of being mere cannon fodder…

They were monsters that could rarely inflict blindness status effects with their claws, and it had been a while since I had encountered a dark-attribute enemy.

In other words, the option of Solace was once again proving its worth.

“Guuaaa!”

Crack!

I felt a thrill as I watched the Dark Ghouls split like straw under my sword.

‘This is it! Let’s not just sweat and struggle in battle, let’s also enjoy some sweet honey!’

The sword, enveloped in radiance, sliced through the horde.

Swish! Crunch!

The monsters, helpless against the onslaught of sword strikes, flew away like leaves blown by the wind.

The other teammates didn’t even need to move.

Sizzle—

The severed bodies of the monsters, cut by the light of Solace, even caught fire with a sizzling sound. In that moment, I was their nemesis.

“Alright, everyone ready?”

We casually walked through the corpses and reached the blue layer portal.

From the sixth floor to the seventh.

We were about to leave this detestable Sanctuary behind.

.

.

.

Woosh.

I landed lightly and looked around.

The atmosphere was much more eerie than the fifth and sixth floors, and the cool air made my breath visible.

“Brr. It’s chilly. It suddenly feels incredibly cold.”

“A bad vibe…”

I empathized with my teammates’ brief comments, and as the torch tied to my backpack with a rope was about to go out, I threw it to the ground and stomped on it.

Whoosh.

I lit a new torch from my backpack with a flint and illuminated the surroundings.

The pale mist that covered everything began to dissipate in the light, revealing the gloomy surroundings.

‘It feels like something might jump out at any moment. Indeed, this is the heart of the Sanctuary.’

There were at least twice as many large and small tombstones densely packed into the ground, and the rotten trees with bare branches and no leaves welcomed us.

This was the seventh floor.

The heart of the fallen Sanctuary, connected to the southern portal of Rabita. It was the final floor of this area.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any approaching threats, but I asked Lumia, “Can you sense any presences nearby?”

Lumia closed her eyes and concentrated, her ears twitching, then spoke after a moment.

“I don’t sense anything. It’s quiet.”

Nothing? It seemed like we had started at a not-so-bad spot.

Even with my sharp eyes, I couldn’t see anything unusual other than the tombstones, black grass, and bare trees beneath my feet.

With the positive search results, I wondered if I could determine our current location.

“Can you figure out where we are?”

In a forest, even someone like me with good eyesight could climb a tall tree to get a better view and figure out our location. But in this flat terrain, with all the landmarks looking the same, I didn’t even dare to attempt it.

As I sighed inwardly, Lumia, with her innate sense and the training and specialized education she received at the instruction center, which even granted her a trait, began to study the map carefully.

“It seems like we’re at the northwest edge. From our current position, we should turn slightly to the right and then head in this direction—”

Lumia traced her finger on the map, plotting a route to the central portal.

‘She used to just stand behind us, shooting dark magic with a gloomy face. It feels like it was just the other day.’

Comparing the Lumia who clung to me when we first met, barely surviving, to her current self who had grown so much, I felt a surge of emotions.

Before we set off, I gave everyone a reminder.

“Let’s maintain the same formation as before. Since there are too many tombstones for us to predict where the Poisonous Ghouls will emerge, always be on guard. Let’s go!”

.

.

.

Two hours. Four hours. Six hours.

We took breaks at empty spaces, rotten trees, and other spots without tombstones or structures.

For half a day, we cautiously moved towards the center without letting our guard down.

‘What’s going on? We’ve been walking for so long, yet we haven’t seen a single adventurer or even a trace of monsters. What’s wrong?’

Despite Lumia’s swift guidance, we hadn’t encountered any monsters during our journey towards the portal.

In the silent stillness, we trudged forward, the only sound being the rustling of the black weeds underfoot.

Well, it’s better to think positively and move on, right?

I tried to shake off any strange thoughts or foreboding words, as speaking them might invite trouble.

Regardless of what I was thinking, I kept a vigilant eye on our surroundings as we walked, taking turns with the others to maintain a watchful rear guard.

Lumia stopped and signaled with her arm, indicating she had found a tombstone of the Sanctuary.

“What should we do? Should we just ignore it and keep moving forward?”

I checked the time on my wristwatch.

It was 8 PM. An ambiguous time.

‘Hmm. Should we call it a day and set up camp here?’

Since there were countless tombstones in the field, and we didn’t know when we’d encounter a white tombstone, we might not find one until dawn.

After some deliberation, I noticed fatigue on the faces of my teammates, so I decided to set up camp earlier than usual.

“It’s a bit early, but what’s the point of a regular bedtime in a place where it’s dark 24/7?”

Veronica nodded in agreement.

“I agree. Especially in this environment, mental fatigue accumulates quickly. It’s better to rest early and start moving again.”

“Yeah. Honestly, it’s more exhausting not encountering anything. It’s like walking with a ticking time bomb.”

Yeriel, holding her staff with a drooping arm, seemed to realize something and glanced at Lumia.

“Well, of course, it’s thanks to Lumia’s excellent pathfinding skills!”

“…”

“Suddenly, I feel like… hehe.”

Lumia pulled Yeriel closer and patted her head.

[Chaos says that the priestess has a cute side.]

Yeriel, not just as a priestess but as a person, always brought a soft and refreshing atmosphere to the party, preventing us from becoming too stiff in this so-called ‘maze’.

I chuckled and placed my hand on the tombstone, infusing it with mana.

Paaat!

The words on the tombstone were filled with mana, creating a small circle of ripples that blocked monsters.

With this, we could safely rest for the day.

After filling our stomachs with preserved food, we took turns keeping watch and went to sleep.

.

.

.

.

Something’s wrong.

After safely spending the first day on the seventh floor, several days passed, and it had been four days already.

We were almost at the center where the portal was located.

Clang!

I smashed the last remaining Skeleton Warrior and scratched my head.

‘This is clearly a problematic situation. What’s going on? What’s the issue here?’

During our journey to the center, we had encountered monster hordes less than five times.

In just a few days, we hadn’t even faced them five times.

That wasn’t all.

We hadn’t encountered any other parties.

Even though each floor was disgustingly vast, we had traversed from the northwest edge to the center without meeting a single party. Was this even possible?

The gimmicks were also problematic.

Although they were supposed to start from the sixth floor, in reality, most of them appeared on the seventh floor, such as ‘Undeadified monsters of dead adventurers’ bodies’, yet we hadn’t encountered a single one of them.

Unlike the Banshee, which we had to face at least once, despite not having an easy start near the center, the complete silence from these monsters was highly unusual.

‘Damn it. Fine, since it’s come to this, let’s just keep going. Once we move to the next floor, we’ll be done with the Sanctuary, right?’

As I forced myself to calm down, we stepped into the central area, and the question that had been lingering in my mind since we arrived on the seventh floor was finally answered.

Of course, it was an unfavorable answer, and in the worst possible way.

[Chaos slaps her forehead and sighs.]

Chaos was surprised, and we all were shocked.

“W-What is that?”

“What should we do? We can’t even think about the portal with that thing blocking the way.”

“Let’s… retreat for now. We need to find a way to reach the portal, as we have to use it to move to the next floor.”

What stood in the center was a monster.

A monstrous and bizarre creature… just seeing it lowered our morale, and we couldn’t even fathom how to face it.

The monster hordes had disappeared, and no other parties were in sight.

The reason why we hadn’t encountered any undead adventurers, as per the gimmick of the Sanctuary.

‘Fucking hell. A Necromancer… and not just any Necromancer, but one with the Commander of the Dead trait.’

───

[Christopher]

[Strength: E+] [Agility: D-] [Endurance: E+] [Vitality: D-] [Mana: C+] [Luck: E-]

[Possessed Traits] (Click to expand)

Blythe’s Commander of the Dead
Mana Affinity
Corpse Guide
One Language
The Fallen

───

In fact, it wasn’t even a high-level monster or one with terrifying traits, so it was fine that the resurrected monster was a Necromancer.

The monster behind Christopher.

Due to its traits, it had devoured all the monsters and adventurers it encountered while roaming the seventh floor, and now it stood in our way, having even devoured the parties that had reached the center.

Shit. How do we get past this?

[Named Monster Detected.]

[Limited information is displayed.]

Just as I was about to carefully examine the information window that appeared before our eyes, a sound caught my attention.

Tick.

Tick.

The sound of the pocket watch’s gears moving.

“Huh? What’s this?”

In this dire situation, our vision was shrouded in darkness.

Yeriel’s pocket watch, which only had the effect of increasing Luck by one level, began to glow and operate on its own.

──Very rarely, a stopped pocket watch will start ticking again.

In this case, if you infuse the watch with divine power, it will summon another version of yourself from a different timeline.

At that moment, your body will become an ethereal spirit, and you’ll temporarily share control of your body with the summoned version of yourself.

Yeriel, initially startled and dizzy from the sudden situation, realized that her unique equipment might be the key to breaking through this situation. She infused the pocket watch with divine power.

[The pocket watch of the timeline begins to operate.]

[Sending a request to numerous timelines… Request accepted.]

Sizzle— Crackle—

“Huh?!”

As Yeriel’s body crackled with static, a bright yellow flash erupted, blinding us all.

Whoosh!

[Yeriel’s body summons the ‘Paladin of Light, Yeriel’ from the seventh timeline.]

[Abilities temporarily increase.]

[Traits temporarily added or transformed and applied.]

As the smoke cleared, we saw…

“I’m needed? I had a free day, and now this happens?”

[I-Is this really another me]

Yeriel, now a spirit, stood behind her transformed body, which was now controlled by…

The Paladin of Light, Yeriel, from another timeline, who had accepted the pocket watch’s request.