Chapter 190 – The Horned Woman and the Half-Elf

After a while, it was Bella who appeared in her office, and the wizards of the Nine Gards escorting her. She called out Delia’s name anxiously until Bella reached her office.

“Delia!”

It was obvious that an unfortunate accident had happened to Bella and the others. The moment I went to the office entrance with her lovers, Bella gave us a startled look.

“Lou, Mr. Luke? What are you guys doing here?”
“I stopped exploring the labyrinth and was preparing to camp. But what the hell is going on? I can’t see anyone.”

Coincidentally, Bella’s group and ours overlapped. While we were caught in the trap area, Bella and the others caught up with us. It’s nice to see them again, but Bella doesn’t see a silver-haired half-elf among her escorts.

“Delia. She suddenly disappeared while fighting the ghouls. It was hard to keep an eye on each other because the battle was so chaotic. After the battle, I searched for a while, but I can’t find it. Ho, have you seen Delia, Mr. Luke?”
“I didn’t see it. If she’d seen that little elf, she’d have made sure to join her. She couldn’t be left alone to wander around.”
“Ahhh…”

Having lost her best friend, Bella has a grim expression. She thought that a disappearance accident, which rarely happens in the labyrinth, would happen to people she knew. It’s good that Bella’s sister is safe, but Delia’s whereabouts is a concern.

“Did they leave no traces when they disappeared? Tell me, even if it’s a trivial thing.”
“She dropped her quarterstaff and went. She says she’s now missing by herself and without a cane.”
“…This is serious. A second-class wizard without a wand is the same as one without a core.”

One of the wizards following as an escort is seen holding Delia’s quarterstaff. Leaving her wand means that Delia’s current power is greatly reduced.

If you’re a first-class wizard, she can use her own magic regardless of her staff.
Delia’s ranking is second-class like mine. Without her wand she cannot fully use her ancient magic. At best, she must be at the level of blowing melee with low-power general-purpose magic.

She didn’t know that the little girl might be eaten by the ghouls of the labyrinth. Because she has ominous fantasies, even I get nervous.

“It’s too late. Her sister Bella looks too tired for her to continue searching.”
She said, “She’s only been gone for an hour. She’s now or she’ll never be found.”

Bella’s determination to find her Delia was firm. The wizards of the Nine Gards were also trying to find a half-elf who would become her next temple chief. When I told her that the road was blocked in front of her office, she tried to go back the way Bella had come.

‘I’m in trouble.’

For the sake of the party, it would be right to camp in the office. Everyone is tired from exploring the labyrinth all day. There could be an accident on our side if we tried to help in the search for Delia. However, he couldn’t stand still and watch Bella leave.

“Miss Bella! I will help you with the search. Please take me with you.”
“Thank you, Hannah.”

Among my party members was Bella’s assistant, Hannah. It was unmistakable that Hannah was a loyal female secretary, though she sometimes complained. Hanna dragged her tired body along and joined Bella’s party without hesitation.

“Luke-sama. I’ll help you with the search by myself for a moment. Everyone else should rest in the office. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
“I can’t help it. Let’s just help the search together.”
“Yes? Really?”

At Hannah’s question, I nodded her head.

It’s not that I’m helping the search out of favor with the missing Delia. Delia’s status is the successor to Ninggard. If you save us from danger, the Ningard side will throw at us even a piece of crap.

“Yes. There are things I need to get back from the little elf. I need to get a handkerchief. It’s not a very important item. Before we leave, let’s all drink a bottle of holy water together and leave.”
“Thank you for helping my lady.”

Before leaving, I asked Kate to bring out the holy water. After taking it together with the party members, the fatigued body quickly recovered. It is better to use the holy water now than to save it for nothing.

Not only Bella, but Ninggard’s wizards thanked us for helping us in the search. The three parties joined together to create a half-elf search party. There are quite a few people, so you don’t have to worry about being attacked by a group of ghouls.

“For now, let’s go back to the area where Delia went missing. There might be some clues about her disappearance.”

I stood at the head of the group and searched the labyrinth with Bella. The way Bella and her party came to her office was different from ours. It’s a labyrinth with a very complicated path, so even if you choose a different path, the traffic lines can overlap. Time passed and we stopped at the area where Delia was last seen.

“There are an awful lot of ghoul corpses. Are you saying that Ninggard’s wizards took them all down?”
“Most of them were done by Delia. One magic skill is amazing. Although it’s a bit clumsy…”

A large restaurant with a separate building inside the labyrinth. As I entered, the smell of burning flesh wafted through me. Ghouls burned to death by Delia’s flame spell were piled up on the floor. Certainly, he’s an elf kid who’s as good as firepower.

“It’s at this point that the quarter staff fell off. They fell all over the restaurant counter. Can you see something, Mr. Luke?”
“I’ll check in a minute.”

It was the moment when I and Bella checked where Delia had gone missing.

Bake ah ah ah ah ah ah-.

The shouts of the ghouls echoed loudly outside the restaurant. The moment we quickly looked around, we found a large number of ghouls clinging to the windows. They broke the windows and crawled into the large dining room.

“Gu, it’s a ghoul!! The ghouls have appeared again!”
“I see there’s a ghoul habitat around the restaurant!”

The number of ghouls is no joke. Counting with the naked eye, dozens of ghouls entered the restaurant endlessly. Wizards intercepted them with ranged spells, but there were more new ones appearing than the number of them falling.

“Aaaaa!!”
“Stand back and hold on! I will summon a wave and sweep it away!”

The ghouls that ran right in front of me swung their claws at me. When the nails loaded with supernatural power smashed the counter, the fragments flew out, making it crazy. Backing away with Bella, I swept them away with a wave of magic.

“Liquid ring! Hagalaz!”

It was fortunate that I was attacked inside the restaurant. There are only a few entrances to enter, so you only need to focus on intercepting them. The waves of ice I created froze the ghouls running through the entrance. The rest of the party also managed to gather their strength and block the windows of the restaurant.

Kuwoaaaaa-!!

How long has it been like hell? The ghouls’ supply offensive, which they thought was endless, gradually decreased. As many as 50 ghoul corpses were strewn about in the restaurant. If I and my lovers hadn’t joined, there might have been a death among Bella’s party.

“Haha, haha. We’re almost done! Just a few more to deal with.”

Breathing heavily, he dealt with the additional ghouls that came running. But even as the fight was coming to an end, I felt an inexplicable uneasiness. Delia went missing when there was a big fight like now. It’s not yet time to be safe.

‘Is anyone else missing?’

I quickly got my nerves up and looked around. Inside the restaurant, I see people breaking frozen ghouls. Rebecca and Kate, Bella and Hannah, Allie and Brute, and the wizards of Ninggard.

15 people including myself.
Great. It’s okay because there are no missing people. When I lowered my head in relief, I noticed a strange shape on the dining room floor.

“Hole…?”

The first thing I saw was a very small hole.
A pitch-black hole in the dining room floor like a dot.

Squeeze!

When I closed and opened my eyes, the size of the hole increased. The hole, which grew at an absurd rate, exceeded the speed of human reaction. In the blink of an eye, a large hole like an open manhole appeared under my feet.

“Huh, huh!”

The body fell down the hole. It’s a hole that sucks in like a vacuum cleaner, so it’s impossible to struggle! It was the moment I was about to break through the dining room floor and disappear completely below.

“Mr. Luke!”

Bella, who was nearby, grabbed my hand, which I stretched over hers. It may have been an act to pull it out, but the power to be sucked in was so strong. Bella’s clumsiness led me to fall down the hole holding my hand.

Whii-i-i-!!

“Aaaaagh.”
“Kiyaaaaah”

Climbing the hole leading to the basement, we continued to fall. I tried to call the people in the restaurant for help, but the top of my head was already blocked. I instinctively realized that this mysterious hole was the main culprit in the disappearance.

“Bella sister ah ah ahhh! You can spread the wings.
“I’ll try, so hold my hand tight!! If I fall at this speed, I’ll die!! I don’t want to die as an old virgin without being able to get married!!”

As Bella stroked her Raven Ring, she grew crow wings on her back. We flapped our wings vigorously, but nothing stopped us from falling.

The passage through the hole is like a different world. Even if you look around, all you see is a pitch-black landscape. We were just falling vertically in a dark space where we couldn’t see an inch ahead.

‘My stomach hurts!’

My head feels dizzy as if I was on an extreme ride. The only thing I can trust is the quarter staff in my hand right now. Unlike the clumsy half-elf, I brought my staff properly.

“Blizzard aaaaa!!”

As he directed the [Blizzard] Towards his feet at full output, the falling speed slowed down. Eventually, at the end of the crash, we reached a hole the size of a manhole. Just like when he fell, he could see the scenery of the labyrinth through the hole.

Koo-ung!!

I hugged Bella and fell over the hole. If he had fallen, he would not have been able to avoid the fall, but it was meaningful that he struggled as much as possible. The moment we collided with the hard ground, the two of us barely survived.

“Keueueugh. Where the hell is this place?”
“Eh, it’s not dark for now. Magic lights are hanging around.”

I supported Bella and raised her body. I got separated from my friends and ended up in a completely unfamiliar place. After looking around for a while, we immediately spotted one person that caught our eye.

“…”

A white, silver-haired half-elf.
Delia, whom she had been searching for so far, was lying unconscious before her eyes.