Chapter 222: Arifureta (2)
~Mash B. POV~
[Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom]
Laying down on my bed waiting I heard knocking on the door as I shouted out loud, "Come in! Mickey, right?"
Mikey announced himself with a deep bow, his eyes as he announced himself, "Venerated Hero, the King will see you right away."
I simply nodded as I ordered Shinra-Koketsu in a calm tone getting dressed, "Very well. Koketsu dressed up."
Shapeshifting into something more formal Mickey's eyes widened as my suit spoke in a girly voice startling him, "Got it Master. So, who's the poor stupid monarch we're meeting this time around?"
Mickey was dumbfounded by my Koketsu's words as I apologized in a sheepish tone, "I do apologize but my uniform has a mind of her own. She's a good suit when she wants just don't antagonize her or her looks and will be fine."
He only nodded his head as he took me to the carriage as I followed him. We arrived where the pope was with the carriage I greeted him in a 'respectful' tone, "Ah, Pope, even though our separation was brief, it's good to see you again. It seems your mission was a success."
Having a fake grin, he offered me inside the carriage. The royal castle was just as extravagant as you would expect. Its intricately chiseled façade was adorned with ornamental statues and large colored glass windows that provided a vibrant and pleasing visual display.
Additionally, the 12 tall, pointy towers reaching toward the heavens were a departure from the standard medieval castle design. The interior was equally awe-inspiring. Red carpets with golden embroidery covered the floors, and the walls were adorned with tapestries depicting what appeared to be the royal family's emblem.
The halls were filled with golden ornaments and crystal chandeliers that cast a warm, opulent glow. I had expected the castle's halls to be empty, but to my surprise, they were bustling with life.
Guards stood watch at every corner, ensuring the castle's security, while maids and butlers hurried about, diligently carrying out their daily tasks to keep the castle running like a well-oiled machine.
As we made our way through the castle heading towards the reception hall, I couldn't help but notice the curious glances directed my way. However, given that I was accompanied by the pope himself, none of them voiced their thoughts.
Not that any of their concerns would compel me to care about them. I would rather they all burn but hey we can't all be winners.
The large double doors swung open, revealing two guards wielding spears on either side as an announcer proclaimed our entrance in a booming voice through the chamber, "His Excellency Ishtar Langbard, the Pope, accompanied by the venerable Hero!"
*Shiii*
Using my [Photokinesis] coming in style with rainbow backlights each step I make with a neutral expression as I spoke in a stoic tone, "The name's Mash Bastion. And you are the King of Heiligh Kingdom I presume?"
Raising an eyebrow at the royal family I saw King Eliheid, a brown-haired and bearded man along with his blonde well-proportioned wife, cute 14-year-old daughter, and 10-year-old son. I offered a casual wave snapping them out of their dazed state.
Using my [Telepathy] gathering info Eliheid asked suspiciously of me, "Are you supposed to be the hero sent by the Lord?"
I replied with a shrug as I sighed explaining myself in a stoic tone placing a hand over my face, "As I've said to the old geezer, I'm pretty sure your Lord didn't send me. I came here of my own volition."
Ishtar soon interrupted dropping to his knees and attempting to pull me down with him, "My lord!"
However, I remained steadfast not yielding to his tugging as I narrowed my eyes in disgust at his actions. Fortunately, Shinra-Koketsu reacted growling at the Pope startled at seeing my talking uniform, "Never touch me again you annoying bug."
The Pope startled as I spoke with venom in my voice keeping my calm tone, "No. I don't bow to any king who hasn't earned my respect. He's not my King, and I don't need to show him respect. A King doesn't bow to no one."
This prompted shock and disdain from those present. Guards even reached for their weapons ready to strike me down however, Eliheid raised his palm halting everyone in their tracks inquiring about me, "If you're not the hero, then what are you?"
Raising my head to stare at the king I spoke in a neutral tone with my arms crossed providing an answer, "To you simply a visitor from a faraway land. To my homeland a King that won't bow to another."
Ishtar attempted to placate the ordeal nodding his head confidently while still kneeling on the ground like a worm, "My lord, he is simply confused. As you know we received an oracle from the Lord that he will be sending heroes, and through the summoning circle, he is what appeared. I'm certain he is the hero."
I mentally scoffed at his words. I indeed earned my right to be called the [King of Heroes] but to have someone of a lesser right say it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. However, my inner Gil just like him hates one thing in common… fucking liars.
The King soon spoke waving his hand to summon a maid who presented me with a needle and a blank, heavily enchanted piece of paper, "There is a way to confirm it."
I merely scoffed at this proclaiming in a confident tone, "Trust me that won't be enough to penetrate my skin."
Taking the need I immediately went to stab it in my eye. This shocked the crowd but soon saw what I meant.
*CLING*
Showing the crumbly folded needle, I replied crossing my arms and seeing the futility of having such a needle in a proud tone, "See? Nothing you have can harm or touch my eye. Allow me to do it myself."
Biting down on my thumb the King narrowed his eyes at me as I dropped the blood with the King informing me in a stern tone, "That is a status plate. Drip a drop of your blood onto it so we can see your Job and attributes."
*Shiii*
The card shone brightly, and to the dismay of everyone in the room, displayed my Job as [Synergist] ignoring everything else. I turned my attention back to the ruler of the country, who seemed to lose interest in me, while the rest of the room erupted into commotion.
The Pope Ishtar from my side shouted taking a step back and pointing at me with his expression a mix of fury and shock, "This must be a mistake! The Lord doesn't make mistakes! This must be the act of the demons!"
With a shrugged not caring looking at the grimacing king and his now clearly enraged Royal Family I asked the obvious looking quite bored with this whole charade, "I told you I'm not the hero. Seeing your expressions I assume you won't free me?"
The King soon declared gesturing towards the guards his words dripped with disdain as I yawned not afraid, "No. Escort our 'esteemed' guest away to a more appropriate room for now – "
You know what... I've had it playing nice.
*PEW*
*SPLAT*
"Argh!!!"
Shooting a beam of light from my finger as my Shinra-Koketsu glared intently taking the arm of the King I spoke in a carefree tone with a grin on my face, "That. That was the wrong answer mongrel. Now if you excuse me… I have things I must be doing. Go after my head and then…"
*SHIII*
Pointing at the Pope and the whole Family the guards stood still frozen as my grin widened in a sardonic tone, " – I would promise that your whole bloodline ends here and now to save us the trouble? Now then your majesty what was that you said again?"
He gritted his teeth as I had always been intrigued by stories where they underestimated and downtrodden the protagonist eventually rose to power and sought revenge. It was the cliched concept and these people were belittling me simply due to their limited understanding of the world.
What they considered an unquestionable truth was merely their perspective on reality and its governing laws. But that doesn't mean I have to follow them exactly now, do I? No. No I fucking don't.
Fortunately, I don't need to stay for long. I already got their memories of the location of the Labyrinth time to leave this place and head towards the Great Orcus Labyrinth. With a simple wink of my eye, I vanished using my [Delete Space].
*Swooosh*
/////
[Tortus, Horaud]
*Swoooosh*
Finally, I have teleported away to the humble town of Horaud, home to the notorious Great Orcus Labyrinth. Horaud is a small town that is surrounded by a large cliff. It has one large pathway in the center that leads to the Great Orcus Labyrinth due to it being the primary reason why people travel to Horaud.
In addition, it is full of various vendors that try to sell their goods to travelers who visit. Several buildings, such as the Adventurer's Guild of Horaud, are made from the cliff walls that surround the town.
Having meticulously scanned the memories of the ruling class and their guards, then synthesized the information to create a detailed mental map of the continent, I compared this knowledge to what I had gathered from the novels.
Using this information, I marked the estimated locations of the 6 remaining labyrinths on the map. The first one before me was my destination, teeming with monsters to be harvested and a young vampire girl in need of rescue.
Sigh… why fucking vampire girls. Couldn't it have been some other race than vampires… just why them? Why that specific race?
Rolling my eyes over myself I began to head towards the Labyrinth entrance of The Great Orcus Labyrinth is in the town of Horaud under the rule of the Heiligh Kingdom. It is one of the most easily accessible of the Labyrinths out there. It's commonly used by all kinds of people to either farm for materials, or as a training ground to increase their stats.
Initially, it was believed to consist of 100 floors in total, but in reality, it is divided into two sections; the Upper Level and the True Labyrinth, which contained 100 floors each. It is full of various traps that are majorly magical, in addition to several monsters of many degrees of strength, which become stronger and more deadly as one descends further down.
The level of the difference in terms of power between the monsters of the Upper Level and the True Labyrinth is quite drastic. For example, a party that was able to successfully clear all 100 floors of the Upper Level could easily be killed by the weaker monsters from the first floor of the True Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth was created by Oscar Orcus and gives the knowledge of creation magic to those who have overcome its trials. The concept of the Labyrinth is "Giving strength and experience to challengers to overcome their limits".
The Labyrinth was created inside the Greenway Mines underneath the Kingdom of Velka's capital city Velnika, which existed over 2,000 years ago. It was intended to be the most difficult of all the Labyrinths and was meant to be conquered last.
Hahaha! Intended to be last? Nah fam. Let's get this one out of the way first. Entering through the first floor of the dungeon the initial floors teeming with feeble and unremarkable creatures.
There were mice and rats the size of small dogs, as well as insects of varying sizes. However, the deeper one delved into the dungeon, the more formidable and diverse the species became.
This feels like Victory Road from Pokemon. You know what? Why not?
*SNAP*
With a snap of my fingers seeing the monsters come near me I smirked snapping my fingers and summoning my own monsters using my Authority of Gluttony, [Demon Beast Creation] in an amused tone, "Now then let's get going to the dungeon. I choose you!! [Great Rabbit], [Black Serpent]! [White Whale]! Clear up the trash."
Summoning each of my useful Demon Beasts in their true form, except for the White Whale being miniature, it was a breeze getting past the monsters the dungeon provided as I collected the materials in the process.
At this point, I started to create my own Pokemon [Demon Beast], summoning a [Charizard], [Aggron], [Flygon], and many more for fun. Oh, and [Diochu] but I killed that one right away regretting it. Just seeing a human face like Dio's on a Pokemon is weird.
Ha! I'm a Pokemon Trainer for fun.