–Dark Smith.
According to the Monster Book, their existence has only been confirmed in Labyrinths with recommended levels 13 or higher.
The origins of these monsters are Lesser Demons, they are monsters who use minerals and ores produced in the Labyrinth to craft weapons and armour.
It is said that they process materials in a special room called the Demon Atelier, and mainly supply equipment to humanoid monsters that reside in the deep layers, but their production and delivery methods are shrouded in mystery.
The items made from the hands of Demon Smiths are known to be of high quality and with special Gifts sealed within.
However, their equipment required Statuses that far exceeded what humans possessed, or contained cursed Gifts as though a trap.
Even if they were brought back to the surface with great effort, they rarely fetch a price higher than for their material, and after appraisal fees and other expenses are deducted, you could even end up in the red.
Therefore, even if one obtained an item from a Dark Smith, it was likely to be abandoned in the Labyrinth.
[Hu, hu, h~uu.]
Skull Mask was in a good mood. In the deepest part of the 52nd Floor — he was seated cross-legged in a corner of the Demon Atelier.
According to ‘Administrator’, the humans would be arriving there shortly.
A few days had passed since their memorable encounter at the Dungeon Oasis on the 50th Floor.
[Looking forward to it.]
Skull Mask was concentrated on preparing its weapons before its first battle.
It might not have victory in sight, but that did not mean it could cut corners.
Skull Mask was one of the Dark Smiths.
However, it did not do what those so-called Dark Smiths would do.
It was ‘Transporter’, having the role of distributing weapons and armour to monsters born in the Labyrinth.
Just as Magikan had appraised, he did not have any Gifts, but he had several pieces of equipment with special Gifts Sealed inside for his work.
Allowing the wearer to visualise the structure of the Labyrinth, [Spatial Understanding] earrings. Able to instantly move to the location you imagine, [Shift] boots. Sense the Demonic Spirit of monsters with an [Enemy Search] bracelet. Sense the Divine Spirit of humans with a [Tracking] bracelet. A [Presence Blocking] pendent that suppressed its own Demonic Spirit. A [Super Light] basket that halved the weight of anything placed within, and so on…….
There were also weapons and armour that Skull Mask had gotten ‘Manufacturer’ to make for him
His favourites were the knife with [Reminiscence] that allowed it to steal memories even from human corpses, as well as the [Herculean Strength] mask that was made in the shape of a human skull.
Skull Mask was interested in human beings.
It all started with the [Reminiscence] knife.
Though originally made for it as a means to cope with human behaviour, when it found a half-rotting corpse in the Labyrinth and peeked into its memory, it was fascinated by an intense thought.
<–I don’t want to die.>
The fear of the annihilation of body and soul.
Since the mission of monsters was to protect the Labyrinth, the mission of humans should have been to clear the Labyrinth. And yet, instead of regret for not being able to fulfil their duty, there was only a fear of death that was keenly conveyed.
Monsters did not possess emotions that strong other than anger and fighting spirit.
But it wasn’t the case that they lacked them entirely.
That was an exciting sensation that it had never felt before.
To use an analogy — an intense sensation as if water had been forced fed to dried-up Luminsecent Moss.
Skull Mask wanted to understand human beings.
That is why, whenever he heard information about human corpses from monsters while on his deliveries, he rushed to the corpses first and retrieved those memories.
The quality and quantity of the memories obtained varied depending on the state of decomposition the corpse was in. From fresher corpses, it was able to experience an equally strong emotion, the converse to the fear of death — an obsession with life that could be read more clearly.
<If this was going to happen, I wish I’d told her.>
<Ah~hhh…. I want to drink one last ale.>
<Mom, Mom.>
<You bastards! I still……>
All human beings have the same appearance, but their inner selves are complicated and bizarre.
Skull Mask, whose interest deepened, started collecting hair from corpses and attaching it to its own head, stole their clothes and put them on, and brought their heads back and got ‘Manufacturer’ to make masks that looked just like those heads.
It had the pride to say without a doubt that it was the most human-like monster in the Labyrinth.
However, no matter how much knowledge it accumulated, it was meaningless without a partner with whom he could share these feelings.
At first, it had broached the topic with its closest colleagues, but they showed completely no interest, and conveyed in displeasure that it should stop interfering with work.
Only one, the Lich of the 50th Floor, had been willing to listen to what it had to say.
Surely this was the relationship called a ‘friend’ that was in all those human memories?
It had realised this after the Labyrinth Collapse — when it was looking for the Lich while on a delivery.
It looked like many monsters had been defeated on the 50th Floor, weapons and armour made by ‘Manufacturer’ were lying everywhere.
The humans seemed to be closing in.
Even if they were driven back this time, another group of humans would definitely soon come again.
Considering the time until the Labyrinth Core reaches ‘that moment’ and the remaining floors, the answer was clear.
Soon before long, this Labyrinth will be — lost.
Without thinking of much, Skull Mask used [Shift] to the Dungeon Oasis, where the humans were said to be.
It was an impulsive action born from a kind of resignation that it could surely do as it pleased in its final moments.
[……Oh, they’re coming.]
The [Tracking] bracelet informed that humans were approaching.
[Everyone, get ready–]
A spring spurts up in a Dungeon Oasis, but lava erupts in the Demon Atelier.
In the surrounding area, the smell of burning hangs over and dull, rusty-red steam envelops the ground like a mist.
As if cutting through that mist, enemies appeared from the back of the passageway.
A mixed force of about 15, mainly Ogres and Minotaurs.
All of them appeared to have been dominated by humans.
In opposition, their forces consisted of 4 Dark Smiths, including Skull Mask, and 16 Garrison who had been hastily summoned for a total of 20.
The humans seemed to be hiding in the shadows of the passageway, and could not be seen.
“……’Dark Screen’.”
Suddenly, countless magic formations rose on the surface of the Demon Atelier and burst.
What appeared were dozens of dark boards.
They were squares with no width, and each one was large enough to hide an Ogre.
[Heh, dark-type magic, huh? Same as the Lich.]
According to what it had heard from the Lich itself, among dark-type magic, there was powerful magic such as “Feasting Bugs” which fed on enemies within range and “Bottomless Swamp” which pulled the target into the ground, so they couldn’t carelessly approach.
[But it won’t reach here, you know.]
It was wary of offensive magic, but it was mistaken.
The Garrison, who were positioned to protect the Dark Smiths, were at their front, left and right.
Breaking through the dark boards, the enemy’s monsters swooped in.
The dark boards were simply shadows.
It looked like it was actually a trap to obstruct their view so they could aim at a pincer.
Behind them was a lava pool and on their 3 sides, in front and adjacent, were enemy monsters.
They were completely surrounded.
[Not good, this is.]
Skull Mask gave its impressions as though it was somebody else’s business.
Garrison, who usually acted in groups of 4, could fight as a party. Though having said that, their patterns were straightforward, it was more or less just the vanguard equipped with metal weapons and armour intercepting the enemy while from a slight distance behind, the rear guard would use their magic Gifts.
The ones with robes and wands would take distance, and at the areas where many gathered–
“‘Demon Exterminating Light Gun’.”
Near the entrance of the passageway. Sometime along the way, the dark boards had dissipated, and a human clad in a gaudy gold-embroidered robe was drawing a magic formation.
“Hoi!”
Countless magic formations formed a hemisphere–
Immediately after, a powerful, unparalleled light-type attack magic arose.
An extremely thick spear of light skewered the inside of that hemisphere.
The explosion that followed the flash shook the Demon Atelier, and all that remained were Garrison that had been so shredded that you could not imagine their original forms as well as fragments of their equipment.
[Did you estimate the movements of the rear guard? The destructive power is a match for the magic of the Lich.]
It seemed that the person who cast the magic was the one it had taken hostage at the Dungeon Oasis on the 50th Floor.
The rear guard was annihilated.
However, the vanguard was still evenly matched.
They should still be able to fight.
“‘Dark Bed’.”
Another magic formation stuck to the enemy monsters and popped.
The vanguard of the enemy was full of strength-type monsters, Ogres and Minotaurs. They attacked without regard for defence, so it was inevitable that their health would be shaved down.
But then, only the enemy’s wounds healed.
[Oi oi, isn’t that against the rules?]
It couldn’t help but complain.
The user of the dark-type recovery magic appeared to be a different person from the earlier human..
A strategy made in advance, capable powerful attack magic and recovery magic, and in addition to that, could also control monsters.
The situation was so unfair that even Skull Mask ended up stunned.
It was dexterously manoeuvring around the battle while evading, but it was doubtful how much longer it would be able to do so.
Soon, the Garrison in the vanguard fell, and the Dark Smiths had to take up blades.
Excluding Skull Mask, each of the other 3, ‘Manufacturer’, ‘Administrator’, and ‘Collector’, had various powerful weapons.
The [Incandescent] Axe that spewed flames from its blade, the [Perforating] Spear that ignored physical defence, and the [Heavy Wave] Cudgel that was able to knockback opponents even after being blocked.
But in the end, they were outnumbered. Surrounded by multiple enemies and taking attacks from behind, they didn’t stand a chance. The colleagues it had worked together with for many years fell to the ground while screaming in horrific despair.
Before they knew it, all of its allies had been wiped out.
More than 10 enemy monsters still remained.
Right in front of Skull Mask’s eyes was a Minotaur wielding a two-handed Great Axe.
“Don’t get careless! It can [Shift]. Watch your back!”
Another human seemed to have shouted, but unfortunately, it was not currently wearing the boots with [Shift]. The activation condition required complicated steps, so it was not suitable for combat.
Instead, it was wearing long boots with [Sky Step], which allowed it to take just one more step while in mid-air.
Skull Mask, intercepting a blow from the Minotaur with a backstep, then with a step with its left followed by a step with its right as though climbing invisible stairs, it thrust a Short Sword into the head of the Minotaur.
[–[Unravel].]
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