Chapter 128: Minotauros

It has been ten days since I drew a 5-star Power and Eve disappeared.

Eve still hasn’t returned. But I couldn’t just wait idly, so I was doing what I had to do.

I commissioned the production of the Moonlight-infused Crystal. I was negotiating compensation for the damages to the Magic Tower with Benny, and I applied to join a raid party upon hearing the news that the Floor Guardian of the second floor had appeared.

Maybe it was the shock from Morgana’s incident, but lately, Lydia has been sticking to me wherever I go, and I poked her in the side and asked.

“Miss Lydia, Miss Lydia.”

“Hm? Hungry? But if we eat and go in, Ellie will be disappointed.”

“That’s right. Unless you say you’re eating out, there’s always something prepared for you. But the reason I called you, Lydia, isn’t because of that. I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the Floor Guardian on the second floor.”

“Oh.”

Morgana is a colossal force compared to me. I only managed to take her down her by a stroke of luck and favorable conditions. Otherwise, even if there were hundreds like me, we wouldn’t have been able to touch a hair on her head.

Still, I defeated Morgana, and the Labyrinth recognized this as an achievement.

With Basilieus’s growth acceleration effect added, I’ve experienced tremendous growth…to the point where I could move on to the third floor if I wished.

Hunting more monsters on the second floor won’t increase my stats much. Despite that, the reason I haven’t moved on to the third floor is simple.

Since we have to take down the boss…

The Floor Guardian of the second floor isn’t the first subjugation in the Labyrinth’s history like on the first floor, so it’s not a guaranteed Power draw…

Anyway, it gives a chance to roll for Power. This is only given to the adventurer who subjugates the Guardian for the first time, so should it be called a single roll?

Swallowing such doubts, I opened my mouth.

“I know the Floor Guardian of the second floor is Minotauros. But I don’t really know what kind of monster it is specifically. Miss Lydia, you’ve fought it before, right? How was it?”

“Minotauros? It’s a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a human. It’s strong.”

“I know what it looks like. I’m curious about how strong it is and how it fights.”

“Hmm. How it fights, huh.”

Lydia, who was pondering for a moment, slowly opened her mouth.

“First, you know that monsters were once intelligent beings or ordinary flora and fauna, right?”

“Of course I know. That’s basic if you want to get the Temple’s rations.”

“Right. So what do you think happens when an extraordinary being gets consumed by madness?”

“…A strong monster?”

“Half right, half wrong. Strength doesn’t make something special. It’s achievements that make a being special.”

“Achievements…”

Come to think of it, achievements were considered extremely important in the Labyrinth. Perhaps, to the Gods, achievements are more than just long-remembered honors.

“War begets heroes. And Minotauros was one of them.”

“Oh…then, isn’t it incredibly strong? If it was called a hero on a battlefield where even gods perish, it can’t be just on a second-floor level, right?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“If it were in its prime, maybe. Minotauros is quite a famous hero, so the records still exist. Jonah could probably access them at the Guild library…”

“Aww. When will I go all the way there again? Miss Lydia, just tell me. I want to hear it in your voice.”

“…No flirting.”

Thwack!

I got a flick on the forehead when I subtly rubbed my shoulder against hers. So unfair. She can cling to me, but I can’t do the same?

As I grumbled internally, Lydia shook her head and continued her explanation.

“The War of the Fallen Gods was a fierce and long-lasting war. Many races went extinct because of it.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

So, while exploring the Labyrinth, there were plans to discover traces of already extinct races. The mystery of ancient races is a given, isn’t it?

“To put it another way, the races that survived after the War of the Fallen Gods had their own strategies. They aligned well, had sheer tenacity, or were blessed with a great hero… And the bull hybrid fits all three.”

Bull hybrids are fundamentally large, strong, and durable. Excluding the hybrids of the predator line, they rank high in terms of pure innate combat power.

Although they lack magical talent, this is a common issue among all hybrid humans, so it doesn’t stand out much.

Even so, they were not safe from the flames of the War of the Fallen Gods… Instead of diving headfirst into the war, they headed to the domain of the God of Earth, which was rumored to be safe.

This turned out to be the right decision. The God of Earth survived until the very end of the War of the Fallen Gods.

Anyway, after arriving at the domain of the God of Earth, they managed to live peacefully…

The God of Earth had survived, but was not spared from the calamity.

To protect themselves from the relentless external onslaught, various races dug tunnels and constructed underground bunkers, praying fervently to the God of Earth.

“Please protect us from the heinous invaders.”

Initially indifferent, the God of Earth eventually couldn’t ignore their desperate pleas and bestowed his blessing upon the most gifted individual, making him his apostle.

“That person is none other than the hero Asterios, who hails from the bull hybrid race.”

With inexhaustible stamina as long as his feet were on the ground, a body as hard as rock, the strength to overturn mountains, and armed with high-quality steel, Asterios was strong.

When he alone blocked the narrow tunnel, he would often reverse and defeat the approaching army.

Thanks to his endurance and protection, the tunnel gradually widened, reaching a level worthy of being called a maze.

No matter how strong a hero is, they cannot be free from the passage of time.

Even Asterios, who maintained his youth for a long period due to powerful blessings, faced the limits of his lifespan.

His back bent, his muscles shriveled, and the proud horns became dull and cracked.

Asterios was slowly preparing to step down from his position as guardian and take a rest…but unfortunately, he was not lucky.

On the last day of his patrol as a guardian, the God of Madness perished, scattering his final curse across the world.

If it were the innermost depths protected by the power of the God of Earth, it might have been different, but he, who always roamed the outskirts to fend off the invaders, had no choice but to receive the curse directly.

His soul, weary from long battles, and his aging body could not resist it. In the end, he was eroded by madness and turned into a monster.

Asterios, who had the typical appearance of a human with the horns, ears, and tail of a cow, transformed into a bipedal bull.

His reason faded, he lost the ability to speak, and even his lifelong weaponry skills became unusable.

However, he regained the strength of his youth…and did not forget his mission to guard the Labyrinth.

The problem was that he could not distinguish between invaders and those he needed to protect.

Consumed by madness, Asterios began to destroy with his own hands the things he had protected all his life.

A half-completed underground city, neighbors whom he had shared joys and sorrows with for over a century, and even his own kin.

To Asterios, all of this must have appeared as abhorrent invaders.

By the time the God of Earth, who had been holding off other monsters cursed with madness, realized the anomaly, it was already too late.

Nearly half of his followers were dead, the city he had painstakingly built was in ruins, and his most cherished champion had become a monster.

The God of Earth, though sorrowful, hastily isolated Asterios.

At the will of the God of Earth, the ground collapsed and sealed, altering the terrain.

The half-destroyed city and the survivors were evacuated to the surface, and Asterios was sealed deep underground along with the Labyrinth leading to the city.

However, the God of Earth, unable to kill the great warrior with his own hands, withdrew all blessings and sealed the Labyrinth, so that no one could approach.

The survivors, unable to call the fallen hero by his glorious name, named the crazed one Minotauros after his tribe and respected the choice made by the God of Earth.

Well, in the end, the God of Earth never found a way to lift the curse of madness and was buried with Asterios in Pangrave.

“That’s Minotauros, a monster with a bull’s head that possesses great strength and resilience.”

“…It’s a sad story.”

This is a story I didn’t know either. Of course, who would set the detailed backstory of a monster that might or might not appear in a novel that hasn’t even had its first episode written yet?

What I know is simply that the God buried on the second floor is the God of Earth, and how they ended up creating maze-like tunnels.

That’s why it hits me even harder. Stories that are fleshed out to the point of admiration in places I don’t know are always sweet.

But, I should ask what I need to ask.

“So, what is the weakness?”

“…Is that the first thing you ask after hearing this story?”

“After all, the Minotauros on the second floor isn’t really Asterios, and even if it were, the fact that it’s an enemy we have to fight and defeat doesn’t change, right? I want to fight as easily as possible.”

“Sigh.”

Lydia let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

“That’s so typical of Jonah… Well. Its weakness is quite easy to understand. Asterios has fought his whole life in narrow tunnels. In other words, he’s weak in open spaces.”

“Are you telling us to gang up on it together?”

“Yeah. The Guild will provide more details once the raid party is decided. As for its weaknesses…probably magic.”

Since it can’t handle weapons, it’s vulnerable to ranged attacks. However, its body is so tough that physical attacks are inefficient.

“Yeah. As long as you don’t get too close or stay in a straight line, you’ll be fine. Like I said earlier, it mostly fought in tunnels, so its charging power in a straight line is immense.”

“But if its weakness is ranged magic, what do melee fighters do?”

“Body tanking?”

“……”

The world of adventurers seems harsh.