Volume 2 - CH 2.06

Part 6

It appeared that Seiya had gotten himself mired in a series of unfortunate events.

It also seemed that the story of Dornel’s cave wasn’t a joke, either. Even if they were to dismiss the possibility of a hidden treasure chest, there was no way they could turn around and go back without exploring this cave.

Let’s just sneak a peek…

Everyone shared the same opinion, and ventured deeper into the cave with great caution. The cave was wreathed in complete darkness, but they were able to see properly thanks to the flashlights they brought.

“Pretty strange…” Isuzu muttered as she kneeled on the floor.

“What is?”

“There’s hardly any dust…a little too clean for a decade-old uninhabited cave.”

“You’re right.”

Right then, there was a loud roar coming from behind. They turned around, only to see the hidden door closing on them.

“…!”

Tiramie, who was the closest to the door, tried to make a run for it. But it was too late; the thick piece of rock had sealed their only exit.

“We’re trapped, mi!”

“What on earth? Our escape path’s been blocked!”

“It’s all right, ron. It’s a standard scene in both horror and archaeology movies. Let’s just hope it ends the “archeology” way…”

“Yeah, we’d be corpses if it were horror, fumo.”

“Where’s the panic, guys? And hey, Tiramie. Can’t you open it for us!?”

Tiramie searched the surroundings for a hidden switch like before, but this time, to no avail.

“I don’t think so, mi. It looks like this door can only be opened from the outside.”

“Shit…”

They should have had one person stay outside. Now they couldn’t call for help, and the worst case scenario would be ending up like Dornel.

“Since it’s come to this, I guess we have no choice. Let’s press forth.” Saying that, Isuzu summoned her musket. This time, however, her ‘musket’ appeared to be equipped with picatinny rails and tactical lights. Seiya didn’t have the time to question the things she had brought, so he quietly followed.

The five of them walked through the dark tunnel and ended up in a hall the size of a classroom, though its height was about 2 stories tall.

“Another dead end, huh?”

“No, take a good look…there’s a huge door ahead, fumo.”

Seiya had not noticed it earlier due to the darkness, but there was in fact a huge stone door in front of them. The door had ominous decorations and cryptic runes written on it, and a sculpture of a demon or evil spirit was carved in its center.

“I’ve never seen this strange figure before.”

“It looks like a relic from Schubert. This is probably one of the gods that were worshipped then.”

The imperial state of Schubert was a different magical realm from the Maple Land that Moffle and Isuzu lived in. It is believed that Schubert was the parent organization of Cosmic Studio in Osaka.

“Schubert…hearing that name itself gives me the feeling they’re bad news.”

The name of that state gives me the creeps, along with its god …

“Actually, not really, fumo. They actually like chuuni designs and have agriculture and forestry as their key industries. Also, their tempura is awesome.”

“Doesn’t sound like an imperial state at all…more like some hot spring…”

“Back to the topic: we won’t be able to continue unless we open that door. There should be some sort of switch somewhere…”

Just when Isuzu began pacing around in search for something—

Laughter boomed throughout the room, sinister enough to weaken one’s pulse.

“W-What was that!?”

“I-I’m scared, mi! I’m scared!”

“So horrifying, ron! It’s just like…Alien Baltan from Ultraman…”

“Cut that crap!”

With the five still in shock, the eyes of the demon-like figure gave an eerie blue glow. “I am the one who guards this realm!” The figure spoke in a solemn and dignified manner, exerting a threatening aura upon them.

“All you infidels who dare step into my labyrinth, abandon all hope if you venture beyond this door! If you think you can withstand the wrath of God, then come hither!”

The stone floor began to rumble, and 7 sarcophagi could be seen rising from it.

“Holy crap, that’s cool, mi!”

“So these are retractable? Seems gimmicky, fumo.”

“I should get some to decorate my house, ron.”

“This is the part where you guys should be screaming in horror…”

Each of the sarcophagi bore different coats of arms. From left to right , they said, “Fire”, “Wind”, “Gold”, “Earth”, “Flowers”, “Water” and “Thunder”.

“I bequeath unto you seven elements; follow your heart’s desire and choose! You shall be blessed with…a magical weapon!”

They froze in shock for a brief moment.

“Wait, so I get a weapon once I choose one of these, mi?”

“Yeah, pretty much. At least that’s what I got from that.”

“This sequence of fire, wind, gold, earth, flowers, water, and thunder is a little different from the usual sequence, don’t you think,fumo? Wasn’t it just wood, fire, earth, gold and water?”

“Just like in Ninja Captor!”

“Not another one of your old jokes…”

“Follow what your heart so desires and choose!” The figure commanded again. It felt like they were being rushed, so Seiya went ahead and chose.

Seiya walked up to the center one that said “Earth”. Isuzu went for “Water”. Moffle grabbed “Lightning” at the corner, Macaron got “Gold”, and Tiramie, “Fire”.

The “Flowers” and “Wind” sarcophagi remained, but since there were only 5 people they had no choice but to leave them behind.

“Bring your newly-chosen magical weapons unto me!”

The lids slid open, revealing a weapon in each of the chosen sarcophagi.

Moffle, who chose “Lightning”, got a stun gun. Macaron’s “Gold” issued a golden bat, and Tiramie got some Molotov cocktails.

“100,000 volts, that’s some heavy duty stuff I’ve got here, fumo.”

“A golden bat, huh. A modest way to kill people, ron.”

“The riot police’s gonna have a hard time dealing with my Molotovs, mi!”

The three mascots said in an unusually hyped up tone.

“I expected the weapons to be more like magical swords or whatever. To think that they’d give us weapons for murder…”

It’s like we’re preparing for a gang fight or something. Really spoils my reputation.

“Why’d you get a shovel, fumo?”

“This can literally only be used for the soil… Couldn’t they have modified this, at the very least?”

“Isuzu-chan, what weapon did you get, mi?”

“This…”

Isuzu held up a standard bottle, downhearted.

“There’s some liquid inside this. And the label says ‘Pepee’. A potion of some sort, I suppose?”

“…”

All three mascots were dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong? Do you recognize this label?”

“O-Of course not…”

“Strange, ron. How is this a weapon?”

“But then again, this could be a killer if used properly, mi!”

All three mascots gave evasive comments.

“Huh? I don’t get it.”

“You can Google it if you want, nobody’s gonna stop you, ron.”

“The designer of this labyrinth’s such an asshole, mi.”

Seiya happened to be clueless as well. And so he raised his eyebrow and asked, “You guys sound strange. So is that poison? Or some sort of healing potion?”

Seiya’s question drowned in the sudden loud roar. The door in front of them was opening, the sarcophagi were also sinking back into the ground. The mood became grim, signaling the beginning of their adventure.

“Press forth, brave ones. May your weapons guide you!”

Beyond the door were several stone paths branching into the distance.

“What do we do, Kanie-kun?”

“Don’t look at me…we’ve got no other choice but to proceed, anyway. Let’s go.”

After all, they had just lost their only means of escape. Now, the only problem was: what kind of obstacle awaited them that could possibly require the use of these weapons?