I tightly gripped the blade with both hands, trying to block with the blade and cut through his leg. But instead, the claws collided with the blade, and due to the difference in mass, I was pathetically flung backward.
I was now airborne.
A second or so of airtime, a huge opening.
I couldn’t counter in time.
The path to the finishing blow loomed ahead.
The horned ape, without pause, planted his left leg as a pivot and aimed to thrust at me from a low stance.
If I took this blow, my body would be torn apart in two more strikes. That’s how I was controlling the horned ape.
It was already unavoidable. No foothold. I was already dead. I hadn’t calculated a way to recover from here.
So, I calculated in this instant.
I considered the possibilities I had dismissed for practicality and execution.
No footing in mid-air. No control over my posture. On a direct path to the end. Almost no time.
Cerebrospinal fluid erupted from my brain.
An epiphany.
I noticed the blade that had been knocked away was now stuck in the ground beneath me.
I bent my foot, not my leg, but my foot, from the arch, breaking the sole of my shoe. Grasping the hilt with my foot, I used the blade to push off and escape my vulnerable airborne position.
The horned ape’s upward thrust missed.
I had escaped and regained my dual-wielding stance.
The advantage reversed. I leaped to his exposed side.
–I understood clearly. So, to ascend, this is the framework I must adopt.
I aimed to kill the horned ape with my best efforts. And to counteract that, I controlled the horned ape to make the best possible moves, ensuring the final blow would surely take my life.
This is where it begins. In the moment of death, I can improve. In a situation where all hope seems lost, I find the low-probability solution I hadn’t even considered and cross over.
The battle then moves to the next stage. The horned ape rises with me.
The moment stretches.
Sound fades. Unnecessary information gradually disappears from my vision.
I accelerate further. Naturally, the horned ape evolves as well.
My thinking transforms again. With time so stretched, I don’t need to consider duration. I can pour all my magic into a single moment.
Am I saying something strange?
[Instant Amplification], how many times now? It feels like it’s surpassed ten thousand. The output gathers and rises exponentially.
With each step, the sacred ground begins to crack.
The clash of claws and blades splits the great tree.
Shockwaves destroy the surroundings, but the reinforcement accounts for that.
Without a trace of hesitation or error, I swing with all my might. Cornered as I wished. Performing miracles continuously.
Look, isn’t it almost enough? You should understand the concept of efficiency by now. Even I don’t desire such self-made performances.
I give the horned ape half the initiative, allowing more freedom in his movements.
In the time it took for a single clash, over ten exchanges of blades occurred.
The horned ape’s inherent flexibility was added. I hadn’t recognized the subtle flexibility of a primate, which is incomprehensible to humans. In the moment I thought I had him overwhelmed with numerous strikes, an arm stretched through the gap between my dual blades.
My side was gouged.
Stopping the bleeding could wait. I wouldn’t bleed out during this clash.
“Good.”
The fear in the horned ape’s eyes was replaced with color. Having escaped half of my control, he seemed to regain the feeling of fighting.
Even after coming here, I still rise. There is an eternity in the time until death. If the next moment is the end, I will settle it in half the time until then. But before that, I’ll make my opponent kill me.
I feel like I’m on top of the world. Close to heaven. Just kidding.
I was the happiest person in the world.
I kept enjoying the ultimate fear. I was serious about self-satisfaction. This is the right way. I didn’t care about anyone. I was just playing with dolls in my sight. I’ve always wanted to do that. There were too many unnecessary ties.
Who was it that thought they wanted a little praise?
I wanted the time to last forever. Theoretically, it should have been possible.
But, physically?
Unfortunately, that time came.
My machete had cut the body of the horned monkey in half from the side. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t compromise. I kicked the separated lower half far away with my shoe.
I understand the reason for reaching the limit.
This guy, at this point, prioritized his life. He chickened out after coming this far and didn’t follow the enhancement. Did he feel his limbs would fly off if he couldn’t withstand the speed? Who cares about that? I could have held him together as much as necessary.
“Hey!”
I had abandoned my life. What kind of attitude is that? Weren’t you determined?
Don’t be ridiculous.
“You’re boring.”
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There was no one to hit anymore; the horned monkey, now just an upper body, had died.
Maybe he had already lost consciousness long ago. Maybe I was just controlling him.
It was a farce from the beginning.
I took a breath and calmed down.
Complaining a lot is not good either.
This is a labyrinth.
If you defeat the floor master, the gate to the next floor opens. The next floor always has a stronger floor master than the previous one.
There’s nothing to be pessimistic about. There’s still more to come.
If this floor didn’t work, then the next. If the next floor didn’t work, then the one after that. If I keep fighting like that, someday I’ll reach the true top.
“I’ll come here again.”
I proved I could do it alone. I had a lot of fun.
It was the most fulfilling time in my life. I used to only think about wanting to die, but now it’s different. I want to die more. I want to live until the moment before dying.
If I didn’t aim too high, I was almost satisfied. And as long as I keep moving forward, that high aim is guaranteed to be realized.
What’s this, the future is bright.
“https://i.imgur.com/wrSKxfV.jpeg “
“…Yeah.”
Between the sacred trees that were knocked down, I saw a light that I couldn’t see before.
It’s a teleportation circle. As expected in a sacred area, this seemed to be an important place even as a floor.
I hesitated to go immediately. Maybe it’s my nature, I thought I should prepare.
Then I became aware of my body’s state. It was already in shambles. I was barely standing by applying enhancements to stop the bleeding and such.
I thought I’d take a little rest.
I lowered the enhancement ratio to my brain. My limbs felt heavy again, I got tired all at once, and I threw myself onto the flat ground.
///
continue
///
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You did it!”
A woman appeared in the sacred area that should have been empty.
With a bright, cheerful voice, it was Rita Heinz.
Had she been watching the fight all along, knowing this would happen and lying in wait? Either way, it was an extremely bad taste.
“Fear not, near-death mr Strauss! Guess what! We of the [Twilight Owls] are building a base on the ninety-ninth floor with plenty of medical facilities! We can prepare a temporary bed! We can even bathe you in panacea!”
“Not needed.”
I stood up and refused.
Rita Heikenz took a step back.
“Eh…you can stand?”
“No problem.”
“Even I think you’re crazy! You’re forcing yourself to move with enhancements, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm?”
She approached, peering into my eyes.
“I see, you’re in a state where you have to keep moving or you’ll die.”
I was impressed by her accurate observation.
What is it with this person’s insight?
“…I don’t intend to rely on someone like you. Nor do I intend to cooperate.”
“That’s cold.”
She pouted like a child who didn’t get a toy.
Then she turned and faced me properly.
“So, what will you do now?”
Her voice suddenly changed to a bright but serious tone. Talking to her always drags me into her pace.
…And this casual demeanor isn’t something I dislike, making it even worse.
“I’ll defeat the next floor master as I am. If it’s weak, then the next one.”
“Yes, yes! That’s one way to have an adventurous spirit!”
Rita Heikenz’s smile was in stark contrast to mine, refreshingly carefree.
Even though we were both called by the labyrinth, our attitudes were entirely different.
She circled behind me and gave me a push on the back.
In the direction of the teleportation circle.
“Come on, go! If you don’t go, we can’t either!”
“…Do you value such things, you people?”
“Of course! We might be misunderstood, but we have the utmost respect for adventurers and the labyrinth! More than anyone!”
She said something unbelievable. I didn’t want to understand the numerous annotations that must be attached to it, so I decided to go silently.
I wasn’t reluctant to be the first person to reach the hundredth floor.
I walked across the fallen giant trees and aimed for the teleportation circle.
I reached the front of the teleportation circle.
The faintly glowing geometric patterns made me nervous when I was about to step on them.
I swallowed.
Rita Heikenz, who usually seemed pushy, didn’t say anything this time. Did she understand the aesthetics of the moment…? Wow, she was watching with a smiling face, which made me even more annoyed.
I held my breath and stepped on it all at once.
My vision changed.
I was dazzled by the brightness.
Strong light hit my dilated pupils. Next, I felt a chill, but it was just blurry due to the temperature difference, and it seemed like a comfortable climate. At least it felt much cooler and drier than the jungle.
Then, a scene that made the climate irrelevant appeared.
A mountain.
A magnificent isolated peak of jagged rocks.
There was a mountain inside the labyrinth, and looking to the side, I could even see the horizon. It was a scale that made the “vastness” I had described inside the labyrinth seem ridiculous.
Is this really inside the labyrinth?
Come to think of it, according to Rita Heinz, this was another continent. The more convincing it seemed, the more I hated it.
And when it came to mountains, there was something special I remembered.
The master of such a mountain was always the same. The ancient nemesis of humanity, once called a god, had existed on the surface.
No doubt, this is the stronghold of the mightiest creature in this world.
My hands trembled.
“…Hehe.”
A dragon lives in this mountain.
TLNOTE: That’s the end of volume 3, AND YES it ended at the same place back at Volume 2 end, AND YES I AM ANGRY AT THIS ENDING!!!!
Joking aside, hopefully volume 4 will come out soon. Please let me know if you find any info on volume 4. See you again in volume 4!
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Thank you for 3rd volume!
Didn’t like the end either. Thought how Vim become such madman (Puppeteer side effect seems to simple explanation) and noticed how, aside from battle maniac tendency, he sometimes sounds like gambling addict. Quick googling on the issue and found this:
“Pleasure is short-lived, visceral, can be experienced alone, and can be caused by substances or behaviors. Happiness is long-lived, ethereal, usually social, and cannot be had from substances or behaviors.” Dr. Robert Lustig
It makes sense. Vim is notoriously bad at socializing, if he had confused happiness with pleasure, he would rather act alone and try to achieve satisfaction through behavior.
*too simple