Yue's eyelids snapped open as she sat upright with the magic spear in hand. Her crouch turned into a stance as she stood before Ivan's body defensively.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm it little girl you guys won! You did it, my core has been destroyed and I'll disappear soon so relax! I'm just using the little that's left to speak with you for a moment." A panicked voice emanated from the fallen golem as its eyes that lost their luster shone dimly.
Relaxing slightly as her condition didn't seem capable of combat, Yue opted to hold the magic spear at her waist. The anxiety in Miledi's voice settled before she let out a sigh.
"But seriously… What was that final attack? That's way too cheating… He'll be fine right… Nah, forget me asking I'm sure he'll be fine. But to think there was a monster like him born into this world… Well, the same could be said for you."
Yue slowly strolled up to the defeated golem to better hear her woods. Miledi chuckled weakly at the sight of this young girl looking down at her. For centuries she had waited alone here for warriors capable of fulfilling the Liberators' cause.
"I'm sorry I was a bit rough with you guys… but these damn gods… They'll use any dirty trick to get to you. I needed to make sure you guys were prepared for that."
"The other Labyrinths," Yue spoke out softly.
"...Hm?"
"...Please tell us the location of the other labyrinths. If you're hoping for warriors like us to obtain the seven ancient magic then we'd like to know where they are at." Yue's demands were not unreasonable, as such the respect she held for this legendary hero of the ancient time would wane if she said something like 'you must figure it out yourselves to be considered worthy.'
"The locations of the other labyrinths… I will tell you." Compared to the Miledi that was terrorizing them throughout this whole adventure this Miledi spoke weakly, she struggled to form sentences as the mana remaining in her core was vanishing exponentially.
A notebook and pen appeared in Yue's hands as she marked down all the locations of the dungeons. Though she and Ivan weren't one hundred percent dead set on clearing all the dungeons she felt this would be good info to have should they feel the need to acquire some ancient magic.
The light in Miledi's eyes grew dimmer as she wrapped up naming all the locations. She looked up at Yue who stared at her face. "What is it?" She said with a whisper.
"...You did well. You can rest now."
"....."
The Miledi golem remained silent as those words of praise rang in her head. For centuries she waited here to fulfill her duty. There were times she got lonely, times she despaired, times she lost all hope, and times she wanted to wipe her shame from having failed away from the earth once and for all.
"...Thank you."
Yue held respect for a being as resolute as her.
"...Now then… it's finally time… I pray that… the blessings of the gods… never reach you…" Her words drifted away as the light in her eyes vanished once and for all. What stood out to Yue though were her words, as they were the same Oscar spoke to them in his message.
Miledi Reisen, one of this world's Liberators, vanished. Entranced, Yue watched as the light of her soul rose to the sky.
Yue shook her head as she awoke from her stupor. She looked at the resting Ivan, thinking she should take note of all that happened so she could tell him about it later. But for now, her priority would be making sure he didn't die here.
KACHA
The platform they both stood on trembled as Yue held her ground. Then slowly, it started drifting in a single direction. When Yue had regained her balance she noticed they were heading towards a glowing crack in this sea of clouds. However, the image of this sea of clouds was immediately torn apart as she noticed what the platform had brought them to was a wall painted to look like dark clouds.
The light began to fade and the part of the wall that had been glowing fell away. Behind it was a passageway made of polished white stone that shone with a brilliant radiance. The floating platform they were standing on began taking them through the passage.
A short while later, Yue found themselves staring at a wall engraved with the seven Liberators' crests. It was the same wall that had led to Oscar's house in the labyrinth. As they approached, the wall slid to the side.
The block didn't slow down at all and took them through that opening as well. On the other side, Yue found…
"Hey there! Not-so-long time no see. It's me, Miledi-chan!" A miniature version of the Miledi golem.
"..." It took all of Yue's willpower to blast the thing in front of her, but before that she wanted answers.
"Huh? What's with that face? You don't look all too happy, even after we had that heartwarming conversation not too long ago! Did you think I was going to let myself vanish after one defeat? I'm here to look for multiple challengers, you know in case you guys died or something. No way would I put all my eggs in one basket!"
The miniature Miledi Golem looked a lot more human than her giant counterpart. She had a white mask over her face and her slender body was clad in a white robe. Though it was rather off-putting that her mask was in the shape of a smiley face… Speaking in the same cutesy manner she had when they'd first met, Mini Miledi walked up to them.
Yue ignored the mini annoyance as she observed the room. The walls and floors were all white, and aside from the magic circle engraved into its center, the room was empty. There was a single door set into the far wall. Yue took steps toward the magic circle, followed by a worried Miledi.
"Wha-! Don't touch that yet!" She waved about her arms as she blocked Yue from taking another step.
"Give us the ancient magic." Yue flashed a deadly glare as her patience with this thing was almost completely used up already.
"I-I got it alright Please calm down, this body is too fragile. Look, look, just step into it and you'll be good. Oh yeah, and drag that ice pop into it too, that way we could knock out two birds with one stone! Activating the magic circle takes a lot of mana after all~"
Yue had Ivan lean on her small frame as she finally stepped into the magic circle. Closing her eyes as she prepared for the same process that happened in Orcus. However, being accustomed to the strangeness of it she showed no expression this time.
"... This is—?"
"Yup, gravity magic." The mini Miledi nodded proudly as she declared her ancient magic. "Blondie, you're fit enough to use it. I'm expecting great things y'know. As for ice pop… hm, he seems decent. Don't think he'll be able to use its full potential in combat but I'm sure he could think of something."
Miledi rummaged her hand through her pocket before pulling out a ring, the proof that they've cleared this dungeon. Reisen's crest was two ellipses connected by a single stake piercing through both of them. She threw it to Yue as the latter caught it skillfully.
However, the digging didn't stop there as an assortment of ores and other materials came flying out of her pocket. Yue stared in amazement before realizing she probably had a 'Treasure Trove' as well. She remembered that Ivan hoped one of the labyrinths taught space magic or something so he could make more of them. As they were incredibly useful for transporting items and tools.
"Phew… that's all I could give you. Don't give me those eyes, I need the rest of it to rebuild this place for the next challengers. Now then, it's about time for you and ice pop here to make your exits. The quicker I finish rebuilding the sooner I can open for business!"
It seemed this centuries-old hero was still quite eager to fulfill her duty. Even though she had just found the group she was looking for she knew it was better to have backups. The more people went against the gods with her magic the better odds they had in succeeding.
"...Wait. Before you send us out please allow Ivan to recover. I have no idea if where you send us is going to be safe or not." Yue interrupted Miledi who reached for a chain that had appeared out of nowhere. Miledi paused in her actions before coming to a conclusion.
"Unfortunately I need to get to work, and I'd rather not deal with ice pop here if he chooses to wake up and kill me… And while I was eager to try out this mechanism that would flush you out of here like shit in a toilet, it'd probably drown ice pop here." Miledi's voice turned serious as she spoke her next words. "But have no worries! Just step back onto the magic circle. I can assure you it will send the both of you somewhere safe. I stake my honor as a Liberator on it!"
Yue complied with Miledi's words as she stepped onto the magic circle. Its runes started glowing red as Miledi activated the teleportation circle part of it. It wasn't long until the entire room was enveloped in a red blinding light. However, still in this atmosphere, Yue heard Miledi's words clearly.
"Oh yeah, Blondie. If you have any friends or people you know that could pass my test don't be afraid to send them down here! Fufufu, of course, don't expect me to go easy on them just cause I know you~!"
Miledi's voice was drowned out in Yue's ears as the light completely enveloped her. Then, she closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable transportation.
POOF!
And just like that, the first visitor in centuries disappeared from the labyrinth. Miledi looked at the spot they were standing in before sighing to herself.
"Yosh! No time to mope around! It's time to get to work. I wonder what the next challengers will be like~"
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Yue opened her eyes as a fresh breeze hit her face. Surrounded by green foliage and normal-sized trees she propped up Ivan's body on a nearby tree before leaving to make sure the surroundings were clear.
As Miledi promised the spot they were teleported was clean of any dangers. There was even a small pond of fresh water right next to them. Yue returned to Ivan's side as she laid him down on his back, making sure to cover any exposed parts of his body away from the cold.
She had no idea how long it would take for him to heal from the blood loss and mana drain but she was hoping it'd be real soon. Yue felt like she saw some weird lights in the distance, so she readied her magic spear and pushed through the thick foliage.
"...A city."
She currently stood at the peak of a cliff. The sights in front of her consisted of a small village more lively and full of lights compared to the activity in Verbergen. Her eyes sparkled excitedly, now she really couldn't wait for Ivan to wake up.
But bottling up her excitement she made her way back to Ivan's sleeping bag. Not minding the cramped space she climbed in without any reservations. She snuggled up to her as she hoped her warmth would provide some assistance to him.
It wasn't didn't take long for her to fall asleep in his warm embrace, dreaming of the future.
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n goal set, if we reach it I will upload two chapters a day
Early release today, gonna watch the new batman movie and its around the time i usually post. Miledi is one of the biggest trolls I've ever seen in anime. Also, I got to read Arifureta Zero some time, it looks pretty cool. And Miledi seems like an interesting character so I want to learn more about her.
Anyways, thanks for reading today's chapter. It was a bit shorter than usual as my eyes are feeling real heavy. Jokes on me for writing this late. But hey I wanna wish you guys a great day/night, and see you next time!
If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister
Discord: https://discord.gg/tQ5TWbYd9t