"Worthless? Useful?" I stepped in front of Chen Ling and addressed the little missy. Before I could even open my mouth, she continued talking.
"Hold that thought. That can wait." Laila lifted a finger in order to silence us. "This is a very important question I'm about to ask you, and I want the honest truth…"
Chen Ling and I glanced at each other, confused about what this important question may be.
"You guys are from Earth, right?"
"…"
We were at a loss for words. Why is this girl asking such a dumb question?
"Hah? Of course we're from Earth! Weren't you sent here to-"
Hold on just a minute. This woman is obviously not one of The Six Hunters and she's not from the Murim guild either since Chen Ling doesn't recognize her. Is she from Olympus? Even I find that hard to believe…
I decided to probe her further. "Are you from the Olympus guild?"
"Olympus guild? You guys have created guilds already? Looks like Isaac was right…" Laila's eyebrows were tightly knitted together, deep in thought, completely forgetting who was in front of her.
"Uh… you haven't answered my ques-"
"Now's not the time for that. As I stated earlier, I'm here to check whether you'll be worthless or useful," she said again. In one step, the woman was now standing right in front of my face, holding an arm out toward me impatiently.
"You, the rough-looking man. Show me your Stats," Laila demanded.
...I don't know who this woman thinks she is, but for her to spy on us like we're lab rats and is now blatantly disrespecting me? Not to mention, she hasn't answered any of my questions…
"There seems to be a misconception here. You can't just ask us of all people for their Stats. It's discourteous."
"And why is that," she sneered.
"Surely you should know that those who are ranked in the top one hundred of the global rankings have an unspoken rule… To not reveal our Status information to others we are unfamiliar with. You, little miss, haven't the right nor the strength to witness our Stats."
That may have sounded a little harsh, but there was no other way to get my message across. I had to add in a threat at the end so that this one doesn't get any bright idea- What the… Why am I a few feet away from the stone doors now? I'm pretty sure I was just next to Chen Ling…
"Ah… I tried to do this the easy way, but you left me no choice," Laila mumbled, shaking her head. I could see a blue aura slowly rising out of her body.
…This feeling! What an overwhelming pressure from just releasing her mana! Did my instincts kick in and that caused me to fall back without knowing? Is this woman really that dangerous? She was able to keep up with Chen Ling, who's ranked fifth in the entire world!
"You," my voice faltered. "What rank are you?"
The woman ceased her march, giving me a frown.
"Rank? Oh… that little section under my name. I have no clue. It just says undecided."
"…"
Hm… I'm starting to get the picture of this bizarre situation. The fact that she has no idea what guilds were, isn't affiliated with any of the three guilds participating in this Dungeon, asked whether we were from Earth, and now her rank not showing?
"That day… when that weird light appeared from A1… Were you not a victim of The Culling?"
Laila pondered for a moment and then shook her head. That only confirmed my suspicions even more.
"I see what's happening now. You're originally from Earth, but you were somehow whisked away to the planet Athiens and were stranded there until now. Is that right?"
Laila was left slack-jawed at my deduction. "So, you aren't stupid after all. With such limited pieces of information, you've already figured out that I was stranded on Athiens."
If what she says is true, then the person right in front of me holds valuable information! She has hands-on experience of what this new world has in store! If I can bring her back to America, I'm sure she will be a great contribution to Mr. Reed.
"Alright. I'll show you my Stats. In exchange, I want you to do something for me."
"Oh? And what would that be?" Laila quizzed.
"I want you to come to America with me. I have someone you should meet."
Laila narrowed her eyes at my weird proposal and tensed her shoulders.
"…Let me guess. It's your superior, right? You want the information I possess about the planet Athiens."
"That is correct."
Laila rapidly tapped her boots on the ground as she thought about the proposal. "Sure, why not? I have to warn Earth about the upcoming threat anyways."
Wait, what? Upcoming threat?
"Hm… Excuse me~" A voice called out. Laila and I turned our heads toward Chen Ling who has been quiet this whole time. He was glancing at the both of us, unable to hide his interest.
"You talk about an upcoming threat. Care to elaborate?"
Laila stared at Chen Ling and uncrossed her arms. "Right, the threat. It's an extremely long story, so I'll just cut to the chase."
The woman sat her butt on the stone floors and laid an arm on her leg, relaxed.
"So, there are these so-called 'gods' that appeared in Athiens around a decade ago. They've been conducting experiments on the athios and monsters alike to create Chimeras. The athios are the human counterpart of Athiens. To recognize them, you'll notice that they have horns on their head. Enough about that though. These gods are called the Pillars and are actively searching for ways to reclaim their divinity. They then found out that there was an item in The Labyrinth that would bring them one step closer to their goal. If they get their hands on it… let's just say the outcome won't be pretty for us."
"…"
"…"
…That is a lot to take in.
"I thought you said you would cut to the chase," I said.
Laila shrugged her shoulders in response. "I would love to explain in further detail, but we don't have much time. The more we stall here, the higher the probability the Pillars henchmen will get their grubby hands on the item."
If I'm understanding this right… the Pillars are gods whose sole goal is to recover their divinity. And to do that, they're actively seeking this item inside The Labyrinth. If we don't stop their henchmen in time, a catastrophic event may occur. Whew… My gut feeling about there being more to this Labyrinth has been right. There really is more to this than I previously thought.
"How do you know all this," Chen Ling interrupted. "What if you've been lying to us this whole time, and you're working for these gods?"
A flash of anger appeared in the woman's eyes, but it was only brief. That look alone sent shivers down my spine.
"As if I'd work for those sons of bitches after all they've done to us," she spat. "I don't give two shits whether you believe me or not. I'm just here to warn you guys of the danger out of politeness."
"You must really hate them," I said warily. "Your killing intent is oozing out of every orifice on your body."
Laila finally noticed that she was absentmindedly releasing killing intent. In a split second, the aura was finally gone. She sighed while clutching her face.
"Hah… Sorry about that. That comment sent me off the rails. I truly hate them with all of my being."
"What exactly happened for you to act this furious," I asked. Laila cast her eyes downward at the floor, her sadness from earlier once again returning. Whatever she was remembering right now, it made her age five years despite being young.
"…I can't talk about it. Not now, at least," she murmured.
I tilted my head at Chen Ling, silently berating him for pushing her this far with that comment.
"Alright, alright. I believe you. There's no way these emotions you're expressing are fake. Unless you're one of the best actors to ever live," Chen Ling joked. I sent a quick nudge to his ribcage, shaking my head at him. Now's not the time for these kinds of jokes.
"Laila. We'll talk more about this later. Right in front of us right now is where The Minotaur should be slumbering." I pointed at the gigantic stone doors. Laila raised her head slightly to where I was directing.
"The Minotaur? That's the part man part bull monster, right?"
"Mhm," I confirmed as she steadily rose up. Laila silently walked toward the doors while I was talking. "The Minotaur is probably a strong foe to face against. That's why we should come up with a plan to ki-"
With a heavy kick, Laila slammed the doors wide open, revealing the interior of The Minotaur's chambers.
"Hey! Don't tell me you're going to barge right in without a plan?!"
"Man. She's a fearless one!" Chen Ling whistled.
Laila took one step within the area when a thunderous roar erupted, shaking the ground and walls in the process. The vibrations were akin to an avalanche descending down a mountain at Mach speed.
"I can feel immense strength from the shout alone! Truly a formidable opponent," Chen Ling said excitedly. Laila didn't share Chen Ling's eagerness at all. In fact, she was not fazed by the yell. Not wasting a single second, she soldiered on through, fully entering The Minotaur's chambers. Chen Ling and I followed along after her.
We were standing on the far edge of what seemed like a colosseum you would see of Greece in the old age. If I had to provide an estimate, I would say it's as wide as two-hundred and fifty feet, and three hundred feet tall. The colosseum floor had a sandy look to it and had splotches of dried blood with bones scattered about. There were spectator seats all around yet there were no apparent signs that they were recently used. The walls seemed like they would crumble at any time like old pottery. As for the atmosphere, I could feel the spirits of many gladiators that have fought to the death with all manner of creatures and humans.
"Joel, look over there," Chen Ling called out to me. I went to check what he wanted me to look at, and on the far edge of the colosseum stood the beast we'd been searching for.
"Dear lord." I couldn't help but exhale.
As the myths described, The Minotaur really was part man part bull. It was incredibly tall, standing at a solid eight feet in length. It had the torso of a man with bulging muscles that could rip a truck in half. Its legs were that of a bull too, hairy and hooved while donning a raggedy red loincloth. The head was also bull-like with beady black eyes behind all that fur. Two white horns sprouted above its ears that could probably puncture through a human with ease. What completes its whole look was the long double-sided axe it was holding. The blade was gold-plated, and the handle brown and thick. The Minotaurs' muscular chest heaved at the sight of its new victims.
"ROOOOOAAR!"
Is it just me, or is it looking at us like we're his new lunch? I think the bones littered around the arena were probably the unfortunate ones who got eaten by this monstrosity.
Chen Ling took a step forward, grinning from ear to ear. "Alright, let me take care of this! I want to test my skills against an opponent of this cali-"
Laila held an arm up, stopping Chen Ling from proceeding any further.
"Nope. You guys stand back and watch. I'll handle it alone."
"Oh come on! Let me have some fun with it." Chen Ling started to protest even more, but Laila wasn't having it at all.
"That's precisely why I'm dealing with this. As I said earlier, we don't have the luxury of goofing around. Ugh, you remind me of my brother..."
Brother?
"…Fine." Reluctantly, Chen Ling backed away from Laila and plopped himself right next to me.
"Alright then. I want you two to observe my fight," she said, pulling out a weapon from her sheath. It was a slim rapier that was as black as onyx.
"I'm curious about how strong I am compared to those in the top one hundred."
This unwavering confidence…
"I could only gauge my skills against someone closely related to me."
The way she holds her rapier tightly in her hands as if it was a part of her… And this powerful aura she's emitting…
"If you guys really are one of the strongest on Earth..."
Could she be…?
"I guess my expectations were a little too… optimistic?"
An S-Rank?