Chapter 136. Preparation for the Unsealing
71st day in the labyrinth.
After inspecting the interior construction progress of the desert village, I returned to my hideout and gathered the remaining monsters.
The reason for gathering them was simple.
I needed to check each monster that hadn’t migrated and stayed at the headquarters, and select a manager for the new underwater village I planned to create.
I slowly looked around at the monsters standing before me.
Most of them were classified as first-generation monsters.
“Gathering complete, baa!”
“Merino, you step out and stand next to me.”
“Baa-baa!”
With Merino by my side, I scanned the monsters once again.
Kinogine Arachne.
Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Black Magma Slime.
First, I decided to keep these three at the headquarters again this time.
They were monsters that had been with me since the very beginning.
“Kinogine, Princess, and Black Magma Slime, please move over to the side.”
［Yes, Father.］
［Yes!］
［Got it!］
Next.
Medical Mushroom.
Melody Fox.
Artpega Unibicorn.
I had no intention of sending these three elsewhere either.
Medical was in charge of healing.
Melody handled buffs.
Artpega was responsible for working on the guidebook, map creation, and various odd jobs.
“Medical, Melody, Artpega, move over to where the others went.”
［Squeak!］
［Kyua!］
［Understood.］
“Oh, and Iris, you all step aside too.”
［Confirmed.］
［Stepping aside.］
［Sulking.］
Six monsters and a number of Irises stepped out of the formation.
Now, five monsters remained.
Hedgehog Summoner.
Jafan.
Bastet Daong.
Azeras.
Necro Puppet Master.
That was all.
Necro’s puppets weren’t counted in the total. After all, they would follow Necro regardless.
Except for Nyara Nepenthis, of course.
In any case.
I decided that Hedgehog Summoner and Jafan would also stay at the headquarters.
They were still S-class monsters.
And since they needed Melody’s buffs, it was better for them to always be nearby.
“Jafan and Hedgehog, step aside as well.”
［Jafan!］
［Doodoomba! I’ll move while shaking my hips!］
As for Bastet Daong…
“You can step aside as well, Daong.”
［Understood, meow.］
Honestly, I wanted to assign her as a manager for another village.
She didn’t play a particularly important role at the headquarters, and she had the SS-class level of danger, making her suitable for managing a village.
But because of Solorb, I had no choice but to keep her.
She was acting as Solorb’s eyes.
In order to strengthen the bond with Solorb, it was best to keep Bastet nearby.
“Now, only two are left…”
Azeras.
And Necro Puppet Master, along with his puppets.
I didn’t feel comfortable appointing a puppet as the village manager, so I had to choose between Azeras and Necro for the underwater village manager position.
I conveyed my thoughts to the two of them.
After a brief moment of thought, Azeras spoke first.
“I don’t mind managing the village. However, if I’m going to manage something, I’d prefer it to be on the Celestial side.”
“I’m not planning to build a village in the Celestial Realm yet… Are you not interested in the underwater village?”
“Sorry. I prefer the Celestial Realm.”
“…Alright, I guess I can’t help it.”
It seemed Azeras didn’t like the underwater village.
If I ever created a village in the Celestial Realm, I would appoint Azeras as the manager there.
Reluctantly, I gave up on Azeras and shifted my gaze to Necro.
［Hmm. Since Azeras isn’t interested, I’ll take on the manager role. I was planning to establish a puppet village eventually and take on a manager role anyway.］
Luckily, Necro was willing to accept the role of underwater village manager.
“Thank you.”
［By the way, I’ll be leaving Nyara Nepenthis at the headquarters. She said she’d rather die than live apart from Gauntlet.］
［This mother can’t live without her son anymore.］
…I nodded in agreement.
I hadn’t planned to send Nyara anyway.
Even though she was Necro’s puppet, she was more loyal to me than to Necro.
“Oh, Necro. Once you become the manager, feel free to delegate most of the actual management to a deputy, and like Omega from the machine factory or the desert village folks, you can drop by whenever you feel bored.”
［Of course, I intend to do that. I’ll have to visit the headquarters frequently for mind control anyway.］
And so.
Necro’s puppets.
Curse Devil Gentleman.
Neo Hyeong-seok.
Jellyfish Queen.
Ignis Ashbringer.
Lilith Morphea.
Dune Strider… Oh, wait, he’s a desert village resident.
Excluding Dune Strider and Nyara, it was decided that a total of five puppets would follow Necro to the underwater village.
Later.
After finishing lunch, I sent Necro and the puppets to Omega for the underwater village construction, and I organized an expedition team with the remaining monsters to explore the Celestial Realm.
The team consisted of eight members.
Arachne, Princess, Black Magma Slime, and Medical.
Nyara, Azeras, Artpega.
And myself, of course.
I didn’t bother counting the number of Irises.
【Pururu】─It’s been a while since you went on an expedition, Gauntlet. LOL
【Mysticism】─🤔 Has it been that long?
【Rizenova】─The expedition to recruit desert village residents was fairly recent.
“When did you guys arrive?”
【Mysticism】─Just now! 😃
【Rizenova】─I just arrived too.
【Pururu】─I’ve been here since you started streaming, Gauntlet…
So I had been streaming today, huh.
I must’ve started unconsciously, out of habit, since I didn’t remember doing it.
Anyway.
The reason I was personally joining the expedition this time was simple.
Nyara had claimed she could unleash even stronger power in the Celestial Realm.
And if her power was enhanced, she said she might be able to unseal another layer of my seal.
Of course.
The Celestial Realm in this new labyrinth was fundamentally different from the real Celestial Realm.
But just in case, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take her there once.
‘It’s true that I could send Nyara ahead to check things out, but… I’ve been feeling stiff from inactivity lately, so I might as well get some exercise.’
Naturally, I planned to avoid any dangerous situations.
My life wasn’t just mine anymore, after all.
That’s why I brought Medical Mushroom and all the SS-class monsters from the headquarters for safety.
Oh, and by the way.
I left Hedgehog, Melody, and Merino in charge of the desert village.
Even though there were doors installed in each passage, leaving only the three of them at the headquarters made me uneasy.
It was better to leave the headquarters empty.
─“Gauntlet! Can you see me, baa? I’m doing well, baa!”
─［Kyua! Kyuaaah!］
─［Doodoomba! Travel safely! I’ll teach the cats how to dance while you’re away!］
On the Iris screen.
The faces of the monsters left in the desert village appeared, and their voices echoed.
I waved lightly toward the Iris and said,
“Alright, everyone. It’s time to head out.”
Together with the strongest expedition team, I set out for the Celestial Realm in the Ancient Labyrinth.
***
Originally, Nyara Nepenthis’ danger level had been nerfed to A-class.
And even after arriving in the Celestial Realm, her danger level didn’t change.
It didn’t seem like her power had increased enough to raise her grade by one level.
However.
Her power had indeed been enhanced.
Although the danger level remained the same, I could clearly feel she had grown stronger than before.
Nyara explained how her power was amplified in the Celestial Realm.
Increased affinity and adaptability.
And the resonance between the energy of the world and Nyara’s intrinsic power.
The Celestial Realm within the Ancient Labyrinth seemed to have similar physical laws to the real Celestial Realm, which allowed her power to resonate.
［Hmm. I feel stronger than I did in the actual Celestial Realm.］
Nyara muttered while stroking her body.
It seemed her current form adapted better to this Celestial Realm than the actual one.
Or maybe this place was simply a higher plane.
In any case.
Her power was still slightly lacking to unseal my restraints.
According to Nyara, she would need to gather more souls to sacrifice before attempting to break the seal.
【Pururu】─Didn’t you dislike sacrificing lives, Gauntlet?
【Mir-Stin】─That’s correct. You killed the invaders because of that.
【Pururu】─When did you get here, damn it?
“If it’s not a creature of my kin or something that falls under my kin’s category, I don’t particularly care.”
Even if it’s my kin.
If I judged them as evil or they attacked me with malicious intent first, I wouldn’t hesitate to offer them as a sacrifice.
I don’t practice cannibalism.
But that doesn’t mean I refrain from killing.
While I don’t kill without reason, if someone gives me a reason, I will eliminate them without mercy.
I had already decided on the sacrifices.
The Skull Angels, who were extremely hostile to us and attacked on sight.
I planned to offer them as sacrifices to attempt unsealing the restraints.
“Everyone, don’t engage with creatures that aren’t hostile. Let them go. But if they show any friendly behavior, capture them alive. We’ll need to tame them.”
As long as they weren’t hostile.
It was fine to let neutral creatures go.
After all, the Celestial Realm was swarming with Skull Angels.
［Got it!］
［Yes, Father.］
［Yes!］
［Squeak!］
Only the monsters that would protect me stayed behind, while the hunting team monsters began heading out one by one to gather the sacrifices.
“…Wait, Medical, where do you think you’re going?”
［Squeak?］
“You’re in charge of healing, so you stay by my side.”
［Squeak!］
【Pururu】─LOL, where does a non-fighter think they’re going!
【Mir-Stin】─Medical can’t fight? But isn’t she S-class?
【Rizenova】─Because her healing ability is intact, her combat abilities have been heavily nerfed. Once her power is fully released, her combat prowess should be extraordinary as well.
【Mysticism】─🤭 I want to see Medical fight one day!
Later.
After about three hours had passed.
The hunting team monsters returned with a substantial number of Skull Angel corpses.