Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race Chapter 312 - The Resolution to Destroy the World

POV: Badigadi

Labyrinths tended to appear in areas of high mana concentration.

The true nature of mana was still poorly understood, but it altered animals and plants and sometimes could even cause changes in inorganic materials.

The labyrinths themselves were caves and ruins that had undergone such changes.

As more and more mana accumulated, it brought unfavorable effects: monsters multiplied, trees grew densely, and sometimes diseases spread.

For us demons, it was one thing, but a human body would wither if exposed even once to a large volume of mana.

Although it seemed that humans had become unexpectedly resilient in recent times, since such cases were now rarely heard of.

The laws of how mana accumulated were a mystery to me, but perhaps mana had some property that attracted itself, monsters attacked humans to feed on their mana, and the labyrinths absorbed the creatures that perished within them.

Because of that, humans built their settlements and flourished in places where the mana concentration was lower.

Cities and towns of the present day arose in places where the mana concentration was low. Even Rikarisu, where Kishirika’s castle stood, was like that.

There was no other place on the Demon Continent with such thin mana. Or at least, it had been so once. Things seemed different now.

None of that applied to Atofe’s fortress, by the way.

I imagined she thought living in a monster-infested place was fitting for a Demon King; my older sister was simplistic like that.

Let us return to talking about the labyrinths, however.

Labyrinths often sprang up in places that teemed with high mana concentration — in other words, the so-called mana wells. The denser the mana, the vaster, deeper, and more enigmatic the labyrinth became.

Thus, labyrinths usually sprouted in forests, wild places, mountains, places far from people.

Such places began rich in mana and thus were prone to the development of mana wells; which, although natural occurrences, had a limited capacity.

Wells that exceeded that established capacity were, in a way, artificial creations.

When a person dies, the mana remains.

Under normal circumstances, the mana quickly dissipates or else is used to transform the body into an undead.

If a large number of lives ended in a small area, the mana, through its mutual attraction property, would not spread out but instead begin to converge.

At the end of the Second Great Human–Demon War, the explosion that occurred when Laplace and I struck each other down swept the continent and, along with it, crowds of people, animals, and monsters.

The mana produced converged at the origin of the explosion and gave birth to a labyrinth. That labyrinth was the Devil’s Cave.

It was the worst of the worst, worthy of being one of the Three Great Labyrinths, as humans call them nowadays.

"Whew... So, this is where we’re going down?"

"Fwaha! That’s right!"

It was dangerous to venture into the depths. First, there was a vertical tunnel of about twenty meters connecting the entrance to the first level.

The walls were waterfalls flowing in reverse and behind them lived large broods of sea serpents big enough to easily swallow an entire person.

Even for me, it would take three days to properly clear the place. I decided to consult my companion first.

"Did Hitogami tell you anything?"

"Jump! The serpents go after any fool who goes on the water’s surface, but if you fall through the middle, they don’t care."

"Fwahahaha. Then this will be easy! Hup!"

"Oowah!"

I jumped without hesitation. With Geese still on my shoulder, I leapt and let the momentum carry us to the center of the hole. The wind blew over my body as I fell into the abyss.

Ah, the feeling of falling was always good! Let’s see, when was the last time I jumped from a high place? Was it when I leapt off the cliff in the Red Wyrm Mountains or when I jumped into the great canyon on the Demon Continent? I cannot soar through the skies like Atofe or Kishirika, so it had been quite a while.

There were many eyes spying on the surface of the water. They were the sea serpents. I suppose that if I so much as touched the surface with my fingers, they would immediately rise and attack.

They called themselves Autumn Dragons.

Humans had the bad habit of slapping the name dragon on anything with a head a little like a lizard, even when it bore no resemblance to dragons.

"W-whoa! You can land, can’t you?"

"Fwahahaha! Contrary to what you might think, landing is my specialty!"

"Better be!"

What a skeptical man! On the other hand, Geese’s fears were justified. The bottom of the hole was dark and it was hard to see where we would land. I myself did not yet know, so I suppose he could not help but worry that I might miss.

"Light as a feather!"

I never miss anything. I landed on both legs, using my knee ligaments to the maximum to absorb the impact, even as the bones cracked.

My hip bone cracked too. Using my internal organs as shock absorbers, I prevented the force of the impact from reaching the upper part of my body. Then one of my arms to lift Geese and I finished off the remaining impact force with my elbow.

It was perfect!

"Guh!"

At least, I thought so, but Geese went blue when all the air was expelled from his lungs.

"Ack, ack..." After a few moments of silence, he gave a strong cough and began to breathe again. How weak must he be in combat to breathe like that after a small impact like this?!

"I landed very well, don’t you think?"

"Yes, I think so." He seemed displeased, but could not complain. His life had never been in danger.

We were on the first level. Scattered across the bottom of the vast hole was an equally extensive underground lake. Large pillars rose to support the ceiling.

Strangely enough, there was water pooled on the ceiling as well. The place was flooded above and below. Like the kind of puzzle you might find in ancient ruins.

Land was visible here and there, but the edge of the lake was out of sight. If we were to descend further, we would have no choice but to submerge into the depths of that water...

At the bottom of this lake, there were tiny creatures resembling crabs. I mean, truly minuscule, no larger than your little finger. They gathered on the bottom.

At first glance, you might not think of them as a great threat, but when an enemy dove below a certain depth, they all attacked at once and stripped the flesh from bone in seconds.

If I were alone, I could endure. But Geese would be turned into a skeleton.

By the way, none of the monsters from here on had names. If Laplace were still alive, the old dog would probably have come and named each one. They say he was meticulous to that level.

"Fwahahaha! What do we do from here?"

"Give me a second." Geese said, then climbed down from my shoulder and closed his eyes. He spun three times in a circle, then raised his arm and said, "I think it’s that way."

"Fwahahaha! Fascinating! Some little charm your people use, is it?"

"Nah. Hitogami told me if I did that, we’d pass easily."

"Fwahaha! You asked for the answer? How boring! When you explore a labyrinth, you have to discover things yourself, no?"

"We don’t have time for that!"

Shorter-lived races always wanted to cut wasted time. Even if wasting time was what made that time so special...

"Fwahahaha! Then let’s go!"

"Yes."

I laughed, then put Geese on my back and began to swim through the absolute silence of the underground lake. I noticed something writhing far below us, but I was sure it would not come up.

I swam like that for a long time. Around the time Geese began to doze on my back, I saw an island rising from the underground lake.

Cautiously, I went ashore and discovered there was a stone floor and, at the center, a staircase leading down.

"Took so long to get past the first level? At top speed? How big is this place?"

"Indeed..." While listening to Geese’s complaints, I squinted at the staircase; there seemed to be something familiar about it all.

After that, we continued descending level after level. Geese had the method to "pass" each level memorized perfectly; those methods, shown to him by the God Man, were completely insane.

I spent the entire journey wondering how we managed to get past a level or why we didn’t encounter any monsters elsewhere.

It was incomprehensible. Did Geese ever question it...? No, he wouldn’t.

That man would not be alive today if he had doubted the words of the God Man even once. His gratitude to Him must be absolute.

"Fwahahaha! What is this grand door doing in the depths of a labyrinth?"

"I don’t know. I think even labyrinths have to keep up appearances."

"Fwahahahahaha! Appearances, huh? That was a good one! Fwahahaha!"

Before us stood an enormous door about ten meters tall. It was almost as large as the gate that had been installed in Kishirika’s castle during the Second Human–Demon War.

From the time it was built until when it was lost, that door had never been opened. See, its excessive size made it very difficult to open. Even beings larger than me used a side entrance to enter.

That brings back memories! In those days, I used to complain about why anyone would make such a large door that didn’t even open, saying we should melt the metal and turn it into weapons for the soldiers.

However, Kishirika rejected the proposal with an absurd argument.

"If a champion appears and finds a ruined gate, that would ruin my reputation as the Great Empress of the Demon World!"

Did she ever open it, in the end?

Maybe Laplace opened it. Although, if he destroyed it, then that meant there was some meaning in its existence... At the time, I thought I was right about everything.

Only now, in the challenger’s role, I wondered if that gate was worth the reputation. But no, I think it wasn’t worth it! Fwahahaha! This gate was clearly too big! It looked like just a wall! A champion facing this gate wouldn’t try to force it open, they’d simply pass through the side entrance!

"Our objective must be behind that door."

"Seems so."

I agreed with Geese. Labyrinths had grand things like this at their deepest point. The stronger the labyrinth, the stronger the inclination toward grandeur.

Among those I had seen, the deepest point of the Black Steel Labyrinth was particularly magnificent with its golden door. Kishirika would have liked it.

Back to the point. What lay behind the door at the deepest point of the labyrinth was its Guardian, the Final Boss, so to speak.

When we opened that door, a battle with the most powerful monster of the labyrinth would begin.

Of course, the level of the guardian of the Devil’s Cave would be beyond my wildest imagination. But that was not a problem!

Geese would have been told how to beat it. It could be a tough fight, but we would win in the end.

Suddenly, I lost the urge to laugh and examined the door closely.

"What’s wrong, friend? Lost your courage, huh?"

"Yes." I said, briefly. Geese turned to look at me.

"H-Hey, what’s up! What happened? I can’t hear that from you. Yes, we’re about to face the guardian of this infernal labyrinth, I get it, but we have to take it seriously! You’re an Immortal Demon King, right?! How can you have something to fear?"

The tone of the monkey-faced demon was ironic. Geese always used a playful voice when trying to persuade someone.

Then, when the moment came, he grew serious and stuck his words straight into the heart of his target. I suppose that was his charm, but it didn’t matter.

"...Hm."

"Don’t tell me you’re really intimidated?"

I wasn’t, of course. First of all, as an Immortal Demon, I had nothing to fear from a battle. Whatever happened, I would not die. Fwahahahaha!

Anyway.

"Take a good look at this place!" I turned.

Behind us, death was everywhere. Flames appeared from nowhere. Endless earthquakes. Fissures opened in the ground and swallowed everything on the surface.

Spread throughout the space were the undead. Broken bones, ghosts that vanished like mist, and scattered pieces of blackened armor.

Geese observed the place before saying:

"Yes, well, it’s a hell. If you came this far fighting, that would be a story to pass down through generations. Only this time, well, I can’t tell anyone and even if I did, no one would believe..."

"Fwahaha! Is that how it is for you? Well, this place makes me nostalgic."

Geese looked at me shocked and said:

"Sorry? You said what now? You mean you’ve been here before?"

"Indeed. But not in this place!"

It was on the day the Second Great Human–Demon War ended. To rescue Kishirika, I donned the Fighter God Armor and returned to the demons’ headquarters.

It was when I saw this. Because of the incredibly high mana concentration in front of Kishirika’s new castle, everyone who died there became undead within an hour.

I knew their faces. They were true warriors who had sworn loyalty to Kishirika and had their power recognized by her: Kishirika’s personal guard.

I expected them to fight prepared to die and to resist, but in the end, all fell by the same strike, repeatedly.

I knew this, because they were all turned into Dullahan, all decapitated.

I saw many with the same face; these undead had been generated as copies.

Now that I thought about it, the entire labyrinth was familiar.

First, there was the spiral stone staircase that connected the first level to the second, then the structure like the interior of a fortress.

The room with a ceiling that shone as if filled with stars. The fracture in the collapsed outer wall.

The small flowers that did not grow anywhere else, but had bloomed by the path. The monsters that should have been extinct...

I had seen all of this before, I had a strong sense of déjà vu.

To calm my anxiety, I sat down and said, "Come on, sit as well."

Geese said nothing, but sat opposite me.

Sitting like that face to face with another man made me want to drink, but unfortunately we had no drink. This was not the kind of conversation to have soberly, but anyway.

"Have you heard that the world used to look different from how it is today?"

"That’s about that story that the strike of the Golden Knight Aldebaran not only brought down Kishirika Kishirisu but also split the continent and created an ocean, right?"

"Yes, that’s it."

That legend is treated as mere fiction nowadays. It is completely unbelievable that a man could change the shape of a continent.

People know, when they look at the vastness of the world, that they are small and that nature is gigantic.

I included myself among them! The mountains, the ocean, all of nature had always been magnificent and far beyond our power.

"I really can’t see how it would be possible, but you were there, right?"

"I was, indeed."

"In the days of my birth, there was no Ringus Sea."

I heard Geese gag, and with good reason! Who wouldn’t make that face upon learning that the ocean they had crossed just a few days earlier once did not exist? I suppose he believed it because the words came from my mouth.

"Mount Idatz, the Ares Hills, the Mimishillan River, Lake Cabre... Have you heard of them?"

Geese shook his head.

"They are all names of places that used to exist. Each had its own story. Mount Idatz, for example, was renowned as the mountain where the great elven swordsman Idatzleid perfected his sword art."

"Wow..."

He didn’t know. Idatzleid died in the First Great Human–Demon War. He was an elven swordsman who killed thousands of demons.

Finally, in the decisive battle against Necross Lacross, one of the Five Great Demon Kings, he died heroically. No books remained containing that episode.

Even the mountain that symbolized this had disappeared. It was natural that Geese was ignorant of it. It seemed that all evidence that that man had lived had vanished.

The story of the great swordsman Idatzleid was very popular during the Second Great Human–Demon War.

Not to the point that everyone knew it, but all who wielded a blade had heard some version of the tale. However, now no one knew it anymore.

"People, buildings, and not only that, but even the shape of the land is gone. We lost everything." When I said that aloud, I felt a tightness in my chest.

"That is the power contained in the Fighter God Armor that we are going to fetch."

I thought of the things and memories lost; of all the beautiful sights that no one remembered anymore.

"It is the power to destroy the world."

Did Geese understand how much could be lost from here on out?

"And it could be even worse this time, in fact, it probably will. Hitogami already told you, right? Rygar has the power to surpass the Fighter God Armor, we are gathering a truly terrifying group this time, but we can still lose. Hitogami is probably planning a large-scale war against the Dragon God and the Beast God."

Geese listened in silence.

"This time, it will not be just the Fighter God and the Dragon God. Rygar is very talented, but he is also an excellent leader; his Kingdom is already very powerful. This time, many others of that level will also join."

"If it ends like last time, even the landscapes of the Continents will be modified beyond comprehension. The Central Continent may end its current era of prosperity. The Great Forest may become a desert. The Demon Continent may be swallowed by the ocean and the Begaritt Continent may be pushed even further away."

"The races would be forced together and there would be countless conflicts. Although it hasn’t been recorded in any history book, four thousand two hundred years ago, an age of darkness reigned for almost three thousand years. All races wandered, searching for land to call their own, fighting among themselves..."

I remember how, after many years, humans expelled the demons from the Central Continent and drove us to the Dem