Chapter 173 (1/2)

Gufadgarn, the evil God of labyrinths, sat in the deepest part of the Trial of Zakkart, si Vandalieu’s actions in silence

Secluded inside the Dungeon that he had created himself, he was unaware that Rodcorte had tried and failed to cast this world away

But his body was tre

“All of the trials that I put in place are being cleared in ways that I never intended The htered helplessly, and all of the traps are being crushed underfoot…!”

Vandalieu was restraining hi plenty of noise froarn had allowed challengers froeon alive, froers that followed knew all the perfect answers to the riddles of the upper floors

Several decades ago, challengers started getting past the harsh environments of the middle floors and the beach floor that was peaceful upon first entering it but contained a timed trap

But there were none who cleared the floors withthe Bone Walls that were supposed to be labyrinths in the upper floors or destroying nature to the point that the monsters had no work to do

Even the harshcleared at a pace of over one floor per day On an average year, even a party froe would have so out around this point, but that hadn’t happened either

What made this possible was likely the effects of Skills and Jobs that even Gufadgarn didn’t know of, the Dee

The availability of pleasant conditions that took no notice of the harsh environ not only ’s fragments The extraordinary ability to taly unli force

Unless the use of all of these things was prevented, it would be ier To begin with, Vandalieu was not a suitable target for the trial

It was like trying to trap a shark swi in the ocean with a trap on the shore He was siarn could not help but admit this, he was stirred by Vandalieu’s actions

“Masterful! This is Zakkart, the one who made fools of even the Gods with his actions that went beyond the liarn possessed a body, his cheeks would be flushed and tears of joy would be flowing from his eyes That was how much he was moved by Vandalieu’s actions, the actions that were so much like those of Zakkart

It wasn’t that he had always expected someone ould clear each floor of the Trial of Zakkart with secret answers

The one who could overco Zakkart’s successor It ith this thought that he had created the Dungeon Thus, he had always intended to acknowledge the one who eon as Zakkart’s successor, even if they used the intended correct answers

This was true even if that person was a servant of Alda, the one who called himself the God of law and fate, and the Gods who served hiarn had intended to tell thee sides If he didn’t do this, he would not be worthy of calling himself a disciple of Zakkart, the cha’s ararn would have been left with no choice but to eliarn or, more importantly, Zakkart’s precious relics

But a hundred years had passed since he created the Trial of Zakkart Many challengers were defeated on the upper floors, and even challengers froe had not overcoarn had received a Divine Message fro, “Zakkart’s successor will appear” But he had often thought that this was so that tiroups that he saw potential in One of theroup of four that had faced the trial recently, just a short while ago to a God It was the group known as the ‘Five-colored Blades’

At first, Gufadgarn had siers that misunderstood the purpose of the trial and offered their prayers to Alda But seeing the the in a way

Even including challengers froe who possessed exceptional fighting strength, there had been none who had continued through the trial without using their heads at all or using incorrect ers froe that believed in Alda, they were the ones who had eon; they orthy of ad strength, was certain

But in the end, they had turned back in theone member on the snowy ers froe who had arn rearn had roup – than in the Five-colored Blades

“Co but a pebble Ah… Zakkart,” Gufadgarn murmured

To him, the fact that Vandalieu coments was not a problem

It was possible that he was Zakkart That fact alone rendered everything else insignificant

Gufadgarn wanted to go to hiht this instant But it was still too early In Zakkart’s words, “You must test your creation carefully until the very end” As Gufadgarn had created the Trial of Zakkart, he had to test its challengers fully and carefully

But Vandalieu and his companions would soon reach the lower floors The floors containing challenges regarding Zakkart and the other champions’ abilities that they had received frohts and their achievements

Perhaps the supply area before the lower floors was unnecessary for Vandalieu’s party, but if he truly was Zakkart’s successor, he would certainly rant this foolish disciple everything…”

At as assuroaning to hi to our information, this was supposed to be a ‘supply area,’ wasn’t it?” he said

“That should be right, but… what is this?” said Iris

She was holding the written documents of the inforers, but her head and her tail were tilted in puzzleht in front of her and the words, ‘supply area’

“It’s just like a market city with no shopkeepers, isn’t it?” said Eleanora

“And it’s like all the good bargains have already been sold,” said Kis available in the supply area were disappointing

At first glance, the supply area looked like a ed aroods

There were also things like partially-filled water flasks, half-eaten strips of dried h it wasn’t clear whose blood it was

“It seems that this is the equipers and possessed by challengers who died here,” said Saenerated all kinds of materials in addition to monsters and traps This included natural resources needed for Dungeons to take the form of mountains, forests and lakes, as well as equipment and treasures inside treasure chests

But even though iteeon would becoers acquired theenerate secondhand iteeons were always the belongings of previous challengers

“The Trial of Zakkart has moved from place to place around the world for a hundred years, and those frouess that means that there is a lot of ite that would be of any use,” said Bell it

It was a thick, visibly heavy blade, but it was apparently made of Damascus steel, which had exceptional flexibility It was as heavy as it looked, but it was possible that it was a

… About half of the blade was , so it didn’t seem like it would be able to de half of the blade was nowhere to be seen, even Vandalieu wouldn’t be able to repair it

The previous owners of these secondhand goods were those who had fought fiercely against the challenges of the Trial of Zakkart and lost their lives while trying to achieve their dreaoods reflected that

The sword in Bell was still one of the iteers with no blade at all, spearheads with no handles and the ruined fragments of shi+elds and suits of ars with the around at the secondhand iteers who had faced the Trial of Zakkart that was renowned to be a dangerous, difficult challenge, even if they had fallen in the Dungeon There was no s precious materials and exceptional techniques

But such valuable iteers that had reached this point There were few even froe that were capable of passing the middle floors, but there were no valuable items left

“Come to think of it, I think that several people told ic Items in the supply area that had been made with techniques they’d never seen before, so they decided to bring them out…” Iris murmured

It see techniques froh it was unclear whether this was Gufadgarn’s deliberate intention

“Then won’t there be sos that we can take with us?” said Darcia

“Let’s see, we don’t need h of the other materials As for the food… it doesn’t seem to be particularly tasty,” said Basdia

The bread, which had been baked to be hard so that it would stay preserved, tasted exactly like hard bread would taste

“Y-you ate soht be decades old!” said Tarea

“Yeah It wasn’t h it’s probably different from Van’s,” said Basdia “Its smell and taste are normal… Hmm? This bread is the only delicious one?”

“… Basdidono, I believe that is the taste of the blood,” said Myuze

In any case, the food just seeoods It was unnecessary for Vandalieu and his co fresh food with them

“Well, it’s a waste but I suppose we should justout to Vandalieu as he went to pick so up

“Mom, everyone, there are quite so a piece of leather are hole in the torso area

“Vandalieu-sama, to me, that appears to be the ruins of a piece of cheap leather arht wear,” said Eleanora

The armor simply looked like a piece of junk to her, but that wasn’t the case in Vandalieu’s eyes

“No, Eleanora,” he said “This leather arhts of its previous owner, in the form of a powerful hatred I’ the items in this supply area preserved also worked on the residual thoughts They haven’t faded away over the years and decades; the hatred, the sadness, the resentment, the despair… there’s so much that this would becoh it”

As Vandalieu finished speaking, everyone took a step away from the items lined up around the supply area The Undead Saria, Rita and Isla seemed unfazed, however

“In other words, they will be useful as catalysts for creating death-attribute Magic Items, won’t they?” said Isla

“I see Then let’s take them with us,” said Rita

“Yes, let’s choose the ones that have been destroyed in the ruesome ways, especially the ones with blood on them, and take them with us,” said Vandalieu

“Van, is this bread okay?” Basdia asked

“It’s fine; there isn’t any athered several iteood materials and equipped his co on… because the next trial was one that became easier the fewer the party’s numbers were

The lower floors had riddles, similar to the ones on the upper floors They were ones based on the powers given to Zakkart and his companions by the Gods, as well as their achievehly difficult, and even the powerful fighters who had h the middle floors had dropped out one after another on these floors

The first trial, on the other side of the door at the back of the supply area, was known to be a particularly difficult obstacle

In a roo was e of himself

“Nice to meet you, me”

“Nice to meet you too, me”

The first trial was a confrontation with oneself