Chapter 175 (1/2)

A floor of a slightly foggy land, not as cold as the ice field and snowy h to keep ice fro

This was the 80th floor, and as Vandalieu and his companions entered it, they saw several dozen ice pillars around the entrance

“Bocchan, I believe these are the ice statues,” said Sa more closely at the pillar, it was not a pillar but rather a person encased in ice

According to the challengers froers froeoneither a stone statue or an ice one The ones frozen inside these pillars of ice were likely the ice statues

“Yes If I recall, those who saw these statues thought that they were in poor taste, like soarn, or so one of the ice statues to exah the transparent ice

Like the stone statues, the person earing al that could be called equipment; they were in no more than their underwear

But unlike the stone statues, the color of their hair, eyes and skin could be seen

“But it doesn’t seem like they froze to death here,” said Rita

“This one has traces of burns, and that one looks uninjured at first glance but ishis head,” said Saria

As they pointed out, if one examined the ice-covered corpses closely, they would see that they had fatal injuries that one could not iine they received on this floor

Some of thely reasse frozen in the ice

This was so that had taken a lot of effort It see or hint regarding the trials was not incorrect

“According to the records, this floor’s trial is commonly known as the ‘trial of temptation,’ isn’t it?” said Vandalieu

It was a trial where once the challengers proceeded a certain distance, their vision would be covered by the fog and they would hear auditory hallucinations from behind them The voices of close friends ere supposed to be outside the Dungeon or fas along the lines of “That way is dangerous” and “Coers have ever faced this trial But nobody has ever passed it,” said Iris

This here the docue froers ended People had faced the Dungeon every year for a century, but this was as far as anyone had ever been

“Do the records say what state they were defeated in?” asked Eleanora

“Both groups apparently proceeded forward so that they wouldn't fall to the teht by pitfalls, separated in the fog and taken by surprise by monsters,” said Iris

“I see, so you can’t clear the trial just by resisting the temptations,” said Isla

Eleanora and Isla frowned as they realized how vicious this challenge was

“Even for Vandalieu-sama, it has taken over two e… no, it would be norers to take over three months to reach this point They would have had a considerable aue,” said Eleanora “Being in that state, if they heard the te voices of those close to them… even if they knew they were auditory hallucinations, shaking them off wouldn’t be easy”

“And even if they did, there were hidden traps and ene… The only one who could clear this trial with no prior inforer Sense: Death spell,” said Isla

“If it was darkness, we’d be able to see through it with Dark Vision, but… Fog and smoke is a bit more difficult,” said Eleanora

As Eleanora was an Abyssal Vampire and Isla was an Undead, darkness was no hindrance to the and smoke, as they were physical substances in the air

“Gufadgarn ht have expected Vampires to face the trial… What is it, Iris? You have been looking back and forth between irl for so that you two are very in-sync, which putsto admire them

Isla and Eleanora blinked… and then silently turned to face each other

Belllass froht!” she declared with her arrappling with one another

“Wha–?! What are they doing?!” Iris shouted, shocked

“Physical communication in order to maintain smooth relations,” Bellht up in it if you do not step back”

“Shouldn’t we stop the weapons, ic, and the lass has fallen… If they do not stop then, I will force them to”

“Iris, I… so with one another,” said George

Since rules seemed to be in place, Iris accepted her father’s words

“Alright,” she said, reluctantly stepping back But she kept glancing at Eleanora and Isla as they continued their runted

“You old lady,” said Eleanora

With their hands interlocked, the two of theh ht faint in fear

Even though Iris knew that they wouldn’t start an actual fight to the death, she couldn’t help but feel anxious about it

Meanwhile, Vandalieu and the others were nonchalantly exa to take no notice of thereleased nearby

“So, Bocchan, e do with these ice statues?” asked Sam

“They’re fewer in number than the stone statues above, but in the end, we still don’t knohich of the corpses is Heinz’s companion,” said Vandalieu

“Hmm, could it be this person? I feel like I’ve seen her before… Ah, but I get the feeling that it’s this one, too… if I recall, she was an Elf wo that she had once seen Martina’s face before she was captured and killed

She peered at the faces through the ice and searched herwell

“… Vandalieu, what color were her eyes, again?” she asked, sounding depressed

“Mom, you don’t have to force yourself to try to remember If you can’t remember, it can’t be helped, and you probably only saw Martina once And it’s not like you exa her

Indeed, Martina was a spiritual e in the Five-colored Blades, so she would have taken a position at the back of the party rather than the front, so even when they captured Darcia, she would have been behind Heinz and Delizah

And after her capture, Darcia had been tortured and burned at the stake by High Priest Gordan That was about ten years ago The ones she reh Priest Gordan, the one who conducted the torture and execution, and the front me that she couldn’t remember Martina’s face

And even Martina’s death in the Trial of Zakkart had happened several years after Darcia’s As an adult Elf woed over the course of a few years, but it was possible that her hairstyle had changed

“Yes, it’s iht be able to re the same equipment as she hen they captured me,” said Darcia

The corpses frozen in the ice were stripped of all their equipment and were in their underwear; it seemed that this made it even more difficult to make connections with Darcia’s hazy memories

“But Darcisama, there are some ice statues with their Guild Cards visible,” said Saria

Indeed, unlike the stone statues, the ice statues’ Guild Cards could be seen, though only one side was visible Guild Cards were Magic Items that could display their owners’ Statuses on the back at their will, but there was information written on the front – their names and class at their Guilds

“I saw that, but it doesn’t seem like there are any with the name ‘Martina’ written on them,” said Darcia

“Indeed, and there are some who don’t have Guild Cards,” said Saria “There are also some with Guild Cards that are broken or buried inside their bodies”

“It seeot stuck between the severed sections of their bodies,” said Vandalieu

“If only they were buried in between their breasts,” said Rita

“But a the ice statues that we can see the Guild Cards of, the loe can see are C-class, andno attention to Rita

Vandalieu had already used a clone to check all of the ice statues and learned that h-class

It was likely that those whose Guild Cards couldn’t be checked were also high-class adventurers or knights andfrom the difference in the nuers who quickly died on the upper floors The ice statues er ones who made it past a certain point,” said Rita

“I don’t knohy they’re divided like that when they haven’t even been turned into Undead,” said Saria

“Either Gufadgarn showed so behind it,” said Vandalieu

“And in the end, there are still no spirits,” said Darcia

They considered various things, but the ile spirit around Because of this, they could not confire Elf woman who had been one of Heinz’s co the ice statues

Eleanora and Isla, who had finished their shon as all of the sand in the hourglass had fallen, joined in the discussion as if nothing had happened

“There should be much fewer Elves than humans, but… there are quite a lot of theical qualities than hu lifespans so they can accuo, I heard that this is why the portions of huh-class adventurers are not that different”

Watching theot the i quite well, but decided to keep quiet about it next tiht

“Dannsama, what shall we do? Five corpses should not be too heavy to carry, and it is likely that we can narrow them down even further if we exa at the hands and figures of the ice statues

“… Let’s not do that It would be a bother to try and ed in the trials ahead,” said Vandalieu

Before entering the Trial of Zakkart, he had been thinking of taking the corpse with theeon, he realized that it was a inally anticipated

And after this floor was unknown territory, with no previous information available It would probably be best to not take any unnecessary baggage

It was possible that they would be given the corpse on their way horoaned Rapiéçage

“Patchwork…?” said Ya anticipated the addition of a new patchwork companion, the two of them looked dejected

“I’ll make more companions when the trial is over, okay?” said Vandalieu, deciding to , and only the Undead and those with Mental Corruption left outside,” he said, gathering his thoughts

The party would proceed with only those that would be resistant to auditory hallucinations And as Vandalieu took several steps past the ice statues, a fog enveloped the whole party, obstructing their vision

Vandalieu let out a screah idea of where the ene thread in the direction I’ insects in the darkness, Vandalieu located the hidden enemies from a distance and Bellmond disposed of them with her threads as they proceeded

Every tiers danced in the air, a short screa, followed by the sound ofthe floor

“As expected of a Kunoichi I’ll hts,” said Vandalieu

TLN: A hachigane is the protective headband that ninjas (such as the characters in Naruto) wear

“Dannsama… It is true that I have acquired the Kunoichi Job, but I believe I would have no opportunity to wear fishnet tights even if you did give the a tailcoat that didn’t reveal her legs

Why fishnet tights? The Empusa Kunoichi of Zanalpadna wore them, so perhaps it was a form of fashi+on Then should I wear them under my clothes? Bellmond wondered as she manipulated her threads and reht be able to get through this easily if we’re just careful of the traps,” Isla murmured

“Isla, turn around and perforh?!”

“Isla, that was an auditory hallucination,” said the real Vandalieu, having pulled on Isla’s chain to stop her as she tried to obey the auditory hallucination’s order

“Fuh, I’ able to tell whether Vandalieu-sama’s voice is the real one or not,” said Isla

“Eleanora, please come here,” said another auditory hallucination of Vandalieu’s voice

“Yes, Vandalieu-sa it would turn out like this,” Vandalieu ue around Eleanora’s arm to stop her

It seemed that a resistance to effects on the mind was ineffective And it seemed that this floor’s trial was even imposed upon the Undead

“Vandalieu, hurry and coht, Van That way is dangerous,” said Pauvina’s

“No, Vandalieu! That’s not my voice!” the real Darcia cried “And Pauvinchan should be in Saht now!”

“I can hear Mom’s voice in stereo sound,” Vandalieu murmured “There’s one, two pitfalls there and one bear trap there”

It seemed that this floor’s auditory hallucinations were not an effect on the ers hear the voices of those close to them directly inside their heads; they were identical, physical recreations of the voices that could be heard through the ears Thus, Mental Corruption and Grotesque Mind had no effect

But it seeuish the auditory hallucinations from real voices

“Really? They sound completely different to me”

“HAHAHAHA! Our loyalty and belief prevail!”

“Valkyrie, isn’t it simply that we don’t have ears?”

“I wonder hoe even perceive sound”

Indeed, it was likely because they didn’t have any organs equivalent to ears

But as Vandalieu was at the front, avoiding the traps and clearing the ene hi onwards

But as he continued on, no eon’s structure with the Labyrinth Creation Skill, there was no exit leading doards

There are no stairs leading down? he thought

Would they not appear until the party had proceeded a certain distance?

That was possible, but Vandalieu suddenly stopped walking as he realized that the pitfalls that he had already passed were vanishi+ng

“… Our vision is obscured and there are only endless traps and enemies ahead of us The auditory hallucinations tell us ‘Coerous’ In other words, we have to go backwards, and the area ahead is dangerous,” said Vandalieu “Everyone, turn around The auditory hallucinations are right”

With those words, Vandalieu turned around on the spot Bellmond and the others were all surprised by this sudden action, but they did not disobey their master, who appeared to be very certain of hih Vandalieu remained cautious as they headed back towards the entrance, there were nocleared up, and past the ice statues, there was a staircase leading doards that hadn’t been there when the party arrived on this floor

“What in the world is this?” Bellotten until now, but… Zakkart once said, ‘Let’s take the tis of others’ It’s probably to do with that,” Vandalieu replied

The ice statues on this floor… their backs were facing the entrance, a warning that proceeding forould lead to failure And the auditory hallucinations were true warnings