Chapter 109: Empty Boss Room
“What a weird place. Why would something like this be inside a cave? Not to mention at the very bottom of it.” Nina muttered after seeing the place, but she didn’t appear to realize that it looked exactly like a boss room that could only be found in Labyrinths, which was natural for her because she’s never been in a Labyrinth before.
However, Leo immediately recognized the gates and the ominous aura that squeezed through the cracks between the gates and permeated the hallways.
“This is a boss room! I am sure of it!” He said to Nina.
“A boss room? Like the ones you find inside a Labyrinth? So this was a Labyrinth the whole time?” Nina was shocked to learn this information.
“I’m not sure if this place is a dungeon or not, but this is definitely a boss room. I have seen those doors before when I explored a Labyrinth with Miss Camille.”
“What should we do? We’re not supposed to enter Labyrinths without warning the teachers first.”
“I think it’s a little too late for that.” Leo shook his head. “And I am not going to go all the way back just to let the teachers know. Since we’re already here, we might as well clear it.”
“Okay.” Nina nodded.
“Are you sure? If the monsters in the previous area were all A-Rank monsters, there’s a chance that the monster behind these gates could be an S-Rank monster.” Lilith said to him.
“By the way, S-Rank monsters are 100 times stronger than A-Rank monsters. You’ll definitely die if you encounter one in your current state.”
Leo swallowed nervously after hearing her words.”
“Wait… Can you scout ahead? Enter the room and see what kind of monster is lying inside.” Leo said to her.
“Sure.” Lilith nodded before disappearing into the gates.
She returned a few minutes later and said, “I couldn’t see any monsters inside, let alone a boss.”
“Could the boss be hiding somewhere?” Leo asked.
“No, that’s not possible. The room on the other side is actually quite small, so I was able to look through the whole place, yet I didn’t find any bosses.”
“Hmmm…” Leo pondered.
“Alright, let’s go inside.�� He said a moment later.
“Ah, but before we do that, let’s get some rest first. I want to be in peak condition right before facing a boss.”
Leo retrieved his tent and opened it right in front of the boss room.
They went inside to relax in the shower and eat some high-quality food.
After that, they went to sleep in their sleeping bags.
They woke up 8 hours later.
“Can you check inside the boss room again?” Leo said to Lilith after waking up.
“There’s no need. I looked through it multiple times while you slept. There’s no monster inside.”
“An empty boss room… Is that even possible? I thought all Labyrinths collapse after they are cleared.”
“This place might only look like a boss room.” Lilith said.
“I guess we’ll find out in a bit.” Leo said.
Sometime later, they closed the tent and prepared to open the gates.
“I’m ready whenever you are.” Nina said to him.
“Then I’m opening it now.”
Leo proceeded to push the gates open with his bare hands. Despite its massive size, the gates were relatively light and easy to move.
After opening the door just enough for them to walk through, they entered the room.
Bang!
The doors suddenly shut behind them.
The uneasy feeling in Leo’s guts grew stronger with every passing second.
“It’s really empty. This place is also smaller than I expected.” Nina said as she looked around the small circular room.
The interior of the room was about the size of a medium-sized ballroom, and there didn’t appear to be any places for monsters to hide at glance, much less bosses.
“Is this place really empty?” Leo wondered out loud as he looked around the room with Nina staying close to him just in case.
However, before they could do much, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.
Leo immediately noticed this change due to his enhanced senses.
“Something is coming! Be on guard!” He warned Nina, who quickly began preparing to summon her servants at any moment.
“Over there!” Lilith shouted as she pointed to the center of the room, where the figure of an old man had suddenly appeared.
However, there was something strange about this old man— something off.
His body was flickering, almost as though it was a hologram.
The flickering eventually stabilized itself. When that happened, the old man turned to look at Leo and Nina.
“Welcome to my Labyrinth, potential successors to my legacy. I am called Edgar Darkmore, but most people address me as ‘Elder’.”
‘Elder…?’ Leo raised an eyebrow after hearing this familiar name.
‘That’s right… Miss Camille’s S-Rank artifacts also mentioned the name ‘Elder’.’ He quickly recalled.
“What is going on here, Senior Darkmore?” Leo asked him.
“I reckon that you’d just asked me some questions. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to answer your question, as this is just a recording that I’d created before I perished from this world.” Edgar said.
And he continued, “But fret not, as I will explain everything that you need to know so that you won’t become completely lost!”
“If you don’t already know my identity, allow me to give you some more information about my background. First and foremost, I am an outsider. I wasn’t born into this world. Instead, I somehow traveled to this world from another world. In other words, I am an Otherworlder!!”
“An Otherworlder…?” Nina mumbled in a dazed voice as she stared at the hologram with a baffled look on her face. This wasn’t her first time hearing such a term, but because this term has always been associated with evil and hatred, she couldn’t help but feel scared.
‘Holy shit… What the hell is going on?’ Leo wondered inwardly.
‘An Otherworlder just like Leo, huh? This is getting more and more interesting!’ Lilith chuckled.