Chapter 71: Scapegoat

"What?!" Michael suddenly blurted out loudly a few minutes after they had gotten into the first floor of the Labyrinth.

"Can you keep your voice down, you dumbass!" Dante gritted his teeth and hit the back of Michael’s head.

Looking forward, Dante could see that the Purgers had each gone off to their own separate business, with only three now walking several meters in front of them.

Just then, however, Michael lowered his voice and repeated, "What?"

He couldn’t believe what Dante had just said.

"You want us — or no, no. Me? To go to the ninth floor to destroy a temple?"

Truth be told, he had not even registered the temple bit yet. His brain was still stuck on the fact that they were going to the ninth floor!

’Did boss bring me out of prison to kill me? If yes, then he should have just left me there!’

"Stop panicking, tsk." Dante scowled and clicked his tongue. "I’ve been there and came back without so much as a scratch. So don’t worry."

"Heh. If someone else had said this, I’d have felt better! Coming from you doesn’t make the situation better in the slightest!" Michael was doing all he could to keep from screaming right then and there.

"And why is that?" Dante shot him a sideways glance.

"Well, you are not exactly normal, are you?"

"Rude!" Dante scoffed. "Are you implying I’m some monster?"

Michael pressed his lips into a thin line, choosing his next words very carefully by saying nothing.

Dante sighed.

"I said, don’t worry. We are only going to be by the entrance of the place. There are no Blighted Creatures there."

Inwardly, he added, ’Hopefully.’

The last time, he had been carrying the Ring of Borrowed Fortune, which kept powerful creatures away from his path. This time, he didn’t have that with him. He couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous.

Just then, Michael stopped dead in his tracks. "Have you forgotten that we have to go through each floor to get to the ninth? The second to the last?!"

’Oh, that’s right...’ Dante tilted his head back. ’This brat still doesn’t know that I’m a high priest.’

Looking away, Dante replied casually, "I’m a high priest."

"Oh..." Michael looked away. And then, it hit him. "Wait, what?"

Somehow, that was even harder to believe.

"You are a high priest?"

"Mm-hm."

Michael arched a brow. ’Why’d I think all this time that he was a physical class?’

All this while, based on how Dante was so willing to jump into risky situations, Michael believed the boss was a rogue.

Suddenly, Dante looked even stranger in his eyes. But right then, another realization hit him like a brick.

’Wait a minute... if he is a high priest, then... couldn’t he just have healed me after draining my blood? Why the byss did he send me to pay for a high priest outside?!’

After thinking about it though, he decided not to complain because he was getting free money from that.

Just then, a Harpy that was hiding behind a tree they had just passed suddenly lunged out and began flying towards the duo, with its eyes trained on Michael’s silver ring.

His instincts flared, and as he turned around a greatsword appeared in his hand.

"Take a look at this son of a bitch sneaking up on us!"

However, before he could even raise the blade, two shots fired from his side. The creature quickly averted the first, but the second caught its wing, causing it to lose balance and crash heavily onto the ground.

Dante then pulled the trigger again.

Bang!

A hole opened in the creature’s neck and it went still, its body collapsing in a heap.

"The audacity! Ptui." Michael spat to the side as he began walking up to it. Then, using his blade, he began to pry open the chest of the creature to take out the mana-gem.

Meanwhile, Dante flipped open the cylinder of his gun, ejecting the spent casing before sliding a fresh round into the chamber. ’Hm... I shouldn’t waste any more bullets unless it’s absolutely necessary.’

He sighed. ’I wish I could just go around hunting these creatures for their blood, but it would not do much for increasing my Faith because these are low-grade ones. Although Edward, and by extension, the goddess, prefers human blood and vitality, they wouldn’t mind blood from high-grade creatures, not all these Green trash.

’High-grade creatures are closer to divine creatures, so it makes sense why those are better for us. I need to work on getting a permit for a higher-grade labyrinth. Maybe a red or even gold labyrinth.

’In the meantime, I’ll focus on killing human beings, especially those of higher Tiers. I need to max out my Faith and level as soon as possible, so that I can venture out for my Test of Faith and advance to the next Tier.’

While he was still in his thoughts, Michael held up a dull, green-tinted stone, squinting at it. "Tsk. These tier 1 green mana-gems aren’t even enough to charge a single skill in an artifact, let alone cast a real spell. What a waste of time."

Regardless, he turned to Dante, "Mind if I keep it?"

Dante turned around and continued walking.

"That’s a yes," Michael smiled as he tossed it into his spatial ring. He would sell it. Tier 1 green mana-gems could be sold anywhere from 1.5 to 3 crowns.

Choosing not to linger anymore, Michael stood up and chased after Dante. As they moved, they could hear gunshots nearby, likely from the other Purgers. They could also hear screaming, though they believed that the screams sounding human were most likely from the Harpies.

Several minutes later, they finally got to the door leading to the second floor. Dante reached out and held Michael’s hand. Then he muttered in a low voice.

"Take us to the ninth floor."

Michael swallowed and seemed hesitant to move even after the surface of the tree with red leaves had begun to ripple like water.

Seeing that, Dante took a few steps back. Then he rushed forward and kicked Michael, sending him flying into the door.

"Tsk."

Dante clicked his tongue, straightened his Fedora, then finally stepped through the door himself.

***

The tunnel leading to the pit cave suddenly appeared in front of Dante. He could see Michael looking around like a lost child in a graveyard.

"Bro... this place is creepy." Michael mumbled in a trembling voice after seeing the massive statue of the humanoid creature with the head of a goat behind them.

’He’s now calling me bro? This guy has gotten way too comfortable.’ Dante’s brow twitched as he watched Michael quickly take out his hip flask to drink some alcohol.

Gripping his gun tightly, he then began walking toward the pit cave. "Come on, let’s not waste any time."

Michael swallowed then began to walk after his boss. The light from the open ceiling above illuminated the cavern. When they got to the pool of water in the center, Dante halted and pointed to it. "This is where I stop, and this is where you continue alone."

"What?" Michael stared at him like he had just grown a second head.

"Swim to the end of the pool. When you resurface on the other side of it, walk up into the tunnel. There you will see the temple. Use your divine power there to fill the place with it. Then once you’re done, blow the whole place up."

Michael looked at the water, then back at Dante. "Are you sure it’s okay to get in there? I mean... nothing about this place screams jump into me."

"It’s fine. Now hurry up before I kick you in!" Dante muttered impatiently, even pointing his gun at Michael.

Michael sighed. ’Damnit!’

First off, so many things were strange about those instructions.

Swim to the end of the pool and resurface on the other side in the same sentence?

After thinking about it, he figured labyrinths were strange places anyway, so there really could be an ’other side.’

But jumping into this pitch-black water was scary even for him.

He stared at the water for a few long seconds before finally summoning up his courage. Then, he jumped into the pool.