Manuke FPS

In the Wolf Fang Labyrinth, I succeeded in slaying the 25th floor’s guardian. Looking back, its magic attack was quite powerful and its keratin scales were quite tough. I don’t know why the previous party that managed to reach this cloud couldn’t kill the guardian, if I had to guess, it was probably that they had no way to stop it from recovering underwater. 

Compared to the other labyrinths that had more than a hundred floors, the Wolf Fang Labyrinth made up for its small amount of floors with an overwhelmingly high difficulty level. The magical rain made for a complicated environmental hazard. It forced people to fight while trying to avoid it. It was probably the biggest reason why the labyrinth hadn’t been conquered over the years. 

While thinking so, I sat on top of the Gift Box and looked around the guardian room. The floating steam suggested that the water’s temperature hadn’t gone down after I’d boiled it with thermite. The guardian had already disappeared and the door leading to the 26th floor had been unlocked. However, it’d take a while for the water’s temperature to go down; so I looked around idly, though it felt like the walls were closing in towards me… Was it some sort of optical illusion, or was it actually happening?

Not only the walls. Before I knew it, the previously hidden underwater floors were becoming visible now… Was the water level going down? After confirming that there wasn’t anything suspicious, I watched the change happen.

The guardian’s room was a large boos room and now it’d shrunk down to the same size as the other guardian room I’ve encountered before. The water that flooded the room disappeared completely, as if the floor had sucked it away like a sponge.  Even the deep submerged parts became dry, and soon enough, the room became the familiar square room.

One had to scour through 10 floors to encounter a guardian room but perhaps since this one was right before the master’s room, the guardian room was made into a unique battlefield that befitted the monster that inhabited it. I remember that the guardian room in the Emerald Demon Labyrinth, were we fought that Ogre Fighter, was just a simple square room like it was now. Then again, did the ogre need a specialized room to improve its capabilities? I’d say a square room should be enough.

Once the guardian room was finished changing and the hot water had disappeared, I got off the box and immediately opened up the TSS. I restocked my munitions, replacing the shield, then went to the shop to replace my inventory. With my equipment and inventory stocked back up, I headed to the door that led down to the 26th floor. Passing the game, which was similar to the entrance, I went down the staircase.

This was the final floor of the Wolf Labyrinth. A straight underpass instead of a room. The passage had no sources of light, so I had to rely on the tactical light on the SCAR-H and activated my NV mode as I proceeded. 

My map showed that the floor was a single straight path, with no blips appearing on it even as I went deeper, there were no enemies spawning. I guessed this floor was an exception. After walking for about 15 minutes, a rectangular roomed, narrower than the guardian room, appeared on the map. A white object that was similar to the gate could be seen by the light. 

I approached and realized that the design and the engravings were very similar to the normal labyrinth gate I’d seen before. The difference only being the absence of the throne at the top. Perhaps the throne was beyond this gate…

I pushed the gates open and entered. 

The deepest part of the labyrinth, where the Labyrinth Master’s room was located, was a 20m long rectangular room with a red carpet laid over the floor starting from the door. At the end of the carpet, was three steps and a missing master. The throne was there… But no one was sitting on it. 

Was there still more to the labyrinth? There were chandeliers installed all around the stone room, but there were no candles on them. Just floating fireballs that served as lighting. Seeing no need for the NV mode, I turned off the NV mode. 

I saw another door just behind the throne, further back… It is probably the door that led to the labyrinth core. Would it really be there? I readied the AA-12 and moved for the room’s center – one step, two steps – – – – – –

“This smell.”

A terribly strong odor drifted past my nose. I instantly slid-jumped backward towards the entrance. The strange odor was a pungent, greasy and beastly smell. I think it came from near the room’s center, implying that there was something there. But how come I couldn’t see the smell’s source — Anywhere?

I promptly activated my FLIR mode and looked around… There! 

On the center-right of the room’s center, stood a heat signature that resembled a 2m tall human with the head of a wolf. Its tail emitted a greater heat signature compared to its head. 

“— A werewolf.”

Probably reacting to my muttering, the werewolf turned its head to me. 

“VuOoooooo!”

Along with the roar, the beast’s stealth was undone before it began to speak. 

“So, it’s finally here!!”

What? VMB’s auto translating feature actually had the ability to decipher the werewolf’s roar?

“I’ll kill you! I’ll drink your blood! I’ll feast on your flesh!”

What’s with this fellow? Blabbering like that while I was standing here. I set the AA12 on top of the shield, aimed at it and placed the crosshairs over its face.

“Are you the master of this labyrinth?”

“VuRooooooo!”

This, can this guy even understand me?

The werewolf replied to my question by rushing towards me. Its strike aimed centermass of my body, though it was protected by the shield, preventing a direct hit. Even with it punching with its bare hands, I felt a good amount of force from the attack… It was quite a powerful creature. 

While I was being pushed back, I fired my weapon into its head. Three consecutive shots and three explosions later.

“Guaa.”

The slugs punched straight through and the werewolf jumped away while holding its left flank. A good hit — although the slug didn’t do well against the crocodile’s scale, it worked wonders against this one. 

“Let me eat! Let it go! Let me savor it! Hand over your soul!”

The werewolf still blabbered on mindlessly. Was its intelligence too low, or perhaps it’d gone mad? While it frowled, the hand holding its flank started to glow. So it was capable of healing itself, huh?! Immediately, I placed my crosshairs over the beast, opting to fire from the hip this time. But the wolf was too fast. It jumped from wall to wall, avoiding every round fired. 

DId it realize what kind of projectiles were attacking him that fast? Our eyes met… 

Whether it had reasoning or intelligence, I didn’t know; it didn’t matter though, all that mattered was that it was the Labyrinth master and I was here to subjugate it. That was all too it!