Chapter 137: Hrimvalr’s Labyrinth (3)

Unable to believe himself, he rubbed his eyes and checked once more.

But no matter how many times he rechecked, the God’s Mineral (1 sq. km.) was already lying quietly in his inventory.

“This…” Slowly, his expression changed, a wild smile crossing his face. “This is amazing! I did it!”

As he was celebrating, Fenrir moved.

She blinked toward Axel’s back before grabbing him by the cuff of his neck and returning to Nina’s side. It all happened in a flash, leaving him disoriented as his backside hit the ground.

“Huddle up!”

Only her hurried warning reached his ears, unsure of the reason why… until he saw the now-dark ceiling. It was growing bigger by the second, as if being magnified.

“…No.”

It took him a second to realize that it wasn’t the ceiling growing bigger. Rather, it was getting closer—it was “falling” on top of them!

The disappearance of the indestructible God’s Mineral, which supported the ground of the upper floor, weakened the Labyrinth’s structure and caused a collapse!

Thankfully, Fenrir was quick to act.

She set up a protective ice shield around Axel and Nina, while she stood alone outside, hands poised like two giant claws. She held her ground, waiting for the approaching ceiling, as the image of her giant wolf figure flashed behind her.

“Now…!”

Timing her strike perfectly, she scratched twice in an X-pattern.

The rock and soil in the area she struck were blown away, scattering at a safe distance from them.

“RAAAAGH!”

But it wasn’t a one-time thing.

The ceiling was quite thick, so it didn’t end with one hit.

She kept scratching with giant aura claws, chipping the dirt away until nothing else followed.

Although it all happened in the span of a second, to the two huddled in fear, it felt as long as forever!

Fenrir panted, lowering her claws. With the ceiling above them gone, they were finally safe.

“Fenrir, your nails…!” Axel cried out in fright.

The near “invulnerable” legendary wolf’s nails had cracked and were bleeding!

“Ah… The ceiling had Adamantite and other hard metals, so it ended like this…” She casually waved her hand. “Don’t worry, Master. It should heal in a while.”

“No, no, no! We need to heal your injury!”

For a rare moment, Axel rushed, pushing a potion over to her.

Of course, there was the worry that danger might come to them while Fenrir wasn’t at her best, but more than that, he felt guilt. After all, it was basically his fault that the ceiling fell!

“No, I…” Fenrir started, about to refuse, before shaking her head slowly. “I understand. I’ll follow Master’s command…”

She gratefully accepted the potion and drank it in one go—a max-level potion at that. Not only did it completely heal her injuries, but it even added a few points to her Vitality permanently!

Of course, it wasn’t the first time she drank this potion either. Still, the sensation of getting stronger felt novel to her.

“Now…” Axel took a deep breath.

Fenrir was healed, and the ceiling had already fallen. They were all safe for now… “Time to return to reality.”

Now, it was time to face what came falling along with the ceiling—weird monsters that looked inorganic. Golems of various designs and materials, ranging from human-sized to as large as a house.

From a casual count, there were at least a thousand of them.

“We should clean them up and head up, I guess…”

Axel said as he retreated back into their little safe haven. Nina then raised her hand, looking apologetic.

“Uhm… Sir Axel?” she said. “Unfortunately, curses don’t work on non-living things. I won’t be of help this time…”

Axel’s shoulders fell, dejected. “Really? That’s too bad—”

He had hoped for her to wipe them all out with her AoE curses, until he caught the word she used.

“Non-living…?”

Right then, an idea popped into his mind.

A wild one, but one that would greatly benefit them if it worked.

Axel turned to Fenrir and, with a serious expression, commanded, “I’m trying something out. Fenrir, protect me in case I fail.”

“Yes, Master.”

Of course, Fenrir didn’t disagree.

Her eyes burned with fighting spirit as she watched over Axel. Nina trailed closely behind them, making sure she wasn’t left out, until they reached the nearest golem pacing around in visible confusion. It was a medium-sized one, about twice as tall as Axel.

“First, let’s test it out…”

Saying so, he ran forward, reaching the golem’s leg before it noticed him, and—

“Store!”

—used his inventory!

In a flash, the golem’s body disappeared, and at the same time, a new entry appeared in Axel’s inventory.

“Nice!” he cheered. “It worked perfectly!”

Checking it, he realized that the golem he had just captured was labeled “Iron Golem.” Its body was made of pure elemental iron, plus a single gem called the “core.”

“Oh, I can even disassemble them…”

With these golems, the God’s Mineral he obtained, and the metals—from normal iron to versatile Adamantium—mixed with the fallen ceiling, a new business plan popped into his mind.

“You guys, stay still for now!” he said. “I’ll capture all the golems and gather all the metals here before we move to the next floor…!”

If everything went as planned, he was about to see more profit than he could ever hope for!

The two girls couldn’t understand what Axel was planning, but still stayed put. No, rather, they could only do that and nothing else.

Axel made use of his increased speed, running at a pace he could manage, and gathered all the nearby golems.

Within minutes, all one thousand golems they saw disappeared into his inventory!

“Iron, Copper, Stone, and Mithril!”

Axel grinned, seeing the various types of golems—materials he had gathered.

Of course, selling the golems as they were would treat them as materials. However, if he used the metals to create other items—like a sword, perhaps—his profits were bound to be sky-high!

But for that to happen, he first needed to make a forge back at camp.

’The dream is expanding…!’

He was so elated that he almost forgot he was stuck at the bottom of a hundred-floor Labyrinth!

But at the same time, Axel realized something else.

Looking up, the supposed ceiling of the next floor was, once again, made of God’s Mineral… meaning more harvest! And after harvesting it, the ceiling would fall once more, delivering even more golems and minerals to him!

If the “creator” of the labyrinth ever saw how Axel conquered his grand design, he would vomit blood and die on the spot!

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