Chapter 40: The Stubborn Gatekeeper of the 99th Floor

The key to clearing the 100th floor lay with the honey-tongued boss guarding it.

Theresia, returning to the 100th floor for a second attempt to wipe away her previous shame, had once let out a triumphant laugh after defeating the suspected demonic creature, ready to begin her ‘sustainable exorcism.’

However, to her utter surprise, this boss had a second phase.

According to the boss’s second phase, all the scattered light particles needed to be extinguished to kill it.

Unlike the previous tasks of finding rats or tarantulas, these light particles were everywhere on the ground; there was no need to search for them.

Each one required battle qi or magic to extinguish.

Thus, the second attempt at the 100th floor, heavily reliant on ranged attacks, failed spectacularly when their subsequent supplies ran critically low.

This time, Theresia was thoroughly prepared.

With Lola at the center, the mages in the team etched magic circles on the ground to amplify magical power. They then began a combined chant with Lola, unleashing a wide-area spell capable of covering the entire 100th floor.

Originally, Theresia had planned to find other high-level mages for this task, but Lola volunteered. She stated that her learned forbidden spell, ‘Burning Prairie,’ possessed a terrifying casting range and would not cause irreversible damage to the terrain.

After several discussions within the labyrinth, the protagonist for casting the spell decisively became Lola.

And after Theresia repeatedly hinted at introducing Catherine to Lola, Lola had been reviewing the casting steps of ‘Burning Prairie’ ceaselessly throughout the labyrinth’s conquest.

Now was her moment to burn her life for the White Dragon she hadn’t even met!

“This is my final flame!”

Lola raised the magic circle, and a spark diffused outwards. The moment it touched the light particles, it instantly ignited into a blazing inferno.

Soon, the entire 100th floor transformed into a world of fire.

‘Burn, burn, burn everything to ash!’

Theresia’s heart roared in unison.

Although her Theresia’s Dragon Breath was also fire, it clearly couldn’t compare to Lola’s forbidden spell, which could sustain burning without any combustible materials.

Everyone quietly gathered around Lola, shielded from the outside world by a magical barrier.

After half an hour of waiting, the castle on the 100th floor had turned completely scorched.

Their faces had also darkened.

It was too quiet.

Fire had raged for half an hour, and they had waited half an hour for a miracle.

Whenever the entrance to the next floor appeared or a dungeon boss was defeated, the labyrinth would exhibit some inexplicable changes or spectacles.

According to rumors, the 100th floor was the deepest level of the labyrinth.

If its guardian boss had been defeated, then even if it didn’t rain gold, at least a pebble should have fallen to signify their victory.

Lola quickly summoned the marked map, which now showed not a single light particle remaining.

That single forbidden spell had thoroughly purified the entire castle.

So, the question remained: if the castle had been purified, why hadn’t victory arrived?

One team member frowned, inquiring, “A hidden room?”

“Not necessarily. That old trickster is probably misleading us too.” Theresia gently patted Lola’s hand. “Well done. At least you’ve helped us rule out some possibilities. I will absolutely keep my promise to you. Keep up the good work.”

Though Lola was currently too weak to stand straight, it didn’t stop her eyes from brightening upon hearing Theresia’s words. She didn’t feel Theresia was manipulating her in the slightest.

“Mhm, please feel free to command me!”

This time, Theresia was unlike her previous two attempts; she was fully prepared. Although a small setback could wound morale, it was nothing significant.

“There’s no need to be disheartened. All of you are experienced labyrinth conquerors and should know that clearing a labyrinth is not so simple in itself. Let alone trying a method of clearance that the guardian boss himself told us.”

“This was merely a harmless attempt. Now is the time to show our true strength. Let that insidious, treacherous, despicable, filthy thing understand that no matter how much this sewer rat jumps, it can only ever live in the sewers!”

“Oh!”

And so, Theresia’s team began a massive search operation.

• ****
• Meanwhile.
• Theodore and his group also encountered trouble.
• Their problem was quite similar to what Theresia’s team faced.

The 99th floor was peculiar. To proceed to the next floor, one didn’t defeat a guardian boss or find mechanisms and magic circles.

The entrance to the next floor was alive. Intelligence referred to it as the Black-Robed Gatekeeper, wrapped from head to toe in a black robe. Even peering into the robe, one could only see a deep, inscrutable black mist, making it impossible to discern what kind of monster lay within.

To advance to the next floor, one had to negotiate with it, fulfilling its demands for specific items.

However, the 99th floor itself was a colossal labyrinth composed of 9,999 small rooms, and the Black-Robed Gatekeeper’s position was not fixed. Moreover, these rooms also concealed Shadow Soldiers.

Various furnishings and decorations within the rooms could potentially be transformed monsters.

These genuine and fake pieces of furniture were mixed together, and one could not extensively destroy the normal furniture. Doing so would result in being transferred back to the 98th floor, and the 99th floor’s labyrinth structure, all monsters, and furniture would reset.

If one lingered too long on the 99th floor without finding the Black-Robed Gatekeeper, they would also be re-teleported back to the 98th floor.

As a result, Larkin, the largest sponsor of this pursuit team, was bitten by a piece of furniture disguised as a chair.

Had it not been for Samuel’s alchemical potions, he too would have mutated into one of the labyrinth’s furniture pieces on this floor.

Indeed, the attacks of these monsters were imbued with a curse. Upon drawing blood, they would transform the victim into one of the floor’s furniture inhabitants within a certain period, leaving them muddled and difficult to restore.

“I’ve found its location.”

Samuel spoke.

Upon entering the labyrinth, she had released tens of thousands of magical snakes to explore every room.

Even if these magical snakes were destroyed, they could be replenished immediately. Rooms that the magical snakes couldn’t explore were then investigated by their team.

After a full half hour, they finally located the Black-Robed Gatekeeper.

Without hesitation, dodging countless sneak attacks from Shadow Soldiers, Theodore and the Black-Robed Gatekeeper were now separated by only a single wall.

However, before he could even approach, he heard the Black-Robed Gatekeeper’s grumbling.

He could vaguely make out words like ‘stupid dragon,’ ‘underdeveloped,’ and ‘cerebellar atrophy.’

Clearly, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper was not in a good mood.

When Theodore pushed the door open, shards of porcelain littered the floor. The Black-Robed Gatekeeper held a piece of furniture, poised to smash it down.

Theodore and the others looked at the shattered furniture on the floor, their expressions turning somewhat odd.

Among the broken pieces were normal furniture and monstrous furniture with fleshy tissues. Considering the 99th floor’s restriction on lingering too long, could it be that the condition for being sent back to the 98th floor was actually only if too much normal furniture was destroyed, and the second condition was because the Black-Robed Gatekeeper itself was constantly destroying normal furniture?

Their eyes met. The Black-Robed Gatekeeper paused for a moment, then calmly set down the porcelain, pretending nothing had happened as they inquired, “You all look unfamiliar. Is this your first time on the 99th floor?”

After Theodore nodded, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper slightly adjusted their attire, spread their arms, and spoke with excitement, “Brave adventurers, to be able to reach the 99th floor and find me, who exists only in legends, proves…”

“No need for formalities. We’re going to the 100th floor.” However, Larkin, having developed homesickness from prolonged stays in the labyrinth, was eager to accelerate the mission rather than listen to a labyrinth monster’s endless drivel.

He grandly spread his arms and declared, “Speak! What do you desire?! I’ve already scoured the Labyrinth City for all the items you cherish, based on intelligence. The high-end market has run out of stock because of me. Nothing can stop our progress now! I have everything you can imagine and nothing I cannot obtain!”

Black-Robed Gatekeeper: “……”

‘So, it’s not just that stupid dragon who’s impetuous, but the outside world as a whole?’

During his endless days and nights trapped in the labyrinth, one of his few pleasures was concocting various classic lines to tease adventurers.

For hundreds of years before that stupid dragon arrived, those brave and fearless adventurers would respectfully listen to him finish speaking, then sincerely offer their tributes.

Though he knew these people could never clear the 100th floor, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper would still bestow upon them a useless blessing.

‘What a harmonious labyrinth environment that was.’

‘When did it all get ruined?’

‘Yes, it was after that stupid dragon came!’

He hated it when others interrupted his grandstanding, and even more so when they grandstanded in front of him!

‘Only he could grandstand!’

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper, a smile on their face, said, “I want to get drunk.”

Larkin paused for a moment. “Get drunk? You mean alcohol? Yes, yes, I have some.”

Larkin retrieved a bottle of exquisitely packaged fine wine from his spatial ring. “This is the finest wine from Montoil. You must use a special wine glass to drink it. I have one here…”

Before he could finish, the fine wine was snatched from Larkin’s hand. What happened next made him want to scream.

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper actually drank directly from the bottle, straight to their mouth!

‘This isn’t how you drink this wine!’

Larkin lunged forward, only to be held back by Theodore.

“Calm down, calm down. Let them drink, let them drink.”

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper finished the bottle in mere seconds, casually tossing it aside. They sat cross-legged on a trembling monster-chair and said, “Not fine wine, but to get drunk. My home was just burned to a crisp by a group of thugs, so I’m very melancholic and want to get drunk. But it seems the wine you brought is only enough to wet my palate, so go back…”

Before the Black-Robed Gatekeeper could finish, Larkin waved his hand, and several crates of high-grade fine wine appeared, stacked all the way to the ceiling.

Larkin asked, “Is this enough to get you drunk? Let us through now.”

“……” The Black-Robed Gatekeeper fell silent for a moment, then, in front of everyone, opened a crate and began to chug the wine.

They drank with gusto, opening their mouth wide and gulping down several bottles simultaneously.

The crates of fine wine vanished at a visible speed.

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper let out a burp, gasping for breath, and smilingly asked Larkin, “Do you have more wine?”

Larkin’s mouth hung open. ‘No, buddy, what kind of alcohol tolerance is that?’

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper’s voice was tinged with triumph. “None left, right? I’m already tired of drinking. Go back.”

“Wait a moment.”

Alicia produced a leather flask filled with wine and offered it. “Mr. Black-Robe, this is wine brewed from my hometown. Would you like to try it? It’s very potent, though you might not be used to it. Perhaps just a small sip to start? It’s very refreshing, though.”

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper sneered, “As long as it helps me get drunk, I fear nothing.”

They snatched the flask and gulped it down as before.

“Ugh! What kind of wine is this bitter?! Are you sure this is wine?!”

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper clutched their throat, rolling wildly on the ground. Alicia explained, “My tribesmen brew it with the resin of the Bitter Sap Tree. The resin makes up 50%.”

Aesop looked at Alicia as if he had seen a ghost. ‘That stuff can be brewed into wine?’

‘That’s an ingredient that ranks first on the world record for edible materials on the bitterness scale.’

‘He used to need 100 times the amount of clear water to dilute a single drop of that resin when cooking. You drink wine that’s 50% resin?! Are you really human?!’

Alicia sensed something and turned to look at Aesop. “Mr. Aesop, your gaze seems rather rude.”

Aesop’s body trembled. He quickly pulled several wine bottles from his backpack. “I have some cooking wine here. Although it’s a bit spicy, it can alleviate the bitterness to some extent. Would you like to try it? Just a small sip, I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it.”

“There’s nothing I can’t handle. That was just a small error, a minor issue. And I’m not drunk.”

As a disseminator of despair, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper would never allow themselves to show weakness in front of their prey. The previous stuff was horribly bitter, but it was indeed wine, and very potent.

‘Bring it on, whatever wine it is, I’ll take it. Let these adventurers return from the 99th floor empty-handed in despair, hehe. I’ve already blacklisted these few people. We have plenty of time. The next time they come to the 99th floor, let’s see how I’ll toy with them!’

The cooking wine was once again poured into their stomach. The Black-Robed Gatekeeper looked at Aesop. Although they couldn’t see his face, their gaze carried shock. Immediately, they clutched their throat again, tilted their head back, and spat out a column of raging fire.

Theodore nudged Aesop with his shoulder. “You call that cooking wine?”

Aesop sighed. “Believe me, no matter how bizarre something seems, as long as it’s edible, it’s a matter of quantity and usage. I told you, it’s super spicy.”

Ten seconds later, the pillar of fire extinguished. The Black-Robed Gatekeeper slowly lowered their head. After a moment of silence, their voice hoarse yet stubborn, they said, “Flavorful, but nothing special. I’m still not drunk!”

Samuel’s eyes flashed with a glimmer. She took out several white bottles and said, “I also brought some medicinal alcohol. It might help your throat and taste buds.”

This time, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper was not as decisive as before. They hesitated for a split second, then took the bottles, took a deep breath, and swiftly chugged them.

Then, the Black-Robed Gatekeeper abruptly looked at Samuel, their finger trembling as they pointed at her. But the next second, they began to flail their arms and legs, dancing around the room like a frog on a hot pan. Their tight black robe alternated between swelling and shrinking, leaving everyone bewildered.

Larkin asked Samuel, dumbfounded, “Was that alcohol?”

“It was medicinal wine,” Samuel paused, then said, puzzled, “It’s just medicinal wine with a bit of alchemy added. A very strange reaction; theoretically, it shouldn’t be like this.”

Fortunately, this frenzy lasted only a minute. The Black-Robed Gatekeeper, sprawled on the ground like a salted fish, weakly said, “Medicinal wine crafted with divine art, it was indeed potent. What a pity, though, that you met me! Hahahahaha! I still won! You’re not good enough! Who else?”

Everyone: “……”

Their mouth was truly stubborn.

Samuel, however, had a glint in her eyes. ‘Divine art? But she clearly used alchemy.’

Their last hope fell upon Theodore.

Theodore looked at the collapsed Black-Robed Gatekeeper with some skepticism and asked, “I do have a kind of wine, and it’s an extremely delicious fine wine, rare in the world. But can you handle it? Don’t get so drunk you sleep for three days and three nights; we’re in a hurry to get to the next floor.”

The Black-Robed Gatekeeper’s stiff body twitched. ‘Provocation, again provocation. Today, they had had enough of provocation.’

“Bring it! It won’t delay anything. If I get drunk, the door to the 100th floor will open automatically!”

And so, Theodore produced a jade-green wine served in a small golden cup. The moment this wine appeared, the entire room was swiftly filled with its rich aroma.

It was Dragon Wine, obtained from the Old Patriarch.