Chapter 66 The Cuckoo Monster "You let me kiss you." His voice was only...
Sanova's eyes lit up.
“The king’s heartfelt tears… How interesting! So, what we need are Nicholas’s tears.” He pondered. “The labyrinth’s magic breaks the limitations of space; as long as we know how to use it, we can go anywhere. However, I don’t have a map of the labyrinth…”
“I know the way.” The dwarf raised his hand. “Helian City. Right? Just follow me. I’ve learned a bit about navigating mazes.”
“You mean you can manipulate the maze?” Sanova asked.
"Not quite there yet," Nova shook his head. "It could have some impact. I guess. As long as the anchor point is clear..."
“I can also help in case anyone gets lost,” Zach offered. “Although I have face blindness, I’m not bad with directions.”
“In that case, we can simply proceed safely through the maze to Helian City,” Sanova said. “If I remember correctly… one of the connections between the maze and the royal city is in the basement of the Helian Royal City castle. There’s another one in the lower city, but that’s a bit further from the castle.”
Sanova smiled slightly. "Through you."
The air froze.
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Sanova quickly said. “Of course it won’t hurt you. But we can pretend you’ve been hurt. Maybe he’ll shed a tear because of it.”
“I have my doubts,” Lucas scoffed. “He himself has hurt me more than I have been injured along the way.”
“And he might burst out laughing when he sees his son has cat ears,” Zach said. Lucas glared at him.
“I can hide Lucas’s cat ears,” Sanova said. “We can create a mystery so that the king thinks His Highness is in trouble, but it won’t implicate us.”
"How do you plan to hide it?" Lucas asked suspiciously. "You're a healing mage, a descendant of the Grim Reaper. As far as I know, illusion magic isn't your forte, and you'll likely be exposed soon, just like Ashlin."
“Indeed, that’s why we need to hurry. All you need to do is act, Your Highness,” Sanova said, then clapped his hands like a child, and Lucas’s feline features disappeared.
Ashlin's pleasant mood suddenly faded. Was he really this skilled in illusion magic before? Could it be that he'd been secretly learning quite a few tricks lately? Sanova's research scope was indeed very broad; perhaps they could have a proper talk about it later. Their relationship was truly growing increasingly distant.
Lucas scratched his head in surprise, but his expression wasn't exactly happy. He exchanged a glance with Ashlin. Clearly, they were both wondering the same thing.
"Thank you," he said hesitantly.
The dwarf nodded and snapped his fingers. A sound like a rumbling stomach filled the maze, followed by the clatter of stones.
Two roads appeared before them, looking exactly alike, but Ashley found the left one particularly enticing, as if a bakery was hidden at the end.
“The right side,” Nova said confidently.
"Where does the left lead?" Ashlin asked curiously. "The left side gives me a feeling of..."
She racked her brains for ideas.
"A warm feeling."
“It might be the center of the labyrinth,” Lucas guessed. “The crystal where Cynthia was sealed. The labyrinth is alive. Its paths change constantly, and deceptive options appear from time to time, such as the place where Cynthia was sealed. The black magic and illusions are most powerful there, and the labyrinth wants to lure all its ‘prey’ there. Even the power of dwarves could be bewitched.”
“Yes,” Nova agreed.
“Oh, right, there’s one more thing, Mr. Bailey.” Lucas seemed to hesitate for a moment, then glanced at Ashlin, who was rubbing her head, before speaking, “Do you have any hangover remedies? I think Ashlin needs a bottle.”
Sanova, who also enjoys drinking, gave Ashlin a bottle of sobering medicine.
After drinking the potion, Ashlin felt much more awake, and her headache gradually disappeared. The potion had a creamy aroma and was extremely sweet, seemingly melting her heart and stomach.
“A possible side effect is weakness in the limbs,” Sanova explained. “However, it will pass after a while.”
He had better be telling the truth, because Ashlin felt as if the bones in her legs had suddenly disappeared.
They moved cautiously through the darkness. From time to time, strange groans echoed from the depths of the labyrinth, but Ashlin tried not to think about what they were coming from.
Lucas approached Ashlin. Ashlin had intended to discuss the mystery of Sanova, but her attention was diverted by something on Lucas's cloak.
"Lucas, why are there leaves on your clothes?"
To her surprise, Lucas's face suddenly turned slightly red in the dim light.
"You're asking me?" He crossed his arms and tilted his cat ears back. "Now that you've drunk the potion, don't you remember what you did yesterday?"
"What? Could it be that I attacked with magic...?"
Memories flooded my mind in fragments: vines, chairs, wildflowers, a kiss on my forehead.
“…Aha,” Ashlin said.
If only the maze could continue to open up into vortex black holes, then she could just dive right in.
"You remember now?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
"Let me kiss you." He spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Ashlyn suddenly wished she were deaf, blind, and mute.
Lucas didn't ask her any questions; he simply stated the fact. Should she seize the opportunity to say something else, or pretend everything was fine as before?
“And you did it. Great! Anyway, it was a friendly kiss, right?” Ashlind wanted to slap herself after saying that.
They're currently in the Edolo Maze, with Sanova, Zak, and Nova still ahead of them, so it's definitely not a good time to discuss this topic.
“Of course.” Unusually, Lucas didn’t mock her ramblings, but patted her on the shoulder in a friendly manner before quickly lowering his hand.
Ashlinn added guiltily, "Thanks to your goodnight kiss, I had a wonderful night's sleep without any dreams."
She then looked up at him, only to find that he had no expression.
"That's good. Don't worry, I've seen plenty of drunk people." His tone was a little cold. "Just don't let the plants tie me up next time, okay?"
"I can't guarantee that."
"You can't expect me to adapt."
“Uh, it’s not that I meant to interrupt you,” Zack interrupted them, “but won’t talking wake up the things in the maze? I think I heard the stone bricks sneezing.”
“It’s alright, I’ve cast a soundproofing spell,” Ashlin said.
"A soundproof spell?" Sanova turned around abruptly. "When?"
"Just now."
“Smart,” Sanova said, “but keep your voice down.”
Given that the maze was groaning again, like it had an upset stomach, they decided to lower the volume.
"Has your adoptive father always been this strange?" Lucas asked in a very, very low voice after a while. "He went down into the labyrinth alone to stop the dark wizard...why didn't he contact the Witcher?"
“He’s just weird.” Although Ashlin agreed with him, she felt it necessary to defend Sanova, “If he wasn’t weird, he wouldn’t have found me in the forest and decided to raise me.”
“Alright. But the Edoro labyrinth is so big, it’s pure luck that he was able to find the library without a map or a guide.”
Ashlin frowned. "He's amazing! Once he wiped out a whole family of rats that were ravaging the garden without even using magic."
Zach said angrily, "Hey, I'm still here!"
He paused. "Squeak, may I offer some insights? I have a feeling..."
Sanova suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Shh." He held out a hand. "There's something ahead."
Lucas raised the torch high, and Ashlind could finally see what it was: a scattered skeleton wearing a decent-quality dress and a cheap crown.
“Hopefully it’s not someone we know,” Lucas said.
Zack was trembling violently.
“There’s no other way,” Nova said dejectedly. “This is the only way to reach Helian Royal City.”
“Okay, let’s go for it then,” Ashley said.
Even after Ashlin cast a soundproof spell, she dared not hum anymore.
They cautiously turned a corner. At the end of the passage was a room. Scattered inside were many skeletons, each dressed in brighter and more ornate clothing than the last, as if a group of nobles had once held a banquet here, had a great time, and then suddenly all died.
The air was thick with the nauseating smell of rotting corpses and strawberry cake. Even more eerie, pink magic bubbles floated in the air.
Ashlin mustered her courage and looked toward the center of the room, raising her staff in preparation for the second monster in the maze; the others did the same.
She looked up, but saw nothing.
So she lowered her head again.
Unintentionally, I found myself standing in the center...
A pigeon.
Uh, it's probably a pigeon. It's all white except for a light pink bow around its neck.
The biggest problem is that its head seems to be inside a pink heart-shaped bubble.
“The Sun God!” Ashlin blurted out.
The pigeon tilted its head and looked at her. "God, coo coo?"
“You…you’re the most stylish pigeon I’ve ever seen,” Ashlin said. “Did you design this helmet yourself?”
"That's right, coo coo!" the pigeon said happily, "To better enjoy dinner, coo coo!"
But Lucas beat her to it, stepping in front of her. The bubbles formed a giant bubble around him, trapping him inside like a doll in a giant balloon.
Lucas patted the bubbles. Apparently, these bubbles only looked like water bubbles; they were actually more indestructible than glass. He shouted something at Ashlin, but his voice was completely blocked out.
Ashlin could barely make out one word from his lip movements:
The Sense Devourer.
“What is a Sense Eater?” she asked, but still couldn’t hear Lucas’s reply.
The pigeon landed on Lucas's bubble head, cooed excitedly a few times, and pecked at the bubble.
“It’s a kind of dark monster from the labyrinth,” Sanova said. “It feeds on the emotions of humans or humanoid beings, and especially enjoys…”
His gaze darted between Lucas and Ashlin.
"The little thoughts of young boys and girls."
Ashlin frowned. "You mean...?"
“I didn’t mean anything,” Sanova said immediately.
"Then how will it eat its lunch?" Ashlin exclaimed in horror. "It will eat Lucas?!"
“Ah, not entirely. I think it will first devour Lucas’s feelings for you, and then enjoy the flesh.” Sanova remained calm.
“That’s right, coo coo!” The pigeon stepped on Lucas’s bubbles. “If you won’t let me eat, I won’t let you pass through here. Everyone will go into the bubbles, coo coo!”
Having said that, Nova was also captured by the bubble. However, the dwarf had no feelings now, except for her mechanical tools. So the bubble evilly squeezed out all her tools.
“No.” She struggled.
Ashlin slammed her green fluorite staff into the ground, but the floor didn't crack as she expected, and no plants emerged from the cracks.
Somehow, her magic seemed to have been drained again. Perhaps the vortex had consumed too much of her power.
But just last night, she was able to surround herself and Lucas with flowers...
A giant pink bubble lifted her up, interrupting her thoughts.
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