Arifureta: Dark Lord

Orcus Labryinth [3]

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Reiji and the others could feel the atmosphere shift. A moment later, the class fell to the ground with a thud. Landing on his feet next to Hajime, Reiji surveyed the new area in wariness.

Hajime groaned in pain as he felt his aching butt, then looked around. Most of his other classmates were still on the ground, but Captain Meld and his knights, along with Kouki and Reiji and the other vanguard fighters, were already on their feet, examining their surroundings.

The magic circle from earlier must have contained a teleportation spell. Magic from The Age of the Gods was remarkable because it could easily do things that no modern-day mage could.

Hajime and the others had been teleported onto a massive stone bridge. It was around one hundred meters in length. The ceiling also towered a full twenty meters above them. Below the bridge was not a river, but instead a dark abyss with no visible end. The gaping chasm resembled the very pits of hell.

Though the bridge was ten meters wide, it had no railing at all, so if someone slipped, there would be nothing to catch their fall. Hajime and the others had been sent to the middle of the bridge. One side of the bridge was a passage heading further in, while stairs leading upward were at the other end.

After confirming the situation, Captain Meld curtly barked out orders. "Everyone, get up and head for the stairs! Now!" His voice boomed louder than thunder, and the students hurried to follow his orders.

However, the labyrinth's traps were not so easy to escape. They would not be allowed to retreat so easily.

New magic circles suddenly appeared on either side of the bridge, accompanied by a swirling torrent of dark red mana. The magic circle on the passage side of the bridge was ten meters wide. The ones on the side of the stairs were only one meter each, but there were many.

The dark red magic circles resembled pools of blood and gave off an ominous feel. They pulsed once, and waves of monsters began pouring forth.
From the countless magic circles near the stairs came a horde of skeletons wielding swords, Traum Soldiers.

Their empty eye sockets gleamed with the same blood-red light as the circles they came from, and they rolled around like real eyes too. Within seconds, the stairs were teeming with nearly a hundred of the creatures, and more were still pouring out.

Despite their numbers, Reiji thought what was coming out on the passage side of the bridge was far more of a threat. From within the ten-meter-wide magic circle emerged a monster as big as the circle that summoned it.

It stood on four legs and had some kind of helmet on its head. To Reiji, the closest thing it resembled was a triceratops. However, unlike a triceratops, its eyes glowed bright red, and as it clacked its wicked sharp claws and fangs together, flames sprouted from the horn on its helmeted forehead.

Everyone stared at it in slack-jawed horror, and Captain Meld's terrified whisper resounded surprisingly clearly throughout the room.
"Oh my god... It's... a Behemoth..."
A wave of unease washed over the students when they saw Captain Meld, the reliable captain who'd always been their reassuring pillar of support, break out in a cold sweat.

Kouki realized he was up against a truly fearsome opponent and turned to ask Captain Meld about its properties. However, the Behemoth, a monster that had even the kingdom's strongest knight quaking in his boots, refused to grant Kouki the luxury of time. It sucked in a huge breath, then let out a guttural roar, signaling the start of the battle.