Reborn After A Death March

Chapter 68

"Now, I guess I'll start by finding the plunderers' hideout on the map..."

Arriving in our labyrinth vacation home via teleportation, I met up with Satou, who had already transformed himself into his Kuro disguises. He has already completed his search for the location of the plunderers and found they have four major bases and more than ten smaller ones. Adjacent to the location where we apprehended Ludaman, there was an area housing the captured women. Based on their arrangement, it seemed likely that we would need to confront the nearby plunderers prior to rescuing them.

"Looks like trouble."

Satou muttered before explaining the base turned out to be more intricate than initially anticipated, featuring paths that were challenging to access but simple to retreat from. The landscape comprised slopes and ledges that allowed for effortless descents, while infiltration would necessitate arduous uphill traversals.

Given the complexity and defensibility of the plunderers' hideouts, it's understandable why the labyrinth army has struggled to apprehend all of them. Direct confrontations would prove futile, resembling attempts to breach an impenetrable stronghold. The plunderers can effortlessly deploy expendable minions to divert attention while dispersing through a maze of escape routes, making seizing them exceedingly arduous. That doesn't matter to us, though, since we could fly.

We used 'Return' to teleport to the closest seal slate to the hideout. It was a corner of a partially underwater area where I'd planned on levelling up everyone next. The swiftest path ahead would involve retracing our steps through the areas where we previously saved the Labyrinth army soldiers. As we journey, we strive to bypass and disregard any creatures we encounter along the way.

Proceeding through the second zone, my curiosity sparked at the sight of unknown monsters. However, fuelled by the need to stay on track, I resolutely resisted any temptation to interact with them and continued my advance.

"Ooh, a natural golem."

It looks like I am not the only one getting distracted. But the golem wasn't interested in Satou. Its surface, smooth as a billiard ball, bore no hint of articulation. Yet, with sinister malice, it propelled itself towards me, its fist poised menacingly to strike. But the golem wasn't that strong compared to me, and its body shattered after I dodged the fist and sent a kick into its stomach.

Still, I couldn't help but admire the golems as I ran away with Satou. Numerous golems were predominantly crafted from earth or rock, while others appeared as if they could be transformed into bronze or iron. A few were even constructed from crystal, though none were found in silver or gold. I wonder if Satou could find some like that later.

"We should be in the plunderer area soon..." Satou said once we cleared the golem area.

Avoiding the slopes and cracks with "Skyrunning," we arrived at the point of the plunderers' lookout. Using all our stealth and spying skills, we warped soundlessly through the passages. We tried to find a plunderer lookout but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Oh, over there," I whispered.

The plunderer was perfectly camouflaged against the wall. I used "Warp" to land directly in front of him and knocked him out before he even noticed I was there. This seemed to deactivate the camouflage, revealing almost greyish skin. He was totally naked, too. I guess the camouflage didn't work on clothes.

I wasn't particularly keen on witnessing a naked man, so I draped him in some cloth and bound him. I could hear Satou grumble about it not being a beautiful woman, but I feigned ignorance. His face resembled a chameleon monster, likely due to demonic concoctions similar to Ludaman's. I used Magic Hand to lift the captured looter and proceeded, knowing I could have left him, but I didn't want to return to a half-eaten corpse courtesy of some beast.