From Mimic to World's strongest daughter

Chapter 38

Y/n's POV

The next day, our group set out for the next labyrinth with the Compass of Eternal Paths. We were back in Fernir, flying towards where the compass had led Papa. I was sitting outside watching Kouki, Shizuku, Taniguchi, and Sakagami practicing with their evolved weapons that Papa had used his evolution magic on. I had used the same skill on my own weapons with Papa's help since I had slept through his trials of the Evolution Magic. My weapons had improved dramatically, but I was still getting used to the Evolution magic skill and wasn't doing the best. I noticed Shizuku was just staring at her sword that Papa had given her and then used Evolution magic on. I walked over and stopped standing next to her and looking at the sword. "Papa's right behind you." I whispered. Shizuku's face turned deep red before she spun around looking for Papa. Once she realized I had lied to her, she started chasing me. The clouds were getting bigger as I ran inside Fernir while Shizuku shouted about how she'd make me pay. I ran into the main room where Papa and the others were as he continued flying the ship. 

"Wow... The clouds are so thick you can't even see the ground." Shea commented. Mama replied, talking about how the area we were traveling to always had a dense blanket of clouds and how there was an endless blizzard below us. "The clouds and the storm clearly act as an invisible barrier to hide the path to the labyrinth." Tio added. Kaori asked Papa about the compass, and they started talking about how it works. "We've only got one labyrinth to go. I can't wait to finally get this over with and go pick up Myu," Shea said.

"Me too. I hope she's doing alright." Papa added. Shizuku and the others came into the room, but as I looked at Shizuku, all I got was a glare. Papa asked about how the upgrades went, and Taniguchi, Kouki and Sakagami each commented about how well the magic worked on their equipment. Papa commented about how Kouki's sword couldn't be upgraded since it was possible it'd only make it worse. We flew for a little bit before Papa commented about how we were close, but would have to make the rest of the journey on foot. He landed the ship before giving each of us an artifact that he called Airzone. As we got off Fernir, it wasn't cold like I thought it would be, which was thanks to Airzone. Shea was playing with the snow before jumping in a pile of it, talking about how she was a snow rabbit, before the ground gave in under her and she fell. "Sadly, the foolish rabbit girl was never seen again." Papa commented.

"Never again." Mama added. I giggled, finding it funny since we all knew Shea would be okay. Tio and Kaori both added comments about how she wouldn't be seen again while Shizuku freaked out about how they were acting. Taniguchi rushed over to the hole that swallowed Shea before calling out for her. "Relax, you guys. It takes a lot more than falling into a crevice to hurt Shea. But hey, might as well head down after her." Papa said, jumping into the hole not too far from Shea's body hole. Mama jumped in right after him while Shizuku panicked and Kaori rushed over to jump in as well. I walked over to Taniguchi with Tio beside me. "Hesitation and fear are worse than the actual jump. Consider the other challenges ahead of you. The labyrinth is far more terrifying than jumping off a cliff." Tio commented.

"Yeah, but still..." Taniguchi complained, shaking as she looked at Tio.

"This is no time to tremble. Y/n, show her the way down." Tio asked. I nodded before grabbing Taniguchi's hand and pulling her to the edge of the cliff. "Come on! Let's go!" I cheered, jumping towards the hole as I dragged Taniguchi behind me. She screamed the entire way down as I sensed Tio and the other three hero party members following us. Mama used her magic to help us land safely, but Taniguchi was mad at me for just dragging her behind me as I jumped in. Kaori had to console her while I walked over to Mama and Papa. Shea burst out of a wall before Papa wanted us to move after Taniguchi swore. "Hold on, there's something in here with us," Shea said, causing us to stop. Some monsters came around the corner as Shizuku commented about how cute the monster was before trying to act cool. The bunny hopped over to me and Papa before stopping at our feet and making a mewing sound. "It's kind of cute, but..." I started.

"Your vile tricks won't work on us, you vile creature!" Papa shouted before stomping on one of the white bunnies. I did the same to the one that was by my feet. "What is wrong with you two!" Taniguchi shouted. The bunnies came charging at us, hitting us before Papa and I started slaughtering every single bunny that was attacking. We pulled out our guns and started killing the bunnies one at a time while keeping our shots quiet and precise. Kouki and Sakagami joined after Papa scolded them before we continued on our way into the labyrinth. "They were actual monsters. How many times do I have to say it to convince you all?" Papa asked, looking back at them. All the girls seemed upset with us before Mama looked over at me. "Aren't you upset about how you killed them?" Mama asked. I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "Not really. They were monsters, and I was following Papa's 'kill or be killed' thing." I answered. Papa explained how the monsters worked and how they would've killed us. He eventually asked Shea why she was still upset before reminding her she was the only rabbit he cared about. After his explanation, Shea accepted it immediately and felt better about herself. 

We continued walking into the entrance of the labyrinth before entering a hall that had wind blowing through it. "This wind is instant frostbite. Tio," Papa called. Tio stepped forward to use a magic barrier to allow us to walk through the wind without trouble, but Taniguchi stepped forward, offering to handle it with her weapons. She made a barrier, and we started walking through the wind. Near the end of the hall was a door, which we walked through, entering the Frost Caverns. Once we entered the Frost Caverns, Taniguchi dropped her barrier before we entered an open cavern with ice hanging from the ceiling. My monster detection skill was going off as I looked around, spotting the monsters that were hanging from the ceiling and something behind a wall. "Hajime. We're not alone." Shea declared.

"Monsters? Well, it's about damn time." Papa replied. The ice from the ceiling turned into birds that flew towards us to attack. Papa and I started shooting them down, but the ice birds would just regenerate. Papa shot his rifle at a wall that had a monster presence behind it, but the monster moved out of the way. We started destroying the monsters that were swarming us. Kouki stepped forward, wanting to take on the monster that was making the ice monsters, which left our group on defense against the swarm of ice monsters. "Y/n, watch over them." Papa ordered.

"Got it!" I answered. I found a secluded spot and watched from a distance as they were fighting. Shizuku jumped into the air after attacking to avoid being hit with ice spikes while the ice birds flew in to attack. Papa and I each took a bird in that was trying to attack Shizuku. Kouki charged forward once his attack was ready. He begged for the creature to die as he unleashed more magic and freed the mana crystal, but before he could break it, a bird flew in and caught it. "Oh no, it's alive." Taniguchi pointed out. I lined up a shot and fired at the bird as the bird landed on the wall, but before my bullet could hit it. Shizuku had jumped up and killed the bird in a single strike. The entrance to the labyrinth was revealed as we headed inside, ice walls forming a hall that led us deeper into the labyrinth