Liyami: ??? What are you doing here???
After hearing Hifni’s speculation, Liyami grew even more confused. She certainly knew this was a “gun,” but could an ordinary gun really have this kind of power? Or was this weapon really called a “gun” in the first place?
Colin was equally puzzled. He hesitated before asking, “…Are you saying this weapon is actually called a ‘gun’?”
“Of course not.” Hifni immediately denied Colin’s question. “I don’t even know what it’s called exactly. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it.”
“Then why do you call it a ‘gun’?” Liyami asked in confusion.
“What else would I call it? It looks exactly like a gun. Should I call it a knife or a sword instead?”
Hifni’s explanation seemed perfectly reasonable, making Liyami feel it actually made a lot of sense.
“Anyway, enough about that. How did it make that kind of attack just now?”
Colin cleared his throat, ending the topic. Compared to what it was called, he was more concerned about how it actually attacked.
“The attack probably came from here.”
Hifni lifted the “gun,” letting Colin and Liyami get a clear look at its construction. Only then did Colin and Liyami notice there was a long cylindrical object above the tip of the gun, its purpose unknown.
“You said the attack was fired from here just now?”
Colin pointed skeptically at the circular hole on the cylinder, but Hifni casually began explaining.
“That’s right. It fires from here. I was once invited to visit the kingdom’s most advanced magic laboratory, where I saw a prototype very similar to this weapon. Its full name was too long to remember, so I just call it the HL1 model. Its attack method is exactly like this—magic attacks discharged from this cylinder.”
Hifni pointed to the circular opening, briefly describing its attack method.
“…Anyway, that’s how it works. The HL1 model’s attack method is extremely complex and only powerful magic masters can operate it. But ordinary magic masters don’t need such a thing, so the HL1 is just an experimental prototype for reference. But this one in front of us is its complete—no, super upgraded version!”
Hifni praised the weapon enthusiastically, as if she had discovered something of great value. Her eyes nearly sparkled with dazzling light.
Liyami had little interest in these details. After all, this weapon had no use for assassins. A weapon this loud would expose an assassin immediately; it simply couldn’t be used for stealth kills. She only needed to understand how it attacked so she could prepare accordingly for future battles.
Colin was intrigued by the weapon but couldn’t fully grasp Hifni’s explanation. Even Hifni hadn’t figured out exactly how to activate it yet. So he decided to temporarily drop the matter and started gathering everyone to move on.
“…So it uses magic to activate? But mine doesn’t work. Are there some conditions I don’t know about? How exactly do those ‘Bronze’ armored men use it?”
Seeing Hifni still studying the “gun” and muttering to herself, Colin stepped forward to inform her they were ready to depart.
“…What? Leaving so soon? Can’t we stay a little longer?”
Hifni wanted to keep researching the weapon, but Colin had no time to waste.
“Alright, the knights are still waiting for us. We can’t stop here. We just need to know the basic attack method. If you really want to research it, you can do so after we’ve completely cleared the labyrinth. For now, we have to move on.”
Seeing this, Hifni reluctantly gave up her plans to study further and joined Colin in heading deeper into the labyrinth.
Along the way, Hifni kept sighing in amazement: “I originally saw this in the kingdom’s most advanced magic lab, but I never thought there would be a more perfected version here in this ancient labyrinth. What kind of life did the people of the ancient times live? It’s really intriguing!”
Liyami was at first speechless hearing Hifni’s musings but then found herself drawing her own conclusion: If ancient people could make weapons like this, why did their civilization decline?
This wasn’t the first time Liyami had seen powerful weapons from ancient times. Occasionally, the kingdom would discover such items in strange ruins or labyrinths. They all originated from some era in ancient history—perhaps all from the same period, or maybe not.
Liyami didn’t know much about this and wasn’t interested either. She only knew that the kingdom had even established archaeological teams to explore these ancient artifacts.
But none of that concerned Liyami. She was simply marveling at the passage of time and would soon forget about it, just like those ancient people who had long since been swallowed by the sands of time.
Because there was still only one entrance and exit, the group continued moving forward along the path. They encountered other rooms along the way, but these were either narrow empty spaces like before or large rooms blocked by “Bronze” armored men guarding the entrance.
Of course, Colin’s group wasn’t afraid of these “Bronze” armored men. After fighting so many battles, they had grown more and more skilled. Now, whenever they faced a small number of these “Bronze” men, they could dispatch them within a minute or two.
Since there was only one path, the group was steadily moving deeper, seemingly closer to the heart of the labyrinth.
“Hey, do you think we might be going the wrong way?”
Lavinia suddenly spoke up, looking nervously at the surroundings that looked almost identical to before.
“Aren’t we supposed to find the knights first? If we keep going like this, won’t something bad happen?”
Hearing this, Liyami rolled her eyes and snapped, “Wrong way? Is there any other path? There’s only this one! As for finding the knights, we don’t even know where they are. We can only keep moving forward and take it step by step! Of course, I can tell this leads deeper into the labyrinth, but we have no choice!”
Liyami quickly vented her frustration, clearly growing anxious herself. Though they had defeated all the enemies so far, those enemies were only getting stronger.
Either they appeared in greater numbers, or more unusual individuals began to show up. For example, that one “Bronze” armored man they encountered before carried a much larger “gun” than the others, and it was far more powerful.
Its armor was also tougher, and it took them a lot of effort to take it down. Heaven knows how many more like that might lie ahead.
Liyami was starting to get anxious. If they couldn’t find the knights soon, they might be worn down and trapped here indefinitely.
Thinking of this, she gripped the handle of her “Double Moon” weapon even tighter.
Lavinia’s words had also cast a heavy atmosphere over the group.