The shining tree seemed to absorb water from its roots, allowing the light to flow to every part of the tree, and the tree gradually regained its vitality.
"Ah, leaves..."
Shia stared in fascination at the tree gradually regaining its vitality, and pointed at the leaves that were beginning to grow from the branches above.
As if witnessing the birth of life, Hajime and the others felt an indescribable and incredible feeling of emotion. Before their eyes, the tree suddenly grew lush and green, regaining its former verdant state.
A slightly stronger wind blew through the big tree, and the rustling of branches and leaves immediately sounded all around.
The next moment, the trunk in front seemed to split apart to the left and right, and a hole appeared in the tree.
It was a large cave that could easily accommodate dozens of people.
Hajime and the others glanced at each other, nodded, and walked into the huge tree hole without hesitation.
Hajime had been worried about one thing: that those who hadn't actually conquered four or more large mazes wouldn't be able to challenge the Sea of Trees' large maze. But it seemed that Hajime's worry was unfounded, as they all successfully entered the tree hole.
Anyone who wants to enter or has the ability to do so is welcome to do so, but there is absolutely no guarantee that anyone who enters will leave alive. This maze probably adopts the same approach as other large mazes.
He looked around, but there seemed to be nothing in the cave, just a huge dome-shaped space.
"Is this the end?"
Guanghui said in surprise.
Then, the entrance to the cave began to close as if in rewind.
The light from outside gradually dimmed, causing Guanghui to panic. Hajime shouted at him to calm down. In the tree hollow, now completely dark due to the completely closed entrance, Yue immediately raised his hand, trying to secure the light source... but it seemed unnecessary.
Because a huge magic circle appeared under his feet, emitting a strong light.
"Wow! What is this!?"
“What?! What’s going on?!”
"Hush! This is a teleportation magic circle! Don't get stunned after you've been transported to the other side!"
Hajime warned the panicked Ryuutarou and Ling, and then everything turned dark before their eyes.
“Hmm…where is this…”
After regaining their sight, Hajime and the others saw a lush sea of trees. For a moment, they thought they had simply been thrown outside the trees, but since that wouldn't have required a special teleportation, they were sure they were still inside the Great Labyrinth.
The sea of trees among the big trees...it's really a wonderful situation.
"Is everyone okay?"
Kouki shook his head gently. After checking his surroundings, he checked on his companions. Shizuku and the others replied that they were fine. Yue, Shia, Tio, and Kaori also seemed fine, their eyes fixed on the surroundings.
Guanghui asked in confusion:
"Nagumo, is this really the Great Labyrinth? ...Which way should we go?"
Hajime and the others were transported to a circular clearing, surrounded by forest in 360 degrees, with no signposts indicating the direction.
Because the sky was obscured by thick fog, it was impossible to fly into the air to explore the way.
"...Anyway, I'll just have to look for it."
Hajime's expression seemed a little unhappy, and his words were irrelevant to the question.
And his gaze wasn't directed towards Guanghui.
"...Is that so? Then I'll go ahead. If you find anything, let me know."
Despite being puzzled by Hajime's words and actions, Kouki still volunteers to lead the charge. He's heard that Age of Gods magic is only granted to those who pass the trials and gain recognition in the Great Labyrinth, so he wants to be the first to show off.
The others had no objections and followed behind him—that was how it should have been, but for some reason, only Hajime stood still, glaring at the people ahead with cold eyes.
Shia took a few steps and noticed that Hajime was standing still, which made her puzzled. She then turned around and looked at Hajime.
“…Hajime-san, what’s going on—”
The moment Shia asked Hajime... a faint sound of breaking wind was heard.
Hajime quickly pulled out the binding artifact, the flying stone rope, from his treasure chest and hurled it forward, aiming at Yue, Tio, and Ryuutarou. His sudden and swift movements entangled the three before they could resist, trapping them in the tangled flying stone rope.
"……Um!?"
"Owner!?"
"What are you doing all of a sudden?!"
Yue, Tio, and Ryutaro continued to struggle.
Guanghui and others were stunned when they saw them being tied up.
The next second, Guanghui came back to his senses and glared at Hajime with sharp eyes.
"Nagumo! What on earth do you mean!?"
Kouki couldn't help but yell. Shizuku and the others also looked nervous, staring at Hajime, wanting to know his intentions.
“Hey, Nagumo—”
Hajime stopped Guanghui from yelling angrily with one hand, and walked towards Yue without saying a word and with an expressionless face.
Yue looked up at Shi in confusion, while Shi pressed the muzzle of Donal's gun against Yue's forehead, the coldness in his eyes approaching absolute zero.
“…Hajime? Why—”
Yue saw Hajime pointing the gun at him, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
The same goes for Kouki and the others. Hajime's murderous intent towards Yue, whom he openly claimed to be his beloved, felt completely unrealistic.
Could he be crazy?... Kouki thought so and was about to stop Hajime.
“——!?”
—A dry gunshot rang out from the sea of trees.
Hajime pulled the trigger on Donal without hesitation.
Although Hajime moved the muzzle of the gun away from Yue's forehead and pointed it at Yue's shoulder, the fact that Hajime shot the person he loved the most remained unchanged.
“Hajime-san!?”
"W-What are you doing! Nagumo-kun!"
Kaori and Shizuku spoke out to stop them, their voices filled with shock and anxiety. Shia hurriedly tried to stop Hajime, but she seemed to sense something was wrong and stopped Kaori and the others instead.
Guanghui prepared to suppress Hajime, looking like he was about to pounce on him at any moment, but changed his mind after hearing Hajime's next words.
"You answer whatever I ask, you imposter."
The moment Hajime uttered these words, the place seemed to transform into a freezing cold, a chill permeating the air. In reality, the temperature hadn't dropped, but rather, the murderous intent emanating from Hajime, absorbing the heat of life itself. Perhaps it was an illusion, but even the surroundings seemed to darken. The overwhelming killing intent caused Kouki and the others' breathing to quicken, and cold sweats to pour down their bodies.
"What are you? Where is the real Moon?"
"..."
The "something" with the appearance of the moon remained silent, its facial expression instantly drained, and its aura lacked any trace of life. Hajime called it "something" rather than "someone" because the shoulder it had been struck in didn't bleed, clearly indicating it wasn't human.
The gunshot rang out again, this time hitting the other shoulder.
But Shanzhai Yue remained unfazed, seemingly incapable of feeling pain. Compared to Noin, it felt more like a puppet, or perhaps it truly lacked a will of its own.
"You're not going to answer? No, you don't have the ability to answer, right? So forget it, go to hell."
He then aimed Donal's gun at the fake Moon's forehead, and this time, he actually blasted its head with the electromagnetic cannon. It seemed as if some liquid splashed behind him.
Shizuku and the others couldn't help but turn their heads away, but they suppressed the urge to look carefully and found that what was splattered was not brain matter, but a reddish-brown thing that looked like slime.
After losing its head, the Fake Moon began to melt after a while, turning back into the same reddish-brown slime, and then becoming a stain on the ground.
Hajime then shot at the heads of Tio and Ryutaro, who were tied up with the flying stone rope. As expected, the two people who were blown away turned back into reddish-brown slimes like the copycat Yue, and were then absorbed by the ground.
"Tsk! As expected of a big maze, they suddenly play tricks on me..."
Hajime holstered Donal and cursed.
“Hajime-san… Miss Yue and Miss Tio are…”
"I guess we were transported somewhere else during the transfer. It felt like my memories were being explored when I acquired the magic of the Age of Gods. I guess they implanted their memories into that reddish-brown slime with the ability to transform, letting it pretend to be one of us, and then find a chance to stab us in the back?"
Hajime shows an unhappy expression because Yue is being used. Shizuku and Suzu feel a chill when they hear Hajime's speculation.
"I see... but it's a good thing you could tell that."
"Yeah... Ling can't tell the difference at all. How did you find out?"
Thinking of the danger of her companion being impersonated, Ling couldn't help but turn pale and asked Hajime if he had any way to tell. Kouki, while also worrying about the safety of his lost friend, looked at Hajime curiously.
In response to Ling's question, Hajime's answer was...
"If you ask me how I could tell, I don't know how to answer. I can only say that the moment I saw it, I knew that this thing in front of me was 'not my Yue'."
“““““…”””””””
Everyone felt powerless at once, and Suzu looked at Hajime with a subtle gaze and asked:
"Then how did you spot Ryuutarou-san and Tio-san?"
"As long as I know there's an imposter, and if I observe carefully, I can use the 'Magic Eye Stone' to spot the difference. Beyond that, I guess I can only detect it myself by comparing their usual behavior and personality, right?"
"I-I see, but how can I tell Ryuutarou-kun apart? If Suzu makes a stupid comment, I might think he's the 'real one'."
"Could it be that Ryuutarou was chosen as a replacement for this reason... Damn it, Ryuutarou..."
Ling's remarks were indeed excessive, but as a friend of Ryuutarou, her implication was that Ryuutarou was too naive to discern, so his remarks were no different.
Shizuku looked at Ryuutarou, who should be somewhere, with sympathy in her eyes. For some reason, Ryuutarou's figure, smiling and giving a thumbs-up, appeared in the distant sky.
At this moment, Xia seemed to have thought of something and she pricked up her rabbit ears.
Then, she asked Shiji coyly with an expectant look in her eyes:
“Um, Hajime-san… If it were me, would you be able to recognize a fake the moment you saw one?”
"!"
Kaori reacted sensitively to Shia's question. She suddenly turned around and looked at Hajime, her eyes asking, "What about me!? What about me!?"
Everyone's eyes were focused on Hajime. In the subtle sweet-sour atmosphere, Hajime seemed to take it lightly and answered simply:
"Who knows? It's probably impossible to detect it the moment you see it, right?"
“…” “…”
The atmosphere suddenly fell into a dead silence. Normally, in this situation, the response should be "Of course I'll find out," but speaking the truth without mercy was Hajime's true nature.
Shia and Kaori couldn't help but stare at Hajime, but he ignored them and strode deeper into the sea of trees.
Shia and Kaori puffed their cheeks in anger.
"Being too sensitive isn't a good thing..."
"X-Xiao Xiangxiang, Xiao Xixi! Cheer up!"
"Why on earth would Kaori fall for that guy..."
Hajime listened to Shizuku and the others' words of comfort and Kouki's murmurs, and smiled wryly.
In reality, Hajime was thinking, “I recognize what Shia is saying,” but…if he answered like that, Prajna would appear behind Kaori, so Hajime could only keep quiet.
There's a saying that goes, "Prajna comes from the mouth." You can eat more, but you shouldn't talk too much. (Editor's note: The original text reads "口は般若の元," which is a reference to "口は祸の元," meaning that disaster comes from the mouth.)
So the group wandered aimlessly in the forest for a long time. After walking for about two hours, they heard a sound.
Whoosh, whoosh! — It was the sound of an electric fan turned up to full blast. And there weren't just one or two sounds; the number was astonishing.
"It's a monster! Nagumo, let us fight! Don't attack!"
"Well, it's our first battle after all."
Guanghui stepped forward. Although his fighting spirit seemed a little too high and looked a little dangerous, if Hajime and the others had to deal with the monsters, then there would be no point in having them come along. Hajime shrugged and stepped back to watch the battle.
This was their first battle against the monsters of the Real Great Labyrinth, and Shizuku and Suzu looked nervous as they prepared to attack from behind Kouki.
"That sound is the flapping of insect wings! Everyone, be careful! Among flying monsters, the forest monsters are particularly good at evading attacks!"
"Shizuku-chan, Suzu-chan, come on!"
Shia offered advice, while Kaori supported them.
Then, a large group of monsters attacked through the gaps in the woods, and at that moment—
“Ew~ How disgusting!”
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