Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 162: Room 201, The Cursed Room - The Cube (11)

- Crash!

As I stepped back, a hand shot out like a blade, slicing through the place where my neck had just been.

[Oh? You dodge that? Not bad—]

Before Beatrix could finish speaking, a flash of light burst from Songee’s wrist.

[What the—]

As the light covered her, she muttered in confusion while rubbing her eyes. In a moment, she would start creating more eyes everywhere.

I didn’t intend to give her that chance.

The narrow mansion was suddenly filled with a blinding radiance.

In an instant, scales tore through the concrete walls, slamming down on Beatrix’s body.

This is our first strategy!

Songee would distort Beatrix’s senses while Jinchul and I would continuously destroy the eyes with gunfire.

While Beatrix was flailing about, Elena would take on the offensive.

Even Beatrix’s resilient body, which treated bullets like a refreshing shower, couldn’t withstand the continued strikes of the Scales of Justice, which were powerful enough to shatter buildings.

Before long, Beatrix’s upper body was completely crushed.

Shockingly, even in such a state, her monstrous body continued to regenerate!

The power of Justice wasn’t enough.

Jinchul, who had been holding back on using the Star to avoid damaging our allies due to the mansion’s limited space, reluctantly made a gesture to summon it—

- Boom!

The entire mansion shook. It wasn’t just a simple tremor—the whole mansion actually spun 360 degrees!

What kind of structure does this Cube have to allow this?

As we were thrown around, struggling to maintain our balance, Beatrix, with more than half of her upper body missing, casually “flew” out the window.

“She can fly too?” Jinchul exclaimed in disbelief.

“Durability stronger than concrete, regeneration that would put flatworms to shame, the ability to create eyes everywhere, and now she can fly too? Not to mention, she even creates monsters. What can’t she do? Did the Administration really create something like this? Ahri, do creatures like that exist on Earth?”

I had nothing to say, so I kept my mouth shut.

A brief lull settled in.

Songee, sounding confused, asked, “Is it over? It didn’t feel like it would end this easily.”

“Of course not. Look at Elena.”

Elena’s Justice was still radiating light in every direction.

It’s not over yet.

“Seungyub.”

“Yes?”

I silently pointed to the mirror, and Seungyub hurriedly ran toward it.

It feels like round two is about to start soon, right?

Before that, we need to secure an escape route.

- Thud!

As Seungyub tried to exit through the mirror, something grabbed him, and he was flung into the air.

The mansion’s roof—or rather, its “lid”—had been removed.

I finally understood the Cube’s true structure.

***As Elena blocked the attacking hand with her two scales, I peered outside.

What a mysterious place.

If not for the fight with Beatrix, I would want to endlessly explore this space.

A strange space covered in dark blue mist, with countless semi-transparent boxes floating everywhere.

The ground far below resembled a red wasteland.

The boxes were connected by cables we had called “passageways”.

Most of the boxes were filled with “mansions”. Those were likely the Mimic Rooms or Escape Rooms.

In some boxes, there were no mansions, just enormous, blurry monsters. Those must be the “Trap Rooms”.

This view was nothing like the earlier glimpse we caught when Cha Jinchul used the Protective Suit as an “indestructible hammer” to break the wall.

Seeing the true structure of the Cube with my own eyes was so mesmerizing that I could hardly believe it.

The lid of the box we were in had been torn away, and from above, Beatrix’s laughter echoed. Her shattered body had completely regenerated at this point.

[Ahaha! Thanks, everyone~! It’s been a while since I’ve had such a fun fight.]

Even as she spoke, Elena and Beatrix’s battle continued without pause.

Since Beatrix was airborne, Jinchul and Songee, who couldn’t fly, were at a loss.

The bracelet’s range couldn’t reach such vast distances and rifles were basically glorified BB guns to her.

Elena was essentially fighting Beatrix alone.

A bear the size of a bus blocked the scales that flew with the force of a sonic boom.

The scales’ power seemed to weaken in the presence of the monsters.

Though Beatrix was human and the monsters were her tools, the power of Justice didn’t seem to be completely ineffective towards the monster she created, but…

It didn’t have the same impact as when facing Beatrix directly.

As a result, Beatrix’s laughter never ceased.

- Crack!

The outer walls of all the boxes started to open one by one.

We saw monsters from other rooms walking along the cables, heading towards our box.

Ha! So, she’s calling all the monsters from the other rooms, now? This isn’t going to be easy.

Even during this, the scales relentlessly flew towards Beatrix, radiating golden waves. However, we wouldn’t be able to avoid defeat at this rate.

I didn’t know what had happened to Seungyub after his attempted escape, and with the Cube’s structure distorted, I didn’t know how we would escape.

“Elena! Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Justice is weak against the monsters, so we’re at a disadvantage like this.”

“Ahri…”

“The fight itself is something Justice dictates, but you can choose the location or method of the fight, right? Just fly off and fight Beatrix one-on-one. Don’t stay here!”

“If I leave—“

“If you’re staying because you’re worried we’ll all die, don’t be! Nothing will change unless you kill Beatrix!!”

Elena looked at us with a conflicted expression before hardening her resolve and flying toward Beatrix.

- Boom!

At that moment, a sharp object came through the broken wall and struck Songee.

Jinchul, who had knocked the object away with a metal rod he picked up somewhere, said, “What you just said applies to you too, doesn’t it? You can fly, unlike the rest of us. Just go and help Elena.”

“If Elena can’t win on her own, my help wouldn’t make enough of a difference.”

“Even so, it’s better than nothing—“

“You’re coming with me. Your Star will definitely work.”

“Can you carry me while flying? Didn’t you say it’s hard to fly while holding someone?”

“I can do it for a short time if I don’t plan on surviving. So grab onto me and jump! With all your strength!”

Without another word, Jinchul grabbed a piece of rebar sticking out from the collapsing mansion with one hand and held onto me with the other.

Just before we jumped, Songee, lying on the ground, waved her hand as if to say she was fine.

Instantly, a massive wasp burst through the wall, pouncing on Songee.

- Bang!

With the sound of the ground exploding, Jinchul and I soared into the air, nearly 10 meters high!

“Did you learn how to pole vault?”

“Just keep flying!”

My blood was draining at an alarming rate. Yeah, surviving this round doesn’t seem likely for me.

Jinchul and I flew toward the strange space where Elena and Beatrix clashed, seemingly reenacting a battle of biblical proportions between an angel and a demon.

***It was the right decision to tell Elena to fly off and fight.

Most of the monsters couldn’t fly, and in a one-on-one fight, Elena definitely had the upper hand.

Beatrix was frantically dodging and blocking the scales.

“Do you see?”

“I see it. Even if we leave her alone, it looks like Elena will win.”

“We can’t think of this as a short-term fight. Unlike Elena, that thing has incredible regeneration.”

On the other hand, the light surrounding Elena’s body was gradually fading.

Elena glanced back at us.

The next moment, the scales performed some trick, and Beatrix was slammed into one of the boxes.

“Now!”

I sent Cha Jinchul toward the box where Beatrix was trapped.

Propelled by inertia, Jinchul flew further and fell towards the box.

That should do it, right?

Haa, I’m exhausted. From the start, my flying ability’s efficiency was garbage…

Jinchul, ask your Patron to give you wings next time.

I’ve lost too much blood. Even floating is hard now.

As the tension left me, I plummeted to the ground.

The red wasteland-like ground that had seemed so far away drew closer.

…

…

…

…???

What is this?

The ground wasn’t a wasteland, nor was dirt.

It was a vast space filled with an endless mountain of bizarre corpses stretching to the horizon.

The very manifestation of hell, the end of the world.

This was the last memory I had.

***-Elena

Isn’t this thing absurdly durable?

This creature isn’t made of flesh like a normal living being; it’s an utterly unreasonable entity with durability surpassing concrete buildings, maybe even more.

And on top of that, it keeps regenerating endlessly, like mold growing in a nutrient-rich petri dish!

The destructive power of the scales alone couldn’t put an end to it.

Even when the power of justice was more than 90% depleted, Beatrix still held out.

Thankfully, her offensive capabilities didn’t seem as strong as its durability and regeneration.

Maybe she thought that with her tough body, she could just keep her distance and have the monsters she created attack.

But in the end, aerial combat was Beatrix’s downfall!

I could fly, and Ahri flew over with Jinchul, but most of Beatrix’s powerful weapons, the monsters, couldn’t.

Just as I was about to lose, Ahri brought Jinchul over.

Using the rest of my remaining power, I bound Beatrix!

Jinchul summoned the Star and shoved it into Beatrix’s mouth.

Sure enough, the body of Beatrix, which even the power of Justice struggled to kill, quickly deformed, losing its durability and regenerative ability.

All that was left were grotesquely twisted lumps of flesh!

By then, the scales had lost their light and disappeared, but Jinchul simply smashed the flesh to pieces with his fists.

The faces of those left lit up with victorious smiles.

Is it my or Jinchul’s turn to gain an Inheritance this time?

“Haha! Isn’t the combination of Elena and I unstoppable?”

“Good job!”

“Well done. We’ve just secured another Inheritance—“

Jinchul’s expression suddenly hardened.

- Swish!

When I came to my senses, Jinchul had already grabbed me and rolled across the floor.

[You managed to dodge that? Well, you guys are really strong~! I’ve never met people this strong before. Who are you?]

Beatrix’s body began to “recreate” itself in mid-air.

First, only an arm appeared, targeting my vital points. Then the torso, then the legs, and finally the head appeared.

Ah… I finally understand.

The bewildering variety of Beatrix’s abilities.

She doesn’t possess many superpowers.

All her abilities stemmed from just one power.

She used her power of creating monsters to “create” a monster called Beatrix.

I collapsed to the ground, drained of all strength.

I saw Jinchul summoning the Star again and charging forward.

With the power of the Star, it wouldn’t take more than five seconds to destroy Beatrix.

But five seconds was enough time for Beatrix to tear Jinchul’s head off ten times.

Jinchul’s head rolled beside me.

…Is it really over? Is this really it?

An indescribable despair set in.

A sharp object pierced my stomach.

Just before losing consciousness, I saw Beatrix’s expression stiffen.

[What? What did you do to the headquarters?]

Sorry, but you should have asked that before you put a hole in my stomach.

With a tiny, tiny bit of hope, I lost consciousness.