Seiya - Maze + Prep

Something long and thin suddenly leaps out before me!

“Eeeeeeeeek! It’s Celemonic!!”

“R-Rista! It’s just one of Seiya’s earth serpents!”

“Huh...? Oh... You’re right...”

“It appears to be holding something in its mouth.”

Jonde’s right. The earth serpent hands me a coarse sheet of paper.

“Huh...?”

The following is written on the paper:

Rista, if you’re reading this, it means that something happened to me during the  battle  against  Celemonic.  While  I  don’t  want  to  even  think  about  it,  I cannot deny the possibility that I might be dead.

As Jonde and Kiriko read the letter over my shoulders, Jonde says in a hushed tone: “Wh-what is this? Is this...a will?”

“But Seiya’s still alive...!”

There  are  people  who  write  wills  long  before  they  die.  Incidentally,  I  don’t really care what happens to me after I die... B-but that’s beside the point! What else does the letter say?!

I always pay close attention to my health and take care of myself, but ther eare some things that are not easy to prevent: sudden illness, natural disaster, and accidents, to name a few. Therefore, I plan on leaving this letter for you just in case such a thing ever happens to me.

Jonde then basically screams into my ear:

“Isn’t this a bad time to be reading letters?! Celemonic is coming down the stairs as we speak!”

“J-Jonde, wait! Look at this!”

Perhaps even right now as you read this, the fortress has been breached and Celemonic is heading down the staircase into the underground control room where you all are. Nevertheless, I want you to read this letter until the end.

“What the...?! That’s exactly what’s happening!!”

“A-anyway, let’s keep reading, Rista!”

Celemonic thinks they are the hunters closing in on their prey, not realizing that they’re the ones being trapped in a corner. Rista, this fortress itself is a giant trap. It would be nearly impossible for anything other than a powerful monster  to  defeat  multiple  golems  and  reach  the  staircase  leading  to  the underground  floor  of  the  fortress.  In  short,  that  staircase  was  made  to thoroughly entrap even the most powerful monsters. Celemonic descended the staircase to hell—the entrance to a thirty-floor underground maze created with earth magic.

“Huh...? An underground...thirty-floor maze...?”

Jonde, Kiriko, and I naturally look up at the ceiling.

I totally thought they were already right above us! Does that mean that we’re actually on the bottom floor of an elaborate underground labyrinth?!

I  believe  it  is  highly  unlikely  that  I’m  actually  dead.  I’m  probably  just temporarily  incapacitated  for  some  reason.  Whatever  the  case,  if  you carefully  follow  my  instructions,  then  even  you  will  be  able  to  defeat Celemonic.

There’s  something  written  at  the  end  of  the  coarse  paper,  almost  like  a signature: Perfectly Prepared

***

Volume 4, Chapter 42