I think I’ve shaken them off for now.
Taking a breather while hiding in a suitable spot, thankfully my stomach isn’t grumbling since I had a hearty meal earlier. But I might have to hunt for food eventually.
No, should I gather some mushrooms first?
Since there are three of them, it’s advantageous to use poison to effectively lessen their numbers. I might get called cowardly for it, but who cares in a 1v3 situation?
“I need to take down Vulcanus first… Hmm?”
What is that?
An earthquake?
Suddenly, I struggled to maintain my balance as the ground began to shake violently, and I scanned my surroundings.
What’s going on?
In the midst of the chaotic vision, I caught sight of islands moving and breaking apart like a jigsaw puzzle.
“This is insane.”
Even with my puzzle-manipulating ability, this is just ridiculous.
Did they turn the entire island into a sliding puzzle?
I have no idea where I am, and the island keeps changing.
Seeing the island being turned into a puzzle just to catch me made my head spin.
I was given an ability to make things easier, while other Quartz gets ridiculously powerful abilities. If I had something like that, capturing Harpas and the dragon would’ve been a piece of cake.
Is this what they call a power spoon?
Grumbling internally, I pondered how to win.
The simplest way would be to kill them, but… obviously, that’s out of the question. I’m not trying to inherit a throne here. No sane person would murder their grandmother just to gain a blessing.
So, I have to either subdue all three or force them to surrender… Lumi wouldn’t let me get close, though. No matter how fast I move, I can’t fly, so I need to approach her amidst the constantly shifting terrain.
Should I have just dived in from the start?
No, it was the right choice to pull back when Vulcanus was blocking me; mobbing him would’ve led to my demise. The problem lies in the fact that the ability scale is beyond my imagination.
“If only I knew how Grandma’s ability is being used…”
Knowing that would help me decide whether to hold out or aim to subdue them.
For now, gathering information would be beneficial.
“Crafting.”
The ground erupts. I sit atop a tower rising from the floor, looking down at the island. The view from the mud tower, likely around 50 meters tall, was quite impressive.
“It truly looks like a puzzle.”
A 9-square sliding puzzle, perhaps?
I checked the entrance to the dungeon that’s fallen off the island, the snake’s den that drifted west, and the now-centered poison swamp, then looked down.
Vulcanus should be searching for me. But where are the other two?
I keenly inspected the island, hoping to spot Lumi and Grandma’s locations, but I couldn’t see them anywhere.
Are they hiding? Or have they taken measures to ensure I can’t find them?
Either way, it was a hassle.
“What are you doing over there?”
“I’m enjoying a puzzle tour!”
“Even in times like this, your curiosity is impressive!”
I mean, if I don’t check, I’ll be knocked out, so what’s that about? Looking down at Vulcanus shouting from below, I leaped off.
If it were the days when I was battling bears, zombies, and snakes on a deserted island, I’d be dead by now, but now, it’s no different than jumping off a chair.
…Still, my legs are tingling a little.
“That’s tough!”
“Vulcanus! Are you telling me to do a picture matching game?”
“Lumi likes stuff like that! I’m not a fan of complicated things, though!”
…But everything they make looks complicated.
Well, that’s not important right now, let’s see what I can do about Vulcanus in front of me.
“Vulcanus! I’m coming again!”
“Ha ha ha! Come on!”
“Crafting.”
The prison attempt failed. His strength exceeded imagination. So how should I fight to incapacitate Vulcanus?
Actually, it’s better to find a way to stall for time.
“Hmm? A different method this time?”
“You’re not someone who’d fall for the same trick again, are you?”
“Ha ha! That’s true!”
Despite the massive pillars cluttering the beach, Vulcanus just laughed it off. His confidence suggested he could push them down with his bare hands, but I expected that.
“By the way, did you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I also play a puzzle. Crafting.”
As long as I can stall for time.
No need to fight at all.
That’s what I rank S for.
I turned the entire beach area into a maze made of rocks and sand.
Just like the myth from which his name originates, a labyrinth to trap a monster. I instantly created a huge maze and sprinkled as much fog from my mist gem as possible.
In an instant, the coast was shrouded in fog, making it impossible to see an inch ahead.
This should do it.
“I didn’t see this coming! How interesting! I can’t break something like this! Just wait! I’ll be out of this maze and coming for you soon! Ha ha ha!”
…Should I be happy or not?
Without answering, I jumped onto the maze and made my escape into the adjacent area.
A place I’m very familiar with.
“This place looks the same as before.”
Seeing it again brings back memories.
Though it’s halfway crumbled now, it’s still livable. I entered the brick house and retrieved items I hadn’t collected before.
“Good thing there’s some poison powder left.”
Being a demigod, one drop of poison shouldn’t kill me.
After recovering the powder, I left the brick house and headed to the hill. The hill, which should have a bunker, was a good spot to look around the island. I had successfully isolated Vulcanus, so now it was time to deal with Lumi and Grandma.
Where could they be? And how do I clear this puzzle?
Wait, do I even need to solve the puzzle?
My goal is to survive for a day, and as long as I can do that, I can just take advantage of my knowledge of the terrain and hide away.
…The problem is that the terrain has been scrambled so much that I can’t fully utilize my experience and knowledge.
Lumi probably aimed for that.
If I lose my geographical advantage, it’ll be much easier for them to catch me.
As I pondered my next move from the hill, I looked towards the center of the island. In the middle, there was a poison swamp—the most dangerous area on the island.
But the location of that poison swamp seems rather high up.
That much height will likely cause the poison to flow downwards. The area surrounding the poison swamp was already being stained purple from the leaking poison.
Wait, isn’t there too much poison? Are they planning to drown me in the poison swamp if I don’t solve it in time?
What’s going on? What do I need to solve?
As I was bewildered, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“If you don’t solve it before dawn tomorrow, the island will be consumed by poison.”
I turned my head toward the source of the voice and saw Lumi sitting in the air, looking down at me.
Lumi, with fingers that seemed easily breakable, pointed to the side and said, “I’ve scattered clues all over the island, so find them and decode the information. Then write the answer on the pillar that has grown in the middle of the poison swamp.”
Upon her words, I looked toward the poison swamp and confirmed a skyscraper-like pillar standing there.
“A puzzle, huh?”
“Yes. It’s a puzzle. It’s not difficult, so if you gather clues, you can solve it.”
I think it would be easier just to catch her right here.
I reached out toward Lumi, planning to use my skill to grab her immediately. But my hand didn’t reach her.
It felt like there was an invisible wall between Lumi and me.
“You can’t touch or find me until you solve the puzzle. And you can’t escape the island either.”
This is annoying.
They’ve literally bound me so I can’t resolve it through brute force. It seems I have no choice but to play along with Lumi’s puzzle game.
“If you solve the puzzle, you win. I’ll be waiting. Oh, and the clue here is 7.”
Her figure vanished like an illusion.
Once alone again, I sighed as I sensed a presence approaching from a distance.
“As expected, the maze of a craftsman is different! Ha ha ha!”
I wish he could have held out a bit longer. I swallowed my sigh, looking at Vulcanus approaching me with a joyful expression.
So I’m supposed to solve the puzzle while being chased by Vulcanus?
I never thought the test would come to this.
But I have to do it for my lovers.
I steeled myself and set foot forward.
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