Rimuru and Iruma's Adventures in the Netherworld

A Trial of Terror

Iruma POV

"Mmmh... this is a lot," Lead grumbles as he stares at the song lyric sheet.

"Yeah, there are a lot of steps, but if we work together, we should be fine, right?"

"Great idea, Iruma! I'll take the second half and you take the first! That way, we'll solve the riddle faster."

That's not what I meant by 'working together'...

The idea of separating like that makes me a little nervous.

"Uh... you sure, Lead?"

"Yup! Let's split up here and we'll meet back up at this exact spot once we solve our halves."

I hesitate for a few seconds before responding. It should be fine, right? And Lead is probably right about it being faster since we'll be able to cover more ground if we separate.

"Okay, Lead, let's do it!"

...

Walk one hundred steps with the runaway bride

"Is this rock with a face on it the 'runaway bride'? It must be..."

It took me a few hours, but I managed to find my starting spot.

So, I walk 100 steps 'with' her, and find another rock with a face.

There's the mother-in-law, behind her you hide

You look down carefully...

I peek behind the rock, and at first, I can't spot anything special, but then I take a closer look and find a set of trap doors hidden in the brush.

Opening them reveals nothing but a pitch-black pit of darkness, complete with a stone set of steps leading much, much deeper. Very spooky!

...and then you dive deep

I have to go into whatever is down there...

I'll need some light, though, so I use Raffire to make a little flame at the tip of my index finger. Then, I step inside and point the flame forward, lighting up the passage a bit. Not enough to see far, but enough to see what's immediate.

The stairs go a lot deeper than I thought they would, but I can't stop now; Lead is counting on me! No, the entire Misfit Class is counting on me! I need to get a rank promotion and finding the Legendary Leaf is the perfect way to do it. I've faced much scarier things than a spooky dark passage!

I continue going down the steps, telling myself that being scared of this place is silly, but still keeping my guard up.

After a while of walking deeper and deeper into the cave-like staircase, the area widens into a full-blown cave. I can't even see the other side, so I strengthen my Raffire a bit, enough to light up most of the room. I'm glad I can control magic a bit better now or I might've messed that up!

The dark cave lights up better and reveals something that actually made me jump back a little.

See the maw awaiting with razor-sharp teeth

The opening to another cave hallway, framed by the face of an enormous beast. Fangs made of stone stalagmites and stalactites, the path forward looks like I'm staring into the throat of a huge monster!

Deep past the jaws you will find your prize

I have to go inside that thing. It's not an actual monster, but eerily shaped stone. It's just made of stone...