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Last Embryo Volume 2 Prologue Part 1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

《Gift Game: Minotaur – The Throne in the Labyrinth》

Contestants: Sakamaki Izayoi

*Conditions for Eligibility*

1) The contestant is required to possess at least one Sun Authority (Heliotic or Ecliptic)

2) Being of the lineage connected to the Sun Deity, or possession of achievments related to the sun.

*Precautionary Measures*

The 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority’s Preliminary Gift Game may be suspended by its Host without any notifications. This precautionary measure is applicable to every Preliminary Gift Game, so the Host asks the participant for his understanding

*Winning Conditions*

1) Defeat 『The Monster of the Labyrinth』

2) Navigate the Labrys Maze and destroy every ox head within

*Oath*

 The 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority’s Facilitation Committee hereby pledges to uphold the Gift Game fairly and according to all the riles stated above

  The 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority’s Facilitation Committee,

『The Laplace Demons』

Under the starry sky lay a Labyrinth – an empty, desolate space, void of any and all life. A young girl sat on a throne in its center, desperately trying to hold back her laughter as she ran her eyes across the Geass Roll, a contract scroll made of parchment depicting the rules and conditions of the current Gift Game. She did not understand any of the things that were written on it, but she was absolutely certain it had to be something she could laugh over without any reservations. After a while of shameless giggling she covered her mouth with her hand, cleared her throat and composed herself, but as soon as her eyes fell on the text for the second time, she went through another uncontrollable laughing fit even stronger than the previous one.

She thought that it was truly a blessing that she was able to laugh so many times from reading the same document over and over again, but to any outsider, something like that couldn’t have been more sickening, and the only reason she would be able to get away with it would be because of how breathtakingly beautiful she was. If it wasn’t for that, her preposterous actions couldn’t have been excused or justified by any means.

What a young girl like that was doing in the home of the Bull Monster: Minotaur’s den. As far as the eye could see there was no signs of any artificial sources of light or signs of any kind of human activity, and the only sounds that could be heard echoing throughout the maze’s halls were the ones made by the howling of the wind and the chirps of occasional insects. Even so, the girl never stopped laughing, giggling, smirking and snickering. Her pearl-colored hair reached all the way down to the ground, dragging behind her like a bridal gown whenever she walked, and despite her stunning features pointing to the conclusion that he must have been a child of someone with high position or noble lineage, her attitude and behavior were more reminiscent of those displayed by a typical small town girls.

The smile faded from her mouth as if it was never there to begin with, and she started reading the Geass Roll again. Normally that action would have plunged her into another loop of unstoppable laughter, but not this time. This time, it was different.

A man, who was sleeping in the shade up until now quietly rose up from his spot, most likely woken up by the girl’s constant laughter. As he ruffles his goregeous, well-kept hair, a wry smile appeared on his face.

「Really now, how many times have you read that thing already? Are you not bored with it yet, Kurma, 『The World Dragon』?」

「Why should I be bored with it when it is the only piece of entertainment available to me here? Since we cleared that up, then allow me to keep reading it so I can at least try to contain the excitement I feel towards the arrival of my newest playmate tomorrow, 『Demon Bull King』.」

The girl called Kurma shook the Geass Roll with unrestrained happiness. In a stark contras to her lovely appearance, the name that the man addressed her with sounded rather disturbing, but exactly the same thing could be said about the man she addressed back as the 『Demon Bull King』, since he possessed the apparition of someone who would make anyone who looked at him speechless with admiration towards his glossy black hair, muscular body and a pair of thick horns that were protruding proudly from his head. Illuminated by the pale moonlight, he was someone who practically radiated the aura of handsomeness few could oppose even if they tried.

「Also, I know it might be troublesome to get used to, but since my real name has to be kept a secret, do try to call me anything other than 『The World Dragon』, ok? Maybe something like 『The World King』? Oh, and anytime I’m in my human form, simply call me Kuu.」

「Fine, if that’s what you want then I will indulge you with that little charade of yours, but need I remind you that your identity is going to be exposed either way once we will meet with Taishakuten?」

「Taishakuten? Never heard of the guy, who’s that? … Oh, you must be talking about Indra! Do not worry about him, he might not even recognize me in my current form, because he never figured it out that I was actually a female dragon, not to mention that this is actually my first time using the human form, so I am actually very curious as to what his reaction to seeing me like that would be!」

The girl said with a bright smile on her face.

「But never mind that, just take a look at this!」

And she practically shoved the Geass Roll into the Demon Bull King’s face.

「You see this? Those right there?! Looks like this time the Games for the Sun’s Authority have a pretty whacky set of requirements in order to even participate in them! The previous one could easily be won by anyone as long as they were obnoxiously strong, but this time?! Hoo boi is it different!」

The girl who wanted to be called 『The World King』 began to walk in circles as she was saying that.

「I mean, it had to be like that since the last winner was exactly that: nothing but an unrefined brute who relied on nothing but brute strength alone to crush anyone who stood in his way.」

The Demon Bull King took the Geass Roll from her, and after slowly reading through its contents, nodded in agreement.

「That is how it was indeed. After all, the second Winning Condition, the one giving the chance at victory to those who are either powerless or lack sufficient strength to battle their opponents head on has been implemented only recently. But you have to bear in mind that in order to balance that out and maintain the proper equilibrium, the overall difficulty of the Gift Games has risen. While we are on the subject, have you already figured out the mystery of this Labrys Maze?」

「Of course I did!」

Kuu jumped back on her feet after she sat down to have a short rest from all the walking she did just now. All in all, she looked like someone who loved having others listen to every word she said, no matter what it was, because when asked about Labrys Maze, her eyes began to shine with an even brighter light than before.

「I have already figured it out, but I also have some concerns with the contents of this Geass Roll, especially this word right here…」

She said, pointing her finger at the word Labyrinth in the Game’s name: 《Minotaur: The Throne in the Labyrinth》…

「…and that right here, in the 「Winning Conditions」 section.」

She pointed another finger at the bottom of the Geass Roll, where the word Labyrinth has been explicitly changed to 「Maze」.

*Winning Conditions*

1) Defeat 『The Monster of the Labyrinth』

2) Navigate the Labrys Maze and destroy every ox head within

「You see what I mean? The title of the Game has Labyrinth in it, but one of the conditions for winning the game tells you to navigate through the Maze, not a Labyrinth. As to why the Host of the Game would do such a thing, I honestly have no idea. By the way, Demon Bull King, did you know that the words 「Labyrinth」 and 「Maze」 have completely different meanings despite sounding oh so very similar at first glance?」

Kuu licked her lips and pressed on of her slender fingers against them in content. Somehow, something was telling her that this Gift Game was going to be much more interesting than she initially anticipated.