- Mangaka : Bis, Shien and Meguro, Noriko
- Publisher : Yen Press
- Genre : Action, Fantasy
- Published : January 2021 - Ongoing
Within the tenth-floor boss room of the Sazardon Labyrinth, a minotaur was born once more, waiting for its next challengers. Unlike its predecessors, slain at the hands of the treasure-seeking adventurers, its desire to become stronger overcomes a limit that was never once thought possible. It seeks powerful opponents to fight and die in their hands. For every death it avoids, it grows stronger. The rules within the realm of the labyrinth no longer apply to it as a monster to a certain extent. Will this minotaur ever get a chance to fight against someone worthy enough to bring it to an end?
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
Sazardon Labyrinth is, as you might already know about it, is a place infested with monsters and treasures that cannot be found anywhere else outside of this realm. The concept of this world is similar to Danmachi and Skyrim. Potions, swords, magic, and gods and goddesses’ blessings. The main focus of the story is the minotaur, and some scenes showcased the adventurers' side as well, including politics and the royal family, with dungeon crawling as a medium. But why having humans conquering the labyrinth when you have a minotaur?
1. Dungeon Crawling
It is a no-brainer that, putting ourselves in the adventurers’ shoes, we should always prepare necessary weapons, armor, and potions. And don’t forget your name tag because whoever gets killed in the labyrinth, for both monsters and humans, their bodies disappear. The labyrinth and the world builds around this story hold a sense of thrill and danger to explore these floors to obtain wealth and glory at the cost of your life.
Just like a video game, but it applies in a real-life scenario in this universe. There are many types of monsters that one should learn how they fight to exploit their weaknesses and giving yourself advantages to turn the tide of the battle. So gathering information on each floor and monster is crucial. There is no harm in over-preparation when your life is on the line.
With the name tag, adventurers can identify and announced their death in the Adventure Guild. There will be no ceremonial burial for you, but the ones who grieve for you will carry through the wind and reach the afterlife.
2. In the Eyes of an Unusual Minotaur
With the main character of this story is the minotaur, you will learn how it feels from the start of its awakening to the end. It is interesting to read this story as if we are watching an animal slowly gain its intelligence as it does whatever they are doing to pursue their objective. Yes, the minotaur did indeed kill those adventurers. But what fascinated us is that how all those kills are made in a self-defense matter, and it begs us to question: why do adventurers kill monsters in the labyrinth when they can’t get out of the labyrinth or traverse through floors? Is it because we are afraid of them? Is it because these monsters have the capabilities to kill us without notice? Or is it in the name of fame and fortune?
The minotaur may not understand the human language, but it possesses some intelligence to understand the intentions of the humans’ actions and body language. That leads it to grow both physically and mentally. The best part of the minotaur is how honorable and respectful it is toward its opponents.
3. It Is a Two Way Battle
It isn’t the two-way battle you might think of. We meant the thought process of both sides of the struggle: the minotaur and the adventurers. You will get to experience how and what decisions they choose to minimize damages and injuries they receive, covering from positions, stances, weapons, armor, and potions.
1. The Story of the Fallen
There are some background stories of the adventurers who are killed by the minotaur in this volume. They show how they ended up fighting the minotaur and their battle plans. But if you don’t mind knowing these victims, they shouldn’t pose many issues for the experience.
Final Thoughts
King of the Labyrinth has an exciting approach of putting readers in both adventurer's and minotaur’ perspectives to battles and how the minotaur grows as a warrior to pursue its dream to battle worthy opponents. It carries its fighting with honor and respect for its enemies, making it difficult to see it as a villain even though it is not a human. But the drawback, for some readers, is that it has fillers of how the adventurers encounter the minotaur and fallen in its hands.
If you want to venture deep into the labyrinth, battling against different kinds of monsters, obtaining rare weapons, armors and consumables not just as an adventurer but as a minotaur, you are going to like this one. Whose side are you on? The adventurers or the minotaur? Let us know in the comments below!
Author: Nobodies17
