After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
Shortly after Marina and the “Seventh Cult” vanished—
What pulled us back to reality from our daze was a subtle vibration beneath our feet.
“…I’ve got a bad feeling about this!”
Nene, ears perked, turned toward us.
I agreed with her. The fact that the cult leader of the “Seventh Cult” retreated from this “tower” likely meant it no longer served their purpose.
It’s a grim prediction, but I suspect this “tower” will normalize through destruction.
In other words, it’s highly likely the structure will either sink underground or collapse entirely.
“Time to escape! Gather up!”
I shouted, pulling out an Exit Scroll from my Magic Bag meant for emergency evacuations.
Even as I spoke, the shaking intensified, and tiny cracks began forming in the floor and walls.
That “Papa” guy… maybe he intended to dispose of the tower and eliminate us in one go.
“Exit Scroll, activation check!”
Just as I activated the Exit Scroll, a powerful tremor struck us—but at the last possible moment, our vision was engulfed in light and then shifted.
Looks like I made the right call.
Barely in time.
“Looks like we made it,”
Jamie let out a small sigh and plopped down on the grass.
That’s right—grass. We weren’t in the town.
Noticing the oddity, Silk looked around and turned to me.
“Seems like we’ve ended up outside the town. Any idea why?”
“This is just speculation without evidence, but maybe the former royal capital Jo-Koco itself was treated as a dungeon.”
“The tower had that much influence…?”
“It’s not unthinkable. Even the ‘World Tree’ in your homeland went berserk and turned the surroundings into a dungeon.”
My words made Silk’s eyes widen in realization.
I also only then realized how serious the situation was as I said it.
Such a thing shouldn’t be possible.
A human habitation—an entire city—being replaced by a dungeon?
That’s unthinkable.
“Where do you think… Marina went?”
Rain tugged at my sleeve, watching the crumbling ivory-colored tower from beyond the city limits.
“I don’t know. The scroll that ‘Papa’ guy used… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“But Yuke?”
“Yeah. As a dabbler in alchemy, I thought I had a decent amount of knowledge, but that scroll was new to me.”
“He called it teleportation, right?”
Based on what we saw, it’s likely a powerful magic scroll similar to the Exit Scroll.
And if I’ve never seen it before… it’s either incredibly rare or outright forbidden.
Given that the “Seventh Cult” deals in illegal magical artifacts, the latter seems more likely.
“I think it was a scroll that activates spatial teleportation magic.”
“Is that… even possible?”
“Hard to believe, but we did see it with our own eyes. Anyway, what matters now is where Marina and the others ended up.”
“What the scroll was” is less important than “what the scroll did.”
If the Exit Scroll was a scroll that let us escape from the dungeon, then that one must also have some kind of directional intent.
I won’t rule out the idea of teleporting to any location at will, but changing reality on that scale would normally leave traces.
If not, it’s more likely they teleported to a predesignated location—or somewhere within the same area. That’s more realistic.
“Yuke!”
Lost in thought, I was suddenly yanked by Rain, who looked panicked.
In her hand was her custom Tablet, which she always carried.
It was blaring warning sounds and flashing the message:
“Emergency Broadcast! Emergency Broadcast!”
◆
“This is the Royal Broadcast Station. We are issuing an emergency evacuation broadcast to the citizens of Finis!”
Usually a personality for adventure broadcasts, Sho was now using a much more urgent tone in his address.
“A large number of monsters have appeared in Finis. All residents, evacuate immediately!”
“Finis is currently in an extremely dangerous situation! Please follow the instructions of patrol units and adventurers and quickly evacuate the city! This is not a drill! I repeat, evacuate immediately!”
Behind Sho’s voice, footage from stationary “GoPro-kun” cameras installed throughout Finis showed people fleeing in terror, pursued by grotesque monsters, and adventurers fighting to protect them.
“What the hell is going on!?”
“I don't know. But… look here!”
Rain pointed to a specific spot on the screen as I leaned in to see.
In several cuts of the shifting broadcast footage, something familiar was visible.
“A strange structure has appeared directly in front of the Finis Central District Adventurers’ Guild… it looks like a tower! Central district—cue!”
Following Sho’s instruction, the broadcast cut to several camera feeds from the Finis central district.
What it showed was a structure, rising from the ground, that closely resembled the “tower” we had just been in.
“There’s… another ‘tower’ in Finis? No way…!”
“You think that’s where they went? The ones who vanished?”
Nene’s words made me realize something.
If the Exit Scroll connects the inside of a dungeon to the outside world, then the scroll that “Papa” used might have connected different towers—one scroll connecting internal tower spaces, the other external.
In a broad sense, all dungeons are linked through the “Achromatic Darkness”—that is, the “tower.”
Just like when we once stepped from the royal tomb in Salmutaria into the Achromatic Darkness, all those places are conceptually the same within space.
“Hey… what about Tech? And Rune—are they safe?”
Jamie, staring at the Tablet with a pained expression, grabbed my shoulder.
Her words snapped me back to reality.
I’m an A-rank adventurer of Welmeria, a hero meant to face the “Culling,” and the leader of “Clover.”
I don’t have time to sit here in shock.
“We’re going back to Finis! Right now!”
“Yes, sir. But… the horses…”
Of the two horses that pulled our carriage, one had been lost when I entered the ruins of the former royal capital Jo-Koco.
I had seen it fall with me into a fissure during the tower’s activation.
Even if the carriage had survived, traveling from here in central Edright to Finis, across the Welmeria kingdom, would take at least three weeks at best.
Whatever’s about to happen, we’ll likely be too late.
“Yuke… don’t.”
Rain tugged on my sleeve and shook her head gently.
It seemed she had sensed the reckless idea forming in my mind.
But I couldn’t think of any alternatives.
“It’s okay. With how I am now, I think I can manage it.”
“…Okay. I’ll help… But don’t overdo it.”
Rain clung to my arm tightly.
I gently patted her head and turned to face the others.
“Let’s head back to the ruins of the former royal capital, Jo-Koco. There’s something I’d like to try. If it works, we might be able to shorten our return time.”
At my words, everyone gave a small nod.
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