After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
“We’re through! Sensei, we’ll be at the surface soon!”
“Yeah… maybe I overdid it a little.”
Still leaning on Silk’s shoulder, I looked up at the collapsed ceiling where light was filtering through.
It seems I had underestimated things a bit — I couldn’t muster any strength in my body.
I guess it’s only natural, considering I used a power beyond human limits.
“I’ll go ahead and scout the area. Yuke-san, please rest a bit.”
“No, let’s keep going.”
“No way! You overdid it, so at least follow dungeon work protocol!”
With a sharp expression, Nene glanced at Silk, who gave a small nod and gently sat me down on a piece of rubble.
“Don’t be hasty — isn’t that something you always say, Sensei?”
“…You’re right. Sorry, Silk.”
I let out a small sigh, calming the impatience in my heart.
We had been traveling through the otherworldly dungeon for several days, and now that we had finally broken through to our target location, getting impatient would be foolish.
The path ahead would still be a forced march — I needed to avoid any further exhaustion.
“Still, it’s incredible. To skip straight to this point in the Aion Ruins Labyrinth…”
“Yeah. It’s frustrating, but I got the idea from that guy’s magic scroll.”
I gave a light smile in response to Jamie, who was glancing around.
Our current location was the third basement level of the Aion Ruins Labyrinth — a place we had once conquered as ‘Clover.’
We were standing in front of the great door that led to the 'Au-Dread Abandoned City Labyrinth.'
“Too reckless. Maybe… I should’ve stopped you.”
“But with this, we shaved at least ten days off our return schedule. If we rent horses in Troana, we can reach Finis in five days.”
I was fully aware of how reckless I’d been.
I had bent the rules of the world to force my way through.
“How’s your condition? You’re not turning into a shadow stalker, or being consumed by ‘Twilight,’ or suddenly wanting to become a tree or something?”
“I’m fine. Aside from some fatigue, I’m not feeling anything wrong.”
“If that’s the case, then good… but from now on, no more stunts, okay?”
Silk’s warning words made me avert my gaze and nod vaguely.
According to my uncle, I apparently have the qualities of a “Walker” — someone who traverses worlds.
That means I possess some kind of trait that allows travel beyond this world.
That trait had been etched into me when I was caught up in the “Inversion — Tenebre” as a child, and it’s also what allows me to be called a “Hero.”
So — I figured I should be able to make use of it.
The “Tower” in the old royal capital, Jo-Koco.
Its surface structure had collapsed, but just as I expected, the underground part remained intact.
Though I couldn’t find the real thing, I strongly sensed the presence of the “Abyss Gate,” meaning the labyrinth — akin to the “Achromatic Darkness” — was still functioning.
That’s why I used several fragments of “Culling” within me to trigger the labyrinth’s functions and forcibly direct my passage into the dungeon.
In short, I artificially generated a small-scale inverted labyrinth — like a personal Tenebre — inside the “Tower,” and passed through it.
I believed I could pull off something similar to what I did with the “Royal Mausoleum.”
I had originally intended to leap all the way to Finis, but… Rain and Silk stopped me from doing that.
And in hindsight, they were probably right.
Even teleporting to the relatively nearby “Au-Dread Abandoned City Labyrinth” had drained me significantly.
If I had tried to go directly to the “Achromatic Darkness” beneath Finis, death might have been a very real outcome.
That’s why the others are so worried about my reckless behavior.
“Still… even if it’s Yuke’s power, I’m kind of amazed that you could pull off something this crazy.”
Jamie said, pressing a cool towel to my forehead as she muttered.
She must be worried about her brother, and now she has to worry about me too — I felt a little bad about that.
“It’s frustrating, but I had to use them.”
“Use who?”
“The labyrinths have been unstable lately, right?”
“Yeah.”
Not just in Welmeria — dungeons and their surroundings had been behaving abnormally all over the world.
That’s why we were called back from our vacation in Vilmuren.
“Thanks to that, parts of the dungeons' boundaries had become thin or blurred. I took advantage of that. This situation itself… is all part of their plan.”
“You mean…”
“Yeah. I think the whole series of events is something orchestrated by the ‘Seventh Order.’ Even those illegal magical artifacts from Besio Salas.”
What had originally been just a theory started to feel more like a certainty after my encounter with “Papa.”
Not everything may be their doing, but including their provision of dungeon-affecting artifacts, the ‘Seventh Order’ had clearly sown the seeds of instability far and wide across the world.
Judging from the way he spoke, he had been waiting all this time — carefully and patiently.
For this exact situation.
The moment when dungeons around the world would become unstable, and the world would be swallowed by chaos.
“But… we still don’t really know what they’re planning, do we?”
“I have one idea.”
In response to Rain’s question, I forced my sluggish mind to dig through my memories.
“I think what that man said might actually be true.”
“You're taking the ‘Seventh Order’ at their word?”
“No, Silk. I’m not talking about saving or transforming the world or whatever — I’m saying that what they’re trying to do is realistically possible.”
I wasn’t accepting a cult leader’s words at face value.
But I did feel like I had a rough idea of what they were trying to accomplish.
“It’s just a guess… but I think they’re trying to summon an ‘Immortal’ — an Otherworldly Being.”
“An ‘Immortal’?”
Silk, Jamie, and Rain all tilted their heads at my words.
“To put it simply… they’re basically gods. Like the ‘Pale Undead King — No-Life King.’”
“You mean, mythological beings?”
“Yeah. Silk, you of all people should understand, right? These beings are also forms of ‘Culling.’”
I held out my left arm, which had turned to amber, and looked at Silk.
With a tense expression, she swallowed nervously.
“The ‘True King of the Forest’…!”
“Right. That was probably an ‘Immortal’ too. A powerful being from another dimension. In this world, such a being is basically synonymous with ‘Culling.’”
“So, what? You’re saying they’re trying to drag some ‘Culling’ from another world into this one and wreck everything?”
Jamie’s words made me tilt my head this time.
That would make sense, as a theory.
Worlds aren’t supposed to mix.
If they touch, they begin to corrupt one another, eventually turning into forces of “Culling” and fighting to mutual destruction.
There are exceptions, of course.
Beings like Silk and the others — outsiders who’ve taken root in this world — do exist.
Even this very place we’re standing in, the Aion Ruins Labyrinth, is something Silk’s grandfather said had formed from the debris of something that drifted in from another world.
“Marina… she might be the key.”
There’s no definitive answer yet.
But there’s no doubt that the Seventh Order’s kidnapping of Marina was a critical part of their plan.
The fact that both the Seventh Order and their leader — “Papa” — are stepping out from the shadows now, making bold moves, can only mean one thing…
They must be certain of victory.
“I’m back! I’ve taken care of the monsters in the area. We can head to the upper floors right away!”
Nene returned to our group, breaking the silence.
Overthinking wouldn’t help.
We had to keep moving forward.
Whatever the Seventh Order was trying to do, our goal remained the same:
To take back Marina —
To take back our family.
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