After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
We cautiously proceeded through the interior of the mysterious “tower” made from an unknown material.
It was both an undiscovered, uninvestigated labyrinth dungeon and a place connected to the Achromatic Darkness.
We had to stay on high alert.
“Unlike the Achromatic Darkness, there’s no distortion here,” Nene noted.
“Yeah. It doesn’t have that… mixed-up feeling,” I replied.
Looking around at her words, I noticed the inside was made of the same dull white porcelain-like material as the tower’s exterior, and it felt cold to the touch.
Although the light source was unclear, the surroundings were faintly illuminated, making torches unnecessary.
“I’ll move ahead to scout,” Nene said.
Wearing her Hidden Mantle of Invisibility, she dashed ahead into the labyrinth dungeon without making a sound.
While she did so, I observed the interior carefully.
“Something wrong?” Rain asked.
“I sense the presence of another world, yet there’s no visible influence from it. It feels… strangely stable.”
“Now that you mention it… yeah, maybe,” Rain agreed, nodding.
“It looks like an ordinary labyrinth dungeon, but the spirits are still reacting strangely. Could there be an Abyss Gate here too?” Jamie asked.
“Hard to say. In the first place… should we be heading up or down?” I wondered.
In the tower within Finis—the Achromatic Darkness—we could only go down.
The upward stairs had been destroyed.
But since this tower protruded high above the ground, perhaps it was possible to go both up and down.
So then—where were Marina and the Seventh Order?
“I think they’re up above.”
“Yeah. They were using an entrance higher up than ours.”
“That’s right. Damn… did I hit my head too many times and get stupid or something?”
We had entered the tower from an underground cavern section.
But the Seventh Order had used an entrance that jutted out from the surface of the Old Royal Capital, Jō Koco.
When that tremor occurred, the tower extended even higher—meaning it was only natural that we’d need to head upwards.
“Maybe we’re still stuck thinking about the Achromatic Darkness, making assumptions,” I muttered.
“The last upward dungeon we tackled was Castle Vodan, right?”
“Yeah, and it looks like we’re going to have to climb a lot more this time,” Silk added.
Hearing this, Rain and Jamie both clearly looked displeased.
Makes sense—magic users tend to lack physical endurance.
No wonder they weren’t thrilled to hear we’d be using stairs.
“I’m back!” Nene’s voice called out as she softly emerged from between the shadows.
Even wearing the Hidden Mantle of Invisibility, it was impressive how utterly undetectable her presence had been.
“I confirmed the upward stairs. I also cleared the path ahead!”
“Any traps or monsters?”
“No traps. As for monsters, it’s probably faster to just show you the corpse I found.”
“Got it. Let’s go.”
At my words, Nene nodded and gave a hand signal to indicate our direction.
We followed her through a complex route until she came to a stop.
“This one here. It wasn’t strong, but I’ve never seen it before,” she said.
As our scout, Nene was highly knowledgeable about monsters.
Whether to avoid them, how to kill them with a surprise attack, how to identify companions of a slain creature—her expertise even impressed a supporter like me.
So for even her to say she didn’t recognize it meant this was truly rare.
The creature was a long, narrow, oval-shaped monster.
It was about the size and length of my arm.
It had no fur or scales, with dark red-black skin and a jagged, saw-like mouth on one end.
It looked like a thick, short giant worm.
“This thing was flying,” she added.
“In that form?” I asked.
Hard to imagine.
And honestly—not something I wanted to imagine.
“I knocked it down immediately, but the fact that it makes no sound… it could be pretty dangerous,” Nene said.
“Yeah, that is dangerous. We’ll have to be careful.”
If it swims through the air silently, then yes—definitely a threat.
If it caught us off guard and bit into someone’s neck, it could be fatal.
“The stairs are this way. I don’t think there are any more monsters, but stay alert just in case.”
I nodded at Nene’s words and continued through the faded white labyrinth.
It wasn’t especially large—about what it looked like from outside, maybe slightly bigger.
I didn’t sense much of a presence from the otherworld… but then, a small sting prickled my cheek, and I recognized the sign.
“…Wait. Someone’s here.”
Nene turned back and tilted her head slightly.
It was probably a sensation only I could detect.
“Come out. No sneak attacks.”
“……”
From the shadows around the corner, a figure cloaked in the robes of the Seventh Order emerged.
They were armed with a short spear and a round shield, their hood drawn low, face completely covered with a mask.
“What is your goal?! What are you planning to do with Marina?!”
“There’s nothing to tell you. We, the family, are going to the place we’ve long awaited.”
“Don’t give me that cryptic crap!”
At the same time I fired a restraining spell, the spear-wielding zealot charged.
But they were no match for a red mage’s quickcast.
“Ngh… guh…”
The zealot dropped to their knees under the combined effects of Paralyze and Bind.
Before, someone like me might have had my spells resisted, but now… I was steeped in Purge.
Even people tainted by the otherworld’s aura could be afflicted with weakening magic.
“Don’t move! Tell me—”
“Guh… blegh… grah…”
“! Hey—what’s going on?”
Before I could finish, the zealot coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
Of course, I hadn’t used any magic that could kill.
“No good. He’s dead,” Nene said.
“Probably had some kind of artifact implanted—something for suicide.”
After checking his pulse, Nene shook her head.
Hearing that, I was reminded of what I’d recently been considering—about where these illegal magical artifacts might be coming from.
Maybe… maybe my suspicion had been right all along.
After all, suicide-linked magical tools were highly illegal.
“People who’d go this far clearly aren’t sane. Let’s go—to Marina.”
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