109. To Escape Together

Swallowed whole. A crimson flash exploded the giant’s head.

‘Is she insane?!’

She said she could kill it in one hit, and she actually did it!

“This… this is the power of 10th Circle Magic…”

Helena, collapsed on the ground, chuckled weakly as she extolled the greatness of 10th Circle Magic.

Wait, wasn’t she supposed to use 9th Circle Magic? No wonder a mid-boss-level monster from the 7th floor went down in one hit. There was a reason for it.

Maybe the giant was stronger than expected, so she had to use an even higher-tier spell to finish it off.

“I… I’m passing out…”

With those words, Helena lost consciousness.

Pushing her prime-era power through an Apostle’s body-it was only natural she’d black out.

By now, the Apostle’s body must have burned out all its mana circuits.

‘Might need to find a new body…’

The body couldn’t handle Helena’s magic.

If she used it as a one-time vessel, she’d need an even stronger one next time. And that won’t be easy.

‘The battle isn’t over yet.’

Enough distractions. There are still dungeon trolls and heretics left. Can’t let my guard down until they’re all wiped out.

“The giant is dead!!!”

I shouted toward the party still swinging their weapons amidst the dungeon troll horde.

A warrior’s roar echoed, announcing the giant’s demise.

“What did you say?!”

Sasaro called back.

I took a deep breath and yelled again.

“The giant!!! Is dead!!!!”

Soon after, Logie, drenched in blood, let out a battle cry and began smashing through the dungeon trolls in earnest.

Logie, mustering the last of her strength, crushed a troll’s skull.

We won. With the giant dead, all that’s left is to clean up the stragglers.

“Hahahaha! That mage is insane! A 10th Circle madness cannon?! It’s been 20 years since I last saw a Red Meteor!”

The Saintess, her once-white robes now dyed crimson, laughed as she ran toward us.

With the Saintess-who had been restraining the giant’s legs-joining us, the remaining stragglers were as good as finished.

“Paramelle!!! What about Raphael?!”

“Combat ineffective! He’s unconscious!”

“Damn. Porter, join Paramelle and guard that mage. Roy! Fall back!”

“Yes!!”

The Saintess barked orders.

I hoisted the unconscious Helena and ran toward Paramelle.

Just then, Roy, battered and wounded, caught up and took Helena from me.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. You?”

“As you can see, I’m full of wounds. Think that Paramelle guy can heal me?”

“Earlier, I saw him reattach someone’s severed lower half.”

“Ooh! Impressive.”

“Very. They’re all Inquisitors, after all.”

Soon, Roy, Helena, and I regrouped with Paramelle.

And then we saw it-Raphael coughing up blood.

“Damn it…! Raphael! Paramelle, what’s wrong with him?!”

“I-I don’t know…! Raphael… Raphael is dying. He overused his life force… Damn it… Raphael…!”

After charging at the giant earlier, Raphael’s condition was critical.

He was dying. Coughing up blood, teetering on the edge of death.

His lower half had been torn off once, and his body had been shattered multiple times-something inside must have been irreparably damaged.

“Ugh… Fuck… Healing magic isn’t working… Raphael… Raphael… I’m sorry… Raphael…”

Eventually, Paramelle broke down, tears streaming as he sobbed.

“Wait, what’s wrong with him?”

“The healing isn’t taking. The outside looks fine, but his insides must be pulp. This is insane. Paramelle! Pull yourself together! If you stop healing, Raphael dies!”

“M-my divine power… It’s…”

“Aah…”

Looking closer, Paramelle wasn’t in good shape either.

He must have drained his divine power, mana, and even his life force to heal Raphael.

His fingertips were blackened and trembling.

He was barely conscious, desperately trying to keep Raphael alive.

Right now, maintaining a simple barrier was all he could manage.

‘What do I do?’

The Saintess was busy fending off the dungeon trolls. She must have used most of her divine power hunting the giant, so now she was fighting hand-to-hand.

Logie wasn’t an option either. And Sasaro…

“Wait. Sasaro.”

Where did Sasaro go?

Sasaro was nowhere in sight.

“…”

For a moment, my mind went blank.

He was alive just a second ago. He even responded to my shout.

Why?

“Damn it…”

The situation was spiraling again.

Right. Of course they wouldn’t just let us go. You knew this. This is the labyrinth. The worst place that never gives happy endings. A place where you have to crawl through hell just to get a scrap of reward… That’s the labyrinth.

“Paramelle. Rest.”

“Huh…? B-but…”

“Raphael is already dead.”

“N-no… No way…”

Raphael had stopped breathing.

I didn’t know why, but I guessed he had overdrawn his life force.

I stored Raphael’s body in my dimensional pouch.

Then I grabbed Paramelle’s shoulder.

“Paramelle. Paramelle-nim!”

“Ah… Ah. Yes.”

“Get a grip. The heretics are still here. The dungeon trolls too. You need to stay sharp.”

“Sorry… I think I despaired for a moment…”

Paramelle’s eyes regained focus.

For a second, I thought he’d completely lost it, but true to his Inquisitor nature, he snapped back quickly.

“It’s unfortunate, but let’s mourn the giant hunt once we’re aboveground.”

If I can just get out safely, I can resurrect Raphael.

We’ll leave, bring him back, and then share a drink to honor the hunt.

Now isn’t the time to celebrate victory with comrades.

“Roy.”

“Yes.”

“Can you charge back into that troll horde with me?”

“Of course. Just give the order.”

Roy showed unwavering faith in me.

He must have developed strong trust after I resurrected him.

Good. Having allies who believe in me unconditionally is a relief.

“Paramelle. Take care of Halsi.”

“Where are you going…?”

“Sasaro is missing. He might have been killed and dragged off by the heretics. So Roy and I are going to search for him now.”

“S-Sasaro-nim is… missing?”

“Yes. Those heretics can use resurrection rituals too. They probably… took him to revive him as a slave.”

If they got their hands on an Inquisitor’s body, they’d definitely take it.

They have resurrection powers too. I don’t know what that Black-robed Saint bastard is capable of, but he wouldn’t just leave an Inquisitor’s corpse lying around.

So we have to get Sasaro’s body back. Even if he’s already dead, we have to recover him and bring him back.

I won’t let him die tangled in some flag. He said this was his last labyrinth expedition-his last mission.

His words about retiring to farm with his wife and kids still echoed in my ears.

“While the Saintess and Logie draw the trolls’ aggro, we need to retrieve Sasaro’s body. If they consume him, we can’t bring him back.”

“Ah… I’ll come too…”

“Who’ll protect Helena if you come? And in your state, you’d just get in the way.”

Paramelle relented. With his divine power drained, he’d only slow us down.

“Roy, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

We charged back into the battlefield.

The dungeon trolls were swarming the Saintess, trying to kill her, while Logie was tangled in a chaotic melee with them.

Those two were drawing all the attention.

Now, I had to find Sasaro’s body in this mess.

‘Where? Where did he go?’

Using scattered corpses as cover to avoid aggro, I crouched low and tracked Sasaro’s trail.

“Shion! Over here! Look at this!”

Roy found traces of the heretics.

Something had been dragged across the ground.

“This is…!”

“A path leading underground.”

Following the heretics’ trail, we soon found a half-collapsed shack.

Inside, beneath some planks, was an entrance leading underground.

He was dragged down there.

“The blood hasn’t dried, and the trail is fresh. They must have taken him just now. What should we do? Keep pursuing?”

“…”

I agonized over the decision.

Too dangerous. The heretics would be down there.

Sure, we’d thinned their numbers, so they wouldn’t swarm like bugs, but…

If we ran into an Apostle, the Black-robed Saint, or a Yeti, Roy and I would be torn apart.

Do we take the risk? Or abandon Sasaro?

At the crossroads, I asked Roy.

“Roy.”

“Yes.”

“For the team’s survival… can you die for us?”

Roy paused, then asked in return.

“Can you bring me back?”

“Yes. I’ll resurrect you without fail.”

“Hahaha… Then. I’ll give it my all.”

The moment Roy answered, we descended underground.

Below the layer split.

The area beneath the garden section was a maze too.

‘If we get lost, we can use a teleportation scroll.’

Teleportation scrolls are a type of return ticket.

With them, you can go anywhere. Even if we get lost, we can return to the entrance.

Of course, they don’t allow inter-floor travel, so we’re limited to the 5th floor. But that’s enough.

‘What was the theme of the area beneath the garden section again?’

Olivia mentioned it once.

‘Ah.’

A hatchery. The monsters here were insect-types.

And the boss was supposed to be a cockatrice, I think.

‘No signs of monsters, probably because of the heretics.’

We couldn’t light a torch and reveal our presence, so we shook faintly glowing fairy powder to illuminate our path.

Bloodstains led the way. Roy and I pressed forward.

After about ten minutes of navigating the labyrinth’s twists, we finally found where Sasaro had been taken.

“Th-that’s…”

“Shh…”

Roy covered his mouth.

Through a slightly ajar door, the room’s interior came into view.

‘What the hell… is that…’

A writhing, pinkish mass of flesh-like a larva-was swallowing Sasaro’s corpse whole.