Ch.4848. Fainting

Before we could answer the captain’s question.

*Zik.*

With that brief sound, we were transported to a dark place.

A pitch-black corridor.

“…!”

Everyone was startled by the suddenly changed scenery.

Of course, our squad members had somewhat anticipated it because of the sound, but for Kyle who had just arrived, this was a completely unexpected situation.

“…It seems the missing people were dragged to a place like this. There might be survivors alive. I’ll act quickly.”

However, Kyle immediately began leading us through the maze.

‘His mind works fast.’

The three of us didn’t object to his quick assessment of the situation.

It was actually correct, and we had just witnessed his power firsthand.

We couldn’t help but trust him.

But,

‘I need to take control.’

Conquering this maze was impossible for people of this world.

Because there were hints that only people living on Earth could recognize.

“There’s a fork in the road.”

As we moved through the dark path, we encountered two corridors leading forward.

“There’s a round picture in front of the left path. It looks like a moon.”

The blue-haired mage carefully examined the pictures engraved in front of each corridor.

On the left was a round sphere, and on the right was a crescent moon shape.

“…I understand what’s on the left, but I have no idea about the right one. Do any of you know what it might be?”

“I don’t know. Adel, Shiro, do you know what this is?”

A crescent moon with only the right side thinly visible.

However, in this world, no moon phases existed except the full moon.

To be precise, only a perfect full moon appears in the sky of the Labyrinth City. It was natural not to know what that was if you hadn’t lived on Earth.

‘We need to go toward the crescent moon.’

The gimmick of this maze was too complex to gloss over.

It’s relatively easy once you know it, but I had spent over 1,000 hours banging my head trying to conquer this place.

‘How should I convince them?’

I wasn’t confident I could persuade the blue-haired mage, Kyle, and Shiro all at once.

However, if I couldn’t lead them, we would all die eventually.

“…I think I’ve seen something similar to this somewhere before.”

After a moment of deliberation, I finally spoke up.

“…Adel, is that true?”

Captain Kyle’s gaze turned toward me.

Obviously, it was a lie.

“Yes. I was trapped in an unknown space on the 5th floor before… I think I saw it briefly there.”

“Are you referring to the Ice Tower?”

How does he know about that?

“That’s right. I was trapped there with Shiro here beside me.”

“I heard there was such a report to the Association, but I never imagined the protagonists would be standing right in front of me. Shiro, is it true that you saw a similar pattern inside?”

Kyle’s voice contained expectation about us.

He might think that the Ice Tower we were sucked into is related to this demonic blood contamination incident.

‘It’s not.’

I glanced at Shiro to gauge her reaction.

If Shiro said she had never seen or heard of such a pattern, I was planning to brush it off by saying I had quietly passed by it alone.

But.

“…Yes. Adel is right.”

Shiro confirmed it.

“I see. I wasn’t doubting you, just asking for confirmation.”

He asked me what I had seen in the Ice Tower.

The blue-haired mage’s serious gaze turned toward me.

I hadn’t actually seen anything in the Ice Tower, but.

“…There were numbers written alongside the pictures.”

“Numbers, you say?”

“Yes, numbers.”

I continued enthusiastically.

“There were 6 pictures and 12 constellations drawn there.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Among them was the round moon that we all know, and also that strange shape whose identity we don’t know.”

New moon, crescent moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter, waning crescent.

A total of 6 moon phases were needed to conquer the maze.

“…What did that shape symbolize?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think it represents an order.”

Each of the 6 moon phases corresponds to 2 constellations.

The first moon phase. The empty “new moon” picture had Aries and Taurus.

The second moon phase. The crescent moon with only the thin right side visible had Gemini and Cancer.

If you compare the order of the 12 zodiac signs defined in astrology with the moon phases that appear from the first day of the lunar month, you get the sequence.

So the first place we needed to head to was the room of Aries or Taurus that appears on the path of the “new moon.”

“…So numbers are assigned, and you’re saying we should head to the room that corresponds to the first one?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Therefore, these two corridors we see here were the wrong paths from the beginning.

If we went in here, we’d waste at least 3 hours.

“Since this is far from the first one, we should go back to find another path. But just to be sure, let’s use a detection spell. Please only check the corridor with the moon picture.”

I asked the blue-haired mage with an uncertain tone.

“Alright.”

She closed her eyes briefly and concentrated.

“How is it?”

“…This doesn’t seem right.”

Her eyes trembled slightly.

“There’s human blood. Someone seems to have fallen and died a few hours ago, but there are no holes in the floor.”

“A trap?”

“Yes, Captain Kyle. I think so. And it seems like someone who entered several hours before us died there.”

The further you go from the corridor you should visit, the more powerful the traps or monsters become.

The full moon is the fourth phase, and we need to go to the first one now, so it was clear that everyone except Captain Kyle would be cut down in 5 seconds.

“I wasn’t sure myself, but thanks to the detection magic, we survived. Now let’s go find another path.”

From now on, my words carried undeniable authority.

I saw something in the Ice Tower, and they didn’t. Even the timing of entering the tower was similar to this demonic blood contamination incident.

Although it was just a guess at first, I discovered that the corridor with the moon drawn on it was similar to a trap, and right now, this is the only reliable information available.

‘…But why Shiro?’

Since Captain Kyle was quickly moving ahead, I was still concerned about Shiro’s attitude in the recent conversation.

There were definitely no such pictures in the Ice Tower, so why did she immediately agree as if it were true?

“Shiro.”

I spoke in a small voice so others couldn’t hear.

“Yes, Adel.”

“Why did you help me?”

Shiro had no idea what my intentions were when I spoke.

Yet she naturally deceived them.

It was a reason difficult to explain without some special motive.

“I thought if you said something, there must be some intention behind it.”

“…”

I was speechless at Shiro’s answer, and she continued.

“You don’t have to explain your reasons. It’s something you can’t tell others, right?”

Shiro showed a slight smile.

“I believe in you.”

“…Thank you.”

I calmed my pounding heart as we wandered through the maze.

***

After moving for quite some time, we arrived at a corridor.

It had been dozens of minutes, but we rarely encountered monsters while moving.

‘Is someone nearby?’

It seemed as though someone had dealt with the monsters not long ago.

Without knowing their exact location, rescue would be difficult, but with luck, we might find them.

“Haa, haa. Finally found a corridor with no pattern. Adel, should I use detection magic again?”

The blue-haired mage pointed at the corridor while catching her breath.

No matter how much self-enhancement magic she used, she seemed to be struggling without a solid foundation.

“Yes, please do it once more. If it’s safe here, it might not be bad to rest a little.”

“Alright…!”

The blue-haired mage concentrated and detected the surroundings.

Perhaps due to lack of stamina, her mana wavered and leaked not only toward the corridor we were heading to but also in several other directions.

‘Fortunately, I’ve taken control.’

True to his orphan background, Captain Kyle didn’t seem to be the type obsessed with authority.

Fantasy worlds always seem to have orphans with abundant refinement. This has absolutely nothing to do with me being an orphan.

‘His expression doesn’t look good.’

Is he worried about the princess?

Fortunately, he seemed to be objective enough not to suggest the crazy idea of searching every inch of the maze.

“…Everyone.”

While I was internally praising the captain, the blue-haired mage spoke in a much heavier tone.

“I think there are survivors ahead. Two of them.”

“…Really?”

Captain Kyle approached the mage with a slightly excited look.

“Y-yes. Judging by the unstable flow of mana, they seem to be injured…”

“Where exactly are they? If it’s far, I’ll go rescue them alone.”

“Well… they’re inside this corridor…”

The blue-haired mage turned her head toward another corridor.

Next to the entrance of that corridor was a crescent moon.

“How far exactly? And do you sense any holy power from the survivors?”

“Probably about 200 meters. As for holy power… it seems to be reacting quite intensely. There seems to be demonic blood nearby.”

At the same time, the captain drew his sword.

“I’m moving out. Does anyone have any objections to my actions?”

Thinking that the survivor might be the princess, his face showed determination.

‘400 meters should be fine.’

The crescent moon is the second phase.

Since the entry order only differs by one, his skills would probably be sufficient.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone does.”

“Very well.”

*Kuung!*

With a heavy resonance, Kyle disappeared from our sight.

“He’s certainly fast.”

The blue-haired mage had barely finished speaking when—

*Kagang! Kaang!*

Sharp echoes reached us from afar.

*Kuung! Kang! Kwang!*

Even though the battle was happening far away, the power was so strong that the echoes reached us.

About 20 seconds passed.

After a brief silence, we felt a massive resonance rushing toward us.

*Kugugugugung!*

Just a few seconds.

“I’ve returned. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought.”

On Kyle’s back were the two priests from our squad with superiority complexes.

“Were the priests in that state when you found them?”

“No.”

…?

“…Then, what happened on the way back?”

“Nothing special.”

Honestly, no one here would believe that.

“The priests are unconscious, why…?”

The priests were hanging limply on his shoulders like corpses.

Their heads were even hanging back, making it look like he was dragging dead bodies.

“They started screaming while I was carrying them, and I thought it might become dangerous, so I knocked them out.”

“Ah… I see…”

We headed toward the corridor we were originally supposed to go to without saying much.

‘Is he crazy?’

But it felt somewhat satisfying.