Chapter 101 – Labyrinth

I stared at the empty space where Stella had been while chewing on a piece of jerky.

“Talk about terrible timing.”

I wasn’t particularly surprised.
I’d already figured out that this was a Teleportation Labyrinth.

A Teleportation Labyrinth.

Quite literally, a labyrinth where teleportation magic activates randomly.

There’s no end to the annoyances of Teleportation Labyrinths.
And the most frustrating aspect?
Just like what happened now—teleportation magic activates without any warning.

And it doesn’t just affect humans trapped inside the labyrinth. It applies equally to the monsters wandering its halls.

That’s how I’d noticed.
Throughout our journey, I had sensed monsters suddenly appearing at unexpectedly close distances.

It happened with the elite Lizardmen we first encountered.
It happened with the Mimicras that imitated Leona.
It happened with the Nagas that crawled up from the sewage.
It happened with the other Mimicras that mimicked various people.

When we met the Leona-impersonating Mimicras, I became certain this was a Teleportation Labyrinth.

Moreover, through my conversation with that Mimicras, I realized that the master of this labyrinth was watching us.
Their surveillance devices were the eyes of the monsters.

Why would they be monitoring mere Academy students like us?
The reason was simple:

Stella Verheigen.

They needed Stella just as they needed Pina. Which is why they wouldn’t simply let her go now that she had entered the labyrinth.

But the labyrinth’s master couldn’t act personally.
Not only did they need to focus on Pina at the center, but they were also concerned about another presence within the labyrinth.

Yet sending weak monsters wouldn’t work either.
With me by her side, we’d dispatch them all.

So what would they do?

Wait until teleportation magic activated where we were, and the moment Stella and I were separated—
Target her.

Without me, Stella was weak.
Just sending those elite Lizardmen from earlier would be enough to subdue her easily.

They must have thought that separating me from her would make her an easy capture.

That’s why I had secretly left a “trace” on Stella—something that no one would notice.

If they took Stella to the labyrinth’s center, I would have a means to track her.
Following that trace, I could reach the center quickly and efficiently.

Not that I had planned to use her as bait.
I had simply prepared for the possibility.

Really.

I couldn’t have planned for teleportation in a labyrinth where it happens randomly.

Even Labyrinth herself, with her Authority over labyrinths, couldn’t fully control a Teleportation Labyrinth. How could I possibly do so?

But… now that the situation had unfolded this way,
I might as well use the contingency I’d prepared.

Gulp—I swallowed the jerky I’d been chewing and unhurriedly packed my things.

I could afford to take my time.
They wouldn’t kill Stella.
No matter what she did, they couldn’t kill her.

After all, the one targeting her wasn’t some mere Black Magician—it was at least a Legion Commander.

So… though I felt a bit sorry for Stella,
I could move at a leisurely pace until her capture was complete.

I’d rescue her, of course… eventually.

After finishing my preparations and checking my physical condition, I completed my personal maintenance.

“She’s probably been taken by now.”

Patting the dust off my backside, I stood up and channeled mana into my eyes. I blinked several times as my eyeballs began to ache from the strain.

And then, a moment later,
I could see it—a thin thread connected to the bandages wrapped around my hand.

A thread stretching straight into the darkness of the labyrinth.

The thread led to Stella’s pocket,
Connected to a fragment of bandage I had hidden in the pen case she always carried.

At my current 5th Rank, I couldn’t use this bandage’s true power. In other words, I couldn’t locate Luna.

But with this little trick,
I could find fragments of what was once a single bandage.

I had used this method quite often 400 years ago.

Habar.

It means “reunion.”

An artifact that truly lived up to its name.

Luna had spent ages bragging after she created it.

With a chuckle, remembering her smiling face, I followed the snow-white thread that resembled her hair.

***

“How strange.”

The Black Magician rested against the head of an enormous serpent.
Samaela wore a cryptic smile as she gazed forward.

A magic circle drawn with the blood of Imperial Knights.
Upon it, Pina lay bound, her spirit energy being extracted.

And beside her, collapsed and unconscious, was the Starborn Child whom “He” had ordered them to find—Stella Verheigen.

Looking at the two girls, Samaela tilted her head.

“Things have resolved too easily.”

Securing Stella had never been part of the plan.
Of course, until recently, they had intended to kidnap her.
And she had ordered Robert—Pied, who had infiltrated the Academy—to capture Stella if the opportunity arose.

But due to numerous obstacles that emerged, they had postponed her acquisition.

Soon would be better, but as long as they had her before her coming-of-age ceremony—
That was the timeframe given to Samaela and countless other Black Magicians.
So there was no immediate urgency.

Yet suddenly, she had walked right into their grasp. And with a direct descendant of Eustetia, no less.

“Is she a fool?”

Or perhaps, was this all calculated?

If so, by whom?
The Eustetia heir who had entered the labyrinth with her?

That small girl—
Could she have devised this grand scheme?
Using her own friend as bait?

“Pfft.”

Impossible. This wasn’t a choice a mere seventeen-year-old girl would make, nor a plan she could orchestrate.

True, Eliarnes was formidable.
From what Samaela had observed, she was quick-witted, sharp in intuition, physically capable, and made swift decisions.

But she was still just a seventeen-year-old girl.

A sheltered daughter of Eustetia who had never seen the frontlines, let alone stepped into the political arena.
An ignorant girl unaware of Eustetia’s secrets.

This wasn’t a scheme someone like her could devise.
Even if, by some absurd chance, Eliarnes had orchestrated everything, it wouldn’t matter.

What could a mere 5th Rank martial artist accomplish?

Defeat was unimaginable.
After all, someone incapable of infusing Intent into their mana could never defeat her.

This was an immutable law of the world for all living beings.

Yet Samaela’s doubts persisted.
Something still felt off.

Adelia Baros.
That woman, even more serpentine than herself, might have laid some hidden trap.

Of course, Samaela had specially worked to divert Adelia’s attention, making sure she couldn’t look away.
But that cunning woman might have prepared for unforeseen variables.

“Robert.”

With this thought, Samaela decided to eliminate the variable. Killing a direct descendant of Eustetia would be troublesome, but it couldn’t be helped.

She couldn’t afford to direct her attention to that girl right now.

Even at this moment, the Nameless Captain was rampaging through the labyrinth. There was no telling how long that detestable woman would remain trapped.

And above all,
Samaela wasn’t the type to release what she had already grasped, just because of mere unease.

“What shall we do with the body?”

“The body…”

Originally, she had planned to leave the corpse behind after returning it to Eustetia.

Because humans are foolish creatures who, without a body, cling to pointless hope and needlessly search everywhere.

And if House Eustetia was doing the searching, it would be insufferably annoying.

But.
Once that massive door opened, she would leave the Empire and return to Gevihenum. And she wouldn’t be coming back to the Empire for quite some time.

Her escape route was already established.
The labyrinth’s back door, created with the Authority specially granted by Labyrinth.
Once it was opened, she could instantly travel to Gevihenum.

So even if Eustetia searched…

It wouldn’t be a problem.

She would take Eliarnes’s corpse back with her and hand it over to other demons.

While it lacked Hero’s Blood, it was still the body of a virgin who hadn’t undergone her coming-of-age ceremony.
She was talented, with pure mana.

Samaela, still merely human, couldn’t utilize the body herself, but demons could.

So she could sell it for a high price.

The expenses for this operation hadn’t been trivial.

Just subduing that demon rampaging in the Arant Museum had consumed a substantial amount of magi.

She would recoup that loss with Eliarnes’s body.

“Bring it here. As intact as possible.”

Although it wouldn’t matter if the body was dismembered,
Many demons had peculiar tastes.
The more pristine the body, the higher the price.

“As you command.”

With that brief response, Robert’s figure vanished.

Left alone, Samaela spent a while organizing her thoughts before turning her attention to Pina, who emanated spirit light as her energy was being extracted.

“Little one.”

A voice that seemed to tickle the mind as it passed through the eardrum.

“Are you awake?”

At that voice, Stella’s body visibly flinched.

“There’s no need to be afraid. You won’t die.”

Click, click.

Rising from her seat, Samaela approached Stella, who lay with her eyes tightly shut.

“Even if someone tries to kill you, I will protect you.”

Standing beside Stella, she caressed the girl’s leg with her bare foot.

“So, until the ritual is complete and that door opens, shall we have a little chat?”

The sensation, like a snake crawling up her skin, made Stella’s eyes snap open.

“Jenniela Verheigen.”

When Stella saw Samaela’s face, she drew in a sharp breath.

“About your mother who disappeared seven years ago.”

The master of this labyrinth, Samaela…

“…Who the hell are you…?”

Had the exact same face as Stella’s mother.