Chapter 98 – Labyrinth

Following Eli’s order… well, calling it an order hurt her pride, but regardless, Stella prepared her spell as instructed.

A terrifying sound had broken her concentration midway, nearly making her wet herself—but only nearly. Thankfully, her magic formula remained intact.

She completed her most powerful lightning spell since reaching 4th Circle.

Now all she needed to do was chant the spell’s name for it to manifest. Of course, she would say it as quietly as possible.

Saying it out loud would be… embarrassingly cringey.

Normally, Stella’s specialty—silent casting—allowed her to manifest spells through mental calculations alone. But this particular spell was different.

Among 4th Circle spells, this one’s raw destructive power rivaled even high-tier 5th Circle magic.

She had stripped away all the elements from the magic formula that would have made casting easier: stability, directionality, range limitations, precision, energy conservation, and casting time.

In their place, she had forcibly added elements for intensity, speed, and destructive power.

And she’d done all this within a 4th Circle framework.
She had layered four magic formulas to construct a grand formation.

As a result, mana surged wildly, the spell matrices became tangled, and the magic formation threatened to collapse—but Stella held it all together through sheer mental calculation.
Simultaneously, she prepared to chant, ensuring the spell would activate at precisely the moment Eliarnes needed.

A feat that ordinary mages couldn’t achieve even in their wildest dreams.

Yet Stella pulled it off as if it were nothing.

In truth, it was grueling.
Her underwear was soaked with sweat, and despite possessing far more mana than the average mage, she had already depleted over half of it.

But she decided to act like it was effortless.
That way, she could show off to Eliarnes later.

Moments ago, she had been terrified to the point of nearly wetting herself, but having placed her trust in Eliarnes and completed the spell, Stella opened her tightly shut eyes with newfound confidence.

“…Wow.”

She couldn’t help but marvel.

Cherry blossoms fluttering through the cold labyrinth were breathtaking.

The Lizardman emerging from the shadows looked terrifying, but somehow, standing before Eliarnes, it seemed pathetically weak.

Were those real petals?
Stella instinctively reached out. Her fingers brushed against one. It had substance, yet she couldn’t grasp it.

The soft remnants of aura energy shimmered with a gentle glow. Swallowing hard, Stella gazed at the small girl standing at the center of it all.

Her pale neck and slender shoulders seemed so fragile, as though they might snap at the slightest breeze. Yet the power radiating from that body made Stella’s magic seem insignificant by comparison.

“Ready?”

That crisp, clear voice snapped her back to reality.
Stella quickly regained her senses and nodded.

Oh, right. Eliarnes couldn’t see her nod.

“…I’m ready.”

She belatedly answered.

“Good job.”

Eliarnes nodded slightly. Her pink twin-tails swayed gently with the movement.
Her eyes, visible for just a moment, brimmed with confidence, those brilliant cherry blossom-colored irises already locked onto their target.

“I’ll count to three. Don’t chicken out—cast on my mark.”

“…I’m not scared.”

Eliarnes gave an amused snort.
Behind that sound, the Lizardman let out another cry. Its massive frame and razor-sharp claws gleamed in the dim light. Those bright yellow reptilian eyes flashed as they fixed on the pair.

Stella unconsciously shrank back.
But Eliarnes…

She showed no fear. Rather, she seemed to be enjoying herself, letting out a chuckle as she lowered her stance.

“One.”

Cherry blossom-colored mana—aura energy—formed around her fist, glowing brilliantly. The mana flowing through her body radiated outward, making the surrounding air vibrate.

“Two.”

[KKRRRAaaaaaaaaa—]

The Lizardman charged. Eliarnes moved in perfect sync with its attack, her movements so swift that Stella could only hear, not see them.

As that small figure cut through the air—

“Three.”

Crack—her fist smashed into the Lizardman’s jaw.

At that exact moment, Stella’s magic activated.

Blinding white light flared. The radiance took the form of a bow with an arrow nocked. The air itself seemed to tear with the crackling voltage, the light growing more intense by the second.

Stella drew back the glowing bowstring with a screech. The labyrinth walls trembled, and every Lizardman’s attention locked onto her spell.

Pushing fear aside, Stella initiated the magic formula she had prepared in her mind. She calculated, derived the solution, and traced the final stroke.

And as she released the fully drawn bowstring,
She opened her eyes wide and shouted the spell’s name:

“Arco de Relámpago!”

Then immediately thought, Oh no!
She was supposed to say it quietly…!

But it was too late.

Arco de Relámpago.
The embarrassingly named spell swept away the darkness of the underground waterway.

And in the center of that light…

Eliarnes secretly marveled.

“That spell name is so fucking cool…”

Ever since her past life, Eliarnes had been a sucker for cool-sounding names.

***

The battle was easy.

Not just because I was strong, but Stella’s magic turned out to be more helpful than expected.

Didn’t she say she was only 4th Circle?
Judging by its power, that spell could rival even 6th Circle magic.

And despite all her whining beforehand, once the fight started, she performed impressively.

If only she could keep her mouth shut.
Still, genius is genius.
I’m glad I brought her along.

After surviving this life-or-death situation and escaping this filthy labyrinth together, we might become closer than before.

Before we came here, Stella had shown signs of wanting to reveal her secret.
So… if this all works out, it could be a valuable experience for both of us.

With that thought, I stepped forward to finish off the last one.

The remaining Lizardman had already lost its will to fight.
This was both the strength and weakness of elite monsters. Unlike ordinary beasts, elites with sharper intellects could think and feel emotions. And that meant they could feel fear.

Just like now—after thoroughly crushing and tearing apart their companions, the last one simply sat down and sobbed.

That’s why I hated elites.

When they risked their lives to protect their companions unconditionally, when they genuinely grieved their fallen friends…

It made me think they were better than some human scum.

And that disgusted me.

“Monsters should act like monsters.”

There was no need to use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.

I released the aura surrounding my body and clenched my fist, wrapping it only in mana. Then—boom! I stomped hard and drove my fist forward.

With a sickening crunch, brain matter splattered against the sewer wall.

The Lizardman that collapsed to the ground had closed its eyes before death.
As if accepting its fate.

“Tsk.”

Clicking my tongue, I wiped the blood from my face and turned away.

I was in a foul mood.
Time to mess with Stella.

“Did you wet yourself?”

“W-What?! No? I didn’t wet myself!”

I had casually thrown out the question as usual, but Stella’s reaction was strange.

Her face turned bright red—no, deathly pale. She shook her head violently while slowly backing away.

“Why are you retreating? Afraid you smell?”

“M-My, my my my… smell?! I don’t smell! I c-cleansed everything away with my spell!”

“Then why are you backing away? Come here.”

“…No. Why should I listen to you?”

Oh?

I began unwrapping the bandages from my hand as I approached her.
At the same time, I examined my pale fist.
There were no wounds… Normally, the skin would have been scraped raw, but now it wasn’t perfectly smooth, but it wasn’t damaged either.

The Lizardman’s blood on the bandages seemed to be evaporating, and the torn sections were repairing themselves.

At a glance, it looked like magic… but it wasn’t.
Judging by Stella’s wide-eyed expression, it clearly wasn’t ordinary magic.

“Cool, isn’t it?”

“Is it an artifact…? No, it can’t be… There’s no magic imprinted on it. What is that…?”

Stella’s eyes began to sparkle.
Color returned to her pale face as she cautiously closed the distance she had put between us.

“Could this be… something you took from the treasury?”

“Yes. Curious? Want to touch it?”

I casually held out the bandages to her.

“…Is that okay?”

“Ah, wait.”

I quickly pulled them back.

“What? Why did you take them back?”

“I thought it might absorb your smell.”

“W-Wha… what smell!! Aaaargh!! I told you I don’t smell! Stop, stop teasing me like that! I don’t smell, and I didn’t wet myself!!”

“…What? Wet yourself?”

I tilted my head quizzically.
Why was she suddenly talking about wetting herself?

Then I recalled what she had said earlier.

…No way.

Come on, no way.
She couldn’t have actually…?
At seventeen years old…?
Just because of a Lizardman?

“Hey. Did you seriously wet yourself?”

Stella didn’t answer.
Instead, her wide eyes filled with tears that rolled down her cheeks.

“Ah… um…”

“Good Lord.”

Until now, I had just been teasing.
Even if Stella hadn’t bathed properly, she didn’t actually stink—if anything, she had a rather comforting scent.

But this… this was…
This was really something.

“…These things happen. You know, women have… different anatomy, so it’s harder to hold it in. So… it’s okay.”

Stella just stared at me in silence.
But her eyes darted around frantically, her face turned crimson, and tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

“…Just make fun of me already.”

“How could I make fun of someone who really wet themselves? I’m not that much of an asshole.”

“Hic… sniff… sob… asshole…”

I rewrapped the bandages around my hand and took a step back.

It might be best not to make contact until we left the labyrinth.

While Stella continued to cry, I finished my preparations and started walking again.

Three hours later.

“So… about what you asked me earlier. I’ll tell you now.”

Just as Stella finally composed herself and was about to share her past—

“…Hold on.”

“Why now! You were the one who kept asking—huh? HUH??”

We found ourselves face to face with an unexpected figure.