episode_0055

Countless explorers had gathered.

Now, all that remains here is the sound of the wind.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

The wind, mixed with a little snow, cools my head.

But this is not enough.

Because it’s already too hot.

Red Skull Clan.

I don’t know much about them.

They are explorers I had never heard of until I met those mages a little while ago.

But the speculation that a famous and powerful clan, known by most explorers, has been annihilated.

If an ordinary explorer had said those words, perhaps they would have denied reality, calling it nonsense.

But the opponent is the head of a school in the Magic Tower.

Everyone would know that he wouldn’t speak carelessly without basis.

That’s why everyone couldn’t help but fall into despair.

“Does that make sense? Surely that can’t be.”

“…What exactly is happening?”

“……”

Anxious party members.

Even Khairek, who had always reliably supported me from behind, was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Buzzing, buzzing.

Explorers start talking about this and that, trying somehow to get their frozen minds working again.

Soon, the place becomes noisy.

But at the same time, fear and confusion spread.

This was not a very good sign.

Thump!!

As the knight stomped his foot, a huge impact sound spread around.

As everyone’s gaze focused on the knight, the knight slowly walked towards the school head.

“Does that make sense? The Red Skull Clan is annihilated?”

“Even if it’s unbelievable, if that’s the only thing that can explain all this, then that is the answer.”

“What is the basis for that? In the half-year since I was assigned here, the Red Skull Clan succeeded in 3 out of 4 raids and failed once. However, even when they failed, this kind of thing didn’t happen.”

“I ask Sir Ortlus. When they failed the one time, did the Red Skull Clan return here?”

“Yes. There were fatalities, and quite a few injured, but they managed to save their lives and returned.”

“Then why are they not returning now?”

“That… I think they might still be in combat.”

“That is merely your hope.”

At that moment, the Blue School head raised his hand towards the sky.

And at the same time, mana spread out around him.

The mana soon became a single water droplet and soared into the sky.

Soon, the water that had condensed above the sky began to draw a picture.

“The creature can be summoned somewhere on the 5th floor of the labyrinth. I cannot reveal the detailed summoning method, but the moment it appears, there is a White Night. Of course, most people wouldn’t know the details. There might be people who simply know that the White Night is just one of the phenomena within the labyrinth.”

Water that doesn’t freeze even in the cold weather continues to draw the picture.

Before long, the outline begins to take shape.

A dragon.

A giant dragon was looking down at the explorers.

Dragon.

A legendary being whose form is difficult to see even on the continent, let alone in the labyrinth.

Although it was merely a kind of illusion created by the Blue School head, it was enough to instill fear in everyone.

“This is not the end yet. This is merely the dragon that brings the eternal day, the White Night. It has no relation to this eternal darkness, the Eternal Night.”

“Then what happened?”

“If a certain condition is met, the creature changes its form. And it dyes the world dark. The name of that dragon is Black Dragon Leviathan. That is the one we must face from now on.”

Black Dragon Leviathan.

Just by the name, which obviously they had never heard of, countless explorers started whispering to each other.

It began to get noisy, but soon the school head raised his staff high, and it became quiet again.

“Its appearance condition is known to be only one. That is, if a significant amount of time has passed without even achieving the first form change.”

“The meaning of that is…”

“That the Red Skull Clan was annihilated without being able to damage the dragon.”

“Does that make sense?”

“I cannot believe it either. That’s why I am suspicious. That something has intervened in this incident.”

The knight started trembling his legs in disbelief. Seeing his appearance, the school head sighed deeply and continued speaking.

“It is not an easy situation. I also know something about the Eternal Night and Leviathan. But the situation that will unfold before us is all unknown. Therefore, we must gather as many explorers as possible. Only by becoming one can we break through this situation.”

Ding!!

As soon as the school head finished speaking, a status window popped up before my eyes.

『Strange phenomenon occurred on the 5th floor.』

『Uncover its cause and escape.』

『Combat begins. Draw 3 cards.』

『Energy 4/4』

The same situation as when the [Witch] appeared on the 2nd floor.

I quietly checked my hand.

[Terrain Manipulation (3) – Power] [Pause (1)] [Ignite (0)]

For now, I put the cards back without using them.

Since I am continuously entering combat from now on, where to place [Cat’s Paw] to strengthen the first card is quite important.

My thoughts become numerous.

Grace pulling me.

I turned my head and saw that the party members were looking at me.

“It’ll be okay, right? The Magic Tower is here, and there are a few high-level explorers who were staying here, not just mid-level ones.”

“…I don’t know.”

A gloomy atmosphere. Even Khairek, sensing that it was not an easy situation, wasn’t even joking.

Thump!!!

Another shockwave spread, and silence fell.

The knight stood at the highest point and raised the imperial flag.

“By labyrinth law, from now on, all command on the 5th floor of the labyrinth is with me, Knight Ortlus, in the name of the Empire! Obey my commands!!”

Naturally, no one objected.

*

A command center was formed, centered around the knight, the Magic Tower, and a small number of high-level explorers.

And parties were divided according to their respective roles.

While on the 2nd floor, all parties were simply split up and assigned by class.

The 5th floor was a little different.

It should be said that they always moved as parties.

“For a 5th floor level party, maybe it’s because they work well together? Honestly, you can’t expect much from 2nd floor explorers.”

As Grace said, it was a rational choice.

So our party also moved together.

Our position was defending the fortress.

It was the role of the parties with mages.

Parties that had reached the 5th floor, being high-level, were naturally not necessarily balanced types.

There were truly many types of parties.

An all-rogue party, or 5 barbarians, and so on.

Among them, parties with fast feet left the safe zone to bring back all the explorers outside. This included the knight order.

It was a natural thing. There was no reason for a knight, who wanders the 5th floor enough to draw a map, to hide his abilities.

Moreover, the reason for making that choice was because there was a being comparable to a knight here.

“Draw the magic circle here!!”

Numerous mages draw magic circles.

The Blue School head commands them.

According to what I heard, he is a strong person whose skill level is enough to reach even the 10th floor.

Thinking that such a monstrous middle-aged man could reach the 10th floor, I had even less idea of how strong the deep-level explorer we met recently was.

And the command center isn’t only made up of the Magic Tower and the Knight Order.

High-level explorers.

There were more high-level explorer parties left on the 5th floor than expected.

A total of 4 parties.

Moreover, there is a possibility that there are more still on the 5th floor, so the number could increase.

The system is gradually changing to be more systematic according to the commands of the high-level explorers.

As a certain degree of stability was found, the slightly downcast atmosphere began to lift.

Our party also calmed down a bit and returned to our original state.

“What will you do this time? Will you put down a barrier and kill it like last time?”

“…No. It will probably be difficult. There is no guarantee that it will come here, and I couldn’t kill the witch in one hit last time. I don’t think a dragon will ever end in one hit.”

“Then what will you do?”

“First, I need to assess the situation.”

Fortunately, so far there had been no change other than the world turning dark.

It seems monsters aren’t coming out in droves like with the witch on the 2nd floor.

“By the way, how many days until the labyrinth reset?”

“One week.”

“I wonder if we can hold out until then.”

Unlike the 4th floor, there was still hope because we only needed to hold out until the labyrinth reset.

“Hey, another party is coming!!”

Someone shouted.

I thought it was a usual occurrence as 12 teams had come to the safe zone so far.

But the scout looking through the telescope soon shouted urgently.

“Th-The Red Skull Clan!!!”

Finally, the truth of the incident was about to be known.

*

The explorers gathered again in the plaza with the portal.

In the center was one explorer holding the flag of the Red Skull Clan.

There wasn’t a single part of his body that was unharmed.

Covered in blood, his left arm was already missing.

Seeing his broken body, I could roughly guess how difficult things he had gone through were.

One of the few priests inside treated his wounds.

He gulped down water, then took out an explorer tag from his pocket.

A gold explorer tag.

Proof that he was a high-level explorer.

Hooook, hooook.

The man, breathing roughly, soon began to speak slowly.

“I am the 2nd Attack Leader of the Red Skull Clan. All my party members are dead, but I somehow managed to return alive. There were many sacrifices in that process. I will now tell you the reason why I had no choice but to abandon everyone and come.”

Cough! Cough!

The 2nd Attack Leader coughed a few times, caught his breath, and started speaking again.

“First, how much do you know?”

“White Night and Eternal Night. And that we are hunting a dragon.”

“Ah. Blue School Head-nim. Fortunately, you were here. That the Lord has helped us…”

“Continue your story.”

“We summoned the dragon as we always did. We are veterans with 10 successful experiences already. We had no thought of failure whatsoever. Unless someone intervened.”

“Who was that?”

“The Seven Prisoners.”

Everyone’s expressions soured at the words revealed by the attack leader.

And at the same time, the attack leader’s body began to glow brightly.

As if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

The man, sensing this, urgently blurted out.

“[Apostate Ouriel] attacked the Red Skull Clan!!!”

A tremendous amount of mana burst from his mouth and began to attack him.

Blood poured out and his whole body began to tear.

“Damn it!!!”

A large flow of mana passed by the surroundings.

The Blue School head had spread his senses.

How powerful must he be for just spreading his senses to cause such a change in the flow of mana?

As if not giving me time to be surprised, he began to dispel the magic cast on the attack leader’s body.

It actually worked to some extent.

The light coming from the attack leader’s body was suppressed for a moment in the middle.

However, the magic continued to kill the attack leader without stopping.

He would have died long ago if he didn’t have a body on the level of a high-level explorer.

“Uwaaaaaaak!!!!”

A scream echoed, and everyone was at a loss.

The Blue School head also seemed frustrated that things weren’t going as planned, clenching his teeth.

“……”

I slowly closed my eyes and spread my senses.

[Apostate Ouriel].

I had heard the title [Apostate] before. I met one in the 3rd floor Great Mausoleum.

They were called apostates, those who were priests or paladins of the Ariel Church but abandoned their god and turned away.

They also used the power of the Lord, divine power, and it didn’t work on me.

Since I could dispel all of Aria’s divine power, I wondered if I could dispel this too?

…I’ll try it.

One spreading sense is blocked, unable to penetrate the Blue School head’s domain.

Immediately, he discovered me.

As if shouting at me asking what I was thinking, the spread domain rippled like waves.

But I cannot stop.

I stand firm and wait.

Seeing my appearance, the Blue School head muttered softly and withdrew his domain.

“…Try it. Card Mage.”

And at the same time, the attack leader’s seizure worsened.

Now, there isn’t much time left.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

The spreading senses read the divine power attached to the attack leader’s body.

Unlike the Saint, Aria, or the priests of the Ariel Church, it wasn’t read at once.

But even so, I had no thought that I couldn’t dispel it.

I manipulate mana, divine power, one by one.

Chiiiick!!!

Faint steam rises from the deck on my left arm.

Perhaps this being called ‘God’ attached to me seemed to be saying that the attack leader must survive to break through this situation.

As if time has stopped, everything around me slows down.

Whether it’s holy magic created with divine power or magic created with mana, there is only one way to dispel it.

Disassembling the assembled magic in reverse order.

Of course, if it were easy, everyone could do it.

In fact, most mages can handle magic circles before they are manifested.

However, magic that has already been manifested is difficult to disassemble due to its real-time changing structure.

Unless you have a high understanding of that magic.

How it was created in what situation and for what purpose, the intention begins to be read in my mind.

My head feels like it’s going to explode. But soon, a feeling of omnipotence fills my head.

There was no need to think about whose help it was.

“…Success.”

The magic has already been dispelled and disappeared.

Thump.

The attack leader fell straight down.

Immediately, several priests attended to check his life.

“He’s alive!!”

As soon as that word was heard, gasps were heard from the surroundings.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards the Blue School head.

To someone who didn’t know better, it would look like he saved the attack leader.

However, only the Blue School head was looking directly at me.

“……!!”

Perhaps it was because the tension released, or because I used my head too much. I felt dizzy.

As my eyes closed and I fell, someone held me.

“Get some good rest.”

Grace’s voice.

It seems she caught me as I was falling.

My consciousness slowly drifted away.

*

Somewhere on the 5th floor.

The ground is entirely black.

Heat was rising from that place.

Heat so intense it could evaporate even the falling blizzard.

However, as if there was no problem, a man sat in that spot and was sleeping.

Twitch!!!

A man woken from sleep by something touching his mind.

He shook his head a few times in disbelief, then soon realized something and laughed loudly.

“You’ve finally returned, my Lord. I never expected to meet you during work.”

He remained seated and raised his head.

His gaze kept rising.

At the end of it was a giant dragon, like a mountain.

“So, when are you going to work?”

“……”

Feeling tired of looking at the dragon that remained silent, the man began to doze off again.

And finally, at that moment, the dragon that had been still swung its wing once.

Then, things that had been buried in the snow slowly began to rise and reveal themselves.