It's a very odd feeling... Looking at my own body lying asleep on the rocky floor.
I peer down at my wrists and see that the sparks have completely stopped for this body too. However, I feel completely normal.
I open my item storage, and all of my items are there. Including the exact sword and dagger on the floor by my feet. I'm level 462... and my mana control is much lower than it was moments ago. Even so, it's still much higher than it was before I ranked up.
These items are just mana-imbued copies and will disappear once my cloned body fades and this temporary power debuff will leave soon too. They look and feel exactly the same are real items, even with my perception skill activated, I can't tell a difference.
It doesn't matter at all what happens to this body. Even if I'm killed, I'll still wake up in my original form in 2 weeks.
After letting out a long sigh, I look up at Ember and he's already speaking through our link.
"A new trick saves the day again. How interesting..."
We make eye contact, then both stare at my body on the floor for a few seconds.
The realization that the Labyrinth is collapsing as we speak comes across my mind. I need to teleport back there, or my teammate will think I've died... I open the link with Emebr.
"This is urgent. I have to leave. Just 14 days... I need my body kept safe for 2 weeks in this dungeon while it's being healed. Absorb all the mana you want, and take out monsters too. Just no killing humans or being seen by anyone, and don't collapse this dungeon."
He nods.
"Understood. Be safe."
I grin, nodding back.
"I will. See you soon."
I Dunegon Walk back to the Boss Room, and just in time.
A celebration with Ember would have been nice, but there's no time for that. I tested a new dangerous ability and my gamble paid off. There are consequences to playing with the odds. Sometimes not everything falls in my favor. Then again, maybe it does.
My feet hit the cold ground. The Boss Room is empty and silent. There isn't even a hint of a breeze to push the remaining snow back onto the naked mountains or rock-covered battlefield.
I do a quick scan of my surroundings and confirm all my senses and skills work fine...
I reach into my item storage and even pull out a copy of my sword to check it again too. Its buffs have dropped down to the equivalent that they were when I was at level 462 before.
With my conceal skill's special grade perk I hide my new black tattoos and glowing white eyes, reverting my appearance back to the normal human state. Even my Demon's cores were replicated.
Almost 50 seconds pass before the world around me fades to white.
"Just in time. It's over..."
The entire Labyrinth fades into nothingness and transports all its participants back to the small mana-shielded room where the entrance portal stood spinning just a few hours ago.
The hunters that were guarding the 18th and 19th floors must have left. I don't sense their presence, and there's no way they could have managed to climb any higher to help us out.
Once the bright flash of light clears and the buzzing sound of shielding fills my ears, I see all 5 of my teammates in front of me.
They're all breathing heavily. Some covered in sweat, and all of them exhausted. My main body was on the brink of collapse before I used every last bit of strength to activate my hibernation skill. My double's body that I'm currently using is seemingly fine...
The first excited laughing voice I hear from my left side is Maria's.
Her wide smile, blond hair, and bright blue eyes are the first thing I see once my feet hit the solid floor.
"We did it! In record time too! Haha, good job guys!"
She jumps around glowing light blue as Abby starts to make her rounds healing everyone up from mana fatigue and checking for any extra injuries.
Both Arie and Fisher are practically leaking with new power. My eyes widen as I start to speak up to ask a question, but I get my answer as the water wielder speaks first.
"I finally Ranked Up!"
He smirks, looking down at his body then back up at all of us with a confident stare.
"I got an awesome new water defense buff too, nothing can get past me now. I'm on a whole new level. I'm easily on par with you now Lydia."
He turns to the white-haired mage with his arms crossed.
She gives him a thin smile and replies in a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah, maybe."
She practically ignores the blue-haired hunter and eyes me up and down curiously. She starts to walk over.
"You defeated the Boss Room quickly... in less than 10 minutes by my calculations. That's... very impressive. I can't say I wasn't doubting you..."
She gulps, still struggling to understand something as her eyes scan my body up and down faster and faster.
The mage tightens her lips, unable to piece something together, then speaks up again.
"You seem stronger too. Congrats on the Rank Up."
I nod, understanding there's something more she's trying to say, but now isn't the time.
"Thanks."
Then look to Arie. He seems completely distracted by his open status, so I don't bother. We'll have plenty of time to show off our new skills later.
I speak up.
"Let's get out of here. Our mission in the Dark Continent is finally over. The City of Solara is safe."
A round of smiles and laughter follows and we start to climb the mana-imbued stairs up to the surface.
The closer we get, the darker the mana shielding around us becomes. I don't remember it being this color on our way down...
I activate my perception skills and am shocked to find I can't sense anything outside of this structure.
At first, I just push through thinking it's a side effect of my weakened state, but the harder I try the thicker the walls seem to be.
"Hey... this shielding is a lot different than when we entered isn't it?"
The smiles and cheerful conversation stop as everyone else begins to notice too.
Lydia speaks.
"You're right."
Her expression darkens.
"This looks like A-Rank graded shielding. I didn't know they even had this kind of supplies out here in the desert."
I clench my jaw, assuming the worst.
Fisher rolls his eyes.
"They thought we would fail. That's it, isn't it? There's nothing to worry about guys. The Solarans just wanted a failsafe for their city if we all died."
He lets out a sigh, then yells up the last flight of stairs as we continue forward.
"Real nice of you all! Appriactae the faith you put in your saviors."
He smirks.
I don't buy it, continuing to expand my perception range, but an impossibly dense wall of pure magic blocks me. The particles are so thinly locked together that it'd take me hours to see through.
Then, I feel a crack in the shielding just 15 meters ahead. The entrance door opens for a split second, allowing me to feel the entire city outside, then slams shut with a loud thud. I'm cut off again.
A loud bang shakes the floor, and a strange cloud of invisible mana-imbued energy shoots out of it. I can only barely sense it with my skills, and utter out a few words before the wave of bizarre matter hits us.
"Watch out for- the- a...."
My thoughts go blank as soon as I'm enveloped in the invisible silent cloud. My vision goes blurry and all of my skills automatically deactivate as I fall to the floor. It feels like electricity is shooting through my veins.
The 5 teammates around me falling in a similar fashion to my sides is the last thing I see before everything goes black.
Is this the Solaran government? The Association? A team of rogues?
I can't figure out what's happening, and for some reason, my poison resistance nor any of my other active skills are activating.
I manage to swing in and out of consciousness as a team of men in jet-black hazmat suits open the locked door of the special shielding and take our bodies away.
The light outside is bright, but it's impossible to make out where we're headed before I pass out again.
My head hurts and my body is numb. I desperately attempt to move my limbs or activate my telekinesis, but something is interrupting my ability to cast magic. None of my skills work at all. There's a horrible ringing in my ears that makes it impossible to keep my thoughts straight and the rhythmic pounding of my heartbeat is only getting louder.
As I wake up again, it's unclear how much time has passed. I know one thing for sure, I'm being carried down a flight of steps. It's dark and the ringing in my ears has only gotten worse. This time, unbearable.
I pass out again.
Everything goes dark.
I wake up a final time and the ringing in my ears and pain in my temples has finally subsided.
I'm sat in a chair and my wrists are both cuffed to a table. The space around me is dark, and my mouth is dry.
All I hear is a woman's voice echo from the darkness at the back of the ominous underground cement-walled room.
"Congratulations on clearing the Labyrinth. Welcome to your debriefing."
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Author's Note:
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