Chapter 17 - Chapter 3: The Reisen Labyrinth

Around the time Hajime was turning the peaceful rabbitmen into ruthless killers, Kouki's party was taking a short break on their journey through the Great Orcus Labyrinth and resting in Horaud.

Their training had taken them all the way to the seventieth floor of the labyrinth, and both the strength and numbers of the monsters they now faced had gone up considerably. In order to regroup, the party had decided to temporarily head back to town and rest up.

They also needed time to mentally prepare themselves, as they'd finally reached a point where Captain Meld and the other knights would no longer be able to follow them. The reason they'd chosen the seventieth floor specifically was because they'd found a magic circle there that could teleport them back to the thirtieth floor. Since they had found a way back, Meld had taken the opportunity to recommend they all head back for a break.

And so, they'd decided to take a few days to relax in Horaud. Everyone was spending their break however they saw fit.

On the outskirts of town was one such student. She was panting heavily from exertion.

"Haaah Haah... Sacred stigmata of light, descend from the heavens and seal mine foes— Binding Blades of Light!" She braced her knees to keep herself from toppling over, then swung down her pure white staff. This girl was the healer of the hero's party, the Priestess, Kaori Shirasaki.

What sprung forth from the healer's staff was not restoration magic, but a flurry of crosses that resembled swords composed of light. Such was the nature of her spell, Binding Blades of Light.

A pack of wolf-shaped monsters, Deloses, howled, as the barrage of light crosses bore down on them. But the nimble beasts swiftly dodged out of the way and began rushing at Kaori.

"Divine Shackles!" She instantly let loose a follow-up spell. Normally, a spell cast without an incantation would be quite weak, but Kaori had packed the incantation for Divine Shackles into the chant she'd said for Binding Blades of Light. This was an original multicasting technique that she had developed on her own. Thus, this second spell was just as strong as the first.

Chains of light erupted from the ground, entwining themselves around the legs of the Deloses. The strength of the Deloses' charge was nowhere near enough to break the fetters, so they got stuck in place rather quickly.

Two of them had just narrowly avoided being bound, however, and they now moved to pincer Kaori. Despite the fact that she should have been a backline fighter, and a healer at that, Kaori didn't seem fazed at all by them managing to close in.

"Perish!" At her shout, a deluge of light crosses rained from the sky, skewering the two Deloses mid-leap. Binding Blades of Light was fundamentally a restraining skill however, and while the crosses succeeded in pinning the Deloses to the ground, they delivered no fatal wounds. Like their counterparts that had been bound by Divine Shackles, they were pinned in place but otherwise unharmed. After ascertaining the effectiveness of these spells, Kaori moved on to another incantation.

"Holy light of judgment, bring retribution upon the wicked and crush those restrained by justice." Suddenly, the light spells that should have possessed no destructive power made the Deloses start howling in pain. The Divine Shackles began tightening around their prisoners, while the Binding Blades of Light pushed deeper into the ground.

Though they could not directly pierce skin, Kaori's spells could still harm her foes indirectly. Though, as this was not the intended usage for the spell, it required an enormous amount of concentration and re-imaging of the spell's nature, along with a skillfully arranged magic circle.

That was why Kaori had come here. The monsters around the town were far weaker than those they had encountered in the labyrinth, so even someone unsuited for combat like her could stand up to them. She had wanted to practice turning her restraining skills into offensive ones, so weak enemies like them were perfect for it.

She'd been here practicing alone for hours now, and both her body and mind were nearing their limits. Her supply of mana had been nearly exhausted, and her vision was blurry. She couldn't keep going much longer.

And yet, the blazing will shining in Kaori's eyes had never once faltered. It had been burning ever since the day she'd learned the boy she loved had vanished, the day she'd resolved to find the truth herself. A desire so strong that it had melted the ice around her despairing heart would not burn out so easily. There was no time to waste on rest. Her resolve would not allow it.

And so—

"Press down, O voluminous light, for as long as my resolve stays true— Heaven Crusher!" Even if more enemies showed up, she would never back down. Even if it was reckless, even if it was pure folly, she would never stop. If she even thought of giving up, something deep inside would whisper "Is that all? You're going to break another promise?" and that stubborn side would force her another step forward.

From the sky came a new wave of monsters. Bahals, raven-shaped creatures with wings as black as the dead of night. They weren't especially powerful, but most adventurers hated them. Namely because of their feathers, a barrage of which was headed right toward Kaori.

They attacked in flocks, never neared the ground, and assaulted hapless adventurers by raining razor sharp feathers down on them.

Kaori blocked their assault by creating a number of small, palm-sized barriers around her. I need to make the image clearer, and get them out faster. I can't make huge barriers like Suzu-chan, but I can make up for that with numbers and skill! Pale-faced, Kaori successfully managed to fend off the Bahals' first wave. Still, despite her accomplishment, she wasn't satisfied. Next, even though creating barriers was outside of her job's abilities, she created dozens of shields, angling them to redirect blows rather than stop them directly.

Had the class' Barrier Master, Suzu Taniguchi, seen Kaori's makeshift shield, she would have been amazed. Even she wouldn't be able to make such a perfect defense without considerable effort. Though both barriers and healing fell under the domain of light magic, it was nigh impossible for a Priestess, who specialized in healing, to match the defensive powers of a Barrier Master, who specialized in defense.

"Haah, Haaah..." But even after accomplishing such a herculean feat, Kaori didn't smile. While she had fended off the Bahals' attack, she'd expended too much of her mana and had to bite her lips hard just to keep herself conscious. She leaned on her artifact to keep herself upright, stubbornly refusing to fall.

As the Bahals used part of their bodies to attack, they couldn't attack consecutively, as they had to wait for their feathers to regrow. Taking advantage of that, Kaori quickly fired off another Binding Blades of Light up at the flock, then deployed her Heaven Crusher to keep them held down. Like the Deloses, the Bahals were brought to the verge of death with her spells' crushing power alone. But then, as she was about to start her next incantation—

"Ah..." Her body finally gave out, and she slumped to the ground. Unable to keep her magic up any longer, the Deloses were released from their bindings. Most of them had already lost consciousness, but a few of them had managed to stay awake. They coughed violently as they got up, their scarlet eyes glaring at Kaori.

Her mind was screaming at her to run, but Kaori's body would no longer listen. The few Deloses that remained charged at her. Drool dripped from their maws as they howled triumphantly. Kaori got to one knee, using her staff for support. Panting, she started the chant for a binding spell, but... there was no way for her to make it in time.

An instant before their monstrous fangs devoured Kaori, someone intervened.

"Kaori!" It was a voice Kaori knew all too well. Within seconds, the Deloses had been chopped to pieces.

"Shizuku-chan?"

"That's right. It's me, your best friend. Your best friend who's currently furious at you. Your best friend who wants to slap you silly for being so stupid."

"U-Umm... Ahaha... Sorry."

Kaori let herself slide down to the ground as she apologized, meeting the angry glare of her best friend, Shizuku Yaegashi. She knew if she said anything foolish like "Why are you so angry?" Shizuku really would slap her silly. Besides, she had already guessed why Shizuku was so mad.

"Unbelievable. I won't tell you not to push yourself too hard. But at the very least, promise you'll take me with you! Even these weak monsters could kill you if you slip up, you know!? I thought you wanted to find Nagumo-kun!? How are you going to find him if you're dead!? You're a moron! A stubborn, stupid moron!"

"I-I'm sorry, Shizuku-chan..."

"Oh no, I'm not forgiving you that easy. I know you'll just run off again if I take my eyes off you. Quit trying to take Ryutarou's place, you thick-skulled idiot! I know you've been trying out a bunch of things, but you're still part of the rearguard. You're at your strongest when you've got someone to protect you while you charge your spells. You'll be able to train more efficiently if I'm around to back you up, and that way you won't have to worry about getting killed! All you had to do was ask me to come along and I would've joined! Why can't you even trust me with that!? Hey, are you listening to me, Kaori!?"

"I-I'm listening... Really, I'm sorry."

"Nope, I don't believe you! Sit up straight! You're going to listen to me this time whether you like it or not!" Shizuku plopped herself down in front of Kaori. What followed was a long and very spirited lecture by Shizuku.

Umm, Shizuku-chan. I think I'm losing consciousness, so I really can't tell what you're saying, sorry. Though the specific words didn't get through to Kaori, she could tell just how worried Shizuku must have been about her, as well as just how desperately she wanted Kaori to rely on her. And so, despite being inches away from passing out, she dutifully sat there and listened to Shizuku's lecture.

Halfway through her lecture the other Deloses woke up, and the Bahals came back with a new coat of feathers, but Shizuku annihilated them all without batting an eye and returned to her lecture. Finally, around the time the whites of Kaori's eyes were beginning to show, Shizuku was interrupted.

"Oh no, it looks like Kaorin's in really bad shape!"

"Sh-Shizuku... I know you want to lecture her, but don't you think you should let Kaori-chan recover some of her mana first?"

Suzu and Eri appeared. They had actually been searching for Kaori together, but Shizuku had dashed off when her built-in Kaori sensor had started tingling.

Their arrival finally got Shizuku to stop her lecture. She took a proper look at Kaori, and saw that she was tottering on the edge of unconsciousness. Grumbling to herself, Shizuku took out a mana potion and dumped its contents down Kaori's half-open mouth.

Kaori gagged in surprise, but Shizuku mercilessly ordered her to gulp it all down. Shizuku gently propped Kaori up as she drank, and when she was finished she wiped away the drops of liquid that had spilled from her lips.

"ShizuShizu, you look just like her mo—"

"Suzu, if you don't want her to kill you, I think you should just stop." Eri hurriedly stopped her friend from signing her own death sentence. Around the time Kaori was regaining the ability to think clearly, the four girls heard someone calling out to them. It appeared Kouki and the others had arrived.

"Kaori, thank goodness you're safe."

"Man, it's not like you to be this crazy. I know we came back here to rest, but you could've still asked us to help you out with your training. We won't get mad, you know?"

Kouki sat down next to Kaori and smiled reassuringly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Ryutarou said his piece and scoffed. In their own way, they'd both been worried about her too.

"I'm sorry for making you all worry about me. I thought I'd be able to handle the monsters around the town on my own at least... but I guess I went on for too long. I'm really sorry." She bowed her head, feeling guilty about making everyone worry because of her recklessness. Shizuku finally stopped fretting over Kaori like a mother hen, and a pleasant mood settled over the students.

Kouki proposed they all return to town, to which everyone else nodded in agreement. But when Kaori tried to stand up, she stumbled unsteadily. While she was no longer manaless and groggy, her physical exhaustion remained.

Kouki hurriedly extended a hand to support her, but...

"You okay, Kaori?"

"Shizuku-chan... Thanks. Sorry, looks like I can't walk very well." Shizuku quickly materialized at Kaori's side, and Kouki's helping hand had nowhere to go. His eyebrows drooped sadly, but like a true hero he refused to let that deter him. Undaunted, he tried to offer to carry Kaori, since she couldn't walk. Naturally, he was going to princess carry her back. However...

"Sheesh, you're hopeless. Learn from your mistakes and stop running off on your own, okay?"

"W-Wait, Shizuku-chan. This is embarrassing."

"Fufu, it's your punishment for leaving me behind."

A girl strong enough to go toe-to-toe with monsters in the lower floors of the abyss could easily carry a single person on her own. And so, it was Shizuku who took on the duty of carrying Kaori back. Kaori blushed in embarrassment as Shizuku carried her like a princess back to town. Shizuku cut a gallant figure, with her cool demeanor and the imposing sword strapped to her waist. She looked just like a prince from a fairytale, complete with a princess to save.

"Oh my god, ShizuShizu... you're so cool."

"Ahaha... it really feels like you two are a couple."

Suzu was blushing a little, and Eri was smiling awkwardly. Kouki was standing behind them, his hand still outstretched. It was a testament to his fortitude as a hero that his smile never crumbled. His best friend gently patted his shoulder in sympathy.

"Even in another world, Kaori's knight will always be Shizuku... Good luck, Kouki."

"It's fine Ryutarou, it doesn't bother me at all. Nope, not at all. Really, it doesn't."

"I see. Let's just forget about this and get something to eat."

"...Yeah."

It was rare for the muscle-brained Ryutarou to show compassion.

Some time later, the group met up with Captain Meld, along with Nagayama's and Hiyama's teams, and they set off to explore the uncharted seventieth floor. No one realized that one among them had brought a bomb along with them. Or that a dangerous shadow had begun creeping up on the group. But that was a tale for another time...

Mountains of corpses lay scattered all around. Deep at the bottom of the Reisen Gorge, a hellish spectacle spread out in every direction. Some monsters had their heads caved in, others had their heads blown clean off, and yet others had been charred into shapeless black lumps. They had died in various ways, but they'd all died instantly. There was, of course, only one group that could enter the gorge, the ravine feared by all as a hellish execution ground, and leave such carnage behind.

"There goes another one!" Boom!

"Out of the way." Fwoosh!

"Fuck off." Bang! Hajime, Yue, and Shea.

After Hajime and the others had left Brooke, they'd rode Steiff all the way to the entrance of Reisen Gorge. They had then made steady progress after entering the ravine, and were already two days out from the hidden cavern that housed the teleportation circle to Orcus' house.

The monsters of the gorge seemed incapable of learning from their mistakes, as they once again attacked Hajime's party in droves.

Each swing of Shea's war hammer was a literal deathblow, shattering skulls with every strike. None of the monsters could afford to even get close. They were all ground to a pulp.

The few that did manage to get past the mochi-pounding bunny of death were burned to a crisp by Yue's magic. Though it took more mana than usual to activate her spells, her enormous mana pool combined with the mana she'd stored into her accessories meant she never ran out. The gorge's mana dispersing abilities lowered her range, but also decreased her cast time, so she was able to throw out blazing fireballs almost instantly.

Hajime's techniques were no joke either. Even while driving Steiff, he never missed a single shot with Donner. Despite powering Steiff and his Lightning Field simultaneously in the gorge, he didn't seem to be running out of mana at all.

The ferocious beasts that prowled this harsh land were nothing but fodder for the group. They slaughtered armies of monsters over the course of their hunt for an entrance to the labyrinth. In the few days they'd spent there, they'd already filled the ravine with corpses.

"Haah. Knowing the entrance is somewhere in Reisen is just too vague a lead." They'd thoroughly examined every cavern they'd passed, but they still hadn't found anything resembling an entrance. Hajime was starting to grow impatient.

"Well, we're just checking this place out on our way to the volcano anyway, so finding something is just a bonus. And who knows, we might find some more clues after we clear the volcano."

"Guess you've got a point."

"Yeah... but these monsters are starting to get on my nerves."

"Same here. I guess you'd really hate this place, Yue-san."

Even as they complained, the trio pressed onward. And so, another three days passed.

They hadn't found anything that day either, and as the moon's light began to illuminate the ravine, Hajime decided to make camp. They set up their tent and began preparing dinner. Ingredients were brought out, seasonings measured, and dishes set. Everything from the tent to the tableware had been crafted by Hajime, so they were all of artifact quality.

The tent was augmented with heatstone and coldstone, which regulated the temperature inside. Thanks to the properties of coldstone, Hajime had been able to craft a refrigerator and freezer as well. The metal frames of the tent had stones interspersed within them too. These stones had been imbued with the "Hide Presence" skill, making it difficult for monsters to locate their camp.

The pots and pans all heated up in proportion to the mana poured into them, removing any need to start a fire. Even the knives had been enchanted with Gale Claw, making them razor sharp. He'd also made a makeshift steam cleaner. They were all beloved creations that made his travels more comfortable. And because they were only useful to people who could control mana directly, no one would want to steal them.

"Ancient magic from the Age of the Gods sure is handy." Those had been Hajime's exact words when he'd created all these Artifacts. Any present-day practitioner of magic would have fainted upon hearing the relatively pointless things Hajime used his abilities to make.

Tonight's dinner was Kululu meat boiled in tomato soup. Kululus were basically chickens that could fly. Their meat tasted identical to that of regular chicken. Kululu dishes were apparently very popular in Tortus. They'd already marinated and cut the Kululu meat, so they just boiled it together with some vegetables in a tomato-based broth.

The Kululu's flavor was further enhanced by the butter smeared over it and the tangy hint of tomato that had soaked into the meat. The other vegetables, all of which resembled one kind of earth vegetable or another, and the soup itself were also exquisite. Even the bread they'd brought to dunk into the soup tasted amazing.

After they finished their dinner, Hajime and the others settled down to chat for a while, as they did every night. Thanks to the stealthstone in the tent, they didn't have to worry about monster attacks. The few that wandered nearby by accident were summarily dealt with by Hajime. He'd just stick his hand out of the window designed for the purpose, then shoot them down. When it was time for bed, the three of them would rotate the watch until morning.

Tonight, it was Hajime's turn to be on first watch. Yue and Shea prepared for bed while he got ready. The tent was furnished with soft futons as well, so they could sleep well even out in the wild. Right before they fell asleep, Shea walked out of the tent.

Hajime gave her a questioning look, and she replied casually.

"Just going to pick some flowers."

"There's no flowers down here."

"Ha-ji-me-san!" Her nonchalant facade crumbled and she glared reproachfully at Hajime.

"My bad," he said without remorse, realizing what she actually meant.

Shea pouted angrily as she stepped out of their camp and trotted off. A few minutes later...

"H-Hajime-san! Yue-san! I found something! Come over here!" She had forgot that monsters still swarmed the ravine outside of their camp and screamed for help. Hajime and Yue exchanged glances before running out of the tent.

Shea's voice was coming from where one of the boulders had fallen against the ravine wall, creating a small gap. She was waving her arms wildly right in front of it, her face filled with excitement.

"Over here! Look at what I found!"

"Alright, alright, stop pulling me. Your body strengthening's on full blast. Just calm down."

"...So annoying."

Shea grabbed both of their hands and pulled them deeper into the crevice. Hajime tried to calm her down, while Yue just showed her frustration on her face. As she led them inside, Hajime saw that the wall had been hollowed out on one side, making for a surprisingly spacious room. Shea puffed out her chest proudly and pointed to a section of the wall that was halfway between the entrance and the back.

Hajime and Yue looked at what she was pointing at and blinked in confusion. A rectangular signboard was carved directly into the stone wall. Written on it, in cute cursive letters, was this:

—Welcome everyone! Welcome to Miledi Reisen's heart-pounding dungeon~

The exclamation marks and tildes only served to exacerbate the reader.

"The hell is this?"

"...What?"

Hajime and Yue spoke simultaneously. It looked as if they couldn't believe their own eyes. That cutesy handwriting was completely out of place in the desolate gorge.

"What's that supposed to mean? This is the entrance, obviously! When I was going to the bath... I mean, when I was looking for flowers, I found it here by accident. To think Reisen Gorge really was the entrance to another one of the labyrinths." Hajime and Yue finally recovered from their shock enough to stare at each other in disbelief.

"Yue. You think this is really it?"

"...Yeah."

"That was a long pause. What makes you think so?"

"...Miledi."

"Makes sense..."

Oscar's notes had informed them that Reisen's first name had indeed been Miledi. The name Reisen was famous, but most people hadn't known her first name. And so, the fact that it was written on the board made it highly likely that it was the entrance to the labyrinth proper. The only reason they were doubtful at all was because...

"What's with this stupidly cutesy writing?" Hajime thought back to the numerous life and death struggles he faced in the Great Orcus Labyrinth. If this labyrinth was anything like it, he'd be in for a tough fight. And yet, the entrance was marked with this utterly incongruous lighthearted sign. Yue, too, had felt firsthand just how harsh a labyrinth could be, so she couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't just someone's idea of a prank.

"But there's nothing that looks like an entrance here. The cave just leads to a dead end further up..." Oblivious to their inner turmoil, Shea glanced around the cave and tapped the walls, searching for an opening.

"Hey, Shea. Don't..." Clunk!

"Fugyah!?"

"Don't touch things carelessly like that" was what Hajime had been trying to say, but before he could, the wall Shea had tapped suddenly flipped around, dragging Shea toward whatever was on the other side. It was just like one of those trick doors you'd see in a ninja hideout.

"..." As Shea had just found a secret entrance, the words carved in the stone suddenly seemed more believable. So the entrance to Reisen's labyrinth really is here. Hajime was already starting to miss the more serious atmosphere of Orcus' labyrinth. This seemed more like an amusement park than a dungeon. He located the revolving door that Shea had disappeared through, exchanged a sigh with Yue, and pushed forward.

Whatever mechanism operated the door activated, pushing Hajime and Yue to the other side of the wall. Darkness greeted them on the other side. The door finished its revolution, eventually coming to a stop in its original position.

An instant later there was an odd whirling noise, as a bunch of somethings flew straight for Hajime. Upon activating Night Vision, Hajime was able to see what was coming at him. Arrows. They were painted jet-black to make sure not even a sliver of light reflected off them.

Hajime pulled out Donner and shot most of them down. The rest he blocked with his prosthetic limb. Clanging noises filled the room as metal impacted on metal.

There had been around twenty arrows. The arrows were made entirely of metal, as if they had been carved into that shape. After the last one hit the ground, silence returned to the room.

Faint light started permeating the room around the same time. They were in a room about ten meters wide on all sides, with a hallway extending out of the far end. There was a stone slab in the center of the room, with a message carved into it in the same cutesy handwriting as before.

—Hey, did I surprise you? Well, did I? I bet you peed your pants, didn't you? Hahaha. Any of you get hurt? Maybe someone in your party died? Fufu~—

"....." Hajime and Yue were in complete sync as they read the message.

"Annoying bitch."

Only the laughter in the message was carved deeper into the stone to emphasize its presence. She was being purposely irritating. Had someone wandered in and actually lost a member of their party due to that trap, they would surely have been furious.

As it was, Hajime and Yue were still quite angry, but Yue's anger suddenly faded away as she realized something.

"...Where's Shea?"

"Ah."

Remembering the remaining member of their party, Hajime quickly turned back to the revolving door. Since the door did a half-revolution with each activation, it was possible Shea had been sent back outside when they'd come in. What worried Hajime was that she hadn't tried to come back in even though a good minute or two must have passed. And so, he hurriedly activated the door again.

As the door turned around once more he saw... Shea. Stuck to the door.

"Uuuu... Hic... Hajime-saaan... don't look at meeee. But please take these off. Let me down, but don't look at me. Pleaseee." The poor little bunny girl. Shea must have been greeted by the hail of arrows too. Though she couldn't see in the dark, her sharp senses must have allowed her to dodge. But it had been a near miss, so the arrows had skewered her clothes, pinning her to the wall in a comedic pose reminiscent of those emergency exit signs.

Her rabbit ears were twisted in a weird zig-zag pattern, so it was clear that it had taken everything she'd had to dodge. The reason she was crying wasn't because she'd nearly died, though. The puddle at her feet was the cause of her distress.

"Oh yeah, you were in the middle of your 'flower picking,' weren't you...? Well, whatever. Happens all the time."

"No it doesn't! Uuu, why didn't I just finish my business before calling you guys over!" Shea wept uncontrollably. Not only had she wet herself, but she'd done it in front of the man she loved. Her rabbit ears twitched again. Though, considering how pathetic she'd looked when she'd first met Hajime, this was basically a drop in the bucket. That was why Hajime was more annoyed than disgusted as he gazed up at Shea. However, his look only served to hurt her feelings more.

"Don't move." As a fellow girl, Yue did feel a little sympathy for her, so she quickly removed the arrows pinning Shea to the door.

"You should be able to handle threats of this level... Amateur."

"I'm sorry, I'll work harder from now on... Hic..."

"Hajime, we need a change of clothes."

"You got it." He pulled a spare set of Shea's clothes from the Treasure Trove and handed them over. Red faced with embarrassment, Shea quickly changed.

Once she was ready, Shea spiritedly ran forward, only to stop when she saw the stone tablet in the center of the room.

Her bangs covered her expression as she read the inscription. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly drew Drucken and swung it down with all her might. With a thunderous roar, the tablet shattered into a thousand pieces. That tablet must have been the last straw, as Shea continued to slam down her hammer on the already shattered stone over and over.

But once it was pulverized, new words carved themselves into the pieces of stone. Now it read: —Too bad~ After a little while the stone regenerates~ Kukukuku—

"Graaaaaah!" Overcome with rage, Shea mindlessly swung Drucken down again. The entire room shook as if it were in an earthquake, and a massive shockwave spread out from the point of impact.

Ignoring Shea, Hajime started talking to Yue.

"Miledi Reisen might have been the only Liberator that really was an enemy of humanity."

"Agreed."

The Great Reisen Labyrinth was surely not going to be anything like the Great Orcus Labyrinth, but not quite for the reasons they were expecting.

A few hours after Shea's crazed outburst, Hajime had discovered that the dungeon had far outstripped even his pessimistic estimations of how it would turn out.

First, they couldn't use magic properly inside. Whatever it was that dissipated the mana in the gorge was far more powerful down in the depths. Yue was hit especially hard by that. She couldn't even form her higher level spells, and her more intermediate ones were extremely limited in range. Five meters was often the upper limit. It was still serviceable enough to use in fights, but she could no longer blow monsters away with a single attack.

Even the reserves she'd stored in her magic stone accessories were drained at an alarming rate, so she had to be careful. That was how much mana it took to do anything. A normal person wouldn't have been able to cast anything at all in this dungeon.

Hajime was adversely affected as well. Both Aerodynamic and Gale Claw required maintaining magical energy outside of one's body, so he couldn't use them very effectively, and even his Lightning Field was crippled. Donner and Schlag operated at less than half of their usual power, and even Schlagen could only fire with as much force as Donner normally did.

Hence, body strengthening was essential to clearing this dungeon. Shea's area of expertise. As such, the reliable rabbit of Hajime's party was...

"I'm gonna murder you... Once I find your hideout, I'm going to tear you limb from screaming limb!" Shea was screaming as she hunted her prey, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. She'd completely, utterly, totally, lost it. Even the way she talked sounded more feral. Miledi Reisen's love of teasing others seemed to have gotten to Shea.

Hajime and Yue completely understood the feeling, so they didn't say anything. And as long as Shea stayed comically enraged, they'd be able to maintain some semblance of composure by looking at her. It said something about how much their mental state had deteriorated that they needed Shea to keep them sane. They'd made decent progress since entering, but they'd already run into a number of frustrating traps and annoying inscriptions. Without Shea's anger to calm them, Hajime and Yue would probably have lost it long ago.

Shea had already devolved into a madly cackling mess, but everyone still kept a sharp eye out for traps as they valiantly pressed forward.

Finally, they found themselves in a strange room. The stairs, connecting passageways, and even the layout of the room was completely haphazard. It looked like a three year old had just randomly assembled a bunch of lego blocks. The staircase leading up to the third floor then connected to a sloping path that led back down to the passage leading out of the first floor, while the staircase on the second floor seemed to just end at a wall.

"Well, I guess this place is a labyrinth."

"...Yeah. Looks easy to get lost in."

"Hmph, I should have expected this from that rotten bitch. This twisted room is a reflection of her terrible personality!"

"Believe me, I understand how you're feeling, but I think you need to calm down."

Shea's rage still hadn't cooled. Hajime gave her a look that was half-exasperation, half-pity and posed a question.

"So, which way do we go now?"

"Hajime. There's no point thinking about it."

"Hmm, guess you're right. We'll just have to mark and map the place ourselves as we explore."

"Yeah..." Yue nodded in agreement. Mapmaking was a fundamental skill needed to explore dungeons. However, with how winding the labyrinth's construction was, Hajime wasn't sure how accurate his maps would be. He frowned, clearly unhappy.

The marking he had been referring to was another one of his special magic skills, Tracking. This spell let Hajime mark certain locations with mana. He could then find those marked locations no matter where he was. If he marked a living creature, he could track its location. He was going to use it in the labyrinth to mark where they'd been, so he could map out their location. He could also make his marks visible, so Yue and Shea could see them too. As the mana was attached to an object, it wasn't dissipated like the other spells they cast.

Hajime decided to start with the passage on the right-hand side, and marked it before going in.

The passageway was around two meters wide, made out of brick. And like the Great Orcus Labyrinth, the walls glowed faintly. They weren't illuminated by green glowstone, though. The light in this dungeon was a pale blue.

When he checked what it was with Ore Appraisal, he discovered it was called linrock. It glowed upon coming in contact with air. The first room they'd been in must have been enchanted somehow to not glow until someone stepped inside. The passageway resembled the mine in Laputa, actually. The one where they met the old guy who could talk to rocks. It seemed that linrock never stopped glowing after coming into contact with air even once.

Hajime reminisced about an anime from his homeland as he headed down the long hallway. Clunk. One of the tiles on the floor sunk a little as Hajime stepped on it. That was the first time the floor had done that. He looked down at his foot in confusion.

Then, suddenly— Fssssssh! The sound of something slicing through the air suddenly filled the hallway as two circular saws appeared from either side of the wall. The one on the right was about neck height, while the one on the left was waist height. The two blades sped toward the party.

"Everyone, dodge!" Hajime instantly matrix dove backward, narrowly dodging both blades. With how short Yue was, all she had to do was crouch to avoid both of them. Shea managed to weasel out of danger as well. They could hear Shea crying out in surprise as the blades sped past her. Since her cries didn't sound pained, Hajime assumed she was safe.

Shea had actually only just barely managed to dodge, and some of the fur on her rabbit ears had been shaved off... but it was no big deal.

After the blades had passed Hajime and the others, they vanished into the walls as if they'd never existed. For a while, Hajime just stood there, warily waiting for a second wave. But none came. He let out a relieved sigh, then turned back to the others. As he did so, chills ran down his spine.

Following his instincts, he grabbed Yue and Shea, then threw himself forward. Not even a second later, guillotine blades slammed into the floor where they'd been standing. They vibrated as they came down, slicing through the floor like it was butter.

Sweating profusely, he stared at the blade that had fallen inches from his feet. Yue and Shea stiffened in fear as well.

"They're all physical traps. That's why my Demon Eye can't sense them." He'd been so focused on magical traps that he'd failed to take into account the possibility of physical ones. Because the traps he'd encountered in his labyrinth excursions so far had all been magical, his eye could easily spot those. But relying too much on his eye was what had led him to lowering his guard. He'd put too much faith in his abilities.

"Haah. I-I thought we were done for there. Wait, Hajime-san! Why didn't you just stop them? You've got a metal arm!"

"Those things are pretty sharp, you know? Even if it wouldn't cut right through, I'm pretty sure they'd have damaged it pretty bad. I can't use Diamond Skin here, remember?"

"D-Damaged...? What's more important to you, your equipment or my life?"

"I mean, you got out alright, didn't you? What's the problem?"

"Hey, don't avoid the question! You wouldn't really leave me to die, right? I'm more important, right? Right?" Shea clung to Hajime as she stubbornly pressed him for an answer. But Yue was the one who answered.

"...Runny Rabbit. The only reason you almost died is because you lack training."

"R-Runny— You take that back, Yue-san! That's too much, even for me!" And thus, another moniker was added to the "something something rabbit" series. Despite nearly dying twice in the few hours they'd been exploring, Shea was still quite lively. Her true strength was how sturdy she was. Though she'd probably complain if anyone told her that.

Still, what Shea had said was true. Though he had chosen to dodge, Hajime could just as easily have blocked with his arm and gun. His coat was made of monster leather, so it would have served well in defending him. And if the blades pierced through all of that, he had metal plates protecting his vitals. Traps like this wouldn't kill him easily.

Even so, those blades had clearly been overkill for regular humans. Normal armor would have been cut clean in two with how fast they'd been vibrating. Unless it was something on the level of the armor Hajime had made with the ore he'd found in the abyss, any would-be explorer would have had to dodge.

"Well, if this is as bad as it gets, then I should be alright." Hajime ignored Shea and Yue's usual arguing and muttered that to himself. No matter how strong the traps were, he was fine as long as they weren't augmented by magic. And Yue had her automatic regeneration. So even if she got caught in one, she'd survive. Which meant... Shea was the only one whose life was in any serious danger. Whether she realized that or not, it was clear she was the most stressed out of everyone present.

"Huh? Hajime-san, why are you giving me that pitying look?"

"Hang in there, Shea..."

"U-Uh, what? Where'd that come from? And why do I have such a bad feeling about this..." Shea rubbed her arms gingerly, clearly put off by Hajime's uncharacteristic display of kindness. She kept a constant lookout for any more unpleasant surprises as they headed further down the passage.

So far, they hadn't encountered any monsters. It was possible there weren't any in this labyrinth, but unfounded optimism usually led to an early grave. Chances were they'd jump out of nowhere, just like the traps.

After a few more minutes, the path opened up into another room. This one had three different corridors leading out of it. After marking their location, Hajime picked the leftmost path, a staircase leading down.

"Uuuu, I've got a bad feeling about this. Something bad always happens when my ears get all twitchy." They were halfway down the staircase when Shea said that. Just as she'd said, her ears were standing on end and twitching slightly.

"Hey, don't jinx it. Someone always ends up stepping on a trap right after someone says that... See, look."

"I-It's not my fault!"

"Jinxer rabbit."

While they were talking, there was an ominous rumbling noise, and the staircase flattened out into a slide. It had been quite a steep staircase, so they wouldn't easily be able to keep their footing. To make matters worse, slippery black liquid starting pouring out from tiny holes in the staircase.

"Kuh, damn!" Hajime quickly transmuted the metal plates in his boots into spikes, along with the fingers on his artificial arm. Thanks to that, he was just barely able to keep his balance. Yue had leaped toward Hajime in the split second before she fell, so she was safely supported by him. She had correctly predicted that he would brace himself. The two had spent enough time together to be able to read each other's moves.

Unfortunately, the latest addition to their party wasn't in such perfect sync. Shea had failed to predict Hajime would anchor himself.

"Ugyaaaaah!?" Without anything to support her, she tumbled down the slide, hitting the back of her head on the ground. She let out a grunt of pain, and within seconds she was covered in whatever lubricant had sprung up. Gravity did its job, and she slid, crotch first, right into Hajime's face.

"Buh!?" The force of the impact dislodged his left arm from the wall he'd thrust it into, and he fell backward, his right hand still holding onto Yue. His foot spikes came out too, so he slid headfirst down the slide. Shea rode on top of him as they slid down.

"You stupid, clumsy rabbit! Get off already!"

"I'm shorry, but I can't mobe."

They started sliding even faster. Hajime struggled to stop their movement with his spikes, but they were already too fast for them to do any good. Changing tracks, he then tried to transmute the staircase directly, but the mana dissipation was too strong and he couldn't do it.

Shea finally struggled to a sitting position. She was now riding Hajime like a horse.

"Use Drucken's stake to hold us in place somewhere!" Hajime yelled out. One of the tricks he'd added to Shea's Drucken was a stake that could extend out from the hammer. He had wanted to give her a piercing weapon too, in case she needed it. A stake that large could still potentially stop their fall.

"O-Okay, leave it to— Wait, Hajime-san! Look, the path!" Shea moved to grab Drucken, but then suddenly stopped.

That was all she needed to say for Hajime to understand. This slide was trying to spit them out somewhere.

"Yue!"

"Okay!"

Hajime called out to Yue. He didn't need to say anything more, as she'd guessed his intentions.

"Hang on tight, Shea!"

"O-Okay!" Shea clung to Hajime.

The slide came to an abrupt end, and for a moment they were all suspended in midair, weightless. Yue took advantage of that split second.

"Updraft!" This was one of the most basic wind spells. It was normally used to increase one's jumping power. Skilled practitioners could use it to emulate flight for a short period of time. But in this dungeon, magic was crippled. Even Yue could only keep them afloat for a scant few seconds.

"More than good enough." Hajime said triumphantly. Those few seconds were all he needed to examine his surroundings. Yue had done more than enough.

With both girls still clinging to him, Hajime pointed his artificial arm at the ceiling. He poured a little mana into it, and with a pneumatic hiss, a wire with an anchor attached shot out of his wrist. It embedded itself in the ceiling, and held fast.

Hajime let out a sigh of relief when he saw the anchor wasn't coming loose. All three of them dangled there, held by a single thin wire. They risked a glance at what lay below them, and instantly regretted it.

Slither... Hiss... Clack... Fwoosh... Slither... There was a pit of scorpions directly underneath them. They were only around ten centimeters long. The scorpion Hajime had faced in Orcus' labyrinth was probably more dangerous, but seeing so many of them crawling around was more mentally damaging. Goosebumps rose on his arms as he realized a single wire was all that separated him from scorpion hell.

"..." Everyone fell silent. No one wanted to think about what awaited below, so they all pointedly looked at the ceiling. As they did so, they realized letters were forming on it. They already knew what to expect, but they read the message anyway.

—Those scorpion's stings aren't poisonous, but they will paralyze you. I hope you enjoy sleeping with my cute little babies for a while, Buhaha—

She must have made the linrock that held the message especially dense, as it glowed brighter than its surroundings. Anyone who fell in would be doomed to lie there, paralyzed, as scorpions scuttled across their prone bodies. They'd desperately try to stretch their hand out to the ceiling only to find those words.

"..." The silence continued, but for a different reason this time. Everyone was desperately trying not to snap at Miledi's taunting.

"Hajime, over there."

"Hm?"

Noticing something, Yue pointed to a spot below her. There was a little tunnel there.

"A tunnel... What do you think we should do? We can climb back up, or we can see what's down there."

"I-I'm fine with whatever you decide, Hajime-san. All I ever do is make things worse for us, so..."

"Don't worry, we'll punish you properly for that when we get out of here."

"Now I am worried! Couldn't you have just left it at 'don't worry'!?"

"How impudent. Your punishment's been doubled."

"You too, Yue-san!? Man, I won't be able to catch a break even after we finish with this place."

Hajime and Yue were as merciless as always.

"Haah, if only you could use your future sight to show us where to go."

"Umm, I'm still not that good with it yet. I have been practicing, but..."

Future sight was the only special magic Shea could use. It allowed her to see one of the potential futures that might unfold. But because of how much mana it took, she could only use it once a day. And because her strength was dependent on her body strengthening, without any mana she was just a worthless rabbit. She had been practicing when they had time, lowering the amount of mana it took little by little, but... she still had a long way to go before she mastered the technique.

"Well, no point in complaining about what we don't have. I'd rather keep pressing forward, so let's check the tunnel."

"Okay."

"Works for me."

Hajime fired another anchor from his arm, and tarzaned his way over to the tunnel.

The tunnel, like the rest of the labyrinth, was illuminated by linrock. It didn't seem to branch off as far as they could tell and continued straight forward. The fact that there wasn't even a single turn was suspicious. Or perhaps Miledi's constant harassment had just made them all paranoid.

Warily, the group made their way down the passage. They went on for a few hundred meters without incident. The utter uniformity of the tunnel made it hard to gauge distance accurately. Everything was so eerily unchanging that they started to wonder if they were just walking in place.

Just as they were starting to grow suspicious, there was a change in the monotony, as if the cavern had anticipated their worries. There was a spacious room up ahead. The group relaxed a little, hurriedly rushing into the room... only to hear the familiar sound of another trap activating.

"What is it this time... Oh, the ceiling."

"Shea."

"Y-You got it!"

Everyone looked up at the ceiling and saw that it was slowly coming down on them. It was cliche, as far as traps went, but as their magic was practically sealed, it was quite an effective one.

From the hallway, it would have looked like the room had suddenly vanished and been replaced with a wall. That was how fast the ceiling had fallen. The hallway they had come from was now a dead end.

Silence filled the room.

It seemed impossible that Hajime and the others had managed to avoid being crushed to death. The silence made it seem even more likely they were gone.

However, something happened a few minutes later. Red sparks began flying off the wall opposite the one Hajime and the others had come in from. And after that, a hole large enough for a person to crawl through appeared. From within, Hajime, Yue, and Shea all clambered out.

"Haah... Haah... Th-That was close."

"Yeah. Would've been annoying if we got crushed back there."

"It would've been a lot more than just 'annoying.' Normally, you'd die if you got crushed by that, you know?"

There'd been nowhere to run to, and they wouldn't have made it to the hallway on the far side in time, so Hajime and Shea had held up the ceiling for just a few seconds while Hajime transmuted a hole directly above them.

Because of the unique properties of the labyrinth, he'd been forced to work four times slower, with his range reduced to only one meter around him. Worst of all, the whole ordeal had taken far more mana than it should have. They'd all huddled together in the small space he'd crafted for them while he slowly transmuted a path out. To think I'd have to dig through the walls again like this... I haven't felt such humiliation since I first fell into the abyss. He expressed his displeasure with a string of curses.

"God fucking dammit. I can't believe I've been reduced to this again. Worse, my high speed mana regeneration isn't even working. Hell, my mana's not recovering at all." Next to him, Yue took out a small vial from her pocket, then offered it to Hajime with a smile.

"How about a mana potion, then?"

"Don't mind if I do."

"Does anything ever faze you two?"

Hajime loosened up a little, then leaned tiredly against the wall. He could replenish some of his mana with the reserves he'd stored in in his magic stones, but he wanted to keep them for when he really needed them. A mana potion was probably the better option.

Smiling at their little skit, Hajime took the vial and downed it in one gulp. It tasted like an energy drink. While the potion only restored a fraction of the mana one of his stones could, and at a much slower pace, it had the added benefit of curing his fatigue. Revitalized, Hajime stood back up, ready to beat this stupid dungeon.

However, before they'd taken even a few steps, more vexatious words popped up on the ceiling.

—Pupupu! You're starting to panic, how lame—

Miledi Reisen had spared no effort in making sure she annoyed her visitors at every turn.

"W-We are not panicking! Not at all! And we're not lame!" Shea followed Hajime's line of sight up to the annoying letters floating on the ceiling and snarled back at them. Her hatred for Miledi had already begun to consume her. She couldn't help but react to every single sentence they found floating around the labyrinth. Had Miledi still been alive, she would surely be chortling with glee at having found such easy prey.

"Whatever, let's just go. Don't let every little word get you riled up."

"That's just playing into her hands."

"Ugh, fine."

The passageways and rooms they discovered from that point on were all booby trapped. One room fired poison arrows at them from every direction, another had a pitfall filled with acid, and yet another had turned into a whirlpool of sand with a worm-like monster waiting for them at the center. Without fail, each room would have something snarky written on the walls or ceiling after they cleared it. Everyone was stressed beyond belief.

Nevertheless, they cleared trap after trap, until they finally found themselves in a passageway larger than any other they'd seen up to that point. It was six to seven meters wide, had quite a steep slant to it, and curved to the right. It was like a spiral slide descending into the depths.

Everyone tensed up. After all, the passageway just screamed "trap."

As they descended, they found their instincts had been right on the mark. The ever familiar clunk that heralded some hidden switch activating echoed between the walls. Due to his experiences, Hajime was convinced that regardless of whether they tripped the switch in any given room, the trap would activate anyway. So what's the point of having a damn switch in the first place!? But he knew yelling that aloud would only invite more ridicule from Miledi, so with herculean effort, he kept his mouth shut.

They watched their surroundings carefully, straining to catch a glimpse of whatever was coming at them next.

Rrrrrrrruuuuummmmbbbbblllleeeee! Something heavy was rolling toward them.

"..." The three of them exchanged worried glances before looking back. Because of the curved nature of the path, they couldn't see very far above them. The sound gradually continued growing louder, until... A huge boulder the size of the entire passage could be seen hurtling toward them. Naturally, it was spherical. Quite possibly the most cliched trap of all. And they were certain that wherever their mad dash led them, there'd be another annoying set of letters lying in waiting.

Yue and Shea quickly turned around and began running for their lives, but they stopped after going only a few paces. They had noticed Hajime wasn't following them.

"...Hm? Hajime?"

"Hajime-san!? You'll be crushed if you don't hurry!"

Instead of answering, Hajime simply bent his knees and thrust his right hand forward, as if he were trying to take aim with his fingers. He then squeezed his left arm as hard as he could, making it let out a metallic screech. Smiling fearlessly, he stared down the boulder thundering toward him.

"It's just not my style to let you keep one upping me over and over!" The noise from his prosthetic arm grew louder. And then... Boom! With an explosive bang, his left arm hit the boulder. The force of the impact pushed him back, but he transmuted spikes out of his boots and dug his heels in. Cracks spread out of the boulder from the point of impact, and its speed slowed considerably.

"Raaaaaaaah!" With a spirited shout, Hajime dug his fist deeper into the boulder. The fierce struggle between his fist and the boulder came to a conclusion, and his fist emerged the clear victor. With another loud crack, the boulder shattered into a million pieces.

For a few seconds after the boulder was gone he didn't move, alert for any extra surprises. After he was sure nothing more was coming, however, he let out a relieved sigh and brought his fist back. There was no screeching coming from his arm anymore. He experimentally clenched and unclenched his left fist a few times, then turned back to Shea and Yue after making sure it was in working condition.

The stress from earlier was no longer present on his face. Instead, there was an exultant smile there. Though he had tried to not let it show, he had been getting worn down by the traps he couldn't sense or prevent from activating.

Hajime had combined his Steel Arms skill, the same one he had used to defeat Jin back in Verbergen, with a high frequency vibration he'd achieved by pouring mana into his prosthetic arm. That was what had allowed him to destroy the boulder. Though, because of the strain it put on his arm, he had to perform maintenance after only one use. Originally, it had been one of his trump cards but... he'd been so annoyed he'd used it on a simple trap.

Shea and Yue were in a celebratory mood too as they ran up to Hajime.

"Hajime-san! You're amazing! That was so cool! I feel alive again!"

"...Yeah, same."

"Hahaha, I know, right? Now we can finally relax a little and—" Hajime's elated reply was suddenly cut off by a new noise.

Rrrruuuuummmmbbblllleeeee! A very familiar noise. His smile stiffened. As did Shea's, and it appeared as if Yue's blank expression grew a shade darker as well. Like a broken doll, Hajime jerkily turned around. Behind him, he saw... A shiny black metal boulder.

"No way." He let out an involuntary gasp.

"U-Umm, Hajime-san... Is it just me, or is there some weird liquid flying off that thing as it rolls down?"

"...It's melting the walls."

There were countless small holes dotting the surface of the boulder, from which an unknown liquid was being sprayed out. Anything the liquid came in contact with let out an ominous hiss as it melted.

Hajime took a look for himself, let out a tired sigh, and turned back to Yue and Shea, stiff smile still stuck to his face. Finally, it vanished and he yelled "Damn it, run!" before dashing off at an inhuman speed down the passageway. Yue and Shea exchanged glances before sprinting off after Hajime.

The boulder was slowly gaining speed as it sped down the passage.

"Nooooooooooooo! I don't want to be squish-melted to death!"

"...Same. Let's keep running."

Shea's wails echoed throughout the corridor.

"And Hajime-san, I can't believe you ran off without us! How cruel! You demon!" She protested loudly.

"Oh shut up, it wasn't on purpose! Just keep running!"

"I can't believe you're taking that attitude with me when you left us behind! Do you not care at all about what happens to me!? Uwaaaah, I'm coming back to haunt you if I die!"

"Sounds like you're doing fine, Shea." Judging by the fact that she still had time to complain, Yue assumed she wasn't in any real trouble.

A few seconds later, they saw the end of the passageway. Using his Farsight, Hajime was able to ascertain that the room it opened up into was quite spacious. Still, there was something strange about its layout. The floor was the furthest thing from them, distance-wise. It appeared the corridor ended somewhere close to the room's ceiling.

"We're going down, guys!"

"Okay."

"Got it!"

They slid the last few feet of the corridor, fell to the room below, and—

"Guh!?"

"Hm!?"

"Hiii!?"

Three simultaneous screams of surprise rang out. Below them, the floor was submerged in a pool of dangerous-looking liquid.

"Fucking bitch!" Hajime shot out a barrage of knives from his left arm, along with an anchor to fasten himself to the wall, then grabbed Yue with his right. The giant metal boulder flew past them and fell into the pool below. Smoke billowed as the boulder slowly sunk into its depths.

"Wind Wall." Yue's spell blew away any stray splashes of acid that got close. Hajime vigilantly watched his surroundings for a few minutes longer, but when nothing more happened he relaxed.

"Uuu... Hic... I'm just... I'm just... Waaa..." Turning around, he saw Shea pinned to the wall by the knives that pierced through her clothes. She was sobbing as always.

"What're you crying for this time?"

"Are you on your period?"

"Isn't it obvious? You pinned me to the wall, but you're carrying Yue-san? Hajime-saaaaaan, can't you be at least a little nice to me?"

"I saved your life, didn't I?"

"That's not what I mean! Can't you save me in a more, like, gallant way? You know what I mean, right!? I want to be carried tenderly like that too!"

"Shea."

"Hic... What is it, Yue-san?"

"You have to face reality."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Look here, Shea. I do think of you as a comrade, and it's not like I don't care about you, but... the girl I'm in love with is Yue, so you can't blame me for thinking of her first."

"Uwaaah."

Though what Hajime said was absolutely correct, or perhaps because of it, tears started falling from Shea's eyes. On the other hand, Yue blushed and snuggled even closer to Hajime.

"Just you wait, I'm going to make you fall for me so hard that you'll be begging to save me!"

"You never give up, do you?"

"Yeah. She has guts. I need to watch out."

Even when they were hanging for dear life above a pool of burning acid, they still had time to act out their love comedy skits. It really didn't feel like their life was in danger.

Using his anchor like a pendulum, Hajime was able to swing himself across the pool of acid and land safely on the floor. The room they'd found themselves in was long and rectangular. Along the wall were numerous alcoves, and ensconced within each was a statue in a full suit of armor, complete with sword and shield. In the deepest part of the room was a flight of stairs, beyond which stood an altar. Past the altar was a majestic door. Placed atop the altar was a diamond-shaped yellow crystal. Hajime frowned as he took in his surroundings.

"What a door. Does it lead to Miledi's secret base? If so, that's great news, but... am I the only one that's got a bad feeling about those suits of armor?"

"Don't worry, I know her by now."

"Doesn't that mean these things are going to jump out and attack us? Shouldn't we be worrying a lot right now?"

As predicted, when the three of them reached the center of the room, something happened. A very familiar noise reverberated across the chamber.

Clunk! They all came to a halt. I knew it, the three of them thought simultaneously. The statues' eyes began to glow ominously. And with the sound of metal scraping against metal, the knights stepped out of their alcoves. There were roughly fifty of them.

As one, they all lowered their stance and raised their shields. The army of inhuman knights shuffled forward and encircled Hajime's party.

"Haha, I knew it. We should have destroyed them before walking up. Well, no point crying over spilled milk... Yue, Shea, you ready?"

"Yeah."

"A-Aren't there a bit too many? I mean, I'll still do it, but..."

Hajime unholstered Donner and Schlag. Normally, Metzelei would be more suited to these numbers, but he was worried the Gatling gun might set off more traps. He could more than believe if he let loose a hailstorm of bullets that at least a few would trigger more switches. So, he decided to stick with his twin pistols for the time being.

A fierce fighting spirit dwelled in Yue's eyes. She knew full well that she was most disadvantaged by the dungeon's unique properties, but she would die before letting herself become a burden to Hajime. She was Hajime's partner. There was no way she'd let something as trivial as this slow her down. Especially not when a potential romantic rival had appeared, regardless of how slim Shea's chances actually were at seducing Hajime.

Shea, however, was beginning to get cold feet. Even if she was the least affected by the mana dispersion, she was also the one with the least amount of practical combat experience. The five days she'd spent fighting monsters at the bottom of the gorge hadn't been nearly enough. And even if she included Yue's training, she still had barely two weeks of experience under her belt. Combine that with the fact that she was one of the gentle Haulia, and it was hardly surprising that she was a little worried. The fact that she hefted Drucken and dug her heels in anyway was a testament to her outstanding courage.

"Shea."

"Y-Yes!? Wh-What is it Hajime-san?" Her voice quavered a little. Is it just my imagination, or did Hajime sound a little... kinder just then?

"You're strong. I can guarantee you that. These scrap golems have nothing on you. Don't worry too much and just beat them to a pulp. And if things do get hairy, we'll save you."

"...Yeah. You're my disciple, I won't let you die."

Shea began tearing up. But this time, they were tears of happiness. Because of how roughly they'd treated her, Shea had started worrying that they might have thought of her as a bother... but she finally realized that couldn't possibly be true.

They trusted her, so even if she was still a novice at fighting, she'd do everything she could. She let the mana flow throughout her body, strengthening her limbs, and stepped forward.

"Fufu, you finally said something nice, Hajime-san. Now I'm really pumped! Yue-san, the day your disciple beats you isn't far off anymore!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Hajime and Yue said simultaneously, but Shea was too energized to care. She looked straight ahead at the closest enemy.

"Bring it! You scrap metal robot!"

"Seriously, where do you keep picking all this stuff up from... Ah crap, I should've just kept my mouth shut."

"Scrap metal robot!"

"I'm not gonna say anything. Nope, not gonna say anything." Hajime sighed tiredly, and not because of the fifty golems bearing down on him. Whether they noticed his feelings or not, the golems all charged as one. Despite their massive frames, they were quite agile. Their armor clanged as they ran, and they cut quite an imposing figure with their glowing eyes and raised swords. It was like a wall of metal was closing in on them from all sides.

Hajime was the first to strike. Even if his pistols were reduced to half their effectiveness, they were still a little more powerful than the average anti-materiel rifle back on earth.

Two streaks of light headed unerringly toward two golems' heads. They both got stuck in an eye, and the golems arced their heads back in recoil. As they fell, two new knights ran in to take their place. Hajime began firing as fast as he could, throwing their ranks in disarray and keeping them from finishing their encirclement.

Some of the knights were able to weather the hail of bullets by using their shields, swords, and even fallen comrades as shields, and made it all the way to Hajime. But those that made it that far were met with the wrath of Shea Haulia's war hammer. She had strengthened her body to the limit, and she mercilessly pummeled anything that got close.

"Deyaaaaaaah!" With a spirited shout, she swung Drucken down, pulverizing a knight into a thousand tiny pieces. It had tried to raise a shield in an attempt to ward off the attack, but Shea had simply crushed that along with the rest of the body.

In fact, the impact had been so powerful that there were cracks running through the ground. Seeing an opening, one of the knights that had been standing nearby lowered the shield it had used to withstand the shockwave and bore down on Shea with a sword in hand.

But Shea was aware of the plan. She twisted Drucken's handle, then pulled the trigger once its transformation was complete.

With an explosive roar, Drucken leaped off the ground. A barrage of shotgun shells fired out of its barrel. Using the momentum of the recoil, Shea spun around and slammed her hammer into the flank of the knight that had been about to cut her in two.

"Raaaaaaah!" The armor crunched as the hammer dug into it. The force of the impact made the knight double over as it was sent flying. It looked like it'd just been rammed by a truck. The limp body slammed into another one, and they both tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The entire torso had been caved in, so it didn't look like it'd be moving any time soon.

Shea's ears perked up as she heard the sound of wind whistling in the distance. She looked up and saw the knight she'd sent flying earlier had let go of its sword, which was now whirling through the air. She leaped into the air, grabbed it by the hilt, and flung it at another one of the approaching knights.

It flew down at inhuman speed, and glanced against the knight's raised shield. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, she swung her hammer up at the enemy. It hit directly into the stomach, and sent the knight flying through the air.

In a final act of desperation, the knight tried to swing its sword down on her, but Shea utilized the force of her swing to dodge aside. Then, before the knight could hit the ground, she smashed Drucken down again.

A golem cannonball was created, and it knocked down a few comrades before crumbling against the wall in a shattered heap.

Shea's lips curled up into a smile. She wasn't enjoying the fight itself, but she was glad that she could hold her own alongside Hajime. It was only then that she truly felt she'd earned the right to travel alongside him and Yue... But that happiness lead to her lowering her guard.

In battle, even a moment's distraction could prove fatal. And before she knew it, there was a shield in front of her face. One of the knights had thrown it at her. These golems weren't bad at all. Since she was strengthening herself, it wouldn't be able to kill Shea, but it certainly had enough force to give her a concussion. Still, it would be easy to imagine what would happen to her if she let herself get disoriented.

She just hadn't expected a knight of all people, even a golem knight, to throw their shield. That was the kind of underhanded tactic reserved for thieves. There wasn't even enough time to yell out "Crap!" anymore.

The most she could do was brace herself for impact. But just before it hit her, a jet of water slammed into it, diverting the shield from its intended path. It flew past Shea's side and smacked into a golem behind her instead.

"Never let your guard down. Now your punishment's been tripled."

"Fweh!? That was your doing, Yue-san? S-Sorry, and thanks! Hey wait, tripled!?"

"Yeah... Stay focused."

"O-Okay! I'll do my best!" Shea curtailed her earlier excitement after getting scolded by Yue. Reflecting on her mistake, she refocused her attention. As she engaged the knight coming at her from the front, a jet of water bisected the one sneaking up on her from behind. A warm feeling spread through her chest when Shea realized Yue had her back. She made sure to keep her attention on the fight at hand though, so as not to disgrace her master any further.

Any other knight that tried to get into Shea's blind spots was also cut down by a jet of water sharper than any sword. Yue was using the intermediate level water spell, "Rupture." It gathered the water in the atmosphere, compressed it, and shot it out as a high speed cleaver.

There were two large metal water canteens dangling from Yue's waist. Another two were dangling from her shoulders. She'd taken them out of Hajime's Treasure Trove. Every time she muttered the spell's name, more water flowed out of the canteen and turned into a deadly blade.

Yue hoped using water already present instead of taking the extra step to compress it from the atmosphere would lower the amount of mana required for each cast. And since she was manipulating water already present rather than forming it with magic, the spell itself couldn't be dissolved once it was fired. There was a mechanism attached to the canteens that accelerated the water as it exited too, so even the force of the water blade couldn't be negated by the magic draining air.

Yue augmented Shea's explosive close combat power by guarding all of her blind spots. Unable to penetrate that ultimate combination, the knights' numbers continued to dwindle.

Hajime smiled as he watched their seamless teamwork out of the corner of his eye.

"Sheesh, they sure know how to fight. I better step up my game or they'll lose faith in me." Hajime mumbled that to himself, then continued to fire Donner and Schlag incessantly.

He blocked a knight's sword with Schlag's barrel, and then blew its helmet, along with its head, off with a point blank shot from Donner. He didn't even watch as his opponent slumped to the floor. Without even looking, he fired Schlag behind him and shot down a second knight. He then ducked, avoiding a horizontal swing, and crossed his arms before firing, shooting down the knights to either side of him.

However, without Lightning Field, his bullet didn't have enough power to penetrate the knight's shield, so it ricocheted off, slamming into a nearby knight's knee instead. Without a leg to stand on its balance crumbled, and Hajime leaped over it, shooting both it and a nearby knight down from overhead.

Another one of the knights tried to swing down at him the moment he landed, but he kicked off the sword and danced through the air once more. He fired a single bullet in all four directions, and each one took the head of a different knight. As he landed again, he pulled a round of bullets out of his Treasure Trove and spun both his cylinders to reload instantly. He then turned in place and began firing indiscriminately. The knights surrounding him were blown away one by one.

He continued cutting a swathe of destruction through the golems' ranks, making sure not to accidentally let any of his bullets hit any part of the room. However...

"What the...?" As he continued dodging the golem's attacks, he furrowed his brows suspiciously. Despite having destroyed a fair number of them now, it felt like their ranks hadn't thinned in the least.

Yue and Shea had noticed this as well. When they took a closer look at the battlefield, they realized the golems they'd destroyed were nowhere in sight.

"Are they regenerating?"

"So it seems."

"No way! How are we supposed to stop them, then!?"

Indeed, every time a golem was destroyed, the same light that glowed from their eye sockets enveloped their entire body for an instant, and then the golem was made whole again.

An edge of panic crept into Shea's voice as she mowed down another wave of knights. It was hardly surprising. At this rate, no matter how many they destroyed it was pointless.

However, Yue and Hajime both remained calm, their minds working furiously as they kept the knights at bay. This was where the difference in experience came into play. Obstacles of such difficulty had been commonplace in the abyss. In fact, since they were stronger than they'd been back then, this was nothing.

"...Hajime, if they are golems, then they should have a core." Just as Yue had said, the golems must have had a core hidden somewhere inside them that was the source of their power. Most cores were created with mana crystals harvested from monsters. That was what had been written in Oscar's diary regarding his cleaning golems at least. Yue was thinking that if they could destroy those cores they'd stop the golems. Unexpectedly though, Hajime frowned unhappily.

"About that, I don't think these guys have any."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm checking with my Demon Eye even, but I can't see anything. There's faint traces of mana coming from all over each golem's body, but..."

"Th-Then, what are we going to do!? At this rate we're just going to lose eventually!" Shea was completely panicking now. Hajime ignored her and used Ore Appraisal on a golem. Maybe it doesn't need a core because the golems themselves are made of some kind of special ore?

Bullseye.

_____________________________________________

Spirit stone: A stone capable of absorbing large quantities of mana. Two or more spirit stones filled with the same type of mana attached to a different kind of ore can be controlled remotely.

_____________________________________________

So that means there's someone out there controlling these spirit stone golems? They weren't actually regenerating, the operator was simply rearranging the stones of the broken golems to fix them, taking extra from the room if there wasn't enough. It was more reconstruction than regeneration.

Upon closer inspection, Hajime saw that parts of the floor were made of spirit stone too, and that it had been gouged out in places. That was probably used to supplement any missing stone for the golems. Unless they took out the operator, there'd be no end to them.

"Yue, Shea. Someone's controlling these guys. There'll be no end to them if we keep fighting, so we're busting through!"

"Okay."

"B-Breaking through? Roger!"

At Hajime's signal, they both turned around and made a run for the altar. Hajime fired Donner and Schlag as fast as he could, opening up a path before him, while throwing two grenades behind to stave off pursuit. There was a loud explosion, and the shockwaves sent rows of knights tumbling to the ground.

Shea leaped into the opening Hajime had created and swung Drucken around, mowing down everything in her path. The golems threw their shields and swords at her, aiming for the brief window of time Shea needed to recover her stance, but Yue used Rupture to cut them all down.

Hajime brought up the rearguard and continued shooting down any of the knights that got too close. Shea was the first to reach the altar, and she quickly set herself up in a position to assist Yue and Hajime. Yue followed seconds later, leaping over the altar and heading for the door.

"Yue-san, is it opening!?"

"Nope... It's sealed."

"Ah, I knew it!"

Even at a glance, it was obvious the altar and door were important. It made sense for them to be sealed, after all. That was why they'd tried to finish off the golems first, so that they could take their time figuring out the seal. Shea grumbled in annoyance as she beat down the knights that made it up the stairs.

"Let's let Yue handle the seal. It'll probably take me too long to break through that with Transmutation."

Hajime fought his way over to where Shea was standing. It was probably possible for Hajime to break through with Transmutation, but in this dungeon it would take a vast amount of his mana. In which case, figuring out the riddle of the altar and the yellow crystal was probably the smarter route. That was why Hajime decided to let Yue, who was currently the most disadvantaged in the fight, worry about the seal.

"Okay... leave it to me." Yue replied instantly and shifted her attention to the yellow crystal. It looked like two pyramids had been joined together at the base, and upon closer inspection Yue realized the whole thing was actually made of interlocking three dimensional pieces.

She took the crystal in her hands and turned back to the door. There were three depressions on its face. After thinking for a moment, she started dismantling the crystal. She was hoping to rearrange the pieces into three cubes so they'd fit in the depressions.

While she worked, she examined each depression in greater detail. When she looked closely, she noticed each of them had writing so faint it could easily be overlooked. Written within was...

—Can you solve it? Well, can you? If you don't finish up quick, everyone's gonna diiiie! Don't worry if you can't, though! It's okay, you guys aren't geniuses like me! So just relax! Even stupid people can live... Well, I guess they can't, huh!? Too baaaaad! Pugyahaha!—

The same annoying insults as always. Even Yue couldn't help but be irritated. She frowned ever so slightly, resisted the impulse to punch the door, and continued working on the puzzle.

Hajime and Shea sensed her shift in mood, but they decided not to say anything and continued beating down the undying army of golems.

"Hajime-saaan. Can't you blow them away with that other thing you used before?" The knights swarmed up the staircases like cockroaches, annoying and hard to kill. Tired of hitting them back, Shea begged Hajime to use his grenades again.

"Moron. What if it triggers a trap? I can't throw them out just like that. There's no telling what'll happen."

"That army of golems has already trampled every inch of the staircase!"

"This is Miledi Reisen we're talking about here. What's to say there isn't some kind of switch that doesn't react to golems?"

"Ugh, the scary thing is that you might be right..."

They conversed with surprising nonchalance as they blew through wave after wave of golems. Though Shea had been panicking at first, after seeing how calmly Hajime and Yue had handled the situation, she'd regained her composure.

"Huh?"

Shea whacked another golem off the staircase before continuing.

"For so long, all I was good at was just running away. But now here I am, fighting shoulder to shoulder with you Hajime-san... That's why I'm happy."

"...You're a real weirdo, you know that?"

"Ehehe. I'm going to flirt with you so much once we're out of here!"

"Whoa, slow down there. Don't just go putting up death flags for no reason. The tragic heroine role doesn't suit you, so just stop."

"This is where you're supposed to say 'I definitely won't let you die, honey!' Come on!"

"Now that deviates from the script way too much. I'm actually a little scared by how optimistic you've gotten recently, but... I guess I can't say anything."

They continued chatting idly like that for a few more minutes. One could say they were flirting, even. Suddenly, a dark shadow loomed behind them. Yue.

"No flirting."

"We weren't flirting."

"Fufufu, is that what it looked like? Aww, you're making me blush."

"Shut up, you." Yue glared angrily at Hajime and Shea, the latter of which was starting to grow a little tired. But she knew it wasn't the time for this, so instead she puffed out her chest a little and reported her success.

"It's open."

"Wow, that was fast. You're amazing, Yue. Come on, Shea, we're going!"

"Okay!"

Hajime glanced back and saw that the door was indeed now open. There didn't seem to be anything too special about the room beyond. Regardless, he turned around and started heading for the door. If they could reseal that door, they'd be able to halt the golem's advance. Yue ran through first, followed by Shea. They stood on either side of the double doors, ready to close them the minute Hajime got through.

Hajime threw some grenades at the golems as a parting gift before sprinting through the doors. The golems surged forward, determined to stop the intruders. And yet, the grenades exploded before they could. Those that weren't blown apart lost their balance and fell. And in that moment, Yue and Shea slammed the doors shut.

Just as he'd checked with Farsight earlier, the room was completely empty. Even if it hadn't been Miledi's room herself, Hajime had at least been expecting a clue, so the whole situation was rather anticlimactic.

"Is this another one of her tricks? Have this big old fancy door and seal, but put nothing behind it?"

"It's possible."

"Stupid Miledi! How long are you going to keep making fun of us!?"

As the three of them all hung their heads in disappointment, they suddenly heard the noise they'd come to hate.

Clunk!

"Wha—!?" The room suddenly started trembling. Suddenly, Hajime could feel G-forces hitting him from the side.

"Ugh— Wait, is this whole room moving?"

"Looks like i—!?"

"Ugyaah!?"

Just as he said that, they found themselves being assailed by G-forces from above. The unexpected shift made Yue bite her tongue, and she held her mouth with tears in her eyes. Meanwhile, Shea was sprawled across the ground like an upside down frog.

The room kept going in all different directions for a good forty seconds before it came to a sudden stop, ignoring all laws of inertia.

Hajime had managed to use his spiked shoes to keep himself in place, and even brace himself against the impact of the sudden stop, but Shea wasn't so lucky. When the room came to a halt she slammed into the wall headfirst. All the rolling around from before had already been bad for her, but this was the last straw. She tottered to her feet like a drunk, pale-faced and completely frazzled. She would be out of commission for a few minutes. Yue had clung on to Hajime the moment she'd realized what was going on, so she'd been fine.

"It's finally over... Yue, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Hajime untransmuted his spikes and stood up. He examined his surroundings, but nothing in particular stood out. Considering how much they'd moved, chances were if he opened the door they'd come through they'd be in a different room.

"H-Hajime-san, aren't you going to say something to me too?" Shea covered her mouth to keep herself from puking as she glared at Hajime. She didn't look too happy about being ignored.

"I'm pretty sure if I said anything you'd get so excited that you really would throw up... and we don't need to add vomiting rabbit to your list of nicknames, right?"

"That might be true, but a girl still wants to be cared about you— Blaaaargh!"

"See, what'd I tell you. Look, just get some rest."

"Ulp... Bleh..." Ignoring Shea, who was retching on all fours, Hajime and Yue looked around again. There still wasn't anything new, so they decided to head for the door.

"Now then, what's she going to throw at us next?"

"The guy who was controlling the golems?"

"Possible. Miledi's supposed to be long dead... so who was controlling those things?"

"It doesn't matter what pops out. I'll protect you, Hajime... And you too, I guess, Shea."

"I can hear you, you know? Blaargh..."

Hajime relaxed a little when he heard the confidence in Yue's voice. He softly ran his fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes happily and snuggled up to Hajime.

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, but could you two stop going off into your own little world all the time like that? I start to feel really left out and lonely, y— Ulp..."

Shea quickly cupped her mouth in an attempt to keep whatever lunch she had left down.

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, but could you stop doing that thing you do sometimes where it looks like you came straight out of a horror flick? I start to feel chills run down my spine."

"H-How dare you. I'm just a maiden in love that wants to— Ulp... That wants to be pampered like Yue-san. So hug me and pamper me already! U-Urgh..."

"Please don't say that when it looks like you're about to throw up... and stop adding to your requests like that."

"You're one hundred years too early to be hugged by Hajime, Shea."

Shea somehow managed to drag herself over to Hajime, and looked up at him with pleading eyes, her hands still covering her mouth. He ignored her and turned back to the door. Behind him Shea was going "Hey— Bweeeeh!" but he pretended not to hear.

So what's behind the mystery door? Miledi's hideout? The golem master? More traps? With a fearless smile, he pushed open the door. Beyond it was...

"Doesn't this room look familiar?"

"Very familiar. Especially that stone tablet."

There was another room past the door. A stone tablet in the middle and a passageway heading off to the left was all that was visible. The reason it looked so familiar was because—

"This looks just like... the room we started in?" Shea said what they were all thinking, but no one wanted to say. However, it did indeed look just like the room they'd first started in. In fact, it didn't just look like it, it was that exact room. The proof was in the letters that appeared on the tablet.

—Hey, how does it feel? All that hard work just to end up at the start again. What'd you feel when you first realized it? Come on, tell me. How're you holding up? Well?—

"..." Hajime and the others were all shocked speechless. Their expressions were bloodcurling. None of them so much as twitched as they read what was written on the tablet. A few seconds later, more words appeared.

—Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This labyrinth morphs after a set amount of time. Miledi-chan wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't get bored by running through the same paths over and over. Are you happy? Well? You better say thanks! She did this all out of the goodness of her heart! It should have finished changing by now, so whatever maps you made are useless. Feel free to thank me! You didn't make any, did you? Oh, did you poor souls work hard on mapping everything you could? Well, that's just too bad! Bugyayaya—

"Ha...hahaha."

"Fufufu."

"Fuhihihihi."

All three of them devolved into hysterical fits of laughter. The screams of "Milediiiiiiiiiiii!" that followed were surely heard by all the creatures in the labyrinth. Those screams only grew louder when, upon exiting the passageway, they'd found she'd been true to her word. The entire layout of the dungeon had changed.

It took some time, but they finally managed to regain their composure and continued their expedition. Naturally, things did not go smoothly. Shea especially even got caught in the most basic of traps like metal basins falling from the sky, getting caught in birdlime, being sprayed with some sticky white liquid that smelled disgusting, and more. Eventually, she became a very agile rabbit.