-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
Like Asher, they were all exhausted. Sweat was running down their bodies and their breathing was ragged, on the edge of its limits. Asher's muscles burned from using mana for so long.
Indeed, using mana for prolonged periods or on a body that is not yet resistant has consequences.
When using mana to boost muscles and increase strength, side effects such as burning, pain, extreme fatigue and body weakening arise.
And those effects were at their peak.
They had managed to get out of the castle just as it collapsed, creating an avalanche of dust and a deafening roar as everything was being destroyed by the second.
Dust rose into the air, covering much of the forest at a considerable height.
The castle was enormous.
Its richly detailed structure had collapsed devastatingly in a short span of time.
Asher kept running after the others as large fragments flew far away due to the colossal collapse. They kept running until they finally emerged from the forest and stopped in front of the labyrinth.
At last, their footsteps stopped, and they fell exhausted to the ground, their breaths still uncontrolled.
"That was faster... than I expected."
"The castle was a lot bigger than it looked."
"Well, the important thing is that we got out unscathed. That's what counts for now."
The others shared his thoughts as Asher surveyed the castle, now reduced to ruins.
A curtain of dust hung in the air, as the last vestiges of the castle slowly faded away as the seconds passed, until finally....
"Oh..."
Asher watched as the castle disappeared, reduced to nothing, covered by a dense dust that wandered in the air.
Then he lay down on the ground and gazed up at the twilight sky.
Although it seemed late, the sky hadn't changed, no matter how much time they spent inside.
"Mmm..."
Emilia got up from the ground and walked towards the entrance of the labyrinth.
The mana beast was nearby, quietly observing everything that had happened, lying on the ground showing no impatience or discomfort at the humans' presence, except for Emilia.
However...
"Why did Freddy move earlier?"
Asher had watched Freddy for an instant, moving toward the throne.
He didn't understand why he was facing the guardian.
True, the guardian had been tough.
He definitely shouldn't underestimate semi grade 7 monsters from now on.
Unless he was a fourth circle, capable of taking on a grade 6 monster.
In the past, Asher had fought a grade 6 monster, it was a bad idea.
Even with Encrid's help, they failed to defeat the monster. It was then that Isabella intervened, granting him a small portion of the power of the Oz of Darkness.
A weapon created purely to destroy absolute beings like the gods.
That was why the power Isabella could lend was so immense.
However, at the moment, it was impossible for her to use it, as Asher was barely a third circle. For that he would need to reach the ninth circle at its full potential.
"Well then..."
Asher thought, closing his eyes.
Soon he appeared in his world of consciousness, where he saw Encrid and Isabella sitting on what appeared to be a couch made of black mana.
"..."
But...
How did they do that?
Had his mind become a house to them? They were both sitting, staring in a fixed direction.
Soon they noticed Asher and looked at him.
"How did you...?"
"Just think about it and you can create anything inside your mind."
"..."
Asher thought of something completely random.
And then...
"What the hell is that?"
Encrid frowned slightly.
Asher had imagined a television, which appeared in front of Encrid and Isabella just by thinking about it.
This was the power of the mind.
"Call it 'Television.' You can watch things on there."
"How do I use it?"
Asher thought of a remote control, which immediately appeared in his hand.
He handed it to Encrid, explaining how to use it.
However, Asher looked at Isabella.
"It's strange... it's like she's seen a television before."
It was impossible.
Television didn't exist in that world.
It was too advanced a technology for the capabilities of that place.
Asher could make a television appear because it was inside his mind, where anything is possible just by thinking about it.
But in reality, nothing happened. They only saw Asher with his eyes closed while he was in his mental world.
That's why he sat next to Isabella.
Curiosity was invading him.
She looked normal, but she wasn't quite.
She had sat in a... different way.
"Ah..."
Asher opened his mouth, but closed it immediately.
He didn't know what to say.
It was difficult to engage Isabella in conversation.
I didn't know anything about her, or what to talk about.
It was then that...
"..."
Asher noticed Isabella's hand move around the back of the couch, right where one would rest their neck to relax.
Her mana slid towards Asher, wrapping around his neck, and in a moment....
"Uh..."
She pulled him to herself, and her arm ended up around Asher's neck, resting him against her.
However...
"What...?"
Asher was unable to utter a single word.
Because he didn't understand what she was doing.
In fact, she wasn't even looking at Asher, but was acting like this out of nowhere, without showing any expression on her face.
Asher watched, very confused, but....
"Because she reminds me of someone... Oh, that's right... He reminds me of Amelia."
She was doing the same with him.
It was strange.
Isabella's actions were similar to Amelia's.
No matter how you looked at it, they were similar to a certain extent. The fact that Isabella was doing that now indicated that her actions were comparable to Amelia's.
Because they felt the same, and gave the feeling that Isabella was Amelia at the same time.
"It's impossible for you to be Amelia, you really reincarnated too."
Because it was impossible.
"Anyway, I don't know if Amelia is still alive in the other world."
Even though Asher had died, that didn't mean that Amelia had also passed away that same day.
Of course, there were also possibilities.
However, that she would be reincarnated in this world just like Asher....
"That's a mystery and impossible to know."
Asher looked at Isabella's face, which was currently focused on the television.
There was a program on.
"..."
However, he didn't know if that would actually work.
Encrid... Was she really watching a program on television?
It was unexpected.
But Asher watched Isabella.
He was curious, and now more than ever.
Her current behavior was strange.
"What are you doing?"
Asher spoke up.
He was curious about Isabella's intentions.
"..."
She didn't respond.
She didn't even look at Asher; her gaze was still fixed on the television.
"Haa..."
This was annoying.
Asher sighed, though he didn't pay much attention to Isabella.
"Mmm..."
It was then that he felt a strange sensation and stood up abruptly. He closed his eyes and...
"W-what is... this?"
Looking at the others, Asher asked.
Because the sky was cracking as it fell to the ground.
Rumbling.
The ground shook as the entire ground began to crack, rising as if an earthquake caused it.
Even though everything was happening quickly, Asher watched the others.
For they noticed something rather strange.
"The Dungeon is destroying itself."
The entire Dungeon was shaking, and the sky was collapsing like a concrete ceiling violently collapsing.
Such a strange phenomenon and hard to determine how long it would last.
Occasionally, Dungeons are suddenly destroyed.
It doesn't matter if you kill all the monsters, if you run out of mana in the Dungeon, or if you eliminate the boss.
When a Dungeon starts to collapse, it is called a "Dungeon Collapse".
This happens because the Dungeon starts to crumble and everything inside it is slowly destroyed.
As if it were an entire world in ruins.
Asher looked at the others in alarm and soon pulled out the return stone.
"Use the return stone."
Because it was impossible to exit through the teleportation door; it was too far away, just on the other side of the Dungeon. Therefore, they used the return stone.
Muffled sound.
Asher and the others activated the return stone and then....
A yellow glow emerged from the stone, and suddenly the world around them froze and soon became distorted.
"What...?"
They soon noticed that the environment changed to a familiar one; they were teleported in the blink of an eye.
"This is... the Dungeon Management section."
For they had come out of the Dungeon.
Rumble.
It was then that Asher and the people present looked in the direction of the teleportation door, which began to crumble, falling apart as if it had been destroyed.
"That what...why was the door destroyed...is it because of the collapse of the Dungeon?"
However, that was impossible.
Because a Dungeon collapse doesn't make the teleportation door destroy itself just like that out of nowhere.
"No, this is different... It's as if..."
Rumble.
Suddenly, Asher looked at the other teleportation doors.
Because they also started to crumble at the same time, falling to the ground destroyed.
It was then that Asher realized something.
"Something... it affects all the teleport gates in the world."