Chapter 30: Dungeon Field Class (5)
We sprinted at full speed toward the passage we had checked beforehand.
Tak-tak-tak!
Behind us, the acrid smell of something burning spread in an instant along with thick smoke, followed by urgent footsteps and cries echoing everywhere.
“Eeek!”
“Kiiiieeek!!!”
Clack-clack-clack-clack!
The sound of giant ants snapping their mandibles resounded noisily from all directions.
Their sense of urgency was palpable, reaching even us.
“Hah, looks like those bastards are really pissed off?”
“Maybe they didn’t like our kind gesture of making sure their kids wouldn’t be cold.”
“What? Listen to this crazy guy, hahaha!!!”
Even though I had just tossed the words out carelessly, Tesrad burst into laughter loud enough to shake the cave.
Then, all of a sudden, he turned his head to look at Anette.
“Hey, Ganetsa. What should I do? I think I’m starting to like her.”
His words, half-laughing, were answered with Anette’s icy voice.
“Shut your mouth and keep running. You’ll bite your tongue.”
Kwaaang!
The moment she finished speaking, a deafening explosion erupted behind us.
It seemed the flames had reached the incendiary bombs we had planted earlier.
Because of that, the fire blazed even stronger, and soon afterward, explosive sounds burst out sporadically from all over.
In proportion, the frenzied cries of the giant ants grew even louder.
That was when it happened.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
A swarm of giant ants came charging toward us from the front.
“Just ignore them! They won’t attack us!”
I shouted quickly and immediately leapt aside.
As expected, instead of rushing at us, they dashed desperately toward the Cocoon Chamber.
We let them pass by and resumed our run through the passage.
Now, just like those, other giant ants who had received the urgent signal from the Cocoon Chamber would start gathering from all directions.
“As Lian said, they’re starting to gather little by little.”
“Yeah, so it’d be best to hurry. One slip, and we could get surrounded.”
At those words, Allen, running beside me at the front, nodded his head.
As I ran, I discreetly touched the Necklace and then quietly tore the Charm I was holding.
‘With this…’
The signal would have reached Sister Roberta and Yuran, and even Professor Shagas.
What I informed them was that mutant cocoons really did exist, their numbers exceeded a thousand, and lastly, the rough location of the Cocoon Chamber.
‘We don’t have enough firepower to burn them all…’
Considering the chamber’s size, the sheer number, and the cave’s terrain, Tesrad’s fireballs—especially since he was still hiding his true power—wouldn’t even come close.
Even with incendiary bombs and oil, the amount wasn’t nearly enough to burn everything.
Besides, with the giant ants throwing themselves into the flames to extinguish them, I never expected we could wipe out every cocoon in the first place.
But at the very least, it was certain we could inflict considerable damage on them.
The unhatched ones, still trapped inside their cocoons, had shells so fragile they could shatter from a child’s pebble.
“Kiiiiek! Kyaaaak!”
“Kiaaaagh!!!”
Sure enough, some mutants burst out of burning cocoons.
But they were instantly engulfed in flames, thrashing violently before collapsing.
‘Mutants or not, they’re still ants.’
One of the well-known strategies was to target them before they could break free from the cocoon.
And the still-soft shells couldn’t withstand the raging fire.
“Good.”
So far, everything was going according to plan.
All that remained was to meet Cecilia and escape safely from here.
I grasped the Necklace once again.
It engraved Cecilia’s location into my mind as if carving it into my brain.
She was not far from here.
So now, if I just approached carefully and made it seem like a coincidence when we met…
“Lian!”
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, Allen slammed his shoulder into me, knocking me aside.
It caught me completely off guard, leaving me no chance to resist.
But I had no intention of blaming him for it.
Because right at that moment, something had burst out of a cocoon, lunging straight for where I had been.
“Kieeeek!”
“Kh…!”
It was a mutant ant.
It seemed to have been waiting, holding still until we got close.
Clack-clack-clack!
Its mandibles snapped violently, trying to slice apart what they had caught.
Though its outer shell hadn’t fully hardened yet, its jaws were sharp and tough.
In fact, the creature easily crunched through the end of Allen’s mace, which he had hastily thrust forward, as if it were nothing more than candy.
“Tsk.”
Seeing this, Anette clicked her tongue, drew the dagger strapped to her thigh, and hurled it.
She grabbed the wire attached to the end, twirling it so that it wrapped around the giant ant’s neck.
“Hup!”
With a sharp cry, she pulled, slicing its neck clean through.
The headless body thrashed before collapsing, yet its severed head still clamped stubbornly onto the mace.
“Just drop it, Allen!”
At my words, Allen hesitated for a moment.
“Even if you cut off its head, a giant ant’s nerves remain active for hours. Just let it go!”
Only then did Allen release the mace without regret.
The severed head rolled across the ground, still grinding down on the weapon.
Though the sudden ambush had slowed us briefly, we quickly picked up our pace as if nothing had happened.
Then Allen, drawing close to me, muttered in his usual low, apologetic tone.
“Forgive me, Lian.”
“What are you talking about? If anything, I should be thanking you. You saved me.”
“No, I’ll make sure to compensate you.”
At his stubbornly rigid response, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
I spoke to him lightly, as though joking.
“Fine, then just buy me a meal later.”
Allen was about to answer, but I stopped him and spoke first.
“Let’s focus on getting out of here first.”
At that, Allen didn’t say anything more.
He only gave a single nod.
“Thank you for helping me earlier.”
“……”
At my thanks, Anette glanced at me and simply jerked her chin.
It meant I should shut up and keep running.
“Yeah, let’s hurry up and get out of here.”
While running, Tesrad exhaled and spoke.
“Unlike you guys, I can’t shake them off if they bite into me.”
At his joke mixed with mischief, we quickened our pace again.
“That damn bastard… just wait until we get out of here!”
The mage teamed up with Cecilia shouted in fury, his face flushed red.
The one he cursed was none other than their team leader, who was not present here now.
“He sure talked sweet like his tongue was dipped in honey.”
“Haah, I really want to kill him… seriously.”
The other teammates were just as furious.
That man, who had been preaching about the importance of cooperation, had abandoned everyone the moment the giant ants appeared to attack from both sides, running away by himself.
The ones left behind as bait had barely escaped with their lives, but they were in an utterly wretched state.
“…Um, Lady Everglenn. Is your arm alright?”
At that moment, a female archer sneaked a glance at Cecilia.
Just moments ago, Cecilia had been bitten by a giant ant while shielding her.
“Yes.”
Cecilia nodded as if it were nothing, but her right arm clearly didn’t look fine to anyone’s eyes.
Seeing that, the archer hesitated before taking a bandage from her pack and wrapping Cecilia’s arm.
“Thank you.”
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
When Cecilia expressed gratitude, the archer replied with a complicated expression.
Then, a warrior holding a double-headed axe muttered quietly.
“But doesn’t it feel strange around here?”
“It’s definitely gotten darker… and there’s mist, too.”
The mage nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s take out the glowstones. They gave them to us for situations like this, after all.”
“Should each of us carry one?”
“That might waste them… how about just the one at the front and the one at the rear carry them? We should save them, just in case. I also heard they’ll inspect our remaining items when tallying scores…”
“Now that you say it, that makes sense.”
Unlike earlier, the warrior easily wrapped up the discussion and then looked at Cecilia.
“Since your arm is injured, will you be alright in the lead? Should I take point instead?”
“No, I’m fine. I can handle it.”
“Hmm, please let us know immediately if it becomes too much.”
“Hold on, I’ll at least cast a little healing magic. It’s not my specialty, but it’s better than nothing.”
Perhaps because they had suffered together, a strange sense of camaraderie had begun to grow among them.
They reorganized into formation: Cecilia in the lead, followed by the mage, the archer, and the warrior at the rear, then moved deeper into the dungeon.
Time passed.
“The mist has gotten thicker.”
The mage muttered bitterly.
The fog was so dense it swallowed even the light of the glowstones.
“What should we do? It’s too dangerous to keep going like this.”
“We don’t have many glowstones left either…”
As they huddled to think, the archer spoke.
“Let’s tie ourselves together with rope.”
“What?”
“And we give all the glowstones to the person at the front. The fog will only get thicker anyway.”
She shrugged and continued explaining.
“Think about it. This is probably part of the test, too. Like that traitor said, they’re probably judging our teamwork and adaptability. It makes sense—since the fog appeared, we haven’t seen a single ant or monster.”
The others nodded at her surprisingly reasonable suggestion.
In the end, they decided to tie ropes around their waists to keep their distance connected.
They also agreed on signals—shouting or tugging on the rope if anything went wrong.
‘…I can’t see a thing.’
Just as everyone expected, the fog grew thicker until not even an inch ahead was visible.
Taking the lead again, Cecilia placed her hand on the wall and carefully moved forward.
The others said she was being stubborn for no reason, but she had her own confidence to rely on.
Though she had always been clumsy at sensing and handling mana, when it came to feeling the flow of nature itself, she was unmatched.
…Of course, since “the flow of nature” was a term she had coined herself, no one else recognized or understood it.
“……”
But before long, Cecilia realized that something was different from usual.
There were no voices.
Neither the clear ones nor the faint ones—none at all.
The fog kept growing thicker.
It was as if it paralyzed sight, hearing, everything.
‘It’s blocked.’
At that moment, Cecilia realized that the path she had chosen was blocked at the end.
She stopped briefly and looked around, but since she couldn’t find any path at all, she let out a small sigh.
“We’ll have to turn back. The way ahead is blocked.”
No answer came.
“…Everyone?”
Cecilia instinctively turned her head, but because of the thick fog, she couldn’t see even an inch behind.
At the unsettling silence, she reflexively tugged on the rope tied around her waist.
But the rope slid toward her without any resistance.
At some point, it had been roughly torn apart, as if chewed through by something.
Swaash.
For an instant, it felt like a breeze had blown from ahead.
In a place where no wind should exist, Cecilia looked that way.
And then she saw someone standing there, someone she had never expected.
“…Professor Rahma?”
Archbishop Rahma.
He had appeared without notice, standing before Cecilia.
He was smiling with the same gentle kindness as always.
“Greetings, Lady Everglenn.”
Why was this man here?
As she thought that, the bandaged back of her hand suddenly throbbed with pain.
“I have been waiting for you.”
And then, the natural flow that had been silent until now whispered to her.
Run.