Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, night had already fallen.
For those deep within the Man-Made Dungeon Knossos, where daylight never reached, whether night had fallen was entirely irrelevant, but for the support group remaining on the surface, who had been waiting for the advance group to return, it was more than enough to stir anxiety.
As a result, the members of the support group, who were standing on high alert in front of the entrance to Knossos, had already begun to grow uneasy, gradually breaking into hushed whispers.
"...Riveria, what do you think?"
Loki had been staring fixedly at the entrance of Knossos, and seeing that there was still no sign of movement even after nightfall, she slowly voiced this question.
Hearing that, Riveria, who stood beside Loki, wore a grave expression.
"It has already passed the time we agreed on beforehand..." Riveria stated without emotion. "Before entering the labyrinth, Finn said that if they still hadn’t returned by this point, and there wasn’t even the slightest bit of news, then it meant that either something had gone wrong or that they were trapped."
"Well, there ain’t much we can really do about that," Loki said with a sigh. "It’s a labyrinth we’ve never seen before. If it were the Dungeon, Finn and the others could probably figure something out, but this man-made one? It’s just straight-up unfair. Who even knows what’s inside?"
"There is only one thing we can be certain of..." Riveria said in a low voice, paused for a moment, then continued, "That is, this labyrinth may be far larger than we originally imagined."
Otherwise, with the ability of those in the advance group, it would be impossible for them to have explored for this long without returning.
Riveria then added with a voice that sounded like neither a sigh nor pure amazement.
"Even though I don’t really want to believe it, we’d better treat this labyrinth as a second dungeon. Even if it isn’t entirely the same, its scale is probably comparable to the Upper Floors of the Dungeon."
In other words, the Man-Made Dungeon was at least as deep as the second floor of a dungeon, which was the world-shaking implication Riveria meant to convey.
"Tch, so it’s not just some second dungeon entrance, but like a whole second dungeon, huh?" Loki clicked her tongue as she spoke. "Hah, the Lower World’s really full of stuff that goes way past what the gods expect. To think something this unknown even exists... should I be kinda excited, or worried?"
"Loki, this isn’t the time for jokes," Riveria said with a frown. "The real question is whether we should set out and rescue them."
"Hmm..."
Loki immediately folded her arms and fell into thought.
Naturally, she wanted to go and save Finn and the others, but they were far stronger than the support group, and no one knew what kind of unknown existed within this labyrinth that could trap them. If the support group rushed in at this moment, they would very likely be like lambs entering a tiger’s den, swallowed without leaving anything behind.
If this labyrinth truly was that dangerous, then as the familia’s goddess, the one thing Loki had to avoid at all costs was total annihilation. Hence, even if it meant sacrificing the advance group, the members of the support group had to be preserved, a thought that was both cruel and unavoidable.
With that in mind, Loki spoke.
"We should do something, but it ain’t your time to go in yet," Loki said calmly. "I can still feel their Falna hasn’t disappeared."
As the familia’s goddess, she could faintly sense the presence of the Falna she herself had engraved.
Unfortunately, this sense did not offer many advantages, and its only real function was to allow the goddess to know whether the number of Falna she had engraved had decreased, and whether any of her children had already fallen.
Still, under these circumstances, she could tell that although Finn and the others had yet to return, at the very least, they were still alive and had not died.
"They’re most likely trapped, or maybe they ran into some kinda trouble and can’t make it back."
Loki patted her cheeks, then turned to Riveria and issued several instructions.
"Send a few beast-human members who are quick on their feet and have sharp noses to go scout things out. They don’t gotta go too deep, main thing is just bringing back whatever info they find."
"Also send some folks to the Guild and have ’em help us look up some records, specifically about the designer of this place, that craftsman named Daedalus."
"I’ve got a feeling this labyrinth’s kinda tied to that guy, and the Guild might have some records on him."
Hearing this, Riveria nodded, then asked for confirmation.
"Finn and the others should be fine, right?"
In response to Riveria’s question, Loki gave a broad smile.
"No matter what, Finn and Gareth are already Level 7, Tiona and Tione are Level 6, and even Raul and Aki are Level 5. We gotta trust ’em."
"And besides, even if something unexpected pops up, someone among ’em’s gonna step up and cleanly handle everything."
"Don’t forget, in our familia, there’s someone who straight-up defies common sense..."
Loki’s meaningful words caused Riveria to fall silent, since she naturally knew who Loki was referring to. It was just that she did not understand why Loki had such absolute confidence in that person.
"Don’t worry, that kid’s crazy capable."
Loki patted Riveria on the shoulder and said this, a flicker in her eyes.
It couldn’t be helped.
"Anyone who treats that kid like just some normal Level 6 has basically hit a dead end."
Leaving these words behind, Loki said nothing more.
Riveria also slowly withdrew, beginning to carry out the instructions Loki had given.
At this time, it had been roughly ten hours since the advance group had entered Knossos, and the battle within it was still ongoing.
===
*BOOM!*
Within a hard, stone-made corridor, a door forged from orichalcum slammed down violently, sealing off the path ahead and trapping those who had arrived here, leaving them unable to advance any further.
*ROOOAAAAAARRR—!!!*
At the same time, accompanied by a hoarse, broken roar, a swarm of vividly colored monsters poured out from the cracked walls, floor, and ceiling, locking onto the prey that had appeared here.
However, in that very instant, the identities of hunter and prey were reversed.
"Wind Breathing - Ninth Form - Idaten Typhoon!"
A violent storm suddenly erupted within the sealed corridor, carrying countless razor-sharp wind blades as it swept toward the monsters closing in from all directions.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
In an instant, the sound of flesh being cut apart rang out repeatedly, as merciless slashes harvested the monsters surging in from every side, cutting them down one by one.
In the blink of an eye, all the Violas were torn apart as if dismembered, their bodies splitting into chunks of flesh, while all the caterpillar monsters, the Virgas, were hacked apart and burst open on the spot, spraying large amounts of corrosive fluid.
As for the Valgs, some were crushed flat by massive chunks of the Violas’ flesh, some were corroded by the splashing corrosive fluid of the Virgas, and others were swept into the storm of razor-sharp wind blades, shredded into fragments, and left without intact remains.
Riezel slaughtered countless monsters in this manner, killing the vividly colored monsters as easily as slaughtering dogs.
Unfortunately, these monsters were simply too many.
Even after Riezel had cut down so many, they continued to surge endlessly from all directions. Some even devoured the magic stones of their fallen kin, grew stronger, and only then advanced in his direction.
Needless to say, this was violence born of sheer numbers, a human-wave tactic—no, more accurately, an insect-wave tactic. Under such numerical violence, even Riezel found himself pressured as many vividly colored monsters closed in on him.
Especially the Valgs, because they were small in size, their agility rose sharply, allowing them to swarm to within only two or three meters of Riezel in an instant.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Explode Mine."
Riezel immediately set up landmine magic around himself.
*BOOM!*
At once, a Valg touched a magic landmine that had instantly buried itself underground, and under the explosion of the magic landmine, it was blown completely apart.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Explosions erupted continuously around Riezel, kicking up terrifying shockwaves. Not only were the approaching Valgs blasted into pieces, but the shockwaves also sent many nearby monsters flying, preventing them from getting close to him.
Riezel stood his ground like this, sometimes using swordsmanship and sometimes using magic, holding back by himself a monster army that would have given even Finn, Ais, and the others a severe headache, and might even have forced them into a desperate situation.
However, the number of vividly colored monsters still showed no sign of decreasing, as new ones were replenished each time from the walls, floor, and ceiling, making Riezel increasingly irritated.
"Tch, there has to be a breeding ground for these damn monsters nearby."
Otherwise, the monsters could not possibly be replenished in such an endless stream.
"Huft, there’s no way to kill them all like this..."
With no time left to continue dragging things out, Riezel immediately abandoned all restraint and unleashed a major attack.
"Widen Magic - Cry of the Banshee."
Yes, Riezel used a ranged instant-death magic.
Although he was not a necromancy magic caster and lacked special abilities that enhanced the success rate of instant-death magic, making it impossible for him to instantly kill opponents of a certain level of strength, the vividly colored monsters were undeniably weak compared to him and still fell within the range of targets that could be instantly killed.
Consequently, when a piercing scream like a banshee’s wail spread through the corridor and echoed through the sealed space, all life present, except for Riezel, was impartially granted the same fate.
What fate?
Death.
"..."
All the vividly colored monsters that had been surging toward Riezel’s direction froze in place at once, unable to move. Only after a long while did they collapse one by one, completely losing their life aura and turning into corpses.
"Now!"
Within the sealed corridor littered with monster corpses, Riezel suddenly leaped upward.
"Clear Blue Sky!"
Blazing flames erupted from his body, and the black blade radiating intense heat was drawn and swung downward in an arc like the path of the sun.
*BOOOM!*
In an instant, the adamantite floor was shattered by the blazing wheel of fire.
Riezel advanced deeper into Knossos in this manner, steadily closing in on the floor where the enemy leaders were located.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: /VALRRR]