Swarms of monsters choked the passageway, baring their fangs at us—the "intruders."
The creatures surging from all directions were a nightmare of shapes and sizes. Some were four-legged beast types, while others were twisted things that barely maintained a humanoid form.
The sight of such a horde closing in would normally have been enough to make anyone’s legs freeze.
But...
"You are in the way."
The words were spoken in a voice deeper than usual, followed immediately by a flash of silver.
Lene’s greatsword swept out in a horizontal arc. With a single step, she cleaved through three monsters at once.
Splashes of blood painted the stone walls. Before the first spray could even land, she reversed her blade, carving through even more of the horde as she charged forward.
She stepped in, slashed upward, and crushed them down.
The way she unleashed her Consecutive Strikes, as if venting every emotion she held within her chest, was like a storm. She didn't just fight; she blew them away.
"The front is clear."
Lene’s voice was flat, and she didn't even bother to look back.
She was so quiet and professional that it was impossible to believe she was the same innocent, cheerful girl who stayed by Rai's side. To those of us who knew her usual self, the transformation was eerie.
"...!"
Her greatsword swung again, shredding the center of the path. The monsters caught in the impact were obliterated, vanishing into clouds of black particles.
Eyes locked straight ahead, she slashed, advanced, then slashed again.
There was a desperation in her movements, as if she were the one fighting a retreat.
—But Lene wasn't the only one on edge.
"Disperse."
The moment Elysia’s clear, quiet voice rang out, the very air began to vibrate.
A green magic circle expanded around her, birthing translucent turbulent flows that wove between us students like living serpents.
The wind knocked a leaping beast-type out of the air.
A thin wind membrane flickered, bisecting a monster that had tried to flank one of the students.
Black particles scattered, and the wind raced toward its next target.
Left, right, ceiling, rear—it was everywhere.
"Maintain the formation. Advance without fear."
Despite the calm in Elysia's voice, her face betrayed her anxiety.
There was a faint crease between her brows. Though her posture and tone were those of a dignified Student Council President, she was clearly losing her composure.
She repelled monsters from the sides, deflected shadows falling from above, and shredded small-tier species with compressed wind.
However, the flow of her magic felt rushed rather than controlled.
(She’s terrified for him...)
I recalled the Headmaster’s explanation of the plan.
Wary of the strong and ruthless toward the weak—the plan was to exploit those characteristics of the Primal Labyrinth. While Rai acted as a lone decoy to draw all its attention, the main force would strike the core.
The logic was sound. Tactically, it was the best move we had.
If someone with Rai’s power acted as bait, the labyrinth wouldn't be able to ignore him.
(And it's working. These things in front of us are nothing but a mob of weaklings.)
There were no strong entities.
Even the Floor Guardians that appeared to block our descent were weak enough to be bypassed with ease.
The operation was a success.
So far, casualties were non-existent. There were injuries, but no one had died.
The sheer number of monsters was staggering, but their quality was pathetic. It was as if the dungeon was so focused on its "primary target" that it had no resources left to deal with us properly.
(...Stay safe, Rai.)
I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on my sword.
"The left is breaking! Move!"
I shouted and lunged.
I slashed upward into the throat of a leaping beast. Feeling the resistance of tearing flesh, I spun, cutting a humanoid type in half with a horizontal strike.
Black particles filled the air, and as my vision cleared, I saw another monster.
"Hyaaah!"
I met the four-legged monster’s charge head-on.
I dodged its lunge by a hair’s breadth and drove my blade into its heart. I jerked my arm upward, the blade splitting the creature from the inside out until it fell apart in two pieces.
It collapsed with a final scream and dissolved into nothingness.
Their numbers were high, but their patterns were simple.
"Yuu! Behind you!"
The moment Ciel’s voice reached me, the monster at my back was shredded.
It was a flurry of dual-sword strikes. Silver trails intersected, and the humanoid monster behind me collapsed before it could even realize it was dead.
Her sky-blue hair swayed as Ciel landed and glanced my way.
"More are coming! Stay with me!"
She gave a short, sharp cry and sprinted forward.
A wall of monsters loomed in her path.
"—Right!"
I followed her, pushing forward.
I slashed, ran, and slashed again without a second to breathe.
The tunnels twisted and turned, the stairs seemed to go on forever, and swarms of monsters flooded every hall we entered. Still, we didn't stop.
If we stopped, it would be over.
That premonition was the only thing driving us forward.
Eventually, after racing down a long spiral staircase, the view finally opened up.
It was a massive atrium, nearly identical to the Grand Hall at the entrance. The ceiling was impossibly high, the floor was covered in geometric patterns, and magic stones embedded in the walls cast an eerie glow.
(—The air is heavy...)
It felt like breathing through sludge. There was a pressure against my skin that made it crawl.
A sickening feeling of being watched washed over me. I looked toward the far end of the hall and saw the Great Door.
It looked like black iron, covered in tangled, intricate patterns, with a design like a giant eye at the top center. The door was shut tight, looking as though it would never budge—but more striking than its size was the unnatural damage in its center.
A massive impact crater.
As if an object of overwhelming mass—something neither stone nor steel—had been slammed into it, the surface was dented inward, surrounded by a web of deep cracks.
But it hadn't broken.
It was scarred, yet it remained closed.
"...That was Rai."
No one argued with Elysia.
In this place, only one person could have left a mark like that.
He had made it this far.
Alone.
(He was rejected...?)
I could feel the dense, lingering residue of mana around the door.
It looked as if the labyrinth itself had pushed back with everything it had.
(...It’s as if the dungeon is refusing to let him go any further.)
The labyrinth was sentient.
The Headmaster's warning echoed in my mind.
This door was proof that the dungeon had judged Rai as a genuine threat.
If he reached the core, he would destroy it. So, it had rejected him with all its might.
That dent was the result of their clash.
"Wait..."
Footsteps echoed from behind.
I turned to see students from other routes emerging into the hall from the various entrances.
Some were leaning on each other for support.
Some had bandages wrapped around their limbs.
Some were deathly pale from mana depletion.
But all of them were still standing, moving toward the center.
"Report. Casualties?" Elysia asked sharply.
"None, ma'am. The severely wounded have been sent back. In this squad, there are... ninety-seven capable of combat."
A murmur went through the hall.
There were fewer than five hundred of us here.
The A-Rank students alone—the main force—should have been over fifteen hundred. Our numbers had been cut down to this. Yet, to have zero deaths was nothing short of a miracle.
(—And this was with Rai as a decoy?)
The dungeon had clearly split its forces.
Its strongest entities and guardians were tied up elsewhere.
Even so, we were this exhausted.
If the labyrinth had come at us with everything it had from the very beginning...
A cold sweat soaked my back.
"...!?"
Suddenly, the "eye" carved into the Great Door began to pulse with light. A reddish-black glow flickered rhythmically, and the eye slowly curved into an arc. It twisted like a crescent moon, pulling into a grin.
It was laughing.
"—...!"
Someone gasped.
A student nearby shrieked in terror.
The stone carving began to writhe like a living muscle.
The lines of the patterns shifted, and the central pupil rolled around in its socket.
Slowly. Methodically. It looked over every single one of us in the hall, as if savoring the sight.
Then, a sensation like fingers brushing against my brain washed over me.
[...You're here...]
The voice sounded delighted.
[...The toys... are all here...]
It was like the excited chatter of a child, and it made my skin crawl.
[...Let's play, let's play. Aha, ahahaha...!!!!]
Laughter like silver bells rang inside my skull.
It was innocent and pure—and utterly terrifying.
The laughter wouldn't stop. A high-pitched voice, neither male nor female, echoed and overlapped. One voice became two, then three, then many.
[Let's play, let's play.]
[Don't break, okay?]
[Let's play for a long, long time.]
The "eye" on the Great Door curved even deeper.
The reddish-black light pulsed, and the patterns across the surface began to undulate like waves.
A heavy tremor shook the floor beneath our feet.
With a groan of grinding metal, the massive door began to swing inward.
A thick, suffocating wave of mana spilled out from the gap, filling the hall. The space itself seemed to warp, and the geometric floor groaned under the pressure. From the darkness beyond, a rhythmic thumping emerged.
Thump... Thump...
[We can play so much now.]
A final, blissful whisper echoed in my mind.
And then, the Great Door opened wide.