"—!"
The lightning magic I unleashed scorched the interior of the Black Iron Giant, shattering its armor from the inside out.
Its unnecessarily massive frame split vertically and collapsed, lifeless.
As it dissolved into black particles, I dodged an attack from another approaching Armored Monster and activated my magic once more. An explosion of Fire Magic sent the creature flying, smashing it into the wall with enough force to trigger a localized avalanche of stone.
(How many times does that make? Honestly, this is getting to be too much trouble...)
How long had it been since I dived into the Primal Labyrinth alone to draw its attention?
A few hours? Or perhaps a full day?
The battle was a cycle of the same enemies and the same reinforcements, repeating without end. Staring at such a repetitive scene for so long had caused my very concept of time to wear thin.
A Black Iron sword swung down.
The floor beneath me shattered.
Parry, dodge, blast, crush.
I drove in electric shocks, scorched them with Fireballs, sliced them with Wind Blades, and blew them away with Water Torrents. I caught their attacks on a Light Wall or simply stepped out of the way. It was a tedious, mechanical repetition.
It didn't matter if the types of enemies changed or if their numbers increased.
What I had to do remained the same.
As I continued my flashy rampage through the dungeon, the moment I’d been waiting for finally arrived.
"—Hm?"
The stone floor sank slightly, and the nature of the vibration traveling through my boots changed.
It was different from the precursors to Reconfiguration I had felt countless times before. This wasn't a localized change like a passage closing or a wall being added. This was deeper—a dull, heavy tremor that felt as though the very skeleton of the labyrinth was groaning.
Thump. A pulse throbbed through the space a beat later.
The patterns etched into the walls flickered red, and the ceiling stones ground against one another as they shifted. In the distance, a low, layered rumbling echoed, like the sound of some gargantuan machine being rearranged.
(...The scale is entirely different.)
I parried a Greatsword from the Armored Type in front of me and kicked it away. However, half of my focus was already on the shifting environment.
The timing of the reinforcements was faltering.
Enemies weren't appearing where they usually spawned.
Instead, space itself was beginning to warp.
This was the reaction that occurred when something vital to the labyrinth—something essential—was lost.
The ground sank again. This time, the entire hall tilted.
The ceiling beams groaned, and the unpleasant screech of stone grinding on stone filled the air.
(...I see.)
There was only one possible cause.
The Core was gone.
I crushed the jaw of an approaching Beast-type monster with my fist, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of my mouth.
Now that the end was in sight, I felt a spark of renewed motivation.
"...Just one more push, then!"
I thrust my palm forward, mana already swirling within it.
I dodged the blade of a Black Iron Monster by a hair's breadth and slammed Fire Magic into it at point-blank range. After watching its massive body skip across the floor like a stone on water before colliding with the far wall, I spread both hands wide.
"—Begone."
I unleashed an 'Area-of-Effect Lightning Magic.'
Electricity radiated from me in an instant, scorching the insides of the Armored Monsters, seizing the muscles of the Beast-types, and knocking the Aberrations from the ceiling. Bolts of lightning tore through the stone walls and crawled across the floor, skewering every monster in sight.
The sounds of explosions overlapped as a brilliant violet light consumed my vision.
By the time the lightning dissipated, almost nothing was left standing.
Black particles fell like rain, and the acrid scent of ozone and scorched metal filled the room.
"I doubt that's the end of it, though."
More legions of monsters began to emerge through the walls and floors.
However, they lacked their previous ferocity, and their numbers were significantly smaller.
Their spawn points and intervals were visibly unstable, and the monsters themselves seemed sluggish.
Perhaps it was the backlash from losing the Core, or maybe the labyrinth was diverting too much consciousness toward the Reconfiguration.
(Either way, it works for me.)
I stepped forward, punching through the chest of a fresh Armored Type. A beast lunged at my flank, but I shredded it with Wind Magic and finished it with a Fireball.
I accelerated my pace.
No wasted movements. I sought the shortest, smallest, and most efficient path to destruction.
One by one, the monsters dissolved into black mist.
And then, it happened.
A faint but unmistakable "different presence" mingled with the air.
"—!"
I sent a Black Iron Monster flying with a fist crackling with Violet Lightning and looked up.
Amidst the red, flickering light of the dungeon, I saw four familiar figures standing at the top of the stone stairs. There was no mistaking them. They were the people most precious to me.
I let out a long, slow breath.
"It looks like you managed to take down the Core."
My voice echoed, sounding strangely calm for such a battlefield.
The moment I saw the four of them at the top of the stairs, the tension that had been holding me together finally began to unravel.
(I'm so glad... they're actually safe...)
To be honest, betting on them to defeat the Core had been a gamble.
In the original story, the 'First Labyrinth Conquest Battle' was a grueling war of attrition that lasted days. They were supposed to be pushed to their absolute limits, their mana and stamina drained, their Recovery Potions gone, watching fellow students die one by one. It was only after that hellish cycle of retreat and re-entry that they were supposed to reach the Core.
The Yuu of that timeline was undeniably strong.
He had been forged in the fires of near-death experiences until he was capable of seizing a miracle.
But this time was different.
Because I had taken the brunt of the labyrinth's malice, their experience had been far less intense.
Their growth rate was undoubtedly lower than in the original story.
That was why I had been worried.
Was everyone okay? Was what I was doing for nothing? Should I have abandoned my post to go help them?
Those thoughts had crossed my mind more than once or twice.
But all those anxieties vanished the moment I saw them standing there.
A wave of relief I couldn't suppress washed over me.
"...Thank god. Truly."
The moment those words left my lips, a sharp, metallic screech rang out behind me.
An Armored Monster had regained its footing, its dull red eyes fixed on the group at the stairs. A Beast-type growled low, and an Aberration began to creep down from the ceiling.
The labyrinth hadn't stopped.
Even without its Core, its sheer will to eliminate intruders remained intact.
The relief vanished from my face, replaced by cold focus.
There was no time to relax, and certainly no time for sentimentality.
I took a step forward.
The monsters' gazes wavered between the staircase and me.
I didn't give them a second to decide.
"—Over here."
My voice was low and commanding.
It wasn't just the words. I intentionally flared my mana, sending ripples through the air. I projected myself as an "Irregularity"—a foul, irritating presence that the labyrinth and its minions could not possibly ignore.
Bathed in the translucent pressure radiating from me, the monsters turned as one.
"Go!"
My roar broke their trance. The four of them regained their senses and bolted, staying in the monsters' blind spots as they sprinted toward the stairs leading to the upper levels. One Armored Monster tried to lunge for their retreating backs, but—
"Do you really think I'll let you?"
I instantly invoked Dark Magic.
The monster that had taken a step toward them was suddenly caught in a spatial distortion. With a sickening sound of grinding and snapping metal, it was crushed inward. A second later, nothing remained but a sphere of black iron the size of a ball.
Every remaining monster turned its full attention to me.
"Good. That's it. Keep your eyes on me. Look at no one else!"
Three Armored Types charged simultaneously.
Beast-types flanked me, and the Aberration on the ceiling rained down Mana Bullets, but—
"Too slow!"
I shattered the lead giant with a lightning-clad fist, spinning to release a Wind Blade that severed the beast's legs. I followed through with a Fireball, blasting the creature away. I caught the Aberration’s Mana Bullets on a Light Wall, angling the barrier so the reflected shots struck the Armored Monster behind me.
Black particles filled the air. The floor crumbled, and the ceiling groaned.
The vibrations of the Reconfiguration were intensifying. I could feel the labyrinth's growing irritation.
But it didn't matter.
As long as I stood here, they wouldn't reach my friends.
"Come on then... I'll take all of you."
I flared my concentrated mana once more.
The monsters swarmed me.
I parried heavy blades, crushed armor with my fists, and sent foes flying with kicks. I used localized Dark Magic to compress their limbs, freezing them in place before incinerating them with lightning.
It only took a few seconds.
But a few seconds were all I needed.
"Rai!"
"Lord Rai!"
Elysia's and Lene's voices reached me from the upper stairs.
They were clear, vibrant, living voices. Hearing them, I couldn't help but let a grin spread across my face.
"...Acknowledged."
I muttered the word under my breath and thrust both hands forward.
"Let's finish this. All at once."
A tiny black dot appeared in the center of the monster horde.
In the space of a heartbeat, it expanded, crawling across the floor, licking the walls, and seeping into the very cracks of the environment.
It was a darkness so absolute it seemed to devour the light.
The monsters tried to retreat by instinct, but they were too slow.
The giants' knees buckled, the beasts' legs were pinned, and the Aberrations' wings stalled as the darkness swallowed them whole, refusing to let them escape.
"—Crush."
As I spoke, the darkness inverted.
The expanding blackness suddenly surged back toward the center.
Screeeeee—!!
The sound of shrieking metal echoed a dozen times over.
The crunch of breaking bone joined the chorus as screams were cut short in the back of throats.
The plating of the Armored Monsters was folded like paper, the beasts' muscles were twisted into knots, and the Aberrations' wings were mangled as they were sucked into the void.
Compressed, converged, collapsed.
The moment the center of the darkness shrunk to the size of a fist, a dull shockwave rocked the hall.
Nothing remained but a single, jagged lump of crushed black metal.
There was no more movement, no more presence of monsters.
As the darkness faded, the tremors of the labyrinth's Reconfiguration became painfully clear once more.
I lowered my hands and turned. At the top of the stairs, I saw the faces of those I cared about.
Everyone was safe.
"Let's go!"
I shouted, breaking into a sprint.
I reached the stairs and took them two at a time, kicking off the vibrating stone.
Behind me, the roar of the hall collapsing echoed through the chamber.
As we bolted toward the upper floors, Elysia spoke through gritted teeth.
"...You are truly, honestly, nothing but trouble! You and your recklessness!"
Lene, her eyes brimming with tears, snapped at me as well.
"Lord Rai, do you have any idea how worried I was!?"
I caught my breath, a small smile playing on my lips.
"I'll listen to the lecture as long as you want once we're out. I promise. But for now, just run!"
The two of them blinked in surprise for a fraction of a second before focusing on the path ahead.
"...You'd better be prepared for later!"
"I mean it! Really!"
"Yeah. I know."
Exchanging those brief words, we sprinted at full speed through the heart of the collapsing labyrinth.