After cutting the dungeon core with the Death Scythe and leveling up his Terrain Manipulation skill, Rei stored the core into the Misty Ring.
With Rei on his back, Set immediately flapped his wings and soared up into the sky.
Several seconds after they rose above the water's surface, Marina released her Spirit Magic. The water cascaded down, filling the space where a path had existed just a moment before.
Whether it was the influence of the dungeon core or because Garangiga had made the place its lair was unclear. Whatever the reason, the water in this underground lake was extremely difficult to control—even for Marina, whose skill with Spirit Magic was first-class. No, superlative was a better word.
In fact, it was precisely because it was Marina that she could control it at all. If this had been some run-of-the-mill Spirit Magic user, attempting such a feat would have been utterly impossible. Though mages themselves were exceedingly rare, and Spirit Mages even rarer among them.
Returning to where Elena and the others waited, Rei's group was greeted by the sight of Marina looking exhausted. Controlling the underground lake's water had been that demanding.
"Sorry about this."
"It's fine. More importantly, I'll ask just to be sure, but... you accomplished your goal, right? If you made me go through all that and failed to achieve it..."
"Yeah. Of course, that part is fine."
He answered before Marina could finish—or rather, before he could let her finish.
Hearing this, Marina broke into a broad smile of delight. It was not her usual seductive smile, the kind that radiated intense feminine allure, but a happy, joyful smile. The kind that made anyone watching feel a sense of happiness as well.
"Hey, Rei. Then... it's okay to think we cleared the Dungeon, right?"
Reliu asked in a timid manner. That demeanor, unthinkable from his usual attitude, was vastly different from the normal Reliu.
But that was only natural. For an adventurer, clearing a Dungeon carried great significance. Given that the number of Dungeons was limited, clearing one was not something that could be done easily. Even for Reliu, an A-Rank adventurer who held an alias, that was equally true. Moreover, considering that Reliu was fundamentally a solo adventurer, clearing a Dungeon could be said to be nearly impossible.
He himself understood this, which was why he looked as though he could only half-believe he had actually cleared one.
"Whoa... I really... cleared a Dungeon..."
"No, since you came to challenge this Dungeon with us, you don't need to be that overjoyed..."
Reliu, rejoicing from the bottom of his heart, apparently didn't hear Rei's words. He was too immersed in his own joy.
Judging from Reliu's state, Rei decided to let him bask in the happiness of having cleared the Dungeon for now and turned to Marina.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm a bit tired, but it's not a serious problem. Besides, we can't just stay here forever, can we? Given that this was a Dungeon with so many special characteristics, and considering the core has been destroyed, there's no telling what might happen next."
As Marina said this while looking around anxiously, Elena approached.
"Indeed, this Dungeon is special in many ways. ...Though Dungeons themselves are inherently special. In any case, I agree that we should escape quickly while we still can."
"...The battle with Garangiga wasn't that fierce, so I'm a little frustrated, but... it can't be helped."
Vihera also stated she had no objections to leaving, though she was slightly dissatisfied.
The others had no objections to getting out as quickly as possible either.
"Reliu, we're getting out of here. As things are, we can't rule out the possibility of the Dungeon collapsing or something like that."
At Marina's voice, Reliu, who had been intoxicated by the fact that he had cleared the Dungeon, returned to his senses. The fact that he could return to his usual self in an instant demonstrated his strength and mental fortitude.
"Yeah, sorry, Marina-san. I got a bit excited."
"I understand how you feel, but right now we need to get out of here as fast as possible. I think we'll probably be fine, but we need to prepare for the worst."
Perhaps imagining what the phrase "the worst case" entailed, Reliu's expression grew stern.
"Got it. Let's get out as quickly as possible. ...Rei, we head back through the passage we came from, right?"
It took the form of a question, but the intent was more of a confirmation. After all, when considering the fastest way to escape the Dungeon, that was undoubtedly the best choice. Traversing an unexplored passage in this situation would mean there was no telling how long it might take. If that passage had traps comparable to the ones Rei's group had passed through, the possibility that something abnormal could happen to the Dungeon while they were disarming them could not be dismissed.
The act of disarming traps to raise Byune's thief skills, as they had done in the passage they came through, was not something they had the leisure to do here. This was a Dungeon within a cliff, and the interior space was clearly distorted. Given the existence of the underground lake and the vast forest, that much was certain.
(Come to think of it, we've been calling it an underground lake, but... this isn't really underground, is it? Well, it was inside a Dungeon... a cave, so I guess calling it an underground lake works?)
While belatedly wondering whether the designation "underground lake" was even appropriate, Rei's group immediately departed from that spot.
...If someone other than Rei's group had cleared this Dungeon, transporting Garangiga's corpse out would have been utterly impossible. To carry out that massive body, they would have needed to cut it up by some means or another to transport it outside. Since that was not practical, they would likely have taken only the parts that could be sold as rare materials and left the rest.
In that sense, Rei, who possessed the Misty Ring, could be said to have an advantage bordering on unfair.
"We're going to run through quickly. Anyone have objections?"
At Rei's words, no one showed any sign of opening their mouth. Considering the current state of this Dungeon, it would be no surprise if it collapsed in the worst case. Given that, there was no way anyone could object to escaping the Dungeon as quickly as possible.
Though they carried some fatigue from the battle with Garangiga, Rei's group swiftly made their way back through the passage they had come from. The passage had taken considerable time on the way in because they were discovering and disarming traps... but now that all such traps had been cleared, there was no need to slow their pace.
(With things turning out like this, having Byune disarm the traps was the right call after all. Thanks to that, we can proceed without worrying about traps. ...Well, since we don't know when traps might be reset, it's not like we can be completely carefree.)
Even so, Rei judged that the likelihood of traps being reset in the passage was low. If they had camped overnight at the underground lake, that would have been a concern, but not much time had passed since Rei's group came through this passage.
If that were the case, how were this Dungeon's traps set in the first place? Were they set by monsters like Goblins, Cobolts, and Orcs, or were they automatically set by the power of the dungeon core? The circumstances behind that were unknown, but Rei's estimate was that they would probably be fine for now... and so far, that prediction was proving perfectly accurate.
"Hey, there's the exit!"
Reliu, running at the front, shouted. True to his words, the area where Rock Plants had existed in large quantities came into view ahead.
They exited the passage and...
"Eh!? Stop!"
In an instant, Reliu, running at the front, shouted. What was contained in that voice was tension. Sensing this, everyone who had been running came to a halt.
What happened? The thought crossed their minds, but regardless, Reliu was clearly that tense, so something had definitely occurred.
And what Rei's group saw after stopping was...
"Ugh... you've got to be kidding me."
Despite having stored the Rock Plants into the Misty Ring just moments ago—so recently that it was truly only a short while ago—Rock Plants were once again growing there in abundance.
Of course, they weren't packed as densely as when Rei's group had previously destroyed them. But even so, Rock Plants that had already grown to a certain size were nothing short of eerie.
"Their Regeneration Ability is way too fast. In the first place, I thought I pulled most of them out by the roots, so how did they grow this much?"
Rei felt puzzled as he looked at the Rock Plants, but right now they needed to escape the Dungeon as quickly as possible. Given that, they had to deal with this situation somehow.
"There's no help for it. We'll force our way through. I'm hoping the Rock Plants won't attack us as much as possible, but..."
Rei's gaze turned toward Marina, but given her severe exhaustion from using Spirit Magic on the underground lake, he couldn't push her too hard here. However, being attacked freely from behind would be extremely troublesome, so...
"I'll ride Set backward on his back at the rear and either defend against or counterattack their assaults."
"Are you sure?"
Elena looked at him and asked, but Rei nodded to indicate it wasn't a problem.
He had expended a fair amount of stamina in the battle with Garangiga, but they were escaping the Dungeon, so some strain was necessary. ...Since a single hit from Garangiga's attacks could have been fatal, even though the actual damage he took was nearly nil, the mental exhaustion was by no means small. Even so, Rei would assert without hesitation that it had been an easier fight compared to the battle with the Silver Lion.
The others seemed to have various things they wanted to say to Rei, but they understood that they needed to escape the Dungeon even a moment sooner right now.
In the end, they decided to push through all at once, and Rei's group plunged into the space where the Rock Plants were growing.
Only Rei ended up in the slightly comical sight of riding on Set's back at the rear in the reverse of his usual orientation. But considering the Rock Plants' attacks—particularly their primary ranged attack with rock leaves—it was a natural stance. However...
"Hm?"
Rei held the Twilight Spear, which was easier to handle, rather than his usual Death Scythe, but for some reason, there were no attacks from the Rock Plants at all. They ended up simply running through the thick growth of Rock Plants in a completely, truly untroubled situation.
(What's going on? Why aren't we being attacked? ...Do Rock Plants need to grow beyond a certain size before they can attack? No, if that were the case, I wouldn't understand why the Rock Plants on the first floor attacked us. The only explanation I can think of is the influence of the dungeon core?)
Rei harbored questions, but if they weren't attacking, that was undeniably for the best.
"The Rock Plants aren't attacking! Keep going straight toward the stairs!"
While keeping watch behind from Set's back, Rei shouted.
And so... without being attacked by the Rock Plants at all, Rei's group safely reached the stairs.
Naturally, they didn't slow down even after arriving at the stairs, and continued ascending with the same momentum.
It was only when they emerged into the forest that they finally eased their pace. Even so, they didn't stop to rest but kept moving forward, because everyone understood that the current situation was dangerous in various ways.
Rei, who had been riding on Set's back, had dismounted and was now proceeding through the forest on foot.
"Should we use the Set Basket?"
A few minutes after returning to the forest floor, Rei muttered the suggestion.
In fact, this forest floor was quite vast, and reaching the stairs would take a fair amount of time. But considering Set's speed, the time needed to travel that distance was negligible.
That was the reasoning behind Rei's suggestion, but... naturally, there were those who opposed it. While riding in the Set Basket, the only ones who could counterattack if attacked were Rei and Set. Moreover, the Set Basket's camouflage ability had no effect on monsters flying in the sky.
Given that, Reliu objected on the grounds of danger, but... the others, who placed more than sufficient trust in Rei and Set's abilities, approved of the idea, and with that, Reliu could no longer object either.
Thus, they ultimately used the Set Basket, rushed to the stairs in one go, and quickly passed through the cave area as well, allowing Rei's group to successfully escape from the Dungeon.