◇ ◇ ◇
"Take that! Hand over your materials, you damn beasts!"
Haruto let out a valiant roar as he systematically reduced the magic beasts to magic stones.
"Haruto, why are you being so desperate?"
Once they had finished clearing the magic beasts in the immediate vicinity, Fuuka turned to him with a question. The contrast in their energy levels was stark.
"Of course I’m desperate! My debt to Orun is mounting by the day! You should be more panicked, too!"
Haruto’s eyes went wide at Fuuka’s question. He shouted in disbelief, as if he couldn't comprehend how she could be so relaxed at this stage.
Time had passed quickly; it was already late February. More than a month had elapsed since Princess Lucila had commissioned us to conquer the various labyrinths across the land. Even after finishing our business in Sabona Village, we had continued our expedition. This was the final target on our list.
We had encountered several unexpected developments during this journey, but we had managed to reach this point without deviating much from our original schedule.
The one thing that had gone off-script, however, was our activity funds. As I had feared since the start of the tour, the stipend provided by the Kingdom had proven insufficient. It had been decided that the Copper Afterglow would cover the deficit, but since neither Fuuka nor Haruto had much cash on hand, we’d settled on me advancing the money until we returned to Tsutrail. This was the "debt" Haruto was so frantic about.
"…? But there’s money at the clan home, right? Won't we just pay Orun back when we return to Tsutrail?" Fuuka tilted her head curiously.
"Yeah. We can pay him back immediately once we’re home. However, if we try to cover the entire amount using only our savings, I’ll have no choice but to reduce your food portions for a while, Fuuka."
The moment she heard Haruto mention her rations being cut, Fuuka’s eyes widened. She promptly turned her back to us and began marching toward an area where the magic beast presence felt strongest.
"What are you two doing? We need to gather magic stones and materials. Quickly."
After walking a short distance, Fuuka realized we weren't following and turned back to call out to us. Her reaction was so endearing that I couldn't help but smile.
"You’ve certainly got a handle on how to manage her, Haruto-san," I noted as we followed after her.
"I’m not sure ‘good’ is the right word for it. Our princess is just easy to bait if you dangle a meal in front of her… Honestly, it’s at the point where I worry someone with real malice is going to trick her one day."
"She’ll be fine. It’s not like Fuuka acts without thinking. I believe the fact that she’s willing to be so carefree here is a testament to her trust in you."
On the surface, Fuuka’s actions could sometimes seem impulsive, but after traveling with her for over a month, I understood that she always had her own internal logic. If anything, she was quite sharp, capable of making split-second judgments and acting on them immediately. However, because she was so capable, she tended to keep things to herself and rarely communicated her reasoning to others. That was her one real flaw.
I mused on this while observing her objectively, only to realize that I had a similar tendency myself. There was a saying about "learning from the behavior of others," so I reminded myself to be more mindful of my own communication.
◇
With Fuuka now proactively hunting, we reached the final floor in no time, despite our intended detours.
I suppose this marks the end of our journey, I thought as we descended the stairs leading to the innermost area.
It had been a long trip, but I had gained a great deal from it. I’d had the chance to watch a close-combat specialist like Fuuka fight up close, and I had learned much about the application of Ki from Haruto. I could say with certainty that this journey had helped me grow.
Once we secured the Dungeon Core in the final chamber, this labyrinth would be conquered. After that, we just needed to report our success to Princess Lucila in Daluane, meet up with Selma, and head back to Tsutrail.
As these thoughts drifted through my mind, Haruto spoke up.
"Orun, looks like there’s one last event waiting for us."
Haruto’s tone was light and joking as usual, but his expression was the most serious I’d seen it throughout the entire trip. He must have been surveying the innermost area with his Bird's-eye Vision. By expanding his detection range further than usual, he’d caught something.
They were humans.
"There are several people in the deepest part. Are they more explorers trying to interfere with the conquest?"
I could sense the presence of multiple people, but I couldn't identify their affiliation yet. When I looked at Haruto, the usual playful glint in his eyes was gone.
"I wish that were the case. Those people are almost certainly operatives of the Cyclamen Cult."
"…! The Cult is here in the labyrinth?"
Tension spiked at his words. Even Fuuka, though her expression remained stoic, began to exude a sharp, bellicose aura. I viewed the Cyclamen Cult as a clear enemy, and it seemed my companions felt the same. Haruto was the one who had originally informed me that Philly Carpenter—my replacement in Golden Dawn—was an executive of the Cult. They likely had their own history with the organization, distinct from my own.
"Orun, what’s the play?" Haruto asked.
The Stampede that occurred when I was traveling from the Royal Capital to Tsutrail with Princess Lucila had been caused by Gary, who was stationed in a labyrinth's innermost area. That suggested the operatives here were likely planning to trigger a similar disaster. Whatever their goal, it certainly wasn't going to be in our best interest.
"We proceed with caution. I want to capture them alive and interrogate them if possible. However, if that proves too difficult, I’ll take the responsibility. Don't hesitate to end them."
The two of them nodded at my command, and we continued toward the final chamber.
When we arrived, we found four figures dressed in red robes, just as Haruto had described. Upon seeing us, they let out frantic shouts. "They're here already…!?" "Damn it, they're too fast!"
It seemed they were in the middle of preparing something. Regardless of their intent, the looks they directed at us were far from friendly.
To lock them down, I used Gravity Manipulation to increase the gravitational force in their immediate area. This had worked to immobilize the explorers who had tried to interfere with us previously. However, if these opponents were high-level experts like Stieg—the man who killed Gary—or Fuuka, gravity alone wouldn't be enough. This was the Cyclamen Cult. I had to be thorough.
"—Alteration, Zero Form: Mont Null!"
In addition to the gravity, I transformed Schwarzhase into fluid black mana and shaped it into several chains. These black chains snaked out and bound the operatives. I used Gravity Manipulation to make the chains themselves so heavy that an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to stand under the weight.
Fortunately, these men didn't seem to be on the same level as Stieg or Fuuka. They collapsed instantly, unable to move a muscle.
"Gugh… what is this? So heavy… can’t move…"
"You work fast, Orun. Now then, since there are four of them, it shouldn't be a problem if a couple of them don't survive, right? Which one should we kill first?"
Haruto spoke casually, though his eyes suggested he wasn't entirely joking. Fuuka had also drawn the katana she’d manifested, her hand steady on the hilt.
"Hey! Start it now—" one of the operatives shouted, trying to command his comrades.
But before he could finish the sentence, his head was parted from his shoulders.
Fuuka, having decapitated the man, stepped into the zone of increased gravity. She flipped her katana into a reverse grip and drove the point deep into the ground. Immediately, a magic circle flared to life beneath them. The blade of her katana began to glow, turning from its usual leaden gray to a deep, burnished copper.
The copper blade. Is that the transformation the Cursed Katana undergoes when it releases its true power?
Fuuka’s sword was no ordinary weapon. It was a national treasure from Kyokutou, said to contain "Yoryoku"—a force similar to, yet distinct from, mana. When she wielded this power, the blade’s color shifted. I had asked her about Yoryoku before, but she had simply told me, "I can't talk about it yet. I'll tell you when the time is right." Consequently, I knew very little about it.
However, I knew Fuuka didn't do things without reason. Releasing that power here had to serve a purpose.
As I began constructing a spell formula in my mind, the magic circle on the ground began to blur before finally vanishing entirely.
What happened?
The way the mana shifted when the circle disappeared was bizarre. It hadn't just faded; it looked as if the mana had been sucked into a void, like water draining through a hole in a container.
Wait, no—now isn't the time to worry about that. Focus on neutralizing the rest of them.
Fuuka had clearly done something, but as I tried to analyze it, I felt a sharp nudge from within my own mind telling me to stop dwelling on it.
"Fuuka, get away from the ground!" I shouted.
I knew I was asking for something difficult under the heavy gravity, but the moment she heard me, Fuuka kicked off the floor and leaped straight up, ripping her katana out of the earth as she did so. The blade slowly returned to its original gray color.
"—Earth Shock!"
Once Fuuka was clear, I flooded my prepared formula with mana. An electric current surged through the ground and into the remaining operatives, knocking all three unconscious instantly.
"—! Orun, Haruto, an invisible attack is coming! Brace yourselves!"
Fuuka shouted from mid-air. Her voice was uncharacteristically sharp and resonant. Her ability must have triggered.
We braced ourselves just as a blast of wind, like a sudden gale, slammed into us and blew us backward.
Fuuka’s ability was Future Sight. It allowed her to see glimpses of the immediate future. While powerful, she had mentioned it had a flaw: it was strictly visual. She saw the scenes that her future self would see. Because of that, if an attack was invisible, she couldn't know exactly what it was—only that we were about to be sent flying by an unseen force.
Still, knowing something was coming allowed us to prepare. Haruto and I were both blown back, but we took minimal damage. I used Gravity Manipulation to arrest my momentum and land firmly on the ground, sliding to a halt.
I turned my gaze back to where the Cult operatives were lying.
Thin, red, needle-like lines were rising from the bodies—from the backs of those face down and the chests of those face up. These four lines converged at a single point, where a sphere of blood was rapidly expanding. It swelled until it reached a diameter of over ten meters.
"What the hell is that?" Haruto muttered, coming up beside me.
"Be careful, both of you. A massive wolf is coming," Fuuka warned. She had used the momentum of the gust to land gracefully near us.
Just as she spoke, a sound like a wolf’s howl echoed from within the massive red sphere. The orb burst, revealing a gargantuan creature with reddish-black fur. It was as large as a Floor Boss from a Great Labyrinth, and it was glaring right at us.