"Kuhaha! My, my. I never expected Frederick to strike me so decisively. I thought I had him properly shackled with fear, but people are quite difficult to manage, aren't they?"
Ozwell had an arrow of lightning buried in his chest—a wound that should have been instantly fatal. Instead, he simply stood there, laughing as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, make no mistake... the 'Doctor' is still a terrifying man to us," Frederick replied. His voice was taut with a gravity that had completely replaced his usual droll lilt. "It’s just that my desire to never feel regret again finally outweighed my fear of you."
"You don't want to regret anything, eh? Ahaha! How unfortunate. By betraying me, you've ensured that regret is the only thing you have left!"
As Ozwell shouted through his laughter, the bolt of lightning lodged in his torso vanished. The gaping hole in his chest began to seal itself shut before their eyes, flesh knitting back together with unnatural speed.
"Is that... Self-Healing? But why... why does the Doctor have the same ability as me?"
Caroline watched the wound close, her voice trembling with confusion as she recognized the signature of her own power.
"Why the look of shock? The primary goal of all those experiments I performed on you was to find a way to manifest Self-Healing in others. Thanks to your 'cooperation,' I’ve gained a profound understanding of special abilities. And I have seen what lies beyond them as well!"
"…!"
Lueria stepped in front of Caroline, shielding her from the madness dancing in Ozwell’s eyes.
"You’re acting quite smug just because you can heal yourself," Lueria countered, her voice cold. "But aren't you actually panicking inside? You can't possibly hope to defeat all of us alone."
"It is true that I possess very little combat ability myself. And against a group of your caliber, any magic beasts I summon would likely be dealt with in short order. A fair assessment," Ozwell admitted, his aura shifting. "However, I did not climb to the rank of executive in the Cult by accident. Did you truly think a pack of brats could best me? You’ve underestimated me, children."
The air around Ozwell turned heavy and frigid.
"I’ll likely have to face the 'Guide' eventually anyway—either during this war or once it’s concluded. This seems like a fine opportunity for a test run. So, Twilight Moonbow, I believe I’ll have you join me for an experiment!"
Ozwell snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the magic beasts surrounding them dissolved into a swirling red-black mist. The vapor converged into Ozwell’s palm, condensing into a pulsating, dark sphere.
"…It’s irritating how he speaks as if Fred and I aren't even worth his time," Lueria muttered, her grip tightening on her weapon.
"No, no, Luella. It isn’t that you aren't worth my time. It’s simply that you and Fred haven't earned the right to participate in this experiment. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you two to exit the stage!"
"What—!?"
"Ugh... what is this...?"
Suddenly, Lueria and Frederick collapsed, clutching their chests in agony. Their legs gave out, and they thudded heavily onto their knees.
"Big Sis! Big Brother! What’s wrong!?"
Terrified, Caroline rushed to their side.
"Hahaha! Didn't I tell you? You would soon come to regret this! Did you really think I wouldn't have countermeasures in place for your betrayal? It would be a waste to simply dispose of you, however. You shall serve me until the bitter end!"
Two thin, dark filaments shot out from the sphere in Ozwell’s hand, lashing toward the siblings at incredible speed.
"Stay away from them!"
Caroline swung her dagger to intercept the lines, but the red-black threads passed through her blade like smoke. They were untouchable. The tips of the filaments pierced the siblings' chests, and their cries of pain intensified.
"…This... our blood... he’s draining it..."
Lueria, her senses sharpened to a razor's edge by years of human experimentation, realized the truth. Their lifeblood was being siphoned through those threads and fed directly into the sphere in Ozwell’s hand.
"I don’t know what you're doing, but I won’t let you finish it! Big Sis Ruu!"
"On it!"
Sophia and Luna unleashed a barrage of attack magic simultaneously. However, a shroud of red-black mist rose around Ozwell, acting as an impenetrable shield that swallowed their spells whole.
"Then I'll break through!"
Logan lunged forward, thrusting his spear with all his might, but the mist repelled him just as easily.
"I suppose... this is it for us..." Frederick wheezed, the color draining from his face as death loomed.
"Fred... do you regret it?" Lueria whispered, her eyes clouding over.
"Ahaha... not a chance... After everything we’ve done... to have our little sister... crying for us at the end... I'd say we made the right choice..."
"No! No! Don't talk like that!" Caroline sobbed, tears fat and hot on her cheeks. "We finally... we finally made up! I won't let it end like this! I won't let you say goodbye!"
"Caroline... we’ve killed so many people. We could never have stayed by your side anyway," Lueria said, her voice soft and soothing, despite the lines of agony on her face. She reached up with a trembling hand, unfastened the earring from her right ear, and pressed it into Caroline’s palm. Frederick followed suit, handing over his left earring.
"These are magic tools... we crafted them with the techniques we stole while 'assisting' the Doctor. Sealing within them... are our respective original magic spells. I know you can master them. Please... take them."
Caroline clutched the two earrings to her chest.
Frederick offered a weak, bittersweet smile. "I'm sorry, Caroline. I know... an apology can't fix what we did. But when I saw you six months ago... when I realized you were still alive... I was so happy. I just wanted you close to me again... and I ended up saying such horrible things. I'm so sorry."
Caroline shook her head violently, her throat too tight to speak, desperately trying to convey that she wasn't angry.
"We are going to hell," Lueria whispered, her strength failing. "We may never see you again... you, who are destined for heaven. But even from the depths... we will pray for your happiness. With Self-Healing, you’ll likely live until the end of time... so please, take care of yourself. Live a long life... for us too, Caroline..."
Lueria’s eyes began to flutter shut, her consciousness slipping away.
"Self-Healing..."
Caroline was desperate. Even as she felt her siblings' lives fading, she clung to Lueria’s final words. The mention of her ability sparked a desperate realization in her mind.
An Expanded Interpretation of an ability... If this power can be applied to more than just myself...!
She shoved the earrings into her storage magic tool and moved behind her siblings, placing a hand on each of their backs.
"Please," she prayed, her voice a ragged whisper. "Save them. Save my family."
She closed her eyes, pouring her heart into the effort.
"I've always hated this power. I thought it was a curse that only brought me misery. But everyone else... every other special ability user says their power is meant to help them. If that's true, then grant me this one wish! I won't run away from it anymore! I’ll accept it! So please... help them!"
Self-Healing was a passive, reactive power—one of the rarest types. It usually functioned without Caroline’s will, a constant she had always resented. This was the first time she had ever truly faced her ability and tried to command it.
To save what was precious to her, Caroline forced a shift in her own perception. She didn't see Lueria and Frederick as separate people; she visualized them as extensions of her own body.
"......Ugh...!"
The shift in logic worked. Suddenly, the excruciating agony of having her blood siphoned flooded into her own nervous system. She gasped, her body arching in pain.
"Caroline!? What are you doing!? Stop... let go!" Lueria cried out, alerted by her sister's groan.
"No! I'm going to save you! I won't let you die!"
Whether by sheer resolve or the power of her conviction, the effects of Self-Healing flowed through her hands and into her siblings. Their breathing stabilized, and the worst of their pain began to recede.
"I did it...! It worked!" Caroline cheered weakly. The feedback of agony from her siblings was dulling, a sure sign that their bodies were recovering faster than they were being drained.
"...To think they're still alive after losing a lethal volume of blood. So, Self-Healing can be extended to others? I see. The true essence of abilities is—well, no matter. They’re too exhausted to move. That will suffice."
Sensing he couldn't kill them immediately and fascinated by Caroline’s Expanded Interpretation, Ozwell decided to proceed.
The red-black sphere in his hand had ripened into the shape of a jagged fruit. He turned and shattered the massive glowing crystal behind him—the Dungeon Core. The immense mana contained within the core was sucked greedily into the fruit.
"Now then, let us touch the logic of the abyss."
With those words, Ozwell bit into the sinister fruit.
The red-black mist that had been shielding him began to seep out from his very pores. It grew thicker and more opaque until Ozwell’s entire silhouette was swallowed by a dark, swirling cloud.
"...Be careful, Caroline... and the rest of you," Lueria warned. She was pale and trembling, but she managed to stand with Caroline’s support. "Whenever the Doctor experiments on himself, he never fails. Whatever is about to emerge... it’s going to be nightmare incarnate."
"We figured as much," Logan replied, his eyes locked on the mist. "Nothing that looks that foul is ever good news."
The members of Twilight Moonbow, along with Lueria and Frederick, pulled together into a defensive formation, their eyes fixed on the epicenter of the dark fog.
"Haha. Ahahahaha!"
A booming laugh echoed from the mist. It was a dissonant, terrifying sound, as if a dozen different voices were screaming and laughing in unison.
As the fog dissipated, the thing that remained could barely be called human.
The creature stood over two meters tall. His skin was the color of charcoal, etched with glowing red-black veins. Twisted horns, like those of a mountain goat, sprouted from his head. Most terrifying of all were his shoulders, where dense mana had solidified into the shapes of two snarling dragon heads.
"I’ve finally touched it! I see... so this is the wall of magical principles. Breaking through it will be quite the task!"
The monstrosity that was Ozwell spoke with chilling delight.
"What is that thing...?" Logan whispered, his voice cracking with genuine terror.
It wasn't just Logan; every member of the party felt the crushing weight of the creature's aura. Their bodies trembled instinctively, recoiling from the sheer malice in the air.
"Let’s start with a small test, shall we? ——Black Dragon!"
Ozwell thrust his right hand upward. A rift opened in the ceiling, and a Black Dragon of his own creation surged through with a deafening roar, diving straight toward the group to crush them.
"——Shadow Dragon!"
Logan unleashed his ability. Shadows pooled beneath him and rose into the sky, manifesting into a massive dragon of his own. Logan had based this creation on the creature that had terrified him most: the Black Dragon that had ambushed them a year ago. The two shadow-and-flesh titans collided in mid-air.
"——Mjolnir!"
Seeing the dragons locked in combat, Luna called down a colossal pillar of lightning directly onto Ozwell. The white-hot bolt struck him head-on, but when the light faded, he stood there without a single mark on him, looking utterly bored.
"Then try this! ——Raise Repeat!"
Sophia followed up with the original magic she had inherited from Orun. The previous bolt of lightning was amplified tenfold, a second, world-shaking strike hammered into Ozwell.
Yet, he barely flinched.
"...Magic that amplifies the potency of other magic? You’ve crafted a fascinating spell. Still, this body is marvelous. I felt nothing more than a slight tingle from a strike of that magnitude."
While Ozwell marveled at his new form, Caroline vanished. Moving with Ki-enhanced speed that blurred reality, she reappeared at his flank, her dagger flashing.
"——!"
Her blade, forged from the scales of a Black Dragon, sliced deep into Ozwell’s side.
Ozwell didn't even look at her. He simply backhanded her with a casual, sweeping motion.
To an observer, it looked like a light swat. But the impact sent Caroline hurtling through the air like a cannonball.
"Caroline!"
Lueria and Frederick forced their battered bodies to move, intercepting Caroline’s flight and catching her before she could slam into the stone walls.
"...Thanks... Sis, Bro..."
Caroline gasped. Despite her high pain tolerance, the agony was immense. Her ribs and arm were shattered where Ozwell had struck her, but her Self-Healing was already working overtime to mend the breaks.
"...How disappointing. You are so very weak. Or perhaps... I have simply become too strong?"
As Ozwell spoke, the Shadow Dragon Logan had summoned finally collapsed, torn apart by the Black Dragon’s relentless mist-based attacks.
"Gnome, please!" Luna cried out as the Black Dragon bore down on Logan.
The ground suddenly buckled and rose, forming two massive domes of earth that encased both Ozwell and the Black Dragon. In an instant, Luna transmuted the material from soil to reinforced steel.
"This won't hold them for long! We have to get out of here! He’s beyond us!"
"The teleportation circle is ready! Everyone, get over here!" Frederick shouted, having already laid out a complex formation that could bypass the labyrinth's usual restrictions.
Realizing they stood no chance against the monster Ozwell had become, the members of Twilight Moonbow scrambled into the glowing circle.
"We’re jumping!"
With Frederick’s shout, the party vanished from the deepest floor in a flash of light.
"What the hell was that thing!? A Black Dragon on top of everything else? That’s just cheating!" Logan barked, leaning against a tree near the labyrinth entrance. They had successfully warped back to the surface.
"We need to regroup with Orun," Sophia said, her expression grim. "I hate to dump this on him, but I don't think anyone else stands a chance against that... thing."
"Agreed," Luna said. "First, let's clear the area. Carol, how are your injuries?"
"I'm okay! Between my ability and Big Sis Ruu's recovery magic, I'm all fixed up! Thanks, Big Sis!" Caroline said, hopping in place to prove her health.
"Right. Let's find Master."
Logan turned toward the path leading back to the city, but Lueria spoke up, stopping them.
"...Caroline. This is where we part ways for now."
"Wait, what? Why!?" Caroline spun around, eyes wide. She had assumed her siblings were coming with them.
"Both of us are running on empty," Frederick explained with a tired smile. "We’d only slow you down. We’re going to hide inside the labyrinth for a while and wait for our strength to return."
With the Dungeon Core destroyed, the labyrinth was essentially dead. No new magic beasts would spawn, making it a surprisingly effective hiding spot for two people who needed to recover from extreme blood loss.
"But..."
"The Doctor’s target is Sophia Claudel," Lueria said firmly. "To ensure her escape, you need to be unencumbered. We would be a liability."
"Carol, she’s right," Logan added gently. "Protecting Sophie from that monster will be hard enough without having to carry two people who can barely walk. Since the core is gone, the labyrinth is actually the safest place for them right now."
Caroline bit her lip, looking between her siblings and her team. "...Alright. But... we’ll see each other again, right?"
"Of course," Lueria said, a rare, soft smile touching her lips. She held out her hand, pinky raised. "It might take some time, but I promise. Shall we swear it?"
"Yeah... I promise," Caroline whispered, hooking her pinky with Lueria's. She repeated the gesture with Frederick, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
Logan looked at the siblings, his expression softening just a fraction. "Look, Carol’s forgiven you, so I guess I have to as well. Just... don't go dying on us, okay? Make sure you come back to her."
With that, Logan and the rest of Twilight Moonbow turned and began the long trek back to the city, leaving the silent, dying labyrinth behind.