Volume 8, Chapter 26 – The Anthill-like Labyrinth

“Hold my hand tight. Don’t let go.”

Having said that, Lucitine tightened her grip on Fia’s hand, her mind wandering with the sensation.

Whether back when she was an undead or now that she possessed a living body, she had never held anyone’s hand before. That made this act of hand-holding feel all the more real, grounding her in the reality of her own existence. Her heart was filled with a strange sense of fulfillment.

The sensation was warm and slender, with no trace of hard calluses. It felt as though this hand had never done physical labor, perhaps never even held a sword.

That’s what Lucitine thought. Admittedly, she too had never done physical labor, but she had seen those who had. People who had recently become undead, whose bodies hadn’t yet completely weathered away, often had calluses on their hands—marks left from long years working the land.

A princess in the truest sense of the word.

Lucitine couldn’t help but think of her own daughter. Both were princesses, but Fia was far more approachable than Ruth. Her petite frame, the earnest expression she wore while following Lucitine forward, and the faint orchid fragrance that occasionally drifted from her black hair and clothes—all of it reminded Lucitine of the kind of girl she imagined attending magic academy. The kind of cute girl who would startle at the sight of a small insect and cling tightly to you.

Doesn’t that make me the older sister looking after her younger sister?

Maybe I was romanticizing Fia a bit too much.

Lucitine smiled wryly to herself. She had witnessed with her own eyes the process of Fia defeating Afla. Fia had subdued Afla with just a combination of a few spells, so quickly that Lucitine hadn’t even followed what happened. Calling her Seventh Tier would be doing her a disservice; she was likely a child of the Eighth Tier. On paper, Seventh Tier and Eighth Tier were only one tier apart, but in reality, the gap was like heaven and earth. A Seventh Tier forbidden spell could only destroy a small city of thirty to forty thousand people, while an Eighth Tier forbidden spell was enough to annihilate a fortified city of two hundred thousand.

That level of power alone commanded respect.

As they advanced through the dim, narrow passage, Lucitine secretly observed Fia’s expression. Lost in thought, Fia’s brows were slightly furrowed, a look of worry that, combined with her face as delicate as a doll’s, was incredibly endearing.

She was probably nervous about the impending meeting with the Chaos.

Lucitine didn’t need to ask to know the answer. People outside didn’t know Chaos truly existed. Even the few who had seen Chaos only knew it as a slime-like substance, unaware that among them were powerful humanoid individuals. Fia’s nervousness was only natural.

However, the more she looked this pitiable, as if worried about something, the more it stirred her protective instincts… Protective instincts?

Lucitine frowned. She possessed memories inherited from her past selves, which included common knowledge of this world, naturally encompassing information related to emotions. The moment she became aware of the protective instinct, she couldn’t help but ponder a question: were the feelings she held for Fia truly reasonable?

Just as Fia had said, there were many living people in this world. Perhaps it was because Fia was the only living person she had met that she thought Fia was the best. What she called “liking” was more likely an approximate product mixed with multiple feelings—gratitude for being given a living body, a first impression of Fia as a kind and cute girl, her willingness to sacrifice herself for her country—all these complex elements combined to form the impression of “this girl is really cute.” Then, amplified by novelty, she mistakenly interpreted it as liking, as love.

Endless suspicion wouldn’t yield answers. Only by going to the world of the living, seeing a broader world, could she reach a conclusion convincing enough for herself. This also aligned with Fia’s suggestion: only by meeting more people could she use them as a standard to judge whether this one person was good or bad.

But, until she changed her mind, Fia’s position in her heart would remain unchanged. Lucitine curled her lips. Without experiencing the life of an undead, it was hard to imagine the pain of becoming an undead.

No sense of pain, no need for sleep—it sounded wonderful. But only when it befell you, irreversible, would you understand what kind of torment this truly was. Like a blind person hearing outsiders describe the world’s colors, able only to imagine them—an indescribable feeling of not belonging, a longing for sensations never experienced, gnawing at body and mind constantly like ants devouring flesh.

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And the one who had led her out of this sea of suffering was the girl whose hand she now held.

Although she hadn’t yet tasted what “sweet” truly meant, just being able to smell air tinged with a rotting odor, or feeling aches throughout her body after sitting too long, was enough to fill her with joy. These things, uncomfortable in the eyes of normal people, were incredibly beautiful experiences for someone who had never felt such sensations, who could only imagine them from subordinates and books.

Wasn’t it an understatement to call it a rebirth? She was the first Queen of Death in tens of thousands of years to experience the beauty of the vast world—a fortune so good it would make her other selves green with envy, fighting for control of the body.

How should I express my gratitude…

Just as Lucitine’s heart swelled with gratitude, savoring the soft hand in hers, Fia’s voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

“This passage wasn’t artificially excavated?”

“You noticed the corrosion marks. Indeed, this isn’t a labyrinth we dug. It’s traces left by Chaos. In the past, they eroded all the way to that hall up ahead; the entire labyrinth was their stronghold. It wasn’t until later that we pushed them back, and they abandoned the labyrinth. Since Chaos could pop out anywhere, and the labyrinth itself had no exploration value, our people still haven’t fully mapped this place—not that we can’t, but the benefits of not exploring it outweigh the costs of exploring it. After all, since a thousand years ago, Chaos hasn’t been able to breach into the labyrinth again.”

“I see, no wonder the walls are full of small holes corroded by Chaos.”

Fia used her [Spatial Hand] to tap the brittle, pitch-black wall, then nodded thoughtfully.

This labyrinth was an anthill in the truest sense. The path was lined with forks and cavities; narrow passages were only two or three meters wide, while spacious areas that could be called cavities were large enough to hold several football fields.

Due to the labyrinth’s three-dimensional structure extending deep underground, a single large cavity could contain up to a thousand passages leading to who knows where. To fully explore it would be impossible without spending hundreds or thousands of years given this world’s productive capacity, let alone the residual Chaos that might suddenly attack.

In summary, it was a place she never wanted to visit again, one that triggered both claustrophobia and trypophobia.

Trying to ease her nervousness? Lucitine could see hesitation on Fia’s face, as if she was uncertain. For someone from the world of the living, the world of the undead was too terrifying. Although Lucitine couldn’t understand what was terrifying about it, she remembered that almost every soul visiting the kingdom of the dead for the first time showed fear. Fia’s current reaction was among the calmest of anyone.

Times like this called for more conversation to ease her tension. Having read many books, Lucitine believed this was the moment to put theory into practice. In short, it was time to establish her image as a protector and make Fia rely on her.

“Fia.”

“Um—”

Lucitine and Fia spoke almost simultaneously. Lucitine wanted to ask what the outside world was like, while Fia was thinking about how to test Lucitine’s attitude toward Chaos. Both paused, their breaths catching, before Lucitine smiled first.

“Fia, you go first.”

“I wanted to ask if you have a way to find undead with incomplete souls. A close friend of mine had her sister caught in a disaster, and her soul became incomplete. I want to find her soul and use the same method I used to give you a body to bring her back to life.”

After saying this, Fia quickly added.

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“Doing this wouldn’t violate the laws of life and death, would it? Do such things exist?”

“Of course not.” Lucitine covered her mouth with a delicate laugh, having expected Fia to say something else. “Do outsiders also say I hold sway over life and death, that I can take a life with a single thought, and that if you offend me, your soul won’t be able to reincarnate after death?”

“Yes.”

“Those are all rumors distorted through word of mouth. ¹ doubt it, the complete queen of death must be able to do so =w= If I could take a life with a single thought, I wouldn’t be troubled by Chaos. As for reincarnation, you’ll see for yourself when you have the chance, Fia. In short, it’s not as sacred as outsiders imagine. Go ahead, tell me the name of that remnant soul. I’ll send someone to find her. She should be in the world outside the wall. But why is her soul incomplete? Souls that can’t enter the wall usually become undead due to resentment. Undead that can’t enter the wall because their souls are truly incomplete are extremely rare.”

Here comes the main topic.

Tension welled up in Fia’s chest. Even if Lucitine hadn’t brought up this topic, she would have initiated it herself. She answered, feigning ease.

“She was contaminated by Chaos. The Darkborn have mastered the method of manipulating Chaos. My close friend and her sister were caught up in a disaster. To protect her, her sister’s soul split into two parts. One part came to the Netherworld; the other, driven by the obsession to protect her sister, merged with the Chaos and has been guarding my friend ever since.”

“Merged with Chaos? What nonsense is this? Are you sure she wasn’t originally Chaos?”

“Originally, she was a living vampire, and a very gentle one at that. I’ve interacted with her sister. Although only the instinct to protect her remains, she doesn’t actively attack people like Chaos does.”

Lucitine was silent for a moment. After half a minute, she averted her gaze and answered in a serious tone tinged with a sense of obligation.

“…Fia, I take back my earlier words. I can’t help you with this.”

To steel her own resolve, Lucitine stared straight ahead, no longer looking at Fia. The ribbon at her waist occasionally drifted past Fia’s ear, making Fia slightly uncomfortable.

“Eliminating Chaos is the duty of the Queen of Death. If you just wanted to bring the part of the remnant soul uncontaminated by Chaos to your friend, I would do my utmost to help you. But if it’s about turning a soul that has already fallen to Chaos back into a living person, I cannot help you. Recently, Ruth told me she discovered the Sovereign conducting experiments in the Weeping Mountain to turn people into Chaos, vainly attempting to turn all living beings into Chaos. If people knew you could reverse the magic that turns one into Chaos, they would lose their fear of it. I will not allow anything that strengthens Chaos to happen. This isn’t just aimed at you. In the future, I will also warn the Absolute Evil and the Sovereign: if they truly meddle with Chaos as you say, I will not spare them.”

More importantly, she subconsciously abhorred Chaos. Just as an infant knows instinctively how to suckle, from the moment her consciousness was born, she had sensed within herself an abhorrence demanding Chaos be completely eradicated.

At first, she thought this was the hatred for Chaos accumulated by successive Queens of Death. But when she went to the spire to question her past selves, she discovered that every Queen of Death, even the earliest ones, had an extreme loathing for Chaos. Their hatred had existed since the moment both sides came into being, like fundamentalist believers of a deity looking at heretics. Merely mentioning it stirred within her a heart bent on revenge, as if she herself had once been killed by them.

“But she’s just a victim. This resurrection magic can only be performed by me. I guarantee I’ll only use it on her. Besides, ultimately, it’s debatable whether life assimilated into Chaos through the ritual even still has a soul. The two aren’t the same.”

In response to Fia’s persuasion, Lucitine shook her head deeply, her long, floor-length pink hair swaying from side to side.

“Don’t say any more, Fia. I won’t provide any help. But if you want to search for that person’s remnant soul yourself, I won’t stop you. This is my bottom line.”

Fia pouted inwardly.

As expected of a sworn enemy. Absolutely no room for compromise.

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But she wouldn’t give up just like that. Relying only on herself to find Noreen, searching without sleep or rest for over a decade, she might not even find her then. By that time, Noreen, lacking strength, would probably have already become a borderlands undead driven only by instinct. Her contact with Lucitine had been too short; she lacked understanding of her. Once she understood more about Lucitine’s past, perhaps she could achieve results.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was using Lucitine. But Fia didn’t feel it was wrong. She was trying to save a life lost in disaster, not seeking profit for herself—this contained elements of self-consolation. In reality, Fia was casting a brick to attract jade, using Noreen’s situation to test whether Lucitine could be flexible on matters concerning Chaos. If she couldn’t be flexible on something as small as Noreen, then there was even less hope regarding the Eye tribe’s war lasting over ten thousand years.

No, before seeing the enemy of the undead with her own eyes, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions that their enemy was the Eye.

—?!

Suddenly, Fia stopped in her tracks. Her gaze sharpened, locking onto a certain fork in the path near the ceiling up ahead. She shifted from holding Lucitine’s hand to blocking Lucitine behind her.

Something had triggered her [Danger Perception].

Almost simultaneously, Lucitine’s gaze also turned sharp. She raised her hand toward the fork above and made a grasping motion, as if an invisible giant hand forcibly cut into the wall. Accompanied by a series of explosive stone-crushing sounds, the passage wall crumbled like tofu under Lucitine’s grip. The entire fork collapsed, exposing the Chaos hiding within.

Unlike the completely black Chaos usually seen, the Chaos appearing on the ceiling was black mixed with dark red, reminiscent of blood exposed to air for too long. Just like the feeling in the Second Abyss earlier, Fia felt she was being watched by Chaos.

“Hmph!”

Lucitine clenched her fist forcefully. Before the Chaos could react, the black-with-dark red Chaos was crushed in Lucitine’s grip. Eerie white flames then burned them to ashes, which slowly drifted down.

Probably something like [Telekinesis], a Spatial Hand.

Fia guessed inwardly.

“Sorry, this is common in the labyrinth. That Chaos just now was a slightly stronger type, between the Third and Fourth Tier. It’s because of their existence that we can’t properly survey the labyrinth. Also, Fia, you don’t need to protect me like a bodyguard. I should be the one protecting you.”

Lucitine looked at Fia, amused and exasperated. At this moment, Fia stood before her like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

“No…”

Fia tried her best not to look at the now-collapsed and blocked cave entrance. Perhaps Lucitine’s magic power hadn’t fully recovered, or perhaps the Chaos had hidden too well, but her [Mana Perception] sensed another Chaos in the cavern, one that was at the Eighth Tier and approaching the Ninth Tier, except it bore no hostility.

She tried to contact the ruby ring. The ruby ring gave her feedback that she had indeed connected to several souls, and the closest one among them pointed to the non-hostile Chaos above the cavern.

By now, it was quite obvious.

“But today is indeed strange. Normally, walking from start to finish, we’d encounter Chaos at least three or four times. Today we only met once, and we detected it in advance. This is all good luck you’ve brought me, Fia—”

BOOM!

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The moment Lucitine finished speaking, it sounded as if some super-large organism heavily slammed into the wall. The entire labyrinth shook. Countless rubble and dust fell from the ceiling, and the ground trembled so much it was hard to stand. Fia could sense that the impact site was actually very far from them, but its power was so immense, indicating the battle was exceptionally fierce.

She didn’t want to wait a moment longer and urged rapidly.

“Let’s hurry to the battlefield.”

“Mm.”

After a dizzying dash, Fia and Lucitine finally arrived at a place that could rightly be called a tragic battlefield.

A giant, high-temperature underground hollow.

From floor to ceiling, it was at least two to three thousand meters high. Its area rivaled the plain where the Eldest Princess was ambushed. The cavern was littered with shattered stalactites, and the ground bore traces of lava flows that had since solidified. The edges of the battlefield were pitch black, while its center was extremely bright.

The entire cavern echoed with the coordinated transmissions of the undead. Undead archmages and nightmare knights formed the backbone. The former provided long-range magic support from the cliff near the labyrinth’s exit at the rear, while the nightmare knights led squads of Third Tier skeleton warriors and undead monsters to form a defensive line, preventing Chaos from reaching the city.

—That’s right, the exit Fia had emerged from the labyrinth was a war fortress built on a steep cliff face, offering a commanding overhead view of the entire battlefield below.

As for the Chaos facing the undead, besides the sea of Chaos filling most of the ground—which Fia had seen many times before—there was also a spherical Chaos over a hundred meters long, covered in numerous eyes. The ceiling above it had a deep pit matching its size, indicating it was responsible for the impact sound Fia had heard earlier.

The fortress city was in chaos, filled with the panic-stricken cries of undead archmages.

“Have these Chaos finally learned to attack from other directions?”

“They’ve even combined!”

“Don’t let them reach the surface! Restrain them with magic! Prepare the magic cannons!”

Almost simultaneously, Fia sensed multiple excited emotions being transmitted over.

「Father God, please wait a moment!」

These thoughts came from a pitch-black sphere rapidly enlarging in her field of vision. On the sphere, golden and blue eyes opened simultaneously, each one fixed intently on her.