Collapse, Showdown, the Spell for Crossing Worlds – Part 08

The emergency escape passage leading out of the Man Gnome village was filthy, barely maintained, and the iron door was rusted. But it opened without a hitch. After sprinting through the narrow tunnel of bare rock walls, they emerged onto a snow-covered plain.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Granryuk saw the Great Labyrinth, now settled on the ground. The sight of such a colossal, unnatural structure sitting there was so surreal that he momentarily froze, until he noticed figures racing toward him.

“Hey!”

It was a group of adventurers. Sophie of the Four Eastern Stars and Flower Face were among them.

“Mr. Granryuk!”

“Over here!”

Under normal circumstances, humans entering the Man Gnome village would be unthinkable, but the Saak family had already discovered its location, and they were in a state of emergency. There were hordes of monsters on the loose.

“You’re all right! Where’s Silver Face?”

“We’re fine, but Lord Silver Face is still inside the labyrinth,” Flower Face said.

“Our companions are fighting too,” Sophie added.

Hearing that Silver Face was still in the Great Labyrinth, Granryuk glanced back toward the distant structure.

“Got it. I’ll go. You guys should seek refuge through that passage. Yoshino is already there.”

“What’s on the other side of this cave?”

“It’s our village. Don’t worry, it’s safe for you to enter now.”

The village was in crisis, with everyone in a state of deep sleep, but Granryuk hoped the adventurers and Sophie’s group might help Yoshino.

“Um, can I go with you?” Flower Face asked.

“You will?”

“Yes. I can’t let Lord Silver Face fight alone.”

Though her face was hidden by a mask, her eyes shone with determination.

“All right. I’m not too familiar with the labyrinth myself, so I could use your help. Let’s go together.”

“Great! Miss Sophie, I leave things in your capable hands.”

“You can count on me. Take care of the girls.”

“I will.”

Granryuk and Flower Face parted ways with Sophie’s group and began descending the mountain path they had taken earlier.

“This is something else.”

Granryuk was astounded by the sight before him—the entire area frozen by magic, fallen dragons and giant birds, and shredded Chimeras. He couldn’t piece together exactly what had happened, but it was clear a fierce battle had taken place.

“The monsters came out of the labyrinth,” Flower Face said. “Miss Selyse’s team tried to hold them off, and Lord Silver Face shot down a dragon.”

“He shot one down?”

“Yup!”

Granryuk, a combat expert from Distant Girdle, knew there was no arrow capable of hitting a monster at that height. Nevertheless, he bought it. He believed that Silver Face could probably pull off something like that.

“Ah, there it is! Did you see that?”

“What?”

“The shot just now, at the monster on the ground.”

“On the ground? I thought you said in the air?”

“I did. But now it’s on the ground.”

Granryuk was lost. He had been looking up, expecting to see something in the sky after hearing about the dragon being shot down, but now, the action was on the ground.

“I see. That’s Silver Face for you,” he said.

“Yup!”

Once again, Granryuk found himself easily convinced. In his mind, Silver Face was practically a superhero.

Then, the behavior of the ground monsters changed. The creatures fighting on the snowy plain began moving toward the labyrinth.

“The Four Eastern Stars are coming this way,” Flower Face said.

Thanks to the enemy’s change in behavior, Selyse, Serika, and Sara managed to pull out and run towards them.

---

“Serika, can you walk?” Selyse asked between gasps of breath.

“I’d love… for you to carry me, but you’re… at your limit too.”

“I’m sooo bushed.”

All three were breathing heavily.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Paula said.

“Sara’s injured. Can you take a look at her?”

“Of course!”

Paula hurried over and examined Sara’s wounds. There was a deep cut on her upper arm, hastily bandaged with a torn piece of cloth. A similar wound on her thigh had ripped through her thick winter gear, exposing her flawless leg and the fresh blood beneath.

“I’ll fix you right away.” Paula started applying healing magic.

“I can’t believe you took on such massive monsters,” Granryuk said. “I heard you’re Rank B, but if you can handle this much with just three people, you could easily be Rank A.”

“Who cares about ranks?” Serika said, lying sprawled on the snow. “We only managed because we had Selyse’s weapon, and Sara pushed herself more than usual. If the cover had been even a little late, we’d have been in deep trouble!” Her small chest rose and fell with her labored breathing.

“I thought I could dodge with purrfect grace, but I messed up.”

“Nah, you did great,” Selyse said. “You used the smoke bombs cleverly, making sure Serika and I weren’t surrounded. Phew.”

Even Selyse looked exhausted as she sat down next to Serika, wiping sweat and grime from her face with a handkerchief. Her once-pristine white outfit was stained with monster blood, proof of the hard-fought battle. Several massive monsters, clearly slain by a sword, lay dead in the distance.

Granryuk swallowed hard. It must have been her who took them down.

She’s strong. Very strong.

“By the way, you mentioned cover just now,” Granryuk said. “What did you mean by that?”

“Look over there.”

At that moment, two Cyclopes collapsed in quick succession.

“Wh-What just happened?”

“Silver Face took them down. From the labyrinth, just like that.”

“No way… that’s impossible. Maybe with siege weapons, but hitting something so precisely? Is it possible with sorcery?”

“That reminds me, magic’s hard to use right now!” Serika exclaimed, sitting up.

“Phew. It was hard to cast healing magic too. There, all done.”

“Wow, thanks! You’re amazing, Pau—Flower Face!”

Sara, her wounds healed, bounced around energetically.

“The Starwhite Wedge is a weapon powered by soul energy, so it should restrict all forms of magic and sorcery.”

“The Starwhite Wedge, huh. Are you talking about the light that brought down the labyrinth?”

Selyse quickly caught on. She was not only strong but sharp too.

“Exactly. Soul energy weakens the bond between magicules and disrupts the flow of mana. Therefore, whatever magic the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas has should be pretty much nullified.”

“But somehow, Silver Face still manages!” Selyse said, as if it were her own achievement.

“That’s right!” Granryuk, too, sounded proud for some reason.

“Anyway, we should take shelter too. Sophie and the adventurers headed to the Man Gnome village, right?”

“Oh, right. We could use your help too. Will you lend us a hand?”

“Help? With what?”

“Well, actually, the village is—”

“Something’s wrong,” Paula interrupted. “Lord Silver Face hasn’t fired a shot for a while now.”

“What?”

“He was firing at regular intervals, but now it’s completely quiet.”

“That might be true. With no more shots, more and more monsters are reaching the labyrinth,” Sara observed. “Wait, is the labyrinth sinking? The area where the shots were coming from is going lower.”

Selyse sprang to her feet. “Does that mean Silver Face has withdrawn inside the labyrinth?”

“That must be it! He must’ve confirmed we were out of danger,” Serika declared confidently.

Just then, a single bullet was fired. The shot was completely different from before, fired straight up into the sky.

It seemed like a pointless shot, going nowhere but into the air. Given the current situation, such a shot made no sense.

“…”

“…”

Paula and Sara watched in silence as the bullet disappeared into the empty sky.

“What was that? Wasn’t Silver Face supposed to have retreated?” Selyse said. “Sara, what do you think? Your intuition is always spot-on.”

Sara’s Instinct on her Soul Board was level 5, exceptionally high among adventurers. It allowed her to detect mediocre stealth abilities and choose the correct path in a labyrinth with remarkable accuracy.

Selyse didn’t know about the Soul Board but, from their time together, she knew Sara’s intuition was exceptional.

“Hmm, I can’t tell from here.”

That was understandable. But they needed to make a decision, or at least a guess. The tension in the air was palpable.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Sara said.

Paula and Selyse took off running.

“Wait, Selyse?! Flower Face too?!”

“Sorry, Serika. Please look after Sophie!”

After a quick glance back, Selyse didn’t look back again.