Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139844414118669/episodes/822139846213903547
Near the entrance, by the wall.
In the shadow of the rubble, a mass of white hair lay scattered. The moment I realized it belonged to the girl who’d just been knocked aside by the monster, I found myself instinctively heading toward her.
I broke through the crowd of cheering people and ran.
Leaping over debris and stepping across the collapsed floor, I headed straight for her without hesitation.
(……What is this? I shouldn’t even know her—)
Even though this was our first meeting, it felt as if I’d reunited with my first love after a long time apart.
Overcome by a feeling as though I’d found a long-lost treasure, I knelt down right in front of her and gently touched her shoulder.
She’s warm.
“……She’s alive.”
The whisper contained a sense of relief that surprised even me.
I was relieved that she was alive. —Why? I shouldn’t know a single thing about her. Yet there I was, feeling strangely reassured by the slight rise and fall of her chest and the faint breath escaping her pink lips.
That was when it happened.
“Yu.”
A sharp voice rang out.
When I looked up, Elisia was standing a short distance away. Her deep purple eyes were fixed directly on me.
“Don’t get too close. We don’t know anything yet.”
Her voice was calm, but it carried a clear sense of caution.
Among the ‘Cores’ that appear in the labyrinth, some rise again after being defeated and stubbornly shift into a second form. They do all sorts of things—growing extra arms, changing their form, or even summoning another individual. —I couldn’t rule out the possibility that she might be one of those.
“—I know, I know, but…”
The moment those words slipped out, I felt the girl’s white eyebrows tremble ever so slightly.
In that instant, my breath caught in my chest as if I’d been struck.
“I can’t leave you behind.”
The words had slipped out before I even realized it.
It wasn’t a matter of logic. The reason she was with the monster—or anything like that—seemed completely irrelevant.
Leaving her here like this was out of the question.
“――!?”
At that moment, the floor creaked beneath her feet.
The magic circle on the floor began to flicker erratically. It was as if something that had lost its vessel had lost its support and was lashing out in fury.
A low growl shook the air, and the blue flames in the wall sconces flickered violently. The ceiling began to crumble bit by bit, and a dull sound, like stones shifting, echoed from the distance.
“……Is it starting to collapse?”
“No, this isn’t a collapse—it’s probably a reconfiguration.”
At Ciel’s words, Elisia spoke quietly.
“The Primordial Labyrinth is a calamity that has persisted for over a thousand years. There are records of past expeditions that destroyed its core. For an ordinary labyrinth, that would be the end of it, but—apparently, this one changes its form every time that happens.”
Just as cracks spread across the walls like spiderwebs, the stone walls burst outward from the inside with a sickening sound. Amidst the swirling dust, I could see new stone formations protruding into the empty void left behind.
“…So it’s rebuilding itself?”
I muttered without thinking, and Elisia gave a brief nod.
“According to past records, there have been instances where entire floors vanished. Conversely, it’s said to have sometimes been replaced with an entirely different structure.”
The floor trembled, and the edge of the platform we were standing on began to sink slowly.
The ceiling creaked, and the stones were compressed as if being crushed, transforming into a different shape—a sight that was unprecedented even for me, an adventurer who had conquered countless labyrinths.
“…We’re retreating! Everyone, get ready.”
At Elisia’s command, the students snapped out of their daze and sprang into action.
They retrieved their weapons, supported the wounded, and began moving toward the exit in unison.
“…Well, that just means I can’t leave her behind.”
I picked up the girl lying on the ground.
—She’s light. Surprisingly so.
It felt as if I were carrying a futon or something.
“Yu.”
A low voice reached my ears. I turned around to find Elisia standing there.
Her intense, deep-purple gaze pierced right through me.
“…Are you planning to take her with you?”
The question was brief. Her tone contained neither affirmation nor denial.
Faced with that gaze and voice, I nodded. Firmly, to show I had no intention of backing down.
“……Yeah.”
The strength in my arms tightened around her, and the girl let out a faint sigh.
Elisia’s gaze shifted from me to her, paused for a moment, then returned to me. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Then she let out a sigh that sounded both exasperated and resigned.
“I suppose leaving a girl behind here does feel a bit wrong……”
She shrugged her shoulders and gave a wry smile.
“Do as you please. —But don’t let her die, okay?”
She took a step closer and continued in a low voice.
Her sharp gaze was directed not only at me but also at the girl in my arms.
“It’s your call. Take responsibility for it until the very end.”
The labyrinth groaned.
A section of the ceiling collapsed, scattering stone fragments at our feet.
I nodded firmly once more.
“Yeah. Absolutely.”
Elisia said nothing more; she turned on her heel and shouted.
“Clear the path! We’re rushing to the exit!”
The walls of the hall were being crushed, and new stone blocks were jutting out.
The labyrinth had definitely begun to reshape this place.
I pulled the girl close again and kicked off the swaying floor, breaking into a run.
As we raced toward the exit, stepping over the undulating floor, a thunderous roar echoed behind us. I glanced back to see half of the hall we’d just been in crushed flat, the stones grinding against one another as they slowly shifted into a new shape.
It seemed we didn’t have much time left.
“Injured first! If the records are correct, the monsters shouldn’t reappear! —But the structure is changing! Don’t stop—everyone, run!”
Elisia’s orders rang out.
The students, who had been in a panic, finally regained their composure.
The fact that the core had been destroyed and the signs of reconstruction—these gave weight to her words.
The students rush toward the exit like an avalanche.
Supporting one another, lending each other a shoulder, without looking back.
Elisia watches their backs for just a moment, then immediately shifts her gaze to another staircase. The direction where purple lightning continues to streak, and where the constant roar and torrent of magical power still flow—the most dangerous route.
“You guys can escape to the outside via the safe exit, you know?”
Elisia narrowed her eyes for just a moment and stated matter-of-factly to those of us who remained.
Her voice was quiet, yet it carried a strength born of resolve.
“That won’t do.”
Liene stepped forward and stood beside Elicia.
Shouldering her greatsword and gazing up the stairs, there was no fear in her expression.
“I am Lord Rai’s personal maid. Where on earth is there a maid who would abandon her master and run away?”
She stated it with absolute certainty.
Her tone was a blend of pride and a sense of duty.
Following her lead, both Ciel and I stood side by side with Elisia.
“I’m coming too. He’s the kind of person who’d do something as reckless as a decoy operation. He’s definitely up to something equally reckless up there.”
“Right. How could we just leave him?”
Ciel gripped her dual swords tightly, and I adjusted my hold on the girl in my arms.
Elisia looked at each of us in turn, then let out a small sigh.
“……I see.”
With just those words, she dashed toward the stairs. There was no hesitation in her back.
The stairs we ran up after her had already begun to creak. Parts of the steps crumbled as if melting, and other stones slid into place, rearranging themselves.
It didn’t look like we had time to waste.
“Hurry! The structural changes are accelerating!”
At Elisia’s shout, we all followed her at once.
With every step up the stairs, the vibrations grew stronger. The torrent of magic and the streaks of purple lightning intensified. Though no one spoke it aloud, the same anxiety lay deep within everyone’s hearts.
(Rai… please, just stay safe!)
The sound of impacts echoed intermittently from the top of the stone stairs—heavy metallic clangs and the dull thud of something being crushed. A sickening tremor, as if the very space itself were creaking, rippled through us, intensifying our anxiety and panic.
Purple lightning streaked across the stone walls, and the sound of something snapping—a sharp crack—struck our ears. A pungent, acrid smell filled the air. The scent of scorched earth grew thicker and stronger.
“…The concentration of magic is abnormal.”
Ciel muttered in a low voice.
Even her voice was nearly drowned out by the vibrations.
We raced up the stairs, and the moment we stepped over the top step—the sight that spread before us left us all breathless.
—A battlefield. We couldn’t find any other word for it.
Gigantic figures of black iron stood in rows.
The armored monsters that had fought a desperate battle in the great hall.
And there wasn’t just one. Two. Three… No, there were more than that.
“…………”
Everyone was speechless.
Because we understood from the bottom of our hearts that… “We can’t win.”
That much firepower was spread out before our eyes.
—A beast-like monster sprinting on all fours let out a roar.
—A monstrosity crawling across the ceiling, raining down magic bullets, screamed.
In the chaotic melee, where monsters equal to or stronger than the armored demons clashed, we could hear the sound of their resolve crumbling.
That faint hope we held somewhere deep down—that we could do this.
That was the sound of it shattering into pieces.
Our feet froze. Our throats burned.
Faced with a scene so desperate it made us look ridiculous—we who had just moments ago proudly declared we’d “defeated the core”—everyone fell silent.
That was when it happened.
A deafening roar split the air.
In the center of their vision, a massive, black-iron figure was blown sideways. It smashed through the wall and rolled, scattering chunks of stone. A thunderous impact followed a moment later.
“……Huh?”
A purple flash streaked past the pile of collapsed rubble.
Amid the scorched air, a single figure stood.
The ground was gouged out, stones melted, and the surrounding monsters kept their distance.
As if that spot alone were a different realm.
—It was Rai who stood there.
Still in the posture of having swung his arm back, he slowly raised his face.
His eyes were calm, cold—yet they were definitely burning.
“It seems you managed to defeat the core safely.”
With a gentle smile that seemed out of place in this setting, Rai said that.
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