Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139844414118669/episodes/822139846281988543
“–!”
The thunder magic I unleashed scorched the interior of the massive black iron body, causing it to explode along with its armor.
Its pointlessly huge frame split vertically, and it collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Watching it vanish into black particles, I dodged the attacks of the other armored monsters closing in, seized an opening, and cast another spell. A monster blown away by a barrage of fire magic smashed into a wall, and the collapsing rubble rolled down like an avalanche.
(—How many times has this been now? This is getting way too tedious…)
How long had it been since I infiltrated this place alone to draw the labyrinth’s attention?
A few hours? Or perhaps a full day?
Fighting the same enemies. Endless waves of reinforcements from the same foes. Staring at this monotonous scene had worn away my very sense of time.
A black iron sword swinging down.
The floor being crushed beneath my feet.
Parry, dodge, strike, crush.
I strike with lightning, burn with fireballs, slice with wind blades, and blow them away with torrents of water. I block their attacks with a wall of light, or dodge them when necessary. It’s just that cycle repeating.
No matter how the enemies change, no matter how their numbers grow.
The actions themselves don’t change.
And as I continued to wreak havoc inside the labyrinth, the moment finally arrived.
“――Hm?”
The stones on the floor sank slightly, and the nature of the vibration transmitted to the soles of my feet changed.
It was different from the precursors to reconfiguration I had felt countless times before. It wasn’t a localized change, like a passage closing or a wall being added. It was deeper—a dull, heavy tremor, as if the very skeleton of the labyrinth were creaking.
With a thud, a beat behind, the space pulsed.
The patterns running along the walls flickered red, and the stones in the ceiling ground against one another as they shifted slightly out of place. In the distance, a low rumbling sound, as if something massive were being reassembled, overlapped with the rest.
(……The scale is different.)
I parried the greatsword swung down by the armored figure before me and kicked its torso away. But half my attention was already focused on the changes around me.
The rhythm of the reinforcements is off.
Enemies aren’t appearing where they should.
Instead, space itself is beginning to warp.
This is the reaction of the labyrinth when something vital to it—has been lost.
The ground beneath my feet sinks again. This time, the entire hall tilts slightly.
The ceiling beams creak, and the unpleasant sound of stone grinding against stone echoes.
(……I see.)
There’s only one possibility.
—The disappearance of the core.
I crushed the jaw of the approaching beast-like monster with my fist, the corners of my mouth curving slightly upward.
Seeing the signs of the end, I regained a little of my motivation.
“……Just one more push, then!”
I pointed my palm, charged with magic, forward.
I dodged the oncoming black-iron monster’s sword by a hair’s breadth and simultaneously unleashed a fire spell at point-blank range. After confirming that the massive body had been blown away, bouncing off the floor several times before finally crashing into the wall, I spread my arms wide.
“—Vanish.”
What I had unleashed was the ‘Area-of-Effect Lightning Spell.’
The lightning that spread out from me in an instant scorched the insides of the armored monsters, made the muscles of the beast-like monsters spasm, and knocked the monstrosities clinging to the ceiling to the ground. Lightning streaking down the walls shattered the stone, and flashes crawling across the floor pierced the monsters’ bodies.
The sounds of explosions overlapped, and a purple light blanketed my vision.
When the lightning subsided, almost none of the monsters were still standing.
Black particles swirled like rain, and the smell of burning filled the air.
“This isn’t the end… is it?”
A horde of monsters emerged, passing right through the floor and walls.
However, they lacked the momentum they’d had just moments ago, and their numbers were far smaller than before.
Their spawning locations and intervals were clearly erratic. The monsters that appeared also seemed sluggish in their movements.
Was it a reaction to losing their core? Or was it because their consciousness was split between reconstruction?
(Either way, it works in my favor.)
I step forward and punch through the chest of a newly appeared armored monster. A beast tries to bite me from the side, but I slice it to pieces with wind magic and blow away the remains with fire magic.
I increase my processing speed.
No wasted movements. The shortest path, the least effort, maximum efficiency.
Black particles rise into the air, one by one.
It was right in the middle of that.
A faint, yet unmistakable “different kind of presence” mingled in.
“――!!”
While knocking the black-iron monster away with a fist streaked with purple lightning, I raised my gaze.
Amid the red, flickering lights of the labyrinth, I could make out the familiar figures of four people standing atop the stone steps. There was no way I could be mistaken. —They were the people I cared about most.
I exhaled slowly.
“Looks like you managed to defeat the Core safely.”
A voice, so calm it seemed out of place on a battlefield, echoed through the air.
The moment I saw the four of them standing at the top of the stairs, I felt something that had been tightly wound inside me finally unravel.
(I’m so glad they’re safe…)
To be honest, whether they could defeat the Core was almost like a gamble.
In the original story, the “First Labyrinth Conquest” was a war of attrition that lasted several days. Battle after battle drained their magic and stamina, their healing potions were nearly depleted, and fellow students fell one after another. It was a battle against the Core they finally reached only after repeating retreats and re-entries countless times.
Yu and the others back then were undoubtedly strong.
They had crossed the line of death, learned their limits, steeled their resolve, and had surely grown strong enough to snatch victory by the skin of their teeth.
But this time is different.
Because I’ve taken all the brunt of the danger upon myself, their combat intensity is lighter than in the original story.
Their rate of growth was definitely slower than in the original.
That’s exactly why I was anxious.
Are they all okay? Is what I’m doing pointless? Shouldn’t I leave this place right now and rush to their aid?
I’d thought about things like that more than once or twice.
But those anxieties were swept away the moment I saw the four of them standing at the top of the stairs.
I was filled with a sense of relief so overwhelming I couldn’t contain it.
“…Thank goodness. Really.”
It was the very moment those words dissolved into the air.
A screech—the sound of black iron grinding—echoed behind me.
The armor-type monster regained its footing, its bloodshot, murky eyes fixed on the stairwell. The beast-type growled lowly, and the monstrosity leaned out from the ceiling.
The labyrinth never stops.
Even having lost its core, its will to eliminate intruders remains undiminished.
My expression, which had relaxed in relief, tightened in an instant.
There was no time to let my shoulders drop, no room to indulge in sentimentality.
I took a step forward.
The monster’s gaze wavered—between the stairwell and me.
I wouldn’t give it even a moment to hesitate.
“—Over here.”
I announced it in a low, clear voice.
It wasn’t just my voice. I intentionally released magic, causing ripples to spread through the air. I asserted myself as an “alien presence”—unpleasant and impossible to ignore—to both the labyrinth and the monsters.
The monsters, bathed in the translucent ripples radiating from me, all turned toward me at once.
“—Go!”
As I bellowed in a voice bordering on a roar, a spark of life returned to the eyes of the four who had been standing frozen.
Each of them began to run swiftly, darting through the monsters’ blind spots toward the stairs leading to the upper levels on the opposite side. One of the armored monsters tried to target their backs, but—
“Do you think I’d let you get away with that so easily?”
I instantly cast a dark spell.
The monster that had taken a step forward to chase after them was compressed with a series of unpleasant creaks and cracks. Eventually, all that remained was a lump of black iron compressed down to the size of a ball.
Seeing this, the monsters’ gazes focused even more intently on me.
“Good. That’s it. Look at me more. —Look only at me!”
Three armored monsters charged in simultaneously.
Beast-type monsters flanked me from left and right, and the monstrosity on the ceiling fired a barrage of magic bullets, but—
“Too slow!”
I shattered the armored monster in the front row with a fist wrapped in lightning, then spun around and unleashed a wind blade. The beast’s leg was severed, and I used the momentum to blast it away with a fireball. I deflected the monstrosity’s magic bullets with a wall of light, calculating their trajectory to make them strike the armored monster behind me directly.
Black particles swirl through the air. The floor shatters, and the ceiling creaks.
The vibrations of the reconstruction are growing stronger. It’s clear the labyrinth is getting impatient.
But I don’t care.
As long as I’m here, I won’t let them get through.
“Come on… I’ll take them all on.”
Concentrated magic power spreads out once more in ripples.
The monsters rush toward me all at once.
I block their heavy sword strikes, shatter them with my fists, and knock them back with kicks. I partially activate dark magic to compress their limbs, halt their movement, and burn them away with lightning.
A few seconds.
But that’s enough.
“Rai!”
“Rai samaaa!!”
From the stairwell leading to the upper levels, I could hear Elisia and Liene calling out to me.
Clear, living voices. Hearing their safe voices, I curled the corners of my mouth upward,
“…Roger.”
As I muttered this under my breath, I held both hands out in front of me.
“It’s all over now.”
A small black dot appeared at the center of the horde, gradually expanding its reach.
In the blink of an eye, it spread widely, crawling across the floor, licking the walls, and seeping into every crevice of the space.
The blackness deepened as if devouring the light.
The monsters instinctively tried to retreat, but it was too late.
The armored monster’s knees creaked, the beast’s limbs dug in, and the monstrosity flapped its wings, but the darkness swallowed their bodies as if refusing to let them escape.
“—Be crushed.”
At the same moment as the low voice, the darkness reversed.
The spread-out blackness “gathered” toward the center all at once.
–Gigigigigi!!!
The sound of iron being crushed echoed in layers.
Mixed in was the sound of bones shattering, and a scream choked in the back of his throat before fading away.
The armor of the monstrous beast folded like paper, its muscles twisted into a mass, and its monstrous wings crushed flat as they sank into darkness.
Compressed, converged, and collapsing.
The center of the darkness shrank to the size of a fist—
A dull thud shook the hall.
All that remained was a single, crushed, curled-up, black, misshapen mass.
There was no movement, no sign of the monster.
The darkness faded, and only the vibrations of the labyrinth’s reconfiguration returned with unpleasant clarity.
I lowered my hands and turned on my heel. At the entrance to the stairs leading to the upper levels, I could make out the familiar figures of my companions.
Everyone was safe.
“Let’s go!”
I shouted and sprinted off at the same time.
When I reached the stairs, I took the steps two at a time, kicking up the vibrating stones.
Behind me, a deafening roar echoed as part of the hall was crushed.
As we raced up to the upper levels, Elisia said through gritted teeth.
“…You really are reckless! You are!”
Liene snapped back, her voice choked with tears.
“Rai-sama, we were worried about you!”
I caught my breath and smiled with just the corners of my mouth.
“I’ll listen to your lectures out there all I want. That’s a promise. So for now, just run.”
At my words, the two of them widened their eyes for just a moment—then immediately looked ahead.
“…You’d better be prepared for it later!”
“I mean it, you know!”
“Yeah. It’s a promise.”
Exchanging such brief words, we raced at full speed through the collapsing labyrinth.
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