The Distorted Mystery
It should be fun. The journey here had been eventful, but the real challenge began now. Powerful monsters? We were stronger than them. A complicated domain to navigate? The guild informants had solved that with a single click. Thanks to that, our advance had been far smoother than expected, and now we stood before the final gate blocking the path to the legacy—a spatial barrier stretched across the mountain range. Light passed through it, and we could sense space existing beyond, yet when we tried to look through the veil, nothing appeared. It was like staring with unfocused eyes, like wearing thick glasses that didn't match our vision, like a mischievous child waving from behind a mirror without forming a clear image. The sight made my head spin, so I turned away and closed my eyes.
"Ugh, dizzy."
"I wouldn't recommend staring for long. Spatial-distortion type Mysteries warp your sense of space when you look at them."
"You could've said that earlier."
"Haha. Experiencing motion sickness at least once isn't such a bad thing."
I scratched my head at Owen's sly remark. It was true that I felt nauseous, but it had been worth it. The Mystery phenomenon spanning the mountains was incredibly beautiful—even if I couldn't see it properly.
"That's enough sightseeing. Let's plan our entry."
I lightly tapped my cheeks to focus, then looked seriously at the people gathered in our makeshift meeting area. They were all impressive, but I couldn't bring everyone inside.
"We'll split into two teams: one that enters the Mystery to resolve it, and one that stays here to protect the non-combatants. Let's call them the Assault Team and the Defense Team for simplicity."
"""......"""
"First, I'll take volunteers. Who wants to join the Assault Team?"
At my words, all one hundred expedition members raised their hands. Several scholars and guild staff did as well. I knew it. No one was going to sit still when the option was entering a space filled with dangerous and bizarre things.
"As expected. Let's start by deciding who can't go."
The Mystery formed across the mountains was a defensive system created by Adela's mother. I'd known it would be here before we even arrived, so I'd already sorted people into Assault and Defense teams in my head. When I explained the assignments with reasonable justifications, they accepted them despite their disappointment. Thanks to that, I managed to divide the group without any major fuss. I let out a sigh of relief and reviewed the lineups of both teams.
Since we needed to find the legacy, it was obvious that Adela, Neon, and I would enter. From the adventurers, I selected twenty-five, and twenty-five more from the knight order. As expected, Owen and Hornst would lead the teams. Both were top-tier Gold-class fighters, so everyone accepted their appointments without question. Including the leaders, the Assault Team consisted of five Gold-class and twenty Silver-class members—fifty in total. They checked their equipment, radiating sharp, confident auras. Every single one of them was highly skilled, and even among the Silver-class, some were stronger than me. Yet standing before them, I didn't feel intimidated. The expedition had no complaints about me being in command, and they respected the authority and position of the leader. As long as they respected me, I had a duty to demonstrate my capability as their commander.
"If everyone's ready, we're moving out!"
I took the lead and walked forward, with the fifty members of the Assault Team following behind. Swallowing dryly, I headed toward the massive Mystery.
"I'm really nervous."
"Me too."
"It's only natural. Most Mysteries are found in the South."
I'd experienced a Mystery once before in the ruins where we encountered the Laserdon, but it had only been brief. Even then, I'd been half-unconscious and hadn't properly registered it. This was essentially my first real encounter, and facing such an enormous Mystery made my heart pound.
"Adela, do you remember the internal structure?"
"Roughly. Some of the locked information has been released, so it's a bit hazy. Is that okay?"
"It's fine. As long as we have a general direction, we can handle the rest."
If I'd planned to rely solely on Adela's memory, I wouldn't have brought this much firepower into the Assault Team. We would've just cleared it with our small group.
"Once we enter, confirm your positions and move carefully. One wrong step and you'll be transported to a different space."
"Don't worry. None of the people here are the type to make mistakes."
"We're all veterans. We'll clear it without a single error, so leave it to us."
Feeling reassured by the confident words of Hornst and Owen, we arrived before the Mystery.
"Up close, it's even more dizzying."
My vision wavered as if I'd stepped into a hall of mirrors with distorted senses. Frowning at the sight that might have made an ordinary person nauseous, I signaled the Assault Team. From here on, we needed full concentration, so I kept words to a minimum as we entered.
Before I knew it, my vision flipped, and we were transported to a massive island.
"This place... a sky island?"
"Instead of sea, all I see is clouds?"
Adela, who had moved ahead, was busily sniffing the air with her nose, while Neon and I looked around in wonder. Just as Neon said, this wasn't an ordinary island—it was a sky island. The surroundings were filled with sky, and below the island, everything was hidden by clouds, as if the clouds had taken the sea's place. I watched with childlike curiosity until Adela warned us.
"This isn't like the sky islands in the East. It's a pocket dimension modeled after one. If you step on the clouds by mistake, you're in trouble."
At her warning, I immediately reined in my curiosity and stayed on guard. Aside from the ground we stood on, everything was clouds. The space contained nothing but clear sky and sun, yet we maintained vigilance while waiting for Adela to finish her search. We'd come this far, so clearing the Mystery itself shouldn't be too difficult...
"Something's wrong."
"What is?"
"It's a little different from the information I know."
Damn it. I was an idiot for getting my hopes up. Seeing Adela's furrowed brow as she voiced her doubts, I felt certain this wouldn't go smoothly.
"How is it different from your memories?"
"The space is more twisted than calculated. There are traces like someone tried to force their way through the Mystery and failed."
"Great. So there's a problem inside."
Neon seemed to share the thought and immediately assumed there were enemies within. The Assault Team members, having overheard us, had already drawn their weapons. Hornst and Owen approached as representatives and asked,
"Exactly what kind of problem are we dealing with?"
"It seems an uninvited guest has intruded from outside."
"Uninvited guest?"
"A monster, most likely."
Even Northerners struggled to reach this place. It was a location where at least three Gold-class individuals had to team up to arrive without major losses, so other regions wouldn't even dare attempt it. The hidden factions busy causing chaos in their own territories were even less likely. That meant the only living beings capable of entering this Mystery were monsters. At my explanation, both men wore serious expressions.
"Has a monster ever entered a Mystery before?"
"It's not unheard of. I've heard that in the South, some Mysteries lure monsters in to act as guardians."
"But this place was created by Adela's mother."
There were cases where Mysteries emitted rich mana waves like bait to tempt monsters and use them as guardians, but this one was different. It had been made to protect a legacy, so it should emit waves that repelled monsters. The fact that monsters had entered meant something was wrong.
"This is highly suspicious."
"I don't know when the traces appeared, but we should move as quickly as possible."
"I agree with Owen."
I agreed with both. Normally, an anomaly would call for cautious movement, but my adventurer's instincts were warning me that hurrying would be better. If it were only me, I could've dismissed it as a feeling, but seeing that the entire expedition felt similarly, this had become a race against time. While the Assault Team exchanged glances and steeled their resolve, I checked the condition of my spear-sword and spoke to Adela.
"Adela, find the fastest route to the center of the Mystery."
"Okay. I'll ignore danger levels and just find the quickest path."
"As long as we don't die, it'll be fine. Let's move out right away."
Adela, taking the lead, dashed toward the edge of the island's cliff like a leopard. We followed, and when she leaped from the cliff's edge into a faintly opened rift and vanished, we jumped after her. The floating sensation around my body disappeared, and the moment I landed, I followed behind Adela while clicking my tongue in amazement.
Beyond the purple-tinged sky, countless rifts had opened. Islands identical to the one we stood on were visible through the rifts, and on those islands were grotesque creatures, plants, or barren wastelands with not even a single blade of grass.
"If we lose the path, we'll definitely get lost."
"Yeah. I designed it so it wouldn't break by accident."
"Amazing. Using a Mystery like this to protect a legacy..."
"Well, this Mystery was created using the functions of a nest."
So it was made using the queen's power. Thinking back to the phenomenon I'd seen when clearing the War Ant nest, it made sense.
"Even if someone falls behind, it's fine. Once we reach the center and obtain control of the nest, we can rescue them anytime."
"That would work if the path is smooth."
After crossing an island identical to the first and passing through the second rift, we encountered living creatures on an island that had previously contained nothing but vegetation. The grotesque beings, seemingly created to test mental fortitude, let out indescribable shrieks upon spotting us and charged. Crack! They were reduced to pulp by the adventurers' weapons without discrimination.
"Damn it, what the hell are these?"
"Creatures from beyond the stars. They're mainly found in the South. Just looking at them drains mental energy, so they're quite troublesome."
"How do you know that?"
"I have experience operating in the South due to a request. I'm glad it's proving useful on this expedition."
Their tentacles writhed, and eyes and mouths sprouting irregularly across their bodies moved in unsettling ways, making them extremely grotesque. But in the end, they were physical beings. Since few creatures could match Northerners in raw physical power, the so-called extraterrestrial lifeforms vanished pathetically. Still, I didn't believe these would be the last. Letting out a sigh, I gripped my spear-sword tighter. I'd thought this journey might go somewhat smoothly, but it seemed my fate refused to let me have it easy. Even so...
It should be fun.
With a slight smile, I threw myself toward the rift leading to the next space.