Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Staged Crisis
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'What the hell am I looking at?'
Wraith Knight Chepelli.
Once a member of the knight order who swung his sword at the king's command, now reduced to a mere gatekeeper monster in the upper levels of the Labyrinth.
He felt as if he had fallen into a deep illusion, drifting through a dream.
'How the hell is that thing still alive?'
He fixed his gaze ahead.
There stood a man.
The man who had saved the woman he was holding and was supposed to have sacrificed himself in her place.
The one who should have met his end swept away by the wave of monsters.
Swoosh!
It happened in an instant.
Red blood sliced through the air like a raging current, carving a sharp diagonal line across the Labyrinth wall.
Thud!
From the darkness, the man burst forth, piercing through a wave of blood and flesh.
In a vortex of blood and screams, he charged straight toward where Chepelli stood.
"Kuaak!"
"Kek!"
The starving hordes of the Labyrinth hungered for his life.
The ferocious roars of savage beasts and the enraged howls of demonic creatures echoed through the Labyrinth.
And then...
"What a pain."
The man paid them no mind, trampling everything in his path as he advanced.
Crunch!
He shattered the wall of monsters with his fist.
Thwack!
Tall, menacing foes swarmed him, but he ignored them completely.
He thrust his arms forward even harder, deeper.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Once, twice, and then a barrage of countless strikes forcibly cleared the way.
Like a battering ram smashing through a castle gate, he pulverized the barrier of monsters and pressed on.
'What is that thing?'
His sword had pierced the man's shoulder long ago.
Yet the bastard hadn't fallen.
As if such a wound was less than a mere scratch.
Straight ahead, in a beeline.
Arrogantly, as if nothing could stand in his way.
With a tightly clenched fist, he forged his path.
Behind him, red splatters of blood and piles of shattered corpses accumulated.
He hurled his blood-soaked body forward, ripping free from the arms grasping at him.
It was like a hallucination.
A disconnect from reality—something that shouldn't be happening, unfolding right before his eyes.
And in stark contrast to that surreal disconnect, the truth of reality steadily closed the distance.
The distant silhouette grew clearer and sharper.
"Did you throw that sword at my shoulder?"
At last, drenched in blood, he stood before Chepelli.
Fierce crimson eyes glared at him.
Seeing the man who had reached him so suddenly, the wraith shuddered.
'He beat all those monsters to death and came here?'
In that moment, the man before him didn't look human—he seemed like a living calamity.
Even though Chepelli's body had no heart, even though he had long shed his mortal flesh.
A frozen sensation enveloped his entire being.
Terror.
Fear.
And awe.
Long-forgotten emotions from ages past crashed over him like a tsunami.
⚙ CURSE ECHO ⚙ -Eliminate the intruder.- 'It's just like him.'
⚙ CURSE ECHO ⚙ -Guard this gate forever.- -Betray that duty, and I will come for you myself.- The cursed one.
The madman who guarded the sanctuary of blood.
He reeked of the same scent of death.
'I can't win.'
His instincts screamed.
The only way to survive now was to run.
He twisted his body.
He had to escape this place...!
"Hey."
A sinister voice called from behind.
"This is yours, right? Take it back."
The moment he whipped his head around on reflex.
In that split second, a transparent blade flashed toward him like lightning, filling his vision.
It pulsed with red mana, but its hazy outline made it unmistakable.
It was the sword he had thrown at the man moments ago.
Whoosh!
...No pain.
Pain was a luxury for a being without flesh.
All that remained was the chilling aura of death seeping in.
...
"Hey, you okay? What happened?!"
"There's an injured person here! Someone get a priest!"
"What the hell is going on in the Labyrinth? Why are survivors pouring out like this?"
Voices erupted from all directions.
Aren opened her eyes amid the commotion.
'Where...?'
A blue sky filled her vision.
Restless crowds, injured people groaning in agony, gendarmes rushing about busily.
Smooth stone pavement, a central fountain, and neat buildings surrounding it—all bathed in sunlight under a bright morning sky.
It was the familiar sight of Labyrinth City she knew so well.
'I'm back....'
She tried to rise, mustering strength in her legs despite her exhaustion.
"Agh!"
But a sharp pain shot up from her calf, twisting her face as a groan escaped her lips.
Looking down, she saw a dagger deeply embedded in her calf.
"Are you alright?"
"You're bleeding from your leg. Don't move until the Association priests arrive. Just rest here."
The gendarmes approached her, offering water and draping a blanket over her to comfort her.
Warmed by their kind words, Aren gradually regained her sense of reality.
'I... almost died.'
It didn't feel real.
When her leg was injured, she had been certain death was inevitable.
But pain could only be felt by the living.
The relentless ache from her calf reminded her vividly that she was very much alive.
Yes, as if to ensure she never forgot.
She was here only because of that man's sacrifice.
The heavy weight of that sacrifice—the guilt—tightened around her throat.
"Leon..."
His name slipped out weakly, like air escaping a deflated balloon.
Their connection was recent; they had barely met.
She had given him a potion, and he had drunk it.
Nothing more—a complete stranger beyond that.
She wasn't uninterested in him, but it was mere curiosity about his robust constitution that withstood the potion's side effects. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yet the man—Leon—had saved her when she was in danger inside the Labyrinth.
Even while fleeing from monsters, he had unhesitatingly scooped up her wounded body and raced for the Return Stone.
In his final moments, teetering on the edge of life and death from a sword wound, he had mustered every last ounce of strength to hurl her toward the Return Stone.
He had staked his life on a stranger.
Was it simple justice?
Or some hidden hardship driving him?
Maybe just an incomprehensible whim.
Aren wasn't Leon.
She had no way of knowing his true feelings.
But one thing was certain.
'I need to ask for help.'
She couldn't just sit here.
She resolved to inform her guild and request assistance.
They had to send a rescue team to check if he was alive or dead.
She knew they wouldn't listen to a newbie who had just joined the guild, no matter how promising.
And once her guildmates heard, they'd say it was unfortunate but to give up.
She knew that too.
That he was likely no longer of this world.
'Even so, I'll ask for help.'
She'd empty her pockets for a commission if needed, kneel and beg—whatever it took to send a rescue team.
At the very least, retrieving his body and burying him on the surface was the bare minimum courtesy.
With that resolve, she tried to move her heavy legs.
Flash!
Suddenly, a golden portal opened in the center of the plaza.
Labyrinth portals glowed blue when entering, but gold when exiting.
Meaning just one thing.
Someone had returned from the Labyrinth.
"Whew, that was rough."
"!"
Countless explorers entered and exited the Labyrinth.
Even now, people were streaming out through the portal.
But...
'That voice...!'
Hearing the voice from the Labyrinth—the one she thought she'd never hear again—her head snapped toward the portal.
"Ah, nice weather."
A mix of anxiety and hope had set her heart racing wildly, but now it slowly, quietly settled.
A blood-soaked man emerged from the golden portal.
"Hello there. This makes our third meeting, I think. We sure run into each other a lot."
Wearing leather armor heavy with blood, he greeted her with the same relaxed expression he'd had in the Labyrinth.
Aren let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
It was a moment of such shock that even admiration wouldn't come.
'He came back alive...'
She had seen it clearly.
In the final moment, him being engulfed by the monster horde.
She had believed there was no way he could survive.
"How...?"
She had so many questions for him.
How did he survive?
What happened to the Wraith Knight?
But before she could ask...
Thud!
"Another survivor here!"
"He's passed out. Move him quick."
"Severe injuries. Emergency treatment first!"
His strength gave out, and he collapsed right there.
People rushed over, checking his condition and starting emergency aid.
'Missed my chance to ask.'
But Aren didn't mind.
The fact that he had returned alive was enough.
She could ask later, once he woke up.
She was grateful for this miracle.
So...
"I'll help too!"
She rolled up her sleeves to assist him.
Believing this was the least she could do for the man who had saved her life.