Overwhelming Momentum (1)

91st Floor of the Great Labyrinth. Veronica's halo stood out vividly against the curtain of darkness draped before us. She seemed aware of how conspicuous it was and spoke with a slightly embarrassed tone.

"If you all keep staring like that, even I would feel a bit embarrassed. Didn't you expect this when you came in?"

She had a point. We were just staring out of curiosity—nothing more.

"Veronica's halo is so pretty the more I look at it! Hehe, since it shows where you are even without a separate light source, it might actually be helpful for allies?"

On the flip side, it made stealth difficult because enemies could spot her easily. Then again, as a tank, drawing aggro was her job, so maybe it was an advantage after all.

Yeriel, ever the friendly one, approached Veronica without hesitation, and the latter didn't seem to mind. This was separate from the penalty that dulled her emotional expressions.

"You can drop the 'miss' and just call me by name."

"Huk. Finally! Does this mean we're closer now?"

Yeriel beamed at the permission to skip formalities. Was this really the same timid Yeriel who couldn't even get properly angry back on the 3rd floor? My chest swelled with pride.

'You're telling me. Well, she's changing for the better, so I have nothing to complain about.'

Enough small talk. I shifted the mood.

"Alright, let's stop chatting and get into formation. I'll light the torch first—Lumia, the map and compass."

"Okay. Leave it to me."

We weren't in the city anymore. We were inside the Great Labyrinth—specifically the 1st floor, where countless adventurers were tangled together, excluding the deep-floor explorers. It was time to stay alert.

'Ah. Right, there are no deep-floor adventurers on the 1st floor. That reminds me.'

While flipping through books in the library, I'd learned that adventurers who reached the latter half of the higher floors inevitably encountered a kind of waypoint structure that could record their starting point. That meant deep-floor adventurers could begin their exploration from the end of the higher floors when entering through the portal. It had been fascinating yet distant information for someone like me whose highest record was the 4th floor, so it stuck in my memory.

While I was lost in thought, striking flint to light the torch—

"Yeah, this is it."

Lumia turned her head, carefully studying the map and our surroundings.

"Aren, judging by the walls and compass, I think we landed around here."

Her slender finger pointed to a spot roughly halfway from the central area to the northern portal.

"At least we didn't land right in the center. Let's look on the bright side."

I shrugged once and adjusted our formation. Lumia, who doubled as mage and scout, and Veronica the tank took the front. I, the party leader with high agility who could rush in during combat or switch to the rear if Yeriel was targeted, stayed in the middle. Yeriel the priestess brought up the rear. Since everyone could perform beyond their class roles, this four-person formation with our new member was the best I could manage.

"Let's move out. It's the first day the portal opened, so stay sharp and move as quickly as possible."

With Lumia’s ears twitching and Veronica’s softly glowing halo leading the way, the party began heading north.

"Enemies. A pack of monsters is approaching. About six of them… Can I handle them?"

There was something in her voice—confidence? Conviction? It was a positive shift from before. I nodded.

"Sure. Let's make our first battle memorable and hit them hard."

In the distance, goblins and kobolds drew closer. They hadn't noticed us yet.

"Darkness, crave and devour."

The moment Lumia's chant ended, a fundamentally different darkness—pitch-black and viscous—surged up in front of the pack, unlike the surrounding shadows.

Crack.

"Kerk?"

"Kyaa! Kyaaang!"

"Too late."

Crunch—

Just as Lumia said, it was already too late to notice. The massive maw of a monster made of darkness swallowed the entire pack in one bite.

"Keraaak!"

"Keek."

Screams of pain and death cries. The monster pack vanished without leaving even a small trace. Veronica, who had watched without blinking, spoke in the ensuing silence.

"As expected. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I saw it during our coordination in the city too, but this isn't the level of someone staying on the 3rd or 4th floor."

"Right? Our Lumia has so many talents and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real skill."

"⋯Ahem."

Lumia coughed awkwardly at the straightforward praise, her face flushing with embarrassment. It was thanks to the C-rank secret technique book she'd obtained after defeating the Grilops. The power of her magic had increased dramatically—enough to wipe out 1st-floor monsters in an instant.

Ping! Pew—

While advancing, we didn't have to worry even if another party ambushed us with ranged fire from a side passage.

"Hmph."

Ting-ting. Tang.

The arrows bounced harmlessly off Veronica's shield. Without our tank, I would've been busy calculating trajectories, shouting for barriers, and deflecting shots in slowed time.

"Dammit! Run!"

We weren't about to let them escape after a failed attack.

"Black hand that grasps the night."

'Lightning.'

BOOM!

I chained CC skills to instantly kill two, then dashed forward and cut down the rest.

Now, on the 1st floor, nothing could stop our steps—neither monsters nor groups of adventurers from the middle floors or higher.

***

One day. Two days. Three days.

We carved through the monsters blocking our path and tore through the 1st floor with unstoppable momentum.

'We don't know which area we'll land in on the 2nd floor, so we should rest here for today. There's a shelter nearby, too.'

Following Lumia at the front, we reached the shelter near the portal. While everyone was resting comfortably, Yeriel spoke up.

"Hehe. I feel a bit sorry just sitting back twiddling my thumbs."

Yeriel, twirling her hair, stuck out her tongue.

"The important thing is that no situation requiring a priestess has arisen yet."

"Exactly. Don't say you're sorry—just rest."

Veronica and Lumia encouraged her.

"Beep. Beep!"

Ever since entering the labyrinth, Ellie had stuck close to the safest person—Yeriel—rubbing her cheek and pecking affectionately.

"Heeheehee, stop it!"

It was nice that everyone got along. In the warm atmosphere, as we took out rations to ease our hunger, Yeriel suddenly raised her voice.

"Aah! That's right! Oh no, I'm such an idiot."

Why the sudden outburst? She sounded like she'd just remembered something.

"Yeriel, is something wrong?"

"No, no! It's just… before we entered, I mentioned I'd learned a new holy art, remember? I thought I could be helpful with it too."

Right. She had said something like that.

"Everyone, watch closely? Let the impure be purified."

Whoosh!

The moment her chant ended, Yeriel's hand glowed with a warm, comforting light.

'This is the same holy art the priest used during the inspection earlier. It concentrates divine power to detect those with evil auras, right?'

"You've seen it once, so you're familiar? But it can be used for a different purpose than what the priest mentioned earlier. For example, like this!"

Yeriel extended her glowing hand toward Veronica beside her. In the blink of an eye, the bloodstains on the edges of Veronica's sword and shield vanished, leaving them spotless.

"Thank you. I was going to clean them with a cloth before bed, so this saved me the trouble."

"Aww, it's nothing."

She played it down, but the corners of her mouth kept rising—she was clearly pleased. When I praised her too, Yeriel finally burst into laughter.

'Purifying dirty things… the applications are endless.'

With her declaration that she wouldn't just sit around doing nothing, I watched as she continued purifying everyone and rested.

"Darkness is my servant. Rise and obey."

Before going to sleep, Lumia summoned a familiar. Just as we were about to drift off—

Veronica quietly offered her opinion.

"The recruitment notice did mention that familiars could replace alarm magic, but wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it be better to stand watch in shifts, even with longer intervals?"

Hmm. Up until now, we'd been in the early sections of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lower floors, and multiple familiars had given us peace of mind, so we'd just slept comfortably… but I decided to hear her out.

"Right now, the shelter combined with the familiars gives us time to detect other adventurers before they arrive and prepare. However—"

"However?"

"If human hunters with magic-nullifying traits or high-level raiders capable of undetected ambushes approach, we're done for. Especially if we camp in areas without shelters later on."

Hmm. She had a point.

"You're right… We should get used to standing watch in advance and prepare. Now that I think about it, the three of us used to take turns without sleeping at all in the beginning."

Thanks to the familiars, we'd easily detected the approach of Karik's mercenary group, and after one comfortable sleep, we'd stuck to the same method ever since. Maybe the constant misfortunes and incidents had left a lingering desire to at least sleep peacefully.

"Haha! There's a lot to learn. As expected from a senior who's reached the middle floors—reassuring. Thanks to you, I remembered something I'd forgotten."

Recruiting Veronica, an experienced adventurer, in addition to her tank role felt like a stroke of luck.

"It must've been hard to voice your opinion to the party leader. Thanks for speaking up."

"Ah, no. Before a fixed party formed… there were crude leaders who glared and asked if I was challenging their authority whenever I pointed out obvious improvements. You're a good leader, Aren."

"Ahem. Is that so? Then let's say both you and I are good people."

"Beep?"

Veronica rolled her eyes awkwardly while I cleared my throat for no reason. Ellie tilted her head in confusion.

It'd be nice if she spoke casually too. Maybe the habit of using honorifics since childhood was hard to break.

That was how we spent our last night on the 1st floor of the Great Labyrinth.

***

We arrived on the 2nd floor. The moment we did, there was a big problem—we'd landed right in the center of the insect zone.

"Ugh… This is the insect zone, isn't it?"

Not only me, who hated insects, but also Yeriel, who was disgusted after experiencing it once, and Veronica, whose brow furrowed slightly despite trying to hide it. Only Lumia remained calm.

"Somebody help meee!!!"

To make matters worse, screams for help came from up ahead.

'Damn it. We just landed on the 2nd floor and this happens. Why are they running this way of all places?'

A swarm of dozens of insects—beetles and giant maggots—was chasing after fleeing adventurers.

"Disgusting."

Veronica's face hardened as she struck her shield with her fist.

Thud—!

A heavy sound resonated from the mana-infused shield. The hostility—aggro—surged, drawing the attention of all the monsters that had been chasing the other party straight to Veronica.

"Chiiik. Chiirrr!"

"Kueee."

Buzzz. Whoosh!

The swarm's eerie gazes. Every insect-type monster lunged at her.