Labyrinth of Despair
The fragments of blue ice clinging to the wall caught my eye.
It was the only trace she had left behind.
My chest sank heavily.
But I quickly shook my head.
If it was her—the woman I knew…
The woman with those cold, strong eyes who always found a way forward…
Even if she had been swept away by that raging underground current, she wouldn’t break so easily.
No…
She wouldn’t break.
I had to believe that.
What I needed to do right now wasn’t to fall into despair here.
Above me, Eleanor was still there.
I had to make sure she was safe after barely escaping the grasp of that tentacle monster.
I gritted my teeth and looked up.
Beyond the gaping hole where the labyrinth floors had collapsed in layers, the darkness above seemed endlessly distant.
Between the completely shattered floors, the dark red body of the tentacle monster rose like a pillar.
It writhed as if its roots had sunk between the labyrinth’s floor and walls.
It was a horrifying sight, but right now I had no choice but to use even that as a foothold.
I readjusted my grip on my sword and began climbing upward, stepping alternately on the wall and the monster’s body.
Squelch.
An unpleasant sensation rose from beneath my feet.
The tentacle monster’s flesh squirmed like living meat, and with every step, dark red bodily fluids seeped out.
Woooong!
“……?”
Suddenly, a violent surge of mana flowed from above.
It was powerful enough to shake the labyrinth’s ceiling and walls.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Don’t tell me……”
The next instant.
KWAAAAAAAANG!
A tremendous roar erupted from above.
It was the sound of the ceiling collapsing.
At the same time, the tentacle monster’s torso was torn apart from the inside, and dark red fluid poured down like a waterfall.
“Damn it!”
I reflexively threw myself to the side.
Shattered stone and chunks of the monster’s flesh came crashing down right above me.
Crunch!
The tentacle pillar I had been holding onto just moments ago was crushed.
Dark red fluid splattered everywhere, and broken boulders rained into the darkness.
I barely managed to wedge myself into a crack in the wall and avoided the impact.
The entire labyrinth shook.
For a while, the deafening roar continued until my ears went numb.
“Ugh……”
I looked up.
The path that had led upward was gone.
Giant boulders and dark red flesh were tangled together, completely blocking the hole.
“……Fucking hell.”
I gritted my teeth and drew up my mana.
Could I force my way through…?
But I soon had to abandon the idea.
I had no way of knowing how thick the debris was.
If I touched it recklessly, the entire upper section might collapse again.
“……”
I could sense monsters all around me.
I quickly scanned the area using Clairvoyance.
Beyond the walls, monsters were moving busily in every direction. Some were already tearing into each other the moment they met.
It seemed the earlier roar and clash of mana had stimulated everything lurking in the lower levels of the labyrinth.
Just in case, I expanded my vision further.
The first thing I checked was the underground stream.
I tried to find any trace of Lucrezia beyond the violent current, but all I saw was the dark waterway and occasional fragments of blue ice drifting along its surface.
There was no sign of Lucrezia.
Clenching my teeth, I turned my gaze toward the direction where Eleanor had fallen.
But the distance was too great.
Forcing my sight through the collapsed floors, debris, and countless intervening walls and pillars caused my vision to blur rapidly.
The inside of my eyes burned as if on fire, and the mana in my head was being drained at an alarming rate.
The only thing I could barely make out were three faint silhouettes far above.
Eleanor, and most likely Wolfram and Serena.
Distinguishing even that much was my limit.
If I held on any longer, I would lose the strength to move, let alone confirm their positions.
Still, at least I knew the direction.
“Haa…!”
I exhaled roughly and withdrew my Clairvoyance.
Failing to find Lucrezia was painful, but Eleanor was somewhere I could still reach right now.
I readjusted my grip on my sword and began moving toward the direction where she was.
“Huk!”
I spat out a ragged breath.
My hand holding the sword was numb.
I couldn’t even remember how many times I had clashed with monsters on the way here.
The creatures that would normally avoid each other’s territories were now completely entangled.
Collisions between monsters were spreading chaos through every passageway.
It was literal pandemonium.
I leaned against the wall and caught my breath for a moment.
But I couldn’t stop for long.
I gritted my teeth and used Clairvoyance again.
My vision spread beyond the wall.
Beyond the collapsed debris and the labyrinth’s layered walls, I could see three faint silhouettes far above.
Eleanor, and what appeared to be Wolfram and Serena.
The distance was too great to make out their exact movements, but the three figures were still within the same area.
“……”
At this point, Wolfram worried me more than the monsters.
Now that I knew Eleanor couldn’t move properly, there was no telling what that bastard might do.
Fortunately, the silhouette that seemed to be Wolfram wasn’t approaching Eleanor.
“Just hold on a little longer…”
I withdrew my Clairvoyance and readjusted my grip on the sword.
The inside of my eyes throbbed, but I couldn’t stop.
I burned the direction of the three silhouettes into my mind and stepped back into the darkness.
How much farther had I gone?
Each time I checked with Clairvoyance, the three silhouettes were getting slightly closer.
There was still distance between us, but at least I wasn’t heading in the wrong direction.
Relying on that single fact, I continued upward, passing through collapsed passages and debris.
After moving for quite some time, just as I was about to draw up my mana once more to confirm their positions—
“……”
I sensed faint presences in the passage ahead.
I immediately stopped using Clairvoyance, tightened my grip on my sword, and pressed myself against the wall.
Footsteps.
At least two people.
Their breathing and gait were steady.
They hadn’t completely let down their guard, but in this labyrinth, the only ones who would make sounds like this belonged to one group.
A moment later, two men emerged from around the corner.
Both were wearing imperial knight uniforms.
They were probably wearing the blue uniforms of first-years like me.
However, judging by their appearance, they seemed to be graduates from significantly higher classes than me.
The moment they saw me, they started to raise their weapons but then let out sighs of relief.
“Ah, an imperial knight.”
“You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were a monster.”
The taller man raised his hand first.
He didn’t seem particularly wary.
I lowered the tip of my sword slightly as well.
“Are you two knights who accepted the labyrinth request as well?”
“That’s right. Looks like you got caught up in that mess earlier too.”
“That mess you mentioned……”
“That huge surge of mana erupted from above, the floor suddenly collapsed, and monsters started pouring out from everywhere. We thought we were going to die.”
The man beside him shook his head with a sickened expression.
“The monsters were tearing each other apart—it was absolute chaos. We originally planned to just confirm the traces of the commander entity and pull out, but the entire labyrinth flipped upside down.”
“I got separated from my companions because of that incident.”
“From your companions?”
“Yes. The floor collapsed in the lower levels of the labyrinth. One of my companions was swept away by the underground current. I’m currently looking for her.”
I already knew Eleanor’s location.
I had faintly confirmed it with Clairvoyance, and I had adjusted my direction several times while coming this far.
If I moved just a little more, I would reach her.
But Lucrezia was different.
“Hmm……”
The two knights’ expressions stiffened slightly at my words.
“That’s a serious problem.”
“It’s too dangerous to move alone in the current state of the labyrinth……”
I asked immediately.
“By any chance, around here……”
“Ah, wait.”
The tall knight cut me off.
He exchanged glances with his companion before asking carefully.
“The companion you’re looking for… she wouldn’t happen to be a female knight, would she?”
I couldn’t answer right away.
A strange look had flashed across both men’s faces.
It wasn’t panic. It wasn’t worry.
What lingered at the corners of their mouths was a lewd smile they couldn’t quite hide.
It was the expression of men who no longer saw the female knight as a simple fellow knight.
The moment I saw it, a ominous feeling surged from deep within my chest.
“……No.”
I answered shortly.
“She is not a female knight.”
“Really?”
The tall knight raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Then it must not be her.”
But a faint smile still remained at the corner of his mouth.
I forced my expression to calm and asked.
“But have you seen a female knight?”
“Ah, well. We did.”
“Where did you see her?”
“In a cavern a little further down from here. She was alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah. To be precise, she was fighting alone.”
He glanced back at his companion before continuing.
“Against a minotaur.”
“What happened to that female knight?”
“Well……”
The tall knight trailed off.
The man beside him spoke instead.
“We tried to help. But the situation was really bad.”
“The situation?”
“The woman already looked completely exhausted. She must have fallen alone—her equipment was a mess, and she could barely catch her breath.”
The tall knight quickly added.
“That doesn’t mean we ran away like cowards. It was a minotaur. And not an ordinary one. If the two of us had jumped in, we would’ve been more of a hindrance than help.”
“That’s right. If we had intervened there, it would’ve caused even more commotion and attracted more monsters.”
There was a defensive tone in his voice.
But now wasn’t the time to question that.
“What kind of ability did that female knight use?”
At my question, the two men looked at each other.
Then the tall knight answered carefully.
“Ice……”
“……”
“She shot something like ice spikes.”
My heart sank.
Could it have been Lucrezia…?
The possibility was high.
“At first, she seemed to be holding her own.”
The tall knight continued.
“She froze the floor and tried to bind the minotaur’s legs. It wasn’t a bad strategy. Honestly, she looked much stronger than the two of us.”
“And then?”
“The minotaur swung the club it was holding.”
He swallowed dryly.
“She tried to dodge, but she must have already been too exhausted. She didn’t take a direct hit, but the tip of the club caught her body and sent her flying.”
For a moment, it felt like my breath stopped.
The knight beside him spoke in a low voice.
“There was a tremendous sound. It sounded like someone had thrown a lump of meat against the wall instead of a person.”
I clenched my fist tightly.
“What happened after that?”
“……She couldn’t get up.”
The tall knight avoided my gaze.
“She tried to move, but she couldn’t control her body properly. She couldn’t use her abilities properly either.”
He paused for a moment before adding.
“When the minotaur saw that, it approached her……”
I held my breath at his answer.
“It didn’t kill her. The creature unwound the chains wrapped around its body and bound her with them. Arms and legs, everything.”
“……”
“It looked like it was going to hang her on its body like a trophy and drag her away.”
At those words, my mind went coldly blank.
The reason monsters dragged women away alive was usually the same.
It meant the creature saw her not as prey, but as something to use for breeding.
Suddenly, the mana inside me stirred.
The first time it happened, I had been confused, but now I understood.
This wasn’t ordinary Future Sight.
My Future Sight, corrupted by the Apostle of the Abyss, was trying to show me a different kind of future.
A future I didn’t want to see.
A scene I didn’t even want to imagine.
But at the same time, it was the most horrific possibility craved by the curse within me.
I gritted my teeth and tried to suppress my mana.
But against my will, the mana surged and showed me the future.
The knight’s voice faintly brushed past my ears.
The corrupted Future Sight forcibly projected a vision of Lucrezia being violated by the minotaur.
“Ugh! Kk! Kk! Hup! Stoooop…!”
Before I knew it, I was standing alone in an unfamiliar space within the labyrinth.
Beyond the corner ahead, I could hear moans that sounded as if her guts were being twisted, echoing from deep within her belly.
“The moment it went in, her whole body trembled and she squirted everywhere, you know?”
“Haaah! Hah! Hah!”
The moans that reached me were desperate and ragged, as if she were running out of breath.
My body slowly moved toward the corner.
“It was less like moaning and more like screaming.”
“Haaah! Hah! Save me… oooh!! Uweeeek!”
Crude, beastly moans that made it impossible to even guess what was being done to her echoed out.
“Ah……”
I barely managed to round the corner and collapsed to the floor.
Lucrezia, bound to the massive body of the minotaur, had already become its breeding toy.
Shoooosh! Shooosh!
“I knew the female knights from the academy were lewd, but I never expected her to cum the moment she got impaled on a minotaur’s cock.”
“Ooh! Ooohk! Uuuuung! I’m cumming! I’m cumming! I’m cuuuummiiiiing!”
“Kuo0000000!”
The minotaur that let out a monstrous roar grabbed her head and waist and began slamming its hips like a madman.
There was not a shred of mercy for her body that had just climaxed.
True to its monstrous nature, it simply thrust however it wanted.
The enormous minotaur cock bulged visibly through her belly.
At the same time, her pussy gushed madly with love juices.
Shoooosh!
“It was pounding her almost indiscriminately, and every time it did, her stomach would bulge out.”
“I’m dying…! Ugh! Ugh! Please… save me…. It’s breaking…! My womb is breaking!!”
The woman I knew had always been cold and firm.
Since her academy days, she had never shown a single crack in her composure.
No matter who she faced, she never revealed her emotions easily, and she always made cold, rational judgments even in the face of crisis.
Yet now that Lucrezia was crying and begging.
Her once icy voice had shattered into pieces, and her blue eyes that had always pierced through others were now filled only with fear and pleasure.
The nobility she had built, her pride as a knight, her cold determination to restore her fallen family name—everything was being trampled before my eyes.
I forgot even to breathe as I watched the scene.
It felt like something inside my chest had snapped.
Her beautiful breasts were completely crushed in the minotaur’s massive hand.
“Because of their size difference, it just mashed her tits in one hand.”
“Oohk! Oohk!!”
Without realizing it, I had activated my Clairvoyance.
I could see the enormous pillar writhing inside her body.
I wasn’t even sure if something like that could be called a cock.
The minotaur’s member had smashed through her vagina and invaded all the way to her cervix.
“Ah……”
I watched her downfall with a hollow smile.
“……!!”
She could no longer even let out moans.
Every time she was thrust into, her entire body twisted, showing only a vulgar, broken face.
Thud!
The minotaur, still carrying her, disappeared deeper into the labyrinth.
With every step, the monster’s cock scraped her insides as it pulled out, only to slam back in all the way to her womb.
“After it came inside her, it dragged her away with cum dripping down between her legs…. If you don’t rescue her soon, she’ll probably spend the rest of her life giving birth to the monster’s offspring.”
“Uwek! Uuuweeeek!”
Every time that happened, Lucrezia thrashed around, vomiting gastric fluid from her mouth.
There was no hope left in her eyes.
She would now live forever inside this labyrinth as a monster’s womb…….
“Hey…. Are you okay?”
“Didn’t you explain it a bit too graphically?”
Suddenly, the scene before my eyes shattered into pieces.
It warped like a reflection in water and vanished without a trace.
“……Huk!”
I gasped violently.
When I came to my senses, the two imperial knights were standing in front of me.
“Are you alright?”
“Your complexion looks terrible.”
I silently pressed a hand to my forehead.
My heart was pounding wildly.
The scene I had just seen was far too vivid.
But now was not the time to dwell on it.
“About that female knight.”
I forced myself to compose my expression and asked.
“Can you remember her appearance in a bit more detail?”
The two men thought for a moment.
“Well.”
“She was pretty tall, I think.”
The knight beside him gestured as he spoke.
“Her hair stood out.”
“What color was it?”
“Reddish-brown.”
The tension that had gripped my chest loosened slightly.
Reddish-brown.
It wasn’t Lucrezia.
Lucrezia’s hair was bright golden blonde.
No matter how blurry my memory, I wouldn’t mistake reddish-brown for that.
Then the woman they saw must have been another knight.
I let out a slow breath.
At least the scene my Future Sight had shown me had not immediately become reality.
“Thank you. That was helpful.”
I gave a short bow.
“I need to go find my companion now.”
“You’re really going alone?”
“The labyrinth’s condition is really bad right now.”
“I still have to go.”
The two knights didn’t try to stop me any further.
“Then good luck.”
“Let’s both get out of here alive.”
I nodded lightly and turned around.
The sound of their footsteps gradually faded behind me.
I was alone again.
All around me, the cries of monsters and the sounds of battle never ceased.
I tightened my grip on my sword and moved forward.
I crossed collapsed passages, leaped over cracked floors, and occasionally encountered monsters along the way.
How long had I been moving?
I gradually began to feel that I was getting closer to where Eleanor was.
I leaned my back against the wall and caught my breath for a moment.
Then I drew up my mana once more.
Woooong.
The scenery beyond the wall came into view.
Collapsed floors and passages. Monsters wandering between them.
And now I was close enough to clearly see Eleanor, the one I had been searching for.
“……”
I stared at the scene in silence.
At least the worst thing I had feared had not happened.
It wasn’t the sight of Wolfram violating Eleanor….
But…
It was not the sight I had hoped for either.
Because Eleanor was by no means in good condition….