Operation: Sealed Backroad
Why was our starting point the Main Base on the 1st floor instead of the city?
There was no need to overthink it.
It was the most practical choice for moving together.
If we’d gathered in the city, we would’ve scattered the moment we crossed the gate anyway.
Like my Blink, we’d teleport to the same spot if our bodies touched, but even that had a limit on the number of people.
Forty-plus explorers linked arm in arm would simply break apart.
So if we simply gathered at the Main Base and set off, there was no need to wait for everyone to gather back on the 1st floor.
Now that I thought about it carefully, though… had it really been necessary?
Everyone had already paired up with their own teams.
“Team by team, huh.”
Was I the only one thinking that?
Or did teams just resemble each other?
Ray had voiced the exact same thought.
“Since the plan calls for operating in teams anyway, we have no choice. With Demonologists’ involvement almost certain, even the most skilled explorer can’t rule out the worst outcome.”
In comparison, Leaf seemed strangely unbothered by the situation.
If anything, he looked almost glad.
It was far more comfortable to just stick with our own group instead of forcing awkward alliances with strangers.
“Well, that’s true.”
It was a shame we weren’t expanding our network, but this arrangement wasn’t exactly bad.
Still, I felt a little disappointed.
‘Conquerors would’ve been a good place to have connections.’
One of the Five Great Guilds — Conquerors.
They were fighting Frontier head-to-head for the lead in Abyss exploration, just like us. They had Viola Pelletier, the prodigy explorer, as their guild master.
Even though I wasn’t in Conquerors, my colleague Blair Dexker had a brotherly bond with Grant Dexker, the man leading the Frontier team there.
Blair only officially belonged to a school, but that didn’t matter — we knew each other through connections.
There were plenty of reasons to talk to him.
‘There’ll be plenty of chances later.’
This expedition was going to be long.
We probably wouldn’t meet often, but I could still try to talk to him once.
‘First, I need to take care of our team.’
And in our case, it wasn’t just a bunch of rookies led by Viola. Frontier’s teams were included too, so we were basically two groups operating as one.
There was already Arthur in Frontier, but strengthening those ties would be good.
It would make things much smoother if we ever had to team up with Frontier in the deeper levels later.
“Arthur, since things turned out like this, let me introduce you.”
Thump!
“Don’t mistake me for just a senior or peer!”
The moment I spoke to Arthur, the girl glued to his side — Ryudmila — had already warned me.
She pointed straight at Arthur with her finger while glaring at me.
But the stern scolding that came back from that Dana Collen was like lightning from the sky.
“Dana! Keep your mouth shut!”
“What? But senior…”
“Roman, sorry. She’s been following me around too much. I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
Arthur forced Dana’s head down until it bowed, then himself bowed deeply.
“Whoa, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Hmm… that’s right.”
…The second half was Ray’s line.
I was perfectly okay with it, yet Ray seemed genuinely pleased, which created a weird irony.
“Tch! Senior!”
“Shut up. We’re not alone.”
“Tch…”
Dana glared up at Arthur with eyes full of grievance, pouting like a spoiled child.
‘That’s right.’
‘That’s exactly it.’
‘So… what?’
Ray and I exchanged glances at each other.
Ray had been smiling at Dana’s forced apology, but the moment I looked over, her face shifted into total confusion.
“So… uh, is it Dana Collen?”
“Hmph! You even know my name? Must be because of Senior Arthur, right?”
“No. I heard it from Ryudmila.”
Dana’s face dropped the instant my answer landed.
‘Her emotions are completely transparent.’
What a fascinating girl.
“Let me introduce them, then. We’re going to be on the same expedition for a while.”
Dana looked at Arthur for confirmation. When he nodded, she reluctantly began to speak.
“…I’ll skip my name. I’m the same type of mage as the senior. Unfortunately, I’m just a normal Summoner without any bloodline boost like him.”
Summoner?
That was another rare class.
Evokers and Summoners were similar yet strangely different. The stricter requirements kept their numbers low.
Probably even more restricted than Demonologists?
Any mage could become a Demonologist, but the risk was too high. Summoners wanted to but couldn’t.
‘Of course she’s a Novice, but why drag her along?’
Summoners didn’t have to do one specific thing, but most people pictured one image when they heard the name.
Investigator.
People who summoned the spirits of the dead to extract their knowledge and experience.
Even if the target was already dead, they ensured that information never escaped beyond the veil.
No — killing the target and extracting the information was actually simpler and faster for them.
‘Just kill a Demonologist on sight and pull the info with a Summon?’
It was aggressive, but it was a surefire method.
When the elite Outliers sent by the Pioneers arrived, it would be the most efficient way.
After I roughly understood Viola’s plan, a thought suddenly struck me.
“We really have nothing to do, do we?”
“Well… yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
Ray answered as if she already knew.
She had some experience with Frontier, so she must have realized our role the moment they entered.
Combat?
There were way stronger people than us.
Interrogation?
Just kill them and extract from the soul.
So what exactly could we do?
Should we bring popcorn?
“That’s not entirely true. The battle with the Sentinel will probably be our job.”
“Our job?”
“Our teacher has to prepare for Demonologist ambushes too, and bringing us along was mainly to gain experience. Plus, you two already captured a Sentinel, right?”
“A Sentinel? That, that Demonologist?”
Arthur knew, but Dana’s eyes widened in shock and her pupils trembled.
The more I learned, the more it made sense.
Capturing a Sentinel as a Novice was basically a guarantee of Master rank.
Especially since Viola, the one at the front, had done it.
A proven track record.
In martial arts terms, like the Seven Peaks of Kunlun?
From Dana’s perspective, it was probably that her older sister had gone to a martial alliance training center, befriended strange wanderers, and those wanderers had slain a famous rogue mage and claimed the title of Dragon Peak before her sister.
“There were others, but I’ll handle that role. It’s enough for me.”
“Hmm… yeah.”
So the five of us — Arthur and Dana — and we three would seal the backroad while Viola watched from the side.
“…Suddenly it feels like there’s going to be a lot to do.”
“Same.”
“Same.”
Carrying that heavy sense of reality, we moved without stopping until we reached the 2nd floor.
§
Abyss 2nd floor.
The Labyrinth.
Since it was our second time, we immediately cast a light spell to brighten our surroundings as we entered.
“So… shall we begin?”
Viola stretched lazily and gave the nearby wall a light tap.
The contact was feather-light, but the result was anything but.
Boom!
It sounded like a massive pipe organ exploding.
It wasn’t a bell.
It wasn’t metal or stone.
Just a rock wall, yet it rang with such force.
“Perfect. Nothing there.”
Viola spoke as if a simple tap had completed the investigation, then struck a ready stance.
A lance she’d never seen before materialized in her grip.
At the same moment, her clothes fluttered.
No wind blew.
It was the pressure alone emanating from her entire body.
And then she exploded.
Kwaaaang—!!
The aura from the lance she thrust straight through the wall.
The wall was perfectly pierced, leaving a clean hole.
Like a bunker-buster had been fired?
Inside was a cross-section of the Labyrinth itself.
Breaking through the walls to carve a path.
It was easy to imagine, yet when you actually tried, the sheer hardness of the wall and the shallow hole you could carve usually made you give up.
Viola treated it like a casual after-dinner stroll.
When she spoke, it was exactly then.
“Whoooooooooo—?!”
A thunderous roar of rage ripped through the entire Labyrinth.
Yet the target of that fury, Viola, simply crossed her arms and waited with a calm, unconcerned smile.
“Roman, you asked along the way, right? Can about forty of us really clear the entire 2nd floor?”
Ah, that question.
I remembered it — though I’d asked Ryudmila, the kind senior who was like a big sister to Viola, not Viola herself.
Ryudmila had mentioned that each team had one dedicated detector, but ours didn’t, so I’d tilted my head.
Viola must have judged our detection ability sufficient thanks to Pioneer intuition, or maybe she’d assumed Dana, the unpredictable Summoner, would handle it.
Whatever she’d prepared was completely different.
“We’ll use a guide. The best guide in the 2nd floor.”
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