Closing the Shortcuts
The second battle with the Sentinel turned out to be remarkably tame.
There is always a massive difference between fighting something you’ve never done before and fighting something you’ve done once. But the creature we caught this time was a lower-tier specimen than the one we’d battled earlier. The member swap—Arthur and Dana instead of Luke and Elowen—wasn’t as shocking as I’d feared. Dana hadn’t actually done anything, yet Arthur somehow managed to hold his own without missing a beat.
**‘The Thousand Swords is just straight-up scam magic.’**
Work ethic aside, Arthur’s bloodline-ascended mana formed a mana shield he wielded with perfect freedom. He handled both the defense role Luke used to play and the support role Elowen used to play, all while looking perfectly unbothered. Even if he’d been fighting the Sentinel alone, a decent fight would have been possible. He probably would have lost eventually in a long war of attrition, but only because the Sentinel had no opening that one single blow could exploit.
In that regard, my own **Smite** was truly exceptional.
With only thirteen members, we were still a crack elite squad that could swallow an entire 5th-rank guild whole.
“Even if the guild doesn’t exist anymore, come join us. If you’re after freedom, there’s no better place than our guild—**Enigma**.”
It wasn’t a terrible choice. No overlapping ties with our other comrades, so the balance inside the squad wouldn’t break. The guild master was already a Pioneer and the guild’s overall power was solid, with almost no external interference. The only thing that made me hesitate was Enigma’s peculiar brand of weirdness. I got the feeling Hernando, an Expert who lived in the 2nd layer, was already a handful. How many headaches would gathering a bunch of oddballs like him create?
Surprisingly, among Pioneers, Viola was considered above-average in personality.
As we descended further into the Abyss, the mana pressure started messing with people’s minds. If someone could keep their sanity even after reaching the 7th floor, it meant they were probably not sane to begin with.
Still, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of nightmare owner would run a guild like Enigma once you crossed Viola’s personality threshold.
Hernando had been enthusiastically pitching his guild, but his speech didn’t last long.
“Hey, Crawler. Tone it down.”
“…I’m not even one of your guild members.”
“So?”
From the final question, I could tell Viola had been holding back. Now her tone dropped to something sharp and cold enough to freeze an iceberg.
The moment she showed even a sliver of real annoyance, Hernando’s mouth snapped shut like it had been weighted.
Well, Pioneers or not, you can’t mess with another Pioneer.
Before I could react, Viola had Hernando silenced. Whether she intended to stop him from doing anything to me or not, she yanked me closer and slung an arm around my shoulders.
Because of that, I felt the faint warmth radiating from her side and instantly tensed my whole body.
**‘Surprisingly soft…’**
I’d assumed her chest was all muscle, but no.
“Don’t worry. I won’t eat you. Just don’t tense up so hard.”
No, that wasn’t the issue at all.
Despite my unease, Viola only giggled and pulled my shoulder even tighter. The closer I got, the more I tensed, and the cycle repeated.
In this situation, the only person who used to pull me out was now reduced to a baby lion in front of Viola’s predator gaze, while Leaf just stood there shifting his feet awkwardly.
“Let’s go. Crawler, lead the way.”
“…It’s dirty.”
Even while muttering, Hernando obediently followed instructions. The moment he stepped aside, Viola calmly copied everything he’d been forbidden from doing.
“I have a spot in our guild. Three spots.”
She proudly held up three fingers on the hand that wasn’t draped over my shoulder.
“I’m not forcing you. Think about it.”
Ah, yes…
But why was she bringing up the shoulder at all? Wouldn’t that make it feel like coercion?
§
A few days later, we arrived at the E-20 Plaza smoothly.
First place. The street was long, but the guide’s skill made the speed ridiculous. The very next day, two cheerful faces stepped in.
The Frontier subcontracting team led by Rydmila and Russel.
They had kept only those two from the original lineup and filled the rest with the members Viola had chased out of Thelema School, promising to add them for the next expedition.
“Exactly as expected from the guild master. I thought we’d be the fastest.”
“Because of the Crawler.”
Russel's cold analysis followed Rydmila’s sigh.
**‘F and T, straight up.’**
The third arrival came two days after we’d reached the plaza. Everyone had raced to arrive as quickly as possible, so the one-day intervals made sense.
Surprisingly, the third team consisted of the delegation sent directly by the Union. Everyone’s predictions had been wrong. I’d assumed the Conquerors’ core team would arrive third, but the Union team moving that fast meant the Conquerors should be here soon… except they weren’t even the next day.
“Why so late?”
“Yeah, looks like they got teleported to a faraway place.”
“No need to worry. Grant Dexker is one of the best in the Conquerors. He’ll be here any moment.”
“Senior! When are you going to…?”
A few more days of the same thing passed.
Six days after arriving at the E-20 Plaza, Grant Dexker’s team still hadn’t joined.
§
“Looks like we have no choice.”
Viola’s serious voice finally pierced the quiet plaza.
“We can’t stay here forever. We’ll just be giving the impostors more time if we keep wasting it.”
It was time for a decision. As the overall commander, Viola drew her blade.
“Even if it’s only the three teams here, we follow the plan and move.”
Each team’s sector had already been assigned. Hernando’s 2nd-layer map had been divided, and optimal routes had been calculated with the Sentinels’ territory in mind. We had already eliminated one Sentinel on the way here. The Union team had taken care of Steelery-class, and the Frontier team had taken Upper-class. The fact that we now knew shortcuts only existed in Sentinel areas above Upper-class was useful.
Thinking about it, the idea that shortcuts existed for every Sentinel under the 2nd rank was actually generous. If it were possible, the Abyss Cultists would have claimed the entire 2nd layer as their own backyard.
“But… is that okay?”
“Grant Dexker is skilled. Even if something happened, we can’t rule out the possibility of him simply being teleported far away. Leave a message for the people staying in the plaza and we’ll go first.”
The E-20 Plaza had become a makeshift base camp for the explorers. Of course there were people stationed here to supply us. Money was expensive, but Viola clicked her tongue, muttering that we should have left earlier.
“Ignore anything under the 2nd rank. We only hunt Upper and above. According to Crawler’s map, the Keeper is in our sector, but if we run into one somewhere else, avoid combat.”
The Sentinel Keeper. They said even an Expert-level explorer could go toe-to-toe with one. To handle it safely, we’d need Grant or Viola.
“Then we’re dismissed!”
§
Our assigned sector was the northern part of the 2nd layer—the one at the very edge, right where the Sentinel Keeper lurked. Directly in front of us stood the Sentinel Head, which was stronger than the Upper-class Sentinel right beneath the Keeper.
“Look out!”
“It’s fine! Get ready!”
The Sentinel Head’s size was completely different from the regular Upper-class Sentinel. While the Upper-class was horse-sized, this thing was truly monstrous—its lower half alone stood over two meters, and with the upper half included it hit three full meters. The heavy swing that came out of that body obliterated Arthur’s defense spell in one blow.
The halberd that pierced through the spell and came flying at Ray was saved only because Ray had already moved. The wind pressure alone still slammed her small body backward. The gust that hit her from the opposite side cushioned her like a pillow while the spray of water scattered the Sentinel’s aggro.
Leaf was already familiar with deploying two spirits at once. While he did that, I glanced sideways. Viola was still standing with her arms crossed, watching the situation without a single move.
**‘She still has no intention of intervening…’**
Behind Viola’s back, the shortcut gaped open, its black maw still roaring with the monsters that had once poured out of the 3rd layer. Thanks to Viola’s aura sealing the entrance, nothing could escape anymore. Yet she hadn’t closed it. Was she leaving us to finish it ourselves because the power was enough?
**‘The power should be plenty.’**
**Smite** was an honest technique—its power increased the more mana I poured in. And my mana reserves were infinite. Through the Altar’s unique mana, which compressed mana beyond my control, even a Head-class Sentinel should be pierceable.
If only Ray could tear away the mana barrier for me.
**‘The real problem is that Ray isn’t touching it at all. Even with Leaf and Arthur’s support.’**
Both of them were giving their all, but the Sentinel’s reaction speed was too fast.
**‘Maybe I should just fire once and pull aggro toward me.’**
If Arthur, Leaf, and Ray weren’t enough, I’d have to join in. The moment I thought that and prepared to cast **Smite**—
“Done!”
Dana’s sharp shout split the air, and a torrent of mana surged forward.
**Summoning.**
It was, quite literally, the magic of letting an external spirit or god dwell inside oneself. The power varied wildly depending on which deity was invoked. And the god Dana had summoned was clearly one of the stronger ones.
**KRRRRRROOONG!**
Dana seized the weakened halberd that had already broken through the spell.
Red veins and wild hair exploded across her body, and every vein and artery in her skin bulged with the effort of holding the weapon. I heard her muttering, “I didn’t want to…,” and for a second I understood.
“Now!”
**THUD!**
Dana’s body could only hold for a few seconds. The moment she reached her limit, the muscles screamed.
“Ray!”
Ray ran. Instead of the blue glow of **Azurail**, silver light of **Argentooth** wrapped around her. Arthur’s mana sword pinned the Sentinel in place like a fixed pin, and Leaf’s Aerial granted Ray wings.
The **Argentooth** that touched the enemy never failed to deliver miracles.
**BZZZZZT!**
The mana barrier shattered in an instant. Through the gap, I fired my mana bullet.
**KWAANG—!!**
§
“Not bad.”
The person sitting on the Sentinel’s wreckage was Viola. The reason she was there was simple—she had finished the job.
“A core of two? Isn’t that scam?”
“There are things in the deeper layers with up to ten mana nuclei. Don’t think killing the nucleus is enough.”
Viola leaped down from the Sentinel and approached the shortcut.
“Let’s close this first. Feedback later.”
“I’ll cast the sealing circle.”
Hernando stepped forward behind Viola, who had stepped back. I had been waiting for someone to seal it—Hernando’s plan all along. I followed him, figuring I might as well watch and learn so I could help later.
As he began drawing the circle and I studied the shortcut in detail,
[Can this be closed?]
A deep voice whispered through my mind with divine power.