Chapter 55

In the midst of the underground labyrinth, false moonlight illuminated Anne as she practiced her sword swings.

Anne had slipped out of the tent and was training alone.

I watched her quietly and decided to speak to her when she took a break.

"Anne, you're doing great."

"Soji... I don't have much time. I want to get stronger, even a little bit."

There was a hint of urgency in Anne's voice.

This expedition was nearing its end. We needed to head back to the surface tomorrow.

Our hunt on the seventh underground floor had been more fruitful than usual, but we hadn't reached Rank 2 yet.

Time was running out. If only we had a little more time, the "Rank" would start to settle into her body.

The "Rank" raised by a large number of magic stones would normally be gradually adapted to, eventually expanding the "Capacity" naturally.

To speed this up, one method was to further over-invest in the "Rank," or to push oneself to the limits of life and death, forcing both instinct and reason to crave strength and adapt forcefully.

I had never put Anne through a battle where she truly thought she might die.

...Perhaps I had been too overprotective.

"Soji, don't look so apologetic."

Anne smiled gently.

"Because of you, I've become this strong. Look, Soji."

Anne took a deep breath and held her sword in a ready stance.

Then, she took a step forward and performed a diagonal slash.

"This is the sword that sprouted from the seed you planted in me. Finally, I can be a little satisfied with it."

As she sheathed her sword, she said to me,

"It's a good sword. It's undoubtedly Anne's sword."

The sword retained the scent of an Oakleer sword but resembled mine in some ways, yet it was distinctly Anne's own.

It was the sword of Annalotta Oakleer, optimized just for her. It was still immature and lacked depth, but it was beautiful, soft, and sharp.

It had taken shape in just two months because of the foundation Anne had built over a long time. Most importantly, because Anne had trusted me with all her heart.

As her teacher, I was very proud of her.

"Hey, Anne, could you swing your sword one more time?"

"Sure, I can."

Anne swung her sword again.

I smiled more deeply. Yes, Kval Besta was beginning to respond to her, even if only a little.

What Kval Besta sought was not sword skills or a high rank, but something else. Anne was beginning to embody that. Eventually, when Kval Besta recognized her, her strength would reach a new level, perhaps even on par with me or Kuna. ...But time was running out. It wouldn't be enough to prepare for the duel with Clanel.

"Thank you. I'm proud of you as a teacher. It's frustrating that we don't have more time."

"Soji, don't look so disappointed. I have a sword that Father trained me with and that you guided me to. Even if I stay at Rank 1, I won't lose."

That was Anne's best show of strength.

Deep down, she knew it was impossible to overcome the rank difference.

I wanted to do everything I could to repay Anne for her trust.

I wanted to give her a fighting chance and send her into the duel.

To do that, we needed to reach Rank 2. For that, a life-or-death battle was necessary. In reality, such a battle was possible. For example, we could go to the tenth underground floor.

The problem was that there were countless monsters there that required life-or-death battles.

While fighting one, another could appear, and that would be the end. There were ways to lure out a single monster, but the risks remained.

Should we take those risks?

"Soji, you still look worried. Let's head back to the tent. We have an early morning tomorrow."

"...Right. Let's do our best tomorrow."

"Of course. On the last day of this expedition, I won't leave any regrets."

Anne and I walked back to the tent together.

Almost unconsciously, I took her hand.

Anne looked surprised, then smiled and leaned into me.

I wanted to protect her. I felt that strongly.

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On the final day, with the constraint of returning before sunset, we were hunting near the entrance of the sixth underground floor.

If we stopped in the morning, we could return to the surface by the time our increased movement speed and stamina from reaching the top of Rank 1 kicked in.

"Souji-kun, Clanel often passes through the sixth underground floor, but he completely ignores us, which is kind of scary."

We had been camping on the fourth underground floor, so we passed through the sixth floor daily and often encountered Clanel's party.

As Kuna said, they had been hunting on the sixth underground floor for the past three days.

"I'm keeping an eye out for any suspicious movements. So far, nothing."

When we encountered them, I had been wary of any traps and considered returning to the surface. However, every second was precious, so I had to abandon that idea.

For now, we were just on guard.

There were no signs of traps from them.

"Let's ignore them unless they make a move."

"Understood, Souji-kun."

Anne and Kuna nodded at my words.

Then, we began our hunt.

"Still, Clanel seems to have gotten used to his new sword."

"Right. He's supposed to be recovering from an illness, but it's like he's had it for ten years."

The topic of swords made Anne lean in.

Clanel was handling his new sword with such skill that it seemed the sword was using him.

I looked at Clanel's sword. It was a plain iron sword with no magical elements or decorations, which didn't match Clanel's taste.

It was an ordinary sword, but something in my gut warned me.

"What is this?"

I noticed something strange.

I had read the flow of miasma to hunt on the sixth underground floor, but the flow seemed off.

Miasma usually flowed toward the Elna accumulation device at the lowest level, but it wasn't flowing from the sixth to the seventh floor.

Instead, it was flowing in reverse.

The flow was directed toward Clanel's sword, and when he defeated a monster, the miasma that should have dissipated was being absorbed by his sword.

This was bad!

"Anne, Kuna, we need to stop hunting and return to the surface immediately. They're setting something up. Don't let them know we've noticed."

I whispered instructions to them.

Anne and Kuna listened and pretended to head back casually.

I had been careless. I had been wary of magical traps but not of the miasma.

No, that's not right. When we moved from the sixth to the seventh floor, I had used "Elna Reading" and hadn't noticed anything off.

Clanel and his party must have stopped collecting miasma while I was using "Elna Reading."

That meant they knew I could sense miasma. Someone must have tipped them off.

And the fact that they stopped hiding meant...

I looked at Clanel, who smirked.

"Kuna, Anne, run. There's no need to pretend anymore. They're about to make their move!"

Indeed, there was no need to hide anymore.

Clanel and his party, who were closer to the entrance to the fifth floor, started running toward it. When they reached it, they threw their swords into the ground.

The swords, deeply embedded, cracked and crumbled, revealing white blades.

They resembled Anne's Kval Besta. That made sense, as they had similar abilities.

"Kuna, Anne, hurry, a riot is coming!"

Their faces turned pale, and they quickened their pace.

A riot was a massive outbreak of monsters caused by a sudden influx of high-concentration miasma into a specific floor. It could be triggered by a buildup of miasma that exploded.

Clanel and his party intended to release the miasma they had stored in their swords.

Unbelievably, their swords were small Elna accumulation devices that had been absorbing miasma.

If they released all that miasma at once, a riot would likely occur.

"What, is that even possible!?"

Miasma gushed from the swords. Not only that, but the way it was released was abnormal. It spread like the underground had a will of its own, stimulating the stagnant miasma and gathering it in one place.

It was the most efficient way to cause a riot, done intentionally.

To control miasma so freely, only the great mage Cyril, who created the underground labyrinth, could do it, as far as I knew.

If a riot occurred with that much miasma, even I couldn't handle it.

"Both of you, run with all your might. We're almost at the entrance!"

I encouraged them.

Some of the monsters would likely head to the upper floors, making it much safer than staying here.

Clanel, who had already reached the entrance, turned to us with a smug, delighted smile.

"Die there! Hah, hahahaahaha!!"

Laughing, he raised his hand toward the ceiling and cast an explosive spell.

The ceiling collapsed.

The entrance was completely blocked, and Clanel disappeared from view.

Then, a strong presence of miasma behind us.

Instead of the usual outbreak of countless monsters, the miasma was forming just one monster. However, with all the power concentrated in one, it would be an incredibly vicious creature.

Yes, that sword controlled the miasma to that extent.

I almost laughed. I felt a twinge of jealousy for the blacksmith who could create such a sword.

The creature that would be born would be a genuine monster, with several times the miasma of the abnormal boar we saw on the fourth floor.

"What, what is that?"

"I'm scared. I can't stop shaking."

Even Anne and Kuna, who couldn't normally sense miasma, felt an instinctive fear from the concentration.

Finally, it materialized.

A giant, over three meters tall.

Though it was a living being, it had a sharp, angular form.

It stood on two legs, with short arms and an abnormally developed jaw. Its skin was a dull gray, reptilian-like.

And it had ominous golden snake eyes.

Yes, it was a tyrannosaurus rex, the king of dinosaurs.

I assessed it. Its strength was mid-Rank 2. A mid-Rank 2 monster was equivalent to a human Rank 3.

"GYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

It roared.

Then, it glared at us.

At that moment, I was certain.

We couldn't defeat it...

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