Chapter 89

"───I thought you were dead."

After somehow managing to land on the ground, I looked around, and someone called out to me from behind.

"Hey, *Pile Driver*. What did you just do... What was that thing just now?"

I turned around to see a group of armored figures behind me.

I recognized those armors.

They must be the soldiers who entertained me earlier.

As I was looking at them, the man who called me *Pile Driver* walked up to me, wearing peculiar armor.

I remembered his name.

I think it was...

"You are *Frugal* Sigil."

"───*Fleeting*. *Fleeting*. Just call me Sigil. There's no need to remember my nickname... But why did you fall from above? I told you to wait below... No, never mind. What was that monster? Why is such a thing in this Holy City?"

"......Honestly, I don't really know..."

I thought that monster was a *Skeleton*, but...

...Am I really sure about that?

I'm starting to lose confidence.

Astilla said it was a *Skeleton*, but honestly, I'm not sure if I can call it that.

What I saw just now was hard to describe as just a bone monster.

It looked more like a creepy "bone-covered flesh" monster.

But I don't have the knowledge to explain it properly...

While I was struggling to answer, a faint groan came from the depths of the large hole the monster had fallen into.

"......Ugh... I thought I was going to die...!"

Looking down, I saw a familiar woman crawling out of the large hole in the floor.

It was Astilla.

When she saw me, she looked at me with a slightly tired expression.

"......Nohl...? What was that...? Why did that thing suddenly fall from above? I almost got caught in it..."

Astilla brushed off the dust from her clothes, stood up, and walked over to us.

Perhaps she had been chasing the monster from deep within the dungeon and climbed up through that hole.

That's why I knocked it down... I see.

I was so focused on protecting myself that I didn't even think about that.

Even if I had realized, I don't think I could have done anything...

"Sorry, I didn't think that far. It's probably my fault."

"Of course it's you, Nohl... But it's okay since we managed to avoid it. Still, when that thing came down from above, I really thought I was going to die."

Astilla smiled a little and looked around, meeting Sigil's eyes.

"Ah, there are people... Hello. Um... Who are you?"

"Your Holiness──?"

"Perfect. Sigil, ask her about that monster. She should know more about it."

I was relieved by her appearance, but Sigil and the other soldiers all knelt before her.

"Your Holiness, are you well?"

"......Um...? Your Holiness...? You mean me? Who are you...?"

"......Don't be silly. Who else could we serve but you?"

Astilla looked confused by their actions.

Ignoring her, Sigil continued.

"───Your Holiness. First, a report. The man we were ordered to capture was completely beyond our capabilities. I must apologize for failing to carry out your command."

Sigil and the others bowed deeply, waiting for Astilla's response.

"......Um... What is this...? Nohl...?"

"......I don't know either..."

While we were both confused, a familiar voice spoke up.

"───Let me explain."

The voice belonged to Prince Misra.

Lean was right behind him.

"Mr. Nohl, are you well?"

"Lean too."

As Lean and the others approached us, Sigil looked up and asked the prince.

"Prince Tylence. What happened to Your Holiness? She seems different from usual."

"Yes, that's right. Right now, my mother is a bit confused."

"......Um...? My mother...? Me...?"

Leaning close to the confused Astilla, the prince whispered in her ear.

"───I'm sorry, but please go along with this. I'll explain everything later..."

"......Okay. I don't understand, but I'm your mother now...!?"

"......Yes. You are my 'mother' and the 'Pope' who rules this Holy Misra. It's best to act that way in this situation."

"......Pope...? ...Okay... I'll do my best...! I'm actually quite confident in my acting skills...!"

Astilla said this and, with everyone watching, gave the prince a thumbs-up and a smile.

"......Mother, can you give me command of the troops for a while?"

"Um... Yes. That's right... I'm a bit confused right now... So I'll leave it to... Tylence!"

"......'Tylence'?"

The six who had been kneeling looked at each other, tilting their heads.

"......It seems Your Holiness is quite confused... Prince Tylence, what happened down there?"

"It's a genuine emergency. To put it briefly, the 'Lamenting Labyrinth' has become active. The anomalies in the city are due to this."

"The 'Lamenting Labyrinth'!? Impossible...! It was supposed to be cleared...!"

"The cause is unknown, but the 'Labyrinth Lord' has been revived, and my mother was injured in the battle. Moreover, monsters are now spawning at an unprecedented rate... We need to act quickly. How many troops are available?"

The prince looked around.

In the large, dome-shaped room, many armored soldiers were lying on the ground.

There were at least a few hundred.

Some were standing, but they all looked listless and were watching us from a distance.

"Your Highness."

A particularly well-built man stood up from among the fallen soldiers and approached the prince unsteadily.

"......Ryba. What's the state of the troops...? ...No, is this your doing, Lean?"

"......Yes. I might have gone a bit too far."

Lean looked around awkwardly, and the surrounding soldiers backed away.

"Your Highness, as you can see, we tried to capture the guest on Your Holiness's orders... but we failed completely. This is the result."

"Even though you were a bit agitated... I think it was a bit too rough. I apologize for that."

"───No. We were the ones who were rude to the guest first. Fortunately, most are only lightly injured... About eighty percent of the troops are now combat-ready... and no one is willing to attack her again."

"......Good. That order is now invalid. From now on, deploy all combat-ready troops to surround the cathedral and deal with the spawning monsters. Don't let a single one escape. And have the non-combatants guide all the citizens of Misra to evacuate the city... as far away as possible."

"......Evacuate all the citizens...?"

"Did you see that monster? That's the 'Labyrinth Lord'. It will come here again, and this time with a large number of monsters. We need to evacuate the citizens quickly. Ryba, you take command of the evacuation."

"......Understood. But what about Your Holiness and Your Highness?"

"I will stay here with my mother to hold off the monsters. Once the citizens are evacuated, we will retreat as well──hurry. Don't waste a single moment."

"───Understood."

With that, the large man called Ryba led the troops out.

Suddenly, the cathedral building began to tremble, and debris fell from the ceiling.

"......What's happening...?"

The shaking continued for a while.

It seemed to be coming from deep underground.

From the depths of the hole where the monster fell, the sound of something being repeatedly struck echoed.

The building continued to shake, and cracks began to appear on the floor.

Decorations fell from the ceiling, and the walls were crumbling.

It seemed that everyone in the building, except for Sigil and us, was being evacuated on the prince's orders, but I was starting to think that we might be in danger too if we stayed here.

As I was looking at the hole from which the eerie sounds were coming, a familiar figure emerged.

A woman with golden hair and silver armor, and a familiar boy.

It was Roro and Ines.

They ran over to us, and Lean called out to them.

"Ines, Roro. Are you all right?"

"Lord Linneburg, prepare yourself. Monsters are coming. We've been cutting them down as much as we can, but there's no end to them. This is──a rare outbreak of the dungeon on a massive scale."

"......Yes, I see the situation. I believe you are right."

"And... that thing is going to come out even more aggressively. Sorry... I fed it a lot."

As Roro said this, the rumbling from the depths suddenly stopped.

Suddenly, countless eerie groans echoed from the depths of the hole──

Then, a series of explosions like a chain reaction occurred deep underground.

They gradually approached the surface, growing louder.

The building shook violently and began to collapse.

Something huge was clearly climbing up.

──It's definitely that.

"Most likely, this will be a battle for the survival of our nation.

......To be honest, our chances of winning are slim."

The prince said this with a tense voice.

"That's why... Lean. You and the others should escape."

"......Prince Tylence...? But, that would mean──"

The ground-shaking rumble was getting closer.

The roof of the building collapsed under the impact──the sky, dyed red and black, was visible.

"──Thank you so much, Lean.

I believe things would have been much worse without you.

But this is ultimately our nation's problem.

There's no need for you to get involved any further.

......Of course, my mother as well. So, you should leave here──"

"Tylence."

Lean interrupted the prince.

"I seem to have misunderstood you.

Earlier, I said I would assist you as a neighbor, as long as it aligned with my country's interests. In that case, there would be no reason for us to stay.

But──from now on, I want to help you as a friend."

"......Lean...?"

"There's no need to worry.

Let us fight with you.

We don't want to abandon our friends and run away.

......Right, Mr. Nohl?"

"Well, that was my intention from the start."

"......I'm sorry for involving you in this again."

"No, it's fine. But──"

The large stone floor we were standing on, which was already cracked,──collapsed.

"──It's coming."

A deafening roar.

Something huge burst out of the hole in the floor.

The impact blew the entire cathedral apart, scattering debris.

We used the collapsing floor of the cathedral as a foothold and looked up at what had flown out from below──

There, a *Skeleton* that had grown several times larger than before, or rather, a completely unrecognizable humanoid monster with bones completely buried in bulging flesh, spread its massive wings from its back──

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