Antipus’s party broke through every dungeon as if they had become a single spear.
「Entering the fourteenth dungeon.」
And so, they soon reached the fourteenth dungeon.
“This is seriously insane.”
“He’s not called Antipus for nothing…….”
“At this rate, an all-time record will be set.”
The Bingija muttered among themselves. They were relaxed enough to make small talk while dealing with the enemies half-heartedly.
Just how many skills were being poured out alongside Antipus’s aura, which erupted without restraint?
“He seems much stronger than what I’ve heard.”
“For now…… it looks like arriving in first place is a certainty, right?”
“I’ll bet on it. It’s a sure thing.”
“But still, there’s that Jijoncheonma.”
“Hey, but surely…….”
At those words, the Bingija recalled the sight of Jijoncheonma they had seen on the Infinite Floor a few months ago.
In the middle of the endlessly piled-up Abyss Monsters, nameless skills poured out indiscriminately alongside the Ashen Reaper.
The scene was cleared in an instant. That overwhelming violence.
“Slurp…….”
“……”
Thinking of that, they looked back at Antipus in front of them.
Boom—!
This time, in the domain of frost, he froze the bodies of the majority of the monsters and swung above them.
A sword of flame. A red aura.
With a single swing, the bodies of four or five Abyss Monsters were sliced apart. In a short moment, Antipus’s back had already moved far ahead.
It was hard to imagine such a monster-like person falling behind, but if the competition was against Jijoncheonma, they couldn’t hastily guarantee anything.
“If Jijoncheonma sets his mind to it…… well, I don’t know.”
“Honestly, I can’t be sure…….”
「The fourteenth dungeon has been broken through.」
“Hey, but still, there’s no way he’s faster than this speed.”
“That…… would be true, right?”
Regardless, look at this ridiculous speed.
Antipus, who was focused solely on breaking through.
That behavior, which seemed as if he were possessed by an Ogre…… even if it were Jijoncheonma, he would have no choice but to be pushed back.
Because no matter how great he was, he wouldn’t break through with this much effort.
「Entering the fifteenth dungeon.」
This time, it was certain that Antipus would be placed ahead of Jijoncheonma.
***
「Pathfinder – ‘Hio Pavlenko’s’ entry has been confirmed.」
「Entering the third dungeon.」
Upon entering the third dungeon, the scene that appeared was, as expected, a continuation of the previous one.
No, rather, a little more time had passed.
The Abyssal Depths that swallowed the light had reached right nearby.
-A-Aaaaah! Run away!
-It’s the Strange Entities! The Strange Entities! The Strange Entities!
-H-Help me!
-The, the Magicians! Where is Tetradia!
The crowded refugees were in a state of chaos, but where was there to run?
Where had the Magicians who were supposed to protect them, where had Tetradia gone?
In such confusion, the lone Magician who remained lifted his long staff and struck the ground with a thud.
A pale green wave spread out accordingly.
-Do not worry! I am still here!
Len Hank, a 5th Circle Magician of the Druid school.
His magic spread out, dominating the area.
-What do you think it means that I am still here! The Tetradia Magicians will return soon! So do not be so afraid!
The pale green wave became magic and embraced all the areas where people were gathered.
-M-Magician……!
-Gather where the Magician is!
-Help…… Please help us!
Starting from the outside of the vast area, green vines began to grow rapidly. Thick and large-growing vines intertwined with each other, quickly surrounding the wide space. A green defensive shield formed in the shape of a hemisphere, as if protecting everyone gathered inside.
-Be at ease! It is safe inside here, so if you hold on like this, the Magicians will come!
If they were inside, they would no longer be able to see.
The rushing Abyssal Depths, the shadow of death that had reached right nearby, was hidden by the plants and could not be seen.
Because of that, the people felt relieved.
Even if they didn’t want to believe, they came to believe it naturally.
-Y-Yes. It’s impossible for Tetradia to have disappeared.
-Just like the Magician said, if we wait, the other Magicians will solve it!
They believed that this green shield would block the Strange Entities and that as they held on, the Magicians of Tetradia would defeat those things.
-T-Thank you.
It was a futile effort.
Since Hio had also reached the level of a 5th Circle Magician, he knew better than anyone.
With a shield of this level, it wouldn’t be able to last even a few seconds against the swarming Abyssal Depths.
Even if he poured in all the Magic Power he possessed, it would be pierced in an instant, and as much as they were huddled inside, everyone would be tainted by the Abyssal Depths.
-I will receive your thanks…… after you have survived.
It was impossible to block the encroaching Abyssal Depths alone.
There was no possibility that Tetradia, the city itself which had disappeared using Spatial Magic, would return immediately.
However, the certain point was that the despair would be short.
The pain would be momentary, and until then, they could have vain hope and dream false dreams.
Therefore, Len Hank shouted until his throat cracked, soothing the people.
He was continuously infusing them with hope that could not be realized.
-When you enter Tetradia, you will be given a residence, but it won’t be that wide! Even family members might get separated if you’re not careful, so make sure to stick together!
‘Was there truly any meaning in that action, performed even though he knew everyone was about to die?’
I don’t know.
I really don’t know.
However, the conclusion of this is predictable.
The thick and deep Abyssal Depths would soon reach the green shield, and the plant shield, grown only with Magic Power without any Holy Power, would be pierced too futilely.
Everyone trapped inside would not even be able to put up any significant resistance and would be tainted by the Abyssal Depths.
Without even realizing they had been abandoned by the Magicians they believed in.
Before the hope they held until just a moment ago could be shattered to pieces, they would become entirely different creatures.
That was why I was even more curious.
“……Abellar Pavlenko.”
What on earth did the greatest Magicians of the time, including him, plan that they would throw away so many lives so casually and leave?
‘Was it true that there was really no other way, as Len Hank said?’
-There are quite a few tricky rules in Tetradia. So before you enter, you must familiarize yourself with them and try your best not to break them.
The darkness approached right in front of their noses.
It touched the barrier made of plants.
Even then, the people inside, although anxious, were listening to Len Hank’s words and thinking about the future.
The events after that…… I didn’t want to see.
I would rather be able to do something, like in the Space of Suffering.
Even though it was a memory of the past that had already gone by, I wished I could at least put up a small struggle.
However, since the only thing Hio could do was just watch.
I just hope this terrible scene passes quickly and I can see Abellar’s memories afterward, the appearance of Tetradia.
Hio was thinking such thoughts.
He stood still, hoping the terrible scene would end soon and he could see the appearance of the Magicians, and that he could find some justification in their decision.
It was at that moment that an anomaly began to occur.
-Wait with confidence! Just…… a bit…… more endur…… e……!
Len Hank’s voice began to crackle and split.
That wasn’t all.
-Yes…… Sure…… ly Tetradia wouldn’t aban…… don this man…… y peop…… le……..
-Hold hands tight…… ly…….
All the surrounding noise split and tore.
Like a video caught in buffering, it repeated stopping and moving, and finally.
[0000-!)
A bizarre sound was heard.
The space distorted.
The image of Len Hank shouting loudly and the image of the refugees barely calming down were distorted and split.
The green shield, as well as the darkness lunging at it, also disappeared while remaining frozen.
Space tearing messily as if someone were ripping a picture book to shreds.
The third dungeon where Hio and Claire were.
The space itself was tearing.
What was seen through those torn gaps was darkness.
Or the Abyssal Depths.
[Found you.]
The bizarre sound soon turned into human language and pierced the ears of Hio and Claire.
Space scattering into fragments.
The blue sky fell down, and the Abyssal Depths occupied the gap.
[Liphyue’s hope.]
Before they knew it, a giant eye was looking down at the two of them.
[Trivial.]
The dungeon broke apart.
A voice rang out while the space was being fragmented and crushed.
The spreading Abyssal Depths.
The Watcher’s Eye situated above their heads.
[Your schemes are trivial…… and the struggles you put up are also trivial.]
The appearance of the refugees, Len Hank’s hardened face.
Even the blue sky and the darkness that rushed in to devour it broke apart.
The Abyssal Depths had rushed in, shattering the memories that this space showed and cherished.
[Jijoncheonma.]
Thump.
Right behind his back, the sound of someone losing strength and collapsing was heard.
Without looking, it must be Claire.
[Hio Pavlenko.]
The Watcher’s Eye that makes one be encroached by the Abyssal Depths just by looking at it.
Something began to move beside it.
Something huge and terrible wriggled.
Unlike when they faced it in the Labyrinth last time, this time it wasn’t just the Watcher’s Eye.
Something else from the Abyssal Depths was together with it.
[Liphyue’s last hope.]
With the dungeon’s space breaking, Hio’s body had returned to its original state.
It wasn’t a space where skills couldn’t be used, nor was it that kind of state.
Therefore, what must be done now was defense.
Raising the staff held in his hand high, a skill was activated immediately.
「Skill – ‘Celestial’ is activated.」
The breaking space and the lunging Abyssal Depths.
The gap between them opened, and a golden radiance poured down from high in the sky.
The faintly shimmering figure of a goddess and the goddess’s touch starting from it.
All of this was something that happened within a time that could be called an instant.
The space broke, the Watcher’s Eye revealed itself in the sky, Claire collapsed upon facing it, and the skill activated simultaneously, Celestial.
Even so, it was different from before.
What they faced in the Labyrinth was only the Watcher’s Eye.
Although what he was facing now was also the Watcher’s Eye, he couldn’t help but know that there was something else behind it.
He couldn’t explain what it was and didn’t know what it was, but what he could be certain of was that that thing was an original existence that resided in the Abyssal Depths.
It wasn’t an existence born after being tainted and twisted by the Abyssal Depths, but an existence that had been with the Abyssal Depths from the beginning.
That meant it would have that much strong power.
That was why his head rang and the space vibrated at a single word it spat out.
[It is a light that has no meaning.]
That was why even the golden radiance became suppressed at that one word.
The top-tier defensive skill, Celestial.
Even the goddess’s touch, drenched in divinity, gradually diminished and ended up giving its domain to the darkness.
Celestial being pushed back by the Abyssal Depths.
It was something that had never happened before and something that should never happen.
However, could he just stay there in shock?
「Skill – ‘Thunder Emperor’ is activated.」
Hio’s body was surrounded by white radiance.
Thunderbolts stormed incessantly within both of his eyes.
「Skill – ‘Azure Flame’ is activated.」
The blue fire became a small sun and coveted the sky.
Reflecting Hio’s emotions exactly, it spat out hot flames toward the Watcher’s Eye and some existence beyond it.
Even so, not a single small streak of light reached beyond the Watcher’s Eye.
Truly, the Abyssal Depths.
It was something that could be called the thing itself.
[Did you believe something would change if the memories were passed down?]
The space of Celestial rapidly diminished.
The viscous Abyssal Depths lunged through the pieces of the breaking space.
Swallowing the light as if stretching out a hand, the Abyssal Depths approached rapidly as if to grasp Hio as he was.
At that, the moment Hio was about to respond by combining the thunderbolts and the Azure Flame.
「An abnormal symptom has been detected.」
「The dungeon is being forcibly terminated.」
Messages that only Hio could see rose rapidly.
「The third dungeon has been broken through.」
「The fourth dungeon has been broken through.」
「The fifth dungeon has been broken through.」
「The sixth dungeon has been broken through.」
***
「The seventeenth dungeon has been broken through.」
At the same time, his vision grew distantly faint.
A feeling as if something snatched his soul and threw it far away.
Even while the space of the breaking dungeon, the Watcher’s Eye, and some existence beyond it grew infinitely distant.
[The day to reclaim our land is not far.]
The bizarre voice ringing through the space was heard clearly, as if heard from right nearby.
[The light shall sink, and the darkness shall rise.]
「Success in breaking through all dungeons.」
「Entering the final common space.」
[At that time, you shall be the Abyssal Depths.]
Those last words somehow gave him goosebumps.