Chapter 217 - Lord (1)

Dimensional gates. A form of exclusive magic practiced by only a handful of schools.

It went without saying how broken this spell was in a game filled with countless triggers for total party wipes. You could return to the city without waiting for the Labyrinth to close? What better survival tool could there be?

'Well, it does have its limitations.'

For one, unlike when fighting monsters, the counters were widely known in battles against people, making it difficult to use as a mid-combat escape. Also, only thirty people at most could use one. That was why most upper-floor expeditions were organized in units of thirty.

'Above all, once a mage uses it, they can never cast that spell again.'

Incidentally, that was different from the game. Originally, only an archmage who had reached grade one could cast Dimensional Gate. Anyone else who tried would invariably die.

But this world was set 150 years after the game's time period. Through joint research, the six schools that possessed the formula for dimensional gate magic had developed a way for lower-grade mages to cast it too. I wasn't a mage, so I didn't know the details. All I knew was that their method could only be used once in a mage's lifetime.

'No mage would insist on refusing to cast it in a situation like this...'

So just how many of them had entered the Labyrinth?

Hmm. There should be quite a few, at least. Mages who could open dimensional gates were the top recruitment priority for major clans, and those schools also encouraged mages who still had their one use left to support expeditions.

But...

'Even if they scrape together every last one, there won't be even 150.'

Realistically, fewer than 4,500 people could escape this hell through dimensional gates.

'The royal family's full-fledged knights. The elite members of the major clans that brought those mages... Aside from them, it's safe to assume practically everyone else will be abandoned.'

The more concrete the numbers became, the more I realized how insane the thing they were planning truly was. The sheer scale was different from the third-floor Floor Lord incident. Explorers would die by the tens of thousands, at minimum.

'And he made this choice knowing that...'

Pushing aside the dizzying feeling, I forced myself to continue reasoning calmly.

This might be the most important question right now. Why had the commander made this decision?

'... He must have concluded that the way to the second floor was blocked, or as good as blocked.'

Escaping the first floor was impossible. No, even if it was possible, it would cost more lives than letting a select few escape through dimensional gates.

That was why the commander had made this decision. He had deemed returning to the city while preserving as much fighting strength as possible the strategically correct—

"We meet again."

I spun around at the sudden presence behind me and froze. Whew. That startled me.

"Bjorn Jandel, was it?"

The commander was standing behind me. I had no idea how long he'd been there. Now, his name was...

"Marco Alban."

"You have a good memory for a barbarian."

Normally, I would have fired back rather than let that slide, but I answered amiably.

"Thanks for the compliment."

He was the highest authority here, after all. Just getting the chance to speak with him alone, however briefly, was an incredible stroke of luck.

After turning it over in my head several times, I asked him, getting straight to the point like a proper barbarian.

"You're looking for mages who can cast dimensional gate magic. Are you planning to run?"

First and foremost, I needed to verify whether my suspicions were true. The moment he heard the question, his eyes hardened coldly.

"In this respect, you certainly are a barbarian. Anyone else might have realized, but they wouldn't have dreamed of asking me directly."

As you can see, I am a barbarian.

When I silently held his gaze, he asked a question of his own.

"Where did you hear that?"

That was enough. So it was true. I'd wondered if perhaps he really did have some other strategy.

"I heard a knight giving orders to an administrative soldier earlier."

"... A careless man. Or perhaps he let his guard down because you were a barbarian."

Judging by that look in his eyes, the knight wasn't likely to get off lightly, but that wasn't my concern. I was about to return to the matter at hand when he spoke.

"Hmm. Or perhaps you're simply more intelligent than expected."

He continued, regarding me with a curious look.

"Since it's come to this, I'll be frank. I've heard the composition of your team from the administrative staff."

"... You investigated me?"

"You piqued my interest, for some reason."

Interest, huh... Was that a positive variable, or the opposite? As it turned out, both.

"I can take you and your mage with us. Provided you promise to serve in the royal army for just one year."

He was offering me tickets through a dimensional gate. The problem was that there were only two.

"What about the rest?"

"You know what choice must be made."

Fuck. So they didn't make the cut. And I'd thought I'd done a decent job building them up over the past few months.

"Well? What will you do?"

I stood at a crossroads.

"I'd like an answer now. There isn't much time."

My life and one companion's? Or a gamble with all our lives at stake?

["Can we... win?"]

["Don't worry. I'll bring everyone back alive. I promise."]

A brief exchange we'd once shared flashed through my mind.

"I..."

I answered without hesitation.

"Don't abandon my companions."

Maybe even my brain really had become a barbarian's.

* * *

「The second Terror Lord has been defeated.」

「The third Terror Lord has been defeated.」

「The fourth Terror Lord has been defeated.」

「The fifth Terror Lord has been defeated...」

「...」

* * *

Time passed. I kept my conversation with the commander strictly to myself.

["Keep the matter of the dimensional gates to yourself. If you value your companions."]

His threat was part of it, but I didn't see any particular need to tell anyone. Word would spread soon enough without my help. And indeed, it did.

"Mr. Jandel, you've heard, right? About the rumor?"

It was impossible to silence thousands of people. Especially when they weren't one tightly unified group. Word of the commander's plan to escape through dimensional gates spread from person to person, and it didn't take long to reach Raven's ears.

"Yes, I know."

"... What are you going to do? Do you think it's just a baseless rumor too?"

At Raven's question, Mister Bear and Misha also turned their eyes toward me. So the three of them had already discussed this before coming to me. Well, those lot were probably the only ones who hadn't noticed the murderous tension hanging over the cave.

"Karon, you can't even lift that greatsword! Can you call yourself a man?!"

"I-it's not that I can't lift it! Here, look!"

"Oho! Then you're half a man!"

The barbarians had been happily entertaining themselves for a whole hour by passing around a single adamantium greatsword. Sometimes I envied their obliviousness. They could simply move forward without a doubt.

"Um, Mr. Jandel...?"

"Ah, sorry. My mind wandered for a moment."

I forced a bright smile and patted Raven's shoulder.

"Don't worry about the rumors! Everything will work out!"

It would work out. I would make sure of it. So I wanted them to keep moving forward without doubt. One person constantly questioning and worrying about whatever traps and enemies might lie ahead was enough.

"Why are you being so pointlessly optimistic?!"

"That's what being a leader means."

"F-fine, just stop hitting my shoulder!"

I brought the conversation to a casual close, shut my eyes again, and sank into thought. Lately, only one thing occupied my mind. How could we all make it back alive?

To that end, I'd thought things over thousands of times, devised and discarded countless plans, and even after settling on a plan, reviewed it over and over for unforeseen variables or errors in judgment.

'It has to be perfect.'

If plan A failed, then plan B. If that didn't work either, plan C. Whenever I had time like this, I simulated everything from start to finish, envisioning the worst I might face.

How much more time passed like that?

WHOOOOM!

A faint tremor rose through the ground, as though announcing that we had drawn a little closer to the breaking point.

"That's already the eighth."

The eighth Floor Lord had been summoned. Since this had been happening repeatedly for days, Raven and the others showed little reaction. Of course they didn't. They had no idea what event would occur when the ninth Floor Lord was defeated.

'That must be why there haven't been any protests despite those rumors. Most people probably think they're baseless.'

From an ordinary person's perspective, the leadership had no reason to flee through dimensional gates. They knew nothing about "it."

"Anyway, judging by the screams, it seems to be nearby..."

"Everyone stay alert. It might come this way."

We readied ourselves just in case and waited for the Floor Lord to be defeated. Then we heard people approaching from the passage behind us.

"We're coming through! Everyone, move against the walls!"

A group was moving swiftly through the narrow passage, pushing explorers aside like an ambulance responding to an emergency. We pressed against the wall, and they swept past like the wind.

"That's the Star of Eramel Clan."

They belonged to a fairly well-known major clan. Judging by the way they were heading toward the screams, they seemed to be on their way to defeat the Floor Lord.

"Now that reinforcements have gone, it should be dark again soon."

Thirty seventh-floor explorers were enough to defeat the first-floor Floor Lord. With the right strategy, even a much smaller force could do it. I smiled bitterly.

'I don't know why they bother killing every Floor Lord when they're going to abandon everyone anyway.'

The first-floor Floor Lord dropped no loot worth mentioning. It yielded no Essence, and the byproducts obtainable with spellbend weren't especially valuable either. The only reward for defeating it was eligibility for promotion to a grade-four clan, where the real benefits began.

That was why it mostly served as a test. A monster you defeated once and moved on from, like a rite of passage upon reaching a certain level.

'Could it be guilt? Something like, "We did our best right to the end"?'

The thought occurred to me, but practical reasons probably played a greater part. They had to look as though they were doing their jobs until the very end, so the people they would abandon wouldn't catch on.

["KRAAAAAAH—!!"]

About twenty minutes later, an immense shriek echoed from afar, and the red-hot crystals went dark. The Floor Lord had been defeated.

"Tomorrow's day five, so we only have to hold out for about two more days."

I continued reviewing my plans, checking the time occasionally. How much longer had passed?

[22 : 07]

About two hours had gone by since the eighth Floor Lord's defeat. In other words...

"Damn it!"

There were four hours left until all hell broke loose.

"Everyone, run inside! The rumors were true!"

"Those royal bastards are abandoning us and running away! Stop them!"

A commotion spread from the depths of the cave.

* * *

At that same moment, in the central area housing the tents of the major clans and the royal knights...

"You sons of bitches! Move! Get out of the way!"

"Stand down, explorer. Take another step and I'll cut you down."

"We're dead either wa—!"

SLASH!

An explorer's head hit the ground with a thud and rolled.

"Anyone else?"

The knight's murderous words made them falter, but only briefly.

"What are you doing? Push through!"

"I'm getting out! I'm getting out of here!"

"Aaargh! My arm! My arm...!"

Blinded by their desire to live, the explorers rushed forward like moths to a flame. The same scene was unfolding simultaneously in every passage leading to the center.

"The real enemy is out there, yet they insist on spilling blood meaninglessly."

Marco Alban, commander of the Third Royal Knight Order and the very man responsible for this situation, clicked his tongue and asked his adjutant,

"Our current progress?"

"A little over half have evacuated."

"Half... It's taking far longer than planned."

Had they opened all the dimensional gates at once and escaped to the city in one go, none of this commotion would have happened. Unfortunately, dimensional gate magic drew in the surrounding mana, leaving them no choice but to cast the spells in sequence.

"It will be our turn shortly. Leave this to the remaining knights and come along, Commander."

Marco Alban followed his adjutant toward the center. A new dimensional gate was just opening, radiating brilliant light.

WHOOOOM!

Banishing every lingering attachment, Marco Alban slowly walked toward the portal.

"Please, take me too!"

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

With every step, anguished, emotion-laden cries reached him, mingling with the clash of weapons.

CLANK, CLANK.

Marco Alban paused before the portal. Suddenly, he recalled a conversation from two days earlier.

["I don't abandon my companions."]

He had been an impressive man in many ways. Both like a barbarian and unlike one, perhaps. He had also been somewhat disappointing.

["I misjudged you. To think you would make such a wrong choice."]

He had lost interest in the barbarian. The offer had been nothing more than a whim to begin with. Yet the man hadn't even seized that stroke of fortune.

["Keep the matter of the dimensional gates to yourself. If you value your companions."]

He had intended to leave after threatening him into silence. But at that very moment...

["You feel guilty."]

The barbarian had said something strange.

["Guilty...?"]

["That's why you were disappointed when I refused your offer."]

At first, he hadn't understood what the man meant. But then a cold voice had driven the point home.

["Didn't you want me to give you reassurance that your choice wasn't wrong?"]

Marco Alban hadn't been able to deny it. He hadn't realized it himself, but the thought struck him that perhaps it was true.

["Knight, I'm not like you."]

["So don't use me to ease your conscience."]

That had been the end of his conversation with the barbarian. They would probably never speak face-to-face again.

"Commander, you must go now."

Marco Alban lifted his head and looked ahead. Beyond the portal, he could see the brightly lit city, so unlike this dark Labyrinth.

The only city in this cursed world. The place they truly had to protect. The last stronghold.

"For Raphdonia."

He stepped through the portal. It was the choice he had to make.

* * *

I close my eyes briefly and steady my breathing. Then I remind myself. At last, the moment to act has come. So...

'Do what you have to do.'

I open my eyes.

"Everyone, follow me. We're heading to the center."

"What? What are you planning to do there?"

What else? By the time we arrived, all sorts of capable people, abandoned by their various groups, would be wallowing in despair.

'First, we need to get into the right weight class.'

I needed to gather a force. That was the first step toward survival.