Chapter 119

Wisdom of the Abyss

“Could you please move aside?”

Meldini had wasted quite a bit of time because of these annoying enemies.

They were a duo of wizards wearing ridiculous puppet masks.

It was a male-female pair, with a balding yeti on the crown of their head and an apple face that looked like it had been bitten into.

“Of course not. Sorry!”

That duo didn’t actively fight with Meldini or Isilof.

Instead, they dragged out time.

How?

With the clown’s spell disruption magic.

It was the magic that raider Sally had once used on Caleb. A 2nd-grade mental magic that makes random utility magic activate when the target casts combat magic for a certain period of time.

Of course, this type of disabling magic was something only novices like Caleb would fall for. Meldini and Isilof should have normally resisted based on their originally high wisdom values.

However…

[Tower of Chaos]

The bitten apple used a scroll to summon an 8th-tier magic tower, and that tower had an amplification lens attached to it.

A chaos zone spanning a radius of 100 meters.

The clown’s spell disruption was amplified by the lens and applied to the entire chaos zone.

Not only Isilof and Meldini, but even the bitten apple and bald yeti.

Despite being unable to use magic themselves, they were trying to neutralize their opponents.

This wasn’t for combat purposes.

It was to cause chaos.

“Let’s just sit and chat together, professors.”

The yeti sprawled out on the floor completely.

‘This is bad.’

Isilof immediately realized their opponents’ strategy.

They were members of the Magic University.

Hadn’t Chrome said so? Calling White Lion a ‘university professor’.

White Lion had more party members.

So these wizards came here hiding their identities, and used scrolls that White Lion had likely given them along with 2nd-tier disruption magic.

Why?

Because if they used high-tier magic, their identities would be exposed.

For example, the only wizard in the entire university who could use Spirit Lake was Dalstream.

Some magic spells were like identification cards for their wizards.

To avoid revealing this, the enemies had completely overturned the framework of this battle itself.

“Isilof.”

Meldini poked his partner’s side.

“Yes.”

“About that explosion we heard earlier. Would it be safe to say a corpse explosion scroll went off?”

“…That seems likely.”

The Halfling professor’s expression grew increasingly frightening.

“You guys.”

He approached the apple and yeti threateningly while pointing his wand at them.

“If you’re university affiliated, you should know my personality.”

The professor growled menacingly.

“If Caleb or Professor Dalstream is dead or injured right now, I will definitely find you.”

“……”

“I don’t care if lie prevention magic is illegal. You know that, right? I’ll interrogate the entire university if I have to, and I will definitely find and kill you……”

Kugugugugung!

Suddenly the earth shook.

The ground, ceiling, and walls began to move. The concrete and steel were returning to their original positions.

‘The structural transformation is being undone!’

All four wizards simultaneously looked up.

“It looks like White Lion finished up.”

The assembly members couldn’t even imagine that White Lion might have been defeated.

“Shall we head back too?”

The two people each pulled out a scroll from their pockets. It was something White Lion had given them earlier. The assembly always shared designated coordinate teleportation scrolls before deploying operations, and gathered at predetermined locations.

“Like hell you bastards are going anywhere!”

Meldini exploded in anger, but there was nothing she could do in the face of the spell disruption cast on the Tower of Chaos.

Scrolls were also subject to spell disruption, but…

Zziik!

Designated coordinate teleportation magic was utility magic.

The bitten apple and bald yeti teleported away and disappeared.

“Let’s get out of the tower’s range.”

Isilof calmed down Meldini, whose anger had reached the top of his head.

Since the structural transformation had been undone, the tower’s room was no longer a sealed chamber.

“It looks like they’re over there with Caleb.”

***

The structural transformation is being undone.

What that means is either the caster has been rendered unconscious to the point of incapacitation, or they’re dead – one of the two.

It could also be undone if the distance was too great, but the distance from Security Headquarters to the Labyrinth Association stairs wasn’t that far, and since the caster was White Lion…

‘Got him.’

Both Nimue and Rococo were deep-layer adventurers. Perhaps they were even overkill against a dying White Lion.

“What happened here?”

Backstab looked around bewildered.

Right.

From your perspective, it would have looked like two wizards put on a superconductivity show, then White Lion grabbed a scroll and touched Dalstream before disappearing alone.

“I used the stair scroll you gave me to send White Lion to the stair room.”

Then suddenly Aimus collapsed to the floor.

“Whew.“

And let out a deep breath.

“Really… I really thought I was going to die this time.”

“Yernil actually was on the verge of death.”

Backstab said.

Even though we won, neither of them seemed particularly excited.

“We’ve met countless strong enemies so far, but this time was really on a different level.”

Aimus was right.

It’s not an exaggeration – he really was an opponent who didn’t match our level.

Even deep-layer adventurers had trouble dealing with him.

It’s fortunate that both the corpse explosion and scroll switching worked well.

And protecting Dalstream as well…

Huh?

“Professor?”

Dalstream was gathering his wand in front of his chest and chanting an incantation.

Intense spirit energy was exploding from the archmage’s body. That sapphire-colored brilliant light sparkled throughout the entire room.

“What…”

Why are you fighting right now?

No.

What are you fighting?

“Professor!”

Dalstream has the special ability ‘Arcane Vision’, and right now I don’t have Watcher and Yernil.

With our party’s detection abilities lost, Dalstream found something we couldn’t detect.

What could it possibly be that…

“Large-scale spirit separation!”

He’s separating us?

***

“Wasn’t I even necessary?”

Rococo, former archbishop of Sanfriel Temple, stared intently at that monster who had been captured more easily than expected.

According to Chrome, this was the demon who had carried out a massacre in the Black Dog district 12 years ago, the head of the assembly, and a creature more alien and powerful than any monster in the labyrinth.

However, the creature that appeared before their eyes was already hanging by a thread.

“I guess Caleb didn’t know he’d come to the stairs beaten up this badly.”

“Did Chrome do this to him?”

“For that to be the case, the right arm amputation doesn’t look like it was done by an axe.”

While Nimue and Rococo’s conversation continued briefly…

“Won’t…”

The monster’s lips, which had turned blue from freezing, trembled.

“Won’t you kill… Me…?”

White Lion was completely frozen from his toes to just below his chin.

“Just killing you wouldn’t be cost-effective.”

Nimue poked White Lion’s cheek with the tip of her wand.

“You need to take responsibility for the casualties, damaged buildings, and economic damage caused by this incident. What value does your death have?”

“…You’re insane. What if my comrades come to rescue me?”

“They’ll fail. Your plan has already completely failed, hasn’t it? Just look at your state. What would change if the assembly wizards came?”

“Assembly…?”

Then suddenly White Lion burst into laughter.

“Kahahaet!“

Then he coughed up blood, going cough cough. But the smile still remained on his face.

“You’re greatly mistaken about something, Frostian. While I planned the operation as a working-level person, ultimately it’s the Master who holds the sword hilt. His will isn’t something that can be broken by mortal resistance.”

“What?”

“And how could those assembly wizard scum be my comrades? Aren’t you mistaken about my identity? I have only one comrade.”

White Lion said.

“The labyrinth.”

***

There were two anxiety factors I’d had since this war began.

First, while White Lion was openly carrying out operations like this, what was the assembly’s position? Was this White Lion’s independent action with the assembly staying neutral? Or was the assembly also helping White Lion?

This question was important. It determined whether the enemy was some monsters from the labyrinth plus White Lion, or whether an entire force called the assembly was additionally participating in the war.

So I asked Izel.

Izel said she didn’t know. I was initially suspicious of that answer too, but now I completely trust it.

Why?

When Yernil became unable to fight, the hourglass recommended Izel (100% trust level) to me as a replacement for my subordinated companion.

If Izel trusts and depends on me as much as Yernil does, then her testimony was likely true.

Of course, there was the problem that she was just a low-ranking member of the assembly and not a possessor.

But for now, since the battle with White Lion itself was too difficult, I had pushed the issue of the assembly’s participation to the back of my worry queue.

However, the second problem had no clues to find an answer.

I could only pray.

‘Was there no inter-floor lord that came out of the labyrinth besides White Lion?’

That question had been a source of terror for me for a very long time.

But now I have the answer.

“Dagger Raptor…”

It had the head of an eagle. Like Horus from Egyptian mythology.

And like that mythological god, it had a copper-colored sturdy body and limbs. At first glance, it really looked like a scene from an Egyptian temple wall painting.

However, that monster had enormous wings.

Each of the tens of thousands of feathers was made of daggers.

Enormous dagger wings of jet-black color.

“It seemed like the situation was going badly, so I assembled the group and came to help directly.”

The monster said.

“Where did White Lion go, leaving only one old man?”

“White Lion was probably caught by deep-layer adventurers in the stair room.”

“That stupid bastard. I knew it when he insisted on doing it alone without my help. He completely failed, didn’t he.”

Dagger Raptor clicked his beak angrily.

“But what happened to the brats who were here just now?”

“I sent them out.”

That was true.

Dalstream’s spirit separation seemed to have blown Aimus and Backstab outside the building.

“The wizard named Caleb too?”

“Yes. Of course.”

This was a lie.

I wasn’t separated outside the building. Instead, where I am now is…

‘Above the ventilation duct!’

Dalstream sent the two people outside and put me up here.

I can guess the reason too.

When we escaped from Spirit Lake and came down. When we met the injured Yernil.

The professor looked at the paper scraps torn to pieces on the floor.

‘That was the thesis.’

The old professor had figured out something important, and lost the means to convey it.

Could that be why now…

“He’s too precious a student to die right now. Of course I had to separate him.”

“……”

“Dagger Raptor.”

A clang sound came from the floor.

The professor had dropped his wand.

As if he wouldn’t resist.

Instead, he asked a question.

“When will the labyrinth reveal its true form?”

“……”

“Soon, right? Soon the labyrinth plans to vomit up everything from the 1st floor to the abyss. The underground 1st floor will become the above-ground 1st floor, and the underground 10th floor will become the above-ground 10th floor. Right? The labyrinth will flip everything underground and erect a tower.”

What the fuck is this about now.

“That tower will reach the spirit galaxy, but it’s missing the very last ‘step‘. Right? I’m talking about 10.5 floor.”

“……”

“You’re trying to sacrifice this entire continent to the labyrinth to create that. Once you secure the final step, the Labyrinth Master will step on it and finally ascend to the spirit galaxy, and devour the remaining rotten gods like Wizus, Nataniel, and Sanfriel.”

The eagle plucked out one dagger feather.

“Indeed.”

And approached Dalstream step by step.

“You know too much.”

“As expected…”

Dalstream smiled faintly.

The old professor’s shoulders trembled.

“I wasn’t wrong.”

Fuck.

“When everyone thought the labyrinth giving necessary treasures to adventurers was a blessing, I knew something was wrong.”

Wait.

[Turn-Based Hourglass remaining time: 10 seconds]

Only 10 seconds left now.

No.

Even if I turn this, can I save him?

“It’s like Isaac Berry taking root in barren soil, a demon that only emits sweet fragrance to devour everything that approaches.”

Think. Think. Think.

Let me think. I’m not dead yet.

[Turn-Based Hourglass remaining time: 3 seconds]

Think!

What do I have right now?

The designated coordinate teleportation scroll to the dean’s office fell to the floor. I dropped it during the spirit separation.

“And the possessors are champions that the gods of the spirit galaxy bring from the world beyond the galaxy.”

Besides that, superconductivity and lightning shock, telekinesis, message transmission wand.

1st, 2nd, 3rd tier magic.

“They’re trying to prevent the Labyrinth Master from building a tower on the surface through them. Because this is the last chance.”

Dust Explosion, Heat Wave, Cumulonimbus, Hail Storm.

“Excellent reasoning, Archmage.”

Frost Ray, Heat Wind, Static Coat.

The hourglass cooldown has already finished.

But there’s no way.

“Your wisdom has reached the abyss.”

I can’t think of any strategy.

Even if I flip the hourglass, there’s nothing I can do with 6 action points to save Dalstream from that monster.

“It’s an honor.”

The archmage closed his eyes.

The demon’s dagger pierced his throat.