"Aria, I've sense you. Wait for me."
------------------------
"Captain, Captain, hang in there! You must hang in there! Anakitty… the potion, give me the elixir!!!"
Finn's squad, chased by the monsters and Valletta, had lost both Finn and Fron, their two strongest fighters. On top of that, after using the same method of sealing doors to cut off Bete, only Raul, Anakitty, and a few members remained near the heavily wounded Finn, who could barely stay conscious.
"Here, the elixir." While running, Raul, completely breaking down, poured the potion frantically onto Finn's wounds.
But the potion, supposedly capable of curing almost anything, at this moment had lost its effect.
From Finn's shoulder down to his abdomen, the huge wound showed no sign of recovery even after being drenched in the potion. Instead… that black energy within the wound seemed to thicken and spread!
This scene made Raul, who was already on the verge of collapse, completely freeze.
"Roar!!"
Behind them, a swarm of hybrid monsters, part worms, part Violas, were chasing the squad madly.
The deafening roars snapped Raul back to his senses, but his panicked expression did nothing to calm the others.
That only made the others even more terrified.
"H-how is that possible!? The elixir isn't working!?" Raul's eyes widened in disbelief at the impossible sight. Finn's breathing grew weaker, his chest barely rising, without effective treatment, his life was quickly fading away. Raul… broke down completely.
"W-what do we do? Anakitty? What should I do now? Please, tell me! I'm begging you!"
Among the entire squad, the only one who remained somewhat calm in this desperate situation was Anakitty.
"Raul, the way you're acting now would only disappoint the Captain, who always placed his hopes in you. What you need to do right now is calm down and analyze the situation, not panic! Look at everyone's faces around you. And you call yourself the Captain's successor???"
"..."
Anakitty's cold, stern reprimand hit Raul like a lightning strike, leaving him stiff and frozen, almost falling behind the group.
Luckily, Cruz reacted quickly and pulled him forward, saving him from being caught by the monsters behind!
"RAUL!!!!!!!" Anakitty's sharp, commanding shout jolted him completely awake.
The young man trembled, his lips quivering, as if his broken will was slowly being reforged.
"I, I'm Raul! Now… I have to pull myself together! I must carry the banner the Captain left behind! Th-thank you, Anakitty!"
Seeing Raul finally regain a bit of composure, Anakitty allowed herself a brief sigh of relief.
...
Finn, Bete, and Fron had been separated. Finn, attacked viciously by Revis, was on the brink of death. Meanwhile, the exploration team composed of the dwarf, Ais, Tione, and Tiona had also fallen into the enemy's meticulously prepared traps.
It was a similarly vast, orderly chamber, almost identical to the one Fron was in.
"Nice to meet you for the first time, adventurers of the Loki Familia."
Emerging from the dim corridor lit by a faint blue portable magic stone lamp was a pale-skinned man with messy white hair and an unkempt beard.
He wore a light work outfit tied with a belt, looking utterly ragged, like a beggar or a vagabond.
The exposed parts of his skin were deathly pale, unhealthy-looking, as though he had never felt the sunlight. If not for the faint trace of life energy coming from him, one might have mistaken him for a corpse.
"-----"
The air grew still. The two sides faced each other across the vast chamber, the oppressive darkness creating a suffocating tension.
The man's messy bangs covered one eye. As he lifted his head slightly, his sunken cheeks, dark eye bags, and lifeless gaze stared coldly at Ais and the others.
"He's that human male from the sketch!"
Thanks to her keen vision, Tiona was the first to recognize him.
Immediately after, Tione's sharp eyes locked onto the man as she questioned him:
"Years ago, you were the one who negotiated with the god Njord in the underground waterway, weren't you!?"
That question made the shabby man, Barca of the Thanatos Familia, show a faint change in expression.
He moved his dry lips and replied in a voice rough and grating, like sand scraping glass.
"Oh? Five years ago? Let me think… Hmm, yes, that might have happened. But what about it?"
He paused, then suddenly grew agitated, his tone filled with irritation.
"I've heard from others that your Loki Familia has been looking for me, right? But honestly… I really didn't want to see you."
"???" Hearing that, Tione, Tiona, and even Ais froze for a moment.
Even with all their experience, they had never seen such a disinterested, unmotivated enemy, there was even a hint of annoyance in his expression.
"Yes, annoyance. Unlike you reckless, simple-minded adventurers, our ancestor's wish is something far beyond the comprehension of mortals. It is something grand, magnificent, a perfect creation that can exist only within dreams. To complete this masterpiece, not a single second can be wasted. To me, even meeting you amateurs, or speaking a single word to you, is a waste of my precious time. It's… deeply unpleasant."
The man, Barca, twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at them with disdain.
"Ah, I envy you ignorant mortals, free of such burdens. This great work has consumed my entire life. Even if I complete it, I'll likely be long dead. So I hate myself, and envy you, envy those foolish gods. If only I were a long-lived race…"
"Ahhhh, my blood burns again, reminding me not to waste any more time! As for you all… heh, what a pity. Become part of this great work's burial offering. Perhaps that will make it… even more beautiful?"
His unfocused eyes and delirious mutterings left the Loki Familia stunned and exchanging wary glances.
However… from his rambling, they had still managed to glean something crucial.
This man-made dungeon, it had been in the making since the time of his ancestor… though exactly how long ago, they could not yet tell.