I rushed straight toward the source of the vibrations.
In an instant, I crossed dozens of floors and arrived at the place...
"The middle floors..."
Floor 16. The level just before the floor boss appears.
It was a place that even Level 2 adventurers had to travel in groups to reach.
Honestly, somewhere along the way, I had started wondering whether Ais was really here.
And for good reason—Floor 16? Maybe the real Ais could manage it, but this was no place for a Level 1 Ais to set foot in.
Besides, I searched everywhere and still couldn't find her. What on earth was going on...?
"A strange matter indeed."
"Yes, really... huh?"
As I agreed with the voice, I suddenly realized I wasn't alone.
Wait, then whose voice was that?
"...Arphia?"
"What is it?"
...She had followed me? I'd been running without even looking back, so I hadn't noticed.
But why on earth did she follow me...?
"It looked interesting enough. Besides, going back would only make me irritated."
"Ah, I see."
I get the reason, but I haven't even asked yet.
"It's all over your face."
"Maybe you should open your eyes before saying something like that..."
"I can see it without looking."
What was I supposed to do with that?
The sheer arrogance of it gave me a headache, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
Ais...
Honestly, logically speaking, there was no way she'd be in a place like this.
But for some reason, my instincts pointed here.
Because I trusted that instinct, I'd come this far.
But...
"A strange matter indeed. I was certain she was here."
"Yeah... I have no idea what's going on either..."
"It feels almost as if she's outside the Dungeon."
Just as she said, Ais's presence could be felt here, yet she wasn't actually here.
It was almost like she was in a different location entirely... huh?
A different location?
Come to think of it, the ones targeting Ais were said to be Evilus...
...No way?
"...What are you doing?"
Without warning, I smashed the nearby wall, and Arphia looked at me like I was some kind of lunatic.
I ignored her and kept smashing the Dungeon wall, and as I continued...
Boom!
I hit a section that wouldn't break.
"This is...?"
Arphia's eyes widened slightly.
What had suddenly appeared was a structure made of metal, something that couldn't possibly be a natural formation.
The artificial labyrinth, Knossos.
"...Hah."
Arphia let out a breath that sounded like either admiration or disbelief.
I understood. The first time I saw it, I'd wondered whether something like this should even be allowed to exist.
If anything, her reaction was the one that seemed strange for being so mild.
But now wasn't the time to watch her be surprised.
Ais...
She was probably in here.
In that case, wasting time was not an option.
To get in right now, I needed a key, but I didn't have the luxury of time.
In the end, it was time for a master key that worked anywhere, rather than an ordinary one.
"Hoo..."
I rolled my shoulders to loosen them up.
Then I clenched my fist and slammed it into the wall.
Crack!
Unlike before, my fist didn't bounce off; it punched straight into the wall.
However, the hole was small and hadn't fully pierced through. It was a half-hearted destruction.
"Hmm... seems it's sturdier than I thought. Move aside, I'll use magic—"
Arphia said something behind me, but I didn't really pay attention.
Zzzing—particles of white light gathered in my hand.
"This is..."
Five seconds' worth of stored power.
KWA-BOOM!!
The wall exploded completely.
*
Using the broken wall as an entrance, we charged into Knossos. There was no need to think about where to go.
Kieeeeeek!!
The disgusting sound echoing from far away served as our guide.
Vesta and Arphia ran toward the source of the noise.
What an impressive fellow.
Arphia silently praised Vesta as she watched him.
That speed and stamina to sprint all the way to the middle floors. On top of that, the insight to find the cause in an instant, and the raw power to shatter a wall made of adamantite.
Considering his magic was even faster than her own, the person in front of her was, without exaggeration, the ideal adventurer.
Of course, the title of "perfect" or "strongest" adventurer would belong to someone else.
Oh dear, am I getting a little tired...?
That thought was directed at herself, not the rabbit.
Following the rabbit's pace had left her already meager stamina scraping the bottom.
Had she made a pointless trip...? Regret bubbled up, but after coming this far, turning back would be unacceptable.
Besides, with the way things were unfolding, the scale had grown too large to simply step away now.
Those Evilus bastards. I wondered where they'd been hiding all this time...
She had expected they might have a hidden trump card, but to think they'd concealed another Dungeon... an artificial one, no less.
Even Arphia hadn't expected this. Tch, she clicked her tongue, grinding her teeth inwardly at being caught off guard.
And of all times, it had to be when a large number of adventurers were away... no, perhaps precisely because of that they'd made their move.
For her brother's safety, she wanted to bring this incident to an end.
Normally, she would have handled it alone... but something felt wrong.
From the aura she sensed now, this should have been something she could resolve on her own... yet the vague unease only grew larger with every step, showing no sign of fading.
It felt like the calm before a storm. Like the silence would break at any moment and a calamity would descend.
An adventurer's intuition was not something to ignore. Especially not Arphia's, given her singular talent.
Arphia, whose pride in the Hera Familia was second to none, was feeling such a dangerous premonition that she was even willing to join forces with someone she could barely call an ally... someone more like an object of love and hate.
"Intruder!"
"I-it's a [Silence]?!?!"
"Lower the [door]! Hurry!!!"
There were Evilus members who, terrified by the sudden intruder, tried to interfere.
How they managed it, I didn't know, but thanks to their schemes, the [door] they kept talking about—an indestructible wall made of orichalcum—kept blocking the two of us at intervals along the way.
But every time that happened...
"Haaah!"
"Aaaagh?!"
"A m-monster! Run!"
The rabbit's literal physical assault. With a clean body tackle, the [door] that suffered the collision didn't break, but it did smash through [wall]s and enemies alike as it was sent flying.
And after crushing both enemies and obstacles as we advanced, what appeared before us was...
"What a hideous creature."
Just from its appearance, it looked like a horrifying monster that could even take down deep-floor monsters.
The power I could clearly feel from it wasn't bad either. If I had to judge by level, maybe around 6.
Not bad, but... the opponent was far too unlucky.
Is that all it is...?
Compared to the ominous premonition, the enemy seemed almost laughably weak, and Arphia felt doubt stir in her mind.
She couldn't believe that something of that level had made her feel threatened.
Is there something else?
Normally, this would have been the point where she moved on.
No matter how uneasy she felt, it would never take priority over the reality in front of her.
She would dismiss it as her own mistake, deal with the immediate danger, and then leisurely head home—that would have been the usual response.
But Arphia was different.
For her, everything except her brother was measured against her own standards.
It was, quite literally, something that stood before reality itself.
That was why Arphia didn't move rashly.
In the first place, there was someone else who would move first.
The man slipped his one arm into his robe.
Then he grabbed the hilt strapped to his back and drew it free.
A yellow sword crackling with lightning.
"[Astrafe]"
The lightning fired from the sword raced down the corridor, blasting away everything in a straight line.