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  We moved through the corridors of that place.

  It looked like a labyrinth, and some rooms were empty, containing only chains meant to restrain humans, apparently.

  There was no light except for the small flame that Pumpkin kept lit at her fingertip. It wasn't a problem for me, thanks to my night vision. The maze branched into multiple paths, going in opposite directions. But for us, splitting up wasn’t an option, not in a place like this.

  Sentil stayed alert to everything around us. The mere fact that there was an illusionary barrier hiding the entrance was already suspicious.

  There were a few possibilities: either this place was some kind of human trafficking den, or it was tied to the recent increase in monster activity across the region.

  In the end, it turned out to be the second one.

  In one of the rooms, a thick layer of snow covered the floor. In other words, it was a breeding ground for ice monsters.

  “Snow… and there’s pure mana in the air. That’s how those snowmen we saw earlier are made,” Sentil said.

  “That’s good, isn’t it? We found the culprits’ base,” I said.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to head back to camp? We need to bring reinforcements here,” Pumpkin suggested.

  Sentil frowned. It would take seven hours on foot to reach the camp, and in that time, a lot could happen. He couldn’t risk the culprits escaping.

  In terms of strength, Pumpkin and I were the strongest. Leaving us here wasn’t a problem. But for Sentil to go back alone, through a hostile area full of monsters, that would be suicide.

  Another option was for him to stay and for me to go. As a Metamorph, I had speed and endurance, I didn’t tire easily. But he didn’t trust me enough for that. He probably thought I’d just abandon him halfway.

  Sending Pumpkin wasn’t an option either. Sentil would never stay alone with me, and without her here, we’d lose a key part of our combat strength.

  There was a brief silence. Then Sentil said firmly:

  “No. I’ll stay here with you. I don’t trust us splitting up in a place like this. Keep searching, I’ll cover the rear. Victor, can you lead the way? You’ve got the best senses here.”

  I nodded. He was right, if we managed to capture whoever was responsible, we could interrogate them. And no one could give us better answers than they could.

  In the end, it was the safest choice for all of us. Not having any means of long-distance communication really complicated things.

  If only Merlin were here, she could’ve come up with something to help. She could’ve flown back to the camp and warned the search team somehow, but… I left her in the city, afraid she’d be discovered.

  Now the only option was to stay together and keep moving, or wait for the rescue team to find us. That should happen by the end of the day.

  We advanced through the corridors together. It didn’t take long before we found more suspicious cells, holding different types of ice and snow monsters inside, even newborn ice wolves.

  But according to Sentil, the monster attacks had been getting worse for days now, in absurd numbers. Whoever created all this had been working for a long time.

  “Pumpkin, ice wolves breed like normal dogs, right?”

  “Yeah. Nothing special about it. There are different types of wolves, but these ones are like that because… well, all there is around here is snow and ice.”

  “I see. So the culprit really took their time planning this.”

  “I think so too. Smells like organized crime.”

  ? Sir. I believe the massive number of wolves we fought in the forest was also produced here. ?

  Stolen novel; please report.

  ‘Hmm… that explains the abnormal numbers. Means we caused them some losses, right?’

  ? Precisely. ?

  So thanks to me and Merlin, at least the number of wolves had dropped drastically. There was definitely an organization behind this, and that was bad news. If this base had been in the forest all this time, there was a chance they knew about me. Worrisome.

  The corridors all looked the same. No sound but our footsteps echoed. It was all too strange.

  And then I noticed something was wrong. Why would they keep the monster cages so close to the entrance?

  A light went on in my head. The answer was obvious.

  “Sentil. I think we came in through the back door.”

  “The back? Makes sense. That means the main entrance is on the other side of the mountain…”

  “Right. You guys never explored the mountains, did you?” Pumpkin asked.

  “It wouldn’t be viable. Ice golems, unstable ground, snowstorms… no soldier could handle that.”

  Coming through the back had actually been lucky, with no guards, we still had the element of surprise.

  ? Sir. Detecting movement in the left corridor. ?

  I stopped and signaled to the group. Pumpkin froze. Sentil went still, scanning the shadows with the same caution as before.

  “What is it?” Pumpkin whispered.

  “Someone’s on the left,” I murmured back.

  We crept to the corner and peeked. Several men stood with their backs to us, wearing half-broken silver armor. They let out low, guttural noises, repeating over and over.

  “That armor… that’s the royal army’s,” Sentil said.

  ? Sir. I hear no heartbeats from any of them. They’re all dead. ?

  “Zombies…”

  “So that means…”

  Pumpkin and Sentil reached the same conclusion I did: the culprit was using the corpses of fallen soldiers to turn them into undead.

  They seemed to have escaped their cells. The chains and shackles explained everything, they were meant to be used against the very kingdom they’d died protecting.

  I clenched my fist, anger rising inside me.

  But before we could act, an explosion shook the corridor. The floor trembled, and a cloud of dust fell from the ceiling.

  A tall, muscular man appeared, crushing all the zombies in an instant. Blood splattered across the walls.

  He wore a white and gold cloak, now stained red. Another man appeared beside him, emerging from blue energy, like a teleportation spell.

  “Really now… You could’ve just put them back in their cells, Honda. That’s going to cost us,” the thin one said.

  “Who cares? I just wanted to hit something.”

  “Oh? Then how about hitting… them?”

  In an instant, we were teleported to the corridor right in front of them.

  ‘They knew we were here? Did passing through the illusion alert them?’

  No, that couldn’t be. If crossing an illusion could alert the caster, Sentil wouldn’t have told us to come here. We could’ve gone back and brought more people.

  “Not bad,” the larger man said, before lunging forward and smashing into me, throwing me across the corridor.

  “Victor!” Pumpkin shouted, turning to rush after me, but her body was teleported again, right in front of the thin man.

  Sentil immediately leaped back, drawing his sword. He unleashed an ice slash at Honda, who was dragging me through the hallway, but the attack never reached.

  “No interfering with others,” said the thin one.

  Pumpkin’s blade flared up in orange flames in response.

  Meanwhile, Honda kept dragging me without stopping, until we broke through several walls.

  To defend myself, I raised my hands and struck his back, forcing him to the ground instantly. But he stood up right away and swung again with a low punch. I dodged and hit him back in the face, slamming him down, the floor cracked beneath us.

  We fell into some kind of square arena, with massive iron gates on each side.

  He stood and laughed, wiping the blood from his mouth.

  “I see… you’re not some normal kid, are you?”

  I stayed silent and analyzed him.

  ? Name: Honda

  Species: Human

  Age: 48

  Threat Class: (A-) ?

  ‘That old and only Class (A-)?’

  “Not gonna say anything?”

  ? Sir. The individual known as Honda does not appear to possess any Unique Skill. ?

  ‘How can you be sure?’

  ? It’s unlikely for someone with a Unique Skill to still be Class (A-) at that age. He only strengthens his body with mana, that’s the source of his strength. ?

  ‘Understood. Still, that’s some impressive mana control.’

  “Tell me. Don’t you feel anything?” I asked.

  “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m asking if you don’t feel anything, playing with other people’s lives like this.”

  “Oh! You mean the zombies?” He laughed. “Not at all. Nothing makes me happier than seeing those fools who died protecting their home now attacking it. It’s a funny kind of irony, don’t you think?”

  He lunged forward and punched my stomach, throwing me into the wall. Before I could react, he hit me again and again, each strike shaking the ground.

  He laughed, frenzied. “No one here can match me in physical strength!”

  My nose bled, but the pain faded with every blow. [Adaptation] was kicking in.

  I grabbed his fist with one hand. His eyes widened.

  “No one, huh?” I muttered. “Then I’ll end your little fantasy.”

  My body regenerated completely.

  With a headbutt, I smashed his face. Bones cracked. One punch later, and he flew back, crashing through the iron gate.

  He roared as he returned to the arena. “You bastard… What the hell are you?!”

  I didn’t answer. I just stared at him.

  ‘For every innocent life you’ve taken… I’ll end you.’

  Above us, Pumpkin and Sentil fought the other man. The sound of explosions echoed even down here.

  And so, the battle within the labyrinth began.

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