Using Ms. Eleonore’s authority, we entered the second floor of the dungeon directly, without passing through the first.
The moment we stepped onto the second floor, Theodora immediately covered her nose with her hand.
“What is that smell?”
Theodora frowned at the fishy stench seeping into her nostrils.
The others were not affected to that extent, but none of them looked pleased.
“It’s completely different from the first floor.”
Senior Lena murmured quietly as she looked at the black waterways that filled the floor of the second level.
Instead of answering, I nodded and knelt down.
A pitch-black slime, different from water, covered the entire channel.
When I scooped up a bit of it with my hand, countless insects and the corpses of fish came with it.
This must be the source of the stench.
‘Was the water contaminated because of the trap’s mana?’
Clicking my tongue, I rose to my feet and slowly surveyed the surroundings.
There were four paths.
Exactly the same as the number of people here.
‘If that’s the case, there’s only one way to do this.’
“We’ll split up here.”
As if she had reached the same conclusion as I had, Ms. Eleonore turned to look at us.
“I’ll say it once more. Prioritize rescue over combat. That is your mission.”
After saying that, Ms. Eleonore headed toward the darkest path.
Despite her massive frame of over two meters, she was gone in an instant, leaving me only a brief moment to be impressed.
We, too, scattered down our respective paths.
“Ashen, be careful.”
“You too, Senior Lena.”
Just in case, I turned my gaze toward Theodora as well, but she paid me no attention and walked toward the brightest path.
After sending Senior Lena down the next brightest path, I immediately headed for the remaining one.
After running like that for ten minutes,
I heard a man’s scream from within the waterways tangled like a skein of thread.
“Aaaagh! Help me!”
I immediately ran toward the source of the sound and found a student being chased by a monster in the shape of a giant fish with legs—a Lizardfish.
He held a sword in his hand, but it had long since broken.
Looking closely, I could see the broken blade lodged in the monster’s back.
‘This is dangerous.’
At this rate, it’ll catch him before I even arrive.
I threw my spear at the Lizardfish from where I stood.
With a heavy thud, the spear pierced through the monster’s thick scales and embedded itself.
It was a fairly large wound, but the monster still didn’t die.
“Kirik!”
Deciding that I was more of a threat than the student it had been chasing, the Lizardfish immediately changed direction and charged at me.
Facing it head-on, I saw its teeth, still sharp as blades despite being tainted by the black ooze.
I waited until the monster came close, then sprang upward just before it could bite me and kicked off the wall.
Crunch—!
Unable to turn in time, the Lizardfish bit into the wall.
The dungeon wall, harder than steel, was torn away as if it were paper.
‘If that had hit me properly, it would’ve been bad.’
Watching the Lizardfish hurriedly turn back toward me, I reached out my hand.
“Kiiik!”
A scream burst from the creature’s mouth a moment later.
Holding the spear that had pierced through its back and returned to my grasp, I dropped down directly onto it.
My target was the damaged part of its back, torn open during the spear’s retrieval.
The Lizardfish, twitching in pain, failed to avoid it and was pierced all the way down to the floor.
It writhed for a moment as if resisting, but soon went limp with a sag.
‘As expected of the second floor. I can’t kill it in one blow.’
After roughly shaking off the Lizardfish’s blood from my body, I headed toward the student trembling in the corner.
As I approached, I saw expensive gold thread embroidered lavishly over the chest of his uniform.
“Are you all right?”
When I asked, the student trembled for a while without saying anything, then looked into my eyes.
Perhaps because of the stress, my figure was reflected in his empty pupils.
When he realized I was another student, light gradually returned to his eyes, and tears began to fall.
“A-Ah. I’m saved! I’m saved!”
He clung to my leg and burst into loud sobs.
I pulled him off my leg and spoke to him in a calm tone.
“If you go that way from here, you should be able to return to the dungeon entrance without much trouble.”
“I-Is that so? Thank you.”
Only then seeming to realize what he had done, he scratched the back of his head and spoke.
“Let me say it again. Thank you. I survived thanks to you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Really, what kind of trouble is this because of that woman?”
“That woman?”
“Lady Cecilia. She dragged us all here while acting so high and mighty, then abandoned us!”
At the noble student’s grumbling tone, my expression stiffened as I looked at him.
“She moved on her own?”
“Y-Yes. We tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
The noble student continued saying something after that, but I let his words go in one ear and out the other as I fell into thought.
‘A lower floor blackened with contamination, a sudden large-scale transfer, and someone moving alone. In this situation, it has to be that trap.’
Fall into Hell.
A trap that moves the victim to the place most dangerous to them, while simultaneously dropping all characters on the same floor to the floor below.
‘If that’s the case, it makes sense that it was on the first floor too.’
Since it’s a trap engraved on an object, it would be possible to activate it on the first floor as long as it was moved there.
And if it follows the nature of that trap...
‘Cecilia is in danger.’
“For now, hurry back to the exit.”
I spoke one-sidedly to the noble student, who was still muttering something, and quickly moved.
‘Where is she?’
I searched with Crimson Blood Sight, but I couldn’t find Cecilia within close range.
‘Farther.’
When I forcibly expanded my vision, my brain throbbed as if it would burst from the excessive amount of information.
Enduring the pain as I scanned the area, I saw a flame that could be identified as Cecilia moving deep within the dungeon.
The problem was the direction.
Where she was headed, there were presences too numerous to count.
As far as I knew, there was only one monster on the second floor that formed colonies of that size.
‘Toadmen.’
Monsters that were natural enemies of mages, and creatures that enjoyed torturing humans.
Even if Cecilia were Seed-class, they were opponents she could never withstand.
‘This is the worst.’
Having made my judgment, I increased my speed.
I didn’t particularly have any goodwill toward Cecilia, but that didn’t mean I had enough malice to leave her in that kind of danger either.
‘If she survives, I’m collecting this debt.’
And I’ll collect it in full.
With that, I began running at full speed in the direction where she was.
**
Cecilia opened her eyes along with a horrible sensation covering her entire body.
As she forced her body, heavy as lead, upright, a stench struck her nose.
Cecilia covered her nose with one hand and looked around with anxious eyes.
‘Where am I?’
She tried to continue thinking, but her head was spinning, and her thoughts would not move properly.
After a little time passed, she was able to recall what she had done.
“Ah, ah!”
A voice mixed with sobs spilled from her mouth.
‘It happened again.’
Remembering that the trap had activated because she touched it, tears ran down her face.
At this rate, she had no excuse even if she was called the worst student in the academy.
‘Why did it turn out like this?’
Was the problem her foolishness in trusting someone suspicious like Ramsey?
Or was the problem her very self, wanting to be acknowledged without even knowing her place?
“Hahaha.”
Once her crying ended, all that came out now was a hollow laugh.
She stared blankly at her surroundings.
She could tell that this was a dungeon, but she had no idea where exactly she was.
‘What do I do now?’
Rationally, the answer came to her immediately.
She should wait here. If she moved, it could become even more dangerous.
But her emotions would not allow that.
“Kyaaak!”
From the paths stretching out in various directions, she heard someone scream.
Not just one voice, but several.
They were probably students who had been caught up in the trap she had activated.
Would it really be right to leave those students behind and remain safe by herself?
‘I have to save them.’
Cecilia’s legs trembled as she rose to her feet.
The screams from earlier had come from several places.
Among them, the closest was the path leading along a large waterway to the right.
Splash.
Pushing through the water that rose to her knees, she walked and walked along the channel.
‘Why is there nothing here?’
Cecilia frowned at the fact that, despite walking for quite some time, she had not encountered a single monster.
‘I’m certain I heard a scream from around here.’
She tilted her head and looked around.
Shattered bone fragments, entrails, and a waterway tinted an especially deep red.
‘This is a phenomenon I remember, but what was it?’
Just as Cecilia was about to fall into thought,
“Kyaaak!”
A scream sounded nearby again.
‘It’s that way.’
Cecilia immediately ran toward the source of the sound.
Before long, something like a stone hut came into Cecilia’s view.
This was clearly inside the dungeon, yet huts had gathered together on a scale resembling a small village.
There was even a sign made of bones hanging like a signboard.
‘What on earth is this place?’
The moment she was startled by that fact and took a slight step back, someone emerged from one of the huts.
The being that appeared was hunched over, yet still stood a head taller than Cecilia.
Its eyes were larger than the fist of an average adult man, and its mouth was split open all the way to beneath its ears.
Most grotesque of all were the strange protrusions covering its entire body.
Each and every one of those protrusions trembled grotesquely, as if it were a living creature.
“Wh-What is that?”
When Cecilia let out a small cry in shock, the monster before her, a Toadman, let out a great roar.
It was similar to a toad’s cry, but far lower and much more resonant.
At that sound, several identical monsters emerged from the huts.
Seeing them, Cecilia retreated and looked around.
‘I-I definitely heard a person’s voice.’
But there was not even the shadow of a human here.
Watching Cecilia like that, one of the Toadmen took out an instrument resembling a human skull and blew into it.
“Kyaaak!”
What followed was a sound reminiscent of a scream.
‘Was I tricked?’
Realizing the situation, Cecilia hurriedly tried to flee, but monsters had already taken position on the path behind her as well.
“Eek!”
Cecilia cast a cold burst spell at the Toadmen blocking the opposite path.
But there was no change at all.
The instant the wave of cold touched the Toadmen’s hides, the oil covering their outer skin dissolved the magic.
‘Magic resistance!’
Though startled by that fact, Cecilia poured every spell she knew at the Toadmen.
Waves of cold and ice covered the corridor, but they had no effect on them whatsoever.
The Toadmen surrounding her merely stared at her without attacking.
Rather, they watched as if they were enjoying her panic.
“Gurruk.”
One of the Toadmen cried out as if excited.
Soon after, the cries of the Toadmen rang out in a chain.
The grotesque sounds struck the walls and came back, becoming a hideous chorus.
Their behavior was almost reminiscent of a festival.
At that sight, Cecilia trembled, but continued casting magic.
No, she tried to.
“Ah.”
The cold that had gathered before her magic staff scattered in an instant.
Along with it came fatigue and a headache.
She knew what that meant.
Mana depletion.
‘Why now, of all times?’
Forcing her collapsing mind to hold together, she thrust her staff toward the Toadmen.
Naturally, no magic manifested.
Realizing that, the Toadmen began approaching her one by one.
Their eyes smiled like children who had found a toy.
Only, unlike children, each of their hands held a stone knife.
Clack!
One of the Toadmen that had been singing aimed at her staff and hurled its stone knife.
The staff was sturdier than most metals, yet it broke just from being grazed by the stone knife the monster threw.
Watching that, the Toadmen beat their stone knives against the floor as if amused.
‘Ah.’
In the end, having lost hope, Cecilia collapsed to the ground where she stood.
‘What do I do?’
She wanted to run away.
Memories of things she had read in books surfaced in her mind.
Intelligent monsters did not kill humans easily.
Rather, they enjoyed tormenting their victims while keeping them alive as long as possible.
Because of that habit, there were those who had been rescued, but among them, none had returned to an ordinary life.
‘Will I become like that too?’
Cecilia hugged her own shoulders and trembled.
As if realizing that she could no longer resist, one of the Toadmen approached her.
A hand covered in sticky mucus.
As it drew closer and closer, Cecilia squeezed her eyes shut.
But even after time passed, that hand never seized her.
‘What happened?’
Cecilia slowly opened her eyes.
When she did, she saw a Toadman with its throat pierced through, and a shadow standing guard before her.
‘Who is it?’
Her eyelids widened little by little, and the person’s figure became clear.
Black hair, pale skin, gray eyes.
The appearance of someone she had hated so very much.
“Ashen.”
Without answering, Ashen kicked away the corpse of the Toadman he had impaled.
Seeing that, the Toadmen took a step back.
Their gazes were filled with obvious wariness.
Ashen glared at them and spoke in a calm tone.
“I came to rescue you, Lady Cecilia.”
The moment she heard those words, tears flowed from Cecilia’s eyes.