Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Wait.
So that means that thing...
isn't a haunted tree, but a dungeon entrance, right?
…Seriously?
Huh?
No, I mean this isn't a ghost... it's a dungeon where monsters live?
That's correct, but...?
The masked man answered, sounding puzzled.
Ah, fuck! I freaked out for nothing!
…!
At my shout, the masked man startled and stumbled back.
But I didn't have time to care.
So the genre wasn't horror after all—it really was a creature feature?
Then that's a different story.
Ghosts don't take physical attacks, but dungeons do!
There is, actually.
I glared at the tree, breathing hard.
You filthy bastard of a tree.
How dare you scare people?
After blasting high-frequency noise all night so I couldn't sleep, now you're playing ghost too?
My anger boiled up.
When I turned to glare at the tree, the masked man hurriedly stepped in front of me.
You can't! I know full well how skilled you are, Sir Cassian, but entering alone is far too risky.
I'm not going into the dungeon.
Huh?
Am I crazy? I'm already scared to death, so why would I crawl in there?
It had been reduced to a tiny fraction of what it was, but I was still scared, that much was true.
How am I supposed to know what it looks like inside?
If I go in, who knows what grotesque monstrosity will jump out.
At the very least, today I didn't have the courage to face anything disgusting, let alone scary.
I'm bailing first.
Bailing? But you just confirmed the phase-interference barrier, didn't you? Unless you destroy the entrance, it's impossible to leave this barrier...
Exactly.
I replied irritably.
I'm not going in. I'm just breaking that thing called phase interference.
…Excuse me?
We've already pinpointed the dungeon's location. So even if we go back to camp, we can either prepare for a dungeon break or quickly pack up and run in the opposite direction. That's possible, right?
…Yes, but.
But why is this masked man suddenly looking at me like I'm crazy again?
Anyway.
I didn't want to stay in this shitty place even one more second.
But even a stone bridge should be tapped before crossing it.
Just in case, I asked the masked man blocking my way.
Does a dungeon move its entrance around on its own like that?
Cases like that are extremely rare. Dungeons tend to parasitize fixed coordinates.
Then there's no chance of a break suddenly happening either, right?
Yes. If it were that unstable, paradoxically our intermediate detector would have picked it up. It seems to be in a dormant state right now.
There was an intermediate detector?
But there's no way they'd tell a student all that.
Anyway, Wilhelm must've given that stand-by order because he sensed something was off?
Well then, that's reassuring.
I nodded.
The entrance wasn't going anywhere, and no monsters would suddenly pop out.
And simply learning that the dungeon is here is a major gain. In fact, we've already requested that experts be dispatched from the capital.
Damn it.
Turns out I came all this way for nothing.
'So my gut really was overreacting, damn it.'
The people who'll deal with it are on their way.
And the dungeon's dormant, so there won't be a break right away.
So it was just a bullshit worldline where I alone had to endure agony from that high-frequency noise?
'Solver, activate.'
The condition was simple.
'Remove the dungeon's phase interference and secure an escape route.'
[Ability Activated: Solver]
[Remaining Uses Today: 2/3]
It would be great to specify it precisely, but I don't know anything about dungeons.
So the only condition I can give it is a vague sentence.
Still, it seems a mana hole has formed, so maybe it'll hold up.
At that moment.
Vwoooong—.
Along with a strange phenomenon that drew my body forward against my will.
Both of my hands stretched toward the ground as if pulled by magnets.
And the instant my palms touched the cold dirt.
Kwoooooong—!
…?!
My heart started thrashing like mad.
As if a dam had burst, a hot current boiled up violently from the mana hole in my chest.
That energy raced through my veins and instantly poured out through my palms.
Rrrrrrr!
'W-what?'
The ground screamed.
Centered on my hands, dark red cracks spread like spiderwebs, and everything in sight began to warp.
The tree bent like a piece of taffy, and the moon in the night sky split in two.
'Hey, wait a second!'
No, I was just trying to pick a locked door, wasn't I?
Why does it feel like I'm not unlocking a door, but flipping an entire apartment complex over?
Kreeeeek—CRACK!
The sound of space itself twisting rang out like it would tear my eardrums apart.
A tremendous wave spread from my fingertips, struck something far beyond, and bounced back to me again.
Each time, my arms and shoulders shook like a threshing machine.
'I'm fucked.'
What the hell is with all this fuss over just fixing one thing called phase interference?
'Aaaah!'
* * *
The shadow couldn't believe its eyes.
…Impossible.
A dungeon is an independent world.
However small it may be, it still contains that world's own laws and order.
That is why the only way to conquer a dungeon from outside is to enter through the entrance and destroy the core.
Breaking the shell from the outside would theoretically require the same amount of energy as collapsing an entire dimension.
And yet.
You're saying he'll selectively... break through the phase interference?
It wasn't as if people were fools for trying to detect dungeons from dozens of meters away, even hundreds.
Once you were drawn into a dungeon's territory, the only way out of that distorted space was to clear it from within.
But what he was seeing now far transcended common sense.
Wooooong—KWAANG!
The entire world was distorting.
The waves pouring from Cassian's hands were squeezing the barrier the dungeon itself had erected.
Ghk...
The shadow was pushed back by an immense intangible pressure and had to brace itself with all its strength.
Could this even be called magic?
It made him think that perhaps the ancient magic said to be used by the dragons of old might have possessed this kind of power.
An absolute force that overrode the laws of the subspace called a dungeon with still higher laws.
Crash—!
At last, the sound of the world breaking flooded the forest.
A huge crack split the air, and transparent shards like glass sprayed everywhere.
They were fragments of space.
Plip, plip.
The shining fragments scattered like snow and vanished.
And then, as if nothing had happened, silence fell.
The scenery before his eyes was the same as before.
But the shadow could tell.
Its sense of direction felt oddly sharpened.
The air, once carrying a sticky unpleasantness you could feel on your skin, had been washed clean away.
It felt utterly certain that they had completely escaped the dungeon's pull.
'How the hell did he...?'
The shadow stared blankly at the man sprawled on the ground.
Oh. The noise stopped. Nice.
Cassian del Parne.
He no longer looked human.
A monster who had shattered the common sense of impossibility with his bare hands.
Yet Cassian, who had just accomplished something so incredible, was blankly staring down at his own hands.
'What on earth are you thinking?'
Was he intoxicated by his own power?
Or was he gaining yet another insight from the remnants of the shattered dimension?
While the shadow swallowed hard.
Cassian brushed off his hands and stood up.
Anyway, it's done, right?
…….
Why is he asking?
If he did it himself, he'd know for sure better than anyone.
Well.
Even if he looks so laid-back on the outside, it was probably that same persistence and thoroughness—checking the stepping stone before crossing—that made him such an astonishing expert.
That caution—never trusting his own senses blindly and always wanting to cross-check with someone else's confirmation.
The shadow answered in a trembling voice.
…Yes. The phase-interference barrier does seem to have been completely lifted.
It wasn't just lifted; the dungeon entrance itself had vanished.
The interior space had probably collapsed as well.
I see.
Cassian nodded calmly.
Then he glanced at the shadow and said curtly.
"This is a little embarrassing, but could you not look at me like that?"
"Ah... sorry."
Cassian roughly brushed the dust off his clothes.
Let's go report back and stand by. It's quiet now, so I guess I should get some sleep.
He turned around without the slightest hesitation.
The shadow stared blankly at his back, then suddenly came to and leaped up into the tree.
* * *
…
Professor Wilhelm's expression was a sight to behold.
He looked like someone who'd been told that an orc danced ballet on the battlefield.
He stroked his beard with a trembling hand and asked again,
So you're saying... you broke through the dungeon's phase-interference barrier and came out?
Yes.
With your bare hands?
Well, I didn't really have any tools to use.
…Huh.
A deep sigh escaped Wilhelm's mouth.
He was treating me like some kind of extraterrestrial.
Was that really such a big deal?
I hadn't cleared the whole dungeon and beaten the boss or anything.
I just got annoyed by the noise, smashed the front door lock, and walked out.
I only tore the entrance a little and ran. Why is everyone acting like this?
Sure, the ground did shake a bit and the sky seemed to tear during the process, but wasn't that just a magic effect?
Wilhelm couldn't continue for a long while, then coughed awkwardly as if finally regaining his composure.
Ahem. In any case... good work. Thanks to you, we stopped a major threat before it could start.
Not at all.
Specialists will soon be dispatched from the capital to handle the dungeon's remnants, so you needn't worry about it any longer.
That was a relief.
If he'd told me to handle the cleanup too, I really would have collapsed on the spot.
I bowed my head.
Then I'll go in and get some sleep. I haven't slept in two days, so my eyes are closing.
Yes, yes! Go on and rest. I'll make sure your teammates get plenty of rest.
Wilhelm practically ushered me out of the barracks as if I were some priceless vase.
Being treated like a priceless vase by an old man.
It was suffocating.
Once I stepped outside the barracks, the cold pre-dawn air brushed my cheeks.
The sky had already turned bluish.
Haah... I'm fucking exhausted.
Once the tension left me, fatigue rushed in shouting, 'Now's my chance!'
Maybe because things had calmed down and that damned high-frequency noise stabbing my ears had faded, my whole body felt as heavy as soaked cotton.
I shuffled toward the tent like a zombie.
Fortunately, the tent was quiet.
Maybe they'd taken sleeping pills from that bastard Lucius; the twenty-two other guys, excluding Lucius and me, who'd been given separate sleeping arrangements, were sprawled out like corpses.
I found an empty spot and threw myself down.
Thud.
The moment I lay down, consciousness cut off.
* * *
How long had it been?
…Mm.
I opened my eyes, holding onto my groggy consciousness.
I felt refreshed.
My head was so clear it felt like a decade-old blockage had finally cleared out.
But.
'What is this?'
Something felt off.
It prickled.
It felt like someone's gaze was pinned to my face.
I opened my half-lidded eyes and looked for the owner of the gaze.
At my bedside.
Someone was sitting there, looking down at me.
At first, I could only see the silhouette.
But as my focus cleared, a dazzling beauty filled my vision, as if my eyes were opening on their own.
Tousled black hair, intelligent eyes shining behind glasses.
And a faint smile at her lips, as if she were observing a specimen.
"…Professor?"
"You're awake?"
Iris von Evergarden.
She was looking at me with a gentle smile.
'Huh.'
Wait.
I quickly looked around.
I was still inside the dreary olive-green tent.
However.
The male students around us had all vanished without a trace.
"How did you get here... no, when did you arrive?"
When I asked in confusion, Iris answered calmly.
"Just now. Your sleeping face was pretty cute, so I felt bad waking you."
"…How long were you watching me?"
"About 30 minutes?"
"…"
"Oh..."
"That's downright creepy to hear."
"You watched someone sleep for 30 minutes?"
"And in this stinky tent, too?"