Chapter 79
Though the shortcut was closed, Viola collapsed the ceiling over it for appearances.
After finishing up and coming out, the first response we got was Hernan's complaint.
"If anything goes wrong, it's all your responsibility."
"Well, if anything goes wrong."
Viola responded lightly to Hernan with a smirk.
What could go wrong when the gate’s closed?
Knowing the situation, I could clearly read what her expression meant.
"Roman, perhaps..."
As Arthur started speaking with a concerned voice, I shrugged and said, "That's how it turned out."
"...I'm sorry. I should have told you beforehand."
"No, it's fine. It's not easy to talk about your master to outsiders."
I didn't blame Arthur for Viola finding out.
Strictly speaking, I was an outsider to his guild, and he couldn't reveal information about his master, which was practically classified guild information.
It was my fault for not being more careful, and failing to properly gauge a Pioneer's capabilities.
Though apologetic, Arthur showed signs of feeling somewhat hurt.
Was I too harsh calling myself an outsider?
But what can I do, I’m simply speaking the truth.
"If Master makes any unreasonable demands, tell me. I can't guarantee I can stop her, but I'll help as much as I can."
That was quite reassuring.
If only Deina wasn't there protesting with a sullen face about us acting too friendly.
"Is she okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, right, Deina. She did overuse spiritual descent, but it's nothing a potion can't fix. No need to worry."
"Still, look after her. She is your junior after all."
After sending Arthur away, I mulled over what Viola had said earlier.
— It’ll come out eventually.
Viola spoke not from Pioneer's intuition or analysis, but with certainty about an inevitable truth.
— The undead Jegan will revive even if killed. It might take time, but once he revives, your secret is bound to spread.
That necromancer from before.
I thought his self-destruction was too easy—he must have done it carelessly knowing he'd revive anyway.
— So it's better to decide clearly. Not just your classmates who owe you their lives, but a fence that can protect you from all threats.
Showing her true senior mentor side up to that point, Viola ended with a joke.
— Preferably us.
Viola's right, joining Frontier Guild wouldn't be bad...
A Pioneer's presence.
One of the five major guilds.
Reassuring in many ways.
But the balance with my classmates...
Tap, tap.
I turned my head at the sensation of someone tapping my shoulder.
Leaf was looking at me with a slightly worried expression.
"Roman, are you thinking about what Viola said?"
"Yeah."
"It'll be... okay, won't it? You have more people willing to help than you think."
Rei added to Leaf's comforting words, "Besides, that Jegan? There's no guarantee he'll spread it around. They might keep it to themselves, worried about revealing it."
"That's true."
"They might not have even figured out exactly what your magic is. Memory loss or distortion could occur during revival."
Is this what they call collective intelligence?
While I was losing my cool over Viola's words and thinking about securing a safe position, these two were thinking in a slightly different direction.
"Tch. I should have finished him properly then. If I'd crushed his skull with Argentooth, he couldn't have revived. Next time he shows up, I won't let him off."
Rei lamented not having Azurail then.
How should I put it?
It made me laugh—it was like a kid complaining about losing a game and insisting they would have won if only they'd done something different.
Though in our case, we hadn't lost, it was still an unsatisfying victory.
"Well, we'll figure something out."
Let's worry about future problems later.
For now, let's focus on this.
§
By the time the operation entered double-digit days.
We had taken down our fourth Sentinel.
"We've become complete Sentinel-hunting machines."
Sentinel hunting time was reduced to just 20 minutes.
Except for the multi-core Head-class Sentinel we messed up with earlier, Upper-class Sentinels were now simple.
Five Novices—counting Deina who only had a temporary license—running around hunting Sentinels.
Nobody outside would believe this story.
They'd either dismiss it as nonsense or get angry at being disrespected.
But none of us were ordinary Novices.
Even Deina, confirmed as our weakest, could create variables by summoning powerful spirits.
Our actual combat power was probably equivalent to multiple Senior-rank Explorers hunting Sentinels together.
Speaking of Seniors, I should check up on Bong-sik.
I should have checked on him when we went up last time.
The connection through the Brand was still intact.
He shouldn't have broken free from my control, but I should properly check when we return to the city.
Wonder what he's doing when he's supposed to be looking for Abyss Worshipers.
The Second Floor was nearly their front yard.
This level of negligence was inexcusable.
Despite having enough leisure for such idle thoughts, Viola's face showed clear dissatisfaction.
"Too slow."
This is?
"Though it is getting shorter. By the end of this expedition, make sure you can do it within 10 minutes."
"Yes, Master."
And Arthur accepted it at face value.
You deserve to grow.
"By the way, Crawler, is it about time?"
"Ah yes. If you're talking about the nearest Sentinel, that's right."
That.
If Viola was mentioning it directly, there could only be one.
Keeper-class Sentinel.
The apex predator of the Labyrinth, known as the ruler of the Second Floor.
Even Senior-rank Explorers were told to abandon any thought of fighting and just pray for survival while running when they encountered a Keeper-class Sentinel.
Considering that Senior Explorers mainly operated on the Third Floor, it could be considered beyond the Second Floor level.
It could probably reign as a top predator even on the Third Floor.
And that meant it was still too much for us.
No, if we go all out, we might have a decent fight.
Honestly, with Blink sealed, about 70% of my combat power had evaporated.
My specialty was selfish damage trading while spamming Blink.
Plus, being able to move teammates with just a touch was important too.
If I could whittle it down while applying Exhaustion, even a Keeper-class Sentinel might not stand a chance.
I tried running mental simulations against an imaginary Keeper-class Sentinel, but having never seen one in person, I couldn't do it properly.
As if peeking into my thoughts.
Viola declared with an excited face that she'd give us a chance to fill in what we were lacking.
"Look forward to it, hatchlings. Here's your chance to properly test your skills."
Viola's grin suggested she was more excited than her words implied.
Throwing four Novices plus an apprentice at a Keeper-class Sentinel?
How is this different from telling us to die?
If Viola had been born on Earth, she definitely would have been a Spartan.
Or maybe an Amazonian.
§
"Hssss..."
Is this right?
At the entrance to the plaza, I peeked inside and thought.
Can we... really defeat that?
Inside the plaza was a single Sentinel.
Holding an enormous sword in reverse grip with its tip touching the ground at its center, it exuded a presence and size far greater than any Sentinel we'd seen before.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you going in?"
"No, wait. Let's think this through first."
Rei urged entry from behind.
"Won't it be like what we've done so far? Sure, it's clearly a different class, but it's still a Sentinel. Combat patterns should be similar."
Arthur pointed out that without actual combat experience, we couldn't adjust our tactics anyway.
He had a point.
We'd only know once we got in there.
"Right. Let's go."
Just as I was about to step in, Viola's form shot past me.
Her attack was faster than even the Keeper-class Sentinel reaction time.
Just like when we first came to the Second Floor.
Viola had a sword in hand.
Now I knew.
That it was a weapon drawn from her A-rank relic, Arms Changer.
Though it merely stored and retrieved weapons, its ability to store them in subspace alone earned it an A-rank classification.
The slash Viola unleashed after drawing the sword from Arms Changer cut through the air.
SHWAAAAK!!!
The sound of it cutting through air was different from anything we'd heard before.
Rather than cutting through the wind, it seemed to tear it apart.
JEEONG!
And the boom when it hit the wall sounded more like it had been blocked by something rather than the wall breaking.
"Your instincts are still somewhat alive."
An unexpected voice from another person.
It came from where Viola's attack had landed.
No. The wall was camouflaged.
From behind the false wall covered in illusion magic, a man emerged with clicking dress shoes.
Rather than armor or robes typical of Explorers, he wore what looked like a formal suit.
He appeared around 50 on the surface.
But considering Explorers age slowly, especially in the Abyss, it was hard to guess his true age.
Wearing glasses and looking neat, he didn't appear like a psychopath or fanatic at all.
He gave off the impression of a scholarly intellectual.
But something was strange.
Why isn't the Keeper-class Sentinel moving, even though Viola had entered and this man was already inside?
"Cover your ears."
"What?"
"That man's a Word Mage."
Word Mage?
Before my mind could process Viola's warning about the man's class and translate it into action.
The elderly gentleman spoke.
Not an introduction or greeting for first meetings.
"Infidels, Die."
It was a death curse.