Chapter 32: Beginning of the Chaos (3)
Gale and Timur slashed at the charging tree roots, tearing them apart—but they regenerated in the blink of an eye.
“Ugh! These things aren’t just thick—they’re fast!”
“Grr…! Feels like getting hit with reinforced steel! Everyone, be careful!”
Gale dodged the roots with acrobatic grace, then shouted,
“Hey! Miss! Can’t we use fire on these?!”
“I’ll try… Fireball!”
Boom—!
Sercia’s fire spell struck head-on, and the tree root in its path burned black and shriveled.
Sizzle...
But it regenerated at a crazed pace right after.
“Damn it! It’s barely working!”
“Tch. Looks like the regeneration is faster than the damage our spells can inflict. I do think a high-powered, wide-range spell might eliminate them, but…”
As she spoke, Sercia frowned and glanced at the collapsed Abito.
“More importantly, could you say sothing? After all those signals you sent ? What’s with you just lying there by yourself?”
“……”
“Abito.”
At her words, Abito suddenly lifted his head and grinned slyly.
“Lying there by myself? Ouch. That’s harsh. I was seriously injured, you know. I was completely unconscious for like… three seconds?”
Dusting himself off, he stood up. After coughing a few tis, he bead.
“I almost crossed over to the afterlife there! Hahaha!”
“That’s not really sothing to laugh about…”
Unlike Gale, who was exasperated, Timur’s eyes sparkled with genuine relief.
“Oh, Abito! You’re alright!”
“Yup! Thanks for worrying, Timur. I’m fine! Just coughed up a little blood, that’s all.”
“Thank goodness!”
Watching the two with a sowhat disgruntled look, Gale asked,
“Wait—what signal? You and the lady talked this over beforehand or sothing?”
Abito waved his hands dismissively.
“No, no! I just sent it monts ago. Right when I knelt to ‘surrender’ to Zeraphe, I used rune magic to send a ssage to Miss Sercia.”
He demonstrated by placing his hand on the ground.
From where he touched, glowing script in LAMPAS appeared, slithering across the floor.
“Rune magic doesn’t just create attacks. You can also use it to write ssages—like using the ground as paper.”
“Ah~ So you did it on purpose? To make him lower his guard?”
“Exactly! See, I’m the youngest participant here… so people unconsciously think things like—”
Fwoosh!
At that mont, he incinerated another root using rune magic.
“‘How smart could a little kid really be?!’”
With a cheeky smile, he looked every bit the mischievous child.
“I figured it would work on a stuck-up mage. I’m kind of a specialist at dealing with stiff grown-ups, after all.”
“Hoo boy…”
Gale shook his head, thinking once again how terrifying kids these days were.
“But Gale, I take it you never really believed I surrendered, right?”
“Hm? Well…”
Shwing!
Gale cut through a root, carving out so space, and replied.
“Looking at everything you’ve done up until now, it’s obvious.”
He could tell how serious this kid was about becoming a Hunter.
“This old man does have so experience, you know.”
From the start, Gale hadn’t believed Abito was truly giving up.
He had just stayed silent, watching and wondering what kind of trick that clever little brat had up his sleeve this ti.
—Why don’t you form an alliance with us?
—You weren’t in the second test at all, Gale Garav.
—You’re the one, aren’t you? The examinee recomnded by the special-class Hunter.
Abito Yully was far younger than him—but far sharper.
Recruiting allies, discovering food sources, making plans… It had all co from that one boy’s mind.
‘I don’t know why, but he’s dead serious about becoming a Hunter. Not alone, either…’
Gale cast a glance toward Timur.
‘The two of them, together.’
Though Abito often took the lead and occasionally scolded Timur, it seed like emotionally, he depended more on Timur.
“That’s why it’s easy to read a kid like you!”
Abito widened his eyes, then they lit up with sharp brilliance.
“I see! Thanks for trusting , Mister Gale!”
“Eh? How’d we get to that conclusion?”
“I pegged you as soone with high caution… but it’s nice getting trust from soone like that! Ahaha!”
“No, wait—that’s not what I ant—!”
Abito turned away, face flushed, as Gale stamred for clarification.
“Abito!”
Sercia, hovering a short distance away, called to him.
Fwoooosh!
She had burned away all obstructing roots and flew over.
“So? You do have a plan, right? I was preparing spatial magic for a teleport using the coordinates you sent earlier. Should I keep going?”
“Ah! Miss Sercia, sorry! Please keep enchanting!”
Abito answered quickly.
“Sure, the four of us could probably handle these roots now that there’s no caster…”
But he narrowed his eyes toward the spot where Zeraphe had stood monts ago. The man had vanished in an instant.
“…Still, I think it’s better to retreat. I’ve got a really bad feeling.”
“Because of Zeraphe Gnaude?”
“Yes. He didn’t even look at us. Like he’d already achieved his objective…”
The other three silently agreed.
“I think his goal was to eliminate those things.”
“Those things?”
They turned in the direction Abito pointed.
“Gasp!”
There, they saw charred fish—skewered and killed by the tree roots.
Next to them were the shattered remains of projection orbs.
“So the fish really were killed… The light from the broken golem cores made it hard to notice…”
Not just their team’s fish, but also those of the captured examinees had been destroyed.
“And rember what Zeraphe said earlier? That we were the last ones?”
—Hmm. The five tied up over there… and the four of you. That makes you the last, huh.
“Then that ans the others have already…”
“Yeah. I get it now. His real goal was probably to cut off all outside communication.”
The fish not only lit up the dark labyrinth—they were also the “eyes” of the Hunter Association and exam supervisors, used to observe examinees.
In other words—
“Now, no matter what happens in this labyrinth, the people up top won’t know.”
They would no longer be able to call for help.
“They said harming the fish would result in a penalty… but I bet that just ans point deductions, not forced intervention or enforcent.”
“It’ll take ti for any supervisors or Hunters to realize sothing’s wrong and co down here.”
“Perfect timing for so villainy. Ugh, this is so annoying.”
As they cut away the roots and exchanged thoughts, Gale let out a faint snort.
Because he had a good guess what was happening.
‘So this is why Elwin himself joined? Did he foresee this incident?’
No one else knew—but he did.
—That there was already a Hunter inside this labyrinth.
One of the five pillars supporting the world—a special-class Hunter.
“Miss Sercia! Are we ready?!”
Abito shouted, having gathered a few items with magic.
“Yes! Everyone, gather around !”
Sercia, having burned away the aggressive roots, stretched out her arms.
“Coordinates confird. Range set! Beginning teleport!”
A glowing magic circle flared around her, unleashing the teleportation spell.
“Teleport!”
Gale’s group—and every living human there—vanished without a trace.
Squirm...
Once all life signals were gone, the tree roots stopped their rampage and slithered toward the corpses.
Crack—
The tips of the roots split open, revealing gaping holes—like huge maws or unnatural passageways, pitch black inside and utterly grotesque.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
They began devouring the corpses nonstop—flesh, blood, and even bone, leaving nothing behind.
It was ravenous and grotesquely greedy.
Once they had consud all the bodies, the roots returned underground, just as they had erged.
Now, the place was silent.
***
Swooooosh—
Falling through the air, Gale and the others landed gracefully in their own ways.
“Mmpph—!”
“Oof!”
“Gah!”
And last to arrive were the five bound examinees Abito had brought with them—dropped unceremoniously to the ground, still tied up.
“…Wait, you brought them too?”
“Ah, yes. I figured… they’d be useful! Haha!”
Still smiling, Abito approached the nearest one.
“It’s an ergency where we need all the help we can get—and these fine folks make excellent backup!”
Riiiip!
He tore off the adhesive tape covering their mouths and bowed.
“Hello!”
“Eek!”
Unfortunately for Hake, who had been closest, he t Abito’s eyes—and flinched in terror.
The boy was much younger, but the sharp, appraising eyes and too-bright smile were a deeply unsettling contrast.
“Why don’t we call a truce? For the common good.”
But despite that off-putting first impression, the peace talks went surprisingly smoothly.
“We heard everything while we were tied up. We understand what’s going on.”
“Yeah! In an ergency like this, we shouldn’t be dividing sides!”
“We’ll help you. So you help us.”
“Natuia knows! Now is the ti for mutual benefit!”
They agreed to work together.
Gale’s group shared their stockpiled food and water.
“Here you go. This one restores mana, and this one heals physical injuries. We’ve got plenty—take as much as you need.”
lasa, one of the five, handed out potions on their behalf.
“Ooh! This stuff’s great! You’re giving us this for free? Thanks, seriously!”
“…Huh. That’s impressive. Witch clan potions really are more effective than normal alchemy. Is it a different ingredient mix?”
“Timur, thank you!”
“When soone gives you sothing, you say ‘thank you,’ not ‘thank.’”
They drank the potions and ate, focusing on rest.
Their small injuries healed quickly, and their drained stamina and mana were restored sowhat.
“As expected, Miss lasa. You’re truly skilled! I’m glad I brought you. Thanks again!”
“Oh my. We should be the ones thanking you. If you’d left us behind, who knows what would’ve happened…”
“That’s right! Thanks so much! What happened earlier was just friendly competition!”
“Oh! We appreciate that! Natuia, was my sword too sharp? Did it hurt?”
“It’s fine. Dull sword.”
A warm mood began to settle over them—until a clear, sharp voice rang out from nearby.
“W-Wait a mont! Everyone, look over there!”
It was Sercia, who had been using her mana to float and scout the surroundings.
“There…! Soone’s there!”
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