Delving the Dark Labyrinth Once More

"What are you talking about?"

The one who said that was Asuka, the person closest to being an outsider here.

"The Millennium is certainly about the demon race's invasion. But His Majesty has been properly thinking about ways for humans and demons to coexist."

"That's not it. That's not what I mean. I'll explain in order."

And so, first, Serge told them that he had become a Great Sage.

Everyone received this news with surprise, but that wasn't the important part.

"When you become a Great Sage, you're given access to records going back 3,000 years… in other words, the remaining records of humanity."

With that, Serge voiced something he had never thought strange until now.

"Nee-chan, how do you think humans evolved in this world?"

This was something Ria had never thought about either.

She had simply assumed archaeology wasn't developed. The temples claimed that God created humanity, but as a reincarnator, she knew that was a lie.

"3,000 years ago, there were no humans in this world."

Then where did humans come from?

"Through the Great Collapse, humans came to this world. Apparently only about 10,000 of them in total."

The Great Collapse.

As for The Millennium, they already knew what happened. Demons flooding in, seeking food and land.

But Valis hadn't said anything about the Great Collapse.

"From here on, my conjectures are mixed in too, so if anyone doesn't want to hear it, you might not want to…"

Even so, no one made a move to leave their seat.

The mystery of this world's creation. Right now, it was about to be revealed.

Serge sighed and spoke.

"If humans and demons don't kill each other to the limit during The Millennium to circulate souls, the power that makes this world a world will be lost, and a Great Collapse will occur."

This was an opinion that directly opposed the Demon King's intention of human-demon coexistence.

"So."

In the silence, Guinevere spoke up.

"What exactly is this Great Collapse?"

"There's no precise record of it, but probably literally, the world collapses. Not continents, not islands, but this planet itself."

The planet's collapse.

Well, that certainly would be a Great Collapse.

"But that's strange. The Demon King who fought alongside Valis a thousand years ago couldn't possibly not know about this. Knowing that, he shouldn't be simply promoting human-demon coexistence."

Ria's doubt was also valid. Serge sighed again.

"Yeah, that's what I don't understand either. That's why we need to meet it again."

Yes, the existence that probably knows everything.

They had to meet the Dark Dragon Valis.

Right now, leaving the country was quite a difficult situation. However, they left that to Guinevere.

The members who would be re-challenging the Dark Labyrinth were as follows:

Ria, Serge, Carla, Irina. Up to this point, no problems.

In addition to them, first was Asuka. As a member of the demon side, she absolutely insisted on going.

And there was one more person who absolutely wouldn't take no for an answer.

That was Chrys, who had heard the gist of the situation.

"You can at least look after your own wife, right?"

To Ria's teasing, Chrys answered seriously.

"She's not my wife yet. Besides, I need power."

The other members were generally favorable toward Chrys.

If she was a mage who could defeat a Hydra, she probably wouldn't be a burden.

However, Serge absolutely didn't want Chrys to accompany them.

If they met Valis, naturally she would hear the contents of this discussion. For an ordinary human, it would undoubtedly be a terrible burden.

And besides that.

He'd be troubled if yet another female member joined the group.

Well, the only one who could be called a true woman was probably just Asuka though.

That was actually what worried him. Especially how Chrys would look in Ria's eyes.

She was a beautiful girl with a Japanese aesthetic. At least, that's how she looked to Serge. What if she was Ria's type?

But in the end, he was pushed into accepting. At times like this, men really are weak against women.

"You'll protect me, won't you?"

If she said it like that, he had no choice but to protect her. As a man.

 

*

 

Surprisingly, Irina couldn't fly.

Of course, she could fly if she returned to her dragon form, but because of that, she had never learned to fly otherwise.

Everyone else, including Chrys, could fly. That said, matching Irina's pace on the ground would waste precious time.

That's where Serge's new magic proved its worth.

"Summon Wyvern."

Irina removed her armor and mounted the summoned Wyvern. Serge temporarily held onto her armor.

With this, the group arrived at the Dark Labyrinth that very night.

There were no other explorers in the entrance hall.

With the demon army nearby, they probably didn't feel like exploring a labyrinth.

After a brief rest, the group began exploring the labyrinth.

"Hasn't the path changed from when we came before?"

Ria directed her question at Irina, but even from Serge's perspective, it had clearly changed.

"Probably, since Ria and everyone conquered it once, Valis-chan changed the inside."

That made sense. If they knew the map to the deepest part, exploration would just be a straight path.

To think she could do something like that. As expected of a Divine Dragon.

But in this case, it was extremely troublesome.

"Irina, don't you know any shortcuts?"

"Uu… there were some, but I don't remember… I'm sorry."

Unusually, Irina apologized, and Ria sighed.

"Can't be helped. While we're at it, let's raise that Ojou-san's level and have ourselves a labyrinth exploration after a long while."

Despite saying 'can't be helped,' her words sounded somewhat happy.

 

*

 

Chrys had been mistaken.

She had thought she'd gotten a little stronger.

She was wrong.

She learned what true strength was for the first time in this labyrinth.

Severing a Hydra's neck easily with a single blow, piercing through its scales simply with magic.

Repelling magic creatures with even greater magic, slicing through Golem armor like paper.

In such a group, Chrys was mainly given the role of finishing off enemies.

It was said that the magic essence composing living creatures was what raised levels, but it was also commonly said that the one who delivered the killing blow gained the most of it.

In fact, each time they defeated a powerful enemy, she could feel power flowing into her.

And at the same time, just how strong were the other five people fighting alongside her?

"But you all are really beyond the norm. Especially that boy, he's grown incomparably from before."

Asuka said that, but she too was clearly stronger than before. It was rare for an existence that had already lived for so many years to grow so rapidly.

"Well, I've been cheating a bit."

After obtaining the title of Great Sage, he converted that knowledge into power and killed monsters en masse with magical experiments.

If you did level grinding with the sole purpose of killing, you would naturally become strong.

Asuka had also been training in preparation for The Millennium.

That's precisely why she could operate that giant Golem robot.

 

*

 

And then, a week passed. Before them was a massive door.

That door that Irina had been guarding back then. Now, a giant stood before it.

It wasn't a Cyclops. Even larger, a giant clad in ice across its entire body. An Ice Gigas.

However, even that giant with an estimated level of 160 was no match for Ria.

Yes, Ria defeated it alone.

Moreover, in a single strike.

Drawing the dark god sword Gallach from her own shadow, she cleaved the giant diagonally from shoulder to hip with just one strike.

Darkness magic. Though Valis had taught it to her long ago, she hadn't utilized it at all until now. But the current Ria could manipulate it freely.

"Ahh, this really does cut well."

Using Gallach for the first time in this Dark Labyrinth, Ria said that.

She had been afraid of harming her allies, so she couldn't easily use it.

The ice giant became particles of darkness and was sucked into the god sword, disappearing.

Absorbing power to become even stronger. This was truly a divine weapon.

"Well then, I'll open it～"

Irina declared in a carefree voice, and the door to the Dark Labyrinth's deepest depths was now opened.