Chapter 28: The Uncleared Labyrinth and the Immortal’s Requiem
Location: Cyanis City - Inn of the Blue Drake
The atmosphere inside the spacious, mahogany-lined inn room was suffocatingly tense. Shiori paced back and forth across the woven rug, her mind turning like a complex array of interlocking gears.
The heavy wooden door swung open, and Yua and Mei practically skipped into the room, their arms laden with colorful paper shopping bags.
"Shiori-san, we're back!" Yua announced cheerfully, holding up a frilly pastel dress. "The merchant gave us a discount because we're from the Vanguard! Isn't it..."
She stopped. The oppressive, chilling aura radiating from Shiori was impossible to ignore. Mei quietly lowered her shopping bags to the floor, the smile vanishing from her face.
"Sit down, girls." Shiori said, her voice tight. "We are waiting for the boys."
Shiori closed her eyes and tapped her temple, accessing the Vanguard’s telepathic network.
<[Mind Communication: Active]>
Shota-kun. Kazura-kun. Yoshi-kun, Shiori projected her thoughts, her mental voice sharp enough to cut glass. You are twenty minutes late for the evening muster. Where are you, and what exactly are you doing?
There was a brief, panicked static on the other end. Then, Yoshi’s calm, pragmatic voice filtered through.
Apologies, Shiori-san, Yoshi lied with practiced, flawless execution, standing directly outside a demi-human maid café. The blacksmith's queue was longer than anticipated. We are securing the sharpening stones now. We will be back at the inn in five minutes.
Hurry, Shiori replied, severing the connection.
True to Yoshi's word, the three boys hurried into the room exactly five minutes later. Shota was sweating profusely, looking incredibly guilty, while Kazura avoided eye contact. Yoshi simply pushed up his glasses, betraying absolutely no emotion.
"Lock the door," Shiori commanded.
Once the deadbolt clicked, Shiori turned to face her classmates. Saintess Evelyn stood silently in the corner, her hands clasped in prayer, validating the gravity of the situation.
"An hour ago, Lord Lucius contacted me via high-tier communication," Shiori began, leaning over the oak table. "General Vane has escaped the Grand Cathedral's deepest cells."
A stunned silence washed over the teenagers.
"Escaped?" Kazura stammered, dropping his newly purchased sharpening stones onto the table with a loud clatter. "How? Lucius had him bound in anti-magic chains! He’s supposed to be the strongest human alive!"
"He is," Shiori nodded grimly, her analytical mind piecing the puzzle together. "Think of this world like a chessboard. Lucius is the most powerful piece the Church possesses. If an enemy piece can casually walk onto his side of the board and break his absolute defense, it means the enemy is operating outside the standard rules of engagement."
"Who did it?" Yoshi asked, his brow furrowing.
"I cannot say for absolute certain due to a lack of complete information," Shiori admitted, her eyes darkening. "But based on the psychological profile of the demon commanders we faced, I suspect Crimson Scarlet. The Abyssal Reaper. She didn't retreat from the Northern Fortress; she hid within the shadows."
Shota swallowed hard, the memory of the terrifying, scythe-wielding girl making his stomach churn. "So... what do we do? If Vane and his commanders attack us again... we just have to wait for Lucius to save us?"
"No," Shiori rejected the idea instantly, her voice ringing with absolute authority. "I refuse to be a pawn waiting for rescue. If we rely solely on Lucius, we will die the moment he is distracted. We must rely on ourselves. We need to bridge the gap in our strength."
She turned to Evelyn. "Saintess Evelyn. Is there a dungeon nearby? One suited for our current levels?"
Evelyn nodded slowly. "Yes. The Cyanis Hollows. It is a mid-tier labyrinth located just outside the eastern city gates. Native adventurers use the upper floors frequently to harvest mana crystals and level up. It is relatively safe for a Vanguard party of your status."
"Relatively?" Shiori caught the hesitation.
"It is an Uncleared Labyrinth," Evelyn explained softly. "Meaning... no human has ever reached the deepest floor. The exact depth and the nature of the final boss are entirely unknown. Adventurers only farm the first twenty floors and retreat."
"Perfect," Shiori declared. "We enter tomorrow at dawn. But hear my rules, and hear them well. If any of you sustain a deep laceration, we retreat. If your MP or SP drops below thirty percent, we retreat. We push our limits, but we do not gamble with our lives."
The classmates looked at her. Shiori wasn't just the top student from their high school back on Earth anymore. The girl standing before them, issuing calculated, ruthless orders, was a true Vanguard Commander.
"Understood," Yoshi nodded. Shota, Kazura, Yua, and Mei murmured their agreements in unison.
Location: The Azure Ocean - Aboard the Iron Leviathan
The Iron Leviathan cut through the evening swell, its cast-iron engine beating like a steady, mechanical heartbeat against the vast, oppressive silence of the ocean. The sky above had bruised into deep shades of violet and black, scattered with the cold light of unfamiliar stars.
Sofia Vileblood stood at the very edge of the bow. Her crimson cape draped over her slender shoulders like spilt wine, fluttering violently in the salty sea breeze.
The Outland was gone. The island that had served as her prison, her throne, and her solitary hell for untold centuries had been swallowed by the dark horizon, erased as if it had never existed. She stared down into the churning, foam-crested water. The terrifying Demon Lord, the absolute anomaly of the System, looked incredibly small against the vastness of the sea.
After a long, stretching moment of silence, she closed her eyes and began to sing.
Her voice was low, almost a fragile whisper, yet it carried across the heavy oak deck like a chilling winter wind. The melody was hauntingly beautiful, set in a slow, mournful minor key. It was a song of ancient sorrow, comprised of fragments she had nearly forgotten she knew.
「"I had a name before the crown,
Before the chains, before the drown.
The waves stole it, the years let go,
Now even I don't know."」
At the stern, Cain Ashford stood at the heavy wooden wheel. When the first note reached his ears, his hands froze on the spokes. He didn't turn around. He just stared straight ahead, slowing his breathing so he wouldn't miss a single word.
「"I had a hand that held me tight,
A voice that whispered through the night.
The memory burns, then turns to ash—
A portrait with no face to match."」
Cain felt the lyrics settle into his chest, heavy as iron stones. He understood that loneliness—the suffocating weight of standing alone while the world moved on without you. His grip on the wheel tightened.
A few feet away, Sebastian had been pouring coffee from a brass kettle. When the second stanza drifted over the deck, the demon paused mid-pour. The dark, steaming liquid missed the cup entirely, splashing onto the wood. He didn't notice.
「"The stars all die, the kingdoms fall,
I stand alone, I watch it all.
The blood I spill, the tears I keep—
An immortal's harvest, cold and deep."」
Cain's jaw tightened. The curse of [Eternal Loneliness] wasn't just a System notification. It was this—a woman singing to the empty ocean because there was no one else who would listen.
「"So let the sea sing back my lies,
Let the wind erase my cries.
I am the shadow, I am the blade,
The lonely queen the gods have made."」
When the song ended, the silence that followed was immense. The only sound left was the rhythmic slap of waves against the iron hull and the distant hiss of the steam engine.
Sofia did not look back. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on the dark, endless horizon stretching out before them.
"Steer east, Cain," Sofia commanded, her voice completely hollowed out, devoid of both her usual aristocratic pride and her hidden sadness. "I am done with that place."
Cain nodded silently. He adjusted his grip on the wheel, turning it a few degrees, letting the lingering ghost of her beautiful, tragic melody guide them forward into the dark.
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