113. Dungeon Overflow

The aftermath of the Hero Summoning had become unmistakable.

The summoning had drained mana across a radius of roughly 160 kilometers, leaving the area completely depleted immediately after. But now, mana from surrounding regions was flowing in to refill the void.

Like water splashing upward when a drop hits the surface, the mana levels here have surged sharply over the past few days to compensate for the sudden depletion.

This phenomenon is known as a mana tsunami.

The massive influx of mana was being absorbed by the dungeon located in northern Cambria—the Great Dungeon of Yorks. This meant, in turn, a massive surge in monster spawns within the dungeon.

To make matters worse, the mushrooms generating miasma were also causing an increase in monsters around the dungeon’s perimeter.

“Impossible! There are too many monsters! Report to the Guild!” adventurers shouted as they fled the dungeon.

“What’s going on?” another adventurer asked, just about to enter.

“Nothing ‘going on’—there are monsters everywhere! It’s a stampede inside the dungeon!” another adventurer yelled, stumbling out.

“All adventurers inside have evacuated. Report to the Guild. Summon the medical team!”

That day, the village at the dungeon entrance descended into chaos.

Ten times the usual number of monsters had been sighted, and the abnormal scene—unlike anything seen before—sent adventurers fleeing in panic, flooding the entrance and teleportation chambers.

“A stampede inside the dungeon?” Louise, the Adventurer Guildmaster of Cambria, repeated, her voice sharp.

Yes, this is a report from the Dungeon Management Group. Evacuation and sheltering of adventurers still inside the dungeon are ongoing. There are a few parties unaccounted for, but their status remains unknown. Currently, we plan to seal off the entrance once evacuation is complete, though with that many people, it's uncertain how long the building will hold.

"Right, got it. Contact the faculty immediately. Send a messenger to request the Apostle’s support!" Louise issued the order.

Shiro and the others heard the message and rushed to the village at the entrance of the labyrinth.

Shiro, the Black Ice Wind. How many people are still inside?

Shiro held up his Guild card to the Guild attendant watching the dungeon entrance, asking, — Rank S carries its weight, after all.

All parties within reach of communication have evacuated. There are still a decent number of parties hiding out, but their status is unknown. No means of contact remains.

"Right... Got it. Everyone, move away from the building. I'm setting up a barrier now."

Got it.

And so, the Guild staff circled the building, instructing those nearby to move away from it.

"Good—dome-shaped barrier works. For now, let's keep the monsters from flooding out."

Shiro did that, and prepared to erect a dome-shaped barrier around the entire building.

First, drive the staffs into the exterior at four points. Then, connect ropes woven with mithril to each staff, linking all of them to a certain magical device.

This is, well, a miniature version of a city barrier. I reverse-engineered the mana transmuter from the capital's urban barrier while repairing it—Shiro designed this. Of course, it's been improved, so it can handle scenarios like sealing in a monster swarm.

Shiro channels mana into the main device to activate it. Once running, it can sustain itself using mana transmutation. It’s basically a copy of that other device. Though the barrier's radius is only about two hundred meters at most. Fortunately, the building stands alone in the center of the plaza, so a fifty-meter radius will cover just the entrance structure.

"Alright, this should hold for now. Next... how about we just push in and wipe out the monsters?"

He said it casually.

"Hey, Shiro, how many monsters are you even imagining, and how deep do you think this place goes? It’s a dungeon!" Aria chipped in, as usual.

"Nah, it’s fine. The plan’s simple: me, Mitoka, and Shestia will lead the charge. Aria, Albert, Steven, and the hero group will follow behind, clearing out the monsters we’ve already passed. We don’t need total annihilation—just thin them out as we go. If we can make it to the fourth floor and set up a barrier on the connecting passage, that’ll be enough. Everyone with me?"

Of course, everyone agreed.

"If things get bad, just call out. We’ll seal the barrier and take a break. There are safe zones on each floor, so we’ll keep an eye on things and move forward at our pace!" Shiro called out, then plunged into the labyrinth.

This Yorks Great Labyrinth has the first nine floors alternating between grassland, forest, and mountain terrains. So there are plenty of open spaces, making it easier to fight with annihilation magic.

"Multi-Homing Lightning Needle!" Shiro activated his annihilation magic.

"Homing Ice Bullet!" Shestia activated her annihilation magic too.

One thousand and twenty-four ice bullets, all fired simultaneously. Under Shiro’s guidance, Shestia had learned homing guidance. She originally had more cores than Shiro. Now she could launch more magic spells at once than he could.

"Homing Fire Bullet!" Mitoka activated her annihilation magic. She too managed one thousand and twenty-four simultaneous blasts.

"...You three really don’t need to go all out like that, do you?" Aria watched the three of them unleash annihilation magic, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No, just clearing a wide area for your experience gain—leave the rest to us!" Shiro shouted.

The three of them took down a significant number of monsters across a broad range, but the monsters were still far too numerous. They couldn’t wipe them all out at once.

As soon as a gap opened in the enemy line, the hero party activated their own spells.

Albert and Steven moved in close, slashing down the approaching monsters.

At this pace, they reached the safe zone at the end of the ninth floor, resting for a moment when Shiro suddenly realized something.

"Hey, Mitoka—what if we seized control of the labyrinth core? Could we stop the monster spawns?"

"...Theoretically, yes. But getting to the labyrinth core’s location is impossible."

"Why?"

"Location unknown," Mitoka explained. "According to legends in this world, defeating the final boss at the lowest layer grants access to the labyrinth core chamber—where any wish can be granted. But in practice, reaching the lowest layer is impossible. The monsters down there are too high-level."

"Huh. Classic setup," Shiro mused. "But in my case..."

"Wait a sec—I'm heading to the teleportation room. Everyone stay put," Shiro said, stepping toward the chamber.

"I'm coming too," Shestia said.

"Wait, please," Kotone followed, her voice soft but firm.

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