Defense specialization and the ruins' interior.

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This matter has been decided: publication is confirmed.

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Thank you all—your encouragement means everything.

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Six descend the dark staircase.

The steps bend abruptly, and light from above fades gradually.

"Allow me to prepare a lantern."

Mizari produces a lantern, casting its glow upon the shadowed steps.

One is enough to provide sufficient light.

"Nothing appears... yet..."

Crom braces his large shield, scanning the surroundings. Only dimly lit walls, shrouded in darkness, surround them.

"...! I think I see something... perhaps?"

"Miss Mii?"

Mizari glances briefly toward Mii.

Mii looks away, her gaze lowered diagonally.

The comfort of Mizari being beside him was a terrifying thing.

“N-no, I know… the stairs end just a little further down. There’s a door. Be on guard.”

Mii’s eyes glowed faintly red.

She saw farther than the others, thanks to her darkvision skill.

As Mii had said, a stone door stood there. Not a proper door—only a shallow groove for hands, meant to slide it sideways.

Crom placed his hands on it and pressed hard, trying to push it open.

“Hm?… No good. Won’t budge.”

“May require 【STR】. I’ll take it.”

Pain sheathed his sword and braced himself, pushing with all his strength.

A grinding sound of stone dragged across stone, and the door slowly slid open.

At the same moment, a blinding light spilled out.

Beyond lay a tangle of corridors and staircases, scattered in every direction—up, down, left, right.

Magic circles glowing at random intervals. A single, ancient lever, heavy with meaning.

The scene before the six of them exuded the atmosphere of a labyrinth.

"Ah… where do we go?"

Crom asked Pain, standing beside him.

"Too many choices. This is beyond tedious."

Pain glanced left. Five or six magic circles confirmed in an instant.

This was unbearable.

"What should we do…? I don’t mind where we start."

Markus spoke with half the expression he had when meeting Maple, the one of 【Brutality】.

He wanted to turn back, but did not. The group was too good to leave.

"Pick a path at random. Monsters won’t be a problem. And thinking won’t lead to answers."

"Yes, that’s right. Miss Mii. I suggest we try touching the magic circle or lever, just to begin with."

"I’ll keep track of the path. So we don’t lose our way and forget which way we came."

The group’s decision was settled.

They approached the nearby lever.

"Alright, let’s do it?"

Crom stepped forward, placed his hand on the lever, and turned to face the others. He confirmed each of the five nodded slightly. Then he pulled the lever in the opposite direction.

At that moment, the network of stairs trembled and shifted, changing direction. The wall split open, revealing a new passage, while the previous route vanished.

The magic circle faded, then reappeared elsewhere, glowing once more.

The labyrinth had completely transformed after just one lever pull.

"Yes…."

Markus muttered, his face mirroring the expression he’d worn when meeting the 【Cruelty】Maple.

Crom’s face was grim as he tipped the lever.

“How do we proceed, Pain? You can decide where we go next if you like.”

“Honestly, a pain in the neck. Haha, Crom, what now?”

While the two frontmost were saying “what now, what now,” Kanade began speaking.

“All the stairs, corridors, and magic circles appear to have changed… but one passage remains just as it was earlier. Shall we go that way?”

Kanade remembered the scene exactly as it had been.

Even if the others could not find it, the passage stood out clearly to Kanade’s eyes.

No reason to object.

All six turned toward the direction Kanade indicated.

Beyond the passage Kanade had named lay another room, similar in design, with a lever.

“If this keeps repeating… most of it may be traps.”

“Kanade, please.”

“Of course.”

The six moved forward.

Slipping through deadly monsters and instant-death traps with ease.

Every trap within the ruin collapsed under the hand of a single player—Kanade.

The wisdom that guarded the ruin was bested by greater wisdom.

The six descended deeper, deeper, and arrived at a chamber whose atmosphere was unmistakably different.

At the chamber's farthest end, a large coffin adorned with gold and gems. Nothing else. Only dry sand covered the stone floor. No anomaly in the ground itself.

The coffin, five meters long, lay flat upon the ground. Not one of the six believed anything proper could be inside.

Their instinct proved correct.

Aware of their presence, the lid shifted slowly, creaking as it slid open.

From within emerged a bone king, wearing a crown still gleaming with residual light, holding a golden staff.

From the dark hollows of its eyes, black flames billowed, spreading outward as if expanding the void.

“Here they come—ready yourselves!”

The voice of Pain and the bone king’s movement coincided. The battle began.