Chapter 57
“Eve, do you like this one?”
Erion squatted down next to me as I sat in front of the crystal.
“Yeah. But I can’t pull it out, so I guess I’ll have to bring Dad later.”
Tilting his head.
But then, as Erion watched my dejected expression with his head tilted, he grabbed the crystal and—pop!
It came out!
“……”
“……”
Oh… right. He was cursed by Fenrir.
With pain came monstrous physical strength.
Erion glanced at me a few times, then quietly slid the pulled-out mana stone back into place.
“There! Eve can do it too!”
He grabbed my hand and placed it on the crystal.
This time, it came out easily.
Of course, it would—he’d only lightly put it back after pulling it out.
“Hehe.”
Erion smiled with satisfaction.
‘He wasn’t like this before…’
In the novel, Erion was depicted as more gloomy and dark.
Well…
‘I like this version better!’
Anyway, I got it! A mana stone!
Judging by the orange color, it seemed like a Fire attribute mana stone.
Unlike magic stones, mana stones change properties by color, so even someone like me who knows nothing about mana could tell what it does.
‘Even a beginner like me can tell at a glance.’
I wandered slowly around the crystal-filled cave. Mithril usually forms near mana stones.
“Eve, what are you looking for?”
“A silver, shiny rock.”
“This one?”
Erion pointed to a rock.
I circled around it, inspecting closely, then suddenly stopped.
A dull silver glint peeked out between two huge rocks.
“Found it!”
Mithril!
“Do you need this too? I’ll carry it!”
Rumble, rumble—
With both hands, Erion lifted the rock!
“…?”
He lifted it?
Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it, so I rubbed my eyes.
Erion was holding a rock ten times bigger than his body over his head.
Like an ant carrying a huge morsel.
“No, no.”
I quickly shook my head.
“I just need the silver part inside. Can you break it?”
“Yep!”
Thud!
The rock fell back into place.
Erion’s tail swayed back and forth. His perked-up ears flattened tightly against his head.
Then he stepped back far, ran toward it, and—bam!—punched it.
It cracked.
The massive rock split clean in two.
‘…Yeah, better not mess with him.’
I’ll stay on good terms with both Dad and Erion.
From inside the rock, a fist-sized lump of silver metal fell out.
‘If there’s mithril in the rock, that means there’s a mithril mine under this cave floor.’
Mithril.
A metal infused with mana.
When exposed to sunlight, it shimmers faintly with blue light—that’s the hallmark of mithril.
This mithril was stronger than any existing metal.
When made into armor, swords couldn’t pierce it. When made into a sword, it could pierce any armor.
Unlike other blades, which usually weaken when infused with mana, mithril becomes even stronger.
‘This should cover the funds I need.’
Big or small, war requires a lot of money.
Supplies, manpower, weapons.
Everything costs money.
Besides, Altard’s domain war was starting from rock bottom—we needed to buy everything, even the basics.
‘But with this, I can secure future funds too.’
Even if I spent all the cash on hand, at least the warehouse wouldn’t go empty!
This was my secure deposit!
My future asset!
I should only take a few samples for now.
“Erion, this too!”
“Okay!”
With Erion’s fists, I collected several mana stones and pieces of mithril, packed them into my bag, and returned.
And two days later, the victory report arrived.
* * *
The war was over.
“We won! We’ve won!”
“The humans raised the white flag and began retreating their troops!”
“Ah… finally… finally, this long war is over!”
“We can go home…”
Led by Tigran, the returning soldiers shouted tearfully with joy.
Some threw off their armor and heavy shields, others broke into sobs, calling out their family’s names.
Their voices, mixed with tears and laughter, were overflowing with indescribable joy.
‘Where’s Dad?’
I looked around.
But before I could even find him, the surroundings suddenly turned pitch black, and soon my vision flashed bright white.
“Huh…?”
Suddenly, people’s bodies began turning transparent.
I was shocked.
“H-Huh? What’s this?”
“What’s happening?”
“Our bodies… Your Majesty!”
Tigran silently looked down at his own body as it faded away into light, then slowly raised his head and met my gaze.
His eyes widened as if realizing something.
“You… you’re outsiders.”
To his correct answer, I gave a small nod.
“Yes… now I remember. We… our war had already ended long ago.”
He spoke with a sigh.
“We lost.”
“……”
“I passed down my body, hoping for ‘someday,’ hiding with the survivors deep underground… but in the end, the corruption consumed all the land.”
Tigran slowly turned his head.
Through the people disintegrating into light, I could see Dad and Altard’s soldiers.
Judging by their battered appearances, it must’ve been a brutal battle.
Tigran and Dad locked eyes.
“We ignored the sudden, strange buildings that appeared, which people started calling ‘labyrinths.’ If we didn’t enter and clear them within a time limit, they’d collapse into black holes.”
Yes.
This ‘Random Labyrinth’ always reflects some fallen place.
It could be a kingdom from Arpedis’s past, or another world entirely.
Sometimes it could even be a space from a novel.
In the novel, there were cases where people arrived in empty ruins.
“And from there… magic leaks out. It spreads, pollutes the surroundings, and creates monsters inside. Entire regions quickly become uninhabitable except for magical beasts.”
The area fell silent.
“But we missed our chance… and eventually… we perished.”
“……”
“Yes… even in death, we were still fighting this war. If only we had won… we would’ve desperately blocked the labyrinth. That lingering regret must have remained in us.”
Tigran’s world was destroyed by magical contamination.
Because humans, claiming it ruined the view, cut down the World Tree, their destruction came even faster.
“My world… has already been absorbed by the labyrinth.”
“That strange building… you call it a labyrinth?”
“We did. You never knew what would come out, and escaping was nearly impossible… it fit the name.”
Tigran’s body now shimmered like scattered light.
It dazzled.
So many people’s lights obscured my vision—breathtakingly beautiful, it almost suffocated me.
“More labyrinths will appear in the future. Challenger… protect the World Tree… and find the traitor.”
“…Traitor?”
“Ah… Labyrinths don’t appear on their own. Unless someone with noble malice… summons them at the cost of a world.”
Dad’s eyebrows shot up.
“Noble malice…? That’s contradictory.”
How could malice be noble?
Dad asked.
Tigran smiled.
“Sometimes, a strong sense of justice… when it cannot bend before reality and despair… ends up breaking instead.”
His body completely disappeared.
Almost no one was left now.
Most had turned to light, twinkling against the darkened background.
“There’s nothing scarier… than a cross driven upside down by a lifelong believer.”
His voice faded.
“So this… is what victory feels like… Thank you.”
With a smile, Tigran vanished entirely.
And then—
[ The Labyrinth of the Dimensional Rift – Floor 77 Cleared. ]
A system message appeared.
