[Vol. 7] Chapter 184: Shadow Flow
The next morning, the sunlight of the "sun" shone through the forest as usual. The Frederick Royal Academy team, after a peaceful night, set off again on their journey to collect Source Crystals for the competition.
"Huh? Big sister Orluk, you look a bit tired. Are you feeling unwell?"
Noelle, the little cat-girl, who was carefully removing the bandages from Orluk’s arm, noticed a slight change in her expression. As a teammate and healer, her natural concern made her ask without thinking, which caught the attention of the others nearby.
The princess, who had been discussing with Rosie whether to go deeper today to increase their collection efficiency, stepped forward. She noticed Orluk’s pale complexion, dark circles under her eyes, and the loss of color in her face. She raised her hand and gently felt Orluk’s forehead.
"There's no fever... Are you okay, Orluk?"
Rosie, who was also close to Orluk and often shared secrets with her in private, looked confused as well.
"Could it be from the monster's claws yesterday? Noelle, did you check for poison?"
"Huh? But the [Nightshadow Monkey] didn't have any toxins."
"Didn't it mutate, though? I’m just worried in case...”
"Even if it mutated to have poison, the wound would definitely show it. Rosie, please don’t doubt Noelle’s healing skills, meow!"
Seeing the two arguing, Orluk, who felt somewhat weak for some reason, could only force herself to stay alert. With a helpless shake of her head, she explained.
"Alright, alright, I’m not that fragile. The injury has already healed completely. It’s just that I felt a bit uneasy last night and had some nightmares, but it doesn’t affect the important things."
As she spoke, she raised her hand to show her arm, which had been bandaged before but was now completely healed. It was clear that Noelle’s healing magic was quite skilled. In just one night, the deep wound had fully healed, leaving no scar.
It seemed that Orluk had been chosen as a member of the Imperial Royal Academy's competition team not just because of her identity as a [God-Chosen] person.
"I see... Well, that's fine. But I never thought someone so gloomy like you would have nightmares. Now I’m curious about what they were about~"
Rosie, as Orluk's close friend, teased her casually, but Orluk only rolled her eyes and ignored her. Since Orluk herself had explained it, the others didn’t question it further and continued with their final preparations before departure.
The Jungle Zone was not enough to meet the needs of this team aiming for the championship. They would continue searching for Source Crystals while advancing to deeper layers, until they reached the Cavern Zone on the third level, where sky-level monsters resided.
"Your Highness, what are you looking for?"
"Oh... I was just wondering, I haven't seen Miss Violet since last night. Could something have happened in the Labyrinth?"
"You're overthinking, Your Highness. She’s an honorary professor at Sainz, remember? She disappeared for quite a while in the Abandoned Zone before. She's probably just observing somewhere secretly."
"Maybe... Either way, everyone, stay alert."
And so, time passed day by day, and soon it was the final day of the seven-day competition.
After adapting to the environment and the strength of the monsters, the elite teams from various academies continued to advance downward. Some brave and highly skilled teams had already entered the deeper Cavern Zone, carefully collecting Source Crystals in the dangerous environment, leading the rankings by a wide margin.
Of course, some participants, unable to gauge their own strength or make mistakes in leadership or execution, were injured and had to withdraw one after another. By the time the competition neared its end, the total number of teams had been reduced to only about 70% of the original number. This heavy loss rate was a clear sign of the labyrinth's dangers.
According to the rules, once today was over, all the teams could use the teleportation crystals to return to Sainz City, officially ending this rather brutal competition.
But this was just the calm on the surface.
"Oh? Lucine is coming herself? Really? From what I know about her, she usually doesn’t move unless it's absolutely necessary~"
In a hidden cave in the Cavern Zone, Ismael, who had just returned with firsthand information from Sainz, seriously explained.
"I heard that a powerful figure's activity was detected in the Labyrinth, and it's an old enemy of the Headmaster. That's why she's decided to come out personally to handle it. The abnormal events in this competition are most likely caused by that person secretly interfering."
"An old enemy..."
Violet nodded slightly, looking thoughtful. She didn't ask for details about the other party’s situation. As someone who had been active in [Morst Underground Labyrinth] recently, she probably knew more about the situation here than the academy did.
Since even Lucine had decided to step in, it was most likely that person... The matter with the Church of Truth had just ended, and this person had already traveled all the way to the [Morst Underground Labyrinth] to cause trouble. From a villain's perspective, he was certainly quite dedicated.
The competitive event held in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth] was not just affected by the unusually high dropout rate. There were other hidden factors behind the scenes, and these factors were far more brutal than the participants imagined.
For some reason, a small number of native inhabitants within [Morst Underground Labyrinth] seemed to be affected by some strange force. This caused monsters that originally belonged to the lower levels of the Labyrinth to break free from the Labyrinth’s rules, leaving their usual areas and attacking explorers on the upper levels.
Although there haven’t been any cases of monsters leaving the Labyrinth, incidents like sky-level monsters appearing in the Jungle Zone and causing chaos were no longer rare.
The teams from various academies participating in the event inside the Labyrinth were, of course, affected.
A large number of the participants who withdrew midway were injured by these mutated monsters. In some extreme cases, even the examiners who were responsible for protecting them couldn’t stop the attacking enemies, and entire teams were wiped out.
But strangely, none of the wiped-out teams had used their teleportation devices to save themselves. Or rather, even if they used them, the teleportation didn’t complete as expected. When they were found, they were only severely injured and unconscious, with no casualties. This was an unusual occurrence in the [Morst Underground Labyrinth], where deadly hunters roamed without hesitation.
All the injured were sent back to the academy city for treatment, but so far, no one had recovered enough to speak about the specifics of what had happened.
Afterward, Sainz Academy also sent more personnel into the Labyrinth. While they couldn’t wipe out all the abnormal monsters inside, they could monitor the critical entrances and exits closely.
However, even stranger things soon started to happen. The monsters seemed to have a strict, hidden commander behind them. They easily avoided the strong individuals from the academy, lying in wait and appearing at abnormal times to attack the weaker academy teams, causing even more damage.