“Your targets are the undead soldiers and the surviving bandits. And rescuing the hostages. You’ll be acting as a diversion, but we’ll give more specific instructions once we arrive at the scene.”
Next, Diz spread out a map of the surrounding area of the satellite city-state Alto.
“The problem area, the bandits’ stronghold, is to the north. It’s a ruin known in historical texts as Canaan’s Fortress.”
Diz pointed to the base of the Arpas Mountains. Though, there was nothing marked on the map. It wasn’t a place worth recording on modern maps.
“A ruin… outside the city? But how…”
“I understand your doubt, but we’ll get to that later.”
Diz continued, pointing next to a large crystal left by the knights. Ur recognized it—it was the same Recording Crystal that Magica, the puppet mage who had repaired his dragon fang spear in the Greed City-State, had used.
“This is what the knights’ familiars saw.”
Inside the crystal was an image of the ruins. It was undoubtedly the remains of Canaan’s Fortress. But that wasn’t all.
“A barrier.”
The ruins were covered by a semi-transparent, hemispherical wall of light.
“Shortly after the incident, after the Starving Skull escaped, the ruins were enveloped by this barrier. So in that sense, it’s confirmed as the enemy’s base.”
“It’s like they’re announcing their location, isn’t it?”
“They must be confident they can evade the knights’ pursuit.”
“But it’s an insane scale…”
The Great Sun Barrier is undoubtedly incomparable, but even so, the size of the barrier reflected in the crystal is still quite substantial. No matter how skilled a magician might be, maintaining such a barrier would require an enormous amount of magical energy. However, this scale is far beyond what a single person’s magic could sustain.
The necromancer couldn’t possibly be a priest who could harness the power of people’s prayers, could they? It doesn’t make sense. But there was one possibility that came to mind.
“Magic stones?”
“Yeah. The Island Devouring Turtle was transporting magic stones from the Great Sin City-State of Greed to various other city-states. A massive quantity of them was targeted. Moreover, it seems that several small and medium-sized core magic stones were also stolen.”
“Core magic stones…”
The heart of small and medium-sized labyrinths. The moment Ur heard the name, his attention shifted to the Dragon Fang Spear, which also contained one at its core. But for now, he refocused on the matter at hand.
“So the main objective of this attack was those magic stones and core magic stones?”
And it couldn’t possibly be just for the sake of erecting a powerful barrier. A powerful necromancer, bold enough to defy the Great Alliance, had targeted the large quantities of magic stones and core magic stones that were supposed to be used in various city-states. It gave him nothing but a bad feeling.
“…It’s clear that we need to hurry as much as possible.”
Ur began to understand why Diz was so eager to head out for the subjugation. This was definitely not a situation where they could afford to take their time. Something terrible was about to happen.
“But if there’s a barrier in place, it’s impossible to attack, right? How should we handle—”
“Already thought of that. Akane!”
[Coming!]
Called by Diz, Akane brought over a book—a tome that was quite different from the documents brought by the adventurer’s guild. The title on the cover was strikingly simple.
“The Historical Transitions Within Greed’s Territory… A history book? Why?”
“There are some records from before the founding of Alto. Turn to page sixty-three.”
Following her instructions, Ur opened the page Akane handed him. The writing was stiff and hard to read, but it was precisely the section describing the Era of Labyrinth Proliferation.
“[The northern fortress of Canaan also suffered catastrophic damage. The eyes of the fortress, built to guard against neighboring countries, were turned outward. The labyrinth that appeared nearby expanded its domain beneath the fortress, turning it into a den of monsters—something no one could have imagined…]”
As he read on, Ur suddenly realized.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“Are we going to infiltrate through the labyrinth beneath the fortress!?”
“Yep, correct.”
The text mentioned that the labyrinth and the fortress had become semi-integrated, leading to its abandonment. If this was true, there was a possibility they could infiltrate from there.
“But is it really possible that a labyrinth from six hundred years ago still exists?”
Shizuku voiced the obvious question. Diz immediately nodded in response.
“I had the knights investigate. They found the entrance a short distance from the fortress. The core magic stone is long gone, of course, but the labyrinth’s passages themselves remain intact, untouched by any demolition. The barrier doesn’t reach that deep underground.”
“I see…”
“Of course, they probably know about the labyrinth beneath their own base, so they might have sealed it off. But they wouldn’t expect us to know about its existence.”
Ur clicked his tongue.
Not at the fact that the labyrinth still existed.
But at how thoroughly prepared Diz was, always having an answer to their questions.
“…How much did you manage to investigate in such a short time?”
“As much as I could.”
[It was super tough, you know!]
“Thanks for all your help.”
Diz patted a visibly exhausted Akane as she spoke lightly. But in reality, she had been up since late at night, fending off bandits, then continuously engaged in rescue operations, assisting the knights with information, and finally piecing together what little data they had to formulate a plan.
Her efficiency wasn’t just impressive—it was professional.
Perhaps noticing Ur’s look of admiration, Diz pointed at him.
“You’d have done the same when you faced the Gem Doll, right? Preparations determine ninety percent of the outcome. You can’t cut corners.”
“That’s… true.”
There was no room for argument.
Ur and Shizuku had emerged victorious in their battle against the Gem Doll. Luck, skill, and various other factors had played a part. But if asked what the biggest factor in their victory was, it would undoubtedly be the preparations Diz had mentioned. Even Shizuku’s rampage had been a part of preparing the key to victory before the decisive battle.
This was the same.
In a situation with limited time and resources, Diz was doing everything she could to gather information and prepare. Her attitude and skills were something Ur felt he should learn from, and he nodded in understanding.
“I get that it’s important. But are you sure you’re okay physically? I’m not one to talk, but…”
His concern was that she was overworking herself.
There was no doubt that Diz was extraordinary, but even now, she showed signs of fatigue. And the same went for Ur and the others. After the battle with the undead soldiers, they had been working non-stop on rescue operations for the injured, barely sleeping since last night.
──Whether it’s work or training, sleep deprivation is the worst. Get some sleep. If you can’t sleep, I’ll force you to.
Imaginary Glenn grinned as he swung his fist around.
“Yeah, I’ll guide you on how to handle it later.”
“…You’re really something, you know that?”
“You’ll have to learn to do this too, so hang in there, okay? Future Gold Rank.”
Ur let out a sigh of disbelief at her sheer competence, but Diz just smiled, offering no mercy in her encouragement.
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