Chapter 350: Avalanche (2)

Competent superhumans might be able to escape an avalanche pouring down a slope by running.

But no one can escape a snowslide from a snowy mountain cascading down from above a canyon.

Even if they don’t lose their lives, a temporary restriction of movement is unavoidable.

Amidst the struggling crowd being pushed around from all sides, Lennok and Evelyn slid swiftly, using an outer shell as a snowboard.

Shhhwwiiing!!!

The speed of their descent from hundreds of meters high was far beyond that of a typical car.

Lennok’s naked eyes could no longer properly discern the surrounding scenery.

As the enormous shell plate carrying the two slid rapidly, it crushed the enemies buried all around.

The immense weight of Apostle Walter’s outer shell combined with drastic acceleration created a massive impact.

Even superhumans, protected by magic, crumpled like paper, spewing blood.

Every time Lennok and Evelyn passed through the snowdrifts pouring around the labyrinth, a vivid red flower bloomed and faded.

Seeing this, others shrieked in terror.

“Damn it, everyone get out of the way if you don’t want to die!!”

“Just open the way for those crazy bastards!!”

“Let them go first!! If I die by guys like them, I won’t rest in peace!!”

Crrrunch!!

Meanwhile, the shell, having crushed dozens of superhumans, continued to slide, leaving a red trail.

“Lapis should have given the other Watchers a heads-up in time.”

Lennok muttered, shrugging slightly.

When he devised this plan, he had told the other Watchers not to rush into the labyrinth and to hold back for a moment, but he didn’t know if everyone had followed his advice.

However, Evelyn, hanging on Lennok’s back, nodded with a much calmer voice.

“It’ll be fine. There wasn’t anyone among those we just killed.”

“……You can see all that?”

“I’m an archer, after all.”

As Evelyn grinned and pointed to herself, the shell, having broken through the pouring snowdrift, accelerated once more.

Kwaaaah!!!

Such excessive speed that even the sound of the wind was muffled and barely audible.

Already, no one was visible in front or beside them.

Lennok lowered his head, confirming the rapidly closing distance to the labyrinth, and Evelyn channeled her magic.

“Timing. We need to get it exactly right. Can you do it?”

“Van, what do you take me for?”

Evelyn laughed and, without hesitation, slammed the channeled magic into the shell beneath her feet.

“The basics of archery are breath and timing.”

Towards the shell where the two were firmly bound.

Wooooong!!

Inner World Miniature Universe: Inertia Bias.

Inertia control that maintains the intensity and direction of existing force.

The shell, struck directly by Evelyn’s manifested Miniature Universe power, curved surprisingly smoothly and rotated precisely.

The shell, rising into the air to match the width and length of the labyrinth, elegantly changed its trajectory like an arrow curving in mid-air.

Kii-kii-kii-eek……!!

Towards the largest open crack at the edge of the Hanghasa Labyrinth, it was perfectly sucked in.

Immediately after, the labyrinth’s structure twisted once more, and the entrance the two had entered vanished instantly.

Only then did others, regaining their senses, frantically break free from the snowdrifts and start running.

“Damn it……!! The cracks are already starting to close!!”

“We have to get inside before the labyrinth changes completely!!”

“Run, you bastards, unless you want to fight the stragglers to the death!!”

Following the two who entered the labyrinth first, others, a step behind, began to squeeze through the cracks and enter the labyrinth.

“Now I understand what Evan was thinking.”

At the outermost edge of the snowfield.

Lapis muttered, gazing up at the sky from the end of the Floating Island, which had retreated to the periphery to avoid others’ pursuit.

Her eyes were as black as the night sky, reflecting the movement of stars.

Beyond an immense distance, using the sky as a mirror, she looked down upon the ground at a distance unreachable by human sight.

Thousands of superhumans in the canyon where the Hanghasa Labyrinth is located.

However, it was Lapis who most accurately grasped what Lennok had done and its implications.

“To gather the snow from the snowy mountain and push it straight down into the canyon……. was he already anticipating this possibility from the moment he kept his distance and focused on sniping with Evelyn?”

“Considering his personality, that’s definitely it.”

Grisha, who appeared behind Lapis, responded to her words.

To maintain the form and structure of the Floating Island, she had been focused on holding her position, separate from those heading into the canyon.

As she looked up at the sky, a dozen or so other Watchers began returning to the Floating Island.

Those who couldn’t enter the labyrinth had safely regrouped and retreated outside the snowfield.

“Even if he didn’t intend to collapse the snowy mountain from the beginning, he must have had similar thoughts.”

Grisha said, rolling her stiff shoulders around.

“He probably doesn’t like squabbling in a battlefield like that……. Ah, my neck feels a bit stiff.”

Having assisted other Watchers and participated in skirmishes around the labyrinth for nearly three days, her stamina was completely drained.

Even after continuous battles for three days, her vast magical power remained untarnished, but mental fatigue was unavoidable.

Lapis looked around at the other Watchers gathered behind Grisha and quickly nodded.

“Let’s first put distance between us and the labyrinth, then regroup. After some rest, we’ll move immediately as well.”

“Where to?”

“Until the Watchers who entered the labyrinth come out, we need to completely clear this area.”

With a rare sharp smile, she turned her gaze.

“Most of the organization’s main forces spread across this snowfield will have entered the labyrinth, so now we can reshape the situation outside as we wish.”

She had no intention of resting while skilled Watchers like Evan and Evelyn handled the labyrinth.

Lapis intended to move to gain an advantage in the situation outside the labyrinth in her own way.

“In the worst case, even if all plans fail, the Watcher forces must remain intact……. I have no intention of sitting idly by.”

“R-right.”

“Then, shall we focus on pulling the Floating Island back for now?”

Lapis smiled, looking at the Watchers whose expressions had turned slightly awkward.

The air of the snowfield was about to change direction once again.

Whoosh!!!

As soon as Lennok confirmed they had entered the labyrinth, he severed the magical threads connecting the shell and the two of them.

The heavy shell plate fell first, and their bodies, following inertia, flew for dozens of meters down the labyrinth’s elongated corridor.

Kagagagak!!

As Lennok and Evelyn shot forward at high speed, traps inside the labyrinth, belatedly sensing their presence, activated.

Arrows and spears shot from walls and ceilings pierced empty air and vanished.

Only after confirming this did Lennok extend magical threads from his fingertips, attaching them to the labyrinth corridor on all sides, and brought their bodies to a halt in mid-air.

Kiiiiiik…….!!!

The magical threads, stretched long like spiderwebs, minimized the impact, bringing Lennok’s body to a stop, upside down, in mid-air.

Lennok, his face pale, severed the magical threads, descended, and buried his face in the floor.

“Ugh…”

Even though he had anticipated this outcome and taken plenty of motion sickness medicine beforehand, the nausea from his sense of balance being completely inverted was unavoidable.

Evelyn, who had recomposed herself and descended with an unbothered expression, gently patted Lennok’s back.

“Are you okay? Want to take a break?”

“Hmph…… No, I’ll be fine soon. Just give me a moment.”

Lennok said that, then sat on the floor and put a cigarette in his mouth.

He knew from experience that when his stomach was upset, inhaling medicinal smoke like this was more effective than doing anything else halfway.

Evelyn looked at Lennok with a slightly worried expression, then turned her gaze to their surroundings.

“We’ve finally entered the Hanghasa Labyrinth. It’s truly astonishing. This entire labyrinth is the manifestation of a single Ascendant’s Mind Imprint…”

She said, lightly tracing the dusty stone wall with her finger.

“If I hadn’t known, I would have definitely thought this was an ancient ruin thousands of years old.”

“That means the Ascendant’s Mind Imprint, having challenged ascension, is that solidly complete, I suppose.”

Lennok, wiping his mouth with his shirt sleeve, stood up and replied.

In a short time, he had inhaled so much smoke that his face had turned slightly wan.

“Beyond temporarily elevating one’s spirit and projecting a Mind Imprint into reality, it’s the materialization of existence that pries open physical laws and takes their place…”

Lennok also said, looking at the wall Evelyn had touched.

“It would be impossible unless Jindun’s inner Mind Imprint had achieved a status comparable to the laws of the world itself.”

“Yes……. It’s my first time seeing it directly too.”

Evelyn’s face was also faintly rigid with tension.

“From now on, everything virtually depends on Jindun’s will. Or should I say, on his life and death.”

“That’s why we came all this way to confirm it.”

To cool his head, which had heated up during the labyrinth entry, Lennok took out a potion and drank it.

“Now, we should go inside and confirm it.”

“……Right.”

Lennok and Evelyn’s gazes simultaneously turned towards the far end of the labyrinth corridor.

The corridor was shrouded in deep darkness.

Its length was difficult to estimate even with the magic sensing of an Archmage-level ability user.

Only the quiet sound of wind from within the labyrinth served as the sole noise in the area.

“I see. So that guy is the one who did that to the Drug King?”

Snowdrifts poured from all directions.

But Maiya, instead of worrying about her own safety amidst the volatile environment, confirmed the two who had instantly vanished into the labyrinth and nodded.

“His magic manipulation is high-level, and his execution is clean. Most importantly, he has guts. Is he saying attracting attention like this isn’t even a problem?”

[Dominic was quite a sharp fellow.]

A tattered ball of fur behind her said.

[If that businessman, infinitely sensitive to profit and loss, was held captive in the autonomous region and had his consciousness killed, he must surely be hiding something more than what appears on the surface.]

Maiya smiled.

“Eyes of Blue. You rate them much higher than I thought. Weren’t they considered insignificant by the leadership?”

[How could that be? The growth shown by the previous Lighthouse Keeper’s kin, leading the organization in a short time, is not something to be ignored.]

The Doctor replied in a bored tone.

[The organization’s discipline itself has become much laxer than before, but despite that, they’ve diligently worked to increase their size through trade and compromise. Now, having grasped both justification and military might, they are one of the strongest consolidated organizations in the Eastern Continent.]

“Hmm…”

[It’s the Captain’s directive that we continuously review developments near the mega-cities. Perhaps it’s a face you’ll see quite often.]

Maiya focused on the Doctor’s words instead, casually looking around.

The riff-raff had been swept away by the avalanche that wizard just unleashed, becoming prey, but those who could take care of themselves were different.

Even if they yielded the lead to the wizard after an unimaginable move, they were still able to advance towards the labyrinth without difficulty amidst the pouring snow.

Such individuals had not yet entered the labyrinth and were observing others, like herself, who had reorganized their stance.

They intended to remember potential rivals before entering the labyrinth.

“As expected, the selection of personnel isn’t quite to my liking……”

Maiya muttered with an indifferent expression, slowly loosening her body, and the ball of fur sighed again.

[That again?]

“Doctor, look closely. Even my eyes, which have refrained from external activities for a while, can see familiar emblems and organizations, but I’m all alone here.”

[…]

“And if what you say is true, the Eyes of Blue Watchers are clearly going to be tough opponents, so what are we going to do about that?”

Maiya said that, then frowned as she saw the red-eyed youth explicitly staring at her.

That annoying gem sorcerer, Jawoon Audis, wouldn’t be staring so openly unless he had recognized the injury she sustained during their clash.

She sighed, intuiting that a troublesome opponent would latch on, but the ball of fur hovering behind her did not lose its composure.

[Maiya, I told you, didn’t I? The personnel selection for this operation is perfect. Pushing with numbers means nothing. It’s only natural that an Ascendant’s labyrinth picks and chooses who enters.]

“……”

[I called you for this because I believed you, a former enforcer from Machina, were the most suitable person to break through such a difficult situation.]

The ball of fur floating behind Maiya suddenly seemed to grin.

[Breaking through meticulously crafted strongholds and stealing their hearts… wasn’t that what you did best?]

“I told you not to say useless things.”

Maiya slowly channeled her magic, rubbing her aching lower back.

“Alright. Let’s follow those two for now.”

With a familiar sensation, she stepped forward, firmly grasped the ball of fur with one hand, and immediately began to sprint.

Maiya’s leap towards the labyrinth was so fluid and graceful that no recoil could be felt.

Only the ball of fur, gripped in her hand, trembled and let out a subtle, broken-sounding laugh.

Before the labyrinth’s crack closed, those with the strength and skill to enter vanished inside, one after another.

Inside the labyrinth, where desires and wishes to meet an Ascendant, to covet his relics and remains, raged.

Only the colossal labyrinth, having swallowed all those desperate wishes, quietly pulsed.