Seeing her always-strong superior blaming himself, the 8th Platoon Leader clenched her fists so tightly she didn’t even notice her nails digging into her palms. It was hard enough for her to watch the Commander she respected in such a state, let alone keep herself composed.
She forced her emotions back under control and spoke again, her voice once more cold.
"I will go and find them right away. Other battalion members are still searching, so maybe we'll find them soon."
She gave Hugo a brief bow, then turned urgently and started toward the tent’s exit. At that, a few platoon members who had been hesitating also bent their waists to the Commander and followed their leader.
But just as she was about to step outside, a voice from behind made her stop abruptly.
"No, we're ending the search operation that mobilized other battalions."
The platoon members halted as well, boots falling silent on the dirt floor.
The 8th Platoon Leader turned back with an expression as if she had misheard.
"Why... are you saying you're ending the search?"
As her bewildered gaze fixed on him, Hugo slowly rose from his seat, wiping his face with one hand as though washing without water. After handing the damp handkerchief to Flynn, he pulled on the protective gear and gloves beside him and stared at her.
His eyes carried no strength, yet his gaze was sharp and fierce, the earlier fragility gone without a trace. As if pointing out a mistake, he spoke clearly to her again.
"I didn't say we're ending the search—only that we're ending the search involving other battalions."
The 8th Platoon Leader stared into his eyes for a long moment, trying to read his intent.
****
Night had fallen, darkness blanketing the land, yet the base camp remained brightly lit. In its center gathered Hugo, Commander of the 9th Battalion of the Southern Branch, the Commander of the 6th Battalion of the Central Branch, and several others who had come to support.
Light spheres floated in the air, pushing back the dark. Insects swarmed toward them, only to drop weakly after touching the hot glow. Delua, her nose still bandaged in gauze, looked on in disgust before brushing her arm lightly and returning her gaze to the makeshift table.
Spread across it lay a large map. With a pen, Liner drew lines upon its surface.
The map marked the area’s terrain and the elevations of the peaks, and the lines he traced formed a tangled circular network winding between them. To Flynn, the pattern looked like an anthill.
At last, Liner capped the pen, set it down, and said,
"This was the underground space. I can’t claim perfect accuracy, but the approximate locations and directions should be right."
Delua’s eyes widened as she stepped closer. Studying the markings, she asked,
"Oh, so there really was a space?"
Liner nodded.
"Yes. Not only was there a space, but when the Commander and I first reached it, the areas were connected like tunnels. Of course, now it must have completely collapsed and sealed off."
At Delua’s words hinting she already knew of it, Hugo turned his head toward her.
"Battalion Commander Rivera, did you know there was space underground?"
"Ah, yes. Not from the beginning—but I discovered it while chasing the Dermocas across the plains."
Delua blinked, scanning the map again, then lifted her head.
"But wasn’t that space strange? If such a place existed, I should have noticed even from above ground, yet I couldn’t sense any airflow at all. And once inside, it felt as if my mana was being suppressed."
Hugo nodded in agreement.
"Yes, exactly. That’s why Battalion Commander Molten and I couldn’t escape with just the two of us."
He briefly described being buried underground with Liner.
When they had leapt into the fissure between the cliffs and reached the bottom, the area had not yet fully collapsed. The hidden underground chambers still held their original shape.
They searched through the failing tunnels for the two missing people, realizing their mana was restricted only when their flight slowed unnaturally.
Later, as the peaks began to settle in earnest, they tried large-scale spells to block the earth and stone pouring down. But with their casting speed and power diminished, they were too late and were eventually swept up and buried.
Even then, they dug through blocked passages, continuing the search. For a long while they wandered for any trace of the missing, until at last, short of oxygen, they sought a lower area with less chance of further landslides to force their way back to the surface.
But with their mana suppressed, they could not gauge the weight of the earth above, and the psychological strain of dwindling air, failing strength, and hostile conditions made escape even harder.
Liner shuddered slightly at the memory of nearly freezing to death in the stifling heat below. Delua, listening closely, paused in thought. Then, as if something clicked, she clapped her hands.
"The Dermocas I was chasing also escaped into that tunnel. Then it’s certain—the tunnel-like space you and Battalion Commander Molten saw was built to block certain energies and suppress mana."
"It seems so."
"In that case, it must have served as a passage for monsters to move unseen by humans. And if we follow it, we might find the nest of the creatures we still haven’t located."
Before her words had even faded, the 8th Platoon Leader stepped forward urgently.
"Then shouldn’t we find the missing persons as soon as possible? If those two were attacked by monsters while unconscious..."
"I don’t think we need to worry about that."
It was Liner who cut her off.
"In the passages where the Commander and I searched until the end, there were marks not just of burning but of stone melted by fire."
As she looked at him, he pointed to a section of the map—two peaks close together, connected by what seemed a single passage.
"We reached this point after following those traces. But this passage, leading to the other peak, was unusually blocked by heaps of rock. Not naturally blocked—collapsed, as if on purpose."
He traced lines over the map again with his fingertip.
"We were buried ourselves while trying to break through, so we couldn’t reach the end. But I believe the missing intentionally collapsed the ceiling to stop the earth from flooding in."
The 8th Platoon Leader bent over the map again, studying it carefully. Liner met her gaze and shrugged, as if to say there was little cause for worry.
"If an S-grade mage still had the presence of mind to do that in such an urgent moment, then at the very least, they wouldn’t die to a monster attack."
Her expression didn’t change much, but her dark face began to show a touch of hope. Flynn and the others, too, brightened. As the chance of survival for the missing became real, their gloom started to lift.
And at last, the 8th Platoon Leader understood why the Commander had insisted on ending the broader search.
If, as Battalion Commander Molten suggested, they had the strength and clarity to collapse the ceiling themselves, then they had likely survived the cave-in.
In that case, a small, mobile unit would find them faster than the slow weight of many battalions.
Her face brightened as she turned back to Hugo, finally grasping his intention.
But the moment she saw his expression, she faltered.
His face held no ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) brightness at all, even with such good news.
Come to think of it, the Commander had been with Battalion Commander Molten the whole time—he would have seen the same traces with his own eyes. Yet earlier, he had been drowning in guilt and heavy concern.
Her brief relief tightened again into tension. Judging by his expression, it was not such a simple matter.
The 8th Platoon Leader looked at him with eyes edged with unease.
