Standing before the door to the third chamber, Faivy raised a prayer to the Divine, seeking blessings for all present.
As the saintess, born and raised to serve the Divine, clasped her hands together, a soft, sacred energy radiated from her, filling the dark cave with a warm, holy light. Her presence in that moment was so pure and serene that it was impossible for anyone to doubt her role as a true saintess. Even Arthur, Joy, and the typically restless Frey stood quietly, transfixed by Faivy’s prayer.
After some time, the warmth from Faivy’s blessing settled into their bodies, bringing a comforting, invigorating sensation.
Arthur’s smile was slightly strained as he felt the transformation. Receiving a blessing from the saintess was nothing new, but each time, he couldn’t help but marvel at the power.
When he first received her blessing, the change was so overwhelming that he could barely move. Even now, while he had gotten somewhat used to it, he still couldn’t fully handle the altered state. Unlike geniuses like Frey or Lucy, he was more of an average talent, skilled yet never extraordinary.
As he watched Frey, who seemed already attuned to her enhanced body, Arthur couldn’t help but think, Now that’s what a real genius looks like.
At that moment, Faivy opened her eyes.
“The blessing is complete.”
“Thank you as always, Saintess.”
Arthur expressed his gratitude with a respectful bow before turning to Frey.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’m all set.”
“Joy, how about you?”
“I’ve been ready for a while now.”
“Great, then let’s do this.”
At his signal, all four of them stepped through the door at once, and the scene around them shifted.
They found themselves in a vast, barren field.
There, swarming across the landscape, were demon-shaped golems. Normally, the first priority would be to identify the marked ones among them, but Arthur’s party chose to skip that step.
It wasn’t because they had a surefire way to identify the marked golems.
They had simply concluded that it was unnecessary.
“Let’s go.”
According to their plan, Joy began casting a powerful area-wide spell while Faivy prepared a holy barrier for protection, just in case. Meanwhile, Frey sprinted forward, leaving only her shadow behind.
Perhaps the golems viewed her as prey, as a horde of unmarked golems charged toward her.
Facing the ten or so that swarmed her, Frey swung her sword with a calm, expressionless face.
The golems’ legs were severed in a clean sweep, and their bodies toppled forward.
Arthur observed the scene with a steady gaze.
If my hypothesis is correct, there shouldn’t be a berserk response from the golems.
Based on prior observations, the berserk condition triggered only if a golem’s core was damaged. Since Frey had carefully cut through only their legs, there should be no reaction.
“Perfect.”
Seeing that the golems hadn’t gone berserk, Arthur clenched his fist in triumph.
Now, they could disable the golems without wasting time identifying them, drastically reducing the time needed to clear the third room.
Feeling pleased with the success of his plan, Arthur drew his sword to assist Frey.
“Third Prince, stay back.”
But Frey stopped him.
“These golems are trickier than you think. You’d be better off watching.”
“True, I may lack your swordsmanship, but I—”
“Look.”
Without further explanation, Frey swung her sword at another golem, aiming for its legs.
Arthur, convinced of her precision, watched intently, expecting the golem to fall as intended.
But just before her sword struck, the golem twisted its body, positioning its core to take the hit instead of its legs.
“They’ll do this if you’re not careful.”
As if she had anticipated this, Frey stopped her sword mid-swing. Her quick reaction exploited the golem’s overextension, allowing her to sever its limbs without touching the core.
“That’s why you should stay put, Third Prince. I can handle this alone.”
Arthur sighed and let go of his sword, acknowledging that Frey was indeed best suited for this task.
“Alright, I’ll be on standby in case of emergencies.”
“Thanks.”
Soon after Arthur stepped back, Joy completed her spell.
By linking the four magic circles she had drawn around her, she activated one of her most powerful spells.
“Lady Kent!”
“I’m ready.”
At Joy’s signal, Frey returned to the group’s side. Faivy immediately cast a holy barrier around them.
“All set! Joy, do it!”
“Understood! Everyone, close your eyes and cover your ears!”
It was as if judgment itself descended upon the field, akin to a thunderstorm striking down from afar, carrying an ominous message.
The overwhelming light could be felt through closed eyelids, the ground shook beneath the barrier, and the roar of the spell seemed to drown out all other sound.
When it was over, only a scorched field remained, with no sign of any golems.
“I didn’t expect it to be this powerful...”
Arthur let out a dry laugh, marveling at the scale of Joy’s spell.
While he had asked her to clear the field, this seemed a bit excessive. Half the power would have been more than enough.
Turning to say something, Arthur noticed Joy’s face had gone pale, and he quickly realized what had happened.
“Joy, don’t tell me you didn’t anticipate this outcome.”
“Well... it’s a difficult spell...”
“And on top of that, you exhausted your mana completely? You’re going to be a dead weight for the rest of the day!”
Arthur’s lip twitched in frustration as he realized the impact of Joy’s miscalculation.
Realizing her mistake, Joy shyly glanced toward Faivy for help, her eyes pleading like a child in trouble. But Faivy merely gave her a stern look, a rare sight from the saintess.
“This time, you put all of us in danger, Joy.”
“This can’t be...”
“I know you’ve grown stronger, but...”
Joy, distressed by the unexpected lecture from Faivy, shifted her gaze back to Arthur, hoping for mercy.
Are you really turning to the person you just frustrated for help?
Arthur felt too exasperated to even react.
“Saintess.”
“Ah, apologies, Third Prince. I got caught up in scolding Joy.”
“No, you’re doing fine. Please continue until she learns her lesson.”
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“Thank you, Third Prince. I’ll take my time then.”
Faivy’s soft smile made Joy’s face twitch in dismay.
“Faivy, but I’m... completely drained...”
“No worries, Joy. Just relax and listen carefully to what I have to say.”
After Joy was thoroughly scolded by Faivy, Arthur, Faivy, and the somewhat hollow-looking Joy moved on to the next room.
“...Isn’t this the hallway we passed through at the beginning?”
The fourth chamber looked strikingly similar to the entryway of the dungeon.
The carpet, the dim lighting, the colors on the walls—it was almost identical.
The only difference was that all the usual decorations were absent.
“Joy, can you analyze it? ...Ah, never mind. You’ve used up all your mana.”
“...I apologize.”
“It’s fine. Let’s treat this as an opportunity to gather clues.”
The group decided to continue down the hallway until they reached the end. However, the hallway didn’t seem to end.
They encountered no dangerous enemies, no life-threatening traps, and no branching paths that would lead them astray.
It just... didn’t end.
“We’re not making any progress. Let’s stop here and look for clues.”
Realizing there was no point in continuing, they began searching the hallway for any hidden hints.
They lifted the carpet, examined the walls and floor for any mechanisms, and even attacked the surfaces, but they found nothing.
Arthur’s frown deepened. He almost wished for something as monstrous as the wolf to appear to break the deadlock.
Lucy Alrn...
There’s no way she’d create an unsolvable maze.
Even in the second chamber, she’d left plenty of hints to reveal that the wolf was an illusion. Surely, there must be some clue hidden here as well.
“I’d like to go back and inspect the initial hallway again. If there’s nothing here, then the clues must be there.”
Looking back, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of this earlier.
Knowing Lucy, she wouldn’t design that initial hallway without a reason.
“But to get out of here, I’d have to... injure myself.”
As Arthur debated the need for self-inflicted injury, a piece of paper appeared before him as if in response to his thoughts.
[If you wish to exit the dungeon, please follow the procedure below.]
Arthur smirked, realizing Lucy had anticipated such situations and created a safe exit procedure.
Curious, he turned the paper over, hoping for an unexpected clue left by Lucy.
[Did you really expect something here?♡ Feel proud of your “keen observation skills”?♡ Puhaha♡ You’re so dumb♡ Of course I wouldn’t put any shortcuts here during the finals♡ If you love shortcuts so much, you’ll stay a loser forever♡]
Arthur crumpled the paper and incinerated it with a small fire spell, making yet another vow to humble Lucy in return.