Chapter 228 – Labyrinth and Records (Two)

Flip─

The fingers flipping through the pages quickly reached the front.

Obsess’s notebook was filled not with the Doctor’s orders, but with diary entries.

[Finally, someone has appeared who will take us away! A big hat and mask! I couldn’t see their face, but they must be a very! incredibly kind person! They said they would adopt all six of us, not just one. I guess I should call them Father now? My friend Philia! And I’m so glad I won’t have to be separated from my older and younger siblings!]

Neat and straight handwriting.

It seemed to be a diary from her childhood, when she lived in an orphanage with other executives.

Flip─

[Father is a strange person. He actually praises the behaviors I got scolded for by the Headmaster. Like when I wouldn’t lend things to my friends, acting greedy, or when Philia couldn’t contain her curiosity and rummaged through various rooms. No matter what, he just smiles and pats our heads.]

Flip─

At first, the intervals between diary entries were a few days, but they gradually widened, skipping large chunks of time as it went on.

[Life in the laboratory is more bearable than I thought. It’s sad and disappointing that I can’t see my friends anymore… but I have to overcome it bravely!]

Flip─

[All the researchers are kind. They never get angry, and if I say I need something, they give me anything. Father said it’s because he set their emotions to be favorable, but what does that mean?]

Flip─ Flip─

[I’m frustrated. How many years has it been here? I want to see sunlight. Father said that once the experiment is over, I’ll be able to travel the outside world as much as I want… but will the experiment ever end?]

Flip─ Flip─

[I see things I couldn’t see when I was young. The first thing I realized is that Father isn’t as relaxed as he seems. He always conducted experiments as if he were being chased. Looking back, it’s been like that since the old days. Muttering like a habit, ‘before that person returns.’]

Flip─ Flip─

Flip─ Flip─

Flip─ Flip─

[When did time become like this…? It feels like my memories have been cut off. Did I… have a child? If I did, where are they now…?]

Flip─

Flip─

Flip─

[Father, who visited after several years, said this. Stop all the tasks I’m currently performing. In the photo he handed me, there was a child. At first, I thought it was a black-and-white photo, but I soon realized their hair and skin were just white.]

[He said they’re heading to a place called the Last Forest. Eliminate the child in the photo. If the destination is indeed a forest, burn it all down and erase it.]

[Is it that person? At my question, Father slowly nodded. Revealing a wariness I had never seen before.]

Thud.

The boy closed the notebook.

He focused his mind on the Presence calling him from somewhere in the labyrinth.

Thump.

His heart throbbed in Resonance with the Presence.

It was exactly the same sensation as when he stood before the underground staircase of the ruins.

‘There were Stone Tablets and Murals underground. Thanks to Vicious not discovering them, they remained intact and untouched.’

If the identity of the Presence he felt now was another set of Murals and Stone Tablets.

Then the reason the Doctor wanted to burn down the forest would naturally be explained.

…What is it.

What exactly does the Doctor want to hide from me?

Sssss─

“……”

The vines and stems that gradually began to block the path roused Ray from his thoughts.

One thing was certain: he had to reach the place where the Presence was felt before the newly opened paths closed.

Ray closed his eyes and focused his senses on the flow of Mana in the area.

───.

A feeling like being submerged in deep water.

The subtle movements drawn by the currents of Mana were felt through his skin.

Where it was blocked and turned back.

Where it split and merged.

…Normally, he could grasp the structure of the surrounding space using this method.

‘But now, the labyrinth is too vast.’

Beyond vast, it was expansive.

Considering the circumference and height of the World Tree’s trunk, it seemed comparable to combining several Sectors.

He infused Mana into the compass the Elf outside had given him.

Dong──!

The generated sound advanced through the passage ahead, then hit the opposite Wall and returned after a while.

The distance indicated on the compass was 83 meters.

It seemed quite precise in function, but due to its slow operation, it wasn’t a suitable tool given the time constraints now.

Placing his palm on the labyrinth Wall, he asked.

‘Are you sleeping?’

No answer came, as expected.

‘Lacria is still resting.’

Having concluded, Ray took out the two wriggling creatures from his pocket onto his palm.

“I think I’ll need your help.”

The shrews showed no reaction.

They were too busy taking Seeds from the pouch on their belly to eat.

When he tried tapping their long noses as Gwendel had instructed, they waved their tiny hands as if telling him not to disturb them.

Squeak squeak!

“Oh.”

Once more.

Squeak!

“Oh.”

Once again.

Crunch!

“My finger isn’t food. I guess we’re not close enough for me to ask a favor while you’re still busy?”

Ray detached the one hanging from his finger and waited for them to finish eating.

Even after taking out and eating all the Seeds from the pouch, the shrews wandered around his palm as if searching for something.

‘Still hungry, huh.’

Click!

He took out carrots and potatoes from his bag, chopped them into small pieces, and gave them.

He could see the shrews eating contentedly, their cheeks puffing up.

‘They eat well.’

Munch─

When he took out jerky and started chewing, the shrews suddenly twitched their long noses and looked over.

“Want some?”

Seeing their great curiosity, he gave them a small piece.

At first, they cautiously sniffed it for a while, but after taking a bite, they soon started chewing frantically with wide eyes.

In an instant, they finished the given amount and then poured out the carrot and potato pieces from their cheeks and pouch.

…….

…….

And then, they stared intently at the long piece of jerky Ray held in his hand.

A flowing silence.

Understanding the situation wasn’t difficult.

“You have a developed sense of smell, right?”

The hand holding the jerky like a baton was raised toward the ceiling.

The shrews, standing on their hind legs, twitched their noses incessantly while looking at the jerky.

“I’m looking for a Stone Tablet with inscriptions. It’s different from other stones. It’s made of a hard material that doesn’t break under any Magic or external attacks. Also, an important characteristic is that it smells like dry leaves.”

The outstretched hand drew a parabolic arc as it descended, and the end of the jerky pointed toward the far end of the passage.

“If you find it, I’ll give you a suitable reward─.”

Tap tap tap! Taptaptap!

“─so.”

The shrews had already descended to the ground and were running far away.

The founder of the Jerky Cult, who had cruelly corrupted natural Spirits, cast Enhancement Magic on himself and chased after them.

Thud! Tap tap! Taptaptap!

The heated footsteps echoing through the labyrinth.

Even if their grade is low, a Spirit is still a Spirit, right?

The shrews’ speed was comparable to that of beasts running at full force.

Turning corners without rest.

Climbing slopes, descending.

Sometimes, they even transformed into Spirit Form to pass through Walls.

Thud!

The first few times, he almost lost them.

However, as he grew accustomed to the unique Mana wavelengths emitted by the two Spirits, keeping up became less difficult.

So.

‘If I organize the content of the Murals I saw underground in the ruins…’

To the point where he could think other thoughts while running.

Countless images flashed through his mind.

A world that existed only in black and white.

A figure walking out from under a Rainbow.

Beams of light spreading across the world.

Landscapes painted with diverse colors.

Ancient races gaining expressions.

A world rapidly developing with the power of the seven light fragments.

Magic growing stronger and the Black Cloud.

Malice toward each other, and war.

‘The Murals ended with the scene of the figure holding the indigo light fragment being surrounded by those holding the other six fragments. What happened after that? Could the continuation be in this labyrinth…?’

As he ran through the passage, Ray noticed vines stretching toward him.

Sssss!

He dodged several times, but the approaching vines were endless.

Why was the World Tree?

For a moment, he thought it was attacking, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t it.

The vines only swayed as they came close, showing no further movement.

…Does it have something to say?

Slowing his pace, he grabbed a vine draped before him.

At that moment.

“……!”

The boy felt as if some sensation within his body was reversed.

Looking around, the world was dyed entirely in black and white.

Before he could grasp the situation, an urgent shout came from behind.

─The Wizards of the Red Citadel have invaded! Redran, that man broke his promise!

─The Elnain Forest too! The Drun Forest has also been destroyed! This place is the last! Defend it with your lives! Otherwise, there will be no place left on this land where we can set foot and live!

Ray turned his head.

Behind the passage.

In the black-and-white world, vividly glowing green forms immediately caught his eye.

Elves with long ears, their momentum as they ran toward him was tremendous.

There was no time to wonder where they came from.

He moved close to the Wall to avoid collision, but the number of opponents was too many, and the passage was narrow.

‘We’ll have to collide.’

Whoosh!

He quickly used a Ward.

But what unfolded the next moment was completely different from his expectations.

The Elves passed right through his body and disappeared toward the far end of the passage.

Or they disappeared through the Wall to an unreachable place.

“Spirit Form…?”

He shook his head immediately.

Although the Elves were entirely tinged with green, no Mana could be felt from them.

─Hurry! Hold out somehow until reinforcements arrive!

─The despicable humans of the Red Citadel! Do you think we Elves will be easily defeated by the likes of you!

After that, several groups of Elves passed through his body a few more times, and Ray came up with a highly plausible guess about the situation.

‘The World Tree is showing me a scene it witnessed in the past.’

He couldn’t be sure exactly, but it seemed he had traveled back in time enough to reach a point in the Ancient Era.

Beyond the labyrinth Wall, far in the distance.

A forest composed of black and white stretched endlessly in all directions.

There, countless red forms and green forms were engaged in a fierce battle, casting Magic at each other.

As if that location were not the labyrinth but a village outside.

‘…The landscapes are overlapping.’

The World Tree in the past must have been smaller than it is now.

A significant portion of what now forms the labyrinth would have originally been village grounds.

Thinking that way, it wasn’t hard to understand the forest unfolding beyond the labyrinth Wall.

Thud thud thud thud!

‘But the path I’m running on now must have existed in the past too. Seeing that the landscapes don’t overlap.’

Ray spurred on his sprint.

The Presence within the labyrinth grew stronger the more he ran, and now he could sense its location even without the Spirits’ guidance.

‘The location is the center of the labyrinth.’

The destination wasn’t far.

His heart began to pound.

Then, Ray sensed someone running toward him from the far end of the passage.

‘An Elf? No, different from before.’

The moment he confirmed the color of the person he met at the intersection, goosebumps rose all over the boy’s body.

The other was draped in the rarest color in the world.