Chapter 17

Reflected in his eyes was my own figure.

Was it Dia’s eyes that were pleading for help?

Or was it my own?

I couldn’t tell in that split second.

But I was certain of one thing.

The one who had been unconsciously seeking help all along was me.

It didn’t matter who it was. As long as I wasn’t alone, that was enough. No matter how much I tried to act tough, I hated being alone in a world like this.

It just so happened that the one I found was Diablo Sith.

Since he looked like he was about to die when we met, I reached out, thinking I could easily win him over. Then, for better or worse, we became companions. If I wasn’t mistaken, I think we had even become friends of the same age.

If a companion like Dia died here, I would be alone in the Labyrinth once more.

I’m not just talking about being inside this dim Labyrinth.

Within the infinitely expanding labyrinth of this different world, I would be left without a single ally.

Once you’ve tasted the comfort of being with another person, the terror of solitude swells manifold.

So, there was the pure desire to save a friend like Dia.

And there was the selfish desire to protect the one I depended on.

Two feelings, the pure and the tainted, filled my heart.

Those overflowing emotions, having nowhere else to go, drove my body into motion.

“Get away—!!”

I parried the blade that was about to take Dia’s head with the third strike, slamming my entire weight into Teida to force him back.

Then, I rushed to Dia, who had collapsed face-down. The moment I saw his profile—my heart leaped in my chest.

His eyes were hollow, devoid of any sign of life.

In front of him lay his severed right arm, still tightly clutching the precious sword.

He stared at it fixedly, lost in a state of dazed shock.

From the end of his severed arm, a massive amount of blood was pouring out.

I could tell that with every passing second, death was drawing closer.

“I’m surprised… The way humans help each other is beautiful. It is precisely because it is futile that it is all the more radiant…”

Teida swayed as he steadied his stance, appraising Dia’s struggle.

To this nihilist, Dia’s actions seemed to be a welcome sight. He approached as if he were about to applaud.

The killing intent radiating from him, however, made it clear that while he offered praise, he had no intention of showing mercy.

I leveled my sword and thought.

I focused only on killing this monster.

To save the heavily wounded Dia, I had to kill this thing as fast as humanly possible.

Fortunately, the exaltation that had been clouding my judgment had turned entirely into terror.

However, it wasn’t a fear for my own death, but a fear for the death of my friend.

My anger might boil over, but my body would never freeze again.

I kicked off the ground to shatter Teida’s frozen body.

The chances of victory were slim.

But there was one last element I could use to catch Teida off guard.

As long as I didn’t lose sight of myself and could bet everything on it, I believed there was still a possibility.

“…It seems your ‘excitement’ has turned into ‘terror.’ In that case, let me reapplying my magic—!?”

Teida looked at my face and seemed to grasp my condition.

But mid-sentence, he stared at me with eyes that looked like they were seeing the impossible.

No—to be precise, he was looking behind me—

“Holy Magic: 《Sion》.”

A voice spoke that belonged to neither Teida nor me.

Teida immediately leaped back into a defensive posture.

Confirming the enemy had put distance between us, I looked back.

Countless bubbles of light.

Spheres of light several meters in diameter filled the space until there was hardly any room left to move.

“What—Dia!?”

At the center of it all, a blood-soaked Dia was standing up.

He was glaring at Teida with hollow eyes.

Ignoring the blood pouring from his wound without end, Dia swung his stump of a right arm to the side.

Fresh blood drew an arc across the ground.

In sync with that movement, the countless bubbles of light began to rage.

The swarm of bubbles became a torrential current, swallowing both Teida and me.

At the same time, the pressure of mana bore down on me.

The light bubbles themselves had no physical force, but I realized they had the effect of interfering with mana. The 《Dimension》 magic deployed around me began to distort.

Dia continued to chant his spells.

“Holy Magic: 《Cure Full》. Holy Magic: 《Strasfield》. Holy Magic: 《Divine Arrow》. 《Divine Arrow》. 《Divine Arrow》.”

Holy Magic.

This was Dia’s most proficient skill.

Dia’s true magic—

That magic was almost indiscriminate.

The healing magic stanched Dia’s bleeding, mended my cuts, and even cast a light upon Teida himself.

Meanwhile, the offensive magic was unleashed throughout the labyrinth without a fixed target.

It was frantic.

Anyone watching could tell he was in a state of frenzy.

While I could feel his animosity toward our enemy Teida, there was no consideration for me as his ally.

Understanding this, I put distance between myself and Dia.

At the same time, I rejoiced at the opportunity.

Regardless of how it happened, Dia’s bleeding had stopped. Whether there had been some restriction on his use of Holy Magic until now, or if he had simply never used it before, I didn’t know. What was certain, however, was that Teida’s composure had vanished.

Teida’s fluid body had stiffened under the influence of the light bubble magic. Even now, I could see him desperately dodging the myriad spells filling the air.

I took my eyes off Dia and sprinted straight toward Teida.

If I happened to be hit by one of Dia’s spells along the way, then so be it.

I bet everything on this final assault.

My vision was tinted red, and the taste of iron filled my mouth.

My legs were heavy as lead, and I had lost all sensation in my arms.

My body had long since pushed past its limits.

Even so, I funneled every bit of the healing Dia provided into my limbs.

Teida spotted me closing in rapidly.

Realizing immediately that I was making a desperate, suicidal charge, he took a combat stance.

I threw myself forward with such momentum that I didn’t care where Teida’s blade struck me, so long as it wasn’t the hand holding my sword.

Teida saw through my intent and swung his arm-blade toward the hand holding my sword. In my reckless state, I couldn’t avoid it. I had leaned too far forward, and my speed was too high.

—The blade slashed across the back of my hand, and I dropped the sword.

Without a sword, I couldn’t deal a fatal blow.

Teida understood this, and his face twisted into a victorious smirk.

—But it was all according to plan. I used that wounded hand to grab Teida’s blade.

A look of shock washed over Teida’s face.

He tried to pull the blade away, but my tight grip held it fast.

Then, with my free left hand, I pulled a spare sword from my “Inventory.”

Using the momentum of the retrieval, the sword sliced clean through Teida’s neck, separating it from his torso.

Teida’s head went flying.

The sensation wasn’t like cutting through water; it was the feel of cutting through flesh. Thanks to the freezing magic and the light magic, he had completely solidified, transmitting a firm tactile response to my hand.

Teida’s torso lost its strength and collapsed to the ground.

I hacked at his limbs and pierced his heart. Not knowing what might happen next, I delivered as many follow-up strikes to the torso as I could.

Finally, I turned my eyes toward Teida’s fallen head.

Lying on the ground, Teida’s head was looking at me.

His expression was one of surprise… yet at the same time, he looked joyful.

Even as just a head, Teida spoke.

“—Ah, ha… It’s… your victory.”

Following that declaration, the spells raging in the corridor fell silent.

Looking back, I saw Dia on his knees, suffering.

Perhaps seeing his arch-enemy carved to pieces had caused his fervor to fade. He was clutching his head, likely feeling the backlash of using magic that had far exceeded his limits.

“Haah… haah… haah—! Y-yes, it seems it’s our win…!”

I resumed the breathing that had been stopped for so long and made my own declaration of victory. Then, I raised my sword to deliver the final blow.

“Thank you, that was fun. The last magic brought back memories.”

Teida laughed happily at his own defeat.

The end had been surprisingly abrupt.

A surprise attack using the “Inventory” system. Even Teida hadn’t expected a sword to appear out of thin air.

“With this, my wish has been granted… As I thought, you were the ones to fulfill it… If you can, keep going and grant Alti’s… ah, the fire girl from before… grant her wish too, won’t… you…?”

Slowly, what remained of his head began to turn into mere liquid. He could no longer form his mouth properly, and his words became a raspy whisper.

“We were enemies trying to kill each other… even if you tell me that…”

“Ha… haha, well… that’s… true. Of course. Ha… haha—”

Teida laughed. And with those final words, he turned to sand.

The remaining sand quickly transformed into light and vanished.

After watching it disappear, I lowered my raised sword.

In the wake of the light, a single black gemstone remained. I picked it up and examined it.

Having confirmed the enemy’s annihilation and the safety of the item, I let out a breath and ran toward Dia.

Dia was crouched on the ground.

It was just like when we first met.

Checking his HP with “Display,” it didn’t look like he was about to die this second. However, due to his bleeding, several pools of blood had formed in the room. Normally, it would be strange for someone to even be breathing with that much blood loss. It was obvious he needed medical treatment immediately.

I put my swords and other gear into my “Inventory” and picked Dia up.

He was unnervingly light. I knew he was small, but this felt abnormal. It was almost as if the blood he lost had emptied out his very core.

“…Ch-Christ, I’m sorry. …Truly, I’m sorry.”

His breathing was ragged and his eyes wouldn’t open, but he still seemed to sense my presence. Held in my arms, Dia kept apologizing like he was talking in his sleep.

“Let’s just get home first. No telling what might happen.”

I noticed the black flames that had sealed the room had vanished at some point. At the same time, I thought about how the boss who used those flames might show up, so I decided we couldn’t afford to stand around.

“Dia, it looks like we can leave right away. You can relax.”

Hearing that, Dia stopped apologizing and lost consciousness.

The sudden loss of consciousness made me panic for a moment, but I was relieved to find he was still breathing.

Then, I began the trek back along the “Main Path” toward the labyrinth’s exit, never letting my guard down.

I was in bad shape too.

But if I lost consciousness here, all our hard work would go down the drain.

I kept my resolve strong and continued walking the path shown by the gemstone.

I had the misfortune of encountering a monster along the way, but I set Dia down and dealt with it using magic and my sword. I had no desire to die because I was being stingy, so I didn’t hesitate to shave off more of my maximum HP.

As a result, both Dia and I managed to escape the labyrinth without losing our lives.

Having overcome the “Trial” of the 20th-floor boss, “The One Who Steals the Dark Principle,” we returned to the surface.