Episode 11

A massive door stood out with an otherworldly presence. Van and the others were gathered before a room that felt fundamentally wrong.

“Hey… this is kinda… you know—”

“…Unfair.”

“The Sage did it. Don’t complain.”

They hadn’t reached this place by overcoming countless trials. Glanz’s magic had simply carried them straight to the depths in one jump.

“I’ve already completed the dungeon analysis. We didn’t come here for an adventure. If you’re going to clear a dungeon, the fastest way is to defeat the boss.”

A new spell—combining Glanz’s search, spatial grasp, and teleportation—had brought them directly before the boss room.

“Going all the way to the deepest point would be ideal, but… this room seems special.”

A space cut off from everything else. Glanz explained that opening the door would connect separated spaces and make the room manifest.

“From here on, things won’t work the same way. Everyone… are you prepared?”

“Prepared or not… Glanz-san, are you okay on mana? You’ve gotta be spending a lot.”

“Ho-ho… this old man’s still got it.”

After confirming everyone’s resolve, he opened the door.

The boss room had a high ceiling choked with plants, and the whole arena was circular.

“…A monkey?”

“Size-wise it’s a monster… and it’s huge.”

In the center stood an ape-type monster. It was enormous, with a tail longer than its own body, and it held a disc-like object in one hand.

“I’ve never seen this monster before. Everyone, stay alert.”

“Got it. We’ll do it by the book!”

Eris pulled out a short staff and buffed the whole party. Her rapid-cast spellwork was impressive.

“I can feel power surging. Feluart, let’s go!”

“Guess I should work for once.”

Van drew his sword. Feluart raised the gauntlet on his arm.

Two front-liners, Eris as support, Glanz and Atri in the back—balanced formation.

“U-UKYAAAHHHHAAAA—!”

“W-What the—?!”

The giant ape suddenly erupted, used its tail like a spring, and leapt into the air. It wrapped its tail around the hanging vines near the ceiling, suspending itself overhead.

“Everyone, be on guard! It’s about to do something!”

As the disc in its hand began to spin, the room changed.

“The whole room turned blue… Ugh, this feels gross.”

“This is…”

The ape stared down with huge eyes, looking from person to person as if studying them.

“…No need to play along with a monkey. One hit, and it’s over.”

Atri began weaving a spell to finish it while it hung there—exactly as she declared.

“!?—”

“Hey?! What’s wrong, Atri?!”

Van rushed to her. Atri swung her staff desperately, but there was no sign of magic forming. She tried to say something—yet no words came out.

“Y-You can’t talk?! What the hell is happening?!”

“This is magic sealing… Everyone, refrain from using magic!”

Eris, about to cast another support spell, stopped in a panic. Unlike Atri, she could still speak.

“Glanz-san! What’s happening to Atri?!”

“It’s likely another gimmick. Atri-san—your magic doesn’t work, and you can’t speak. Any other symptoms?”

Atri shook her head. Glanz’s calm questioning helped her steady herself.

“Van, get it together! If you lose it, what are you going to do?!”

“Damn it… I know.”

“That ape doesn’t look like it’s coming down.”

The ape moved across the ceiling with its tail. With magic sealed, their options were limited. Eris threw daggers, but the distance made it hard to land hits.

Then the dungeon shifted again.

In time with the spinning disc, the room’s color changed.

“Now it’s red… What is this?”

“There has to be a pattern.”

The ape suddenly dove straight at them. It grabbed the disc with its tail, and in both hands it held black stones, striking them together to throw sparks.

“This is… a breath attack!”

It roared—an inferno spiral rushed toward them. Thanks to Glanz’s warning, they all evaded, but the heat still burned them.

“Hot?! Why can it breathe fire?! Cheap monkey!”

“It’s tied to the room color, obviously…”

They retreated warily— but one person slipped behind the monster.

“!? When did Van—”

“I can read the flow of fire! And you’ll pay for Atri too… Scarlet Sword: Draw Slash!”

Van’s full-power strike landed. He poured mana to the limit into an iaido-style slash—

—GAKIIIN!

A piercing sound rang out. Then silence, like time froze.

“Huh…?”

He should have cut it. He wasn’t arrogant—he was certain from experience.

But his blade was stopped dead by the monster’s body.

That single stunned heartbeat delayed his reaction—

“V-UKYAAAHHHHAAA!”

The ape slammed into him and blasted him into the wall.

At the same moment, the disc spun loudly again, and the room shifted from red to gray.

“Van?! What now?! …Even a simple healing spell—I can—”

“Don’t! Don’t move carelessly. Predict from its behavior. This space is likely affecting the enemy too.”

The ape sprinted circles around them, making huge motions, taunting.

“Even if you say that… this monkey’s annoying! Magic’s sealed, the sword didn’t work—what are we supposed to do?!”

Atri still couldn’t speak. With her magic sealed, she was fully muted.

“…So what now, Sage?”

“I already have a hypothesis. I just need confirmation… There’s no need to rush. We take Van-san and withdraw for now—”

“Running away with our tail between our legs? Pathetic against a beast.”

A contemptuous voice cut in—unchanged from five years ago, dripping with superiority.

A normal person would be furious, but what Glanz felt was something else.

“…I never imagined we’d meet again in a place like this.”

“Relaxed, aren’t you? Or just stupid? This is no time to be carefree.”

“I’ve learned to keep my composure. Your presence will change the battle dramatically.”

A new figure had appeared. The ape instinctively backed away.

“Relying on others is how weaklings think.”

“That may be true. But… I don’t think of you as ‘others.’”

Glanz narrowed his eyes with genuine joy as he looked at Zeke—now grown from boy to young man.

Noble attire that didn’t belong in a dungeon.

A calm face before a boss monster.

The sudden arrival drew reactions:

One forgot his pain and stared wide-eyed.

One’s emotions flared at the sight of a goal.

One refocused, ready to support at any moment.

Zeke changed the air in an instant.

The scenario began to move.

Gray covered everything. It felt slightly better than red or blue, but it was still a dungeon gimmick—no one relaxed.

“Be careful. That monkey’s troublesome.”

“Hmph. For a low-tier adventurer like you, it’s too much.”

“…Save the insults. I’ll be quick, so listen.”

Eris summarized the situation, with Glanz adding details.

Atri tried to tell Zeke something, but still couldn’t speak.

“I don’t need your clumsy support or half-baked info. Watch. And understand how incompetent you are.”

Zeke walked toward the monster—truly going solo.

“Seriously, your mouth is as bad as ever… And you even knew the Sage. Feluart—that’s the rumored A-rank adventurer… Feluart?”

Feluart had gone silent the moment Zeke appeared.

He was staring at Zeke with pure hatred.

“Feluart…?”

Eris’s voice didn’t reach him.

Good or bad, everyone’s eyes were on Zeke.

“That mana quality… healing magic?”

“Too much power for a beast. Cry tears of joy—Quick Hylenz.”

Zeke attacked with healing magic. Not recovery magic—healing magic, stronger by nature—cast onto the monster.

“He can use magic normally?! And why is he healing the enemy?!”

“…No—look closely.”

The healing light wrapped the monster—and it screamed in agony. Black smoke rose from its body.

“Gray is inversion… I can’t believe he understood it after seeing it once…”

“Inversion? What do you mean—?! Damn, it’s blue again!”

The room turned blue once more.

“Pathetic monkey tricks. It might work on idiots, but it’s meaningless against me.”

A flash from behind— the ape’s signature long tail was cleaved apart. It writhed in pain.

“Van’s sword couldn’t scratch it… I’m starting to get it.”

“Blue is conditional magic sealing. Then red must be…”

The room turned red.

A scorched, hate-filled breath erupted—but never reached Zeke.

An ice wall stopped it completely.

“Just a beast in the end. Disappear—Neverest.”

A colossal ice sword speared up from the ground, impaled the monster, stretched toward the ceiling, then shattered into fragments.

The fight ended in an instant.

As the boss monster vanished, a new door appeared—leading further beyond, to the true deepest point.

The dungeon’s unnatural colors returned to normal.

“Your insight and tactics… as expected, Zeke-san.”

“Hmph. Only because you kept dragging your feet.”

Even after the battle, Zeke wasn’t winded. To him, this had never been a threat.

“I don’t really get it, but… it’s resolved, at least—Atri, what’s wrong?!”

“—!”

Atri rushed to Zeke, pleading desperately—yet still without words.

Her seal hadn’t lifted.

“This kind of status ailment is dungeon-specific. Once we leave, it should clear.”

“Thank goodness… But what is she trying to tell you? Something feels off. Are you two acquainted?”

“Don’t know. I have no acquaintances like that creepy woman. Get out of Lagias territory already.”

Atri froze. The light drained from her eyes—her stare turned unsettlingly blank.

“I told you, Atri. He doesn’t care about you at all.”

Van limped closer, blood seeping from wounds—likely from the slam into the wall.

“I forgot you… Heal!”

Eris’s recovery magic closed Van’s injuries.

Two years ago, during the capital attack, Eris had seen countless wounded people and could do little more than basic first aid. The frustration had driven her—this recovery magic was one result of two years of training.

“You’ve got the same useless face I’ve seen somewhere before.”

“…I’m Van. Van Freak.”

The air changed.

Glanz narrowed his eyes.

“So… have you gained power worthy of that big mouth, defective?”

“I got stronger. I built power. I won’t lose to your sword again…!”

“Hmph… Do you remember what you said to me in the capital? What you’re doing now is the same as me.”

“What does that mean? Say it… If you don’t, I won’t understand.”

A dangerous tension gathered around them.

“You denied my belief that power is everything. You claimed even the weak could change things together. These people around you… is this your answer?”

“No! …I’ve trained since then. I became strong. I got strong on my own!”

“Hah. You’ve damned yourself with your own words. You can’t even uphold your beliefs—so you copy others instead. After monkey tricks comes monkey mimicry, huh?”

“Don’t lump me with you. The strength I’m aiming for isn’t the same as yours.”

Zeke sneered down at him. Van seethed.

A deep gulf stood between them.

“You’re a corrupt noble—why are you even here?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, but I’ll tell you as a special favor. I’m here on a request from the ducal house.”

At “ducal house,” one person’s face twisted.

“You’re here for what’s beyond that door too?”

Both looked toward the newly appeared door.

“Of course. But it’s got nothing to do with you—someone who can’t even handle one monkey.”

“…It does have to do with me. I need what’s ahead.”

“I won’t allow it. You won’t go any further.”

Zeke’s words—borderline hostile—tightened the room.

Van’s hand went to his sword. Feluart cracked his gauntlets.

“Hey?! What are you two planning to do?!”

“We’re fighting. For Grandpa, I can’t back down.”

“…As adventurers, this kind of moment isn’t rare. I’ll support you, Van.”

The two showed clear intent. Atri stood expressionless, and Glanz shifted a few steps away.

“Why does it come to that?! If you explain, even Zeke would—no, we don’t even know if he wants anything! You have no reason to fight!”

“I do. …Don’t get in my way.”