SRS 32

When he first entered Fantasiademia, he never imagined he’d be doing something like breaking school rules, wandering around the academy at night.

Feeling guilty, Yohan tried to calm Isaac, who was trembling right behind him. Ever since a skeleton jumped out of the bushes and attacked them moments ago, Isaac looked like he would faint at any moment.

“Yo-Yohan… we’ll be fine, right?”

“Isaac. If you were going to be this scared, you should’ve said you wanted to go back earlier.”

Yohan scolded him for being too frightened to even speak properly, but he still reached out to hold Isaac’s shaking hand.

Or, he tried to.

“So pitiful.”

If Mikael hadn’t grabbed Isaac by the back of the neck and pulled him to his side, Yohan’s hand wouldn’t have swiped through empty air. Thinking it was unusual to see Mikael take care of someone else, Yohan looked back at him, then turned his head again when he heard movement ahead.

Because it was night, the labyrinth was wrapped in an especially eerie and cold atmosphere, and footsteps different from their own echoed through it.

“Melek?”

Suhyeok whispered. He slowed his pace and stretched out a hand behind him, and the group naturally matched his speed.

“…No, it’s not Melek.”

Yohan focused all his senses and soon saw the outline of a figure in the moonlight. He shook his head.

If it wasn’t Melek, then whoever it was could only be something dangerous to Yohan and the students.

“Shh.”

Suhyeok hid them behind the hedge wall.

“Mikael. If you can use magic, use concealment.”

“It’s hard to cast on multiple people.”

“Hm. Guess you can’t?”

Mikael scoffed at the obvious provocation and snapped his fingers. Yohan felt something like an invisible curtain wrap around his body and marveled.

So this is how magic works. No one had ever used concealment magic on him before.

“You’re hidden from sight, but it won’t silence your steps.”

“Then everyone be quiet.”

Suhyeok put a finger on his lips.

Tap, tap.

The owner of the footsteps approached in the silence. Yohan only realized what it was when it came close.

It was a wraith.

With its shoulders drooped, the wraith walked weakly and slowly passed by them.

“Intruder… intruder… intruder… intruder…”

The muttering as it walked by gave them chills. The skeleton from earlier, and now this wraith, both seemed to be searching for an intruder in the maze.

Maybe Melek’s group got caught and the patrol got stricter.

Yohan guessed that and only moved after the wraith had gone far enough. Mikael lifted the concealment.

“For reference, it’s hard to use it multiple times, so only ask when it’s urgent.”

“How many more times can you do it?”

“Three.”

“…Not many.”

Everyone was tense as they explored the labyrinth again. To avoid getting lost, Suhyeok reached into the bushes and folded several leaves, but the path seemed to be shifting, so Yohan wasn’t sure it meant anything.

Trying to shake off the trembling in his hands, Yohan flicked them once, then poked Mikael.

“You’ve been in here before?”

“Hm… I knew there was a labyrinth among the night illusions, but this is my first time entering it.”

“That’s unexpected.”

“…When I look at you, you tend to think of me as too much of a troublemaker.”

“Aren’t you one?”

“That’s what I mean by careless.”

“……?”

Yohan tilted his head at Mikael’s reaction. He wanted to ask what was careless, but Mikael wasn’t looking his way and didn’t seem like he’d answer anything at the moment.

Then Suhyeok crouched down and placed his hands on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“He’s scanning the path. He can tell if something dangerous is within his ability’s range.”

Kylus explained in his place. Yohan was impressed by hunter abilities anew, then heard Suhyeok groan and approached him.

“Is something wrong?”

“…Yes. The path keeps changing, so it’s not helping. The danger I sensed one second ago shows up in a completely different spot the next second, and something that was right in front of me a moment ago looks like it vanished in a few seconds. …It’s tricky.”

Hearing his friend sound uncharacteristically defeated, Yohan looked around the garden. His feeling that the path kept changing wasn’t just his imagination.

Yohan looked down at the watch on his wrist.

“We still have about ten minutes. Should we just go back?”

“We’ve come this far. It’d be a waste to go back without doing anything.”

“Then?”

“It’ll be rough, but let’s move while I use my ability every second. I’ll scan the path from behind. Kylus, you take the lead and block if an enemy shows up.”

The two switched places. Yohan watched Suhyeok take one step, touch the ground, order them to run to a marked spot, then stop a few seconds later to touch the ground again and use his ability. Yohan realized Suhyeok was actually a pretty responsible person.

Since he was the one who dragged them out, he intended to guide them properly no matter what.

“Stop for a moment.”

Yohan and the others halted mid-run at the command. Suhyeok pulled a wire from his belt, stood beside Kylus, and stared ahead.

“What’s wrong?”

“We can’t avoid what’s coming. There’s no escape route.”

Yohan didn’t need to ask what that meant. The moment Suhyeok finished speaking, Yohan also saw the approaching enemy.

At first he thought they could just ask Mikael for concealment again, but once he saw what was coming, he let out a bitter laugh.

Against something like that… concealment would only waste Mikael’s remaining magic uses and put them at risk.

The enemy appeared, its eyes covered but its ears huge and green to the point of being creepy. Its head looked five times larger than its body, and its long arms supported that massive weight as it plodded toward them. The creature flinched, then bared its teeth savagely.

“Intruder, intruder!”

It shouted.

“Kylus!”

Suhyeok ran forward. Matching his timing, Kylus charged in and brought down his sword. A flash streaked through the air and one of its arms fell. Suhyeok caught the remaining arm with a wire and restrained it.

“Mikael! Silen…”

Before Suhyeok even finished speaking, Mikael had already used a silencing spell on the creature. Unable to make a sound, it struggled frantically. The two men overpowered it with brute force and slammed it down.

Suhyeok bound the creature tightly with his wire, then pulled out tape from his subspace pouch and sealed its mouth. When he signaled that it was done, Mikael lifted the spell.

“Haa…”

Yohan approached the students who had taken down the monster in an instant and healed their injuries.

“Are we going on?”

“Of course.”

Suhyeok grinned. He didn’t look frightened even after fighting that grotesque enemy. Yohan shook his head. Since they only had a little time left, he decided to just follow them a bit more.

“I, I can use magic too. I’ll help next time.”

Isaac, still trembling, finally spoke up with some courage. Yohan, Suhyeok, and Kylus looked at him, then weakly smiled and nodded.

Whether he’d be useful was still a mystery, but compared to how he almost fainted earlier, it was impressive he could even speak up at all.

They resumed exploring. Maybe they had adapted in that short time, because Suhyeok’s instructions became faster and more precise. Thanks to that, Yohan was walking through the labyrinth at remarkable speed when a small sound from his watch made him stop.

It was 2 in the morning.

They hadn’t found Melek or the lair or anything else, but it was time to return as promised. Yohan was just about to call out to the two running ahead when something happened.

Yohan froze as he saw the light pouring out in front of them. At some point, Suhyeok and Kylus had reached a glowing path and stopped there.

Starting exactly where those two stood, beams of light rose from the ground. Even at a glance, it was extraordinary.

“Let’s go.”

Mikael tapped Yohan’s back and pointed his chin forward. Yohan forgot about turning back and walked toward the light. His intuition told him that something important would be lost if they left now.

When everyone gathered at the glowing path, Suhyeok took a deep breath and looked at them.

“From here on, I can’t detect anything with my ability. It’s probably dangerous. But…”

He stepped into the light and grinned.

“You’re coming, right?”

As if answering a question that didn’t allow doubt, Kylus stepped forward. Mikael followed, and Isaac too.

“Yohan.”

Yohan looked at Mikael’s outstretched hand. Realizing they’d come too far to retreat, he took his hand.

Whoosh.

Pulled forward by Mikael’s grip, Yohan moved into the light. A wall emerged behind them, blocking the way back. Shocked, Yohan stopped and touched it.

“What is this…”

“Since we entered, it means we shouldn’t think about leaving until we achieve our goal.”

Kylus stated his guess calmly and tightened his hold on his sword. Yohan realized that only he and Isaac were unsettled by the blocked exit, and decided that if it had come to this, they should see it through. He comforted Isaac and followed the other three.

They continued walking along the glowing path until a large building came into view. Three massive golems were sleeping in front of it. They tried to slip past quietly when…

“Ahhhh!”

The area suddenly turned chaotic as familiar students fell screaming out of thin air.

It was Melek and his group.

“Those idiots…!”

Suhyeok exclaimed in horror, drawing his sword. Kylus gathered his energy.

Thud…

The gigantic golems stirred at the noise. The situation flipped completely in seconds, and Yohan let out a hollow laugh.

“…This is insane.”

The golems’ eyes lit up with a hostile light. It didn’t look like they’d be entering the building peacefully anymore.