Chapter 481 Back to the Starting Point

Hulim Heyerar lifted her head and stared back up at the spot where they had fallen.

All she saw was a gray stone door hanging in the pitch-black sky, and behind it, the one-eyed monstrosity was glaring daggers at them.

It seemed unable to come out from that door……

“Are we safe now?”

Miko was less suspicious by nature.

She turned and asked:

“Prarlulu, have we reached a deeper layer?”

“I need to sense it first. Give me a moment.”

With that, Prarlulu closed her eyes.

But after only a few seconds,

she snapped them open in shock.

“Impossible!? We’re still——”

Crack!

The ground beneath their feet suddenly split open.

“……the exact same place.”

The idyllic scene of singing birds and blooming flowers shattered in an instant.

The four of them plummeted into the unknown darkness……

……

Who knew how much time had passed.

Thud!

Their bodies hit a cold, hard surface.

The impact was mild, roughly equivalent to falling from a height of about one meter.

Hulim stood up at once, on guard against her surroundings.

“Are you all alright?”

“I’m fine.” Miko replied quickly.

“I…… I’m okay too.” Prarlulu rubbed her bottom, eyes glistening with tears.

“……”

“What about Hena? Is she hurt?”

“I think she’s alright?”

Hulim glanced at Hena on Miko’s back.

Because Miko had kept her tail wrapped tightly around Hena’s waist, the girl had not fallen off even through the collapse.

And yet……

“I can’t escape, can’t escape, can’t escape……”

Hena repeated the disturbing phrase over and over, looking as if her mind had broken.

“Say, Hulim…… doesn’t this place feel familiar to you?”

Prarlulu said suddenly, her voice trembling with unease.

“Not just familiar……”

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Hulim walked to the nearest wall, touched it with her hand, then looked up at the dim, grayed sky.

“This is the labyrinth we were in before. The walls are just a darker shade of gray.”

“Eh!!? Then we’ve circled back to the starting point!”

“Why are you so surprised…… you literally just said we were still in the same place.”

“Uh…… right.”

“Wait……” Miko suddenly realized something. “If this is still the labyrinth, doesn’t that mean the monster will show up again?”

“It will, most likely……”

Tap, tap, tap……

At that moment, a strange set of footsteps echoed nearby.

All three tensed up immediately.

“It’s here. Close by.”

“Is…… is it that monster? But the sound is different this time.”

Prarlulu said nervously.

A dark figure emerged from around a labyrinth corner.

The second she laid eyes on it, Prarlulu felt goosebumps crawl from her toes to the top of her head.

“Gurgluh~!”

The creature made unintelligible noises nonstop. Its face was covered in scarlet, bulging eyes. Though still large, it was noticeably smaller than the previous monster—and far more visually horrifying.

Buzz! Buzz!

Crimson light flared.

Boom——!

“Gurl!”

This new monster moved at an astonishing speed; Hulim’s attack only grazed its shoulder.

“Roar——!!!”

The monster let out a shriek and charged straight for Hulim at full sprint.

At this speed, it would reach her long before its body could be fully annihilated.

Shriek!

A pitch-black, vicious claw sliced through the air straight for her face.

Boom——!

At the very last second, crimson light exploded again.

At point-blank range, the light struck the monster directly in the head. Everything above its neck vanished in the glow.

A few seconds later, the monster’s entire body dissolved away completely.

“Phew……”

Hulim exhaled slowly.

That was close.

She had nearly been injured……

“Hulim, are you okay?!”

Miko had been terrified by the close call, and she hurried to ask.

“I’m unharmed.”

Hulim replied calmly.

“But this thing is growing more dangerous by the minute. We should avoid fighting it as much as possible and focus on finding a way out.”

After that,

the group moved through the labyrinth.

Before leaving the area, Hulim glanced back at the spot where the monster had disappeared.

A new doubt crept into her mind.

She wondered if the monster had always been capable of evolving like this, or if it had changed specifically to counter her.

If it was the former, things were manageable.

But if it was the latter……

that was deeply troubling.

In the worst-case scenario, the entity had begun to perceive the flaws in her Annihilation Divine Light.

……

“Roar!”

Deep inside the labyrinth,

the young girls were running for their lives in a desperate maze escape.

Behind them, the roar of the terrifying monster never let up, always hot on their trail.

Though it was only ever on their trail……

“Hulim, there’s another sign up ahead!”

Miko called out in warning.

“Follow the sign.”

Hulim said without hesitation.

It was their only option for now. They had tried ignoring the directions several times already, and every single time, it led straight to a dead end, with the monster cornering them.

They had narrowly defeated it each time, but every fight had grown more perilous.

Stopping meant being caught instantly. Straying from the path meant being trapped. Fighting only made the enemy stronger.

Their only choice was to keep following the signs……

Who knew how long they had been running.

The familiar endless straight corridor appeared before them once again.

“……”

The group stood at the entrance, hesitating.

An eerie, endless path.

Even looking at it filled their hearts with unease.

“……Hulim, do we really have to go down this path again?”

Prarlulu asked, fear in her voice.

“We have no other choice, do we?”

“……”

The group broke into a run down the corridor.

The monster, which had always stayed just out of sight, finally closed in.

Hulim silently counted the distance between them,

mentally counting down.

……Three, two, one.

Shriek!

A black claw sliced through the air from behind.

“Now! Jump——!”

A burst of white light suddenly appeared ahead.

The group’s feet left the ground once more.

But this time, having braced for the fall, Hulim and Miko did not——

“Ow! That…… hurts!”

……Hulim and Miko did not hit the ground.

“Just as I expected.”

The same familiar, sunlit pastoral realm.

It looked beautiful, but not a single trace of warmth could be felt—only an indescribable coldness.

And Hulim’s premonition had come true.

“No way! Why are we back here again?!”

Prarlulu climbed up, rubbing her nose, and stared at the scene in utter disbelief.

“……”

Hulim lifted her head and stared at the door hanging in midair.

The multi-eyed abomination was staring at them from behind the door, looking positively resentful.

“Quite the act you’re putting on.”

“……”

As if it had heard her words, the monster’s petulant expression vanished instantly, replaced by a gaze of icy, unfeeling malice.

Then,

it let out a sudden, sinister grin.

Crack.

The ground beneath Hulim’s feet shattered at the same moment.

The group plummeted into the deep darkness once more.