“Then we’ll begin. Pengerine, Wardanaz. If the magic goes outside our calculations, assist as the situation requires.”

“Understood.”

The mages began preparing to fully remove the camouflage barrier hidden deep inside the underground sewers.

Even now, with more than a third of it stripped away, dimensional energy that had invaded reality was leaking out, but now that the exploration team was ready, it was time to reveal its true form in earnest.

“Awaken. Reveal yourself!”

“Activate!”

CRACK!

Lee Han recalled the place where the Frost Giant King had descended last year.

That phenomenon where reality was bizarrely distorted by laws that should never have existed there.

The sight below was exactly like that.

“Gasp...!”

“It’s far more terrible than I imagined.”

The exploration team stirred uneasily.

The appearance of other dimensions was, by nature, strange and alien to the races of the continent. But even accounting for that, the scene before them was extraordinary.

Spiderwebs were spread so thickly that they blocked the view, and acidic liquid was pooled throughout the passages.

The liquid flowed through waterways that should have carried clean water, and the sound of stone melting echoed from every direction. It was immediately obvious what sort of dimension this monster had lived in.

“Are you alri...”

The exploration team member who had been about to ask whether he was all right was startled to realize that Lee Han, who had been standing beside him, had vanished.

When the man turned his head, Lee Han was already walking toward a pool of acid with Alshicle Pengerine.

“Do you think this can be neutralized?”

“Hmm. It would take some time. Rather than neutralizing it, avoiding it would be better. ...Hey! Why are you dipping your finger in it to taste it?!”

“Ah. I wanted to check how strong the toxicity was. It’s fine.”

‘...I think I understand why Erindarvel sent him!’

The exploration team member who witnessed those spine-chilling words and actions thought so inwardly.

As expected, the Archmage’s judgment was never wrong.

***

The magical criminal Kitarenannum looked over the faces of those gathered and inwardly spat out his contemptuous assessment.

‘A pack of rejects abandoned by the Empire.’

One might wonder what right a magical criminal had to say that, but strictly speaking, it was not entirely wrong.

Those gathered here truly did deserve that kind of contempt.

The elf on the left was a worshipper of evil gods. The elf’s face, eyes included, was tightly wrapped in bandages, and blasphemous patterns covered every bit of exposed skin, enough to make even magical criminals frown.

The giant hybrid on the right was a separatist. This warrior wanted to lead the giants out of the Empire and establish a kingdom ruling over countless slave races, and had a bounty worth a castle.

The mage in front was someone even Kitarenannum truly did not want to get involved with.

Among magical criminals, they were the most alien and horrifying breed of all—

Apocalypse believers.

Madmen who had gone insane while walking the path of magic and now wished to bring about the end of reality itself.

Magical criminals were infamous throughout the Empire, but in the end, they were merely taking slightly more efficient shortcuts toward their own goals. They could not be compared to apocalypse believers.

And yet Kitarenannum had no choice but to cooperate with them.

The magical-criminal faction that should originally have cooperated with him, Antagondals’s faction, had suddenly collapsed.

-That information is certain, is it not?

-Yes. Trust the words of Esadojikwa, chief adjutant and foremost herald of the Fury Golem.

Kitarenannum nodded at the demon’s voice whispering inside his head.

Ever since forming their wicked contract, this demon and the magical criminal had maintained a mutually beneficial relationship.

He did not know how long it would last, but so far, there had been no particular problems.

-That monster is notorious even among demons. If you can capture and control it, there will be no one on this earth capable of defeating you.

-I don’t believe you, but I’ll try to believe you.

Naturally, Kitarenannum did not fully trust the demon’s words.

Demons who made contracts with mortals never simply offered kindness.

But even if only one-tenth of those words were true, that was reason enough to capture this monster now.

A monster that powerful.

-I don’t know what the others are after.

The separatist giant likely had similar reasons to his own.

But he could not even guess what the evil-god worshipper or the apocalypse believer was thinking.

Nor did he want to.

Their mad purposes and schemes could not be understood unless one possessed an equal madness.

-It does not matter. Use them to capture the monster, then dispose of them all. This Esadojikwa will help you.

-I know, so stop chattering, demon friend.

At the magical criminal’s insolent words, the great demon let out a low growl thick with rage.

However, he went no further than that. The great demon’s power was not yet complete.

-When this Esadojikwa’s power is restored and the Fury Golem is revived...

The great demon repeated the same story he always told.

That he would restore his power and revive the master he had once served.

Naturally, Kitarenannum had no intention of allowing that to happen.

The demon and the magical criminal were able to maintain a symbiotic relationship precisely because both of them still had so much they wanted from each other.

“Now.”

The blindfolded evil-god-worshipping elf spoke.

CRACK!

As the underground waterway before them suddenly transformed into a hostile dimension filled with spiderwebs and acidic liquid, those gathered began to murmur.

When the mercenaries hired with money started murmuring as well, the giant hybrid warrior rose abruptly. In one hand, the warrior held a greatsword as large as a tall man.

“We depart. They’ve opened the path for us.”

“Shouldn’t we check whether it’s safe first?”

“Good point.”

The giant hybrid warrior grabbed a nearby mercenary by the head and hurled him forward.

SPLASH!

The mercenary thrown into the waterway melted away with a scream. Despite the horrific sight, the warrior did not stop and threw more mercenaries in one after another.

“We can breathe. Let’s go! I’ll ride that beast. It’ll make a much better mount than sheep.”

“It... it’ll be much more useful than stupid sheep.”

A terrified mercenary came to his senses and barely managed to flatter the warrior.

Then the giant hybrid warrior suddenly stopped and looked at the mercenary.

“What did you say?”

“Huh? Stu... stupid sheep would be much less useful...”

SPLASH!

The warrior shoved the mercenary into the waterway. Then he spat out angrily.

“How dare you insult my sheep!”

“Be quiet. If the others hear us, this will become troublesome.”

Kitarenannum stopped the warrior.

What he wanted was to quietly capture the monster and escape, not summon every strong warrior in the capital to this place.

“Let them come if they want. I’ll kill them all.”

-Stupid beast bastard.

When the demon muttered, Kitarenannum smirked.

He agreed.

“At least it’s fortunate that we’re underground. Even if we shout, the sound won’t leak out.”

“No one will come from outside.”

The evil-god-worshipping elf suddenly spoke. Kitarenannum felt considerably relieved.

That elf boasted prophetic magic of a fairly high level. If the elf said so, there was a high chance they would not be discovered.

“We will encounter the monster.”

“Even better.”

“It is not good.”

“???”

The evil-god-worshipping elf suddenly turned around.

“I’m going back. It is better to flee this place than to offer beasts to my master.”

“What? What’s with that bastard?”

When the evil-god worshipper suddenly left, the atmosphere turned strange. The mercenaries brought by the giant hybrid warrior frowned.

“Shouldn’t we kill that guy? If he reveals our position...”

“Leave him. Would someone who serves an evil god act as a spy? It’s better this way. We won’t have to divide the spoils.”

The warrior paid little attention to the elf’s departure. Rather, the warrior seemed pleased, focusing only on the increased reward.

Kitarenannum agreed, but he felt strangely uneasy.

Perhaps because of that, he unconsciously threw a question at the apocalyptic mage beside him.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“That elf bastard.”

“Ah! You mean the prophecy!”

The apocalypse believer’s voice was gentle and kind, which made it all the more chilling.

Kitarenannum immediately regretted asking.

“Even if things become tangled, it won’t be much of a problem.”

“...Why is that?”

“If everyone here dies, that too will be progress toward the apocalypse!”

“...”

-What a disgusting spellcaster.

The demon muttered.

Kitarenannum agreed with that too.

“Monster!”

“!”

‘Already?’

At the shout from the mercenaries scouting ahead, those present turned their gazes.

To their surprise, a truly enormous spider was looking in their direction.

“Don’t kill it. Capture that thing! I’ll make it my mount!”

“Just get out of the way.”

Kitarenannum stretched out one arm and chanted a spell. Then his entire arm transformed into the magic he had prepared in advance.

It was one of the strangest and most bizarre applications of transformation magic.

Condensing magic ahead of time and carrying it around in the form of an arm.

But its effect was certain. The moment it was released, the high-density condensed magic spread viciously.

It was a cruel binding spell that no monster from any dimension could easily escape. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

<Baquantalana’s Binding>!

SNAP!

Dozens of layers of nets and chains appeared like shadows in the air and bound the spider tightly. The mercenaries gasped.

“What, did we catch it? That’s impressive.”

The giant hybrid warrior was impressed, but Kitarenannum could not smile.

Something was wrong.

“It’s too... weak.”

“What? Ah.”

The warrior, who had been about to ask what he meant, froze in place.

Far away, on the opposite side of the spiderweb-eroded waterway, dozens of spider monsters revealed themselves.

“It wasn’t alone!”

“They multiplied in the meantime. Be careful!”

The scoundrels abandoned by the Empire roared fiercely and clashed with the spider legion. Countless spiders surged like waves from beyond the waterway.

***

“You travel with Professor Voladi Bagreg during vacations?”

“Yes. The professor is a very valuable client.”

The exploration team included not only knights, patrollers, stonemasons, and alchemists, but adventurers as well.

And surprisingly, the adventurers from the Wasteland Star Hunters party here also had a connection to Professor Voladi Bagreg.

They were people the professor had often employed during vacations.

“Perhaps he hired you as opponents for student tests... Ah. No. There wouldn’t have been any students anyway.”

“?”

“It’s nothing. What kind of requests did the professor usually give you?”

“That... we can’t reveal.”

The adventurers avoided his eyes with awkward expressions. Lee Han thought to himself.

‘What has Professor Voladi been doing?’

“Plundering? Theft? Robbery? Illegal duels? Bounty hunting? No, why are you surprised every time I say something?”

“You... you’re misunderstanding.”

Lee Han was actually more frightened by how startled the adventurer became every time he spoke.

Surely Professor Voladi had not done all of those things?

“Wait. There are people ahead.”

“What? Here, underground?”

Alshicle Pengerine, who had been summoning cold air to protect the party’s respiratory systems, hesitated.

The others’ eyes changed at once as well.

“If it’s not a monster, then it’s an unwelcome guest.”

“We’ll prepare.”

The party immediately entered combat formation, burning with fighting spirit. Lee Han also stored the necessary spells and cast enhancement magic.

“!”

What appeared from the distance was an elf whose face was grotesquely covered in bandages. Seeing the blasphemous markings visible through the gaps in the exposed skin, Alshicle Pengerine clicked his beak in displeasure.

The elf immediately spoke.

“You have encountered monsters.”

“...?”

Lee Han unconsciously turned his head back.

There were no monsters in sight.

‘How dare this bastard use such a shallow trick!’

To think he had fallen for such a trick as an Einroguard student.

No matter how many companions he had with him, this was something to be ashamed of.

Lee Han reflected deeply.