Rejt fiddled with the small device that Wendy had given him with his overly large fingers. “...and you are sure that this will assist against the miasma?”

“Yes, of that I am at least sure,” Wendy grumbled. The two were standing at the edge of the allied base for the exploration of the Hell Labyrinth, looking down at the vast stairs that led down to the next level. As they were on the 20th floor, there was a small platform down the vast unadorned stairs, a safe space to rest before proceeding. “I only wish that Randidly Ghosthound would have provided more warning… if he had told me that this would happen-”

“It is wrong to think of Randidly Ghosthound as a godlike being,” Rejt scolded. He put his hands on his hips and peered down at the Spriggit woman. “Remember, he is just as mortal as the rest of us, even if he was once our Progenitor. In fact, the rumors that I taught him many of the tricks that he has-”

“If he was once our Progenitor, he is still our Progenitor,” Wendy pointed out sourly. Then she shook her head. “Just be careful, alright? It won’t completely block the effects, just reduce them.”

“He is just a man, Wendy,” Rejt said softly. He wondered at what point in his life he had grown from the wild warrior to an elder comforting a young and anxious woman, but here he was. “If you let every small event fluctuate your faith, it will be a long and difficult ride.”

“This entire world is his body,” Wendy's mouth twisted. “Yet you claim he is just a man? And his power…”

“He has his own concerns. Did you not also have other issues you needed to set aside when the Miasma came? Sometimes it is difficult to pivot quickly to address the current threats.”

“Bah, I just wish we didn’t have to do this without him… this is basically his fault, after all… ugh, then I start thinking that this might just be his gas-”

Rejt chuckled and spoke before she could continue further. “Do we have any choice? The miasma will slowly strangle the entire world if we let it. While our children still yet live… we must use this technology that the Ghosthound provided for us and reach the core of this issue.”

Wendy’s expression tightened but Rejt didn’t need her to speak in order to understand her thoughts.

If Randidly Ghosthound cared so much us surviving this, where was he? Why didn’t he provide more of a warning?

Which was a fair question. But it was one that Rejt couldn’t answer. So Rejt looked away from Wendy’s face and instead inspected the chasm below and the ten-meter long and wide steps that led deeper into the abyss below.

Around two weeks ago, a huge earthquake had shaken the vast mountain range that split the two larger political entities inside of Randidly Ghosthound’s Soulskill, the Armgrast Empire and the Kelley Kingdom. Several mountains collapsed from the force of the tectonic grinding. In the wake of that terrible natural disaster, the air began to fill with the dreadful miasma, which seemed to eat away at the life force of every individual who came into contact with it.

Those with a high Level could rely on their superior Stats to resist the effects, but children and the elderly soon fell ill under the influence of the miasma. Although rapid investigations were able to discover the source, the newly appeared Hell Labyrinth, the effects were progressing far too quickly for the countries to cope with them. Only two days had passed and the surrounding ten kilometers of the mountain range was impossible to survive for anyone under Level 25.

And every day the miasma around the Hell Labyrinth grew denser. That ten-kilometer distance became fifteen and then twenty.

Luckily, on the fourth day, it was announced that a pioneering Spriggit researcher, Wendy, had developed a material that could shield against the influence of the miasma. It was relatively expensive and time-consuming to produce, but it was not resource intensive. It quickly became apparent that it was possible to create whole cities lined with this material in order to mitigate the effects of the miasma.

So the world powers convened on the fifth day and faced a grim choice; invest all of their resources in creating ‘safe’ cities where their people could live while slowly addressing the problem of the Hell Labyrinth, or instead outfit an elite group to proceed into the Labyrinth and find the source of the miasma to stop it before it spread too far.

Due solely to the red-eyed vehemence of Lazareth Armgrast, the Armgrast Empire and the Shelley Kingdom agreed to go with the more aggressive plan. Although they would each throw up several refugee shelters to which it was possible to evacuate the populace, the genius researcher herself would join the strongest warriors of both sides in order to plumb the depths of the Hell Labyrinth to develop increasingly capable armor to deal with the rising threat.

Naturally, when the Shelley Kingdom requested that the Monster Prince send their strongest warriors to assist, Rejt volunteered. And despite the fact that the Shelley Kingdom was largely wary of the newcomers, they couldn’t deny Rejt’s personal strength.

Which is why they had agreed to one of his requests earlier today.

Besides even the growing threat to the world, there was another reason that Rejt couldn’t afford to miss out on this mission. Something personal.

Rejt’s gaze turned sharp as he focused on those large steps that led down to the 21st level of the Hell Labyrinth. Even from this distance, a trail of crimson footsteps led gracefully down those steps with almost flagrant boldness. They glowed faintly when Rejt activated his Class Skill.

He was following a trail. And although Rejt wasn’t sure of what was the exact name of the Class that she had obtained, there was only one individual that Rejt knew that could move so much faster than everyone else, cutting to the heart of the problem even before the Hell Labyrinth had erupted.

Azriel Blanche.

“How are the preparations on your side coming for our dead weight?” Rejt asked casually as he turned back from the ominous stairs and the extremely small trail leading ever deeper.

Wendy’s face twisted into a maze of wrinkles. Although talking about Randidly got her upset, nothing upset her more than talking about the political figures who had demanded to accompany the expedition. “Pah! The stupid idiots. It’s much easier and cost-effective to create an amulet like what I gave you. It will vastly reduce the effect the miasma will have on you. But to ask for an entire suit of armor of the shielding material-”

Wendy’s thin fingers twitched. Smirking, Rejt turned away and scanned the rest of the forward camp. Although fifty people wasn’t a large number, the fact that they had political accompaniment meant that there were almost as many tents as there were people. Most were small storage tents or hastily dug latrines screened by thin cloth, but many individuals required their own sleeping quarters.

The entire rest area of the 20th floor was filled with the sea of tents.

As a figure strode rapidly over to the edge of the chasm where Rejt and Wendy were staying, Rejt’s smirk widened. “Speak of the devil… hey, Armgrast, how do you feel about your ministers' requests we take a quick break so that they might protect themselves more fully?”

The lion-headed man glowered at Rejt as he came to stand next to the two of them. Just as quickly, however, his eyes flicked away and were drawn down to the depths of the abyss. “Humph, you know that I would gladly leave these fools behind… by the way, can you still see-”

“Yes,” Rejt interrupted. “Her trail is still there. Leading deeper into the darkness and miasma.”ignition

Lazareth Armgrast bared his very impressive fangs, but Rejt had spent enough time around the prince to realize that it was actually worry that animated his face. “That foolish woman… why would she go alone? Why would she leave the damned rope of bedsheets when she ran away? Was she making fun of me? Did she think I wasn’t strong enough-”

“She probably thought you were a pigheaded misogynist,” Wendy said unhelpfully.

Lazareth’s eyes flashed. “My head is that of a noble Lion, you glorified librarian.”

Wendy sighed with an aggrieved expression that seemed to express something like, this idiocy of yours is probably exactly the reason why Azriel didn’t stay, but Rejt cut into their bickering before they could escalate.

“It’s been four days since we have left the surface, and we’ve already made it down to the 20th floor. Of course… we know the reason why your ministers are hesitating now, just like the Dukes from the Shelley Kingdom. We had pretty reliable scouting reports up to the 20th floor. But beyond that…”

Lazareth sighed. “...Yes and no scouts have returned from beyond the 30th floor, I know. All this while we don’t even know how deeply the Hell Dungeon extends.”

“At the very least, we are not quite wasting time entirely by remaining here for a break,” Wendy said. “All of us have developed the Miasma Resistance Skill, yes? And the deeper we go, the thicker the Miasma is… and the faster the Skill grows. It is an ugly truth, but the longer we remain, the better equipped we will be to move forward. In addition, the rewards from the Trial by Miasma connecting Paths are extremely generous. So-”

“Yet every day, more and more of the people of this world die,” Lazareth hissed. “How can you calmly accept death like this?”

“Why are you getting so upset when those emotions accomplish nothing!” Wendy snapped back.

“Because I am a man with empathy,” Lazareth Armgrast stepped to Wendy, towering over her small-statured form. “Not some chemically warped midget machine-”

“Suffice to say, we need more information on the lower floors before we can convince the political dead weight we carry to proceed with any sort of speed,” Rejt interrupted smoothly.

Truly, it is the tragedy of my existence that I am constantly asked to guide the foolish, Rejt shook his head, remembering the first few times he had met Randidly Ghosthound. For all their potential, to be afflicted with such quarrelsome pupils… ah, did I perhaps shine too brightly in my past and the Progenitor was jealous of me…?

“...which might be true, but we can only wait for those damned scouts to come back with that intel,” Armgrast grumbled. “If I had only known… I would have made sure that I was the leader of the scouting party-”

“I volunteered earlier today.” Rejt interrupted again. He reached in his pocket and used his large, earthy fingers to pull out a paper with the official stamp of the expedition on it. “ To be a scout. I have been given leave to lead a three-person scouting party into the depths of the Hell Labyrinth to prepare for the expedition’s descent.”

The other two stood and stared at Rejt for several seconds as the implications of what he was saying slowly dawned on them.

Wendy spoke first. “...you, when did you become so scheming…?”

“But…” Lazareth continued to wrestle with his thoughts. “But if… if she goes, the rest of the expedition will refuse to move. They need her technology-”

“Such a tragedy.” Rejt smiled.