The third layer’s one-way portal was just like the second layer’s. It was a large crystalline arch encircling a blue-black rift. The most noticeable difference between the two wasn’t their structure, but the air around them. While the second layer’s portal stood as a beacon at the center of countless paths, the third’s felt like a hidden oasis. In an area with countless ambush predators and very few safe zones, this portal seemed to be a blessing from the divines.

Unfortunately, what would normally be the calmest spot for miles had become frighteningly intense. Five figures sat near the portal around a large campfire. Three of them were huddled together on the right side, while the other two stayed on the left. These two groups were, of course, Nora and Theo’s teams.

“So, what do you think?” Theo asked in a low tone.

“About Mavis? I’m surprised.” Nora replied, shaking her head. “I didn’t expect the phantom of the first layer to be a monster.”

Theo and Vivian stiffened while Mavis’s hair began to shake uncontrollably.

“That name…” It muttered ruefully. “…Embarrassing.”

“You knew about that?” Theo asked.

Nora rolled her eyes.

“Not initially, but after two weeks I’d heard enough to connect the dots.”

Nora leaned back and placed her hands behind her head. This relaxed gesture succeeded in helping Theo and Vivian calm down. Secretly, Theo wished that he had Nora’s red eye. The magic tool seemed to have some kind of mind reading enchantment, which would be incredibly useful at the moment. Right now, Theo couldn’t read the pair at all.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you for being an outlaw. There’s something romantic about that situation, isn’t there? Being trapped in a dungeon while both monsters and humans are your enemy. The phantom’s name didn’t just spread because of fear. Some people are really interested in the woman behind the mask.”

Theo folded his arms.

“And what does that have to do with anything?”

“You need to go to the fourth layer, right? How about we team up for a while? Just think of how famous I could become by working with a hot topic like the phantom.”

“No way.”

Theo didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that Nora’s proposal was extremely suspicious. For the two rising stars, working with outlaws was career suicide. True, they might be able to increase their notoriety, but they would be shunned by most organizations on the surface.

The fact that it there were seemingly no downsides for Theo’s team was just another red flag.

As he listed out these demerits, Nora folded her arms.

“Hmm, you really are shrewd.” Nora muttered. “My instincts as a raider keep telling me to deal with you before you outshine me.”

Theo, Mavis and Vivian tensed up again.

“Look…” Linderman said, placing a hand on Nora’s shoulder. “We really, really, aren’t going to hurt you. There’s a reason why we want to team up with you, but it’s…”

Linderman trailed off and Nora shook her head.

“Fine, I give up. If you won’t team up, then how about we make a deal? Follow us through the fourth layer, and I can promise you at least one platinum-tier treasure.”

Theo blinked. “Through the fourth layer?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

Nora’s friendly expression became strained.

“How much do you know about talking monsters?” She asked, after some obvious internal debate.

“Not mu-”

“-There are…others?” Mavis cut in. “Other…monsters…like me?”

“All I can say is maybe.” Nora admitted. “Have you heard about the incident with Archmage Edwards and those three veteran teams?”

Theo and Mavis shook their heads, but Vivian released a short gasp.

“That was a few months ago, wasn’t it?” She replied. “Edwards gathered up a bunch of veterans for a large-scale exploration of the fifth layer. Then, by some freak accident, they were wiped out in the fourth layer. It was a tragedy.”

Nora nodded.

“A very profitable tragedy. Tons of raiders went into the fourth layer to find the gear that those veterans left behind. We were there too, but we didn’t find any treasure. Instead, we ran into a man hiding out like a crazed hermit. He’d been a part of Edward’s group, but his mental state was…unstable.”

“And then what?” Theo jeered. “He told you that talking monsters were real?”

“No.” Nora huffed. “He attacked us on sight. Even after we subdued him, he wouldn’t say anything about that incident. So, I used some high-level magic to look inside his head. Even his memories were messed up, probably because of the trauma, but I got the gist of the situation.”

Nora finally dropped her cheerful façade as she continued.

“Edward’s team wasn’t wiped out, not completely. They encountered a strange monster that was intelligent. It killed most of them and took the ones it deemed ‘worthy’ further into the dungeon. And I don’t just mean to the fifth layer. From what I could understand, it rewrote their teleport privileges.”

Theo’s eyes widened. Memories of Ravens’ mystery floor flashed into his mind. Unfortunately, those memories came with a lot of bloody fighting. Theo doubled over and desperately tried not to retch.

Nora watched him carefully, but she didn’t say anything.

Meanwhile, Mavis’s hair continued to move.

“So there are more…like me.”

“To be honest, from that guy’s memories, I wouldn’t say that thing is ‘like you’.” Nora replied cautiously.

“Still…I want…to meet it.”

Nora’s smile returned. “Then let’s go find it.”

“Wait, wait.” Vivian interjected. “Setting aside the fact we’d probably die if we ran into that monster, how are you going to give us a platinum-tier treasure?”

“If we can teleport wherever they went, then there’s bound to be some platinum-tier treasures. Would a place like that give out gold or silver? No way.”

“But the monster-”

“-We don’t need to fight that thing.” Nora said, cutting Vivian off. “We have our own intelligent monster.”

“I can’t…do that.” Mavis seemed to shrink as it spoke.

“There might be a clue in the fourth layer. If not, maybe that monster can teach you. Have you ever actually tried to do it?”

“No…I have not tried.”

“Then let’s try it!”

Nora beamed as she leaned towards the slime.

“Just think of how wealthy we could be! If we get into that place, Theo’s outlaw status could be cleared easily!”

“We aren’t going.” Theo’s icy voice pierced the mood like a dagger. “There’s no way I’ll let Mavis or Vivian go there.”

Nora stared at him in shock and he glared right back. Linderman shifted uncomfortably before speaking up.

“…Raiders take risks. Exploring dungeons is never safe.”

“There’s a difference between taking risks and committing suicide.”

Seeing that Theo wouldn’t budge, Nora sighed.

“We’re all exhausted. Let’s sleep on it, ok?”

Vivian and Mavis nodded sleepily, but Theo continued to scowl.

“You need to go to the fourth layer.” Nora reminded him. “Right now, everything else is just speculation.”

“…We’ll sleep, but I won’t change my mind.”

The two rising stars lowered their shoulders as Theo acquiesced.

After everything that had happened, there was no way that Theo would sleep near Nora and Linderman. The trio found a hollow away from the portal and only relaxed after Vivian and Mavis searched the area. Once their sleeping space was secure, they collapsed.

“Mavis…” Vivian muttered sleepily. “Give me your cloak and mask. I’m so close…”

The slime melted and shrugged off its attire. It extended a tentacle holding its defective gear, but Vivian was lying on the ground. She’d fallen asleep.

“It’s been a long day.” Theo said as he lay down. “And I’m not looking forward to tomorrow.”

“Theo…”

The slime hesitated for a moment, but it eventually continued.

“Why did you get…so angry? When Nora talked…about…teleporting…you were upset.”

“Because…” Theo’s exhausted voice was barely a whisper. “We’ll die if we go there.”

“Where?”

The slime waited for an answer, but none came. Theo had fallen asleep.

Mavis sighed. It didn’t technically need to sleep, but it could. Sleeping felt right, and after today, it was ready to surrender to that feeling.

A few hours later, the slime bolted awake. Something had entered its perception range. When the slime focused its senses on the intruder, they suddenly disappeared. Mavis quickly took on a humanoid form. It was about to wake Theo, when something smashed into its core.

The slime’s perception range was currently fifteen meters. This kind of distance wasn’t something that could be crossed in mere seconds. Even so, Mavis couldn’t deny what it had seen. One moment, a dark hooded figure had been approaching their hollow. In the next, he was right beside the slime.

As the figure bludgeoned Mavis’s core with the flat of his blade, Mavis began to panic. This was a frighteningly familiar situation. And of course it was familiar. Both then and now, that figure was Ravens.

Still, Mavis was more resilient than it used to be. The slime around its core tightened, holding Ravens’ arm in place as Mavis drained his energy.

“Hel-”

Just before Mavis could cry out, Ravens plunged his other hand into the slime’s body and grasped its core. He pulled it out, causing Mavis’s body to fall like a puppet with its strings cut.

Ravens stared at the core for a moment, and then turned to leave with his prize.

“HELP!” Mavis’s cry rang out unhindered.

The veteran flinched, and Mavis took advantage of his hesitation. Its puddle body suddenly reformed and dove for Ravens’ legs. He shook the slime off with a single powerful kick, but Theo and Vivian were already awake.

“Who are you!?” Vivian shrieked.

She fired a lightning bolt at Ravens, but the attack fizzled out when it touched his dark leather armor.

Meanwhile, Theo was staring at Ravens with a blank expression. He stood, paralyzed, while Ravens shrugged off his teammate’s attacks and escaped the hollow.

“Get back here…” He whispered.

Then he grit his teeth.

“GET BACK HERE!”

While Theo hastily put on his boots, something shot past him. Mavis’s body dashed out of the hollow as a formless blob. This empty shell didn’t make it very far before it collapsed. Lying in the inert puddle was Mavis’s cloak and mask. As Theo ran past the slime, he quickly scooped up its gear without thinking. Some part of him didn’t want to leave it lying there like a corpse.

Activating the speed boost from his boots, Theo shot through the jungle. Ravens hadn’t left a trail, but Theo knew where his master would go. As Theo sped towards the one-way portal, he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight.

Why was Ravens there? How did he know about Mavis?

Theo immediately connected his master to the weapon that Nora said had ‘come out of nowhere.’ Scowling, Theo wondered just how long Ravens had been following him. While he’d secretly worried that Ravens would know if he told anyone about Jigou’s secret floor, Theo didn’t actually think that his master was omnipotent.

The outlaw blazed past Nora and Linderman who were sleeping in the open area. As they woke up, he turned his attention to the portal. Part of the gate was churning oddly, as if it had just been used. The outlaw didn’t hesitate as he dove towards it. With a little mana and some will, the portal swallowed him up.

Theo appeared in a dimly lit cave that lay above the first layer. This spacious area was almost a mile wide on each side. Several large thrumming crystals jutted out of the rocky floor while dozens of birdcage-style lifts lined the walls. This was the entrance to Naraka. Unlike Jigou’s lively floor zero, this place was almost entirely deserted.

Looking around, Theo immediately spotted Ravens standing in front of a crystal.

“Theo!” Mavis’s distressed voice called out.

A slime’s true body was its core. Losing their slime put them in a sorry state, but it wasn’t fatal. If given the chance, a lone core could reconnect to its old body or eventually ‘grow’ a new one. But even without a proper body, they still retrained their magical senses. Because of that, Mavis could still speak.

“We’ll be going further down.” Ravens muttered.

The teleport crystal began to glow and its light slowly enveloped Ravens and Mavis. Theo’s eyes widened as he saw the number four appear on the crystal. Channeling mana into his boots, Theo jumped forward with incredible speed. As Ravens’ form faded, Theo realized that he wasn’t going to make it.

“No!” Mavis shouted.

The crystal suddenly flashed, and the light retreated from Ravens. As Theo slammed into the veteran, the crystal flashed again. Everything went white for the outlaw, and when he blinked, he found himself in an entirely different world.

Theo’s feet sank slightly as he stood on a dark red sand dune. Sweat began to form on his brow as he scanned the area.

Rust-colored sand stretched out as far as he could see. Behind him was a portal, the same kind that he’d seen in the second and third layers. Far above him was a stalactite covered ceiling.

“Where…Where are we?” Mavis’s voice caused Theo to jump.

Lying in the sand like a forgotten pearl was Mavis’s core. Theo picked Mavis up and dusted it off.

“My first guess would be the fourth layer.”