Chapter 2 (Part 2)

As they were underwater, Hajime had no way of tracking how long that went on for.

Eventually, though, Hajime felt a subtle change in their circumstances. The current had carried them to a place where the walls were severely damaged. Dead eyes stared at Hajime from the cracks in the rock, and he realized the fishes he'd blown up had become stuck there.

"Have we been here before?"

"Seems like it... Guess we're going in circles?"

They'd just been looping around. Hajime had thought he'd been advancing further through the labyrinth, but it turned out they'd just been shunted into a regular underwater cavern. He stopped letting the current carry them along, and the group carefully searched the cavern as they advanced.

Upon closer inspection, the group realized there was more to the place than met the eye.

"Ah, Hajime-kun. There's something there too!"

"That's the fifth one..."

They'd been finding fifty-centimeter stretches of wall where Melusine's crest had been engraved. Her crest was a five-pointed star, with a line going from the top vertex to the center. Said center had a crescent moon housed inside it. There were five of those crests in total.

Hajime moved the submarine back to the first crest they'd found in order to examine it more closely. The current was pretty strong, so it took effort to keep the sub anchored in place.

"So we've got five five-pointed stars and this half-lit pendant..." Hajime took the pendant hanging around his neck and held it up to the crest. As he'd expected, the lantern began to emit light again. The beam of moonlight hit the crest, which absorbed it and began to glow.

"This would be pretty hard for people who came here using magic... You'd have to catch on quick or your mana would run out." Kaori was right. Completing these series of steps while struggling to keep yourself from drowning would not be easy. It seemed this labyrinth had been designed to test one's limits in a completely different way than the Grand Gruen Volcano.

They went around lighting up the remaining crests, and it wasn't long before they reached the last one. The lantern had lost a proportional amount of light at each crest, and it had just enough to light up one more.

As Hajime lit up the last crest, part of the rock fell away, revealing yet another passage. There was more rumbling as the boulder slid away.

They advanced inside and found a passage heading straight down. Hajime angled the sub down and descended. As they entered the passage, something pushed them down with force. The sub fell so fast that everyone felt weightless.

"Whoa?"

"Mmm."

"Hyaaah!?"

"Nuoooh!"

"Hawawawa!"

All five of them yelped as they fell. Hajime felt the same kind of tingling in his crotch that he did when rode a roller coaster.

The submarine landed on something solid with a resounding thud. Everyone groaned as they landed, especially Kaori, who was physically weaker than the others.

"Ugh... Kaori, are you alright?"

"Ugh... I-I'm okay. Where are we?" Kaori grimaced and looked outside the windshield. They weren't surrounded by water anymore. There didn't seem to be any monsters nearby either, so Hajime and the others tentatively stepped out of the sub.

They found themselves in a large dome-shaped cavern. Directly above them was the hole they'd fallen through. Due to some trick of magic, the water didn't cascade through it. Not a single drop fell through as the water swayed to and fro within the top half of the hole.

"I guess this is where things get serious. Looks like we're not underwater anymore, either."

"It's better that it's not all underwater."

Hajime put the submarine back into his Treasure Trove and called out to Yue before they advanced.

"Yue."

"Okay." Yue immediately deployed a barrier around them.

A second later, jets of water slammed into it from above. It was the same Rupture spell Yue had made use of back in the Reisen Gorge. The water jets had enough force behind them to cut people to ribbons, but Yue's barriers, even makeshift ones, were made of tougher stuff. It easily deflected the barrage of water jets. Hajime had instantly detected the surprise attack, and Yue had easily picked up on Hajime's thoughts. Their superhuman combination made surprise attacks largely ineffective. Naturally, Shea and Tio had sensed the attack coming too, so they weren't surprised in the slightest.

However, Kaori wasn't on that level.

"Kyaaa!?" She screamed in surprise and staggered backward. Hajime caught her as she stumbled.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Eh, don't worry about it."

She glanced at Hajime, pale-faced. Normally, she'd be blushing at the opportunity to be in his arms, but right now she was just depressed at being the only member of the party to be shaken by the attack.

She was also still in shock at how amazing Yue's magic skills were.

Back when she'd been in Kouki's party, Kaori had often supplemented Suzu's barriers with her own, so she knew a fair amount about defensive magic. She'd trained herself to death in order to reduce her casting time for barrier spells to the same level as Suzu's.

Compared to Yue though, Kaori's skills were nothing.

She'd felt like this when Hajime had saved her back in the Great Orcus Labyrinth too. That feeling of inferiority she'd pushed down to convince herself she was fit to travel with Hajime reared its ugly head once more.

Am I just slowing everyone down? That thought whirled around her mind.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing."

"If you say so..."

Kaori forced herself to smile. Hajime narrowed his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

Kaori felt both a little disappointed and a little relieved that he didn't push the issue. She noticed Yue, who was still fending off the torrent of deadly water, staring at her. It felt as though Yue was seeing right through her. Angry, Kaori glared right back.

She wouldn't let Yue make fun of her feelings any longer. If she let Yue walk all over her, she wouldn't be fit to even call herself Yue's rival.

She absolutely couldn't let that happen.

Yue just smiled faintly at Kaori and turned her attention back to the ceiling. Tio unleashed a gout of flames at the same time, caking the ceiling with fire. Monsters dropped to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

At a glance, they looked almost like barnacles. They were likely what had been unleashing those water jets. They'd been hiding inside the cracks in the ceiling, which was why Kaori hadn't noticed them. Now that they'd been burned to death, they looked rather disgusting.

It seemed sea creatures like these were especially weak to fire. Tio's Spiral Blaze had taken them all out in one shot.

With the barnacles dead, the party was free to advance further into the cavern. The passage was narrower than the cavern they'd landed in, and was filled knee-deep with water.

"Grr..." Yue growled to herself. She was so short that the water came up to her waist, which made walking difficult. Hajime nodded to her, then lifted her onto his shoulders.

"H-Hajime... This is a little embarrassing."

"But it looks like the water gets deeper further in. Besides, don't you like it more up here?"

"I guess..."

The party continued wading through the water. Yue blushed, feeling like a little child. She wrapped her thighs around Hajime, hugging him tight. Shea and the others didn't seem jealous at all. In fact, they were all snickering. They gave Yue looks that were full of pity.

Yue felt even more embarrassed, and shrunk back. Hajime had never seen her like this.

"Hehehe, you look really cute right now, Yue-san."

"Ugh..."

"I see you've taken over Myu's favorite spot."

"Ngh..."

"Fufufu... Should we start calling you Yue-chan from now on?"

"Do you want to die, Kaori?"

"How come I'm the only one you're yelling at!?"

Yue blushed with embarrassment, but when Kaori joined in on the ribbing her glare turned stone cold. Hajime watched the exchange with a laugh.

Their lighthearted banter came to an abrupt end when another wave of monsters assaulted them.

These monsters resembled shuriken. They came spinning at Hajime and the others. Hajime calmly unholstered Donner and shot them all down. As they fell lifeless to the ground, Hajime realized they were actually starfish who had been spinning so fast they looked like shurikens.

Yue noticed a horde of sea snakes slithering toward them right after, and skewered the lot of them with ice spears.

"Aren't these a little too weak?" Everyone except Kaori nodded.

Normally, the monsters that appeared in labyrinths were dangerously powerful on their own, or had abilities that made them annoying in groups. Or both. However, the monsters they faced were around the same level as the monsters who'd attacked the sub when the underwater volcano had spit them out. In fact, they might have even been a little weaker. Certainly nowhere near labyrinth level.

Only Kaori, who didn't have any experience with labyrinths, wasn't confused by their weakness. But they didn't have to ponder for long, as the answer was revealed in the next room.

"What the..." The corridor opened up in a massive room. As they walked inside, a translucent, jelly-like substance blocked the passage forward.

"I'll get it! Oryaaah!" Shea leaped forward and smacked the jelly wall with Drucken. Some of the jelly at the surface of the wall scattered, but the blockade itself remained in place. Some of the jelly splashed onto Shea's chest.

"Hyawah! What is this stuff!?" She screamed in surprise. Hajime and the others turned to her. The jelly had begun melting through her clothes. Her voluptuous cleavage came into view as the cloth covering it melted away.

"Shea, don't move!" Tio burned away the jelly with masterfully controlled fire magic. A few stray flames singed Shea's skin, making it turn red, but the fire otherwise hit only the jelly. It appeared the jelly had caustic properties.

"Watch out!" The party leaped away from the wall, but this time countless tentacles came down from the ceiling. The tentacles' tips were pointed, like a spear, but they were made of the same jelly as the wall, which meant they were likely just as dangerous. Yue hurriedly jumped off Hajime's shoulders and deployed a barrier above the party. Tio cast her flame breath at the same time, burning the tentacles away.

"Man, the combination of Yue's barriers and Tio's fire is broken." An ironclad wall combined with one of the most powerful attacks. Frankly, Hajime was impressed.

Confident Yue and Tio could handle things, Shea sidled up to Hajime and puffed out her mostly-visible chest. She blushed and looked up at Hajime.

"Umm, Hajime-san. I got burned a little here, so could you put some medicine on it?"

She never missed an opportunity to come onto Hajime. Truly a clever bunny girl. Sadly, Hajime just gave her an exasperated look.

"Is this really the time?"

"Well... I mean Yue and Tio are unbeatable, so it should be fine. If I don't show off at times like these, I'll start losing to even Kaori-san."

Shea showed off the numerous small burns on her breasts. Just then—

"Grant respite to these divine warriors— Divine Blessing!" Kaori healed Shea's wounds with a smile.

"Nooo! My chance to let Hajime grope me!" Shea wailed, but everyone just stared coldly at her.

"Hm...? Hajime, this jelly can melt magic, too."

Hajime looked and it did indeed seem that the tentacles were melting the barrier wherever they touched it.

"Ah, that explains it. I was wondering why my flames had been having so little effect. It seems the tentacles can disintegrate the mana my fire is composed of." If what Tio was saying was true, then this jelly was far more dangerous than Hajime had initially thought. Plenty powerful, and plenty annoying. This was what he'd come to expect from labyrinths.

Just then, the monster controlling the jelly showed itself.

It squeezed out of a crack in the ceiling, and expanded in midair. It was translucent, and roughly in the shape of a human. Though its limbs were shaped like fins, and its entire body was covered in miniscule, glimmering red flecks. There were also two feelers of sorts growing out of its head.

The way its limbs sort of floated in the air reminded Hajime of a sea angel. A sea angel that was ten meters long and oozed caustic jelly was a pretty monstrous sight, though.

Without warning, the giant sea angel launched a barrage of tentacles from its body. At the same time, it spit out a rain of jelly from its head.

"Yue, you focus on attacking! I'll protect us! Hallowed Ground!" Kaori's derivative skill, Delayed Activation allowed her to cast a spell she'd already chanted the incantation for ahead of time. Yue nodded curtly and combined her strength with Tio's. The two of them shot a barrage of flames at the giant sea angel.

The flames all found their mark, and disintegrated the monster. Yue turned back to Hajime proudly, but instead of praising her he yelled out a warning.

"It's not over yet! I'm still sensing something. Kaori, keep that barrier up. What the hell is this? I can sense it everywhere in the room..." Hajime's Sense Presence was picking up a reaction from every corner of the room. When he checked with his Demon Eye, he saw the entire room covered in dark red. It was almost as if the room itself was a monster. Hajime looked around warily. He'd never seen anything like this before.

His fears had been well founded, as the giant sea angel reformed itself in the center of the room. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a large number of the starfish and sea snake monsters they'd defeated earlier melting inside the sea angel's stomach.

"I see... So the monsters we found too weak were nothing more than this creature's sustenance. Master, if it keeps regenerating indefinitely we'll be worn down. Where is its mana crystal?"

"Come to think of it, how come we can't see it? The thing's transparent."

Shea nodded and looked over at Hajime. Hajime focused his Demon Eye on the sea angel, but what he saw only confused him.

"Hajime?" Hajime scratched his head and reported what he'd seen.

"There isn't one. I can't find one anywhere inside it." Everyone stared at him in shock.

"H-Hajime-kun? If it doesn't have a mana crystal... does that mean it's not a monster?"

"Beats me. I guess if I had to say, its whole body seems like a mana crystal. The whole thing shows up dark red on my Demon Eye, and so does the rest of the room. Be careful, guys. It's possible we're already inside the thing's stomach!"

The giant sea angel attacked again as Hajime finished his explanation. This time, it sent chunks of its body out like torpedoes in addition to the tentacles and jelly rain.

Hajime pulled a giant black rifle out of his Treasure Trove. There was a compressed gas canister where the magazine would normally go. It was too large in radius to be a bullet of any caliber.

Which made sense, since it wasn't actually a rifle. Whooooooooosh! It was a flamethrower.

He'd created it out of liquid flamrock. The flamrock ignited as it left the barrel, spreading unquenchable 3,000 degree flames everywhere. His target was neither the giant sea angel, nor the jelly attacks it had sent at them. Instead, it was the walls of the room. He knew Yue and the others could handle the sea angel's attacks.

It seemed the sea angel could use camouflage as well. For when Hajime's flames hit the wall, parts of it peeled away, transforming into jelly as it burned. Hajime breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god the whole room isn't the monster.

But no matter how much of the jelly Hajime burned, more of it kept oozing out of cracks in the walls and floor. A sizzling sound came from his shoes.

Yue and the others redoubled their attacks on the sea angel as well. It seemed to finally be taking them seriously, and an unbelievable amount of jelly trickled out of every crack and hole in the room. The water level began to rise as well. At first it had only come up to their knees, but now it was up to Hajime's waist. For Yue, it was already up to her chest.

No matter how many times Yue and Tio destroyed the giant sea angel, it just absorbed the nearby jelly and regenerated. There didn't seem to be any end in sight.

Unless they found a way to eliminate it for good, they'd just be wasting their strength. On top of that, the rising water levels meant they'd soon be fighting underwater. The worst part was they couldn't even hole up and hold out. Both Yue's barriers and Hajime's submarine wouldn't last long against that caustic jelly.

It might be best to retreat for now. The problem was, all the exits were covered by jelly. Hajime desperately examined his surroundings. He noticed one of the fissures in the floor had a small whirlpool above it.

"Let's retreat and regroup! There's a room below us, though I don't know where it leads. Be prepared for anything!"

"Okay."

"Roger."

"Understood."

"Alright!"

Hajime swung his flamethrower around, burning all the jelly around him. Once the area was clear, he transmuted the floor around the fissure. It grew wider, forming a hole large enough for them to jump through.

Hajime ducked underwater and pulled a small, cylindrical fifteen centimeter long object out of his pocket. It had a snorkel and a mouthpiece attached to the middle. The canister was actually an oxygen tank. He'd used creation magic to enchant the canister with air magic. The space inside was much larger than it seemed, all filled with air.

He'd originally wanted to make the space as large as his Treasure Trove's, but he hadn't had time. While in Erisen he'd prioritized repairing his damaged equipment. On top of that, he found enchanting things with air magic was extremely difficult for him. As it was, one of these canisters only had 30 minutes of air in it.

Keeping the time limit in the back of his mind, Hajime continued transmuting the hole, digging deeper until he finally hit open space. Then, he pulled out his pile bunker. He anchored it underwater and began charging.

It let out a loud hydraulic hiss as the mechanism engaged. A second later, it bore through the floor Hajime had weakened.

The sound was muffled by the water, but the vibrations could still be felt by everyone.

Water started rushing through the massive pit he'd created. The current was so strong that it knocked everyone off their feet and carried them to the hole.

Hajime pulled a massive boulder and a few incendiary grenades out of his Treasure Trove. He held fast against the current long enough to toss them before letting himself be swept away.

The boulder blocked the hole he'd made, while the grenades exploded all around the sea angel. Though Hajime had no way of telling if that had actually bought them any time, it felt like the smart thing to do.

"Ugh, ack..."

"Haaah... Haaah, you alright, Kaori?"

"Y-Yes. Somehow... How's everyone else...?" Kaori looked around, coughing up water. She noticed Hajime was holding her up, and that they were on a sandy beach of some sort. A dense jungle stretched out in the distance, and water floated near the ceiling above. Kaori didn't see anyone else nearby. It seemed there was some sort of barrier keeping this area clear. The beach was massive.

"Looks like we got separated... Well, I've given everyone mini Treasure Troves, so they should be fine."

"Yeah..."

Hajime put Kaori down and scratched his head. He could tell that hadn't really reassured her.

Kaori watched as Hajime started changing right in front of her, then thought back to how they'd gotten here.

They'd all had to retreat from the giant sea angel. The giant room they'd fallen into had dozens of holes in the floor. Seawater gushed out from some, but flowed into others. The water's currents had been unpredictable and wild, like a storm. The group had tried to stay together, but the water mercilessly tore them apart. Yue tried to control the current with her magic, but it was so random that she didn't make much headway. Shea had managed to use her gravity manipulation and Drucken's natural weight to fix herself in place and somehow link up with Tio.

Hajime had wanted to pull out his submarine and herd everyone inside, but the current made it impossible. And so, he'd grit his teeth and pulled out some extremely dense rocks from his Treasure Trove. He'd been hoping to use their weight to anchor himself like Shea had.

Luckily, Yue was being carried toward him as well. If he could just stay in place they'd collide with each other. Tio and Shea had already fallen down one of the holes and had vanished from sight.

Hajime had been about to reach out to Yue when he'd spotted Kaori being swept away to one of the holes. His eyes met hers. He turned back to Yue, who had her hand outstretched to him.

He had two options at that point.

If he caught Yue, Kaori would likely be swept down a hole, alone. And if he caught Kaori, it would be Yue who would be alone.

As it was, Hajime only had the ability to grab one of them. Time slowed to a crawl as Hajime deliberated. He exchanged one last glance with Yue, and made his decision.

Hajime pulled more stones out of his Treasure Trove and sank like a rock. On his way down, he grabbed hold of Kaori. He decided to prioritize her over Yue.

Kaori's eyes opened wide in surprise, but then she had to shut them a second later as the current beat against her. Hajime held Kaori tight as they were sucked down a hole.

He activated Diamond Skin as they fell, then covered Kaori, protecting her from the stray boulders that hit them on the way down. Finally, the current began to weaken, and Hajime saw a light above them. He floated up to it.

When he surfaced he'd found himself at the coastline to the beach they were now standing on.

"Hey, Hajime-kun. Why... did you save me?"

"Huh?" Hajime had his back turned to Kaori, as he was still in the middle of changing. Where'd that come from?

"Why did you save me and not Yue?"

"I mean, if you fell by yourself you'd probably die. I figured Yue'd be fine on her own. Yue wanted me to save you too. I could tell from her eyes."

"You really trust her, don't you?"

"Of course I do. We're partners."

"..." Kaori's expression grew even more glum. She noticed a shadow above her, and looked up. She saw Hajime looking down at her, his face inches from her own. They were practically touching. If he moved just a little closer, they'd be kissing. She stared into Hajime's eyes. The moment was ruined as he grabbed her cheeks and pulled.

"Owww! What was that for!?" Tears sprung to Kaori's eyes.

Hajime ignored her protests and continued toying with her soft cheeks. By the time he was done, her cheeks were red and swollen. She looked at him reproachfully, and Hajime snorted

"There's no time to sit around moping. We're in the middle of a labyrinth here. How long were you planning on staying in those soaked clothes? Or were you hoping to earn my sympathy by walking around like that?" Kaori blushed at Hajime's rebuke. It was as if he'd just told her she didn't belong here.

"Th-That's not it! I just spaced out for a bit. I-I'll change right away. Sorry."

"..."

Kaori hurried to her feet and pulled out a spare change of clothes from the mini Treasure Trove Hajime had given her. He'd made one for everyone at Erisen, though they were far smaller in scope than Oscar's. Hajime nonchalantly turned around. Normally, Kaori would have tried to flirt with him and say something like "It's fine if you want to watch," but right now she didn't feel in the mood.

"I-I'm done. So, what are we going to do now?"

"Let's see. Even if we went back we'd have no idea where the others are, so I guess our best bet is to keep searching for the labyrinth's end. Yue and the others are probably doing the same."

Hajime stared at the jungle for a few seconds before turning back to Kaori. She smiled and nodded, trying to hide her melancholy. Hajime narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Sand crunched underneath their boots as the pair made their way to the jungle. Thick grasses and dense bushes barred their way forward, and Hajime pulled out a machete to hack through them. Kaori followed silently behind him.

After a few minutes, Hajime suddenly came to a halt and turned back to Kaori. He wrapped a hand around the back of her head protectively.

"Huh? U-Umm, Hajime-kun? Th-This is a bit sudden..." She blushed, but when she saw the thing Hajime had pulled off her neck the blood drained from her face.

It was a spider. It was as big as Hajime's hand, and it had twenty legs. Purple liquid dripped from its fangs. Its feet grew not only from its abdomen, but also from its back. Kaori had never seen anything so disgusting.

"Don't let your guard down. These labyrinths are way more deadly than the upper floors of the Orcus Labyrinth. If you think the monsters you face will only be as strong as the ones you fought there, you'll end up dead."

"O-Okay. I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."

"..."

The spider Hajime had picked up didn't have a mana crystal. That meant it was just a very ugly spider, and not a monster. Kaori felt even more depressed. Not only had she almost been killed by something that wasn't even a monster, she'd needed Hajime to save her again.

In Kouki's party she'd been one of the best mages they'd had. But here, she was just dead weight. That fact continued to nag at her. She kept an even more vigilant eye on her surroundings as they advanced, not even breaking her concentration to talk to Hajime. The two of them continued silently through the jungle.

Eventually, they found something.

"Is this a... ship graveyard?"

"Amazing. I never realized ships were so huge..."

Once they'd made it out of the jungle they found themselves in a rocky plain. A number of massive sailing ships nestled among the boulders, their masts rotting and their sails tattered. Every one of them must have been at least a hundred meters long. Some of the larger ones Hajime saw were more than three hundred.

The two of them stopped in their tracks to admire the surreal sight, but they couldn't gawk forever, and eventually they shook off their awe and started walking forward again.

They marched their way around the boulders, climbing those they couldn't circumvent. At times they walked across the ships' decks as well. Though all of the ships were rotting, they hadn't decayed to the point where they were completely falling apart yet.

"You know... these all look like warships."

"Yeah. That really big one in the back looks like a passenger ship, though. It's all decorated and stuff..."

The warships here didn't have gunports like the ones Hajime was used to seeing back on earth. His reason for believing they were warships was all the battle scars they had. From the looks of it, they'd all been bombarded with magic. Some of their masts had been cut clean through, while others had burn scars all over their wooden decks. Some of them even had their sails and ropes petrified.

Since there were no gunports, Hajime imagined long distance battles between warships had been done via magic in the past.

It turned out that he was right. When they were about halfway through the graveyard, they were attacked.

"Uwooooooooooooh!" "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Wh-What the!?"

"Hajime-kun, around us!" Hajime heard the screams of countless men and his surroundings began to warp.

Hajime and Kaori stopped in their tracks. Everything blurred, and a second later they were standing on the deck of a ship.

They were no longer in the graveyard of ships. Instead, they were in the middle of the sea. Hundreds of ships lined up against each other, and men yelled as they brandished their weapons.

"Wh-What on..."

"H-H-Hajime-kun? Am I dreaming? Are you seeing this too? You are, right?"

The two of them were so shocked all they could do was blankly examine their surroundings.

A flare rose up in the sky, and the mass of ships on Hajime's side began advancing forward. Another flare rose up from the other side, and those ships advanced as well.

Once the two sides were close enough, they began exchanging volleys of spells. Neither side slowed down, though, and it looked like they were planning to ram into each other.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyaaa!"

Fireballs raked the deck, burning holes through the wood. A raging tornado attempted to splinter the mast. Chunks of the ocean froze over, stymieing both sides' advance. Grey spheres flew through the air, petrifying any sails unlucky enough to be struck.

The deck Hajime and Kaori were standing on had caught fire. Sailors hurried to cast water magic to put it out.

This was a war. That was how large the scale of the battle was. A chilly breeze rolled past the combatants. Then, a fireball came hurtling toward where Hajime was standing. If he didn't do anything, it would hit him head-on, but he was still dumbfounded.

How on earth did we wind up in the middle of a naval battle? The question whirled around inside his head as Hajime pulled out Donner and fired at the fireball.

A streak of red light struck it, but contrary to expectations, the fireball didn't disappear. In fact, Hajime's bullet passed right through it and vanished into the sky.

"What!?" He let out yet another yell of surprise. He made to grab Kaori and dive out of the way.

"Wait, I'll stop it! Light Wall!" She deployed a beginner-level light barrier.

Hajime had figured it'd be best to dodge, since even shooting through its core hadn't dispersed the spell, but he didn't want Kaori to feel useless. So he stood there, activating Diamond Skin just in case.

However, Hajime needn't have worried. Kaori's barrier stopped the fireball.

Did I miss? Hajime thought dubiously to himself. He tried again, aiming for yet another fireball. He watched with his Demon Eye, making sure he shot precisely through the core of the spell. But once again, his bullet passed cleanly through the fireball, vanishing in the distance.

"So that's how it is." Hajime had figured out why his attacks hadn't worked, and attempted a different tactic. He stopped Kaori, who was about to put up another barrier, and wreathed his revolver in a Gale Claw. Then, he leaped out of the way and sliced through the fireball. This time the attack connected and dispersed the flames.

"Umm, Hajime-kun?"

"It looks like this isn't just a hallucination. Though it's not exactly reality either. Physical objects can't interact with the vision, but mana can. Though I still have no clue what the hell is going on."

Hajime sighed and shook his head. Just then, he heard a man scream behind him. He turned to see a youth double over, holding a cutlass in one hand and his stomach in the other. There was a pool of blood at his feet, a bloody icicle dropped on the ground next to him. He had been hit in that earlier barrage.

"Are you alright!?" Kaori rushed over and began casting healing magic on him. Lavender light enveloped the youth. A priest of Kaori's skill should have been able to heal a wound like that instantly, yet that wasn't what happened. The moment Kaori's healing magic touched him, he faded away.

"Huh? What? Wh-Why did he..." Hajime lapsed into thought. After a moment, he explained his hypothesis.

"I think as long as mana touches any part of this illusion it'll fade. It doesn't matter what kind of spell you use."

"Then that means I-I... killed him..."

"Kaori, none of this is real. It's an illusion that we can interact with, that's all. I mean, you can hardly call something that literally disappears from being healed human."

"Hajime-kun... Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. That surprised me a little, but I'm fine now."

Hajime wasn't blaming Kaori this time, but she still drooped her shoulders and apologized. However, she quickly recovered and smiled at him. Hajime thought back to how she'd been earlier too, and muttered something.

"Always an apology, huh?"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"It's nothing."

Hajime turned away from Kaori. Not because the conversation was over, but because he'd sensed something coming.

He looked around and noticed quite a few of the sailors were staring darkly at Hajime and Kaori.

Kaori noticed the change in Hajime's attitude and looked around as well. With a resounding battle cry, the sailors attacked.

"My life for Ehit!"

"Glory to Ehit!"

"You damned heretics! Die in the name of our lord!"

The men had gone completely mad. Their eyes were bloodshot and spittle sprayed from their mouths. It was obvious they weren't thinking rationally.

Hajime had already guessed this was some dispute between two neighboring countries, but now he understood the reason for it too. It was a holy war. He could hear similar cries coming from the other side as well. The only difference was the name of their god.

Kaori was stunned into silence.

Hajime pulled Kaori close and started firing Donner over his shoulder. Instead of firing physical bullets, he was shooting off rounds of pure mana.

Mana Manipulation's derivative skills, Mana Emission and Mana Compression let him do such a thing. Since the mana wasn't structured behind a spell of any kind, normal enemies wouldn't have taken any physical damage. They would have just had their mana shaved off.

However, both humans and monsters became unable to move once their mana dried up, so it was a great way to immobilize targets without harming them. Until now, Hajime's enemies had all been too dangerous to simply immobilize, so he hadn't used it much.

In this situation, though, it was perfect. Streaks of red light shot through the foreheads of battle-crazed sailors. Each of Hajime's mana bullets pierced through multiple sailors, who dissipated when shot.

"Kaori, I'm gonna jump! Make sure you don't bite your tongue!"

"What? Kyaaaaaaaaa!"

Hajime didn't want to deal with being surrounded on the narrow deck, so he grabbed hold of Kaori and leaped into the sky. She hadn't expected him to shoot up with such force though, so she screamed in surprise.

Hajime shot down the sailors on the crow's nest and appropriated it for himself.

The sailors down below glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

They'd been so busy fighting each other until just recently, but now for some reason some of the sailors had focused on the two of them. Though they'd been enemies seconds before, they were united in their hatred of Hajime and Kaori. The madness spread like a disease. At first only a small knot of sailors had targeted the pair, but before long the entire ship was after them.

Sailors locked in combat with each other froze and turned to face Hajime and Kaori instead. Then, with the same fanatical battle cries, they pointed their cutlasses at them. The insane spectacle had left Kaori pale-faced.

"Now then, how are we supposed to get out of this crazy vision?"

"Is there an exit somewhere... maybe?"

"We're in the middle of the ocean, remember?"

"Maybe one of the ships has a portal out? You know, like the Anywhere Door?"

Hajime raised an eyebrow as Kaori brought up a certain blue cat robot's very convenient tool.

"There's around 600 ships here... I don't think we can check every one of them. The battle'd end before we do."

"Hmmm... It looks like some of the ships are already sinking, too. Maybe we're supposed to end this war?"

"End it... I see, I get it now. You're saying we've gotta kill everyone, right? You're pretty sadistic, you know that?"

"Huh? No, wait that's not what I—"

"Yeah, that's gotta be it. I can't really think of anything else, and this suits my style anyway." Hajime casually shot down a few sailors who were trying to Tarzan their way to the crow's nest using the mast's ropes. I should have made some mana bullets for a situation like this. He used the derivative skill Remote Manipulation to shoot down a barrage of incoming fireballs as well.

"Kaori, I know you're not really skilled at offensive magic, but here even healing magic'll kill these guys. I'm still not 100% sure killing them's how we get out, but since they're coming at us we've got no choice but to take them down."

"O-Okay!" Kaori berated herself for hesitating and began chanting. The insanity in these ghost soldiers' eyes had shaken her, but she didn't want to break down in front of Hajime, so she held her ground and fought.

Hajime surveyed his surroundings, protecting Kaori from any attackers.

Looking down, he noticed there were still pockets of sailors fighting each other in places. Unlike when Hajime killed them, the illusions bled when cut by other illusions.

Gutted entrails and hacked-off body parts littered the ship's deck. It made for quite a grotesque sight. The men happily killed each other in the name of their gods.

The wind picked up, and a bloody mist rolled across the deck. Despite their losses, the sailors targeting Hajime and Kaori didn't let up.

Whenever anyone got too close, Hajime mercilessly shot them down. He'd also set up a pseudo-barrier of bullets circling around him to destroy any illusion he missed, and to block any magical attacks sent his way.

This didn't deter them though, and the sailors continued rushing to their deaths.

A few dozen soldiers used air magic to fly over the crow's nest and attack Hajime from above. More came from either side, using the mast's netting to close in. With his Demon Eye, Hajime could see a number of casters on other ships targeting his. They were all casting high level spells.

Just as Hajime was thinking about shooting them down before they took down this ship, Kaori finished casting her strongest spell.

"Divine Mother, smiling down from heaven, encompass all in thy heavenly embrace— Aetherflow!" Ripples of light spread out across the battlefield. They extended a full kilometer out from where Kaori was standing. Every person it touched was wrapped in a faint halo of light.

This was one of the highest-rank healing spells, Aetherflow. It healed everyone in a massive radius.

The actual range of the spell depended on how skilled the caster was and how much mana they put into the spell, but it had a minimum reach of 500 meters. Furthermore, if the caster marked certain targets beforehand, they could control the spell to affect only them. Normally, this spell required the combined mana of a few dozen people, a ridiculously long chant, and a huge mana circle. It was a testament to how overpowered Kaori was that she'd been able to cast it in two minutes all by herself.

The light of Kaori's Aetherflow covered the battlefield, destroying every illusion it touched.

Kaori stumbled once her spell ended, her mana spent. Hajime caught her before she fell.

"Wow, it's like we're floating in a sea of ghost ships now. Nice one, Kaori. I knew you had it in you."

"Ah, um, i-it was nothing, really. You guys are way more amazing than me, anyway..." Kaori blushed at Hajime's sincere praise. Still, she was certain Yue would have been able to do a faster and better job. She smiled bitterly to herself and looked away.

In order to change the topic, she muttered something about needing to recharge her mana, and Hajime handed her a magic stone pendant. Kaori couldn't control mana directly, so Hajime had engraved it with a magic circle she could use to drain it.

Hajime opened his mouth to say something, but he shut it again when he saw another wave of enemies approaching. They could talk about it later.

Normally, fighting an army of illusions who could only be hurt by mana and had no fear would have been extremely difficult, doubly so on the swaying deck of a ship. However, Hajime and Kaori were anything but normal.

The combined armies of two countries were decimated in just one hour by the two of them.

"Ugh... Sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

Once they destroyed the last of the illusions, Hajime and Kaori had found themselves back in their original location.

Hajime had breathed a sigh of relief, glad that killing them all had been the solution to the puzzle. A second later, though, Kaori had doubled over and started retching. It had been some time since she last ate, so she didn't throw anything up, but it still didn't look pleasant.

Tears in her eyes, Kaori held up a hand to Hajime, begging him not to get any closer, but Hajime walked over anyway and gently rubbed Kaori's back. She hadn't wanted him to see this side of her, but she was still reassured by the warm hand on her back. Before she knew it, she'd fallen into his arms. It didn't take long for her to calm down and stop retching.

Hajime pulled out a pack of apple juice from his Treasure Trove and passed it to her. She gulped it down greedily, and the color began returning to her face. The sweetness of the juice washed away the taste of bile in her mouth.

"I'm really sorry..." Hajime narrowed his eyes as she apologized.

"It's totally understandable. I found them pretty disgusting myself. I can't believe people would let blind faith turn them into something like that. Let's take a short break. I used up a lot of my mana too, so I need to rest."

"Okay... Hey, Hajime-kun. What was that? Did it have something to do with all of these rotting ships here?" Kaori sat down on a nearby boulder. Hajime thought about it for a few seconds.

"My guess is that was a war that actually happened in the past, and whoever made this labyrinth recreated it with magic. I imagine the part where all the sailors attacked whoever enters was their own addition... It could be that this is part of this labyrinth's theme."

"Its... theme?"

"Yeah. Tio mentioned it in the Grand Gruen Volcano. She thought each of the liberators designed their labyrinth around a certain theme. If she's right, then..."

"The theme of this one is to show us the tragedy the gods brought upon Tortus?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

Chills ran down Kaori's spine as she thought back to what they'd seen. She shivered, her face pale. Their madness had disturbed Kaori enough that she'd thrown up. She'd never seen such religious fanaticism before. Their fervor, their actions, and the fact that their faith had led them to slaughter each other disgusted her.

Worst of all though, they'd been laughing as they fought. Some of them who'd known they were dying had even ripped out their own hearts to offer up to their heartless gods. Others had stabbed right through their comrades to get a better chance at hitting Hajime and Kaori.

It had been an unbelievably gruesome sight, especially because it had all been done in the name of god. Hajime sat down next to Kaori and took her hand in his. He couldn't just sit and watch when she was grappling with atrocities like that.

Kaori looked up at him in surprise, but after a moment she smiled and tightened her grip on his hand.

"Hajime-kun, thank you..."

"Don't worry about it. I know how painful it feels... to think you're going crazy. I nearly lost myself when I fell into the abyss."

"How did you manage to stay sane? Actually, I don't even need to ask. It was Yue, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't met her back then... who knows what I would have become." Hajime looked off into the distance, reminiscing about those days.

Kaori felt as if a vice was squeezing down on her heart.

"It's so frustrating. I wanted to be the one to protect you, Hajime-kun... the one to save you. Though I don't know if I could have done it if it had been me down there. I couldn't even keep my first promise to you. Haha, I guess it's going to be tough to beat Yue." Hajime narrowed his eyes at Kaori again. Normally Kaori's smiles were full of warmth, but right now they were bitter, full of self-deprecation.

"You've been apologizing a lot since we came here. You've been smiling like that a lot, too."

"Huh? Umm..." Kaori tilted her head in confusion, and Hajime's next words made her forced smile crumble.

"Hey, Kaori. Why'd you come with us?"

"So I really am just in your way?"

Hajime sighed, and changed topics. This was going nowhere.

"I still remember what you told me that night, when you came to my room and we drank my shitty tea. That's why I don't understand why you still like me so much, after how I've changed."

"Hajime-kun, I..." Kaori opened her mouth, but Hajime cut her off. He wasn't done yet.

"But I have no intention of denying your feelings, or saying they're a lie. I'm sure you have your own reasons for still loving me. No one else has the right to deny you that, or your determination. I already gave you my answer, and if you still say you love me despite that, then that's fine. It's not like Shea's any different, after all. In fact, she's so persistent that I'm worried she'll just attack me one night."

Her physical abilities had only continued to grow in the time they'd traveled together. It had gotten to the point where Hajime was worried he wouldn't be able to fend her off if she seriously tried to overpower him. Kaori smiled wryly and nodded.

"Yeah, even I'm amazed at how outgoing and positive Shea is."

"Even I have to admit I was pretty mean to her in the beginning. Yue was the only person special to me, so I just wanted her to give up."

"..."

"But no matter how roughly I treated her, no matter how much I told her she had no chance, she still looked like she was enjoying herself. Sure she cried and got mad and yelled at me, but she never looked unhappy. Even though she had no aptitude for magic and wasn't nearly as strong as Yue, she never stopped looking forward. She never let herself wallow in her own inferiority."

"I-I'm not wallowing..." Kaori trailed off weakly. She wanted to protest, but even she knew he was right.

"Did you know? All you've done since we came here is apologize. Even the way you smile's changed."

"What?"

"Hey, Kaori. Quit looking down. Look me in the eye."

It was only after he said it that Kaori realized she'd been avoiding making eye contact with him, even though she'd always met his gaze before... She looked up with a start.

"I'll say this one more time. I love Yue. Even if other people end up important to me, they'll never be special like she is. If it really hurts that much, if comparing yourself to me and Yue brings you nothing but pain... then you should leave."

"Ah..." Kaori looked down again. Hajime wasn't done yet, though.

"Back then, I agreed to let you come with me because I thought you were like Shea. I figured that was what you really wanted. That it was something you thought was best for yourself. Even though I'd told you I loved Yue, you insisted on coming anyway. So I thought sure, you'd be happier that way too. But that's not how it seems to me right now."

Hajime let go of Kaori's hand.

"I want you to think about this seriously. Decide for yourself what it is that has you so down, and whether you really want to keep traveling with me or not. You're not like Shea. Shea loves Yue just as much as she loves me. If you think it's better to leave, I'll make sure to bring you back to Yaegashi safely, don't worry."

"I-I..." Kaori looked down at her hand. She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Things had grown awkward between them now, but they still needed to move forward. This was a labyrinth after all. The pair continued onward, until they reached a massive passenger ship in the back. It was even longer than 300 meters, and at least ten stories tall. Taller, probably, as part of it was buried underground. It was ornately decorated, so much so that even after rotting partly it still looked magnificent.

The two stopped for a moment to admire its majesty. Even on earth, few ships were this big. Those that were didn't look quite this elegant, either.

Kaori just stared in awe, while Hajime admired its craftsmanship.

"I'm amazed they managed to make something this big out of wood." He was still a Synergist at heart. Whoever managed to make that deserves respect.

Hajime grabbed Kaori and used Aerodynamic to jump all the way up to the terrace on the top deck. As he'd expected, the air around them began to warp.

"Looks like we've got another vision to go through... Prepare yourself, Kaori. We're probably not going to like this one either."

"...It's okay. I'll be fine."

Kaori took a second to reply. Hajime mentally berated himself. He should have saved that conversation for when they were out of the labyrinth.

All he'd succeeded in doing was spoiling Kaori's mood. It was something he'd needed to say eventually, but he could have picked a better time for it.

He just hadn't been able to bear seeing Kaori smile sadly like that any longer. Still, I could have waited until we cleared The Sunken Ruins of Melusine first. Hajime awkwardly scratched his cheek.

The vision this time put them in the middle of a luxurious passenger ship.

It was night, and the moon was full. Lights glimmered all along the ship's deck. Decorations hung from every railing and mast, and tables of food were laid out buffet-style. A large crowd of people milled about, sampling the rich food and chatting with each other.

"Is this... a party?"

"Looks like it. A fancy one too... Did I get Melusine's theme wrong?"

Hajime was caught off-guard by the distinctly not gruesome sight in front of him. He and Kaori were standing atop a raised terrace that overlooked the deck.

As Hajime swept his gaze over the partygoers, the door behind him opened and a few sailors stepped onto the terrace. They lounged around, chatting with each other. I guess they're here for their break.

Hajime listened in on their conversation. From what he could gather, this party was to celebrate the end of a war. It seemed the war that had been going on for years between these two countries had ended not with one country annihilating and invading the other, but with a peace treaty. The sailors seemed happy about that fact. Upon closer inspection, Hajime noticed that humans, demons, and beastmen were all in attendance at this party. They were all mingling together, with no regards to race.

"I guess a time like this existed too."

"They must have worked really hard to make this peace happen. I don't know how long it's been since the war ended, but I can't imagine everyone's grudges have gone away. And yet, they're all smiling and laughing together..."

"I'm sure the people here are the ones who fought for peace. There's no way everyone else would be able to laugh like that with the people they'd been fighting a while ago."

"Yeah..."

Hajime and Kaori smiled as they watched the party. After some time, a middle-aged man climbed up onto the podium at the end of the deck and waved to everyone. The talking gradually quieted down and people turned their attention to him. They were all looking up at him respectfully.

Behind him was someone Hajime guessed was his aide, along with a person wearing a hood. He thought it was rather rude to get up onstage in a hood, but none of the partygoers seemed to mind.

Once the ship was completely quiet, the man began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, all of you who gathered here today are heroes. Brave heroes who fought not to make war, but to make peace. I am honored and humbled that you all agreed to come to this event. I cannot tell you how happy I am that this war has ended with my generation... Seeing peace come between our two nations has been always been my dream." Everyone listened with rapt attention. The man continued, talking about the missteps they had along the way, the trials they had to face to overcome suspicion, and the lasting cornerstones of peace that they'd finally built. He spoke of the friends they lost along the way, and tears sprung to many of the guests' eyes. Some looked off into the distance, while others recalled nostalgic memories.

It seemed this man was the king of the human kingdom. He'd spent his entire life working toward this peace. Hajime could see why everyone respected him.

Finally, his speech wound to a close. He roused everyone at the end with a spirited closer. The audience burst out in cheers. However, Hajime was struck by a sudden premonition. He felt as though he recognized the king's face from somewhere.

"Now, after a year of peace, I've come to realize something... How worthless it truly is." Everyone glanced about in confusion. They looked to each other, wondering if they'd misheard the king. The speech everyone had thought finished continued.

"Indeed, utterly worthless. Raising toasts with beasts and consorting with heretics... What is it, if not folly? Do you understand, ladies and gentlemen? You are all a pack of fools."

"Wh-What are you saying, Aleister!? What's gotten in to— Gah!?" The demon who'd stepped forward to protest coughed up blood. A sword was sticking out of his chest.

The demon's eyes widened in surprise. He turned around to see a human behind him holding the weapon. From the demon's expression, Hajime could tell the two must have been close. He fell to the ground, an expression of disbelief frozen on his face.

Everyone started talking at once. Cries of "Your Majesty, please!" rang out. Many of the guests were unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen. Like I said in the beginning, I am honored you all agreed to come. You have made my job that much easier. It grated me day after day to watch as you ungodly heretics attempted to create your own nation. As if monsters who've turned their backs on Ehit, the sole creator of the world, could ever be equal to humans. But that all ends today. You barbarians who worship a heretical god do not deserve to exist on Ehit's holy Tortus. We will only have true peace when vermin like you are eradicated! If only you knew how much joy it brings me that all the leaders of all the nations willingly gathered here today. Believers of Ehit, bring down the iron hammer of retribution on these nonbelievers! Lord Ehit, are you watching!?"

King Aleister sunk to his knees and gazed up at the heavens in prayer. The sailors took off their uniforms, revealing gleaming soldier's armor underneath. They surrounded the guests.

There was a massive mast right in the center of the ship's deck. The terrace was built atop that mast, and so the soldiers positioned there had an unobstructed view of the entire deck. Unless the guests could somehow escape into the sea, the soldiers had an overwhelming advantage.

The various lords and ladies of every country realized that as well. Despair colored their faces.

A second later, the soldiers loosed magic at the undefended guests. They tried to fight back, but outnumbered and outmaneuvered as they were, their desperate struggle amounted to little.

A few managed to escape, but after a few seconds the majority of the guests were lying in puddles of their own blood.

Just a short while ago they'd been happily eating and drinking. Some of the guests had tried leaping into the ocean, but Aleister had prepared for that. Small boats packed to the brim with soldiers had been lying in wait, and killed anyone who jumped over. The water around the ship had turned crimson.

"Ugh..."

"Kaori..."

Kaori leaned against the railing, one hand against her mouth all the while. She tried very hard not to throw up. This vision was even more horrific than the last. Hajime gently patted her back.

Once the slaughter was over, King Aleister went below the deck with his soldiers. He was probably going to hunt down the few who'd escaped into the bowels of the ship.

His aide and the hooded figure trailed behind him.

However, before heading downstairs, the hooded figure turned to look at the terrace. Hajime caught a glimpse of silver hair in the moonlight, or at least he thought he did.

Their surroundings began to warp again. It seemed there was no test in this vision. Melusine had just wanted to show it to them.

"Kaori, rest for a bit."

"It's okay, I'm fine. That was a bit graphic but... was that it? It ended without us doing anything."

"This is the end of the ship graveyard. We could craft a barrier and explore the ocean, but judging from what we saw, I assume we're supposed to go inside now. At the very least, the vision seems to be leading us there. Melusine wanted us to burn the atrocities the gods committed into our memory before letting us continue, I guess... Can't say it's a very pleasant experience. It'd probably be even worse if we were from this world."

Almost all the humans in Tortus were believers of Ehit. It'd likely be quite a shock to see visions of what kind of monsters their faith could turn them into.

In order to conquer this labyrinth, powerful magic was a necessity. The ability to use magic depended greatly on the user's mental state. In many ways, it was the complete opposite of the Reisen Gorge. Fortunately, Hajime and Kaori weren't from this world, so it wasn't like their entire worldview was being shaken.

Still, the massacre had been horrific. They looked down at the deck, which had soaked up so many people's blood, and thought back to what they'd seen. Hajime was just annoyed that Melusine was making them go through all this crap.

Once they'd prepared themselves, Hajime took them down to the deck and they entered the same door Aleister had in the vision.

The interior of the ship was pitch black. It was bright outside, so Hajime had expected light to be pouring in through the windows, but for whatever reason it wasn't, so he pulled a green glowstone lamp out of his Treasure Trove.

"About that vision from before... The king betrayed them after they'd already made peace, right?"

"Looks like it. But don't you think it was a little weird? It looked like everyone really respected the guy... Would they have really looked up to him like that if he secretly hated all the beastmen and demons?"

"You're right. Based on what he said, it had been a year since the war ended. Something must have happened in that time that changed him so drastically. The question is, what?"

"There's no doubts the gods were involved somehow. You heard what he was saying. He sounded pretty crazy at the end."

"Yeah, he reminded me of Ishtar-san... It was like he was in a trance. It was almost pitiful to watch."

Hajime almost felt a little bad for Ishtar. A high school girl thought the pope of the Holy Church was cringeworthy.

They walked forward for a while longer until Hajime's lamp illuminated something. A white, fluttering something.

The pair stopped in their tracks. Hajime pointed the light upward. It revealed a girl, wearing a pure white dress. She was swaying back and forth, her head pointed downward.