Chapter 34: Anomaly – 2

Nation.

There hadn’t been much of a direct confrontation with him, but his personality seemed decent.

He was straightforward and willing to admit his mistakes.

I thought he was a good guy.

‘His level seemed pretty high too.’

Estimated level: roughly 3.

That meant he was about the same as Rishiel or somewhere around that range.

— I’ve only just reached level 3, but that guy was different.

Rishiel had said that to me in a way that sounded almost like an excuse.

But that wasn’t the important part.

‘Someone like that died on the first floor.’

I looked around again.

Blood had splattered everywhere, staining the surroundings.

That was all there was to see.

However, with Thief’s Pinnacle, I could get a rough idea of what kind of battle had taken place here.

Summing it all up.

‘There aren’t any real signs of a battle.’

A chill ran down my spine.

Nation was level 3.

And that woman in his party, Viola—if she wasn’t strong, there was no way I could have taken the Talisman of Protection from her.

People of that caliber were defeated without even putting up a proper fight?

“…Let’s take the head first.”

Erme spoke in a trembling voice.

Her face had turned deathly pale. Then, with an urgency in her voice, she added,

“It looks like whatever caused this is still nearby, so for now—”

“It’s gone.”

I cut Erme off.

For a while now, I had been feeling something strange.

Blood had splattered in every direction, but it had also dried up.

That was what felt so off.

‘…This labyrinth isn’t in its normal state right now.’

It was like the flow of time itself had become jumbled.

I had no idea why.

But unlike how the labyrinth usually worked—where everyone entered at the same time—something about the timing seemed off now.

Because…

‘This blood dried up about two to three hours ago.’

Yet we hadn’t even been inside the labyrinth for an hour.

If I put that together, there was only one conclusion.

‘The timing doesn’t match.’

I organized my thoughts and explained the situation to the others.

“…This anomaly is seriously strange.”

Erme stared at me, her expression blank.

The look in her eyes, however, gradually shifted from uncertainty to confidence.

‘It’s just the effect of my Gift.’

That look of admiration was honestly a bit overwhelming.

Still, we had to move. This place was too dangerous right now.

However.

That probably wasn’t what Erme wanted.

‘We need to retreat.’

This was beyond what we could handle.

I met Erme’s gaze, silently urging her.

After closing her eyes for a moment, she nodded.

“You’re right. We’re retreating from the labyrinth immediately. If Nation’s entire party was wiped out without being able to fight back, we won’t stand a chance either.”

At her decision, everyone’s expressions brightened.

No one had said it outright, but we all understood how dangerous this place had become.

‘Not that escaping will be easy either.’

The once silent labyrinth stirred with noise again.

The sound of a horde moving together echoed through the halls.

Frowning, I turned to Erme and spoke.

“A goblin horde up ahead.”

“How many? If there aren’t too many, we can break through—”

“At least fifty.”

“…What?”

“We can break through if we need to. I can wipe them out with my bow.”

But there was a problem.

If I used Charging Shot to annihilate them, the sheer noise would echo in every direction.

‘Let’s just hope nothing else is nearby.’

Relying on luck was fine, but this was too much of a gamble.

I quickly summarized the situation.

Erme looked at me with a more cautious expression.

“Let’s save Violet Lightning Flash for later. We need to conserve as much mana as possible.”

Violet Lightning Flash ?

Wait… did she just name Charging Shot?

When did that happen?

Not that I minded.

Having a name for a skill was actually a good thing.

‘That sounds pretty cool.’

— My sacred violet thunder, the flash of annihilation…

…That was an insanely over-the-top name.

I made a mental note to never ask Rishiel for skill name suggestions.

“Even if we’re retreating, it won’t be easy right now. We’ll have to fight our way through.”

“They’re that fast?”

“Something’s off. These goblins are way quicker than usual.”

At my words, Erme nodded and assessed the situation.

“Alright, let’s intercept them here. Quickly and efficiently.”

“Got it.”

Glasses adjusted his lenses with his middle finger before casting a spell on all of us.

I felt my body grow lighter, my movements sharper, and my stamina more solid.

“I’ll assist as well. Oh, Goddess, grant us Your sacred blessing and shield us from harm.”

Rozanté narrowed her eyes and recited a prayer. A golden light spread through our bodies, filling us with a surge of vitality.

Thump, thump.

I moved my body lightly to test it out.

‘Not bad.’

As I loosened up, Rozanté did the same beside me.

“I may not look it, but I have quite the experience in hand-to-hand combat.”

I gave her a questioning look.

…Was she the type like Monk, who found pleasure in pain?

‘She’d be a real pain to deal with if she became an enemy.’

And if she was an ally, she’d definitely be reliable.

Well, that was enough easing up.

I grabbed my bow and arrows.

Since a whole goblin squad was approaching, retrieving my arrows would be difficult.

‘I’ll just use them freely.’

For a moment, I considered setting up traps with wires in a place like this and wiping them out that way.

‘I’ll think about that later.’

That is, if I made it out of here.

I nocked an arrow.

Ping!

The arrow melted into the darkness, becoming a streak of light.

Starting with the goblin at the very front, it pierced through four more behind it.

‘The performance is solid.’

This was completely different from my previous bow.

That one only had a sharp string, but this…

‘Should I give it a try?’

The bowstring seemed fairly long. I pulled out my old bow and quickly unstrung it.

The string was about as long as my height.

As expected from the dwarves—it was incredibly sharp.

However, it was only useful if I attached a weapon to the end of it or used it for traps.

I swiftly wrapped the string around the end of a dagger. Thief’s Pinnacle made the process effortless.

Tuk.

Tuk.

I quickly drove two daggers into the ground to widen the setup.

Since the gap between the walls was too wide, this was only a temporary measure.

‘This should do for now.’

Then, I gripped my sword.

“Everyone, fall back slowly.”

Theresa, Rozanté, and Erme retreated.

I positioned myself next to Glasses, just in case something unexpected happened.

Whoosh—!

The sound of something cutting through the air.

Using Whisper of the Wind, I deflected whatever was flying toward Glasses.

Clang!

An arrow.

‘…There’s an archer among them?’

“Kiieeeek!”

The goblins swarmed forward.

A wave of green-skinned monsters—fifty in total.

Something about them felt different from usual.

Normally, goblins could be handled individually, but a massive group like this made things more complicated.

‘I need to defend while attacking.’

But their overwhelming numbers put us at a clear disadvantage.

‘…Can we survive this?’

No—we had to survive.

“Kiieeek!”

The goblins shrieked as they charged.

But they weren’t acting normal. Their eyes were blood-red as they screamed toward us.

—Be careful. They’re in a berserk state.

‘What does that mean?’

—They won’t feel pain, and they’ll charge recklessly.

Rishiel’s words made me hesitate for a moment.

Should I just use Violet Lightning Flash to wipe them all out?

‘No, the noise might attract whatever killed Nation’s party.’

That enemy was beyond what we could handle.

These goblins, however, were still within our limits.

As I processed my thoughts, the goblin horde closed in.

And then.

KIEEEEEK!

Several goblins at the front let out pained screeches as five of them collapsed.

Their legs had been half-severed by the razor-sharp string I had set up.

Three more goblins behind them tripped and fell over the bodies.

The sudden disruption slowed their momentum.

“Now!”

Erme dashed forward, swinging her sword.

Theresa followed suit, crushing goblins into pulp with her mace.

Boom!

Rozanté’s fist smashed straight through a goblin’s face.

“…Terrifying woman,”

Glasses muttered.

I silently agreed as I moved forward.

There were just too many of them.

Even with Erme, Theresa, and Rozanté cutting them down, some still slipped past and charged toward us.

That’s why I stood in front of Glasses.

I swung my sword at the approaching goblins.

A glowing crimson blade and a silver edge danced through the air.

Slash!

The swords were just too good.

Goblins’ heads and bodies were sliced apart with ease.

Blood splattered on my face, but I had no time to stop.

More goblins kept slipping past the front line.

‘Five of them.’

A group of five goblins stood before me—ones that would have been easy to take down as a party.

But I wasn’t worried.

I had already explored the first floor alone.

However, my ranged attacks were blocked, and Glasses was right behind me.

Which meant.

‘I have to be fast.’

Five goblins charged.

Two in the front.

I swung my swords.

One was sliced clean in half from the stomach up.

The other lost its head in a single motion.

At that moment, another goblin leaped at me from the side, sword raised.

Combat Technique.

I kicked it hard in the stomach.

It felt like kicking a soccer ball as the goblin was sent flying.

Two more goblins rushed me.

Blood Phantom Blade.

The blood-soaked sword shimmered, forming an eerie, elongated crimson edge.

Faint violet lightning crackled around it.

I swung it once, and both goblins’ heads were severed in an instant.

A clean cut.

But I had no time to admire it—more goblins were pushing past the vanguard and heading my way.

‘This is getting chaotic.’

Leaving the house always led to suffering.

What followed was an exhausting war of attrition.

We encountered enemies three more times after that. Everyone was visibly worn out.

‘This is harder than I thought.’

I was out of daggers.

I had used more than half of my arrows.

My razor-sharp string had lost nearly half of its edge.

‘We’re burning through resources too fast.’

The only saving grace was Rozanté.

Thanks to her Blessing of Vitality, we were still standing.

And one more thing.

‘The one who wiped out Nation’s party hasn’t shown up.’

Judging from the battlefield, that enemy had massacred the entire group single-handedly.

We kept moving.

Then.

I sensed something ahead.

“…Everyone, stay alert.”

“More of those damn goblins?”

“Those bastards again?”

Weapons were drawn, accompanied by curses.

I shook my head.

There was only one presence.

And it was a familiar one.

“I only sense one person. I think… it’s someone we know.”

“Everyone remembers what I warned you about, right?”

Erme had told us as soon as we got here.

If we encountered missing party members or familiar faces, we needed to be careful.

Because of that, we had all drawn an X on our wrists and covered it with bracelets.

“Stay cautious. Let’s move forward.”

I readied my bow and stepped ahead.

A little further in, we spotted a lone figure.

A trembling woman.

Violet hair.

Violet eyes.

She was wrapped in a pitch-black robe, shaking uncontrollably.

“H-Hik…! Hiiik…!”

Viola looked at us with sheer terror in her eyes.