Translator: Marctempest
Editor/Proofreader: TempWane
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Chapter 84: Mahabharata
A considerable amount of mana had been consumed before the treatment was finished.
The injury was significant but not overly severe.
Artan remained in an awkward stance the entire time.
“That’s enough. Now go.”
I bluntly spoke and withdrew my hand.
Gratitude was gratitude, but I didn’t want to linger too long near a man.
Artan carefully stepped back.
“T-thank you.”
He still seemed bewildered as he caressed the scar on his skin. Watching his trembling hands, I spoke.
“You did well coming this far.”
A moderate compliment.
Judging by his wide eyes, it was an entirely unexpected remark.
“······What?!”
Why such a reaction?
I wasn’t that stingy with praise.
He stammered as if to clarify his disbelief.
“I think I misheard.”
“······.”
“No way, you said something like that······.”
I understood what kind of image he had of me.
Disregarding it, I concluded the conversation.
“Just don’t die.”
With that, I turned my back.
A desperate voice called out behind me.
“W-wait a moment! Quellière—”
“Wait.”
A chilling voice interjected at that moment.
When I turned around, black armor blocked Artan’s path.
“You’re that Black Knight······.”
“You and I need to have a word.”
“What? What does that mean—”
Chandrafail obstructed his way without any room for negotiation.
It seemed he had already recovered a fair amount of strength.
Was he helping me, or did he genuinely have something to say?
Considering it was the Black Knight, I couldn’t be sure.
“······Regardless, it’s helpful.”
It made slipping away a little easier.
I passed through the murmuring coalition forces and headed towards where Nell was.
Other companions had gathered there as well.
Everyone seemed exhausted from the fierce battle with the Calamity.
“Good job.”
I offered words of encouragement first.
Nell, who looked noticeably pale, responded.
“Ah, ah······ Quellière. You too.”
“You look exhausted.”
“What?! No way! It’s nothing. I’m totally fine.”
She raised the corners of her mouth in a sly grin.
I smiled faintly in return.
It seemed there was no need to worry.
“But, Quellière.”
“Yes?”
Lowering the corners of her mouth, Nell asked.
“Did the Calamity escape? Where do you think it went?”
“······Well. Probably further into where the Obelisk is.”
That thing could cross through the maze as it pleased.
The final battle was far from over.
It was a moment where I steadied my resolve again.
“Truly, a remarkable display of power.”
A deep voice cut in.
It was a voice I had heard before, and as expected, the culprit was the man with green hair.
“Even as someone who considers himself a minor hero, I was pathetically terrified. But you are different. That strike that made even the Calamity tremble······.”
Genuine admiration and praise.
If I remembered correctly, his name was Harold Grypheon.
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
“······?”
In the urgency of the previous situation, I hadn’t noticed, but this man’s green hair.
It triggered a memory.
And the surname “Grypheon.”
The clues all pointed to Bulizé.
“You.”
I decided to ask directly.
“And, uh······ yes. What is it?”
“Are you perhaps Bulizé’s older brother?”
“!”
Harold flinched in surprise and responded.
“How do you know that······! Don’t tell me you’ve met my sister?”
It was practically a confirmation.
The resemblance made sense now.
I nodded.
“Yes. I met her in the capital. She came to find me.”
“So, you visited the Empire. By the way, what did she talk about… She didn’t act rudely, did she?”
A slight nervousness appeared on his face.
I thought he was a calm person, but he had this side too.
“She didn’t.”
I briefly recounted my meeting with Bulizé.
As her family, he had the right to know.
She had asked me many questions but also provided important information.
Harold sighed in relief.
“······I see. That’s a relief.”
The siblings’ personalities were rather pleasant.
Was it a family that valued etiquette?
Harold exhaled deeply and then looked up at the ceiling.
The sky of the maze, faintly visible above.
Returning to reality, his face stiffened slightly.
“But what is this maze? Could it possibly be the work of the Calamity?”
“It is.”
“······What?”
“A magical anomaly, the Landfill Maze. It’s caused by divine power, and that creature must have manipulated it.”
I answered his muttered words.
Harold’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“A magical anomaly! I’ve heard of it. It’s said to occur rarely in very specific environments—”
“Here, it’s commonplace.”
“Such······ No, more importantly. Quellière, do you know how to escape this maze?!”
He lit up with hope as if he had spotted a lifeline.
The escape method for the maze.
I, too, fell into thought.
“I do know.”
To escape this place, that is, to destroy the phenomenon, a “key” was needed.
However, the key would constantly be moved.
Finding it in this vast expanse would take considerable effort.
Just as I was about to explain that, Sigina cheerfully exclaimed.
“Everyone, quiet~! I hear something!”
She placed her finger on her lips and twitched her ears.
At this point, I knew what her reaction meant.
“A sound?”
“Over there! Someone’s coming!”
All attention shifted in that direction.
As expected, Sigina’s ears were never wrong.
Soon, two figures appeared from the distance.
“······Huh?”
They were familiar faces.
A tall woman with silver hair flowing down and a slender girl—Mishra and Paile.
The two waved their hands as they saw us.
Though I was glad, I couldn’t greet them the same way.
“······!”
My gaze was suddenly drawn to Paile’s arms.
I saw something squirming there.
My eyes widened in surprise.
*
······A while ago, somewhere in the maze before the Calamity appeared.
Mishra realized something strange had happened.
“Is this magic? Quellière is······.”
Though she felt uneasy, she wasn’t afraid.
For someone who had lived for thousands of years, fear was a faint and insignificant emotion.
Rather, the desire to find her master quickly was far stronger.
“Ahh, whoa! Suddenly, everything around us······!”
She wanted to run off immediately but couldn’t.
A whining voice sounded next to her.
“Sister! Sister Quellière! Mister, too······! Where is everyone?”
The small, delicate creature was part of her group.
Paile, terrified by the bizarre phenomenon, whimpered as Mishra looked at her, momentarily flustered.
“Hold on! Don’t cry!”
“Sniff······ Ah. Dragon sister······.”
“Indeed, I am here! Calm down and stop crying!”
It seemed effective as she improved slightly.
In that moment, Mishra took the lead.
“For now, let’s move!”
Walking might change their mood.
And her urgency to reunite with the group was mixed in as well.
“Y-yes!”
The girl energetically answered and followed close behind.
The two of them walked through the maze-like interior, avoiding obstacles and dead ends.
During their journey, an ominous growl reached their ears.
Kueeek······.
It was an unsettling sound.
Mishra changed direction.
“Let’s head over there.”
They were in a situation where they didn’t know how many enemies might be present.
Mishra had to consider the girl’s safety.
She carefully avoided the eerie cries and ominous auras that occasionally loomed.
“Umm.”
Even the smallest threats were avoided.
It was her first time playing the role of a caretaker, so she was overly protective.
Nevertheless, she meticulously searched every safe corner to find her companions.
Her actions were different from anyone else in the maze, and perhaps due to this peculiarity—
She discovered something crawling at the edge.
“······Huh?”
“Oh?”
The two of them blinked.
Something digging into the dirt in the corner.
It had a flat, oval-shaped body with a yellow-brown sheen—it was an insect.
“It looks like a bug. What kind of bug is it?”
“I do not know. This is the first time I have seen such a creature.”
The bug was quite large.
It also had a striking feature that distinguished it from other creatures.
“Is that a jewel?”
On one side of its plate-like head, it carried something that sparkled like a diamond.
It didn’t seem to be part of the insect’s body.
“What a peculiar bug. Where did it find such a thing?”
The girl and Mishra tilted their heads.
It was a creature neither had seen before. It seemed harmless and was fascinating enough to keep their attention.
Although they didn’t know it, this was a “Muse,” a lifeform native to the Landfill Maze.
“What are you doing there?”
Mishra muttered as she approached.
Startled, the Muse hastily dug into the ground.
Rumble, rumble!
The ground shook violently.
Right after startling the two, the creature moved at an astonishing speed.
The occasional bulges in the ground barely traced its path.
“Let’s chase it!”
Paile exclaimed.
Her earlier gloom was gone, and her eyes sparkled with energy.
“Chase it? And for what purpose······.”
“It has a jewel! It looked super valuable!”
That was her sole reason.
Whether it was a diamond or not, it looked incredibly expensive—a sentiment fueled by the survival instincts of a girl who had grown up as an orphan.
The fact that it seemed less threatening than a monster also played a role.
“There it is! Over there, sister!”
“Got it—”
Rumble, rumble!
Mishra and Paile gave chase.
But no matter how hard they pursued, they couldn’t catch it.
“You little thing! You won’t escape this time······.”
Crash!
Even Mishra, the Dragon Lord, failed to catch it.
The Muse was incredibly specialized for escape and was in its home terrain, but there was another decisive reason.
“This insolent creature! Are you mocking me?”
Her pride had been wounded, and though she failed repeatedly without understanding why, she eventually noticed something.
“Whenever I approach, it scurries away······ Wait?”
She realized that the bug only ran when she drew near.
Looking closely, it seemed to allow Paile’s approach much more easily.
“Hmm?”
Why was that?
Was the bug discriminating against species?
It was something worth testing, and Paile nodded at Mishra’s suggestion.
“Hey, little bug~ It’s okay.”
The girl reassured it as she cautiously stepped closer.
Step by step—lightly and gently—
“I’m not a bad person. Stay still. Just stay still······ Oh?”
Nothing happened as her hand touched the bug’s back.
It was smooth and simple.
So easy that the two of them tilted their heads in confusion.
“······This bug. You truly discriminate based on species. You little seed of calamity—”
Mishra was muttering in frustration when—
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A tremendous roar shook the ground.
Unlike the Muse’s tunneling, this was a genuine catastrophe.
“!”
The two of them instantly sensed it.
Something was unfolding over there.
Mishra shouted as she dashed forward.
“Follow me!”
“Y-yes!”
Paile hesitated briefly before cradling the bug in her arms.
As someone born in the slums, she had no reservations about it.
In fact, she even found it a little cute and quickly trotted after Mishra.
*
“So that’s what happened.”
“I see.”
We listened to the two newcomers explain their circumstances.
They had wandered the maze before following the sounds to find us.
I looked at Paile, who had brightened considerably upon reuniting with us—or rather, I focused on what she was holding in her arms.
“······The Landfill Bug, Muse.”
It was as grotesque as I had seen in the illustrations.
However, we were lucky.
This creature was the key to the maze.
“You asked about the escape method, right? That’s it.”
I revealed the truth.
Nell and Harold, standing beside her, were startled.
“What?!”
“That bug?!”
“Yes. That creature is called a Muse, a native lifeform.”
Ignoring their shock, I continued the explanation.
Everyone marveled at the surprising information and at me for knowing it.
The Muse is born alongside the maze’s creation.
There are likely a few others, but there was no need to search for them.
This one had the “core.”
“Core?”
“In simple terms, it serves as the nucleus of the illusionary barrier. It’s the core of the maze.”
I answered Nell’s question.
To be precise, it was a remnant of divine power.
Both mazes and barriers needed something to sustain their magical phenomena.
“Destroy that, and the maze will vanish.”
I gazed at the gem-like core and approached the Muse.
Stopping just short to avoid provoking it.
The Muse was highly sensitive to “mana.”
If I got too close while emitting mana, it would flee.
“Stay right there.”
I instructed Paile while activating my mana.
Although the Muse’s agility was extraordinary, it was extremely weak to cold, so this would be easy.
Saaah—
As my breath carried a frosty chill, Paile reacted.
“Uh, sister, are you going to kill Sparkle?”
Her expression was slightly uneasy.
I felt puzzled.
“Sparkle?”
“Because its head sparkles. That’s the name I gave it… But that’s not the point. Are you really going to kill it?”
She tilted her head and asked.
I was momentarily taken aback but nodded.
“Yes, I have to.”
“Can’t you spare it?”
“······What?”
It was possible, of course.
But her unexpected request left me momentarily at a loss for words.
“Why?”
“Because it’s pitiful. It hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“······.”
She had a point.
Still, it wasn’t common to speak so empathetically about a bug.
Paile’s words didn’t stop there, and what she said next was even more shocking.
“And it’s cute!”
“······What?”
“Plus, it listens to me so well. It’s clearly my destined companion! I’ll take good care of it!”
Her expressions were so sincere and pure.
I was mildly astonished.
It had been a long time since I’d been this surprised.
“······!”
Even the others around us seemed to feel a chill, their mouths hanging open.
It was understandable.
Calling a multi-legged bug cute was hard to process.
“······I see.”
In any case, I had no reason to oppose her.
All I needed to do was destroy the core.
“Do as you wish.”
“Sister! Thank y—”
“But.”
Saaah—!
My frosty breath extended and froze the Muse.
It tried to flee in a panic, but it couldn’t escape me.
I strode forward confidently and reached out my hand.
“I’ll take this.”
I grasped the core with my mana-infused hand.
That was it.
I stepped back and released the freezing spell.
Kiiing······.
The Muse, regaining its senses, burrowed into Paile’s arms.
The girl soothed it.
“It’s okay, Sparkle. Nothing happened.”
“······Hmm.”
It was a truly peculiar sight.
In any case, with the key in hand, it was time to leave the maze.
I looked around at the crowd.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes, at least.
All of them were fixed on me as I made my declaration.
“The maze will now be destroyed.”
“······!”
The Landfill Maze, which had abruptly manifested and caused so much trouble.
Hearing it would vanish, the soldiers murmured among themselves.
However, no one voiced objections.
“When the maze is lifted, everyone dragged here will return to the place they were before—humans and monsters alike.”
That’s why I had stepped forward.
Before we were separated, I needed to address everyone gathered here.
A cold but firm voice escaped my lips.
“Don’t give up. No matter how powerful the Calamity may be.”
It was a general call to stay strong.
After witnessing the overwhelming power of the Calamity, despair could easily take hold.
At times like this, even an exaggerated reputation could be useful.
“You are doing well.”
However, the reaction was more intense than I expected.
Artan and Harold seemed deeply moved.
From the five companions nodding solemnly to Sigina and Lucia—soldiers from both the Empire and the Holy Church.
They all stared at me with eyes that carried an overwhelming burden.
“······Ohhh!”
“Lady Quellière······!”
The fervor spread like wildfire.
Feeling something might explode, I acted instinctively.
Crunch!
I crushed the core in my hand.
It broke more easily than expected, and its fragments scattered like sand.
At the same time—
Crack—!
A sound, as if glass were shattering, echoed as a white light flooded the world.
Everyone’s eyes shut instinctively.
Flash!
The last thing I saw was the ruined chamber.
As consciousness was pulled away, my body floated, drifted aimlessly, and eventually settled once more.
“······.”
When my closed eyes reopened—
The maze was gone without a trace.
We had returned to a part of the Landfill.