A flurry of strikes. Inari’s foxfire destroyed one Living Mail after another. The few that avoided destruction by hiding behind their allies reached Inari and swung their blades—but were cut down diagonally and crumpled on the spot. Once all the Living Mail were defeated, monster cores and various drop items remained behind, but Inari didn’t bother to pick them up and instead advanced deeper.
“Wasteful, aye... yet time is of the essence. I’ve no leisure to dawdle gathering spoils...”
Collecting monster cores was part of her long-term goal—but right now, human lives were in danger. Whatever the enemy’s aim may be, it was clear that “slaughtering helpless humans” was among their methods. And so, Inari couldn’t prioritize anything unrelated. More importantly, she could not tolerate innocent lives being lost.
That was why Inari raced deeper into the dungeon. Beyond the great hall, the corridor split left and right. She chose the left path—almost entirely on intuition.
“The structure here changes on a cycle… I just hope it’s not a dead end...!”
Trusting only her instinct and luck, Inari dashed forward, destroying the Living Mail in her path with foxfire as she ascended a staircase. She opened the door at the top and found... a dining hall.
Large tables lined with pristine tableware. Floating forks and knives flew at her—but Inari blocked them with a barrier projected from her outstretched hand, then immediately slammed the door shut. As the sound of cutlery clanging against the door echoed behind her, she turned away. That route was a dead end. No time to waste.
“Ugh, a dead end!? Then I shall—whoa!”
Suddenly, a trapdoor opened beneath her feet, and Inari fell into a lower floor, landing lightly without a scratch. Startled, yes—but unhurt. The room she landed in was small. Opening the only door revealed a hallway. She sprinted down the narrow passage, opened another door at the end—and found herself back at the entrance hall.
The lined-up Living Mail turned to face her in unison and charged. Inari couldn’t help but let out a twitchy smile.
“W-What villainy! But I shan’t lose! I refuse to be bested by such petty trickery!”
She incinerated the attacking Living Mail again with foxfire, opened the door on the far side, and took a different route this time—up stairs, down others, opening doors, forging ahead.
Eventually, she reached… the starting lobby. Once again, the Living Mail all turned toward her as one.
She repeated the process twice more, altering her route each time—yet still ended up in the lobby. Finally, she dropped to one knee, panting heavily.
“S-Something’s wrong. This is clearly wrong! I took a different path every time, and yet I keep ending up back here...!”
She had taken a different route each time. And yet, she was always brought back to this entrance hall. Once or twice might be a coincidence. Even a third time could be brushed off. But a fourth time?
This was no longer a fluke—it was time to suspect interference. Yet as far as she could see, nothing seemed amiss. Still, something was clearly wrong. Even assuming her luck was abysmal, this went beyond mere misfortune.
Inari caught her breath and scanned her surroundings.
The entrance hall. This was where one arrived after entering the dungeon’s gate, so it was, quite literally, the front hall.
A large door stood at the far end, with many smaller doors scattered around. But had there really been that many doors the first time she came here...?
“...In that case, have I been beguiled...?”
Those Who Distort the Dungeon. Inari recalled the term the system had once used.
It was now certain that such an entity existed here as well. And apparently, unlike last time, there was no one observing her this time. Which meant... she had to break through this illusion-like trap on her own.
“If the dungeon itself hath been altered, then there is naught I can do to reverse it. In that case… I have but one option.”
Inari readjusted her grip on Kogetsu and ran a finger along the blade.
With her motion, a white glow enveloped the blade, and Kogetsu floated gently from her hand.
“Reveal the source—Secret Sword: Nenekirimaru.”
Floating above Inari’s head, Kogetsu spun once and then shot off in a direction. Inari followed.
It stabbed—not into a door—but into the wall between doors. Yet instead of piercing it, the blade slipped through as if the wall weren’t there.
“So that was the trick...!”
An illusion. Once understood, it was a simple mechanism—but Inari had been thoroughly fooled. Well, it was a built-in trap of the dungeon, not something maliciously added by an individual. That’s likely why she hadn’t sensed anything unnatural.
Chasing after the flying Kogetsu, Inari came upon the figure of a man walking ahead.
“Found you—mastermind!”
“Wha?! Why are you still awake?!”
“Give it up—your time is at an end!”
Catching up to the floating Kogetsu and grasping it, Inari brought it down in a swift strike toward the man.