Text flashed rapidly before Gauss’s eyes.

A single Light spell—

—and the nearby wraiths took staggering damage.

“Total Monsters Kill: 1526.”

In an instant, twenty-five wraiths were reduced to dust.

If the rest hadn’t fled so quickly, the number would have been even higher.

Gauss wasn’t surprised.

His Light wasn’t ordinary light; channeled through the bone staff, it carried a powerful bane against dark-aligned beings.

Bathed in it, the wraiths were no different than ordinary creatures thrown into a bonfire.

Even after the wraiths were gone, an occasional line still flickered before his eyes:

“Wraith Slain ×1.”

Likely some that had escaped were still dying under the lingering Scorch effect.

At last, the tally settled at:

“Total Monsters Kill: 1535.”

He had purified thirty-four wraiths altogether.

“That should do it.” Gauss cast Light on a large rock at the entrance.

The spell would last a few hours yet; any wraiths that drifted in would be driven off.

“Ha—then I’m going back to sleep. You should too,” Alia said, eyelids drooping.

“Mhm.” Gauss nodded, then reset a fresh Alarm around the area.

Next he took a small brush and carefully swept the scattered white ash into a glass jar. The residue left by the destroyed wraiths ought to have some value.

With the hall bright as day under Light, he yawned and returned to the tent.

Against ghosts, he was practically a hard counter. Wraiths hate sunlight to begin with; his Light carried extra bite; now with Scorch layered on, he’d basically turned a utility cantrip into an offensive spell.

The only pity: ghost-type monsters are rare on the material plane, their birth conditions strict, so encounters seemed uncommon. Otherwise he wouldn’t only just now be unlocking his 26th common entry.

Lying on the blanket, he found his thoughts returning to those faint silhouettes—roughly humanoid but taller than humans, bodies shrouded in some strange carapace-like aura.

Were those the forms of sentient beings from the lost civilization?

The night passed without further incident.

By morning, no wraiths had returned—whether because the Light had driven them far off, or because that band alone had haunted this spot and fled after the thrashing.

They woke later than usual.

“Ha—” Alia stretched. The longer one stays in a labyrinth, the more it seems to sap you—environmental, or just in the head?

“Let’s explore one last day,” Gauss said. “Tomorrow we head out.”

“Good. We should restock in Barry anyway,” Alia agreed.

Their first delve had always been a short one. They’d hauled in plenty and needed to digest it—plus they’d found a dungeon “side quest”: the green pavilion’s key.

Gauss nodded and checked the elites page of the bestiary.

Slay 5 Distinct Types Of Elite Monsters (4/5).

Would they find a fifth on this last day?

They packed up, cleaned the camp, and set off for a final day’s push.

All morning they pushed through the verdant second floor.

Gauss added a few more ordinary entries:

Upright Beetle, Spore Mosquito, Springbug.

That brought the common monster index to twenty-nine—very quick progress. The labyrinth’s ecological variety made him confident he could hit the next goal: fifty.

The three new ones weren’t hard, but none looked appetizing as food.

“There seem to be more bugs around here?” Alia said suddenly, swatting a persistent little fly and eyeing the swarms droning in the distance with resignation. Harmless, but crawling on skin and tangling in hair made anyone twitchy.

“Yeah,” Gauss said, confirming their position on the inner map.

They’d tracked far to the east side of Level Two. The snaking route was lit clearly on his mental map—entry, the Lantern Globefruit spot, the sunk platform where they fought the mimic, last night’s odd hall—he left a marker at each notable place so he wouldn’t forget. And though they’d come far, it was linear; most of Level Two was still dark on the map.

After a while longer, they both stopped—not to rest, but because—

Gauss stared at the road ending abruptly ahead and traded a look with Alia.

He glanced down. Beyond their toes yawned a bottomless churn of inky cloud.

Like the map edge where rendering hadn’t loaded yet.

From deep within the fog came an eerie chanting—half song, half sob—seeping dread and ill-omen.

“End of the line, for now?” Gauss recalled the guide’s bit about labyrinth “growth.” They’d likely reached the current boundary.

As the labyrinth “grew,” the next zones would open.

Still, the boiling blackness felt wrong; an uneasy knot formed in his gut.

The end of the labyrinth world?

Light had no effect on it; clearly it wasn’t malign, just a natural phenomenon here.

“Should we head ba—” Alia began, but Gauss slammed into her and shoved her aside.

Overhead, a pale, streamlined shape knifed down like lightning.

CLANG!!

Gauss moved on instinct—shoving Alia clear as he drew and caught the blow aimed for the back of her neck.

Sparks spat from the clash of fine steel and a pale hand-blade.

“Ngh—!” Gauss grunted as a flood of raw force poured down the blade and hurled him back, stumbling. He hammered out step after step and only just managed to steady himself—one more and he’d have toppled into the roiling dark.

He lifted his gaze.

At the very edge of the labyrinth, a pallid guardian awaited them.