? The Underground Labyrinth ?

    “Uh... why did this place transform?”

    “... Who knows?”

    “What do you mean, who knows?! You’re the one who said you knew the secrets of this place!”

    Ferloche, who took the lead after entering the basement of the church, or rather the labyrinth, is now trembling and screaming.

    Despite being the Saintess of the Sun God Church, and someone who must have surely experienced plenty of horrors in the previous timeline, she still seems to be afraid of the dark.

    Of course, I hate dark places as well. But I have no choice since Ferloche’s life is at stake here.

    “D-Do you know the way forward?”

    “No, just hurry up and get a move on already.”

    Despite Ferloche’s life being at risk, she still walks at the very front. While it is quite boring for me, I can’t lead the way due to my body being in a battered state.

    Therefore, it would be better for Ferloche, who has the ‘Blessing of the Sun God’ to lead the way for our safety.

    “Oh! The road splits in two here.”

    After walking for a long time, we came across a forked road. Judging from this, it seems this labyrinth has a very typical design. A cliche? fork of one correct path and either a wrong path or a trap.

    “Fr-Frey! Which way should we go?”

    “Hmmmm..”

    If only I had 1 stack, I would have secretly attempted both paths without Ferloche noticing, but currently it’s too much for my body to handle.

    So, I guess I’ll have to choose the next best thing.

    “...You, get behind me.”

    “Yes?”

    “Watch my back for a bit.”

    I dragged Ferloche behind me as she was still tiptoeing and trying to gauge what was ahead of the two paths. After confirming she was looking elsewhere astutely, I secretly began channeling stellar mana

    “Ugh..”

    After I continued to channel stellar mana forwards, I could intuitively feel something was ‘wrong’ with the entrance on the left.

    “...The right.”

    The feeling of incongruity was unusual, so I opened my eyes and pointed to the right, when suddenly a loud sound resounded from the passage to the left.

    Surprised, I quickly tried to grab Ferloche and go to the passage on the right, only to find that she was no longer there. Ferloche, who had been on the lookout, had suddenly vanished.

    “Ferloche!?”

    “Yes?”

    Confused, I called out to her loudly, and to my surprise, her answer came back from the passage on the left.

    In a rush, I grabbed the sword from my waist and jumped into the passage on the left. There, I found Ferloche smiling triumphantly, covered in stone dust.

    “A labyrinth like this, you just have to destroy everything!”

    “....Sigh...”

    In front of her was a shattered boulder that must have been rolling at her at a breakneck speed.

    “Let’s keep going.”

    Freed from the thought that I wasted stellar mana for nothing, I began to break through the maze at high speed with the siege weapon called ‘Ferloche.’

    – Crack!

    “...By the way, how was this huge space created in the cellar of the church?”

    Around the time we broke through the 5th fork, Ferloche, who snapped the neck of an undead orc that appeared out of nowhere, asked me a question while holding the drooping corpse of the orc.

    “Over time.”

    “Right... After all, the corruption of the Church has been going on for quite some time.”

    Soon after hearing my answer, she nodded her head and began to purify the undead orcs by channeling her holy power.

    ‘...Is this “that” person’s work?’

    Of course, what I told Ferloche was not the truth. Even in the Sun God Church, it would be unreasonable to create such a huge underground space, and the possibility of being caught is very high.

    So, magical ability must have been a factor, and if it is something that deserves a ‘main quest’ distinction, it is highly likely that the ‘spatial manipulation magic’ used by the ‘Aide’.

    “...Ah, look at this!”

    While speculating as such, Ferloche, who was leading in front of me, stopped and began looking around curiously.

    I looked forward, wondering what was going on, and instead of the continuous, cracked cellar wall, white and bare marble was adorning the walls of all sides, and warm light was leaking through the attached sun-shaped ornaments.

    “Is this....sunlight?”

    “I also noticed the sunlight shining on my body. But why is the sunlight leaking out of those ornaments?”

    Hearing her words, I felt a little reluctant to touch the ornaments, so I tried to step away, remembering that touching a suspicious object in a place like this is like committing suicide...

    “Woah.. that’s amazing...”

    Unlike me, Ferloche had already taken off some of the ornaments and was messing around with them.

    “Hey, Hey...!”

    – Clank!!

    “...Shit.”

    I tried to yell at her to return the ornaments to the original space in a hurry, but a strange mechanical sound resounded.

    “Kyaaa!?”

    In a panic, I wrapped my arms around Ferloche and pulled out my sword, and began scanning the surroundings vigilantly, but nothing happened after a while.

    “Y-You... What are you doing?”

    Then Ferloche, who was staring blankly at me, looked puzzled.

    “Nothing, you just look especially beautiful today.”

    Upon hearing those words, I immediately changed my expression to a sinister look and began groping Ferloche.

    “...Let me go.”

    Her expression turned cold, and she pushed me away. Despite the light push, her strength combined with the ?Blessing of the Sun God?, I would have been completely blown away if I hadn’t braced myself.

    “...Eugh.”

    I wasn’t blown away completely, but was still pushed away quite far. I crashed against the wall hard and let out a groan.

    – Screech...

    “...Huh?”

    Then something completely unexpected happened.

    The door that had been hidden in the place where I hit the wall collapsed backwards.

    As I was staring blankly at the scene, Ferloche headed inside without hesitation.

    “... I think I’ve seen this somewhere.”

    “What?”

    I, who was trying to stop her from entering in a hurry, stopped when she said that she seemed to have seen this place before.

    “.....!!!”

    And, after a while, I had no choice but to freeze upon seeing the sight.

    – In the beginning, there was the Sun God, the Moon God, and the Star God.

    “Wh-Why is this here...?”

    This is because ‘Hangul’ characters were written on the cracked and faded slabs.

    “This must have been a space created by the ‘Aide’...? However, why in the world is the language used by my ancestor written here?”

    I watched the phrases that were somehow familiar to me with a bewildered expression, and then looked around.

    “Ah! That’s right! I saw it when I went to the Western Continent!”

    “...You went to the Western Continent?”

    When I inquired with my brows furrowed, Ferloche hesitated for a moment, then, after fidgeting with her fingers for a moment, she opened her mouth.

    “Yes, when I went on a pilgrimage with the Church... The Western Continental Branch of the Sun God Church was managing a space quite similar to this one.”

    “Hmm...”

    “I was curious, so I went to take a look... but I couldn’t enter because I was told it was supposed to be a top secret. If it’s a secret that even the Saintess can’t know, it must be an important secret!”

    Saying that, I stared blankly at the Saintess whose eyes twinkled in excitement, then I turned my gaze to the slate and began to read the rest of the content.

    – Under the protection of the three Gods, for a long time, the world was in peace and balance was maintained. However, a crisis came unexpectedly. e on, tell me the truth quickly! Frey!”

    Ferloche, who witnessed the scene, trembled as her complexion turned pale.

    “I wonder...”

    “Ah.....”

    Of course, I didn’t know either. Ferloche frowned with a stiff expression on her face, and then clenched her teeth and clasped her hands. She then said.

    “Aha! If I destroy it with my ‘Sun God’s Power like before...”

    “Your power can only target one individual. And that magic circle is scattered everywhere just like in the ‘Commoner’s Dormitory Incident’.”

    “Of course, but...!”

    “Besides, how do you plan to destroy the magic circle that is drawn so high up? It’s impossible unless you can stretch your arms that far or shoot it.”

    “Ugh...”

    Upon hearing this, Ferloche, who became disheartened, suddenly opened her eyes and began to look around.

    “...What are you trying to do again?”

    “Something’s strange.”

    Then suddenly she started scanning the surrounding with a frown on her face and opened her mouth with a serious expression on her face.

    “I can feel a sinister aura and holy power at the same time...”

    “Where...?”

    “...Below us.”

    Upon hearing her words, the moment she looked down involuntarily, the ground suddenly began to vibrate.

    – Rumbleeeeeee!!!

    “Fuck!”

    Due to the quake, she lost her balance and collapsed on her butt. While Ferloche was on the verge of crying, a white spear rose from the ground right in front of her.

    “Heuuughhhh...”

    “Ugh...”

    “This is crazy...”

    Before long, countless undead began to emerge from the ground, fully armed.

    “There are... too many... just like... back then...”

    As Ferloche’s complexion turned pale in horror while watching this scene.

    The reason why Ferloche, who can unleash overwhelming force due to the ‘Blessing of the Sun God,’ is so terrified, is due to the fact that her blessing is vulnerable against ‘multiple enemies.’

    The ?Blessing of the Sun God? is a 1:1 specialized technique that can show overwhelming force by designating only one enemy. However, it can be easily neutralized if several enemies attack in unison.

    That was the main reason why she was caught by the Demon King in the previous timeline.

    That being said...

    “...Why are you acting like this?”

    “This is a horrible situation!”

    “Is it?”

    But you don’t have to worry at all. Because they are ‘undead’.

    “Shut up and use your holy power.”

    “...Ah.”

    The undead are incredibly vulnerable to 「Holy Power」 and 「Fire」. It is potent enough to make the undead incapacitated upon slight contact.

    “Sun God in heaven, watch over us... no, watch over me and bestow your power...”

    – Whooosh...!

    After Ferloche hurriedly cast her spell, scorching holy power was radiated in all directions.

    “”Keeeeeeeeek!””

    Then the countless undead who made contact with her holy power began to writhe in pain..

    “Ah! There’s a way out over there!”

    While the undead were losing their minds from the pain, Ferloche, who found an exit far away, screamed and began running towards the exit with a cheerful expression, but..

    – Whoosh!

    “...AH!”

    An arrow that flew at a ferocious speed pierced her leg, and she had no choice but to collapse on the ground again.

    “...Damn, you can’t even stop that.”

    Meanwhile, I drew my sword and struck the six arrows rushing towards her, and looked at the arrow stuck in her legs with a dissatisfied face.

    “Uh, why...? Why did the undead not...?”

    “These guys are the ‘Paladins’ who were buried in the church’s cellar.”

    “Huh?”

    I don’t know whose sinister scheme is this, but they resurrected paladins with holy attributes as undead.

    It’s not that they just possessed holy power, but it’s completely fused with the dark mana.

    Because of this, they didn’t become incapacitated even after receiving Ferloche’s holy power, but rather, they seem to have been strengthened.

    I don’t know how this absurd situation happened, but there is one thing I must do right now.

    “By the way, have you used enough holy power? Ferloche?”

    “Ye-Yes...?”

    “Is that the last of your remaining holy power? Now, you won’t even have the strength to move now.”

    “How did you...”

    Of course, I was guessing from the intensity of the holy power I felt when she had emanated her holy power back in the orphanage’s warehouse.

    What I am going to say now to Ferloche, who is on the ground trembling with a desperate expression on her face, directly opposes her hopes.

    “...What are you going to do? Since I was planning for this from the start.”

    “.....!”

    Upon hearing that, Ferloche began to close her eyes tightly. I slowly approached her and raised the corners of my lips.

    “The truce or whatever... You shouldn’t have trusted me, a member of the Demon King’s Army.”

    “Y-You...”

    “Isn’t it great that we’re here? I purposely prepared this place to deal with you, who recovers her holy power from sunlight.”

    Hearing those words, Ferloche’s expression gradually turned pale.

    Seeing her figure, I’m quite worried about what to do next if I survive from here... but I have no choice but to save Ferloche from those undead who will soon be fully awakened.

    “...Are you going to kill me?”

    “Well... what should I do? Should I kill this poor little person with no one to hear her screams?”

    I arrived right in front of Ferloche, and whispered to her with a sinister smile.

    “Or, you could stay here and embrace me...”

    “Ugh!!”

    But at that moment, Ferloche pulled out the arrow from her own leg, threw it at me, and dashed towards the exit with all her might.

    “Keugh!!”

    Thanks to her, I plopped down with a wound on my abdomen as she managed to make it to the exit and opened the door. I looked at her fading back for a moment, then muttered to myself.

    “...The thing coming out of that ornament must have really been sunlight.”

    If she continues to recover because of the sunlight radiating from that ornament, Ferloche will be able to get out of here safely.

    With that in mind, I smiled gently and fiddled with my sword. I then turned my gaze towards the undead, who flinched when they laid their eyes upon me.

    I don’t even know what the hell is the purpose of this wretched place; I don’t even know who the large magic circle on the ceiling is targeting...

    But, I will buy as much time as possible by blocking the undead here.

    So Ferloche, who was exhausted from her lack of holy power, could escape safely.

    “Screeeech!!!”

    “Are there any more traps in front of her? Will Ferloche be able to escape?”

    I raised my sword while glaring at the undead paladins, who let out a war cry. I muttered under my breath as I swathed my body in stellar mana.

    “...Now is not the time for me to worry about others.”

    Today, my heart seems to be throbbing several times more.