By noon, the tension in the camp had settled into a strange, heavy quiet. Gaius and Varik had finally allowed themselves to rest, both of them looking like they hadn’t closed their eyes in two days. They’d eaten little, exchanged a few brief words with Lucius, then collapsed into their tents near the inner ridge. No one disturbed them; they’d earned it.

The rest of the camp gathered near the fires, their conversations hushed but restless. The sahuagins hadn’t returned since the battle. Not one patrol, not even a scout lurking beneath the shallows.

At first, that had been a relief. Now it was unsettling.

Lucius stood near the command table, arms folded, eyes on the sea. “It’s been almost a full day,” he said quietly. “No movement, no traces. Even their mana signatures are gone.”

Rathen nodded grimly. “Our divers checked the shallows and the reefs around the landing point, nothing. No bodies, no trails. It’s like they were exterminated, but that wouldn’t make much sense.”

Ludger frowned, crouching by the sand and letting his hand rest against the ground. The faint hum of mana that usually lingered from the creatures’ presence had faded completely. “They didn’t just scatter. There are simply no more of them here.”

“Or calling them somewhere else,” Viola said, leaning on her sword.

That thought made a few heads turn. The fire popped quietly, filling the silence.

Lucius looked between them, the lines around his eyes deepening. “Whatever the reason, it’s not normal behavior.”

“Indeed,” Ludger said, straightening. “And if they’re avoiding this place now, then something’s changed.” He looked toward the black cliffs where the labyrinth loomed, its faint blue glow visible even in daylight. “Something in there.”

Rathen followed his gaze, jaw tight. “You think they’re coming from the labyrinth?”

Ludger shook his head slowly. “Yes… I think their master is also there.”

The camp fell quiet again, the waves whispering against the shore like a warning. Even without proof, they all felt it—the stillness wasn’t peace. It was the breath before something worse.

Lucius’s voice broke the silence. “Then we prepare. Tonight we rest, tomorrow we find out what’s changed inside that labyrinth.”

Ludger nodded once, though his eyes stayed fixed on the glowing cliffs ahead.

The sahuagins might have disappeared… but their absence said more than any battle could. Something down there had shifted. And whatever it was, it was waiting.

The following hours passed in quiet, methodical labor.

The third island, now their foothold on the archipelago, slowly began to change under their hands. The black sands were packed into firm pathways, coral ridges flattened or reinforced with stone walls, and the old camps left by the ironhand near the cliffs repurposed into watch posts and storage shelters. The luminous wards Cor had placed continued to hum faintly even in daylight, tracing blue veins through the fortifications like the island itself was alive.

Ludger spent most of his time shaping terrain, one section at a time. He widened the inner roads, fused stone walkways between the barracks and the cliff perimeter. Every few hours, he’d stop, glance toward the horizon, and feel that familiar twinge of frustration.

The bridge, his greatest work so far, stretched out toward the mainland, incomplete but functional. He wanted to finish it, to secure a true route across the sea, but he couldn’t risk it yet. Not while that thing, the giant sea creature that had torn through five warships, still prowled the depths.

Every time he shaped stone near the coast, he could feel the mana currents shift. Deep below, something stirred. Watching. He exhaled through his nose, rubbing the back of his neck. “We can’t finish a damn thing until that monster’s gone,” he muttered.

Lucius, nearby directing workers, gave a brief nod. “Agreed. Until the sea is safe, our progress ends here.”

Ludger didn’t argue. He knew the truth of it. Still, the unfinished work gnawed at him.

When he finally stepped away from the construction site that evening, he found himself staring east, toward the mainland. The wind carried the faint scent of salt and smoke, but beneath it, he could almost imagine the distant smell of Lionfang’s market fires, of the warm hearths back home.

His mother would be waiting. Elaine never stayed idle when he was away. By now, she’d have heard rumors, ships lost at sea, monsters, labyrinths. She was probably already preparing a letter or sending someone to find out what happened. Which would be a problem since letters couldn’t be sent beyond the sea.

Viola overheard him, tilting her head with a grin. “Thinking of home?”

“Thinking of surviving long enough to get there,” Ludger replied.

He turned back to the sea one last time before heading toward camp. The waves were calm again. too calm,and the horizon stretched empty and endless.

For now, there was work to do. And until that creature beneath the water was dealt with, every piece of stone he shaped here felt like a promise waiting to be broken.

By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, the campfires were burning bright against the dark cliffs of the third island. The ocean beyond glimmered faintly in the moonlight, calm but heavy, as if waiting for them to make their next move.

Dinner was simple, roasted fish, ration bread, and whatever herbs Viola and Freyra managed to find inland, but the meal wasn’t the focus. Everyone gathered around the main fire, where Rathen had spread out a rough charcoal map of the labyrinth’s outer structure drawn onto a slab of polished stone.

The mercenary captain leaned over it, his expression as steady as always. “Alright,” he began, voice low but clear. “From what we’ve scouted so far, we only reached the first zone of the labyrinth last year. Anything past that point is uncharted territory, no maps, no layouts, nothing.”

Lucius nodded beside him, arms crossed. “Then we treat every passage as potentially hostile.”

Rathen pointed to the markings etched into the map. “The corridors are wide enough for about three people to move shoulder to shoulder. Even with long weapons, you can fight comfortably as long as everyone’s in sync. That means coordination matters more than numbers down there.”

Lucius nodded. “So we go in small groups. Less mess, more killing.”

“Exactly,” Rathen said. “We’ll split into three parties of six. That way, we can cover multiple enemies if needed, but still have enough muscle in each group to handle ambushes or collapses.”

Viola frowned slightly. “Only six per team? That doesn’t sound like much.”

“It’s more than enough,” Rathen replied. “Any more than that, and it gets chaotic fast. Those tunnels echo, the footing’s uneven. You pack in too many fighters, and one wrong step gets someone speared by a friendly instead of an enemy.”

Selene smirked. “Or crushed by Kharnek’s shoulders.”

“Ha!” Kharnek barked, pounding his chest. “If they can’t keep up, they don’t belong in front anyway.”

A few tired chuckles rippled through the circle, easing the tension for a moment.

Rathen traced one finger along the outer section of the labyrinth’s outline. “We’ll keep the first team as the vanguard, Lionsguard and Ironhand mix. Second team follows for reinforcement and healing support. Third team holds the rear, handling supply and fallback.” He looked at Lucius, then Ludger. “You two will be distributed between the first and second groups. We’ll decide who leads each tomorrow morning.”

Lucius nodded. “Understood.”

Ludger sat quietly at the edge of the firelight, listening, eyes reflecting the blue glow of the wards surrounding the camp. His mind was already cycling through possible formations, how to counter underwater threats if the flooding continued, and how to deal with the golems.

Rathen continued, voice firm. “Remember, whatever changes there is tied to that rising water. The moment the tide shifts or the mana starts pulsing, you pull back. No heroics.”

Arslan gave a short laugh. “You’ll have to remind my daughter of that one.”

“Hey,” Viola said, raising an eyebrow, “I’m reckless, not stupid.”

“That’s debatable,” Ludger muttered, earning a glare from her and a smirk from Selene.

The laughter helped, even if it was brief. Beneath the joking, everyone felt it, the weight of what tomorrow meant. They weren’t just exploring anymore; they were stepping into something that was changing.

Rathen rolled up the stone map and nodded once. “We move at first light. Get some rest, eat well, and check your gear. Once we enter, we’re blind.”

As the meeting broke apart, Ludger stayed seated by the fire a moment longer, watching the flames dance. The sound of the sea carried faintly in the distance, soft and patient. Tomorrow, they will enter the labyrinth. And whatever waited beyond that first zone… wouldn’t be the same place they remembered.

The camp had quieted. The fires burned low, the air thick with salt and the faint hum of the wards that still drifted above like soft, blue stars. Most of the soldiers had already turned in, the restless tension of the coming expedition dulled by exhaustion.

Arslan was sitting near one of the smaller fires, rolling his shoulders and stretching the old scars along his back. His armor was off, replaced by a loose tunic, the kind he only wore when sleep was the next thing on his list.

He looked up as Ludger approached, noticing the serious look in his son’s eyes. “You’ve got that face again,” he said with a half-smile. “The one you make before asking questions that’ll keep me awake all night.”

Ludger sat down across from him, elbows on his knees, gaze steady. “You once told me something,” he said quietly. “About labyrinths.”

Arslan raised an eyebrow. “I’ve told you a lot about labyrinths.”

“The part about what lies beyond them,” Ludger clarified. “You said some connect to… different lands. Worlds that aren’t part of ours.”

The fire popped softly between them. Arslan watched the embers dance for a long moment before answering.

“So you remember that, huh?”

“You didn’t sound like you were joking back then,” Ludger said. “Were you serious?”

Arslan’s smirk faded, replaced by something distant—thoughtful, almost nostalgic. He leaned back, stretching his arms before resting them on his knees again. “Yeah,” he said finally. “I was serious.”

Ludger’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’ve actually seen one?”

“I have,” Arslan admitted, voice low. “It was years ago, before you were born. Me and a few others cleared a labyrinth in the western frontier. It was the hardest fight of my life. I lost good allies there. Even if they were from other parties”

He paused, staring into the flames. “When we reached the end, we didn’t find treasure or a boss waiting for us. We found a door. A massive gate of stone and light. We thought it was just some kind of reward chamber… but when it opened…”

He trailed off, the lines in his face deepening as if the memory itself carried weight. “It wasn’t our world on the other side. The sky was wrong, too clear, too blue. The air felt clean in a way that didn’t belong to our lands. There were ruins there, massive ones, shining like silver. We couldn’t stay long, though. Half of us were bleeding out, and the gate began to close as soon as we stepped through.”

Ludger frowned slightly, his mind already turning through possibilities. “So you really think it was another world?”

Arslan shrugged. “Depends on who you ask. Some say those places are hidden corners of our own world, lands cut off by mana or dimensional folds. Others think they’re fragments of worlds long gone, still connected through the labyrinths. Me?”

He smiled faintly, though his eyes were tired. “I just know it wasn’t home.”

Silence lingered between them for a moment. The waves lapped gently against the shore in the distance.

Ludger looked down at the sand, thoughtful. “So if this one connects somewhere like that…”

Arslan chuckled softly. “Then I hope you’re ready to see something you can’t explain.”

Ludger gave a quiet huff of amusement, then stood, brushing the sand off his gloves. “I’ll try not to die before I do.”

“Good plan,” Arslan said with a grin. “But get some sleep first. You’ll need it.”

Ludger nodded and started to walk away, but as he did, Arslan’s voice followed him through the dark.

“And Ludger?”

He glanced back.

“If the labyrinth really does lead somewhere else,” his father said, voice calm but steady, “remember, different world or not, the people walking beside you are what matter. Don’t lose sight of that.”

Ludger’s expression softened for a brief second. Then he turned toward the cliffs, where the faint blue glow of the labyrinth shimmered in the night.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I won’t.”

And with that, he left the fire behind, the echo of his father’s words lingering like a promise in the salt wind.

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