Chapter 541: Dungeons and Chaos Interlude

“W-What should we do!?”

Emilia’s voice cracked, panic leaking into every syllable as she clutched at her own arms.

Her eyes darted around the dim glow of the camp torches, searching for something—anything—that might explain what had just happened.

“Are you sure you saw her when you woke her up, Emilia?”

Reina’s tone was sharp, but there was a flicker of concern in her eyes as she stepped into the small makeshift bathroom they’d set up in the corner of the cleared floor.

The place looked exactly as it had an hour ago—the neatly folded towels, the faint steam still lingering in the air, even the water basin undisturbed.

Yet there was no sign of Stacia.

Not a wet footprint.

Not even a ripple in the water.

“Y-Yes… I’m really not lying!” Emilia stammered, her voice trembling more with each word. “She was right here a moment ago. She said she’d wash up for a bit—then…” She faltered, as if saying it out loud would make it sound even more impossible.

“Well,” Flamme drawled, though her narrowed eyes betrayed that she was far from relaxed, “that wouldn’t explain her sudden disappearance.”

Flamme’s fingertips brushing over the air as if to feel for something unseen.

A few of her spirit flames hovered beside her, their light flickering with restless energy. “My spirits keep telling me the same thing—no trace, no struggle. She just… vanished into thin air.”

Her words sank into the group like a stone into still water.

Everyone’s expressions darkened, shifting from confusion to genuine alarm.

Getting lost in a dungeon was one thing—it happened to the best of them.

But to simply cease to exist, without so much as a rustle of displaced air?

That was something else entirely.

Vanessa knelt by the bathroom’s threshold; her gloved hand pressed firmly to the cold stone.

Her eyes closed, her pointed ears twitching faintly as she reached out with her senses.

Even with her deep elven connection to the earth, she found nothing—no vibrations, no magical residue, nothing that could give her a trail to follow.

“Could this be… some kind of Celestial trap?” she asked, opening her eyes at last.

“No.” Flamme’s answer was immediate, her voice unusually serious. “I’d have noticed if there was. Celestial magic isn’t something you can just hide—not without leaving traces. Even in an SSS-ranked dungeon, slipping it past me would be… near impossible.”

Her grey eyes glowed faintly as she pushed her mana sense to the limit, letting it pour through every corner of the chamber.

But the more she searched, the more her brows furrowed.

There were multiple theories forming in Flamme’s mind, each branching into a dozen possibilities—but none of them fully clicked.

Even with her usual lazy smirk and the air of a nonchalant, annoying genius, Flamme was never truly inattentive.

She always had her eyes—or rather, her spirits—on everything.

Neru, her highest-ranked spirit, had been silently roaming the perimeter from the moment they set up camp.

If anything unusual had happened, Neru should have been the first to react.

And yet… there had been nothing.

No warning.

No surge of mana.

Not even a flicker in the ambient air.

Of course, there was the slim possibility that Stacia had left of her own accord.

She was, after all, a formidable mage in her own right.

But Stacia’s strength lay in her mastery of elemental fire—not in stealth, space magic, or illusion.

Vanishing this cleanly wasn’t her style.

And besides… why would she?

That left Flamme with two more viable explanations:

One—Stacia had somehow triggered an extremely well-hidden trap.

Two—someone, or something, had taken her.

The second possibility made Flamme’s lips tighten. If it was someone, then that someone was both powerful and careful—and neither of those traits boded well for their missing companion.

“Hu-Huwaahhh!!! -What should we—”

“Stop crying, bratty Emilia~.”

Flamme’s voice cut through the tension like a flick of hot ash.

She reached out and pinched Emilia’s cheek, not unkindly but firmly enough to snap her out of the panic welling up again.

“I-I’m sshho sshhorry—!”

Her apology came out garbled between Flamme’s fingers, her eyes wide and watery.

“Look, stupid Emilia,” Flamme sighed, releasing her and straightening up. “No one’s blaming you for what happened. So quit loading all that guilt onto your tiny little shoulders. It’s not going to help.”

“B-But—”

“No buts.” Flamme’s tone sharpened. “Right now, priority number one is finding Stacia’s whereabouts. Everything else can wait.”

She turned her head toward Vanessa, who was still kneeling, her palm pressed against the cold dungeon floor, her pointed ears twitching faintly as she listened for something only she could hear.

“Vanessa, I know your elven senses are dampened in here, but don’t stop using them. Keep sweeping for any changes—spatial distortions, mana fluctuations, even the tiniest vibration in the stone. If there’s anything unusual, I want to know the second you catch it.”

Vanessa didn’t lift her head, but her voice was steady. “Understood. I’ll inform you immediately if I detect anything.”

“Emilia, since you were the one last seen with Stacia, I want every detail. Start to finish. No skipping the boring bits.”

“O-Okay!” Emilia nodded quickly, her hands fidgeting nervously as she prepared to recount the events.

“And lastly…” Flamme’s grey eyes shifted. “Reina—come with me. We’re going to explore this area a bit more.”

The group began to split into their assigned roles, but Reina lingered for a moment, staring at Flamme in open surprise.

“What are you staring at, stupid Reina?” Flamme drawled without looking back, already adjusting the straps of her spirit-summoning enhancement items.

Reina hesitated before answering. “Nothing… I was just a little surprised, that’s all.”

Her voice was calm, but her thoughts weren’t. She had never expected the arrogant, lazy Flamme—the same girl who could sleep through strategy meetings—to suddenly take charge like a proper leader.

“Surprised? What are you talking about?” Flamme’s tone was light, but her pace didn’t slow. “Let’s hurry up. I’ve already spread my spirits far and wide, so we should be getting a lead soon. And we should inform Senior Lucas of the plan too—I’m sure he’s just as worried as we are…”

Reina opened her mouth to comment further, but closed it just as quickly. Flamme was right—finding Stacia was more important than dwelling on her change in behavior.

The two left the makeshift bath area, stepping into the dim corridor of the dungeon.

Their footsteps echoed faintly off the stone until they spotted Lucas up ahead, kneeling with his pristine white sword planted into the hard ground.

A gentle radiance surrounded him, a halo-like shimmer of white light that seemed to push back the dungeon’s oppressive darkness.

“Senior…” Reina called softly.

Lucas turned toward them, the faint golden glow in his eyes dimming slightly as his focus returned to the present. “Did you find out anything?”

Both girls shook their heads immediately.

“I see…” Lucas exhaled, his jaw tightening. “I’ve spread my mana as far as I could as well, but… nothing.” His eyes flickered with frustration. “Aside from a cluster of monsters up ahead, there’s no trace of Stacia at all.”

Flamme stepped forward, her expression unusually serious. “Senior, for now, can we ask you to stay at the camp and protect the other girls? Just in case something unexpected happens.”

Lucas’s brows drew together. “Are you two going somewhere?”

“Yes,” Flamme said simply. “Don’t worry—we’re only going to scout the surrounding area. I’ll have Neru fully manifested in case of emergencies.”

Lucas still looked dissatisfied, the kind of look that said he wanted to argue, but knew he couldn’t stop them without wasting precious time. “…Alright. But please—do not engage anything far beyond your abilities.”

“Sure~,” Flamme replied with a casual sing-song, though Reina could tell by the subtle shift in her mana that she was already preparing for trouble.

[High Rank—Summoning Spell]

[Familiar Spirit Summon]

[Spirit King of the Sky and Seas, Neru, has been summoned]

A rush of mana tore through the air, the summoning circle beneath Flamme erupting with deep azure light threaded with gold.

From the luminous whirlpool of magic, a colossal, serpentine form emerged—its scales shimmering like moonlight on a midnight ocean.

Neru’s body stretched far beyond the edge of sight, sleek yet powerful, its long, sinuous frame gliding through the air with impossible grace.

Its head alone was the size of a two-story house, crowned with flowing fins and twin horns like polished ivory.

With a low rumble, Neru lowered its head, letting Flamme and Reina step onto the smooth surface between its horns—a natural perch made to carry its summoner and companion.

“Let’s go, stupid Reina…” Flamme said casually, adjusting her stance atop the great spirit.

“Again, can you at least stop calling me stupid—”

FOOOOOOOOH!

Reina’s complaint died in her throat.

Without warning, the world itself seemed to press down on them.

A crushing, suffocating magic weight fell from above, making the very air feel heavy, the space around them distorted like the edge of a black hole.

Their limbs slowed, their knees buckling involuntarily, as if something far older and stronger than them demanded their submission.

ROOOOAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!

Neru’s roar split the dungeon’s silence like a tidal wave smashing through stone.

A rush of wind and salt-scented mist burst outward from its mouth, shattering the oppressive force and scattering the invisible weight from their shoulders.

Still, both Flamme and Reina were left gasping for air, their hearts hammering from the sheer intensity of the presence.

“Juniors!”

Lucas was suddenly in front of them, his movements barely hindered by the crushing magic.

His white sword was already planted firmly in his hands, its blade wrapped in a brilliant layer of gold and silver light.

His golden eyes sharpened, narrowing at the figure now revealed before them.

“Hmmm~”

The voice that answered was not loud, yet it carried a depth that could freeze the soul.

Every word dripped with authority—the kind born not of mortal titles, but of an existence that had stood for centuries, perhaps millennia.

“For mere brats… you certainly have talent.”

The figure stepped into full view, and the three of them instinctively tensed. This was no ordinary monster. And yet, she was no beast either.

Emilia and Vanessa, who had hurried to the scene after sensing the disturbance, froze mid-step.

“What happened?!” Emilia’s voice trembled. “Is everyone alright?”

Neither Flamme nor Reina answered—both were too focused on the woman before them.

She was dressed in what could technically be called a nun’s outfit… if it wasn’t so scandalously cut.

Her outfit clung to her body like dark silk, baring long stretches of pale, porcelain skin.

Platinum-blonde hair with faint streaks of icy blue framed her face, while her eyes… something unnatural.

Dark irises filled with countless pinpricks of starlight, as if one were staring directly into the center of the cosmos.

Her beauty was undeniable, but it was the kind that made the hairs on the back of your neck rise—the beauty of something that should not be trusted.

A thin veil of star-speckled fabric covered the lower half of her face, only making her seem more untouchable.

Lucas’s grip tightened on his blade. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled faintly.

Then, in a gesture both mocking and graceful, she took the right hem of her revealing dress and dipped into a deep bow, her movements fluid enough to be deliberate provocation.

“My name… is Lannive” Her voice was almost a purr. “The Great Apostle and Archbishop of the Asmo Sect… servant and worshipper of the Great Demon King Asmodeus”

The moment the words worshipper and demonic left her lips, the mana in the air changed sharply.

Light and divine energy flared within Lucas and Emilia, their instincts igniting as if their very souls recognized an ancient enemy.

The dungeon suddenly felt colder.

And Lannive… only smiled wider.

…..

Master…

’I swear I’ll kill you….’

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