“Are you two alright?”

Watching Hulim Heyerar approach, Farna Kegris and Terrag let out a silent sigh of relief, while also feeling a twinge of awe toward the young girl whose power seemed unfathomably deep despite her tender age.

“Thank you, Lady Hulim. It’s a good thing you showed up when you did.”

“No need to thank me,” Hulim replied. “More importantly, I’ve made a preliminary assessment. The dungeon’s pathways have indeed undergone some changes—likely related to the recent spate of anomalies affecting all dungeons.”

“Dungeon anomalies?”

Farna frowned. “I have heard rumors about that. But this is a sealed dungeon, isn’t it? Sealed dungeons aren’t supposed to be affected by outside influences.”

“That is true. Sealed dungeons do not require absorbing Miasma Particles from the outside world.”

Hulim explained,

“However, both sealed dungeons and regular monster dungeons rely on the Ley Lines of Magic flowing beneath the earth to function. Add to that the fact that their structural designs share many similarities, and it’s not impossible for them to suffer from the same issues.”

“……Is that so?”

Farna and Terrag had only a superficial understanding of dungeon theory, so they couldn’t fully grasp the deeper implications of Hulim’s words. Still, the gist was enough for their purposes.

“Lady Hulim, please just tell us—will our original map still be useful?”

“The original map should still work,”

Hulim answered.

“From what I’ve detected, while the dungeon’s pathways have changed significantly, its overall structure remains intact. The directions marked on the original map are still correct.”

At her words, the two relaxed.

“In that case, we don’t have too much to worry about. Most of the time, when delving into a dungeon, you don’t have a clear idea of the layout anyway. Knowing the correct general direction is already a luxury,” Terrag said.

“That may be true, but we only have one day. I wonder if it will be enough time……”

After thinking it over, Farna added,

“The nine seal locations are all on the deeper floors, but since they’re spread out in different areas, the routes to each vary in length. From this floor onward, we can take separate paths to our respective targets.”

“In my opinion, we should split up right now. Each of us can take the shortest route to our assigned seals—that way, we can save some time.”

Hearing this, Terrag paused to consider for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Very well. Let’s split up then.”

The two turned to look at Hulim.

“I have no objections,” Hulim said.

After that, the three officially split up and went their separate ways.

……

Mid-levels of the Karimal Sealed Dungeon.

Tap, tap……

A steady string of footsteps echoed clearly through the silent, pitch-black corridor.

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The rhythm was precise, unhurried—and at the same time,

utterly unguarded, as if meant to be a provocation.

Even without seeing the owner of those footsteps, the magical beasts lurking in the darkness could sense the casual, indifferent attitude behind them.

It was as if they were being treated with complete disdain……

Even the undead magical beasts, with their extremely limited intelligence, felt a strange, unfamiliar emotion welling up within them—anger.

“ROAR——!”

“Roar……”

Roars erupted one after another, reverberating through the dungeon.

Magical beasts surged forth from every direction, determined to tear the intruder to shreds.

Gradually, they caught sight of her.

They saw the lone figure walking calmly through the darkness.

Small, delicate, completely alone.

Such a petite frame was extremely rare among the occasional intruders who stumbled into the dungeon—she looked utterly weak and defenseless.

They could barely contain their eagerness to tear her apart.

Just as the leading magical beast was about to reach the intruder—

Suddenly,

the entire corridor was bathed in blinding light……

A few minutes later,

the footsteps echoed once more through the now-silent dungeon.

Tap, tap……

Steady and unhurried as before,

heading deeper into the dungeon’s depths……

At the same time, in another section of the dungeon.

Click, click……

An entire formation of undead magical beasts marched in unison through the labyrinthine corridors. The crisp clinking of bones against armor echoed through the dim, quiet space.

Click——.

At that moment, the leading High-Rank Undead Magical Beast suddenly came to a halt.

It swayed the two clusters of eerie green flames flickering in its eye sockets, scanning its surroundings left and right.

“Roar……”

It let out a confused growl. It had detected a foreign presence nearby—but no matter how hard it searched, it couldn’t pinpoint the source.

With its limited cognitive abilities, the High-Rank Undead Magical Beast stubbornly remained rooted to the spot, driven by instinct to hunt for the suspicious intruder. However, the other undead magical beasts, whose senses were not sharp enough to detect the faint foreign aura, began to grow restless.

Instinct urged them to continue their patrol—but their leader stood firmly in their path.

At first, they were able to suppress their instincts and stay put. But gradually, some of them grew impatient.

Click……

The first undead magical beast tentatively tried to move forward.

It stopped just short of colliding with the leader.

Before long, a second, a third……

More and more followed suit, until the entire formation of undead magical beasts was buzzing with restlessness.

They jostled against each other, pushing forward.

Even though the strict hierarchy prevented them from ever daring to defy a higher-ranking being, the pressure from the beasts behind them grew too great to resist.

Clang!

Finally, several skeleton soldiers were shoved forward by the crowd behind them and crashed into their leader.

“ROAR——!”

Enraged, the High-Rank Undead Magical Beast spun around and let out a thunderous roar at the beasts behind it.

In an instant, the entire formation fell completely silent. Every single magical beast froze in place, motionless.

This was the absolute dominance a higher-ranking being held over them.

If they had been given a clear order earlier, they would never have dared to cause such a commotion.

“Roar……”

Once the formation had quieted down, the leader turned back to scan its surroundings once more.

Thanks to the commotion caused by the undead magical beasts behind it, the faint foreign aura that had lingered in the air was now completely gone.

With the limited intelligence of an undead magical beast, the leader quickly forgot all about the earlier anomaly and refocused on its duties.

Click, click……

The formation of undead magical beasts resumed their march, gradually disappearing into the far end of the corridor.

Once the sound of their footsteps had faded completely,

a figure stepped out from a shadowy corner not far from where they had paused. She pulled off a black cloak, revealing her identity.

“High-Rank Undead Magical Beasts really do have sharp senses. I was using the Scent Concealing Potion, and they still detected me……”

Farna stared in the direction the magical beasts had gone, still feeling a twinge of lingering fear.

After confirming that the area was safe, she put away her cloak of concealment, then took out another vial of potion and sprinkled its contents over herself.

This was a Stealth Potion—it could mask one’s natural aura and confuse the perception of magical beasts, making them mistake the user for one of their own kind. It allowed people to move freely through areas teeming with magical beasts without being attacked.

But after the close call just now, Farna knew that these potions were not foolproof. If the opponent’s strength was too great, they could see through the disguise.

Of course, even if she had been discovered, she would have been able to take down that group of magical beasts on her own.

But there was more than one such group of magical beasts in the vicinity. If she had engaged them in combat, and failed to eliminate them quickly, the noise of the fight would have attracted every magical beast nearby. She would have ended up trapped and surrounded all over again, just like she had been on the fifth floor……

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