"A plain, huh."
The moment I stepped into Farm, an endless grassland stretched out before me as far as the eye could see.
No notable obstacles—nothing but flat horizon in every direction.
『This labyrinth was created by gathering the pinnacle of the Order's technology accumulated over centuries. Every kind of environment exists on this floor... Don't rely solely on visual information.』
Titania reacted to my murmur with a warning.
"Mm, got it."
The sight was so convincing it almost made me believe the plain truly went on forever, but since Titania had already briefed me on what this place was like beforehand, I understood.
As she just said, this floor contains every imaginable environment—plains, wetlands, deserts, even underwater—separated by invisible walls that exist simultaneously.
But those walls are conceptual; humans and magical beasts can cross them easily.
So even if it looks like the plain continues visually, the very next step could land you in a lava field, for example.
...Yeah, without Titania guiding me, I'd definitely get lost here, and the environmental shifts would take a huge toll on my body.
"Still, I'd heard about it, but seeing it with my own eyes really is shocking. Magical beasts... killing each other."
Right now, on the plain spreading before me, magical beasts were locked in deadly combat.
Normally, magical beasts have an instinct to target magic stones, but they aren't programmed to attack their own kind.
This is because magical beasts were originally created as biological weapons.
If they killed each other, their numbers would dwindle before they could even be deployed—obviously, that mechanism was deliberately omitted.
『I'm not that familiar with the details, but it seems they're referencing ancient Eastern curse techniques.』
"I heard something about it from Fuuka a long time ago, but I don't remember the specifics. Was it called 'gu poison' or something?"
That conversation happened before Fuuka and the others set off for Tsutorail—over five years ago now.
Heh, nostalgic.
—Whoops, can't let my focus slip.
"All right, guide me to the next floor. Shortest possible distance, minimal environmental changes, please. —[Levitation Flight]!"
『Understood.』
With that, I took to the air, leaving the warring magical beasts below, and began moving according to Titania's guidance.
Naturally, some beasts switched targets to me as I passed near them, but I mercilessly wiped them out with magic.
The labyrinth is teeming with quite a few magical beasts, but the relief is that not all of them come after me.
Even if they all did, it wouldn't be a problem for me—but it'd just be a hassle, and I don't want to waste time on that.
The real fight starts on the next floor, the second level.
By the way, [Levitation Flight] is a magic developed by Orun's father.
It lets you move through the air at roughly the speed a horse can run on the ground.
However, while active, it requires constant formula construction and mana infusion, demanding considerable concentration and building up fatigue accordingly.
Even with my high confidence in magic, it takes up about thirty percent of my capacity during use—pros and cons.
『These magical beasts are supposed to be on par with those in the deep layers of the great labyrinth, yet you're taking them down so easily. I thought humans didn't enter the deep layers alone, but with this, maybe you don't even need my help.』
As I picked off beasts that targeted me from above with magic while advancing, Titania let slip a comment.
"Their movements are simple, so they're no threat to me. Besides, my role... is wide-area annihilation. Mowing down hordes of enemies to clear a path for the king. If I couldn't handle this much, I'd be useless."
Magical beasts act on instinct, making their movements predictable and easy to counter.
That's because they lack intelligence.
Floor bosses in the great labyrinth seem to possess some degree of intellect, but it's still far from human levels.
◇
『We've arrived. Ahead is the second floor.』
After passing through various environments, we reached the entrance leading to the next floor.
I took several deep breaths in front of it to steady myself.
"—Let's go."
As I descended the spiral staircase to the second floor, I recalled what Titania had told me about Farm.
This place serves as one of the Cyclamen Order's research facilities.
Its research focuses on creating "demon persons."
A demon person is a human endowed with the traits of a magical beast.
In terms of raw physical and combat ability, magical beasts overwhelmingly outclass humans.
Humans have bridged—and even surpassed—that gap through strategy and intellect.
So what if a magical beast possessed human-level intelligence?
Even seasoned explorers or soldiers would struggle against it.
Moreover, creating demon persons requires test subjects subjected to utterly inhumane treatment.
That's something that can never be forgiven.
From both humanitarian and military perspectives, demon persons must not be allowed to exist.
Lost in those thoughts, I arrived at the second floor.
Unlike the first floor, the second was the complete opposite—artificial, like the interior of a building.
And from somewhere far off came the anguished scream of a child, echoing through the labyrinth and reaching my ears.
"Those bastards...!"
Hearing that voice, an intense killing intent toward everyone here welled up inside me—stronger than I'd expected.
"Titania, I'm starting the takeover immediately. Tell me the destruction targets and enemy positions!"
『Don't get too heated. Just because I can't see through this labyrinth doesn't mean there isn't a third floor—it's almost certain there is.』
"I know. I won't lose myself to anger and make a mistake. But if something goes wrong, I'll count on you for backup."
『...To interfere here, I'd have to go through you, Shion. I can't lend a hand that many times.』
"It's fine. I'm thinking of you as a last-resort insurance. I'll handle most of it alone. —[Levitation Flight]!"
Finishing the conversation with Titania, I began moving.
To follow her, I activated [Levitation Flight] again.
Since the second floor resembles a building interior with a low ceiling, [Levitation Flight] requires even finer control and is more troublesome—but I use it to eliminate the risk of being detected by footsteps.
If my infiltration is fully exposed, I'll drop it, but until then, I want to reduce their numbers as much as possible without being noticed.
『The door ahead is the first target. Five enemies inside, one child test subject.』
"Copy."
As the door came into view ahead, Titania relayed the situation inside.
(If it were only enemies, it'd be easy—but with a test subject present, I can't go in rough.)
I released [Levitation Flight] to avoid noise, landed silently in front of the door, and produced an iron canister filled with special gas from my storage magical tool.
Then I quietly cracked the door open just a sliver.
"This one's no good either."
"Yeah. Hey, take this one up top and feed it to the magical beasts or something."
Feeling revulsion at the conversation drifting out, I slipped the canister through the narrow opening into the room.
Confirming the gas began releasing, I conjured a gentle breeze with magic to quickly circulate it throughout the room.
The gas isn't lethal, but inhaling it temporarily paralyzes the throat, preventing speech. It also induces lethargy—perfect for a surprise takedown.
It can be instantly neutralized with [Heal], but even knowing that buys me a moment.
—And that moment is plenty for me.
At the sound of muffled screams, I flung the door fully open and locked eyes on the enemies.
Confirming all five were present, I added positional data to the pre-constructed formula and activated [Stillness of Eternity].
After encasing the enemies in ice blocks, I dispersed the gas in the room and approached the boy lying supine on what looked like an examination table, his limbs restrained.
(Good. Still in time...)
The boy—unable to speak, bound hand and foot—fell into panic seeing me approach.
"Sorry. Just hold on a little longer."
Saying that, I activated [Time Regression] to revert his body to the state before it was violated...
Then I cast [Stillness of Eternity] on him.
"...Is this the destruction target?"
With everyone in the room now frozen in ice, I turned my gaze to the massive magical device standing out conspicuously and asked Titania.
Embedded in it was a magic stone vastly larger and more mana-rich than ordinary ones.
Almost certainly a dungeon core.
If the Order can create labyrinths, it's plausible they can produce the core that forms their foundation.
『Yes. They called it a magical device developed for creating demon persons.』
"I see..."
I destroyed the device with magic and retrieved the embedded magic stone.
"...Next."
◇
Apparently, the first floor rivals—or even exceeds—the scale of the great labyrinth's deep layers.
But because most of its capacity is devoted there, the second floor isn't quite as vast.
That said, it's still about the size of the great labyrinth's mid-layers—far larger than most other labyrinths.
There are six of those key magical devices targeted for destruction on this second floor.
I've destroyed them all.
We believe they can't mass-produce them because dungeon cores can't be prepared quickly.
Generating a dungeon core should take considerable time, so this should halt their research.
After restraining all enemies and test subjects with [Stillness of Eternity], I located the entrance leading to the third floor.
"Titania, how's it looking?"
『...No change. I thought getting closer might help, but I still can't see ahead. ...What kind of principle is this? I have no idea.』
"Then from here on, I can't count on much help from you."
My smooth progress so far is undoubtedly thanks to Titania.
She's let me grasp the labyrinth's layout and enemy positions.
Going without that intel is a bit unsettling, but it can't be helped.
『Sorry.』
"You've helped plenty already. Besides, ahead is just something like a boss area, right?"
『Yes. When I could still see, it was just a large dome-like space beyond.』
"Then what's waiting ahead is probably the floor boss—a successful demon person, most likely. ...If it's still within the maintainable period, it'll be easy."
My ability [Time Regression] can rewind a target's time.
But maintaining that rewound state has conditions.
Specifically, whether it's within the maintainable period.
This period varies by target, so it's not uniform, but if I rewind beyond that period, after a while the target reverts to the state just before [Time Regression] was cast.
That's useful in its own ways, but to return a demon person to human, it must be within the maintainable period.
If it's exceeded, even I can't turn them back.
『In that case, you'll have to steel yourself. Without you here to begin with, that option wouldn't even exist.』
"I know."
Reconfirming the situation, I stepped onto the stairs leading to the third floor.
And arrived at the third floor.
Just as the prior intel described, it was a dome-shaped space resembling a boss area in the great labyrinth.
At its center, a man sat in a chair.
He appeared to be in his early twenties, with long ash-colored hair tied at the shoulder, dressed in noble-like attire.
"I've been waiting for you, Lady "White Mage"."
The man greeted me with a friendly smile.