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[Note: User restrictions have now been lifted]
[Note: User status will now return to normal]
[Note: Due to recent exposure to temporal mind haze, taking rest is advised before—]
I dismissed the system’s notification, rising to my feet and rolling my right shoulder as I adjusted to the surge of mana returning to my body.
My chest pulsed with a subtle ache—still healing, though the worst of the wound had closed over.
My muscles resisted, adjusting to the strain of mana coursing through them, and I felt a slight restriction in my range of movement.
Not ideal, but my arm still held steady enough to grip a sword.
Expanding my mana sense outward, I scanned the surroundings.
‘Empty.’
This vast cavern stretched even farther than it appeared at a glance, layers upon layers of depth hinted at by the echo of my mana.
It was oddly silent, and although I appreciated the lack of an immediate threat, it felt like a temporary reprieve in a dungeon like this.
My gaze turned to the two pathways ahead—left and right.
Both stretched into dark, similar tunnels, making it hard to tell which, if any, led to a safer route or the heart of the dungeon.
There was no mana signature in either direction, no indication of one path being less hazardous than the other.
I’d have to choose quickly, but if I took the wrong path and encountered something formidable while still partially wounded, it could complicate things further.
Considering my terrible luck, it almost felt like fate had it out for me, no matter which path I picked. Left, right—one would surely lead to some form of misery.
Might as well trust my instincts, right?
I glanced around, hoping for some hint, some spark of direction.
In a normal setting, I’d follow the light, head toward some flicker of hope, but in this place, the light seemed to bounce of every ounce of space, leaving both paths equally shrouded in uncertainty.
All that stretched ahead were rough, dim corridors with no hints of life, no visible signs of any safer route.
A faint chuckle escaped me as I weighed my options.
Usually, it’s the right path that gets favored in stories—the one they tell you to follow because it’s the “right” choice.
So, out of sheer logic, I picked the left.
…..
“…Knights… Loss… Unforeseen…”
In the deepest layer of the dungeon’s white cavern, the White Bishop stood motionless, its singular, unblinking eye fixed on the chessboard before it.
The dim light cast long shadows across the board, each piece representing a pawn in the complex game that was unraveling beyond its control.
Its four hands twitched, their spindly joints dislocating and trembling at the sheer anomaly of what had transpired.
“…Anomaly… Eliminated…???”
How could this be?
The threats within the dungeon were formidable, yes, but nothing it hadn’t accounted for.
Yet, three of its most trusted knights had fallen in mere minutes.
It was unfathomable.
These knights were crafted to withstand all but the most severe of onslaughts, entrusted with defending the Queen’s will with unwavering loyalty and resilience.
“Information… Intercepted…”
The White Bishop tightened its grip on the edge of the board.
Being the mind tether of the dungeon, it could connect to every knight under its jurisdiction, sensing, receiving, and relaying their experiences in real time. But this time, nothing had returned.
The knights had been expertly trained in data retrieval, capable of conveying critical information even under the heaviest of restrictions.
Yet there was nothing. It was as though the knights’ knowledge had been erased at the moment of defeat, as if a seal had been placed on their very consciousness the moment, they were taken out….
Could there truly be something—or someone—within this anomaly capable of challenging their majesty’s authority?
The thought clawed its way into the White Bishop’s mind, an impossible concept becoming disturbingly plausible.
Only beings with power rivaling the Queen could create such interference.
Its mind churned, running calculations, analyzing every possibility as it struggled to fathom the implications of such an adversary.
Alarms blared through the White Bishop’s mind, each warning flashing like a strobe of white-hot light in its vision.
“…Information… Gather… Abandon…”
Study was now secondary.
Elimination took precedence.
Its gaze shifted toward the meticulously crafted white cage, prepared to teleport any captured anomaly directly into its depths.
Yet, despite the activation of the [White Whistle] arrow, not a single target had appeared within its confines.
This meant the anomaly possessed power potent enough to interfere with the Queen’s divine blessing—an ability bordering on blasphemous.
Their original mission was already delayed long enough…
The White Bishop straightened; its four arms momentarily stilled before each conjured a weapon into existence.
A wand. A sword. A spear. And an axe.
Each weapon shimmered with a blinding light, floating ominously beside it, ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice.
The bishop’s single eye drifted down to the chessboard, its fingers hovering over the stark, gleaming dots scattered across the board. With a single snap, the board’s magic surged.
In a flash of white energy, two knight constructs materialized alongside two massive golems, each bearing a head shaped like a rook’s towering crenellations.
The air crackled with a silent tension as the White Bishop issued its decree.
“Mission… Compromised… Threat… Elimination… Priority… Army… Gather…”
It pointed one skeletal finger to a crisscrossed section of the board where three bright red dots pulsed ominously, signaling the anomaly’s current location, the only piece of information his knight’s managed to send before perishing.
The message was clear, every force, every knight, every ounce of energy was to converge. The order was as absolute as the unyielding white walls of the dungeon.
This was no longer an investigation.
It was extermination.
SWISH!
With a wave of his hand the chess board in front of him disappeared and a crown appeared on his head, white mana gathered and the cave shook for a moment.
SHINNG!
White light gathered in his fingertips before exploding…
“Escape…. Sealed….”
…
The entire world around Janica was consumed by an endless expanse of white—from the skies to the trees, to the very ground beneath her feet, and even to the intangible wind.
Every inch of this place was blanketed in a bright, ghostly hue, as if all colors had been stripped away, leaving only shades of pure, blinding light.
Though every detail was starkly visible, the overwhelming white made everything feel indistinct, as though it could collapse into a single, inevitable direction.
Death.
That word lingered heavily in her mind, and Janica knew, with every instinct screaming, that she should have trusted her gut before stepping foot in this place.
“Why are you two tagging along?”
“W-We can’t just let you go in there alone, right, Lucas?”
Janica felt a pang of doubt.
‘Should I have stopped everyone then?’
She wondered if she should have prevented everyone from entering this place the moment they discovered the dungeon’s location, but the choice was long past.
Now, they were deep within the white labyrinth, and its dangers were growing with every step.
“Huff…”
She took a steadying breath, trying to control the tightness in her chest as her mind raced.
Lucas turned to her, concern in his eyes. “Are you alright, Janica?”
She forced a small smile. “Yes… just a little tired, that’s all.”
Though Lucas nodded, his gaze lingered, clearly unconvinced.
Still, he turned back to the path, his mana rising subtly as he advanced, every sense heightened to detect any lurking enemies.
Janica watched him, her thoughts drifting back to the scene that had replayed in her mind ever since it happened.
The image was seared into her memory—Riley, appearing in the blink of an eye, taking a fatal blow meant for her.
Everything had happened too quickly for anyone to react, yet Riley had managed to intercept the attack, risking his own life to save hers.
‘Why did you have to do that?’
Janica’s thoughts swirled with guilt and gratitude, each one twisting painfully inside her.
The memory of Riley’s blood, still warm as it splattered across the stark white landscape, and some of it onto her face, left a sickening weight in her chest.
Her body trembled as she recalled the moment, torn between relief and a deep sense of remorse.
She was grateful for his selfless actions but couldn’t shake the feeling of indebtedness, the heavy realization that his injury—possibly fatal—had been a direct consequence of protecting her.
And the fact that they were in the dark about what exactly had happened, or where Riley was now, only worsened the dread that gnawed at her.
‘This is the second time he has saved me… ‘
Feeling the weight of the repeated rescue settle over her.
Both times, she had chosen to ignore her gut instincts, foolishly leaning on her naïve hope that everything would turn out fine, clinging to some blind optimism.
Now, she was painfully aware of the danger in ignoring those instincts.
She glanced around at the others, her gaze falling on Rose, who walked just behind Lucas as he took point, carefully scanning the path ahead.
Right now, if anyone had the best chance of tracking Riley, it was Rose.
Her mana sense was powerful enough to detect even subtle traces in this white void.
But with the risk of ambushes and other hidden threats, preserving Rose’s mana was critical; they couldn’t afford to drain it without certainty of Riley’s whereabouts.
‘Could I offer her my own mana?’
The thought crossed Janica’s mind, weighing the pros and cons. If she shared her mana with Rose, it could extend their range, possibly locating Riley faster.
But that choice had its risks too.
Sharing mana was intricate, and any mistake could weaken them both, leaving them vulnerable.
They needed to conserve their strength and energy for any sudden attacks from the White Bishop’s forces.
With her options limited, Janica bit her lip, trying to stay calm, though worry still gripped her.
She just had to keep moving forward and hope that the next step would bring them closer to Riley—before it was too late.
Thump…! Thump…!
Her heart pounded with a relentless ache, one she couldn’t quite understand, yet it felt as if it was tearing her apart.
Tears gathered in her eyes, welling up despite her attempts to blink them away, unbidden and uncontrollable.
She chastised herself for being this vulnerable, for letting her emotions spill over in such a perilous place.
Why now, of all times, was she reacting this way? Her mind spiraled, searching for answers, but all she found was a hollow emptiness and a deep-seated worry that gnawed at her with every step.
‘Riley… please be safe…’
For the first time in her life, Janica found herself on the verge of begging—to the goddess.
…..
“Principal, you’re here!”
RUMBLE—! RUMBLE—!
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning struck down, illuminating the dimly lit library, and a flock of crows, their feathers charged with dark, purplish lightning, materialized midair, swirling together before condensing into the form of a beautiful woman.
Her long, jet-black hair fell like silk, and purple lightning flickered along her eyes, sharp and intense as they scanned the room.
“What’s the situation?” she demanded, her tone crisp and efficient. Her gaze swept across the space, assessing the dense mana in the air.
She let out a subtle sigh of relief when she felt no fractures in the inter-dimensional fabric; the dungeon hadn’t broken through—yet.
Amelia, who was standing beside the shimmering, ominous portal, tensed.
She’d rarely seen her grandmother like this—so focused, her mana coiled and ready like a blade drawn halfway from its sheath.
It was a sight few ever witnessed, and the intensity of it made Amelia’s hands clench involuntarily.
Clearing her throat, she raised a slightly trembling hand, gesturing toward the gate behind her.
“As you can see…” she said, attempting a steady tone. A large, looming white portal pulsed at the far end corner of the library, emanating such dense, compact energy that it seemed to warp the very air around it.
How it had remained hidden within the academy was a mystery to them all.
Principal Leilah’s purple eyes narrowed as she studied the portal in silence.
Her gaze traced the edges of the dungeon gate, lingering over the peculiar runes etched along its edges.
At least there were no apparent disturbances within the dungeon itself—small mercies, she supposed.
“You mentioned that students found this dungeon… Where are they?”
Amelia flinched, adjusting her glasses with a nervous sigh as she avoided her grandmother’s piercing stare. She felt the glances of nearby academy staff, all just as wary of the principal’s presence. But there was no way to skirt around the truth.
“According to witness reports… they went in…?” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper.
“What!?”
As worry gripped her mind, spiraling through all the worst-case scenarios, she realized, with a sickening twist in her gut, that the worst had actually come to pass.
“Damn it all!”
Leilah clenched her fists, the weight of frustration only intensifying.
She was still in the thick of dealing with the academy’s public image, swamped with papers, meetings, and apologies to various leaders, all in an attempt to repair the academy’s reputation after the recent scandals.
And now, yet another crisis was emerging, one she couldn’t ignore.
She hadn’t rushed here from her meeting with the head of the Eastern Empire only to face another failure.
Taking a deep breath, she wasted no more time, barking her orders with a tone that brooked no argument.
“Dean Gale, Professor Ferdinand—come with me!”
Without waiting, Leilah strode toward the dungeon gate, her determined footsteps echoing with urgency.
“Principal, wait!” Amelia called after her, her warning lost in the rush of tension.
Just as Leilah neared the threshold, a blast of white mana exploded from the gate, slamming her backward with a force so raw and untamed that even she, one of the academy’s strongest mages, had to brace herself, sliding back a few paces.
“What…?” She blinked in shock, staring at the pulsing white portal.
The dungeon gate stood open, yet something prevented her from entering. It was as if an invisible barrier, sealed from within, blocked her way.
“It’s… closed?”
The realization settled over her, and her concern deepened. If the dungeon was somehow locked from the inside, the danger the students were in was even greater than she’d first feared.
Her mind raced with possibilities, each more troubling than the last.
….
“Hmm~ looks like we can’t enter in the front Alice~”
As Cheshire hovered invisibly, observing the scene in the library with quiet intrigue, his playful demeanor softened.
“Did the White Queen notice your fondness for him perhaps~?”
A hint of unease replaced his usual mischief as he waited for any word from his master.
Beside him, Alice floated silently, her body emitting a fierce, crimson aura that pulsed and flickered with her rising emotions.
Her golden eyes, typically serene, had shifted, deepening to a dangerous red as anger and worry clouded her expression.
“Junior…” she murmured, her voice tight with urgency and frustration.
