[heastDay].

neoftheactiveskillsusedbythefirst-grademonster,Sniktura.

tseffectsarequitediverse.

BM—!!

Ameteorfallsfromthesky.

Flash—!!

Alightningboltslamsdown,carryingdamagecomparabletoathird-tierattackspell.

RUMB-RUMB-RUMB—!!!

hegroundquakes,cavinginandtemporarilyrenderingtheareaimpassable.

Asthenamesuggests,[heastDay]unleashesabarrageofterrifying,apocalypticeffects.

Withina10kmradius,for24hoursstraight.

“uh?Soundsgreattome!t’slikethemonstersgetwipedoutwithoutusliftingafinger!”

Ainard,wide-eyedandcheerful,gaveherinnocenttakeonthesituation,butdidn’tbothertoexplainfurther.

Barbarianslearnbestthroughexperience.

Flash—!!

“...!!”

Aslightningslammedstraightintoherhead,Ainardconvulsedsilently,unableeventoscream.

hiswasthemainproblemwith[heastDay].

BM—!!

Yes,themeteors,thelightning,thegeneralend-of-the-worldaestheticwasimpressiveanddestructive...

Buttherealissuewasthatithiteveryone.Allies,enemies—nodiscrimination.

“A-Areyouallright,Prnelin?!”

“U-Urgh...-’mfine...xcept-can’tmovemyjaw—!”

Flash—!!

“...!!”

“Ainardgothitagain...!A-Areyouokay?!”

“Urgh...mily...M-Makeitstop!hishurtslikehell...!!!”

avingtakentwolightningstrikesrightoutofthegate,Ainard’sluckcouldn’thavebeenworse.Shecriedoutindesperation,butallAmeliadidwasstareinflusteredsilence—somethingyoualmostneversawfromher.

Becausethatwasthesecondproblemwiththisskill.

nce[heastDay]isactivated,itcan’tbecanceled.

“mily!Can’tyouhearm—”

“Stop,Ainard.here’snowaytointerruptit.nceitstarts,itrunsforafull24hoursnomatterwhat.”

“What...?Don’tberidiculous!here’snosuchthingasanabilityyoucan’tturnoffmid-use!”

“Uh...”

Shesaiditlikeitwasthemostobviousthingintheworld—andhonestly,evenwasthrownoff.

Butjudgingbyeveryone’sreactions,wasn’ttheonemistaken.

“Raven?Don’tmostactivatedabilitiesnotletyoucancelthemmidway...?”

“Ah,yes...hat’strue,right?venAinard’sown[ndomitableSpirit]keepsgoingonceyouuseit,untilitssettimerunsout?”

WithRavenchimingin,Ainardwasleftspeechless.Meanwhile,thesourceofthechaos—Amelia—lookedaroundawkwardlyateveryone.

“Well...still,kindoffascinating,no?hatitrunsfor24hours?”

“t’snotfascinating—it’shorrific.”

“hisisbad.fPrnelinreactslikethis,normalpeoplecoulddie.”

“Soyou’resayingwehavetolivelikethisfor24hours?hat’saseriousproblem...”

“Ahem...”

Ameliaclearedherthroat—clearlyawareshe’dmessedup.

“So...”

hensuddenly,sheturnedtowardme.oicequiet.imid.

“...-echnically,it’snotentirelymyfault.”

“...What?”

Foramoment,thought’dmisheard.

Shewas...dodgingresponsibility?

'Amelia?'

gaveheralook,incredulous.Sheavertedhereyesandcontinued.

“W-Well...mean,accordingtoyourexplanation,itshouldn’thavebeenabletoactivateinthefirstplace...”

Ah.hat.

“Well,sure,butstill...”

“e’sright,Mr.Yandel!Whydiditactivate?”

Raven,joininginwithvisiblecuriosity,turnedthegroup’sattentiononme.

But...

“mm...notsure...”

ruthfully,didn’tknoweither.

n-game,[heastDay]hadoneveryspecificconditiontoactivate.

“otsure?sn’tthetriggercondition‘whenthelabyrinthisclosing’?”

xactly.

heskillcouldonlybeusedonthefinaldaybeforethelabyrinthclosed.

ikethe7thdayonFloor1,the10thonFloor2,etc.

Andthisplace,whiletechnicallyahiddenfield,wasstillpartofFloor6—meaningitshouldonlybeusableonDay60.

“Sowhywassheabletouseitnow?”

xactly.

wasthinkingthesamething.

Skillconfusionaside,thiswholesituationwasjustweird.

Whyhadaskillonlyusableonthelabyrinth’sfinaldaybeentriggerednow?

BM—!!!

...Wastheresomethingdidn’tknowgoingon?

***

onestly,thingshadbeengoingtoo◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)welllately.

SurvivingSnikturawithoutlosinganyone,scoringanssenceontopofthat—

Myluckhadbeenunreal.

Which,ironically,madeitworse.

'tjustmakesmemoreanxious...'

xperiencetoldme:thehighertheupswing,theharsherthefall.

Andsometimes,thereverse.

nanycase—

'here’salottothinkabout...'

heFloorordsummonedonthe6thFloor.[heastDay]activatingunexpectedly.

Whatitallmeant,andwhatshoulddonext—thereweretoomanyunknowns.

Butiffocusedjustonthenow...

'otbad.'

hatwasmyhonestconclusion.

Puttingasideoutsideconcernsandjustthinkingaboutclearingthehiddenfield“Memoryofthend,”[heastDay]wasamassivehelp.

speciallywhenitcametotakingdowntheisland’sboss—the“Beast.”

ikeso:

「ver10%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」

「heancientBeast’spowerweakens.」

「ver20%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」

「heancientBeast’spowerfurtherweakens...」

Allwe’ddonewascircletheisland’sedgewithAmeliaintow,andalreadythemonstersweregettingwipedoutatanincrediblepace.

otalannihilation.

「Defeated:Fanaticatekeeper+XP7」

「Defeated:auntingMemory+XP6」

「Defeated:nchantingBloom+XP6」

「Defeated:Mirroround+XP...」

「...」

SeeingourXPshootupatintervals,itwasobviousevenmonstersabove4thtierweregettingvaporizedbymeteors.

'Atthisrate,wecouldclearthewholeislandinaday.'

We’dinitiallyplannedtospendatleastaweekhere.hiswasinsaneprogress.

fcourse,nothing’sperfect.

Speedalwayscomeswithproblems.

“aaah!!hat’stentimesnow—’vebeenstruckbylightningtentimes!!”

“Kyaaaaah!Mr.Parab!Mr.Parabgotcrushedbyameteor...!!”

Settingasidethesideeffects—beingK’dbylightningornearlydyingfrommeteorstrikes—thebiggerissuewasthis:

“Um...thatmeanswe’veonlygotfivepeopleleft,right...?”

“Ms.Rainesdoesn’tneeditimmediately,soreally,it’sfour.”

“Ah...right...”

he“Memoryofthend”fieldrequiresyoutoconstantlyresetthe[Doomed]debuff.

Butbecauseof[heastDay],wecouldn’tdoitasusual.

Wehadtomeetthemonsterstocast[Distortion]—andeverythingwasgettingobliteratedbeforewecould.

“B-Butcanwestillmakeit?h-here’sonlytwohoursleft...”

“aha...t’llbefine,Ms.Marone!oneedtoworrytoomuch!”

Wewerecarryingourmagesaroundtohiteverythingwesawwith[Distortion],butthedropratewasslowerthanexpected—andeveryonewasgettingnervous.

speciallythosewhohadn’tresetyet.

“Yousay‘don’tworry’becauseyou’vealreadyreset,Mr.Parab!”

“h-hat’snotwhatmeant!”

“Sorry.hatwasunfair.hisisn’tyourfault.”

“o,no...understand.Youdon’tneedtoapologize...”

herewasabackupplan.

ntheworst-casescenario,wecouldsendtheun-resetmembersthroughtheportalbacktoSkullsland.

Atleastthatwouldliftthe[Doomed]effect.

'Problemis,withtheFloorordsummonedoutside,it’snotexactlysafeoutthereeither...'

Still,riskywasbetterthancertaindeath.

「imeremaininguntildeath:01:50:17.」

Withundertwohoursleftbefore[Doomed]hit,wepouredeverythingintogettingmoreriginalSins.

Andfinally—

「RirisMaronehasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

「BelegShusiadiersiahasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

womoreresets.Andthen—wegotanotherdrop.

Whichmeantonlyonepersonleft.

“h...!”

Forsomereason,assoonasthenextriginalSindropped,uildmasterliaAdnusvisiblybrightened.

hadnothingtosayaboutthatpart,butwhatcamenextwasaproblem.

“...Ahem!Atlast...myturn...”

couldn’tignorethat.

“Yourturn?”

“...?”

“here’sstillonepersonwhohasn’tgottenone.”

“h,youmeanhim?”

AdnusglancedatAuyenbesideAmelia.

Still,hedidn’tlookparticularlyconcerned.

“aha,don’tjoke.t’snotlikewewerefeedingtheminstrictorder.Fromwhat’veseen,youprioritizedthefront-linefighters,thenmoveddowntheranks.You’repickingbasedonusefulnessintheexpedition,right?”

Wow.eactuallyfiguredthatout?

uessbeingacareerpoliticiansharpensthemind.

Still,ifhewasthatsharp,howcouldhenotrealizethis?

“Auyenisnext.”

Bypriority,you’relast,pal.

***

aturally,therewasalittledramaovertheorder.

uildmasterAdnusshotmeadisapprovinglook.

“What’swiththatface?”

“...didn’tmakeanyface...”

Yeah,right.ikehellyoudidn’t.

“Youthinkyou’remoreusefultotheexpeditionthanAuyen?”

ventually,decidedtojustaskhimoutright.eansweredlikehe’dbeenwaiting.

“Ahem...mayberetired,andnotmuchtolookathere,butmyskillsdon’tpalenexttoanyone’s...”

Fromthesoundofit,hewasannoyedthatanavigatorlikeAuyenhadbeengivenpriorityoverhim.

“-t’sfine.cangolast...”

“Whatdoyoumean,‘it’sfine’?”

“mean...ordAdnusisfarmorecapablethanam,and—”

hatannoyedme.

Washejusttryingtopreventconflict?rwasheactuallythathumble?

itherway,couldn’tletitslide.

Didn’tmatteriftheguyusedtobeauildmaster.

“Auyen,you’reamemberofourAnabadaClan.”

“...”

“Andheisn’t.stherereallyanythingelsetoconsider?”

“...”

“fnot,takeit.Adnuswillgetthenextone.”

ierarchyexistsforareason.

“hat’stheendofit.otimeforquestions.”

cutthediscussionofffast.Adnusdidn’targue.

eknew.

uthere,mywordwaslaw.

「AuyenRockrovehasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」

WithAuyen’sresetcomplete,wecouldfinallymovewithsomepeaceofmind.

“W-We’removingsoleisurelyallofasudden,don’tyouthink?”

“Justyourimagination.”

“B-Butwe’reslowingdownforreal...a-andmovingawayfromtheportal...weren’twesupposedtouseitinanemergency?”

“veryone’sexhausted.Don’twhine.”

“M-Myapologies.wasn’ttryingtoupsetyou...”

Youshould’vethoughtofthatsooner.

Whydoalwayshavetolaydownthelaw?

“et’spickupthepace.”

Fromthenon,wereturnedtoourusualfaststride,resumingthehunt.

ventually,wegotAdnusresettoo.

「liaAdnushasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」

Andsometimelater—

“Uptop!”

lookeduptoseeablackportalforming.

othingparticularlysurprising.

“Anotherone.”

twasoneof[heastDay]’slesser-knowneffects.

Asidefrommeteorsandlightning,itoccasionallyspawnedportalsthatspatoutrandommonsters.

“Wonderwhatwe’llgetthistime.”

“veryone,stayalert!Mr.Yandelsaidevensecond-tiermonsterscanappear!”

veryoneimmediatelyassumedformation.

hen...

“t’ssmall?”

“Somekindofsmall-type?”

“Doesn’tlooktoostrong...”

hemonsterfinallyemerged—

“...uh?”

—andscreamedasitslammedintotheground.

hud—!

[wwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!]

thitthefloorhardandlandedonitsbutt,nowrubbingitrepeatedlywhilebabblinginwhatsoundedlikeanancienttongue.

[Butdidit!reallymadeithere!Woohoo!Mymana-quantumconversionmatrixtrajectorycalculationswerecorrect!]

Wait...wasthisreallyamonster?

didn’tknow,butwhateveritwas,itsuddenlynoticedus—andjumpedinshock.

[eeeek!!!]

“......”

[W-Whoareallofyou...?]

hatwasmyquestion.

AndthefactitwasspeakinginAncientanguagemadeitworse.

[Whatevenareyou?]

[uh?-'m...'mArta...?]

[......Arta?]

hiswasahiddenpiecedidn’tknowexisted.