The Depths

The passageway stretched silently forward.

Duncan stopped in his tracks, his cloudy eyes fixed on the ground.

There, a pile of gray powder was slowly dissipating, almost blending into the dust on the labyrinth floor.

The powder still retained traces of the swift and sharp magic unique to the "Laufen" replica.

"Really."

Duncan's voice rang out in the corridor, steady yet tinged with a hint of gravity.

"This labyrinth can even be replicated repeatedly."

Lichta crossed her arms, her eyes devoid of emotion.

Laufen crossed his arms, looked at the pile of "himself" ashes on the ground, and pursed his lips.

"That's disgusting."

"Agreed," Edel muttered, her face beneath her pink mushroom haircut clearly showing her reluctance. "Let's get going, I don't want to stay here a second longer."

Duncan said no more and took the first step.

"We need to speed things up."

"If the clones keep appearing, we'll eventually run out of mana. The longer it drags on, the worse it will be."

"Furthermore, if even clones that have already been defeated can reappear... that means the master of this labyrinth either possesses near-infinite magical power, or..."

He didn't finish speaking.

But everyone understood what he meant.

Or perhaps the labyrinth's ability to "replicate" is more troublesome than they imagined.

Let's go.

Duncan said no more, turned around, and continued walking deeper into the passage.

My pace quickened somewhat.

Another passage.

Elder yawned deeply, rubbing his eyes with his dark gray-blue fingers.

"So sleepy..."

He muttered to himself, but his steps didn't slow down at all; he practically "glided" across the ground.

Adonis walked beside him, his blond hair gleaming in the occasional flashes of magical light. His expression was calm, his emerald eyes observing the surrounding rock walls.

"The scent of plants..." he murmured, "Very faint, but definitely present. Deep within this labyrinth, perhaps, lies a naturally formed ecosystem."

"Really?" Elder replied absentmindedly. "I just want to get there quickly and then go to sleep."

The two did not speak again and continued walking in silence.

A fork in the road further away.

Lanto pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the blurry outline of the passageway ahead.

Ubel walked beside him, her green ponytail swaying gently. She wore her usual faint smile and casually toyed with her short cane in her hand.

Only the sound of two footsteps could be heard in the passageway.

Since defeating the clone, they have not encountered any other danger.

"It's so quiet," Ubel suddenly said, his voice clear in the silence.

"Mm," Lanto responded.

"Don't you find this boring, Glasses Guy?"

I don't think so.

"That's so boring."

Ubel smiled and said nothing more.

The two continued on their way.

The stone chamber where Frieren and her group were located.

Fern stood in the center of the stone chamber, his pale purple eyes fixed intently on the air before him.

Her fingertips gleamed faintly as she lightly touched and outlined in the air.

On the screen, a complex three-dimensional channel structure and several slowly moving light spots were vaguely visible.

"Lord Frieren."

Fern spoke softly, his gaze never leaving the screen.

"Based on the current pace of progress and the analysis of the tunnel structure, at this rate, we should be reaching the deepest point soon."

She paused, then lightly touched her fingertips at a relatively large intersection.

"The routes of the other teams will eventually converge in this area. We'll be able to join Mr. Duncan and the others soon."

She finished speaking and waited a few seconds.

There was no response.

Fern blinked and turned his head.

"Lord Frieren?"

Frieren didn't look at her.

She crouched in the corner of the stone chamber, several fragmented magical artifacts of indeterminate age that she had unearthed from a treasure chest lying in front of her. But she wasn't fiddling with them at the moment; instead, she kept her head down, her emerald eyes fixed on a point on the ground, her gaze somewhat vacant, as if she were deep in thought.

Silver-white hair slipped down her shoulders, partially obscuring her profile.

"Lady Frieren?" Fern called again, her voice slightly raised.

Frieren's eyelashes trembled.

She slowly raised her face and looked at Fern. Her emerald eyes regained focus, but a trace of lingering contemplation remained within them.

"Mmm," she responded softly.

Fern looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

But Frieren didn't continue speaking; she simply lowered her head again, looking at the "rubbish" on the ground.

The stone chamber fell silent. Only the faint sound of dripping water in the distance and the subtle hum of magical runes flowing on the light screen could be heard.

Kanne and Rabiñe exchanged a glance but remained silent. Sense stood a short distance away, his long, light brown hair almost touching the ground, like a quiet shadow.

After a while...

Frieren suddenly spoke, her voice still soft, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Fern."

"Yes."

"If the master of the labyrinth could truly replicate everyone..."

Frieren paused, raised her hand, and unconsciously twirled a strand of her silver hair with her fingers.

"There are still many 'enemies' yet to appear."

Fern paused for a moment, then understood what she meant.

Indeed, there are not many clones that have appeared so far.

Fern's fingertips unconsciously traced across the screen, her pale purple eyes flickering slightly.

"Hmm, that's true." She pondered, her tone calm as she analyzed, "However, according to what you told me before, regarding the characteristics of these kinds of monsters with special copying abilities..."

She looked at Frieren.

"If such a powerful ability to almost perfectly replicate others exists, then the monster itself would generally be relatively weak. This is more like a 'defense' or 'hunting' mechanism than an ability used in direct combat."

"So," she concluded, "We just need to get to the deepest part quickly, find and deal with the monster's main body, right? And the clones of the other monsters that haven't appeared have probably been taken care of by other teams."

She paused, then added.

"Furthermore, the clones currently only appear in groups of three. We have the numerical advantage, so even if we encounter them, we should be able to handle them."

The logic is clear and the organization is well-organized.

Frieren listened quietly, her fingers, which were curling her hair, stopped.

"Hmm." She nodded, her tone unchanged. "What you said isn't wrong either."

But her brow furrowed slightly.

The movement was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible.

Fern noticed it, however.

She looked at Frieren, a hint of doubt flashing in her pale purple eyes.

"But," Frieren spoke again, her voice even lower than before, as if talking to herself, or perhaps to Fern, "There is a problem."

"What is it?" Fern asked.

Frieren raised her eyes, her emerald green eyes looking at her, their clear depths reflecting the dim light of the stone chamber.

"You can copy 'us'."

She spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

"We don't yet know exactly who is included in this condition, 'we'."

She paused.

"If it were truly possible to copy 'everyone'..."

Her voice stopped there.

The air in the stone chamber seemed to freeze for a moment as she spoke her unfinished words.

Fern blinked.

Then, her pale purple eyes widened slightly.

She understood what Frieren was referring to.

"Lord Lowell has come with you..." she whispered, the last part of her sentence disappearing into the silence.

Sense's droopy eyelids lifted almost imperceptibly for a moment. His deep blue eyes glanced at Frieren, then quickly lowered again.

Wirbel, who had been leaning against the opposite rock wall, examining his short staff, turned around upon hearing the conversation.

"What?"

He glanced at Frieren, then at Fern.

No one answered him immediately.

Only the faint hum of the light screen remained in the stone chamber, along with the eternal dripping sound from further away, seemingly coming from the depths of the labyrinth.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

The group continued forward in silence once again.

Towards the deepest part of the maze.

Towards that destination, which may hold the answer, or it may hold an even more terrifying unknown.

And in another part of this vast labyrinth, in a deeper and darker place.

Something seemed to have moved slightly.

Like a sleeping giant, it unconsciously turns over.

It sent a deep shiver down the spine of the entire labyrinth.