Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Bart’s eyes popped out.

“Lute, don’t joke.”

“Celine, don’t lie.”

Rose answered half a beat later than Bart, who responded reflexively though she seemed to have a good grasp of the situation.

“Do you think I will fall for such a threat?”

“…Rose.”

“Lu, Lute Rose. What you’re saying is…”

“Celine, don’t lie to me by claiming that you have foresight.”

Listening to the conversation, Bart glanced back and forth between Rose and Celine before he stammered out a few words of astonishment.

“Lute Celine…is really… a prophet?”

Rose glanced at Celine and sighed.

“Don’t go around saying that.”

“…It’s not a lie that you two will die.”

She was so taken aback that Rose immediately realized that she had been lying, so she couldn’t respond. Celine’s expectation was that she would back down if she trusted her foresight. However, Rose acted like she didn’t believe in prophecies at all.

“But that’s not foresight, is it?”

“….”

“I don’t think you’ve ever met other prophets, but if you have a chance, let’s meet. It will help you a lot.”

“…I will go down here alone.”

Celine repeated her words again.

Rose snorted.

“Then, I might as well make a prophecy that Celine would die if you went here alone.”

“….”

Celine shut her mouth.

Rose could have been right. Nonetheless, she had no intention of letting her know that her dying was different from her dying or Bart’s.

“Because we weren’t helpful…”

“That’s not true.”

Celine immediately shook her head at Bart’s somewhat hurtful words.

“No, because down there is dangerous. That… I can tell.”

“If it’s dangerous, shouldn’t it be more so that we go together? I’m going to find some more people to help me out.”

“It’s a good idea.”

Rose was delighted.

“I can also bring a few more wizards to help. How is it, Celine?”

“….”

She knew at least that Bart and Rose didn’t mean anything. Whatever the reason, the fact that Leonhard was trapped in a labyrinth virtually off-limits was not something that deserved publicity.

Bart, who didn’t know the exact circumstances, must have noticed the situation even if he saw that only they were looking for Leonhard, not the search team.

“I’m kidding.”

Rose broke the silence by waving her hand.

“No one will want to come in here. Isn’t that the same for the Knights, Commander?”

“You’re right.”

“Then why…”

“Why are we so insisting on going? You still don’t know?”

Rose made a frustrated impression.

“Celine, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. I owe you my life. It is time to pay it back.”

Bart nodded firmly.

“I, too, have sworn allegiance to Lord Leonhard.”

Celine gazed at them.

‘…How far can I trust these people?’

Eventually, she opened her mouth slowly.

“Follow me. Instead, do not tell anyone what you saw below.”

“That is not difficult.”

“…Whatever happens, promise me you won’t tell.”

At those words, Rose and Bart immediately said yes.

Celine bit her lip.

“And promise me one more thing.”

“…What is it?”

“I…if I tell you to go back, that’s the moment where you really have to go back.”

“Is it a foresight?”

“Yes.”

Celine nodded her head.

“Does Rose agree to this?”

“…Well, that’s about it.”

Rose slightly furrowed her forehead.

“Anyway, my life is too precious. It will be the same for the Commander here.”

“That’s right.”

Celine stroked her chest. Down here was the stage, so there should be this level of preparedness.

As she slowly stepped her foot into the darkness, there was a strong stench of musty dampness mixed with long-accumulated dust. The old stairs, which were still in shape, creaked. While they descended the stairs, the air, much colder than outside, began to surround them.

“It’s not a joke from the start.”

She heard Bart muttering, shivering in the icy air.

Celine gulped.

According to the game, this front…

For a moment, none of the three could see as neither darkness nor light completely blocked their vision. Everyone just stood still, frozen, unmoving. The whitish ghosts clung to them all like a huge membrane.

‘It’s different from back then.’

Fortunately, these were different from the aggressive ghosts Celine had experienced before. They just clung to them, unable to move.

“They seem to be blocking this place.”

Rose broke the silence.

“I think it’s just telling us to go back.”

“I can’t believe Lord Leonhard passed through this.”

Bart groaned.

Even though Celine tried to gather her magic to disperse the ghosts, she couldn’t gather her magic properly, as if she was blocked in all directions.

“Magic doesn’t work at all. It seems that these are also blocking the magic.”

Almost as soon as Rose finished speaking, the sound of Bart swinging his sword came.

“Commander…!”

Celine immediately stopped him, but Bart continued to swing his sword.

“….?”

“Everyone, please stay still.”

Even the words feel somewhat triumphant.

Celine blinked her eyes, a little embarrassed. Because of her hazy vision, she couldn’t see anything, so she couldn’t really see what was going on.

The next moment, there was a blade right in front of her nose. It was only then did she realized, as she was about to scream, that her vision was completely cleared. Meanwhile, Bart was smiling proudly in front of her.

“Ho, how…”

“It was just cut with a sword. Look.”

Bart pointed to the floor.

As she lowered her head, she saw pale jelly-like things piled up on the floor. Celine bent down and touched it with her hand. Feeling as if she had put her hand in the white smoke of dry ice, she hurriedly withdrew her hand.

“A ghost cut with a knife. It’s a rare experience.”

He was very curious.

“I think it’s hard to call it a ghost.”

Rose said as she stuck her hand into the pale lump on the floor like Celine, then pulled it out.

“I wonder if it’s an existence imitating a ghost… I think the purpose was just to block entry.”

Celine nodded her head.

“At that time, the only people coming here to defeat the ghosts would be wizards, so blocking the magic would have been enough.”

After Celine made sure that no one was hurt, she quickly moved forward.

In [ Celine’s Nightmare ], the labyrinth had no enemies or traps except for Leonhard, who was chasing the main character. There was no way Leonhard would attack her now, so they just needed to find him as quickly as possible.

Of course, there could be a variation of the true ending route, so she could not relax.

After a while.

Time passed until all three of them were clearly feeling exhausted. Fortunately, Rose had marked along the way, so they never took the same route twice. Still, even after looking at a considerable distance, they could not sense Leonhard’s presence.

“…What is that?”

Suddenly Bart stopped, and he looked at the wall some distance away from them.

Goosebumps stood up on Celine’s back. On the old walls, there were traces of burns and sword cuts. It didn’t look old, seeing how burnt it was.

“It’s Leonhard.”

“I think so, too.”

Rose also nodded her head.

“By the way, where is Lord Leonhardt? If he were around here, he would have heard us…”

“Isn’t it possible that he can’t hear the sound?”

Bart spewed speculation.

“The ghosts at the entrance were easy to deal with, but the ghosts that Lord Leonhard had previously been reluctant to deal with must have been tricky. After chasing them…”

“….”

Celine made eye contact with Rose as she listened to Bart’s completely wrong guess.

‘Well, maybe Bart’s guess wasn’t completely wrong.’

There was also the possibility that Leonhardt was imprisoned somewhere. She needed a better way than navigating the maze as they do now.

“Or, wouldn’t it be that Lord Leonhardt is constantly running into trouble?”

Rose said as she suddenly thought of it.

“I’ve been thinking about that, too… so wouldn’t the marks be different?”

“We just crossed the mark. And since Lord Leonhard doesn’t know that we’ve entered as well, he may not even mark himself.”

“….!”

“He could be close to us, but it’s possible that Leonhardt is still hovering around somewhere he can’t hear us.”

“It is.”

Rose nodded her head.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Celine was so pathetic that she could not even think of such a simple thing. The next moment, Rose suggested in a brighter voice.

“Shall I make a vibration? Then Lord Leonhardt might think it’s strange and come this way.”

“Isn’t it possible that he thinks it’s dangerous and goes in the wrong direction at all?”

Rose snorted.

“Commander, do you think Lord Leonhard is that kind of person?”

Bart shook his head, and Celine smiled bitterly.

‘Yes, Leonhard is definitely not that type.’

Usually, there were times when she felt resentful of Leonhard’s personality, like times when he felt like a moth jumping into a fire.

Nonetheless, for now, as Rose said, it would help.

Celine went up to the wall and put her hands up. She immediately thought of making the entire wall vibrate, as Rose said.

“Celine, wait.”

“….?”

“I will do it. You are already very tired.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Celine realize that her tiredness, which she had tried so hard to ignore, was wriggling beneath?

“Get some rest. I don’t know how many times I say this.”

Rose put her hand on the wall.

“Back off.”

Celine took five or six steps back with Bart. A flow of magical power was felt near Rose, and the entire aisle they were in began to vibrate strongly. Since it was hard for them to stand still, Celine sat down on the floor with Bart.

“Even I don’t have infinite magic… we should try moving places.”

However, they didn’t have to move from place to place.

After about ten minutes, the person they had been waiting for appeared, but none of the three could welcome him.

“Leonhar—!”

A scream mixed with his name erupted from Celine’s lips. Leonhard, whose whole body was covered with blood, slammed the raised Rashir directly at Rose.

It was the moment Celine’s nightmare became a reality.

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