《&@@#!@%&…%#&&…&%…》**

With a splat, the Jabberwock’s arm fell to the ground, making a dull sound mixed with moisture.

The body that had been endlessly mutating and regenerating melted away as if it could no longer endure.

Creak, creak.

The White Knight was in no better condition.

Its left arm had been cut off, and about half of its breastplate had been torn away, exposing the magic core in the center of his body.

The pure white armor was heavily damaged and dented, making a metal-specific friction sound with every movement.

Anyone could see that the White Knight was at its limit.

Step.

Yet, it—no, he raised his spear.

Even though he seemed in no condition to fight anymore, he stepped towards the Tin Knight without the slightest hesitation.

Some might say that it was only natural as he was a magic doll. Others might say that he was just fighting because his master ordered him to, following a predetermined algorithm. Or that it was foolish to assign meaning to each action mere dolls performed.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses admiration, saying it’s excellent!]

But the Tin Knight didn’t care at all.

What was the big deal about being foolish, what was wrong with being stupid?

He thought the White Knight’s fighting spirit was “cool”.

He believed there was a soul and heart in the White Knight’s actions.

That was enough.

To pay respect to the opponent who had pushed him, put him in danger, and made him achieve victory not through a simple contest of strength but through various strategies, the Tin Knight once again straightened his posture.

To finish it off for sure this time.

“—That’s enough, Sig.”

If it hadn’t been for the girl in white who blocked his way as if protecting the White Knight, the Tin Knight would surely have done so.

As if shaken, the White Knight’s body trembled greatly.

The distance between Gale and the Tin Knight was that close.

Although Gale also possessed considerable skill, at this distance, it would be possible to cut her down before she could move with the power of the sacred treasure.

Yet, as if not feeling any fear at all, Gale stared at the Tin Knight proudly.

“I’ll admit defeat. As the loser, I’ll follow the winner. So please, put away your sword now.”

The Tin Knight seemed to hesitate a little, but obediently returned his sword to its scabbard.

“Thank you, Sir Tin Knight.”

Gale bowed her head with an elegant gesture, then went to the White Knight’s side to take care of him.

“…What’s with this whim?” Dorothea, who had stepped back, asked from beside the Tin Knight.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if she wasn’t planning to stop it, anyway!]

“I wasn’t.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he felt her fidgeting behind him, timing it!]

“When did I!?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ shows adult composure, saying he’ll just let it be that way then!]

Clang!

Only after getting hit once did the Tin Knight stop his teasing.

Even then, since it wasn’t swung with mana like usual, it was just noisy without causing much actual damage.

It was unclear whether it was consideration for the Tin Knight who had finished a difficult battle, or if there was something in the Tin Knight’s words that stung her.

“It seems to have ended somehow.”

“Good job, both of you!”

Sophia and Adelaide, who had been keeping their distance to avoid getting caught up in the battle, also approached and greeted them.

In other words, they were the only ones unharmed.

Due to the fierce battle, the building that was once a courtroom was now just ruins, and most of the numerous audience members had long since either fled or been eaten by the Jabberwock.

It was then that a voice was heard from the air.

《You have defeated the labyrinth’s guardian.》

《But the truth of the labyrinth is still not revealed, and its curse remains unbroken.》

《You decided to become the new guardian and wait for the time of liberation that will come someday.》

《Normal Ending.》

The surrounding chaotic scenery was overlaid, and a stone chamber covered with bricks and a throne appeared.

The antique-looking throne emitted a soft light, as if welcoming the new guardian.

Click.

A sensation of something falling into place enveloped the group.

It felt as if they had become small cogs, fitting into a part of a very large gear.

The party realized the threads binding their bodies.

These threads were quite loose, allowing some freedom of movement on the stage, but not permitting them to leave the stage entirely.

Thus, the party was forcibly made into guardians of this place.

“Um, what do we do now?” Adelaide asked with a troubled expression.

“Well, it seems Gale is free now, so she can request support from outside. Since she can convey the internal situation, it shouldn’t be impossible to call challengers that would satisfy this space.”

The place where the library was located was the Tower of Foresight. It was a den of high-level mages.

They had left it alone because the internal situation was unknown, but with proper information, breaking through wouldn’t be too difficult.

“What are you talking about, how long are we supposed to wait for that?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ argues that since we’ve already enjoyed the main battle, we should quickly finish the trivial stuff!]

However, the impatient master and servant had no intention of using such a “steady” method.

They distinguished very well between opponents worthy of respect and those who were not.

Gale and the White Knight were the former, and this space was firmly the latter.

Step by step, Dorothea approached the Jabberwock, which had now melted down and turned into something like black oil.

As if guessing what she was about to do, Gale asked, “If you’re not careful, the aftermath might be quite troublesome, you know? Your teacher might not care much, but the stubborn people here will be different.”

“That’s none of your concern. I’ve already accomplished what I came here to do, and I’ve paid whatever price I needed to pay.”

Rumble rumble rumble.

Perhaps realizing that Dorothea’s atmosphere was not normal.

The ground of the stone chamber rippled like waves, moving as if to cover the Jabberwock’s body that had turned into a mucus-like substance.

Slash!

But the wave of rock and sand was blocked by the Tin Knight’s sword and failed to achieve its purpose.

This time, the stone chamber tried to split the ground and extract the Jabberwock through the cracks, but Dorothea’s staff tip struck the mucus-like substance first.

Sucking in the mana flowing from Dorothea’s body, the Jabberwock gradually increased its area bit by bit.

《You are the labyrinth’s guardian. You must not harm this labyrinth. You must protect this labyrinth.》

Despite failing to stop Dorothea, there was no sense of urgency in the voice.

It couldn’t be helped.

The labyrinth was a world of stories.

The ground here, the walls, the space, even the characters were all just parts of the stage.

Even if the Jabberwock was revived, no matter how strong or large it became, that alone had no meaning.

《There is a monster in the labyrinth. That monster, once controlled by a witch, was extremely violent and bizarre, but it was just one of the prisoners trapped in the labyrinth, unable to escape.》

No, beyond being meaningless, even such power would only be used as part of the stage.

The amorphous mucus-like substance began to move according to a certain rule.

It looked as if it was listening to the voice of the labyrinth.

《The monster is hungry. The monster wanders the labyrinth, and does not forgive those who block its way, even if they are fellow guardians.》

《You must quickly flee from the monster.》

《If you remain here, you will be eaten by the monster. If you leave this place, you can escape from the monster.》

Part of the mucus-like substance transformed into a muzzle and teeth, focusing on Dorothea.

Yet Dorothea didn’t stop infusing mana.

《You foolishly chose to stay. You will be《&@**@#》 caught by the monster…?》

The voice stopped, as if bewildered.

Detecting a foreign substance that had intruded between itself, the world flinched and widened its eyes.

“You’re trying to tame this thing? Then let me ask you, do you know this thing?”

The black witch curled corners of her mouth into a smirk.

It was the smile of a wicked witch.

“Can you define this monster’s appearance? Can you express this monster’s ecology? Can you define this monster’s abilities? It must be difficult, right?”

Jabberwock. A monster of unknown identity, incomprehensible meaning, and bizarre nature.

Its terror was not its brute force, regenerative ability, or various abilities.

It was simply the characteristic of being an enigma itself.

《You must become a guardian and protect this labyrinth.》

《You must become a guerdian and protact this labyrunth.》

《Yoo mast becum a gardian and pratect this labrinth!》

The voice became incoherent.

The concise and clear explanation began to collapse into an incomprehensible, bizarre language.

────!

The world screamed.

The library struggled to somehow expel the foreign substance that had burrowed into its body.

As if not to be outdone, the witch further increased the rate of erosion of the world.

《The weak and feeble Jabberwock starved to death.》

《And it revives! Because it wasn’t killed by the Vorpal Sword! What’s the Vorpal Sword, you ask? It’s a very snicker-snack sword! If you think hard enough, you can go to where that sword snicker-snacks!》

《The guardian must protect the labyrinth. No one can break the labyrinth’s curse.》

《And the labyrinth’s curse died in half! Oh frabjous day, let’s callooh callay sing to you on this frabjous day!》

The ground sank. 1

The bricks collapsed.

As the light disappeared, the air turned to lead, and everything was falling apart.

《—And so the party escaped the labyrinth, grasping the golden rope that led to the outside. Happy End.》

One ending was confirmed.

Footnotes

1. 1. ED Note: Some of you might already know this from my editing of the Alice Subjugation arc in Demon-Limited Hunter, but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is nonsensical literature and one of the ways Dodgson added whimsy was making up words. Vorpal = Deadly, Snicker-snack = just an onamoetapia like slash or shing, Frabjous = fair + joyous, Calloh Callay = basically "Hurray".

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https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken