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“We’re breaching! Get the ventilation tubes ready! Mister Ronfo, are you good to go!?”

At the collapsed passage leading to Area 81, Ignis—who was directing the reopening efforts—shouted over to Ronfo, commander of the Dragreid military base.

Ronfo’s reply promptly followed, his voice bearing his signature calm and resonant tone.

“Let’s go through the briefing one last time. All miners will retreat to the Area 25—Command Post—-and remain on standby. Explorers ranked C and below will assist in the evacuation and secure the perimeter around Area 25. Those ranked B and above are going in with us. You will follow Satowa, and your priority is to search and rescue the target. Clear out any small fry while you’re at it. Our unit will focus entirely on taking down the Stony Monstrosity.

…Regardless of the outcome of the rescue, if the beast is still present in Area 81—”

Ronfo drew his weapon—a crescent-bladed shamshir—and quietly laid the scabbard on the ground beside him.

It was an old knight’s tradition—a wordless vow not to return alive.

“—We finish it here, no retreat. That’s the only way we save the thousands, tens of thousands, who might otherwise fall to it later. If the aftermath left the tunnel entrance collapsed again, do not reopen it until you receive the signal that the target is eliminated. If no signal comes… Then lock this place down with us and watch over until the arrival of knight order's subjugation unit.”

Initially, everyone's guess had been that the tunnel accidentally collapsed when Steinberg’s conjured huge water ball crashed against it.

But, as they began clearing the debris, they found the damage ran too deep, almost as if it's an intentional ploy, consuming much of their time in just clearing it.

Perhaps there was the monster's nest or something somewhere up there, which might likely have the Steinberg take the same measures again during confrontation to protect it.

He was a knight, and the very thought of having a monster roaming beneath the land of Dragreid—someone who possesses intelligence to make clever judgement of this clever, more so in a berserk state—was something that filled Ronfo with dread. It was absolutely impermissible.

Including Rofan, the rescue team had five knights gathered from around Dragreid. 

One of them, a young man, a mage with affinity to fire magic, could be seen stretching while a two-handed staff rested on his shoulders, a fierce grin plastered on his face.

The other man, an elderly man with a righteous expression, a user of holy magic, nodded in understanding. "So shall it be."

The third one was a woman carrying zanbato—a type of long sword—took a step forward cracking her neck, and smashed that sword against a boulder, shattering it apart. 

The fourth one was a petite, young woman carrying a big shield. 

Once the path was entirely open, with the young woman at the forefront, the group of five knights charged inside. 

Area 81 was a land forsaken of nature's wonder, devoid of any sort of noise from even insects that you would hope to hear normally. 

Following the knight's team, Ignis and Satowa entered second, and they were further followed by explorers including Dio. Their faces twisted in grimace the moment they stepped inside.

The fire mage—Ronfo’s deputy among the knights—exhaled softly, helplessly, without a word.

“…Begin the search for survivors." Ronfo gave his command, his tone suppressed to hide his inner turmoil. 

Everyone immediately started to spread out—or were about to when a column of water suddenly rose from the subterranean lake on their left. And then it appeared. The legendary beast had shown itself once again.

"Riibiiiiit!!!"

Though it no longer was in a berserk state, the monster's eyes harbored an utter abhorrence for the intruders. 

Just as the oppressive mana washed over them, the five accompanying knights also unleashed a unyielding battle spirit, like a raging fire.

"...Act according to the plan. Give your best, everyone!!"

With Ronfo's command as the trigger, the crowd immediately split according to their role.

◆

"*Yawn~*!"

I stretched lazily as I got up from the soft, fluffy bed. 

Hmm, you ask what a cozy bed doing inside ruins? Good question but, I am just clueless. All I know is that the fur blanket—probably made from the hide of some kind of magical beast—was heavenly to the touch. 

After a deadly escape from the frog's nest, I had continued along the tunnel with staggering steps only to find a dead end. Well, to be precise it was the same dull door with a mechanism installed on the pedestal. 

I had never felt an urge to smash something as much as I had during that moment. I immediately thought of digging with MY BBQ skewer, though I figured I could give the pedestal another try, futile it might be. 

But much to my surprise, the pedestal absorbed my mana, opening the door wide as the accumulated dust scattered due to the movement. 

The interior was bright. It looked old, maybe even a little antique in design, but it was a far cry from the rough, cave-hewn storerooms I’d encountered so far. There was actual decor here. Style. Taste. Still, just to be safe, I called out before stepping in: “Helloooo? Anyone home?” or “I’m lost! Anyone? Pleeease?”

Albeit, my shout met with deafening silence. Meanwhile, I caught up to the presence of small frogs chasing after me, so as a force majeure, I intruded inside and quickly shut the door using the same mechanism.

Before I crashed, I gave the place a quick once-over. It seemed deserted, and from what I could tell, it was divided into three main rooms.

One was the residential space, where I’d just taken my little power nap. Another was a library filled with old, finely-bound books. Unfortunately, every book I picked up was written in an old language I couldn’t read. Though judging by the illustrations, the texts seemed to deal with magic tools's design blueprints, research notes et cetera.

The final and largest room was what I could only assume was a laboratory, scattered with half-built magical devices.

There were many thing that caught my eyes, like the prototype of head-shape mana tool that had the rail car had been equipped with. But what had me befuddled in truest sense was the ridiculously big pipe organ-esque mana tool—something that I reckon was a part of machinery in building these tools—that still seems to work till this day. 

If this ruin really did date back to the Moon Dragoon era, that meant the device—though possibly dormant at times—had been functional for over a thousand years.

I had no idea what it was for, but a massive magic stone embedded in the core glowed faintly, and the whole thing emitted a low, mechanical hum. 

Anyway, this was the basic gist of how I ended up rolling into a warm bed inside a ruin. 

Frankly, anyone worth their salt knows this was the discovery-of-the-century kinda stuff. I could already envision my name—explorer Ren—being known to everyone and their mother spanning the whole continent once I published my discovery. But of course, that would also mean expected research on me, and it could jeopardize my dual identity in a flash. 

I would become the man-of-the-moment, eh. Would I be bothered? A lot much, though even if I were to reveal it, It definitely would never be due to the desire of riches and fame. No, as long as it concerned me, it was hell.

This was completely in contrast to my dream—the desire to lead an unbridled, fun life, going through an adventurous journey filled with romance.

...Whatever. I didn't even know if I could see the sun rising again, so I guess I would put it on the backseat for now. As they say, worrying about the future was the most vain thing you could do. And you know what, I could as well make Fey the scapegoat of the discovery. 

Once I had my nap, I swiftly resumed my journey. It need no words to explain how I wouldn't kill to take my time and do a proper search of this place—I mean, hey, we're talking about ancient stuff that's still working to this day, an uncharted territory!—but my food reserve was running low. 

This place didn't seem to hold any ration, so if I don't find my way out, I might as well turn to another addition to the rows of relics here. I just hope people at the surface weren't already thinking about mourning me.

I walked over to the large door on the opposite end of the room—the one facing away from the mining shaft—and placed my hand on the pedestal beside it, channeling mana into it.

I’d already confirmed before my nap that this door would open. My judgement, based on architectural design, said this was the entrance, meanwhile the door I had used to enter was the back entrance.

Once I stepped outside and closed the door behind me, I noticed something carved into its surface—a crest. The design was a little different, but unmistakably similar to the Dragoon family emblem.

A short flight of stone steps—maybe ten in total—led down from the main entrance. On either side, elegant stone lanterns stood in neat rows, each one carved with delicate, timeworn patterns.

I took my first step into the stairs. However it suddenly made me broke into a coughing fit.

It was air, entirely packed with dust particles, with the floor beneath me coated in a layer of fine, sand-like particles, at least ten centimeters deep. 

Ah, I was at the outskirts of Dragoon. And this gave me an idea of my current location. 

—It was the depth of Rootzenia Mining Ruins.

Had the trip to Area 81 concluded without an accident, I would've come to this place the next day, as the nomination request of Satowa dictated.

It had been speculated that modern mining area, thusly revealed to the people of Dragoon following volcanic eruption several centuries ago, allowing them to acquire valuable volcanic minerals, was once a natural mana coal mine. 

Of course, even if it was once used in the antiquated era, the mana coal mine was not the focal point. Instead, Satowa's conjecture pointed this area was similarly a mining place for some very valuable ores. And following the twists and turns, I had ended up in the very depth of Rootzenia mines via the back door that Satowa had intended to explore. 

Satowa had explained the depth of these mines were exhausting to explore. It lacked any source of light, the monsters were mightier, and some occasional spots were filled with toxic gases. 

The worst of all, because of the way the mine’s internal ventilation system works, the deeper you go, the thicker the air becomes with suspended coal dust.

It’s basically like breathing powdered death the deeper in you get. Breathing in this stuff for too long leads to serious trouble—headaches, dizziness, nausea… and eventually, full-blown cognitive failure, then death.

If you get out soon enough, the body can naturally expel or absorb the particulates from the mana coal dust. But stay too long in a high-concentration zone, and your body just couldn’t keep up.

“Guess it’s a race against the clock…”

I had a nice little base now, and I would’ve liked to carefully map out the place for my second 'playthrough' of the area, but I was running on reserve with drinking water. And I didn't see where I could scrounge some up.

I tore the sleeves from my shirt, soaked it with the last of my precious water from a leather pouch, and tied it tight around my face. Then, over that, I strapped on the mask of a droopy-eyed old man—still smiling, as always.

I directed my wind to span across the tunnels branching out in all directions, and bolted at my top speed, picking the most promising route based on air flow. 

It was a pity that I couldn't predict the distribution of air with my wind magic, however I did picked up some area where air felt heavier than hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide. Since there dead zones without any airflow, I deduced I could try stirring the area this way, and analyzed the air  pattern to find my way, avoiding the possible toxic air zones.

It was like a solo time-rush mode to claw my way out of the cold, dark underworld. If I failed, I’d die. But—

I refuse to die here. Not in a place like—

"Ribiiiiit!!!"

All of a sudden, the premonition of impending doom gently cradled me in its arms. 

T/N - Heya everyone, it has been a while since the update had been quite unacceptable. I hadn’t meant to, but a sudden situation messed up my schedule. A close relative went through chemo, but to no avail, and after a few months of struggle, they passed away last month. The mourning lasts for nearly two weeks here, and I just found myself back recently.

Either way, I should be maintaining a healthy schedule starting today. Presumably at a quicker pace.