Using the light spell as a beacon, we cautiously wandered through the darkness of the Abyss.

The second layer, the Great Labyrinth.
As its name suggests, we had been walking for quite some time, yet the surroundings remained the same, just as they had been when we first descended.

"Hey, over there."

Ray, who was leading the way, stopped and pointed to something.

It was roughly the size of a medium dog, maybe on the smaller side, but it resembled a rat more than a dog.

"A maze mouse."

Maze mice were the most common creatures in the second layer and a reliable source of protein for explorers.

"Should we catch it?"

"Hmm…"

We had resupplied our food, but it’s always better to conserve it if possible.

"No way! Absolutely not!"

Leif’s voice, louder than usual, echoed off the walls of the labyrinth. I could already picture her throwing a fit, lying flat on the ground, but instead, her next move was even more assertive.

"Undine! Shoot it away!"

She summoned Undine and fired a water cannon at the maze mouse. She wasn’t trying to kill it, just drive it off, and the creature quickly darted away with impressive speed.

"Huh? Hey!"

Ray, caught off guard by Leif’s sudden outburst, missed the opportunity to chase after it and just stood there, watching.

"Hmph! As long as we have food, we’re not eating that thing!"

"Wouldn’t it be more practical to save our rations and rely on local resources when possible?"

"Well, maybe, but still… absolutely not!"

Leif had a significant say in our party’s decisions, especially since she took care of our water supply and kept us clean with Undine.

Ray, seeing how determined Leif was, reluctantly backed down.

"Tsk, what a waste. They say it tastes like chicken."

"Yeah, such a shame."

Still, when someone tells you not to do something, it only makes you want to do it more.

Ray and I exchanged glances, our silent communication saying everything.

'We’ll get it during our night watch.'
'Got it.'

Maybe I’ll surprise Leif with some meat stew for breakfast tomorrow.

After our encounter with the maze mouse, we continued our long, monotonous walk.

It was after some time that Leif, the one with the least stamina, began muttering in a tired voice.

"It would’ve been nice if the second layer had marker trees like the first layer…"

"Even if it did, it wouldn’t help."

"Huh? Why not?"

"The transfer points in the second layer are almost random, unlike the first layer. It’s hard to figure out your location."

And more importantly, there’s another reason.

Before I could say it, Ray jumped in.

"Seriously? You don’t know? The Great Labyrinth’s layout shifts periodically. You must’ve been sleeping through the lessons."

"I wasn’t sleeping!"

But she did seem a bit deflated, admitting quietly, "Well… I might have dozed off a bit."

"You know that, huh? Didn’t you skip most of your lessons at the training center?"

"Well, I know a thing or two."

Ray smirked, but I gave her a flat look, narrowing my eyes at her. Realizing it wasn’t funny anymore, she added, "There was a guy in my tribe who had ventured into the Abyss. I picked up a few things from him."

Ray was far from being uninformed anymore. I guess Leif will have to carry the “clueless” title on her own now.

As we paused for a moment to chat, I noticed something strange.

"Something’s off."

"What is?"

"We’ve been walking for a while, and apart from a few maze mice, we haven’t encountered any monsters."

"So?"

"Heh. Ray, are you being stupid right now? Remember what that… Daniel guy said? He warned us that there were unusually large numbers of monsters in the second layer. Did you already forget?"

Leif seized the opportunity to throw a jab at Ray.

But this wasn’t the time for their little bickering.

If there were no monsters around, it could only mean one of three things.

'Either someone else is here drawing the monsters away, or this is a special zone in the Abyss…'

Or we were in the territory of a powerful predator.

Even Leif, as clueless as she sometimes was, could understand that much.

Their conversation gradually quieted down, and silence fell over us.

'Which one is it?'

In the deafening stillness, even the sound of swallowing felt as loud as thunder. My eyes darted around, searching for the answer.

And then, I saw it.

'Leif’s shadow?'

It seemed strange. I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary around us, so I looked down, and that’s when I noticed the suspicious movement. The shadow wavered. I thought it was a trick of the overlapping light, but we only had one light source.

That could only mean one thing…

'It’s a monster.'

If it were shadow magic like the kind Bongshik used, there’s no way any of us would have missed it.

The best defense is a strong offense. It took about three seconds to load my shot of mana bullets, but those three seconds felt too long.

Swish!

A blade shot out from the shadow, aiming for Leif’s neck. Like the swift strike of a mantis, the shadow extended its limb to grab her throat.

But the attack missed, just as I had predicted.

"Huh?! Roman?!"

In an instant, I cast two consecutive teleports, pulling both Leif and myself out of the blade’s range. It had been a while since I’d used teleportation without deploying the Axis, and the confined space of the labyrinth caused the teleport to distort slightly.

As I held onto Leif’s body, shielding her on the ground, I immediately activated the Axis system.

'The next attack is coming.'

If this were a human, they might have hesitated to analyze the situation. But a monster, driven by instinct, doesn’t stop to think. It forgets its failure and strikes again, rushing toward its prey.

This time, the target wasn’t Leif or me—it was Ray.

Already anticipating the next move, Ray dodged with ease and shouted.

"Damn it! Why did it have to be that thing?!"

Her voice was filled with frustration, and for good reason.

It had to be that.

A Shadow Stalker—one of the apex predators of the second layer. It hides in the shadows, stalking its prey and striking at the perfect moment to sever its target’s lifeline.

That alone makes it a formidable opponent, but the true danger of the Shadow Stalker lies in its unique trait.

"Damn it! My attacks aren’t landing!"

It had physical immunity. The Shadow Stalker exists partially in the shadow realm, rendering all physical attacks useless against it. For those who rely on brute force, it’s a death sentence.

You’d need to have mastered aura manipulation to even stand a chance.

"What are you doing? Use Argentus!"

"I can’t! I can’t activate both at the same time!"

Ray’s legs were glowing with the blue marks of Azurail, the new magic she’d recently acquired. Apparently, she couldn’t use Argentus while it was active.

"Then drop it!"

What is she, a child playing with a new toy? Reluctantly, Ray deactivated Azurail and switched to Argentus.

"Get rid of the shadows!"

"Turn off the light spell!"

Without shadows, the Shadow Stalker has nowhere to hide. When there’s no light, it can’t slip into the shadows. It’s a standard strategy taught at the training center for dealing with shadow-based monsters.

Of course, we’d lose our visibility as well, but explorers can’t rely on sight alone.

Even in the pitch-black darkness, none of us panicked.

If we couldn’t see, we’d rely on our hearing, smell, and touch. And if that wasn’t enough, we’d use mana detection.

Besides, Ray has her sixth sense. Something had interfered with it earlier, but now that she was aware of the threat, it should work fine.

Ray’s quick thinking shone through. She managed to anticipate the monster’s movements, and just before the creature could strike, she instantly activated Argentus, giving the Shadow Stalker no chance to slip back into the shadows.

Clang!

The sound of her fist striking, imbued with the power of magic disruption, rang clear like a bell.

Even against a physically immune Shadow Stalker, Ray’s punch hit its mark.

"Just a one-punch chump."

For all its terrifying traits and attack power, the Shadow Stalker had relatively weak durability. Ray’s well-placed strike caused the creature to dissolve, its body melting like mud.

Explorers leave behind gear when they die, and monsters leave behind mana stones.

I picked up the mana stone left by the Shadow Stalker and rummaged through its disintegrating remains, hoping to find some useful byproducts.

"Hey, Roman."

"Hold on. This thing’s pretty big."

I heard that sometimes Shadow Stalkers leave behind shadow claws, which are like retractable blades. The creature looked like a mantis, but its claws were hidden like a cat’s, so I had to dig deep.

"That’s not it—we need to move quickly."

"Huh?"

Nathaniel had mentioned that there were unusually high numbers of monsters on the second layer.

The reason we hadn’t encountered many so far was likely because of the presence of the Shadow Stalker, a dominant predator.

But now that the Shadow Stalker was dead, what would happen?

"…Crap."

My newly developed mana detection ability confirmed the answer.

Right.

They’re coming.