“…Understood,” Luke said, sounding half-defeated.
He took a step back, still clearly uneasy about the idea of fighting the Sentinel.

If he decided to leave now, I wouldn’t stop him.
In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he left. It would mean fewer unpredictable variables to worry about.

Although his combat strength would be a loss, we were originally a team of three.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Ray whispered from the other side of Leif, making sure Luke couldn’t hear.

Whispering from both sides was making my ears tingle.
What is this, some kind of ASMR?

“It seems Aerial picked something up.”
“So what?”
“He saw an elf using spirit magic.”
“An elf? Spirit magic?”

Ray’s gaze shifted toward Leif.

Yeah, that’s you.

But Leif shook her head.

Aside from Leif, there was only one other elf we knew who had spirit magic abilities.

“Ugh… Is this for real?”
“It’s not confirmed, but we need to check.”
“He’s alone though. How would a novice get this far?”
“There are plenty of possibilities. Maybe the people with him were killed by the Sentinel, or he got separated, or perhaps he used a hidden path.”
“Seriously, these guys are always causing trouble. Well, let’s go check it out.”

Ray grumbled but couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice.

She had wanted to fight a Sentinel from the start.
Initially, she was ready to back down if I said no because of potential risks, but now that we had a reason, she had no hesitation.

“Well, that’s how it is.”
“Hm…”

Now that our internal discussion was over and we had decided to go, Luke had to make up his mind.

“It seems I have no choice. I’ll follow.”
“Glad to have you.”

Luke wasn’t a mage.
He was more of a traditional warrior.

He’d be a solid choice for the vanguard.

Ray, who usually took the vanguard position in our team, wasn’t a pure tank but more of a melee damage dealer.
There aren’t many mages who can function as proper tanks.
Among our peers, only Amaia could play the pure tank role.

Ray made up for her lack of defensive capabilities with the natural toughness of beastfolk, so it hadn’t been much of an issue until now.
The problem arose with Ray’s new ability, Azure Raile.
That magic, which maximized her mobility, also amplified her aggression.

But the downside of using Azure Raile was that Ray couldn’t hold the front line, leaving our vanguard position open.
Luke, however, was more than capable of filling that role.

“Let’s move. Luke, you’ll lead the way.”
“Understood.”
“We’ll follow as usual. Ray, don’t worry about the vanguard—just play your usual free role, okay?”
“Got it.”

Her replies are getting shorter and shorter, huh, Ray?

“Leif, you still can’t use two spirits at once, right?”
“Well, I can, but the output would be lower.”
“Then summon both for support, and when necessary, focus on just one.”
“Understood!”

Leif’s enthusiastic response gave us a boost.
And so, we set off.

The second floor was infamous for its need for a guide, but this time, a guide wasn’t necessary.

The lesser monsters, which usually acted as obstacles, had been shredded to pieces by something that passed through like a storm.
The path it took was marked by the glittering dust left behind on the scratched walls, like a glowing trail leading the way.

It was like Hansel and Gretel marking their path with shining white pebbles.

All we had to do was follow it.

However, there was one thing we needed to be cautious about.

“We’re not following this thing backward, are we?”
“Look at the gouges in the wall. They have a directional pattern. Learning to read the marks is basic observational skill. A seasoned pathfinder can deduce everything about a target from the faintest trail.”

Not to be outdone, Ray chimed in.

“I can read it too! Look, Roman. See here, how it’s scratched? This part goes in, meaning it was cut from left to right. Got it?”

No.
Not at all.

Ray, I’ve realized you’re not great at explaining things.

You were pretty good at teaching body enhancement techniques, but maybe that’s because you were just repeating what you learned in class.

“Hold up.”

Luke raised his hand, signaling us to stop.

“It’s up ahead.”

It was Leif who spoke.
Using Aerial, she had sensed something ahead through the flow of the wind.

“It’s a wide-open space. If we’re going to engage, now’s the time.”
“Be cautious. From the sound of the wind, there’s a height difference.”

A height difference?

I didn’t fully understand what Luke meant until we reached the end of the passageway.

There it was, clearly visible.

The path ended.

Ahead of us was a large plaza.
It had a high ceiling and a wide open area.
If we hadn’t been careful, we could have walked right off the edge and fallen straight down.

Spaces like this, scattered throughout the Abyss, are categorized into three sizes by explorers.

The smallest is a Room.
There’s no significant drop, just a wider space than the surrounding corridors.

The middle size is a Hall.
This category has the widest size range, encompassing everything larger than a room but smaller than the next category.

The largest is a Square.
Not only are these spaces massive, but for reasons unknown, they often have a cubic structure, giving the name "Square" a double meaning.

What we were facing now was the last type—a Square.

And in the middle of this massive space, there was something exuding an overwhelming presence.

“A Sentinel…”

The second floor’s guardian.
The despair of the glowing labyrinth.

I used farsight to get a closer look at the Sentinel.

It was immediately obvious why it was called the Ceramic Centaur.
With its smooth, glossy white surface resembling porcelain, it looked more like a statue or a work of art than a living creature.

And its shape?
Its lower body was that of a horse, while the upper body resembled a human—a centaur through and through.
But unlike typical centaur statues that were often depicted naked, this one looked like it was fully clothed.

Not only that…

‘Is that… a maid outfit?’

Not just a maid outfit, but it was also holding a weapon.
A centaur combat maid made of ceramic.
That was the Sentinel.

“It’s the halberd type. Trickier than the lance. Its rank seems to be Upper. Luckily, it’s not a Keeper or a Head.”

Luke muttered to himself, analyzing the Sentinel.

“How tough is an Upper?”
“It’s on the stronger side. The ranks go Scullery, Under, Upper, Head, and Keeper. So, while it’s technically in the middle, considering how few Uppers there are, it’s closer to the top.”

We now had a rough idea of what we were up against.

Next was the elf Leif had mentioned…

“Yep, that’s Elowen.”

Did you really have to say “that”? She’s a person, you know.

But Ray wasn’t wrong.

Facing off against the Sentinel was indeed Elowen Starweaver, our classmate.

Covered in dust, Elowen’s expression was dark with frustration, likely because things hadn’t gone as she planned.
A mischievous spirit darted around her feet, laughing as if amused by the situation, giving us an idea of what had happened.

“Looks like her spirit magic failed.”
“Well, Elowen’s an old-school spirit mage….”

Looking at Leif, it was easy to forget just how temperamental spirit magic could be.

But that’s only because Leif is exceptional.
For most spirit mages, this is the reality.

Spirits are tricksters.
Even in critical moments, they’ll laugh and ignore the situation, like mischievous children.

Elowen must have tried something with her spirit magic, but it had backfired due to the spirit’s rebellion.

‘No wonder spirit magic is considered one of the three weakest classes.’

“But Elowen knows other spells besides spirit magic.”
“They probably didn’t work against the Sentinel. She was likely hoping for a one-shot victory with her spirit magic, but…”

Ray didn’t finish her sentence, but I understood what she meant.

“She’s a classmate of yours?”
“I had a feeling it might be her.”
“So, what’s the plan? Are we joining her?”
“Well…”

The issue was how to approach.

The Sentinel hadn’t noticed us yet, but the moment we entered the plaza, it would.

Our best bet was to wait for the right moment when Elowen engaged the Sentinel and sneak in for a surprise attack…

“I’m going first!”
“Huh? Ray, wait…”

No!
Giving you free rein didn’t mean you should rush in like that!

I tried to stop Ray, but it was too late.
She had already jumped down into the plaza.

Leaving a trail of sky-blue footprints from Azure Raile, Ray dashed forward.

In an instant, she was on top of the Sentinel.

She descended.

Ray’s fist came crashing down toward the Sentinel’s crown.

“Gotcha!”

As she fell, her magic switched.
Argentus tore through the Sentinel’s magical barrier, sending sparks flying.

Ray’s punch slammed into the top of the Sentinel’s head.

CLANG!

The sound echoed like a giant bell being struck.
There was no way anyone could think that hit had dealt any real damage.
In fact, I was more worried about Ray’s hand being hurt.

“Ow!”

Looks like I was right.