Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

"You said you’re a princess, so you must be familiar with the structure of a castle."

“I… Right."

"What essential structures are there in a castle?"

"…What? Wait a minute.”

Thinking over the sudden question for a moment, she made a fist then began to count off her fingers one by one.

"To start with… a castle needs a room for mom and dad, no— the king and his family to stay in, and another room for receiving guests. Other essentials would be a conference room, an audience chamber or something of the like, a grand hall, a dining hall, a banquet hall, a library, a treasury, and…”

An office, basic facilities for various government agencies, other amenities for royalty, an armory, weapons storage, guard posts, soldiers’ quarters, military barracks, spires, ramparts, stables, washrooms, kitchens, food storage, servants' quarters as well as dining and living spaces, dedicated gardens and hunting grounds, and simple magic towers…

Visibly fed up with the constant stream of structures flowing from her mouth, Mattias shouted, "Stop, stop! Just one. Just the most essential thing."

As Bielli gave his words careful thought, Aveline shared, "The most essential thing? I mean, it’s not like I have a ton of experience living in a castle, but I think we’ve listed out most of the major components already."

It may not have been a castle, but it was at least similar to one.

Julius closed his mouth. He itched to respond but forced himself to turn a blind eye to her past since she wasn't trustworthy to him yet.

"A place where you stop by three times a day."

"Three times?"

As everyone tilted their heads, Mattias sighed and gave the answer. "I’m talking about the bathroom. The toilet."

"Oh, right!"

"Oh, that’s so true."

Both Aveline and Bielli nodded, as if they had forgotten what Mattias said. They hadn’t considered it because their minds had otherwise been preoccupied.

"Well, there seems to be a trend these days to get rid of things that ruin the aesthetic… Apart from that, this is a must-have place."

"Why do you say that?"

"Have you seen a bathroom or anything that even looks like it around here?"

"Come to think of it…”

They’d all dug up and ransacked many of the rooms in these ruins—from armories to storage spaces—yet there was no sign that anyone had lived there.

"Even if there are traps or guardians here now, the original purpose of the ruins doesn’t change."

"…You’re right."

Bielli nodded intently.

"If you think about it, did we enter any room at all that could be used as a guest room?”

"No…"

"I can't believe this is just now occurring to me.”

Both shook their heads as if they had just realized it.

"And who would decorate the corridors of their castle with such a dull, gray color scheme, or without any windows? From that alone, we have to eliminate religious architecture from the possibilities, too.”

Religious sites typically valued aesthetic beauty in their architecture, so this place surely couldn’t be a temple, nor a castle for the same reason.

"But wouldn't it be a stretch to say that this is a prison? Or maybe it was built to store something important, or to entrap a demonic felon."

Mattias stroked his smooth chin at the first words coming from the deep-voiced Belzec, a warrior unable to use magic who guarded the front.

"Hmm… That’s an interesting perspective… So you think that means they built a building this size just to store things."

"Yes."

"Why construct an entire, stand-alone building if you could just use the basement of a pre-existing castle to store something? And why would you need to build something this big to manage a criminal when they could just be killed instead?”

"That's a good point.”

"That’s why I figured it was a prison or something like that. I don't know its exact role."

"It was a useless question. I'm sorry."

When he apologized in a subdued voice, Mattias replied with a childishly mischievous smile.

"But Belzec, it was good to hear your thoughts. You never know. In fact, maybe there could even be an ancient ghost trapped in this basement, and maybe it’s been looking for chances to escape all along, hahahaha.”

"Then there’s no way we would’ve even entered these ruins.”

"That's right."

If something so out of control was in these ruins, the survey team would have found it and prohibited entry to the site.

“Well, surely this place had some purpose that we just don’t know about yet? It’s still the remnants of the ancient empire, after all. It must have had some sort of use.”

"Isn’t that a question for the scholars who come after the raid?”

"Yeah, we just need to get the relics, get a good score, and leave. They’ll sort out all the details later, right?”

"Haha, true."

She nodded and began to slowly rise from her seat, sensing the familiar signs of something’s approach.

Erini joined them, her movements light and red hair rustling behind her.

"There is a fork in the road up ahead. If you go to the right, there's a somewhat dangerous trap…”

As he watched his teammates move while listening to Erini’s explanation, Julius looked at Mattias with satisfaction in his eyes.

‘Just as I expected, Mattias should prove useful for future exploration.’

Mattias was the second son of a family who specialized in architecture and design, given a free pass into the Academy for a blueprint that his ancestor had spent his entire life crafting. He would be an indispensable resource while exploring the ruins.

Because of his inherited expertise, Mattias proved to be quite helpful when exploring the ruins in the original .

‘I know the whereabouts of the blueprints. If I can use it as bait to lure Mattias and his family into our territory and network…’

If that happened, they could recreate modern technologies such as cars and airplanes, rebranding them as their own ideas.

Julius didn’t understand the principles behind such technologies at all, but he figured that if he were to give Mattias a rough idea, he could recreate the machines.

Subways and trains were already coming to fruition in the present era, so if anyone were to ask, he could surely say that he found a blueprint in the ruins. There was no reason to worry about being caught out for it.

‘Won’t be long now.’

Julius opened his Quest Window, his heart pounding.

「Kill the ancient monster sealed in the ruins and prevent disaster yourself! Time limit: 4:17:34.

Reward: Fragment of truth(???)」

The afternoon had passed and the evening hours had darkened with a sunset now vanished; and so, the twilight hours fell upon them.

* * *

* * *

The party moved swiftly toward a nearby trap.

Arriving at the northwestern side of the third floor, they finally triggered the trap with Alexius’s quick guidance.

Fwoosh!

Plagued with uncertainty even as they arrived, they were relieved when wind whistled through the space and their surroundings fluttered into wavy ovals melding into the space.

"I hope we move as far as possible…”

At the end of Ariel's breathy words, their vision momentarily blurred, and then—

Crash!

"Evan!"

"On it!"

Evan tried moving his body as soon as he was sure that they had been transported. As he lifted his shield, a heavy counter-force pulse through his body.

"Now!”

Ariel shot an arrow at his cry, dousing the projectile in her magic to polish it off with overwhelming firepower. Her green mana swirled through the wind.

"Head down, Evan!"

Twang!

Evan hurriedly slammed his shield into the golem, shoving it sideways. The sharp arrow spun and pierced its body.

Crash!

The scattered dust settled and from the haze emerged the golem’s form.

Evan rose up. "Did you hit its core on your first try? Lucky…"

"Evan!" William shouted loudly, and without hesitation, Evan hurried to move at his cry.

Bang!

When Evan glanced back to check with an intense look, the golem hadn’t stopped even though its core had surely been smashed. He grasped the situation in an instant.

"Does it have two cores?"

His eyes went cold. He’d only have one shot to attack from close-range. The other guardians would have heard the noise and would surely arrive soon.

If he wanted to bring this to a close as smoothly as possible, he had to end it with this attack.

‘In that case, where should I aim?’

Could the core be in the center of the body, by the heart? Or maybe the center of its back?

"Evan, the head! Aim just under the center of its head!" William shouted, seeming to immediately pick up on Evan's uncertainty.

Evan trusted William's suggestion.

'William is smarter than I am.’

In the past, he would have shrugged him off instead of acknowledging him. However, after spending more than a month together, he finally came to admit it:

William was a commoner, as well as a man to be reckoned with.

"Got it!"

Now, he was a trusted colleague.

Blue mana surged from both of his legs, accelerating his movements.

Baroque Style Arcane Technique - Wolf Fangs.

His body sharpened to a point as he raised his sword like a drill. Like the fangs of a blue beast, his mana viciously tore through the target. 

Evan felt the grasp of its hand and immediately stepped back, using his shield to strike the golem once more.

Clang!

He stared at the golem, still on guard, but it simply stumbled and fell to the floor. After watching the collapsed figure on the ground for a moment more, he finally relaxed somewhat.

Even then, his shield remained raised.

"…It's really over this time.”

"Evan, are you okay?"

As William went over to check on his teammate’s condition, Evan raised his hand with a big smile. Once William confirmed that he was doing well, he smiled wryly and raised his hand, too.

Clap, clap, clap.

They heard the cheerful clapping of hands.

"Ouch… Why didn't you go easy on me?"

"Hahaha! What else is a man to do? Well done!"

"…But I mean, we’re colleagues."

Once the situation had been sorted, Allen scanned the surroundings with his senses and confirmed that there was no more danger before turning to Alexius.

"Alexius, what floor are we on right now?”

“Hold on, I’m checking…”

His expression shifted as he examined the map. William approached him with an uneasy gait.

"Wh-what's the matter? Did we go in the wrong direction…?”

"The seventh floor."

"What?"

"We’re on the seventh floor…"

The party did not understand the significance of what he said at first. However, as it clicked in their minds, they cheered.

“W-we made it to the seventh floor…!”

"Allen! You were right! Wow! I've never done anything like that before.”

"This is the seventh floor…? Well, maybe that’s why it felt so strange…”

"Are you sure this isn’t a dream…?”

They only lowered their voices after being met with the group of roaming golems that had heard them. However, even if their voices had become hushed, their eyes shone brightly, unable to hide their joy. 

"Now, if we can just take out the guardian of the ruins in the deepest part of the seventh floor and then make a successful return…!”

"We’ll get first place. That will definitely net us a treasure trove of merits…”

Allen waited a moment to allow his team members to bask in the flash of joy, but once they had calmed down to some extent, he began, "We must not waste any more time. If there are other students like us who were able to gather the right information and get to this point…”

When Allen dangled that thread and cut himself off, they picked up the pace.

"Come on, let’s go!"

"I bet nobody else will be able to catch up."

"Let's go, rookies!"

It wasn't easy to traverse the seventh floor.

It was littered with guardians and traps more crafty and troublesome than they’d ever encountered before. Even the advance team hadn’t entered this floor, so the number of enemies they had to deal with had essentially doubled.

However, it wasn’t enough to stop them.

This is because Allen had begun to pull his weight to some extent.

With one hand, he motioned for his threads to gather. He didn’t have any particular image in mind. Just any way to create an opening was enough. He swung his finger to tangle the threads into his own little tools. Delicately, as if playing an instrument. Not putting too much force into it, then relaxing a little.

Ding.

The bell began to ring.

Ding, dong, ding.

The cylindrical instrument, consisting of twelve round metal tubes, rang out a symphony of tones. From its base, numerous clear waves gradually rippled out.

As the golem steadily grew in size, parts of its body began to harden. Ariel shot off green arrows wrapped in Evan’s blue mana, finishing it off.

"Before they gather up, let’s go deeper toward the core of the seventh floor!"

"Alexius, please take care of the traps!"

The party truly did their best.

From Class B, Class C, and Class D.

Freshmen and upperclassmen.

Students and a guide.

They trudged on.

"L-let me heal you!”

William had overcome his mental block. Now his skills would land him in Class A.

"Evan, keep him occupied for five seconds, or even just three! I'll take the big one!"

"Got it!"

Ariel and Evan, too, had grown tremendously by this point.

If they used the experience gained from this journey during their next placement test, they would surely be in Class B next semester.

"Evan, watch your front! Ariel is shooting her arrows at 30° intervals from the northwest!"

Milred really did her best to help.

Although, she might have to deduct some points from the group’s final total for her excessive intervention.

Allen's meticulous planning from the beginning reduced the amount of work she had to put in, but she also eventually found her role in the group.

"I'll take care of the enemy coming from behind. Move right at the second fork!"

Alexius also did his part, though much more silently.

Allen promised to help him with the attack, but Alexius didn’t urge him to fulfill his promise.

After all, Allen had a role in this scene, too.

Even if he didn’t fit in completely, he was together with them—a part of the action. 

It was quite enjoyable.

The feeling of taking a real adventure was out of the ordinary.

They nearly pushed themselves to the limit, but over the course of a few hours, they had made their way to the depths of the seventh floor.

How many hours had passed?

They had drunk all the potions stored in their inventories, and William healed them until he was exhausted.

In doing so, each far surpassed their preconceived ceiling of potential, and together, they finally defeated the golem that guarded the heart of the bottom floor.

"We've finally arrived…!”

"Now all we have to do is go back…”

Rumble.

The ruins shook and trembled with the force of an earthquake, and the white book fluttered in the air, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

「The book linked to ◯◯◯◯ confirms the conditions. The presence of ◯◯ has been recognized! The target associated with ◯◯ is… Correction! The presence of Ved◯◯nir, the Incarnation of Knowledge, has been recognized!」

「The target is not associated with ◯◯! However, there is a possibility of ◯◯! Please eliminate the fall◯ ◯◯!」

「The conditions have temporarily been met. ◯◯ of ◯◯(tentative name) is manifested!」

「? Remove yourself from a 300-meter radius within 3 seconds. Failure will result in strengthened mental barriers and resistance to spatial movement being imposed. Escape from the ruins within the next 17 minutes and 18 seconds.」

At that very moment, they heard a loud cry wail.

A cry from a being who seemed to have finally come to their senses.

"Ah————"

The exiled incarnation had awoken.

* * *

Jaqnelle closed his eyes and slowly went over what he knew of the ruins in his mind.

"Hmm… I just don't know why."

His sensing range was 234,375 meters, or about 234 kilometers, a radius vast enough to allow for the full and thorough examination of a small island.

Although he didn’t dwell on the details due to the overwhelming amount of information that flooded into his head, there weren’t many beings that could manage to escape his eyes. One would be hard-pressed to argue otherwise.

"But…"

Whing!

The eight rings in his chest resonated with each other, ready to emerge at a moment’s notice.

Although they had focused their senses on the area where the students had collapsed to capture as many details as possible, they had found nothing.

"Could it be that there’s a new trap?"

He was an early-stage Rank 8. It may not be enough considering that most of Top Eight's skills were at the later stages of Rank 8 or 9, but that didn’t mean that he was weak. Even if he were to expand his senses to encompass the entire world, with his skills, everything would be in the palms of his two, no… four hands. 

Regardless of how many secrets the world held, he could really not even figure out the workings of a single trap?

"…Strange. Ruins are said to have many secrets hidden within, but this is especially strange."

Although Jaqnelle had a bad feeling, he didn’t worry all that much, as it was a common occurrence for him.

He was one of the strongest living beings in the world, a title that made him constantly worry about who he was going to attack, not who was going to attack him.

"Was it Professor Dellune’s turn next? Anyway, it's almost time, so I'll call him like I promised…”

That was why he was a little bit off his game.

"…and chat about ranks or…”

"—Honestly, I was waiting, you know. "

Stab.

He reacted a little too late to the attack.

Gasp! "Who are you?!"

"Oh, that was a little shallow, huh?"

The ball of light burst outward like an explosion, creating a radiant wall.

A mysterious woman leisurely strolled from the vast curtain. She flashed a bizarre smile, licking the blade that stabbed Jaqnelle.

"Do you recognize my face? It's me, the one who’s been stuck in this dump for the last few years. Or don’t you remember?"

Rumble, rumble.

The ruins began to quake.

Her smile gradually faded as Jaqnelle stood on alert, watching her with a stiff face.

"You’ve forgotten me already? That's okay. I'll remind you. The Silent Dagger, the Master of the Darkness, the Sneaking Serpent—"

As she continued, Jaqnelle's expression gradually changed.

"—Bjorna. I lost everything because of you. Now I’m nothing but an old lioness who has nothing left but a thirst for revenge. Roar."

"…What?" Her voice rang clear in his ears, lodging itself within despite the loud vibrations surrounding them. "Don't lie to me! She was just an old woman…”

"I had my work cut out for me because of you, you know?"

She laughed playfully, but Jaqnelle could not laugh.

If what she was saying were true, it meant that she’d escaped at her old age, and if not, that she’d regained her youth by some means.

"Believe me now? Your propensity for skepticism remains the same as always, I see. Now that we’ve finished reacquainting ourselves, would you be so kind as to—"

Her body melted into the darkness, the shadows pooling around her.

His sensing ability had already lost her presence.

"—just die?”

The former member of Top Eight whom Jaqnelle had defeated.

The loser who accepted her defeat in their battle three years ago.

The Queen Of Dunscaith had returned.

* * *

A short distance away from the bases of the Minima and Arachni tribes.

Under the blackened sky and a moon rising full and blue, the camp lay in eerie quiet.

Most of the young tribe members had been dispatched for guide duty, and the remaining members had spent the last few days readying the special 'preparations'. The only other people in the camp were those with limited mobility. Them, and the Chief of the Minima tribe.

A few people stood occupying the tent of Chief Arachni, who was himself away from the others in preparation for the ceremony.

"…Thus, it is our understanding that the time will likely be tonight, or not long after. Perhaps at dawn."

"Good work."

"No, sir! May all this be for the glory of the wandering stars!"

"Very well, go and get ready."

As the young tribal member stepped out of the tent, the chief's wrinkled eyes turned to the sky.

His eyes seemed to gaze not at the ceiling of the tent, but at the night sky beyond it.

"So the meteor is descending…”

—————

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