Shinji and his two comrades slipped quietly to the outskirts of Eterna, just as King Atem had ordered. They transmitted a brief report through the encrypted relay spell—meant only for Master Gadra—and waited.
Ten minutes later, a ripple of magic pulsed in the air.
‹This is Gadra. I received your message. Speak.›
Shinji let out a breath.
‹Master Gadra… We managed to retreat, but today has been brutal.›
‹I sensed the distortion. The dungeon's defenses are escalating beyond prediction.›
His voice was calm, seasoned by centuries of experience.
‹Yes. We can't conquer the 60th Floor alone. The guardian… Albert… he was too strong.›
Silence.
‹Shinji.› Gadra's voice lowered. ‹Your instinct—your "soldier's eye"—how strong was this knight compared to the Empire's highest ranks?›
A simple question.
But only Shinji, Mark, and Xin understood what it really meant:
What tier of Guardian could Albert withstand… or surpass?
Shinji swallowed, running calculations in his mind. He wasn't a man obsessed with climbing the military ranks—not like others.
Still… he knew strength.
He had seen the Empire's greatest.
And Albert—the undead knight serving King Atem—was nothing ordinary.
‹At least top fifty.› Shinji finally answered. ‹Anything below that would be impossible.›
‹…And that's just Albert himself?›
‹Yes. He alone.›
Shinji hesitated, then added quietly:
‹Master, I once joined an archdemon subjugation force as a medic. That creature… the one called Lakeshore Dyed Scarlet… Albert's magicule count is on its level.›
‹Lakeshore Dyed Scarlet…› Gadra muttered, recognizing the historic calamity. ‹I understand.
You've given me enough. Stay hidden until I arrive. Do not push yourselves.›
And with that, the call ended.
That name alone—Lakeshore Dyed Scarlet—still sent chills through any Imperial survivor.
A small vassal kingdom by a pristine lake had rebelled. Their king, desperate and cornered, summoned a demon using the forbidden art. The court magicians obeyed… and an archdemon answered.
The result?
A kingdom erased.
A lake dyed red.
A tragedy buried in the Empire's annals as "necessary subjugation."
But Shinji knew the truth because he had been there.
The Empire's official report praised the Armored Corps.
But reality?
An archdemon had manifested sooner than any reasonable response time allowed.
Meaning…
the Empire must have known
before the tragedy even happened.
Shinji had always suspected manipulation from the higher-ups.
Yet he spoke none of it aloud.
Because he had seen the power of the ones who truly defeated the demon.
They were not ordinary soldiers.
They were not regular Guardians.
They were monsters in human form—beings so strong that even after seeing them once, Shinji refused to involve himself in anything resembling rank battles ever again.
Their crimson eyes…
The way space itself bent around them…
It was as if the demon feared them, not the Empire.
No one could stand against those beings.
Not even him.
Shinji exhaled deeply as Mark and Xin approached.
"Finished?" Mark asked.
"…Good job," Xin added softly.
"Yeah, all done. We wait for Master Gadra now."
"By the way," Mark asked, "you really survived the Lakeshore Dyed Scarlet?"
"…I'm glad you came back alive," Xin muttered.
Shinji scratched his cheek. "Honestly? I just played dead. And it was the smartest thing I ever did."
"Still amazing," Mark said. "Only thirty percent of that force survived."
"Yeah. I never want to deal with anything like that again. As a medic I was totally useless. If someone got hit—they died instantly." He sighed. "That's why escape was the only option."
"…Archdemons are really that terrifying?" Xin asked.
"Terrifying? That word isn't enough." Shinji
shuddered. "The one I saw looked at me once. Just once. I think it let me go. And those crimson eyes… even now, my legs get weak thinking about it."
Mark grimaced. "If that skeleton knight is on the same level—then we really can't win."
"They had similar magicule amounts, yes. And demons grow stronger the longer they live. The one I saw must've been ancient."
Shinji stopped himself before adding how suspicious the Empire's involvement had been.
"Well," he continued, "worrying won't help. They say someone is building a device to measure the power of others, but I doubt it'll matter. Albert's magicule reading didn't reflect his true ability."
He looked at both of them sharply.
"Remember what we learned in training: magicule levels alone don't determine victory. Among demons and undead, some exist with immeasurable strength."
Mark nodded.
Xin swallowed.
"That's really all you need to keep in mind," Shinji concluded.
And with that, the three of them let the matter rest as they prepared to regroup with Gadra.
Changing gears, the trio rushed to the Freedom Association's office before it closed. They needed to sell the magic crystal and excess equipment they gathered from the lower floors of Eterna's labyrinth.
"Hey, hey—this is a magic crystal from the lower floors? Look at the purity on this thing."
"Oh? And another slotted weapon… if this were pure magisteel, you'd never see anything like it outside this country."
The employees were nearly giddy. No other nation routinely brought back materials of this quality, especially from deep labyrinth zones. But Shinji, Mark, and Xin had no desire to draw attention. Their mission required subtlety—pose as adventurers, investigate, and remain unnoticed.
And anyway, selling through the Association yielded excellent profits.
Their investigation had stalled, but their income soared beyond anything they had imagined. In just a few days, they earned more gold than their army salaries could provide in an entire year.
Their military pay was stable, sure—but hardly luxurious.
A private earned ten gold coins per year. Food, housing, equipment—covered. But no freedom.
Mark and Xin, first lieutenants, made around fifty gold annually.
Shinji, a major and qualified military doctor, earned a little under seventy.
Compared to what they gained here?
It was nothing.
"Honestly… we could just quit the army and live here," Shinji muttered.
For the first time, the other two didn't laugh.
The earnings from today alone—over three hundred gold coins—were impossible to ignore. And now they all held unique-grade equipment that the Empire would never hand out freely. Their mission had become absurdly profitable.
None of them dared say it aloud yet…
But they were all thinking the same thing.
After selling off their items, they wandered into a high-class restaurant in the capital city—The trio hadn't tasted luxury in months.
But once they sat down, Xin's nerves got the better of him.
"…Are you sure it's fine? Selling equipment like that?" he asked.
"It's fine," Shinji said calmly. "We didn't sell everything. And we kept pristine samples for Master Gadra."
"And we can't bring everything back anyway," Mark added. "So keeping the best items is the only reasonable choice."
Loot gathered while undercover as adventurers appeared to be fair game. The Empire couldn't fault them as long as they submitted key samples for analysis.
Plus… Gadra was the only person their mission demanded loyalty to.
And Gadra had already shown he respected results—not rigid rules.
"If the army tries to seize all our profits," Shinji said quietly, "then we really might immigrate."
Mark and Xin nodded before they could stop themselves.
The conversion was simple:
1 gold coin = 100,000 yen.
Dwarven-minted coins were used across nations—even the Empire accepted them.
"I actually think we should do it," Shinji said.
"…Yeah," Mark replied. "I was joking earlier, but… after everything we've seen here? Eterna's better."
Xin nodded silently.
The Empire was technologically advanced, culturally rich—and deadly.
Being a soldier meant living with death constantly looming.
But Eterna's labyrinth offered something the Empire never could:
A place where even death couldn't kill you.
You died, and then you respawned.
You kept fighting, kept earning, kept living.
Safe. Profitable. Free.
And Eterna itself was overflowing with luxuries—hot springs, the Colosseum, theaters, concerts, exotic foods, sweets, even Japanese-style dishes Shinji missed dearly. The city was vibrant, prosperous, alive.
And all of it was protected under the rule of Atem, the King of Eterna—
a ruler whose charisma and authority radiated through the city itself.
Even without seeing him, the trio felt the weight of his presence everywhere.
Atem ruled with the poise of a king and the certainty of a god.
Not a naive leader like some monarchs—
he was decisive, powerful, respected, and feared.
Just thinking of Atem made Shinji shiver.
If Atem wanted, he could crush the Empire's plans effortlessly.
But of course, the trio didn't know the full extent of his power.
They only sensed the aura he left behind.
"Despite desertion being punishable by death… we aren't technically at war yet," Shinji said quietly.
"I was thinking the same," Mark muttered. "If we resign before conflict starts, maybe it's allowed."
"…It'll all depend on Master Gadra," Xin added.
That was true. Gadra was the backbone of this mission—and the only reason they were even here.
Mark exhaled heavily. "But… the war is the issue."
If not for the looming conflict, they would have already chosen Eterna.
"Which side do you think wins?" Xin whispered.
"…Worse," Mark replied. "If the Empire orders us to attack this city… what would we do?"
The three fell silent.
The flavor drained from their food.
They had fallen in love with the city.
With its people.
With its life.
They couldn't stomach the idea of destroying it.
"That knight in the labyrinth… Albert," Shinji said. "I don't think the Empire's guardians are stronger than Eterna's defenders. That's just wishful thinking."
"And Atem," Mark whispered. "He must be beyond anything we understand. Veldora once destroyed a whole city, and that story was probably true. Albert alone could likely do the same."
Shinji agreed.
"Archdemons can use nuclear-level magic. That skeleton wight king felt like it could do the same."
"Our common sense says war is about numbers," Mark said, shaking his head. "But fighting that kind of power with numbers is pointless."
"…We'd need dozens of warriors at our level," Shinji finished.
Their hearts sank.
And then—
Their communication crystals vibrated.
"This is Gadra. Report immediately."
The trio froze… and everything changed.