As the firewood burned out, everyone shouldered their respective baggage. The shivering from the cold water was gone.

At Seneca’s direction, the lead returned to Ilga from Team One. Just as we were about to set off, Riona gasped and stopped in her tracks.

I called out to Ilga at the front.

“Wait, Ilga.”

Everyone's gaze focused on Riona.

No one spoke, and they unconsciously held their breath. Everyone in Class One acknowledged it—Riona’s detection ability.

Riona ran to the front, pushing past the students, and stared into the distance where the light of the magic lantern did not reach.

“Riona, is it an enemy?”

“……”

She craned her neck, peering into the darkness.

It was as if she were seeing something that neither I, Void, nor Oujin could perceive.

After a while, Riona murmured softly,

“It’s strange…”

“What is?”

“There’s a presence, but…”

In that instant, Seneca issued an order.

“Everyone, on alert! Shield bearers from Team Two, form a front-line defense! Prepare for combat!”

But Riona shook her head from side to side.

“It’s okay. It’s still far away. It’s outside my detection range.”

“Huh?”

Seneca furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Wait, outside your detection range?”

“Yeah. I know it sounds strange, but I think I sensed something that shouldn’t be within range.”

No one could say a word. Void and Oujin only exchanged glances.

I asked her,

“Could your ability have improved?”

“No.”

Riona gazed into the distance with a vacant look and hesitantly muttered something ominous.

“…Maybe it’s a calling…”

The classmates stirred with unease.

“You mean you weren’t detecting it—you were made to detect it?”

“…Like something was calling me, telling me to find it, come to it… That’s what it feels like.”

I’ve experienced something similar. Enemies exuding intense killing intent can be sensed even beyond the normal detection range.

However, in Riona’s case, she likely doesn’t detect presences using just her five senses, unlike me, Oujin, or Lili.

If that’s true, then whoever—or whatever—is ahead knows Riona’s ability well and is using it to lure us. Which also means we’ve already been detected.

In that case, the term "calling" fits. It also suggests we’re dealing with an advanced intelligent lifeform. And if this is the one who burned the dragon—

…A chill runs down my spine.

“El-tan.”

“Hm?”

Riona reached out her hand to me.

“Hold my hand.”

“You do realize we’re in a dungeon, right? What if we’re suddenly attacked? If we’re holding hands, we can’t even counterattack properly. Besides, this isn’t the time for jokes—”

She cut me off.

“Please.”

She forced a strained smile.

“I’m scared.”

Apparently, she wasn’t joking.

Clicking my tongue, I took her hand. Her fingertips were ice cold and trembling. Not from the cold—it was fear. Riona squeezed my hand tightly and slowly exhaled a deep breath.

“Thank you. That gives me courage.”

“Yeah. —Void.”

Void, who had been lagging slightly behind, began walking to the front the moment I called his name.

“Yeah, yeah. Another front-line sacrifice, right?”

“Sorry, I’m counting on you. —That okay, Seneca?”

Turning to the commander, Seneca, I saw her expression was tense as well.

“Yes. Void up front, followed by Eremia and Riona, then Team One. Same formation as at the underground lake. Oujin, you’ll take the rear.”

“Understood.”

We proceeded deeper into the area where the underground lake had been.

The seventh layer, which had once reverted to a natural dungeon, now showed evenly spaced massive pillars, as if carved from stone once more. It remained an open plaza, not a corridor.

Strangely, the ceiling, floor, and walls were all pitch black.

Ilga glanced around and murmured,

“It’s like a shrine for worshiping a god. We Galliant folk are nonreligious, but who would’ve thought something like this was beneath our kingdom.”

Even ordinary speaking voices didn’t echo much here. The space was quite large.

Void glanced back over his shoulder and scoffed.

“Tch. A shrine, huh? Some dangerous kind of shrine. Take a good look.”

He stomped and kicked the black floor beneath him. The smell changed—pungent, burnt. Similar to the remnants of the ogre tribe’s quarters.

“It’s scorched. Looks more like an old battlefield than a shrine.”

“W-Wait a minute! Are you saying, Scale, that this plaza was once engulfed in flames during a battle!?”

“Yeah. And at the very least, I can tell it wasn’t that half-baked dragon we fluked a win against last month.”

Everyone in Teams One and Two who overheard this held their breath.

They were likely fearing the presence of an ancient dragon... but I had a different interpretation.

“Don’t worry. It’s probably not an ancient dragon. If one had truly fought seriously, this would be far worse. Their fangs pierce iron, their claws gouge boulders, their flames transform the earth into glass, and their roars drive people mad with fear. If they went wild, there wouldn’t be any pillars left standing.”

“That’s from Blythe’s dragon-slaying tale, right?”

I nodded at Void’s question.

“So if it were an ancient dragon, it would’ve affected the surface as well. But there’s no record of such dragon damage in Lehan. Even if there were a sleeping dragon, it shouldn’t have awakened.”

The latter part was mostly wishful thinking, but better to cling to hope than have the students panic here.

As we kept walking, Riona’s hand, still clasped with mine, suddenly gripped tighter.

Her palm grew moist with sweat—so much it was obvious even in an instant.

“Are we close?”

“A few dozen steps. It’s within the range of the magic lantern’s light now. It hasn’t moved.”

“Void.”

“Heard you. Proceeding carefully. Keep your asses ready to run.”

Void equipped his Bundi Dagger from his back. Seneca raised a finger and sliced the air from left to right—a signal to prepare for battle.

Someone gulped audibly.

There was no wind. Not even the sound of footsteps. A drop of sweat dripped to the ground and splashed.

“—!”

Void halted and lowered his hips, raising one hand to signal stop.

“What the hell is that…”

The white light from the magic lantern illuminated it.

Standing in the darkness was a girl with blood-red eyes.

Her skin was porcelain white, and though her hair had some color, it was faint, accentuating her lack of pigmentation. While the laced boots were one thing, the frilly layered skirt and white shirt with lace detail were wildly out of place.

That was all. In this seventh dungeon layer, she carried no weapon.

There was no killing intent. She simply had her hands folded over her stomach, staring at us with red eyes.

Why is she here? Everyone must have wondered the same.

Riona groaned softly,

“Who… are you?”

The girl’s lips moved—just slightly.

Then, in a clear, transparent voice, she said:

“…I am Atyura…”

It took several seconds for the name to register.

A chill ran through my entire body.