Hanging the magic lantern over the edge of the large hole and peering down, I could see what looked like a slime squirming atop the sand mound. It extended its slimy tendrils toward us on the upper layer for a while, but eventually, as if giving up, it descended the sand mound.

However, before long, a squelching, sticky sound began to echo. It was likely feasting on the mountain of goblin corpses. I couldn't even begin to imagine how much it would grow after devouring so many goblins.

"I can only hope we never encounter it again."

At my murmur, Miku nodded.

"Yeah, no kidding. Let’s throw a rock at it."

Void, too, placed his hands on his hips as he peered below.

"When the curriculum resumes, the instructors will probably deal with it. That thing’s too dangerous to leave to students aiming to become knights. If we manage to escape, we should at least report it."

"I hope so, but if it can seep through the rubble blocking the staircase, it could follow us again. We need to get out of here quickly."

At Oujin's words, we all sighed in unison.

No kidding. Enough is enough. I wouldn’t want to go through that chase ever again.

That said, it probably won't go hungry for a while. For the next few days, it should stay at the lower levels’ old base without emerging.

"Heh, who knew a single slime could be ten times more exhausting than a horde of goblins."

"I feel the same. Some monsters just can't be handled with a sword. This continent is something else."

"Oh? Don't they have anything like that in the east?"

"Plenty of troublesome monsters, but nothing like this."

"Well, if you’ve got fire, you can burn or chase it off pretty easily."

Void and Oujin seemed to have relaxed quite a bit, almost like they’d been comrades for years.

At that moment, Miku's gaze suddenly shot upward.

The magic lantern’s light didn’t reach the massive vertical hole that connected the first layer to the lower levels. It was pitch black, a yawning void of darkness.

Miku was staring into that darkness.

"Miku…?"

"…"

She raised a finger to her lips, signaling for silence. Her face was pale, beads of sweat rolling down her skin. That’s when I noticed it too.

I reached out with my senses, focusing intently. Awareness of presence isn’t some mystical sixth sense. It’s the culmination of the first through fifth senses—at least, that’s what Blaise used to say.

Vision was useless here. Hearing? The silence was deafening, but I thought I could hear faint breathing. Smell? The scent of blood clinging to us made it hard to distinguish anything else. Taste? A bitterness, born of the dryness in my mouth that came with facing a formidable foe. Touch?

I rolled up my sleeves to expose more skin, enhancing my tactile awareness.

Miku, meanwhile, had dashed over to Void and Oujin, grabbing the backs of their uniforms and pulling them closer.

"Huh? What are you doing, Orunkaim?"

"Quiet…!"

"What?"

Oujin lowered his voice.

"…You’re saying it’s up there? Watching us?"

"It’s there. It’s watching. It’s been watching us."

"…Are you sure?"

"Yeah…"

My own touch senses had picked up on something—a faint vibration in the air. It wasn’t just the movement caused by us or our breathing. No, this was something else, a barely perceptible breathing from above. If no wind flows into this dungeon, then it must be the breath of some creature.

There was no doubt something was up there.

As I lowered my sleeves, I noticed the goosebumps spreading across my skin. A chill ran down my spine.

"…"

This was as far as I could perceive. But Miku, it seemed, had gone further, realizing that this presence belonged to that monster.

"El-tan, come closer."

"Yeah."

Following Miku’s lead, Void and Oujin also gathered by my side. Even as we huddled together, our eyes never left the gaping hole in the ceiling. Not that we could see anything but darkness. We couldn’t even tell if it was actually looking at us or not.

But a beast targets those who look away first. Turning your back is out of the question—it only solidifies their belief that you’re weaker. Once eye contact is made, it cannot be broken, even if you’re planning to flee.

"It might have been watching us all along."

The bottom of the hole was where our initial base had been. If it had night vision, it would’ve had a perfect view of us. Especially with our magic lanterns illuminating our position.

But why hadn’t it attacked us?

"So it wanted to see what we’d do after trapping it? What a smug bastard. A monster pretending to be a god."

Void’s words were venomous, but his face betrayed his unease.

The deep darkness above us remained unchanged, birthing no monstrosities. And yet, the monster was undoubtedly there, watching us from within. It hadn’t moved, but it hadn’t left either.

I muttered quietly.

"Maybe it’s toying with us. Or maybe it has some other purpose. Either way, there’s no point trying to understand a monster’s thoughts."

We backed away from the corridor with the giant hole, rounding a corner.

Then, just as we turned our heels to run—

Squelch.

My ears caught the sound of something landing. The monster had descended to the fourth layer.