Around ten minutes after Tetra and I began exploring the dead-end chamber, it happened suddenly.

With a deep rumble, gogogo, the entire space began to shake violently.

One thing was certain—something abnormal was happening.

“Tetra! Over here for now!”

“Got it.”

I called Tetra, who had been exploring further away, to my side, preparing for whatever might come next. We had to be ready for anything.

“What… is this?”

I quickly noticed the source of the disturbance.

The most prominent object in the room—a statue of a dog’s head—was suddenly shrouded in an intense magical aura. Its previously gray surface began to transform, turning into a menacing, pitch-black color.

But I couldn’t spend time simply staring at the statue.

The tremors became even more violent, bringing about a dire situation.

With a thunderous crash, the surrounding walls of the chamber began collapsing, unable to withstand the shaking.

Thankfully, Tetra and I were at the center of the room and avoided being caught in the destruction.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“…Huh?”

Then I noticed something else—a significant change in the situation.

On the other side of the collapsed walls, people came into view.

Two stood to my left and another two to my right.

The figures noticed us as well, their faces lighting up with joy.

“Ike! Tetra! So you were here!”

“Thank goodness we’re reunited!”

On the left were Flare and Elle.

“Oh, my dearest Master! At long last, we meet again!

How should I even begin to express this joy?”

“…Quite the drastic change in attitude.

Well, I’m just as happy to be reunited with Ike and the others.”

On the right were Lycia and Sheena.

It seemed that even though we’d been separated into three groups, everyone had managed to navigate the dungeon without incident.

I let out a relieved sigh.

Flare and the others quickly jumped over the rubble and joined us.

Finally, all six of us were together in one place.

“All right, now we’re all here,” I murmured, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Flare and Lycia were the next to speak.

“Still, that was such a surprise!

We reached a dead end, saw a weird statue, and while we were investigating it, the walls suddenly collapsed!”

“We were just as shocked.

In our case, though, it happened the moment we set foot in the room, so we didn’t even get the chance to investigate.”

“…Wait, what?”

Something felt off about their words.

It seemed clear that the paths the three groups took all led to this dead-end chamber.

The problem was the timing of our arrivals.

Tetra and I had arrived about ten minutes earlier.

Flare’s group likely arrived a few minutes ago, while Lycia’s group had gotten here less than a minute before the walls collapsed.

The crucial detail was that the walls had collapsed at the exact moment Lycia’s group arrived.

If I had to guess… the condition for the wall’s collapse must have been for all three groups to reach this location.

If that were the case, then—this wasn’t the end of the problems we faced.

Separated into three groups, forced to traverse corridors swarming with monsters, and only reunited after all had arrived at this chamber.

Yet, the dungeon’s boss had yet to appear.

From all this, the conclusion was obvious:

“GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Suddenly, a beastly roar echoed through the entire chamber.

I instinctively turned toward the source of the sound and was rendered speechless.

At the same time, I knew my theory had been correct.

The purpose of the wall collapse when we all arrived was twofold: to reunite us and… to unseal it.

Towering above us, far exceeding human height, its massive frame rippled like a coiled rope.

Crimson eyes, sharp and piercing, scanned each of us, one by one.

Its gleaming fangs seemed poised to tear apart its prey at any moment.

“To think we’d meet one here…” I muttered under my breath, cold sweat trickling down my back.

Before us stood a monster on par with a Minotaur or Hydra.

It was the boss of the Tria Labyrinth: the three-headed beast—Cerberus.