Published: January 22, 2026
The timeline at the beginning is immediately after episode 78 (the battle between Orun and Amuntzarse ended).
After leaving the Great Labyrinth, I moved with the three who had regained consciousness and the girl who came to help us, Loretta, to a deserted back alley.
(He’s alive. Orun is alive (……… ). But he’s become an explorer. Why does Orun have to look at me like that...?)
My head was in a mess.
Not only Oliver but Orun too had fallen into the enemy’s hands (……… ).
(I will never forgive you. Philly Carpenter...! I will make you regret being born. I will throw you into a hell where you’ll wish for death yourself...!!)
“By the way, Shion, why did you back off? If you hadn’t, we could have killed the Dragon Slayer!”
The big man, Gibua, who had fully regained consciousness, questioned me in an accusing tone.
“...Could you be quiet? I’m in a bad mood right now. If you make any more noise, I won’t spare even you, Gibua.”
“—S-sorry.”
Seemingly intimidated by my anger, he shrank down quietly.
“—No, I’m the one who should apologize. But I think it was the right call to pull back.”
“What do you mean? We’d been ordered to kill the Dragon Slayer.”
“That’s true. But—first of all, Loretta, thanks for your help earlier. If you hadn’t intervened, I think I would have been taken down too. Thank you.”
“I just did what was natural. But seriously, whoever that guy is, to corner Shion-san like that—who is he?”
“‘Ignoring the three’… well, even though we were beaten quickly, we’re still quite skilled, you know?”
Another woman, Agnes, spoke up with a critical tone in response to Loretta’s remark.
“Ha ha, I get it. I know I’d lose easily if I fought head-on. But Shion-san is in a different league. I never thought Shion-san would be cornered.”
“I agree with that.”
“So, who exactly is he?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you much. It’s probably classified information.”
Christopher, the leader of Amuntzarse, must have known Orun was alive.
Even I, who have access to all the organization's information, was kept in the dark.
Sorry, but this is something I can’t share with everyone.
Still, despite being caught off guard at the end, Orun defeated me in that state (……… ).
If he had shown his true power (……… ), I would have been killed instantly.
It seems he had somehow partially unlocked his physical abilities (……… ).
The destination (……… ) is still far away...
“So, Loretta came because there’s some kind of notice for us, right?”
Loretta is one of Amuntzarse’s messengers.
They are responsible for conveying information from distant places and instructions from the organization to those of us working across the continent.
“Ah, yes! There’s a notice from the leader! The orders given to Shion-san and the others come from the poisonous flower (……… ), so they must immediately cease activity and withdraw.”
“Poisonous flower!?”
Gibua exclaimed in surprise at Loretta’s words.
(I knew it.)
“Sorry. I never imagined that among the messengers, someone would be in league with those scums.”
“It can’t be helped. The enemy has a harmful woman with the supernatural ability of cognitive alteration. Maybe she rewrote the perception of that person too.”
“So that’s why Shion-san pulled back.”
Zuriel, a lanky man, murmured as if satisfied.
“Yeah. According to the information I have, the Dragon Slayer is an existence whom we must not kill, even more than the Hero (……… ). I realized that only near the end of the fight.”
“Also, Shion-san is ordered to return to headquarters.”
“Then, should we just head back east as we are?”
“Yes. The instruction is to return to the Great Eastern Labyrinth.”
“I understand the message for now. But before we go, I have one request for you, Loretta.”
“What is it?”
“Please tell everyone else to withdraw from the Great Southern Labyrinth.”
“...Why? They’ve progressed to the 94th floor of the Great Southern Labyrinth. We need to take down as many skilled explorers as possible to slow the conquest. After all, several of us managed to get inside.”