Chapter 104
Laios and the others took Haruto’s warning extremely seriously.
They had no idea how he knew so much, but this was hardly the time to question him about it.
Laios looked around at his companions and spoke with complete seriousness.
"In that case, we’ll rest for one night, then leave the dungeon immediately."
No one objected to the decision.
Haruto, however, could only stare at them in exasperation.
Had he not made himself clear enough?
They could rest after leaving the dungeon.
Since Laios’s party had helped him earlier, Haruto had no choice but to explain the danger again.
"You still don’t understand how serious this is."
"The Red Dragon was part of what kept the dungeon functioning."
"Now that it’s dead, something has gone wrong with the labyrinth’s system. There’s no chance Thistle failed to notice. He may already be on his way here."
"Every minute you waste makes the situation more dangerous. There’s no time to rest."
His words immediately darkened everyone’s expressions.
Countless adventurers had explored the dungeon since it appeared, searching for the Golden Kingdom’s treasure, yet no one had ever truly met the Mad Mage.
Still, as the dungeon’s ruler, Thistle had to be immensely powerful.
Encountering him would undoubtedly place them in grave danger.
More importantly, Falin’s condition was tied to him.
Chilchuck swallowed hard.
"The Mad Mage might already be coming here? That can’t be true... right?"
Marcille’s expression grew cautious. She glanced at Falin before turning toward Laios.
"If that’s the case, then we really can’t stop to rest."
"Falin’s safety comes first. We need to leave immediately."
Marcille was deeply curious about Thistle and had countless questions she wanted to ask him, but she could only suppress that curiosity when Falin’s safety was at stake.
Laios nodded urgently.
"She’s right. We leave now. We have to avoid the Mad Mage."
There were still many monsters he had not tasted, but that regret meant nothing compared with Falin.
They could always return once they had resolved the problem with her body.
"Agreed," Senshi said with a nod.
"We’ve almost exhausted the seasonings we brought with us anyway. This is a good opportunity to return to the surface and replenish them. Next time, we’ll be properly equipped to cook even more monsters."
The seasonings Senshi had originally purchased would have lasted him an entire month, but that estimate had assumed he was cooking only for himself.
His comment eased the tension slightly, though the gravity never fully left anyone’s face.
Haruto relaxed a little and offered another suggestion.
"If you’ve decided to leave, you should use teleportation magic and return directly to the surface."
"To Thistle, this dungeon is practically an extension of his own body. If you try to walk all the way back, it’ll be far too easy for him to catch you."
His suggestion, however, made the others visibly uncomfortable.
Marcille shook her head helplessly and spread her hands.
"I’m afraid that isn’t possible."
"The teleportation marker Falin placed on the surface has already stopped working."
"If we force a random teleport without a destination marker, it would be far too dangerous. We could easily end up somewhere even worse."
Haruto recalled what he had read about teleportation magic and had to admit she was right.
Using random teleportation inside a dungeon without a fixed marker was little more than gambling.
His expression turned awkward.
He had delayed explaining everything because he had assumed teleportation would make escaping easy.
That was also why he had felt comfortable taking the time to prepare a massive dragon feast.
In his mind, Laios’s party would have been able to leave the dungeon within moments.
He had never expected their escape route to fail.
Haruto frowned and considered the situation before speaking again.
"Then we’ll have to move as quickly as possible."
"I can escort you as far as the entrance to the third floor."
If possible, Haruto would have preferred to explore the sixth floor and search for more monsters.
Unfortunately, he had no idea where the passage from the fifth floor to the sixth was located.
With the situation suddenly changing, accompanying Laios’s party back toward the fourth floor and avoiding Thistle was clearly the safer choice.
No one objected.
They immediately began packing their belongings, then headed for the passage connecting the fifth and fourth floors—the same route Laios’s party had used to enter.
Before long, they reached the corridor.
Dense Tentacles filled the entire passage.
Laios and the others took out their Giant Frog suits and began putting them on.
Then they suddenly realized that neither Haruto nor Falin had one.
Just as they began wondering what to do, Haruto produced his own Giant Frog suit.
He then took out another intact Giant Frog.
"Use this one’s skin."
Laios immediately peeled away the hide and quickly stitched it into another suit before handing it to Falin.
"Falin, put this on. It’ll let you pass through the Tentacles safely."
Falin nodded and slipped into the Giant Frog suit without hesitation.
With the protective clothing shielding them from the venomous stingers, the group passed through the corridor without difficulty and returned to the dungeon’s fourth floor.
...
Not long after Haruto and the others reached the fourth floor, a lone figure arrived at the place where the Red Dragon had fallen.
It was Thistle, the Mad Mage and true master of the dungeon.
He lowered his gaze toward the dragon blood and scorched ground left behind.
His previously calm presence instantly became violent and unstable.
Thistle searched the surrounding area, but there was no trace of the Red Dragon’s body.
Even worse, he could not sense the slightest sign of its soul.
An uncontrollable fury rose within him.
He opened the magic book in his hands.
The pages began turning on their own with a rapid flutter, while the strange runes written across them glowed with a dark-red light.
An invisible wave of magic spread outward from Thistle, expanding like a spider’s web until it covered the entire fifth floor.
After a moment, his frown deepened.
He had detected a faint remnant of the Red Dragon’s soul—and it was moving in the direction of the fourth floor.
"You dare run away with something that belongs to me?"
Thistle’s voice carried a cold, murderous edge, and his gaze sharpened.
He turned and entered a nearby stone house.
The room was almost completely empty, apart from an enormous oil painting hanging in its center.
Without hesitation, Thistle walked straight toward it.
The instant his fingertips touched the surface, his entire body was drawn into the painting.
It was no ordinary artwork.
It was a Living Painting.
Far away, inside a hall on the dungeon’s third floor, the surface of another Living Painting hanging on the wall suddenly began to ripple.
A moment later, Thistle slowly stepped out of the picture and onto the cold stone floor.