As the expedition party made its way through the desert and fought many battles in their search for the Vanishing Dunes, they experienced a drop in their wariness.
It was just for a mere second, after a particularly powerful beast was killed, but that moment was fatal.
The great desert was that kind of place. It was filled with not only beasts, but natural traps that could activate at any time and pull practitioners into the depths of hell.
With the trying environmental conditions supporting them and making it so those traveling through the desert would have their senses weakened with time, these traps were more deadly than even the strongest of Divine Beasts.
When the Sand Wyrm that blocked their path fell, it created a massive hole in the sand, which, as it was filled, revealed the hidden mechanisms of a natural formation underneath it.
A careless mercenary took one step in the wrong direction. That was all it took for the entire group to plunge into the ground below.
Damien watched it all happen without a word, and as he observed the trap formation that was consuming them, he took notice of its nuances.
'It should be a labyrinth formation, so most of these people will be fine at least until they get transported to the labyrinth. As for what happens inside…'
Damien shook his head. It wasn't his problem, but if he could help it, he needed to save the members of the Norn Family.
'I don't think they intentionally tried to hide it, but it's only an assumed fact that the woman among them is the Young Lady of the family.'
The Norn Family Head was said to have three sons and two daughters. The red-haired woman was the eldest daughter of the family, who was said to have a strong bond with the young master who disappeared.
'It's a little annoying, but if she was soft, she wouldn't have been able to leave with the expedition party. Her family would have stopped her.'
The old man was a high-rank Demigod, and the middle-aged man wasn't much weaker. As long as she had them by her side, she would be fine.
'...but it never goes that way, does it?'
Damien smiled wryly as his feet touched solid ground.
He was in a damp hallway that was just tall enough to stack two of him on top of each other. Its width could support no more than two people walking side by side, and it extended in both directions seemingly without end.
'Damp is a strange thing to feel from a formation found in the desert, but I guess that's the whole point.'
Damien spread his awareness and tried to find an easy way out of the formation, but it was strangely difficult.
'The mana is being twisted. I can't see outside of the labyrinth, but I can see the entire labyrinth for what it is.'
Finding a path to the center was easy, and finding a path to escape was even easier, but…
'If I'm not mistaken, I can use this to my advantage.'
The labyrinth was massive. As long as he could confirm that it was connected to the real world and not a separated plane of its own, he could absolutely use this to escape the group without much trouble.
'Then, I should start–'
"Mmgh…"
"Haa…"
Damien sighed.
'Right, there was that.'
On the floor a few feet away was a woman who was just now waking up from her unconscious state. She had bright red hair and green eyes that immediately turned hostile the second she opened them.
"You are…?"
"It's a bit of a shame that you don't remember your own mercenaries."
"Hmm, and we are…?"
"In a natural formation. We have to find our way out quick if you want to save that young master of yours."
The woman glared at him, but Damien didn't really pay her any mind.
Isra Norn. She was known as a genius and treated as such by everyone during her youth. She grew into a promising young Divinity faster than expected, and her arrogance had grown along with her strength.
This woman always had a slightly condescending tone when she spoke to anyone other than the two Norn Family members whom she came with. Damien didn't really have to deal with it since he never stood out from the crowd, but facing it directly, he immediately lost all interest in entertaining it.
"I'm going to start moving now, so you should decide whether you're coming with me or not."
Damien was fully prepared to leave her.
He already placed a small seal of Existence on her body which would protect her from fatal danger, so he didn't have to worry about the Norn Family.
'I've already done enough to gain their sincere gratitude, but when I save their young master on top of that…?'
Well, it would be nice to have a subsidiary clan at his beck and call.
With that thought, Damien walked north through the labyrinth, following the path straight without any deviation.
Meanwhile, Isra Norn took a few more moments to acclimate herself, took a few moments to curse out the disrespectful mercenary she happened to land with, and took a few moments to scout the area with her awareness.
However, it didn't take long for her to realize her awareness was cut off.
Not just from the outside world, but completely.
Damien offset the ban naturally because he had a half-complete Authority of Existence, but others weren't the same. Let alone the structure of the labyrinth, they couldn't even see ten feet ahead of them unless they used their eyes.
It was an extremely dangerous labyrinth.
Several tens of mercenaries and private soldiers already died during the fall, and around a hundred more were already killed by the labyrinth's traps.
Isra had no way of knowing this, of course, but the second she tried to move on her own and encountered a life-threatening trap as if it was candy in a candy store, she instantly turned around and rushed in the direction Damien went.
She was arrogant, sure, but her survival instinct brought her far enough for her to know when to put down that pride.
A semi-permanent scowl painted Damien's face when she finally caught up to him.
Because as the hours passed and they made their way through the labyrinth, the barrage of questions he was subjected to never ended.
"What's your name?"
"Where are you from?"
"Do you have any family?"
"What's it like being a mercenary?"
"Why'd you join the expedition?"
"Actually, my brother…"
The questions were so immense in number but so lacking in substance that Damien almost doubted whether she was testing him or something, but she really just seemed to be curious for no reason.
But he couldn't ignore that fact.
No matter how she acted…
'...this woman is at least 500 years older than me!'
The point was, she talked a lot.
For a second, Damien even considered leaving her behind, but he couldn't do that.
Unfortunately, they'd come in contact with the other Norn Family members soon, so he couldn't do anything that would lower their favorability.
'Just endure. In another kilometer, we'll reach "that place," and I can take the opportunity to escape.'
He would execute the plan and leave this place alone no matter what.
For the sake of his sanity!
