Gardenia’s Heart

For the first time, the expression on the man in white battle armor darkened, his red eyes staring directly at Lily. 

“Well then, could you answer me?” 

“What do you mean? To me, I’m more human than you are.” 

“Good joke, but please, stop pretending like you don’t understand.” Crossing his arms and resting his hand on his chin, he continued thoughtfully, “A mage would have to be less than a fool not to notice that your spells are far from normal.” 

Dusting off his shoulders, Agni glanced around the cave they were in. 

“You look like an attractive human woman, but the aura you give off is that of a monster from the deepest layers of a dungeon.” 

“Can you shut up? Even your voice is disgusting.” 

“I’d love to grant the wishes of a lovely lady, but now we’re getting to the best part.” 

The man, who seemed unconcerned about the fact that they were in the middle of a battle, kicked a piece of black ice from the ground and caught it in his hands. The black obsidian crystal emitted a faint violet aura, absorbing rather than reflecting any external light. 

“Only monsters and demons can use dark mana, but it’s usually limited to just sustaining their lives. Take ice foxes, for instance—they can, ironically, create mana crystals similar to our spells, but if we study those crystals, we’ll find their structure resembles regular mana, not dark mana.” Tossing the black crystal aside, Agni turned back to Lily. “I’ve never seen records of dark mana being used to build spells like this. So, my monstrous young lady, I’ll ask again: are you really human?” 

Lily and Nia didn’t need to exchange words to decide what needed to be done. This man had to die here. 

Just like she did with the demi-human, Lily unleashed an endless barrage of black ice spikes. 

“I’ll take that angry outburst as a no.” 

The words came just as the ice spikes missed their mark, hitting the wall instead. 

“!?” 

Lily’s eyes widened in shock as the voice came from behind her. A chill ran down her spine as the tip of his staff pressed against her back. 

A black half-sphere immediately formed at the point of contact, but even that wasn’t enough. 

“Argh!?” 

For the first time in a long while, a scream of pain escaped her lips as she was hurled through the air by a blast of white light. 

(Lily!?) 

The pain, something that had long become a distant memory, once again returned to torment her body.

“I-I’m fine.” 

Nia’s concerned voice echoed in her mind, and Lily’s eyes could only see the dust rising from the wall she had just crashed into. Carefully getting back on her feet, she wiped the small trickle of blood from her mouth. 

(I’m healing you right now. You’ll be okay!) 

Nia’s voice was reassuring, but once again, that man’s despicable voice reached Lily’s ears. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to kill you. You’re a one-of-a-kind specimen! Forget about conquering this labyrinth at the end of the world! If I study your body and uncover the secrets of dark mana, I can start research that will make me the most powerful man in the world!” 

As she tried to ignore the searing pain that was already fading from her back, Lily glared at the man before her with fury. The black half-sphere had shattered upon impact. Lily was certain that if it weren’t for Nia’s regenerative abilities and the dense layer of dark mana protecting her body, that attack would have split her in two. 

“You’ve got pretty quick legs for a worthless coward who sent his allies to their deaths. Or maybe a very suitable cane for a decrepit fool,” Lily taunted, her gaze fixating on the black staff in Agni's hands, which radiated a bluish aura. 

“I see even the pigs of the mist have sharp eyes.” 

Once again, Agni vanished, a white flash of light moving faster than a blink, striking from her side. 

He was as fast as lightning—no, to the silver-haired girl, it felt as though the very rays of sunlight from her childhood were now trying to kill her. 

But by twisting her body and throwing herself to the ground, Lily managed to dodge the attack by less than a hair’s breadth. 

“!?” When his strike missed its mark, the man hesitated for only a split second before resuming his assault. 

Another dozen attacks followed the first. But no matter how hard Agni tried, he couldn’t land a blow on the girl. The cave walls, now taking the brunt of the attacks, began to glow with heat from the intense energy being directed at them. 

Lily hadn’t been able to react to the initial strike because she had been caught off guard, but now that she was fully focused on dodging his swift movements, she could evade them by the slimmest of margins. 

(He has a spell that enhances his speed beyond human limits, and I believe that staff made of stardust is absorbing mana from the spell, making it even more efficient.) 

Nia’s analysis flowed into her mind as Lily searched for an opportunity to strike back. Her options were limited. Nia couldn’t use teleportation because the time required to create a portal would be too slow compared to whatever spell the man was using to boost his speed. 

Just as Lily dodged another attack, Nia’s four tentacles joined the fray, attempting to immobilize the man. 

“Do you think a cheap trick like that will work on me the same way it did on those lesser women?” 

Agni swung his staff in four different directions, each beam of light colliding with one of Lily’s tentacles, destroying them instantly. 

“Nia, are you okay?!” 

Lily leaped backward, shouting in desperation, her face horrified at the sight of her beloved's limbs being obliterated. 

(Yes, don’t worry. I can regenerate them.) 

Knowing that Nia was unharmed brought Lily a sense of relief, but seeing her wounded ignited a burning rage in her heart. 

With all of the man’s attacks focused on Lily, she had no room to counterattack. She knew that if she used Nia as a distraction, letting her take a hit in her place, she could kill the man in the brief opening that would arise. However, the silver-haired girl refused to use such a strategy. 

“I’ll never let you hurt Nia again!” Her battle cry was followed by a swift advance. 

Agni’s expression briefly flickered with confusion at the mention of a name he didn’t recognize, but he wasted no more than a second before charging forward again. 

The man knew his attack was superior to the girl’s. Though they were evenly matched in speed, he only needed one solid hit to knock her out. 

“I have to commend you—few could keep up with me like this for so long,” he said, his confident smile still in place as he continued to unleash relentless strikes. He was convinced he’d land a decisive blow within a few more exchanges, but the pace of their deadly dance kept increasing without pause. 

Sweat finally began to trickle down his face, his once bold and aggressive movements growing slower as exhaustion piled onto him. 

“W-What do you say to surrendering?” 

His words were met not with a reply, but with a sword aimed straight at his neck. His expression turned to one of shock as he scrambled backward with all his strength, heavy breaths puffing from his mouth. 

“You know, with such a powerful attack, I started to wonder why you kept trying to get in so close to hit me. But is your spell only strong if it lands at point-blank range?” 

The mocking grin of the woman standing before him, who hadn’t even broken a sweat, felt like a branding iron searing his skin. 

“I’ll show you what real power is, you bitch!” A vein bulged on his forehead as genuine fury blazed in his eyes, glaring at the woman who had dared to mock him. 

He thrust his staff forward with his right hand, no other thought in his mind but to kill her, here and now. Mana surged through his body, flowing into his stardust staff as light formed at the tip of the attack. 

The flash of brilliance lit up the cave as the beam of light shot toward Lily. The piercing sound of the attack echoed as it hurtled across the cavern straight toward the girl. 

But she didn’t move to dodge. The black half-sphere didn’t even materialize to protect her from the attack. 

“Huh...?” 

His strike had been perfect, the same one he’d practiced dozens of times. The girl hadn’t even shifted from where she stood. So why was it his arm that had been severed? 

“Aaaaaaaaargh!” 

Screaming in pain, Agni collapsed to the ground, his eyes fixated on his severed hand lying on the floor, the staff still clutched tightly in his fingers. Not a drop of blood spilled—the blow had instantly cauterized his veins. 

(Making someone else’s spell pass through the portal reduced its power release to a tenth of its original strength. I thought I could finish him with this, sorry, Lily.) 

“But your plan worked in the end, you’re worrying too much about efficiency.” 

Lily strolled cheerfully as the small portal that had appeared in front of her vanished, heading toward Agni, who was now sprawled on the ground. 

The man, who hadn’t even noticed the portal that had formed behind him in his rage, still had no idea where the attack had come from. 

“Stay back! Stay awaaaay!” 

Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the woman approaching him. Her steps, calm and measured, reminded him of a reaper casually coming to claim his life.

"You asked earlier if I’m really human, didn’t you? You think I’m a monster..." Lily's soft voice echoed, the purple blade gleaming in her hands. "I’ll prove that you’re right." 

Her sword was raised into the air, and just as she was about to deliver the blow that would end Agni’s life, the entire cave began to tremble beneath her feet. 

“!?” 

Her eyes widened in surprise as the cave’s layout shifted around her. From the walls on either side to the stalactites above and even the water level nearby, everything started changing at an alarming pace. 

(Is this the effect of the terrain-altering magic?) 

Nia recalled the warnings from the guidebook. One of the main reasons the labyrinth was so difficult to conquer was that its structure changed every few hours. 

This should have been no issue for the two girls, but the brief moment of distraction was enough to alter everything. 

“S-Stay back! Stay back, you monster!” 

In desperation, Agni ripped the stardust staff from his severed hand. A golden glow enveloped the cave, and a beam of light exploded in every direction. 

Startled by the sudden change, Lily retreated to a safe distance, carefully avoiding the shifting ground. 

“Stay back, stay back, stay back!” 

The man’s voice became more frantic as his blue mana drained from his body, accumulating into the staff. 

Among the three combatants, only Nia could sense what was about to happen. 

(Lily, we need to leave!) 

Lily felt her body forcibly seized by Nia as the girl began running frantically away. 

“Nia!? What’s happening?” Lily cried out, panicked by Nia’s sudden action. 

(He’s condensing all his mana into the stardust staff. The weapon’s structure can’t handle that much mana at once, and the spell will be released uncontrollably until all the mana is burned out!) 

Nia didn’t know how devastating this could turn out to be, but her "mind" was already screaming warnings, urging them to flee. 

Panic set in. The terrain was shifting faster than Nia could calculate the coordinates, and attempting to create a portal now risked materializing them inside a wall. 

Agni, having poured nearly all his mana into the staff, felt his remaining hand burn like fire as the very magic he was attempting to cast began to consume him. 

In a panic, he hurled the staff away before crawling desperately in the opposite direction, sliding between a closing wall of stones. 

However, the same couldn’t be said for the two girls. 

The mana, now completely uncontained, surged through the cave in an instant. The explosion from the stardust staff unleashed a colossal shockwave, obliterating everything in its path. The overwhelming force struck Lily's body, and not even Nia’s black half-sphere or her dense layer of dark mana could prevent Lily from losing consciousness from the pain. 

The blast, combined with the dungeon’s rapidly changing terrain, caused cracks to form where they shouldn’t have. 

A massive ravine opened beneath them, and both girls plummeted into the abyss.