The next day, Carolina headed off to help the others. Eventually, some more days slipped by while waiting for the rest of the group to reach the dungeon.

All the top three guilds: the Golden Lucenti, the Amalgamated Thorny Roses, and the Abyss Reavers stood before the stairs leading down to the dungeon.

However, none of them went down.

"Wait," Crimson called, extending her arm to signal everyone to stay behind.

Melissa approached her. "You feel it, too?"

Crimson nodded, her eyes never leaving the dungeon entrance.

"What's happening?" Leonard asked her.

Crimson turned. "Elizabeth, come here."

With slow and hesitating steps, Elizabeth came forward. "W-what?"

"Go inside," Crimson commanded.

She flinched. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"W-why only me?"

Crimson sighed, annoyed as she facepalmed. Elizabeth, sensing her rising anger, tightly gripped her staff and decided to comply. Slowly, she descended the stairs, stopping right in front of the entrance before glancing back at the others.

"Are you planning to make us waste more time?" Crimson bitterly asked.

Elizabeth's hands trembled, and she pursed her lips; her cheeks noticeably red before redirecting her head towards the entrance once again. Taking a deep breath, she ran straight ahead. But where everyone expected her to disappear on the other side, her nose met an invisible wall, smashing against it and falling backwards.

"Huh?" she murmured in confusion, and so did many others.

Murmurs blended together.

"What happened?" Leonard asked.

"A condensed mana barrier," Melissa replied.

"What?"

"What does that mean?" Leonard questioned, stepping forward.

"It means that we can't trespass it..." Crimson mumbled, crossing her arms, tapping her finger.

"What do you mean we can't trespass it?" he continued.

"We can't move through it unless that barrier is dispelled," Melissa explained.

"Then we'll dispel it," Leonard declared, adjusting his glasses with a determined flick of his finger as she descended the stairs. "Elizabeth, step aside."

Elizabeth was still on the ground, rubbing her nose in pain. As Leonard stepped forward, she hastily got up and moved to the side. He opened his codex, letting its golden glow illuminate the surroundings, and retrieving a little axe from his back, he cast. "Double Axent."

An axe of light manifested above his main axe, far larger and more imposing, following the movement of the main divine weapon as he moved it around. With a powerful swing, he sent it down against the barrier; the impact was so powerful a shockwave burst forth, lifting all the leaves around with a gust of wind.

"It did nothing?!" he exclaimed, stepping back in surprise.

"It's no use," Crimson said from above the stairs. "If Elizabeth can't get through, none of us can..."

"The mana output has to be greater than the mana of the barrier," Melissa added.

Leonard turned to Melissa. "What do you mean?"

"Abby!" the Prince suddenly shouted. "Abby, are you alright?!"

Everyone's attention shifted to the Prince; he was holding Abby in his arms as she bled from her nose, her legs weak; she was clearly struggling. "Ngh... I'm fine..."

"You're not fine!" the Prince shouted. "You're bleeding! You're overworking yourself! I've told you! You didn't have to stand watch for all these days... Your body is weak. You have to take care of it..." The Prince clenched his teeth, his voice becoming softer as he held Abby's hands.

She chuckled softly. "Prince... I'm fine."

"Let me heal you!" A member of the Golden Lucenti stepped forward, tending to Abby.

With the members taking care of Abby, Leonard refocused his attention back to Melissa, his expression pensive as he rubbed his chin. "Has a dungeon ever been blocked by a barrier before?" he asked.

Melissa shook her head. "No, usually these kinds of barriers are found inside..."

"Tch... I'd like to ask Laura, if only she was here..." Leonard murmured.

"I didn't really pay much attention to the dungeon entrance. Has it always been there?" Crimson asked Melissa with her hand resting nonchalantly on her waist.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"No clue... I've been only guarding its surroundings," Melissa shrugged, raising her hands.

"But what do we now?" Leonard questioned.

Silence fell. Everyone stared at each other, puzzled, without saying a word.

"How do you usually get past these barriers in dungeons?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Pretty much how Leonard tried to," Crimson flatly replied.

Melissa nodded. "These barriers can only be eluded by a spell with a greater mana, or crossed by libromancers whose codex contains enough spells for the mana to be higher. But they're usually not like this..."

"This dungeon is singular to begin with," Leonard observed. "The engravings are unusual..."

Crimson groaned. "What a pain..."

I tilted my head. "So... what now?"

"I guess we go back," Crimson shrugged.

"We can't go back," Leonard immediately countered. "This dungeon has already destroyed a city, and it's been here for too long. If we continue to ignore it, the monsters will be much more than difficult to deal with."

"Then what's your plan?" Crimson shot back.

Leonard, however, had no answer.

"There are spells who can break barriers easily," Caligo stepped forward. "Is there nobody with one of them?"

Melissa shook her head. "Not within the Golden Lucenti."

"Well, well!" Carolina quipped, clearing her throat with far more enthusiasm than necessary. "It would seem that I happen to know someone who has such spells!"

"Really?" Leonard asked her, eyes widening.

"Hm, hm!" she hummed, taking a deep breath right before a flustered expression adorned her face. "However... she's currently not here..."

If Leonard had any enthusiasm, it was now gone.

"But, but!" Carolina continued, chuckling nervously. "All I need to do is send her a letter, and she'll come! It will take some time, though. She's in Goldenovum right now."

Leonard sighed, adjusting his glasses. "But what do we do until then?"

"For now, let's go back to Zafferbridge," the Prince interjected, still holding Abby in his arms. "I'll send a letter to my father to inform him about the situation. In the meantime, we can rest there. Some guards will guard the entrance of the dungeon to make sure that every monster that comes out is promptly dealt with. Silveandria won't fall again."

Leonard nodded, glancing at the rest of the group. "Well... it seems there are no other options right now... As you wish, Prince."

Slowly, and with perplexed looks on their faces, everyone gathered their belongings and returned to the wagons to head to Zafferbridge. I followed Crimson, who was leaving a heavy crunch of leaves along her trail; she clearly was in a bad mood.

"Crimson, is something wrong?" I asked her.

She groaned. "I'd hoped to enter the dungeon and set monsters on fire... I have some frustration to let out," she said, moving to lean against a tree.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I offered. "We're alone. You can speak freely."

She slowly shook her head. "No... Let's just return to Zafferbridge. I want to take a bath..."

I shared some of Crimson's frustration; I wanted to enter that dungeon too. But this change of plans actually worked in my favor. Once back in Zafferbridge, I could take some free time to test my spells, hoping they actually worked. And I could talk to Joey. And I also needed a bath...

"Why didn't you tell me about it?!"

The sudden calm between me and Crimson was abruptly shattered by a loud and angry voice, possibly even more frustrated than Crimson's. It was Elizabeth; she glared at her with trembling hands, clutching her staff.

Crimson regarded her with the corner of her eyes, while I turned to face her. "What are you talking about?" she coldly replied.

"The dungeon!" Elizabeth shouted. "Why didn't you tell me about the barrier?! You know I can't sense mana yet! You should've told me!"

The air seemed tense. "Should I leave you two alone?" I asked.

Crimson moved away from the tree with a sigh. "No, it'll be quick," she murmured to me before turning to Elizabeth. "What difference would it have made if you knew about the barrier? I'd just have wasted my breath explaining it. A demonstration was quicker."

"A huge difference!" she countered, her voice faintly cracking. "First of all, you should've started from the one with fewer spells! We had to assess the situation better!"

Crimson's hand rested on her waist. "There would've been no point in doing so. I could sense the mana to be far greater than most. That's why I sent you in."

"If my mana had been higher, I could've been the only one in there! Do you realize that?!"

"Yes, I do. And if the rest of the members couldn't enter, we'd know what kind of adventurers and libromancers we needed to search for. In the end, it all worked out."

"It wouldn't! I would've have died there while waiting for help!"

"So?"

At Crimson's icy response, Elizabeth shuddered, her lips pursed together and her hands clutched the staff so tightly that, had it been an ordinary one, it could've very well snapped. "'S-... so'?"

Crimson's lips curled into a wicked smile. She stepped forward, the crunch of the leaves making Elizabeth flinch with each deliberate step. "Let me spell it out for you," Crimson said, leaning in closer to her ear, gripping her shoulder. "You're absolutely... the worst."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, trembling as well. Crimson was not whispering; her voice was steady and cold, making sure every word cut deep.

"The most incompetent, insignificant, and ridiculous libromancer this world could ever produce," she continued. "A pure and absolute waste of oxygen. It doesn't matter how I look at you; you're nothing more than trash on the side of the road."

Crimson stepped back, giving Elizabeth one last glance before turning to me. "Needless to say, nobody cares about trash," she then said, dismissively waving her hand as she walked past.

Elizabeth stood there, her head bowed, her big hat covering her expression. Yet, despite the hat, I could tell... she was about to cry.

Crimson truly despised Elizabeth. Where, normally, she would relish others' tears, being a sadist, she just walked away... That's just how much she hated Elizabeth; even her tears weren't worth attention.

I decided to leave Elizabeth alone, and followed beside Crimson. "Do you feel better now?" I asked out of curiosity, side-eyeing her.

She displayed a subtle smile. "Hmm. Well, a little."

- - - - - - -

I'm not well-versed with barriers; I don't know exactly how they work. Yet, relying on observation, over the years, I've formed my own understanding of how most magic functions, including barriers. So, despite me not knowing the specifics... that barrier is extremely suspicious.

After we arrived near the dungeon entrance, I passed some time by throwing rocks at it. It wasn't much, but I enjoyed seeing them disappear on the other side. One could say it doesn't take much to entertain me.

But now, for some reason... nothing can get past the entrance...

That barrier wasn't there a few days ago. And I highly doubt a dungeon would block its own entrance; it just doesn't make sense. So, that barrier... has been generated from the outside. Which means, by elimination, someone from one of the three guilds put it there.

But why...? I can't think of a reason why someone would do that... What's there to gain? Just destruction? The continued ruin of Silveandria? The glory that would come from clearing this dungeon would be far greater than that... I don't get it. Did Argenta do that? But she seemed just as confused as the others... And blaming her just because she's connected to Silver Witch won't do me any good...

I sighed.

Unlike the others, I'm probably the one who doesn't look forward to entering the dungeon as much as the rest. I stuck around just because I was interested in the life inside a guild. Although, I would be lying if I said this wasn't proving interesting for my own growth.

"I wonder... if I can make a candle capable of dispelling barriers..."