Currently, the five of us are still walking to follow the grimoire's GPS-like glowing aura that leads us to a tunnel with the space being almost cramped surrounding us. The reason why everyone has a worried look on their faces is because I told them, back at the chamber, about my speculations that Mr Seo has been inside this Labyrinth before.

Before we left the chamber, I digitally put the whole bandwagon, which contained tens of thousands of mana crystals including several of them being Bhrath ones, into the Guideline's storage. It wasn't a surprise that all of Maorga Inc’s battle equipment weren't in there, for I remembered Mr Seo's men were wearing them when they were about to teleport. Meanwhile, the surprising looks on my teammates’ faces made it difficult for me to ignore their stares; especially when I had to pour one Cleansing Potion on my stained clothes and skin in front of them.

Surprisingly, at one moment, my clothes got wet from the potion, but the next moment, my clothes became clean and dry from the creature’s bloodstains and dirt from the ruined ground. I proceeded to take out my stained rondel dagger from its left eye, via digital transfer from the Guideline. I used another Cleansing Potion to clean it properly from the mercury-like bloodstains. I was telling everything I’ve speculated to my teammates while I was cleaning myself and my weapon.

There were two pieces of evidence I presented to them. The first was the same egg-shaped teleportation device holding the same-colored gemstone that was in Mr Seo's hand. I was able to spot the device at the far corner of the chamber, hidden between two large rocks. The second was the mana-absorbed sage still found on the exploded body of the Bulgasari, which I purposely left back there as a shocking distraction for Mr Seo. I even told them I noticed this ingredient was on the Sigbins. His assistants and possibly another team made up of Maorga Inc’s workers helped him to find out what kind of Beasts were living inside this Labyrinth.

Sure enough several workers must've died when they were ambushed by the Sigbins and the Bulgasari, but somehow Mr Seo, a Non himself, managed to sprinkle the sage on the Beast's bodies. Sage is a hallucinating agent. It shouldn't be a surprise that it's more potent when a high amount of mana has been permeated into the herb itself.

It's no wonder the Bulgasari somewhat recognised who sprayed the awful herb on it. I remembered it roared more when Mr Seo escaped through that teleportation method. And yet, it couldn't help to regain its own freewill to do coordinated attacks on us even though it was able to swing its tail a full circle under the hallucinations.

At first, the archers and Slayer Ban couldn't believe what I told them. I wasn't expecting anyone to believe me though internalised rankism shouldn't be excusable. A minute later, the wizard-father used another one of his grimoire’s spells. He told us that this one is able to “scan some foreign residue” whether it's on a human corpse or a beastly carcass. And with green-colored words formed on an empty page in his grimoire, his eyes widened. He faced the three young Slayers, telling them the same result. Mana-absorbed sage residue was found on the Bulgasari's body.

“I still can’t believe what you've said back there, Ms Kang. You're implying that Mr Seo and his team went inside this Labyrinth for the first few days. Just because he wants to get his hands on our equipment. Especially the old man's grimoire…”

I calmly reply to his disbelief about Mr Seo doing all of this for their equipment and to sell at some black market or a profitable secondhand at the Alliance's auction without suspicion.

“It’s possible that he lied about finding out about this Labyrinth yesterday. This Labyrinth is possibly on its fifth day.”

What do you think, old man?”

“To be honest, it's odd how Mr Seo can still be one of the Alliance’s sponsors till today. A corrupt deputy from the Alliance must’ve been involved in covering up Mr Seo’s raids having so-called accidental deaths.”

“But still, Mr Seo has to kill the Bulgasari in order to prevent an Upsurge. What kind of weapon would a Non like him have?”

“I don't know, but I do know that making mana-absorbed sage requires a high-ranked Slayer to perform such a task. Come to think of it, he bragged about his daughter being an S-rank Slayer and…she's a sorceress.”

“So his daughter is also in cahoots with him!? Talk about the whole family being evil… Ms Healer, do you think we'll be safe…if we keep quiet?”

“Hey, Kang Joo-yeon. Why didn't you tell us these speculations of yours before we went further inside this Labyrinth?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Then, Ban Ha-na, would you believe an F-rank Slayer telling you all of this plausible info? Because by the look on your face now, you would've trusted a high-ranked Slayer rather than me.”

“That's…”

Slayer Ban, who's walking next to the wizard-father, says a word no more. Her frown and furrowed brows look more visible than ever across her tomboyish face. But her untrustworthy look didn't bother me. I'm more bothered if I should've tried destroying that egg-shaped teleportation device, but we didn't have enough time and I had a hunch that Mr Seo and his men would teleport themselves back to the chamber at any minute. I'm certain that he's having a shocked look now

“Actually, Slayer Kang…you're not exactly an F-rank, are you? Speaking about it, thank you for saving my life back there.”

I briefly glance at the wizard-father, who's walking right behind me, gives me a relaxing smile like how my uncle did before he left for work this morning. It’s gonna be night time soon so hopefully I can get back home without him finding out I nearly lost my life again today.

“I did it so that I won't be blamed for your death, mister.”

I must've sounded cold and harsh with that reply of mine even though I've got a good reason not to get attached with this newly formed team I'm in.

“Old man, don't let your guard down”

I overhear the two archers whispering their so-called warning to him.

“It’s obvious that she's a Hidden Ranker. Every single one of them being found out so far are psychopaths. Is that why she replied so…”

Before I can expect more distrustful words coming from them, I see one of the archer's stomachs get elbowed by the wizard-father. I'm a bit surprised, though I still manage to keep a stoic look, he looks upset despite the fact that I'm just a stranger to him.

“Without Slayer Kang being here, do you think all four of us would be alive right now?”

“You’re right, old man…I guess…”

“And that goes for you, Slayer Ban. I dislike how Slayers lack trust towards each other. If you still can't trust her, then trust me instead. And I trust Slayer Kang isn't a Hidden Ranker, okay?”

I can feel a smile forming across my face. I try to hide that smile by not looking back at Slayer Ban and the others. Probably because I would feel more embarrassed if I were to show it to them right now.

“Alright, old man. I trust your judgement. We've got at least an hour to get out of this Labyrinth safely. Are you sure we're the only ones who can see your grimoire's spell? It looks too visible that I'm worried…”

“Don't worry, Slayer Ban. A grimoire reveals the route only to those whom the owner allows to see it. Besides you four, nobody else will see this escape route visibly.”

“That's good to hear, old man. I've only got a few arrows with me now.”

“It's too bad one of Mr Seo's men took all of my arrows from the bandwagon.”

“Speaking about them, those gemstones on their equipment…did Mr Seo's daughter transfer mana onto them?”

“You mean the way they move like Slayers when they're equipped with…wait. I think I saw that gemstone has a letter shaped like a ‘G’ up-close. That looked like the rumored mana crystal which can “steal” a Slayer's mana.”

I stop my tracks to turn around, asking one of the archer Slayers this question with a serious tone. Everyone else also stops walking, hearing my sudden question to him.

“Is that possible?”

“Huh?”

“Stealing a Slayer’s mana…with that kind of mana crystal…”

“Well, it was a rumor from five years ago when Jo So-eun…”

Before he can finish his sentence, I see his left hand, where his crossbow is placed on, gets slashed in a split second. A huge amount of blood drips on the floor. Before he can scream over his severed left arm, he gets beheaded from an axe’s blade behind him. It's the brawny partner of the ponytailed woman. The traitors have found us. With a shocked look on my face like Slayer Ban and the other two, I notice something flashing red on the back of Slayer Ban’s jacket sleeve. It's a tracker. I was too busy figuring out the reason for Mr Seo’s indirect killing upon us low-ranked Slayers.

“Why you!!”

The surviving archer uses his last three arrows and shoots simultaneously at the brawny man, only to have them being caught by a magnetic gauntlet worn by that male teenager. He's snickering at us as the archer gets slayed by the ponytailed woman’s katana.

“And now, there are three,” she comments with a wicked smile and her eyes glistening with a malice vibe.

The blood oozing out from the archers’ bodies has made me experience the many flashbacks of watching low-ranked Slayers getting massacred by the Painting Labyrinth. Slayer Ban snaps me out of it as she pulls me aside on time. An arrow nearly shot at my heart. I can see and hear Mr Seo telling his assistants to hurry up and quickly kill us. I proceed to activate my {Lightning Control} when all of a sudden, nothing is coming out of my hands. I get confused on why it's not activating according to my will. And then, the Guideline's notification shows up in a red-colored.

[You have disobeyed the important rule of the Solo Mission - Slay the S-rank Final Beast - the Bulgasari.]

[As a penalty, the Moderator has deactivated your MP usage for 24 hours.]

[Kindly wait until the penalty is lifted after the downtime.]

Penalty?! Why?! I killed the Bulgasari on my…

And then, it hit me when I remembered my teammates helped me gain the upper hand back at the chamber. I realised that was why the Guideline's notification turned orange after the rock throwing and the magical chain were targeted on the Bulgasari. That wasn't a “Solo Mission” anymore. So now, another arrow is aimed at me when a defensive barrier appears in front of me, stopping the arrow on time.

It's the wizard-father’s doing. I turn to look at him out of breath while he's performing that spell. That's a sign of mana fatigue where a Slayer exhausts themselves while channeling their mana output too much. I've forgotten he was continuously channeling his mana output without taking enough breaks in between his applied spells from his grimoire. The next second, I see him getting his chest stabbed by the ponytailed woman's katana. I'm unable to break out of my trauma on time to stop her.

He coughs a huge amount of blood while the katana is thrusted deeper into his chest. My breathing feels heavier, and my vision gets more blurry the longer I stare at his lifeless body on the ground. As the woman takes the grimoire out of his left hand, Slayer Ban runs towards her, hitting her with a huge rock she could find. The grimoire drops from her clutches. Then, Slayer Ban turns to face and shouts these words at me.

“Kang Joo-yeon, wake up! You must carry him!”

Her last sentence helps me to get a hold of myself and make a quick reflex when the woman gets back up again to slash Slayer Ban. I’ve managed to give her a strong punch in the stomach, sending her flying backwards and crashing into her brawny partner who was about to help her in killing us three. I piggyback the wounded wizard-father and run fast next to Slayer Ban who holds his grimoire in her tightest grip ever. We’re literally running for our lives straight ahead.