There was no sky. Where the vast sky should have been, a black wall loomed above them. Similarly, the black ground gleamed excessively, so much so that even the slightest movement caused them to slip, throwing off their balance.

The space around them was so dark that it was impossible to see clearly, but Cadel could tell that the area was smaller than the forest they had been in. The faint glowing orbs scattered throughout provided some light.

Beneath the dim light, shadowy figures hurriedly moved in every direction. It was difficult to tell whether they were human or monsters at a glance. The darkness obscured their forms, and their quick movements made it hard to distinguish their outlines.

‘……That light is definitely mana. Did the knights who were with us get pulled into this place as well? I think one of the knights was a magician who used light mana…… Anyway, it seems that yellow liquid wasn’t as threatening as I thought.’

If those glowing orbs were signals from the magicians who were with them, it was time to respond. Cadel summoned a flame far larger than theirs, raising it high into the air.

The enormous flame, incomparable to the small glowing orbs, quickly illuminated the surroundings. With the landscape now much clearer than before, both Cadel and Van’s expressions turned to shock.

“What, what is this……?”

“Bugs…?”

As expected, what filled the space were humans and monsters. But they weren’t fighting each other. Instead, they were desperately trying to shake off the giant insects that had latched onto their backs.

Cadel’s gaze, still frozen in shock, moved slowly. The bugs, which gave him chills just by looking at them, were so large that they covered the upper bodies of the burly knights entirely.

The yellowish bodies of the insects were bloated and swollen, with small horns growing in a straight line along their backs. Furthermore, where their heads should have been, there was a massive mouth. The gaping maw strained to swallow the heads of both humans and monsters alike.

“……Commander, look at the mouth of that insect. Doesn’t it look just like the pattern of the magic circle that changed earlier?”

Although he didn’t particularly want to observe it, Cadel braved his discomfort and looked more closely at the insect. As he had said, inside the insect’s mouth, there were countless teeth growing, just like in the magic circle, and its tongue was visible too.

“……I see. It’s definitely similar.”

“Could the magic circle be connected to this space?”

“It might be. It could be a bug that can only live in a special space…… perhaps.”

Although the exact identity was unclear, it was certain that contact with those insects was not to be allowed. Cadel began to quickly cast a barrier around the knights he could see. Many of the knights had already been infected by the insects. They must have been brought here at the same time, yet they had already come into contact with the insects. Was there a place where the insects were more concentrated?

It was then, while he was lost in thought, that Cadel’s eyes widened in surprise as he noticed one of the knights’ faces while casually casting a barrier.

“Sir Jeriel? What are you doing here……?”

Jeriel had been part of the group moving south. Unless he had gone mad and followed them, he shouldn’t have been here.

Jeriel, who had found Cadel, came running, his back covered with insects.

“Sir, Sir Cadel! Please get these off! It’s so disgusting and painful, nothing I do gets them off!”

As Jeriel got closer, the shape of the insects became clearer. Reflexively stepping back from the chill crawling up his spine, Cadel was replaced by Van, who stepped forward and drew his greatsword.

“Don’t come any closer to Commander, turn around there.”

“Are you going to cut them with the greatsword?”

“Should I tear them with my hands then?”

“Be careful and cut gently. Please don’t touch my back…… Waaah!”

With a rather careless motion, Van swiftly slashed through the insects’ back, and with a wet, squelching sound, their bodies exploded. Considering they weren’t coming off easily, the removal was surprisingly simple.

As Cadel thought this and looked down, he cursed.

“Damn it, get away!”

“Ugh, what is this?! Larvae?”

On top of the insects’ yellow fluid, dozens of larvae were wriggling. At the horrific sight, Cadel instinctively cursed and retreated, stomping his foot. Van tried to crush the larvae under his shoe, but they quickly scattered and avoided the attack.

“Die, die!”

Jeriel, who controlled earth mana, created a flat stone-like surface and struck it down with force, but he could only capture a few of the larvae. The scattered larvae quickly changed direction and began targeting Jeriel, Van, and Cadel.

“Disgusting……!”

Although they were plump and swollen, the wriggling speed of the larvae was surprisingly fast. Cadel shuddered, casting fire indiscriminately, while Van showed his irritation at the creatures’ refusal to die as he intended. Jeriel, visibly repulsed by the larvae, was fortunately able to help remove most of them with their relentless attacks.

“Hah…… Are you alright, Commander?”

“Yes. It seems that if you kill the bigger ones, the smaller ones come out, and they seem to go after new prey. It’s dangerous to just kill them recklessly. Sir Jeriel is……”

Cadel, who was belatedly checking on Jeriel’s condition, froze. It was because of the clear, sorrowful expression on his face, even in the dim darkness. With tears brimming in his eyes, Jeriel spoke in a voice full of sobs.

“It, it was so disgusting. This place is hell……”

“It’s alright now, don’t cry. We’ve removed them all. Calm down, and first, tell me why you’re here. How did you end up separated from your group?”

“Huh……? Separated? Wasn’t it the two of you who got left behind?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

The exchange of meaningless questions continued as Jeriel and Cadel began to piece together the situation.

“Then, could it be that the group from the south…… also encountered the yellow wave……?”

“Did the north also? We happened to find a magic circle and were watching it when suddenly a wave crashed into the forest. The barrier was useless. In the end, we got hit by the wave and when we came to, we found ourselves in this hellish place.”

“What about the High Demon? Didn’t you see a High Demon named Kash?”

“I didn’t see any High Demons.”

Could it be that the south was attacked first? The Kash who appeared earlier had clearly said that he had found ‘another’ new prey. If he had attacked the south’s group while hiding, and then moved north afterward…… With that thought, Cadel shouted loudly.

“Guys! If you see this flame, gather here!”

There should be his subordinates from the south here as well. Even if they saw the flame, they might not have thought it was their commander’s. He needed to make sure they knew.

After calling out a few more names of his subordinates.

“Leader! What are you doing here?”

“Haha, Knight Commander, look at this!”

Lumen, with an urgent look on his face, and Garuel, who looked quite cheerful, appeared. Lumen seemed to have been in a fierce fight, his breathing heavy, but Garuel didn’t appear to be in the same state. Cadel furrowed his brow as he noticed the insect attached to Garuel’s shoulder.

“How did you get that……?”

“Well, I took it off a knight who had one stuck to them, and a bunch of them appeared. When I came to my senses, there was one growing on my shoulder. After watching it for a while, I’ve kind of started to feel attached to it. Soon enough, it’ll grow big and open its mouth wide.”

“You’re talking about attachment!? That’s disgusting! Get it off, quickly!”

“It’s a problem, you see. It’s easy to take off, but doing it myself is hard. It doesn’t come off easily, and attacks don’t work. It seems like the one that’s attached can’t be attacked directly.”

What kind of horrifying insect is that? Cadel, still concerned for Garuel, hesitated to remove the insect himself. At that moment, Lumen, who had been standing beside them, clicked his tongue briefly, then unsheathed his sword slightly.

A bright flash covered the insect’s body, leaving an afterimage. In an instant, the insect’s body exploded, and the half-split larvae corpse fell to the ground with a thud. Jeriel, who had been watching the perfect removal, covered his mouth in admiration.

“Wow, Sir Lumen. Your skill is no joke.”

Lumen gave Jeriel a quick glance as he moved slightly closer, then turned to Cadel.

“Did the north get hit by that yellow liquid too? Did everyone get dragged here?”

“It seems so. It was a scale that was hard to avoid. But……”

After confirming that his subordinates were safe, Cadel’s gaze shifted beyond them. With a stern expression, he scanned the surroundings and then asked in a serious tone.

“Where’s Yozen? Wasn’t he supposed to be with you?”

Even though some time had passed since the subordinates gathered, Yozen had yet to appear. Cadel lit a small fireball to illuminate the area, revealing his growing sense of urgency.

“The space is larger than I thought. Yozen might just be far away.”

What initially seemed like a not-so-large area revealed itself to be an endless, elongated space as the fireball floated higher, lighting the surroundings. As they moved forward, they saw countless larvae scattered on the ground, massive bugs hunting for prey, familiar-faced knights, and monsters writhing in agony.

“I think Leader’s right. It seems Garuel and I were just lucky to be near here.”

“Are you calling our meeting lucky? Sir Lumen, you’re so kind-hearted.”

“……Are you seriously saying that in a situation like this?”

“Well, when I’m nervous, I tend to say weird things.”

With every step they took, the sound of the insects’ thin legs scratching the ground filled the air. It took considerable energy to deal with each of them as they advanced. However, Cadel couldn’t just stand there and wait for Yozen to approach. Behind the anxious Cadel, Jeriel, who had been persistently hovering near Lumen, spoke up.

“Shall we go up and look down?”

“There’s no higher ground. Everything’s flat.”

“Well, we can create it. What do earth magicians do best? They can create favorable terrain.”

With a confident tone, Jeriel knelt on the ground to begin the ritual. However, before he could perform the spell, he awkwardly froze in place as a swarm of larvae surrounded him. Seeing the situation, Lumen sighed and helped clear the insects away.

“I really hope we can find a way out of this dreadful space as quickly as possible.”

With a desperate chant, Jeriel began forming the spell on the ground. Just as Lumen finished dealing with the thirty insects that had swarmed toward him.

“……Something’s strange.”

Jeriel, who had been channeling mana into the completed spell, frowned. As Cadel approached, Jeriel looked up at him and withdrew his hand, speaking.

“This ground isn’t just ordinary dirt.”

“Yeah…… I thought so. It looks filthy like it’s been coated in some strange oil.”

“No. Even if the surface is covered with another material, the elements that make up the earth are generally the same. That’s why earth magicians can alter the terrain in any place.”

“So what you’re saying is……?”

“It’s not earth. This is…… well, it’s definitely not……”

But just as Jeriel was about to explain further, the ground suddenly shook violently.

Kwaaahhh—

The earth trembled severely, and a loud sound of rushing water echoed from somewhere nearby.

“What’s going on……?”

“It’s behind us, Commander. Something’s pushing forward from behind!”

“Let’s move forward for now!”