Ideally, he should retreat now, report to Finn, and say goodbye to this place forever.
But leaving it halfway would only spell disaster later on.
That sewer down there could be a simple checkpoint, and the real hideout might still be 10 kilometers away.
That was a fair possibility.
Gin hated it, but going down there himself was the best course of action now.
Well, there was no reason not to minimize his risks if he was going to do it.
He reached into his Mind and called out his newest spell to the front.
"I descend to the end. Overtaking the galloping horse, across the loud stream, over the high walls. Walking through the feast of the dead. My feet step into the innermost chamber of the beloved goddess. My body becomes the curtain that foretold disaster. For I am beloved by Hel. Blikjandaböl."
The feeling of weightlessness surfaced again.
This should eliminate any and all bodily danger at least. He grinned, put on his face mask and hood, and jumped down to the street level.
Standing on top of the manhole cover, he took a deep breath and steeled his mind.
It would definitely smell like shit down there.
"Entering the rabbit hole in 1, 2—" Gin let himself go, passing through the cover without removing it.
Regaining his bearings, he found himself in a completely dark tunnel with the sound of running water beside him. "—3. Fucking hell."
Yep, it smelled like shit.
The journey in the dark wasn't as scary as it sounded.
He had a good eye to begin with, and coupled with the [Archer] development ability, it only took him a couple of seconds to get used to the dark.
Not only that, Blikjandaböl eliminated any risk of ambushes and traps. Everything passed through his body as if it weren't there.
He was no different than a ghost.
Like, even now, he was walking with half of his body inside the wall.
Another good thing was that the sound of his footsteps completely disappeared. As long as he kept his mouth shut, he should remain relatively unnoticed.
If he could turn invisible, he would be totally golden, but he doubted he would get a spell like that.
It wasn't too hard to follow the Evilus tracks. They didn't see the need to hide their footprints when no one was following them.
Not only that, he could hear some muffled conversation from ahead.
There was no chance for him to miss their tracks.
Some minutes later, the sound of something scraping the floor entered his ears.
'A door? A hidden door, maybe? Holy Hel, these guys were checking off all of the boxes on the checklist for the most clichéd hideout ever.'
And right. He saw the footprints suddenly disappear at one point.
The hidden door should then be behind this wall. He huffed and walked past it.
Yep, it was a hidden passage. It was a bit long, but the path ahead was straight without any branches.
And at the end of it, a huge black door with ornaments shaped like gargoyles around it stood imposingly.
"Found it." Gin whispered. "Fucking Daedalus, why in the hell did you build this shit for?"
He walked up to the large door and examined it closely.
It was made from black metal.
He couldn't really touch and feel its texture now, but he had a feeling that this wasn't normal metal.
"Worst case, it's high-grade adamantite, huh."
If it really was adamantite, then the builder was really loaded. Using the most expensive mineral as a front door? What a waste of resources.
He could just blast the adjacent wall if he couldn't destroy the door anyway.
Except… He looked at the wall beside it.
"There's no way it's adamantite too, right?" Gin frowned.
If the whole thing was adamantite, then Daedalus wasn't a wasteful person; he was simply insane.
Well, there was no need to worry about it. He reached his hands out to the door. It passed through as expected.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He said this to himself and walked forward, passing through the metal door.
He didn't know it then, but he had just taken a step toward the single most dangerous man-made labyrinth.
.....
'Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry, Hungry-'
The being growled without a voice.
Bound in seals and chains, it glared madly at the group of humans in front of it.
"This one is no good," one of them said. "I think it's better to leave it be than try to assimilate it. Level 5s like these guys don't grow on trees."
"A Level 6 might work."
"We don't have any. Leave that thing be. It's useless. We just have to look for another one. It should be easier to find than willing high-level adventurers."
"Dammit. And when we finally land on a high level like it." They clicked their tongue. "Can we use it somehow? It will be a waste to just destroy it."
"A waste, huh?" One of them came closer to it.
Finally! Food! It focused on the human in front of it, gnashing its teeth loudly. Just a little more, just a little more!
Alas, the human that would become its food stopped just a step shy of its range.
"This thing is a waste to begin with. How many of us died to keep it here?"
"Forty-six or something." Another one answered. "The lucky ones only fell from Mind Down. The unlucky ones…"
"Their souls got taken." They finished. "This thing is a monster."
Not understanding the conversation of these humans, and being slowly driven mad by its starvation, the being kept prisoner inside the man-made dungeon wailed sadly at its unfulfilled hunger.
....
Gin had imagined that the so-called Evilus base would be some narrow, winding passage leading to a massive hall or something.
Finn probably had the same idea.
For good reason, since there was no reason why a simple hidden path needed to be unnecessarily complex or grand.
Well, both of them severely underestimated Daedalus's insanity.
The place was huge and maze-like. Identical brick corridors with no distinct features except some gargoyle sculptures placed at fixed intervals, numerous stairs with different lengths, forks, four-ways—there was even a circular hall with ten passageways.
In hindsight, it was obvious that the nutcase who built Daedalus Street wouldn't take it easy and settle for nice, convenient corridors with only a few deadly traps here and there.
No, he just had to build some crazy underground labyrinth that was probably inspired by the largest ant nest the dude had found centuries ago.
The only good thing Gin gained from this was the confirmation that this place really was built by Daedalus, given that no other ancient dude could be as crazy and skilled as he was.
He leaned back on the wall before sitting up straight again, as his back had gone through the brick.
It was quite hard to get used to the Blikjandaböl effect.
He took a deep breath to gather himself. Okay, it was time to make sense of the situation.
He had been walking around for around 30 minutes now.
He was lost.
That was a quick summary of his situation.
Pretty sad, right? Well, it could have been worse. Blikjandaböl ensured that nothing could block his advance while making him completely immune to bodily harm.
The thing that he had to decide on right now was his course of action.
First, he could try to double back and GTFO.
No harm in swallowing his pride and taking the small victory he had gained.
Even the information that assaulting this place wasn't recommended would be valuable enough.
Second, he could proceed as he was. He could walk around and hope that he would find some trace of the previous group and track them down to their main hideout.
Third, he could make use of his ghost form and just pass through the floors. He would effectively explore vertically rather than horizontally.
It was risky as all hell, but it could make his exploration way easier compared to tiring himself out getting lost like this.
Going back after going this far was quite a waste. Not only that, he was probably the only adventurer in Orario who could freely pass through doors and walls.
Others would be stopped in their tracks once they hit those doors. Not to mention the chance of them being led right into a trap.
Sadly, he was the best person for this job. He only needed to do this smartly. One by one, he needed to go down steadily without rushing.
If he messed up and went straight down in one shot, there was a fair chance he could go past this man-made dungeon and land in the real dungeon.
Honestly, he wasn't confident that he would survive if he landed anywhere near the Water City. He could fall straight to the Great Waterfall and be carried off to Hel knew where.
No, worse than that… the Amphisbaena might be down there.
That thing could be the only monster in the world that could screw him even with Blikjandaböl on. Why? The Amphisbaena, the Monster Rex of the Water City, was a giant two-headed serpent.
One head could spit out blazing flame—fancy, but not that dangerous.
The problem was the other head. That thing could breathe out a mist that dispelled magic. Gin wasn't sure that his spell would last against it.
Right, better go down the floors one by one, slowly, steadily, carefully.
His body passed through the floor as he took a deep breath.
Everything had been going pretty smoothly so far. Well, the fact that he hadn't found any trace of people down here was seriously freaking him out, though.
Just how massive was this place? Passing down again, his feet landed on solid ground for the twelfth time.
"—There's an anomaly?"
Hearing the voices near him, Gin quickly dived into the nearest wall.
His mind went into panic after his vision and hearing disappeared before calming down and realizing that he couldn't see nor hear past the wall.
He prayed to Hel that his luck wasn't so rotten that he would find himself face to face with an Evilus member the moment he pushed his head out of the wall.
Peeking out of the wall, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the corridor he was in was still empty.
"The mirror image showed a dark, hooded figure walking around the first floor before vanishing into thin air." Male Voice A said.
"You sure they aren't smoking something?" A different voice, male too, so Male Voice B.
"Cigarettes?" A asked innocently.
"No." B snorted and A laughed along with him.
Gin managed to hear their conversation.
He had been found out, then.
These guys didn't sound so sure, though. To be fair to the dudes who saw him, no sane person would believe that some phantom that could freely pass through the floor existed.
Anyway, how did they find out? He was pretty sure that he didn't feel anyone's presence.
No, if they were looking at him directly, they would have attacked or at least approached him.
The conclusion was easy enough to make. He groaned in his mind. They had some sort of monitoring system, most likely.
'A magic item or a spell, perhaps? Food for thought, i better be more careful now.'
He decided to explore this floor since this was the first floor to have any sign of activity on it. There was a good chance that this floor might have some useful information to harvest.
The fact that it was still quite sparse with people and therefore less dangerous just made it a better choice.
Craning his neck to the side as he walked to let one of his eyes outside the wall, he continued to proceed carefully inside the walls.
This was a seriously uncomfortable posture, but he couldn't possibly risk being completely visible when he knew that Evilus had some method to monitor the inside of this place.
He straightened his neck as soon as he felt signs of people near him.
Greeting the now-familiar void of darkness, he walked steadily ahead before letting his eye out again after a while.
Rinse and repeat, he continued to explore the place in this fashion. His neck hurt, but the return was worth it.
There was surprisingly a lot of information he got by just hearing snippets of conversation here and there.
Info 1: This godforsaken place was called Knossos.
Info 2: Yup, it really was created by Daedalus.
Info 3, the most useful info so far: There was actually a key that could open the doors and passageways in this place.
Info 4: …There was something on this floor that these guys were alarmed about.
He had done more than enough.
The only thing he needed to do was go back to the surface and share this information with Finn and the others.
The question was… How did he escape this place again?
Alone in the darkness of the wall's interior, Gin finally realized how reckless and dumb his action had been.
What use was the information if he couldn't bring it back with him?
"Well, fuck." He buried his face in his hands. "I am screwed, aren't I?"
'No, get yourself together. Think calmly now.'
He had three possible actions: One, wander around aimlessly.
Two, pick a direction, run straight, and hope that he would arrive somewhere.
Three, find someone to tail and work it out after that.
No brainer there.Option 3 it is.
Looking out, he was currently in the wall of a passage leading to a three-way intersection.
He could wait for a person to pass by and tail him from behind. Hopefully, it would lead him somewhere.
Deciding on it, he prayed to all gods—sans Loki and Thanatos—that someone who looked harmless enough would pass by.
...
One minute passed.
The familiar, almost nostalgic figure of Dix Perdix appeared in his sight and walked down the right corridor.
Gin slowly sank back into the wall.
He futilely tried to bang his head on the wall's interior.
'Dammit, gods! What part of 'harmless' don't you people get?'
'No, calm down. There must be someone less dangerous than that homo.'
He pushed his face outside again.
Thanatos, escorted by numerous people in uniform robes, appeared from the same corridor and went left.
'Nope.'
He waited again, but there didn't seem to be anyone else following the two of them.
He swallowed back his curses and took a deep breath.
Okay… he had his choice now.
Go right and follow Dicks. Go left and tail Thanatos and co., or he could go in the direction they came from.
One path led to the dude who wanted to run his spear up his ass.
The other was treaded by a creepy death god guarded by his cult.
There was only one sane path to take.
Breaking into a run, still inside the wall, he dashed through the passage where Dix and Thanatos came from.
There was no way anything worse than them could possibly exist.
This was definitely the best path to take!
He breathed a sigh of relief as he followed along the path. It was thankfully a singular one without any kind of forks.
Sure it wasn't straight, but there was no possibility of him taking a wrong turn or anything like that.
It was just… This path smelled.
He knew this smell. This was a smell he couldn't possibly forget. Even after eight years, he still couldn't bring himself to like it.
The stupidity, the mistake, the unforgettable shame surfaced in his mind and stubbornly stayed there.
It was a sickening reminder of the pathetic version of him that he had buried long ago!
'Why the fuck did those guys light incense in this place?'
He felt himself slowly getting irritated at the smell of burning incense.
He rubbed his nose in frustration as the smell of burning incense grew stronger the more he traversed the path.
More and more fragments of the past came into his mind.
The villagers holding him down.
The taste of blood as he bit a hand.
The looks of fear, worry, and pity as he aimed his bow at them.
His mother laying on the bed behind him.
The cold purplish skin. The sunken eyes. The black liquid leaking out from her mouth. The smell of a rotting body covered by countless burning incense.
He took a deep breath, regulating the beat of his heart.
He ignored the thick smell of incense that entered along with it and released his breath.
He was okay. He was the Champion of Hel. He accepted death as it should be now!
'Why couldn't you learn that lesson sooner?'
He slapped his cheeks, forcefully putting a stop to the recollections.
'Get yourself together, Gin Hvergel. Focus. This is no place to get sentimental. It's just a smell. No need to be upset.'
He regained his composure as he stopped in front of a dead end.
Obviously a fake one; there was no other explanation here.
He moved his leg and walked past the wall.
Gin found himself looking into a dim room lit by a single magic circle on the floor.
He wasn't exactly sure, but this seemed to be a sealing formation.
Checking left and right, he found that the place was completely empty of people. He exited the wall and walked gingerly to the center of the room.
The magic circle encompassed almost half of the room.
Were they keeping a dangerous monster here or something?
He followed along the edge of the magic circle and felt his jaw drop slightly as his eyes arrived at the center of the seal.
He slowly walked to it and felt his nose protest silently as the smell of burning incense grew stronger.
'The source of the smell, the thing lying in the middle of the sealing formation, was... a dog?'
Small beady eyes, grey and white fur, a pudgy body, and short legs—it was definitely a dog.
He didn't know the breed, but it was probably not a hunting dog.
This was the type of dog that you kept as a pet and spoiled all day long.
'What the hell was Evilus doing to this poor guy?'
Gin stared at the chains holding the poor thing to the floor and the weird ornaments with red gems on its body.
The small ball of fur looked up at him and growled slowly.
It looked about as threatening as an angry Elise!