Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 195 - Ascent

"...Should we really have left Dame Eirlys behind to deal with that thing on her own?" Viviane asked worriedly. Though the war had undoubtedly forced her to grow as a noblewoman, her gentle heart and desire to help those in need hadn't changed at all.

"She'll manage," Medrauta said. "If we had run back to help her, it would've just been a waste of her efforts."

Rosette nodded in agreement. "Our mission was clear. Get to the top of the Spire and finish this thing once and for all. The only problem is... Where the hell is that shaft we talked about?"

As it turns out, the actual interior of the Spire was much different than the rough diagrams they looked over during briefing. While the diagrams compiled by the courageous scouts weren't exactly inaccurate, they had neglected an extremely important facet of the Spire's interior. Namely, the labyrinthine nature of its hallways.

They couldn't really be blamed though. Without actual access to the Spire, the scouts' report was primarily based around what little they could observe when the doors at the base of the structure swung open to release new waves of witchspawn into the world. The central shaft containing the magical apparatus connecting a majority of the Spire had only been seen due to the bright flashes of light that it emitted when operating, revealing its existence through the small embrasures that dotted the lower levels of the structure.

Medrauta cast her gaze around the Spire's interior, keeping Viviane close by her side as they walked through the maze-like hallways. The black walls pulsed, vein-like strands of crimson stretched across their lightless surface. It was almost as if they were inside one massive witchspawn. The mere thought sent a shiver down the knight's spine, but she kept herself focused on the objective.

Wherever the central shaft was, it likely laid deeper in the Spire itself, meaning that figuring out which way to turn when faced with a fork wasn't particularly important. The group of eight continued to make their way through the Spire, all of them aware of this fact. Whichever path they took shouldn't have mattered so long as they were going deeper into the structure, but several minutes had already passed since they last entered and it still didn't look like they were getting anywhere.

"Say, Medrauta." Leticia began, casting a glance at the silver-haired knight. "You think we could bust through these walls instead? We've wasted quite a bit of time already."

Medrauta considered Leticia's suggestion for a moment, inspecting the pulsating walls. "...Probably not."

She had no idea how thick the walls actually were, but something about their almost organic nature made her think twice about damaging them. Instead, she glanced to the left and right as the hallway divided into two paths yet again. Both of them took them deeper into the structure, making it practically impossible which path would lead them closer to their objective.

As Medrauta was about to randomly pick a path, she felt a tug on her wrist. She turned, looking at Viviane curiously. Her lady's eyes were alight with an idea, a confident smile on her lips.

"Hold on a second, everyone. I think I might have an idea." Viviane said. "It's slightly embarrassing that I've only just realized this, but the apparatus must emit an enormous amount of mana, right? Lady Scarlet, you're quite skilled at sensing the flow of mana, so could you not perhaps locate the source that way?"

Scarlet shook her head almost immediately. "I do not intend to demean your efforts, but in truth, that was something I have already considered. Unfortunately, mana runs rife throughout the entirety of the Spire's structure, making it impossible for me to pick out a single source when surrounded by all this chaos."

"But it would be the strongest source, no?"

"It would, but merely sensing it would not lead us to its location. Let us not tarry any longer, Lady Viviane." Scarlet said, beginning to march down one of the hallways confidently, only to be stopped by her own knight. "What seems to be the problem, Eris?"