Chapter 17
Entrance to the Master Dungeon
"I trust you humans are all well rested and prepared for your next journey into the Nazarick Master Dungeon today. You will be grouped with the same individuals from your last venture. Once again, your group will be teleported into a certain section of the dungeon complex upon stepping through the gate."
Albedo's soft voice drifted through the crowd like a cold morning breeze. There was no emotion in her words, yet they contained an enchanting lull that filled the adventurers' hearts with unspeakable desire. As she finished her sentence, a row of gates opened along the obsidian walls of the dungeon behind her, each representing the path meant for different adventurer rankings.
"Are there any questions? If not-"
"Wait!"
Krusty Cohenn stepped out from the crowd of adventurers, his voice ringing with concern.
"Our party member Cowl has been missing since last night. He was fatally wounded inside the dungeon and was due for resurrection, but we haven't seen him since. Would you know anything about that?"
Within the crowd, Saphira nodded her head in acknowledgement. She hadn't seen Cowl as well and had expected him to show up this morning, but the mysterious man was nowhere to be found. Elsewhere, Rayna, Mavrik, Tina and Evileye also displayed a look of concern. While Cowl had been taken out instantaneously during the encounter with the golem, the man proved to be an invaluable tactician while they were progressing through the maze. His absence would be a significant blow to their team's combat prowess. At the back of the crowd with his arms crossed before his chest, Cerebrate's sharp eyes narrowed in suspicion.
While Albedo's perfect face creased into a slight worried frown at the question, the briefest hint of a sneer flashed in the depths of her golden eyes, undetected by the audience.
"Ah, is that so? That is certainly perplexing. Have any other adventurer groups experienced any problems with missing party members after resurrection?"
A series of mutters and shrugs were exchanged within the audience. While a few adventurers had been gravely wounded or killed while braving the many dangers lurking within the dungeon complex, every one of them had been healed or resurrected and returned to their companions without much issue.
Albedo turned to one of the elder liches responsible for overseeing the adventurer recovery process, who had been standing silently to the side.
"Do you know what happened to this Cowl individual after he was resurrected? He is a male human of average stature, dressed in a black cowled robe with a hook for a hand."
The lich paused for a moment in recollection before responding.
"Yes, Lady Albedo. He was successfully resurrected and departed back to his living quarters afterwards."
A moment of silence fell upon the crowd. Albedo's let the confused frown on her face deepen even further, as if she were completely befuddled by the man's disappearance.
"I know what happened, the guy was killed! Saw it myself last night!"
An eager yell escaped from the middle of the crowd of adventurers. The voice came from a plan looking man in leather armor, his hands flailing in excitement as he jumped at the chance at attention.
Albedo looked at the man with a startled expression on her face, as if the outburst came at a complete surprise. A tone of cold command creeped into her voice as she spoke:
"What do you mean? Explain yourself!"
The man nodded enthusiastically as he responded:
"Yeah, so I was walking back from the dining hall last night, all stuffed and just a little drunk from the feast. I mean, man that wine was delicious! I was just a little inebriated and got a bit handsy with some of the nice adventurer gals here. Who would've thought that a group of monster slayers would have so many hotties? So I kinda-sorta got kicked out. Anyway, I was walking down the hallway, you know, the one with all the scary-looking statues…."
"..."
The crowd could only stare in a mixture of bemusement and impatience as the man continued to monologue detail after detail of his last evening.
"Get to the point!" Albedo demanded in a clearly annoyed tone.
"Okay, okay! Anyway, I was heading down the hallway with all those statues, and I ran into three people in the middle of an intense argument. I recognised two of them as the fancy lads from Red Drop, but I didn't know who the third person was. Now that you guys brought him up, he must be this Cowl person. He was wearing a black hood and everything. I was too drunk to make out much of what they were arguing about, but I remember hearing Cowl accuse the other two men of being 'Dragon Lord Spies.'"
Upon hearing that last word, The Blue Roses simultaneously froze. Evileye was the first to recover, directing a quick inquiry at the witness to divert attention from that particular detail.
"So what happened after that?"
The man's eyes lit up in obvious excitement, his expression transforming to that of a housewife getting to the juiciest part of some recent drama.
"Things got heated, and Cowl threw the first punch. Right at that moment, those statues came to life and ate him. The two other guys just ran off."
"..."
Everyone else kept silent for several moments, as if uncertain whether or not to believe the preposterous story brought before them. A meaningful look in her eyes, Albedo spoke to the crowd:
"I see, so this Cowl individual initiated a confrontation with the members of Red Drop as he was walking back to his room after being resurrected, and was killed by the statue guardians as a result. I suppose that explains why Mr. Azuth Aindra and Mr. Luisenberg Alberion were so quick to depart after only visiting here briefly. I imagine they were intimidated by our swift countermeasures to unnecessary violence."
The crowd of adventurers nodded their heads and mumbled in agreement. Many of them were wondering why Red Drop suddenly decided to drop out before even having entered the dungeon. Now though, it made sense. Anyone would be understandably shaken after seeing a fellow adamantite adventurer eaten alive by a statue.
"However…."
Albedo's voice turned cold with suspicion. She shifted her icy gaze towards the members of Blue Rose.
"What did Cowl mean when he accused Red Drop of being 'Dragonlord Spies?' Perhaps Ms. Lakyus Aindra would provide some insight on this, given that Azuth Aindra is your uncle?"
Lakyus could feel Albedo's inquisitive stare piercing straight into her heart like an icy dagger. During that moment, she failed to find her voice to respond. Seeing their leader's distress, Gagaran spoke up in her stead.
"That slimeball Cowl is constantly picking fights with baseless lies and accusations. I remember the other day, he was accusing the Eight Ripples of hiding some ridiculous secret and almost drew the ire of the E-Rantel guards. I'm sure nothing he says can be taken seriously. Isn't that right, Eight Ripples?"
Seeing Gagaran suddenly look at him for confirmation, Tosh Hiro felt dumbfounded at the situation and did not quite know how to reply.
"U-uh...well, what he said was actually-"
Before Tosh could say an extra word, Ron dug him sharply in the ribs with his elbow, interrupting him. Rosaline flashed a quick glare at him to shut him up before speaking as the representative of the party with a confident smile.
"Yes, Gagaran-san is correct. This Cowl person is full of ridiculous assertions. He is not to be taken seriously."
The Blue Roses felt Albedo's penetrating stare last several more seconds before the cold pressure of her gaze finally subsided, her expression returning to one of lukewarm satisfaction.
"Ah, I see. If that's the case, then there should be no more problems. It is regretful that one of our guests had to meet such a fate, but ultimately, the fault was his own. Please remember to refrain from causing anymore disturbances within our territory, as we do not take kindly to such infractions."
The adventurers muttered in agreement. While the Sorcerer King's ruthless countermeasures were rather extreme, Cowl could blame no one but himself for breaking the clearly defined rules and getting himself killed. They quickly turned their thoughts away from the dead member of Crystal Tear and shifted their focus back to today's upcoming adventure.
The Blue Roses, on the other hand, let out a heavy sigh of relief. They could not afford to have themselves caught up in Lakyus's uncle's schemes at this point in time, especially in the middle of the Sorcerer King's territories.
With this, Cowl had now become an afterthought for all the adventurers. That is, all of them except the other members of Crystal Tear.
Cerebrate lurking suspicion only grew. A lot of the story simply did not add up. Rak'shir was not the type of person to pick pointless fights, and he was most certainly not the type of individual who would throw the first punch. He couldn't even if he wanted to.
The Fierce Flash's suspicious eyes swept across the crowd, landing steadily on the plain-looking adventurer who had given the testimony just now. As he observed the innocent smile that still hung across the man's unremarkable face, Cerebrate began to feel a heavy growing surge of unease throughout his body.
"Adventurers, you may now proceed!"
Her true thoughts concealed under an impeccable mask of impassivity, Albedo finally announced the beginning of the second venture into the Master Dungeon.
As she watched the last batch of adventurers disappear into the dungeon gates, Albedo allowed just the faintest hint of a satisfied smirk touch her face.
Everything had proceeded as planned. She had managed to ease most of the suspicions regarding both the early departure of Red Drop and the sudden absence of Cowl.
While Albedo, the floor guardians and their lord Ainz had been informed about the intentions of Red Drop to carry out reconnaissance using Simulacri, their overly brief stay and immediate departure could prove potentially problematic to the image of the Sorcerer Kingdom in the eyes of the ignorant adventurers.
If one of the most renowned adventurer teams of the Re-Estize Kingdom announced their intent to participate, just to take off soon after arriving without so much as even entering the dungeon, what would that say about the Nazarick Hotel? The other adventurers might see this as Red Drop deciding quickly that the Sorcerer Kingdom was not worthy of trust. Alternatively, the adventurers may see Red Drop as simply not being impressed with their facilities. Red Drop was stationed in the Argland City Council State, a place rumored to be home to magnificent wonders from a bygone age. The adventurers may come under the misconception that the Argland City Council had facilities that made even the grand works of the Sorcerer King seem insignificant, and leave E-Rantel for there instead.
This would tarnish the Sorcerer Kingdom's reputation and throw a heavy wrench at Ainz-sama's plans to recruit adventurers for a newly reformed adventurer's guild. This was, of course, unacceptable.
The missing case of Rak'shir was an even greater source of suspicion. The sudden absence of an adamantite ranked adventure would be cause for much alarm and confusion anywhere, especially in the Sorcerer King's home turf.
They could, of course, dismiss his death as merely a failed resurrection. However, the Sorcerer Kingdom had made hefty claims to ensure the safety of adventurers inside the dungeon, and even a single unfortunate casualty would reflect poorly on the Sorcerer King's competence. This, of course, was even more unacceptable.
Therefore, Albedo formulated a simple plan to kill two birds with one stone. She planted one of Nazarick's doppelgangers amidst the crowd of adventurers and instructed him to interject at a key moment by giving a fabricated testimony. While the adventurers would have likely also accepted a testimony from one of the innocent-looking homunculi maids, the story would be even more effective coming from someone they saw as one of their own.
And thus, by linking Cowl's death and Red Drop's departure together, Albedo weaved a narrative that effectively extinguished the suspicions of the adventurers and shifted the blame completely away from the Sorcerer Kingdom. Cowl died because he was intrusive and liked to pick fights, while Red Drop ran away because they were shaken by the sight of Cowl's death. Cowl would lose any sympathy or concern from the mass of adventurers, and they would quickly dismiss Cowl's death as his own fault. Red Drop on the other hand, would be viewed with a hint of derision. After all, the mighty adamantite team had run away at the sight of the hotel's scary monsters in action. Their absence was a result of their own cowardice, and not any fault of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
Of course, anyone who had prior knowledge of the relevant facts related to Cowl or Red Drop would easily see through the holes in the testimony if they thought about things thoroughly enough. The Blue Roses knew that Red Drop never came to the Nazarick Hotel, but merely sent Simulacri to deliver messages in their place. They also knew that Azuth and Luisenberg were indeed spies sent by the Platinum Dragon Lord. They would immediately question how Cowl could possibly know about the role of Red Drop as spies. If they simply stayed calm and said nothing they would most likely have been able to see cracks in the testimony's factual consistency.
Therefore, Albedo seized the initiative and used the opportunity to question Lakyus directly about Cowl's fabricated accusation. She infused a sliver of her power into her gaze to pressure Lakyus to the point that she would be unable to think or defend herself. Seeing that their leader was in trouble, Gagaran would then logically seek to refute the validity of Cowl's accusation by questioning Cowl's credibility as an individual. Albedo had been informed by Lupusregina Beta regarding a brief encounter between Cowl, Gagaran and the Eight Ripples in E-Rantel. She predicted that Gagaran would seek verbal reinforcement from the Eight Ripples to portray Cowl as a liar. The Eight Ripples could do naught but agree lest they let slip that Cowl was on to their leader's actual condition. At the same time, their support of Gagaran indirectly confirmed to the to the Blue Roses that Cowl indeed had a mysterious knack of finding out important secrets. This would make it plausible for him to also know about the Red Drop's identity as dragonlord spies.
At this point, Cowl's reputation was effectively in tatters and no one would find it hard to believe that he had recklessly brought about his own demise. The Blue Roses, believing that they had just survived an interrogation by securing an escape route via the verbal confirmation of the Eight Ripples, would be too blinded by the relief of an illusory victory to question the integrity of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
As always, the human thought process proved ever so dull and predictable. There was now only one small group of people left who would be prone to challenge the current narrative
The smirk on Albedo's face grew into a wide sneer.
….and they would be dealt with soon enough.
"This is nothing like the place we were sent to last time we entered the dungeon."
Neia was the first to voice aloud what everyone else was thinking. During their last venture into the Master Dungeon, the group had been teleported into an obsidian maze. Through a series of twists and turns, the maze had led them to a volcanic wasteland guarded by a lava elemental.
This time, they had been transported into what seemed like another world.
Neia, Gagaran, Tosh, Rosaline and Saphira found themselves in the middle of an alien desert. The sea of golden sand seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance, its horizon marked only by a faint black line indicating the familiar obsidian maze walls that made up the skeleton of the Master Dungeon. The entire place felt like a landscape from a different dimension, and even the sky shone with a harsh red light unlike anything the five adventurers had ever seen.
Before them was a massive pyramid built from countless flawless looking yellow stones. The immaculate pyramid gave of a reflective sheen that blended with the red light of the sky to create a sinister amber glow. At the front of the pyramid was a massive doorless entrance, and to the left and right of the entrance stood two ominous identical-looking black statues. The statues had the body of a man but the head of a gaunt canine-looking creature.
The area was completely silent. Not even Neia and Rosaline's keen senses could detect so much as the sound of a gust of wind. And yet, the group had a keen feeling that a lurking presence was watching them not so far away…
"Should we go in?"
Tosh was the first to interrupt the unsettling silence.
Gagaran and Saphira grimaced. Adventurers generally operated with utmost caution, as even the smallest mistake could lead to death in their line of work. In the face of an obviously dangerous location like the pyramid before them, it was customary to carefully scout and make extensive plans and formulate pre-emptive escape routes to minimise danger.
Rosaline, on the other hand, was used to Tosh's bold and direct approach. While it seemed like a foolhardy and reckless attitude to many, it was the type of thinking that suited an adventurer like Tosh the most. However, in this completely unknown situation, Rosaline agreed that being careful would be the more proper approach.
However, just as she was about to open her mouth to explain, Neia gave a surprising response:
"I think we should just go in as well. His Majesty did not set all this up just to have us waste time scheming around to find shortcuts to circumvent the challenges before us. His Majesty's objective is to test the most important attribute of all: power. If we have the ability to succeed, then we will do so. If we don't, then we can only blame our own lack of ability. There's no point in waiting around trying to find some way to make things easier for us. The path is simple. We enter and we come out victorious. Nothing more and nothing less."
Tosh nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't quite wrap his head around everything she just said, but it sounded like something he could get along with. He looked at Rosaline for support. With a helpless smile, she murmured a brief concession.
Gagaran considered Neia's words in silence. She didn't quite agree with all of Neia's words, but there was one fact that she couldn't deny. There was not much point trying to find shortcuts or to try making things easier on themselves. Any thinking would have to be done on the spot during the fight. She nodded in agreement as well.
Seeing that everyone else agreed to go in, Saphira sighed and began walking towards the entrance of the pyramid. The rest of the group followed suit.
Nothing happened as they passed the two statues and continued down a long dark hallway, finally stepping into a massive chamber inside the pyramid. The entire area was lit by four obsidian torches hung on the center of each wall. Aside from the torches, the room was completely empty save for yet another massive statue at the very back of the chamber. Unlike the smaller statues at the entrance of the pyramid, this one had the head of a bird with a long, thin curved beak.
"Welcome."
An enchanting female voice suddenly echoed throughout the chamber, and the silhouette of a quadrupedal figure emerged from the right eye socket of the massive bird-headed statue. The creature seemed to stretch itself, as if yawning, and the outline of a pair of angelic wings extended from its back. Finally, the creature gracefully pounced down from the head of the statue, spreading its wings to glide down to a spot in front of the adventurers.
Up close, the adventurers could now see in detail the appearance of the strange entity before them. It had the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, but most intriguing of all was its head. The creature's head was that of a beautiful woman with gleaming olive skin and straight, glossy shoulder length hair. The creature's had a bewitching face, the most striking feature of all being a pair of amber colored eyes slitted like that of a cat's and traced with a dark eyeliner.
The creature had a brilliant smile on its face as it eyed the group before her with fascination.
"Greetings, I am the Sphinx. I assume the five of you will be the ones I shall be testing today?"
Neia and the others had already shifted into a combat stance to read themselves for the creature's attack at any moment. They looked at the Sphinx with eyes full of alertness.
Seeing the wary stances of the five adventurers, the Sphinx gave an innocent pout. Displayed on that beautiful face, the Sphinx's hurt expression almost made the adventurers feel sorry for the creature. Almost.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight. All you need to do is answer a riddle correctly and you can be off to receive your reward!"
"..."
Neia could not help but feel a rising feeling of suspicion as she stared at the Sphinx's innocent looking face.
"That's it?"
"That's it! On top of that, I will give you a clue after every incorrect attempt, so you're essentially being handed this victory. You should all rejoice!"
"I thought the Sorcerer King wanted to test out power?"
"Wisdom is a type of power after all. Fufufufu…."
The Sphinx gave a short captivating laugh, as if she had suddenly recalled something highly amusing.
"..."
"Anyway, let us begin. Your first riddle is this: what walks with four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs at night?"
Rosaline pondered the question for several seconds before a spark of realisation flashed across her face.
"A human being! The morning represents infancy, where I would be a baby crawling in all fours. The afternoon represents adulthood, where I walk upright with two legs. Upon reaching night time, or old age, I would walk with a crutch, which is three legs!"
The other adventurers nodded, impressed. The riddle was not overly difficult, but it was still impressive that she managed to come up with a response so quickly. Tosh in particular gave an encouraging cheer.
Hearing her answer, the Sphinx's lips curled upward in a mysterious smile.
"I see, is that your final answer?"
Rosaline nodded, confident in her response.
"That answer is…."
The monster's eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam.
"Incorrect!"
The Sphinx moved with an insane speed, her right paw darting out towards Rosaline faster than the naked eye could follow. Before any of the adventurers could react, Rosaline's left arm had been severed by the monster's razor sharp claws, causing a large amount of blood to come gushing out of the wound. Rosaline immediately collapsed, her face full of pain and shock.
The rest of the group exploded into action. Saphira ran to Rosaline's and began stabilising her condition by using healing magic to stop the bleeding. Neia drew her bow at the Sphinx, while Gagaran and Tosh charged at the monster, their eyes filled with a mixture of rage and fear.
Who would have thought that the seemingly calm and cheerful Sphinx would suddenly burst into action with such swift ferocity? The scariest aspect of it all was the monster's unparalleled speed, which even a group composed of adamantite level adventurers could not even begin to react to.
What if that Sphinx had aimed at my head instead of Rosaline's limb….
Before this chilling thought could fully take shape inside the adventurers' minds, the Sphinx's amber eyes glowed crimson, emanating a mysterious power. An invisible, crushing force descended upon Tosh, Hiro and Neia, abruptly stopping their movements and bringing them to their knees.
"Now, now. I did say that I was not planning on fighting you all. My role is simply to provide you with riddles. If you get it right, you get to pass. But if you get it wrong….well I'm afraid you'll just have to try again."
The Sphinx gave an apologetic smile, but this time, the adventurers could sense an inhuman slyness lurking beneath that gorgeous face.
Saphira shivered in fear as she looked at the Sphinx's beaming face, and then at the helpless, crumpled bodies of Gagaran, Neia and Tosh. This monster was far scarier than any of the mindless beasts they had encountered in the past.
"Unfortunately, the young girl over there did not quite answer the question correctly. As you can all see, she only has one arm and two legs, so how could she possibly walk with four legs in the morning and three in the afternoon?"
Tosh gritted his teeth in anger.
"But her answer was 'human being.' You severing her limbs doesn't make the riddle any less applicable to the human race."
Once again, the Sphinx gave an innocent smile.
"Ah, but I've been cooped up here all this time. I might have forgotten what a human looks like. That young lady over there was kind enough to use herself as an example, but I'm afraid her one-armed self doesn't quite match the description given by the riddle, wouldn't you agree? Besides, I said morning, afternoon and night. Who said anything about infancy, adulthood and old age? That's quite the stretch, no?"
Tosh and Gagaran gritted their teeth in anger and frustration. Neia's expression remained cold, deep in thought.
There has to be a key to solving this riddle. We clearly can't beat this thing in an actual fight, and there's no using logic to talk our way out of this with this unreasonable creature. So what's the catch?
But before Neia could come up with a solution, Rosaline's determined voice came out from behind her once more.
"The answer is….me."
Neia, Gagaran and Saphira looked at Rosaline with a dumbfounded expression on their faces.
Uh, miss? This isn't exactly a great time to be messing around. Are you really that eager to have another limb torn off?
Only Tosh had some inkling of what Rosaline was trying to say. A complicated expression appeared on his face.
Rosaline.…
The Sphinx turned her gaze to the leader of the Eight Ripples, an amused look on her face.
"Is that so? Do explain your reasoning."
"Cut the crap, I'm sure you can already tell what I am. This riddle was meant for me, wasn't it? I am forced to transform every night from 11pm to 5am."
"At the start of today, 12am in the morning, I was shambling around as a beast in confinement on all fours. After 5am, I transformed back to human and walked on 2 legs. That is technically still morning, but you never said that the object of the riddle ONLY walked on 4 legs in the morning, so the point still stands. From 12pm to 11pm, I walk on two legs."
The Sphinx smiled lazily, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Rosaline's assessment.
"And three legs at night?"
Rosaline gritted her teeth as she looked at the bloody stump where her left arm was once attached.
"You said that you would provide a clue after every failure. You tearing my arm off was the clue. Tonight, I will change into my wolf form with one limb missing. I will walk with three legs at night. Happy?"
The Sphinx simply smiled and said nothing, as if waiting for something.
Indeed, Neia finally could not resist and voiced aloud the concern she had been holding back for quite some time.
"What is the point of this encounter? Isn't the objective of the Master Dungeon to raise the power levels of the adventurers? To correct our sin of weakness in order to make us worthy to serve under His Majesty? What is the purpose of this riddle? It did nothing to test our combat ability or cooperative ability."
The Sphinx gave a meaningful nod, as if anticipating the question. However, instead of immediately responding, the creature turned around and prowled over to the massive statue at the back of the chamber, looking up at it as she finally began to speak. The casual smile on her face slowly disappeared, giving way to a sharp and serious expression.
"Do you know where this statue comes from? In a certain society beyond your realm of familiarity, the being depicted here represents the divine manifestation of wisdom. It was worshipped by countless humans who sought knowledge and insight above all else."
"As one of you have already mentioned, weakness is a sin. And the humans in this world are insufferably weak. Small and fragile, full of petty and pointless thoughts that render your lot inefficient and laughably predictable. Of course, Ainz-sama understands this already. He understands humans far better than humans understand themselves, and that is part of the reason you are all here today."
"Weakness is indeed a sin, but you have a misguided way of rectifying your inborn deficiencies. How laughable it is for you to rush in headstrong in hopes to overcome your challenges with sheer willpower and fighting ability. I'm sure you have all just felt the impossible difference in our abilities. I could kill you all with the bat of an eye and it would take no more effort than it would to swat a fly. That gap in raw power is not something one can simply overcome with time."
"To overcome the inherent sin of weakness, humans must seek to turn weakness itself into power! You must embrace that very sin to fuel the machinations that will carve history into stone and turn beggars into kings! The strength you seek comes not from some external compensation to your weakness but from weakness itself. This encounter serves to teach you that very lesson. You lack the power to crush me as I stand in your way, thus you grit your teeth and make the sacrifices necessary in order to secure each step towards victory. You absorb humiliation and injury and learn to use those sacrifices to your advantage."
"Problem solving is the quintessential quality of a true adventurer. It is the defining essence of the individual His Majesty is looking for to fill the ranks of his new vision of the adventurer's guild. If Ainz-sama merely wanted mindless brutes that could force their way through the unexplored lands of the world, he could just summon more undead. No, the adventurer Ainz-sama wants to see in his reformed guild is one capable of transforming danger into opportunity, one that can fuse the thirst for adventure into the very identity of the human race."
The Sphinx nudged her head at the massive bird headed statue.
"Look to the Sorcerer King as countless humans once did in worship to this god of wisdom! He will be the one to bring the world to a new age of glory and enlightenment, for a true god of wisdom has descended upon this mortal realm."
As the Sphinx finished speaking, a large gate appeared between the feet of the giant statue at the bottom of the statue, and an elder lich leading a team of human sorcerers stepped out. The lich gestured courteously to the adventurers, inviting them to enter.
"You may leave. The dungeon staff will repair your missing arm. Whether you are three legged or four legged tonight is no longer of any consequence. My task here is done."
Still deep in thought after hearing the Sphinx's words, Neia and the others slowly trudged towards the gate and disappeared one by one into the darkness, the lich and its team quickly following suit.
A thoughtful expression on her face, the Sphinx watched the gate close completely before activating a [Message] spell.
"Demiurge-sama, I have done as you've requested. Everything proceeded as expected."
As some of you might have noticed, there are quite a few references and easter eggs scattered throughout the story in the form of character names, abilities, mechanics etc. If you happen to spot any of the references, do share your findings in the reviews! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Maybe I can bring Sphinx-chan out again sometime in the future.