After walking for just under an hour, the view suddenly widened. The path broadened and the ceiling climbed higher.
Ruda wiped the sweat of exhaustion from her brow with the back of her hand and slowly looked around.
Setting aside the ceiling height, the passage was wide enough for several Wolf Knights to walk abreast.
Tino's breathing was calm. Her expression was hardly different from when they'd first entered the Treasure Hall, and her clothing was still tidy.
"The throne room should be around here soon. Before it became a Treasure Hall, this was the pack boss's room."
"A boss room, huh… Should we take a short break?"
Gregg scowled at Tino's words.
"Boss room" was Hunter terminology. It referred to the deepest part of a Treasure Hall — the place where especially powerful Phantoms were most likely to appear.
The Phantoms that spawned in a Treasure Hall weren't random.
Generally, the deeper you went into a Treasure Hall, where Mana Materials tended to accumulate, the stronger the Phantoms. In Treasure Halls of the "historical reflection" type, the locations where powerful Phantoms appeared were mostly predetermined.
For a castle-type, it was the throne room. For a tower-type, the top floor. For a ship-type, the captain's quarters.
In this case, it was the spot that had been the pack boss's room.
Of course, there was no guarantee a "boss" would actually be there, but it was best to stay on guard.
At Gregg's words, Tino checked on her companions.
Gilbert and Ruda. Then Gregg.
Their certified Levels were 3 for Ruda and 4 for the others — each a mid-rank Hunter.
At Level 3, their physical abilities had been substantially reinforced by Mana Materials.
Every battle since entering the Treasure Hall had demanded constant vigilance. None of it could be taken lightly.
But while fatigue was visible on Gilbert's and Ruda's faces, neither looked like they were about to collapse.
Gilbert understood what her gaze meant and clenched his fist firmly.
"I've still got plenty left in me."
"Me too… Well, another couple of fights shouldn't be a problem."
There was no such thing as a safe place inside a Treasure Hall.
If they had someone who could erect a barrier, they could secure a reasonable level of safety, but the current Party had no such convenient member. Besides, even if they stayed put, there was always a chance of being spotted by roaming Wolf Knights.
Resting in a dangerous zone like this wouldn't do much for one's peace of mind.
She made her decision in an instant.
Seek life in the midst of death. They should rest when they could, but the Party's condition wasn't bad. They should press their momentum and scope out the boss room first.
"Let's check the boss room, then decide. The rescue target should be somewhere close by. The faster we get them out, the better."
"All right, leader. Let's do this thing."
Gregg steadied his breathing and looked toward the boss room.
They moved along the edge of the passage toward the room, careful to keep their footsteps silent.
Visibility was far from ideal, but — likely placed by Hunters who'd been here before — luminous stones set a few meters apart provided a minimum of light.
About ten meters from the boss room, Tino stopped.
She closed her eyes and pressed her palm against the earthen wall. Focusing her hearing and sense of smell, she reached out for even the faintest trace of presence in the distance.
Cold air brushed her cheeks. The suppressed breathing of hidden companions, and a heartbeat.
After searching like that for a while, she finally let out a deep sigh.
"…Something's in there."
"Whoa. Could it be the rescue target?"
"Almost certainly the boss. Actually, the Master's commissions tend to have something big waiting."
"You're kidding…"
Gregg wore a bewildered expression, too shocked and too skeptical to know how to react.
The Phantoms that spawned in boss rooms were often one or two full ranks stronger than the cannon fodder.
Given the strength of the Wolf Knights they'd faced so far, it wasn't exactly an impossible fight, but it would still be reckless.
Normally, a reinforced variant — something like a Red Moon scaled up — should appear, but that probably wouldn't be the case this time.
A Treasure Hall where powerful Phantoms spawned that wouldn't drop Treasure Weapons. This was a place no one would normally want to visit.
"Shouldn't we just run?"
Gregg offered the suggestion tentatively. At his words, Tino's neat brows twisted slightly.
"You said the same thing at the start."
"…"
"But we've made it this far almost unscathed. The boss will be manageable too."
Gregg's stern face tightened as he silently chewed on Tino's words.
She had a point.
The Wolf Knights were noticeably stronger than the Phantoms Gregg typically encountered in the Treasure Halls he frequented.
For a Hunter, safety came first. The general rule was to only face Phantoms you could handle alone.
If he'd known from the start that White Wolf's Den would be like this, Gregg probably wouldn't have joined this Party.
After all, the pay was pitiful and the chances of getting a Treasure Weapon were slim — it was, in every sense of the word, volunteer work.
He'd joined out of curiosity because a member of the large Clan called "Beginning Footprint" was leading the commission, but otherwise he would likely have dismissed the whole thing with a laugh.
He stroked the hilt of the longsword at his hip. It wasn't exactly top quality, but he'd been using it for years, never once neglecting its care. His trusted blade.
"Gregg, you're far too cautious for someone who looks like that."
"!?"
At the unexpectedly blunt remark, Gregg was dumbfounded. Ruda and Gilbert also widened their eyes in surprise, watching the two of them.
Before them, Tino continued quietly.
"People don't grow on safe commissions. Gregg, you have more than enough skill as a Hunter. Being cautious is a good thing, and if all you want is to stay alive, the way you are now is perfectly fine. But sometimes you need to take risks."
"No, but… hey."
He faltered before Tino's words, even though she was a good deal younger. Because he felt she wasn't entirely wrong.
The casualty rate among Treasure Hunters was quite high, but the group that suffered the most deaths was newbies fresh out of the gate. The longer a Hunter's career, the lower their casualty rate tended to be.
One reason was increased ability, but the biggest factor was improved crisis management — the tendency to stop taking unnecessary risks.
They stopped taking risks. They stopped challenging opponents where even a slim chance of defeat existed. The more fellow Hunters you'd watched die, the more this tendency set in.
That was why, when you thought about why so many long-time Hunters lingered at Level 3, the rare few like Gilbert who rocketed to Level 4 in the blink of an eye stood out all the more.
Certainly, absorbing Mana Materials made Hunters stronger, but it did nothing for the mind.
The bulk of Hunters were at mid-rank Level 3 or below. Raising your certified Level required earning achievement points, and those points could only accumulate by conquering Treasure Halls suited to your current Level — which made them tedious to grind.
And once you hit Level 3, you could live comfortably enough just by clearing below-level Treasure Halls. This only worsened the distribution imbalance.
Gregg was Level 4. He'd surpassed what was considered mid-rank, but his Level hadn't budged in ages.
If he said that fact hadn't been weighing on him, he'd be lying.
Tino fixed Gregg with her clear, dark eyes.
"Gregg — with your years of experience as a Hunter, the reason you visited 'Beginning Footprint' must have included a desire to do something about it."
"That's…"
Tino's words struck home. Not knowing what to say, Gregg could only bite his lip.
The passion he'd felt the moment he became a Hunter had faded long ago.
When was the last time he'd set foot in a Treasure Hall with Phantoms this powerful? He furrowed his brow, trying to remember, but the memory wouldn't come.
As Gregg remained silent, Tino said something unbelievable.
"The Master put you in this Party precisely for that reason."
"What!?"
"This commission was the perfect opportunity to break you out of your rut. Otherwise, there would have been no need to invite someone she'd only briefly met at the recruitment venue. The Master was trying to save everyone. In other words, the Master is God."
"That… I mean…"
She was right.
Gregg swallowed at Tino's words.
It really was inexplicable. Why had he, of all people, caught the eye of Thousand Transformations?
His exchange with Klye at the recruitment venue had been brief. And not exactly pleasant, either. Ruda being called over was somewhat understandable, but himself — that made no sense whatsoever.
When Tino had come to fetch him, he'd genuinely thought she had the wrong person.
Stunned, Gregg looked around and found the other two wearing similar expressions. Tino, surveying them all equally, let out an exasperated voice.
"Did you seriously think the Master just grabbed people from wherever? The Master doesn't do that kind of hotpot-in-the-dark nonsense. Everything is the product of divine strategy and ghostly scheming — meticulous calculation. In other words, the Master is God."
Tino spoke with conviction. In disbelief, Gregg looked to Gilbert.
But setting aside whether she was literally God, the content of her argument was convincing.
The only problem was that the Klye Andrich he'd actually met didn't match the image of the Master Tino was describing.
Thousand Transformations. The epithet attached to that young man flickered through his mind, and Gregg shivered.
Ruda tentatively raised her hand.
"Um… so, why was I called?"
Tino thought for a moment, then looked over Ruda's entire body with a deeply displeased expression.
Her gaze lingered on Ruda's chest — which was considerably more developed than her own. They were both wearing leather jackets, yet Ruda's seemed to have an entirely different design.
At this sight, Tino's expression grew more severe than when she'd been facing Phantoms.
When the Master had introduced Ruda to Tino, she'd said something about someone wanting to go to White Wolf's Den, but that was obviously a bluff.
You couldn't allow such a flippant reason when choosing members for a life-or-death Party. And if that were the real explanation, then the Master's follow-up line — "The rest can be Gilbert-kun and Gregg-san, right?" — which was absurdly casual, would also have to be true.
There was no way their dear Mastaa would do such a thing.
Ruda looked bewildered by Tino's sharp gaze. Tino was silent for a while, but as if unable to endure the scrutiny any longer, she muttered an answer.
"……I don't know. But probably because your chest is big. Mine will get bigger soon too. I'm different from big sister."
"Huh? W-wait, what did you just say?"
"Come on. Stop goofing around and let's take out the boss so we can finish this commission. I'll take the first strike."
"Wait!? Wh-what do you mean!?"
Turning away from the flustered Ruda, Tino took one step closer to the boss room.
Wolf Knights were large. Large, powerful, sturdy, quick, and unhesitating in their attacks — but their one weakness was agility, and they fell well short of Tino in that regard.
Tino's master, Liliz Smart, was a Thief just like her. As such, her training had been focused in that direction.
Having been pummeled time and again by those far faster than herself, Tino's dynamic vision could track every movement of a Wolf Knight with perfect clarity. Compared to the speed of the opponents she'd trained against, their motions were practically in slow motion.
Even if the enemy's rank was one or two tiers above her, she could probably keep up with their movements.
The real question was whether she could score a wound on that thick, sturdy body covered in tough fur. The role of a Thief wasn't to defeat the Phantom outright.
"I think there's just one. Let's finish it before the other Phantoms show up."
At Tino's words, each of them assumed combat positions. Gregg drew his sword, and Gilbert raised the Purgatory Sword.
Ruda drew her short sword and stepped back a pace. Her role was perimeter watch and distraction. If an intruder appeared, she had to draw its attention and hold it in place.
Since they were individually outmatched, being flanked was the one thing they had to avoid at all costs. It was a critical role.
"Since we don't know what kind of opponent it is, shouldn't I go in first?"
Gilbert suggested to Tino.
At his words, Tino took a deep breath and allowed herself a faint smile.
"No problem. Big sister told me — the first strike is the flourish. No matter what, I'm taking it."
"The first strike is — it's just dangerous, isn't it? It's not like landing the first hit changes anything."
Tino stretched her limbs taut, loosening her muscles. After checking her condition, she gave one firm nod.
"I am — a Hunter."
She broke into a sprint toward the boss room.
§ The boss room was a spacious chamber over ten meters in both length and width. Besides the passage Tino had entered from, narrow corridors connected on both sides.
The ceiling was far higher than in the corridors — roughly twice the height of a Wolf Knight.
Had they descended that far underground without noticing? The thought flickered across her mind.
But even that vast space seemed cramped compared to the colossal shadow standing at the room's center.
It was a wolf.
A werewolf the size of Tino's entire body, wielding a massive crimson battle axe.
Its full length was about two sizes larger than the Wolf Knights they'd fought so far, and its entire body — save for the head — was encased in black plate armor.
The Wolf Knights' armor had been troublesome enough, but this wolf's equipment had virtually no gaps. Even the joints were fully guarded.
Not just its length — its width, too, dwarfed the already imposing Wolf Knights. Its sheer presence could only be described as towering.
And above all, this wolf was different from the blood-red wolves they'd encountered until now — its coloring was a chillingly beautiful lunar silver. White-silver fur. The left half of its savage face was covered by a human skull.
A grotesque visage that radiated hatred toward humanity.
The two ears atop its head twitched and trembled.
Despite the sudden intrusion, it showed no sign of panic. Eyes like Silver Moon itself fixed upon Tino with unhurried composure.
Killing intent pierced through Tino's entire body. The wolf howled.
That and Tino dashing past it happened almost simultaneously.
A wolf in full armor. She'd expected it, but this was the worst-case scenario.
Tino's boots had metal reinforced soles, but her kicks weren't strong enough to shatter metal, and there was a real risk of injuring her foot. Taking a wound to the leg here meant death.
At this size, even tripping it up was highly questionable. Her heart was squeezed tight by tension and, more than anything, exhilaration.
The axe came flying. A battle axe was inherently heavy, its center of gravity biased toward the head — a cumbersome weapon. But this wolf wielded it as casually as a stick.
The enormous blade — easily a meter across — would reduce her to pieces if it connected. She took a hard step forward and dodged. The axe head shattered the ground, and stone fragments screamed past where Tino had been standing.
Eyes of blood-red, radiating a miasma of thick, viscous resentment, tracked her.
The massive body wheeled around. A single step, taken solely to change direction, sent a tremor through the cavern.
Despite its enormous frame, there was not a trace of sluggishness in its movement.
— Strong. Running away was possible. The problem was that defeating it was nearly impossible.
Even Gilbert would struggle to take a direct hit from that heavy axe. And even the Purgatory Sword would have difficulty cutting through that armor.
She slashed at its armor — the leg — with her short sword as they crossed paths. The shrill ring of metal against metal echoed through the chamber, and a numbing shock lingered in her palm.
A shallow scratch marred the armor's surface, but the beast's stance didn't waver as though its roots had gone deep into the earth.
And above all, this wolf possessed intelligence.
Its eyes were soaked with loathing as they locked onto Tino, yet its guard was directed outward as well — covering the surroundings. This was different from every Wolf Knight they'd fought.
The remaining members rushed in from the entrance — from behind the boss — and froze at the sight of its imposing form.
If these were ordinary Wolf Knights, they would have attacked already. But Gilbert and the others understood.
That this wolf was fully guarding against a rear approach.
Gilbert and Gregg leveled their swords and quickly scattered to either side.
"What the hell is this thing!?"
"Damn it, I've never seen anything like this!"
Gilbert's eyes went wide as he watched the battle axe sweep up and down. Gregg scanned with sharp eyes, searching for a weakness.
Ruda stood at her planned position a short distance away, observing the creature's entire form while maintaining her watch.
The white-silver wolf was now surrounded by four hostiles, yet it showed no sign of agitation. One could even see the bearing of a sovereign.
— The head.
Tino reached her conclusion.
This boss was far more reinforced than a Wolf Knight, but like them, it didn't wear any covering on its head. Its weak point was probably the same.
The problem was that this boss's body was much larger than a Wolf Knight's. She'd need a significant running jump just to reach it, and she'd be completely vulnerable in the process.
Charging from behind, as before, probably wouldn't work either. She'd just be swatted aside.
Those eyes had already identified Gilbert, Gregg, Ruda, and Tino — and it was devoting the most vigilance to Tino.
"…What do we do?"
"Do we fall back?"
Fortunately, Gilbert, Gregg, and even Ruda had not been consumed by fear before this boss.
When she'd first laid eyes on them, they'd seemed like small fry, but she'd learned their mettle on the way here.
If they'd lacked nerve, they would have fled long before setting foot in the Treasure Hall.
If there was a chance of victory, it lay there.
This boss was a nearly insurmountable opponent for Tino alone. Not like the Wolf Knights, where she could improvise.
This was a trial. She understood it as she watched the wolf radiating a seething, boiling battle intent.
Klye Andrich gave life-or-death trials to promising members.
From the words once spoken by a member of the Mourning Specter, and from that epithet, it was called this: — The Thousand Trials.
It was the first step toward glory.
And Tino had to overcome it.
"Hold it for one hit. I'll figure something out."