Just as the atmosphere reached a boiling point, Colin suddenly brightened up, sheathing the Sword of the Sanctuary once again. He then spread his arms wide and strode forward as if greeting an old friend.
This scene immediately stunned Liami and the others, leaving them unsure of how to react.
At that moment, a voice rang out from the opposite side—a voice everyone recognized very well.
“Thank goodness, you’re all okay!”
With those words, everyone completely lowered their guard. They had already identified who had arrived.
Larrian, seeing Colin and his group standing there unharmed, instantly removed her helmet and tossed it aside, running over joyfully. Midway, she noticed Colin reaching out his arms toward her and mirrored the gesture, preparing to embrace him.
But this left Colin momentarily stunned and a bit flustered. His instinct to spread his arms came from old habits, but he quickly realized this might not be appropriate now—especially considering Captain Larrian’s current condition…
Before Colin could figure out what to do, Larrian suddenly lunged into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Now, even if Colin didn’t want to hug back, he had no choice. He couldn’t very well spoil the moment, could he? He prided himself on not having that low of emotional intelligence.
Although Larrian initially wondered why Colin’s arms stopped halfway, she didn’t dwell on it. After all, compared to such details, the fact that Colin and the others were unharmed was what truly mattered.
As for why Larrian had thrown herself into Colin’s arms, the answer was simple. When she approached Colin, she realized that with her current height, a normal hug between them would look odd—like an older brother hugging a younger sister, despite her being the elder.
So, in that brief instant, Larrian’s surprisingly clever mind came up with a perfect solution. If a normal hug looked strange, then why not embrace him in a way that wasn’t normal?
Without hesitation, she leapt into Colin’s arms and held him firmly, leaving him no room to resist—he could only quietly let her hold him.
If an outsider unaware of the situation had seen this, they might have thought a daughter overly attached to her father was clinging to him, and the father looked helpless.
Luckily, no uninformed outsiders were present. The knights simply saw this as the captain’s excited reaction upon seeing her seniors unharmed.
To Liami and the others, it was just a warm, familial interaction. No one gave the scene any strange looks or thoughts.
Though Liami felt it was a bit odd inside, she chalked it up to the excitement of meeting the Pathfinding Knights and didn’t read into it further.
The only person who might have been harboring strange thoughts was the overly reserved Colin.
Realizing everyone else was acting as usual, Colin sheepishly reflected on himself. He hadn’t noticed that Larrian had quietly been sniffing his scent in his embrace—if he had seen that, he’d surely have been shocked.
Fortunately, Larrian snapped back to reality just in time, realizing how ridiculous her actions had been. She quickly stopped and jumped out of Colin’s arms.
After tidying her clothes and giving a feigned cough or two, Larrian returned to her usual demeanor.
Though Colin was a little puzzled by what his master had just done, seeing that she was ready to get down to business, he let it slide.
“Ahem, anyway, first tell me exactly what happened to you before this,” Larrian said, skipping the pleasantries. “I need to figure out what to do next.”
Seeing Larrian get straight to the point, Liami and the others didn’t bother with small talk and immediately recounted everything they had encountered after entering the labyrinth, down to every last detail.
With their report and Colin’s additions, Larrian fully understood the difficulties they were facing. Meanwhile, the knights remained on alert around them, ensuring a safe environment for their conversation.
“…So, in other words, the problem now is how to deal with that… what was it called? Ah! Right! The ‘Infinite Descender’! That’s the name, isn’t it? Anyway, as long as we take care of it, everything will be fine, right?”
Larrian cut straight to the chase, highlighting the biggest obstacle Colin and his group currently faced.
Seeing her blunt approach, Hephnie nodded in agreement.
“Captain is right. Our biggest issue now is exactly that. Since it’s a divine directive, we’d better resolve it quickly. Otherwise, something serious might happen.”
Hearing Hephnie’s words, Larrian’s expression turned grave. She lowered her head in deep thought, contemplating how to solve the problem.
Then suddenly, Larrian seemed to recall something and summoned a paladin, instructing her to bring out an item.
When the paladin produced it, Colin and the others got a clear look at the object Larrian had brought: it was a steel capsule-like artifact, palm-sized, with a color matching the surrounding walls. It was likely made from the same metal as the walls, but clearly combined with other metals, as its hardness far exceeded that of the surrounding stone. Everyone could also feel an almost magnetic pull from it, as if it wanted to absorb everything before it.
“What is this?” Lavinia asked first, while Hephnie, who should have spoken first, was stroking her chin, lost in thought.
“This is something we just obtained from this labyrinth, found in a concealed small room,” Larrian explained. “The room was very hidden, and we had to use a special method to find it. We thought you might have been trapped inside, so we did our best to open it. But inside, there was only a pedestal, and on it, this object. We don’t know what it’s for, but after hearing your story, I think it might be useful here.”
As Larrian finished, Hephnie slowly spoke: “Captain’s guess isn’t impossible. I can’t tell how to use this either, but knowledge often comes from practice. We should try it first and see if it works.”
At her words, everyone agreed. Rather than waste time overthinking, it was better to test it right away. Even if it proved useless, at least they would have ruled out one wrong option. Better than doing nothing and just waiting here.
Without hesitation, Larrian gathered the knights again, ready to enter through the small gap in the door alongside Colin and the others. Even if this item turned out useless, they could still consider a direct assault.
But just as Colin was about to lead the knights through the gap, the surroundings suddenly began to shake violently.