Inside the Valhalla Gate, in front of the Third Labyrinth’s teleportation portal.
Adventurers came and went in a steady stream, with quite a few people gathered around this massive alchemical device.
Just moments ago, the previously calm portal suddenly flashed with violent spatial fluctuations.
Two figures tumbled out of the void, crashing onto the hard floor.
The moment Gray woke up, he felt an excruciating pain throughout his entire body, as if every bone had been broken and reconnected.
He grimaced and opened his eyes, his mind still in a daze as it processed the bustling scene before him.
“…We’re back at the labyrinth entrance?”
He instinctively tried to push himself up, but felt a draft on his skin.
Looking down, His fine warrior’s light armor had vanished without a trace, leaving only his gray undershirt.
And right beside him, the golden-haired girl was curled up on the ground hugging her knees.
The nun’s robe he was familiar with was also gone.
Now Kars wore only a slightly thin beige shirt, and white lace pumpkin pants below.
Large patches of her fair, delicate skin were exposed to the air.
Her glossy thighs pressed tightly together, flushed with an enticing pink.
Gray’s drowsiness and pain instantly fled.
He quickly took off his own shirt to cover the girl, leaving himself only in a vest.
“Mr. Gray?”
Kars looked up, her delicate little face covered in dust, traces of tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes from the earlier gale.
She blinked dazedly, pretending she’d just woken up as well.
Then she looked down at her thin clothing and smiled awkwardly.
“So triggering the Sizhuan Crystal really does confiscate all your equipment.”
The girl sniffled, putting on a pitiful look, but inside she was screaming at Gray for that glance he’d just taken: ‘What are you looking at! You pervert! Never seen a beautiful girl in this little clothing before?’
“I’m sorry.”
Gray’s face flushed red as he lowered his head in shame.
“If I’d been more forceful about demanding a retreat, we wouldn’t have…”
He thought that after he’d passed out from the lingering effects of Ye Yin Liu’s Authority, they’d been attacked by other magic monsters in the labyrinth, triggering the Sizhuan Crystal’s forced teleportation and losing all their equipment.
He was used to this feeling from the year he’d spent fighting with Noctiluca, but this was definitely Kars’s first time.
He’d been a pretty terrible team member.
The first time he’d taken the Captain down into a labyrinth, the Captain had been snatched into a heterospace by the floor boss using a scroll.
He’d barely managed to tear open the space and rescue her, fortunately leaving no psychological shadow.
He’d just sworn to protect her, and the second time they went into a labyrinth, he couldn’t defeat the boss and they ended up being ejected.
His own equipment wasn’t a big deal—it had all been bought with church funds he’d basically gotten for free.
But Miss Kars’s Saintess Robe was her favorite and most precious outfit!
And that sword-spear was the weapon he’d seen her cherish most!
Seeing Gray’s regretful expression, like he’d committed some unforgivable sin, Kars let out a light laugh.
“It’s okay.”
She reached out and gently patted Gray’s head, her gaze so tender it reminded him of when they’d first met.
Back then, the girl had worn that same angelic smile, as if she represented the Goddess bringing salvation to all things in the world.
“As long as Mr. Gray is fine. You really scared me when you passed out back there. As for the equipment… out with the old, in with the new, right? That robe was nice to wear, but—”
‘Yeah right! If I want another one of those, I’ll have to go back to the Church! Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is for a member of the Demon Race to go to the Church? Give it back, give it back, give it back!’
Just as Kars was trying her best to play the role of the caring Loli Mother, a clamor of voices gradually rose around them.
“Hey, look! The golden-haired beauty priest and that black-haired male warrior—isn’t that the Black Crow Squad that went into the Third Labyrinth and started live-streaming?”
“Really? I thought something happened when the stream cut out. They actually came out in one piece?”
“Haha, looks like they triggered a forced ejection? With all their gear blown away like that, that’s rough.”
“I told you, no matter how strong the A-rank is, bringing just one E-level priest is asking for death. They got lucky to make it out alive. Bet they’ll kick that golden-haired vase out soon enough.”
The onlookers pointed and whispered, most of them gloating or mocking.
After all, in their eyes, getting ejected with nothing but basic clothing in less than half a day meant they’d achieved nothing noteworthy.
Large labyrinth expeditions took anywhere from three days to a whole month.
Hearing these harsh remarks, Gray’s expression darkened.
He didn’t mind being laughed at himself—when he was the Weakest Undefeated, he’d heard plenty of sarcastic remarks behind his back or to his face.
But he couldn’t stand these people mocking Kars.
“You bunch of—”
Just as Gray was about to stand up and retort, a soft little hand held him back.
“Mr. Gray,” Kars shook her head at him, a tolerant smile on her lips.
“No need to mind the barking of those dogs. I saw with my own eyes the heroic sight of Mr. Gray defeating that Great Demon.”
Before Gray could process what she meant by “defeating the Great Demon,” the teleportation portal behind them suddenly emitted a deep rumbling sound.
As the portal resonated, the entire corridor inside the Valhalla Gate began to tremble.
The Third Labyrinth’s portal, which had been glowing with a faint blue light, suddenly dimmed rapidly, as if its power had been cut off.
Then, under everyone’s horrified gaze, the surrounding alchemical teleportation device slowly closed, and several massive lock chain patterns emerged on its surface, symbols of a seal.
Complete silence fell over the scene.
Most adventurers present might have only seen this phenomenon in textbooks their entire lives.
The few with broader knowledge had seen it once before, on the Thirteenth Labyrinth’s portal not long ago.
It was the “Deadlock” state, which only appeared when the labyrinth’s core was destroyed and the Guardian Boss was completely eliminated.
A state of no further entry for walkthroughs.
“What’s happening?”
“Deadlocked!? Someone cleared the Third Labyrinth?!”
“That’s impossible. The Third Labyrinth is a place where even the Order of Holy Knights’ elite and Military Bureau Six returned in failure!”
Gasps of shock erupted from the crowd.
Gray was equally baffled.
‘What’s going on? I didn’t even destroy the Square Water Mirror’s main body in the end. How is the labyrinth deadlocked?’
‘Did that Mammon just run away like Noctiluca?’
Then, someone in the crowd pointed a trembling finger at the two members of the Black Crow Squad in front of the portal.
“Could it be… they’re the ones who defeated the Third Labyrinth’s Head?!”
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