Vol 1 Chapter 3: Into the Abyss  (Great Labyrinth Arc)

As I plummeted into the depths of the abyss, I twisted my body midair, directing Asterion toward my fall.

“Enchant! 【Lightblade】!”

Upon my chant, light enveloped Asterion’s blade, and from its tip, a radiant beam extended downward into the abyss.

Though it was merely light, it allowed me to gauge just how deep this chasm extended.

The Grimoire Great Labyrinth was said to have a hundred underground floors, but no matter how deep it was, a human could fall through it in the blink of an eye. Even though my body had been strengthened by Asterion’s power, falling from such a height would undoubtedly turn me into mincemeat.

In other words, I had to do something before I hit the bottom. For that, I needed to determine where this pit truly ended.

“Tch! That’s—!”

Far below, what appeared to be the lowest level reflected the light. The instant I saw it, I stabbed Asterion into the cliffside, pouring all my strength into slowing my descent.

I knew it was a desperate measure, but even if I couldn’t stop completely, reducing my falling speed would at least give me a chance at survival.

However, without an enchantment to reinforce it, Asterion failed to hold and was ripped free from the cliffside, sending me hurtling once more toward the abyss below.

I had managed to slow my fall somewhat, but even so, hitting the ground from such a height was certain death. I hadn’t expected that my inability to use other magic would leave me in such a dire position—I couldn’t even click my tongue in frustration before crashing into the bottom. Yet the impact was far less than I had anticipated.

Rather, although I felt pain, the sensation was…

“Puhah!”

Enduring the pain, I flailed about, desperately kicking my way upward. Everything around me was covered in water.

The light I had seen reflected earlier must have come from the water’s surface. Given how vast it appeared, this place was clearly an underground lake.

“…Did I really just get saved by sheer dumb luck?”

If this had been solid ground, I would have died for sure. Thinking that, I searched for land and spotted a faint glow in the distance.

Despite the pain wracking my body, I swam toward the light. Upon reaching its source, I saw that the glow emanated from a type of luminous moss spreading its radiance across the area.

“Shit… it hurts… and it’s freezing…”

Dragging myself onto solid ground, I finally let out a deep breath. The fall had left my entire body aching, and my head throbbed with dizziness. On top of that, I was completely drenched—but at least I was alive.

That being said, now that my mind had quite literally cooled down, I began to process everything that had just happened.

The hero I trusted had betrayed me. Worse, he was colluding with the Demon King.

My female mage companions had likely either been devoured by monsters or stripped of everything—even their dignity.

Sieg had called this a “scenario,” and no matter how I looked at it, everything had been orchestrated.

“The hero’s party challenges the Demon King, but they are overpowered, and only the hero escapes with his life.”

From the way Sieg had spoken, as well as the circumstances surrounding it, it was clear that this was the intended outcome.

Yet, I had no clue as to why.

However, if this truly was a predetermined “scenario,” then my survival must have been an irregularity—something that wasn’t supposed to happen. Sieg had even tried to kill me with Asterion.

In other words, I was the only one who knew the truth about the hero and the Demon King.

Staring up into the pitch-black void above—where Sieg and the Demon King were likely still lurking—I felt rage bubbling up within me.

I had been betrayed, nearly killed, and Asterion had almost been taken from me. No—perhaps they had chosen me as a Sword Saint from the start solely because they wanted Asterion.

Anger bred hatred, and hatred only fueled more anger.

The female mages, the people of the royal capital, and all of humankind had placed their hopes in the hero, believing that he would defeat the Demon King and bring peace to the world.

Even I wasn’t in the hero’s party solely to make a name for myself.
Even a small-town thug like me had a dream: to become the “Sword Saint of Hope”—wielding a radiant sword and slaying monsters.

I knew it was an unseemly, childish dream. Still, I wanted to become someone who could inspire hope in people.

It was a dream that began the moment I was entrusted with Asterion by someone.

So when I was chosen as Sword Saint and given the chance to fight alongside the hero, I’ll never forget the joy I felt—more than anyone else.

“…And that was all ruined by that bastard, huh?”

He trampled on both the people’s hope and my dream, and, believe it or not, even allied with the Demon King.
And I was used to steal Asterion from deep within the Grimoire Great Labyrinth, where no one would ever know.

“…I’m not here to whine about why I got stuck with this mess or what I did wrong…”

Stumbling to my feet despite my aching body, I pointed Asterion at Sieg high above and declared:

“Both you and the Demon King will pay for this…! I’ll claw my way back up and beat you both to a pulp…!”

This is the bottom of the Grimoire Great Labyrinth, deep in an unfathomable darkness, but I swear I will climb back up and let this emotion—forged from anger and hatred, my “desire for revenge”—run wild.

No, if I truly want to be a beacon of hope for the people, I can’t just leave those two be.

For that, I can’t afford to choose my methods, and it seems I have no luxury to be choosy.

“Grrrrrr!”

Whether they heard the sound of my fall into the underground lake or smelled it, more and more beast-like monsters began to gather.
Each one was a creature unlike any seen or heard of on the surface, brimming with formidable magical power.

“Quite an early welcome, huh?”

If such monsters were posted as a bounty by the Adventurer’s Guild, even the highest-level parties would hesitate. But I scoffed and readied Asterion.

“I’m determined to crush the Demon King and the hero! If you get in my way, I won’t show any mercy!!”

I discarded any notions of teamwork or fighting with the dignity expected of a Sword Saint.

After all, this is the bottom of the earth, completely deserted. The only ones present were monstrous creatures and me—alone.

Well, long story short,

“Enough of your manners!!”

Gripping the holy—no, demonic—sword Asterion, I charged into the horde of monsters.

The enchantments I wrapped around it were things like cursed black flames and mists imbued with the souls of the dead—so striking that if anyone saw them, they might mistake me for one of the demons.

But who cares? I had fallen as far as I could fall, and I swore to climb back up fueled by pure vengeance.

I would survive—even if it meant spilling my guts—and cut down both Sieg and the Demon King. And if I couldn’t kill them outright, I’d expose the truth and ruin them socially.

For that, even if it meant imbuing Asterion with a power that might be mocked as demonic, I’d carve my own path.

However, there was one thing that worried me.

I wondered if there might be some kind of stairs or something that would lead me to the upper levels.

I had fallen through a hole that seemed to have appeared by chance, and unlike the well-maintained corridors of the Grimoire Great Labyrinth I had been walking through, this was more like a cave.

“…There’s gotta be stairs, right…?”

At this point, it didn’t have to be something as convenient as stairs, but at least I hoped there would be walls I could climb.

After dispatching a good number of monsters, my immediate goal shifted to “exploring a path leading to the upper levels of the Grimoire Great Labyrinth.”