The trio swam through the crack carefully.

Thankfully, their time was peaceful… it could have been because the enemies that should have met them were already floating near the ceiling of the cavern, dead.

"As expected of Fenrir, your attack's range is no joke…"

"It's all thanks to Master. Without you releasing part of Gleipnir's seal, I wouldn't be able to do this kind of thing!"

It was so peaceful that they even had time to chat idly as they swam, gathering floating corpses and harvesting unique flora near the bottom. Of course, with their priority being to find an exit, they didn't dwell too much on gathering either.

With their speed, it took them about an hour to reach the other end of the meandering cavern.

And what welcomed them was—

"Is this… the Open Sea?" Axel gasped, shocked.

Although they should have been deep underground, no matter how he looked at it, they were seeing the ocean in front of them! Near the surface of the water, they could even see several corpses floating, with a few other fish eating the carcasses.

"Unbelievable…" Nina muttered, similarly shocked beyond words. "To think such a place existed under the Red Zone…!"

Only Fenrir was sensible enough to add, urging the two of them. "We should surface first. It's not decided that this is the exit yet."

"True…" Axel nodded. "Then, let's surface!"

As they swam up, exiting the crevice on the rocky "cliff," they were noticed by the monsters feasting ahead. Although smaller than the giant sharks, they were still big enough to swallow Fenrir and the others in one gulp… but their luck was just too bad.

"Scram!"

Fenrir waved her hand, causing the water to spin into a whirlpool, one that caught all the enemies at once. Although they should have been dragged into it by the powerful currents, the three remained safe thanks to Fenrir's sensible control.

They didn't even feel the slightest change, despite all the fish ahead turning into a bloody mess!

"Fenrir…"

Axel couldn't help but sigh.

"Do you expect us to swim out through there?" he asked.

"…Ah."

Only then did Fenrir realize her mistake. Due to the whirlpool, the surface was now a pool of blood!

"S-Sorry, Master! I'll fix it this instant!"

And so, she had to do extra work just to freeze and move away the bloody part, clearing a path for them to escape.

…

Minutes after surfacing and having dried their clothes off.

The trio began to scan the surroundings in wonder.

"What is this place…?"

They expected to come out into an open space, but after reaching the surface, they realized that they were still underground. Although the sky looked as bright as outside on a clear day, with or without the Magical Eye's effect.

It was a mystifying sight.

But that wasn't the main point.

Just ahead of where they surfaced, they could see a large manmade object—a signboard with writing on it, still legible despite it obviously existing for a long time, given the wear and tear along the edges.

"Let's see…"

Axel walked closer as Nina was dressing and began reading the content.

It was written in an unfamiliar script, but with Navi's help, he was able to read it like his mother tongue. Although it was quite long and convoluted, if summarized:

[

Challenger of the Lost System, welcome to the Hrimvalr's Labyrinth.

If you want to reach the truth, then climb all 100 floors with your companions.

A worthy reward awaits those who persevere.

]

It was roughly those three points.

"A hundred floors, huh…" Axel sighed, visibly pained. "I did realize we've come too deep, but to think we'd need to climb over a hundred floors to reach our destination…"

Right then, an idea crossed his mind. He turned to Fenrir with a bright smile and asked,

"Fenrir! If it's you, can't you just open a hole in the ceiling up to the surface?! After that, we can use that hole to escape!"

It was a shortcut only possible with the presence of the overpowered wolf, Fenrir! Doing that would save them tons of time, for sure!

However—

"Sorry, Master. I can't." Fenrir shook her head.

"Huh? Why…?"

Axel asked, confused and a bit angry.

"Please look at the ceiling," she continued, pointing up.

"That thing that looks like the sky above is called God's Mineral. It's something believed to be unbreakable, even for me at my maximum strength."

"…God's Mineral?"

Axel glanced up once more.

This time, his gaze changed from irritation and anger to greed.

"Then… wouldn't that fetch quite a price if sold…?"

"Huh?" Fenrir was shocked by the unexpected question, but still nodded. "Well… it is a rare mineral, so yes. It should be even more expensive than Mithril or Adamantite."

Axel recalled the fortress above, which would cost an astronomical amount to repair due to the material it needed. In short, this God's Mineral was even more expensive than that!

"Good! Then let's harvest it all~!"

Axel could tell that the ceiling was roughly forty meters away. It was high, but not something that would make him give up.

Without delay, his eyes locked onto the walls to the side, which were made of normal rock and dirt. He ran, reaching the wall in a few steps, and started climbing without hesitation—without even using a harness.

With his strength, he punched through the stone, creating improvised handholds, and scaled the wall like an enraged gecko.

Forty meters didn't even take a minute to reach.

The minerals were now within reach, looking like clear white or blue, glowing, crystal stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"Come here, my little money rocks~!"

After anchoring himself at the top edge, he tried to touch the God's Mineral, planning to place it into his inventory, when—

"…Eh?"

—he realized that he couldn't.

He tried to compromise and chip off a small section… but still failed.

"What the?!"

No matter how hard he tried, using swords, chisels, a large hammer, or even a grenade, nothing worked. The God's Mineral remained unharmed, without even a scratch.

"Master, I told you…" Fenrir's voice came from below, sounding exasperated. "God's Mineral is indestructible. You can't harvest it, much less break it apart…"

Axel realized how futile his actions were.

"…NO!"

However, at the same time, he refused to give up.

"If it can't be broken, then I'll just shove the entire thing into my inventory…!"

No—he really didn't know when to give up.

The entire ceiling, roughly a kilometer long on each side, was filled with God's Mineral. Axel knew it was far too large, no matter how he looked at it… But at the same time, he knew his inventory technically didn't have a size limit.

'As long as it's within range, I should be able to command it in…!'

With that thought, he stretched out his hand, grabbed the God's Mineral, and focused.

"GET IN…!!!"

Of course, nobody expected that his persistence, combined with his single-minded desire, would somehow call forth a miracle.

The next moment, the entire glowing ceiling—spanning nearly a kilometer on each side—flickered before disappearing.

Axel himself couldn't believe what had just happened.

Only after checking his inventory did he realize what he had done.

"I… succeeded…?"

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