The following day, Shins party was once again standing before the gate to the Castle of the Depths .

Id sure love to be done with this place today .

Thats right . Lets proceed while keeping time loss to a minimum .

Probably because of what happened the day before, Schnee looked less concerned and more eager .

All party members agreed with her; Filma and Shibaid looked in better shape than usual too .

. hey, Shin . Are you really sure that nothing happened yesterday, before I arrived?

I explained already, didnt I? That we might find something related to me .

But despite that, arent master and Filma acting kind of weird?

No, I dont think so . Really .

. very suspicious

Under Tieras inquisitive stare, Shin was in a cold sweat, trying his best to control his facial expressions .

He had already told Tiera about what Schnee had felt . He couldnt tell her, however, that he had also hugged Schnee and made her cry . Shin also wanted to forget about the fact that Filma and Shibaid had been watching .

Well, Im not going to ask anymorebut dont hide really important things from me, okay? I told you about my biggest secret after all .

I know, and I told you about the most important part . Theres something that Schnee seems to feel, but the others dont . I dont either . Can you feel something peculiar other than the miasma, Tiera?

With all the miasma, I feel that my other senses are dulled, butwell, now that you mention it, other than feeling worried, I feel liketheres something pulling me? Something like that, but just vaguely

Tiera spoke while looking at the miasma lightly swaying beyond the gate .

Shin trusted Tieras sharp senses, so he found her mention of feeling something pulling at her a bit strange .

Schnee feels like I might disappear, but you feel something pulling at you . Hmm

If Shin was the one being pulled, Schnees sensation would become more realistic, but Tiera said that she felt like she was the one being pulled .

Shin couldnt make anything of it yet .

Its pointless to simply worry about it here . Well know if we go .

Indeed, that is the only way .

Shin was deep in thought, his head cocked to one side, but Filma and Shibaid prodded him . Thinking about it wouldnt lead to any answers .

Right, well just go and see what happens .

Just like the day before, the group used theMiracle Drug of Holy Skiesand entered the castle .

Using the map, they proceeded quickly up to a certain point: then Shin and Schnee split up to explore and fill the remaining blank portions of the map, all the while maintaining communication via Mind Chat .

During the exploration of the dungeon, Schnee was the first one to notice something unusual .

There arent any Chimeras .

Rightwere already pretty far into the dungeon, this doesnt feel right .

I cant find any miasma-infected monsters either . With this much miasma filling the dungeon, its strange that the monsters are unaffected .

The group was already past the midpoint of the dungeon, but had not yet encountered any monsters possessed or infected by miasma: Shin couldnt rule it out as just their imagination anymore .

Except for the miasma hanging heavily throughout, the dungeon seemed absolutely normal .

I guess this is different than all the dungeons weve explored before . Could that also be the reason why Schnee and Tiera feel something out of the ordinary?

It could be . Trypophobias bizarre display too could have been the product of something other than miasma .

Even if affected by miasma, the Analysedisplay had never looked bugged before .

Shin thought that the transformation from a game into reality might be a reason for the strange behavior .

Judging from the condition of the dungeons monsters however, there was a considerable chance that something other than miasma lay in wait .

Did something like this happen before?

No, I cannot recall anything of the sort .

Shibaid shook his head in response to Filmas question .

Schnee, Tiera, and of course, Shin shook their heads as well .

I thought something had happened while I was sleeping, but it looks like thats not the case . Anyway, we can just go on and see, huh . Its starting to feel like going to face a boss weve never fought before .

Yeah, now that you mention it, thats it .

Filma shrugged and Shin agreed with her assessment . The current situation wasnt completely the same, but prior to facing a boss for the first time he would also think about how it would act or what type of enemy it would be . The only way to know was to fight .

Filmas conclusion was not far from the truth .

Lets go, we have to find the route to the boss chamber today .

The party advanced deeper in the dungeon . Now well past the middle point, they descended to what they supposed was the lower area of the dungeon if Shins memory was correct . They could not detect any changes in the monsters they encountered though .

Just like the upper and middle areas, miasma leaked from the walls and floor .

Shin and Schnee led, followed by the rest of the party . Progress was time consuming, but they were not hindered by obstacles like the Trypophobia .

After descending the stairs to yet another floor, Shins group faced a large, 5 mels tall, 4 mels wide door, intricately adorned with gorgeous, pompous decorations .

This isice?

The door, probably leading to Ishkars throne room, was covered by transparent crystal . Shin touched it warily and felt a cool sensation .

Should we try to melt it?

No, it already took plenty of time to arrive here . Lets go inside tomorrow .

Considering who they were going to face, Shin prioritized keeping everyones condition in top form .

The group teleported to the dungeons entrance with a crystal and rested in the magic-powered vessel . The next day, after making sure that no one was feeling unwell, they quickly navigated to the majestic door they had stopped at the day before .