Chapter 17 - Reliance

“Alina!” Renji yelled as he dropped his pack and broke into a sprint after her.

Alina began a quick incantation, firing an ice lance through the wyvern’s right wing. The creature shrieked and flapped harder, struggling to stay airborne. She cast again, blasting the damaged wing with frost.

The beast, now flapping only one wing, descended in a clumsy spin as it lost the battle to stay aloft. It released Alina’s pack several metres above the ground.

“No!” Renji yelled and sprinted toward her.
I have to get there in time.

A heat bloomed in his chest as magic essence surged through his veins and into his limbs. Time slowed. His senses sharpened—distant objects came into focus, and sounds became crystal clear. He didn’t realise it, but the strange surge was part of the gift from the Spirit of the Labyrinth.

What the hell? He didn’t question the phenomenon further. He leapt and caught Alina in his arms.

The magic-enhanced leap had carried him farther than expected. He landed hard on his side, using his body to shield her as they skidded to a stop.

Moments later, the wounded wyvern, unable to remain airborne, crashed to the ground several metres from them in a heap of leather wings and frost.

A sharp pain flared in Renji’s left flank, and he gritted his teeth.

Crap… I think I broke a rib.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, wincing.

“N-no. Thank you, Renji,” she said softly, then noticed his grimace. “You’re hurt!” she exclaimed, jumping up as she realised she had been sitting on top of him.

“We’ll deal with that later,” he muttered, pushing himself to stand while holding his left side. “We need to take care of that first,” he said, pointing at the crash-landed wyvern.

He scanned the area for his carbine, spotting it beside his pack, beyond the wyvern. The beast stirred and rose as the frost started to wear off.

Now that the creature was on the ground, the duo could return to their usual routine. Renji drew his sword as he approached the beast. Alina understood. She raised both hands, began an incantation, and fired a burst of frost. The wave struck the beast’s chest, frost creeping outward and slowing its movements. Renji dashed forward and beheaded the wyvern with a clean backhanded swing.

Another wyvern launched itself from the ceiling.

“Renji!” Alina cried out, pointing to the diving beast.

Renji dropped his sword, swiftly drew his sidearm, and fired—emptying the magazine at the beast. The 9mm rounds lacked the power to penetrate its scales, but the repeated impact and noise caused the wyvern to recoil and veer away, climbing back toward the ceiling.

We’re out in the open. We can’t stay here.

“Grab your stuff! We’ll make a run for it!” Renji barked, pointing to a cavern that led deeper into Floor Thirty-Eight.

Clenching his jaw against the pain, he ran for his carbine and backpack. Alina raced to recover her staff. The two bolted for the cavern entrance.

Renji arrived first but didn’t enter. He turned and raised his weapon, expecting the wyvern to attack again. As predicted, it swooped straight at Alina.

She turned and fired a blast of frost. The wyvern was barely in range, but it was enough to force it to swerve, avoiding the freezing blast.

This gave Renji a clear shot. He fired several bursts, landing solid hits. The beast stopped midair and hovered, confused by the suppressed gunfire slamming into its side.

“Come on!” he called, firing again and emptying the magazine, landing several more hits.

Last mag, he reminded himself as he slammed it home.

“Don’t stop!” he commanded as Alina approached. He fired another burst. Several shots struck the beast as it shrieked and dived after Alina.

Just as she reached him, he switched the carbine to full auto and emptied the rest of his ammunition at the oncoming beast.

Too wounded to control its flight, the wyvern’s momentum drove it forward.

Realising it was about to crash into them, he grabbed Alina’s arm and dashed into the cavern.

The pair dove forward as the wounded beast slammed into the entrance behind them, its momentum carrying it through. The narrow archway sheared off its left wing, and a trail of blood streaked the ground as its body skidded into the corridor.

The beast let out a stifled groan as Renji approached. He drew his sword and drove it into the skull of the dying creature.

Renji then dropped to the ground, limbs splayed. “I hate those things,” he muttered.

Alina, still gripping her staff, slumped and sat on the ground without thinking—legs folded beside her, shoulders trembling as the adrenaline drained away.

***

The pair found a safe room and settled by a fire, catching their breath after the ordeal.

Earlier, Renji had collected the hide and tailbone, just as Celia’s notes on the map had advised. He drank a healing potion for his ribs while Alina used some to treat the gashes left by the wyvern’s talons.

They lay in their bedrolls, positioned perpendicular to each other.

“Renji, thank you. You’re always saving me. I was the one who insisted on coming with you to help,” she said softly. “Feels like it’s been the other way around.”

Renji, hands behind his head, replied, “Of course I’m going to save you when you’re in trouble. You’d do the same for me if the situation was reversed. That’s what it means to have each other’s backs. You saved my life too, if you recall.”

She sat up and turned to face him. “That was because you saved me from the poisoned dagger…”

He cut her off. “Are you worried you’re holding me back? Don’t be. I’m glad you’re here—it makes fighting monsters so much easier. Part of my training was to always operate with two or more people. It’s comforting to have someone I trust watching my back.”

“It’s just that, before I joined you, I never had much battle experience. Frogs on Fourteen aside,” she countered.

“You’ve gotten a lot better. I used to worry about you when we first started out. Not so much anymore,” he reassured her.

“So don’t worry about it. I depend on you too,” he added. Sitting up, he reached over and gave her head a gentle pat.

The gesture caught her off guard, though she didn’t let it show. Her ears and cheeks, however, betrayed her and turned pink.

“Don’t treat me like a child,” she said, pouting as she lay back in her bedroll.

“I don’t,” Renji replied with a faint smirk.

Alina turned away from him. She found herself smiling on the inside, though she wasn’t sure why.

Renji lay back down, thinking about the incident when his physical abilities had been enhanced by magic. He held his hands in front of him and stared at them for a few seconds.

What happened then? My body felt light. I could see better, hear better. Everything slowed down. Was it the magic Celia mentioned?

***

The next morning, on Floor Thirty-Eight.

Renji and Alina were rested, fed, and preparing to continue their descent to Floor Forty.

Renji checked the empty HK416 carbine one last time, feeling the cold steel in his hands.

He exhaled slowly.
This weapon had been with him through raids, rescues, and firefights. Every scrape and dent carried a memory. It was his anchor, the one constant between chaos and silence.

He dug a shallow pit and laid the rifle inside as carefully as if setting down a fallen comrade. The earth swallowed it inch by inch until only the buttstock remained visible.

“So long, partner,” he murmured, pressing dirt over the last trace the weapon. When he was done, only a small mound of soil remained.

He rose, dusting his hands. Alina stood quietly nearby, watching without a word. She could see in his eyes that it wasn’t just a weapon he’d buried, but a piece of himself.

“Ready?” she asked gently.

Renji gave the mound one final look. “…Yeah. Let’s go.”