Mordred flew south and quickly reached the sea.
After that, he continued flying south along the coastline, gradually adjusting his course.
On the way, he had to lower his altitude to better see where they were. He stayed like that.
Unlike normal planes, they experienced no wind resistance, so it seemed that it wasn't more beneficial for them to fly any higher.
Because Hitogami already knew about them, Mordred didn't care about being seen by others either and even hoped that Orsted would take interest in him.
In less than an hour, the two of them passed by what should be the Kingdom of Sanakia and reached the Kingdragon Kingdom.
Mordred adjusted his course and flew south-west, reaching the Dragon Emperor Peak and using it as a landmark to help him adjust his course.
From that point, he decided to go straight south to reach the edge of the Begaritt continent and not waste his time searching his way in a random place on the continent.
They passed over the Kingdragon Mountain range, passed over a dense forest and then passed over the sea.
Eventually, they reached the dry and desert-like lands of the other continent.
Because of the scorching sun and the heat from it, Mordred slightly loosened Invisible Air, causing them to experience a refreshing cold wind while flying as if from an Air Conditioner.
They went further straight south until they quickly reached the other edge of this narrow part of the Begaritt continent. Mordred looked at the continental map again and flew straight west.
At one point he began to search for a village to ask for directions, then resumed flying.
As the two flew, they eventually noticed a giant white skeleton piercing out of the sand dunes.
"Warrior Mordred, what is this?" Valeria looked amazed.
Mordred faintly smiled. "It must be the skeleton of a behemoth."
"A behemoth?"
"Yes. Long ago North God Kalman the Second slayed a huge behemoth on the Begaritt Continent. By devouring its body, the monster population around here grew, mainly the population of Phalanx Ant. The ants created numerous tunnels which later turned into many Labyrinths. The Labyrinth City of Rapan was later founded inside the ribcage of that behemoth."
"Oooh... That's amazing. Warrior Mordred, you are well learned."
Mordred didn't say anything. He had naturally studied many subjects as a kid, and especially anything related to canon.
After they landed near Rapan, they now clearly felt just how hot it was there. It was a desert, without a doubt.
Valeria was awed. "We traveled to the other edge of the world in just a few hours. Warrior Mordred, your methods are incredible."
Mordred smiled. "Yeah. It's the first time I flew at my maximum speed. It took us just around 2 hours to get here."
Because of the course corrections that they had to make on the way and the stop at an oasis village for directions, it took them around 2 hours to reach Rapan from the Superd village all the way north.
Considering that just to cross the Central Continent, it takes a year with a caravan, it was something amazing.
If they flew in a straight line, it would take less than an hour. And if Mordred accelerated even more, which he could, even less than that.
"Now we first have to resupply in Rapan and gather intel on the Labyrinth. Put on something to hide your hair."
As far as he remembered, the Superds were still a cursed race. If he appeared in the city with Valeria, it would frighten people and cause a commotion
They had the strength to not be stopped, but there was no need to look for trouble and spread rumors of the Superd race, which Hitogami might use.
"Got it."
Valeria wrapped a shawl around her head, hiding her green hair and the red gem on her forehead.
"Warrior Mordred, is that enough? My skin is still different. Won't anyone investigate me?"
"It's enough. There are all kinds of people and demons in this world. And I don't think Begaritt would have such strict security."
"Got it."
Mordred picked up Valeria again and flew straight into Rapan.
The two flew down in between the behemoth's giant rib bones, then landed somewhere in the city's trading square, attracting the attention of everyone there.
Mordred didn't care.
Many people in the city wore turbans, so Valeria's wrapped up head did not stand out at all.
Mordred asked one of the merchants for the location of the Adventurers' Guild. It seemed like a good place to begin without wasting time.
Such a big town should have an Adventurers' Guild.
He then came up to a clerk and placed a gold coin on the counter. "I want information on the Teleportation Labyrinth. And I also need someone skilled in managing supplies, mapping and other logistical work. A thief."
As it turned out, there was no problem getting this kind of thing done through Adventurers' guild. After taking out one more gold coin, he received a thin book that summarizes all the gathered information on the Teleportation Labyrinth.
Mordred then said that his team has a Sword King level warrior and a powerful magician. And that he wanted to meet the thief instantly.
"Hey, you guys!" Someone approached them, speaking in the Fighting God Language.
It was a rough and shady-looking 30-year-old man with a red bandana.
He then pointed at himself. "I am the thief you're looking for!"
Hearing this, Mordred became interested.
The man then said, "You just wasted a gold coin. All that you'll get here is common information that I know by heart."
"I don't care. It will still be useful to read through it."
"You don't care, you say? You carry an expensive-looking staff. It seems you're rich. Are you the Magician on your team?"
"... I am."
"Are you a Halfling?" The thief asked.
"Yeah…"
The thief narrowed his eyes. He then looked at Valeria. "And is that the King ranked warrior you mentioned?"
"Yes. The two of us are enough to clear the entire Teleportation Labyrinth. We only need someone good at navigation."
The shady-man frowned. It seemed that he expected their team to have more people than just the two of them, like a normal person would.
Mordred also stared back. He asked, "Do you know Hitogami?"
The man looked dumbfounded. "Hitogami? Who's that?"
From this honest reaction of confusion, Mordred felt this guy shouldn't be Hitogami's pawn but just a random adventurer.
Additionally, the chance that Mordred would die here in this Labyrinth was low, further lowering the chance of this thief being an apostle. He was sent here probably just to waste his time.
Mordred turned toward the clerk. He took out another gold coin and placed it on the table, asking, "Is this guy any good as a thief?"
"Ah, well, yes. He's one of the more experienced B-rank adventurers."
The man protested. "Hey, hey! I didn't say I'll go with you! I won't go with some shady outsiders, no way!"
Mordred slowly formed a smile. "Oh, but you are."
Bam!
A tight powerful slap landed on the thief's cheek, making him spin round round and stagger on his feet.
Valeria immediately became alarmed and readied her spear.
"You hit me!" The thief looked down at Mordred with disbelief. "Brat, you're seeking death!"
The enraged man charged at him with his fists.
Mordred looked at him calmly, then blocked his wild punch with his palm.
After that, he sent out a low kick, breaking the man's leg at the knee.
"Aaaah!" The man collapsed to the ground with a pained scream.
Mordred stayed in place, looking down on him. He was in a hurry, so he planned to use force to recruit a thief anyway. It was necessary.
A number of Adventurers gathered around them, but no one took action yet.
The thief grabbed his broken leg, looked at Mordred hatefully and said, "Attacking others in the Adventurers' Guild is punished by the law! You won't get away with this!"
Mordred snickered and told him, "Even if I kill you here, no one in this city can punish me. Believe me."
As he spoke, he released an aura of thick killing intent that made the man tremble in fear as he was stared at.
Emitting bloodlust was also a kind of Battle Aura technique, a method of 'reinforcing' one's killing intent to the point it affects other people.
"Stop this!" At that moment a large man intervened, along with a fairly muscular woman in a skimpy outfit.
Mordred turned his head. He guessed that these two were the guild's bodyguards.
Meanwhile, Valeria pointed her spear at the two with a cold look. She didn't understand the situation, but it seemed she was prepared for a fight.
This made the two stop.
The male bodyguard said, "I don't know who you are, but I would like you to stop here."
After momentary silence, Mordred replied, "I'm taking this man with me. Do not get in my way."
"This…" As the bodyguard was coldly stared at by this child, for unknown reason he actually felt fear.
Mordred ignored the bodyguards while Valiera blocked them, squatted down and healed the thief's leg.
Within moments, the leg that was bent at a weird angle, straightened up.
The thief with red bandana looked at Mordred with disbelief.
Mordred turned to Valeria and told her in the Human Language, "Valeria, drag this man outside. We're leaving."
Valeria seemed to be hesitating, as if she was shaken by his sudden burst of violence, but then still said, "Understood."
She then grabbed the thief by the collar and carried him outside like he weighed nothing. Mordred left with her.
The two bodyguards stood in place and chose to not stop them.
Outside, Valeria still held the thief by the collar.
"Release him," said Mordred.
Valeria let go, throwing the thief to the ground.
The thief stared at them, frowning.
Mordred said, "Both of us have King rank level strength at least. We only need a thief to do the mapping. Right now you will begin gathering necessary supplies to clear the Teleportation Labyrinth. If we're not ready to go in half an hour's time, your body will be missing a limb. Or maybe something else, whatever you value less. Understood?!"
After hearing what was said, the thief's mouth repeatedly opened and closed like a goldfish, before he spat out, "G-got it, boss!"
Mordred faintly nodded.
The two then began to follow the thief as he began purchasing supplies at the market.
Valeria asked Mordred, "Warrior Mordred, who is that man? Why did you beat him up?"
Mordred looked at her. "He's our thief. And he doubted our strength, so I had to show it to him that he had no choice but to come with us."
"... Is it honorable to use force?"
"I don't care if it's honorable or not," said Mordred, gripping his fists. "Someone important to me could be in that labyrinth. There is no time to waste."
In truth, he himself was shocked that he was capable of using such casual and sudden violence.
It was just the thought that Eris or Hilda might be the one locked up in that Magic Crystal that made him use any means necessary to clear it before she turned into an idiot. If he didn't do everything he could, he would never forgive himself. He saw at a glance that the thief didn't want to go with just the two of them and would never go at such a short notice if he didn't convince him otherwise.
Valeria observed Mordred quietly, her expression curious.
The thief continued dragging them through the market while Mordred paid for the supplies in gold and stopped him from buying things that he could make with Magic.
At that time, Mordred finally ate something in a long while, filling his stomach.
Browsing through the stalls, he noticed many Magic Items being on sale. He wasn't that familiar with the prices, but if these items were brought to the Central Continents, they could probably be sold for a few times the price and one could make a fortune off of it!
In less than half an hour, the group had two large backpacks full of supplies that included a sleeping bag, a cooking pot and so on.
The thief said, "It's done! But boss! The Teleportation Labyrinth has 6 or 7 floors, it has never been conquered! The highest floor I've been to before is the 2nd floor. Boss said you're in a hurry, but you need to know it will take weeks to explore and clear the entire Labyrinth, if we're lucky…"
Mordred frowned. Weeks? He didn't have this kind of time. Is there no way they could brute force things?
In response, the thief showed a meek and scared smile.
Mordred said, "I get it. But we still have to try."
No matter what, he had to give things a try first. Perhaps with the use of Superd's radar, his Mana Sense or Hitogami's advice, they can somehow rush through the labyrinth.
Even if it wasn't possible to clear it quickly, he had to at least give the illusion of trying, since Hitogami was always watching, and he himself didn't have any other clues on anyone's whereabouts yet.
…
A journey to the Teleportation Labyrinth from Rapan usually took up to a day.
Mordred carried Valeria on his back, the thief in the front and brought both of them there in a matter of minutes.
The Labyrinth itself looked like an ant nest – a curving narrow underground tunnel with complicated passages and dead ends.
The first floor was infested with a huge quantity of spider monsters. The strongest among them were Tarantula Deathlords – large B-rank poisonous spiders that could shoot out webs and which set up ambushes.
Valeria happily rushed out and disposed of most of them. She thrust out and slashed out with her spear, looking excited to be able to fight something different from Invisible Wolves.
As Mordred previously estimated, she was around King rank physically. Her agility was her strongest point.
Although he judged Ghislaine would still defeat her in a fight.
Because of the fairly narrow passage, just Valeria alone was enough to kill any of the giant monsters they encountered on the way.
Mordred mostly stayed slightly in the back near the thief, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
The only time that he had to take action was when they'd enter a large room filled with more than twenty or thirty Tarantula Deathlords.
Each time it would consume a chunk of his Magic Power to rain down a massive area of effect Magic, but luckily his recovery was incredible, so overtime he recovered much more than he lost.
…
Several hours later, the group finally reached the room with a Teleportation Circle that led to the second floor.
Mordred realized that by then that his previous worries were correct.
The thief didn't lie to them. Clearing the Teleportation Labyrinth was a task that might take them weeks. No matter how strong he was, there was no way to rush through things.
Even if they could easily carve their way through with their strength, just passing through the first floor still took them several hours. And that was all thanks to the thief's guidance.
If not for the thief having experience navigating through the first floor, sometimes still hitting a dead end by mistake, it was unknown just how long it would take them to find the Teleportation Circle.
Apparently, it was still unknown just how far the first floor went, so if the thief didn't know where the room with the teleportation circle to the second floor was, they might have spent days wandering the place.
The first room of the second floor was apparently a safe area that the monsters wouldn't approach, making it a good place to set up a camp.
Although the man feared saying it, Mordred could guess that the thief wanted them to take a break there.
Mordred said, "It's almost midnight. We'll set up a camp here."
"Got it, boss!"
Mordred let out a sigh.
It was obvious that he couldn't clear the Labyrinth in a short period of time. Hitogami really sent him on a wild goose chase.
But it wasn't like he could not listen to Hitogami for the time being. For now, it was most ideal that he would pretend to listen to his advice, hoping to use it to find the lost people.
Mordred said, "I was exhausted after the Teleportation Incident, and then I had to fly all the way here. I'll go to sleep first."
"Got it!"
Mordred had Valeria stand the guard as he went to sleep first.
If Hitogami does not visit him again tonight to give more advice, he would come out and immediately rush into the royal palace of Wyvern, but he felt he would.