--The waterway is covered with plants and trees and leads you to the back of the island.

　The island itself isn't much different from the normal terrain, and the further back you go, the more mountainous it becomes, but the waterway descends underground the closer you get to the back of the island.

　As a result, the left and right sides of the channel gradually become like sheer cliffs, and you end up walking through a narrow passage between the channel and the wall.

　The passage is so narrow that two people can't walk side by side, and the grass and moss are so wet and slippery that it takes a great deal of concentration just to walk down it.

'Are you okay?　I'm not sure I'd be able to pull you up if you fell.

　I look back at Travis who is walking behind me and call out to him.

　Travis's huge body is avenging him, making it difficult for him to pass through the narrow path, and because he's using up his magic power and waiting to recover, his legs aren't as strong as they usually are.

　It was fortunate that I was able to defeat that huge demonic beast with such a large amount of attrition, but it wasn't a burden that I could completely ignore.

　It wouldn't be better to be concerned about it just in case.

'As expected, don't worry about it. Even if you run out of magic, you still have some energy left.
I wish you could go to ......, but I'm getting to the end of the line.

　The end of the waterway was a serene and mysterious sight.

　A cylindrical vertical hole was dug deep into the center of the island.

　A series of water channels radiated into the hole in between the cliffs, and a large amount of water kept falling like a waterfall into a gaping hole in the center of the vertical hole.

　I looked up at the sky and saw that branches of plants and ivy were blocking the pit like a roof, and a faint glimmer of sunlight was pouring through the trees.

　While the party members were all gawking at each other, Hild muttered to himself, looking particularly fascinated.

''It looks like a temple in the woods ...... and the style of these pillars was built by the ...... high elves of an ancient magical civilization ......?　Or is it just a copycat ......?

　It's a perspective that goes beyond just being beautiful, a perspective that is typical of Hild, whose day job is to be a researcher.

　I've never heard of this dungeon having regular non-Dark Elves in it, but it wouldn't be particularly strange if the facility had already been set up during the initial dungeon building process.

　First, Alphasul created this 'Ark of the Elements', then the others created a copycat dungeon, and then the various races on the ground escaped to the dungeon afterwards, so it wouldn't be surprising if there were other races coming and going at the stage when this place was built.

'Hey, where's that bastard Ambrose?　You weren't here before us, were you?
'Here. You can't just wait around for me to do nothing.

　Garnett called out as he looked around, and soon after, Ambrose landed through a gap in the branches and leaves.

''I've just been searching the perimeter for them. However, you didn't have any tricks up your sleeve to the point of being uncanny. For the most part, the plan is to intercept any more than the demonic beasts (that one) only after they stepped into the third level.

　Ambrose threw Dagon's medallion at me as he said this.

　It was caught with one hand, and it was bent and lost its original form in a spectacular manner, and the intensity of the blow Travis had struck could be seen.

　It's not like the medallion itself was directly hit, it was just collateral damage where a part of the body was blown off, a solid block of metal is in this state.

　However, it was only physically distorted in shape, so if you apply the 【Restoration】 skill like this, it will be back to normal soon.

That's it. Well, Alexia. Do you think you can lower the ship from here?
Hmm ...... I've always thought of it as a river flowing into the ground, but it's definitely a waterfall of sorts. The size of the hole itself is just large enough to easily bring down the boat from earlier.

　Alexia kneeled on the edge of the large hole and began to take simple measurements and readings with the equipment she had brought with her.

　She then attached a luminous lighting arcane tool to the end of the rope, activated it, and lowered the rope to the bottom of the hole.

　The rope had a scale to measure its length, and by stopping the descent when the magic tool reached the water's surface and the light changed, it was possible to estimate the approximate length of the hole from its edge to the surface.

It's a bit of a waterfall, so the surface of the water is pretty rough. But with a crane this high, if we can use a crane big enough to fit in this square, I think we can bring it down to the surface with the size of the boat we just saw.
Are you sure?　Good for you.
'What happens from there, though, is unknown. If Sir Theodore was here, I'd have him pacing the air and scouting out ...... Even though it's a summoning system, I can't just let the ship jump into the bottom of the pit in a blitz. ......

　Alexia's mouth, which was puzzling over the plan to explore the uncharted territory, formed a somewhat joyful smile.

　It was like the joy of finally getting an opportunity to play an active role, and it was also like the fun of facing a mind-blowing and difficult task.

　I'm sure that Alexia's mind must have mobilized all of her knowledge and skills as a mechanical engineer and her experience as an adventurer to come up with a solution.

'For now, let's go take a look at the lower part of the hole with the rope descent, shall we? Luke-kun, I'd like to borrow your 'right eye' as well, so please follow me.
All right. Okay, I think we should each get a guard. Garnett and Chandler, can you do that for me?

　We'll be taking the two main forces with us at this point in time, but the people who remain on the ground will not be powerless.

　They'll be more than enough to keep us safe until we return.

All right!　Now let's take a peek at Agart Ram's front door, shall we!
It's probably just on the front porch, or at the other end of a large yard.

　The hole in front of me has channels running into it from all directions, but there is a good distance between the channels, so there is enough room for me to pull the rope down the wall.

　I tie the rope around my waist, secure the end of the rope firmly to the ground side, and start rappelling as I would if I were descending a cliff.

　Rappelling down beside a waterfall is an experience I've rarely had in my long career as an adventurer.

　Most of the time, I choose to stay away from the waterfall for safety reasons, so it's refreshing to descend so far down that I can reach out and touch the mass of water with my fingers.

'Hmmm, at least there's no foothold directly below the hole. I'm not sure which way the water is going to flow: ......

　Alexia secured the rope with one hand and a bracket, and with both feet on the wall, she slowly moved the palm-sized luminous mage with her free other arm.

　Chandler, who was accompanying her a few steps up, seemed uncomfortable with Alexia's bold move, but this much was a no-brainer for Alexia, who was an experienced adventurer.

'...... oops?　It's like there's a lateral hole in the hole near the surface of the water. The accumulated water would flow sideways from there. Hmmm ...... This is a good thing. If we can get the boat down to the bottom of the hole, we can navigate the underground channel the rest of the way......!