Recaps

After Theron refused to leave the maze for treatment, Gauss returned to the mysterious space after exploration progress passed 10% and received an upgrade to his insect-related Talent. He discovered the new abilities of [Weaver's Mark] and left wondering how far he could develop them.

• Theron refused Gauss's suggestion that he leave the maze to seek treatment, and Gauss agreed to keep watch over him.
• Gauss noticed the maze exploration progress had risen to 10.22% and used the iron plate to return to the mysterious space.
• Gauss examined the insectoid statue and received the upgraded Blue Quality Racial Talent [Weaver's Mark].
• Gauss discovered that [Weaver's Mark] strengthened his insect control and mental links, while giving him new control over the shape of magic power.
• Gauss imagined using the Talent to create increasingly complex spells, then used the iron plate to leave the mysterious space.

Gauss led the Red Dragon Group onto the unexplored fifth floor of the Timbel Maze, where they fought slimes and learned that the Myconid Clan posed a greater threat. His survey revealed that the myconids were raising slimes, and a three-meter-tall Mushroom Man appeared to confirm it.

• Gauss opened the gate to the fifth floor and led the Red Dragon Group down into a damp cavern.
• Gauss used Bigby's Hand to crush the attacking slimes while the Red Dragon Group defeated the others, including the Slime Leader.
• Gauss established the cavern as a base camp and used Weaver's Mark to question insects about the fifth floor's creatures.
• Gauss learned that the floor was home to large slime and myconid populations, and recalled the myconids' regeneration, collective consciousness, and Spore Servants.
• Gauss and Shadow surveyed the area, where Gauss found slimes kept in enclosures and suspected the myconids were farming them.
• A three-meter-tall Mushroom Man emerged and fed dead leaves and weeds to the slimes in a pit.

Gauss and the Red Dragon Group exploited the myconids’ slime farms, killing thousands of slimes with Hefis’s Dragon Flame before a myconid force confronted them. After Gauss crushed the troops with Bigby’s Hand, the Myconid King and more myconids advanced toward the group.

• Gauss and Shadow watched myconids feed slimes, then returned to the Red Dragon Group’s cave and shared what they had learned about the Fifth Floor.
• Gauss used the Weaver’s Mark to find slime farms, and Hefis burned the slimes in the first cave while the group collected their hardened cores.
• Gauss led the Red Dragon Group through successive farms, using Hefis and the adventurers to kill nearly 3,500 slimes.
• Armed myconids and their Spore Servants blocked the group, so Gauss summoned Clay Goblins and fought alongside the Red Dragon Group.
• Gauss used Bigby’s Hand to crush the myconid troops, then learned that more myconids and the floor’s lord were approaching.

As adventurers rushed onto the 5th Floor, Gauss’s Red Dragon Group fought a coordinated horde of Myconids, Spore Servants, and Slimes. Gauss withdrew the weaker fighters and faced the arrival of a lord monster: an unexpectedly small, crystal-like blue Slime.

• Adventuring groups reached the 5th Floor and found that the areas around the Exit Camp had been cleared of monsters, prompting them to suspect Gauss had already found the floor’s lord.
• Gauss fought off waves of cooperating Myconids, Spore Servants, and Slimes while his kill count climbed past 63,000.
• Gauss ordered Luna to lead the lower-level fighters back toward camp, and Hefis cleared a safe route for their retreat.
• Gauss used Bigby’s Hand against the remaining monsters and improved the spell’s proficiency to level 3.
• Gauss detected a powerful approaching aura and saw a small, crystal-like blue Slime arrive as the lord monster.

Gauss fought the Slime Lord, a mysterious creature that could dissolve into Natural Magic Power and re-form to attack. He identified how its concealment worked and forced it to reveal a weakness before the Slime Lord introduced itself as Eden Graham Liddy.

• Gauss watched the Blue Slime appear and vanish, then used Bigby's Hand to attack it but failed to catch it.
• The Blue Slime struck from above, and Gauss hit it with Vampiric Touch, sending it into a rock wall where it redirected the impact.
• Gauss realized the Slime Lord used Elementalization to blend into Natural Magic Power and could be detected when magical effects disturbed that power.
• Gauss unleashed a torrent of Magic Missiles at the Slime Lord's hiding place, forcing it to flee the turbulent magic and revealing another weakness.
• The Slime Lord contacted Gauss telepathically, called him interesting, and began introducing itself as Eden Graham Liddy.

Gauss fought the Slime Lord on the fifth floor of the Timbel Maze, overcoming its concealment, regeneration, and clones with powerful magic and layered defenses. After Gauss destroyed several clones and weakened its main body, the Slime asked whether he intended to kill it, sounding strangely excited.

• Gauss tracked the Slime Lord with Magic Missiles, anchored its position with [Precision], and forced it out of the ambient magic.
• Gauss struck the Slime Lord with Dawn, nearly annihilating it, but escaped fragments regenerated by combining with Natural Magic Power.
• Gauss activated his Dragon Species Talent and survived the Slime Clones' piercing attacks behind Bigby's Hand and his layered defenses.
• Gauss cast several Dawns to destroy the exhausted clones, weakening the Slime Lord's main body.
• The Slime Lord asked Gauss whether he planned to kill it, and Gauss sensed eagerness in its voice.

Gauss fought Slime Eden, whose unusual abilities and comments helped him recognize and suppress his killing intent, before defeating it with a coordinated magical attack. The Monster Codex declared Eden a Demon King Seed and awarded Gauss the Demon King Slayer title, but Eden's voice returned, suggesting it had survived.

• Gauss attacked Eden, which swallowed Natural Magic Power, grew stronger, and used tentacles to repel Bigby's Hand.
• Eden warned Gauss that his obvious killing intent revealed his attacks, and Gauss learned to sense and reduce it.
• Gauss and Eden exchanged a prolonged series of magical attacks, with Eden displaying combat strength comparable to Gauss's.
• Gauss restrained Eden with Water Manipulation and struck it with Dawn; Eden dropped its defenses and appeared to be destroyed.
• The Monster Codex identified Eden as the King of the Born Slimes, a Demon King Seed Initial State, and awarded Gauss the Demon King Slayer title.
• As Gauss prepared to collect Eden's treasure chest, Eden spoke beside him and said Gauss had almost killed it.

Gauss learned that Eden was an immortal Demon King Seed whose repeated rebirths were eroding its memories and humanity, and promised to keep its secret. After the Red Dragon Group cleared the Fifth Floor, Gauss collected the rewards, gave Alya a high-grade magic stone, and considered how to prepare for stronger enemies as Eden found a way to rebirth beyond the floor.

• Eden told Gauss that it was a human soul reborn as a slime and a rare Demon King Seed, and that its immortality was slowly eroding its sanity and memories.
• Eden asked Gauss to keep its identity secret, and Gauss agreed.
• Gauss opened the Fifth Floor treasure chest, collected its rewards and an Opening Stone to the Sixth Floor, and watched the remaining monsters fall back against the adventurers.
• Gauss worried that powerful Demon King species could challenge him, resolved to improve his single-target spells, and learned that Eden might use him as a coordinate to escape the Fifth Floor.
• Gauss gave Alya a high-grade magic stone, and she happily accepted it.

Gauss convened the adventure group leaders to coordinate exploration of the Fifth Floor and arrange the sale of monster materials. The meeting ended with George Bell securing the materials and Gauss recommending Hailiel’s family merchant guild as a business partner.

• After Gauss invited the adventure group leaders to a meeting, George Bell prepared to attend and reflected on Gauss’s overwhelming strength.
• The leaders gathered at the Red Dragon Group’s camp, where Gauss greeted them and warmly reunited with George.
• Gauss opened the exploration meeting, with Ivan assisting him and the leaders discussing how to handle the monster materials.
• The adventure groups bid for the materials, and George Bell’s Iron Hand Brotherhood won with the highest offer.
• George asked Gauss for a merchant guild recommendation, and Gauss suggested Hailiel’s family’s Golden Beak Merchant Guild.

Gauss postponed opening Timbel's Sixth Floor and organized the adventurers' continued exploration of the Fifth Floor. He then trained Hefis, whose awakening revealed impressive magical ability, and prepared to teach it stronger spells.

• Gauss decided to let the adventurers rest and regroup on the Fifth Floor, informed them that the Sixth Floor would remain closed, and assigned exploration routes.
• Gauss learned that Hefis had fully awakened, gaining much greater command of Dragon Language and magic.
• Hefis cast a powerful Fire Bolt at Gauss, who praised its accuracy and strength.
• With Gauss's guidance, Hefis successfully cast Electric Claw and then conjured a stronger-than-usual Mage Hand without a ready-made spell model.
• Gauss recognized Hefis's hidden magical talent and planned to teach it higher-circle spells, especially fire magic.

Gauss taught Hefis magic, then led the Red Dragon Group across the Fifth Floor to Eden’s old lair. He opened Eden’s sealed entrance with its password and entered to search for the treasures left inside.

• Gauss ended Hefis’s lesson when her magic power ran low, and Hefis ate several cartloads of food while Gauss and Eden watched.
• Gauss and the Red Dragon Group set out to explore the Fifth Floor with Eden guiding them toward its former lair.
• Eden told Gauss that its old treasures should remain and shared its theory that the maze drew in creatures and valuables from the Prime Plane.
• Gauss reached Eden’s apparently abandoned lair and tested its powerful magical seal with a punch.
• Gauss imitated Eden’s entry password, opened the seal, and stepped inside.

Gauss led the Red Dragon Group in clearing nearby monster nests while training Hefis to use a wider range of spells. The chapter ended with Hefis mastering several new spells and keeping its private conversations with Gauss in Dragon language, unaware that a tiny slime had observed its softer side.

• Eden gave Gauss the treasures in its lair, and Alya transplanted Eden's Magic Plant seedlings into pots for her dream world.
• Gauss had Hefis rely on magic in combat, where it improved its fire spells while the Red Dragon Group fought the mushroom people.
• Gauss observed Theron's newly awakened Royal Family bloodline making him more aggressive in battle and strengthening his physical recovery.
• Gauss taught Hefis Grease and combined it with Burning Hands, then helped it master Comprehend Languages, Feather Fall, Shield, Mage Armor, and Cloudkill over the next two days.
• Hefis learned human Common Tongue but continued to speak privately with Gauss in Dragon language, unaware that a tiny slime had witnessed its affectionate behavior.

After receiving the 5th Ring spell Energy Drain, Gauss learned that Barry's Adventurer's Guild had summoned the adventurer groups to a meeting. He led the Red Dragon Group out of the Timbel Maze and returned to Barry, where the meeting awaited.

• Gauss received Energy Drain from his Monster Codex and tested the spell's dark-energy tentacles.
• George Bell and other group leaders told Gauss that Barry's Adventurer's Guild had invited every adventurer group to a meeting in Central City.
• Gauss decided to attend the meeting and brought the Red Dragon Group out of the maze, delighting the exhausted members and drawing envy from other adventurers.
• Gauss and several other groups traveled up through the maze and emerged into the sunlight.
• Gauss's party reached Barry, where Eden excitedly repeated the city's name.

Gauss settled into Barry while waiting for a major Adventurer's Guild meeting, then visited Hailiel and learned how her merchant guild had prospered through his support. He left her with a long-term order for magic clay as he prepared to strengthen his forces ahead of the meeting.

• Gauss and his companions spent two quiet days in Barry, where adventurers were gathering for a meeting called by the local guild.
• The Barry Adventurer's Guild sent Gauss a formal invitation to attend a special meeting and provided carriages for his group.
• Gauss visited Hailiel at her family home and saw how greatly his extraordinary strength and status had changed their relationship.
• Hailiel told Gauss that the Golden Beak Merchant Guild had opened several branches and gathered over two hundred kilograms of magic clay for him.
• Gauss told Hailiel to keep collecting magic clay, promising that his group would buy all she could obtain.

Gauss and his team attended a gathering of Barry’s military, guild, and civic leaders, where Matthias Monroe announced that the Green Dragon’s forces were massing near Cold Green Province. The news raised fears of a province-wide war and the possible emergence of a new Demon King.

• Gauss and his team traveled to Barry’s Adventurer’s Guild headquarters and saw the Mother Tree, Terra Hill.
• Bella escorted Gauss and his companions into the meeting, where high-ranking adventurers and representatives from across Barry had gathered.
• Gauss recognized Matthias Monroe, the guild president, as a level-15 paladin whose formidable power was concealed behind an ordinary appearance.
• Matthias Monroe reported that monsters throughout the Emerald Forest were mobilizing toward Cold Green Province and that the Green Dragon had not responded to attempts at contact.
• Matthias Monroe warned that war might be imminent, prompting attendees to consider whether the Green Dragon’s actions signaled a wider conflict and a new Demon King.

At an Adventurer's Guild briefing, Matthias Monroe revealed the Green Dragon Queen Aetheras's formidable army and century-old combat profile, prompting Gauss and the other adventurers to fear the coming war. Matthias reassured them that an epic-level powerhouse had reached Cold Green Province, though the identity and deployment remained confidential.

• Matthias Monroe showed intelligence images of the Green Dragon Army gathering in the Emerald Forest and warned that its disciplined forces far outmatched ordinary Demonic Beast tribes.
• Matthias presented the guild's century-old report on Aetheras, detailing her Emerald Kingdom domain, poisonous spores, and tactical fighting style.
• The adventurers recognized that the report had been written by Erich Xavier, the Weaver, and learned that he had died after Aetheras's poison damaged his foundation, though he had also seriously wounded her.
• Gauss considered the threat Aetheras posed and wondered whether the kingdom could send stronger fighters, while Matthias said an epic-level powerhouse had arrived in Cold Green Province.
• Matthias reassured the adventurers that Aetheras would not be assigned to their battlefield and that local forces would not have to face her directly.

Gauss was offered a confidential commission to infiltrate the Emerald Forest and kill the young dragons raised by the Green Dragon Queen Aetheras. After learning why his lack of a domain made him uniquely suited to the mission, he weighed the risks and heard that the Guild would provide a special barrier wonder.

• After the meeting, Bella stopped Gauss and brought him to Guildmaster Matthias Monroe for a private conversation.
• Monroe told Gauss that Plaeos had asked him to look after him and explained that he had a confidential commission for him to consider.
• Gauss read the commission to subjugate a dragon lair and learned that it targeted juvenile and young dragons raised by Aetheras, not the Green Dragon Queen herself.
• Gauss hesitated over the dangerous but lucrative mission, and Monroe explained that Gauss's extraordinary combat strength and lack of a domain made him better suited than stronger adventurers.
• Monroe said Gauss would strike the young dragons as the Green Dragon army approached the border and that the Guild would provide a wonder that could seal off the target area.

Gauss weighed whether to accept Matthias Monroe’s secret solo mission to scout the Demonic Beast rear and kill young dragons, then discussed the danger and his plans with the Red Dragon Group. As his companions insisted they would fight rather than wait safely, Gauss began to question his assumption that he alone should bear responsibility for their lives.

• Gauss considered the risks and benefits of Monroe’s commission, and Monroe promised to protect the Red Dragon Group if Gauss accepted it.
• Gauss left the guild and told his companions the mission was confidential, using a mental link so they could discuss it privately.
• Gauss refused Shadow’s offer to accompany him, explaining that he intended to undertake the dangerous mission alone and wanted to protect his teammates.
• Gauss told the group they could remain in the city while he carried out the mission, but Alya, Theron, and the others insisted they wanted to fight in the coming war.
• Gauss heard his companions’ resolve and realized he had presumed they needed to rely on him without considering what convictions drove them to adventure.

As Barry City prepared for an approaching war, Gauss's Red Dragon Group stockpiled supplies and strengthened its equipment while Gauss advanced his disguise and Clay Magic. In the Emerald Forest, Green Dragon Queen Aetheras reviewed intelligence on the Forest Capital and Cold Green Province as her disciplined monster armies advanced.

• Barry City increased patrols and military supplies as adventurers returned and residents began stockpiling necessities.
• Gauss ordered Ivan to expand the Red Dragon Group's reserves, while Albenna finished Soft Armor for the team and Gauss bought the Disguise Spell.
• Gauss improved his Clay Magic until his creatures could closely imitate living beings, and Hailiel supplied enough magical clay for nearly a hundred Clay Goblins.
• Aetheras's vast monster armies marched through the Emerald Forest as she prepared to attack human territory.
• Dragon Worship Cult followers presented Aetheras with detailed intelligence about the Forest Capital and Cold Green Province, which she studied with satisfaction.

As war with the Green Dragon Army approached, Gauss left the Forest Capital on a covert mission to assassinate young dragons. Disguised as a Goblin, he entered the Emerald Forest, while displaced villagers streamed south ahead of the coming battle.

• After receiving President Monroe’s approval and the Silent Birdcage, Gauss studied the scout handbook and prepared to travel south before the war began.
• Gauss assigned Alya, Luna, and Ivan responsibility for the Red Dragon Group and told them he expected to return within ten days.
• Gauss slipped out through a hidden gate, disguised himself as a middle-aged hunter, and traveled south with a convoy carrying villagers to safety.
• Seeing villagers abandon their homes and fields, Gauss understood how the approaching war was already devastating their lives.
• Near the Emerald Forest, Gauss transformed into a Goblin, ignored a group that tried to recruit him, and walked into the forest.

Gauss infiltrated the Green Dragon Queen’s army by disguising himself as a Goblin and cautiously moving through the Emerald Forest toward the dragon’s nest. After an elderly Goblin warned him about the coming battle, Gauss slipped away as the army’s assembly horn sounded.

• Gauss entered the Emerald Forest, sensed the Green Dragon Queen’s overwhelming aura, and avoided patrol routes while posing as a Goblin.
• Three Gnolls spotted Gauss but dismissed him as a lost Goblin, allowing him to continue deeper into the forest.
• Gauss hid in a Large Goblin camp when a wyvern arrived and accepted a rusted short knife from an elderly Goblin.
• The elderly Goblin advised Gauss to avoid the front lines and feign death during the coming battle, while confiding its fear of the war.
• Gauss left the camp to continue toward the dragon’s nest, and the elderly Goblin was stopped from following him when the assembly horn sounded.

Gauss reached the young dragon nest in the Emerald Forest and activated the Silent Birdcage, cutting the valley off from the outside. He faced four chromatic Dragons and used his Dragon language and Hefis’s appearance to make them believe he was a powerful metallic Dragon, while they warned him that the Green Dragon Queen Aetheras would retaliate.

• Gauss crossed the Green Dragon Army’s route in disguise and traveled toward the dragon nest using the Adventurer’s Guild map.
• Gauss waited for the Guild’s signal near the valley, then activated the ten-minute Silent Birdcage around the nest and nearby Gnoll tribes.
• Gauss used Any Door to evade the Gnolls and cross the valley’s barrier, where a black Dragon, a blue Dragon, and two green Dragons took flight.
• Gauss spoke fluent Dragon language and asked whether the four Dragons were the only ones there, prompting them to mistake him for a metallic Dragon.
• Gauss summoned Hefis, reinforcing the Dragons’ belief that he was a Dragon, and they invoked Aetheras’s protection to deter him.

Gauss and Hefis fought four young chromatic dragons, with Hefis taking on the black dragon while Gauss faced the other three. Gauss unleashed his Dragon-Ghost Pact and transformed into a humanoid form whose power drove back the dragons’ Dragon Might, leaving them shaken.

• The young chromatic dragons attacked Gauss, and he used Any Door to evade the black dragon’s corrosive breath.
• Gauss sent Hefis to fight the black dragon, and Hefis wounded it in midair and exchanged bites and taunts with it.
• Two green dragons spread toxic spores toward Gauss while the blue dragon prepared to stall him until reinforcements arrived.
• Gauss decided to use his combined Dragon Species and Second Order Ghost Transformation powers, which he had tested beforehand and knew he could not maintain indefinitely.
• As the spores approached, Gauss activated Dragon-Ghost Pact and changed into a powerful humanoid form, driving back the three dragons’ Dragon Might and unsettling them.

After forming the Dragon-Ghost Pact, Gauss used his enhanced magic to seize two green dragons with Bigby's Hand while fighting off the blue dragon's interference. He killed the first green dragon, gained the True Dragon Slayer title, and began absorbing its bloodline energy as the remaining dragons watched in shock.

• Gauss transformed after forming the Dragon-Ghost Pact and suppressed the dragons with his enhanced aura.
• Gauss trapped one young green dragon with Bigby's Hand, resisted the blue dragon's Enhanced Immobilization Spell, and continued crushing his captive.
• The blue dragon prepared a storm and tried to escape the Silent Birdcage while a female green dragon attacked Gauss with plants and claws.
• Gauss blasted apart the plants with Magic Missiles and caught the female green dragon with a second Bigby's Hand.
• The first green dragon died from its injuries, and Gauss received the True Dragon Slayer title as his Dragon Species Talent absorbed the dragon's bloodline energy.
• The remaining dragons reacted with shock and unease at their companion's death.

Gauss evaded the young blue dragon’s lightning domain by identifying a safe refuge inside the thunderclouds, then pressed his attack while Hefis and the summoned creatures overwhelmed the other dragons and their Gnoll servants. The blue dragon realized Gauss’s power was rising further, but two young dragons still needed to be defeated for him to strengthen his Dragon Species.

• The young blue dragon amplified its lightning magic and unleashed a domain that tracked Gauss, while Gauss’s Large Goblins attacked the Gnoll camp.
• Gauss drained the dead green dragon’s bloodline power, strengthened his Dragon Species, and turned his attention to the remaining dragons.
• Gauss recognized that the thunderclouds were safe from the domain’s lightning and flew into them, escaping the blue dragon’s tracking attacks.
• The blue dragon attacked Gauss with Lightning Sphere as he countered with Bigby’s Hand and Magic Missile, forcing the dragon to retreat.
• Hefis kept the black dragon in grave danger, the other female green dragon weakened inside Bigby’s Hand, and the blue dragon sensed Gauss’s power rising further.