"Goliath"

The silence permeated the vast space, amplifying the fear brought by the darkness.

A faint phosphorescent light shone down from the ceiling, revealing a long and large hall to Leo.

That's right, it's a hall, not a cave.

Unlike the haphazardly shaped caves in the previous floors, this place is a flat rectangular prism with a large circular entrance. It is about two hundred meters long from here to the deepest part of the hall, about one hundred meters wide, and the ceiling is nearly twenty meters high, much larger than a football field.

If this is also a cave, then it is the largest cave Leo has ever seen. The walls, floor, and ceiling of this cave are all formed from rough rock blocks. Only the left wall is different. It looks as if someone has polished it. There are no bumps or gaps. It extends from the entrance of the cave to the deepest part. The entire wall is as smooth as a mirror. It looks a bit like a crystal-clear ice wall. It looks like an unnatural beauty.

Is that the Wall of Lamentation?

Leo ignored the small opening at the bottom of the deepest part of the cave, his gaze fixed on the crystal-clear wall.

The Wall of Lamentation, known as the final barrier of the 17th Floor, is named by adventurers who reached it and returned alive.

As we all know, most of the monsters in Dungeon are born from the walls. The walls of the Dungeon are like a mother's womb to the monsters, an eggshell from which life can hatch.

The same is true of the Wall of Lamentation; it will only give birth to a single monster.

Leo stared at it for a long time before taking a step forward like a warrior going into battle, slowly walking towards the wall.

Shortly after that, Ais, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya Viridis, and Lefiya arrived together.

They stood at the entrance of the large circular building, not entering the cave, but watching Leo's slowly receding figure, their playful expressions fading away.

"It's about to begin."

Tione crossed his arms, already in a spectator mode.

"Goliath, it seems like it's been a long time since I've chopped down that thing."

Tiona felt both anticipation and emotion.

"The production interval should be over by now, right?"

Lefiya Viridis then quietly asked Lefiya beside her.

"We've arrived," Lefiya replied in a low voice. "Mr. Leo seemed to have already confirmed with the guild yesterday that the last time Goliath, the floor master of the 17th Floor, was defeated was two weeks ago."

Goliath's birth interval was two weeks.

Since it was attacked two weeks ago, a new floor owner should be emerging soon.

"----It has already noticed Leo."

Ais, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke these words, causing everyone to hold their breath.

No one doubted Ais's words, because Ais was always like this, extremely sensitive to the existence and appearance of monsters. Even adventurers with exploration abilities sometimes couldn't detect the existence of monsters faster Ais, which made the women who had fought alongside Ais more than once have no doubt about her words.

The women all looked toward the Wall of Lamentation, as if they could already see the enormous creature about to be born opening its eyes prematurely, its gaze fixed on Leo as he approached.

But just as they were observing intently, a noise suddenly came from behind them.

"Looks like we're not too late."

When that calm, smiling voice rang out, Ais and the others were all stunned.

"Commander!"

Tione was the first to react, her voice instantly becoming cloyingly sweet, as if she were about to pounce on the person behind her.

"Lady Riveria!"

Lefiya Viridis also exclaimed in surprise.

"Gareth? And everyone else?"

Tiona also expressed surprise.

"You... why are you all here?"

Lefiya was completely taken aback.

Upon closer inspection, a large group of adventurers had somehow approached behind Ais and the others.

The three leading figures were Finn, Riveria, and Gareth. Finn was the one who had just spoken. Even Raul had come fully armed. Every single adventurer who appeared behind them was a member of the Loki Familia, which greatly surprised Ais and the others.

"What? Can't we old folks even come and take a look?"

Gareth stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

"----I've already tried to persuade them."

Riveria, clearly disapproving of the operation, sighed as she stood there.

"Miss Ais, Miss Tiona, Miss Tione," Raul said, scratching his head like a hardworking farmhand, chuckling sheepishly, "We're all very curious about Leo's upcoming battle, so we couldn't help but—"

The others also showed smiles, some avoided Ais and the others' gazes guiltily, while others had already turned their eyes to the hall.

They all came here one by one, eager to witness the battle, after learning that Leo planned to challenge the floor master to a duel.

As for why they knew about this—it can only be said that when many people know about something, it naturally ceases to be a secret.

When Tiona and the others discussed coming to watch the match, they didn't specifically look for a well-soundproofed, secluded place, and they didn't even control their volume. Tiona even jumped around excitedly, having a great time. It wasn't surprising that passersby overheard them, especially since they had all gathered in the courtyard that morning to wait for someone, a sight that was sure to attract a lot of attention.

And so, this is how things turned out.

Finn and his two companions only realized what was going on when they saw people leaving the base camp one after another, secretly following behind Leo and the others. By then, it was too late to stop them.

So the three of them decided to come along, just to avoid any trouble that might happen with so many people.

"Don't worry, there are people at home to look after things, and preparations for the expedition are almost complete. It's fine to relax a bit today." Finn smiled and said, "This is a rare opportunity, so let's see what amazing performance the future pillar of our clan will deliver."

Before the words had even fully landed, they were drowned out by a cold snort.

"It would be good enough if you didn't end up making a fool of yourself."

As soon as this sound appeared, the members of the Loki Familia all fell silent, no longer daring to speak.

Tiona, on the other hand, snapped out of her shock and glared at the other person.

"What are you doing here, you stinky wolf?"

Amidst Tiona's unfriendly words, the werewolf with lightning bolt tattoos on his face stepped out with his hands in his pockets, glanced at Leo who was walking towards the Wall of Lamentation, and then looked at Tiona expressionlessly.

"Let me see if this little punk, who dares to challenge the floor master alone at level 2, is truly capable or has just gotten too arrogant," Bete Loga said sarcastically. "If it comes to the point where we have to rescue him, it only proves that he's nothing after all, doesn't it?"

"Hmph, you stinky wolf, you're definitely up to no good. You're just here to laugh at Leo." Tiona retorted, hands on her hips. "At least Leo dared to come here and challenge the floor master when he was only level 2. You stinky wolf, you probably wouldn't even be able to handle a Minotaur when you were only level 2, would you?"

"Who can't handle a Minotaur?!" Bete Loga's lips twitched, veins popping on his forehead as he angrily said, "Those kinds of trash, I could take them down with a single kick when I was level 2!"

"Then I'll take them both with one punch!"

Tiona responded without backing down.

"Then I'll kick three of them at once!"

Without a second thought, Bete Loga choked out.

"I----"

Tiona wanted to say something more, but Tione tapped her on the forehead.

"Why bother talking so much to that stupid wolf? Did you come here to argue?"

Tione said this in an annoyed tone, making both Bete Loga, who had been called a stupid wolf, and Tiona, who had been tapped on the forehead, look displeased.

"What time is it for you guys to still be arguing like this?" Riveria said, getting impatient. "Since you're all here, just focus on watching the fight. Keep an eye on Leo and be ready to intervene if he's in any danger."

"Did you all hear that? Get your spirits up!" Gareth looked at the group of team members behind her and said, "This battle isn't just something we're watching. Look around, there are plenty of people watching."

After Gareth pointed this out, everyone noticed that people who weren't from their clan were starting to appear around them.

These people all seemed to be preparing to conquer the 18th Floor or even deeper floors, and they were all fully armed.

They noticed the presence of the Loki Familia and saw Leo slowly walking towards the Wall of Lamentation, where they were already whispering among themselves.

"Isn't that the Loki Familia?"

"Why are so Loki Familia members standing here?"

"[Braver], [Nine Magic Princess], [Heavy Warrior], [Fierce Wolf], [Chopping Princess], [Angry Snake] ---- even [Sword Princess] is here?"

"Good heavens, almost all of Loki Familia's first-class adventurers and the core members of the Second Army are here?"

Who is that walking towards the Wall of Lamentation?

"Judging from his appearance—could he be preparing to deal with the floor owner?"

"Why was he the only one who went?"

What exactly happened?

Similar murmurs arose one after another, causing a slight commotion at the large circular entrance.

"W-why are there so many people?"

Lefiya Viridis was completely dumbfounded.

"After all, this is the only entrance to the 18th Floor— "

Lefiya, however, could understand this scene.

"See? So many outsiders are watching. If that kid ends up looking pathetic, it'll be the entire Loki Familia that loses face." Bete Loga curled his lip, then looked at Ais and said, "That's the little brat you brought back, Ais, don't you want to say anything?"

Ais didn't speak, and didn't even glance at Bete Loga.

At this moment, all she could see was the back of the figure slowly walking towards the Wall of Lamentation. Her hand was gripping the hilt of the longsword at her waist, her whole body tense, as if she were ready to rush out at any moment.

Seeing this, Bete Loga became even more annoyed and was about to say something when Finn stopped him.

"Alright, that's enough." Finn licked his thumb and said, "I'm feeling a slight tingling sensation in my thumb; it should be starting soon."

Finn's voice had barely faded when everyone present heard it.

I heard a strange noise.

"Smack!"

This was a rather loud cracking sound.

The cracking sound made Leo stop in his tracks, and everyone at the large circular entrance fell silent, their eyes fixed on him.

"Pa--Pa-pa--"

-"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a huge crack appeared on the crystal-clear wall like Lightning, accompanied by a continuous sound of the wall splitting open.

The sound grew louder and louder, like the groans and screams of a child being born in Dungeon. It caused an avalanche-like sonic tsunami to erupt throughout the hall, making people's eardrums ache as the hall shook.

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and pebbles and dust rained down from the ceiling, causing the cracks on the crystal-clear Wall of Lamentation to multiply.

"Bang!!!"

Then, at a certain moment, a tremendous shattering sound rang out, and the entire Wall of Lamentation seemed to explode, shattering completely.

Large chunks of rock flew out, collapsing and rolling to the ground with a deafening roar, among them fragments of a massive wall.

From the debris, a colossal object emerged, crashing to the ground with a deafening roar.

Just like a ripe melon falling from its vine.

Just like the dust settling down.

Amidst the swirling dust, the enormous silhouette gradually came into full view, catching the eye of everyone present.

That was a giant.

A giant over seven meters tall, with grayish-brown skin covering his entire body.

The giant had a thick neck and broad shoulders, strong arms and legs, and a large amount of thick, glossy, black hair that looked like it had been coated with oil grew from the back of his head, reaching down to his neck. However, his bright red eyes, which were as big as a human head, were more noticeable than the hair on his face.

His eyes darted around, then settled on Leo, reflecting his image.

66

Whoa whoa----"

The giant opened its massive mouth slightly and began to make a sound.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

The sound gradually grew stronger, eventually turning into a roar like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down, causing the sound waves to transform into wind waves that swept away all the rocks, wall fragments, and large amounts of sand around the giant.

Leo's figure was instantly bathed in the enormous roar, his robes billowing violently.

However, his gaze remained fixed on the largest monster body he had ever seen, not daring to look away even an inch.

At that moment, he felt a terrifying sense of oppression.

In that instant, he felt a tremor run through his entire body.

An unprecedented sense of foreboding surged within him.

There was no way around it; the giant before him was undoubtedly the strongest monster he had encountered since becoming an adventurer.

This is the master of the 17th Floor, the Lone King of the Maze.

" --Goliath."

The giant roared at the boy as he looked up to the sky, his expression ferocious and malevolent.