Go Take Out the Boss!

Gorth and Gregor arrived at a new map amid a faint glow.

Taking in their surroundings, Gorth could not help frowning.

"Come to think of it... do we have to start from scratch every time we re-enter the dungeon?"

[Then clear another floor. The outcome will not change.]

Gregor replied without caring about the environment around them, heading straight for the only passage.

Feeling the eerie atmosphere around him, Gorth swept his gaze over the grinning jack-o'-lanterns on the ground. "A Halloween map... What bosses did this map have again?"

[Doesn't matter...]

Gregor walked away without looking back. As the glow of his lava receded, the surrounding light quickly dimmed.

Gorth did not dare delay and hurriedly summoned Shadow Wolf to chase after him.

"Boss, slow down. Be careful not to get lost again."

Boom—!

"They've already started fighting?!"

Gorth froze, then urged Shadow Wolf beneath him to pick up speed once more.

By the time he reached the room, the battle was already over. All that remained was a complete mess and monster remains scattered across the floor.

"Boss, that fast?"

Gorth was somewhat dumbfounded. Instinctively, he wanted to summon vines to absorb Gregor's energy, only to discover that Gregor's body had not swollen.

"Boss, you didn't use your skill?"

[Didn't need to.]

Gregor answered simply and headed toward another passage.

Gorth hurried after him, walking shoulder to shoulder with Gregor.

[These past few days outside, I wasn't just traveling. I was also developing ways to fight without relying on skills.]

"You're really going that hard?"

Gregor stopped at that, driving a fist into the wall beside him.

As firelight burst forth, a massive lava-scorched crater appeared in the wall.

[Our own strength is already formidable. We can't always think about solving everything with skills... Otherwise, one day, something will go wrong.]

Gorth was taken aback, then began reflecting on whether he should develop himself in that regard as well...

Gregor continued onward, and Gorth quickly followed.

"But Boss, you're already strong enough. Besides, is it even possible to counter your skill?"

[And if it isn't?]

Gregor raised his hand and examined it. Beneath those inhuman claws lay immense power, yet he had never believed that power truly belonged to him.

[What meaning is there in power that keeps growing until it goes berserk? It can protect me, but it can't protect you.]

[Power that cannot be controlled can only be used for slaughter. If you rely on it... one day, it will bring bitter consequences.]

"..."

In silence, the two entered another room.

Gorth snapped out of his brief daze and turned his gaze toward Gregor.

He really was curious. What kind of ability had the Boss developed?

Because of the earlier commotion, a large number of monsters had already gathered ahead in the passage. Their roars echoed through the enclosed space.

Gorth instinctively stepped forward, ready to summon vines and clear out some of the monsters first.

However, Gregor moved before him.

Gregor raised his right hand, and a blazing lava meteor rapidly condensed in his palm.

Gorth watched in confusion.

Explosive Flying Shield?

Its power was certainly impressive, but using it now did not seem particularly innovative...

Just as he puzzled over it, Gregor's next movement forced him to swallow his doubts whole—

Gregor flung his arm sharply upward, tossing the condensed lava meteor directly into the air.

"[Wendigo profanity]!"

Cursing aloud, Gorth reflexively controlled his vines to shield himself.

Throwing an ultimate move over his own head? Had the Boss gone mad?!

[Don't be afraid.]

Gregor's steady voice came through their mental connection, calming Gorth somewhat.

Peering through a gap in the vines, Gorth saw Gregor angle his body slightly, swing his right arm far back, and clench his fist in a charging stance.

That move was?!

Even as Gorth stared in shock, the lava meteor tossed to its apex had begun to fall.

The moment the meteor descended in front of Gregor, his primed right fist shot out like a cannonball and smashed viciously into its side.

With a violent explosion, the lava meteor instantly shattered into countless burning fragments.

They shot out horizontally from the ground, transforming into a dense rain of fiery meteors that bombarded the packed monster horde ahead.

Boom boom boom boom—!!!

In the span of a single breath, the dark mass of monsters had been reduced to severed limbs covering the ground.

Gregor slowly withdrew his fist. Heat waves curled around his body as he calmly declared:

[I call this move... Meteor Volcano.]

Gorth dismissed his protective vines. After several seconds of silence, he finally could not help speaking.

"Boss..."

[Yeah?]

"I've watched One Piece too..." Gorth's tone carried an indescribable conflict.

"But why... are you using Whitebeard's opening stance to unleash Akainu's Meteor Volcano?!"

[COUGH COUGH!]

Gregor's body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

[Don't worry about that! As long as the move works, that's enough!]

He strode forward, stepping over the still-burning monster remains and heading for the next passage without looking back.

[Let's go. Find the Boss room sooner, and the battle will be over soon.]

"The battle's already over. Why hasn't the Boss Lady come back yet?"

On the wastelands of Kazdel, the mercenaries taking a temporary rest sat gathered together, but all their eyes were focused on the center of the camp—

There, the newly arrived cook was trembling as he prepared ingredients.

Extra A felt the gazes around him and broke out in a cold sweat.

How could he possibly cook anything refined? He merely had a little experience with roasting things until they were done.

The campfire crackled. An injured mercenary took out a vial of medicine from his clothes, unscrewed the stopper, and frugally dipped just a fingertip into it before applying it to his wound.

Watching the not-insignificant wound stop bleeding and close up at a visible rate, he could not help exclaiming again.

"Following the Boss Lady really gives us a bright future!"

He sighed from the bottom of his heart, carefully stoppering the medicine vial and putting it away.

"We've got medicine, and now we even have a cook! Just don't know when we'll get weapons..."

A mercenary beside him, idly whittling a wooden stick, looked up at that.

"Greed may be a mercenary's instinct, but isn't the way you're wolfing things down a little too ugly..."

"I'm just saying... It'd be great if we could keep following the Boss Lady. I don't want to go back to eating potatoes every day."

"Don't we have a cook? Have him make something else."

"No matter how you cook potatoes, they're still potatoes, aren't they?"

"Who says?" Someone immediately chimed in. "Victorians eat potatoes as a staple!"

That caught everyone's interest.

"How do they make them?"

The mercenary cleared his throat and solemnly announced:

"French fries."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, waiting for him to continue.

"That's it."

"???"

After a brief silence, the camp erupted in laughter.

"[Sarkaz profanity]! That's it? Just one way?"

"What else is there? Besides roasting potatoes, boiling them, throwing them at people, or frying them into strips, what else can you do with them?"

"That's true..."

Amid the laughter, the scent of meat grew ever richer.

Extra A wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked ingratiatingly at Hedley, who was supervising him.

"M-My lord, the meat is ready."

Hedley nodded, but his gaze drifted involuntarily in the direction Vera had left.

Over there, a certain red cockroach was constantly inspecting the ground around her, muttering to herself.

"[Sarkaz profanity!] How did she disappear... Should I tie a bomb to her next time?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Ines's voice came from beside him, interrupting Hedley's thought of going over to stop W from making such dangerous remarks.

"Nothing..."

"Thinking about our new employer?"

Hedley glanced at her without denying it. "What did you notice this time?"

"No... I merely confirmed a few suspicions."

"What suspicions?"

"This employer's heart..."

She gave Vera's former direction a meaningful look.

"Isn't as cold as she makes it seem."

"Tell me something I don't know..."

Hedley looked at Ines speechlessly. Had spending so much time with W made her accustomed to talking nonsense too?

"Hedley... Has it only been a few days, and you've already forgotten Kazdel's cruelty?"

Hedley fell silent for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, Ines cut him off.

"Don't say it's because of the supplies." Ines pointed toward the laughing mercenaries.

"Think about it. After receiving payment for a job in the past, what was the first thing they did?"

"...Spend it recklessly," Hedley said in a low voice.

He knew it all too well—drinking, gambling, spending the money they had earned with their lives as quickly as possible, because no one knew whether they would survive the next mission.

"Exactly. Spend it as soon as you get it, because no one knows whether tomorrow or death will arrive first."

Ines swept her gaze over the mercenaries, who had begun discussing how to divide the remaining Crackbeast meat.

"But what about now? They're actually starting to think about the 'future.'"

Hedley followed her gaze.

On those faces that had once been numb, exhausted, and living only in the present, something he had nearly forgotten had appeared at some point.

They carefully stored their medicine, meticulously prepared their food. What shone in their eyes was no longer the madness of living for the moment, but...

"Hope."

Ines softly spoke that word, so extravagant in Kazdel.

Hedley suddenly froze.

That was right. Hope.

Something he had seen somewhere before, only for reality's cruelty to grind it away.

Where had it been?

He stood silently where he was, watching the scene before him that seemed so out of place in Kazdel, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"I only hope the price behind this 'lack of coldness' isn't one we can't afford."

"What price?"

"!!!" x2

Ines and Hedley both stiffened at the same time. That familiar feeling again.

"Nothing. We were just..."

"Forget it. I don't have time to listen to you two flirt."

The two of them: ???

Ignoring their strange expressions, Vera's face was full of impatience.

"Tell me. If we move at full speed, how far are we from Scar Market?"

Hedley exchanged a puzzled glance with Ines. They had only been apart for such a short time—why did she suddenly seem so much more irritable?

"Speak!"

Her suddenly raised voice drew the mercenaries' attention. The moment Rice saw Vera, he ran over.

"Boss Lady! Try the grilled meat the newcomer made. It's really not bad!"

Vera had been about to curse, but the moment she saw the grilled meat being offered to her, she suddenly fell quiet.

"Ugh..."

Rice was startled by the sigh.

"What's wrong, boss lady?! Who made you unhappy? Call the brothers, and we'll take him out together!"

Take out who?

Vera's expression suddenly turned strange.

Seeing Vera's expression, Rice assumed she didn't believe him and hurriedly called to the others.

"Brothers, the boss lady's being bullied! She needs our help!"

"What?!" xN

The mercenaries surrounded Vera, chattering away.

"Find that blind fool! I'll challenge him to a duel!"

"How dare he make our boss lady unhappy! That bastard has a death wish!"

"Chop him up and feed him to the Originium slugs!"

"Can't you come up with a different line?"

The mercenaries were fired up, weapons clattering one after another as though they were ready to set out at once.

Vera raised a hand and rubbed her throbbing temple, taking a deep breath—

"Shut up, all of you!"

The noisy scene fell silent at once. Every mercenary looked at her expectantly, waiting for her next order.

"No one made me unhappy." Vera shot Rice, the ringleader, an irritated glare.

"I'm just... in a bad mood."

Shaking her head, Vera turned her gaze to Hedley.

"If we move at full speed from now on, how long until we reach Scar Market?"

Hedley and Ines exchanged a look, both seeing the confusion in the other's eyes.

"About... two days?"

"Too long. One day."

"But..."

"One day."

Vera stared straight at Hedley, enunciating each word.

"Reach Scar Market within one day!"