Go Take Down the Boss!

Bathed in faint light, Gorth and Gregor arrived at a new map.

Taking in their surroundings, Gorth could not help but frown.

"Come to think of it... do we have to start from the beginning every time we reenter the Dungeon?"

[Then fight through one more floor. The result will not change.]

Gregor replied, ignoring the surroundings as he headed straight for the only passageway.

Feeling the sinister atmosphere around him, Gorth glanced over the jack-o'-lanterns grinning on the ground.

"A Halloween map... Which bosses did this map have again?"

[It does not matter...]

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

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

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

Boom—!

"You've already started fighting?!"

Gorth froze, then urged the Shadow Wolf beneath him to move even faster.

By the time he reached the room, the battle was already over. All that remained was devastation and monster carcasses strewn across the floor.

"Boss, that was fast, wasn't it?"

Gorth was somewhat dumbfounded. He instinctively wanted to summon vines to absorb Gregor's energy, only to discover that Gregor's body had not expanded.

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

[There was no need.]

Gregor answered simply and headed toward another passageway.

Gorth hurried after him, walking at his side.

[These past few days, I was not merely traveling outside. I was also developing combat methods beyond my skills.]

"You're really going that hard?"

Gregor stopped at those words and punched the wall beside him.

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

[Our own strength is already formidable. We cannot always rely on skills to solve every problem... Otherwise, something will go wrong sooner or later.]

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, can your skills really be countered?"

[What if they cannot?]

Gregor raised a hand and examined it. Beneath his inhuman claws lay immense power, yet he had never considered that power his own.

[What meaning is there in power that keeps growing until it runs rampant? It can only protect me, not all of you.]

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

"..."

In the silence, the two entered another room.

Gorth recovered from his brief daze and looked toward Gregor.

He truly 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 passageway, their roars echoing through the enclosed space.

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

However, Gregor moved before he could.

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

Gorth watched in confusion.

Explosive Flying Shield?

The power was certainly decent, but using it now did not seem particularly innovative...

Just as he wondered about it, Gregor's next movement forced him to swallow his doubts—

Gregor abruptly swung his arm upward, hurling the condensed lava meteor straight into the air.

"[Wendigo curse]!"

With a curse, Gorth reflexively controlled vines to shield himself.

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

[Do not be afraid.]

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

Peering through a gap in the vines, Gorth saw Gregor turn 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 that had been thrown to its highest point had already begun to fall.

The instant the meteor dropped in front of Gregor, his prepared right fist shot out like a cannonball and smashed fiercely into its side.

Amid a thunderous blast, the lava meteor instantly shattered into countless burning fragments.

They shot forward across the ground, becoming a dense rain of fiery meteors that bombarded the packed horde of monsters ahead.

"Boom boom boom boom—!!!"

In no more than a single breath, the dark mass of monsters had become a field of severed limbs.

Gregor slowly withdrew his fist. Heat waves swirled around him as he calmly announced:

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

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

"Boss..."

[Hm?]

"I've watched One Piece too..." Gorth's tone was filled with indescribable conflict.

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

[Hack, hack!]

Gregor's body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

[Do not worry about such things! As long as the move works!]

He strode over the still-burning monster remains and headed toward the next passageway without looking back.

[Come on. Find the Boss room early, and the battle will end soon.]

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

On the wilderness of Kazdel, the mercenaries resting temporarily were gathered together, yet all their gazes were focused on the center of 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 make any refined dishes? He merely had some experience with roasting things until they were cooked.

The bonfire crackled. An injured mercenary took out a vial of medicine from his clothes, unscrewed the stopper, and frugally dabbed a tiny amount onto his fingertip before applying it to his wound.

Watching the not-insignificant wound visibly stop bleeding and close, he could not help crying out again.

"Following the Boss Lady, our future is bright!"

He sighed sincerely, carefully stoppered the vial, and put it away.

"We have medicine now, and even a cook! I just wonder when we'll get weapons..."

A mercenary beside him, idly whittling a wooden stick, raised his head at those words.

"Greed may be a mercenary's instinct, but yours is really shameless..."

"I was only saying... It would be nice if we could keep following the Boss Lady. I don't want to go back to eating potatoes every day."

"Isn't there a cook? Have him make something else."

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

"Who says?" Someone immediately chimed in. "Victorians make potatoes their staple food!"

That piqued 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 is all."

"???"

After a brief silence, the group burst into laughter.

"[Sarkaz curse]! That's all? Just one way?"

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

"Fair enough..."

Amid the laughter, the scent of roasting 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.

There, a certain red cockroach was continuously inspecting the ground around her, muttering to herself.

"[Sarkaz curse!] 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 that dangerous remark.

"Nothing..."

"Thinking about our new employer?"

Hedley glanced at her and did not deny it.

"What else did you see?"

"No... I merely confirmed some suspicions."

"What suspicions?"

"Our employer's heart..."

She gave a meaningful look toward the direction Vera had disappeared.

"Is not as cold as she makes it seem."

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

Hedley looked at Ines somewhat speechlessly. Had spending too long around 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.

"Do not blame it on supplies." Ines pointed toward the laughing mercenaries.

"Think about it. In the past, after completing a mission and receiving payment, what was the first thing they did?"

"...Spend it recklessly," Hedley said quietly.

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

"Exactly. Use 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 Rift Beast meat.

"But now? They have actually started thinking about the 'future.'"

Hedley followed her gaze.

On those faces that had once been numb, exhausted, and living only for the present, something he had nearly forgotten had somehow appeared.

They carefully stored their medicine, meticulously handled their food, and what flickered in their eyes was no longer the madness of living for the moment, but...

"Hope."

Ines softly spoke that word, which seemed so extravagant in Kazdel.

Hedley suddenly froze.

That was right. Hope.

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

Where had it been?

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

"I only hope that this 'lack of coldness' does not come with a price we cannot afford."

"What price?"

"!!!" x2

Ines and Hedley's bodies both stiffened. It was 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 wore a face 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 Vera 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 quite good!"

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

"Ugh..."

Rice was startled out of his wits when he heard 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 subtle.

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

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

"What?!" xN

The mercenaries surrounded Vera, chattering away all at once.

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

"How dare he make our boss lady unhappy! That guy must have 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 about to set out immediately.

Vera raised a hand to rub her throbbing temple and took a deep breath—

"Shut up, all of you!"

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

"No one provoked me." Vera shot Rice, who had started it all, an irritated glare.

"I just... wasn't in a good 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 glance, both seeing confusion in the other's eyes.

"About... two days?"

"Too long. One day."

"But..."

"One day."

Vera stared directly at Hedley, enunciating each word.

"Reach Scar Market within one day!"