Clearing the Boss Room

Labyrinths were natural phenomena formed by the accumulation of vast amounts of mana. Like living creatures, they attracted Demonic Beasts with their immense mana. When those Demonic Beasts died within the labyrinth, the labyrinth could in turn absorb the mana within them. Conversely, if Demonic Beasts completely devoured the mana crystals formed from the labyrinth's mana, the labyrinth would collapse and vanish.

This triggered another mechanism within labyrinths: symbiosis.

They attracted and nurtured one or more powerful Demonic Beasts, turning them into guardians that protected the labyrinth itself.

The stronger the labyrinth, the stronger the Demonic Beasts and final guardian within it. This A-rank labyrinth before them had existed for who knew how many years and absorbed the mana of who knew how many Demonic Beasts. It might have already evolved into an S-rank labyrinth.

Zoldat was glad he had brought Sword God Cain and Water Saint-class Roxy along as teammates for this expedition. It had undoubtedly been the right choice.

Holding the refined steel sword Roxy had given him, Cain continued advancing at a measured pace. Before long, Demonic Beasts lurking in the darkness pounced out.

Cain casually swung the Blade of Light, moving so quickly it could not be seen, and split the B-rank Cave Demon Spider leaping toward the front of the party in two. Then, with a flash of his refined steel sword, he knocked aside two arrows fired from blind spots. Backhandedly, he sent out three streaks of Sword Qi, cutting several Xiao Bai skeleton archers in the distance into upper and lower halves. After confirming there were no more Demonic Beasts, he signaled for the party to continue.

Amazing!!

Zoldat and the others behind him widened their eyes. Whenever a Demonic Beast appeared ahead, Cain would kill it with a swing of his blade in the very next instant.

At that moment, Liya at the rear suddenly sensed an unusual sound behind her. Turning around, she saw three wolf-shaped Demonic Beasts charging toward them from the rear. Their mouths were filled with irregular sharp fangs. They were called wolves, but they looked more like alien demons crawling on all fours.

But in the next second, Brook and another rear guard had already stepped in front of the four female magicians. At the same time, Roxy behind them finished chanting and released four ice spikes, instantly piercing through the heads and spines of those Demon Wolves.

"Such fast casting speed!"

"Her chanting speed is incredible too!"

The three female magicians, Rina, Mia, and Fira, all stared at Roxy in shock. Roxy slowly exhaled and looked at them seriously.

"Please stay focused."

"Y-Yes!"

Anna, Mia, and Raffy looked at Roxy's serious yet adorable face, straightened up earnestly, and replied with flushed cheeks.

Roxy had seen countless low-level Demonic Beasts like these ever since she began exploring labyrinths, so she had long grown used to them. Even from a hundred meters away, she could hear their footsteps. It was experience accumulated through long years of exploring labyrinths.

However, the female magicians around her did not seem to explore labyrinths very often, and their reactions were somewhat sluggish.

The three women surrounded Roxy in the center and vigilantly watched their surroundings. As expected of a magician who could strike a flying Red Dragon—her reactions were exceptionally sharp.

"L-Let us protect Lady Roxy!"

"Huh? N-No need to be so formal..."

Roxy still did not know that Zoldat and Cain had secretly shaped her into an irreplaceable godlike figure in the hearts of adventurers. Some adventurers would even shout her name in desperate situations and charge fearlessly toward death.

The party steadily advanced through the first floor, then the second, until they reached the tenth floor.

"The Demonic Beasts here have changed..."

At the stairway entrance to the tenth floor, Zoldat looked at the Skeleton Warrior on the ground that Cain had split in half with the Blade of Light and frowned slightly.

An A-rank Demonic Beast? But this was only the tenth floor. Had this labyrinth truly evolved?

The Skeleton Warrior possessed a terrifying body over two meters tall. It wielded a rusty longsword and a massive shield bearing the image of a Red Dragon. This was an elite Demonic Beast that would only appear in an S-rank labyrinth.

Moreover, it had actually deflected Roxy's high-speed stone projectile just now. The stance it used was Secret Art: Flow, a technique only Water Saint-class swordsmen could use.

That meant this thing had been at least a Water Saint before being transformed into a Demonic Beast.

"What is it, Zoldat?" Cain's voice interrupted Zoldat's worries. Watching Cain slowly sheath his refined steel sword as he stood atop the Skeleton Warrior's remains in an almost invincible posture, Zoldat inexplicably felt much more at ease.

That was right. This time, they had brought the Sword God from Sword God's Holy Land. Even if the boss was something utterly terrifying, Cain would surely be able to win easily.

"Hmm, your smile is kind of disgusting..."

That hurt. Was my smile really that disgusting?!

The corner of Zoldat's mouth twitched as he scratched his cheek.

"Don't say that. We were lucky to have you and Roxy join us this time. Otherwise, we would've had to deal with that Demonic Beast for quite a while."

Zoldat was telling the truth. Skeleton Warriors with Water Saint-class swordsmanship who could also use Secret Arts were the nightmares of adventurer swordsmen and magicians. Not only could they block sword techniques, but they could also deflect magic. Even advanced Sword God Style swordsmen could easily be slain when fighting one alone.

Cain looked at Zoldat and curled his lip.

"You mean that Demonic Beast? It felt alright. Pretty easy to cut down. Though I have no idea why these Water God Style swordsmen all have this strange confidence whenever they see a Sword God Style swordsman. Even after becoming Demonic Beasts, they're still like that."

That was because Water God Style was universally recognized as the counter to Sword God Style...

But it seemed completely useless against this guy...

Zoldat still remembered that Cain had waited for the Demonic Beast to assume its Water God Style stance before cutting it in half from the front. In other words, even Cain's casual slashes exceeded the reaction limit of a Saint Rank Water God Style swordsman.

As expected of Lord Sword God...

As Zoldat marveled inwardly, the party rested at the entrance to the tenth floor.

"I still have about two-thirds of my mana left. Don't worry, Cain, I'm fine."

Roxy smiled at Cain, who stood beside her with a concerned look as he asked about her condition.

"But Cain, what do you think of this labyrinth expedition?"

Cain pursed his lips at her words. To be honest, he did not want to discourage Teacher Roxy, but for a swordsman of his level, even an S-rank Red Dragon could be cut down in one stroke. Still, he wondered what Red Dragon meat tasted like. Would it be delicious?

Seeing Teacher Roxy's expectant gaze, Cain smiled faintly.

"It's alright. It feels fresh. If Teacher Roxy wants to, we can explore labyrinths together next time too."

Roxy's face reddened slightly. She pursed her lips, twirled a strand of blue hair around her finger, and nodded gently.

"Mm, then next time, l-let's go together. Just the two of us."

The labyrinth expedition went smoothly. Although many Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Knights appeared on the path beyond the tenth floor, and even Flame-Scaled Giant Lizards—Demonic Beasts over three meters tall covered in hard armor—appeared,

they were almost instantly cut into several pieces beneath Cain's Divine Rank Blade of Light as he led the front.

Zoldat and the others were also able to swiftly clean up the scattered Magic Beasts hiding nearby.

In this way, six hours passed on the pocket watch. The party pushed all the way to the nineteenth floor. Looking at the boss room before them, Zoldat tucked his pocket watch into his clothes, but his brows had knitted tightly together.

"This shouldn't be right... This is supposed to be only an A-rank labyrinth. Why does the boss room look more like one from an S-rank labyrinth?"

"What is it?" Cain asked as he wiped the blood from his refined steel sword with a cloth.

"No, it's nothing. It's just that this labyrinth guardian's room is terrifyingly large..."

"Hey, Roxy, you used to explore labyrinths often too, right? Have you ever seen a guardian room this large?"

Roxy walked over at his words and examined the magical patterns on the door. Blinking her blue eyes, she carefully ran her little hand across them before slowly shaking her head.

"Is that so... What do you think, Cain?"

Cain raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You're the captain. You're asking me?"

"Ah, of course I am. After all, no one here is stronger than you. Whether we can come back alive after going in depends entirely on you."

Zoldat flashed two rows of pearly white teeth, smiling as if he were talking about something trivial.

Hey, could you not say something so unlucky...

The corners of Roxy and Cain's eyes twitched.

Cain cleared his throat twice.

"I don't have a problem with it. Now that we've made it this far, no one will be satisfied if we don't go in and take a look."

Zoldat crossed his arms and nodded slightly.

"Mm, good. As expected of a man I approve of."

Should I remind you that I'm only twelve...

Cain's mouth twitched as he looked at Zoldat, who wore an expression as though he wanted to become sworn brothers with him.

This time, they changed their formation. Zoldat was responsible for guarding the rear, because no Magic Beasts would appear behind them inside the boss room, making rear guards largely unnecessary.

Bruce and the trainee members stood at the very front. Their task was to block any sudden attack from the boss. Cain stood behind them, responsible for quickly delivering the finishing blow once the boss appeared.