Minotaur.
Appearing in the shallow layers of the Dungeon with the powerful bearing of a Soulslike warrior, whether the surrounded adventurer was Bell or merely a passing stranger—
Ron had a reason he had to exterminate it.
Without having endured Soulslike torment, ordinary adventurers simply could not fight against it.
He glanced around but did not find any trace of the "Sword Princess," Ais Wallenstein. To some extent, this was also a change brought about by the Soulslike influence.
It caused Bell to encounter danger ahead of time.
'I just don't know how strong it actually is.'
Through the practical sparring he had yesterday with a same-level member, Mikoto, Ron had gained a simple estimate of his own strength after completing his level sublimation.
Within Lv.3, he should not encounter too many threats.
The monster before him—was the best whetstone after he resumed exploring the Dungeon. Thinking of this, he decisively drew the rapier tied to the other side of his thigh.
"..."
From Bell's perspective—today's Dungeon exploration was an unprecedented experience.
Encountering a monster he could not defeat and believing he was about to die—the very person he was chasing as his goal appeared in the Dungeon by coincidence and even offered him help!
He knew that in the coming battle, staying here would definitely become a concern for Ron. Taking advantage of the brief moment when the monster had been knocked back, the boy's rabbit-like agile body tried to quickly retreat from here.
However, sensing Bell's intention as well, and after receiving the unique reinforcement of the Soulslike influence, the Minotaur possessed intelligence that other low-level monsters did not.
Although the target before it was someone the Dungeon wanted to kill, that did not prevent it from hunting other adventurers.
But—when the Minotaur quickly shifted its attack direction, its enormous body pressing toward Bell while it swung the giant sword gripped in its hand—
Clang!
Facing the Minotaur's sweeping greatsword,
even with a short sword, Ron skillfully executed a parry. As he gradually adapted to his body's strength, the Minotaur's movements appeared extremely slow in his eyes.
The sharp blades collided, producing a crisp sound.
Not only that—with a lift of his arm, he cleverly deflected the Minotaur's attack.
Looking directly at the monster's crimson eyes, Ron only felt an irresistible itch in his hands. Eager to fight the Minotaur before him to his heart's content, he spoke in a relaxed tone: "Your opponent is me."
"..."
A novice's Dungeon exploration should originally be calm and unhurried.
But facing the Minotaur before him—whose paper strength had already reached the level of a Lv.3 adventurer—Bell could only scramble away in panic.
After pulling open a safe distance, the white-haired boy finally stopped running, and the lingering fear in his heart gradually faded.
As for why—the Minotaur that had been within arm's reach, which could have killed him in the Dungeon at any moment, had not taken action.
When Bell turned around to look, he saw a tall figure.
Like a city wall, standing in front of the monster.
With no other concerns remaining, the battle was instantly ignited.
More precisely—it was Ron's one-sided crushing.
After two consecutive greatsword attacks were easily parried by him, the Minotaur's anger was completely ignited.
The monster abandoned its greatsword and switched to a more convenient attack method.
A fist covered in white bone armor.
Every punch the Minotaur threw was already too fast for Bell's eyes to follow. The whistling fist wind carried power that seemed capable of tearing everything apart.
The dust stirred up began to obstruct vision.
He could only see that agile adventurer's figure using his high mobility to calmly evade the monster's extremely frequent attacks.
And every slash Ron delivered—the dust barriers deliberately stirred up by the Minotaur to block vision were swept aside by flashes of sword light, leaving shocking wounds across the monster's body.
"GROOOAR!!"
The blood spurting from the wounds, along with the monster's ear-piercing howl, told the story of the suffocating helplessness it felt in this battle.
If he wanted to end the fight, it would be very simple for Ron.
Until now, he had not used any Combat Art, relying purely on bodily reaction and technique to fight the Minotaur.
He treated it as an early adaptation to the combat level of the middle floors.
The final conclusion was—in terms of defense, the Soulslike-built Minotaur was clearly much tougher and harder to kill.
As for the rest?
With Mikoto's strength, she should be able to kill it alone.
When countless wounds covered the black-skinned Minotaur's body, and its slowing attack frequency revealed that it was already at the end of its strength,
Ron abandoned the idea of further testing.
Lowering his body again, he avoided the straight punch aimed at his head as well as the chilling greatsword that the monster seized with its other hand and chopped down.
A dual-wield Combat Art unique to monsters?
"Too slow..."
The short sword sliced open the skin of his palm. Blood spread across the blade.
With his swing, a crimson slash completely enveloped the Minotaur.
Slash!
Ash of War: Bloody Slash!
Even though the short sword's blade did not directly touch the monster, the tearing effect produced by the Combat Art still cut the Minotaur before him in half at the waist.
The massive monster that had carried such overwhelming pressure—did not even manage a final counterattack before death.
Once its waist was severed, it instantly turned into dark gray dust and scattered through the cave passage.
A dark-purple magic stone, the size of a fist, fell to the ground.
[Soul Shards +5.]
"Done."
After flicking away the traces of blood on the short sword, Ron calmly sheathed the weapon.
Only when his gaze swept toward the white-haired boy in the distance—he could see the obvious stunned expression on Bell's face.
'Running into the original protagonist in the Dungeon—what kind of strange development is this?'
"Um…"
After thinking briefly, and because of his relationship with Takemikazuchi, he casually asked: "Are you alright?"
"If Senior Ron hadn't been here…"
"Then I probably wouldn't be." Recalling the encounter with the Minotaur still made the boy shudder. But when reason returned and he looked at Ron again, Bell's voice was filled with gratitude: "Thank you, Senior Ron!"
From the perspective of a bystander, he had witnessed the entire battle.
If he had to describe it—the word would be "effortless."
The Minotaur had not placed any pressure on Ron at all.
He easily neutralized the monster's attacks and suppressed it throughout the fight.
Most importantly—Ron had not been an adventurer for long.
Yet within such a short time, he had already widened the gap between himself and all the adventurers of Orario—including Bell.
Bell did not know how to describe it.
If—the miracle Ron created in Orario, which even shook the whole world, had made Bell certain after becoming an adventurer that Ron was the goal he wanted to pursue—then now—after truly sensing the gap in strength and witnessing Ron's extraordinary bearing in battle, Bell's yet-to-truly-begin adventurer's path was left with an unforgettable memory.
And deep in his heart, an admiration for Ron was born.
And then—with eyes full of admiration, he asked tentatively: "Senior Ron… may I boldly ask how you managed, in such a short time, to become… such a powerful adventurer?"
"..."
Hearing the white-haired boy's confusion, Ron felt an indescribable strangeness in his mood.
He recalled the intense malice of the Soulslike Dungeon during this period.
So—don't tell me you also want to become a Soulslike master?!
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