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It had been quite some time since I received Sophia's telepathic message that they were beginning the labyrinth conquest.
My disciples had grown considerably over this past year, and with Luna accompanying them, there should be no way they could fail to conquer it.
However, conquering a labyrinth naturally takes a considerable amount of time.
Even if it took longer, I just wanted them all to return safely.
With such thoughts lingering in the back of my mind, I continued reducing the number of magic beasts emerging on the surface.
'Orun, there are no more magic beasts on this side, so I will join up now.'
While continuing to exterminate magic beasts, I received a telepathic message from Fuuka, who had been acting separately.
'Understood. —Hart-san, what is the overall situation?'
'The number of magic beasts has decreased considerably. The third wave is also settling down. The people near Daluane have properly defended the town, and things are going smoothly for now. The only remaining question is when the labyrinth will be conquered—but speak of the devil, Twilight Moonbow just came out of the labyrinth. That was surprisingly fast.'
Hart-san—who had been monitoring the battle situation—informed me that my disciples had returned to the surface.
I had expected it to take much longer. Had some kind of trouble forced them to turn back?
'—! I am heading to the labyrinth entrance immediately! Fuuka, meet me there.'
'Understood.'
While exterminating the minimum necessary magic beasts around me, I headed toward the labyrinth entrance by the shortest route. There I saw my disciples along with Luna.
Relief washed over me at seeing everyone safe, but it was short-lived. I immediately noticed how dark their expressions were.
"Are you all okay? What happened?"
"Ah, Shishou…"
Carol noticed my presence first. Everyone looked at me with relieved expressions, but the heavy atmosphere clinging to them remained.
There was also a strong sense of bewilderment mixed in.
Among them, Luna—who remained the calmest—spoke up.
"Orun-san, the labyrinth has lost its function. However, the situation is still very bad. First, let us leave this place—"
While listening to Luna, a sudden roar shook the ground.
Next, the ground where the labyrinth had been began to collapse. From the depression, a massive black figure leaped into the sky.
The magic beast looking down on us from above was the black dragon—the floor boss of the ninety-second layer of the great labyrinth—that I had seen many times over the past year.
"It came out already!?"
A scream-like cry of surprise rose from Sophia upon seeing the black dragon.
From Sophia's reaction, I judged that the trouble Twilight Moonbow had encountered was the black dragon. I immediately kicked off the ground to crush it—
"Please wait, Orun-san!"
—but Luna's voice stopped me.
"…Do you want Twilight Moonbow to defeat the black dragon?"
The black dragon was a clear "wall to overcome" for my disciples.
I asked, wondering if they intended to fight it on the surface—where Fuuka and I could provide backup if needed—but Luna shook her head.
"—Ho? Orun Dura is here too?"
Before I could gauge Luna's true intentions, a man's voice—layered as if three tones overlapped—came from above.
When I looked up, besides the black dragon, a monster hovered in the air.
From its silhouette alone, it might pass for human, but its form was far too far removed from humanity to be called such.
"…A magic beast that can speak?"
"Hey now, have you forgotten my voice? We met half a year ago in the kingdom's Leglif territory."
Leglif territory—half a year ago, I had visited on Count Edington's request, right around the time of the Empire's first invasion.
If it was someone I met there, then…
"…Could it be Oswell MacLeod?"
"Correct! As expected, good memory."
The monster—no, Oswell—responded to my question with satisfaction.
"I see. So someone from the cult tried to lay hands on my disciples again."
Finally understanding why my disciples—who had emerged from the labyrinth—were so shaken, I barely suppressed the boiling rage in my blood and spoke.
"Yeah, that's about right. Still, Twilight Moonbow was way too weak—completely useless as reference material. Now then, can you fight me on equal terms right now, Orun Dura!?"
Oswell spoke with exhilaration filling his voice.
His appearance looked like nothing but someone drunk on a sense of omnipotence.
The current Twilight Moonbow was by no means weak.
Even without bias as their teacher, when looking at all explorers, they were undoubtedly positioned among the top ranks.
For him to fight Twilight Moonbow and then dismiss them as weak meant the current Oswell possessed considerable strength—but that arrogance could be exploited.
"That said, before you can be my opponent, you will have to deal with the black dragon first! This is a confident masterpiece I have refined even further since half a year ago. It has no issues even compared to the real one in the great labyrinth—"
While Oswell continued speaking in an exhilarated tone, before his words could finish, a sound like hard objects violently colliding rang out from the black dragon's back.
Immediately after, the black dragon let out a scream-like cry, arched its body backward, and plummeted toward the ground.
It seemed about to crash into the ground, but at the last moment it corrected its posture and avoided impact.
And in the place where the black dragon had been, Fuuka stood in midair as if standing on solid ground.
The mechanism allowing her to stand in the air was an application of ki.
By solidifying ki, she created a pseudo-foothold.
Though there was a difference between magic power and ki, what she was doing was the same as when I created footholds with magic power.
"The Sword Princess—!?"
Oswell was surprised by Fuuka's sudden appearance, but Fuuka—still wearing her usual unreadable expression—kicked off her ki foothold and closed in on Oswell.
Oswell immediately extended the magic dragons emerging from both shoulders, attempting to bite Fuuka with their jaws.
However, such attacks could not possibly hit Fuuka. She toyed with the dragons using three-dimensional movements.
"Tch. What an annoying little pest."
Oswell grew irritated at being unable to catch Fuuka.
Taking advantage of the momentary opening created by his anger, Fuuka used Shukuchi to close in and decapitated Oswell.
Thinking it was an anticlimactic end, Fuuka distanced herself from Oswell.
A few moments later, a massive explosion occurred where Oswell had been.
Fuuka safely rode out the blast and landed near us before immediately speaking.
"Orun, it is not over yet."
"…Yeah. I know. —Magic Sword Union, Alteration."
Almost simultaneously as I transformed Schwarzhauser into a magic sword, the black dragon flying low to the ground fired a flame bullet toward us.
I swung the magic sword, sending a pitch-black slash that tore through the flame bullet.
"Hahahahaha! Nice! Dragon Slayer and Sword Princess—you both pass! I acknowledge you as worthy opponents to test my current power!"
After I blocked the black dragon's attack, Oswell's excited voice came from above.
The neck that Fuuka should have severed had already returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
So even as a monster, Self-Healing remained intact.
What a troublesome opponent.
However, I was glad Oswell was still alive…
"Twilight Moonbow, fall back and focus on exterminating the surface magic beasts. Fuuka and I will handle Oswell and the black dragon."
"…Understood. Sorry for pushing our mess onto you, Shishou."
I had expected them to insist on fighting too, so I was surprised when they obeyed my instructions without protest.
…They must have been hit that hard by a sense of powerlessness.
I did not want them to lose the confidence they had worked so hard to build over such a single incident.
"You have nothing to apologize for. You properly completed the request I gave you."
"…Eh?"
"Perhaps Oswell's existence was too shocking, but what was Twilight Moonbow's reason for entering the labyrinth? To conquer it—and by extension, prevent any more magic beasts from emerging on the surface. You achieved that, didn't you?"
Luna had said earlier that "the labyrinth has lost its function" rather than "we conquered the labyrinth."
It was easy to imagine that Oswell's presence had complicated the situation.
From the circumstances, it seemed likely that the labyrinth core was used in Oswell's transformation, resulting in the loss of the labyrinth's function.
The labyrinth core is a magic stone containing vast magical power, after all.
In that case, my disciples probably did not feel they had truly conquered it.
But regardless of the process, the result was that no more magic beasts would emerge from the labyrinth.
"Stopping the labyrinth's function and returning safely—that alone is enough for me. If you still cannot accept this outcome, then all you can do is continue working hard until the next time you achieve a result you can be satisfied with."
The three of them each wore thoughtful expressions.
They were all surely feeling frustrated.
I understood that feeling painfully well.
I had experienced it many times myself, and even now it smoldered within me.
That was exactly why I covered up that emotion and smiled at my disciples as if nothing was wrong.
Because I am their "teacher."
"Things you cannot accept, times when you feel powerless—those will happen again and again from now on. But do not rot there. Feeling that way is proof you are moving forward. Proof you have not given up in the face of difficulty. So when that happens, hold your head high. Look ahead. You are my proud disciples."
My words must have reached them—the light returned to the three's eyes.
I was aware I was spouting platitudes, but sometimes platitudes and idealism are not so bad.
"…Thank you. Thanks to you, Shishou, I feel like the way I view this outcome has changed a little."
"I will keep moving forward so you can call us your proud disciples again, Orun-san! I will become even stronger!"
"Shishou always gives me the words I want to hear. Thanks, Shishou. I will keep moving forward too!"
"I am glad. Then once again—can I leave the surface magic beast extermination to you?"
"Understood!" "Leave it to us!" "Magic beast hunting time~!"
When I once again entrusted them with exterminating the surface magic beasts, my disciples each left words behind and departed from the area.
"Luna, please continue supporting my disciples."
"…Yes. Leave it to me. Orun-san, about him—"
"—I know. I decided how to deal with him the moment we met half a year ago. I have absolutely no intention of showing mercy."
"I am relieved to hear that. I could not reach him. Please crush Oswell MacLeod—with my anger included."
"Yeah. Leave it to me."
Luna nodded in satisfaction at my reply and then chased after my disciples.
"My my, how cool, Dragon Slayer. Showing off that utterly nauseating master-disciple love so blatantly—I almost yawned myself to tears."
Oswell—who had remained silent until our conversation ended—clapped while saying something that grated on my nerves.
I had braced myself in case he interrupted my exchange with my disciples, but he had not.
As always, I could not understand what this guy was thinking.
"…Fuuka, can you handle the black dragon? I will take Oswell alone."
Ignoring Oswell's words, I spoke to Fuuka beside me.
It was obvious I would never forgive Oswell—who had continuously hurt Carol in the past and harmed my disciples again this time—so I wanted to end him with my own hands.
There was no logic behind this decision.
I understood that fighting in coordination with Fuuka would be the correct choice.
Even so, this time I would follow my emotions—Oswell MacLeod would be crushed by me alone!
"Understood. I will take down that black dragon."
Fuuka did not object to my proposal and turned toward the black dragon.
"Hahahahaha! Nice, Orun Dura! I do not dislike that arrogance!"
Oswell laughed upon learning I would fight him alone.
—You tried to harm what is precious to me. That alone is reason enough for you to die.
I poured magic power into the spell formula I had been constructing since earlier and transferred behind Oswell.
"Kuhaha! Space Leap is completely transparent to me!"
The moment I transferred, Oswell turned around.
Right after appearing behind him, I used high-speed movement—far from true Shukuchi—to circle to his front.
Since Oswell had turned, his defenseless back was now fully exposed before me.
"How long will that composure from looking away last? Let us find out."
While speaking, I swung down the magic sword shaped into a greatsword, slamming Oswell into the ground.