"....."
On the upper levels, specifically the eighth floor, the Loki Familia—having departed the 18th floor several hours prior—made their way through the middle floors toward the surface.
The vanguard consisted of first-class adventurers led by Finn Deimne, who spearheaded the group to clear the path for the following units, alongside Lefiya Viridis and the remaining second-class adventurers. At the front of this unit, Ais Wallenstein was running when she felt a tremor resonate through her feet. She lowered her gaze toward the labyrinth floor.
"What is this?"
"Is the Labyrinth shaking?"
Lefiya, Tiona Hiryute, and the rest of the companions noticed it too. They tilted their heads in wonder, looking downward. As high-level adventurers possessing senses far beyond ordinary humans, they felt that slight vibration with extreme sensitivity.
These elites from the city's strongest faction knew well that such unknown phenomena often signaled emergencies—the primary cause of death within the Labyrinth. Consequently, tension quickly filled the air, which had only just begun to relax as they entered the upper floors.
"Captain..."
"The priority is returning to the surface. The unit will continue its advance. Cruz, go with Narvi and check on Rivira and the rest of the group in the rear."
"Understood!"
Finn issued his instructions despite the grim feeling the tremor from the lower floors gave him. The vanguard included several Level 4 adventurers; he chose two and dispatched them to the following teams.
The monsters also seemed startled by the vibration or perhaps sensed a looming danger, as they had completely vanished. As the tremors gradually faded, the unit resumed its progress, though confusion still gripped them.
Although everyone remained on high alert, the exit to the surface began to appear on the horizon without any incidents.
However, one man, possessing senses and intuition surpassing everyone else, managed to hear the low lowing of a bull, echoing like thunder from the depths.
"Is it a Goliath? No... the sound of a bull? Impossible..."
"What is the matter?"
Ais reacted to the man's mutterings with a puzzled look. Upon closer inspection, everyone—not just Ais—showed signs of anxiety due to the suspicious behavior of this man, the strongest among them, especially after the fierce battle they had just endured.
".... No, it is nothing."
●○●○●
An attack that required no swordsmanship—merely a chaotic exploitation of pure physical power. Striking, kicking, throwing... with these alone, opponents flew like scraps of paper. Adventurers fell to the ground, blood splattering from them before they even had a chance to scream. With a gaze devoid of emotion, the bull coldly neutralized the adventurers as if performing a routine chore.
"Waaaaaaaagh!!"
Adventurers who realized victory was impossible fled with all their might, casting their weapons behind them without looking back. Chasing them seemed meaningless, yet the bull surged forward with lightning speed, overtaking the fleeing men and swatting them aside with swings of its arms as it passed.
This was not a fight; it did not even reach the level of a hunt. It was a tragic, one-sided slaughter.
But ──.
"──"
An elven warrior rushed forward with the speed of the wind. She was strong—more than that, she was highly skilled. Despite a slender frame that could not compare to the bull's strength and durability, she attacked fiercely, relying on skills honed by immense combat experience.
A relentless barrage of stabs and strikes poured down like a violent storm. The bull tried to find an opening for a counterattack amidst the chaos, but it failed to evade the sharp sword strikes the elven warrior aimed at narrow gaps, resulting in superficial wounds on its cheek and body.
Most impressive was the brilliant technique; while the bull remained completely unable to read its opponent's movements, the other watched every twitch and breath, anticipating the next step to maintain the perfect combat distance.
Despite the bull's superiority in raw speed, its opponent pursued it with a skill the monster lacked, sometimes even surpassing it with a burst of acceleration to launch a surprise attack.
She was an expert whom the bull, in its previous existence, could never hope to defeat. However, this body now enjoyed the protection of the Mother Dungeon and had ascended to heights incomparable to what it once was.
It had become so powerful that it felt hollow. Perhaps only that warrior who once made it taste fear, or that hero who witnessed its fight with its destined rival, could kill it now.
As the bull remained lost in thought, a silver flash pierced its body, causing blood to flow profusely.
──.... I admit, I was arrogant. I regained my senses thanks to the heat of the blood flowing from my body. I was drunk on the power granted to me. The world is truly vast, and what a happy coincidence to meet such a skilled warrior so quickly.
──Both opponents before me are powerful enemies capable of killing my new form.
Several high-ranking adventurers based in Rivira established a temporary base on a hill far from the bull. They began distributing massive quantities of weapons and consumables gathered from the town without hesitation. The scene resembled a true battlefield, and their faces showed no trace of complacency.
Their fighting spirit overcame tension and fear—expected of those few in Orario who had achieved rank advancement. This formation, where even precious magic swords were distributed, represented the striking power of Rivira. The alignment of high-level adventurers from various factions looked like a formidable regular army.
"You scum! Don't let the first-class elites take all the glory! This is our town!!"
A man standing in the center shouted, motivating everyone—or perhaps encouraging himself. He was the group leader and the prominent face of Rivira, the large human wearing an eyepatch, Bors Elder. His group included second-class adventurers down to Level 3, a rarity in Orario.
"Leave the front lines to the followers of the Goddess of Beauty and the Clown; we will handle clearing the path and protecting the rear! Magic sword users and mages, prepare to fire at any moment!!"
Since they did not belong to the same team or Familia, they expected no joint coordination. Thus, they began building a combat formation while maintaining enough distance to ensure they did not obstruct one another. Meanwhile, the magic sword users gathered previously on Bete's orders took charge of support at various points under Asfi Al Andromeda's supervision.
The bull's abilities were estimated to be beyond first-class. Since the highest level among them was second-class, they could not hold the front lines—a fact proven by the adventurers the bull crushed upon its appearance.
Consequently, the front-line fighters were tasked with eliminating monsters gathering from across the floor to ensure they did not interfere with the battle of the first-class adventurers. Meanwhile, the mages and magic sword users handled support through long-range magical attacks.
High-ranking mages of Level 2 and above, possessing magical development abilities, began aiming their staves and chanting. Elven mages, sorcerers by nature, led the long chanting for devastating bombardment magic.
Each worked to refine their magical energy to launch their strongest spell. Magic circles formed one after another in different colors, shapes, and sizes, turning into launchpads for lethal magical strikes.
"This isn't the first time we've faced a monster like this! Unlike that time, our power is now complete. We will certainly win!!"
Three years ago, during a rest period between campaigns, a floor boss, a Goliath, had attacked Rivira.
That Goliath differed from the standard type; it was black, and its power rivaled Level 5—far exceeding its natural level. Everyone thought the Rivira adventurers, who had not surpassed Level 3, would be completely wiped out. However, at that time, Ais and Al, who were at Levels 4 and 3 respectively, managed to lead the forces and defeat it.
Thus, the morale of the veterans who survived that fierce battle was exceptionally high.
In that fight, the great power in Rivira was represented by Ais Wallenstein, the Sword Princess, and Al Cranel, the Sword Demon. Except for one Level 4 and one person rivaling Level 4, the number of second-class adventurers then did not exceed ten.
Compared to that time, the force now included two first-class elites, in addition to Level 4 adventurers led by the prodigy. Ironically, many adventurers who rose to Level 3 because of that battle were also present, and ──.
"And most importantly, we have Bell Cranel with us, the brother of the Sword Saint, who crushed a Minotaur while still at Level 1—the one nicknamed Rabbit-Wolf!!"
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!"
"What?"
Since that historic battle, many average adventurers had come to view Ais and Al as heroes. Even in Al's absence, the presence of his brother Bell, who achieved a feat that stunned veteran adventurers by defeating a Minotaur at Level 1, increased their enthusiasm.
Since the opponent resembled a Minotaur in form, Bell's presence raised the adventurers' morale to the limit. Bell himself looked completely bewildered amidst these veteran adventurers who surpassed him in strength and size, as if he had not yet processed the situation.
In truth, Bors did not actually expect Bell to play a major role. No matter whose brother he was, he remained a Level 2, and since he could not use bombardment magic, he wouldn't be a striking force. Bors merely used his presence as a means to boost the adventurers' morale.
Bors took a deep breath to issue a new call after feeling the rise in morale, and ──.
── In that moment, something like a tsunami occurred within the Labyrinth.
Steam, or what looked like light particles, rose from the bull's body—whose movements should have been hindered by the wounds from Allen Fromel's silver spear and Bete's silver boots.
Red light particles gathered to cover the surface of its wounded skin, and soon the wounds began to heal before their eyes. Once the light vanished, the bull returned to its original form without a single scratch.
"Tch..."
The bull assumed a charging stance again, as if time had wound back for it. Allen could not help but grumble at the sight.
"He burned his magical energy to gain regenerative abilities..."
In the darkness following the loss of the ceiling's lighting crystals, Asfi's voice rang out, filled with dread as she noticed the faint red particles remaining around the bull. The reality of those particles rising like steam was incinerated magical energy.
Asfi could not hide her terror witnessing this irrational power—burning a massive amount of magical energy rivaling deep-floor monsters just to heal wounds was unthinkable for an ordinary monster. However, in contrast to Asfi, Bete maintained his composure.
"What a nuisance. Is he like that monster woman?"
The image of Revis, the red-haired creature with whom he had fought a fierce battle on the 59th floor, came to Bete's mind. Unlike that freak who could regenerate a severed arm in moments, the bull's regeneration was limited to self-healing and had not reached the stage of replacing lost limbs.
"Fine then, I'll crush him so fast he won't have room to regenerate ──"
At that moment, Allen turned into a flash once again. Allen's strength lay in his divine speed, which gave the opponent no chance to react.
Those abilities, specialized only in agility and supported by his skills, granted Allen a speed surpassing Ais even when she was surrounded by Ariel's winds, making it nearly impossible even for first-class adventurers to track his movement.
Similarly, Bete, who boasted superior speed capabilities, surged half a step behind Allen, attempting to deliver a crushing kick with his silver boots, Flosshild, toward that massive body.
Despite the intense friction between the two personalities, the intersection of the silver spear and the silver boots showed perfect coordination, even though it was improvised. It was a high-speed battle where Bete complemented Allen's lightning speed, both highlighting their strengths to the maximum.
Before the bull could swing its massive sword using brute strength surpassing the monsters of the deep, Bete's silver boots rained violent blows upon its giant frame.
However, that was not enough to stop the bull's movement. The massive black blade descended, and as the impact recoiled, the surrounding debris flew and the ground cracked deeply. Although the strike was enough to inflict a fatal injury even on a first-class adventurer had it hit directly, Bete did not change his expression and transitioned to the next attack.
Bete evaded the bull's attack by a hair's breadth and jumped inside its range, running up the bull's arm and leaping toward its head to deliver a kick with all his might.
As Bete's kick targeted the neck area, the bull stomped hard, shattering the ground. Simultaneously, it thrust the hilt of its massive sword like a cannonball intended to knock out both Allen and Bete together.
But ── it did not hit them.
"Slow."
Allen used the end of his spear as a fulcrum to perform a graceful flip in the air before landing, while Bete evaded the bull's fist and immediately jumped backward. The fist, carrying immense destructive power, missed its target. In exchange, the silver spear gleamed, tearing through the bull's flesh.
Despite Allen and Bete continuing to damage the bull while skillfully evading its attacks, the bull's strikes touched neither of them. Yet, each time, they shattered the Labyrinth floor and crushed the surrounding blue crystals. These two, who had braved death and war countless times, no longer trembled at such things.
The bull's abilities surpassed theirs regardless of the estimation. Since speed was the only advantage they currently held, a reckless attack would be suicide. They had no choice but to gradually corner it by exploiting numerical superiority and speed.
Contrary to their plan, the killing intent radiating from the bull began to grow more violent in proportion to its drained strength. The two felt a suffocating pressure, as if being boxed in to ensure they could not escape.
Although they controlled the battle, they felt a dread accompanied by a familiar sensation.
Despite the continuous attacks at a speed exceeding the regeneration rate, that body—resembling an impregnable fortress—remained standing despite the arrogance of the blood. Indeed, the form exuding an increasing fighting spirit made Bete remember Al, and Allen remember Ottar.
In the midst of that high-speed exchange that only heroes could enter, Bete exploited a gap and charged his metal boots with explosion magic via magic swords, delivering a horizontal kick loaded with destructive flames.
The red flames, burning with immense heat, enveloped the bull's massive body. Bete increased his speed and began raining successive fiery blows upon that giant frame.
Despite its black skin burning and its flesh charring, the bull would not be stopped. While surrounded by the raging fires, particles began rising from its body to repair its wounds. Nevertheless, the fiery attack did not stop but continued at a speed exceeding the regeneration capacity.
── There was a certainty of victory. No matter how much this monster's abilities rivaled Al or Ottar, it remained, in the end, just a monster. A monster lacking a warrior's soul lacks the skill or rationality to fully exploit those abilities.
Had this monster possessed skill rivaling the red-haired Revis, two Level 6 individuals could not have restrained it. But no matter how strong a monster becomes, relying on brute force alone will never bring it to the level of these two experts.
Furthermore, the work of Asfi and the Rivira adventurers in the background had a significant impact. Asfi was throwing adhesive materials under the bull's feet, while the adventurers showered it with quick-fire magic sword projectiles from a distance every now and then.
None of these had a decisive effect—especially the latter attacks, which barely scratched a monster possessing durability and magic resistance rivaling Level 7—but they slowed its movement for a moment. This moment did not escape the notice of the two superiors in skill and speed.
The bull seemed to realize this critical situation, as its movement changed. It raised its greatsword high above its head, aiming it at Allen and Bete—and even at Asfi and those with her in the rear. The magic sword projectiles struck its stance, in which it had abandoned all means of defense, but it did not budge an inch.
Then, the bull swung its sword, gripped with all its might, toward the ground beneath its feet.
── The meadow split, and the Labyrinth floor fractured.
The ground rose with a thunderous roar that shattered the surroundings, and the greatsword blade carved deep furrows into the earth. The shockwaves and vibration sent everyone—adventurers and monsters alike—flying. Allen and Bete barely managed to evade by jumping quickly, but they lost their footing and their balance faltered.
The tsunami of destruction continued unchecked until it struck the main center of the distant adventurers and swallowed them.
As the dust of destruction cleared, a collapsed wall appeared, along with shattered blue crystals and wounded people buried under the rubble. Only a few remained, struggling to stand up with difficulty.
After creating that tragic scene filled with bodies with just a single strike, the bull began to advance with steady steps.
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