While Erika ran with her axe, dodging the rocks thrown by the Minotaur, Li Xeng healed her from atop a Greco-Roman pillar, sweating coldly in fear that the creature might notice him.
"Thanks, Jap! That was almost 100%!"
Erika smiled mischievously and leaped forward, bringing her axe down toward the nearly two-meter-tall muscular Minotaur. The creature defended the blow using only its forearm. The sharp blade of the woman's axe sank into its thick, rough skin, barely drawing any blood.
Erika swung herself around, trying to cut through the tough hide, but the beast hurled her backward along with her axe.
The small woman landed on both feet, sliding across the ground as she watched the Minotaur take long strides toward her.
A bright gray barrier suddenly appeared in front of her, repelling the monster. The creature charged repeatedly, causing loud crashes and a technological buzzing sound every time its massive shoulders and muscular arms slammed against the barrier created by the mage Yumi.
"I won't last more than 20 seconds!"
The girl, standing five meters away, began to tremble as she held her reinforced magnetic staff. Meanwhile, the fighter Rayner charged from behind her, shouting confidently:
"Just one good hit to the head and it's a hit kill!"
The man in his thirties took long, firm strides, building momentum as he ran. Yumi dispelled the barrier, allowing the man to strike the creature's head. The Minotaur staggered backward, its forehead cracked open as bright red blood sprayed across the ground and onto the man's bluish armor. Rayner stepped back, gripping his metal staff with both hands, ready for another blow.
"Okay, I miscalculated. Just one more!"
"Let me have the honors!"
Douglas, the team leader and captain, leaped down from the structure where Li Xeng was standing. He swung his enormous axe— which weighed about 80 kilograms—with both hands, smashing it into the Minotaur's back. The creature's body sank into the rocky ground, causing the floor to collapse and Rayner to sink along with it.
"You son of a bitch! You don't even care if you take me down with it!"
Rayner jumped out and instinctively grabbed Raul's hand to avoid falling. The sorcerer had just thrown several small purple orbs into the hole where the Minotaur had sunk.
"You're the reckless one, charging in like that when you saw the boss on fire climbing that pillar, man."
Rayner pushed Raul away after realizing he had grabbed his hand.
"Gross! Shit! I don't let another man hold my hand! I thought it was Sally's delicate hands!"
"Go to hell, you pervert. I wouldn't hold a brute's hand anyway."
The woman dressed in ancient Chinese martial arts attire stomped the ground angrily after being mentioned by Rayner.
"You guys keep talking while that damn thing is still standing."
That was Vanya, who leaned against a rock, raised her titanium-reinforced shotgun, and fired at the Minotaur. The creature had just jumped out of the hole, but the heavy bullet sent it flying backward. It rolled across the ground, losing more blood and becoming disoriented.
"Looks like the old man's poison is finally taking effect. In that case, I'll make my contribution. I want a hundred coins for enhancing your poison, old timer."
A beautiful red-haired woman with a seductive demeanor touched Raul's shoulders. In the next instant, she appeared right in front of the Minotaur. She pointed a small metallic staff that hummed and glowed with neon blue light at the creature. As it tried to stand, it was struck by several electric shocks and let out a roar that could be heard for miles.
"Go ahead and cry, baby. We're having bull meat for dinner tonight."
Isabella, the team's bard, pressed another button on her staff/wand, making the Minotaur cough up blood as its knees buckled. But the creature ripped a chunk of the ground and hurled it at her. A sparkling barrier created by Li Xeng covered the woman just in time.
"D-don't be so reckless getting that close!"
The fragments of rock shattered against the barrier and flew in all directions. Omar leaped over them, gaining altitude before striking the creature's neck with both daggers. After landing a clean hit, he rolled across the ground as a stream of blood shot into the sky. The Minotaur staggered even more.
"Fuck! Not even Omar's attack brought this son of a bitch down!? And he's level 50! What kind of fucked-up world is this? Is this really ancient Greece?"
Rayner grumbled, spinning his staff in his hands as he prepared another strike. But Vick started laughing as he walked slowly toward the creature, which was now swinging its arms violently in a berserk state, stomping the ground and causing small tremors.
"Hahahaha, you pathetic creature! Your resistance is in vain! But I shall grant you the merciful blow, because tonight, I want barbecue more than anything in the world!"
Vick, the team's spearwoman, used both hands and strengthened her body with a buff from Yumi. She pierced straight through the creature's heart with her spear.
The heart was impaled on the red blades of the lance. She pulled with all her strength, causing the heart to bounce on the ground as the Minotaur's body fell forward with a heavy impact.
"Whoever lands the final blow gets more meat! That's the rule!"
Vick looked at everyone triumphantly, but her foot was suddenly grabbed by the Minotaur's right hand. Even without its heart, the creature was still alive.
The woman fell onto her back as the beast gripped her ankle tightly. But Sally stretched her silk ribbons toward the rolling heart on the ground and crushed it, causing the creature to let out its final breath. Its deformed face slammed lifelessly against the floor.
"Ha! So I get to decide who gets the meat? In that case, I want 10 coins per gram."
Sally puffed out her chest as she retracted her ribbons and shook them to clean off the blood.
"That's way too stingy, even for Isabella, right?"
Vicente scratched his head, afraid of being scolded by Sally next.
"How could that thing be so resistant? Was it because of the area buff? I knew this floor would be difficult, but this is only the second monster we've encountered here, and it was much lower level than all of us. We need to stay alert."
Douglas spoke as he moved to the center of the group, his expression serious and rigid as always.
"Ah man, what a fucking pain. I don't have the energy for this. We used to push ourselves like this once a week, but one of these demons per day? No way."
Raul sat down and immediately opened a bottle of wine, thinking about "ending" the day, but Sally kicked him.
"You lazy drunk! You did the least out of all of us!"
"Hey, hey, maiden! Says the one who just stretched her silk ribbons without even lifting her ass off the ground."
"What did you say!? These silk ribbons can pierce your heart too!"
"Nah, the one who wants to be sadomasochized like that is Rayner. Go talk to him."
"YES, PLEASE!"
Rayner stepped in front of Sally, who nervously stretched her ribbons again.
"Hey, you idiots. It's not even noon yet. If we stay here, reinforcements will come. When one of these monsters dies, its pheromones attract others. Unless you want to go through all that effort again, let's get out of here."
Omar spoke in his cold, serious tone. Li Xeng felt a chill run down his spine.
"I think he's right… even if his tone is a bit authoritarian…"
The Chinese boy spoke softly, but Omar heard him and glanced at him from the corner of his eye, making the boy tense up.
"Hey Sally! Who stole my kill!? I'm bigger than you, I need more meat!"
Vick stepped in front of Sally, completely ignoring what Omar had said.
"Another one with too much muscle and too little brain."
Sally didn't even bother arguing. She knew there was no point.
"Hahaha, thanks for the compliment! But next time, I won't let it slide!"
"Vick-sama, I don't think she was complimenting you…"
Yumi said with a blank stare while healing one of Vick's wounds.
"Well, well, isn't this a good sign? When an area has this kind of buff and peculiar monsters appear, it means we're near a Grail fragment, right?"
Erika appeared from behind, poking Yumi, something she loved doing and which left the girl extremely embarrassed.
"She's right. According to Helmer's map, there should be up to two fragments on this floor."
Vanya said while pointing north. On the horizon stood a massive statue of Zeus with its left shoulder broken, surrounded by several winged creatures flying around it.
"Hey, do you really want to go to that death-smelling area?"
Isabella asked as she drank some water with buffing properties.
"We have less than 10 months left. We're on floor 32. Don't you realize how little time we have? To climb another 68 floors in 10 months, that's about 6 floors per month. Even if time flows differently on each floor, if we waste a week on one, we'll be losing…"
"AHH, enough with your damn nerd talk! I can't stand your explanations! Just tell us what we need to do!"
Rayner interrupted the woman, whose face turned furious.
"Vanya-sama hates being interrupted. I think you're about to get beaten."
Yumi quickly moved away from Rayner when she saw the danger approaching.
"She's right, Rayner! We can't waste time. Especially since the floors are only going to get harder. I've been thinking about this, and I believe from now on, it would be best if we split into three groups."
Everyone looked hesitant at Douglas's suggestion, but Isabella agreed.
"I think it would save time. Four of us should be enough to find at least one fragment. But I don't want weak people in my group!"
The woman approached Douglas, who ignored her.
The group headed north, where a marker crystal stood.
All the floors of the tower had a marker crystal in the central region. It served to record the achievements of explorers.
They emitted a barrier that protected against beasts and demons within a five-kilometer radius. These were the safest places on each floor, where structured towns existed.
After crossing a desert and killing several goat-headed snakes, the group finally reached the province of the marker crystal.
"This floor sucks. I didn't read about this in the history books! Mythological ancient Greece was supposed to be full of beauties, wine, and orgies."
Rayner wiped the sweat from his forehead as they saw the enormous sky-blue crystal glowing and covering the entire region.
It was over 30 meters tall and emitted a wave of heat that made the already humid environment even hotter.
"There don't seem to be many residents here, unlike the previous floor. I guess that's normal since the floors get harder…"
Yumi opened a book about floor 32, the one they were currently on.
The tower's floors had been explored up to the 66th. That was the limit they had reached.
The reconnaissance members weren't warriors, just explorers who mapped areas already knowing they would eventually die. But someone had to "open the path" for the heroes.
These groups fled from monsters and demons and reported all discoveries to the marker crystals.
The crystals had been established by the angels who "built" the floors, serving as a means to help adventurers and allow people to live in those inhospitable places.
The cities didn't house many people. Usually, those who stayed in the tower were explorers who couldn't return due to exhaustion or the dangers of the floors.
They settled around the crystals, built villages and towns, and survived on local resources, even if they were scarce.
It wasn't an easy life, but they preferred to stay there rather than descend or climb the tower.
"Pff, I just want to lie down. We haven't slept in almost two days."
Raul leaned against Vicente, who pushed him aside.
"Do I look like a pillow? But yeah, I also want to stretch my legs. We haven't made much progress since we passed floor 30. I expected to be level 80 by now…"
As they entered the city, a short, chubby old man greeted them. He was one of the leaders of the explorers on this floor.
"You are the group of 12??? I can't believe our turn has finally come…"
Other people around watched the 12 with astonishment and curiosity. They were thin and dirty, clearly living in extreme conditions.
The city around the crystal was made of simple clay houses. There were no shops or anything—just dwellings, small wells, and a few empty halls.
"Well, I guess we are… But don't overestimate us too much. We had some difficulties, haha."
Vick said with a smile as she entered the central headquarters—a temple located at the center of the crystal. It served for records, rest, and repairing items and weapons.
Inside the temple was a huge fountain with glowing blue water.
It looked like a rustic medieval cathedral, but with parts of the blue crystal piercing into it.
Inside, only the short old man and a tall, thin blonde woman wearing a black veil remained, along with the 12 heroes.
"We won't stay long. I want to roast that Minotaur soon."
Erika glanced at Douglas, who was usually the one to report everything as the leader.
Douglas approached the crystal—a spherical object with golden decorations at the center of an empty altar.
When he touched it, he felt his hand become covered in mana and began to speak.
"I, Douglas Johan, level 83, one of the 12 chosen to reach the end of the tower, have come to report our progress on floors 31 and 32.
So far, we haven't encountered many problems, although the monsters that appeared have started to become more aggressive and aware.
There have been no casualties in the group, although we have come out wounded on some occasions.
On floor 31, we didn't encounter any real demons, nor any beings from outside the tower. The only floors where we found demons were the 13th and 25th, but they were low rank and seemed to act independently.
On this floor, we managed to find one of the Grail fragments, and we verified with the 'King's Book' that there were no more in the area. We now have 38 out of 100 Grail fragments.
Our group is between levels 60 and 80.
There are no signs of real demons on this floor. We killed 3 monsters and haven't found any fragments yet, but we sensed the presence of one to the north, where we plan to head after resting here.
And besides that…"
Douglas paused and took a deep breath. His usual serious and confident expression changed to one of concern.
"We still haven't found the traitor in our group."