The Final Floor

"Eh?"

No one knew who made that sound. It could have been anyone.

The tenth floor. It was a cavern clearing with a smooth floor.

Pale light emanated from the stones. The circular area was about ten meters across, and in one corner, there was a staircase leading downward.

And behind them was a mirror.

This meant they could return to the ninth floor immediately. And judging from their previous exploration, going back up through the higher floors wouldn't be difficult either.

"This is… a rest area?"

Though Ria murmured it as a question, it felt right.

The ninth floor had been a jungle-like place where taking breaks was difficult. Looking around here, there were clearly no enemies. There probably weren't any traps either.

"There's no magical distortion. It's an ordinary place."

Maal's words confirmed it.

"Maybe we're meant to prepare here before the final boss?"

Serge thought of it in game terms, and considering the nature of this labyrinth, that was probably correct.

"For now, let's rest."

Ria made her decision. Whether they advanced or returned as originally planned, it seemed they could sleep here.

Unfortunately, the stone floor was abnormally hard, making it impossible to dig a bath. They had to settle for wiping down their equipment and bodies with water.

They laid out blankets and lay down. For the first watch, Maal and Ria took guard duty. These two had used the least energy.

"I'm… useless, aren't I?"

Maal whispered in a tiny voice.

Ria embraced Maal's shoulders and slowly stroked her ears.

"That's not true."

There was no lie in Ria's words. Without Maal, exploring the labyrinth would have taken several times longer. But she also understood why Maal felt that way.

"Maal takes care of everyone with cooking and camping, right? Fighting isn't the only skill that matters."

Ria was always gentle toward Maal. A gentleness unimaginable from someone called Ria-chan the Merciless.

"But I want to be useful in battle too."

That feeling wasn't hard to understand.

"I'm one of your comrades too, after all."

Once, she had been just a tool. A tool for finding traps, disarming them, and opening treasure chests.

But here, under Ria, everyone treated her as a comrade. She knew that without anyone having to say it.

If so, she wanted to become not a tool, but a comrade who fought alongside them.

"Then we'll do special training when we get back."

"Yes!"

"Shh. Quietly."

Maal hastily covered her mouth.

"Alright, let's go!"

Having slept and shed even the mental fatigue that didn't show in numbers, the party stepped onto the staircase leading down.

Rather than a labyrinth, this seemed to be a passage.

The width was three meters at most. The ceiling was low too. They thought it was straight at first, but it curved very gradually to the left.

"A spiral staircase, huh? It kind of hints at DNA, or maybe not…"

Only Ria understood the words Serge used, and honestly, Ria wasn't a science-oriented person, but she did occasionally watch programs on public broadcasting.

"Isn't that a double helix? I think that's completely different from this."

"Yeah, I just felt like saying it. But descending a spiral staircase into the earth's depths kind of feels like going to hell. It gives me a bad feeling."

His talkativeness was probably from anxiety. She understood that feeling.

This labyrinth felt claustrophobic. Unlike the previous floors, it had an atmosphere that made it feel like there was no going back.

"Ah, hold on a second."

Serge stopped the group partway through. After a moment of concentration, he used magic to check.

"It's okay, the path behind us isn't closed off."

"While you're at it, can you see what's ahead?"

"Roger."

Serge's magic was space-time magic. Even if he couldn't see it, as long as there were no obstructions, he could understand what the space looked like.

"The depth is… about five castle gates' worth, I guess. I think there's probably something like a door at the end. If the space beyond this wall is hollow, it would easily be the size of five town blocks."

In such a vast space, there was probably a guardian.

"I wonder if it's a dragon."

Ria murmured. The group all looked displeased.

Dragons were the strongest creatures on the surface. They were stronger than most demons.

After all, during the great demon floods two thousand years ago and a thousand years ago, it was only with the power of the Dark Dragon Valis that humanity had finally achieved victory.

Casalia's founder, Leyte Anaia, became Valis's wife and gave birth to the second king. Ria's ancestor.

"Well, even if it's a dragon, it's not going to be one of the Five Divine Dragons."

Carlos, who was familiar with the motif of knights fighting dragons in stories, offered that consolation.

"If a Five Divine Dragon appeared, even I would run away."

Even the ever-confident Ria didn't think she could fight a god-slaying dragon. It would be like telling a human to fight a nuclear warhead.

"Earth dragons would be fine though, right?"

"Yeah, they're just big lizards."

To Lulu's question, Ria puffed out her chest and answered confidently this time.

"Right now I could beat about fifty of them. If my weapon holds out."

It was a frightening thing for Ria to say so casually, but compared to the Ogre King, a big lizard was nothing to fear.

Though a single one could devastate a normal village.

"Nee-chan, have you ever fought a real dragon?"

Among Ria-chan the Merciless's battle records, there had been no fights against dragons.

"No. But they should be stronger than a Hydra."

"There are quite a few records of large cities being destroyed."

Because they incurred a dragon's wrath.

While talking about such things, the party arrived at the bottom.

Before them stood large double doors made of metal.

"This is… mithril."

Lulu reported with a surprised voice. To use precious mithril like this…

"Lucky us."

Grinning, Ria took out her axe and destroyed the door's hinges. Naturally, the door fell inward.

"Serge, collect the mithril."

"Roger that, Nee-chan."

Shrewdly collecting the mass of metal that had been the doors, the party entered the room.

Darkness blocked their vision.

"I can't quite see to the back."

Even Maal, with her night vision, couldn't tell.

"There are large rocks and such scattered around."

Serge perceived this much.

And so, a strategy meeting began.

"First, if things go bad, Maal is to protect Serge and retreat."

"But—!"

Maal raised her voice in protest, but Serge was calm.

"Store all the spoils in my storage space, so it's fine even if we die."

In their battles until now, they had known their opponents. So they could gauge when to retreat.

But up ahead, if there was a dragon—

"All the weapons and armor we've worked so hard to gather would be lost. That's why you should hand everything except the bare minimum to Serge."

The magic bag, which had little capacity to begin with, didn't hold that much anyway, but they handed over their cash and such as well.

"This is my stuff too, just in case."

What Ria handed over, besides cash, included jewels and precious metals taken from the castle, as well as a dagger bearing the royal seal.

"If the worst happens, Maal, I'm counting on you."

Serge alone probably couldn't make it back outside the labyrinth. But with Maal there, they could avoid danger and escape.

"Understood."

Maal nodded with a look of resolve. It was the face of someone who understood the responsibility of the task entrusted to her.

Lulu cast defensive magic on everyone. In addition to physical and magical protection, she also cast magic to prevent mental influence. It was well known that a dragon's roar could cause people to panic.

Serge cast acceleration magic on everyone. Though he could cast it from a distance, being in contact reduced the magic power consumed.

"Alright then, let's go."

A sphere of light shot from Lulu's staff, slicing through the darkness as it traveled forward, then burst.

In that instant, the enormous space was illuminated.

What they saw in the depths was a massive chunk of rock.

No, not a chunk of rock—what looked like a small hill.

A giant.

The giant rose and stood up, maul in hand.

Its body was easily over twenty times larger than Gig's massive frame.

It had only one eye. Horns sprouted from its head.

"A Cyclops…"

An existence that rivaled dragons.

A descendant of the fallen gods.

Its barbaric appearance, clad only in a loincloth and wielding a maul, only served to evoke greater fear.

The giant drew in a breath and roared.

The air trembled.

Without the magical defense, that alone would have left several people unable to move.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Ria roared as well. She broke into a run. Tachi in hand, toward the giant.

And so the battle began.