The Gatekeeper

The labyrinth conquering advanced smoothly.

Since they already knew the way forward, they naturally took the shortest route. They had no intention of completely mapping it out.

Another reason they were progressing so well was that the monsters they had struggled against before hadn't revived.

In this respect, it differed from the Immortal Labyrinth that had been managed by Labyrinth. At least with this one, the danger gradually decreased over time.

Even so, enemies like Cerberus and Mithril Golems were no joking matter.

"Hyaaahah! Time to strip off that mithril!"

Serge ran gleefully toward the remains of the Golem that had repelled all magic.

However, the mithril was only on the surface. The inside was just ordinary iron.

It had been one week since they entered the labyrinth.

The group had reached the fiftieth floor.

This was clearly a different type of floor from those before. Most notably, the ceiling was high. Its height was reminiscent of Casalia's royal castle.

In other words, flying enemies would appear here. And ones that Giant Bats couldn't even compare to.

"A Gargoyle, huh… I hate enemies that might damage my katana…"

Against the flying stone statue, Ria countered with a warhammer.

However, this Gargoyle was far more agile than something like a Wyvern, and attacks from the warhammer wouldn't connect.

Moreover, since it floated in the air firing fireballs from its mouth, it had poor compatibility with warriors.

"Now that I got a good look, it's Level 120!"

Serge cried out. At first, he had been negligent, thinking a Gargoyle was just a flying Golem and not bothering to use Identify.

To make matters worse, this Gargoyle had defensive magic patterns painted on its surface, rendering ordinary magic ineffective.

As for whether Serge's Excalibur could work, the enemy moved too quickly for it to hit.

Rather than a Gargoyle, it was already an enemy at the level of Gargoyle-sama.

"This really is the gatekeeper after all, isn't it!?"

Placing acceleration on himself, Serge desperately evaded the fireballs and hid behind Vil's tower shield.

"There's a high chance of that!"

Ria also avoided taking direct hits from the fireballs. Honestly, it would just be a little hot with no real damage, but she wanted to be spared from fighting half-naked again.

"Ria! Give back my sword!"

Shizuna shouted. Indeed, if she had her Blazing Snake Sword, it would certainly be effective in this situation.

"Here."

Vargas took the sword out of his magic bag and passed it to her.

Shizuna was momentarily stunned, wondering why it was coming back from there.

"I planned on returning it from the start. Once you'd reflected on things."

In reality, they had obtained another magic sword after that, so it had just stayed with him.

"Alright! With this!"

Taking the sword she was accustomed to in hand, Shizuna shouted.

"Warp!"

The serpent-blade sword extended, trying to ensnare the Gargoyle. But the Gargoyle folded its wings and accelerated.

Even with lashing movements, the Gargoyle couldn't be captured.

"Oooooh!"

With a spirited yell, Vargas swung his greatsword.

A thunderous shockwave was released from it. The sword flash that had earned him the nickname "Thunder" slammed the Gargoyle into the ceiling.

But even that wasn't enough to destroy the Gargoyle's body. It nonchalantly extended the limbs that had embedded into the ceiling, rising into the air once again.

The Gargoyle's fireballs didn't have that much power, but it seemed able to fire them with almost no magic consumption. Moreover, it could rapid-fire them.

"Normally Gargoyles are supposed to be small fry though…"

"Oi, mage, stop hiding and do something!"

Since Serge was hiding there, Vil couldn't move. Even without that, defending with his shield was his fighting style, but still.

Cell and Maal were using water-type spirit magic to defend against the fireballs. Lulu and Jason were also cooperating to erect an anti-magic barrier, but as a result they had no resources left for attacking.

"Can't be helped then. Guess I'll use my new ultimate technique."

"If you have something like that, use it sooner!"

Ria also slid behind Vil's shield to hide.

"I call it Unlimited Short Blade Works, but there shouldn't be any copyright issues, right?"

"How would I know."

Serge concentrated and constructed the magic. Around the boy floated countless small masses of magical power.

Seeing an opening when the Gargoyle's attacks briefly paused, he dashed out from behind Vil's shield.

"Feuer!"

The spatial distortions became over a hundred blades, assailing the Gargoyle.

They were small blades. Each one didn't do that much damage. But there were simply too many, and it couldn't evade them all.

Its stone wings crushed, the devil stone statue fell to the ground.

The warriors then flooded over it.

"This is… a color I've never seen before."

Vargas had taken a black magic crystal out of the destroyed Gargoyle's body.

Normally magic stones were dark red, and magic crystals also had similar colors, but this one had no red at all.

"Maybe magic crystals near the Dark Dragon's dwelling are black? I sense strong darkness power from it."

Jason wanted to analyze it in detail, but it would definitely be worth money at least.

Now then, though they had thought the Gargoyle was the gatekeeper, monster attacks continued after that.

Flying monsters were troublesome, but insubstantial monsters were even more of a nuisance.

"Those aren't monsters. They're spirits."

Against the mass of flames, Cell confronted it alone.

Facing the flames, they locked eyes. Neither side moved, and a long time passed.

Just when the other members started talking about blasting it with ice magic from the side, it finally disappeared.

"If they're spirits, I can handle them given enough time. Leave them to me."

If they didn't have a spirit user as a companion, they might have been stuck here.

Compared to those, even though they were flying monsters, Gryphons and Wyverns were easy opponents.

Ria and Vargas's attacks dealt damage that nearly ended their lives in a single blow, and Carlos and Shizuna also made full use of their magic swords' characteristics.

That's not to say the other warriors were useless either; in wide spaces, protecting the rear guard mages became a significant role.

And then, the group finally arrived before a huge gate.

It was a massive space.

From the moment they entered, they could see the huge gate far ahead on the opposite side.

In front of that huge gate—large enough for even a Cyclops to enter with room to spare—was a living creature.

Pale yellow—ivory-white—scales.

Two short but sharp horns.

Wings far too small for its body.

It was a Dragon.

With a body length of around ten meters, it was probably still a young Dragon.

Its belly swelled regularly, its nose making soft breathing sounds.

Despite the group having drawn quite close, the Dragon was peacefully sleeping.

"Oi, you."

Without hesitation, Ria struck the side of its face.

The huge head shifted sideways.

"Eh? Ah, owwww!?"

The Dragon spoke.

It was a high-pitched voice. As expected, it was still a young Dragon.

Its eyes that stared at them were pale green, beautiful as jewels.

"People came all this way with such effort and you're just sleeping peacefully. I half considered killing you with a surprise attack, you know."

The Dragon stood up on its hind legs and looked down at Ria, who had struck it and was now proudly puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips.

It moved quickly. An unbelievable speed for that massive body, on par with Rudolph.

"S-sorry."

The Dragon apologized!

"Well, whatever. So, is the Dark Dragon Valis beyond here?"

"Ah, yes. Ah, one moment please."

The Dragon folded its arms and thought.

"Umm, having overcome numerous trials, well done on making it here, adventurers…?"

It spoke hesitantly, ending with a questioning tone.

"If you want to meet Dark Dragon Valis-chan, show me your strength!"

Valis-chan!

-Chan!?

Somehow, their strength drained away. Was this some kind of magic?

"To show my strength, should I just hit you again?"

Desperately rousing her fighting spirit, Ria asked. What was this? Weren't Dragons supposed to be… more, well, terrifying?

"Ah, no, you're already fine."

The Dragon backed away a little, rubbing the cheek that had been hit.

"For those who want to advance, please fight me. Once I acknowledge that you have sufficient strength, I'll let you through."

Something about this situation had gotten strange.

To begin with, Ria was the only one who actually needed to meet the Dark Dragon Valis.

"Yes, question."

Serge, who had recovered fastest from this lethargic atmosphere, raised his hand.

"Yes, go ahead."

"Is it fine to wait here without going further?"

"I don't mind, and Valis-chan could send you back to the surface with magic if you want."

"Eh? But then we'd end up meeting her anyway…"

The Dragon tilted its head, the gesture strangely charming.

"That's right, isn't it? And if you could make it this far, I think you have sufficient strength already."

According to Serge's Identify, this Dragon was only Level 77.

However, its ability values exceeded almost all of the monsters they'd faced. Every single stat was higher than even that Gargoyle from earlier.

Frankly speaking, it didn't look like they could win without Ria.

"But Valis-chan will get angry if I disobey her orders, so let's fight after all. We'll both hold back properly."

The Dragon had remarkably little fighting spirit. In order to rouse himself, Vargas spoke up.

"Well, it's a rare opportunity to fight against a Dragon. If we're holding back… is everyone okay with that?"

He looked back at the members behind him. Though they wore complicated expressions, no one objected.

"Can I join in too?"

"Please don't. I don't want to experience that kind of pain again."

Ria's request was flatly refused.

"Well then, shall we do this?"

"Let's."

And so, somewhat haphazardly, the battle against the Dragon began.