Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

A united front formed by opportunistic, yet a hastily assembled punitive force of brutes with no common ground whatsoever.

Sakura was both surprised and amazed by the temporary squad she had joined. Grasping her great axe, she swung it horizontally with a full swing. The tiger with fangs and lion-like claws was cleaved in two, and Sakura rescued the Amazonian vanguard warrior who had nearly fallen into the tiger's jaws.

"—This floor's master, Goliath, is even more powerful than the others!?"

"It's an adventurer who's directly confronting the giants on the main battlefield!" shouted one of the adventurers.

Just as there are individual differences among monsters of the same species wandering in a labyrinth, the "Lone King of the Labyrinth" also varies in ability each time it is born. This giant seems to be the "King of Signs," and the vanguard orc, his face covered in dust and blood, spat at it.

Upon hearing this ominous news, Bell and the others, who had been summoned to the battlefield, were startled. Meanwhile, the Rivera adventurers from the town, who had several experiences in such expeditions, launched a fierce attack.

"Tch, not enough men... Hey! Go to town and bring reinforcements!? You have ten minutes!!"

"You're asking too much of me, Perth!?"

Upon hearing the orders from the burly leader who had unified the Rivera adventurers in the town, the humans being commanded responded with screams. The adventurers rushed towards the cave leading to the 18th floor. "Stop talking nonsense, just do it!!" the leader roared, telling them to run.

With the addition of Bell and ten others who came to the rescue, the team had a total of forty people.

The townspeople of Rivera then regretted not having spared their strength or underestimating their opponents, but it was too late.

The outcome of this battle may also be related to the Kingdom's offensive.

The influx of troops into the city has forced the higher-ranking factions to retreat outside the city walls. The best evidence of this is that there are currently no adventurers of LV.4 or higher in the party, and even LV.3 are few and far between. The battlefield requires the valiant efforts of second-tier adventurers to sustain their ranks. Bell, darting about like a rabbit, has no time to use his resurrection charge—and the "magic" with its powerful gravity barrier is unlikely to be effective in the confined space of the low-ceilinged labyrinth.

Even if the reinforcements from the 18th floor take into account the time needed to prepare their weapons, and considering the distance from Rivera Town to here, it would probably still take at least half an hour.

An atmosphere of defeat began to permeate the battlefield, and the morale of the weary adventurers gradually declined.

Then, just as the mages were unable to effectively unleash their artillery fire, the vanguard of the Titan-Suppressing Wall was kicked away by the enemy with tremendous force.

"Ughh ...

"hateful……!?"

Looking up at the vanguard wall of people flying into the air along with the flattened shields, Welf groaned as he brandished his greatsword and fought the monster.

Then, he put his unarmed hand behind his back.

A longsword and a greatsword sheath were strapped to his back. He drew "Krozo's Demon Sword," which he had prepared for today's "mini expedition" to deal with emergencies.

To be honest, it wouldn't matter to him if a few nameless scoundrels died, but if things continued like this, Bel and his companions would also be overwhelmed by the Titans' offensive and find themselves in danger. He stopped weighing his own feelings against those of his comrades, cursed "bastard," and raised his red sword.

He gripped the excessively powerful "magic sword" high above his head, ready to strike down at Goliath.

"—[Grow bigger]."

"!!"

However, just moments before, the beautiful singing reached Welf's ears.

Looking back, in a corner of the large cavern, one could see the supporter, Haruhime, chanting incantations from outside the sight of the monsters and adventurers.

She pulled her robe and hat down low to conceal her true appearance. Ming and Lily had followed her there sometime earlier and were protecting her.

"[This body that feeds on divine delicacies, this golden light bestowed upon the gods. From the mallet above to the earth below, may you be blessed—grow larger]."

Welf snapped back to reality and saw in front of him, a melodious incantation quickly forming the name of the spell.

"【The Treasure Hammer】".

The light hammer enveloped Ming, who was standing in the guard position.

A dazzling, radiant glow emanated from the girl, who received the blessing of "leveling up," and her body began to glow.

Seeing the countless particles of light emanating from her body, Lily quickly threw her black hooded robe—the Goliath Robe—to the girl.

Like Haruhime, she pulled her hood down to cover her radiant body and started running.

"!!"

A black arrow cuts through the battlefield in a straight line.

The unfortunate monsters along the path became prey for the short sword "Earth Smash," which swung high into the air, slicing off their upper bodies. Before the townspeople of Rivera and Modo could react, the girl pushed aside the vanguard and charged straight at the giant who was about to unleash his carnage.

This is one of the rules of the traditional Shogi board game passed down through generations in the Far East: "Upgrading to Gold". From Lv.2 to Lv.3, you become a perfect ambush unit, freely roaming the battlefield supported by other Lv.2 adventurers.

The forward attackers replaced the forward wall that had been knocked away, providing an emergency response. After they acted as bait to draw the giant's attention, they immediately seized the opening and slipped into the giant's embrace.

He gathered the power of light particles in his hands, sheathed his short sword, and drew out the long sword "Tiger Iron," which shone with a black and silver light.

"—Drink! Aa ...

A loud sound of drawing her sword rang out from the scabbard as she closed in on Goliath, a flash of light striking beneath its feet.

The floor owner, who had been pressing forward at high speed, was thus dealt a severe blow with all his might.

「!?」

Blood gushed from the giant's short, thick left leg.

The grayish-brown hard skin was cut open, and the giant's flesh was deeply cleaved; it was undoubtedly a severe beating.

Goliath lost his balance when his knees gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

The second-level adventurers, including Bell, as well as Sakura and the others around them, stared in astonishment as the man in the black hooded robe carrying a Japanese sword swiftly moved away from the battle.

"That's so unfair...!?"

Seeing the life-or-death slash knock the giant to the ground—Haruhime's "Level Up" power made Welf's face twitch. He wasn't in the mood to feel proud of the strength and sharpness of his creation, which was enough to effectively harm the floor master; instead, he felt a chill first.

"Incredibly strong!?" "Which faction!?" Excited shouts erupted around them as the mysterious adventurer executed a beautiful hit-and-run. Concealing her true face with her robes, she drew everyone's attention and leaped towards Goliath once more. It was as if the girl was acting according to her vivid and intense memories, her movements as swift as the wind.

Behind the excited adventurers and Welf, Haruhime and Lily hurriedly fled the starting point of their fate to avoid unnecessary questioning.

"Hey you forwards! Attack! Smash it flat!?!"

Encountering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the adventurer leader's veins bulged on his forehead as he roared.

Attacking the legs to make them fall to the ground is a common tactic for defeating large-scale bosses and floor bosses.

Seeing the giant fall to the ground and struggle in pain, the vanguard attackers licked their lips and pounced on him.

Greatswords, hammers, and battle axes, gleaming with ferocious silver light, cleaved into Goliath's skin one after another.

Then--

"--Hmm, let me join too."

A figure suddenly rushed across the battlefield and severed Goliath's right arm.

"Ooh o ...

"Varied……"

Upon seeing the figure lying on the ground next to the floor master, Welf stopped what he was doing.

The sight of a black-haired woman wielding a katana and swaying her bright red trousers prompted him to whisper:

"Tsubaki..."

As if she had heard Welf's whisper, she—Tsubaki—turned to him and smiled.

When the giant arm flew into the air, spraying blood and smashing other monsters, all the adventurers, including Bell, Ming, and Sakura, were equally astonished.

With his tanned skin and long, tied-up hair, and only light armor such as gauntlets, his island-style clothing and katana gave him the look of a swordsman from the Far East.

The most striking feature is the large eye patch covering and obscuring the left eye.

"The One-Eyed Master Cyclops..."

"...LV.5"

The image, reminiscent of the blacksmith goddess Hephaestus, made the adventurers gasp.

"We've got to win, guys!!"

The arrival of Tsubaki, the leader of the forging faction and a blacksmith with the strength of a first-class adventurer, has caused the adventurers to cheer loudly.

This became the key to victory.

Her participation sent morale soaring, turning the tide of the battle. At their leader's command, the adventurers repelled the monsters' attack and began assaulting the giants. Bell and his companions, who had been standing still, quickly sprang into action.

Before long, thanks to the activity of the LV.5 blacksmith, the brute force team silenced the floor owner.

*

After the battle with the floor master ended, what awaited everyone was an ugly fight over the spoils.

Needless to say, the giant "Magic Stone" in "The Lone King of the Labyrinth" also makes the weapon material drop item "Goliath's Tooth" a coveted prize for everyone. The unexpectedly large number of monster "Magic Stones" further intensifies the competition.

Those who were out of the loop—those who were only temporary helpers and didn't get their share of the profits—were either shocked by the way the townspeople of Rivera were handing over the monsters that kept appearing to their underlings to deal with while they were running an auction business themselves, or dumbfounded. But the quick-witted Modo and his crew, who had snatched the monster loot from the minions, smiled at them and said, "That's how adventurers are." They smiled wryly in response.

Seeing that it was no use watching those people fight over the treasure, Bell and the others decided that since they had already come all this way, they should go to the 18th floor.

A view of abundant nature and crystal clusters, a safe floor where monsters cannot be born.

The blue and white crystals on the ceiling of the building, which resembled blooming chrysanthemums, were glowing. The "Under Resort," a maze-like park that still shaped the "sky" even underground, allowed Bell and the others to relax their exhausted bodies.

"I never expected to reach the 18th floor like this..."

Bathed in the sun-like brilliance of the white crystal, Lily closed one eye as she spoke, as if it were too bright for her eyes.

It had been about a month and a half since they last visited the safe floor. Bell and the others, along with the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia, sighed, whether out of excitement or emotion. Haruhime, who had recently converted to the Familia, gently wagged her thick fox tail and laughed along with Mikoto and Chigusa. Seeing them like this, perhaps recalling memories of wandering around the mountains of their hometown, Sakura, watching from afar, said, "It feels like going back to the past," with a wry smile, but her tone sounded quite calm to Bell and Welf.

They drew water from a stream in the southern forest of the floor to soothe their throats and lay down on the grassland. While Bell and the others rested their bodies, exhausted from the main battle on the floor, the townspeople of Rivera, who had finally returned to the 18th floor, invited them to the hilltop. According to them, it seemed they wanted to welcome their fellow travelers who had survived the fierce fighting.

Saying such things without sharing any benefits with Bell and his crew seems like excessive flattery, but hearing them offer free food and drinks as an apology makes it hard to resist the temptation. Bell and the others were truly exhausted.

Bell and the others followed them through the gates of "Rivera Town," which was built on a giant rocky cliff floating on the western shore of the lake.

"Wow... is this 'Riverra Town'?"

"Um, is this your first time in town, Miss Haruhime?"

"Yes, I have accompanied the goddess Ishtar on several 'expeditions' and have passed through this 18th floor... but they forbid me from going to the town."

Haruhime, along with her "Level Up," was kept secret by her faction, and they went to great lengths to ensure she wasn't seen when using it. Now, seeing the village-style street scene adorned with blue and white crystals, her cheeks flushed red. Seeing the fox-girl's tail and ears twitching slightly, Bell's face relaxed, and he smiled at her.

In Rivera, a town where every corner offers stunning views of the beautiful lake and towering buildings, the simple shops set up with cabins and tents are, as usual, selling all sorts of goods at exorbitant prices. The tavern, built into a cave using the underground city's terrain, echoes with the laughter of drunkards.

Perhaps due to the Kingdom's attack, the number of people in the industry seemed to be less than the last time they came. However, the lively sounds of string and wind instruments could be heard from somewhere. The underground blue sky surrounded the labyrinthine town of inns, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

"Thank you so much for your help earlier, [Rookie]! You really did me a huge favor!"

The Rivera leader in town is called Perth.

This adventurer was muscular, strong, and bigger than a cherry blossom.

During the total war against Black Goliath on the 18th floor, Bell and the others remembered seeing his figure several times.

That fierce face, which clearly indicated he was no benevolent person, also left a strong impression on them.

"The Hestia Familia will certainly continue to conquer the 'Lower Levels,' right?"

"Ah, yes... I guess so."

"Alright, remember to come to our town when you attack the 'lower levels,' fellow traveler!? I'll give you a discount!"

Like Mordo, Bell and the others had fought against the black giant Goliath together, and the town's Rivera leader was relatively friendly to them.

He laughed loudly at his admired colleagues and said, "You'll have to patronize us often in the future!" Lily watched coldly as this glib-tongued adventurer wrapped his large arm around the boy's shoulder.

"...By the way, [Rookie], there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"W-What is it?"

Bell had an arm around his shoulder, and he gave a timid smile as the leader whispered to him with a serious expression:

"That demonic swordsmith is with you, right? Tell me about him!"

"—Oh, please!! Forge me a 'Demon Sword' too!"

Welf frowned.

The boys went to greet their leader, but Welf didn't go with them. Instead, he was in the town center—in the square where the huge blue and white twin crystals stood—collecting food and other supplies as agreed.

A group of shouting adventurers rushed toward him, who was carrying a large sword and a "demon sword".

"I saw it in a war game, that super-powerful 'Demon Sword'!"

"You're the famous 'Crozio,' right!?"

"I heard that family was cursed and could no longer forge the 'Demon Sword'. Was that just a rumor?! This is really serious!"

"Name your price, please!!"

The adventurers who flocked to him were all asking him for the same thing.