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

Seeing Grace's smirk beneath his thick beard...

Finn's lips also twisted into a smile.

"...Please...cover the rear, Grace."

"it is good."

Grace gave a heroic smile and walked alone toward the giant monster.

As the dwarf walked away, enduring the gazes of his comrades, Raul, his brow furrowed, called out on behalf of Finn:

"All personnel evacuate the scene! Quickly!! Lefia, lead the way!"

"Okay, okay!...Miss Phil Weiss!"

"...Okay, I understand."

Under the young man's command, the Loki Familia launched an immediate operation.

Lefia and Philweis rushed toward the passage, followed by the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, the Amazon sisters, who had been silent, turned their backs to Ais and the others.

"...I won't let Grace steal the spotlight all by herself. I'm the one who deserves the captain's praise."

"I want to go too!"

Two warlike female warriors went after Grace.

Two young, level-one adventurers who never obeyed orders stayed behind with Grace.

"Bert, Ais... I'd like to trouble you to protect Raul and the others."

"...Tsk!"

Bert, who was originally wagging his tail and about to rush to the battlefield, clicked his tongue after hearing Finn's plea.

Ais accompanied the group members in their retreat, and before leaving the hall, she looked at Grace and the others' backs one last time.

"Tiona, Tione... Grace."

"Don't lose," she thought.

Entrusting the fate of her squad to her comrades who were responsible for covering the rear, Ais ran out in deep sorrow.

★

"Is this a good idea, Tione? You probably want to stay by Finn's side, don't you?"

Grace asked the Amazonian girl who was forced by circumstances to accompany him at the rear.

"I'll protect the captain's ass! The captain's ass is mine!!"

"Why keep emphasizing the butt?"

When Tiony started shouting and getting stubborn, Tiona opened her eyes halfway, helpless.

The square hall was at least a hundred meters long on each side. The adventurers picked up their respective great axes, recurve swords, and double blades and began their first and last conversation without any tension.

"...Ahh..."

That's enough of the small talk.

The super-large-scale object ahead is making a move.

Boom! A dull, heavy thud, like a giant hammer striking a surface, echoed as the monster's forelegs slammed into the ground. The monster hurtled straight towards the entrance of the passage where Ais and the others had started.

"So, what should we do about that—?"

"That's not an opponent we can face head-on, and besides, we're not at our best... We should only be able to destroy the 'magic stone' and finish it off in one move."

Tiona, who had been bathed in the "venomous poison" of the venomous maggots, was sweating profusely all over her body; Tione, who had been slashed by the assassin's "cursed tool," had not yet fully healed, although her wound was still shallow.

The enemy is a "celestial clone" that the Loki Familia had to defeat with great difficulty, even after the entire Loki Familia had committed all its forces.

Tiona and the others are far from being at their best, and the enemy they have to stop is far too powerful.

"Well, that's one way, but... let's get back to basics. What's the old way to deal with these big guys?"

"Slap the foot..."

"Let it fall to the ground!"

"Good. Avoid its attacks; one hit and you'll be destroyed."

However, the first-level adventurers were not pessimistic. They knew that it would become a "poison" that killed them during the "adventure".

Grace, shaking his armor which was half burned by the raging flames, raised his axe.

"Our goal is purely to delay them, but for Ais and the others, it would be best to take them down—let's go."

The battle began as the dwarves kicked the ground.

"Once it starts running, we can't stop it! Tiona, we have to stop it!"

"knew--!"

"Tione used 'magic' to bind that guy's feet!"

"I'm not good at 'magic'... but there's nothing I can do about it!"

Grace and Tiona continued forward in a straight line, while Tione jumped aside, temporarily leaving the battle area.

Tione abandoned approaching the enemy and went straight into "chanting".

"Arya...Arya!"

As for the "Fairy Spirit Clone," it let out a joyful cry and began to charge forward.

It kicked the super-hard metal floor covered with stone slabs with a loud thud as it started running.

"!"

Faced with the approaching giant chunk, Grace and Tiona quickly separated to the left and right, each dodging the attack. Unexpectedly…

Even though they had left the enemy's path, an astonishing wind pressure still assaulted them.

"Ugh, it suddenly started running—!"

"spray!"

Grace and the others were numb from the shock, but they still managed to land safely by bracing themselves with their hands. The "Fairy Clone" abandoned the two of them and stepped forward, trying to leave the hall.

Once you start running, you won't stop. That's absolutely right.

Faced with the giant bull's invincible charge, Grace roared:

"Tione! She went that way!"

In a corner of the hall, Amazons were weaving incantations.

"My desires, which have sunk to the bottom of my heart, my longings, which were conceived in the bottom of my heart—the moment of destiny has arrived."

Tione pronounced each word perfectly, chanting the unfamiliar incantation with unwavering accuracy. She had not yet attained "magic mastery" (developmental skill), so no magic circle was set up beneath her feet; only powerful, resonant sounds echoed continuously.

Tiony stared intently at the "celestial clone" rushing from the left to the right of her field of vision, while preparing to cast a spell.

"[Forming a shape, revealing fangs, transforming into a king serpent. Crossing the sea, traversing the land, overturning the world! Capturing destiny (moments), hindering destiny (moments), trampling destiny (moments)!]!"

As the incantation was completed, a radiant light appeared in Tione's hand, giving rise to a blue-purple whip of light that took concrete form from "magic power".

"[Giant Serpent Coiling]!"

Tione fired a light whip directly at his opponent.

The whip of light snaked at high speed, like a snake biting its prey, and wrapped around the giant bull's right hind leg.

"!?"

In an instant, the "Immortal Avatar" stiffened unnaturally.

"Oh no! I've been infected!!"

This is Tione's magic, "Serpent Coil".

The magic manifested as a whip of light has the attribute of "binding magic." This whip can not only be used as a regular striking weapon, but also has a certain probability of forcibly stopping a target once it catches it. The success rate depends on Dione's own "magic power" value.

Tione is not a mage and has low proficiency, but after multiple upgrades, her "magic power" stat is high enough. According to her, she can "succeed once in ten attempts to defeat the floor master."

Tione cheered for her good fortune in succeeding on her first try and pulled the Whip of Light toward her.

"! ...?"

Forced into a state of forced cessation, the "celestial essence clone" endures the ferocious inertia that strikes it.

Finding itself forced to stop, the upper body of the female figure was greatly surprised, while the lower body of the giant bull, leaning forward, used its strong forelegs to dig into the paving stones to steady itself and avoid falling.

A first-level adventurer wouldn't miss this opening.

"Whoa—!!"

"Hmm!"

Tiona and Grace, who had caught up from behind, attacked the enemy's legs.

"Huh, it's so hard!? Ah, whoa!? The double-edged sword is cracked!?"

The two attacked each other's left and right hind feet, their eyes wide open.

Just as Tiona had complained, her Urga had cracked, and Grace's great axe had a chipped blade after only one swing.

The enemy's skin is incredibly strong, as hard as ultra-hard metal.

"it hurts!"

However, both Tiona and Grace are among the top power fighters in the Loki Familia.

Even the "Immortal Split" could not escape unscathed; wounds remained on its hardened skin, spurting out bright red blood.

"We're still alive, but our weapons are probably going to break down first."

"What should we do, Grace!"

"Need I even say it—kill it before its weapon breaks!"

Grace and Tiona kicked the floor and attacked the enemy again.

Two figures, locked in fierce combat, rained blows on the enemy's legs time and again.

"...Want to play?"

After being struck several times, the "Fairy Spirit's" murky golden eyes turned downwards.

She looked down at the adventurers, who resembled mice surrounding an elephant, tilted her head slightly, and smiled.

"Then—let's play!"

The monster easily broke free of its restraints, turned around, and confronted Grace and Tiona.

"You broke free too quickly...!"

Seeing that the enemy's "magic" had quickly dispelled the forced stop, Tione cursed. She used all her strength to pull the snake whip toward herself, trying to hinder her opponent's movements as much as possible.

unexpectedly……

「!?」

It turned around and used brute force, stomping its hind leg, which was wrapped in the whip, with such force that it dragged Tione over and made him fall to the ground.

"wait……!?"

There was a loud bang.

The stomp was so powerful that it sent the mouse (Tione) flying just as it was about to dodge.

It shattered the stone slab again, causing the ultra-hard metal floor to dent.

"Aha! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The ferocious rodeo has begun.

It stood still, flailing about aimlessly, nothing more. Even this left more and more scars on the battle-hardened first-class adventurer. The earthquakes it unleashed shattered its stance, and the shockwaves from its heavy stomping mercilessly pounded the dwarf's armor and the Amazon's brown skin. Not only that, its forked tail, extending from its rump, curved like a whip, further amplifying its fierce attacks.

"Roar! Ro ...

Accompanied by the delicate yet sadistic laughter of the "fairy spirit," the roar of the mad bull reached the sky.

The "Fairy Spirit Clone," which contains the will of both the upper and lower body, not only intends to destroy its prey but also the entire maze.