The giant started moving as it pointed its sword toward us.

  Reiji stepped forward.

  「OVER MY DEAD BODY!! SUNDERING FLASH!! 」


  The giant stopped moving due to Reiji’s continued barrage of lightspeed attack.

  「Dodge, Reiji-kun!! MAXIMUM TRIPLE EXPLODING BULLETS!! 」


  I fired three enhanced Blast Bullets as soon as Reiji dodged to the side.

  The giant exploded and fell backward.

  「Did we defeat it? 」


  「NOT YET!! 」


  I replied to Sahoko.

  Upon a closer look, the four swords in the giant’s hands shone as it guarded against my attack at the last moment. Just like before.

  We could damage it, but we couldn’t defeat this thing.

  When the giant stopped moving, the room shone for the second time. The light recovered the giant’s damage.

  It seems we couldn’t defeat this thing with just half-baked attacks. But using even more powerful attacks could damage the room.

  「EAT THIS!!! 」


  Nao threw her boomerang.

  The boomerang approached the giant as it generated kamaitachi [wind blades].

  [TL: Kamaitachi are weasels in Japanese myth which generate vacuum blades]

  The four swords shone again, then a golden shining membrane coiled around the giant’s body.

  The flying speed of the boomerang reduced considerably once it came into contact with the membrane and then it was repelled by the four swords.

  「Ooh?! This guy is a tough one, huh.」


  Nao exclaimed in admiration.

  Despite her excellent detection ability, Nao’s offensive power was on the weaker side.

  It seemed her attack couldn’t even scratch the giant.

  「Nao-san, Rino-san, you two get back!! I’m gonna defeat this guy with Reiji-kun!! 」


  Rino and Nao couldn’t even scratch this golem. I guess Reiji and I were the only ones who could defeat it.

  But Reiji ordered me to fall back, too.

  「No, Chiyuki. You fall back too. Leave this thing to me.」


  「Are you sure, Reiji-kun? That golem seems to be a tough one.」


  「It’s okay, Chiyuki. I want to test something on that thing.」


  Reiji flashed a daring smile at me.

  He drew his other sword. Although not as powerful as the Holy Sword, this sword which was given to him by Rena was made by a certain famous dwarf.

  Reiji wielded both swords, each in one hand. It was the dual-wielding style.

  Honestly speaking, this form was never shown to Shirone, because it was Reiji’s trump card to defeat Shirone’s childhood friend.

  The defeated Reiji sought out the dual-wielding style for more power.

  [TL: Uhm…… Lloyd?]

  Reiji progressed at a monstrous speed. The current him might be able to defeat Shirone’s childhood friend. Reiji wouldn’t be defeated a second time.

  He charged at the giant, who used its four swords to intercept Reiji’s attack.

  Reiji handled that giant greatsword skillfully with his two swords.

  「Reiji-senpai is amazing. Even Nao can’t move like him.」


  Nao praised Reiji. She had the highest physical abilities among us. Reiji, who could move in a way that was impossible even for Nao, a true monster.

  In fact, Reiji was ambidextrous. He could write with both his hands at the same time. I was extremely surprised when I discovered that.

  That might be the reason why he could use swords with both hands so skillfully.

  The giant wielding 4 greatswords was far bigger than Reiji. Against that Reiji was dual wielding swords. And yet, the giant was pushed back.

  Reiji wasn’t even short of breath as he kept overwhelming the giant with his lightspeed attacks.

  Although I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was laughing.

  It seemed he was enjoying the fight. For Reiji, an opponent of this level was nothing more than a playmate.

  But the room shone every time the giant was wrecked. We really couldn’t beat this thing.

  「As I thought, this guy is troublesome…… Then how about this!! 」


  Reiji retreated as he opened some distance from the giant.

  「TAKE THIS!! LIGHT WINGS SUNDERING HEAVEN!! 」


  He lowered his sword and sprung towards the giant as if his whole body was a huge coiled spring. His overwhelming speed made him look like a light arrow.

  I’ve seen that move before. It was a ramming attack where one jumped as they used their whole body like a spring. Although it was relatively easy to dodge that move due to its glaring pre-motion, its power was enough to pierce anything struck by it.

  Reiji’s strike punched a hole right in the giant’s center, leaving a big space in its abdomen. The giant collapsed with numerous cracks spreading from that hole.

  The room shone again. But the giant didn’t get restored.

  It was pulverized with no possibility of being fixed again.

  「YAAAAY!! 」


  「Reiji-san!! 」


  「Rei-kun!! 」


  The three of them rushed toward Reiji. They embraced him while showering him with numerous praises.

  I felt the same way as them. In the end, only one person truly defeated the giant.

  Moreover, Reiji didn’t seem to have given his all.

  I rushed at him too. Although I wouldn’t embrace him, I couldn’t stop myself from praising him.

  「Good job, Reiji-kun!! 」


  「Naturally. How’s that, falling in love with me again? 」


  Reiji smiled as he looked at me.

  To be honest, I thought it would look better if it wasn’t for his cocky attitude.

  Couldn’t be helped, it was Reiji after all.

  「Geez, what are you talking about?! Let’s get going.」


  I dismissed his words as I looked at the gate that the giant had been protecting. I didn’t know what awaited us behind that gate.

  We opened the door and found a stairway descending further.

  Beyond that lay a huge room.

  Despite its size, the room was smaller than the previous room.

  There was a magic circle right on its center.

  「Is this a teleportation magic circle? It seems we can’t continue unless we use it.」


  I commented as I approached the magic circle.

  「Chiyuki-san. Someone dropped shoes.」


  Nao had found something.

  Everyone went toward Nao’s position.

  Rino was the first to speak.

  「This are children’s shoes.」


  「Does that mean they took the children too? 」


  「That seems to be the case, Sahoko. They might have been transferred somewhere with that magic circle.」


  I felt the same way as Reiji.

  「What should we do, Reiji-kun? I don’t know how they were transferred ahead, but……」


  「We have no choice but to go forward. The kidnapped people are alive. So it shouldn’t be a place where humans can’t live.」


  「Surely……」


  The kidnapped people were alive. It was hard to imagine it, with so many dangerous traps here which could kill them in an instant. As long as the transfer area wasn’t inside a sea of fire.

  After looking at the transfer magic circle, I found out that it was a one-way transfer. It would be a path of no return.

  But we won’t know unless we try.

  It might be for the best to leave one person behind. But that person definitely wasn’t Reiji, our most powerful fighter.

  I’m in the same position as him in this case since someone had to start the magic. I wanted to take Nao too for her excellent searching skills. Sahoko’s healing magic couldn’t be excluded either. And despite her competency, Rino hated being left out.

  So that meant no one would be left behind.

  We nodded as we looked at each others’ faces. Then we stepped into the magic circle.

  The magic formation shone.

  The scenery distorted and then we were sent somewhere. The room wasn’t a secret room, because some light was coming in from the outside.

  「Bright. How can it be? 」


  We turned around to see the outside due to Sahoko’s statement.

  「It’s really spacious…… Doesn’t feel like we’re inside the labyrinth.」


  Like Nao just said, we had arrived at a spacious place. It was as if 10 cities could be crammed in this place. The ceiling was high, too. It projected a giant crystal as big as a city. That crystal was the source of the light.

  It was thanks to that crystal that this place didn’t feel like the inside of a labyrinth at all.

  「There’s a forest and a lake, too. It’s as if we’re outside.」


  Rino exclaimed in a loud voice.

  I was surprised. I never thought such a place existed in this labyrinth.

  「There’s a field, too. It seems people are living in this place.」


  Reiji gazed at a faraway place.

  What appeared before our group was a wayside like a shrine. That small shrine was built on top of a hill. That was why we could see the surroundings.

  「Looks like there’s a city but it’s rather far from this place……」


  Nao was looking at a certain direction where she saw several buildings.

  「Shall we go, then? That might be the place where they took the kidnapped citizens. Let’s go!」


  We agreed with Reiji.

  I had no idea what was waiting for us. But we had no choice but to advance.

  We headed towards the city.

  ◆ Goddess of Spiders, Atlankua

  Euria, the princess of the Pashipea Kingdom, was staying at my mansion in a certain place located in the Ariadya Republic. She looked outside the window.

  「Fufu, Reiji-sama should’ve arrived at dear father’s place around this time. With this, Reiji-sama is mine…… Don’t you think so, Atlan? 」


  Euria muttered as she looked toward the direction of the labyrinth.

  「Euria-sama…… Zarxis also wishes for the Hero’s power.」


  「That person is too good for that undead. He should be mine.」


  I felt troubled when I heard her say those words.

  The princess was born between the queen of the Pashipea Kingdom and Labrys.

  Despite being a daughter of a god, she was a human. Her power wasn’t that great either.

  Nevertheless, her father was Labrys, so it was better to be safe than sorry. Hence why I bowed my head.

  The princess was quite the stunning beauty herself, just like her lucky mother. I believed her appearance might be that of a disgusting creature if she resembled her father.

  「In that case, the promise is……」


  「No can do. Moreover, I’ve already asked my father. As long as I am asking for it, his promise to Zarxis is a trivial matter.」


  She laughed. That laugh resembled Labrys’ for some reason.

  Her father, Labrys, was a nasty man who loved to rape women and torture men to death. And she was as greedy and arrogant as her father.

  The thing she wanted had to be obtained.

  Labrys was the kind of man who could break a promise without even batting his eyelids. If his daughter wished for it, he could easily throw away his promise to Zarxis. Zarxis wouldn’t be able to suck the hero’s power.

  Euria let out an innocent smile. Both parent and child were egoistic people.

  「Moreover, your aim should be Rena, right? Just think how annoyed that goddess will get once she learns that the man she loved was snatched by me.」


  Euria was blushing.

  I played one of my tricks for her to invite the Hero of Light. It seemed she really enjoyed the Hero of Light at that time.

  And it was as she just said.

  I wanted to slap that bitch Rena. Although I felt bad for Zarxis, this feeling of mine wouldn’t change. So I told him that everything went as planned as I pondered about that.

  I wanted to say “Serves YOU RIGHT” right on Rena’s face. We caught your most important man. I am sure you are really vexed by now, right?

  You matched very well with that brutal Labrys.

  I smiled lightly as I thought of that.

  Well, what are you going to do then, Rena? I couldn’t help but feel excited when I thought that way.

  TN: THIS MARK THE END OF THE MOST ANNOYING PARTS OF THIS NOVEL, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE BACK TO KUROKI POV!!!