There are 19 levels.

　Rastiara runs nimbly through the corridor filled with hot air.

　The minotaur chasing Rastiara swings his axe down. The powerful blow tore and scratched out her body.

　Scraped away - in other words, the body of Rastiara, which was torn and distorted, disappeared into the air as it was.

　Naturally, that Rustyala was an imposter.
　As the main body, she's running far away unharmed.

　And I can hear Maria's voice deploying magic from next to her.

''--Firefly Mirage (Mirage), Firefly Phantom (Phantom).''

　Maria, dripping with sweat, develops further magic.

　The Lastiara that was scraped off earlier is a magical illusion constructed by Maria.

　《Firefly Mirage (Mirage)》 is a magic that refracts light depending on the temperature difference and alters the perspective.
　Firefly Phantom" is a magic that creates an illusion of human-shaped flames.
　The combination of those two magics caused the minotaur to miss the attack.

　Rastiara continued to run around the minotaur without danger with the assistance of Maria's magic.
　As planned, Rastiara is only trying to distract them. It doesn't try to turn into an attack.

　The purpose of this time is a test operation.
　Confirmation of Maria's magic. And until the construction of her maximum firepower magic--Midgals Blaze or something like that--Rastiara will never attack.

　By the way, I'm Maria's guard.
　However, Rastiara is moving forward and attracting enemies, and the phenomenon of light refraction is occurring here and there due to magic. The minotaur's attack will never reach Maria.

' 'Ochore, cut off the flames,' 'Dreaming staggers and sensui,' 'Manima,'

　Maria recites a poem I've never heard before.
　It's probably a magical 'chant'.
　I didn't do it before. Perhaps it was Arti's idea. The more she chants, the more the temperature around Maria feels like it's rising.

　Then the poem ends and the magic is released.

"'Swallow the Stars' ......!　--Midgalsblaze!

　With those words, Maria's magic power, which had been compressed upon compression, was converted into flames.
　A pillar of fire rose up from behind Maria, and the flames mimicked the shape of a giant snake. The flaming serpent opened its jaws wide and swam in the air like a living snake.

　Feeling the aftermath of its magic, Rustyala takes a distance from the minotaur. The minotaur that was confronting him also noticed the magic flames. But it was already too late.

　The minotaur braced himself to withstand the magic flames with his strong body.
　The flaming serpent bites it mercilessly. Its fangs of flame gouged out the minotaur's flesh, wrapping and tightening around the enemy's body with its long body. As it tightened, it scorched the flesh, and in the end, it burned the entire body of the enemy with its karma flames.

　The minotaur crumbled into charcoal, screaming in grief.
　The remaining charcoal turned into light and disappeared, leaving behind a magical stone.

''Haha, haha ....... What do you think, master ......?''

　Maria breathes on her shoulder and asks me for my thoughts.
　The magic earlier has made her feel remarkably ill.
　When I look closely, I see that Maria's HP is decreasing due to the use of magic--


[Status]
　HP82/102 MP102/122


　My opinion is one word.
　It's just crazy.

　I know I'm putting myself on the shelf, but it's clearly not the kind of magic you can learn in a short period of time.

　The magic is too strong. And the price is unusual.

　The application of the existing Firefly alone is unusual enough, but the last magic, Midgall's Blaze, is especially unusual.

　An extraordinary attack power that is not commensurate with its level. Furthermore, the change in Maria's physical condition after using it. Normally, no matter how high-ranking the magic is, it wouldn't lose this much energy just by using it.

　Before, I've cast magic by reducing my maximum HP, but or not.
　At that time, I didn't have any MP left, so I was only paid maximum HP as an alternative.

　But this magic 《Midgals Blaze》 is reducing HP even though I have MP left, it's a magic that is supposed to reduce HP. Even though it doesn't lose its maximum HP, I've never heard of it cutting down on HP just by using it normally.

　I'm speechless at the special magic and ask Rustyala for help.
　Rastiara feels my gaze and returns the words.

'...... It's a magic I've never seen before either. Also, it's an operation I've never heard of. I can see it too. This magic, it's not just MP that's consumed.

　Rustyra replied with the same impression as I did.
　When Maria heard that, she began to explain her magic.

''That's right. The two magics that Arti-san gave me, 《Midgals Blaze》 and 《Flame Flamberge》, are magics that drain both HP and MP. But anyway, if the enemy's attack hits me directly, I'll die in a single hit, so you don't need to worry about HP.

　Maria explains as if it's nothing.
　There is not the slightest hesitation or upset in it.
　She speaks of the obvious as if it were obvious.

　Indeed, the theory is correct. If this were a game, one could take the action of consuming HP for maximum efficiency.

　But Maria is flesh and blood.
　Maria is alive out there now.

　In fact, she was sick and suffering after she unleashed her magic.
　I saw her HP dwindle and she was relentlessly close to death.

　So I argue.

'No, maybe so, but it's not ...... realistic. As far as I can see, you're not feeling well. If you get sick, your concentration and judgment will be impaired and you will be unable to fight. It's too late for that to happen after something irreversible has happened. It's not magic that can be repeated over and over again.
'My job is to build magic in the rear. Like the two of you, we're not fighting in the front line every second, so even a slight change in physical condition won't affect me. To begin with, the idea of not losing HP in the labyrinth is too naive.

　Maria takes my opinion to task.

　She's right. Her story makes more sense. If you're trying to explore the labyrinth efficiently, then you're right.

　My opinion is just a spoiled story that I don't want you to do because I have a bad feeling about it.

......!

　But I didn't want to retreat.
　As me and Maria stared at each other, Rustyala stepped in between us.

'Christ, Mary has a better point.
You may indeed be right: ......, but ......
It's okay. We've only just met the minimum standards. Don't worry about it, you're still not good enough to follow our fight.

　Rastiara coldly evaluates Maria.
　Looking at the powerful magic she just used, Rastiara evaluates her as "not enough". In other words, Maria decides that she can't follow the fight after 20 layers.

　Maria bites into it.

'Then try me. Let me go to the 21st layer again. With me there, I'll make your search more efficient for the two of you.

　Maria's intentions were firm and she wanted to fight on the front lines.
　To that, Rustyala replied willingly.

'Yes, of course we'll try. We'll find out soon enough what we're still missing.

　Saying that, Rustyala proceeded to the 20th layer. As it is, he intends to take Maria to the 21st layer.

　Maria follows Rustiala's powerful footsteps, and I don't stop her.

　I'm not going to stop her.
　I'm not going to stop her, because I understand what Rustiala is thinking.
　If I take her with me, Maria will soon learn.
　And because we see the same thing, Rustyala and I come to the same conclusion.

　--more, a few more shots.

　I repeat the simulation of the retreat battle firmly in my brain, thinking about Maria's limitations.
　I slowly followed the two of them while assembling tactics to get through the battle that was about to occur unscathed.


◆◆◆◆◆ ...


　We reached the 21st level and formed the formation we had conceived in advance.

　Just like in the 19th layer test battle, Rustyala is in the vanguard, while Maria concentrates on magic at the back. I will be Maria's bodyguard.

　This time, there will be enemies who will climb over Rastiara's walls. When that happens, I'll be carrying Maria, who is concentrating on her chanting, as she moves.

　Maria, with full confidence, said to me, "I'll put my life in your hands". I have to protect Maria's life, who cannot grasp her surroundings through the concentration of her magic.

　As I was advancing in formation, I found Fury, a monster isolated by my magic Dimension.

　I take an all-around position and take up a sniper's position.
　This is a reworking of the coordination I had done before with Dia.

　The distance to the target is several hundred meters, with only one corner in between. Maria's magic is highly manipulative, so she can at least turn one corner.

　I verbally explain to Maria the location of the target and the construction of the corridor to it and have her cast the magic.

''-- 《Midgals Blaze》!

　A flaming snake with Maria's magic power secretly reduced thrusts through the corridor.
　In order to make sure that the flaming snake doesn't miss its target, I continue to pass on detailed information about the magic "Dimension" to Maria.

　There was no problem with its impact.
　As per my instructions, the flame snake bites and burns the slow-moving Fury.

　However, it doesn't die instantly.
　It lets out a scream of demise and tries to call out the other monsters. This is where it comes in.

'Okay, I killed one. But it's screaming and calling out for other monsters. Let's move out of the way.

　I tell them both the results and encourage them to move on.
　Maria is pleased to hear the results.

'Hah, hah ......!　Yay, I did it: ......!

　But its breathing is rough.
　It's no wonder, since it's losing HP along with MP.
　I walk while wobbling my feet. Rustyala watches it happily, and I watch it coldly.

　And I think coldly.
　After a few more battles, I have to take up a position where I can retreat to the 20th layer at any time. It should never be a serious battle.

'This way. Both of you.

　I take Rastiara and Maria and run to the next point where the battle is scheduled to begin.

　After moving a few hundred meters, I couldn't shake off the monsters that were swarming us and got caught between two Furies.
　Immediately, Maria deployed the magic 《Firefly》 as a backup. I was going to use the magic 《Dimensional Snow (Di Snow)》 as well, but I realize that the heat of Maria's magic makes it difficult to deploy it, so I stop.

　As it is, Maria shifts to chanting the Midgall's Blaze. I leave one of them to Rustyala and stop the other one in its tracks. Of course, I don't neglect to grasp the field in parallel.

　Fury aimed at us in front of him, and didn't try to aim at Maria. However, as Maria's magic power swells, the priorities in Fury's mind fluctuate.
　We were almost ready to complete the flame snake's magic when Fury ignored our stalling and tried to attack Maria with a determined look.

　Immediately I put my sword into my 'possession' and run as fast as I can towards Maria. Then, holding Maria in my princess hug, I moved away from Fury - and in the meantime, the flame snake's magic was completed.

''-- 《Midgals Blaze》!

　Maria manifests a flaming snake as she moves in my arms.
　I let the Fury, who was immediately chasing me, attack me. There is no way to avoid the Fury, who was chasing after it in a straight line, and the flaming snake hits it directly.

　The Fury, swallowed by the industrial flames, died out, showing the same decapitated struggle as the Minotaur did.

　The Flame Serpent's advance was not over yet. Maria continues to maintain the flaming snake that had burned out one Fury. As it was, she let the Fury, which was now Lastiara's opponent, attack her.

　Maria in her arms is sweating profusely.
　I can see that her breathing is disturbed and she is using all her nerves.
　More than anything else, as a 'display', I can see that her HP is decreasing.

　I approach Rustyala, who is stalling the Fury, and call out to him to disengage.

''Rastiara!　The magic is going, so back off!
Yes, sir!

　Rustyala, who had been flowing through the battle waiting for a cessation spell, took the distance with plenty of time to spare.

　Then Maria's flame snake attacked her. Just like before, the Fury disappears with a single blow.
　With this, the eradication is complete for now. In her arms, Maria is staring at the remains of the monster that burned with satisfaction.

　However, hearing Fury's decapitated voice now, he was able to call in more monsters around him. At this rate, I would be surrounded by monsters that were growing in number.

　I figure out the enemy's position and calculate the route.
　It's a route back to the safe zone - to the 20th layer.

　I examine the derived route and call out to Rastiara, who is collecting the magical stones.

''The monster reinforcements will be here soon!　Rastiara, let's move!
Okay.

　I start running with Maria in my arms.
　Maria refrains from running in my arms, but I ignore her because I can't let her run with her breath coming out of her mouth.

　After some progress, three Furies blocked my path. I'm not surrounded by them this time, so Rustyala and I stand in front of them, and they keep Maria at the back.

　I watch as Maria begins to chant her magic, and I focus on the fury in front of me.

　I coordinate with Rastiara and fight to keep the three Furies from escaping to the rear.
　On top of the single road, the position of the monsters was good, so I finished buying time without any problems. Maria's magic succeeds again. A flame snake swims in the air from behind and heads forward.

　Since I have the magic 《Dimension》, I succeed in matching the timing and keeping my distance. However, Rastiara doesn't have the means to grasp the rear, so his timing is a bit off.

　I regret that I should have called out to Rastiara. He always moves more than I imagined he would, so I guess I was overconfident that I could match his timing without any problems.

　Although the flaming snake caught one Fury, the aftermath of that catches me and Rustiala out of alignment.

　One Fury took a break in the coordination and ran towards Maria.
　I saw that and immediately tried to chase after it - but I was stopped in my tracks by one more Fury.

''d*mn--!

　The remaining Rustiala tries to rush in immediately, but Maria, who has confirmed the situation, stops her.

''Rustyala-san!　I don't care!　-- "The 'Brilliant Churning Flame'!

　Maria releases the maintenance of the flaming snake that had caught Fury and begins to chant differently.
　Rustyala is restrained, but he doesn't stop rescuing Maria, just in case.

　Then, after finishing her chanting, Maria releases her next magic.

''--《Flame Flamberge》!

　Flames erupted from Maria's arms, which condensed in an instant to form the shape of a sword. The flaming sword is clothed in more flames and extends to Fury, who is about to attack.

　It stabs into Fury's torso and tries to burn the enemy as it is.

　But the firepower is not enough.
　The chanting was short, but it simply seems to be a less powerful magic compared to the magic 《Midgals Blaze》.

　With the sword thrust in, Fury tries to advance.

　However, that advance is stopped by Rustyala's sword that was chasing him. Fury, hit by the fire and sword attack, fell straight down and became light.

　All that's left is my relative Fury.
　Rustyala and Maria join in and handle them without danger.

　I'm not going to be the only one who's been in the market for a while.

　--But Maria is the only one who can't move.

''Haha--, haha, haha--!

　She is out of breath and can't move an inch.
　I call out to Maria.

'Maria ..........I'm going to go back to layer 20 .......'
-Oh!

　Maria couldn't disagree with my words.
　She tried to argue back, but her erratic breathing wouldn't allow it.
　After only a few battles, Maria was so worn out that she couldn't even reply.

　Immediately I took Maria in my arms and headed to the 20th layer with Rustyala.

　In my arms, Maria was trying to speak something, but by the time we reached our destination, I couldn't hear a word of it.