After finding the Rufbringer, I proceeded through the labyrinth, paying attention to the items that were dropped in the labyrinth.

　However, I couldn't easily encounter rare items like the Rufbringer. Although I occasionally find labyrinth drops, they are mostly old furniture and ornaments that have no magic power.

　While we were collecting those things, we had completed the 24th and 25th levels.
　The stairs themselves could be found with Dimension, and the enemies that attacked us were not a threat.

　The 25th level was like a river of boiling water instead of lava, and the steam blocked my vision like a mist. However, I'm good with the type of attack that obstructs my vision. With the use of 《Dimension》 and 'Gazing', it's impossible to fall behind. Fortunately, there were plenty of monsters that were hiding from the enemy as well.

　In total, it took less than an hour to clear it.

　And then the 26th layer.

　It was in the middle of this 26th layer that my smooth search for the labyrinth came to a halt.

　The monster of the 26th layer, the Crystal Golem.
　As its name suggests, it was a moving stone statue whose entire body was made of crystal.
　However, the hardness of that crystal was no ordinary.

　It was so hard that even a blow from Snow and I, who had become inhuman, wouldn't cause a single crack. Furthermore, it has a high level of defense when it comes to magic, and it can't give you a decisive blow for any length of time.

''d*mn it--!　Hard!

　I throw down the damaged fifth sword and take out the sixth weapon. It's time to equip the large sword for Snow, as I'm no longer comfortable with my sword reserve.

　Next to him, Snow strikes a blow with magic power.

''--[Impulse Break]!

　As he deploys Dimension, he understands Snow's constructed magic attack.
　The great axe collides with the crystal's body and sparks fly. The impact seems to be amplified by magic to create even more destructive power.

　Although it's a blunt attack, it seems to be an effective tool against this crystal golem.
　Finally, a crack appeared in the sturdy crystal.

''My attack won't pass!　You'll only be wasting your weapons!　Snow, please!

　I swing a large sword that doesn't fit my body and hit the crystal golem. It doesn't do any damage, but I can at least get it out of its stance.

''Already, this is so tiring!　--Impulse Break!

　Snow swung the great axe down on the crystal golem as it lost its stance. It slammed into the crack and the great axe bit into the crystal's body.
　Then furthermore, a fist released by Snow's dragon man's physical strength attacked it.

　The crystal golem was shattered by the fist clad in vibrational magic.

"...... finally defeated. Haha, haha.
Ha, ha. ......

　We are left breathless in front of the crystal golem that has turned into light.
　While picking up the magic stone, we check the current situation.

''...... Ka, Kanami, do you have any weapons left?''
'There are some left, but at the rate we're going, they might be gone before we get to the 27th layer: ......
...... It's kind of getting out of hand, so I guess I'd better go home.
No, I'm still good. The hard ones are slow to move. Just ignore them and you'll be fine.

　Snow is relentless in urging you to return.
　In fact, only Snow can return with the Connection. However, I can't let him return. Since there are monsters that won't let me ditch without Snow, I don't want to proceed on my own.

...... ugh. I don't want to go back 26 layers from here by myself.
No, don't try to leave me here alone. If you're in real trouble, I'll give you a connection.
...... I'm really tired right now.
"You still have a lot of HP and MP left over. ......?
...... Kanami, if you get caught up in the numbers alone, you'll miss the essence of the matter, won't you?
Yeah, I'll be careful. But you'll be fine. I know it.
...... Yeah, yeah.

　I tell Snow the status in words to convince him.
　To begin with, Snow has only released magic a few times.
　There's no reason why we can't have more.

"For now, go on ahead,--Kuch.

　As we were talking in vain, the 《Dimension》 announced the approach of the monsters.
　Multiple crystal golems are approaching towards us.

　Immediately, I figured out the route to the new 27th layer and walked away from Snow's hand.

''Snow, the hard ones are getting closer. Let's change our path.
...... I guess we'll just have to run away from the 26 layers now.

　Snow squeezes my hand back and quickens his feet.
　He seems to have the same desire not to fight the crystal golem.

　The experience is high, but it's too much for it to be worth it.
　Even stalling it consumes weapons, and it always consumes MP to toddle. It's a nasty monster.

　However, it was easy to avoid encountering them.

　They were slow to move just for the sake of it, but even slower when they were roaming the labyrinth. With my 《Dimension》, we won't meet them.

　It was a bit of a detour, but it was better than fighting a worthless battle.

　Thus, Snow and I reached the stairs to the 27th layer without a single rematch with the Crystal Golem, and hurriedly descended down the stairs to the 27th layer.

　The 27th level was a change from the lava field around the 25th level to a cool-looking corridor.
　I check the material of the corridor walls.
　When I thrust my sword against the nearly transparent sky blue stone, there was a high-pitched sound and my sword chipped away.

''Is this the same ...... as the crystal golem from earlier?''
...... Sounds like crystals.

　No, not exactly.
　The crystal I know is not this hard.
　It's another mineral that has reached the realm of evil.

　And the fact that this demonic mineral is used on the walls makes me drip an unpleasant sweat.

'The fact that the corridor is crystal means ......'
Is the ...... monster one of them?

　That's highly unlikely.
　Basically, the terrain of the labyrinth and the monsters that inhabit it are compatible.
　If there's a river, it's an aquatic monster, if it's overgrown, it's an insect monster, if it's hot, it's a flame monster, and my past experience confirms this.

　I unfold Dimension and search for the stairs and observe the 27 layers of monsters.

　I catch a humanoid crystal wandering around. As expected, the crystal golem continues to pitch in.
　Furthermore, it didn't stop there; unlike the 26 layers, there were a wide variety of monsters. Of course, all of them were crystal bodies.

　Birds and butterflies if they are flying, and spiders and ants if they are crawling. If it's something that crawls, it's a spider or an ant. They're all nasty looking monsters. The most problematic thing is their nimbleness. The crystal golems are slow, but the small crystal monsters are fast moving.

　They wouldn't be able to escape easily.

''They're all hard and fast looking monsters.
...... Okay, let's go home. Let's go home. Let's go home now.
'No, I'll do some more. At least, I'll do it while Snow has enough MP to spare.
...... Does that mean you're going to fight around my magic?
I'll fight you anyway, but I'm sure Snow will be the last to go.
...... or fall down from exhaustion.
If you fall down, I'll throw you into the Connection and you won't have to worry.
...... It's an ogre. The demon master.
'No, you wouldn't go down anyway. There's still plenty of time to spare. ......

　With Snow's willingness to slack off, I move deeper into the labyrinth.

　I decide to check out the situation with an affordable monster first.
　I find a one-meter long crystal ant wandering around alone and I attack it with my sword.


[Monster] Crystal Ant: Rank 26.


　From its name, I judge it to be a crystal golem that has acquired the habits of ants.

　And its small stature gives me a faint hope. If it's not the huge body of a crystal golem, the sword will pass.
　The sword wielded in that hope - is flicked off with a high-pitched sound.

''Poof!''

　My all-out blow was no match for ripping the Crystal Ant's body apart.
　However, unlike with the Crystal Golem, there was a crack. If I just look at the defensive strength alone, I can see that this guy is lower than the Crystal Golem.

　The Crystal Ant turned its fangs against the attackers, screeching and screaming.
　Hearing that unique voice, I think of different monsters in my head, monsters of the 21st and 22nd layers. They are monsters that use swarming as a weapon, and they make a voice similar to the one they make when calling out to their friends.

　As I continue attacking, I use Dimension to figure out the monsters a bit further away.
　Sure enough, the other crystal ants that heard the screeching voice suddenly made a quick and agile move and came towards us.

''Not good!　They're even gathering ants around!
...... Ugh, wow.

　I don't have a choice in the matter, and I take out a large axe for snow from my 'possessions'. Then, with all my strength, I strike the Crystal Ant and slam it into the wall.
　If this were a crystal golem, it wouldn't make a single crack.

　However, the difference in defense, which was slightly lower than the crystal golem, and the difference in material at the end of the strike made the difference between the two.

　The Crystal Ant that hit the crystal wall cracked its body and slowed its movements. Then Snow's blow struck and the Crystal Ant shattered into pieces.
　Although I was able to defeat it faster than I expected, there was no time to relax.
　A great number of crystal ants are coming here.

　I look at the great axe in my hand.
　In just one attack, the blade had spilled out beautifully. Snow's weapon was also crushed by the blade, turning it into nothing more than a striking weapon.

''Snow, let's go back to the 26th level for now.
I agree with .......

　If we continue to fight without thinking of any countermeasures, we will run out of weapons to "own". Realizing this, we went back the way we came.

　While we were returning, we were attacked by several crystal ants.

　The more we wielded our weapons to intercept them, the more they were being damaged. When the replacement weapons were no longer available, he finally managed to get through the onslaught of the crystal ants and reached the 26th level.

　Unlike the 27th layer, there were only slow monsters here.
　We took a breath and talked with each other.

''Is this the limit for today ......?''
Let's go to ...... or go home.

　Snow agreed without a second thought.
　If we pushed ourselves, we could probably get through 27 layers. But I would be afraid to march with Snow. Even if we were to do it, it would have to be just me, as I was very fast.

　I'm not going to be able to get a hold of you.

"...the magic connection...

　Neither me nor Snow have lost HP.

　But instead, many of our weapons became useless. We learned that there are ways to make people retreat like this, and we finished exploring the labyrinth.


◆◆◆◆◆ ...


This is quite a mess you've made.
The enemy is hard. ......

　We then came to Alibers' workshop and showed him all the damaged weapons.

　Unlike the last time we were here, the workshop was hectic.
　There were a few more strange-looking blacksmiths working busily in the small space. As I ordered, they must have increased the number of people and increased the speed of work.

'Are the enemies hard?'
'Yes, the monsters around layer 26 are tricky with their crystal bodies.
Twenty-six layers? We're in a world we've never imagined. --You're right. Do they have any magic stones?
I have some.

　I take out a crystal golem magic stone from my 'belongings' and show it to him.

''Is this ......, a crystal golem magic stone?''
How do you know?
''I believe that the monsters that appear in the Spirit Mountain in the far west have the same material as this one. It's a very high-grade mineral. I'm sure it's called 'ray crystal'. Huh, so you can get it in the labyrinth too?

　Apparently, those hard monsters exist outside the labyrinth as well.

''I want a sword that can slay those 'ray crystals'.
'Well, I'd like to say that our master is unreasonable ......, but the truth is, if you'll bear with me until tomorrow, the problem will be solved.'
...... Huh?
''The weapon you ordered for example can cut. I'm sure you'll find that the Crescent Pectrazuli is a better mineral than the Ray Crystal. The amount of magic power it contains is incomparable.
That's good. So, when will you be ready with the weapon?
'We're mobilizing this many people on a budget of this size. We'll have it done by tomorrow night. We'll make it happen.
Tomorrow night. Okay.

　I'm relieved that I'm closer to the completion date than I thought.
　I don't know anything about iron-making, but I still don't expect the sword to be easy to make. Maybe it's the benefit of magical technology, or maybe the blacksmiths here are good at what they do.

''Are you free after this?''
All that's left is to get some rest.
'Then why don't you tell me about your master's quest for the labyrinth?
I'm talking about me?
'Yeah, if you tell me what you had trouble with in the labyrinth and what would help if you had, I can make that up with what's on hand. Also, though, I'd like to hear what the 'hero', the Master, has to say to me personally.
I'm not a 'hero,' but we certainly need to share information: ......

　We should be able to take care of Mr. Alibers many times in the future. If we deepen our cooperation with him, our future labyrinth exploration will be easier.

　I nodded and slowly began to talk about exploring the labyrinth.
　Incidentally, Snow, who was following me, said "I'm going home to sleep" and left the workshop. He must have thought that the day would end with another long story. I'm not wrong, so I'm not stopping him in particular.

　Right now our leverage is from layer 24.
　I'm going to talk about that area in particular.

''I see. I see that you got a magic stone with a flame attribute in that lava area. If you're having trouble with the heat, you can make a magic item that can interfere with the flame. Fortunately, we have plenty of magic stones with the flame attribute.
Thank you. I'll hunt and get more if I need more.
'I don't need that much, that's fine. I just need to make a simple necklace. I'd really like to make a full body armor or shield that would look good on the Master, but it wouldn't fit the Master's fighting style.
I don't want anything heavy: ......
'Some magic items that could be adapted to lakes and swamps would be useful. Let's see if we can mend them.
...... really helps.
The rest is ...... right. You should get a log from somewhere.
Well, a log?
It's a snowball's weapon. If you're going to break it, you might as well fight it with a log. Besides, from what I've heard, blows are more effective against crystalline monsters.
I think you're right, sir.

　Alibers and I also discuss the combat aspect of the game.
　On the way there, I give him a wood carving that I've been making in my spare time, and he orders something he's wanted for a while. He says he's never made one before, but he's willing to give it a try.

　After much discussion, we pick up the repaired weapons and head to where we can get some logs. The area around the Allies was still being settled and the price of wood was low.

　For now, I bought about a hundred logs and put them in my 'belongings'.
　I was a little worried that they might be too big, but they went in with no problem. While I was at it, I tested the size of the logs in my "possessions" to see how big they would fit, and they seemed to fit in as big as I could carry them.

　That's all the preparation I can do now.
　I went back to Maria's room, thinking about the 26th layer of attack.