Oh, wait, wait. Today, I'm going to have to go with you.

　Lord stops them both from going outside.
　Surprisingly, he gobbled up all the food on the table in the short time he had been talking to Ryner.

'You're coming with me Lord?'
Because that's where we're going to fight.　You're a wind wizard, aren't you, because then you might die.

　A very light appearance announces my death. Is the sixty-sixth layer of the example such a dangerous place?
　Ryner replies with a disgusted look as he accompanies Lord.

I'll fly Christ. You don't have to come with me.
And fly ......?

　The words are flying around, so I throw a look at them, questioning the meaning of it.

'The sixty-six layers are 'empty'. No walls, no mazes, no nothing but 'sky'.
That dragon in the 'sky' is a tricky one. I've fought it many times, but I have no hope of capturing it. That's why I've been waiting for Christ.
You're "Elfenries the Wind Dragon", aren't you? Hmm, that's nostalgic.

　It is said that there is a dragon in the sky at the 66th layer.
　It's also a dragon that makes even the current liner say that there's no prospect of an attack at all.

"Let's go, Christ. We'll hunt the dragon together.
'The dragon or ....... I've got it. I've heard this is still called 'dragon slayer'.

　Ryner held out his hand for me to shake. I squeezed it back tightly.


[Party]
　Rainer Helvirshine has joined the club.


　And the 'display' appears in view.
　I suddenly feel embarrassed to think that I was the one who thought up and created this system. I can see him silently developing the magic of the "display" with a smirk on his face.
　I really like the game-like production of "The Original Kanami (Me)" .......
　However, this 'display' is also reasonable. There are a lot of situations where this has helped me.

　And while I'm joining, I check Ryner's status.


[Status]
　Name: Rainer Helvirshine HP369/369 MP102/246 Class: Knight
　Level 25.
　Strength 12.24 Strength 9.21 Skill 10.56 Speed 15.34 Wisdom 12.00 Magic 9.89 Elemental 3.87
[Skill]
　Inherent skill: wind magic 2.01
　Acquired Skill: Sacred Magic 1.25 Sword Art 2.34 Blood Art 1.00 Optimal Action 1.22 Fortitude 1.02


　After a true leveling up, Ryner had evolved into a talent that was no less than Lastiara and the others. Thanks to the absorption of Hailey's magic and soul, his stats have increased significantly.

　He is blessed with talent and has a decent personality (compared to the rest of his peers). Best of all, he's a dependable homos*xual. Finally, I feel like I have a decent companion in my life.

　Behind me, he said, "A child (straw man) is a friend, a child (straw man) is a friend! I walk out of the restaurant, leaving my guardian, who is making a lot of noise, unnoticed and impressed.

　The labyrinth seems to be headed from the edge of the city, so we cross the city.
　On the way, I check my status.


【Status】
　Name: Aikawa Uzumi HP293/293 MP945/945 Class: explorer
　Level 22.
　Strength 12.55 Strength 14.11 Skill 18.57 Speed 22.96 Cleverness 18.67 Magic 38.34 Element 6.21
[Skill]
　Inherent skill: swordsmanship 3.79
　Acquired skills: body arts 1.56 Dimensional magic 5.27+0.10 Sensory perception 3.56
　　　　　　　Knitting 1.07 Deception 1.34 Magical Combat 0.73 Blacksmithing 0.69


　When he was fighting Palinkron, his garbled status was back to normal. Now that the battle was over and things had calmed down, it looked like the 'display' had finally caught up.

　And I reaffirmed the impact of the magic stone out of Yangtaki. His skills haven't changed since he last checked. However, there are fluctuations in the other numbers.
　First of all, I can see that the qualities that should never change have been cut down a bit. Along with that, the value of magic power has also decreased. However, if this was the effect of the Yangtze waterfall's magic stone missing, I felt it was too little.
　I tried to think of a reason, but I couldn't find an idea. It's not a bad thing, so it's not something to be pessimistic about, but I can't be honestly happy about it either.

　Finally, I also see that the level is up. When I asked Ryner about it, he said that while he was asleep, he also finished leveling up as part of his treatment. It seems that Lord advised him that it is dangerous to leave it in a state where it can level up.

　Thus, while confirming the current situation, we arrive at our destination.
　And we are stunned by the extreme unreality of the landscape.

　The edge of the city - the edge of the earth is cut off and has become a cliff. It was terrifying from a distance, but it was even more terrifying up close.
　If you look down, you'll see endless blackness. One of the stones fell empty, but it was quickly sucked into the darkness without a sound. Not a single echo sound returned. A chill ran down my spine as I realized that it was a bottomless valley.

　Its cliffs stretch around the city. Perhaps, from a distance, the city would appear to float in the black sky.

　And I found a purple "connection" standing in front of the cliff.
　I am amazed at the perfection of the Connection. It was so dense, so different from the doors I had made. It's not as fragile as if it would disappear if you touched it, but it felt as secure as a towering mountain.

　It's as if a higher level of dimensional magic, the Connection, was superimposed on a higher level of dimensional magic. It must be some kind of magic that fixed the entire space. It is not possible for this doorway to be broken forever, I knew because I am a dimensional magician.

'Let's go, Christ--'

　Through the Connection, the three of us break into the 66th level of the example.
　We jumped from the back side of the labyrinth to the front side of the dimension and returned to the labyrinth of old.

　On the other side of the door was an expansive grassland.
　Even though we were in a labyrinth, the wind blew and the short grass swayed. It was a bit dim, but it was still a layer of openness that could almost be mistaken for the ground.
　I thought that there was not a single obstruction to my view - but that was not the case. There was a narrow spiral staircase that looked like a tower in the middle of the grassland.
　It's an apologetic staircase, as if it were a minimal maze body.

　This is the empty hierarchy--

'This is the sixty-sixth layer ....... There's nothing here .......
Yeah, look up. You'll know it when you see it.　

　At Reiner's urging, I looked up at the sky.
　For a moment, I didn't know what to look at.
　It was too huge for that. It took me a while to grasp the whole picture.

　At first, I thought that the warbler's color was the ceiling of the labyrinth.
　But I soon found out that it was not. The warbler-colored ceiling was moving. Like a living thing.

"Eh, could it be ......?
Ah, that's the dragon that stands in the way of the 65th layer. The Elfenries.

　The creature, more massive than a cloud, was flying with ease.
　Even though it was flying far away, you had to move your head wide to find the creature's wings.

　It took my breath away.
　Not long ago, I had killed a dragon named Dravdragon.
　It was fresh in my mind that I defeated it with a Snow Rowen Reaper, a formation that, in hindsight, was well prepared, even though it was in danger.

　However, even compared to that difficult enemy, Dravdragon, this dragon was an order of magnitude different.


[Monster] Elfenries: rank 67.


　Its rank was more than twice that of a drav dragon. And its body length is more than ten times as long - or nearly fifty times as long if it's not good enough.
　Unlike the Dravdragon, which was realistic to defeat, this Elfenries couldn't even imagine the moment of defeating it. It was like dealing with a natural calamity such as a storm or an earthquake.

''As you can see. Too big a body, too big a magic power. He's a wind dragon, so his aerial combat is one of the best. Moreover, they also use wind magic, so their speed and sensing abilities are also among the highest. He is highly intelligent and understands the tactics of battle. On top of that, he doesn't take pride in anything. Such a monster is guarding the stairs to the sixty-fifth layer.
"Nah, I see. ......

　It was just a boss room.
　No one is saying that the guardians (guardians) are the only bosses. There must be a layer like this in the long hundred layers.

''Let me gather some information first. --Dimension.

　For now, I use dimensional magic to grasp the entire hierarchy.
　By filling the space of the sixty-six layers with my magic power, I was able to quickly grasp the full extent of the space.

　It was a grassland twenty kilometers in diameter, surrounded by stone walls and ceilings. It was probably about a kilometer high. The length of the spiral staircase would be about one kilometer high. There are holes above and below the spiral staircase in the center that lead to each level. The only entrances to this enclosed space were those two holes and the Connection behind them.

''Is it possible to go to the sixty-seventh level (shita) with this?''
'Yeah, there's no obstacle to going down there. It's just that there are two much bigger dragons down there, right?
Yeah, yeah.

　There is no advantage in going down now. Unlike usual, we must aim for the 'ground' instead of the 'deepest'.

Hmm, hmm ....... Well then, let's get closer for now.
You should be careful. They'll attack on the way up.

　Reiner is looking at me with expectant eyes. Does he think that I will win that dragon unilaterally?
　Of course, it's a challenge to wait and see.

　We walk under the sky where the dragon seems to be making gurgling sound effects and reach an unreliable stone staircase.
　Soon we start climbing the stairs. I have the Crescent Pectrazuli's Straight Sword, and Ryner has the Aleiss family's treasured sword Lowen and Ruf Bringer in his hand, ready to intercept at any time. By the way, Lord is climbing with his empty handed fist.

　And after advancing the stairs somewhat, Ryner urges the start of the battle.

''Christ, it's about to come--!

　I also knew from the Dimension. A huge dragon floating in the air twisted its body and turned its head towards us. Two huge eyes, which could be mistaken for the sun, were reflecting our appearance.
　At the same time, I can sense that the dragon is building a powerful magic. However, even though I can sense it with the 《Dimension》, I can't do 'magic offset (counter magic)'. That's because it can't generate the ice-cold attribute magic needed for that image.

　First, Elfenries' wings slowly moved. With that alone, a storm containing magic power was generated. The 'Dragon Wind', which is difficult to even interfere with, attacks us and seals off our movements. And that's where the real attack is pursued.

"--aaggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

　A dragon bigger than a mountain rushed at a terrifying speed.
　It's just a body hit. It was the usual attack method of the monsters of the lower levels.

　But if it reached the sixty-sixth layer, the scale was completely different. If an ordinary monster used it, it would be a poor attack, but if the opponent was a giant body bigger than a mountain, it would be a different story. That alone would be a ruthless violence that no man could resist.

　Without having time to respond, the dragon's huge body hits the stairs.
　Of course, the "dragon wind" continues to be generated from the wings. The wind blows like a burst of bullets, dismantling the staircase as if it were crushing sugar candy.

　The wind blows, we lose our footing and are thrown into the air.
　Ordinary people would have been prepared to die, but the three of us here were very calmly moving on to our next move.

　Sticking to the collapsing rubble, Ryner has secured a foothold. Lord is spreading his wings and flying. After making sure my allies are safe, I go on the offensive.

　I kick the falling pieces of stairs and fly through the air.
As long as the 《Dimension and Decisive Operation (Gradiate)》 is in place, I don't step off the foothold or make a mistake in the balance of my center of gravity. I run through the sky as if I were on the ground, approaching the dragon.

　My speed is faster than the wind - it's enough to give the illusion of being faster than the wind. I have that much physical ability. With that speed, I cut the dragon's gaze and enter its blind spot. However, I don't have enough time to pick a vital point.
　Carelessly thrusting my sword into the dragon's back, I thrust my sword into the dragon's back.

''--?

　But only a high-pitched sound rang out.
　My full-throated thrust couldn't pierce the scales of the Elfenries. Rather, it was me who received the damage. My hand went numb from the impact of the return.

　Realizing that the sword couldn't get through at all, I fly through the air once more.
　I find Ryner among the falling debris and call out to him.

''Ryner!　Just switch swords for a minute!

　Perhaps anticipating this development, Ryner doesn't hesitate to toss the 'Treasured Sword of the Alais Family Lowen' without hesitation. Instead, I throw back the 'Crescent Pectrazi's Straight Sword' and conclude the equipment exchange.

　Then, I repeat the same procedure again and try to break through the Elfenries' scales - but this is no good. Like a rewound movie, it is played back again.

''Ka, it's too hard!　Time!　I'm going to run away for a minute!

　My attack methods are limited.
　I'm not going to be able to get my hands on them. There are only two.
　Since dimensional magic doesn't have a direct attack ability, there is inevitably less variation compared to the rest of my friends.

　And right now I can't use ice-cold magic. If slashing with Rowen didn't work, I had no choice but to flee.
　When I realized that there was no effective means of attack, I chose to flee.

　However, the Elfenries magic that is released on its back.
　Countless spheres of wind are released from the dragon's agito.
　It is probably a magic that hits the foundation of the wind attribute. It's a good idea to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're looking for.

''Agaaaaayyyyyy!
Wind magic 'Windwing'!

　In response, Ryner uses his magic.
　He stops watching from the rubble and leaps into the sky, clad in wind. Although the wings (wings) don't grow on your back as the magic name implies, the wind robe that surrounds you begins to ignore gravity. Rather than flying, it's more like a magic that utilizes the power of leaping.

　Grabbing my hand, Ryner flies.
　He flies toward the ground, avoiding the sphere of wind that is attacking him.

　And when I return to the ground at the same time as the falling debris, the Lord, who had been flapping around in the safety zone, comes back.
　He was waiting for my impressions with a smirk on his face. In response to his expectations, I let out my weaknesses to the fullest.

''I thought you were strong in terms of rank, but I didn't expect you to go this far ....... It's as if you don't stand a chance .......

　He looks up at the sky and turns blue in the face.
　The Elfenries are swimming in the sky with ease. Apparently, the only enemy is the one that approaches the sky and is not interested in the one that falls to the ground.

'Hey, Christ. Can't you manage to drop it with your ice magic?

　However, Ryner still seems to have high hopes for me.
　Indeed, my ice serpent magic seems to be effective against flying enemies. If it's still available, I'm going to try it right now.

I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do, but ......
'What's the matter. With the freezing magic you slammed into that Palinkron guy, wouldn't it be easy to drop that guy to the ground?
It's not working.
What?

　There's no point in being pompous, so I'll be honest and confess.

''My sister took my freezing magic away, so now I can only use dimensional magic: ......
'You can only use dimensional magic ......?　So, what can you do now?
You know, detection and transference?

　Now I can only use Dimension, Form and Connection with confidence.
　To put it bluntly, I had no offensive power.

　Knowing this, Ryner's eyes changed from expectation to disappointment.

''That's just a searcher (radar), isn't it ......
I'm sorry. No, I'm surprised at myself. I'm such a peaceful ability without my sister. ......

　You can see that he's become an auxiliary specialist wizard. Or it would be a non-combatant in charge of production.
　If he hadn't trained his swordsmanship skills during his training with Rowen, he would really just be an enemy searcher (radar).

　However, if one thought about it, it was natural.
　Each inborn talent is often a reflection of the person's personality.
　If it's just me alone with my 'soul', I can understand why I don't have the skills for combat. And I can also understand that Yotaki was a super aggressive talent.

''Oh, I see ....... I thought Christ could handle it. ......''

　Reiner doesn't blame me. He seems to think that I should praise him for his peaceful abilities, but not blame him for it. However, he couldn't hide his disappointment.

'No, no wait!　I'm certainly not going to defeat that dragon, but I'm not saying it can't be broken through. I'm still very good at distractions. Yup. That dragon doesn't need to be defeated, as long as you can get through it, you can manage it. I'll take care of it, Ryner!

　It was me, desperately trying to sell my usefulness.
　Somehow, I would look like a dependable person in front of Ryner.

''No ......, that wind dragon is the most difficult opponent to 'just get through'. Even I, who was confident in my speed, can't see any chance of winning at all. As long as it's touched by the wind, it can sense it, and its flying speed is faster than me with that huge body ......!
Faster than a liner ......?
''Oh. In the attack and defense just now, the wind dragon didn't even get serious. I guess he only got rid of a small fly.

　It wouldn't be a lie.
　I'm sure that dragon has the power to make you believe that. After all, my sword hasn't damaged him even a scratch.
　I had no choice but to admit defeat at this point in time.

It's a little too much for the current generation to handle,....... But, well, we should be able to defeat it someday--

　Even if it's a powerful enemy, you can beat it someday. I know that's how the maze is built. After all, I'm the one who made it that way.
　But in contrast to my optimistic outlook, Ryner's face is dark.

No, Christ. What's more troubling is that you can't train to beat that guy. ...... The only thing in the 66 and 67 layers is that wind dragon. Not a single other monster is there. Yet, we can't level up steadily at the lower levels.

　The labyrinth is designed to lead the challenger to the "deepest part".
　But that is if you aim from the top to the bottom. It is not designed for people who aim at the top from the bottom, like we are doing now. I know this because I made it.
　The more I understand, the sooner I understand.
　In the desperate impasse of this situation--

'We're completely trapped in the sixty-sixth layer. So I was hoping for the return of Christ: ......

　I'm tied up in the act of accumulating experience and forced to only break through at the current level.
　And yet, I've just been notified that it's impossible to break through at the current level.

　My face is darkening just like Ryner's.
　Seeing this, Lord becomes a big smile on his face.

I'm sure you'll be happy to see me. I'm sure you're going to have a good time. You're welcome to live here permanently.

　Lord is convinced that we can't break through these sixty-six layers alone.
　The two of us now can't break through the 66th layer on our own.

''What the hell is this ......?''

　It's as if you've entered a dungeon that you can't go back in an RPG game and saved the game. No, it's as if you were thrown into the city before the last dungeon as soon as the game started.
　Either way, the only thing I was sure of was that I couldn't get out of 'here'.