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 .
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