Goddess

The 29th floor of the labyrinth. Its central area.

In the center of the vast space, there stood a being.

Clad in armor, equipped with a spear and shield, with wings on its back.

"A valkyrie, huh… Level 140. Anyone want to give it a try?"

Gantz stepped forward with his usual heavy breathing, but the female leader stopped him.

"Our mage can't see levels, but a level 140 is an enemy multiple parties have to work together to fight, you know?"

"Gantz's level is over 100, so couldn't we manage with magical support?"

"100…"

When the leader glanced at the party's mage, he concentrated briefly and performed an appraisal.

"Indeed, it's 101. That should be near the humanoid limit, but…"

Including humans, demi-humans, and demons, the humanoid limit is said to be roughly level 100.

This is mainly because when facing monsters above that level, the danger increases dramatically, making it difficult to accumulate the experience points needed to level up. In Nears, you basically don't gain experience from hunting weak monsters.

"What kind of exploring have you all been doing?"

When Saki asked, Mako thrust out her chest proudly.

"In my case, my level kept going up thanks to the effects of Gluttony!"

"For me and Lavi, our training was harsh, and our opponents were evil gods."

"Godslayers! Such a title… no, wait, it's disguised and concealed."

The mage nodded in understanding. His guess was indeed correct.

"That young lady's status being unreadable is a first for me too… She's probably not as young as she looks."

"Well, that's a secret. Anyway, Gantz, we're counting on you."

Receiving support from body enhancement and magic barriers, Gantz charged forward.

The moment he entered the vast space, the valkyrie awakened.

She blocked Gantz's battleaxe with her shield and counterattacked with her one-handed spear.

Gantz also blocked with his shield and pushed back with his monstrous strength.

The valkyrie manifested arrows of light around herself, but the attack couldn't penetrate the magic barrier cast on Gantz.

"What do you think, commentator Tsubaki-san?"

"Well, they're both doing well. But with more attacks, wouldn't the valkyrie have the advantage?"

"You guys, is it really okay not to help?"

At the female leader's exasperated voice, Sei waved his hand dismissively.

"It's fine. Honestly, she does have more attacks, but Gantz's equipment is far superior."

A valkyrie, servant of the gods, versus a dwarven warrior wielding equipment crafted by a divine dragon.

The battle unfolded just as Sei had said.

The equipment from the divine dragon Ria had special features she had developed over 3000 years.

Size adjustment and self-repair were standard; the shield could even control inertia to some degree.

Add to that the natural toughness of dwarf bodies.

While the valkyrie was inflicting small wounds bit by bit, he landed heavy blows.

This fighting style is unique to dwarves, which is why he had sought sparring matches with Ria but never learned the axe from her.

Ria's disciples are basically swordsmen. And magic warriors.

Gantz is a pure warrior, unable to become Ria's ideal.

But precisely because of that, he improved himself in a different direction.

Equip himself with arms, receive magical support, and fight the enemy.

That is his way of fighting.

It took a long time, but Gantz won.

Where the valkyrie had stood before turning into light and disappearing, a staircase leading underground appeared.

"Ooh…"

"We did it…"

Saki's party gathered around the staircase. Then the kobold scout dashed down ahead.

"Come to think of it, this is our first time meeting a benevolent god, isn't it?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Well, they're at a level we can beat."

The group descended the staircase. The labyrinth's light gradually dimmed, but a faint blue glow still illuminated the floor.

Eventually they arrived at a massive iron gate.

"How are we supposed to open something like this…?"

The kobold scout looked around everywhere, but there was no opening mechanism to be found.

Were they supposed to open this iron gate, which had to be at least 50 meters tall, by hand?

"I'll open it."

Perhaps still riding the high from battle, Gantz stepped up to the door.

"No, even for a dwarf…"

Before those words finished, Gantz had begun opening the iron gate.

"Want to go in first?"

When Sei asked, Saki's party nodded frantically despite their bewilderment.

Beyond the vast space, there was a spring.

In the spring stood a massive crucifix, and there, a goddess with no lower body was crucified.

"Th-that's huge…"

She had to be at least 50 meters tall. But for Sei and the others now, she wasn't a threat.

At that moment, a glowing figure appeared right before the spring.

"Have you come to destroy me, kin of dragons?"

They could feel a faint divine majesty. Her appearance was the same as the crucified goddess.

"No, we don't intend to destroy you, but there's one thing I want to confirm."

There was only one thing Sei wanted to ask.

"Do you know the technique for hero summoning?"

After a brief silence, the goddess let out a breath as if relieved.

"That is not within my domain. I have no power to oppose the dragons."

"Then we have nothing more to ask. Please grant your blessing to them."

As Sei stepped back, Saki's party nervously stepped forward.

The goddess's power seemed considerably weakened.

Even so, she appeared capable of healing wounds, restoring youth, and creating universal medicine.

"Thank you so much, Goddess-sama!"

"Without your faith, I could not even take form. This much is easy."

Gods, unlike divine dragons, require people's faith.

That is why they are strong, and that is why they are weak.

"Hey, I said just one thing earlier, but there's one more thing I want to ask."

Sei asked the goddess, watching the celebrating adventurers out of the corner of his eye.

"Where is the god who knows the technique for hero summoning?"

Yes, if they could just solve that, the summoning ritual would never happen again.

But the goddess's answer was not satisfying.

"That is the domain of Trado, the God of Space-Time, and his subordinate gods. I believe they were sealed on Dragon Wing Continent, but I don't know the details."

And so Sei had no more questions.

Trado, the God of Space-Time, and his subordinate gods. They were the cause of hero summoning, hero abduction.

"God of Space-Time, huh… just the name sounds powerful…"

However, that wasn't a name he'd learned in Carla-sensei's classes.

The fact that the name of such an important god with these abilities hadn't been passed down probably meant there was some intention behind it.

Or perhaps Carla simply hadn't expected that much from Sei.

And here, he also somewhat understood why the types of summoned heroes differed.

The techniques passed down were probably slightly different. The earlier heroes being individually powerful might have been because the god Trado taught them directly.

"Anyway, that wraps up this case."

They returned to town, reported the labyrinth's conquest, were invited by the governor for dinner, and the same kind of events repeated.

"Well, I'm heading back. Are you really going to be okay?"

Saki looked at Mako with concern, but Mako deliberately flexed her biceps.

"I'll be fine. I'm over level 180, you know."

"180… how much training does it take to get there…?"

Saki spoke with exasperation, and Mako laughed it off with a sheepish grin. She was probably trying to dodge the question.

And so the Transformation Hero departed. They only realized after she left that they'd never seen her transform even once.

"Now, about our next destination…"

Sei spread out the map, but something had been on his mind. He'd noticed it quite a while ago.

"Another one joined up again, huh…"

What Mako pointed out was the congregation of heroes.

The heroes who should have been scattered were gathering on Dragon Fang Continent. Five of them now. And those five were heading toward yet another hero.

Without a doubt, the heroes were gathering.

"I'm pretty sure this is Absolute Detection, but…"

According to Mako's knowledge, it let you know the direction and distance to whatever you were searching for.

While it might be useful for labyrinth exploration, it didn't seem like a Gift that directly boosted combat power, but in this situation, it was probably the most important one.

Excluding those five, there were only two heroes left on Dragon Fang Continent.

"I'm grateful, but if seven heroes gather… there's bound to be some troublesome ones among them."

Sei lamented, though it would shorten the time needed.

"For now, let's contact the other two on this peninsula. We can talk after that."

At Mako's encouragement, Sei responded with a wry smile.