The Gatekeeper

The labyrinth conquering advanced smoothly.

Since they knew the way to go, they naturally went with the shortest route. They didn't completely map it out.

Another reason they were progressing so well was because the demons they had struggled against before hadn't revived.

In this respect, it was different from the Immortal Labyrinth that was managed by Labyrinth. Just being able to gradually decrease the danger was preferable.

Still, the Cerberus and Mithril Golem that appeared weren't enemies to joke around with.

"Hyaaahah—! Skin off its mithril—!"

Serge ran around in glee from the remains of the Golem that was repelled by his magic.

However, mithril only coated its surface. Its insides were standard iron.

 

 

It had been one week since they entered the labyrinth.

The group had reached the fiftieth floor.

This was obviously a different floor than those up till then. More than anything, the ceiling was tall. Its height was reminiscent of Casalia's royal castle.

In other words, it was time for flying enemies to appear. Things that even Giant Bats were no match for.

"A Gargoyle…? An annoying enemy that looks like it'll damage my katana…"

For the stone statue flying in the sky, Ria countered with a warhammer.

However, a Gargoyle was a demon that was much more agile than something like a Wyvern. Attacks from a warhammer wouldn't hit.

Moreover, since it was flying in the air and firing fireballs from its mouth, their warriors had a bad compatibility with it.

"I can see it, it's Level 120!"

Serge shouted out. At first, he was negligent and didn't think he would need to use Identify on something like a Gargoyle or a Golem.

To make matters worse, this Gargoyle had defensive magic painted on its surface, nullifying most ordinary magic.

As for Serge's Excalibur, it didn't hit due to the enemy's quick movements.

Rather than a Gargoyle, it was already an enemy at the level of being a Gargoyle-sama.

"I guess it's the gatekeeper after all!?"

Placing acceleration on himself, Serge desperately evaded the fireballs. He hid behind Vil's tower shield.

"There's a pretty good possibility of it!"

Ria also avoided being directly hit by the fireballs. Though it would really just be a little hot with no damage, she wanted to be pardoned from fighting half-naked if possible.

"Ria! Give back my sword!"

Shizuna shouted. Certainly, if she had her Blazing Snake Sword, it would probably be effective in this situation.

"Here."

Vargas took the sword out of his magic bag and passed it to her.

As if to ask why he had it, Shizuna was momentarily stunned.

"I planned on returning it from the start. Reflect on it."

She had actually received another magic sword after that though, so nothing changed.

"Alright! With this—!"

The sword she was accustomed to back in her hands, Shizuna shouted.

"Warp!"

The garian sword extended, twining around the Gargoyle. However, it folded its wings and accelerated.

Even with its lashing movements, the Gargoyle was unable to be captured.

"Oooh!"

With a yell, Vargas swung his greatsword.

He emitted a thunderous shock wave. Worthy of his sword flash being called thunder, it slammed the Gargoyle into the ceiling.

Even with that though, it didn't destroy the Gargoyle's body. It stretched out the limbs it had collapsed towards itself, flying through the air once again.

Though the Gargoyle's fireballs weren't that strong, they looked as though they barely consumed any magical power. Moreover, it could rapid-fire them.

"Even though ordinary Gargoyles are small fry—"

"Oi, mage, find some other way to hide!"

Since Serge was hiding there, Vil couldn't move. He couldn't do that and protect him with the shield.

Cell and Maal protected them from fireballs with water-type spirit magic. Though Lulu and Jason were also cooperating to erect a magical barrier, they didn't have the resources to return fire.

"It can't be helped huh. Guess I gotta use my new trump card!"

"Use it sooner if you have something like that!"

Ria also slipped behind Vil's shield to hide.

"I call it Unlimited Short Blade Works, but I wonder if there's a problem with copyright?"

"No idea."

Serge concentrated and composed the magic. Around the boy floated an innumerable amount of small masses of magical power.

Seeing a chance to attack as the Gargoyle was slightly interrupted, he dashed out from behind Vil's shield.

"Fire!"

Nearly one hundred distortions in space assailed the Gargoyle.

They were small blades. Each one didn't do much damage. Though there was a massive amount of them and it couldn't evade them.

With its stone wings crushed, the devil stone statue fell to the ground.

The warriors were then able to flood over it.

"I've… never seen that color before."

Vargas had taken a black magic crystal out of the destroyed Gargoyle's body.

Standard magic stones were dark red, and though magic crystals also had the same colors, this one had no red at all.

"Maybe magic crystals so close to the Dark Dragon's residence are black? I feel a strong darkness power from it."

Jason wanted to do a thorough analysis, but that wasn't possible for the time being.

Then, even though they believed the Gargoyle was the gatekeeper, they continued to be attacked by demons.

Though the flying demons were troublesome, insubstantial demons were even more annoying.

"These aren't demons. They are spirits."

Making use of masses of fire, Cell confronted them alone.

Facing against the flame, they locked eyes. Neither side moved and a long time passed.

When the other members started to talk about using ice magic from the side, they disappeared.

"If they are spirits, I can do it with a bit of time somehow. Please leave them to me."

If they didn't have a comrade that used spirits, they probably would have been checkmated here.

Even though they were flying demons, Gryphons and Wyverns were easy opponents.

Ria and Vargas' attacks were almost enough to end their lives in a single attack, Carlos and Shizuna also made use of their magic swords' traits.

The other warriors weren't good-for-nothings, defending the rear guard mages became a huge role in wide spaces.

 

 

Then, the group finally arrived before a huge gate.

They were in a huge room.

From the moment they entered, they could see a huge gate far ahead of them.

Even the Cyclops that was in front of the huge gate before would have room left over.

A living thing was there.

With pale yellow, ivory-white scales.

Two short and sharp horns.

Two wings much too small for its body.

It was a Dragon.

With its length of around ten meters, it was probably still a young Dragon.

Its belly swelled regularly, the sound of breathing coming from its nose.

Despite the group drawing closer, the Dragon slept peacefully.

 

 

"Oi, you."

Without reservation, Ria hit the side of its face.

The huge head shifted sideways.

"Eh? Ah, ooow!?"

The Dragon spoke.

It was a high pitched voice. Definitely still a young dragon after all.

Its eyes that stared at them were pale green, beautiful as jewels.

"People came here after so much trouble and you're just sleeping peacefully. I think you weren't thinking about being killed with a surprise attack."

The Dragon stood up on its hind legs and looked down at Ria, who had attacked it with her hand and proudly puffed her chest out.

It moved quickly. It was hard to think that with its huge body, it was around Rudolph's speed.

"S-sorry."

The Dragon apologized!

"Well, it's fine. So, is the Dark Dragon Valis beyond here?"

"Ah, yes. Ah, one moment please."

The Dragon folded its arms and thought.

"Ummm, you went through a lot of trials, good job making it here, adventurers…?"

It spoke as though embarrassed. That last part was a question.

"If you want to meet Dark Dragon Valis-chan, show me your strength!"

Valis-chan!

Chan!?

They lost a bit of strength for some reason. Maybe it was some kind of magic?

"To show my strength, is it fine to just hit you again?"

Excited to let out her fighting spirit, Ria asked. The heck, the Dragon is… isn't it frightened?

"Ah, no, you're already good."

The Dragon backed up a little. It rubbed the cheek that got hit.

"For those that want to advance, they fight with me. When I admit they are powerful to some degree it's fine."

Somehow, that was a bit strange.

Ria was the only person that needed to meet with the Dark Dragon Valis to begin with.

"Yeah, question?"

Having recovered from his boredom, Serge raised his hand.

"Yes, go ahead."

"Is it fine if I wait here?"

"I don't mind, it's fine to send you back to the surface."

"Eh? Then I wouldn't be introduced after all…"

The Dragon tilted its head to the side. It was strangely charming.

"That's right huh? Then if you could make it here, you should be strong enough."

According to Serge's Identify, the Dragon was only Level 77.

However, its ability values exceeded almost all of the demons they had faced. It was even higher than that Gargoyle's from earlier.

Frankly speaking, it didn't look like they would be able to win without Ria.

"But Valis-chan would get angry if I ignore orders, so let's fight after all. We'll pull punches a bit and go easy on each other."

The Dragon had an indescribably small fighting spirit. In order to rouse himself, Vargas spoke.

"Well, it's a rare chance to fight against a Dragon isn't it? Since you say you'll be going easy… is it alright?"

He looked back to the members following behind him. Though they expressed complicated expressions, no one disliked the idea.

"Is it fine if I join in?"

"Please don't. I don't want that pain again."

Ria's request was flatly refused.

"So then, how about it?"

"Let's go."

Though it was delayed, the battle against the Dragon began.