Watching the world-destroying scene in the distance, Goddess of Gun, Heather, Sword Saintess, Great Sage of Wind, the young king, and other Gold-level Adventurers, at once, found their throats dry, completely unable to speak.
In fact, without a hero with severely over-the-top power leading the way, a few Gold-level Adventurers truly couldn't clear the Death Maze.
Soon, under Naruto's Shadow Clone's 'recruitment,' the Lava Troll, which had been blasted to smithereens, also joined the Shadow Legion.
This team was destined to grow stronger and braver with each battle.
Death Maze, Third Floor.
The scorching heat had turned into extreme cold.
What greeted their eyes was a barren landscape of sharp, towering peaks that pierced the clouds.
In the deepest part of the mountain range, stood a black hall, as grand and majestic as a mountain.
Bone Dragons, Frost Dragons, and Corpse Wyverns circled the dome, spewing frost and necrotic dragon breath!
These were all super high-level monsters; if converted to levels, they would start at Level 150.
The Shadow Legion, which had been sweeping through the Death Maze unopposed, finally met resistance. Large swathes of Shadow Soldiers were annihilated by the dragon breath.
Naruto's expression remained unchanged, unmoved.
Of course, he also didn't re-summon the destroyed Shadow Soldiers.
"Roar—!"
A dragon's roar, as if from the abyss's end, shook the entire space!
A Black Dragon Monarch, far larger than all the Bone Dragons and entirely composed of ultimate dark shadows, rose from behind the Shadow Legion.
It opened its mouth, not spewing flames, but pure void breath.
Where the grey-white dragon breath swept, Bone Dragons collapsed and vanished like sandcastles, their very soul fires completely extinguished!
[Eliminated a Bone Dragon, Experience + 80,000 points]
[Eliminated a Corpse Wyvern, Experience + 100,000 points]
[Eliminated a Frost Dragon, Experience + 220,000 points]
[Eliminated a Bone Dragon, Experience + 80,000 points]
The Shadow Legion continued forward over the dragon remains. That magnificent and majestic hall, like a black mountain, was not the end; passing through the hall's door was.
Or rather, the mountain-sized stone gate was the main body, and the spectacular hall around it might have been built later, leaning against the massive stone gate.
Finally, they reached the deepest part of the maze—a vast, boundless core area of the Underworld.
This was no longer an artificial structure, but a twisted, broken landscape of a realm of the dead. The murky River Styx flowed slowly, and the air was filled with a soul-freezing chill.
Sixteen towering, terrifying figures guarded the path to the final altar.
The Hecatoncheires wielded fifty giant swords and fifty giant shields, each swing tearing space; each head of the Underworld Hydra spewed a different deadly breath; the Abyssal Titan held lightning and chains in its hands; the scream of the Banshee Queen was enough to shatter souls…
These were the Sixteen Demon Generals of the Underworld!
And they were definitely not weaklings like the Goblin King, who ranked at the very bottom. All of them were among the top five, and any one of them was enough to plunge the human kingdoms of the Goblin Slayer Continent into a destructive catastrophe!
The Shadow Legion's advance was halted for the first time.
"So these are the top five among the Sixteen Demon Generals of the Underworld?"
"Finally—something respectable."
Naruto commented indifferently.
Like the Hecatoncheires, they were once war weapons used by gods in ancient times, one of the strongest among the giant race, an existence comparable to a Dragon King.
The Underworld Hydra's level was estimated to be extremely close to Level 200. Although not a pure-blooded dragon, it was already the most terrifying monster in the world.
And there was the Abyssal Titan, also of the giant race, no less powerful than the Hecatoncheires.
"Hiss"!!
"Foolish humans, to disturb Demon God King-sama's resurrection ritual, you shall all die!"
The Underworld Hydra, majestic as a mountain range, let out a sharp shriek. Its nine massive snake heads simultaneously opened their mouths, unleashing world-destroying death breath towards the Shadow Legion.
The next moment, an equally terrifying existence rose from behind the Shadow Legion.
Shadow Godzilla's dorsal fins glowed with a faint light, and its atomic shadow breath swept forth, colliding and annihilating with the Hydra's death breath!
Hundreds of Shadow Evil Eyes floated up like balloons, their massive main eyes opening, all simultaneously looking at the Banshee Queen. Under the Overlay of the Curse-Breaking talent, the Banshee Queen's screaming magic was directly erased!
Then the Gobuline God charged forward and savagely beat the Banshee Queen, making her shriek in agony.
Countless Shadow Trolls and Shadow Hellhounds rushed towards the Hecatoncheires like suicide squads, using self-destructing attacks to wear down its arms.
Although they were constantly swept away by the giant swords, more and more Shadow creatures continuously filled their places.
A dozen Lava Trolls in the rear continuously hurled burning boulders, providing output and whittling down the Hecatoncheires' health bar.
Several Bone Dragons, Corpse Wyverns, and Frost Dragons surrounded the Abyssal Titan, their shadow dragon breath and lightning chains intertwining and exploding!
The battle finally became fierce.
This world-destroying battle left Heather and the Sword Saintess dumbfounded.
The Shadow Legion, relying on its absolute numbers and immortal nature—even after being destroyed, they could quickly reassemble in the shadows—gradually devoured and dismantled the powerful Demon God Generals.
The Hecatoncheires' arms were torn off one by one, the Hydra's heads were bitten off one by one, and the Abyssal Titan's lightning gradually dimmed—
[Eliminated a Hecatoncheires, Experience + 700,000 points!]
[Eliminated an Underworld Hydra, Experience + 720,000 points!]
[Eliminated an Abyssal Titan, Experience + 680,000 points!]
When the last Demon God General let out an unwilling roar under the Shadow Legion's encirclement, finally collapsing into scattered fragments of shadow, the path was clear.
At the end was a massive altar built from countless tormented souls.
On the altar, a group of Dark People in black robes, or rather, Dark Elves, were performing the final ritual.
In their center, a blurred figure radiating endless terror was slowly condensing. The Demon God King was about to descend!
As if receiving an order, all combat units of the Shadow Legion instantly ceased movement, parting like a black tide to both sides, clearing a straight path to the altar.
Naruto slowly walked out from the legion, stepping over the remnants of the Demon God Generals, and approached the altar.
His gaze fell upon the Dark People and the unformed Demon God King.
"A resurrection ritual?"
He tilted his head, seemingly finding it somewhat interesting.
Then, he raised his hand.
The entire Shadow Legion, including the massive Shadow Godzilla, Black Dragon Monarch, and Hellhound—everything—at once transformed into flowing darkness, silently merging into Naruto's feet like all rivers returning to the sea, disappearing into his shadow.
It was as if that calamity legion, which had crushed the Death Maze and defeated the Demon God Generals of the Underworld, had never existed.
On the altar, the chanting of the Dark People abruptly stopped. They looked in terror at the golden-haired youth walking alone, his shadow stretching long under the faint glow of the magic circle.
"Why are you just standing there? Continue," Naruto urged with a wave of his hand.