In the trembling air, their crimson eyes traded raw, piercing fighting intent. Man and bull stood meters apart, yet the killing intent surging between them washed over their skin like a crushing tide. There was no retreat. Only a battle to the death.
A thunderous roar split the air.
The moment the raging bull charged, Bell fired his Quick-Cast Magic.
"Firebolt!"
The blaze of red lightning roared forth, its eruption marking the true start of the battle. The Minotaur didn't even try to dodge. Its hooves shattered the floor as it launched forward like a fired shell, ramming straight into the crimson fireball.
Dust exploded upward. Black smoke billowed. The beast's momentum looked strong enough to smash through mountain stone. A violent gust burst outward, sweeping the smoke aside. Through the fading sparks, the Minotaur stepped out—completely unharmed.
Against that kind of charge, even a single thrown rock could be lethal. But the flame-laced lightning that could have severed a giant tree hadn't harmed it at all. To be precise, the flames had only brushed its hide. The Minotaur stood as if clad in heavy armor, its monstrous physique absorbing Firebolt's direct hit without flinching.
Which meant Bell's only long-range attack was useless. In a one-on-one fight, keeping distance and firing Firebolt repeatedly would have been the safest strategy. But if Firebolt didn't work, he couldn't use his Mind to slowly wear the beast down. Before that absurdly powerful body, Bell was forced straight into the abyss of close-quarters combat.
His thoughts flashed by. His decision came in an instant.
As the Minotaur charged, Bell tightened his grip on the Hestia Knife. Open space was his only advantage. If he let the monster corner him, the outcome would be horrific. Fixing that thought in mind, Bell forced down his fear and rushed forward.
Man and beast tore through the air, the pressure around them tightening as they closed the distance. The roaring never stopped. A tornado-like blast pressed forward, murderous intent hidden in the Minotaur's sharp gaze, devouring everything in its path.
A cold shiver ran instinctively along Bell's back. He shook off the fear constricting his chest and twisted his body to the side. By barely a hair. Bell slipped past the terrifying charge. As they brushed shoulders, he suddenly leapt upward and stabbed backward with his dagger.
The Hestia Knife. It was the only trump card Bell had—and the reason he had to fight aggressively. The Minotaur's stamina was bottomless. He had to seize the advantage at the very start. If not, he'd be dragged into a hopeless war of endurance.
In the shrill whistle of the wind, the Hestia Knife gleamed blue-violet as it raced toward the Minotaur's neck. Seeing the horizontal slash, the Minotaur kicked off the ground, using the momentum to vault upward, evading the strike with frightening ease.
It wasn't technique. It wasn't experience. It was pure, overwhelming brute force. Its body rocketed through the air like a gigantic cannonball, driven by the monstrous power in its legs.
Bell understood instantly.
This creature wasn't the same as the Minotaurs he'd fought before. Everything he'd learned watching Lefiya's training was useless here. A single exchange was all it took. That foreign sense of dread took over, and the last spark of hope inside him vanished.
This was a truly unknown enemy.
Bell had no time to think of a counterattack. The cannonball of a monster was already descending upon him. The Minotaur raised its massive axe high and brought it crashing down as it fell.
The giant axe carved through the air like an executioner's blade, crashing down from above. A chill raced across Bell's body, but he refused to be shaken by the illusion of death. He lowered himself and slipped past the descending axe edge by the narrowest margin.
In the whistling wind, the blade sliced off several strands of white hair, tearing through fabric and grazing the skin on his shoulder before plunging downward.
A deafening crack followed.
The ground split open with a horrifying fissure.
No words. No pause.
The Minotaur sent nothing but an endless surge of murderous intent. Its pursuit crashed over Bell like waves, the air around him roiling with turbulent pressure.
The onslaught never stopped.
Using its size to full advantage, the Minotaur dominated the exchange with overwhelming brute force. No wasteful movements—only swing after swing…
The giant axe chased the youth's body relentlessly. Empowered by monstrous strength, each strike fell with the weight of an attack dropped from the heavens.
Air shattered under the pressure. The ground was carved with wound after wound.
Turbulent currents spiraled around Bell. Every dodge came down to inches. One slip, and he would die instantly.
Like the fissures cracking beneath them, even when Bell avoided the direct strikes, the scrapes and bruises on his body multiplied.
His eardrums throbbed with every piercing whistle of the axe. His body screamed in pain, survival instinct surging, limbs trembling on their own.
Terror twisted his gaze, sharp as a blade stabbing straight into his eyes, begging him to look away.
But Bell didn't run.
His breathing grew harsher, his heartbeat pounded faster, yet his fighting spirit only rose. He listened to the wind, steadied his trembling, and stared straight into the unknown fear before him.
He still didn't counterattack.
He was adjusting his state, committing the Minotaur's terrifying strength and the rhythm of its swings to memory. The cold wind stole the warmth from his body, and death brushed past him again and again.
Even so, Bell's thoughts were razor sharp.
He was getting used to the Minotaur's speed.
Its power was immense—but if it didn't hit him, it meant nothing.
The Bell of the past would already be dead.
But now, he could keep up with the raging bull.
The sacred script on his back burned in silence, flooding his chilled body with heat.
Bell had grown.
His Agility, forged through countless trials, wouldn't deceive him. His Strength, tempered against many formidable foes, had proven itself.
As the giant axe came crashing down once more, Bell drew his dagger again.
The counterattack happened in the blink of an eye.
Bell had fully grasped the Minotaur's brute force. His right hand gripped the Hestia Knife, catching the edge of the axe blade and sliding along it with a precise technique.
In an instant, the dagger diverted the axe's trajectory, letting Bell slip directly into the Minotaur's range.
A momentary opening—more than enough.
After the direct clash, Bell's right hand was numb, pinned near the axe's handle. He released the Hestia Knife without hesitation, caught it in his left hand, and drove it toward the Minotaur's body.
Their eyes met at point-blank range, killing intent clashing violently.
Seeing its opponent come in close, the Minotaur meant to seize the opportunity and smash a heavy fist toward Bell's exposed head.
But before that jet-black divine dagger, the Minotaur instinctively sensed danger.
Too late.
It would be killed first.
The moment that instinct took shape, it jerked its massive body backward.
The Minotaur chose to retreat.
Bell couldn't know its reasoning, but that unexpectedly smart decision shattered his surprise attack. As the Minotaur retreated and blocked with its forearm, the Hestia Knife only carved a shallow wound across its left hand.
Blood slid out silently as the Minotaur roared.
"Roarrrr!!!!"
Bell knew it wasn't a cry of pain—it was a bloodthirsty roar.
The clash resumed.
The giant axe tore apart the ground, sending razor-sharp fragments blasting out like a storm of stone. The earlier counterattack only stoked the Minotaur's fighting spirit. Its heavy breaths grew sharper, as if eagerly awaiting the moment of a decisive death match.
A cold gleam streaked through the air. Under the faint phosphorescence, the two figures accelerated, burst forward, and ignited a fierce dance of blades.
Attack and defense continued without pause.
One side swept through everything before it, its overwhelming momentum threatening to pulverize the very ground.
Roars and earth-shaking blows roiled together, venting the rawest, most primal anger and killing intent.
One side raced like the wind, blue-purple light sometimes sweeping into an arc, other times sharpening into a deadly glint. The precise, razor-edged hum of the blade never stopped, weaving an epic of wisdom and courage.
The stirring rhythm surged across floors, pierced through walls, and echoed wildly throughout the Dungeon.
From afar, Ryuu heard the overwhelming clash.
"Ryuu!"
Before Asfi could even check the situation, Ryuu was already sprinting toward the source of the sound.
"Honestly… how did they even make it to the seventeenth floor…"
Asfi complained while cutting down the monsters entangling her, chasing after Ryuu's fading silhouette.
The resounding clangs grew even fiercer.
After the battle with the Floor Boss, Ais hadn't had a proper moment of rest. The moment she heard the fierce, soaring rhythm of combat, she didn't hesitate to use what little spiritual energy she had left.
"Awaken."
With the brief chant, violent winds wrapped around Ais's body. She shot over the forest, crossed the main route, and charged straight toward the entrance to the eighteenth floor.
Roars and thunderous booms rang out nonstop. In the Dungeon, it was impossible to tell whether they were cries of grief or triumphant calls.
As if answering the battle fervor, the walls erupted with a deafening crash. It was the sound of cracking stone Bell knew far too well. Yet now it was fiercer, larger—the lightning-like fissures tearing across the walls made the familiar shattering sound feel utterly alien.
Crack… crack…
The steady stream of booming fractures echoed on and on, as if cheering for the life-or-death struggle. Then came an immense roar like a collapsing building. Like being smashed apart by a tsunami, buried beneath an avalanche. Finally, it melded into a heavy, indistinguishable cry—Sorrow, ragged breaths, anger, murderous intent…
A massive shockwave rattled the ground. Rocks exploded outward, walls shattered, and an enormous form slammed into the floor. Through the dim dust, the giant emerged. Gray-brown skin, a massive, indistinct outline, a terrifyingly human-shaped silhouette. Swinging its ominous black hair, the Floor Boss stepped into the battlefield.
Monster Rex—[Goliath].
Its enormous crimson eyes turned, fixing that eerie gaze on Bell. Man and beast continued their unbroken clash. In the face of this sudden upheaval, Bell could hardly divide his focus. It seemed Loki Familia had defeated the Floor Boss during their previous expedition—which was why it resurrected now. Bell understood this, but his vision was entirely occupied by the Minotaur before him.
Just as the giant extended its right hand, raising a thunderous tremor beneath the earth—
The Minotaur moved first. It snatched up the stone axe dropped by a monster earlier and hurled it hard at the giant's massive palm. As if roaring not to be interrupted in this death match, as if demanding a one-on-one duel with the youth, the stone axe exploded in the giant's palm with a thunderous blast.
Bell couldn't fully grasp the situation, but he took advantage of the opening and launched an attack at the giant.
"Firebolt!"
The flaming thunderbolt struck precisely where the stone axe had collided. If he failed to stop this towering monster, he would be crushed instantly. Hit by the combined force of man and beast, the giant let out a wail and drew back its arm. Just as it roared in fury and prepared to counterattack—
A gale swept across the battlefield.
"—In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky."
Ryuu chanted while running.
In just a moment, she had grasped the entire situation. The conditions were overwhelmingly against the boy, and the most lethal threat of all was the enraged Floor Boss.
"Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of starfire. Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you. Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."
"Luminous Wind!"
Ryuu held nothing back. Even with her full strength, she still wasn't strong enough to protect the boy alone. Green spheres of light spiraled around her, firing like artillery as they crashed into the giant's head. In the unending flashes, the giant was forced backward step by step. But moments later, every wound carved by the light began to close. Ryuu's brows tightened as she quickly dodged the giant's retaliation.
"Seriously... I told you to wait for me! What the hell is going on?!"
Asfi stared at the chaotic battle before her, momentarily stunned. The Floor Boss with healing abilities, Ryuu fighting him, and the fierce battle between man and beast radiating intense combat intent. Asfi sighed in utter resignation.
"—Talaria."
She stroked the sandals on her feet, gripped her short sword, and soared into the air. With the agility of a bird, she relentlessly attacked the giant, making it difficult for him to lock onto her. But two of them alone were insufficient to oppose their foe.
Just as the giant fought back, a slender sword pierced through the entrance's trees. The Sword Princess charged into the fray.
Ais rode the wind's momentum, instinctively thrusting toward the Floor Boss. Sharp winds mingled together. Ais's current state was far from ideal, but with her support, the group finally succeeded in suppressing Goliath.
Yet what none of them anticipated was this:
Even before the colossal, terrifying giant, their gazes were utterly captivated by one man and one bull.
Daggers and giant axes sparked countless sparks. The piercing whistles of wind and thunderous roars echoed throughout the hall. The fierce battle raged like a torrent, offense and defense relentless. That scene of deadly combat felt like a distant legend descending upon the world.
"Hey... Ryuu, that white-haired Adventurer—you said he was Lv1? You've got to be kidding me..."
Asfi dodged the giant's palm, watching the scene before her in astonishment.
She had been wrestling with questions all along.
Why did that rookie adventurer party choose the aggressive path through the Eighteen Floor?
Why risk everything to save Laurier?
How had they managed to hold out this long?
All these doubts found their answer in that heroic figure.
"Mhm."
Ryuu swung her wooden sword, a knowing smile spreading across her face. Pure righteousness does exist. The youth proved this truth at every moment. Extending aid to others in dire straits, charging forward through the abyss with sheer willpower. No impurities, no dark thoughts—only the heart's yearning for that admirable justice.
Gazing at the youth's figure, a faint flutter stirred within Ryuu's heart.
...
Ais parried the giant's attacks with her slender sword, yet her peripheral vision never left the youth. Just like that beloved fairy tale... the heroic tale Tiona always spoke of—The Argonaut Hero.
It was the story of a monstrous ox and a youth burning their lives in fierce combat.
Bell…
Just like a hero...
Ais's golden eyes flickered, seemingly recalling her youthful yearning.
Figures crisscrossed as white and crimson-black clashed relentlessly. With the three now suppressing the giant, one man and one beast faced a fierce, deadly duel.