Chapter 23
They entered the eighth floor.
Oh~, its the usual atmosphere.
The one to say that with a feeling of relief was Gig, the one with the lowest aptitude for magic. Carlos also nodded.
But Maal, who had Fairy Eyes, as well as the three people who were magicians, immediately noticed the floors abnormality.
Woah~, the magical power is thick.
Rather than magical power, it was more correct to call it a dense amount of the beginnings of Demon Sources, but more or less she wasnt wrong.
The smooth stone passageway was glowing an ivory white, the light seemed to emit strong magical power.
Resting for the two magicians went much faster than usual, they could feel their magical power recover. As for Ria, her magical power was never exhausted from using magic in the first place.
This floor is niiice. Though it depends on the enemys strength, it feels like the perfect place to level up.
Serge said, excitedly.
That was half correct, and half incorrect.
Excalibur!
Using it for the Nth time, Serges space cutting magic overwhelmed the chimeras magic defense, cleaving it in two.
Alright!
There was also a manticore coming to attack from the opposite side, but Ria stopped it with her katana.
Is everyone safe?
Everyone raised a hand towards Rias call.
The enemies on this floor were difficult until they got used to them. They were synthetic organisms whose attacks were able to inflict abnormal conditions like poison and paralysis.
They also had high magic resistance. But when Serge used the trump card that hed used on the fifth floors devil on the normal monsters that roamed the labyrinth, the effects were apparent.
Just a little, these enemies are strong
His initial vigor leaving, Serge sighed. It was understandable though.
The small fry enemies on the eighth floor had about the same strength of the fifth floors guardian. They could even use magic.
Though magical power restores quickly, its difficult when youre frazzled.
Lulu was also mentally fatigued. As for their ability to fight continuously, it was generally taxing to fight battle after battle. If they messed up, they could die from a single blow.
Just a bit~. If the small fry are as strong as this, just how strong is that dogazer thing?
Serge asked a question with his previous lifes knowledge, and even though Lulu knew its ecology, she didnt know its actual strength.
Similarly, Ria who also had her previous lifes knowledge, didnt know of something called a dogazer. Though she did know things like goblins and elves because they were famous.
There have been few sightings of one in the first place, and since they are living things created from magic, maybe they each have individual differences?
To Lulus knowledge, other than when it is seen in labyrinths and ruins, it was not a demon that existed in the wild.
First of all, its outward appearance was that of a huge black sphere with a huge eyeball and mouth, with several tentacles growing from the top of it. It floated to move and wasnt that fast.
Though it could physically ram and bite to attack, the problem was its special ability.
First, its huge eye reflects magic. When using magic against it, it would bounce back at you.
Then theres the tentacles, which could emits rays of magic with various effects. The kind of effect seemed to differ between each tentacle.
The metal disintegration ray is troubling
Carlos exchanged glances with Gig. He was wearing plate armor and Gig wore chain mail.
Either way, it seems we can prevent it with a magic defensive barrier.
To say nothing of Lulu, even Serge could use that magic.
With things like paralysis and mind control, Im not sure if were ready for it.
Maal was taking the role of the devils advocate again.
Either way Im going to use Identify on it first so that we know which rays it can use.
After a short break, the group headed towards the mysteries of the labyrinth.
From then on, a lot of magic creatures appeared and synthetic beasts played the leading role.
Though combat time increased, so did the amount of experience. Enemies that could use magic seemed to give more experience.
After a few hours, the group arrived at the guardians room.
The room was circular, approximately thirty meters wide. Floating there, a three meter wide black sphere.
Paralysis, petrification, freezing, hypnosis, mind control, metal disintegration, bio disintegration, and eight kinds of deadly poisons.
Other than its rays, what about its defenses?
Ria asked him. Since Serges Identify was able to measure it so precisely, it was very convenient.
About the same as those huge insects. As for its vitality rather, its stamina is around the iron golems.
Isnt it quite tenacious? No, isnt its defensive strength too much?
Then the three warriors will run into the room and the magicians cover them with a magic defensive barrier. Objections?
None. Ria, Carlos, and Gig each nodded, magic being used on them.
Alright, lets go!
This isnt what we talked about!
Ria let out an angry voice. The three warriors had to withdraw from the guardians room.
So you said
Serge pouted. It definitely wasnt his fault.
The trap was the room itself.
The ray the dogazer shot was aimed towards Gig first. The barrier prevented it from hitting.
When Lulu tried to use the barrier again, she noticed.
I cant use magic!
Ria had to carry and fling Gig out of the room after he began to attack allies due to the mind control ray. After that, his abnormal condition was removed with magic.
Even when they tried to hit the dogazer with a weak Water Bullet magic, it turned into plain water the moment it entered the room, falling down in place.
As for the barriers, once magic was applied it wouldnt diffuse. But offensive magic couldnt get through. This was such a room.
What do we do?
Carlos was at a loss. He couldnt come up with a good way to defeat the dogazer from this situation.
Gig also felt depressed from being no help, as well as the two magicians.
Well, I do know of one way to beat it.
Everyone was surprised from Rias statement. Why didnt she say it sooner?
The Ogre King used the same method to break through though. Well, it cant be helped.
Ria stood up, leaving her large and small katanas with Lulu just in case.
Eh? What are you doing?
Id be troubled if they were disintegrated by some chance.
From the magic bag, she took out her dear Beat to Death Wooden Sword. Then she gripped an axe in each hand. Though she wasnt accustomed to these weapons, the light rays would probably affect long-handled things.
The Ogre King also had a hard time here. He had to defeat it by himself in the end.
With his resistance to abnormal conditions, the Ogre King was also quite strong, but that wasnt all. Now that shed seen how magic diffused, she knew how to defend against the rays.
The Ogre King couldnt use magic. But he was rich in magical power itself.
Then, Im going.
Leaving that message, Ria ran into the guardian room alone.
The dogazer fired rays towards her. The first one was blocked by the magic defensive barrier.
The second ray. Resisted by Rias resistance.
Haah-!
The slashing axe attack pierced the dogazer. She damaged it by rotating quickly.
The dogazer all-out rammed her, flashing again. Then a ray shot out. This time was the disintegration ray of instant death.
But it was countered by the magical power that Ria released.
Thats right, magical power.
Not magic. Before becoming magic, it was a mass of pure power. It blocked the rays.
Though the room could scatter magical power in the magic, it couldnt erase the magical power itself. So in that case, if you release the magical power, it was able to defend.
The efficiency was bad. She brought magic, or pure energy so to speak, into existence and gave it a primary direction, using it as is.
But in this case, it was effective.
When the dogazer used magic to fire rays at her, Ria made use of her magical power to defend. There were no problems even if there were ten times more to defend against.
She just had to crush the dogazer before her magical power ran out.
Cracking the dogazers carapace, Ria single-mindedly slammed her axe into it.
After it noticed that its rays had no effect, it used its fangs to attack. However, it was useless.
Its ramming attacks were sluggish, and its fangs were crushed by the axe.
In the end, Ria defeated the dogazer by herself.
Somehow or another, isnt Nee-chan fine by herself?
Towards Serge who greeted her with an amazed voice, Ria shook her head in response.
Thats unreasonable. If I were alone, I would have been overran by sheer numbers on some floor and collapse from running out of endurance.
Though she said that, she wanted to challenge this place by herself some time.