As we rounded several corners, the leader, Oujin, suddenly spread his arms wide to stop us. Miku bumped her snout into the back of his head and groaned.

“Ugh...! Ryoka-chan, don’t stop so suddenly!”

“Sorry. We’re approaching a dangerous area. Before we proceed, take a look at the ground just ahead.”

Oujin removed the magic lamp from his belt and held it up. Void’s eyes widened. Mine and Miku’s did too.

“Ha, so that’s what it is.”

“I see.”

It was a massive hole. About ten paces ahead. A gaping chasm created by one of those monsters from the upper level punching through with its fist. It led down to the lower layer. As we approached and peered in, we could barely make out the top of the sand dune. It was the very same dune we had slid down earlier.

“The first stronghold, huh? That’s clever.”

“I don’t know how they’re tracking us, but if it’s the lower layer, it’ll take time for them to come back. With some luck, they might lose us altogether.”

Void muttered as he gazed into the chasm.

“There are heaps of goblin corpses. A feast for the slimes. With all that food, they won’t be coming back anytime soon.”

“Yeah. Though the route to get here gave us some trouble, I’m glad we made it. All we had to go on was the direction.”

Void grimaced at Oujin’s words.

“You’re something else. Got a homing instinct like a dog or something?”

“Haha, at least call me a migratory bird. Well, I’ll take it as a compliment.”

The two seemed to get along surprisingly well. Miku glanced back.

“It’s here. It’s here, that perverted slime.”

Oujin started moving ahead.

“This way. Everyone, be careful of the collapse. If you slip, it’s back to the lower level.”

“Heh, we even blocked the stairs. Anyone who falls will just have to be left behind.”

“Hey, delinquent, don’t look at me while you say that! If I fall, I’m grabbing your leg!”

We skirted around the hole and stood on the opposite side. Soon after, it caught up to us—the enormous, filthy-colored slime.

Miku leaned over the edge of the hole, keeping her eyes fixed on it.

“Think it’ll fall?”

I grabbed her by the back to keep her steady. Debris from the broken floor occasionally crumbled and tumbled into the lower layer.

“Even if it’s a monster, it’s not that stupid. Don’t lean over so much, Miku. The edge is brittle and might collapse.”

“Aw, you’re worried about me? If it’s with you, El-tan, I wouldn’t mind falling to the bottom of the earth.”

Miku turned to look at me. Her expression was so earnest that I responded just as seriously.

“Go by yourself.”

“El-tan, I love you. Marry me?”

“...Were you even listening to what I said?”

“You say such cold things, but you’re still holding onto my clothes. That’s exactly what I mean, see?”

Miku suddenly hugged me, and Oujin muttered under his breath.

“You two, could you please focus a bit more? Failure isn’t an option here.”

“Heh, sorry~”

“You two...? Am I included in that?”

What an unfair accusation. Just as expected, the slime skirted around the edge of the hole and advanced toward us. It wasn’t going to fall on its own. Even trying to push it with a sword would be useless; the blade would just slip through. Oujin spat in frustration.

“No good...!”

“Damn it. What a pain.”

Void placed a hand on my head and stood up. Then he started walking toward the slime.

“Void?”

“Just watch. I can’t pull off a trick like punching through the floor to drop it, but...”

Just a few steps away from the slime stood a pile of rubble. Most of it was natural rock, debris from when the monster punched through the floor above. Void wrapped his arms around the pile, crouched low, and dug his feet into the floor.

“Grrraaaaaaahhhhhh!!”

The massive pile of rubble shifted slightly. That’s when I finally realized what he was trying to do.

“Ridiculous. He’s planning to crush it with rubble and make it fall to the lower layer?”

“What...?”

Miku grimaced. Anyone would make that face. It was absurd. The amount of strength needed to pull that off was unimaginable. If I were still Braiz, I might have considered the same approach, but Void was still just a student.

Oujin muttered and dashed forward.

“He can’t do it alone! Eremia, Orunkaim, help Void!”

“Understood.”

“What...?”

But it was at that moment—

“Oooooooohhhhhhhh!!”

The rubble pile moved. It shifted, making a low rumbling noise. Even though neither Oujin nor I had touched it yet.

Unbelievable. Void was pushing the pile of rubble toward the slime. As the slime began to ooze through the cracks in the rubble, it extended its goo toward Void. But before the slime could latch onto him—

“Fall to the depths of hell!!”

Void shoved the entire pile of rubble, along with the slime, into the chasm. Heavy sounds of rocks falling onto the sandy bottom below were accompanied by a loud splash.

“...”

“...”

“...”

He actually did it. What a guy. To think he’s still in his mid-teens. I was beyond surprised, left utterly dumbfounded. Void turned around and brushed the sand off his hands.

“Heh, nothing to it. …Huh? What’s with the look on your faces?”

All three of us, myself included, were just standing there, dumbstruck, staring at the musclehead.