Back when I was part of Nord’s party, we frequently attempted to conquer the Septem Great Labyrinth.

Despite our efforts, the furthest we ever reached was the boss room on the fourth floor.

The boss of the fourth floor, a gargoyle—a monster of stone—had forced us to retreat time and again.

Exhausted from battling our way to that point, we couldn’t inflict critical damage on its hardened body.

Because of those experiences, I had developed a lingering aversion to gargoyles.

Even now, as we aimed to conquer the sixth floor, I anticipated the gargoyle to be one of our biggest hurdles.

Or so I thought—

“It’s done. Yay!”

The gargoyle, its torso punctured by a massive hole, disintegrated into a gray mist.

Standing in front of its remains, fist raised triumphantly, was Tetra, nodding with satisfaction.

“One hit… unbelievable.”

The battle was over in an instant.

As soon as the encounter began, Flare drew the gargoyle’s attention by charging in.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tetra closed in and delivered a punch that pierced straight through its body.

The gargoyle is a B-rank monster, supposedly stronger than even other B-ranks like the cyclops.

This moment made it clear just how much stronger Tetra had become after gaining sentience.

With that, we had cleared the fourth floor.

It was a surprisingly quick pace—we’d only been in the labyrinth for about four hours.

Depending on the number of monsters we encountered, we could still conserve enough energy to tackle the sixth floor.

But first, we had to deal with the fifth floor.

There was no room for complacency.

Taking out the map given to me by Alto, I examined it.

The map detailed the layout of the fifth floor.

Having it would save us significant time.

During our previous attempt, Flare and I had been unable to fully explore the floor, so we were unfamiliar with its pathways.

From this point onward, we could expect to encounter nothing but B-rank monsters or higher.

We couldn’t afford even a moment of carelessness.

“Let’s move on.”

And so, we descended to the fifth floor.

“Damn, this is turning into a pain.”

Racing through the narrow corridors of the fifth floor, I clicked my tongue in frustration.

Looking back, I saw nearly 20 high orcs charging after us in a single-file line.

After cutting down one of them, Flare turned to me.

“Ike, what’s the plan? Should we take them on here?”

“No, we’ll head for an open space and finish them off all at once!”

“Got it!”

Flare quickly regrouped with us, and we ran in formation: Tetra, Lycia, me, and Flare bringing up the rear.

In these cramped corridors, we could only fight the high orcs one at a time.

Flare could handle them, but prolonged combat would inevitably wear her down.

I needed a more efficient way to deal with them.

“There it is, Master! The corridor ends up ahead!”

“Perfect!”

As Lycia said, we soon reached an open area.

However, if the high orcs flooded in, it would turn into a chaotic melee. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Tetra, now! Block the exit!”

“Understood! Take this!”

Tetra slammed her fists into the stone walls on either side of the corridor, breaking them apart.

The collapsing walls caused the ceiling to cave in with a thunderous crash, sealing off the corridor.

“Gugaaargh!”
“Gyaaaargh!”

The high orcs screamed as they were caught in the collapse.

They probably weren’t dead but were at least trapped beneath the rubble.

We had escaped the predicament with minimal effort.

“Let’s move on before they dig themselves out. The boss room of the fifth floor isn’t far now.”

We continued avoiding unnecessary battles whenever possible.

Roughly two hours after entering the fifth floor, we arrived at our destination.

The space before us was enclosed by walls shimmering in a rainbow hue.

From beyond the passageway ahead, an overwhelming aura radiated toward us.

“So, it’s here after all.”

In dungeons, there’s usually a delay before floor bosses reappear.

For the first and second floors, it takes only a few hours.

For the third and fourth, a few days.

As for the fifth floor, few adventurers have survived to provide information, but it seemed the boss respawned after about ten days.

“Looks like we’ll have to fight it again, Ike,” Flare said.

“Yeah, seems so.”

We had encountered it once more.

Towering far beyond the size of a human, with the head of a monstrous bull, wielding a giant metal axe—a minotaur, an A-rank monster.

“Gruooohhhhhh!”

The nemesis that Flare and I had once barely defeated after a desperate struggle.

But we were no longer the same as back then.

It wasn’t just Flare this time; we had Tetra and Lycia by our side.

There was no room for struggle here—not when we had the Hydra to face on the floors beyond.

“Let’s crush it—completely.”

Thus began our battle against the minotaur, our old nemesis.