Chapter 19

Up to the 90th floor, a floor boss exists every ten floors, but in the deeper layers, a floor boss exists on each floor.

This is the major difference between the lower and deeper layers.

A floor boss is a magical beast that, in exchange for being unable to move beyond a certain range, possesses formidable power.

It is unknown why floor bosses cannot leave their designated areas, but there has never been any information of them doing so.

Therefore, it is a common understanding among explorers that floor bosses are such magical beasts.

Despite this, the black dragon, which should not be able to come here as it is far from the boss area, is there as if it were natural.

Why!?

The black dragon lets out a mighty roar and dives straight at us, who are still in the midst of confusion.

"Tch!"

Derrick steps forward immediately and readies his shield.

"---! Philia! Prioritize Derrick and cast all the buffs you can on all of us!"

"......a......"

Philia, as if in a daze, showed no reaction to my words.

"---! No buffs! Everyone, dodge on your own!"

While carrying Philia, I call out to everyone and move away from the spot.

Orun would have cast a spell before my call to support Derrick.

Why can't a bestower as good as Orun do what Orun could do!?

The black dragon lands on the ground with its four legs, maintaining its momentum.

The impact of landing hits us in the back, and Philia and I are blown away.

I manage to land on the ground while taking a defensive position, but a ball of fire is coming towards me.

It's the black dragon's follow-up attack.

I manage to dodge it, but the residual heat causes a slight burn.

I immediately look around. Annel is safe.

Huh? Luna is running to Derrick and using a healing spell.

I can't see the extent of the injury from here, but it seems he is conscious.

"Oliver! Buy us some time to retreat! We have no chance of winning in this situation!"

Luna loudly suggests a retreat.

With the defender not functioning, we are not in a position to fight the black dragon properly.

"Damn, I guess we have no choice. ---Philia, can you move yet!?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

It seems the shock of being blown away has helped her regain some composure.

"Apologize later. First, buff all of us! Then join up with Luna!"

"Yes!"

Philia immediately casts a buff on me.

I gather the magic power present in the air into the blade of my sword.

Magic power is usually invisible, but when it is concentrated in one place, a faint golden flame-like substance envelops the blade.

Occasionally, there are humans who possess a special power called an ability.

---An ability is a completely different kind of power from the magic used by humans or the spells used by magical beasts.

The ability I possess is [Magic Power Convergence].

[Magic Power Convergence] is a simple ability that gathers magic power from the surroundings into one place.

However, the shockwave generated when the gathered magic power is dispersed in an instant has a destructive power that surpasses even top-tier spells that require time to cast.

"Heaven Flash!!"

I swing down the sword enveloped in a golden flame.

This is my strongest technique, which sends the magic power gathered in the blade as a cutting strike.

To reduce the black dragon's flight ability, I will cut off its wings!

The last time we hunted it, we proved that without its wings, its flight ability would drastically decrease.

The golden cutting strike hits the black dragon's wings and turns into a massive shockwave.

This should prevent it from pursuing us even if we retreat.

"---What!?"

The last time we defeated the black dragon, I was able to cut off its wings with my Heaven Flash.

But this time, not only are the wings still there, but it doesn't even seem to be seriously injured.

"Why...?"

"Oliver, watch out!"

I think I hear Annel's voice.

"Ugh...!"

The fact that I couldn't even scratch the black dragon with my Heaven Flash left me blank.

Before I knew it, I was flying through the air, hit by the black dragon's tail, which came at me at an incredible speed.

"...cough, cough"

I fell to the ground without taking a proper defensive position, but thanks to Philia's buff, I didn't suffer a fatal injury.

Annel is attacking in my place, but the power is clearly insufficient, and the black dragon doesn't seem to care.

Fortunately, I was blown towards Derrick and Luna, and I was able to receive Luna's healing magic.

"...Oliver, let's use the 'Whimsical Door.' We'll have to fight another floor boss, but it will be much better than fighting the black dragon!"

Luna, who is healing me, suggests this.

The 'Whimsical Door' is a magical tool that can only be used inside the Great Labyrinth.

Using this tool, you can forcibly connect the space of the place you are using it to another place and move there.

However, the destination is random and is always connected to a boss area outside the deeper layers.

Under normal circumstances, there would be no opportunity to use a magical tool that would immediately put you in a battle with a floor boss.

But the monsters at the destination are much weaker than the black dragon.

Even though we are in a slump, this team should be able to defeat a floor boss outside the deeper layers.

"Alright."

I take out a glass bottle containing white smoke from my storage magical tool.

"I'm using the 'Whimsical Door'! Everyone, jump into it!"

After giving the order to the team, I smash the bottle on the ground.

White smoke rises from the broken bottle, distorting the space.

As everyone was about to enter the distortion, the black dragon slams both of its front legs into the ground.

The impact shakes the ground, and cracks appear in some places.

We all lose our balance and put our hands on the ground.

The black dragon then dives at us at ultra-low altitude.

Out of long-standing explorer habits, everyone immediately moves to dodge the black dragon's charge.

The black dragon continues and touches the distortion.

The black dragon is swallowed by the distortion and disappears from our sight.

Silence now dominates the space, as if the battle that just took place was a lie.

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