Do you know how our party ranks?
Lydia is ranked first, Shadow is second, and Benny is only third.
By the way, I’m a guy, so I’m excluded from the ranking game. I guess you could say I’m not seen as a competitor? If I had to put it, I’d say I play the role of the winner’s trophy.
So what’s important is the bragging rights. After all, gacha and trophies are there for that, right??
With such light-hearted thoughts, I wrapped my hand around Lydia’s waist. Thanks to her bikini armor, I could feel her bare skin against my arm.
Enjoying the soft and warm, perfectly fitting sensation of Lydia’s waist, I raised one corner of my mouth in a smirk.
As if to show Benny.
“Ughhh!”
Benny, who was carrying a backpack as a wager, was gripping the Shadow Monster as she glided over it, gritting her teeth.
With a smug smile directed at her, I said,
“Benny’s companion is amazing.”
“Gyaaah!”
Benny, ranked third, was about to roll off the Shadow Monster, but it stretched out a tentacle, grabbed her waist, and lifted her back up.
As if to sigh, the Shadow Monster shook Benny gently before placing her back on its back.
I chuckled at the sight, but Lydia gave me a wry smile and removed my arm.
“Jonah, don’t torment Benny too much.”
“Torment? I was just trying to get closer to Benny.”
I shrugged nonchalantly for a moment. Even while joking around, I felt something sharp at the edge of my heightened senses.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
From a distance, I heard faint metallic sounds. There’s only one thing on the second floor that could make such noise.
I tightened the loose string of tension and listened closely. The number of overlapping metallic sounds was four.
“Up ahead. Four Kobolds. I’ll take the lead.”
“…Okay.”
Lydia outfitted herself with a magical device in the form of glasses to pierce through the darkness, preparing for any unforeseen situation.
Benny, who had just been suffering from the lowest rank (?), also changed her demeanor.
She put her backpack on the ground and crossed her arms as she stood there. The Shadow Monster sank back into the shadows, ready to pounce at any time.
“You don’t have to fight just with magic this time. Fight freely and mix in some magic.”
“That’s my specialty.”
Nodding, I activated my sound-absorbing step ability. Instantly, I felt a thin veil separating me from the world around me.
As I took a few steps forward, it wasn’t one or two but four Kobolds synced together appeared in front of me.
One of them, a mix between a wolf and a lizard, was focused on digging into the wall with a pickaxe, wearing nothing but a tattered cloth.
Until now, the Kobolds had always found us first, so it seemed this time we found them before they noticed us.
The underground maze on the second floor is quite different, yet somewhat similar to the Great Forest on the first floor.
Just like how the entire Great Forest is under the domain of the World Tree, the underground maze is under the domain of the Earth God.
However, unlike the Great Forest, which was created with the clear purpose of protecting the Elves, the underground maze was merely an abandoned land where various creatures gathered.
When the sun fell, rivers and seas evaporated, and the first flame was extinguished by the raging blizzard.
However, the earth stood firmly in its place throughout all the miracles created by the gods.
Sometimes it bores down deep, sometimes it melts away, but the earth never goes anywhere. A steadfast existence that always endures in the same place.
Those enchanted by that reliability slowly started to dig into the ground.
Once proud warriors have descended into Kobolds as miners and slaves, as well as the Spider Queen, once the mother of legions, and simply the earth’s nature spirits.
The sturdy earth accepts everything without discrimination, even those who would feast upon its flesh.
How many times has it repeated this, becoming a refuge during the long war?
Before we knew it, the underground maze had become a sanctuary symbolizing the Earth God, buried with the remains of the god.
And now, I hunt the once devoted devotees of the Earth God within it.
Thwok!
The white blade of the Unicorn Dagger slides in smoothly. One Kobold, pierce through its cervical spine, collapses without even a whimper.
Surprised by the sudden death of their companion, the surrounding Kobolds stop mining and panic.
“Ko, Kobold?!”
“Kobold, Kobold!”
“Coco-Ball…!”
It would be nice if I could take them out one by one like this, but… the moment I attacked one of them, my ability was canceled.
They might have lost their sight, but their other senses sharpened. They would soon catch on that I was standing behind them.
Indeed, one of the Kobolds noticed me and swung its pickaxe in my direction.
Whoosh!
I tilted my waist to evade the pickaxe. It slightly grazed my arm, but it wasn’t enough to penetrate the armor made of Iron Wolf leather.
Enduring the slight tingling sensation, I grabbed the arm of the one who just swung the pickaxe and pulled it towards me.
Not only did I achieve the feat of being the first to take down a Guardian of the First Floor, but thanks to Basilieus enhancing my reward from the maze, my physical abilities have notably increased these past few days.
Even so, I still couldn’t overpower the weakest Kobold on the second floor… but it was enough to pull that little body toward me.
At first, it resisted my touch, but as I deftly tripped it, its balance crumbled, and the Kobold was helplessly pulled in.
“Ko, Bol?!”
The force I pulled was equal to the body I pushed. Instantly, the positions of the Kobold and I were reversed. And then.
As if realizing my position too late, the Kobolds swung their pickaxes and hit me.
Thud! Bam!
One Kobold had a pickaxe lodged in its forehead and shoulder. Though still alive, it writhed on the ground.
“Kobol-Bol!”
“Kobold, Kobold!”
The two Kobolds that realized they had killed their companion charged at me furiously. This time they lined up side by side to avoid friendly fire.
Unlike the simple-minded Goblins or the typical beasts from the first floor, which evolved to have some intelligence, these Kobolds were indeed clever. But they probably never expected this.
“Basilieus.”
A wooden crown floated above my head. The creature that had been consuming my divine power turned my empty hand green. And then.
Whoooosh-!
The seeds I’d bought earlier rapidly grew and clung to one Kobold’s lower body.
Simultaneously, I fired my Wrist Crossbow towards the other one’s knee.
Thwack… Thud!
“Ko, Bol?!”
“Coco-Ball…!”
The one entangled in the vines fell forward with a panicked voice, while the one hit by an arrow groaned in pain and sank to the ground.
Though their processes were different, both ended up flat on the ground. I took a handful of seeds from my Subspace Ring and scattered them over the fallen Kobolds.
Then I squeezed my very limited divine power for all it was worth.
Woosh!
With explosive vigor, the entwined plant stems tightly bound the bodies of the Kobolds.
The characteristic of this oil vine is that it exudes a sticky, flammable secretion from its surface.
Now, there’s only one thing left to do.
I pointed my index finger toward the wriggling Kobolds.
“Weak flames.”
A flame about the size of a lighter flickered to life. I lightly flicked my hand.
The scattered embers fell over the Kobolds. And then.
Whooosh!
Flames erupted fiercely.
The intensity was so fierce that even the screams of the Kobolds were drowned out by the crackling sounds.
However, the fact that it was highly reactive meant that what could be burned would quickly be consumed.
Before ten seconds even passed, the flames extinguished. From within, a Kobold emerged, charred outside but moist inside thanks to the brief time spent in the fire.
Perhaps because the time it was burned was so brief, it hadn’t completely lost its life, but it didn’t seem capable of moving due to severe burns that left its scales blackened.
I struck down the neck of the writhing Kobold with my dagger.
Thunk, roll…
The head rolled easily on the ground, a general visage difficult to recognize, making me grimace.
“How inefficient.”
It’s true that the battle had become much easier. However, the oil vine seeds are quite expensive. And the consumption of divine power was greater than I anticipated.
“The Kobold itself isn’t worth much…”
I let out a deep sigh and picked up the pickaxes they had been swinging.
The iron from the labyrinth, meaning it’s a material that can be used to make adventurer gear, is relatively rare.
Even this pickaxe, which boasts a purity close to scrap iron, could be worth more than the Kobold’s magic stone.
…Should I just grab the pickaxe and make a run for it next time?
No, given the nature of the maze, there won’t be much room to escape, so I have to fight anyway.
Sighing deeply, I used my dagger to slice just below the blade of the pickaxe.
Sliceeeek.
Collecting just the separated metal piece, I headed back to my team.
I found Benny wearing a somewhat fed-up expression. I smiled brightly and presented the chunk of metal I held in my arms.
“This time, I brought back just the pickaxe head, not the Kobold’s head! Good, right?!”
“Uh… okay.”
Benny took the pickaxe from me in a hollow voice. As she began to sort the loot into her backpack, I tried to extract some of the Kobold’s byproducts and magic stones.
“Oh, wait a minute. We’re almost at our destination and will be heading up, right? Our backpacks are full.”
“That seems to be the case?”
“So, this time, I’ll show you my magic. You should know what you might learn or what I can help with.”
“Yep?”
While pondering what I might learn, I raised an eyebrow at what she meant by help.
Benny looked at the sprawling Kobold corpses and snapped her fingers.
Snap!
“Dismantle.”
As if that was the signal, Benny’s shadow stretched long. The unnaturally extended shadow wrapped around the corpse.
It devoured the corpse smoothly as if it were a swamp. Moments later, something popped out of the shadow.
“…A horn?”
A small, protruding horn. That’s one of the more expensive Kobold byproducts.
Afterwards, various parts of the Kobold shot up from the shadow, and finally, it spat out a magic stone.
Just like stripping meat off a chicken bone, Benny’s shadow dismantled the Kobold and returned to her. A cute burp escaped her pointy teeth.
“Burp.”
Though she reflexively covered her mouth, Benny soon confidently put her hands on her hips.
“How was that? Not bad, right?”
“Benny, will you be my bone stripper for life?”
“Eh?”
I heard somewhere that someone stripping bones is true love.
