Proof of a Hero

Wow~

But if you looked closely, the density of the undergrowth, trees, and ivy that filled the open spaces were all very high.

The ninth floor was a jungle.

But its pretty strange.

There arent any insects. I cant hear any birds or beasts either.

Were in the labyrinth for sure.

There were small and normal vipers, still enough to be hazardous.

Detoxification magic would take an active role and Maals knife would also prove useful.

This place is a little odd.

Leaves grew thickly overhead, blocking out the source of light. Since he was a man that had lived in a city resembling a labyrinth since birth, he felt something wrong.

Serge focused, configuring a magic he hadnt used thus far. It wasnt a magic meant to be used in a labyrinth, but it would probably be effective on this floor.

After spending more than ten minutes of searching, Serge found it was a huge circular room.

The center is open. There may be a swamp there.

Honestly though, the strength of the demons on the eighth floor were higher.

Ria lead the way with Gig, making an open path with her machete. She passed Gig a matching machete.

Lulu described the characteristics of the Hydra; it was the same as Ria guessed with the knowledge of her previous life.

It had tremendous regenerative ability, able to quickly regrow within several several minutes even if it lost a head.

Then I cant use this katana to sever its heads

Thinking that, she took out another katana shed gotten from the Ogre King from her magic bag.

But now, it was finally going to see the light of day.

Leaving behind the dangerous mutter, the group advanced towards the swamp in the center.

The jungle opened up and the large swamp came into view.

Theres a suitable spot over there.

As youd expect, there was no way to beat the Hydra in water. Even Ria thought that would be reckless. It was difficult to cut something with a katana underwater.

The moving group watched the swamp, but the Hydra didnt come out even after waiting.

Serge clapped his hands together and asked, but they didnt know where that crucial mirror was. It might be in the middle of the swamp, but since the plants growing in the water were tall, their view was blocked.

Though Lulu said so really reluctantly, they didnt have a choice without a path.

Serge examined the area with Spacial Grasp again. It consumed a lot of magical power compared to normal magic and was difficult to use.

Just about at the opposite side of the open area, there was a narrow path that continued towards a small island in the middle of the swamp. The mirror might be there.

They had no choice but to attack it in the end. In that case, how do they lure it?

Killing a giant crocodile in the water, they ate it for the time being. The crocodiles meat was delicious.

She left half of the crocodiles body to bleed out into the swamp.

The blood spread out. It seemed that other demons didnt live in the swamp, as nothing came along for the leftovers.

Before long, a shadow manifested under the waters surface.

Making a sizzling sound, the head of a gigantic serpent appeared.

Eight heads.

H-huge

Carlos groaned involuntarily. It wasnt an exaggeration saying that it could swallow a horse whole.

This disaster class creature could destroy an entire waterfront town. Its overwhelming strength could take out the entire military strength of something at the level of a small country.

Fireball!

Rias magic exploded towards the Hydra. Without showing any damage at all, its heads appeared from within the smoke.

Follow theplan!

Ria shouted, wielding the nodachi. Shouts responded to her call.

The extended battle began.

Gig changed weapons from the warhammer he specialized in to a battleaxe. As the warhammer was a blunt type weapon, even if hed damaged the Hydra with it, it wouldnt have been able to sever the all-important heads.

It took the three people to attack a head one at a time.

Ria clad her longsword in flames and went to work. If she burned the wounds, the Hydra knew it would take longer to heal itself. So even though she tried to behead it, other heads would attack, not giving her any opportunities.

Still, it was the right choice for her to switch weapons. With the katanas length, it would have done less damage to it.

Lulu and Serge were properly using recovery and fire magic. The wounds Gig and Carlos inflicted on it were scorched by the fire magic. Though fire didnt seem effective when it was used directly on its scales, as expected, its wounds didnt have any defensive strength.

Little by little, tiny amounts at a time, the Hydras movements dulled. Though up to this point, theyd also received many attacks. Drinking magic restoration potions, Lulu and Serge both used healing and detoxification magic.

However, that balance was smashed in an instant.

Haaaaaah-!

First one!

Excalibur!

Flamethrower.

From then on Rias attacks increasingly used magic.

At any rate, when talking about who had the most magical power in the party, it was her. So to save magic recovery potions, it was best for Ria to be responsible for cauterizing the wounds.

Maal drew its attention and both Carlos and Gig exhausted the heads, while Serge cut them off. Ria would then sear the wounds. Lulu focused on healing.

Somewhere along the way, they grew into a steady workflow-like pace.

Before long, there was only one huge head remaining.

Though there was a theory of this last neck being invulnerable in her previous life, according to the subjugation records it wasnt like that.

By chaining their attacks, the Hydras blood flowed, certainly weakening.

Carlos stopped a fang attack in the end and Serges magic decided it. The head was amputated.

Everyones breathing was rough.

This meat is poisonous. Its a shame, but we cant eat it

After taking a bite of meat that she had roasted just right, she spat it out. Though she had Poison Resistance, that didnt mean she liked eating poisoned food.

Even though shed ran around the outer part of the battlefield, Maal still had most of her endurance left over, so she distributed endurance recovery potions to the warriors.

Cutting up the Hydras gigantic body with an axe, Ria took out the magic crystal.

The huge crystal was practically the size of a persons head.

(Just how much money is that worth? At least more expensive than me.)

Thought Maal.

Nee-chan, cut off the tail. The tips bone should be able to be processed into a sword.

Because its blood was toxic, Maal couldnt skin it.

After that, itd be nice to turn its hide into armor.

Taking almost the same amount of time theyd spent on fighting, Ria harvested the Hydras materials.

Well then, though weve reached our temporary goal

After coming this far, how could we not take a look at the tenth floor?

We still have about half of our recovery potions remaining. Depending on the type of enemies on the tenth floor, we might be able to defeat the tenth floor?

Same with me, I really want to see the tenth floor.

Even the weakest, Maal, expressed her opinion.

The thing that had no records, the final floor.

There hasnt been anyone to beat it, or at least if they have theyve kept their mouths shut about it. For at least these two hundred years, there has been no record of it being beaten.

Alright then, lets go.

Without being worked up, Ria declared.

The group of explorers stepped foot into

the completely unknown floor.