Chapter 130 I Feel Like I Was Dreaming Or Something
After Aaron slammed his fist down in anger, crushing one of the Valkyries into pieces.
Riiin――!!
Riiin! Riiin! Riiin!
The remaining 11 Valkyries made a warning sound with their wings and began to move, surrounding Aaron.
One of them snuck up behind him and swung her sword down at him from a blind spot.
Without even turning around, Aaron caught the sword with his bare hand. Upon closer inspection, his hand was wrapped in aura.
The Valkyrie flapped her wings frantically, trying to pull her sword out, but it wouldn't budge.
"――Hey."
Aaron's eyes were wide open, his face twisted in a furious scowl, but his voice was low and calm.
"Violence is no good..."
Those words sounded like something the calm and gentle Aaron would say.
But――,
"Are you kidding me?! You think you can just use violence?! I'll kill you!!!!"
His actions were completely contradictory.
The next instant, Aaron turned around and swung his fist in a backhanded motion.
The Valkyrie was blown away, shattered into tiny pieces by Aaron's aura-infused fist.
But the other Valkyries quickly retaliated with magic.
They kept their distance, thinking it was too dangerous to get close, and launched ice spears and arrows at Aaron.
Aaron didn't dodge them.
The concentrated barrage of Ice and Snow magic filled the air with a chilling cold.
"L-Lord of Extreme Sword...?"
Is this going to be okay?
It was already strange that Aaron was unharmed after taking the first hit, but taking this much concentrated magic without defending himself... even the Lord of Extreme Sword couldn't emerge unscathed.
The captain watched anxiously, their throats dry, as the Valkyries' magic barrage finally subsided and the cold air cleared.
When Aaron reappeared――,
"That's your answer?"
He was unscathed.
Not a single thread on his fur coat was torn. The captain saw a faint aura surrounding his entire body.
With a sorrowful expression, he gazed up at the sky, his right hand holding the hilt of a black sword.
"Lord of Extreme Sword..."
He had been betrayed by the one he had reached out to.
The captains couldn't help but express their concern at Aaron's sorrowful expression. They thought that the Lord of Extreme Sword's words from earlier must have been a misunderstanding. The Lord of Extreme Sword wouldn't shout things like "Die!" or "I'll kill you!" after all.
"It's fine already..."
Aaron's face fell, and in the next moment, he shouted.
"You're all going to dieeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
And then, a storm of overwhelming violence was unleashed.
With a flash of his sword.
My unique sword technique――combined technique[Raging Continuous Blade]
A massive aura burst forth along the sword's trajectory, instantly transforming into countless blades. They swirled around, attacking the surrounding Valkyries.
One small blade touched a Valkyrie's body.
In that instant, it exploded――and all the other blades exploded in a chain reaction.
"――!?"
A deafening roar. A blast of air that pushed them back. They reflexively lowered their stance to withstand it.
The Valkyries who had surrounded Aaron were gone. They had been blown away, their bodies shattered into pieces.
However――,
Riiiiiiiiin――!
Riiiiiiiiin――!!
Riiiiiiiiin――!!!
From far beyond their field of vision, on the other side of the white giant wall, new Valkyries appeared. Their numbers had doubled from before.
It seemed that they had judged Aaron to be a strong enemy and had released the maximum number of Valkyries they could create at once.
Aaron, on the other hand...
"You think you can take me down with your cute little tricks? Bring it on, I'll kill you all!!!!!"
He leapt out from the center of the explosion, shouting something as he sprinted towards the <<Ice Elemental Treant>> at high speed.
In just a short time, he closed the distance, and with one final powerful jump, he charged towards the white giant wall.
"""......"""
A few seconds later, the captain realized that the <<Ice Elemental Treant>> had been defeated.
This was because the countless Valkyries that had been flying towards them, ignoring Aaron as he crashed into the white wall, suddenly stopped moving and fell to the ground, returning to magical energy.
As the captain had expected, the [Blizzard Storm] that had been deployed disappeared a few seconds later, and the snow that had been blown up by the aftermath dispersed.
The giant <<Ice Elemental Treant>> that appeared from the other side had been cut in half diagonally from the middle of its trunk, with its upper half falling to the ground. It was slowly being returned to magical energy and disappearing.
"""......"""
With this, the guardian of the 40th floor had been defeated. They could now proceed to the 41st floor. It was a more than satisfactory result, with no complaints to be had.
However, the captain remained silent, unable to move from their positions.
Eventually, the <<Ice Elemental Treant>>'s remains were completely returned to magical energy and disappeared. Aaron then walked back towards them, and for some reason, he was completely naked.
"......"
"""......"""
For a while, Aaron and the captain stood facing each other in silence, Aaron looking bewildered and puzzled.
His expression was like that of a child who didn't understand the situation at all, so innocent that it made the captain wonder why they were so shocked, and even why they were shocked at all.
Eventually, Aaron tilted his head and pointed behind him, saying.
"...what's wrong? Let's hurry up and move on."
The captain had many questions they wanted to ask Aaron.
But there were too many questions, and they couldn't summarize them immediately.
"......yeah."
The party leader nodded after a long silence.
* * *
Aaron and the captain registered at the 41st floor's teleportation circle and proceeded to the Dragon Mountain floor.
A hellish floor where numerous dragon species attack in droves. It was the same as the Snowfield Floor, where they had to use stealth to progress without fighting as much as possible.
However, that didn't mean they didn't fight at all.
Aaron was no longer the same person he used to be. He mercilessly killed the monsters that attacked them, without considering their own strength or showing any of the compassion he had displayed to the captains on the Snowfield Floor. He charged forward with reckless abandon.
When they had to cross through the lair of a dangerous dragon species, the captains felt like they were going to die. In fact, when they were surrounded by a group of dragons, they were prepared to meet their maker.
Luckily, Aaron managed to take down all the dragons and they escaped unscathed. But it was too early to celebrate their narrow escape.
On average, the captains faced death twice per floor.
That was how often they felt like they were staring death in the face.
Even just following Aaron was a terrifying and arduous journey. But during their nighttime camps, the captains would ask Aaron questions whenever they had the chance.
Q: Why have you changed so much?
"Ahh, my memories are hazy from around dinner time on the day we entered the labyrinth... I feel like I was dreaming or something. I didn't regain my senses until after we defeated the Ice Elemental Treant... I'm feeling pretty refreshed now, though."
Q: Do you have any memories of how we got here?
"It's all fuzzy..."
Q: Is it okay to kill monsters?
"Huh? What are you talking about? Is there a problem or something?"
Q: Isn't life precious?
"Yeah, it is. Anyone who tries to take my precious life, whether it's a monster or not, is going down."
Q: What would you do if someone picked a fight with you at a tavern?
"I'd beat them up."
Q: What do you think about people who use violence easily?
"They're scum."
Q: Do you think it's possible to communicate with monsters?
"I don't know, but it seems unlikely."
Q: Why don't we take a safer route with fewer dangers?
"Huh? Is that necessary?"
Q: Did you maybe use a group of monsters to attack your clan members or something?
"No way, that's never happened before... What? Are there rumors going around like that? Oh man, it's completely baseless."
Q. Why are you naked?
"I don't really get what you're trying to ask... Do I need a reason to take off my clothes?"
Q. Do you want some soup?
"...If it's not spicy and has a good broth, and if I put a drop on my tongue and wait for 5 minutes without anything happening to my body, then sure, I'll take some."
――After asking various questions, the captains, who had regained their composure, came to a conclusion about Aaron's current state.
"Probably, the Lord of Extreme Sword... got hit on the head by the valkyrie and is acting weird because of the shock..."
After all, he was suddenly hit on the head with a war hammer. It's no wonder he's feeling dizzy.
Maybe after a while, he'll go back to being the kind-hearted Lord of Extreme Sword...
But the next day, Aaron was still the same.
To be honest, everyone already understood. That Lord of Extreme Sword was just an illusion. Something miraculous happened, and that personality only appeared once...
The captains' respect for Aaron disappeared like a bubble.
But the next day.
[God's Remains Labyrinth] 45th floor, at the volcano where the guardian Ignitor awaits.
They were about to witness a scene that would blow away their slight distrust of humanity...
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