Chapter 243 Calm Down!
[God's Remains Labyrinth] 46th Floor――Sky Floor.
After passing through a small cave with a teleportation circle, what spread out before us was a breathtaking view of a sea of clouds below, with countless floating islands drifting gracefully above.
Basically, the floating islands are connected by strange bridges and stairs made of light, but as we go deeper, more islands are floating freely, not connected by bridges or stairs, due to the storm raging through the layers.
The monsters that appear include Sky Dragons and Angel Excia――angel-type golems――many of which can fly and often ambush us while we move from island to island.
Additionally, on the larger floating islands, there are monsters that make their homes there, and when we land, they attack us with a crazed intensity. These monsters are a bit stronger than the weaker ones.
――This is the information that has been shared with the expedition team in advance.
Just before we set out to explore, I turn around and tell the members of the expedition team.
"We're about to start exploring the Sky Floor, but with this many people moving together, monsters will attack us one after another. In other words... you understand, right?"
Nervously, Chloe nodded and raised her hand to confirm.
"Um, so... does that mean we should split into groups to explore...?"
"No!"
"What!?"
Well, Chloe isn't an explorer, so it's not surprising she doesn't get it.
I think the others understand, but just to be sure, I answer loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Basically, that means we don't have time to pick up monster drop items! Just give up on the items from the start!"
"""Got it!""" came the reply.
"By the way, if we stray from the regular route in the late 40s floors, there's a place where the ≪Wind Elemental Treant≫ is flying around really fast, but... we don't have time to make detours this time. It's a tough decision, but... just give up."
"""Roger that, master!""" came the response.
Yeah, I nodded and finished explaining the exploration precautions.
Types of monsters and their traits? ...Well, I don't really need to explain that again. We've already gone over what they need to know beforehand.
"Lucia! You're slow and don't have much stamina, so I'll carry you! Come on!"
Lucia's body is that of a young child, so it can't be helped. I never planned to let her walk by herself from the start.
"Hmm! Okay!"
She replied cheerfully, and today, with her hair tied in a matching ponytail like Fiona's, Lucia jumped onto my back with a thud, using her arms and legs to secure herself to me.
However, if we keep this up, I'll definitely throw her off during a fierce battle.
So what I took out was――a long strap.
"Sorry, Fiona, can you use this to secure Lucia?"
It's what you call a baby carrier strap. But I wasn't really sure how to tie it.
"Leave it to me."
Fiona took the strap and quickly secured both Lucia and me with it.
By the way, how does she know how to tie it so well?
Once Fiona finished tying, she stepped back to check our appearance and smiled, "Hehe."
"Looks like a father and daughter, doesn't it? You really don't look like explorers at all."
"Papa~."
Lucia teased.
"Hey, come on... Well, in a way, we are like a father and daughter."
Ickle is the daughter, after all.
From the outside, we might look silly, but it can't be helped.
By the way, I have another baby carrier strap ready, and that's for Chloe.
It was Chloe who insisted on coming along for this exploration, and she seems to want to move on her own feet, so I plan to use it only if she gets too tired or becomes a burden.
At that time, I'll have the "Breast Alien" guy from the ≪Gentlemen's Alliance≫ carry her. He would probably be happy to do it, and who knows, he might even have a buff effect like those pigs.
Anyway, after getting Lucia on my back, we finally finished our preparations and started the exploration.
* * *
First, we moved towards the point where we needed to scout, without a strict formation.
If I had to say, I was at the front with Logan, and right behind us was Fiona. This was to minimize our combat time. If a monster appeared, we would use our ranged skills to eliminate it immediately.
As we got a bit tired or our magical energy started to run low, we would switch places with others at the front and fall back to recover our stamina and magical energy.
In the group, the relatively weaker 'Dark Crow' and Chloe were always placed in the middle of the formation, surrounded by other members for protection.
Chloe, at least, was fine, but the role of the 'Dark Crow' was to scout, and basically, they wouldn't participate in combat.
Now, about the important combat...
"――Shh!"
I spotted the sky dragon gliding through the air, and without stopping, I unleashed my unique sword technique――[Heavy Flying Blade].
The distance was still a few hundred meters away.
Even so, the crescent-shaped slash that shot out from my sword barely lost any power as it closed the gap.
But of course, with that much distance, the dragon would at least try to dodge. The sky dragon, moving with confidence, avoided the slash and flapped its wings to rush toward me――
"――Grrroooarr!?"
It was slashed from behind by the [Heavy Flying Blade], which had turned back on its path.
Losing its strength, it began to fall toward the sea of clouds――and along the way, it disappeared, sparkling as it transformed into magical energy particles.
Originally, the [Flying Blade] could change its path gradually, but being able to turn back like this over such a distance happened only after my fight with Logan during the Stampede.
Before that, I could only make such a large change in trajectory with [Flying Blade: Falcon].
While I can't accelerate the slash midway or change its path sharply like with [Flying Blade: Falcon], using [Heavy Flying Blade] means the power of the slash itself is greater.
Well, anyway.
"It looks like the weak monsters on the way won't be a problem."
Not only has the power increased, but since I can cut through a dragon, it should work on other monsters too.
The labyrinth itself was probably easier for us than we thought.
Just as I was thinking that, Logan swung his sword and scolded me.
"I think you're fine! ...But what about the others?"
Sword Saint Skill――[Flying Dragon Sever]
The layered aura blade flew at high speed and sliced the Sky Dragon, which was about 100 meters (≈328 feet) away, before it could even dodge.
As expected, this skill was meant for fighting flying dragons. At a distance of about 100 meters (≈328 feet), it seems they can't even react in time. Of course, a higher-level dragon might not be so easy to hit.
"Hmm... What about Fiona?"
I thought Logan had a point, so I asked Fiona for her opinion.
"This much is still――okay! But!"
Fiona created one "Divine Wings" and immediately wrapped it around her sword, swinging it.
My unique sword technique――[Divine Wings Sword]
The [Divine Wings Sword], made up of [Continuous Blade], was unleashed with her swing, flying through the air.
The distance to the Sky Dragon was just a few dozen meters. Even though it was closer than Logan's attack, the slower [Divine Wings Sword] still hit without being dodged.
And once it hit, there was no way a Sky Dragon could withstand the [Divine Wings Sword].
Countless [Continuous Blades] not only formed the shape of a sword but also spun rapidly while maintaining that shape, resembling the [Divine Wings Sword] and sharing similar properties to [Flying Dragon Sever]. Even the "Dragon Scale," which disperses magical energy and aura, could be sliced apart by the countless blades.
And the Sky Dragon, which only had simple "Dragon Scales," was helpless against it.
The massive body of the Sky Dragon was cut in half and fell toward the sea of clouds.
Fiona, who had defeated the Sky Dragon, shook her head lightly.
"I didn't think it would be weak enough for all of us to take it down in one hit."
"Well, that's true... How about we let them fight us now, just to test it?"
So, I decided to shoot aura bullets around and make them explode, using the loud noise to lure the Sky Dragon.
Boom, boom, BOOM—
"""......"""
I felt warm gazes from Logan, Fiona, and Lucia.
I didn't understand why they were looking at me like that. I just thought it would be okay to test things out while it was still safe.
But then, the clan members behind me started to shout.
"Hey! Is the Master an idiot!?"
"Why are you doing that? Read the room!"
"Weren't we supposed to be seriously exploring the labyrinth today!?"
"I'm done with death marches already!?"
I stopped and turned around to explain.
"Calm down! I just wanted to see if you guys could actually fight!"
"Then you should have said that first!?"
"And we didn't need to call a monster over here, did we!?"
"Why is Master so stupid? Huh? Why? Why?! "
I ignored the noise and said,
"We won't help you! You guys can defeat them on your own!! "
"Die!" "Kill!" "Don't make us fight unnecessarily!!"
These guys... their words are so mean. I'm just trying to help them, but...
Anyway, after waiting for a few dozen seconds, the monsters started gathering.
"Whoa... there are so many of them."
Just like Lucia whispered in my ear, a lot of them came.
They were angel-type golems, called Angel Excia, wearing full-body armor, equipped with swords, spears, and bows, and had mechanical wings on their backs that allowed them to fly.
There were... 1, 2, 3... so many of them.
It was like a flock of birds.
The moment these golems appeared in our sight, my clan members, who were complaining and saying things like "Die" and "Stupid", started using their skills and magic.
"――Nooooo!! "
"Take this, take this, take this!! "
"Disappear!! "
"Hyaah!! "
Despite what they said, they were actually pretty excited about the battle.
The swarm of golems, which would have been terrifying for someone with a fear of crowds, was quickly wiped out.
Fiona nodded and turned to me, saying "Yeah" after seeing the golems get defeated.
"It looks like we won't have any problems at least until the 46th floor... Aaron?"
After the battle ended and the silence returned, Fiona tilted her head, noticing my uncomfortable expression.
Right after that, boom, boom, BOOM...!! A loud explosion echoed from a little distance away.
It was the sound of the aura bullets I had fired exploding far off during the clan members' battle.
"""......"""
Everyone's eyes were focused on me.
The silent pressure.
I tried to defend myself.
"No... it wasn't the Sky Dragon, so..."
What I wanted to confirm was the battle against the Sky Dragon...
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