Once again, the five of us arrived at the 30th floor of the great labyrinth.
For a while after that, Sophie and the others repeatedly fought while wielding their new weapons.
"Amazing! These are totally different from the old ones! Master, thank you so much for giving us something this incredible!"
"You're welcome."
Carol stared excitedly at the black daggers in both hands.
Seeing her so happy makes the giver feel glad too.
"Um, Orun-san, may I ask one question?"
Sophie spoke up hesitantly.
"Sure. Is it about the red knives?"
"Ah, yes. Besides the black staff and the uniform, there were also several things that looked like red knives in the storage magic tool you gave us. I wondered if they had been put in by mistake, but they were intentional, right?"
Sophie summoned a small knife from the storage magic tool I had handed her and asked about it.
The blade of the knife she produced was not metal. It was made of something like a clear, red gemstone.
"Yeah. Those are yours too, Sophie. They're still prototypes, so I'd like you to tell me how they feel to use next time."
"That's fine, but... I can't do close-range combat with knives..."
Sophie drooped her shoulders and gave off a dejected air.
"It's true that knives can be thrown sometimes, but they're basically close-range weapons. Still, in your case, you could wield them without even holding them, right?"
"Without holding them? ...Ah, [Psychokinesis]!"
"Exactly. If you use [Psychokinesis], you don't need to hold them in your hand or get close to the enemy. You can slash them one-sidedly from a distance. That's an advantage only you have, Sophie."
"You're right. With [Psychokinesis], that kind of use is possible. I've been too focused on restraining the enemy's movements. That's no good..."
Sophie gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"That's not true at all. But [Psychokinesis] is an excellent unique ability that can shine in all sorts of situations. Try exploring different possibilities instead of fixating on just one thing."
"Yes! Understood!"
"Like I said earlier, those knives are designed with [Psychokinesis] in mind. And they have a certain mechanism built in. That's the prototype part. You'll have to figure out what kind of mechanism it is yourself, Sophie."
"A mechanism... in these knives..."
Sophie murmured while staring at the knife.
She already seemed to be thinking about something.
Maybe there are ways to use them that I hadn't even considered.
In that case, I can look forward to Sophie's ideas.
◇
After Sophie and the others finished getting a feel for their new weapons, we returned to the entrance of the 30th floor.
"All right. Since it's what my disciples want, let's go all out. Luna, are you ready?"
"Yes. I'm fine. What about coordination? Should we base it on the Dawnlight style like usual?"
"That works. I'll handle enchanter and front-line attacker duties. You take healer and rear-line attacker. We don't need a defender, but we can adapt if the situation calls for it."
"Understood. And when you say all out..."
"I mean literally. Treat it like we're diving into the deep layers."
"But if we do that..."
I understood Luna's concern.
If the two of us went all out on the 30th floor conquest, there would hardly be anything left for Sophie and the others to gain from it.
Even so, I had decided to give it my full effort.
"The best way to make the difference between us clear is exactly this. Well, I'll go all out, but it's been a while since we partied up. I won't forget to enjoy the conquest either."
"...Understood. Then let's show Carol and the others what real S-rank explorers can do."
After finishing the discussion with Luna, I returned to where Sophie and the others were waiting.
"Welcome back~ Did the strategy meeting finish?"
"Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's get going then. Follow us closely, okay?"
"Yes! I'm so excited. I'll burn Master's and Lu-nee's performance into my eyes!"
◇
About ten minutes had passed since we began the 30th floor conquest.
We advanced along the shortest route to the floor boss at a brisk but not exhausting pace, without ever properly engaging in combat... and we had already cleared about ninety percent of it.
"Um, hey... what's going on here?"
Sophie let out a bewildered voice.
Normally I would respond, but right now I was focused on the labyrinth conquest, so I stayed silent.
"I don't get it... But running into almost no magic beasts at all is clearly weird."
"Hmm, are we just avoiding the magic beasts while walking?"
"No. Master and the others are taking the absolute shortest route to the floor boss. More like... the magic beasts are the ones avoiding us. But how...?"
While listening to the three of them talk and keeping my senses sharp on the surroundings, a magic beast finally entered my detection net.
Given the situation, avoiding combat seemed impossible now.
"Contact. Four goblins, about thirty meters ahead."
"Shall I use [Thunder Arrow]?"
It was the first time Luna and I exchanged words since starting the 30th floor conquest.
Up until now, slight gestures and eye signals had been enough for perfect communication, so we had not needed to speak.
"Yeah. Fire in three seconds."
Exactly three seconds after my reply, Luna activated [Thunder Arrow].
Lightning arrows shot out from around her and flew straight forward.
Even though glowing ore stones were placed at regular intervals, in the cave-like 30th floor, thirty meters was far enough that it was hard to make out the enemies' precise positions with the naked eye.
The lightning arrows had been fired with a general aim, but at this rate they would all miss.
In that case, I just had to change their trajectories.
During the three seconds I had asked her to wait, I poured mana into the four spell formulas I had already constructed.
Grayish, semi-transparent walls appeared near the goblins.
The four lightning arrows touched the walls, bent their paths, and each one pierced a vital spot on the unsuspecting goblins.
I gave Luna a quick glance to confirm the hits. She gave a small nod.
"Phew, we're here."
We took a short breather in front of the boss area.
Thanks to guiding away everything except those earlier goblins, we reached the boss area in just about ten minutes.
In labyrinth conquests, what matters most is how well you can avoid battles and conserve stamina.
Especially in the deeper layers, the magic beasts along the path are quite strong, and a powerful floor boss waits at the end.
The answer to how we guided the magic beasts this time was simple.
We took advantage of the trait that magic beasts are drawn to magic stones.
I used [Space Leap] to send magic stones to the places I wanted them to avoid, and Luna activated [Induction Decoy Light] when needed.
"..."
The three of them were speechless as they stared at us, having arrived here without any real fighting.
"What do we do for the boss fight?"
"Against that boar, there's no way we lose. But since we're doing it, I want to finish it instantly."
The 30th floor boss was clearly weaker compared to the magic beasts that appeared in the later parts of the lower layers or on floors 92 and 93.
To show the difference to Sophie and the others, I wanted to end this in a single moment.
"In that case, Pattern D?"
"That seems best. Let's go with D-7."
"Got it."
After hearing Luna's reply, I hung the necklace with the processed magic stone around my neck, the same one I had used during the black dragon battle in the teaching expedition.
As I opened the door leading to the boss area, I cast [Rear Guard Ability Up] on Luna.
Since my ki-based buffs were not yet stable, I also applied a quadruple [All-Status Up] to myself.
◇
"All three of you, stay back."
As soon as we entered the boss area, I told Sophie and the others to move away. They immediately retreated to the wall.
"[Induction Decoy Light]"
After confirming they had withdrawn, Luna activated her spirit magic. A pale blue-white light appeared in front of me.
Drawn by the magic stone at my neck and the pale blue light, the boar charged straight toward me.
I confirmed that, poured mana into the spell formula I had already prepared, and activated the magic.
"[Reflective Wall], [Magic Sword Union]"
I made a grayish semi-transparent floor appear on the boar's path, then transformed the Schwarzhause in my hand into a magic sword.
The charging boar touched [Reflective Wall] and leaped several meters straight upward.
"[Fire Javelin]!"
Several fire spears Luna unleashed shot toward the boar in midair.
The fire spears pierced the boar and exploded in the air.
"...[Form Three: Mont Dry]"
I had already taken the position above the boar. I swung the greatsword formed from Schwarzhause down with full force.
The boar slammed hard into the ground from my attack and let out a scream-like cry.
I used the momentum from the downward swing to spin once on the spot and brought the sword down again.
"Heaven Flash...!"
The condensed jet-black mana turned into a slashing attack that bore down on the boar.
"[Super Explosion]!"
At perfect timing, Luna also activated her magic. Both Heaven Flash and [Super Explosion] were enhanced with [Instant Ability Super Boost].
A massive explosion and the roar of spreading mana echoed throughout the entire floor.
After landing, I gazed at where the boar had been. As the smoke gradually cleared, only a magic stone and the boar's tusks remained.
"...Incredible."
Even the usually energetic Carol muttered just that one small word.
Sophie and Rogue stood wide-eyed, at a complete loss for words.
Yeah, this gave them a good shock.
(Still, this really is...)
I muttered to myself in my mind while clenching and opening my left hand, which I had raised near my chest.
"Good work. ...Is something wrong?"
Luna approached and asked after noticing my state.
"No, it's nothing. Good work too, Luna. That last [Super Explosion] was perfectly timed. As expected."
"Hehe, we've been partying for nearly ten years after all. Even if we haven't explored labyrinths together lately, matching breaths with you is easy. ...That black greatsword, you used it when you defeated the black dragon too, right? The shape seems a little different, but is that your new weapon?"
Luna asked while looking at the magic sword.
(Come to think of it, she saw the magic sword when I was forcibly sent back.)
"Yeah, something like that. Simply put, it's a sword I made with my unique ability [Mana Convergence]. I'll explain the detailed theory some other time."
"A sword made with [Mana Convergence]... It really is a highly versatile unique ability."
While chatting amiably with Luna, we waited for Sophie and the others to approach, but they still seemed unable to recover from the shock.
"Hey, how long are you three going to stand there stunned? We're heading to the 31st floor."
When I called out, Sophie and the others snapped back to reality and hurried over.
The five of us advanced to the 31st floor like that, then made our way back.
(