Yue and Shia rushed over, calling out Hajime's name. Tio had landed on a nearby rock. Hajime couldn't withstand the violent movements of Tio under attack, and there was a high risk of falling off her back. Yue and Shia jumped onto the same rock and immediately leaned over to support Hajime, supporting him.

"...What terrifying fighting power. Those women beside me are no ordinary creatures either. Besides the dragon-men, who were thought extinct, there are also magicians who don't need chants or magic circles, and rabbit-men who possess seemingly foresight and uncanny strength... I can't believe I've been forced to this point even with the power of the Age of Gods. If I hadn't landed with that initial blow, I'd be the one to be defeated."

Freed spoke in a tone that suppressed some emotion, his eyes locked with Hajime's. He panted, his shoulders rising and falling, pressing against the wound on his chest with his uninjured right hand.

"Don't act like you've already won. I can still fight."

Hearing Fried's words, Hajime showed an unhappy expression. Although his body was broken, he still used murderous eyes to declare that he would continue to fight.

"...I thought so. No matter how severe your injuries, the murderous intent emanating from you remains undiminished. Your truly terrifying aspect isn't your combat prowess, but your relentless pursuit of your enemies... No, it's your unwavering determination to survive."

Fried lowered his head at first, then with a resolute expression, he raised his head again and glared at Shiji.

"I didn't want to use this trick, but this is the price I have to pay to kill a powerful enemy like you."

"What are you talking about?"

Freed didn't answer Hajime's question, but spoke to the bird-monster that had landed on his shoulder.

Then——

Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!! Crash!!! Boom boom!!!

The entire space, no, the entire [Gulun Volcano] shook violently, accompanied by deafening noises and surging magma sea.

“Uuuuu!?”

“Hmm!?”

“Ahh!?”

"Hmm!?"

Suddenly, a powerful shockwave erupted from below. Each of the four men let out a different cry, desperately trying to maintain their balance. The tremors grew more intense over time, surely a magnitude seven. Countless pillars of fire—no, pillars of lava—burst from the magma sea.

"Mr. Hajime! Look at the water level!"

After hearing what Xia said, everyone looked towards the edge of the rock and saw that the water level of the lava sea was indeed rising.

"What did you do?"

Hajime realized that the culprit behind this unusual situation was probably Fried, and suppressed his emotions as he asked. Fried replied while moving towards the ceiling directly above the central island:

"I just destroyed the foundation."

"cornerstone……?"

"Don't you find this lava strange? The [Gulun Great Volcano] is clearly an active volcano, but there's no record of an eruption. This means there's something controlling the underground magma, preventing it from erupting."

"That reason is the cornerstone you mentioned... Could it be...?!"

"Just as you imagined. I've destroyed the massive foundation stone suppressing the magma, and this great labyrinth will soon be destroyed. While it's a shame I can't teach my fellow humans the magic of the Age of Gods... but if I can kill you here, it's a price worth paying. Be buried with this great labyrinth."

Freed looked down at Hajime and the others with a cold gaze, then raised the pendant hanging from his neck toward the ceiling. Immediately, cracks appeared in the ceiling, splitting to the left and right. In the circular hole in the ceiling, several doors opened up, leading directly to the top of the mountain.

It seemed he had used the proof of his strategy for the Grun Volcano to unlock a shortcut to the surface. Freed glared at Hajime and the others one last time before turning and heading toward the ceiling passage with Hakuryuu.

The surrounding magma sea was churning out turbulent waves, like the surface of the ocean in the eye of a hurricane. The number of lava columns erupting was increasing, and the magma was already flowing in from the edge of the rock where they had originally stood. The scene looked like the end of the world.

Hajime narrowed his eyes, as if thinking about something for a short while, then made a decision and stood up despite the pain.

Afterwards, the group of gray dragons that remained after Fried and the white dragon left, all fired small auroras, and it seemed that the other party wanted them to die here no matter what.

Yue activated "Absolute Disaster" to devour the small Aurora, fending off the attack from the gray dragons. Hajime took advantage of this opportunity to grab the "Treasure House" and, just as Tio was about to breathe towards the gray dragons above, he supported her cheek, covered in hard dragon scales, with his palm and turned her face towards him.

"Tio, listen carefully. Take this and go down from the ceiling to the ground by yourself."

Tio blinked, seemingly not understanding what Hajime was saying, but the next moment, a sad look appeared in her eyes, and her voice was filled with sadness and anger. It was as if Hajime was asking Tio to abandon them and live alone.

"Master, am I the only one who is not worthy of spending the last moments with you? Do you want me to abandon you? I—"

"Tio, that's not it. Since we're running out of time, I'll only say this once. I haven't given up. I will obtain the magic of the Age of Gods, and one day I'll kill that guy. I'll also keep my promise and return the 'Stone of Serenity'. But I can't do it alone, so I hope you can help me. Only you can overcome all obstacles and return to Ankaji within the deadline... Please, Tio."

Hajime looked into Tio's eyes, which were in dragon form, with a seriousness he had never shown before. The arrogant and omnipotent Hajime was now completely dependent on Tio.

If he wants to realize all his wishes and overcome all difficulties, he must rely on Tio's help and needs Tio's power.

There was no intention of giving up, sacrificing himself, or ostracizing Tio in Hajime's words.

Tio's mood instantly shifted from sadness and anger to ecstasy. The man she admired, no, the one she now considered her partner, was "entrusting" her with something important at a critical moment of life and death. As a woman, how could she not respond to him?

Therefore, Tio only replied:

"Leave it to me!"

Hajime placed the "treasure box" inside Tio's scales, so that he could pass the item through the dragon's flesh and hand it to Tio in human form.

After Tio confirmed that the "treasure vault" was inside her, she gently rubbed her head against Hajime's, the most affectionate gesture she could make at the moment. Hajime gave Tio a final, gentle touch before leaving. Tio also looked at Yue and Shia, who nodded vigorously in response, showing no sign of giving up.

"Tio, please tell Kaori and Myuu to 'see you later'. Please."

"Hehe, leave it to me."

Hearing Hajime's lighthearted words, Tio couldn't help but laugh. Then, a strong wind blew around her, and she took off at full speed. Although a small aurora attacked, she dodged it with a barrel roll and rushed towards the group of gray dragons. Perhaps sensing danger from the black dragon's attack, the gray dragons focused their attacks on her.

Tio tried to counter the attack of the small Auroras with her breath, but since the small Auroras were shot out one by one, it was not easy to counter them. However, just when Tio thought the stalemate would end, Auroras shot out from below and destroyed several gray dragons that were attacking Tio.

Kozuki released a small aurora compressed with "Absolute Disaster", followed by a random burst of explosive shrapnel, and the shock wave blew away the gray dragons one after another.

At that moment, it seemed as if Fried and the white dragon had already left, and the door in the ceiling slowly closed. Tio realized she had no time left, and, prepared to be shot, she focused her energy on accelerating. Although this increased her speed, the small aurora emitted by the gray dragon began to shatter her dragon scales.

"Hmph, this level of pain actually makes me feel comfortable! Come on!"

As Tio had said, every time the gray dragon's attack inflicted damage, her flight speed increased. This was the effect of the skill "Pain Conversion," a derivative of "Dragon Transformation." Its characteristic was that the more intense the pain, the higher her fighting spirit, and it could temporarily enhance any one ability, making it an extremely powerful skill. Incidentally, this was a new ability Tio acquired hundreds of years after meeting Hajime. The feeling of awakening this ability—rather than "leaping over a wall," it would be more accurate to describe it as "opening a door."

Just as even the gray dragons were starting to retreat, Tio finally broke through the rain of small auroras and passed through the nearly closing door. Looking up, she could see a tiny light far ahead, the light on the ground. Before the light, there seemed to be several more doors, and those doors were also closing one after another.

Tio no longer considered the consequences, and only retained enough magic power to barely maintain her "Dragonization", and used the rest to control the wind.

Even in her long life, Tio had never accelerated to such a speed. She had truly turned into a gust of wind.

After passing through the first, second, and third doors, they finally reached the last one, with only this thick door remaining above the ground. Tio was enveloped in a black wind, hurtling forward like a cannonball. At this moment, a light bullet, like a meteor, struck her overhead.

It seemed that the enemy had noticed Tio's presence and launched an attack in an attempt to delay her. The door was already more than half closed. Tio spun around, dodging the light bullets. Although she couldn't completely avoid them, she continued to advance without slowing down. At this time, she saw the white dragon's aurora falling towards her.

Perhaps because his magic power was almost exhausted, the White Dragon's Aurora was not as powerful as before, only half as powerful as before.

Even so, if you are hit by the White Dragon's Aurora, the damage will not be comparable to that of the Small Aurora. That being said, whether you dodge or attack, your flight speed will be slowed down, and you may not be able to pass through the gate in time.

"Whatever, just come!"

Tio prepared herself and rushed forward, intending to use "Pain Conversion" to increase her speed after being hit.

In an instant, several shadows flew past her, blocking Tio from the approaching aurora.

Tio had seen those things. They were flying crosses, full-range weapons, yes, Hajime's cross floaters. They were following her all the time.

Three cross floaters flew out, emitting a red glow. They blocked the aurora at an oblique angle, causing it to deflect to the side. Although each cross floater was destroyed by the power of the aurora, they still managed to protect Tio and held on until the aurora stopped. After that, four more cross floaters flew beside Tio to protect her.

"Huha! I can't bear it! Master, I love you! !"

Although Hajime was being attacked by lava, he controlled all the cross floaters from underground and made them follow Tio. She was so moved that she cried out her love, and the sound that resounded through the heavens and earth shook Hajime's heart.

Tio was a powerful figure among the dragon people. She had never had a man to protect her, and she always took on the role of protecting others. Because of this, she felt unprecedented joy when she was protected by others in extremely difficult situations.

“Lua ...

Tio roared like a dragon, finally bursting through the last door and transforming into a black whirlwind as she flew vertically out. Even surrounded by a massive sandstorm, she still danced in the sunlit sky.

"They managed to escape the maze in that state!? What a bunch of monsters! But even the black dragon is covered in wounds, so I'll just finish it off right here—!?"

Seeing Tio fly overhead, Fried, riding the white dragon, was startled, but his eyes remained sharp, ready to attack. However, his attempt, like his words, was stopped. Suddenly, four cross-shaped floaters surrounded Fried and the white dragon from all four directions.

Freed dodged immediately, commanding the turtle-shaped monsters he had brought with him to erect a barrier. It had already been proven that the Cross Floater's attack power was insufficient to destroy the barrier, and if it had been loaded with explosive shells, the result would likely have been different. However, Hajime had to prepare explosive shrapnel for Shia, who lacked long-range attacks, and prioritized making bullets for Donal & Shulak, so he didn't have time to equip the Cross Floater with explosive shells.

However, the Cross Floaters have another powerful attack. Although Fried appears nonchalant about the Cross Floaters, their attacks freeze his expression and severely damage him and the White Dragon.

There was a loud bang.

The cross floater clearly did not fire, but the red light became extremely strong, and the next moment - the cross floater exploded.

The four cross-shaped floaters were dispersed in four directions to ensure the impact was fully transmitted to the target. The detonation produced a powerful impact, and the bullets loaded within were fired like a storm, easily shattering the barrier and attacking Freed and White Dragon.

“Ughhhhh!!”

“Luaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The master and servant, Fried and Bailong, screamed together and were blown away.

Then, Tio took advantage of the situation and launched a whirlwind attack, blowing Fried and the white dragon into the sandstorm. As for Tio, she also wanted to use her breath to definitely kill the enemy, but she didn't have the energy to do so immediately.

Tio looked for a while at the place where Fried and the White Dragon disappeared.

After confirming that there was no change, she turned her gaze and looked at the [Gulun Volcano] below with a calm expression, without any trace of the abnormal emotions from before.

"I believe in you, Master, Yue, and Xia."

Although her voice was so faint that it was almost drowned out by the wind, Tio's voice was still full of strong confidence as she turned and left.

In order to deliver the entrusted item, Tio headed towards Ankaji.

Her figure disappeared at the other end of the sandstorm.

——Dozens of minutes later.

A violent earthquake occurred with the [Gulun Great Volcano] as its center.

The Gulun volcano erupted, its sound so deafening it barely registers. It was a devastating explosion, enough to shake the atmosphere and temporarily disperse even the sandstorm. The Gulun volcano took shape, spewing thick black smoke, sending scorched red-hot rocks flying, and volcanic lightning streaking through the air.

Nowhere in existing historical records had the Great Gulun Volcano erupted before. Its recent eruption was, in some ways, a precious historical moment. However, for unknown reasons, a sandstorm returned a few minutes later, shrouding the volcano in a thin veil of sand, obscuring the volcano's bizarre spectacle.

Even so, people in Ankaji heard a deafening roar that sounded like the world was wailing when the volcano erupted, and also witnessed black smoke emitting from the volcano.

The feeling of unease kept accumulating.

The young girl and the young boy, who were waiting for the return of their loved one, felt the same way.

"Self-destruction is romantic."

"?……beginning?"

"Mr. Hajime?"

Amidst the torrential downpour of miniature auroras, Hajime suddenly smiled triumphantly. Yue and Shia looked at him in surprise. Hajime shook his head and replied, "Nothing." With the two's support, Hajime managed to leap to the shore of the central island.

Ever since Tio took off, the surrounding magma has become even more turbulent. All the rocks except the Central Island have sunk into the sea. I believe that within five minutes, the Central Island will also be swallowed by the magma.

Small auroras rained down, only to be swallowed by Yue's "Absolute Disaster." The gray dragons, anxious, launched direct attacks, but were also knocked into the lava by Shia's Druken. The same pattern repeated itself, and the number of gray dragons finally dwindled to fewer than ten.

The lava dome that was initially seen was no longer on the central island. Instead, there was a pitch-black building with a disc floating several centimeters above the ground next to it. Directly above it was the entrance to the shortcut that had just been opened in the ceiling. One was supposed to take this disc to get out to the ground.

Now, instead of attacking Hajime and the others, the gray dragons were desperately trying to dodge the erupting lava columns. Hajime and the others ignored the gray dragons and approached the pitch-black building.

At first glance, the structure looked like a meaningless cuboid, but somewhere on its wall, a pattern representing the seven labyrinths appeared every time.

When they stood in front of the pattern, the wall opened silently and an entrance appeared.

As they entered, lava began to flow onto the island, threatening to engulf the central island. The door closed silently again, stopping the influx of lava at the critical moment.

Hajime and the others observed the door for a moment, only to be relieved when they saw that it didn't seem to have melted, indicating that lava wouldn't flow into the room. Since they had set up their secret residence in such a place, they should have taken precautions against unexpected events. They had initially predicted that the door would most likely withstand the heat of the lava, but now that they had actually confirmed the result, they were still relieved.

"That'll give me peace of mind for now, but then again, this room can even block vibrations..."

“Hmm… Hajime, um.”

"It's a magic circle."

The moment they entered the room, Hajime was surprised to feel no earthquake-level tremors. Yue, standing beside him, whispered a response and pointed. She pointed to a complex and exquisite magic circle, a magic circle from the Age of Gods. Hajime and the others exchanged glances and nodded, then stepped into the circle.

This magic circle was identical to the one in the Orcus Great Labyrinth. Memories would automatically surface, replaying the path they had taken to conquering the maze. After defeating all the lava snakes, the maze seemed to acknowledge their success, imprinting the Age of Gods magic directly into their minds.

"...This is magic that manipulates space."

The Age of Gods magic of [Gulun Great Volcano] seems to be "space magic", another magic that can interfere with extraordinary things. The Age of Gods magic is still so outrageous.

"...The truth about teleportation."

"Ah, that's the one that suddenly appeared behind you."

Yue mentioned about Freed's surprise attack, and Shia nodded in agreement.

The initial surprise attack likely involved spatial magic, allowing him to appear and launch an attack. Whether he used spatial teleportation or distorted space to hide within it remains to be seen, but it's equally daunting. The second surprise attack was similar. If Shia hadn't used the "hypothetical future" derived from her "Future Vision," Hajime would have been directly targeted. He was truly grateful to Shia.

After they learned space magic, the light of the magic circle gradually faded. With a "clang", a part of the wall opened, and shining words appeared on the front wall.

"I deeply hope that the future of mankind will be under free will"

"Nez Grun"

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