"...Hmm, this must be the monster supervised by Meredith."

"Yeah, that kind of pointless, annoying way of refining things can't be wrong."

One can imagine that the creator of this great labyrinth, Bandu Schnee, must have had a look of disgust on his face when he was configuring the monsters. Just as Hajime and the others couldn't help but reminisce about their predecessors, Tio said admiringly:

"But Ling, it's amazing that you've been able to master this much in such a short time. What an amazing barrier technique."

"Huh!? Is, is that so? Hehehe."

Ling was praised by Tio, and Yue, who had come back to her senses from the unpleasant memories of Laisen, smiled and said, "...Yeah, very good," her face flushed with embarrassment.

Seeing Ling's reaction, Kaori felt warm and smiled in praise.

"Everyone's amazing! It's completely different from when we were in the Sea of ​​Trees. I was shocked!"

"Hehe, right? But that's also because Nagumo's transformation is so powerful."

"Yeah, I've gotten a little stronger."

Knowing it wasn't a polite remark, Ryuutarou rubbed his nose awkwardly. Kouki, though hesitant to speak, managed to smile.

Shia seemed to have thought of something and turned her gaze towards Shizuku.

"Miss Shizuku, you used sublimation magic for a moment, didn't you? I'm also practicing, so your use of it is very valuable as a reference."

"Shizuku-chan, that's right! I only saw the back, but what were those?! I couldn't see clearly what you did, but Shizuku-chan cut them off, right?"

The two people's words made the corner of Kouki's eye twitch. However, Shizuku didn't notice. She nodded a little embarrassedly and said:

"Yes, that's right. I only used the sublimation magic at the moment of the slash. It consumed a lot of mana, but I wanted to test it in actual combat... Fortunately, it worked."

Kaori shouted, "Shizuku-chan is so handsome!" and hugged her. Shizuku replied while comforting Kaori.

"It was so fast I almost missed it. I could barely make out that move... but it wasn't just physical strength that increased speed; it required skill. You've really broadened my horizons."

Hajime praised Shizuku without reservation.

"Eh? Ah, yeah, really? That's good then...right?"

For some reason, Shizuku avoided looking at him and uncomfortably grasped the black knife again.

Hajime smiled and said, "Why is it a question?", then turned his gaze towards Shia.

"Shia, you tend to rely on your physical strength to charge forward. You could learn from her."

"Yeah, I'll take that as a reference, because I also want to throw a punch so fast it's almost invisible."

"How far do you want to go with this cheat?"

"...Well, the gentle rabbit of the forest is dead."

Hajime joked as he headed towards the Ice Cave. The others followed him, reviewing the battle.

Afterwards, the group finally arrived at the entrance of the [Ice and Snow Cave].

Hajime stopped in front of the cave, turned around and smiled boldly.

"Alright, are you all prepared?"

Needless to say, Yue and the others, Guanghui and others, although they did not say a word, still nodded vigorously in affirmation.

Hajime nodded in response, and then—

"Then let's begin conquering the final large dungeon."

Following Hajime's words filled with determination and awareness, everyone bravely entered the [Ice and Snow Cave].

[Ice and Snow Cave] is a unique and eerie place.

The passage inside was made of a wall of pure ice, its transparency terrifying. However, this ice wall seemed to reflect light to some extent, so the human figure could be vaguely reflected.

Whenever Hajime and the others made a move, a shadow would appear in the corner of their vision, as if someone was lurking in the shadows.

Kouki and Ling's vigilance and fighting spirit were in direct proportion to their maximum. Startled, they immediately drew their weapons and prepared to fight. But they quickly realized it was their own shadows, and their faces flushed.

As he carefully observed the marvelous ice wall, he thought to himself that this was like an amateur trying to build a mirror house starting from mirrors, but ended up failing.

"The ice wall seems fine... but the flickering figures are really annoying."

"...I remember a scene in a strange story where a group of people were talking in a snowy mountain cabin, and before they knew it, the number of people had increased."

"S-Stop talking, Shizuku-chan! You know I'm most afraid of ghost stories, right?"

"Ah, I'm sorry. Yeah, you were so scared that the moment you noticed Endo-kun standing behind you, you immediately swung your cane at him."

"Why are you bringing that up now? Ah, no, Hajime-kun! I'm not that rude! I was just startled and hit him accidentally, that's all! So don't be afraid of me! Don't back away!"

Kaori tried to defend herself desperately, but Hajime took a step back, as if to say, "Really? Endo is so pitiful that he got beaten just for standing behind me..."

"...Yeah, in scary places, Kaori will turn into a murder weapon. I've made a note of that."

"moon!?"

"Everyone, please stay away from Miss Kaori! She's very fierce!"

"Even Shia is like this! That's too much!"

"Endo flew so far away at that time that it was hard to tell that it was Kaori, the healer, who did it... I was really scared at that time too."

"That's a really beautiful parabola... Xiang Xiang is really scary."

"Even Ryuutarou and Suzu-chan said that... Ugh, Tio~ Everyone's bullying me! Hurry up and become the disgusting Tio who's too big of an older sister and lecture them!"

"Kaori, you're cursing while asking for help... When did you reach such a high level, huhu."

Kaori ran to Tio and cried to her. Tio was panting a little excitedly, patting Kaori's head to comfort her.

"Okay, stop teasing Kaori and let's move on."

"Hajime-kun, you're the worst!"

Kaori glared at Hajime resentfully, but Hajime ignored her and took the lead and started forward.

At this moment, Hajime glanced at Shizuku, and Shizuku seemed to be looking at Hajime as well. She used her eyes to express her gratitude to Hajime, thanking him for cooperating with the performance.

Because Kouki and Suzu looked a bit too stiff, Shizuku teased Kaori to lighten the mood. It wasn't a planned move, but thanks to Hajime's cooperation, Kouki and Suzu's stiffness did indeed relax.

Shizuku mentally saluted her best friend's noble sacrifice, and a smile crossed her face when she saw Hajime shrug.

"...Shizuku."

"Kui-ki, what's wrong?"

"No...it's nothing. I just think it's a little unusual that Shizuku would bully Kaori."

"Hehe, maybe because I was nervous, I accidentally said too much. I will apologize to her later."

"I see... That's right, it would be best if you apologize to her."

Shizuku responded mischievously, and Kouki smiled slightly and nodded in affirmation.

The passages of the maze seemed to absorb the sound of footsteps, and everyone walked in the silent passages for a while.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew.

Seeing the sudden cold wind, Hajime narrowed his eyes.

Inside the cave, you can see snow fragments flying in the wind.

Hajime used his left prosthetic hand to catch a piece of drifting snow. Although the snow quickly melted into water, Hajime followed his instinct and carefully touched it with his right hand fingers.

"Tio—no, Taniguchi, immediately open the same barrier as before."

“I-I understand!”

Receiving Hajime's calm yet commanding instructions, Ling, though shaken, quickly unleashed "Holy Absolute: Dispersion." Almost immediately after the orange ripples appeared, the wind suddenly intensified, and a gentle gust of snow began to blow from deeper within the passage.

"Everyone, be careful. This isn't ordinary snow. You'll get frostbite the moment you touch it."

"it hurts!?"

Hajime offered a warning, and Ryuutarou cried out in pain. Apparently, due to his massive build, he had accidentally been exposed outside the barrier's range, and red spots immediately appeared on his face.

Ryuutarou immediately demonstrated this to everyone. Kaori smiled wryly and shone her healing light on him, causing Ryuutarou's face to glow. Seeing his friend's radiant face, Kouki grimaced, suppressing a smile and staring straight ahead.

"Is this something like dry ice?"

"They're both experiencing extremely low temperatures, but the speed of frostbite is unusual."

After Hajime answered, confirming the feeling of her fingertips, Shizuku took out a small stone from her pocket to protect against the cold—the Air Zone—and continued:

"A cave formed of ice, with a cold wind blowing, and snow that could cause frostbite... I wouldn't even bother checking the temperature outside. The thought of what it would be like without this artifact fills me with dread."

"Even drinking water is a problem."

After treating Ryuutarou, Kaori launched a water ball. The moment the magical water ball left the air zone's barrier, it froze instantly. Before it even struck the wall, it collapsed into a block of ice and fell to the ground.

Judging from this situation, the drinking water in the small water bottles everyone carries would turn into ice and become undrinkable the moment they enter the cave.

"Indeed, it seems that the effectiveness of fire magic is greatly reduced in this space. It would be quite a hassle if I had to expend the mana of a high-level spell to melt the ice just to secure drinking water."

That being said, Yue said, "...Well, that's none of our business." She shrugged, shaking the necklace and ring at her chest. As she pointed out, without the heating space of the air zone and the storage capacity of the treasure vault, the harsh baptism that would have been expected in this place would be meaningless.

"It would be great if I could be of use... because I don't want to end up like that."

During the conversation, they advanced a considerable distance, and Hajime seemed to have discovered something ahead of them.

Yue and the others followed Shi's gaze and saw a man buried in the ice wall with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

The man's expression was calm and peaceful, as if he had sat down with his back against the wall out of exhaustion and had frozen without realizing it.

Since there were no signs of external injuries on the body, Shi's guess was probably correct.

However, seeing Anxiang's body, Xia felt suspicious.

“…Hajime-san, how should I put it? If he was leaning against the wall, that would be fine, but that person is inside the wall. Isn’t that strange?”

"Indeed, it's as if the wall protruded, or he was sucked in."

The implication seemed to be that the Great Labyrinth would hunt people, and Kaori began to tremble with fear when she heard that.

Kaori followed Shizuku closely, her eyes filled with tragic determination, as if to say, "I will never be separated from Shizuku-chan." Back on Earth, Kaori would always be like this whenever she entered a haunted house.

Although she is an assault-type girl who can even control the body of an "Apostle of God", she is helpless against horror-related things. This has not changed at all since the time she conquered the [Melkinen Undersea Ruins].

Hajime gave Kaori a wry smile before opening the blindfold slightly and carefully examining the man's remains.

"There's no magical reaction from either the ice wall or the corpse... But to be on the safe side, let's kill him... No, destroy him."

Even with the Mystic Eye Stone, he couldn't see anything unusual, so it was fine to just leave it alone. On the other hand, there was no reason not to do something.

So, Hajime pulled out his Donner and pointed the gun at the body.

The Donal's design was slightly different from before. The spear's vivid black resembled Tio's black scales, with deep crimson lines painted across it. This was the result of Hajime's "refining" skills, enhanced by the acquisition of sublimation magic. He had reforged the Donal using a stronger alloy with a greater affinity for "Thunder Wrap." The same was true for Hulak.

The proof was the "Tangled Thunder" injected into Donal, which burst out with an electric current more intense and vivid than ever before. Then, an explosion sounded, and two red flashes pierced the ice wall.

The body was about two or three meters from the surface of the ice, but the bullet penetrated it easily, like a needle piercing a sponge. The forehead and heart of the body were shattered like a doll, and the penetration was so deep that it was impossible to estimate it with the naked eye.

In front of the reinforced Donard and bullets made of the same special alloy, that level of obstacle did not seem to be an obstacle.

"..."

Witnessing this scourge, Guanghui frowned. However, he was a man of self-respect and knew it was inappropriate to complain in this situation, so he opened his mouth halfway before quickly closing it tightly.

"...Looks like everything's fine. I don't know what's going on, but I guess I'll just have to be careful."

After observing for a few seconds, neither the corpse nor the ice wall responded.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were concerned about the corpse, especially Kaori who kept glancing at it, they continued on their way.

Just like that, when Shi and the others disappeared into the depths of the cave for a while.

Suddenly, the sound of ice cracking was heard from the place where there was only the sound of wind.

“Uuuu, ahh, guuuu…”

Painful groans echoed in the darkness...

Hajime and the others were unaware of the unusual situation unfolding behind them, and they continued on their way in silence. Although Ryutaro accidentally left the barrier several times and suffered frostbite, and received treatment under Kaori's scolding, he still managed to complete the journey smoothly.

Normally, one would have to explore the maze as they went along, but thanks to the compass, they were able to move forward without hesitation.

"This is going so smoothly. We've come quite a distance, so why hasn't anything happened?"

The journey was too smooth, so Hajime became more alert and said.

"...Well, this is quite unusual for a large labyrinth. Besides, why are there so many corpses on a road where there's nothing? It's also unnatural."

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