Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

That was the attack stance that the Minotaur often adopted when cornered.

Using one's most powerful horn (weapon), or to put it bluntly, one's trump card.

It is an incredibly powerful ramming force capable of crushing all obstacles in its path.

However, this distance is not enough for a running start. With such a short interval, the power is halved.

This proves that the Minotaur had been driven to a dead end and could no longer care about anything else.

“——”

With its last vestige of pride, the single horn it retained emitted a fierce light, burning into Bell's wide-open eyes.

A gaze that pierces to the very depths of the eye. Silent communication. A convergence of wills.

As if they had temporarily stopped breathing, the surrounding air tensed to its limit for a moment.

Bell's gaze met Minotaur's.

Then,

"Aa ...

"Bubu ooh ...

They rushed up.

(Too young.)

Seeing Bell launch a decisive frontal assault, Riveria narrowed her eyes.

"What an idiot!"

"No, Lord Bell!"

Bert's accusatory shouts of youthful innocence mingled with Lily's piercing, tearing screams.

Even the echoing sounds accelerated the scene of the assault, and the wind howled in Bell and the Minotaur's ears.

The distance closed in an instant. The other person's figure magnified in his eyes. The fierce, domineering impact on his skin.

The greatsword was raised high above his right shoulder, and the unicorn horn charged towards his right shoulder as if it were being wound up.

A downward chop, versus an upward scoop.

They set off at the exact same time, with perfect precision.

In the blink of an eye, the decisive blows collided.

(——)

The sound of silver shattering.

The Minotaur's horn, embedded in the greatsword, continued its forward thrust, finally breaking the blade.

"Bua-bua—!"

Weapons wear out.

Just like in an expedition, weapons will eventually become unusable.

A sword that is not properly maintained will slowly wear down.

I was locked in the underground city for a week.

After being swung back and forth by the two mighty men, Otto and Minotaur, the silver greatsword, whose strength had been greatly reduced, finally reached its limit.

The area near the base was shattered, and the sword above the base flew off in a strange direction.

The Minotaur's horns were completely undamaged.

Fine, silvery rain scattered across Bell's vision.

A downward slash from the upper right, the greatsword, now without its blade, glides through the air in vain.

The unicorn swung upwards to the left only dealt with the sword; Bell and the Minotaur passed each other by.

What Bell saw was the Minotaur's grinning face.

That wasn't a mockery of the loser, but the resolute smile of someone yearning for victory.

Minotaur certainly saw an opportunity for victory against an opponent who had lost his last weapon.

White bangs quietly covered her deep red eyes.

Just as time slowed down and the Minotaur slowly disappeared from sight.

(The Last Weapon)

Belta,

(—Here it is!)

He drew a black dagger.

"!"

He slammed on the brakes.

He managed to offset the force of the sprint by being behind the Minotaur as it passed by.

He ignored his knees, which were groaning from overuse, and turned his body.

The two were almost back-to-back, touching each other. His pushed-to-the-limit "agility" allowed Bell to launch a second attack directly from the initial assault.

The Hestia Blade, equipped in her left hand behind her back, glided across the atmosphere, leaving a trail of brilliant light.

He launched a mortar attack on the Minotaur, who had stopped, maintaining his horn-raised posture.

"snort!"

"Buahoo!"

The Hestia Blade, piercing through the massive body's right armpit, penetrated the natural armor.

Combined with the maximum power of centrifugal force, the unexpected attack caused the Minotaur to lose its balance and fall to its side.

Bell, meanwhile, plunged the black blade deeper into his body, channeling all his strength into it—and ignited the cannon.

"Fire and Lightning!"

With a loud thud, the Minotaur's entire body began to shake wildly.

It felt as if something had exploded inside him, causing his heavy chest to swell.

Flames and hot air burst forth from the wound pierced by the dagger, and the Minotaur's bloodshot eyes widened to their limit.

"Fire and Lightning!"

Expanded again.

The upper body of the Minotaur was strangely swollen like a balloon.

Even if the magic is ineffective through the skin of this body, there is no defense inside.

The flames and lightning sent through the blade surged violently within the Minotaur's body, scorching it to a crisp.

The flames, finding nowhere to go, sought an outlet, and a breath rushed up into its throat.

With a loud bang, crimson flames erupted violently from the nostrils and mouth.

"Gaha, hiccup...! Gu... Ooh o ...

Despite the burning sensation in its throat, the Minotaur roared and swung its massive arm at Bell, who was pressed against it. It was a powerful elbow strike delivered with incredible strength.

An extremely hard iron hammer that could undoubtedly turn Bell's body into a miserable mass of flesh.

One second later, it will be death.

Just as the rapidly falling hammer was about to hit his scalp, there was only a slight difference.

Bell was one step ahead.

"Fire and Lightning—!"

Explodes.

"——!"

A piercing scream shattered the Minotaur's upper body, which exploded into pieces.

The compressed mass of hot air inside the body exploded, bursting forth in a fiery blaze.

Crimson flames and black smoke slowly rose to the ceiling of the underground city. The sight reminded those who witnessed it of a volcanic eruption. Their lower bodies, barely maintaining their original form, swayed and collapsed to the ground.

A rain of blood and flesh poured down.

Flames and thick fog adorned these charred fragments.

The pieces of the bull crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

The enormous magic stone, which had been flying high into the air and spinning in mid-air, landed on the ground with a whoosh.

◇

"They actually won..."

Bert looked lost and muttered to himself.

He seemed to be looking at something unbelievable, his gaze fixed on Bell, who stood rooted to the spot. The boy's back to him evoked a sense of self-doubt.

When will I be able to gain the upper hand in the fight against the Minotaur?

No, how much time did it take me to defeat that monster on my own?

At the thought of this, Bert's face and body immediately turned red and hot.

An unbearable sense of anxiety and shame surged from the core of my body, coursing through every corner of my being.

"...mind zero."

"He fainted while standing..."

Seeing Bell remain motionless, still wielding the Blade of Hestia, the sisters Tione and Tiona were dumbfounded and muttered to themselves.

The boy truly gave it his all, which even inspired a sense of fear in others.

It's like taking a scene from a story and turning the adventurer into a statue.

"...! Answer me, you little dwarf (Palum)! Who exactly is that brat...!"

"Lord Bell...Lord Bell!"

"Hey!...Tsk!"

Bert clicked his tongue as he watched Lily stagger forward.

Troubled by inexplicable passion, he was looking bitter when the scene came into view.

Bell lost the back of his armor. His tattered black shirt was barely holding on, held together only by a strip of fabric near his shoulder blades.

Beneath this thin, tattered cloth, the sacred script etched across the entire back is faintly visible.

"—! Riveria, tell me that guy's [stats]!"

"...Do you want me to spy on other people's privacy?"

Bell's exposed skin is limited to the upper half of her back.

The "Magic" and "Skill" sections in the lower half of the page are not visible, and the almost torn fabric also obstructs the view, blocking several ability slots.

"If you leave it so openly exposed in front of everyone, what kind of peeping is that! If you keep leaving it like that, even if you don't look, others will!"

Bert, in an excited tone, argued to Riveria, who knew how to interpret the sacred text, that it was merely a matter of coming into view and did not constitute a breach of etiquette.

Although the learned elf sighed, he seemed to be interested himself and quickly turned his gaze to Bell's back.

Pei Cuise's eyes moved up and down along the black text.

"Hey, isn't it ready yet!"

"Wait a minute, I'll finish reading soon—"

Rivera paused at this point.

Bert looked surprised, and Tiona and the others, who were eavesdropping nearby, also looked at her incredulously.

Before long, she began to laugh with a silvery sound.