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Volume 13 Chapter 2 Part 3

The forty-fourth floor has two Floor Bosses, so that means that on the forty-fifth floor there are going to be two Floor Bosses and two attendant monsters.

I see.

「That arrangement should make them pretty strong, doesn’t it? 」

「Yes. I hope they’ve gotten stronger.」

The only one who thinks that’s a good thing is Roxanne, of course.

「Well, the numbers of enemies are increasing, but there’s nothing special about the enemies themselves. If we stay calm and deal with them like we always do, it shouldn’t be a problem. 」 said Sherry, as cold-hearted as ever.

But if the numbers of enemies are going to increase from now on, it can turn into a problem.

「That may be true. 」

「Yes. Leave the Floor Bosses to us, master. Vesta and I can completely contain them! 」

「I think we’ll be fine. 」

「Uh, yeah, I’m sure you will. 」

Vesta, you shouldn’t allow yourself to be fooled by Roxanne. Well, it’s going to be business as usual, I guess. I just have to look at it positively and ignore that strange feeling of tension welling up inside of me.

「Vesta and the others, if you get the chance, you can push the monsters onto me. The monsters on the 45th floor shouldn’t be too difficult for me to deal with, even if they come at me in groups. 」

Ahh, there they are, the three cursed lines to say before the battle starts: ‘Come at me all at once’, ‘come at me if you want to die’ and… what was the third one now? Oh yeah: ‘I don’t care how many of you I’ll have to fight, I’ll destroy all of you!’ That’s the kind of a woman that Roxanne has become now.

「There are going to be four monsters in a group now, so I’ll go forward too. I’ll give this spear to Rutina, so can I have a club instead? 」 said Sherry, completely ignoring Roxanne’s words and made a request to me.

「Y-Yeah, sure. 」stammered Rutina.

「When the monster starts chanting or you see a magic circle forming under it, stab it with this spear. It’s best to focus on the Floor Boss during boss battles. You can also ignore the other two monsters chanting. However, be careful of the White Caterpillar, as it may spit out sticky threads at us if it finishes its chant. It won’t be a problem if you get hit with a few other attack spells. Unless you’re in a tight spot, or conversely, you have a lot of free time, there’s no need to move too much from your position as long as you have the Floor Boss consistently in your range. 」

Sherry gave Rutina some advice as she handed her the Steel Spear of Authority. She’s still thinking about the incoming battles calmly, and she’s saying that the monsters on this floor shouldn’t be a problem to us, so maybe they really won’t be a problem?

「I understand. 」

「Ah, but If you think you can take a more offensive approach then you can do it, but then you should try to take the Floor Boss’s magic attack or Skill at least once. I’ll leave that decision up to you. 」

「Y-Yes, of course. 」

I don’t think that everyone can make cold-hearted decisions as easily as Sherry, since Rutina seems a little hesitant. Well, I suppose I was the one who first suggested taking a monster’s attack, so I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, what do you think would happen if you kept going to higher floors without getting attacked? An experience like that is necessary. It’s important to try taking the monster’s attacks at least a few times to get a better feel for them in order to avoid them better in the future.

「It’s okay. You won’t be in a pinch even with an attack from the Floor Boss of the 45th floor. 」

Does Sherry think that the Floor Boss of the 45th floor is nothing to be worried about? I see that a certain someone’s attitude must’ve poisoned her as well. Calm down a bit.

「Is that so? 」

「Getting used to being hit by magic attacks and Skills is a precaution when you go to higher floors. 」

「Yes. 」

Because there are people who will try to take you to a higher floor whenever they get the chance, without thinking their actions and the resultant consequences through. Was this the result of calm thinking and analyzing your situation? I see. Right. I won’t say anything then.

「So, this time it’s not something we need to do right away. We’ll see how it goes when we actually get to it. 」

「I understand. 」

「Then let’s go. 」

With everything agreed on, we charged into the Boss Room. Four monsters appeared in front of us.

Roxanne and Vesta took on two of the Floor Bosses, while Sherry and Miria took on the others. They each took positions in front of the monsters, engaging them in close-quarters combat.

「 I did it, desu! 」

But it didn’t take long, because Miria managed to turn one of the monsters into stone almost immediately. Well, it was still a battle, just not a very fierce one. But even so, it was over practically in a flash.

I used the Gambler Job to reduce the Abnormal Status Resistance of each monster Miria was targeting, but I wonder if it really made that much of a difference here? Well, you could say that they were petrified quickly because I reduced their Abnormal Status Resistance.

Anyway, once the first one was petrified, from the next one onwards, she didn’t fight them head-on, but just hit them from the side as she pleased, so the number of attacks increased and it became even easier for Miria to petrify them.

It was nice, but I also know that it won’t always be this easy.

「Well done, Miria. 」

「Yes, desu. 」

「Well, it’s time for another round. 」

「It’s not guaranteed that the next one will be this easy. Let’s stay focused. 」

There was a time when I thought the same way.

By the time breakfast came around, we had repeatedly fought the boss on the 45th floor. The battles passed without any problems, thanks to Miria with her weapon and the Assassin Job.

Have I not improved my skills all this time? Well, that was the case up until now, but it also didn’t feel overwhelming until now. I wonder if that’s really how it is? Because if so, I might start losing confidence. That’s how amazing it was. Miria turned monsters to stone and finished them off by herself.

「I did it, desu! 」

「Yes, you finished them off again, Miria. Amazing. You’re great. 」

「Yes, desu! 」

「Yes. Thanks to you and Miria, the Floor Boss battle on the 45th floor was really a breeze. 」

But thanks to Miria, someone who absolutely shouldn’t be getting more cocky than she already is, got that much more cocky.

「But the battle time has increased in comparison to the previous Floor Boss. 」

Ah. I see. It’s just as Sherry said.

The Floor Boss on the 45th floor is a level stronger than the one on the floor below, so the battle will take longer, and the longer you fight, the more chances you have to petrify monsters. Therefore Miria will petrify more monsters. Miria is super effective against them. That is an established fact now.

If you divide it by the time you’re fighting, I don’t think the number of monsters petrified per unit of battle time has changed that much. It’s not like she’s suddenly gotten overwhelmingly better. The number of monsters she’s been able to defeat before petrifying them has decreased, but the number of monsters that end up just being petrified has increased.

The stars on her kill mark mean that she’s earning more, right? Up until now, I have often been able to defeat monsters before Miria turned them to stone. Miria helped me a lot, but that wasn’t her true strength. Conversely, from Miria’s point of view, the enemies earlier were not enough to pose a threat to her, but now it isn’t as easy for her to fight them. I guess she didn’t agree with Roxanne without thinking about it, and the Labyrinth has finally caught up with Miria’s abilities. Up until now, Miria had been comfortable with just fighting, but that era might be over now.

「Well, let’s not let our guard down. 」

「Yes. Combat is not a game. 」

People who play around in the Labyrinth often say this.

「That’s right. Let’s keep our focus. 」

「Yes, desu. 」

Unexpectedly, Miria isn’t thinking about anything other than eating. How strange