During the past week, Shido, Rumia, and Frieren had continued their leveling spree, clearing floors at a rapid pace. Now, they stood on the 36th floor, the Verdant Expanse, locked in battle with the floor boss.
The boss was a towering serpent-dragon hybrid, its massive body covered in dark emerald scales that shimmered faintly with a moss-like glow. From its back sprouted vine-like appendages, each tipped with razor-sharp thorns that lashed out like whips. Its amber-gold eyes gleamed with feral intelligence, and thick venom dripped from its fanged maw, sizzling wherever it touched the ground.
Shido wielded his Elucidator against the boss, effortlessly deflecting each strike from its vine-like appendages. Meanwhile, Rumia took the lead as their main attacker, focusing on perfecting her mana control, which left Frieren in more of a supporting role.
As the battle neared its end, Shido raised his hand, conjuring a small spatial gate. A moment later, Basquias emerged from within, poised to strike.
"Spirit Spear Basquias - First Form [Basquias]"
Shido chanted, his eyes locked on the approaching boss. With a simple wave of his hand, Basquias unleashed a radiant golden beam that pierced forward. The overwhelming attack struck the boss head-on, erasing it instantly before it could even resist. In the next moment, its massive body shattered into countless fragments of light.
[Congratulations!]
The announcement rang out the moment Shido defeated the boss. With its fall, the portal to the 37th floor was opened and the three of them could go to another floor.
"Your spear is amazing, Shido-san."
Rumia spoke with admiration, still awestruck by the sheer power of the golden beam. Frieren, though quieter, shared the same sentiment, yet her curiosity lingered as the spear radiated a strangely familiar presence.
"Yeah, it's quite good," Shido replied with a casual shrug before taking Basquias back.
"Anyway, the portal to the 37th floor is now open. Do you want to clear another floor before heading back?"
"Of course!"
Rumia nodded with fiery determination, her fighting spirit burning brighter as she felt her control over mana steadily growing stronger.
"It's still early, so we might as well clear another labyrinth," Frieren agreed, though her expression suggested she was either a little tired, or perhaps just feeling lazy again.
"Well, it's decided then."
With Shido's words, the three of them stepped through the portal, ready to begin another grinding session on the next floor.
...
"Shido… are you really going to leave?"
"Yes. It's something important to me, after all."
Inside Nazarick, in his chambers, Shido lay on his bed with two beautiful girls nestled against him, their heads resting on his arms like pillows. The three of them were completely naked and only a blanket covered their bodies.
Albedo and Shalltear had gone all out to dry Shido, knowing he planned to leave soon. Since he intended to go somewhere far, they decided to spend time with him before his departure.
"What are you even gonna do at the Central Continent?" Albedo look at Shido with curiosity as she had no idea why he wanted to go to such far place.
"Yeah. We don't have information about that place so it might be dangerous."
Shalltear tried to dissuade Shido, but his resolve was unwavering, there was nothing they could do to stop him. Both she and Albedo wished to follow, yet their own duties bound them, making it impossible to leave so easily.
"Haa… you don't need to convince me to stay, Shalltear." Shido's voice was gentle as he softly caressed her back. "This is something I must do. Ainz has already approved my departure, so the decision is final."
"I-I see."
Shalltear fell into silence and Albedo was the same. However, because of that the two of them also decided on something.
"Since we can't do anything to stop you, then you must compensate use with your body." Albedo licked her lips lewdly before she straddle Shido causing his spear to rise up once again.
"Fufufu, look how energetic it became."
"Ah, no fair!"
"No, you wait there until I finished."
Seeing the two bicker, Shido let out a smile but he was not someone who would always be on below so Shido held their waist and overturned their bodies.
"Kyaaaa~!"
"Hyaaaa~!"
The three of them continued their battle in bed making the succubus and vampire to cry out moans of pleasure as they were pounded by Shido's spirit spear. They indulge themselves on their carnal desire until the two girls couldn't go on anymore.
...
Central Continent, Mount Keitenias
In this mountainous area in the central continent, various kinds of monsters live inside making it their territory. The slopes in this land were barren with little vegetation because of its rocky terrain.
Wyverns could often be seen soaring across the sky in search of prey. However, most of the creatures inhabiting this region were peculiarly undead, ranging from undead beasts to zombie dragons and other other kinds of undead monster.
In a remote part of Mount Keitenias, a colossal dragon lay upon the ground, seemingly in slumber. Its body stretched nearly 150 meters in length, yet its form was bizarre, a snake-like head, a long whip-like tail, and a bulgy middle body does not seem to fit with bat-like wings jutting from its back."
As the surroundings were filled with fog and mist, one cannot see it's figure clearly, but it seemed that it's scale were moving.
However, its slumber was disturbed when it suddenly sensed the sky darken. Slowly opening its small, blood-red eyes, it cast a glance upward, only to feel an overwhelming sense of danger closing in on it.
From above, a colossal meteor, spanning at least two kilometers in size, plummeted toward the earth.
"Hadou Tensei!"
Just as it glance in the sky, it also heard a voice of someone, and it seemed to be the one who created that meteor above. Yet such details no longer mattered. What mattered was survival. If it did not escape immediately, that colossal mass would crush it without mercy.
It might be one of the strongest beings in the world, but even so, taking the meteor head-on would inflict devastating damage.
Unfortunately, it possessed no magic capable of unleashing a destructive attack, leaving escape as its only option.
It spread its vast wings to take flight, but a crushing force bore down upon it, pinning its massive body to the ground. In the next moment, it felt another wave of attack, not something that deals physical damage but something that dominates the mind.
However, the attack only hindered him slightly, and he dragged his body forward like a snake, desperately struggling to escape. Though he was a proud dragon, burdened with immense pride, survival mattered more than dignity, and he no longer cared about the shame of his current appearance.
Yet even as he forced himself onward, his speed was drastically reduced by the two force pressing on him. And much worse, the meteor was already just above it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion roared across Mount Keitenias as the colossal meteor slammed into the ground, obliterating everything beneath it. The impact unleashed a violent shockwave, hurling trees, animals, and monsters alike through the air as the earth trembled under its might.
It took some time before the chaos finally settled. A third of the meteor lay buried deep in the earth, while beside it, the dragon could barely survive.
Nearly half of its body had been crushed beneath the meteor's overwhelming force, yet, it was still alive due to it's powerful undead traits.
Yes, it was not just a dragon, but an undead dragon.
It was none other than the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, Cure Elim Los Malvar.
In the past, it had been defeated by the combined might of the Platinum Dragon Lord and several other Dragon Lords, forcing it to flee and recuperate so it could take revenge in the future.
But who could have foreseen that someone would drop something so big upon him. This made it, furious and humiliated thinking that someone was plotting against him. Yet before anything else, he needed to heal, the damage he had suffered was far too severe.
The impact of the meteor had blown away the shrouding fog, revealing Cure Elim's true form. Once, his scales might have gleamed a pale whitish hue, but because of that disgusting creatures moving around it's whole body, Cure Elim's appearance became dark.
As for those wriggling disgusting things on it's body, it was all zombies fused together into a grotesque armor. Layer upon layer of the undead wrapped around its form, their numbers so vast that they easily reached into the millions.
And that could only mean one thing: Cure Elim had slaughtered millions to forge this abomination. With such a vile act, it was only natural that Platinum Dragon Lord sought to hunt him down.