Crete, a Greek island spanning the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in the south, was a renowned tourist destination visited by millions of foreign tourists every year.
Endless stretches of beautiful emerald beaches and the horizon beyond.
High mountain ranges running from east to west, and the dizzying Samaria Gorge.
Aside from such natural beauty, many were drawn to Crete by the picturesque cityscape.
That was, until fifty years ago.
[The Cretan Catastrophe]
August 14, 19xx.
The EU Joint Hunter Association received a report of a gate appearing in the Cretan Prefecture of southern Greece.
The Association immediately dispatched inspectors, and before long, the gate's rank was determined.
Rank A.
The sudden appearance of a top-tier gate shook the entire European continent. Without an S-rank hunter or a magician above the 7th Circle, clearing it was a distant prospect.
And on that day of the announcement, the airports and ports of Crete, the epicenter of the incident, were thrown into chaos by a raging tide of 600,000 residents and 40,000 foreign tourists.
Hundreds were crushed to death.
Amid the chaos, an EU summit was convened.
The topic: Whether to dispatch an S-rank hunter belonging to the EU Joint Hunter Association to Crete.
The summit's transcripts were never released, so no one knew exactly what was discussed, but the meeting's outcome clearly led to Greece's eventual withdrawal from the EU.
No S-rank hunter would come.
Greece had to contain the gate with its own hunters and a handful of magicians.
The idea of entering the gate was never even a subject for discussion. With the country's hunters and magicians already fleeing, it was obvious what would happen if such words were uttered.
June 19, 19xx.
With the heat arriving earlier than expected, the A-rank Labyrinthos gate, later known as the Cretan Catastrophe, opened, and Greece was forced to abandon everything on Crete, having lost dozens of high-ranking hunters and ten magicians.
At the heart of that disaster was the boss of Labyrinthos, an A-rank magical beast.
"Minotaur…!"
-!!!!!
The Minotaur, the center of the event known as the Cretan Catastrophe, roared.
"Aaaaaagh!!"
"Ugh?!!"
An overwhelming killing intent swept through her entire body as if she were being sliced alive. This led to a loss of morale, but that wasn't the only problem.
'Fear…!'
A debuff spat out by a high-ranking magical beast.
Before she could even think that her body had stiffened with fear, the situation changed drastically.
The predator would never let go of prey that had stiffened with fear and was unable to escape.
The Minotaur, once again unleashing a deafening roar, raised its massive axe.
At that sight, her body moved faster than her mind.
Mana flowed fiercely through the still-unhealed mana circuits.
With a dizzying pain that made her feel like she was about to lose consciousness, her body, frozen by fear, moved.
"Noel, get out of the way!!"
Confirming that her body was moving, she immediately hugged Noel and rolled to the side.
Immediately afterward, the massive axe slammed down where they had been.
Kwaaaang!!!!
A huge shockwave and a cloud of dust spread out.
Beyond the small crater, the Minotaur's bloodshot, ominous red eyes were fixed on them.
The gruesome sight almost made her body freeze again for a moment.
"…Master, behind me."
Perhaps her body had loosened up while rolling on the ground, Noel, having picked up the hammer that had been lying on the ground, stood in front of her.
Forcing the magician behind was an excellent decision as a vanguard, but she could hear it clearly.
Noel's voice was trembling slightly.
It was proof that she had calculated that she couldn't face the Minotaur in her current state, not only restricted in power but also in poor physical condition.
"Noel, listen carefully."
She placed her hand on Noel's shoulder.
She knew as well as anyone that the Minotaur was a monster she couldn't even dare to face, let alone defeat.
But was that really the Minotaur that had been called the Cretan Catastrophe?
Just as she had mistaken the Skeleton Mage, who had appeared as the 2nd Floor boss, for a Lich, if such an absurd monster was to appear as the boss on the 3rd Floor, the World Tree would have given her a separate warning.
"Just hold out for one minute from now, just like when you drew the Golem's attention."
She handed Noel a bottle of holy water.
She knew it was impossible, but she couldn't manipulate lightning like she had earlier without a one-minute warm-up time.
Of course, she wasn't putting her forward without any insurance.
If Noel was in danger, she could just reverse summon her, and if she went back to Earth, it would all be over.
In fact, she could retreat right now, finish her preparations, and come back here. She didn't have to fight with her body in such a mess.
But could she really move on to the next level by fighting according to her own whims?
'…No.'
Even now, the mana that was filling her circles to the point of overflowing throughout her body was telling her.
Break the limit and move on to the next stage.
What she needed now was a trigger.
"One minute? I can do ten minutes."
Noel gave her a bright smile as always, drank the holy water, and then ran toward the Minotaur.
Her speed was increasing, seemingly beyond her limits.
Bang!
Each time she kicked off the ground, the floor caved in.
She was moving her body to the limit allowed by the power restriction.
Boom! Noel, who leaped up instantly, jumped above the Minotaur's head, and the hammer she was spinning became twice as big.
"Haaaah!!!"
A huge vortex of mana swirled around the hammer, then slammed into the Minotaur's head.
[Moon Breaker]
With a tremendous gust of wind, the Minotaur staggered, then fell to his knees.
She was surprised by the sight for a moment, but she couldn't waste the precious time Noel had given her.
As the hastily swallowed holy water seeped into her body, her hands, which had been trembling with pain, calmed down a little.
Of course, it was only for a moment.
As the lightning element once again raced through the mana circuits along with a massive amount of mana, a pain that made her feel like she was about to lose consciousness surged.
Her head felt like it was about to break, but this was no time to complain.
She felt like her body was in tatters, but it was a spell she had already cast once.
The first time is always the hardest.
The swirling storm of lightning gathered on her palm.
"Noel!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs as soon as the spell was completed. Hearing her shout, Noel immediately reacted and tried to move away from the front line, but the Minotaur, not intending to let go of Noel, who was dodging all of its attacks, continued its rapid and heavy barrage.
Bang! Bang!
Noel was too busy dodging to escape the attacks, which could easily lead to serious injuries if she made a mistake.
But she couldn't keep waiting, or Noel might get caught up in the magic.
She couldn't wait any longer.
"Reverse Su-"
"Master!"
A fierce surge of mana was once again raging from Noel's fingertips as she dodged or deflected the Minotaur's attacks.
At that sight, she controlled the magic with all her might.
To buy time until Noel returned to her side.
"Sun!!"
The hammer didn't get as big as it did before, but the momentum she felt was on a different level.
[The restrictions imposed in accordance with Noel Ronnidella's request are weakened.]
[Price: ???]
"I hate cows!!!"
[Sun Breaker]
A wave of intense light covered the hammer, and Noel plunged into the Minotaur's chest at a speed that was impossible to follow with the eye.
As his defenseless abdomen was exposed, the moment Noel's hammer exploded, the sun rose in the dark dungeon.
Boom! Boom- Kwaaang!
With a tremendous shockwave, the Minotaur flew backward and slammed into the dungeon wall.
The sight of the huge creature skipping across the air like a flat stone was a sight that was hard to believe even with her own eyes.
Noel, having squeezed out all of her power, returned to her side with heavy steps and leaned into her arms as if collapsing.
She gently stroked Noel's head, who seemed to have no stamina or mana left, and fell asleep as if fainting.
"…You did a good job."
She hugged Noel as tightly as she could and deployed a barrier around them.
It would have been nice if the battle had ended with the blow just now, but unfortunately, the Minotaur was getting up from the debris of the wall.
But just from the fact that he was bleeding and mangled, she couldn't deny that Noel's attack had damaged him.
It was an opportunity that Noel had created, even at the cost of a price.
[Ball lightning]
Once again, a thundercloud containing a massive amount of mana and destructive lightning appeared.
The moment she gave up controlling the magic, along with the pain that felt like her mana circuits were burning, the erratically fluctuating thundercloud began to expand rapidly.
'?!'
The unstable state of the magic, which far exceeded her expectations, caused her to pour most of her remaining mana into the barrier without even realizing it.
────
Soon, a flash of white light erupted from the thundercloud and filled the corridor.
Everything around it was destroyed and lost its shape in the devastating lightning.
Not only the tent that she hadn't had time to pack, but even the walls of the dungeon were collapsing.
At that sight, she was sure.
No matter how powerful the Minotaur was, unless it was a boss-level individual, it wouldn't be able to withstand this.
As the lightning storm, which had been like a fleeting moment, gradually subsided, the surrounding scenery came into view.
The tremendous change in the terrain, which had created a small clearing in the labyrinthine dungeon, was immediately apparent.
She was surprised that she was able to use magic of such power.
But.
"…Bullshit."
She didn't expect to be able to kill the Minotaur with a single spell in the first place.
Nevertheless, she thought that if she combined Noel's full-force last strike with the unintentionally strengthened magic, she would be able to at least reduce it to a near-death state.
But had she underestimated her opponent too much?
If she had the ability to peek at the magical beast's status window, the Minotaur would have definitely had this trait.
[Rapid Regeneration]
In the distance, the flesh of the Minotaur, standing half-dead, was rapidly filling in. Even the wounds that had been scorched and burned by the lightning were slowly but surely healing, leaving her speechless.
Looking at her, he raised the corners of his mouth as if mocking her.