Silent air hung throughout the vast space, lending the fear that came with the darkness an extra edge out of nowhere.
Faint phosphorescence shone down from the ceiling, presenting a long, huge hall before Leo's eyes.
That's right, a hall, not a cavern chamber.
Unlike the messily shaped cavern chambers in those earlier floors, this one took the form of a neat rectangular box. The entrance was a great round passage, and from here to the deepest part of the hall ran about two hundred meters, with a width of roughly one hundred meters and a ceiling nearly twenty meters high, far larger than a soccer field.
If this place was also a cavern chamber, then it was the largest one Leo had ever seen, and the walls, floor, and ceiling of this chamber were all formed of rough rock blocks. Only the wall on the left side was built differently, as though someone had polished it, without a single bump or seam. Stretching from the chamber's entrance all the way to the deepest part, the entire wall surface was smooth as a mirror, looking a little like a crystal-clear wall of ice, with an unnatural sort of beauty to it.
"So that's the Wall of Grief?"
Leo ignored the small opening below the deepest part of the chamber, his gaze fixed tightly the whole time on that crystal-clear wall.
The Wall of Grief, hailed here as Floor 17's final barrier, a wall named by the adventurers who had reached this place and made it back alive.
As everyone knew, most monsters in the Dungeon were born out of the walls. To monsters, the Dungeon's walls were a mother's womb, an eggshell capable of hatching life.
This Wall of Grief was the same, and it would give birth to only a single monster.
Leo stared at it for a good while, then, like a warrior setting out to war, took a step and walked slowly toward that wall.
Not long after that, the party of five, Ais, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, and Line, all arrived together too.
They stood right at the great round entrance, not entering the chamber, only watching Leo's back recede slowly, the playful mood on their faces drawing in.
"It's about to start."
Tione crossed her arms, already in spectator mode.
"Goliath, huh. Feels like it's been ages since I last got to cut that thing down."
Tiona was both eager and wistful.
"The spawn interval should be up by now, right?"
Lefiya, for her part, asked Line beside her in a low voice.
"It's up." Line answered just as quietly. "Mr. Leo seems to have already checked at the Guild yesterday. The last recorded subjugation of Floor 17's Floor Boss, Goliath, was two weeks ago."
Goliath's spawn interval was two weeks.
Since it had just been subjugated exactly two weeks ago, now, two weeks later, a new Floor Boss should be nearly born too.
"...It's already noticed Leo."
Ais, who had said nothing the whole time, suddenly spoke this line, making everyone hold their breath.
No one doubted these words of Ais's, because Ais was always like this, extremely sensitive to the presence and appearance of monsters. Even adventurers with scout-type abilities sometimes couldn't detect a monster's presence faster than Ais, so the girls, who had fought at Ais's side more than once, didn't doubt her words in the slightest.
The girls all turned to look at the Wall of Grief together, as if they could already see the scene of the colossal thing about to drop into the world opening its eyes ahead of time, its eyeballs landing straight on Leo as he drew nearer.
But just as they were observing with full concentration, a stir suddenly came from behind them.
"Looks like we're not late."
When that voice, carrying a calm smile, sounded out, Ais and the others all froze.
"Captain!"
Tione was the first to react, her voice turning saccharine on the spot, just short of throwing herself at the person behind her.
"R-Lady Riveria!"
Lefiya cried out in surprise too.
"Gareth? And everyone?"
Tiona showed her astonishment as well.
"H-how come you're all here?"
Even Line couldn't help being startled.
Looking closely, a whole crowd of adventurers had drawn near behind Ais and the others at some point. At the head were Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, and the one who had just spoken was Finn. Even Raul had come along in full gear, and every single adventurer who appeared behind them was a member of Loki Familia, leaving Ais and the others greatly surprised.
"What? You saying us old folks can't come take a look?"
Gareth stroked his beard, laughing heartily.
"...I already tried to talk them out of it."
Riveria, clearly the one who disapproved of this outing, stood there sighing.
"Ais, Tiona, Tione." Raul, like a long-suffering hired hand, scratched his head and gave a slightly pathetic, sheepish little laugh. "We're all really curious about Leo's upcoming fight, so we couldn't help but..."
The rest of them likewise, some smiling, some dodging Ais and the others' gazes as if guilty, some already turning their eyes toward the hall.
All of them, after learning that Leo intended to take on the Floor Boss solo, had been unable to hold back their curiosity, and so had each come here as if by silent agreement, ready to witness this fight with their own eyes.
As for how they came to know about it... all that can be said is that once enough people know a thing, it naturally stops being a secret.
When Tiona and the others were discussing coming to spectate, they certainly hadn't gone looking for some well-soundproofed, hidden spot, hadn't controlled their volume at all. Tiona had even hopped and bounced around when she got excited, happy as could be, so it was hardly strange for a passerby to have accidentally overheard, never mind that they'd all gathered in the courtyard that morning waiting for everyone, a sight sure to draw plenty of attention.
And so things turned out like this.
Finn and the other two had only pieced together what was going on after seeing people leave headquarters one after another and sneak along behind Leo's group, and by then it was already too late to stop them.
So the three of them simply came along too, lest something go wrong partway with this many people.
"Don't worry, there are still people guarding home, and the preparations for the expedition are nearly done, so even relaxing a little today is no problem." Finn smiled. "It's a rare chance, so let's get a good look at what kind of astonishing performance the Familia's future mainstay can put on."
The words had barely left his mouth, the voice not yet fully fallen, when a cold snort drowned them out.
"It'll be plenty good enough if he doesn't end up making a fool of himself."
The moment this voice appeared, the many members of Loki Familia all shut their mouths, not daring to speak anymore.
Tiona, by contrast, snapped out of her astonishment and glared at the person.
"What's a smelly wolf like you doing here too?"
Amid Tiona's unfriendly words, the werewolf with the lightning tattoo on his face walked out with both hands stuffed in his pockets, threw a glance at Leo as he walked toward the Wall of Grief, then turned an expressionless look on Tiona.
"I came to see whether some small fry of a Lv.2 who's got the nerve to challenge a Floor Boss solo really has the goods, or has just gotten an ego too big for his own good." Bete spoke with cold sarcasm. "If it ends with us having to go save him, then that'll just prove he really is nothing, won't it?"
"Hmph, you smelly wolf, I knew you were up to no good, you just came to watch Leo make a fool of himself." Tiona shot back with her hands on her hips. "At least Leo here's got the guts to come challenge a Floor Boss solo at Lv.2. A smelly wolf like you back at Lv.2 probably found even dealing with a single Minotaur too much like hard work, didn't you?"
"Who couldn't deal with a single Minotaur?!" Bete's mouth twitched, veins bulging on his forehead, and he said furiously, "Trash like that, back when I was Lv.2 I took 'em down one kick apiece!"
"Then I'd do two with one punch!"
Tiona shot back, not backing down in the least.
"Then I'd do three with one kick!"
Bete fired back without even thinking.
"I'd..."
Tiona was about to say something more, but Tione rapped her on the forehead.
"What's the point of saying so much to that idiot wolf? Did you come here to pick a fight?"
Tione said it irritably, leaving both Bete, called an idiot wolf, and Tiona, rapped on the forehead, looking thoroughly displeased.
"You lot, look at the time, and you're still squabbling here." Riveria said, somewhat unable to take it. "Since you've all come, then concentrate on watching the fight. Keep an eye on Leo, be ready to step in at any moment, and save him the instant he runs into mortal danger."
"You all hear that? Pull yourselves together!" Gareth turned to look at the crowd of members behind him too. "This fight isn't only us paying attention. Take a look around, there are plenty of people watching."
At Gareth's words, everyone noticed it too, that people who weren't from their Familia were starting to appear all around.
These people all seemed to be preparing to head down to Floor 18 or even deeper floors to make their conquests, every one of them fully armed.
They'd noticed the presence of the Loki Familia crowd, and seen Leo walking slowly toward the Wall of Grief, and were already whispering to one another.
"Isn't that Loki Familia?"
"Why are there so many Loki Familia people standing around here?"
"Braver, Nine Hell, Elgarm, Vanargand, Amazon, Jörmungand... even the Sword Princess is here?"
"Good grief, almost all of Loki Familia's first-class adventurers and the core members of the Second Army are actually here?"
"Who's that walking toward the Wall of Grief?"
"From the look of him... don't tell me he's about to go take on the Floor Boss?"
"How come he's the only one going?"
"What on earth is going on?"
Murmurs like these came one after another, sending a bit of a commotion through the great round entrance.
"H-how are there so many people?"
Lefiya was dumbstruck.
"Well, this is the only entrance leading to Floor 18..."
Line, for her part, could understand the sight.
"See that? This many outsiders are watching here. If that kid ends up in a sorry state, it'll be the whole of Loki Familia losing face." Bete curled his lip and looked at Ais too. "That small fry's the one you brought back, Ais. Don't you have anything to say?"
Ais said nothing, didn't even spare Bete a single glance.
Right now, her eyes held only that figure walking slowly toward the Wall of Grief. Her hand was already gripping the hilt of the longsword at her waist, her whole body taut, looking ready to charge out at any moment.
Seeing this, Bete grew even more displeased, and was about to say something more when Finn stopped him.
"All right, that's enough out of everyone." Finn licked his thumb. "My thumb's tingling faintly. It should be starting soon."
Finn's voice had only just fallen when everyone present heard it.
Heard a strange sound.
A fairly loud cracking sound rang out.
The crack made Leo stop in his tracks, and made everyone at the great round entrance shut their mouths, eyes fixed and watching.
The cracking sounded again and again, and under everyone's gaze a huge fissure appeared on that crystal-clear wall like a bolt of lightning, the sound of the wall splitting open carrying on without pause.
The sound grew louder and louder, like the groans and pained cries of the Dungeon giving birth to a child, sending an avalanche-like tsunami of sound through the whole hall, the eardrums of everyone present keening even as the hall shook.
For a moment the earth rumbled, the ceiling shedding rubble and dust without pause, and the cracks on that crystal-clear Wall of Grief multiplied more and more.
Until, at a certain moment, a huge shattering sound rang out, and the entire Wall of Grief seemed to burst apart, breaking outright.
Great blocks of rock flew off, collapsing and tumbling to the floor with a thunderous roar, and among them were fragments of the great wall.
From within the fragments, a colossal thing appeared, likewise crashing to the ground and kicking up a thunderous din.
Like a melon ripe and falling from the vine.
Like the dust settling.
Within the dust filling the air, the overly massive silhouette gradually revealed its full form, imprinting itself on the eyes of everyone present.
It was a giant.
A giant over seven meters tall, its entire body covered in gray-brown skin.
The giant had a thick neck and broad shoulders, mighty arms and powerful legs. From the back of its head grew a mass of hard black hair, gleaming as if smeared with grease, the black hair reaching down past the base of its neck, yet not as striking as the crimson eyeballs on its face, each as large as a human head.
Those eyeballs rolled around, then after a moment fixed on Leo, reflecting his figure.
"Ooohh..."
The giant's huge mouth parted slightly, beginning to make a sound.
"Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
The sound swelled steadily, finally turning into a roar like a mountain-shaking, sea-churning bellow, the wave of sound blasting outward like a gale, blowing away all the rock, wall fragments, and great clouds of dust around the giant.
Leo's figure was bathed in that immense roar in an instant, the long robe on his body billowing violently.
But his gaze stayed locked the whole time on that giant body, the largest monster he had ever seen, not daring to move away by even a hair.
In that moment, he felt a terrible pressure.
In that second, he experienced the feeling of his whole body trembling.
An unprecedented warning surged violently within his heart.
There was no helping it. The giant before him was, beyond all doubt, the strongest monster he had encountered since becoming an adventurer.
This was Floor 17's Floor Boss, the Monster Rex.
"Goliath."
The giant roared up at the heavens above the youth, savage beyond measure.
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