"Then die!!!"
These were the words Hajime said before shooting the giant armor with his left revolver gun, which made a large impact and caused smoke to billow out.
But after a moment of waiting for the smoke to clear, the group of four found that the armor was still intact and had in fact, not even been damaged.
"Hmm! That preemptive strike was pretty good, but unfortunately for you, I'm a lot stronger than that. If you want to do some real damage, you'll have to try a lot harder," Miledi said teasingly.
Hajime, unfazed by the mockery, rebuked, "And yet you don't seem all that different from the rust-buckets we dealt with before."
Miledi huffed indignately, "Hmph! You really are an impertinent one aren't you? Fine, I'll show you," she said as golems rose from behind her, "My power."
As the golems floated in the air, Miledi took that time to gloat, "Well? Have you ever seen flying golems before? It'll be a real nightmare since they'll attack you all at once–"
Before she could finish with her gloating, the golems behind her were sliced to pieces.
"Why be so prideful about sitting targets? You're so annoying," Yue growled a little.
Sargon, meanwhile, confirmed his suspicions, 'Gravity Manipulation. So this must be her {Ancient Magic}. Got to tell the others.'
He was about to send them a telepathic message regarding his discovery, but immediately backtracked, remembering the limitation of the labyrinth.
'Nearly forgot this place disperses magic for a moment there. Guess I'll have to tell them verbally,' he thought.
"So cruel, and right before I was done talking too," Miledi whined.
Sargon then took this chance to tell everyone his hypothesis on her Ancient Magic.
"Everyone! I believe her Ancient Magic has a connection to gravity, which would allow her to manipulate her golems the way she did!"
Miledi responded with this verbal shout with apparent shock and the giant armor covered itself protectively.
"Hey! It's rude to tell a lady's secrets, you know! How ungentlemanly!"
It was Hajime who responded to Miledi's indignant words, "You're the enemy, dumbass. Why should we care about your 'privacy?' Speaking of secrets," Hajime said as he lifted his eye-patch, "Seems like you have a golem core. Everyone, aim where her heart should be!"
Miledi once again, was shocked and befuddled. Not only was her power accurately deducted, her golem heart was found out. She was even more surprised by the latter half as they shouldn't be able to use magic outwardly here.
"Hey! H-how are you able to tell that?! You shouldn't be able to use magic here," she said frantically.
The group then positioned themselves around the giant armor, ready to attack.
Shea then leaped into the air and tried to swing her hammer down on the giant armor, however it blocked her attack with a weapon of its own, a spiked ball with a handle.
"Hey hey! Did you forget about the golems? I can regenerate them endlessly, you know," Miledi taunted, as a golem appeared behind Shea.
Just as it was about to swing its sword down, Yue cut down the golem with her water canteens.
"Of course we didn't forget," she said.
Shea smiled at Yue, "Thanks Yue-san! Now it's my turn!"
Shea leaped in the air once again and went to bring her hammer down. The giant armor met the incoming attack with its fist.
"That combination move was good, but you don't really expect a golem to lose when it comes to power, do you?!"
Hammer and fist collided and generated a huge shockwave. Miledi couldn't contain her surprise and intrigue.
"Wow. You've got incredible power, little rabbit. But it's not enough," she said as the golem put more force into its attack and managed to knock Shea off balance. "Too bad! Try again later."
"Later? Screw that! How about now," said Hajime.
Miledi looked down as she saw Hajime scaling the golem's armor with his rocket launcher in his right hand. She was once again caught off guard,
"Wha–when did you–"
Before she could finish, Hajime said with a smirk, "You want to see more power? How about this?!"
Hajime leaped off and shot some rockets towards it which kicked up a lot of smoke.
When everyone went to check to see if they finally finished her off, a giant hand emerged from the smoke, and so too did the body.
"Wow, that actually scared me a bit. But it's still not enough," Miledi said.
Hajime clicked his tongue when he saw that there was practically not even a scratch on it. Miledi then spoke again,
"Azanthium ore! If you can't break through this, you'll never be able to beat me."
Hajime sweatdropped and growled in frustration, "Damnit. Azanthium ore? That's this world's toughest and hardest metal. I've got some of that stuff in my equipment."
Miledi responded to Hajime's knowledge, "Oooh! As expected of someone who conquered Ozzy's Labyrinth, you would know that. Alright, time for the second phase!"
As soon as she said that, one of the platforms above them started to fall towards them.
"Dodge," Hajime yelled.
Shea and Yue jumped off the platform they were on as it got destroyed by the fallen platform. Hajime observed this peculiar phenomena.
'That platform fell even though it was floating before. Guess Sargon was right about the power being–wait a minute, where is that guy? Why haven't I seen him since the battle started?'
As Hajime was thinking this, a cubed platform made its way towards Hajime fast, who was still airborne.
'Sh**," Hajime cursed mentally.
But before he could move or the platform could reach him, it suddenly shattered. Hajime landed on the platform in front of him and looked behind him, where he saw a silvery metallic object that looked like a blade seemingly extending where the platform was previously.
It then shrunk backwards, which Hajime followed the trail back and saw the person responsible for saving him once more.
"Sargon!"
The man in question had his cane sword unsheathed and pointed toward the direction the elongated from. He then jumped from his platform over to where Hajime was,
"Someone's getting rusty," he teased lightly with a smirk.
Hajime rolled his eye and said, a little irritated, "At least we've been fighting this thing, yet I haven't seen you do anything yet."
Sargon, still smirking, responded, "Good. That means she hasn't either."
As soon as he said that, Hajime looked at him surprised, "What?"
Before he could ask, Miledi chimed in, "Hey hey! It's rude to ignore me, you know?! Do you really have the time to be talking to yourself?!"
Immediately after, the golem slammed her spiked ball weapon down on them. Sargon and Hajime jumped off the platform just before it got crushed and destroyed.
The 2 boys landed on the same platform and Hajime looked over to him,
"I don't suppose that you've got a plan or something?!"
Sargon also turned to him and said, "We continue playing the waiting game while still participants of the fighting game."
Hajime simply looked at him incredulously, "What?"
Before he could get more clarification, the spiked ball came back with a vengeance, but this time, Hajime was able to act quickly. He dashed to the spiked ball, cocked his prosthetic arm back, and launched it towards the ball, clashing with its momentum.
Miledi's surprised and exasperated voice was apparent for all to hear,
"Seriously? Charge in head first and literally punch my weapon like that? What in the world are you?"
Hajime just smirked, "Someone not only tired of being saved by this prick over and over again," he said as he glanced at Sargon. "But also someone fed up with you! Yue, Shea!"
At the call of their names, the aforementioned girls jumped towards the giant golem, which caught Miledi by surprise.
"Kgh, get away," she shouted as the golem swung the spiked ball weapon.
"Shea," Yue said firmly, to which Shea responded just as resolutely, "I've got it!"
Shea raised her hammer and swung it down on the spiked ball, holding it from continuing further towards them. Yue capitalized on the hold up and unleashed the water from the canteens she carried, which pushed the golem back.
"Tch! You little," Miledi said at their coordinated attack.
Miledi then saw Shea airborne, positioning her hammer in a way to deliver another swing.
"This is payback for blowing me away earlier," she shouted as she swung her hammer on the armor, which sent it crashing down onto another platform and kicked up dust.
As the dust settled, the golem was seen on its back, seemingly motionless. Then Miledi spoke,
"You all are pretty good. But don't forget, I'm a golem. If my core isn't destroyed, I can regenerate endlessly."
As soon as she said this, the arm, which was destroyed by Shea's attack, started to reconstruct. Yue, however, was quicker.
"I won't let you!"
She dropped to one knee, placed her hands on the armor, and uttered,
"Freeze, {Cryo}!"
Immediately afterward, ice began to form around the golem.
"Wh-what?! How are you able to use such a high level magic down here," Miledi practically shouted in bewilderment.
Yue smiled, "By using water as a base. All I need to do is freeze it when I need to," she said.
'Although this nearly took all my power to do so,' she thought internally as sweated and breathed heavily.
She then leaped off the surface of the golem and joined the other 3 on the same platform. Hajime praised Yue for the finisher,
"Great job Yue."
Yue smiled proudly and basked in the compliment. Meanwhile, Shea pouted a little, but Sargon patted her shoulder before she could say anything.
"Don't worry, I've seen your hard work too. Well done, Shea."
Shea in response smiled bashfully and giggled a little. Hajime then stepped up and said to Miledi,
"It's over, Miledi. As you are now, you can't move or regenerate, which leaves you with 2 choices; give us your Ancient Magic, or be finished here."
But there was no response. Hajime spoke again, "Oi! You hear me?!"
Immediately afterward, light flashed within the helm of the golem, which put nearly everyone on alert, except Sargon.
'Hmph. I knew it wouldn't be that simple.'
Hajime backed up a little and gritted his teeth, "Damnit, what now?!"
Shea's eyes then gleamed a little, which resulted in her saying hurriedly.
"Guys! I saw the future! It's going to rain!"
Everyone's eyes widened and then looked up to see countless platforms collecting above them. Miledi then finally spoke,
"This is my final attack. I'll make the entire ceiling fall on you!"
As the platforms collected and were about to fall, they suddenly froze and trembled. Meanwhile Miledi,
"Aaaggggghhhhhhhhggggggggggaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
She screamed in a frantic tone, almost as if she was electrocuted. Everyone was caught off guard from the loud scream she made. Everyone except….
"Got you!"
Sargon then put his sword cane within its sheathe, morphed the cane into a long stake, with the bottom of the cane pointed and extremely sharp with the top part, the gold and blue part, into a small flat surface.
"Shea, with me!"
At the call of her name, Shea snapped out of her bewildered state and followed Sargon as he leapt into the air, gripped the stake with both hands, raised it up, and drove the stake into the area where the heart would be.
The stake actually punctured the armor, but not enough to get to the heart. This, however, was expected as he then called for…
"Shea! Drive the stake further in," he shouted as he leapt off the golem's surface.
Said rabbit-girl smiled, leapt into the air, raised her hammer, and brought it down with all of her strength.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
When she brought her hammer down, the morphed stake drove even deeper into the golem and finally pierced the golem's core, which was indicated by Miledi's scream.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhh!"
Shea then landed back on the platform and held her hammer at her side. She looked at the golem, which had the long stake piercing its heart.
"We did it," she said before she looked at Sargon and beamed. "We did it!"
She then bolted towards Sargon, dropping her hammer in the process, and hugged him tightly. Sargon, caught somewhat off-guard yet also sharing the sentiment, returned the embrace.
"Hehe, yes. Yes we did," he said, smiling warmly.
Hajime and Yue also smiled at this tender and touching moment between the 2. Though after a moment, a voice broke the silence.
"Hey, uhm. I hate to ruin the moment but–"
Before Miledi could finish her sentence, everyone was on high alert once more and ready to continue the fight with Shea picking up her hammer and walking towards her menacingly. At the sight of this, Miledi frantically tried to placate them.
"Wait wait wait! I'm not going to try anything! You guys have won!"
Sargon responded skeptically, "Then why did you decide now was the best time to speak?"
"With the remaining power I have left, I had to, so I could warn you."
Hajime raised an eyebrow, "Warn us?"
"Yes. If it is truly your wish to return to where you came from, you'll need all of our Ancient Magic's to do so," she said
"Then can you tell us where they are," asked Sargon.
Miledi chuckled in nostalgia, "Maybe, if I can remember that far. Let's see: The great volcano in the middle of the desert. The Trial of Heat, the Grand Gruen Volcano. Near the shores of the western sea. The Trial of Madness, the Deep Ruins of Melusine. The head temple of the church. The Trial of Will, the Divine Mountain. The great tree, Ua-Alt in the Eastern forests. The Trial of Bonds, the Haltina Forest. Lastly, the caverns in the Southern region near the demon's territory. The Trial of Oneself, the Frost Caverns of Schnee."
After listing where the other labyrinths are, Hajime nodded, "Thanks, though I almost want to know where the annoying chattering went."
Miledi chuckled once more, "Haha, yeah. Sorry about that, I just wanted to give you a taste of how it might feel going up against them."
Hajime immediately checked her, "I'm not planning on fighting any gods for you. I've said this already, haven't I?"
"You have. But as long as you are who you are, it's inevitable that you'll fight them and become a godslayer."
After she said that, the golem started to glow and turn into particles that floated into the air.
"Ah. I guess that's time. Don't worry, there'll be a way for you all to exit here after I'm gone."
Before the body dissipated completely, Yue stepped forward closer to the golem head, which surprised Miledi a little.
"Yue-san," she asked.
The girl in question merely smiled softly, "You've done well. Rest in peace."
Miledi's voice softened at the kind gesture and farewell, "Heh, thank you."
The golem finally illuminated into brilliant light particles which floated upward, which dropped the long stake that pierced through it. Shea and Yue stood together and looked at the shining particles.
"I had thought she was insufferable and annoying, but it turns out she was different," Shea said, with Yue nodding in agreement.
Hajime then said abruptly, "Alright, let's get moving."
This startled Shea, "Really Hajime-san? Did you have to ruin the mood?"
Sargon, meanwhile, picked up the stake and shrunk it back into its cane form.
The platform that the group was standing on suddenly began to move. It was moving towards the direction of an opening within the wall, which Shea commented on.
"Wow! Guiding us with a moving platform? What a kind gesture! Maybe what she was doing earlier was just an act?"
Hajime immediately shut down the idea, "Hell no. That was her true self."
This time, even Yue was caught off-guard by Hajime's lack of faith.
"Hajime-san! Why do you keep ruining the mood," Shea asked in bewilderment.
Hajime merely uttered, "You may see soon."
As the platform got through the doors, a small golem with a cloak over them appeared, along with a familiar voice.
"Yahoo! Been a while huh? It's your favorite girl Miledi-chan!"
Everyone stared at the small golem with either blank expressions, deadpans, or shock. Hajime was the first to get over the initial reaction,
"See? If she disappeared, who'd be our guide out of here?"
Miledi animately jumped up, "Hehe! Saw through me huh?"
Yue asked, still a little shocked, "So what you did earlier was…"
Miledi looked at her and said, "Hmm? Did you 2 think I disappeared? Ha! I'd never do that! Guess you 2 fell for my prank huh?! Hehehehehe," she giggled. "So, what did you think of my acting skills, huh? Pretty good right?"
Right after she said that, she was greeted with the very angry gazes of Shea and Yue, both of whom had menacing auras surrounding them.
Miledi backed up in concern, "Uhh, maybe I took it too far? Hehe," she laughed nervously before bonking her head with her hand. "I'm sorry?"
[A Few Moments Later]
"I'm activating the magic circle now, just step into it," Miledi said with a large bruise on her head.
Yue gave her a glare, "Pull anything stupid and you'll actually disappear, permanently."
Miledi hurriedly saluted Yue, "Yes ma'am!"
A huge magic circle then appeared on the ground with Miledi at the center. After it was formed, Miledi then opened her eyes,
"Wow! The blonde one and the cane gentleman here are a total match for this magic! You and the bunny girl on the other hand, not so much."
Hajime clicked his tongue, "Oh shut up, I'm only going to use it for practice."
Shea slumped over when she heard about her aptitude for the current Ancient Magic. Miledi then tossed a ring over to Hajime,
"This is the proof that you've cleared the labyrinth. Take good care of it," she said animately.
But Hajime wasn't satisfied wit just the ring, "Hey. Don't you got some more stuff for us for clearing the labyrinth?"
Miledi looked at him incredulously, "Eh?"
Hajime then grabbed her by the head, "Don't give me that sh**! Oscar gave us a bunch of stuff when we beat his labyrinth! Why can't you?!"
Miledi panicked and squealed under Hajime's intensity. Meanwhile, the other 3 watching this scene sweatdropped.