Now that we could finally explore normally, he wanted to finish the exploration in one go.
Since we might need to search floor by floor, meticulously looking for traces of Zenith, he meant to explore until we encountered difficulties.
Then we would turn back and slowly clear each floor clean.
In the end, no one strongly opposed Paul's opinion. I knew where Zenith was located.
If we could just go and defeat the Nine-Headed Dragon directly, it would save a lot of time.
So I didn't object either.
Afterwards, we continued exploring the labyrinth.
On the fifth floor of the labyrinth, besides Frenzied Skulls and Armored Warriors, Gluttony Demons also appeared. Gluttony Demons are demons with huge mouths and sharp teeth, with long limbs and sharp claws that allow them to climb on ceilings.
They somewhat resembled the Ghouls of the Undead race from the Warcraft game I used to play.
And they were the kind that covered the walls.
Originally very powerful monsters, but because 'The Teleportation Labyrinth Exploration Log' clearly described their weakness, dealing with them became simple.
Keith lit the roots of a Tarflo tree, sold as food on the Bekalite Continent, as incense.
The Gluttony Demons crawling on the walls fell off one by one, from the walls and ceilings, as if they had fainted.
Thus, they became lambs to the slaughter. Paul and I charged forward together and easily killed these monsters.
On the sixth floor, both Frenzied Skulls and Armored Warriors disappeared. The entire floor was left with only Gluttony Demons covering the walls.
To be honest, it was a bit frightening at first glance. I almost got scared enough to use a King-class spell to wipe them out.
But after Keith lit the Tarflo tree roots, these Gluttony Demons also became easy. The actual difficulty was even less than the first floor.
At least the first floor was still annoying with small spiders everywhere.
After easily eliminating the Gluttony Demons covering the floor, we began exploring the sixth floor.
After two days of exploration, we reached the room with the final teleportation circles.
As in history, all team members were very troubled by the two teleportation circles, unsure which one to take.
But after some thought by Rudy, he found the third teleportation circle hidden in a secret room under the floor.
Here, I observed from the sidelines the whole time, unwilling to cheat or show off by relying on foreknowledge of the answer.
This was the route Rudy originally thought of, so it was perfectly normal for him to find it himself.
If history hadn't followed its course and Paul had tried to force his way into one of the circles, I would have stopped him. Fortunately, that situation didn't arise.
Finally, we arrived at the entrance to the teleportation circle leading to the seventh floor.
After everyone prepared themselves and checked their equipment, we stepped into the seventh-floor teleportation circle together.
Upon entering, it was just as I had imagined. The seventh floor was a huge palace.
At the very center of the palace, on the throne, lay a massive monster. Its size was about twice that of a Red Dragon. Even from a distance, its emerald green scales could be seen shimmering. Its body was stocky and short, and it had nine heads.
This was the guardian of the Teleportation Labyrinth, the Nine-Headed Dragon Hydra.
Just as we were marveling at the monster's enormity, Paul shouted Zenith's name.
Following the direction of his gaze, sure enough...
AI Model: gemini-3.0-flash
Inside a tree-like crystal, a lady was sealed. She had blonde hair and a peaceful, sweet face. She was wearing home clothes that looked like pajamas.
She was Paul's wife, Zenith greyrat.
Upon seeing Zenith, Paul lost his mind and rushed toward her.
Seeing this, we had no choice but to follow.
As expected, the Nine-Headed Dragon was covered in mana-absorbing scales. No magic could cause it any harm.
This rendered Rudy and Roxy useless.
It was quite a headache; after I parried an attack from the Nine-Headed Dragon, Paul, like a mad dog, used his armor-breaking sword to sever one of its heads.
But as anticipated, after the head was severed, the flesh on the neck seemed to take on a life of its own, writhing continuously, and before long, a new head grew back.
Seeing this, Elinalise and Keith worked together to drag Paul out of the palace. I also retreated from the room after fending off the Nine-Headed Dragon for a while.
How frustrating. I unexpectedly discovered that the Nine-Headed Dragon's mana-absorption effect also worked on my overflowing mana. My "Perception Flow" couldn't be spread out in that room; all the mana diffusing near the Nine-Headed Dragon's body was absorbed.
I wonder if Battle Aura has the same effect. Regardless, I'm still confident in facing the Nine-Headed Dragon with Paul and the others. After all, Paul managed to cut off nine of its heads by himself; with me added, it should be even easier.
After returning to the 6th floor, we began discussing how to deal with the 7th-floor guardian, the Nine-Headed Dragon Hydra.
Rudy then successfully deduced that we should use fire magic to cauterize the wounds where the Nine-Headed Dragon's heads were severed.
Once the plan was finalized, I heard Paul say a classic line to Rudy.
"Rudy, even if it kills you, you must rescue your mother."
Paul is a real man, a true man who would die for his wife and son.
I gripped my precious sword tightly; this time, I must block the Nine-Headed Dragon's final deathblow.
After regrouping, we returned to the room on the seventh floor.
As if it knew we would return, the Nine-Headed Dragon extended its nine heads and glared at us, awaiting our attack.
Proceeding according to the plan, Paul and I were responsible for the main assault. I mainly handled the heads attacking from the right, while Paul took the ones on the left.
Since the Nine-Headed Dragon could not attack with multiple heads simultaneously, whenever it struck at one side, the person targeted would defend.
The person on the other side would then move in to sever the head. Rudy, protected by Elinalise, would come forward to use fire magic to burn the wound.
"Alright, let's do it."
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