The man, who was a Holy knight, and his trusted confidant, greeted Adalman. He was a ghost, and didn’t have a physical body. However, he stood with a figure unaltered from when he still alive. Though he had been transformed into a ghost, which was considered a monster, he hadn’t possessed any humans or monsters, but had construct his body, which was the same as when he was alive, from a multitude of corpses. As for Adalman, he didn’t have any attachment to his body when he was alive, though he was rather pleased with his current figure, which had became mere bones. While Adalman’s trusted confidant, who was the former Holy Knight Commander, may have had some attachment and pride towards his appearance during his lifetime.
He informed his confidant, the former Holy Knight Commander Albert, of the presence of invaders. He respond, 「I see, did they finally come?」
Although they had succeeded in defeating the Dragon Zombie after a desperate fight, they had used up all of their strength there. There was no one to come rescue them, since they hadn't acted on the orders of the church, but based on their own convictions. Thus, their fate was sealed, but their hearts, which wished for the peace of the Great Jura Forest caused a miracle. Well rather than a miracle, it might have been a disaster for them though... Adalman’s group transformed into ghost after receiving the curse of the dead, and a large amount of magic essence [4]. However, with their strong willpower, Priest Adalman and Holy Knight Commander Albert succeeded in keeping their egos. Priest Adalman became a Undead King, the king of ghosts. Holy Knight Commander Albert became a Death Paladin. And his three subordinates became Death Lords (Ghost Knight Leader)[5]. The Ghost King Adalman who, had acquired the abilities of a Necromancer (Dead Ruler)[6], was dominating the dead spirits in the surroundings, and stayed inside a cave. That was an old story from more than several hundred years ago. The rules of time didn’t apply them, who had become undead, so the number of years that had passed couldn’t be confirmed. But, he noticed the birth of the new ruler of Jura Great Forest. It was natural. After the disappearance of the Storm Dragon Veldora, he had sent his subordinates to gathered information, since he had expected the forest to become turbulent. The result, he choose to subject to the new Demon Lord. As things were, he had become its subordinate. 「Yeah. The time for us to become useful for Demon Lord Rimuru-sama, who gave us peace, has finally come. If it’s in this labyrinth, I can employ the deceased as I like, unlike during the long cave life, this place is overflowing with excitement. We must make proof of our loyalty for our “God,” that has bestowed us with such a wonderful environment.」 「Yes! This Albert, understands.」
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「Ah, it’s alright. When you find the stairs, there is a doorway to an inn. It’s possible to stay in that place. So, there's no problem even if we don’t bring much food. In addition, we could sell things that we don’t need there, since there’s merchant in that place, you know?」
Mark and Zhen looked doubtful when Shinji explained what he heard. How to put it? In this serious world, it was only in here that the world was full of jokes, it was a very hard to describe feeling. Since they were “Otherwolders” too, in this world possessing an ability would garner you favorable treatment. However, it wasn't to the degree that you could do as you liked in this country. Yuuki was considerably doing his best regarding improvements to the food problem, that also dealt with the circulation of goods in the Empire, but this place seemed to have surpassed that. Takoyaki[7], Okonomiyaki[8] and Yakisoba[9]. On top of that, recently even Crepes[10] were about to be made. Stalls were crowded and lined side-by-side. The toilet problem was also dealt with perfectly, and the comfort of the inn was also wonderful. 「Should I live here? Say, shall we not return to the Empire?」
They gave up, and let out a sigh. The town was lively, the food was delicious. In addition to its comfortableness, it was as if the city was the center of culture and amusement, where new pleasures were born, one after another. The enjoyment that they were extremely familiar with in their previous world, was a nostalgic one to them, that the Empire didn’t know. It wasn't like the Empire didn’t have culture nor amusement, but it wasn't as free as in this city. Above all else, the war was close to starting. For the three of them, who knew the Empire’s military strength well, it was useless to think that this country would have a chance to win against the Empire. It couldn’t be helped, they cut off such regrets, and challenged the labyrinth.
………
…
「How should I say it… haven’t we earned a lot this week? Though it's said that this inn only offers the minimal facilities, it’s still at a moderate level. Comparatively, the inn fees are cheap, and unneeded equipment can be seld for money, haven’t we saved a lot?」
While saying so, Mark took out the Minos Bardiche, and showed it off. It shone with a beautiful silver color. A supreme gem made of Mithril. It was an item obtained from the treasure chest guarded by the guardian of the 50th floor, it was a Unique class weapon. 「It’s a Unique class weapon, you know? Even in the Empire, we wouldn't be able to get one so easily.」 「Or rather, in addition to that Bardiche, there’s that open hole right. What might that be?」 「Even so, it’s a pretty weapon. Though the shape is weird...」 「This is so surprising. We are seriously trying to capture this labyrinth, we earned income, we're also enjoying this... Rather, to be able give out a weapon like this freely, isn’t this country more than what we had previously surmised? Isn’t this bad?」 Mark and Zhen nodded at Shinji’s words. There were many more things to be considered. Firstly, the 50th floor boss was strong. Among the monsters that had appeared around the Empire, not once had a monster with that class been born in these 100 years. According to the ranking of disaster class that Yuuki had established, it was an "A” rank monster. As for this monster class classification, the Empire had also adopted it as the common way to refer monsters, because it was easy to understand with it. There was also the reason that, if the classification was different, then it could cause problems, since this classification system was widely used by merchants. Aside from it. In the 40th floor, there was a snake which had begun to attack with a dangerous breath, it was agreeable to say that it was an “A” rank monster. It would not start attacking if the enemy was outside its breath range, though there was no escape in the narrow room. It hurled itself with its body's tough muscles, it was a monster that you couldn’t be careless with. And, it was certain that the one they had met in the 50th floor was an Over “A” rank monster. In the 30th floor, that guys movement were handicapped with chains and weights, but in there his movements were unrestrained. He was a dangerous boss, befitting the status as a devil amongst the Demon Lord's subordinates. But, he wasn’t a enemy that the three couldn’t defeat, though it was another story if one of them could win against the enemy alone... 「Surely. I'm worried that a monster of such class was guarding the 50th floor. The class of the floor boss seems to lose against the guardian class boss of every ten floors… Isn’t the strength just increasing in one level from the 40th floor to the 50th floor?」
Mark and Zhen also nodded at Shinji’s words. Their goal was the bottommost floor. To determine the existence or inexistence of the research facility. It was unknown how many floor there were until the bottom, so they needed to proceed with the capture without being careless. They retired that day after they had finished confirming the plan once more. And then, three days passed. They finally arrived at the stairs of the 59th floor after they had cleared the poison marsh, and the corrosion zone. They went down those stairs――reaching the 60th floor――the floor display increased by one number once they went down.
An intense fight began. It was truly an intense battle, or at least, that was my impression. While slumped, and watching the situation in the middle of a casual game of cards, I watched the boss fight seriously.
Shinjy … Estimated A rank [EP: 64,000] Unique Skill『Master Medic[11]』 Method of Attack: Virus Manipulation. Air Composition Manipulation, Poison. Naturally he could heal as well.
I felt the outline was like that. I would deliciously take their abilities into account. When you only looked at their strength, you would think that they would win against Adalman. Nevertheless. That guy, Adalman, seemed to have grown greatly in the span of one year. Or rather, the egoless Death Lords group that didn’t have any big changes in their original fighting strength, were a contrast to Adalman and Albert, who were proud of their current strength, which couldn't be compared to before. Anyway, even I didn’t know it either,
「Has the quality of Holy Knights these days fallen?」
「My master (Rimuru)! Were you able to witness it? Our victory is for your sake!!」
「Eh, that kind of thing... I'm not hiding anything though...?」
He seemed to have improved upon Ruminas's “Day and Night Inversion” and have acquired it. Of course, as a token of gratitude he taught Ruminas this skill too. And Arnaud came in when Adalman had acquired this skill. If you thought about it, he was a man with bad timing, but because he could receive training from the strongest knight of some hundred years ago here, it could also be said that his lucky was good. With such feelings, the 60th floor was transformed into a dangerous domain. 「Hey, hey… then, Arnaud and his group are where now?」 「Well… maybe because of the training, they easily defeated the boss of 70th floor, and are now in a deadlock on the 79th floor!」 「Umm… from the 61st to the 70th floor is a golem zone right…」 「That’s right. They were defeated easily though…」
「I don’t need it, because I have Beretta!」
「Veldora, who do you think is stronger, Adalman or Demon Golem?」 「Umm. Without a doubt, it’s Adalman.」
「Okay, then starting from today, the 51st to the 60th floor will be switched with the 61st floor to the 70th floor」 「Understood! Just leave it to me!」
It seemed Veldora did the same thing. It might have been my mistake to have entrusted the labyrinth to these two. having achieved an abnormal evolution, the Insect Quee Apito seemed to be included in the ten strongest individuals in this labyrinth. Having evolved into humanoid form, her insect-like appearance from before was gone. Getting a beautiful form. It was a result of the abnormal evolution. And so, the strongest individuals in this labyrinth... There was a chance that they had the combat power of Executive class. I didn’t want to know, but various dragons seemed to have evolved to Dragon King class. It had become that there were four Dragon Kings.
Anyway, I would give a proper order to these guardians so they don’t raise their hands, except against the ones who invade the labyrinth. Otherwise, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to travel in the labyrinth. It was somewhat sad, it had become a situation where you couldn’t challenge the labyrinth without having several Demon Lords. Thus, during the observation of the three invaders, I noticed the current, unexpected, condition of the labyrinth. Oh well, it was good to become strong, but I would be uneasy if it evolved beyond my imagination. It might be the bad habit of a timid person. I praised Adalman for his splendid deed, and I told him that the floor was changed as a reward. He was considerably moved, and said that this was a mark of his wish to be useful to me in the future. Well, I wished him to do his best.
With such feelings, the curtain closed on the current riot.