— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
"So this will take us right to the entrance of the labyrinth?" I asked, looking down at the magic circle. "I should thank Perugius for making things so easy."
"It's Lord… no, never mind," Arumanfi said, shaking his head as he shot a small annoyed glance at Roxy, who was at my side, before he turned away from our group. "Now, please, make haste. While Lord Perugius is much more lenient with your family, especially given your camaraderie against his great foe in Laplace, I do not wish to cause my master any displeasure with a demon staying in his sacred ground."
"Yeah… I got it," I said as we all got onto the teleportation circle, with me needing to pull Roxy close as she was still in awe at the surroundings.
Perugius' continuous dislike of demonfolk, which included my beloved Roxy, was still quite annoying even if there wasn't any true hatred there any longer… but thankfully, we rarely had to deal with it, and he had allowed Roxy to briefly come to the floating fortress as he prepared a magic circle to the Divine Continent.
While it was a shame that she wasn't allowed past the outside gates, considering how amazed she was to be amongst the clouds in the legendary floating palace, I think it was more than enough for the moment.
"Alright… everyone ready?" I asked, overlooking the rest, who were all dressed in attire fit for combat with packs on their back.
But as soon as I passed Rudy and Sara, I found myself momentarily stunned at Roxy and Eris, with Roxy dressed in a new robe that was form fitting to her body for defence, and Eris with a set of light armour that was very easy to move in with a coat overtop.
Seeing those two, and especially Roxy, in such rugged clothing that showed off their unique yet equally alluring physiques… well, it was really doing it for me.
Maybe, during our first night, I could set up a barrier around our tent… that did sound like fun.
"Yeah. Let's do this, brother," Rudy replied with a smile, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Right… even if this trip was going to be a little fun, the end goal was still quite the serious thing, so I shouldn't be focusing on those matters.
But if things led to that…
"Okay. Then… you do the honours," I said, nodding to him.
Rudy then crouched down, casting a quick glance at the rest of us to ensure we were on the magic circle before he began putting in his mana, and with the familiar pull of teleportation magic flowing through my body, I found myself standing amid completely foreign surroundings a few moments later.
The slight lack of air… the barely noticeable scent of the ocean… the wind that instantly began to flutter my hair… and, of course, the giant cliff that was before us, with an opening with smoothed stone making it stand out.
From how the Divine Continent had been described, this was certainly the place.
"Fucking wind… is that the labyrinth at least?" Eris said, gesturing towards the opening as her hair blew into her face, causing her to frown.
"Yes. Luckily, Perugius already had a teleportation circle set here, so there's no need to waste time walking over," I replied, reaching out to brush the flailing strands back behind her ear. "And don't worry. The wind won't be a problem once we get inside."
Although, if she was in combat, she might end up tying her hair up anyway.
"O-Oh… Good." Her cheeks flushed as she turned away, giving me a quick glance before she looked back towards the labyrinth's entrance.
What? Why was she acting so shy again?
I think we were long past such things, especially with the two children she had given me.
Was it… the excitement of our situation, perhaps?
If so, that was… quite adorable.
"Right… we'll head inside first before organizing how we'll tackle it," I said, taking the first step forward. "As it hasn't been explored in years, there aren't any good maps, but Orsted gave me a basic path to follow from his memory… although it's not very detailed."
"That should be fine." Roxy walking up to join me, her hand clenching her staff as she looked up and flashed a confident grin my way. "I've ventured into completely unmapped dungeons before, and that was before I had my demon eye, and most importantly, I didn't have you. So this will be a piece of cake."
"Roxy…" I said, slightly stunned.
That confidence of hers… it was extremely hot.
"Ah, but don't think we can take this casually," she said as she raised a finger, her tone shifting to the one she used as a teacher, which had, to my delight, been employed in our bedroom more than a few times. "For labyrinths that have been left unattended for a long time, the monsters fight amongst themselves to control their population, so those that are left are often extremely strong… even though I know you all are amazing, please, remain vigilant."
We all nodded at her, even Eris calming her excited smile into an expression of seriousness, at least for a moment.
While I had expected to take the lead in this venture, I suppose it was only natural that Roxy would end up as our coordinator, and with her being in the backline, that was good for our battle position as well.
"Then, let's go- whoa!"
I caught Roxy as she stumbled, her eyes suddenly clamping shut as she quickly shook her head.
"Are you okay?" I asked, worried.
"I'm… fine. Just got lightheaded all of a sudden," she said, giving my arm a squeeze as she stood up by herself.
Ah… that must have been due to the lack of oxygen… not to mention the unstable ground.
While the rest of us had strong enough constitutions, even Rudy, as he had kept up his morning physical training, Roxy as a magician had quite the weak body in comparison.
"Do you need wind magic for better air? I can generate it for you," I offered.
"No… I'm already feeling a bit better, so just give me a second," she said, taking a few breaths as she turned back to the cliffside, her cheeks having gained a bit of a flush. "Okay… let's go."
The rest of us briefly shared a worried glance, but seeing that Roxy was walking just fine, we decided to follow her wishes, the sound of the howling wind masking our footsteps as we made our way towards the entrance, with me sticking close to Roxy in case she had another sudden loss of balance.
As we headed past the entrance, Rudy immediately cast a light spell to illuminate the dark, revealing a long hallway, barely wider than those of the university, with walls of jagged stone and a musky stench that permeated the air.
"So it's a completely natural formation… I suppose that makes sense. And from how I can already see a separate path… I am guessing this is one with many linking tunnels," Roxy said, narrowing her eyes as she turned to me. "Leon, can you show us the map Orsted gave you?"
"Of course," I replied, taking out the parchment, revealing a messy line that stretched across the page, marked with a few crude drawings of landmarks and written directions.
"I see… from this, it seems that it doesn't have much verticality for where we need to go, which will make things easier," Roxy said, looking up again as her eye began to glow. "Alright… this is the way, but let's make our positions clear."
It didn't take long to organize us into our roles, as we already had somewhat of an idea as to how we would work together, and only needed to wait until we saw the labyrinth in person in order to finalize it.
Roxy would remain at the rear, providing support with magic and scouting with her demon eye, while taking the role of leader to give directions.
Sara would remain beside her, proving a mix of limited ranged support, as well as using her swordsmanship to defend Roxy from anything that tried to ambush from behind, while also using her impressive vision to help with Roxy with scouting and directions.
Rudy would take the middle, using his magic to deal damage, while holding most of the supplies, as he would be moving the least among us.
And then, of course, Eris and I would take the front, taking out any opponents before they could even be a problem… probably.
But seeing Roxy taking such a leading role, along with the barely-masked confidence and pride, all while wearing that familiar mage hat that she had worn all the way back when we first met… well, I found it all extremely cute, and I wouldn't want to deal with things too fast and dampen her excitement.
"Then… let's go!" Eris said, practically bouncing on her feet in anticipation, taking the lead as we began making our way into the labyrinth.
The first few minutes passed with nothing happening.
Sara guided us to a path to the left, and the only thing of note was an old bloodstain that was nearly as large as my house.
There must have been quite the battle here.
At least… that was until Roxy suddenly told us to stop, looking ahead with narrowed eyes.
"Monsters ahead. Leon, do you see them?" she said, her tone instantly shifting to a serious one.
"Yeah… I do," I replied, unsheathing my sword. "And they're coming closer."
Of course, I had sensed them before Roxy noticed, but I didn't want to take her role away from her, especially when she was taking this so seriously.
"Eri… get ready," I said.
"Y-Yeah… fighting together with Leon… I'm excited," she replied, a wide smile on her face as she also prepared her sword.
Our group's movement came to a halt as we waited for the approaching monsters, the sounds of grinding stone echoing louder and louder as eventually, the passage illuminated by Rudy's magic revealed three large figures that took up the entirety of the area.
"A sort of golem… and with no visible core…" Roxy muttered.
The whistle of an arrow then shot past, and as soon as the touki-enhanced arrowhead struck the middle monster's body, the tip shattered as the shaft snapped in two, leaving no visible damage on the golem.
"Tsk… nothing, huh?" Sara said, lowering her bow. "No wonder Orsted said this would be troublesome. I guess this is for you three."
So even her arrows didn't do a thing… if we were a normal adventurer party, Sara with her arrows could be considered to be the main damage dealer, as they had the power of a Sword Saint, but if they did nothing… well, it was no wonder that the few records of this place described it as 'impossible'.
The golems, having stood still after coming into view, suddenly raced forward with impressive agility, their stiff legs pounding against the stone floor as they approached.
But… Eris was faster.
With a sudden burst of speed, I watched as her touki flowed into her legs as she leaped forward, the energy quickly transferring to her arms and her sword as she unleashed a strike, the air rumbling as she instantly cut through the first golem's body, causing it to topple to the ground.
That's my girl.
But I wasn't going to leave her to do all the work.
Narrowing my eyes, I covered my blade with touki and mana, imbuing the element of gravity into it as my sword took on a purplish hue.
Well… let's try something with this, shall we?
I then swung to the side, unleashing my attack as the slash of energy instantly reached the other two enemies, cleaving them in half before they suddenly burst into pieces from the secondary shockwave, which caught the halved body of Eris' opponent as well.
But that wasn't all.
Focusing on the mana within the slash, I forced it to converge to a point instead of simple adding to the power of the strike, causing a small ball of 'gravity' to appear just as the golems burst in to pieces, the concentrated energy pulling in the shattered remains of the monsters.
"Leon… no, I don't even want to know," Roxy said, shaking her head with a sigh. "Golem type monsters are known to regenerate if there are adequate resources around it, so help me here, Rudeus."
Just as the ball of rocks was about to fall to the ground, Roxy then unleashed a line of icicles, the barrage striking the collection of rocks and covering it in a thin veil of ice, the temperature of the area instantly cooling from the effects.
That's my woman.
Even though she wasn't really a fighter, with her constant practice in chantless magic, she could now be considered one of the greatest combat magicians in the world due to her skill, expertise, and speed that separated her from the rest.
"Got it," Rudy replied.
He then extended his staff as a ball of blue fire appeared near the tip, launching forward a moment later at the frozen rocks before they then exploded from the sudden change in temperature, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in its wake.
That was quite the combination, especially considering that it was done without any prior communication.
"Well done, Rudeus. But do be careful with the fire magic in here," Roxy said.
"Don't worry, I already planned on generating wind magic as we went deeper as the airflow is bound to be worse," he said, raising his hand as a sudden breeze blew past us.
"Right…" Roxy said, turning to me with a smile. "And good job, Leon. Grouping them together was very helpful."
"Y-Yeah… no problem," I replied.
Having her compliment Rudy and I… it almost felt like we were back to being kids.
But still… it felt quite good.
Maybe this was why Roxy had a praising kink in bed?
"Leon… what were you thinking about just now?" she asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.
"Nothing, Roxy… just about you," I replied with a smile.
"Hmm…" She did not seem convinced. "If you say so… well, that sound was sure to draw some attention, so let's continue."
And thus, with her directing us, we did so.
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
With our impressive teamwork and extraordinary individual skills, by the time we began to feel some fatigue, we had already gone through half of the path that Orsted had drawn for us, meaning that we would likely only need to spend one night of rest each way.
Good thing we had packed light, I guess.
Anyway, after getting camp set up for the night, Sara and Rudy were the first ones to stand watch while the three of us decided to get some rest together, with the reasons for our separate groups being quite obvious.
"Mmm… this is nice… a comfy pillow," Roxy said, her eyes closed as she snuggled against my right side, her blue hair undone and splayed across my chest.
"Yeah… this is everything I've ever wanted," Eris added from my left, burying her face into my neck as her legs tightened around mine, a giddy smile on her face. "Sleeping in a dungeon, exploring in search of a treasure, and fighting strong monsters together… it's so exciting!"
Yeah… while I did love spending time at home, there was a certain romance that came from delving into a dungeon together, especially since it was the first time for Eris, as we were too focused on heading back home to do so when we were adventurers to take any potentially dangerous outings
And as for Roxy, while we had done so in Begaritt, with the worry of Mama and Lilia present, we weren't able to take the time to enjoy it like we could now.
Of course, it wasn't as if we were just messing around here.
Just as Roxy had predicted, the monsters were extremely strong, some even causing Eris some trouble before she got support from the rest of us, so we did need to take the fights seriously.
But overall… it was nice, and I could definitely see us doing something like this again.
And maybe, when the children got older, we could make dungeon exploration a little family event.
Quite the odd one, I admit, but I had been wanting to give the kids another experience with real combat aside from their little treasure hunt in the forest we did a year or so ago.
After all, they were strong.
Extremely strong.
Especially Anna and Aria, who had truly taken to swordsmanship and magic, respectively.
And due to that strength, there wasn't anyone near their age that could stand up to them, and that… was quite dangerous in itself.
My daughters weren't stupid, so they knew they weren't the strongest… but even if they knew that, they could still overestimate themselves, especially when they had so rarely fought in a true battle with lives on the line.
With me there, their lives would obviously not actually be in any danger, but still, it was better than nothing-
"Leon… what are you doing?" Roxy said, causing me to turn and look at her face that had formed a pout. "You have two of your wives on each side of you, yet you're staring off into space… are you bored with us now?"
"What? That's ridiculous," I said, shaking my head. "I was just thinking of the kids back home… and maybe doing something like this again."
I felt Eris' legs squeeze a bit tighter at that.
I guess that idea sounded nice to her.
"Is that so… I suppose exploring a labyrinth after so long has been quite exciting… especially considering how close we got compared to the last time," she said, her hand slipping under my shirt as her fingernails brushed through my chest hair. "But still… focus on us for now. I love our kids just as much as you do, but we rarely have any time to ourselves lately."
I mean, I focused on them many times throughout the day, but I understood what she meant.
"Of course," I replied, my arm that was wrapped around her body pulling her closer, as I did the same to Eris on my left. "But you know… if you really want me to focus on you…"
She quickly caught onto my suggestive tone, her cheeks flushing as she pouted.
"Rudy and Sara are outside," she said.
That wasn't a refusal.
"Then we'll have to be quiet, won't we?" I said, my hand reaching to her bottom as her fingers snaked down to my waistband. "Besides… it was your fantasy to fall in love with a man who rescued you in a dungeon… so I can only imagine the other situations you've had in mind in a setting like this."
In regard to Rudy and Sara, I could always cast a sound nullification barrier, although that would take some time… but I had a feeling that the need to remain discrete would excite Roxy more.
And as for my comment on her fantasy… well, from how she bit her lip and pressed her crotch against my hip, I think I hit the mark on that one.
"Hey… if you're gonna do it, don't leave me out of this either," Eris said, turning to wrap her arms around me, her lips already attacking my neck. "Mmm… and your smell… it's amazing."
Well… we hadn't had a shower since leaving home, and I had gotten quite sweaty from the battles on our way here… I guess she did always have that kind of kink.
"I wouldn't imagine it," I returned.
And as for what happened… well, I just hoped that Sara and Rudy had taken a position further away from our tent.
— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —
After another day of running through the dungeon, defeating any monster that we encountered, we had finally reached it… the place where Orsted marked the location of the sacred treasure.
While it was quite deep into the labyrinth, it technically wasn't the deepest part, and we had passed by many different diverging paths on our way here, so we could mark the dungeon as completely 'cleared' despite our journey… but perhaps that would be for another time.
More importantly, as we walked through what was meant to be the last tunnel that led to the main room… Roxy finally brought up what we had all been thinking.
"There haven't been any monsters for the past hour," she said, frowning a bit. "Odd."
"But… isn't that a good thing?" Rudy asked.
"Maybe… but it could also prove to be troubling. Monsters usually fight for and remain in their territory, so to have not encountered any for so long, it can only mean that something has marked this place as their territory," she answered, narrowing her eyes. "And for no monsters to dare take up the space despite it remaining empty… that can only mean that such a monster has a very strong influence."
There was no need to explain further, as for monsters, influence was solely based on one trait.
Strength.
I looked to the side as Eris' eyes flashed in excitement, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword tighter as she took a step ahead of me.
This girl… I know that our opponents thus far hadn't truly pushed her, but was she really so eager to face a strong foe?
Haa… I just hope she didn't pass that along to the kids.
Only a few minutes passed until we found ourselves standing before a large cavern, different to anything else we had seen in this labyrinth of tunnels.
And in the middle of the large open space… stood a monster.
Grrrkkk!
A mix between the roar of a lion, and the screech of a bird echoed as it turned its head towards us, revealing the creature in its entirety.
It had the body of a bird, with golden feathers, a red beak, and beady black eyes that were directed towards our group.
But what was the most striking feature of the monster were the whip-like tentacles that were connected to its small set of wings, dangling down onto the ground as the monster slowly expanded its wings.
"That… I have no clue what that is," Roxy said, raising her staff. "Prepare for combat, and remain vigilant against any possible attack."
With all of us staring at the bird, Sara notched an arrow as Rudy slowly cast our gear to the side, bringing out a piece of paper with a magic circle before he placed it on the ground.
"Brother… give me a moment," he said.
"Got it," I replied, still staring at the bird.
A flash of mana erupted from behind as Rudy summoned his magic armour, and as I stared at the monster… it reacted.
Its head bucked back, and with a flap of its wing, a tentacle then shot out, expanding its length as it closed in on us faster than the speed of sound.
But I was faster.
My sword lashed out, and an instant later, a crash resounded through the cavern as the tentacle slammed into the wall behind us, the end cut off as the monster screeched in response.
I narrowed my eyes.
That attack… it would have decimated anyone less than a King-ranked fighter in an instant.
This thing was strong.
And more than that…
"It's regenerating…" Roxy muttered as the bird retreated, blood briefly splattering on the ground before the tentacle regrew to its previous size in but a few moments.
So this battle wouldn't be so simple… but I guess nothing ever was when it concerned the Man-God.
I then looked back at Rudy, and thankfully, it seemed that he was ready, with his magic armour making him stand only slightly taller than me, as he had optimized it quite a bit, the armour now acting more of a mobile unit instead of the bulky frame it was before.
But I doubted he would need to move, as he had Eris and me.
"Alright… let's deal with this thing," I said, stepping forward.
But just as I was about to leap into action, I felt someone grab onto my shirt, and looking to my side at the offender…
"Leon… wait," Eris said, her eyes conveying her sincerity. "I… love how strong you are, and I love fighting alongside you… but I don't want to just be strapped to your side… I want to be your equal."
Instinctively, I wanted to tell her that she already was, but from that pleading gaze of hers… I decided against it.
"Fine… but I'll step in if I notice something going wrong," I said, taking a step back.
"That's fine. I'm not so idiotic to want to die for nothing but pride," she said, turning forward as she unsheathed her blade. "So just stay back there… and as for you guys, I guess you can support me, since I know you're feeling the same."
Glancing over at Roxy's narrowed eyes and Rudy crouching down in anticipation, it seemed that Eris was correct.
"Alright… then, I'll ensure that everyone remains safe," I said, readying my sword as I looked forward.
If Eris wanted to lead the attack, then I could at least maintain the defence.
"Got it…" Eris then disappeared, the wind from her movement blowing my hair back as she appeared next to the bird, a frown on her face as another tentacle fell to the ground, the monster having defended itself just in time.
So it was adaptive as well… this could prove to be a bit challenging for them.
"Eris!" Rudy shouted as he unleashed his spell, sending a line of stone bullets towards the monster, forcing it to fly upwards to evade… right into the spear of ice that Roxy had shot a moment before.
The projectile sank into the monster's side, causing a spray of blood to launch into the air, but the monster seemed mostly unperturbed as it landed at the end of the room, lashing out with its tentacles towards the quickly approaching Eris, which she easily evaded, hacking off any that she couldn't completely dodge, but distracting her enough that she wasn't able to capitalize on the moment.
The four of them continued fighting in tandem, with Sara providing as much support as she could with her arrows, which, unfortunately, were unable to penetrate the tough feathers of the monster, but she was able to aim for the eyes and force the monster to move out of the way.
And of course, the monster didn't simply remain as a target.
While it didn't deal any serious damage to Eris, it did cause her to stumble a few times with some well-coordinated strikes from its whips, leaving her covered in dirt and a few scrapes, but she continued onward unfazed.
I also had to defend a few times here and there, as the monster wanted to rid itself of the main annoyances in Roxy and Rudy, but alas, it was unsuccessful.
But eventually, despite only landing a few blows… they broke through the stalemate.
"Eris! Lead it back!" Roxy shouted as a stream of water shot forth from Rudy's hand.
"Got it!" she replied, leaping back to evade a strike, the monster quickly following her in pursuit.
"A little more… and there!" Roxy said before a ball of mana gathered in her staff, and a moment later, a wave of pure cold erupted towards the monster, instantly freezing the water its legs were caught in, holding it in place. "Rudeus!"
My brother quickly followed her call, launching a line of stone bullets towards the monster, all of them being intercepted by its tentacles, but destroying them in the process, leaving it completely unprotected.
I watched as Eris crouched down, a wide smirk on her face as touki gathered in her legs, more refined and potent than I had ever seen from her before.
And then… she launched forward, fast enough to surprise even me as she landed on the opposite side of the monster, stumbling a bit at the sudden decrease in momentum.
And as for the monster itself… well, to say it wasn't in the best of shape was an understatement.
A thin line of red appeared diagonally across its neck, slowly growing larger with each passing moment, before its head slowly slid off its body, landing in front of it with a 'thunk' as its body sunk down, collapsing to the ground.
It was dead, and as evidenced by the previous damage the three had dealt to it, its regeneration did not seem to extend past its agile tentacles.
"Well… that was quite amazing. Good job, everyone," I said as Eris began walking over.
"Hmph! That wasn't anything special!" Eris replied, crossing her arms.
"Yeah… we aren't children, Leon. We're able to pull our own weight too," Roxy added, shaking her head as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
Right… but that dismissive attitude would be a lot more convincing if you two didn't have such wide smiles on your faces.
"Here, Eri. Let's get those cuts healed up," I said, walking up to her as I flooded her body with healing magic.
Thankfully, she didn't resist, deciding to lean her head on my shoulder as I completed my work.
"Should we… do anything about that?" Rudy asked, gesturing towards the monster.
"Unless you want the magic stone or any other materials… it's not like there are other adventurers, so it doesn't really matter what happens to this place afterwards," I said, having finished healing Eris, giving her a quick kiss before we separated from our light hug. "Now… while Orsted really didn't give me much of an explanation… I can only assume that the place that we're looking for is over there."
Everyone followed my gaze as we looked towards the small door at the opposite end of the cavern, a regular sized stone door with a small engraving, long since worn due to the passage of time.
"I guess so… then, let's see," Rudy said as we walked over, with him having sent back his magic armour back through his portable teleportation circle while Sara took charge of holding the equipment.
Standing in front of the door, I noticed that there were no handles, and in my attempt to push forward… it didn't budge.
And I wasn't pushing lightly.
I guess Orsted was right about needing mana for this.
"Rudy, can you do it?" I asked.
"Haa… yeah," he said, placing his hand against the stone. "Although it feels a bit depressing to be used as nothing but a mana battery… first Shizuka, then Orsted with Laplace, and now this…"
I… couldn't really say anything against that, unfortunately.
But having mana was a skill in and of itself… well, no… maybe it was best to stay quiet for now.
Instead, I simply gave him a comforting pat on the back as his mana flowed into the engravings, lighting them up with a light blue hue before the door suddenly slid to the side, revealing a small room with a pedestal in the middle.
And there it was… a simple crown of silver metal, with a small red gem placed in the centre, and dust covering the top of it, having long been untouched for many years.
But seeing the mana inside of it… it was absolutely what we were looking for.
With this, we now had three of the five sacred treasures.
"Mission accomplished, I guess," I said, picking up the crown as I cleaned it off with a small gust of wind, before I then turned to the other four. "Now… let's head back home."
And while a part of me wanted to race back as soon as possible to ensure nothing went wrong with only Isolte and Sylphy at home guarding the kids… from the glint in Eris' eye, I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing to stop and fight a few more monsters on the way back up.