" Chapter 26: A New Strange Monster and the Challenges of Being a Child"

While Alex was dealing with the minion, Lili's group had reached the fifth floor, and things were far from smooth. Monsters attacked them from all over the floor as the spell had intensified to the point of attracting all the surrounding creatures. Their teamwork was uncoordinated since this was their first expedition together.

"Well, are you happy now?" Lili yelled, sending another monster flying.

"No need to shout, I can hear you just fine. And it's not my fault, who knew the spell would be this ridiculous?" Daphne replied, blocking an attack from a monster.

"I told you how my first run went," Lili said, scattering a horde of monsters to give herself a break.

"You said you needed to run quickly, but you never mentioned a spell that attracts monsters," Daphne responded, slicing through another monster.

"Girls, stop arguing. We're starting to slow down, which means the spell will get stronger," Cassandra interjected, healing Daphne.

"We wouldn't have to go through this if someone had kept their mouth shut," Lili retorted, pushing through the crowd of monsters.

"Oh for god's sake, how long are you going to keep repeating that? You've been saying it for five floors already, how much longer will you continue?" Daphne asked, defending Cassandra from a group of attacking monsters.

"I'll keep saying it for as long as it takes," Lili replied.

While the group continued to argue and bicker, they miraculously managed to reach the sixth floor. The spell kept getting stronger, now attracting monsters from the entire floor and angering the dungeon, which began spawning new creatures to get rid of the adventurers. Lili realized the situation was getting worse and came to the only solution—asking Alex to remove the spell.

"Alex, please remove the spell, this isn't funny anymore," Lili said in a tired voice.

"Really? I thought this was pretty easy for you," Alex replied, floating nearby.

"The spell has become so strong that it attracts monsters from the whole floor and makes the dungeon spawn new ones. Please, remove it," Cassandra said, nearly out of energy.

"Well, I don't know, it's supposed to be easy since these are just first-level monsters," Alex said, approaching the group and killing all the monsters so they could rest.

"Alright, I admit I was arrogant. Now, please remove the spell. I won't do it again," Daphne said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Okay, okay, no need for tears. Why are you starting to cry? I was just waiting for you to give up and ask for help," Alex said, dispersing the spell.

"You waited for us to ask you to remove the spell?" Cassandra asked, catching her breath now that the monsters were no longer chasing them.

"That's right, it was a little lesson for you not to be arrogant, even on the first floors of the dungeon. Danger lurks everywhere," Alex said, jumping off his cushion.

"You just wanted to teach us a lesson?" Daphne shouted.

"That's right, it was a small lesson so you wouldn't underestimate the dungeon," Alex replied, finding himself in someone's arms.

"Did you really have to do it this way?" Cassandra asked, holding Alex like a plush toy.

"It was the quickest way, and Daphne gave me a reason to do it," Alex said in a serious tone, looking more cute than serious as he hung in Cassandra's arms.

"If you wanted to teach them a lesson, why did I have to go through this?" Lili yelled, pointing at Alex.

"You're part of their group, so you had to go through all the hardships with them," Alex said, spreading his hands.

"This isn't fair. I'll tell Hestia-sama everything," Lili said, dropping to her knees in tears.

"Life isn't fair, my little 'Bilbo.' Going through all the problems together will bring the group closer," Alex said, making himself comfortable in Cassandra's arms.

"I told you to stop calling me Bilbo, I'm not a guy but a cute hobbit girl," Lili replied, standing up from the floor and sitting down to catch her breath.

"As you say, Lili. Now, rest up and continue the raid, you still need to reach the tenth floor," Alex said, to which the girls rolled their eyes.

Meanwhile, as Alex's group caught their breath after their lesson, a group of adventurers returning from a raid was pursuing a strange monster they had encountered in the dungeon. This monster was smarter and stronger than its kin. Black veins covered its entire body, and its eyes were bloodshot, like those of a berserker. It attacked other monsters, possibly to show its strength or assert its dominance on the floor. We will never know, as the monster was running toward another creature that had entered the dungeon. The monster was being chased by a group of adventurers and had no choice but to flee. It felt the power of these people and chose to run, seeking other monsters or adventurers to consume, becoming stronger. Alex's group was unaware of the monster approaching their floor.

"Congratulations, ladies, you completed your first raid. Despite your failures and arguments, the most important thing is that you managed. And I want to congratulate you on that," Alex said, clapping his hands.

"I'm going to tell Hestia-sama about how you tormented us," Lili began to complain, threatening Alex with the wrath of the loli goddess.

"Nice move, my young hobbit. I'm so proud that you've grown, literally," Alex said, looking down at Lili.

"What does that mean?" Lili protested until she noticed Alex looking at her from the height of his cushion.

"Get down from that cushion so I can strangle you! I'm taller than you now, so don't talk to me about height," Lili shouted, trying to jump up to Alex's cushion.

"How about 'no'!" Alex replied, dodging Lili's attacks.

"Lili, get back now!" Alex shouted, returning Chastiefol to its spear form and launching it at the strange monster.

After killing the strange monster, Alex decided to approach and examine it because, unlike other monsters, it didn't disintegrate upon death but fell to the floor, black blood oozing from it. This indicated that this monster was significantly different from the others. Alex recalled the minion he had encountered in the dungeon and realized why it had come here. These semi-villains had decided to infuse the dungeon monsters with a strange substance to strengthen them and create a wave that would break out of the dungeon and cause chaos. As Alex pondered the purpose of creating such monsters, the group of adventurers who had been chasing the monster arrived.

— Hey, buddy, step away from that monster, it could be dangerous! — shouted a rough voice, approaching Alex's group.

— Yeah, better step back, it's kind of strange, — said another, calmer voice.

— Looks like this monster died from its wounds by the time we caught up, — added a female voice.

The adventurers were closing in, but Alex paid them no mind, continuing to study the monster. He understood that these semi-villains had made a cunning decision — using monsters to create chaos, diverting suspicion from themselves. The group of adventurers had now approached Alex's group.

— Lili, Daphne, Cassandra, what are you doing here and where's Alex? — asked an elegant voice.

— Hello, Riveria, we're on a raid at Alex's insistence to strengthen our teamwork and improve our skills, — replied Cassandra, glancing at the arriving adventurers.

— Where's Alex? He wouldn't let you wander the dungeon alone, — Riveria asked, scanning for Alex.

— Hey, buddy, you look a lot like my friend. Are you his brother or son? — asked gnome Garrett, inspecting the small Alex.

— Yeah, he really does look like him, this kid's a spitting image of Alex, — agreed group captain Finn.

As members of Loki's family looked at young Alex, Lily's group watched with surprise.

— Hey, kid, are you Alex's son or brother? If you're his son, you can call me mom, — said Tiona, approaching Alex.

— What, a mom? You need to grow up first to be a mom, — retorted Riveria, not allowing Tiona to get close to the child.

— Actually, I'm already 17, and other Amazons start having kids even earlier. So, grandma Riveria, step aside and let me hug this cute little guy, — said Tiona. Hearing this, Riveria was ready to explode.

Alex turned his gaze to the arriving group.

— Hey, guys, what brings you here? — asked Alex, drawing attention.

— Kid, you're Alex's son, right? You can call me mom, Tiona said, approaching.

— What son? It's me, Alex, — said Alex with a funny face, not expecting to be mistaken for his own son.

— WHAT?? — shouted Loki's family group.

— But why are you a child again? How is that possible? — asked Riveria, pushing Tiona away.

— It's just an age spell, — Alex replied, shrugging, which elicited joyful squeals from the female members of Loki's group; even the stern Riveria couldn't remain indifferent.

— But how did you do it? — Riveria asked, lifting Alex up and enveloping him in a hug. Alex was about to start explaining when Tiona intervened.

— Riveria, put Alex down, and I promise I won't do anything to you, — Tiona said, pointing her weapon at Riveria.

— Why should I put him down if he's okay with it? Look, he's perfectly fine with this, — said Riveria, gesturing towards Alex, who didn't mind being in the arms of the beautiful elf.

— I said, put Alex down! — Tiona repeated, ready to attack. Seeing them about to argue again, Alex jumped down from Riveria's arms and decided to step away, knowing that when girls fight, it always ends badly.

While Riveria and Tiona fought over the right to hug Alex, someone else took the initiative and picked him up.

— How can I help you, Ais? — asked Alex, not understanding why this silent girl decided to hug him.

— Nothing, I just felt like doing it, but I don't understand why, — Ais replied in a monotone voice.

— Well, whatever you say, — Alex said, shrugging.

— Hello, Lefiya. How's your new staff? — Alex asked, turning his gaze to Lefiya, who silently stared at him.

— Hello, Alex-sama! The staff is very good and makes the task much easier, — Lefiya replied nervously, clearly nervous under Alex's gaze.

— Alright, girls, enough fighting. We need to go. We have to celebrate my family's first raid, — said Alex, clapping his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

Tiona and Riveria stopped fighting and focused on Alex, who was being held by Ais. They understood that if Ais wanted to do something, she would do it. Alex also asked to take the monster with them to show it at the guild as evidence of the emergence of a new type of monster.

The group decided to move on and reached the floor where Alex defeated the minion of the villain. Finding the minion's body, Alex asked them to take it with them and blame the monster. Loki's family group didn't understand why they should do this, and Alex explained who this guy was. He asked them to keep quiet about it so that the villains wouldn't scatter and would think that their plan to change the monsters had succeeded. Nodding, they dragged the bodies of the monster and the minion towards the exit.

At the entrance to Babylon...

After Alex's group and Loki's family left Babylon, they were met by a worried goddess who couldn't sit still and decided to meet her children after their raid. In reality, Loki just wanted to drink, so she decided to meet her family to go celebrate a successful raid. But when she saw her family members, she was surprised not by the monster they were dragging or the dead minion, but by Alex in his child form being carried by Ais and refusing to let go.

— Ais, don't you dare tell me this is your child and Alex's, — Loki said, pointing a finger at Ais. — How could you do this to me? I wanted us to have a family: me, you, and Alex. I thought we would have a happy family, and you beat me to it! — Loki shouted, falling to the ground and pounding her fist, attracting the attention of passing adventurers.

— Turns out Princess Sword has a child, that's quite unexpected, — said a random adventurer.

— You idiot, how can this child be Princess Sword's son when he looks about ten years old? — another retorted.

— You're right, but Goddess Loki said he's her son and Alex's. But who is this Alex? — asked a third.

— Alex is Alexander Voldigoad, now known as the Demon King, — answered the second.

— Damn, I envy him, he got himself such a cute wife and child, — said the third, with the first nodding in agreement.

— You two are idiots, how could they have a child if they only recently met? — asked the second.

— Well, I don't know, maybe there's magic or something involved, — the first replied doubtfully.

— Lord, why did you give me these two idiots in the group? — said the second, hitting himself on the forehead.

Seeing Loki attracting attention with her antics, Riveria, as the most responsible member of the family, decided to knock Loki out to prevent her from causing problems. After knocking out Loki, the group headed to the guild to report on their raid, the monster they encountered, and to show the victim's body for identification. Alex had already gotten down from Ais's arms, much to her disappointment, and decided to look around for his consultant. He wanted to surprise Aina with his new appearance, but it turned out Aina was off duty, which disappointed Alex as he wanted to see her reaction to his current form. After reporting on the monster, the group decided to go celebrate their raid. Having made their decision, they headed towards "Mistress of Fertility."

The Mistress of Fertility...

Alex and his group arrived at the Mistress of Fertility and took their usual seats. Meanwhile, Alex, floating on his cushion, observed the waitresses welcoming guests at the entrance. His gaze settled on one of them—Anya-nya. The group of waitresses hadn't noticed Alex yet, who was hovering above everyone.

— Anya-nya, hello! Long time no see! — exclaimed Alex, flying into the room.

— I told you, my name is Anya-nya, not Anya-nya, — said Anya, turning towards Alex. She didn't notice him at first, just a child floating on a cushion. — Who are you-nya? Where's the guy who calls me Anya-nya? — she asked, looking around.

— Anya-nya, it's me, — said Alex, floating closer.

— Alex-nya, how did you become so small? Did you shrink-nya? — asked Anya, inspecting him.

— Hold on, Alex-nya turned into a child? HOW? — shouted Anya, finally understanding the situation. Her cry caught the attention of other visitors and waitresses, who also noticed the floating Alex.

— Alex, is that you? — asked Chloe, approaching and looking at him with sparkling eyes. — Alex, let your little sister hug you, — she continued, reaching out.

— No, thanks. I don't like the way you're looking at me, and please stop drooling, — said Alex, not letting Chloe come closer, feeling uncomfortable around her.

— Chloe, calm down and wipe off your drool. Don't you dare approach Alex, — said Ryu, stepping forward and tapping Chloe on the head to calm her down. — Alex, what happened to you? Why did you become a child? — asked Ryu, looking at Alex, who was sitting on the cushion.

— Just age-changing magic, that's all, — replied Alex, jumping off the cushion.

— I've never heard of such magic, — said Ryu, approaching and picking him up.

— Why does everyone pick me up when I get off my cushion? — asked Alex with a crooked smile.

— I'm doing it so Chloe doesn't try to snatch you, — Ryu calmly replied, pointing to Chloe, who was giving Alex a fierce look.

— I understand, but please put me down. I'll go to my group, — said Alex, trying to break free from Ryu's grip.

— No! It might be uncomfortable for you to sit at the table, so I'll help you, — said Ryu, unwilling to let go of Alex.

— What about Mama-Mia? She might get upset, — said Alex, pointing to Mama-Mia, who was looking their way at that moment.

— She won't mind, — replied Ryu. Alex turned to Mia, and she gave him a thumbs-up, indicating everything was fine.

— (Sigh) As you say, — Alex replied with a crooked smile. Ryu smiled and walked to the group's table, while Alex shook his head, deciding to enjoy Ryu's elfish embrace, realizing he was the one who caused this situation by choosing to become a child.

To be continued...