Chapter 45: Reason

According to documentation recorded in history books, the «Great Gruen Volcanic Labyrinth» was 50 stories deep, with rivers of lava flowing everywhere.

Due to the intense heat that made even the strongest adventurers suffocate, those charged with exploring the interior of the labyrinth naturally faced constant dangers of death, where at the slightest mistake, their lives were lost to oblivion.

And since they were exposed to such deadly heat, the explorers' energies often, if not every time, naturally faced a continuous loss of energy, leaving them quite vulnerable to the aforementioned danger of death.

Thus, although it was known that this was another of the Great Labyrinths just like the «Great Labyrinth of Orcus», no one dared venture inside to try their luck, for they were not fools.

They all knew that in a way, such a maze was even more dangerous than the «Great Labyrinth of Orcus»; where only monsters inhabited that they could fight with magic and swords or scattered traps that they could avoid with some or other detection artifacts, unlike the Labyrinth of Gruen; composed of stifling heat that drained the energy leaving it defenseless against the monsters inhabiting the labyrinth...

"Graaaaah-!"

Though not all of the above apply to all...

"Grahh-!"

In a dark place where lava crackled with every move down the walls and illuminated the dark cave, a monster whose body seemed to be made mostly of rocks and magma pounced on a group of people.

However, a slash from a sword with a slender, jet-colored body served to cut the golem in half. The dark hair tied in a ponytail swayed as the beautiful woman kicked the magma monster's body to propel herself towards the other golem.

*Swoosh!

*Slash!

A fireball was spat towards the girl from the depths of the roaring lava, but with a quick upward diagonal slash with the sharp katana, the fireball split in two.

Although the slash prevented the fireball from directly impacting the girl's body, the severed fireball exploded so close to her that it sent her flying through the air.

"Phew! These creatures hiding inside the lava are much more annoying than those golem-like monsters." Shizuku groaned when she was able to balance herself on the ground.

"This heat doesn't help either." She added. Beads of sweat dripped down her abnormally hot face.

"Oho? Although, this little heat running across my skin is like when you take a break at the beach." Tio intervened from behind. Her hands moved gracefully forward as a torrent of dark flames shot out to consume the lava golem in front of her.

"Concentrate, the monsters have us surrounded," Nader mentioned lightly as he, along with Yue, defeated all the golems or some magma ox-like monsters that came out of the depths of the lava towards them.

The pair had high enough parameters that the temperature of the labyrinth affected them. As for Tio, she is a dragon, a race that in its own right specializes in the use of fire, so she tolerates the temperature.

Therefore, the only one who was disadvantaged by the intense heat was Shizuku. So far, she was a normal human with superior abilities to one.

Nader killed the golem that was heading towards Shizuku and seeing that, for now, the waves of monsters were stopping, he approached her.

"Phew, they're finally done. I wonder how many monsters we've killed so far-".

"You've done well so far, let me help you." With a warm smile that stunned Shizuku's poor heart, leaving her speechless, Nader created a small silk handkerchief and wiped Shizuku's sweaty face.

Nader's gentle touch was transmitted across Shizuku's cheeks, who stared dumbfounded at the young man in front of her, not knowing what to think about it. It was as if her thoughts had frozen...

"Done."

Only when Nader patted her on the head did she snap out of her trance-like state.

'Huh? H-huhhhhhhhhhhh?! It can't be! I stood like a stone staring at him. It's over, he'll think I'm a fool.' She squirmed in panic inside her mind and covered her face with her ponytail.

Shizuku looked at Yue and Tio, who was giving her a soft smile, leaving her more puzzled.

"Don't overthink it...". Yue walked up to her and stood on her tiptoes to caress her shoulder with a small, soft smile.

"... Huh? Okay?"

"What do you guys think, do you want to take a break before we move on to the next floors?" Nader asked and looked at his companions.

"I'll leave the choice to you guys...".

"Same here." Shizuku was quick to agree with Yue's opinion.

"Since Shizuku also agrees, I'll join in as well. The last floor is already just around the corner. Besides, we've had enough rest until recently, so there's no need now," Tio added.

"Understood. In that case...," Nader let out a smile and took out three bluish-colored potions for three people, "take them before entering the next floor."

"T-this, come to think of it, staying for a rest is a better option." Shizuku's sweatdropped as she looked at what was in Nader's hand as if he was her natural archenemy.

"Mmm... sorry, Nader. I agree with Shizuku." Yue nodded quickly and took Shizuku's arm.

"*Cough* I agree with them." Tio coughed with a tinge of red in her cheeks.

She couldn't help but go back on her word, even if she was one of the worthy dragon-men!

"Hey, girls..." Nader's lips twitched at the girls' performance.

***

After the three women took the positions "obediently",

Nader, accompanied by the girls and Yuki in the lead, who curiously didn't lose her balance at any time since she was in winter mode, was advancing floor after floor.

Yue with her countless collections of magic and spells was defeating the monsters. Shizuku with her refined sword techniques was destroying her enemies, as well as Tio who with her elegant movements was incinerating the monsters with her purple and dark flames.

All the monsters that appeared by surprise in front of them were dragged to their death.

They advanced along a rather narrow and lava-filled path that if it wasn't for Yue, who raised a barrier of wind and ice dust that refreshed the group, Shizuku would most likely have already started to become exhausted and delirious.

*Swoshhh!

A magma-plagued minotaur-like monster shot out towards Nader.

With a simple wave of his hand, a fireball of an unusual white color was launched forward, easily engulfing the monster's body, incinerating it to dust.

Tio had already seen many of Nader's techniques and abilities that were beyond her comprehension, but still, she couldn't help but be amazed by his unfamiliar power.

'Judging someone is not a good idea, after all.'

She smiled wryly; who would have thought that the boy she thought was weak at first glance turned out to be the most monstrous of a monstrous group.

"By the way..." Tio spoke loudly, attracting the group's attention.

Tio's gaze seemed to waver for a moment as she was looked at by the young man leading the group.

"Do you guys know what happened a few days ago, when the whole world was shaken?" despite her doubts, she couldn't help but throw that question out.

Yue and Shizuku looked at each other before looking at Nader, not interrupting and waiting for Nader's answer.

"Oh, the cause of that was me. I wasn't too strong, so I had no choice but to use my strongest sleeve skill to finish off the enemy." Nader shrugged his shoulders and killed the other monsters that dared to come out of their hiding places.

Tio's lips twitched, "It's not too strong..... Well, why am I not more surprised?".

Although Tio said it casually, inside she was anything but calm. To have the strength to turn back time and, at the same time, a strength capable of shaking the heavens and the earth was quite amazing!

Even that a mortal could interfere in space was already surprising! For that reason, Tio concluded that Ehit was not necessarily stronger than Nader.

"Why?"

"Hum?"

"If you asked that question, you must have a reason for asking it, right?" Nader turned his face and looked into Tio's eyes.

Tio's expression hardened for a few moments before she let out a sigh. And as if she had decided something, she put on a serious face and looked at both Nader and the girls.

She, as someone who lost her parents when she was a cheerful child because of the «Holy Church» that put the word «Heretics» on her family's backs, began to train.

She trained so much that she surpassed even her grandfather, a dragon who was known as the strongest in her village. That being so, she took under her palm the will to face and defeat that self-proclaimed God.

Thanks to that will, and after countless years, she was able to find a way to confront God and the «Holy Church» that stuck its nose in to kill her parents.

As for that way of defeating them, it was of course; the heroes coming from another world... that led her to leave her village to seek them out.

The result did not disappoint.

At first, Tio had decided to follow Nader's group simply because she wanted to confirm the assumption whether Shizuku was one of the summoned ones from another world or not.

However, not only did she confirm that Shizuku was one of the otherworldly beings, but she also encountered a vampire that was said to be a now non-existent race. Not only that, the vampire was the very ex-queen of the once thriving and powerful vampire race!

With those clear revelations, Tio was quite elated, as the revenge she so desired was in sight.

Because of these two girls, Tio approached the group with the idea of using them to try to destroy that self-proclaimed God who had once in the past destroyed her precious family; bringing her nothing but hatred towards that figure she swore to destroy.

But... she found another variable in her path; which, in this case, was Nader; which is why Tio had to accelerate her plans to leave town.

"I see...".

Nader nodded after listening to the whole narration about Tio's story.

Yue looked at Tio with sympathy. Shizuku also sympathized with Tio's tragic story, and once again, she could confirm that indeed, the God of this world was someone pretty screwed up.

"Huh? Wait, aren't you guys mad at me after what I did?" Tio's eyes widened in surprise.

She was prepared for them to at least be mad at her for pretending to use them for her revenge scheme, but she certainly didn't imagine they would be sympathetic to her situation.

"First of all, we more or less already knew of your intentions to join us, after all, it's not every day that someone, or in this case, a dragon asks someone to join their group. As for the other thing, we really don't care since you are someone nice, and I thought if I gave you enough time, you would tell us on your own."

Nader's response left the dragoness a bit stunned. However, soon after, a soft smile broke out on her face. She was relieved and happy that she had revealed her true intentions to them.

And at the same time, she was happy to have gained some good friends that she never thought she would have...

She thanked and, at the same time, apologized once again to the three people she henceforth considered her true comrades.

"Tio-san, although you are always surrounded by that dignified aura that anyone would think you are noble, I never thought you would be a princess...". Shizuku recalled what Tio revealed during her speech.

"Mmm... I didn't expect it, either." Yue agreed with Shizuku's observation. It almost went unnoticed thinking about Tio's background.

Tio smartly ignored Yue and Shizuku's curiosities, as the part about her being a princess had slipped off the tip of her tongue.

"Oho, the temperature on this floor has risen drastically. Also, being on this floor full of lava and with few platforms towards the center, it will be quite troublesome to deal with. Or so I would say if the people in our group were normal."

"In fact, I just checked this place with my senses and I can assure you that we are on the top floor." Nader nodded at Tio's words.

"Fufu... Princess Tio, where do you think you're going?" Yue reached over and tugged on the dragoness' arm to get her to drop the beans…