After spending the night in the Safe Area of the Great Floating Island, we ate breakfast, made thorough preparations, and then entered the Guardian’s Chamber.
Naturally, we were already clad in Wing Burst and Flaming Wings, and Blau Solaris and Agatholam had also been generated.
The Leviathan is a Demise Species, but its original form, the Plesiosaurus, was an S-rank Monster. If there were ranks within Demise Species, it would actually be in the lower-middle tier. It’s the same rank as the Ouroboros I defeated before, and Cetus, which Father and Mother defeated. Still, since those were defeated with divine-level techniques, their actual strength is largely unknown.
“Well then, shall we do this!”
“Ehhh!”
“Mm!”
“Yes!”
As soon as we entered the Guardian’s Chamber, I used three short swords separated from Blau Solaris to unleash Ice Edge Javelin. In response, Lydia also used Grand Dust Blizzard. However, the Leviathan nullified Grand Dust Blizzard with a tornado of water and lightning, and it dodged Ice Edge Javelin with movements unsuited to its massive body. No, one of them wasn’t completely dodged, and it grazed the right side of its torso. However, with only one and barely grazed, it had no effect on the Leviathan, which was nearly 300 meters long; it wasn’t even a scratch.
“Should have gone with Gracious Bunker.”
“That one can’t create numbers, can it? Besides, it’s no use saying that now.”
You’re right. It’s like Ice Edge Javelin for quantity and Gracious Bunker for a single blow, and that’s how we’re actually using them. I feel like Ice Edge Javelin should be a bit bigger, so I’ll try to improve it. But that’s after we get through this situation!
I created about 30 Ice Edge Javelins again, firing 20 without precise aiming and 10 with careful targeting. Furthermore, Lydia used Grand Dust Blizzard once more, and this time Flam used Arrow Rain Tempest. The Leviathan also countered with water, ice, and lightning magic, but it couldn’t completely evade the storm of attacks and was gradually hit. Even so, the attacks were so minor they weren’t even scratches on the Leviathan’s massive body, only managing to delay it. Well, that was within expectations!
“If you’re only focused on Yamato, your rear will be left unguarded!”
“That’s right!”
Taking advantage of that opening, Prim and Ludia approached, using the three major enhancement magic spells—Physicallring, Manalring, and Accelerating Magic—along with fire magic’s Braiding. The Leviathan seemed to realize this was dangerous, twisting its body to evade, but we, Flam, and Lydia’s unique magic attacks were still ongoing, so it couldn’t completely avoid them. However, the Leviathan seemed to know this too, increasing the defense of its scales with magic reinforcement and minimizing the damage from the two’s Braiding. Large scratches appeared on its scales, but they were far from fatal. Moreover, its regeneration was high, and the scratches on its scales closed up quickly.
“Tch! To be high in defensive power and regeneration!”
“This means a prolonged battle is disadvantageous… Mako, what should we do?”
“What do you mean? The shortest way is to seal its movement with area attacks and then deliver a blow that exceeds its regeneration. Besides, isn’t it impossible to defeat it otherwise?”
Yeah. The scratches on its scales regenerated at a considerable speed, though not instantly. Both Anomalous Species and Catastrophe Species have quite high regeneration, and Demise Species naturally have it as well. However, previous Demise Species have been defeated by attacks that exceed their regeneration. I intended to defeat this Leviathan the same way, but its regeneration surpasses that of the Demise Species we’ve defeated so far, so minor attacks only manage to delay it. I think it probably surpasses Nidhogg, but that was instantly killed by Father, so its actual strength is completely unknown.
“So heavy! Ahh!”
“Mina! Watch out!”
Mina somehow managed to deflect a tail strike from the Leviathan, but she was lightly blown away and her left arm appears to have been broken. Mina also possesses a shield through her Order, so in a way, her defense is higher than an Element Class. If Mina were to take a direct hit from an attack that causes broken bones, it would normally be life-threatening. The Leviathan unleashed a follow-up ice magic attack on Mina, but I won’t allow that! I immediately activated Cold Prison, sealing the Leviathan’s ice magic. Without any pause, I activated Alfheim, creating a vortex of wind to restrain the Leviathan.
“Let’s combine them!”
“Please!”
Furthermore, Mako layered Muspelheim, a fire-attribute A-rank wide-area spell, onto it, and the Leviathan’s body began to burn in a raging inferno. Plesiosaurs, being aquatic species, are weak to fire and lightning magic. However, this is different if they have evolved and gained resistance, and in fact, the Leviathan uses lightning magic, thus it has acquired resistance to it. Still, it cannot use fire magic as an aquatic species typically does, so it remains a weak attribute. In fact, our layered spell of Alfheim and Mako’s Muspelheim is continuously damaging the Leviathan as expected, and it seems to be countering its regeneration, but it’s still far from a decisive blow. However, the Leviathan’s movements are still sealed, and its desperate water and lightning magic attacks lack accuracy.
“This is our chance! Let’s go all out!”
“Of course!”
As soon as she said it, Prim donned Seraphim Penetrator and charged at the Leviathan. Mana is also unleashing Dragon Resonance Magic Starburst Breath with Eos, who has fully transformed into a dragon. Lydia and Ludia are also combining the Layered Magic Extreme Disaster.
“Yamato, us too!”
“Understood!”
Seraphim Penetrator gouged at the Leviathan’s scales, Starburst Breath pierced its entire body, and Extreme Disaster further widened the wounds. Then, a moment later, Mina, who had deployed the Layered Magic Multi-Storm Blade with Flam, swung down from a high overhead position. In response, I unleashed the new Dragon Resonance Magic Breath Edge Blaster with Athena, who had fully transformed into a dragon. Breath Edge Blaster, which coats Athena’s Magma Light Breath with my ice magic to form a giant blade larger than Braiding, is a Dragon Resonance Magic developed to cleave through even colossal monsters. The concept had been formed before, and I had tested it several times, but this is the first time using it in actual combat. The reason I hadn’t used it before was the difficulty in controlling it, as the goal was to make Athena’s Magma Light Breath itself a giant blade. Athena, in her Crystal Dragonian form, is nearly 50 meters long, including her tail. At that size, the breath she exhales from her mouth is naturally large, so while it might be suitable for large monsters, it would sweep through and incinerate smaller and medium-sized monsters. I was agonizing over how to deal with that. However, with a colossal body like the Leviathan’s, there’s no worry of incinerating its entire body. Moreover, the Leviathan has high regeneration, so I judged it would be fine to use the still unfinished Breath Edge Blaster.
That Breath Edge Blaster struck the Leviathan directly in the face, cleaving about a third of its body. Naturally, the Leviathan, with its upper body cut in half, couldn’t possibly stay alive. As soon as it fell to the ground, it ceased to move forever.
“As expected, if you’re cut in half from the head, there’s no regeneration.”
“Rather, if it regenerated from that, it would be nothing but undead.”
“Yeah.”
Anything moving in that state, even if it were undead, would be terrifying. But as expected, when facing a large monster, using Breath Edge Blaster wasn’t a major problem. The scorched cut surface is a bit concerning, but with only about 20 centimeters from the wound, it shouldn’t be a major issue for materials. You might wonder why, even with my ice magic coating, but Athena’s Magma Light Breath is a composite breath of light, earth, and fire. Furthermore, my ice magic is merely a coating, so Breath Edge Blaster is also an ice blade emitting high heat. It’s contradictory, but an ice blade is composed of near absolute zero cold, so upon impact, it causes tremendous frostbite, and precisely because it’s near absolute zero, the ice doesn’t melt, and it transmits the heat of the Magma Light Breath. As a result, the cut surface ends up being scorched.
“You might be thinking like that, but that’s only because it’s the Leviathan; for ordinary monsters, they’d be completely burned away?”
So Mako, please stop reading my mind. But your point is well-taken, so I need to consider countermeasures or performance improvements with Athena.
“All right, let’s store it.”
“Yes, please do.”
Upon storing the Leviathan in my Inventory, a Labyrinth Core appeared, just like in previous labyrinths. I had thought it might be different from other labyrinths, but the size of the Labyrinth Core is the same.
“Oh, so this is how Labyrinth Cores appear.”
“You know, Mako, this is your first labyrinth conquest, isn’t it?”
“We had cleared Solpreza Labyrinth and Instant Labyrinth before Mako could come.”
“Yes, I had always wanted to try conquering one.”
Since Mako came to Helios Orb, we’ve entered labyrinths quite often, but the purpose was mostly for material collection. Also, everyone became busy with ennoblement and the like, so Mako had thought that conquering a labyrinth would be many years away. But since we were able to conquer it sooner than she expected, Mako looks happy.
“Well then, let’s take a short break and then head out.”
“Yes. Dealing with monsters of M-rank and above for the past few days, not to mention the Leviathan, has been truly exhausting.”
“Now that we’ve successfully conquered it, we’ve let our guard down.”
As Prim and Athena said, it’s true that we’ve let our guard down because we successfully conquered it. We were on high alert until the 11th Level, but the 12th and 13th Levels were on a different level of danger. While maintaining vigilance in all directions, the environment was also a factor. If there weren’t Safe Areas, we would have abandoned the conquest or gathered more forces. So, after reporting to Krater’s Hunter’s Guild, I need to report to Bestia and submit the Labyrinth Core, but that can wait until tomorrow. In any case, I want to rest well today.
