Even though Ryan hadn’t expected to find floor 69 turned into a battlefield, what he found was sothing much harder to process.
Mirian was lying motionless on the ground, and Solaris was still standing at the other end of the room as if he had all the ti in the world.
But now Karol was already running to help Mirian, and Ryan followed right after her.
"Ryan, look at Mirian!" Karol shouted as she rushed toward the corner where the girl lay.
"Reveal Hidden."
Without stopping, Ryan activated his detection skill and scanned the room with his eyes. He checked the shadows, the corners, and behind the stone pillars that lined the floor.
The floor was empty except for them and Solaris.
’Not even Irnina is here,’ he thought. ’And they still lost?’
And almost imdiately ca the next thought. ’So Solaris is stronger than a Rank S?’
They reached Mirian. Karol knelt down and examined her closely.
Before he could process it any further, a familiar voice bood from the center of the room.
"Ryan!"
It was Helen.
She had her sword resting behind her shoulders, her posture completely relaxed, and a huge grin on her face.
"You’re finally here! I want you to watch fight!"
Ryan looked at her.
Then he looked at Mirian on the ground.
Then back at her.
"Are you stupid or what? Can’t you see Mirian is...?"
Ryan was about to prepare his healing skill, but when he saw Helen’s expression, he stopped to listen to what she would say.
"Ah, that." Helen looked away for a mont. "You see, she’s just... well... let’s just say she’s an airhead."
"What are you even saying?"
Karol, who was crouched beside Mirian, frowned and looked at her more carefully.
"Ryan..." she said slowly. "She’s just sleeping. Look at how she’s breathing. She doesn’t have a single wound. Not even a stain on her clothes."
The silence that followed lasted exactly long enough for Ryan to process that information.
He turned his head toward Helen.
She looked up at the ceiling.
Ryan turned his head toward Karol.
He clenched his fist in front of his own face.
’This idiot. I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore.’
"Karol," he said calmly, "can you hit her for ?"
"I an Mirian."
Karol didn’t reply with words. She gave the reckless heroine a firm knock on the top of her head.
"Aghs!" Mirian let out a long, drawn-out groan, squinted her eyes, and raised a hand to rub her head.
"Karol? Ryan? What’s going on?" She looked at him in confusion. "What hit ?"
Karol grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
"You idiot! For a mont you made think you were hurt! What are you playing at? How can you be so relaxed with an archdemon right here?! It’s Solaris, don’t you realize?!"
A loud laugh ca from the other end of the room.
It was Solaris.
"Looks like I’m pretty well-known around here."
He let out another laugh full of genuine surprise, as if he hadn’t expected that at all. When he cald down a bit, he shook his head and comnted in a tone that was both amused and perplexed:
"But I’m not sure if I’m facing a group of heroes... or a group of idiots."
He laughed again.
Ryan looked at him.
’Wait a second,’ he thought. ’His voice sounded very high-pitched at first, then deeper. Is he faking his voice?’
Before he could continue that thought, Mirian sat up where she was, stretched lazily, and let out a yawn with zero remorse.
"It’s because Helen wanted to fight alone," she explained with complete naturalness, "and I got bored of waiting, so I fell asleep. Tehe."
Karol looked at her with an expression that took several seconds to find the right words.
"But he’s an archdemon. Do you understand that or not?"
"I know, I know." Mirian made a vague gesture with her hand. "But Helen is like that. Don’t overthink it and just let her handle it."
Karol opened her mouth, closed it, and decided she didn’t have enough energy to continue the argunt. Instead, she muttered:
"Don’t complain later."
"Your companion is extrely stupid," Solaris comnted, this ti addressing Helen as the pair of daggers in his hands ignited with flas.
"Yeah," Ryan replied without hesitation. "She definitely is. Both of them are."
"Ryan!" Helen and Mirian grumbled at the sa ti.
Solaris laughed again.
And the mont his laugh cut off, he attacked.
’So fast!’ It was only a brief mont, but Ryan lost sight of him.
Clang!
Solaris’s pair of daggers clashed against Helen’s sword.
Helen smiled and thrust forward with great force. The air around her stirred violently.
Solaris dodged by leaping several ters back.
He then threw one of the daggers straight at Helen’s neck. She responded by knocking it away with her sword.
Solaris moved toward Helen with incredible speed.
He caught the dagger in mid-air.
And as he stood in front of her, he launched a powerful kick that she blocked by stabbing her sword into the ground.
The kick slamd against the sword.
Before Solaris could touch the ground, Helen positioned herself behind him. She grabbed his airborne foot with her left hand.
With her right hand, she prepared to deliver a strike to his face.
"Got you!" Helen said with a smile.
Slash!
The daggers cut into Helen’s hand. Solaris broke free from her grip and dodged the blow.
"Tsk." Helen clicked her tongue.
"Helen!" Ryan shouted and moved toward them.
"Stay back!" Helen replied. "Let fight alone. Don’t worry, just watch."
She smiled at him after finishing her sentence.
"Ah, ah... You made my companion worry about . That makes happy, but it also pisses off, you know?" Helen grumbled as she walked slowly in front of her sword.
She pulled the sword out of the ground.
She shook it twice in the air, as if trying to clean off the dust and debris.
Then, she fixed her defiant gaze on Solaris.
"Let’s stop playing around... It’s ti to fight seriously."
Helen adjusted her stance.
"This ends now."
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