The rest of the floors between 69 and 62 were already clear.
No monsters. No traces of adventurers. Just empty corridors and the echo of their own footsteps.
So they went straight down to floor 62.
And there, there were monsters. Of various types. Enough for the group to actually have to work.
They began clearing the floor without rushing, moving from one area to the next. Karol led the way with her magic.
Ryan also attacked and fought using only his gloves and fire aura.
Mirian and Helen simply kept pace but didn’t intervene.
The monsters on floor 62 weren’t slow, but they weren’t particularly intelligent either. Compared to what they had faced so far, this wouldn’t be any trouble.
It wasn’t a difficult fight.
When they finished off the last group of monsters on the floor, the place fell silent. Ryan looked around to confirm nothing was left standing, then turned his gaze to Karol.
"Hey."
She looked at him.
"Earlier you said that a son of a Demon King is very different from the rest of the archdemons." Ryan paused briefly. "Why exactly?"
Then he looked at Helen and Mirian.
"Do you two know anything about that?"
The two looked at each other.
"No idea," Helen said.
"I don’t know anything about that," Mirian confird.
Karol observed them for a mont with an expression that mixed disbelief with sothing close to pity.
"I can’t believe that the sa amount of power you have is matched by how ignorant you are."
Both girls opened their mouths at the sa ti to complain, but stopped when Karol continued speaking.
"When the system evaluates a demon, it does so based on the amount of latent mana. It applies it as total mana volu." She paused briefly. "But Demon Kings don’t just have a greater amount. Their mana is denser, heavier. In other words, it’s purer."
They began walking toward the back of the floor as she spoke.
"That’s why when a Demon King has a child, that child inherits that density. They can have the sa volu of mana as any archdemon, principality, or infernal. But that density makes them considerably more powerful than others of the sa rank."
Ryan listened without interrupting.
’I never thought about that. It makes sense... or at least I think it does.’
"That’s what I ant when I said he wasn’t an ordinary archdemon," Karol continued.
"Normally archdemons are very strong, stronger than most Rank A in any case. But one being able to face a Rank S and survive makes it very clear that, if Helen and Mirian hadn’t been present, we would have had a very serious problem."
The group continued walking in silence for a mont.
’That explains why Solaris was able to hold his own against Helen for so long without fully giving in. And it also explains why Lighter left Alina and Delia in that state even though they’re Rank S.’
Ryan reflected for a mont longer.
’But what would have happened if Irnina had joined the fight? Although now I’m convinced that if I had boosted Helen, Solaris wouldn’t have stood a chance. Still, I can’t be sure if he was really fighting seriously.’
"Karol, you’re a genius," Mirian said.
"No doubt about it," Helen added, with complete conviction and no trace of irony.
Ryan nodded.
Karol lifted her chin slightly.
"Of course. I’m a mage. My job above all else is to investigate everything. Every detail of this world is what I seek to uncover."
"She said that with a lot of pride," Ryan murmured.
"Anyway. It’s really useful that at least soone in the group isn’t an airhead."
"Hey!" Helen and Mirian grumbled in unison.
They kept advancing until they reached the door to the boss chamber. It was larger than the previous ones, with markings carved into the stone around the fra.
Ryan opened it.
The first thing he saw was a huge spider.
Eight legs. Twelve eyes.
It stayed still the mont it noticed their presence, front legs raised and all twelve eyes focused on the group at the sa ti.
It was big. Considerably bigger than any monster they had encountered on the previous floors of this dungeon.
Ryan turned toward Helen and Mirian.
But the two were already sitting comfortably against the wall beside the door, weapons resting beside them.
"What are you doing?" Karol asked.
"Well," Helen said as she leaned back against the wall. "We’re Rank S. The only thing that gives us experience now is killing demons. There’s no point in us fighting that thing."
Mirian nodded with complete calm.
"You two can handle it, right?"
Ryan looked at them for a mont.
He smiled.
’I knew they’d say sothing like that. Though seeing them sitting there by the door, they look more like the boss’s guardians.’
"Why are you smiling?" Mirian asked with genuine curiosity.
"Was I? I didn’t even notice."
An instant barrier activated right behind Ryan.
A projectile of acidic webbing slamd into it and dissolved without touching anything.
"Karol, you’re really skilled with your magic," Helen comnted from her spot by the door, without moving.
Karol blushed slightly.
"Thanks."
Ryan reached into his inventory and pulled out the boorang.
"Separation."
The two separated halves fell into each of his hands.
"Wow!" Mirian sat up straight. "When did you get that weapon?"
’Right. She’s the only one who hasn’t seen it.’
"It was on the Demon Continent," Ryan replied. "I thought I ntioned it."
"No, you didn’t," Mirian said, frowning at Helen. "Right, Helen?"
Helen looked at her.
"Of course he did. I already knew about it. We even trained together with that weapon."
"Eh, eh." Mirian frowned even harder. "That’s not fair. Why am I always the last one to find out about things?"
Another instant barrier activated.
Another acidic projectile dissolved against it.
"We can talk about this later," Karol cut in, frowning at the spider. "That thing is still attacking."
Ryan gripped both halves of the boorang and aid them at the spider.
He activated his fire aura.
The two pieces ignited with an intense orange glow that shone in the darkness of the chamber, casting long shadows against the stone walls.
The spider reacted slightly to the flas. Its twelve eyes blinked at the sa ti.
Ryan smiled.
’This is going to be nothing but a huge feast of experience.’
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