The overall atmosphere and approach were similar to the second floor.
The guild took the lead, coordinating various clans and parties to unite as one, assigning each their respective roles as they quickly made their way to the center.
They arrived at the location where the God of Death’s form was projected, the core of the fourth floor, and waited for the guardian of the tiers, the Grim Reaper, to respawn.
Then, what follows? It’s all about ganging up on the Grim Reaper according to the攻略法.
However, unlike the Minotaur on the second floor…
“Survival rate, as expected?”
“Seems so. On the second floor, a veteran adventurer could step in and somewhat control the situation, but by the fourth floor, that becomes harder.”
The floor where most people die in the Labyrinth is the first. This makes sense, as anyone can enter without any conditions, and most are newbies lacking experience and knowledge as adventurers.
Many people go in, but if most don’t know how to fight or navigate, it’s only natural that many would die.
Conversely, if one had to choose the floor with the least deaths, it would certainly be the second.
While it’s true that the difficulty increases compared to the first floor, the gap doesn’t feel immense like facing the first floor barehanded.
To put it simply, the odds of an adventurer who has never swung a sword before winning against a Goblin versus an adventurer adapted to the first floor winning against a Kobold are higher for the latter.
However, from the third floor onwards, things start to change a bit.
The first and second floors are somewhat unique cases; the Labyrinth generally becomes exponentially more deadly the deeper you go.
For instance, I achieved a near-massacre against monsters on the first two floors, but as soon as I stepped onto the third floor, I became a mere mortal.
Thanks to this, I had to forcibly power up and learn a skill for Greatsword that was out of my original intentions.
So, what about the fourth floor?
I might have come with an overpowered build, but for other adventurers, ascending from the second to the third floor felt more daunting than from the third to the fourth.
Undead monsters roam around in packs, each one being no easy opponent?
A key principle for adventurers is to always prioritize numerical superiority when faced with danger. They flock together like a party or clan for a reason.
Even when facing groups of monsters, it’s to maintain localized numerical advantages against each individual while compensating for each other’s shortcomings.
But there are limits to this.
On the fourth floor, where dozens typically roam, adventurers become the ones being ganged up on.
Additionally, undead monsters mentally erode their opponents just by existing. Ghost-type monsters can actually inflict mental damage in battle.
When that happens, a party can fall apart in an instant.
This applies to the guardian of the tiers, the Grim Reaper, as well.
The Grim Reaper, the boss monster resembling a Grim Reaper, not only leads the living to death… but is also a manager of the afterlife, forcing the dead to do labor.
In simpler terms, it means he is strong in combat, and can freely control the undead monsters on the fourth floor… and the dead who fall during the battle.
Thus, to safely hunt him like on the second floor, there needs to be adventurers with enough skill to possibly turn the tide.
The problem is that achieving such power is nowhere near the level of the fifth floor.
Just as veteran adventurers were sent to the fourth and fifth floors to protect the rookies during the Minotaur hunt.
To safely take down the guardian of the fourth floor, there must be several adventurers clustered around the sixth and seventh floors.
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Even among all the adventurers, there are hardly any high-ranking adventurers who would come this far.”
“True. Forcing high-ranking adventurers into anything is impossible for a guild. The only ones likely to voluntarily step up would be those expected to reach the frontlines or relatives or something.”
Ellie lit a Mana Herb cigarette stuck between her shiny silver fingers.
Strangely enough, the moment she entered the Labyrinth, she looked lazily or was it calmly? She resembled someone coming home from the way she appeared.
I grinned at her, who seemed utterly at ease.
“Just like you are now, Ellie?”
“Ha. Now you see? How well I treat you, Jonah.”
“Wait! Are you implying… what exactly do you want from me in return for your kindness?!”
“Coercion! I never even planned on wanting anything from you in the first place! And stop shouting! People will misinterpret us!”
Ellie freaked out and covered my mouth. A sharp Mana Herb smell wafted over; it really felt like Ellie.
“Mmgh. Mmmhg.”
After struggling for a while against her restraint, I managed to regain my freedom on the condition that I wouldn’t say anything ridiculous. How unfair.
“Phew! Anyway, thanks to that, everyone is glad about Ellie and Benny joining.”
“None here can easily mobilize high-ranking adventurers like you, Jonah?”
In the scene where I was enjoying some light bound play (not really) with Ellie, Benny chuckled and said that.
“Mobilizing feels like a stretch. There wouldn’t be any situation to get involved in, so it would just be sightseeing for them.”
“Your spirits are high.”
Ellie snorted lightly. In contrast, Benny, who had gone through the fourth floor twice with me, nodded seriously.
“True. If it’s you, Jonah, that might actually happen.”
“Benny? You think so highly of me? It’s impressive that you’re hunting so deep in just two days, but…”
“You’ll see, Ellie.”
Just then, undead monsters began to gather around the new hunting party that had entered.
Skeletons with white bones were clustered together, estimating nearly forty.
Even though the fourth floor focuses on sheer numbers, that’s still quite a few.
The number of adventurers who reached this far was low, and among them, only a handful were at a level to challenge the guardian of the tiers, so the hunting party’s numbers were at most half of that…
But it was just skeletons, right? The battle ended in less than three minutes.
Amidst the quickly collapsing pile of bones, I shouted to the adventurers who were gathering mana stones.
“Hold on for a moment!”
“Hmm? Oh, you’re that… What can I do for you?”
One adventurer, a middle-aged woman with cute bear ears and a robust appearance, recognized me and nodded.
However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that her size came from muscle, not fat. Each muscle was tightly packed and not just inflated.
At first glance, she appeared intimidating, yet her gaze towards me was filled with kindness.
It wasn’t simply because I looked like the world’s biggest pretty boy among the women of the Pan Continent… but likely because Ellie and Benny’s joining the hunting party was seen positively because of me.
It’s only fair to return kindness with kindness. I smiled with my politest expression.
“Could you temporarily hold off on collecting those mana stones and leave them with me? I’m not asking for them outright; I’ll return them right after this hunt is done.”
“…Normally, I’d be like, ‘What nonsense is this?’ but I’ll hear you out. What’s the reason?”
“I’m planning to resurrect the undead.”
“?”
“The more allies, the better, right?”
The bear-eared woman tilted her head, not quite understanding. Instead, a somewhat familiar adventurer readily raised her voice.
“I’ll agree! Let me share my skeletons… No, any monster we encounter on the way to the guardian is yours!”
“Ah! Thank you! But are you sure about this?”
She shrugged and replied.
“Of course, no problem. Thanks to you, my sister was safe from the Banshee Queen. But honestly, I find it hard to believe. Can you really control that many undead?”
“Heh, just watch!”
The familiarity I felt was because I’d seen an adventurer who looked like her when facing the Banshee Queen for the first time, not because I knew her directly.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t recall who it was.
Instead, I decided to quickly address her curiosity.
Now fully accustomed, I activated the power of calling the dead towards the nearby undead.
A bit of chill, as if I’d submerged myself in cold water. And then, the markers of the afterlife carved themselves into my neck.
Temporarily losing my voice, I gained the authority to whisper my will to the dead.
-Rise.
Clunk.
About forty skeletons rose again, solely for me.
Having lost my voice for a moment, I quickly grabbed a rib from a nearby skeleton and carved letters onto it with my dagger.
-I can command all undead I encounter from here on.
“How… No, if that’s the case, this changes everything. I’m on board for handing over the mana stones and byproducts. And if any are damaged during battle, I won’t demand compensation, of course…”
-Meaning the undead should step in front of the adventurers, right? That’s precisely why I resurrected them, so don’t worry about it.
“Alright. Then our Basil Choco Clan will support your plan.”
Basil Choco, not Mint Choco?
I really can’t fully grasp the food culture of this world.
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