“Hahhhh!”[Ryan]

Swinging his shining sword down, Ryan easily cut a roaring, ten-meter-tall, yeti-looking creature in half with a blade of light. As the monster that was charging at him fell down in two halves with blood spurting everywhere, the young hero swung his sword to the side to flick away the non-existent blood staining his holy weapon before calmly sheathing it.

“Whoa, so easily…” [Random hero]

“As expected of Ryan.” [Random hero]

“Kyaaaa~! so cool!” [Random hero]

While he stood there looking cool with everyone praising him, Ryner approached the huge corpse and examined it like he did with the lizards from before. The War Puppet was basically a huge body filled with muscles and covered with violet fur. It had a terrifying face with bloodshot eyes, fangs and horns like a deer were on his head.

“(Definitely a Bruiser class, Siege type.)” [Ryner]

With thirty S ranks on their side, the group easily cleared every floor without suffering any setbacks. Right now, judging from the number of teleportation circles, they were on the tenth floor that was like a vast, rocky valley and had just finished taking out the last of the monsters. In the earlier levels, the enemies were Raptor class, reptilian beasts with different variations from the Spiked Lizards. They were some that focused on close-range combat, others that moved stealthily as well as some that were five meters tall.

After the fifth floor, more powerful monsters appeared and they all looked like yetis. They were faster, stronger and deadlier than the earlier opponents, but it made little difference and the heroes continued on their way after quickly dispatching them. During the whole time, Ryner and Maya didn’t fight even once to which he was rather grateful for. With how important Artifacts were to the world, he didn’t want to have to pull out one of his in front of these people, especially not in front of the overreacting Ryan. Furthermore, he didn’t want to waste precious ammunition on his own creations, though bullets became rather useless against Bruiser class War Puppets and higher.

“Remember Maya, don’t tell anyone about the weapons I possess.” [Ryner]

“Of course, Master. I know better than to reveal your trump cards to others~.” [Maya]

Leaning in close, he whispered in her furry, pointy ears and she answered him playfully, but her eyes conveyed that she would keep his secrets no matter what. Noticing them secretly talking to each other, Aria raised an eyebrow as she pulled out her sword from a dead, three-meter-tall Bruiser that had two round horns like a goat. Elena, who she was talking to, also looked at the master and slave while tilting her head.

“What are you guys whispering about?” [Aria]

“I’m inviting her to a stroll tonight. Are there any deserted parks in the city?” [Ryner]

“Hm…?! You shameless pervert!” [Aria]

“S-so bold!” [Elena]

Her curiosity caused her to go red in the face and she turned away hurriedly after yelling at the stupid pervert. Her best friend had her hands on her blushing cheeks, but seemed strangely excited.

“Why am I a pervert? I didn’t say anything perverted, did I? What did you imagine? Come on~, what did you imagine in your head~?” [Ryner]

To drive away any chance of suspicion, he started to harass her in a playful tone, but his expression still looked sleepy. Understanding his motives, Maya giggled before giving him a hand.

“Now now, Master~. Instead of teasing her, why don’t you tell me more about what you want us to do when we’re alone together in a deserted park at night~?” [Maya]

While Elena was going “Kyaa kyaa”, Aria’s sword was trembling in her hand as she considered whether she should cut down this idiotic couple. The same thought ran through most of the high schoolers’ head as well as the knights. Even though they were fighting in one of the most dangerous locations in the world, the two who didn’t do anything since coming here were flirting in front of them.

“Ryner, keep your guard up. From here on out, things are going to get tough.” [Cain]

With a firm voice, the Knight Commander warned the man whose arm was being hugged by the beastman. Tilting his head, Ryner shot him a puzzled look.

“Tough? With this group of overpowered heroes that don’t get a scratch even after getting punched by a ten-meter-tall gorilla, how can things get tough?” [Ryner]

“Gori…? You mean the Largeback? Well, that creature is certainly powerful, most likely on the level of an A rank, but… There are even more powerful monsters on the next floor.” [Cain]

His voice was tense and everyone that was listening to them gulped audibly as they remembered what dwelled on the next floor. Then, someone confidently spoke up and cut through that uneasy atmosphere.

“That might be true, but we’re different from before. Even then, we were the first ones to reach that floor. And now, we’re much stronger! It won’t happen like last time! This time we’ll clear the eleventh floor!” [Ryan]

It was Ryan who raised his clenched fist in front of his face and loudly made his declaration. Hearing him, everyone smiled and nodded their heads as they raised their fighting spirits. They were no longer afraid of their next challenge. After all, they were heroes!

“Really? So, what happened the last time? Did you guys get your butts kicked? You did, right?” [Ryner]

Not noticing the mood at all, the sleepy-looking man from the idiotic couple asked such a rude question in a casual tone, causing everyone to glare at him for interrupting their moment. Elena, trying to diffuse the situation, quickly explained before anyone could say anything in a panicked tone of voice.

“Um! Before, when we got to the eleventh floor, we were badly beaten and had to retreat! The monsters there are really strong! They look like naked bald men with really white skin and black tattoos all over their bodies! They’re classified as S ranks because they can beat us… And are really strong… And we had to retreat… So…” [Elena]

She rapidly explained the situation, but lost the wind in her sail towards the end because of nervousness since everyone was looking at her. Ignoring the red-faced girl that was looking down because of stage fright, Ryner guessed that the ones on the next floor were probably Marauders from her explanation. Of course, to avoid attracting trouble to himself, he didn’t speak his thoughts, but rather made an unnecessary remark.

“Naked bald guys… Did they beat you with one punch or a mosquito slap?” [Ryner]

Right after he finished speaking, Ryan instantly moved in front of him and glared at him.

“That’s real funny, Ryner… But, will you be able to act tough once we fight them? Then again, you can’t even fight against them.” [Ryan]

Once he was done saying his piece, he turned his back on him and walked away towards the exit of the rock valley which was a long corridor. Everyone followed him after glaring at Ryner as well. Elena wanted to say something to fix the situation, but Aria dragged her away by the hand.

“Oh my, they don’t seem to like you much.” [Maya]

Maya was relaxed as always as she curiously looked at her master, wondering why he uselessly invited more of their hatred.

“Oh well, we’re not enemies and that’s good. But, I don’t want us to get too close to them.” [Ryner]

He shrugged his shoulders and started walking after the heroes with the young woman following behind him.

“Is it so bad if we become close to them?” [Maya]

“Normally no, but with that king around, who knows what he’ll order us to do if he finds out about the Artifacts I carry.” [Ryner]

“(And I don’t want anyone to follow me the next time I visit my fortress.)” [Ryner]

They whispered to each other, making sure that none of the heroes and knights could hear them. As they advanced forward with the master and slave a few meters behind from the group, the heroes were talking amongst themselves.

“What is his problem, seriously? Does he want to pick a fight with us?” [Random hero]

“I know, right? That guy’s just asking for it.” [Random hero]

“Maybe I should knock some sense into him with my one-hit kill punch.” [Random hero]

A few guys and girls were venting out their anger and one of them made a dangerous comment that a certain gentle girl with bells in her brown hair couldn’t ignore.

“W-wait everyone! I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm!” [Elena]

“Just let it be, Elena. That’s what he gets for rubbing salt in people’s wounds.” [Aria]

Although she tried to calm everyone down, her best friend didn’t help her at all as she grumpily talked with her hands in her pants’ pockets.

“He was looking down on us even though we’re superior to him. There’s no need to show sympathy to someone who doesn’t know his place.” [Random hero]

A black-haired, skinny young man said as he pushed up his glasses while smirking.

“That’s right, Elena! You don’t need to be kind to that jerk!” [Random hero]

A girl with short black hair exclaimed while clenching her fists in front of her.

“Yeah! We’re the ones doing all the fighting while he hides behind our backs! He shouldn’t talk big and make fun of us!” [Sam]

“Totally! He’d be dead if not for us!” [Kirk]

“*Nod nod*” [Tom]

The idiotic trio also chimed in with vigor, happy to get a chance to insult Ryner as well as to talk to the beautiful Elena.

“Um… Well… I understand… But…” [Elena]

In the end, no one listened to her as they continued to say whatever they wanted. Once they reached the teleportation circle that was at the dead end of the hallway, they stopped a few feet from it and Ryan stood in front of everyone.

“This is it! This time, we’ll clear it and reach the next floor! We’ll definitely be the first to conquer Elea kingdom’s ruin!” [Ryan]

Everyone got fired up from hearing his short speech as they got ready for the upcoming fight. Jayce was cracking his neck, Aria was hopping in place and Elena was taking deep breaths to calm her heart. Pulling his weapon out, Ryan faced the magic circle and raised his holy sword.

“Let’s go!” [Ryan]

The young heroes along with the knights accompanying them once more stepped into the battlefield.

“(You know, although you said you’ll conquer the ruin and all, you guys are basically a bunch of thieves that are wrecking and stealing my stuff.)” [Ryner]

Behind them, a sleepy-looking man and a beastman slave were also walking into the deadly fight as well, but in a casual and relaxed pace. Once they regained their vision after the flash of light, they were once more in a corridor with aged and cracked walls of grey stone around them. As they marched forward with their weapons at the ready, one of the high schoolers couldn’t help but talk under the tense atmosphere.

“You know, this place really feels like a dungeon from an RPG game.” [Random hero]

“(Well, the concept was to create a multi-level labyrinth that could take on waves of invaders.)” [Ryner]

“Yeah, I guess. I wonder who made it.” [Random hero]

“(…)” [Ryner]

“Aren’t the ruins as old as the world or something? So, doesn’t that mean that the gods created them?” [Random hero]

“(… No, they just got lazy and stole my stuff. Who the hell builds a world on top of a death fortress anyway?)” [Ryner]

“That’s true! And they left Artifacts as rewards to the ones who can overcome all obstacles and clear the ruins!” [Random hero]

“(No, you guys are also stealing my stuff.)” [Ryner]

They continued on while making small talks to relieve their tension without knowing that the real creator of the ruins couldn’t help but retort to everything they said in his head. Eventually, everyone stopped talking because they could see in front of them the end of the corridor and the entrance to the battlefield where S rank monsters are waiting. The Knight Commander turned to the young hero that was learning to become a leader and tapped his shoulder.

“Ryan, you call the shots.” [Cain]

Nodding to his words, Ryan spoke loudly for everyone to hear.

“Vanguard, get ready for a fight. Jayce, Aria, you two are with me. Everyone in the middle of the formation, support us. Magicians, stay behind the group and surround Elena. Protect our healer.” [Ryan]

“Heh! You guys better protect her well! So long as our healer is ok, we can keep fighting!” [Jayce]

“We’re lucky one of us can use healing magic, considering how rare an ability it is.” [Aria]

The three main fighters stood at the forefront while everyone behind got into their usual formation.

“Let’s win this!” [Ryan]

Everyone shouted loudly in response and the whole group of heroes and knights bravely advanced forward, past the entrance and into a large room with nothing in it. It had the same size as the welcoming room, but with no boulders and no lizards. Instead, over twenty pure white figures were unsteadily walking around like zombies. They looked like grown men with slim bodies and no hair. They did not have a sex organ and black markings ran all over their bodies. There were two vertical black lines on their faces right where their red eyes were.

“(Marauders, Soldier type.)” [Ryner]

The moment the group walked into the room, they all simultaneously turned their heads and stared at them for a moment. Then, with a roar, they charged at the heroes with speed not inferior to the S ranks. Ryan’s sword made a ten meters long blade of light and he swung it horizontally, trying to take out all of the Marauders in front. A few of them were cut in half in one hit, but others either ducked or jumped to avoid the attack and came down on the heroes. A fierce fight broke out unlike the other ones before. This time, the two sides were evenly matched.

The ones that were more proficient in fighting were at the front and taking on the bulk of the enemies while the others were right behind them and ready to support them. Fireballs, blades of wind and water bullets were shot from the backline as they crashed into the powerful creatures. However, unlike with Ryan’s initial attack, those that got hit didn’t get taken out instantly and suffered small burns, cuts or bruises. They easily shrugged off the damage and kept attacking using punches and kicks. A young man got punched in the stomach and was sent crashing into his friends while coughing blood. His body that resisted every attack before was injured for the first time since coming to the ruin after only one blow.

“Medic!” [Random hero]

One of the high schooler screamed out in a frantic voice and Elena came rushing at the injured boy who was on the ground and holding his stomach with intense pain visible on his face. With the heroes in charge of keeping her safe surrounding her, she kneeled next to him, put her hand close to his abdomen and a soft glow that was being emitted from her palm covered his wound and started healing him. The moment she was done, three more heroes were sent flying along with three more “Medic!” shouts. Not having any time to relax, she got up and hurriedly ran towards the newly injured comrades.

“Damn it! They’re just as tough as I remembered them!” [Jayce]

Jayce yelled loudly as he repeatedly punched one of these pale creatures in the face, finally blowing his head off with a spurt of blood. He frowned because of how much they resembled humans and seeing one lose its head was nauseating, even if he had built up tolerance after killing monsters. That split opening he showed was exploited by a nearby foe that kicked him in the side.

“Guha!” [Jayce]

Resisting the pain, he grabbed onto the leg, not letting it go, and his trusted friend with the red string and bells tied around her left wrist used this chance to hack at the creature’s neck. Aria made a deep cut as red blood flowed out and the Marauder screamed in pain, but she knew that they would keep attacking even with grave injuries, so she quickly slashed two more times and decapitated him.

“Ugh!” [Aria]

Turning around, she blocked a kick with her sword and slid backward from the tremendous impact. Two black and white creatures rushed at her while roaring and reached her in an instant. But, a person had appeared in front of her before them and with his back turned to her, he cut both of the enemies down with his dazzling white sword.

“Aria! Are you alright?!” [Ryan]

It was Ryan in his shining white armor who asked her with a worried voice.

“I’m fine! Here they come again!” [Aria]

Normally, any girl would fall for him in that situation, but right now, these high schoolers that had been living a normal life just a few months ago were in a deadly battle against monsters that could actually harm them, that could kill them. The other life-and-death situations they were in before were all against opponents that couldn’t even scratch them. As such, these S rank ruin dwellers were the first ones to have ever truly made them fear for their lives. Many young heroes had hesitated to pick up their weapons again after they escaped the last time. It was only thanks to Ryan’s encouragement and charisma that they were able to stand back up and fight on.

“Keep it up! Their numbers are dwindling!” [Cain]

After slashing at a Marauder’s chest for the fourth time, Cain stabbed through it and kicked it away before blocking a surprise attack that nearly took his head off. Even though they were his strongest subordinates, the knights he brought were barely keeping up with these fearsome foes that clearly outmatched them. Luckily for them, the heroes around them were holding their own and supporting them, preventing anyone from dying. Ryner’s training that forced them to struggle against a more powerful opponent, which was him, was now paying off.

“AHHHHHH!!!” [Ryan]

After a hard-fought battle, the last of the Marauders was sliced in two at the waist by Ryan’s hero sword that could easily cut through them. Everyone was panting and covered in dirt. Many were bleeding from injuries that weren’t healed yet. They didn’t achieve victory easily like with the other preceding floors. They didn’t come out without a scratch. They were instead bruised and battered. They didn’t show overwhelming power like one would expect from heroes of a kingdom. However, this victory was the most important for all of them.

“W-we did it…” [Random hero]

After all, these high schoolers had overcome opponents that had forced them to run away before.

“We won…?” [Random hero]

This was proof that they had grown stronger.

“WE WON!” [Ryan]

““WHOOOOOO!!!”” [Everyone]

With Ryan’s shout that was filled with joy, everyone cheered loudly as the girls hugged each other and the guys slapped shoulders. The knights, proud of the heroes and moved by their victory were also in a festive mood and were congratulating them. They had defeated more than twenty S ranks and cleared the eleventh floor of a ruin, something that was never heard of before. Once they got back and spread the words, these young men and women would definitely become even more famous and admired by the world.

“(Hmm? Eleventh floor? Marauders?)” [Ryner]

While Elena was going around healing everyone as the resident healer, Ryner, who was standing right at the entrance and watching everything with Maya, tilted his head as he suddenly started recalling something.

“(Eleventh floor… I think I put something there…)” [Ryner]

The fierce fight joggled his memory and an uncomfortable feeling attacked him.

“(What was it again? I’m pretty sure it was important…)” [Ryner]

While he was groaning to himself with his arms crossed in front of his chest, Elena was just about done treating everyone’s wounds. The old knight with white hair stood in front of everyone and looked at each of them while smiling, proud that they had come this far.

“You’ve all done great! You’ve vanquished enemies that you couldn’t defeat before and cleared more floors than anyone else! Truly, I am proud of your growths!” [Cain]

Everyone smiled happily from hearing his praise and some were getting shy, such as Elena who was fiddling with her fingers as she looked down. Then, remembering about the master and slave that were still standing at the entrance while everyone was celebrating in the middle of the field, she lightly jogged towards them to drag these two along with her. They had come together, so they should celebrate together.

“Thanks, Cain. This is just the beginning! We’ll get even stronger! Whether it’s clearing the ruin or defeating the demon race, we’ll succeed no matter what!” [Ryan]

““YEAAHH!!!”” [Everyone]

The whole group raised their hands and shouted out with spirit to support his claim. No one realized that Elena was gone, except for her best friend, Aria, who had been looking for her and saw her going towards the entrance. She was already halfway there when Ryner noticed the girl with the braid that had his gift tied at end. Seeing her running to him with a smile on her face as she waved her hand, he finally remembered the important thing he put in the eleventh floor.

“(Oh yeah, I copied a video game and set up a War Puppet to fall on top of an enemy when they least expect it… Crap!)” [Ryner]

“Maya, grab her quickly!” [Ryner]

The moment he remembered, he quickly ordered his slave as he put his hands inside a bluish circle made of rings to pull out a weapon from his pocket dimension. Maya looked at him with confusion for a split second, but obediently followed his order because she could feel the urgency in his voice. She used body strengthening and rushed at Elena who watched her with a surprised face, tackling her out of the way right as a large white object fell at high speed exactly where she was before with a thunderous noise.

“Elena!” [Aria]

Everyone turned around with shock as they heard something crashing into the ground and found a cloud of dust with their healer and the slave close to it. Aria, who saw everything, shouted her best friend’s name and ran towards her in panic.

“THE FIGHT’S NOT OVER YET!” [Ryner]

The heroes were a bit slow to react, but hearing this, Cain and his knights pulled out their swords and went to the front of the group, ready to face off with whatever appeared next. The others soon followed suit as Ryan and Jayce also went to the front. Maya, who was blown away from the shockwave of that thing’s fall, was on the ground and hugging onto Elena who still had a dumbfounded look as Aria arrived next to her with her sword drawn out.

Before Ryan or Jayce could tell their friends to get back, the dust cleared and what came into everyone’s view was a large figure full of bulky muscles. It was two meters tall with pale skin like chalk as well as black markings all over its body much like the Marauders. It had a thick tail like a lizard and two horns that curved upward were on each side of its bald head. It had slits for nostrils like a snake, its hands and feet had claws, its eyes were completely black and its mouth was full of sharp fangs.

Also, more than anything, its aura was completely different from the monsters so far as just watching it put great pressure on everyone present, especially the three individuals closest to it. Maya had let go of the girl she saved and got into a combat stance, but she didn’t look willing to fight at all. Her ears were standing straight up and her tail’s fur was bristled. Her instincts were warning her that she shouldn’t fight this thing. Aria, who pushed her best friend behind her, also didn’t look too brave because of how her sword kept trembling in her hands. Elena looked the worst among the three because of the terrified expression on her face as well as how her body kept trembling like a leaf.

“Riiight, I put in one of these guys on this floor to surprise Alice. After all, you’d only expect them on the lower floors.” [Ryner]

Ryner casually spoke to himself in a low voice while readying his assault rifle and pointing it at the War Puppet that simply stood there like a statue, knowing full well that it wouldn’t do anything but attract its attention. In his pocket was a healing potion inside a glass vial like a test tube. He was counting on this miraculous green liquid to save his life.

“A Soldier type…” [Ryner]

He had to fight. If the heroes and knights had a hard time against the Marauders, then they would definitely get slaughtered. After all, the current opponent was much stronger and could easily clear this floor by itself.

“Predator class…” [Ryner]

*Author note* Sorry it took so long. I was stuck in a sort of writer's block because writing this part was rather hard.

That or I was feeling lazy?

Anyway, thanks for the comments. I'll put some more info on Maya's training time without messing with the current arc.

Also, anyone noticed the two references in this chapter?