it! Is there no way to attack upward into the sky?!" The

demon lord, hovering slowly as he flies, is a perfect target if only he had a way to attack. After

all, Marcolias, a chimera not naturally built for flight, isn't particularly skilled at flying either. The explorers who arrived to

rescue them managed to regroup, evacuating the injured to the stairs, while the combat-ready members joined up with Alex and the others. The shield-bearers

stepped forward, ready to skillfully deflect charges. Fire

breath would be blocked by water shields. Once he lands on

the ground, he won't get away. That's about all the

battle strategy we can come up with right now.

But honestly, I think it's quite desperate. It's like slowly bleeding out. The opponent keeps gaining experience with every passing moment. I had a sense that eventually, we'd collapse completely. Refleia probably feels the same—she was staring up at the flying demon lord with an expression I've never seen before, so serious. Though they haven't used much fear-based magic yet, if they unleash it repeatedly, we're definitely finished. And there's still the possibility they'll use some unknown magic we haven't seen. Even if we manage to corner them successfully, there's still a chance they'll escape without being fully defeated. If they decide to flee, we'd be utterly helpless. Of course, even that might just be wishful thinking.

"Alex. How long ago did the reinforcements head up? I need to buy some time—just give me a rough estimate.""Reinforcements

...? Didn't they just arrive a moment ago

?""No, that's not what I meant. Someone has to go back and call for the first

half of the party—""Alex gave me a blank look in response

to my question. I could feel a chill run down

my back. I replayed the events since the Demon King's appearance. I had asked Alex and the others to come for help, but I never told them to go to the surface and fetch the first half of the party

. In fact, the second half was supposed to summon the first half once the Demon King appeared. I'd jumped to conclusions too quickly."

Moreover, if we barely managed to regroup with the other party at the third floor entrance, only to immediately begin fighting the Demon King, then there's no way anyone could have gone out to call for help.

There was no need to even think about it.

"No one... went out to call for help, right...?"

"S-sorry. We were all struggling too hard—no one went out, I think."

"No, I'm not blaming you. It's not your fault."

That means, in order to call for reinforcements from now on, someone must pass through the second and first floors.

I'm not overestimating my own strength, but if I leave, the front line will collapse. I'd be the fastest to get through, but I can't go.

"Alex, can I ask those guys to deliver a message for us?"

The party we just joined.

If we're at Silver rank, two or three people should be able to get through the second layer fairly quickly.

"Aren't we going to cooperate? We'll be in trouble if we do this alone!"

"No, it's worse if we don't. We have no way to attack from the air. If we could get the first-half team's... 'Crimson Vial' here, we'd definitely be able to handle this."

The Crimson Vial is a Mithril-ranked exploration party led by Garnet, who has crimson hair. They have archers, and their combat power is simply in a different league.

"Going back to the guild, gathering people, and coming all the way here... that'd take at least two or three hours at minimum."

"Can we hold out that long...? That's all we can do."

"If we're lucky, maybe Alex will get a point or two. Then, if we can trade the barrier stone for it, we might just make it through somehow."

"Hey, am I the one using points? Hikaru might get points too, right?"

"No way, I've already borrowed three points, so I can't."

"Seriously? Guess I have no choice then."

The barrier stone is handy, but once used, the Demon King will lose track of the target.

That could mean he moves up to the next floor. As Kanibar said, having him ascend only brings greater risks.

I'd rather hold our ground here.

"Then I'll go relay the message."

"Yeah, tell them to hurry up as much as possible."

"Got it!"

After Alex left, I activated the Darkness Fog to conceal myself and opened my status board.

The crystals have increased thanks to viewers reaching the one-billion mark, but those numbers are now translucent and unusable.

I'm currently in debt for three points, so not only can I not use points, but I can't even use crystals.

It's 3:30 AM. The first half of the party members should be fast asleep by now.

Even if I called them now, I'm not sure if they'd come running right away—

"……Ah!"

It was a lucky coincidence that I noticed it, but it had been lingering in the back of my mind.

—It was about time I learned a new technique.

Shadow Bind had advanced from the second tier to the third tier.

・Coffin of Darkness 【Dark Coffin】 Mastery Level 0

Dark Coffin is an advanced technique derived from Shadow Bind, and I instinctively know it can't be used in mid-air, but given how stuck I was, this unexpected development is a welcome surprise.

Alex has been talking with the explorers, and it looks like four out of the eight will return to the first floor.

The remaining four seem determined to stay.

The warriors who remain are two shieldbearers and two backline mages.

The demon king breathes a fire breath from above at Alex and the others.

Thanks to Jajaldan's Water Shield, it's barely neutralized, but the subsequent charge is brutal.

The sheer mass of the impact itself is a powerful attack, far more dangerous than claws or fangs.

Even though we're stronger than ordinary humans, we can't possibly survive a collision with something that size unharmed.

In fact, the shieldbearers are already being blown away.

Fortunately, they aren't seriously injured, but this won't help us gain any time.

Even if we try to attack it while it's on the ground, it quickly takes flight again. There's no explorer here capable of restraining the movements of this colossal creature, over five meters in length.

Only my spirit magic seems to have any effect, but positioning and timing are extremely difficult.

"Damn it! We're being worn down slowly! Hikaru, got any ideas?"

Alex's face shows clear frustration. Without a decisive blow, we humans will tire out faster than the monster itself.

"If it would just land near me, maybe I could do something, but it's impossible while it's flying. If only we had someone with a bow..."

If we could eliminate its ability to fly, there might be a chance to take it down with a combo of Darkness Fog and Light.

Of course, the opponent has the chaotic spirit magic, so it's hard to tell, but even so, we should have a significant advantage.

However, it's unavoidable that we lack an archer.

On the first floor, monsters are skeletons, and bows don't suit them well.

On the second floor, it's a prison with many narrow rooms, making bows ineffective.

On the third floor, thick fog fills the air, and encountering monsters usually leads to close combat quickly, so bows are unsuitable.

On the fourth floor, it's the best match so far, but it's dark and full of tight spaces, so using bows would still be impractical.

Therefore, archer explorers mainly fight on floors below the fifth.

The fifth floor is a spiral descent around the outer edge of a vast cavern, where bows are said to be quite effective.

Indeed, there was an archer among the crimson vials.

"Anyway, let's just wait for reinforcements."

"Yeah. They're being cautious over there, not attacking much—so that's the only thing keeping us from being overwhelmed."

"All we can do is pray the Demon Lord doesn't change his mind."

Alex spoke these words while keeping a close eye on the Demon Lord, who was soaring through the sky, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

"Ah, um... Hikaru."

Refreia had quietly appeared beside them.