"This is worse than I imagined. The Lamiæ themselves don't seem weak, and there are swarms of them."

"Water sources... swarms... the Basilisk's curse... Ugh, my head..."

"Miss Jeanne, that's not a Basilisk, you know? Basilisks are monsters from the fifth floor."

"I know. I just remembered a bit of past trauma."

That game's Basilisk was truly a terrible monster...

By the way, the Basilisks that appear on the fifth floor of this labyrinth are said to be small dragons or large lizards. I saw them in the guild's mural.

"Anyway, jokes aside—what do we do? We can already see eight of them. There must be even more deeper inside. If we're turning back, now's the time."

Saying that, Jeanne's barely concealed excitement is completely obvious.

The Lamiya's Nest is the largest of the four layers, composed of caverns centered around a waterfall, and is known only for being a place where many Lamiyas—snake-women—reside.

It's not actually a nest, as far as can be told, merely a nickname; there are no eggs to be found.

Though there are scattered puddles in the plaza, it's far more suitable for combat than the narrow corridors, earning it the title of the most dangerous hunting ground among the four layers.

If this were a game, it would have been an excellent spot for leveling up, but this is reality.

The Lamiyas have upper bodies that, despite being covered in scales, are still distinctly female, and mentally, they're no easy opponents—yet still, we've faced countless humanoid monsters before, and there's no hesitation in doing so again.

In the labyrinth, where dying turns you into a spirit stone, the death of monsters—no, perhaps even of living creatures—feels unreal.

"If there were other exploring parties around, we could've seen how they tackled it. The guild's recommendation is having at least two frontline fighters capable of defeating a Lamia in one hit."

"So, just level up and beat them with physical attacks, huh? I'm fine with that, and Jeanne and Reflia should be able to take them down in one blow too. The Manticore's supposed to be weaker than the Lamia, after all."

"I'm not so sure. I tend to focus more on defense, so even if we could take them down in one hit, the battle would probably still last a while. Speedy elimination is definitely Clo's specialty."

"True, if Darkness Fog works, then one hit should be enough."

The issue lies in the sheer number of enemies. The second floor was teeming with goblins and orcs, swarming in overwhelming numbers, and if they appeared in that same manner, it would be difficult to handle.

Lamias are far stronger than the monsters on the second floor.

We're hiding in the rocky shadows near the plaza entrance, watching quietly, and the lamias haven't noticed us or launched an attack. They don't seem to have strong detection abilities, but according to prior intelligence, they have a habit of calling for reinforcements.

If a battle breaks out in the plaza, it'll likely continue until one side is completely wiped out.

In other words, it'll become a fight to the death.

That's exactly why we came here—to face such a battle.

Just as we're waiting for the right moment to strike, one of the lamias approaches closely.Just the right amount of strength to test.

"Try pulling it. Keep an eye on it."

I sent the Shadow Runner across the plaza entrance.

Nearby—though it was about thirty meters away—it noticed me and let out a hiss-like sound, writhing its snake-like lower body as it approached.

Fortunately, the other Lamias seem unaware.

"Darkness Fog"

I covered the entire entrance with darkness and launched myself out.

When fighting a new monster, it's always essential to check whether the opponent can be seen in the dark. Lizardmen, like the Reptilemen, could be hidden in darkness, but what about the snake-woman Lamia?

Some snakes on Earth have organs that detect heat. It wouldn't be surprising if Lamia, this world's snake woman, possessed such a capability. Or perhaps she could gauge an opponent's position and distance through senses other than sight.

"Gichi gichi gichi gichi"

Her vertically elongated pupils gleam strangely even in the darkness.

Emitting an unpleasant, grinding sound as if clenching her teeth, she seems to be on guard.

(...seems unlikely she can actually see, though)

Still holding her trident, she sways her upper body back and forth, left and right.

Her long, forked tongue flicks rapidly, as if searching for the prey's location—

"Shaa!"

Suddenly, Lamia springs upward like a spring, leaping directly toward her opponent.

"Heat sensing!? Shadow Bind!"

I dodged the attack while backpedaling, then deployed Shadowbind targeting the Lamia's landing spot.

Immediately drawing my blade, I thrust it toward her throat.

The sword of Absolute Infernal Steel severed the vital flow of her spirit energy.

I picked up the water spirit stone that had fallen to the ground, retreated into the rock shadows, and dispelled Darkness Fog.

"How was that? You seemed to have trouble with it."

"The Darkness Fog didn't work. I think it must be detecting either heat sources or scent, since it can't see."

"Huh, so the Lamia is the true enemy of the dark. Interesting."

"It's not interesting at all... If the Fog doesn't work, we're in serious trouble."

It probably doesn't look as if it's resembling a Garden Panther, but being spotted would put us at a serious disadvantage. With Shadowbind, we could at least take down one opponent in a one-on-one fight, but that's a risky way to fight.

It's a little scary to rely on Shadowbind when facing multiple monsters, like we are now.

"We can't afford to be picky. We made too much noise during that last fight."

Jeanne nods sharply.

Looking ahead, the Lamia are approaching cautiously, making alert sounds from deeper within.

"What should we do? We might still be able to escape if we act now."

The passage we came through was fairly narrow.

Plus, crabs and Sahagin keep leaping out from the waterfall, so getting through will take some time. There's a certain risk even in trying to retreat.

"Fight hard. If things get bad, don't hesitate—use the barrier stone. Let Flou protect you, and let Crow's Dark Knight guard her. Break the barrier stone if it gets too dangerous."

"You're really going through with this, huh?"

Clutching the hilt of her sword tightly, Reflair confirms one last time.

Seeing Reflair like this, Jeanne lets out a smirk.

"That's exactly why I'm here! Everyone, get ready! It's all-out war! Hyaah!"

"Hey, wait!"

With a wild shout, Jeanne suddenly dashes forward alone.

She's incredibly reckless.

"Reflair! Cover Jeanne! I'm coming right behind!"

"Jeanne's such a fool!"

"She really is!"

While Jeanne took a stance as if facing all the lamias alone, sword and shield in hand, I summoned the Dark Knight.

"Grapeflour, stay hidden here. If it gets dangerous, break this stone immediately—it'll be safe. The Dark Knight should protect you most of the time, but remember, this guy disappears when time runs out."

"Y-yes, I understand. Please do your best, Hikaru-san and everyone!"

"Well, if things get really bad, we'll use the barrier stone to evacuate too."

According to the four-layer information we gathered from the guild, the area near the entrance to the lamia's nest is supposedly a safe zone where monsters don't come, so we should be fine.

It's also common practice for upper-tier parties fighting inside the lamia's nest to leave their porter here.

"Alright. Now then... 'Create Undead.'"

Using the chaotic spirit stone of the Lizardman Zombie, I managed to summon even more allies.

"You take care of the one trying to slip past us,"

"…………"

The Lizardman Zombie nods silently.

With this, the chance of monsters slipping past us from behind is greatly reduced.

　

In any case, now that things have come to this, we can only fight until they’re all wiped out.

"Let’s go! Shadow Bind!"

I freeze the movement of one of the Lamia charging toward Reflair.

Seizing the opening, I swing my greatsword and take down two more.

Before I can recover, another one leaps in, but Jeanne blocks it with a shield bash, and I slice off its head from the side.

The lair of the lamias is vast, and generally the lamias head straight toward us, but some detour around us, perhaps aiming to flank us, and those are calmly dealt with by the lizardman zombies.

"Is it barely faster to eliminate them over here!?"

"No, they're still coming. I heard from the guild that there was even a case where they had to fight as many as two hundred lamias."

"No way."

The lamias keep arriving one after another.

Some wield spears, others swords, and some fight bare-handed.

Fortunately, the lamias don't use spirit magic, which is a relief, but they're simply too numerous.

"Pierce! Photon Ray!"

"Shade Shift!"

The Photon Ray is a light spirit magic used by Reflair, a penetrating beam.

Blinding rays of light shot straight forward, piercing through all three lamias simultaneously.

Two of them died instantly. The last one sustained injuries. Incredible power.

I used Shade Shift to reduce their accuracy, then eliminated the charging lamias one by one.

Jeanne was also hunting lamias at a fast pace, but it seemed as though they were emerging endlessly—swarming in overwhelming numbers.

"Faster than I expected! Let's protect each other and avoid being caught from behind!"

It's my job to keep an eye on the entire battlefield.

I must not be caught off guard from behind under any circumstances.

Since I'm not using Darkness Fog, I still have plenty of spirit energy left, but there's always the risk of running out eventually. The endless assault is mentally exhausting beyond imagination.

"Phantom Warrior! Shadow Bind!"

The decoy technique proves effective even in moments like this.

Simply creating a moment to divert the opponent's attention gives us a tempo advantage step by step. Each fleeting moment adds up significantly.

The opponent isn't stronger in numbers, nor do their individual abilities differ drastically. We too would die from a direct hit just like anyone else.

Principle: maintain at least a one-on-one matchup.

Ideally, continue fighting while holding a numerical advantage.

Above all, we must absolutely avoid being overwhelmed by sheer numbers in this vast space.

"Dark Coffin!"

Confirming that the Lamias are still advancing from behind, I focused my spirit energy.

I cast a high-level binding spell at the edge of range, aimed toward the far end of the plaza.

The coffin technique takes time to complete, and if left unchecked, it's mostly avoided—but as a delaying tactic, it's not bad. The mysterious technique suddenly appearing puts the lamias on guard, halting their movements.

Then, summon the phantom warriors and charge them forward.

A significant number of enemies were successfully distracted.

"Back off for now! If possible, take down everyone here!"

Confirming that the reptileman zombie was destroyed by the concentrated attack of three lamias, retrieve the spirit stone from the shadow storage and summon the reptileman zombie once more.

The dark coffin was created for this very purpose—buying time.

(…This might be bad.)

Pull out a stamina potion and a spirit power potion from the storage, drink them both down.

The lamias' spawning still hasn't stopped.

It's no exaggeration that this is the most dangerous spot among the four layers. Even we, who know the information, are struggling here—how many explorer parties must have been completely wiped out before this place became truly known?

We're fighting in a section that's fairly deep inside the entrance.

If we use barrier stones here, of course the barrier will be activated.

Being right in the heart of the Lamia nest was not a good choice for setting up a barrier. Since monsters are always present, we'd just end up fighting again when trying to escape—there's a high chance we'd be stuck in the same situation.

"Shade Shift! Shadow Bind! Switch—I'll cover you, drink the potion!"

Refrea and I have been alternating attacks nonstop with our swords.

I've also given her a stamina potion.

The Lamias are swarming in.

Just from what we can see, there are at least eight of them.

Advancing toward me with a grating, unpleasant sound, trying to kill me.

"Darkness Fog!"

I spread darkness and dash forward.

Usually I rely on sight and don't use thermal sensing, so the opponent can't immediately adapt to the darkness, making my attacks land effortlessly.

　

But the enemy is desperate too.

The long sword swings wildly, grazing my arm and leg, spraying fresh blood.

Forced to fight two at once, even if I can take one down in a single strike, I must close in almost to touching distance, inevitably taking hits little by little.

Perhaps due to adrenaline, I don't feel the pain.

"Damn it! So persistent...!"

"Hikaru! I'll take over! Help Jeanne—she's surrounded by three Lamias!"

Looking over, I see three Lamias swarming around Jeanne.

He's skillfully shifting his position, deflecting attacks with his shield, but it's dangerous.

"Shadow Bind! Shade Shift!"

Shade Shift is more of a temporary relief than a true defense—it creates a double blur, making it look like two of him, giving him an advantage in both offense and defense, and he distinctly felt that this made it more likely for the opponent's attacks to miss. It's a technique well-suited for chaotic combat.

"Cro, I'm saved. How many did you take down?"

"I didn't count! I think it's under thirty."

"Hahaha! This is fun! If this were a game, this would be the ultimate hunting ground!"

"If it were a game!"

Jeanne laughs innocently, but in reality, she's already on the edge of death.

If just one thing changes, the situation could collapse like an avalanche, tipping straight toward defeat—