“Grants complete immunity to direct damage from a single frontal attack. If activated at the perfect moment, it reflects the damage back to the attacker...” Holy crap! A shield parry? How interesting.
This unexpected windfall was a pleasant surprise for Greg, as the skill was a perfect match for his current setup.
If anyone else had obtained this skill, they would most likely only use it to save their lives to play it safe.
But Greg was different. Because he also possessed the [Insubstantiality] skill, he could boldly attempt a shield parry without any fear. Even if the parry failed, he could simply activate Insubstantiality to phase through the attack.
Thus, an action that would normally be extremely risky posed absolutely no threat to him.
He could completely treat this life-saving skill as an offensive tool.
“As expected, things are different now that I'm back home. That four-point bonus to my Luck stat is truly putting in work!”
Blinking his eyes to close the panel, a cheerful Greg took the lead and stepped deeper into the ruins.
“Well, let's keep moving. We've already wasted quite a bit of time on the way.”
“Yes...”
Allie murmured in response, casting a glance at the beast's corpse on the ground.
Although she already knew her young master's power was extraordinary, seeing it in action proved it was far stronger than she had anticipated.
Looking at Greg's back, Allie suddenly felt a pang of worry.
She worried whether the Goddess of Night, who had bestowed this eerie power upon her young master, would do something terrible to him. In the worst-case scenario...
“Oi, Allie, what are you standing there daydreaming for? Hurry up.”
Greg's voice cut through her thoughts.
“I know, I know. Can you not shout? What a silly master.”
Allie gripped her sword tightly and quickly caught up.
At the same time, she made a quiet resolve in her heart.
She really needed to become even stronger.
The rest of their journey went exceptionally smoothly.
Perhaps because they had slain that powerful elite monster, the other magical beasts that had been lurking nearby retreated, not daring to approach them.
Meeting almost no further obstacles, they made unobstructed progress all the way to the deepest section of the third layer.
They arrived at a wide, open area resembling a plaza.
The ground was paved with neat white stone slabs, and several tall stone pillars towered around them. Exquisite reliefs were carved into each pillar—hourglasses, gears, the trajectories of stars, and blurred figures holding up various vessels symbolizing time.
The entire plaza was similar to what they had seen when they first entered the temple on the previous layer; it was pristine, clean, and completely devoid of dust or damage.
Such a glaring anomaly made it obvious at a glance that this was the arena for the Floor Boss battle.
“Let's try to end this as quickly as possible.”
Without hesitation, the two stepped into the center of the plaza.
Dark mana surged slightly over Greg's body, ensuring he could manifest his Dark Abyss Armament at any moment.
Allie held her longsword horizontally in front of her, ready for battle.
However, a minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Five minutes passed.
No enemy appeared.
Greg and Allie exchanged a look, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
Greg muttered, “Does it require some kind of trigger to start the battle? Let's search the plaza together to see if there's anything unusual.”
The two began to search the plaza thoroughly.
They inspected every stone pillar, checked every possible corner, and even tapped on the stone slabs on the ground to see if there were any hidden mechanisms.
Yet, they still found nothing. Aside from the pillars, the entire plaza was completely empty.
Allie sheathed her longsword, crossed her arms, and looked at Greg with a skeptical gaze.
“I say... is it possible you took the wrong path, silly master?”
“No way...”
Greg was starting to doubt himself as well.
He looked around, but there was indeed no other path. This plaza was the end of the third layer.
But where was the Floor Boss?
It couldn't have just vanished into thin air, right?
Frowning, he called out to his resident deity in his mind. Hey, Hajimi, you scheming goddess, did you take a wrong turn somewhere?
Nightmare replied, Though it differs slightly from my memory, it is impossible for me to have taken a wrong turn. This is indeed the core area of the third layer. By all rights, the Floor Boss should be here.
Greg retorted, Then did it see my battle maid and hide in fear? Have you sensed any strange auras here?
I do not sense any strange auras here. Rather...
Nightmare continued, Ever since we entered this layer, I have not felt that profane presence anymore.
Are you kidding me? What do you mean you haven't felt it since we entered this—
Greg's words ground to a sudden halt.
Because he suddenly recalled the strange marks he had seen at the entrance tunnels of the first and second layers.
Now, combining that with what Nightmare had just said, an almost unbelievable thought crossed his mind.
Could the Floor Boss of the third layer... have already left the dungeon?!
Ridiculous as the idea sounded, at this moment, it was the only logical deduction.
What was even harder for Greg to accept was that the system required him to fully clear the third layer, which meant he had to slay its Floor Boss to complete the quest.
But now, the Floor Boss was nowhere to be found, and he was running out of time.
With the events of the exchange already halfway over, and having to prepare to deal with Wendy's situation once he got back to the surface, where would he find the time to slowly hunt the beast down?
“Wait, there might still be hope!”
Thinking of Wendy, Greg recalled what he had once told her: that the Empire's Crown Prince might have been bewitched by some power from the dungeon.
That had been a mere wild guess at the time, but considering the current situation, it actually seemed highly plausible.
The Floor Boss of the third layer might truly be lurking by the Crown Prince's side!
“Could it be that what I said was actually the truth?!”
Greg felt his mind reel.
If this hypothesis was correct, it meant his plans to conquer the dungeon and save Wendy could no longer be accomplished through conventional means. He would have to resort to much more drastic measures.
Allie surveyed their empty surroundings once more. After confirming that indeed no enemies were going to appear, she asked,
“So, what do we do now?”
Greg fell silent for a moment. Then, he suddenly turned around and took the first step back toward the dungeon's exit, his voice carrying an unquestionable resolve.
“We go back to the surface.”
He paused, then added,
“Change of plans. This time, we're not just saving Wendy. We are going to... save the Empire!”
Rate on N.U.
