Merdie and her team continued to defeat the Maho Gnomes that attacked them relentlessly.

Merdie was already past Level 100, so B-ranked monsters were not worthy opponents, no matter how many flocked at her.

If they were ordinary monsters, that is.

Halt — the savage brute that Merdie referred to — would never hold back whenever he trained his comrades.

He would always prepare an opponent that his target group could barely win against, resulting in their rapid improvement.

Moreover, he had the confidence that he could immediately rescue them if the situation became dire. Thus, the drills that he subjected to his comrades were pretty ruthless.

Everything he did was to raise them to become ‘Powerful Comrades’.

The Haruto of yore had vague thoughts of wanting to protect this world where he and Tina lived.

However, when he did obtain the ‘Power to Protect’, he realized that there were many things that he still couldn’t achieve on his own.

Thus, the current Halt never thought of protecting the world all by himself.

This decision was also largely influenced by the fact that he had regained his memories back when he had been living as the Guardian Hero in this world a century ago.

There were lives that the Guardian Hero could not protect.

Cities that he couldn’t defend.

He couldn’t save the world on his own.

That’s why he decided that he would train —

Friends who could defeat S-ranked demons.

A family who could annihilate warlocks.

Comrades who could defeat the greatest enemy of this world — no other than the Demon King.

Sage Luarno had drawn out the power of his comrades through his special classes.

Halt recognized that the method was also beneficial, but he felt that it was lacking.

Except for Halt, all the people of this world needed to raise their levels in order to become strong.

Halt believed that if that was the case, then people could raise their levels and develop their combat ability by continuously fighting against enemies that they could barely defeat.

Actually, that line of thinking wasn’t mistaken.

Indeed, if they were able to grasp the essence of magic thanks to the lectures given by Sage Luarno, they could become more efficient in converting mana into magical energy, thereby increasing their power.

However, status was more important when regards to the ability to use magic.

The person who possessed an overwhelming status was more powerful than one who could efficiently use magic.

That was the world they were in.

Then, if a person who already possessed an overwhelming status also had the skill that would allow him to efficiently use his magic and body, what would happen?

He would become stronger, of course.

And the best way to acquire those skills while improving status would be continuously fighting opponents powerful enough that you could barely defeat them.

The souls of this world’s people would shine the brightest when they were physically and mentally pushed to their limits, allowing them to cultivate their bodies and sharpen their minds.

This would become highly efficient in gaining experience, and it would also become easier for them to raise their levels.

Halt had sharpened his mental acuity to the point that he could sense the souls of other people. He became increasingly aware of the strength development of his comrades, leading him to realize how it worked.

Considering that he was at this point, it stood to reason that the B-ranked monsters he prepared would never be just small fry.

“Haah, Haah, Ugh!!! So annoying, meow!!!!”

Large numbers of Maho Gnomes and Crenus swarmed around Merdie because she was the strongest member of the party currently challenging the dungeon.

Merdie was extremely irritated because she couldn’t obliterate the monsters gathered around her at once.

Whenever she tried to physically attack the maho gnomes, the crenus acted as their shield.

If she tried to defeat the crenus with magic, the maho gnomes would intervene.

Halt ordered them to do so.

Based on Merdie’s speed, these monsters wouldn’t be able to harm her.

However, she still needed a bit of time between attacks so she could muster enough strength to defeat the maho gnomes and the crenus, whether it be a physical attack or a magical attack.

That was the reason why she couldn’t defeat the demons.

The reason why Halt included her in the dungeon challengers’ party was to cultivate that certain aspect.

In order for Merdie to defeat the demons on this floor, she had to shorten the duration of pauses in between her attacks so that the demons wouldn’t have enough time to guard against her, or —

Merdie met Halt’s expectations.

“Sally, Lilia!! Come here, behind me!!”

“Y-yes!”

“Got it meow!!”

Merdie finally broke through the monsters surrounding her while carrying Seira, so she barked those orders towards Sally and Lilia.

They stopped their own battles and rushed towards Merdie and went behind her.

“If you’re gonna block both physical attacks and magic, then —”

Magical energy overflowed from Merdie’s body.

“I’m going with all I got!! Take this, meow!! Earth Spear!!”

She punched the ground with all her might.

Countless rock spears sprang from the ground, starting from the place that she punched.

The magical Earth Spears that she created and the rocks that were blown away in the process swooped down on the monsters.

The rocks hit the maho gnomes, while the Earth Spears pierced the crenu.

“A-amazing…”

Seira was thoroughly shocked at the scene before her.

They reached an open area while running through the dungeon while fighting the monsters. Merdie managed to activate magic that was powerful enough to gouge all the earth in that place.

All the monsters in the area were annihilated.

“N-no big deal, meow.”

Merdie was naturally exhausted.

She had already reached her limit in both mana and body strength, so her breathing was rough and her shoulders heaved.

“Merdie-sama, are you okay, meow!?”

“H-here, have some magic recovery potion!!”

Merdie hastily grabbed the recovery potion that Lilia handed to her and drank it all in one gulp.

“Allow me to replenish everyone’s strength.”

Seira — the saintess considered to be one of the wielders of the supreme class of recovery magic in the entire world — restored the strength of the three girls.

“Fuu. Thanks a lot, Seira, meow. Lilia too.”

“No, I wasn’t really of help during the battle…”

“M-me too. It was as if the monsters were all drawn towards Merdie-sama.”

“Ah, yeah, Halt probably designed it that way, meow. If I knew things would be like this, it’d have been better off not accepting Halt’s proposal, meow.”

Merdie also noticed that Halt was controlling the monsters.

She was wallowing in regret for letting her guard down and accepting Halt’s invitation just because she found it interesting.

“Well, we’re already here, so I want to clear a floor, at the very least, meow.”

“Merdie, are you okay?”

“My mana and strength are back, so I can go on and fight, meow!”

“Yes, but the monsters on this floor were like that. In that case, then the boss might be —”

“It might be something super powerful, meow.”

Lilia and Sally were considering withdrawing.

They fully realized that their current strength wasn’t enough for them to continue on.

“Usually, there are a few underlings inside the boss’s room. If there aren’t a lot of enemies, then I’ll deal with the Boss somehow, meow.”

Merdie then started walking towards the boss’s room after saying that.

Seira, Lilia and Sally followed her.

“A-ahm…about Halt’s magic, those flaming knights — won’t they be the boss?”

“That won’t happen, Seira, meow. I’ll be shocked if the boss of the first floor is that kind of magic spell. That thing is more suited to be at the final floor, or even just before that, meow.”

──＊＊＊──

They finally reached the boss’s room.

“Anyway, let’s break through the11th layer, meow!!!”

“Yes!! Please leave your recovery in my hands.”

“I will do my best too, meow.”

“Let’s give it our best shot!”

The four girls entered the boss’s room.

The boss wasn’t there.

“Eh…there’s no boss, meow?”

“M-Merdie!!! Look over there!!”

Seira pointed to the ground, and they saw five magical circles drawn on it.

They suddenly glowed.

Five knights appeared.

“T-those are —”

“D-don’t &^#$ with meeeeEEEEEOOWWW!!!!!!!!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep