It was a heavy, broad, single-edged blade that looked like it could crush any enemy under its sheer weight. A weapon of terrifying lethality. Far too heavy and imposing to pair with his leather armor over cloth-type equipment, yet there it was. The blade bore the name "Fangcrusher" and was of Mythical grade.
Opposite him stood
But that Physical Body had originally been constructed from
Through which mana flowed, it had become a lethal weapon possessing hardness beyond Legendary grade.
The hardest entity within the Labyrinth, impervious to any conventional weapon — that was Beretta.
With Dino brandishing a weapon and Beretta bare-handed, one might assume the latter was at a disadvantage. That was not the case.
However, Dino's weapon's offensive power exceeded Beretta's defensive capability.
Tension crackled between them, and Dino moved with casual ease as though shattering it.
Despite being unarmed, Beretta deftly deflected Dino's sword strikes. Never taking them head-on, Beretta's movements fused offense and defense into one, keeping Dino off balance.
Where Dino attacked with his sword alone, Beretta's entire body was a weapon. Being unarmed was no disadvantage — if anything, it allowed for a far wider variety of attacks.
As a Holy-Demonic Doll, elemental transformation was another area where Beretta excelled.
Striking with holy attributes where the opponent was accustomed to demonic ones, or using localized holy barriers against an individual to seal off portions of Dino's body.
Beretta countered Dino with calculated movements designed to maintain the advantage.
Yet behind the surface, Beretta's situation was anything but relaxed. Through computations as fine as threading a needle — without a shred of panic, but barely — Beretta was clinging to the status quo.
The truth was, neither holy nor demonic attribute attacks could serve as a decisive blow.
Dino was a
But for Dino, both holy and demonic were familiar attributes — neither was a weakness.
The sole saving grace was that, unlike Beretta, he could not wield both with equal mastery.
Only the combined strike produced by Beretta's Unique Skill, "Holy-Demonic Fusion," which merged both attributes, could deal any real damage.
On the other hand, even though Dino's attacks relied solely on his sword, each strike was expected to tear through Beretta with ease.
The strength of Bio-Magisteel was sorely lacking in the face of a Mythical-grade weapon.
It looked as though Beretta was pressing the advantage, but a single misstep would see the situation reverse instantly.
Beretta understood this perfectly, and so refrained from going on the offensive, focusing entirely on buying time.
He had recognized that he could not defeat Dino, and for him, victory did not mean defeating Dino.
If he could win, that would certainly be ideal, but in this situation, victory meant protecting
As long as Ramiris was kept safe, even if Beretta himself was destroyed, revival would be possible afterward.
Therefore, Beretta prioritized stalling above all else — never rushing, parrying Dino's attacks, and even keeping self-sacrifice within the bounds of his strategy.
Dino saw through Beretta's intentions with perfect clarity.
But seeing through them and being able to break through — those were two different things.
The only thing he needed to watch for was the composite attack from "Holy-Demonic Fusion."
Beretta enveloped his body in aura that wove holy and demonic energy in alternation, piercing through elemental defenses to land hits.
In practical terms, defense against this attack was impossible. Unless one overpowered it with willpower and their own mana, damage was guaranteed.
That a mere Unique Skill could land hits on someone who possessed an Ultimate Ability — that in itself was extraordinary.
Beretta's astonishingly refined sense for combat deserved praise.
However, that ability did not translate to defense.
Perhaps because his defensive power was so overwhelmingly high, Beretta seemed unskilled at protecting himself through other means.
For now, he was managing to deflect Dino's strikes, but that was solely because Dino was wary of Beretta's counterattacks.
If Dino committed fully to the offensive, Beretta would not escape unscathed.
Dino carefully probed, confirming that Beretta had no hidden cards.
Extremely tedious, but necessary if he was to neutralize Beretta here.
After all, even killing him would result in immediate revival.
That was also why he had put the Labyrinth's guardians on each floor to sleep.
If someone was not Ramiris's subordinate, they could be killed by destroying the "Bracelet of Resurrection," but those directly under her could revive even after death.
Ramiris had been granted an exceedingly troublesome ability.
That was precisely why, within the Labyrinth, rather than defeating Ramiris's subordinates, he needed to neutralize them and use that opening to strike at the root — Ramiris herself.
*(What a pain, seriously. Even going up against Beretta alone is this much work...)* In truth, Dino had not initially realized that an evolution ritual was being conducted during the victory celebration.
At Yuki's request, he had contacted Guy during the celebration, scheming to pit him against Rimuru.
He himself had hidden away to observe without getting caught up in it.
It was all Yuki's plan, and Dino's role was simply to cooperate.
The plan had been going well — Guy had been on the verge of losing control. But somehow, they had ended up reconciling amicably, and Dino realized the scheme had failed.
If this continued, his own espionage would be exposed, and he decided it was time to withdraw — but then...
He noticed something strange about the Labyrinth.
It had gone quiet, as though everyone had fallen asleep.
This was his chance.
For the one he served — for the entity lurking within Yuki — Ramiris's existence was an obstacle.
Personally, Dino did not dislike Ramiris, but she lived as she pleased, seemingly having forgotten her original role, and that made her a dangerous presence for Dino's master.
No — to be precise, it was not Ramiris who was dangerous. It was the Labyrinth she had created.
A dungeon teeming with demonic entities rivaling the immortality of Demon Lords, in massive numbers.
It was far more than just a formidable fortress.
And at its deepest core, research was underway into the most advanced technologies that formed the backbone of the civilization that needed to be destroyed.
An assault to demolish that research facility head-on was impossible with anything short of overwhelming military force.
Therefore, sealing the Labyrinth wholesale was unavoidable.
The most straightforward option was to eliminate Ramiris. With no time to search for alternatives, Dino resolved himself.
Yuki had always viewed the Labyrinth as a threat.
And Ramiris's ability in particular.
He had spoken of how, if one were trapped inside the Labyrinth with the entrance sealed, escape would be nearly impossible.
Ramiris's "Labyrinth Creation," a glimpse of the power to create worlds, was far too dangerous an ability, he had said.
Dino agreed with that assessment.
And so, he needed to take Ramiris down right here, right now.
The Labyrinth's strongest defenders had been drained of most of their stamina and had fallen into slumber easily.
Now, there would be no interruptions.
As a friend he had once been close with, killing Ramiris tugged at his conscience somewhat — but even so, he did not hesitate.
"Beretta, you've done well. Now sleep — Lethargic Slumber!!"
Once his ability's cooldown had elapsed, Dino unleashed his Ultimate Ability without hesitation.
Powerful hypnotic suggestion.
Resistance through willpower was futile. Those who needed sleep would fall into a slumber from which they would never wake.
A wide-ranging, incomparably powerful ability — Dino's signature.
Knowing that killing would be pointless, Dino had opted to neutralize Beretta through this ability's effect.
This applied not only to Beretta but also to Shinji and the others in this room who were trying to protect Ramiris. The one they were protecting — Ramiris herself — had also succumbed to the ability's influence and fallen asleep.
"There really are too many strong people in here. Seriously, what a pain."
Dino murmured after confirming Beretta's collapse.
He glanced at the sleeping Ramiris.
"I really didn't want to have to do this... I won't ask you to forgive me. Goodbye, Ramiris."
Cold light gleamed in Dino's eyes, and without hesitation, he reached out toward Ramiris — Demons were a race that had no need for sleep.
That was precisely why Beretta had barely managed to resist the ability.
Dino's glowing hand-blade came down, but Beretta interposed his own body as a shield to protect Ramiris.
Dino's hand-blade pierced through Beretta's Bio-Magisteel body with ease.
Without mana-woven defenses active, Beretta's physical durability was apparently of no concern.
Having "succeeded in resisting" was true in a sense, but all it meant was that he hadn't fallen asleep. He had been forced into a state of low activity, robbing him of all combat capability.
But — "Heh, heh heh. You deliberately destroyed my core. By doing so, I will die and revive without a scratch."
"There's still more to come, Dino! I will not let you kill my master!"
Beretta's voice held no trace of despair — only unwavering conviction in their victory.
"You fool! With just the tiny window before you revive, taking down Ramiris is a piece of cake!"
Dino shouted, trying to deny Beretta's words.
But Beretta's conviction was correct.
During the time he had spent stalling, the situation had turned.
Or rather, within this Labyrinth — "No, I won't allow that.
I, Adalman, the 'King of Spectral Spirits,' shall be your opponent!"
As if responding to Dino's voice, a man — no, a skeleton — entered the laboratory.
"Buy me time, Adalman."
With a voice full of trust, Beretta spoke those words and dissolved into particles of light, vanishing.
Adalman stepped forward to take his place, nodding deeply.
Within the Labyrinth, the second battle began.
--- This was truly infuriating.
That was Dino's honest sentiment.
Adalman was also no match for Dino. However, unless the "Bracelet of Resurrection" was destroyed, he could not be fully put down.
Conversely, from Adalman's perspective, this meant he could buy plenty of time even against the far superior Dino.
And then — "You're looking elsewhere? You must be feeling confident?"
A voice rang out, and a razor-sharp slash grazed Dino's cheek.
It was a strike from
Albert, a swordmaster of the highest caliber, wielded a Mythical-grade weapon.
He didn't seem to have fully mastered the armament yet, so Dino's advantage was certain — but with the revived Beretta and Albert forming two walls of defense, Dino's attacks on Adalman were blocked.
And through powerful support magic backed by recovery magic, their attacks reached Dino.
Magic did not work against one who possessed an Ultimate Ability.
That was only natural — an Ultimate Ability existed on a tier above magic itself. But if the magic provided indirect rather than direct effects, it could still be effective.
In other words, debilitation magic was useless, but support spells empowering front-line allies were viable.
And not just any support — this was the combined effect of Adalman's Sacred Magic and Death Magic, wielded by a chief priest of the highest order.
Beretta was displaying power beyond his earlier performance, and Albert was a top-tier swordmaster.
The two front-liners exchanged transcendent techniques capable of damaging even spiritual life forms.
Even his trump card — the Lethargic Slumber — was ineffective against the undead and demons, who had no need for sleep.
Dino began to lose confidence — how could he, someone who should be overwhelmingly superior, be struggling against three opponents, even if they were inferior in rank? Could it be that his long habit of slacking off had actually weakened him?
Though the very fact that he was entertaining such absurd thoughts showed Dino still had composure to spare.
"Shut the hell up! Coming at me two-on-one against little old me, and you've got the nerve to act high and mighty!
Damn it! And seriously — what gives? The timing is way too perfect!"
Adalman's timing in arriving was simply too exquisite.
He had appeared immediately after Dino used his wide-area attack, "Lethargic Slumber." It was unnatural.
As if he had predicted the attack would come from the very start...
*(No, I'm probably overthinking it...)* Denying his own suspicion, Dino parried the attacks from both front-liners.
His swordsmanship, rivaling Albert's transcendent technique, proved that Dino was a high-order swordsman in his own right.
However, that was likely due to his physical abilities rather than his technique.
Dino's "King of Sloth" had a special effect: the less he moved in his daily life, the more power he accumulated.
To put it simply, he could bank energy.
There was a limit to the maximum output he could unleash at once, but it allowed him to use a superhuman state beyond normal limits at will.
Through this ability, Dino could temporarily gain overwhelming combat power.
That was precisely why he still had composure to spare — he was analyzing the fighting styles of the three before him, calculating the most efficient way to take them down — but — "Heh, ahahahaha! How entertaining, truly entertaining. I suppose there's no harm in telling you.
You were being watched.
How could it be otherwise? Do you even realize where you are?
This is the domain of the great Demon Lord Rimuru! You couldn't possibly act freely here.
And naturally — this battle is being watched as well."
Adalman declared, as though stating the most obvious thing in the world.
Come to think of it, it made sense.
Even from Dino's perspective, Demon Lord Rimuru was a terrifyingly strategic thinker who wove elaborate plans.
If that was the case, then the reason they hadn't come immediately after he succeeded in resisting "Lethargic Slumber" was likely because they were wary of him using it again.
Since Dino knew that killing was pointless, he could be expected to aim for neutralization through sleep — and they had predicted as much.
They had also calculated the cooldown time and determined that he had no effective means to silence them completely.
And above all — *(Me... the "Watcher" — being watched myself?!)* — That was an insult.
It struck directly at Dino's pride — which, thanks to his genuinely lazy nature, was greater than one might expect — and Adalman had successfully provoked him into a fury.
Dino valued achieving maximum results with minimal effort above all else, which was why he had avoided using abilities that expended energy needlessly.
But that didn't mean he couldn't.
*(Fine then — I'll finish this quickly!)* Fueled by rage, Dino released his full power. He no longer held anything back.
Having committed the greatest failure of all — failing to notice that he, the Watcher, was being watched — he could not afford to leave anyone alive who knew of this situation.
"This is a pain, but I can't afford to dawdle anymore.
Don't take it personally — Temptation of Ruin!!"
The laws of the world were rewritten. Positive factors began reversing into negative ones.
It was an energy that forced both the living and the dead to cease activity. However, it carried no coercion — the target walked the path of ruin of their own volition.
It could be called a form of hypnosis, but its effects operated on an entirely different scale.
Those who failed to resist would inevitably die.
This time, the path of suggestion led to "ruin," but it was also possible to have targets perform specific actions through hypnotic suggestion. It was a highly versatile ability.
Notable, too, was the fact that it did not use sound as a medium, meaning defenses like barriers were useless against it.
One of the Seven Deadly Sins — Sloth — worthy of its name, and one of the most fearsome Ultimate Abilities in existence.
It was an ability that granted absolute dominion over those with intelligence and emotion.
Dino activated the ability and confirmed that everyone present had collapsed and died.
It had taken more effort than expected.
He was shaken by the reality that these were beings below his rank, none of whom had even obtained an Ultimate Ability, yet they served only a single Demon Lord.
To be precise, Beretta held dual allegiance and technically fell under Ramiris's command, but that was beside the point.
*(Seriously... and these aren't even the top brass among Rimuru's subordinates.)* Dino had every right to grumble.
By his own estimation, the opponents he had faced were mid-ranking among Rimuru's forces.
He would need to revise his assessment of Albert and the others upward.
It seemed the situation had been deemed an emergency, prompting the deployment of the upper echelon. He had also confirmed that
The remaining threat was
Double-checking the situation and pushing his luck to the absolute limit had been the right call after all.
If Benimaru, Shion,
Relieved for the moment, Dino reached toward Ramiris's corpse to confirm his victory.
"Temptation of Ruin" was an ability that scattered hypnotic suggestion waves throughout the area — there was no escape.
Whether asleep or awake, once bathed in its effects, they would take hold. If anything, those who were already asleep could not resist and would simply die.
Dino was certain of Ramiris's death and reached out to touch the body.
He — He reached out.
The body dissolved into particles of light, taking the shape of a butterfly that fluttered around Dino.
As though mocking him...
*(No... an illusion?!)* He didn't want to believe it, and couldn't believe it.
But... Adalman had said it clearly.
This battle was being watched as well.
*(Was that also a provocation?! To draw out my trump card...!?)* Come to think of it, it was unnatural for Adalman — who had not gained any advantage by doing so — to make that declaration at that moment.
But if he had already been in an advantageous position, it made perfect sense.
Which meant...
*Tap... tap...* The sound of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed as someone approached.
A beautiful light butterfly fluttered toward the figure walking calmly forward, landing gently on their arm.
And then, the butterfly's form shifted back into the adorable shape of a sleeping fairy — the innocent, peacefully sleeping Ramiris looked blissfully content.
The man standing beside him — who had appeared silently at some point, with blue-black hair — gently took Ramiris into his arms.
"Souei, I'm counting on you with Ramiris," the man said quietly.
"Leave it to me. Do you need backup?"
"Not necessary. One person is enough — me."
From the very beginning, the defense around Ramiris had been flawless.
At the safest point deep within the Labyrinth, layered with countless traps.
Following a certain someone's instructions, they had been ordered to reveal the intruder's abilities gradually, fighting in stages.
They had followed those orders with perfect fidelity.
The only one kept in the dark was Ramiris herself.
And now — The strongest being within the Labyrinth had moved.
He had been encased in a cocoon to evolve his abilities, but his consciousness had remained fully awake the entire time.
Through their telepathic link, they had maintained constant coordination, keeping perfect awareness of the situation.
With the blessing of that absolute, overwhelming defense, Ramiris's safety had been secured.
Within the Labyrinth, the third battle began.
Standing before Dino was the "King of Spectral Spirits" — Zegion.
The absolute ruler of this Labyrinth.