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On the 1st day of challenging [The Labyrinth of the Nurturer], Raven and the others reached the middle of the 3rd floor.

On the 2nd day, they reached the 6th floor.

But after that, the next floors got harder by a lot.

They became maze-themed floors, they have complicated traps, stronger monsters, and many other else that slowed down Raven and the others' advance.

On the 3rd day, the group only got into the middle of the 7th floor.

On the 4th day, they reached the 8th floor.

On the 5th day though, Raven and the others got used to the environment of the deeper part of the labyrinth, so they were able to advance to the 9th floor!

And now, July 18, 2080, Saturday.

The 6th day... The group reached the end of the 9th floor!

***

"We're here..."

Eve mumbled in a low voice.

She's standing in front of a rather well-made staircase that leads to the deepest floor of the labyrinth.

"Phew..."

"Haaa..."

And just behind her are Alec, Curtis, Blake, Raven, Adelle, and Aoi.

"I'm shocked, we arrived at this place a day earlier than I expected..."

Raven, who's at the back of the group, mumbled to himself.

[Well, it's because Alec and the others were much more cooperative than usual.]

And Sariel replied to him.

After hearing that, Raven looked at the others...

They all look exhausted and a bit dirty.

(Yuki is inside the ring, resting, she's the most exhausted of the group.)

'True, their performance was much better than I predicted.'

Raven thought.

Then after that...

Swaaa-

He took out a lot of potions from his spatial storage.

"<Mass Cleanse>"

Then he cast a magic.

The target of his magic was everyone, including himself.

Swooo~

Upon the activation of Raven's magic, everyone's body started to glow a little.

"Huh?"-Eve

"Wha?!"-Alec

"Ohh"-Adelle

"Hmm?"-Aoi

"The fuck is this?"-Curtis

"A magic, you buffoon."-Blake

And because of that, the others got a bit taken aback.

Swiiish~

But then, the specks of dirt and blood that are covering them started getting removed!

The disgusting smell lingering around them was gone too and was replaced by a sweet scent!

Now, the whole group feels a lot more refreshed!

The others aren't idiots, they immediately came to know who's responsible for that magic.

So they all looked at Raven, but as soon as they did...

"Catch."

Swish-

Raven threw 2 vials of potions to each of them.

""?!""

Alec and the others were surprised, but they caught them easily.

And before anyone could even ask Raven something...

"I gave each of you an intermediate-class mana and stamina potions."

He already spoke, informing the others what he threw at them.

"Drink them and get some rest."

He instructed the others...

"Then after that..."

"We will advance to the last floor."

Then he casually declared that!

After Raven finished talking.

"The potions, are you sure we could take them?"

Aoi asked him immediately.

And at her question, Raven looked at the others one by one...

"It's fine, I still have a lot of them with me."

Then he replied with a smirk on his face!

"I know you guys already consumed all of the potions you brought with you."

"..."

Aoi and the others looked at the potions given to them by Raven.

Indeed, they are already out of potions as they rushed their advance until now... Causing them to use more potions than they initially planned.

"Thanks."

Aoi then thanked Raven on everyone's behalf.

"It's nothing."

Raven replied...

Gulp—

And the others drank the potions afterward without hesitation.

They didn't say anything because they were too tired to do so.

But then...

"Adelle."

Raven suddenly called Adelle.

"Yes?"

"Here."

Swish-

Then he threw another vial of mana potion at her!

"Huh? What's this for?"

Adelle asked Raven after catching the potion.

"Heal the others, they sustained some minor injuries."

And Raven casually replied.

"Oh, okay!"

Adelle then happily followed his instruction after.

'Adelle is really a great help in this expedition.'

Raven thought with a smile.

Adelle doesn't just heal them regularly, she even oversees all of their battles from the back and effectively gives support to the side who needs it the most.

It's not an understatement that after Raven, Adelle has the highest contribution among everyone!

Anyway... The others proceeded to rest and get ready to challenge the last floor.

It's actually just about 9 AM, so there's still roughly a day until the double growth effect of the dungeon wears off.

And Raven plans to finish everything before that happens...

*****

10 hours later...

The group was again, standing in front of the staircase that leads to the last floor.

By the way, the 9th floor is like an eerie, maze-like dense forest. 

And unlike the other floors, there's no artificial sun or sky on this floor. So it's quite dark.

The trees are gigantic, the smallest one is about 20 meters tall.

And they all look like they had just withered even though they have violet leaves.

The monsters residing on this floor are various types of Giant Bugs... They are all <C-> ranks, and they all move in groups.

And during the 10 hours of preparing...

Raven and the others didn't just stay in one place and rest.

They hunted monsters from time to time, so they don't get too relaxed.

But because the monsters have a higher rank than them, they always hunt in a group of three while the others rest.

Anyway, back to the group...

"Is everyone ready?"

Eve asked the others one last time.

"Yep, I think."-Blake

"I'm quite nervous, but I'm ready to go."-Alec

"If it's with you, I'm always ready to go anywhere."-Curtis

"How can you say that with a straight face?"-Raven

"I'm ready to go."-Aoi

"I'm fully rested, so yeah, I'm ready too!"-Adelle

And even though they were quite nervous, they were set to go.

So after that... Eve nodded her head.

"Then let's go."

And she instructed!

So with that... The group descended the staircase in front of them, and made their way to the lowest part of the labyrinth!

Tap. Tap. Tap.

...

...

Tap. Tap. Tap.

After going down the staircase for about a minute...

Tap-

The group reached the end of the staircase.

And what greeted them...

Is a gigantic 30 meters tall rock gate!

(The gate is made of metamorphic rock...)

"That's cool."-Blake

"Yeah."-Alec

"It's kinda intimidating, and nice."-Adelle

Blake, Alec, and Adelle mumbled, they were quite impressed by the gate.

While the others stayed silent.

"Blake, you open the gate."

Eve then instructed.

"Okay."

And Blake responded positively.

He has the highest defense among the others, so he always takes the front, in case a trap activates after opening the gate.

Like at the very entrance of [The Labyrinth of the Nurturer].

Anyway, Blake stepped forward and stood in front of the giant gate.

He put his two hands on the surface of the gates.

"?"

And immediately after doing so, he felt a strong burning sensation in both of his palms.

Blake looked at the others.

"Guys, brace yourselves."

Then he said.

And hearing his words, everyone readied themselves even more!

After seeing that, Blake brought his attention back to the gate in front of him.

"Hup!"

Then he pushed the gate open with sheer physical prowess!

CREEEAK–

BOOM!

The gate opened, and it produced a loud noise.

But it didn't end there.

As soon as the gate was opened...

SWAAAHHHH~

"Ugh..."-Eve

"Keuk..."-Aoi

"What the fuck?!"-Curtis

"Kyaaa!"-Adelle

"Eh?"-Raven

"Hot!"-Blake

"Ah..?"-Alec

A hot breeze of air came out and passed by the group!

The air was so hot that if Raven and the others are normal people, they would've been burned alive by now!

But not because they're awakened, doesn't mean the air doesn't affect them!

"<Heat Resistance>!"

Luckily, Adelle immediately cast a magic on everyone before the hot air can even bring the slightest harm to them.

Making the group safe from the intense heat that came after the breeze.

As the others were wondering what just happened...

"What the actual fuck?"

They heard Raven suddenly curse, which confused them.

But they didn't mind it much because Raven always curse anyway.

On the other hand, Raven is unaffected by the heat 'cause he's already and was always hot... 

Jk, he was already aware of the heat beforehand.

So he already cast <Heat Resistance> to himself even before Blake opened the gate.

Anyway, the reason he cursed is that as soon as the gate opened...

Raven instructed Sariel to appraise and show him the stats of the monster he and the others are gonna face.

Which is what Sariel did.

And now... 

Raven is looking at the said monster's stats with a frown on his face.

=====

[Hell's Prisoner]

Rank:C++

Strength:C+

Agility:D+

Stamina:C+

Intelligence:C

[Skills]

<Self Destruct>

<Fire Manipulation>

<Flame of Hell>

=====

"Those transcended bastards, I better get a good reward after this..."

Raven mumbled to himself with an annoyed look on his face.

"Sariel, tell that to them."

[Already did.]

"Good."