Gust's PoV:

Gust flew through the Dungeon towards the battlefield where the Sahuagin faction and the Glavras united front usually did battle. The Quest suddenly expiring, the earthquake that struck the Dungeon, and the appearance of what Garami had dubbed "the King Cobra" could not be a coincidence unless the Goddess of Fate herself had a finger with it.

After a little while, Gust was met with the sight of the Sahuagin army facing off against the Glavras Rexus, and the Glavras Hydraortress... is not what happened.

The Rexus was lying dead with a large bash on its side, probably from Sent's tail hammer by the looks of it. As for the Hydraortress... 

"Whahahaha! You finally came out of your hole-in-the-wall, Ophiregina! Now, face me and be defeated, you worm!!" - Hydraortress

He was heading straight for the King Cobra, apparently called Ophiregina.

Gust was confused. Were they not allies? He descended to the Sahuagins that were still down there, watching while in a daze at the Hydraortress charging towards the Ophiregina.

According to the Sahuagins, the Hydraortress did always have a battle-maniac brain, as it always challenged Virt to one-on-one duels, but even the Sahuagins couldn't predict this event.

"I see... then how about our troops?" - Gust

"We had some casualties, but nothing fatal, mostly due to the healing spells lady Garami taught us." - Sahuagin

That is the reason we taught you guys them, thought Gust, while he was planning the next step.

"...Garami asked for us to take care of the new Glavras monster that appeared. Fighting it head-on will only result in our deaths. Therefore, we will attract them both without getting too close. Now, here is the plan..." - Gust

---

Garami's PoV:

Oi, oi, oi. Boss-class monsters aren't supposed to leave their areas.

I rode on the Skeleton Raptor I had made with additional Materials to boost its stats, but the closer I came to the Floor 8-entrance, the more I wanted to turn back. If there was something among the Quest Rewards that I could use, but no~.

So yeah, gotta be stealthy around this bloke...what the-!?

The hydra? Why's he here!? Go and fight against Virt and the Sahuagins! 

Argh, the kiting-plan can't work if the hydra's in the way!! I'm not even close to them yet, but I can see that they're starting some kinda infighting. Then it's up to me then. Having these OP-bosses level up more is not what the doctor ordered.

...Yeah, as if there's something they could do against those behemoths at the same time. Damn, this is a mess...oi! Is King Cobra doing that move!?

The Skeleton Raptor is fast on flat ground, but I need some attitude now! Dismiss! And [Sky Jump]!

I climbed the mountain paths that made up the outer rim of the Floor, just in time to escape the favorite attack of the King Cobra: the flood breath.

Even on this wide-open floor, a single breath is enough to cover it with water? The damn Cobra, did he up his game since I left him? The Sahuagins told me that they tried sending people to scout Floor 9 ahead of time, but it seems like they only contributed to level-up the Cobra.

Yeah, having them help out will just come back to bite me. They could probably handle the Cobra alone if they focused on kiting it only, as long as they took certain, no, extremely drastic security measures, but if the hydra's getting more attention than what the Sahuagins can at a safe distance.

I spied on the two monsters currently engrossed in their kaiju battle, and yup. Most of the Cobra's lower half is still inside the tunnel. There's no space to sneak through! Wait, why're they even fighting each other?

Should I throw one of the bombs at them? But the Queen survived one, plus getting the roof in her head. But the Queen survived a blow, so it is probably safe to assume that these guys, a tortoise monster of the same rank and a B-Rank snake, could withstand it as well.

I've only got two more of these and I want to save them...and aren't those guys a little slow? I gave them the perfect plan, so why're they-

*CRASH!*

A giant boulder just crashed into the face of the...hydra!? You are supposed to hit the Cobra, not that guy! Was their aim awry or is the plan to kite both of them?

The plan I gave Gust before he left to meet the Sahuagins was to use a long-range strategy consisting of Virt and Sent. The former would cut up large chunks of rock while the other sent the chunks flying. 

With the T-Rex gone, Sent could have supported Virt in the battle against the hydra, but with our current situation... 

"Those damn little betrayers! I'll kill 'em all!!" - Hydra

And with that, the hydra's aggro is splendidly aimed at the Virt & Sent combi. That's half the problem... not solved. The Cobra is worth more than the hydra-*CRUSH*-...yeah, that gotta do it.

Wow, he looked pissed off! Ah, one of its fangs broke. That explains it. Have a nice trip, Cobra. 

---

How nostalgic Floor 8 is now. 

Eh? Shouldn't I be worried about Gust and the others? They can just escape to Floor 6 if things get too messy. Both the hydra and the Cobra's too big for the bridges to carry them.

No matter, there's nothing here. Even the lights. 

The big crystal in the middle of this relatively small floor should have been glowing like some kinda mother computer, but it's "turned off" if I should continue the computer analogy.

Something's up with the Dungeon. Heck, what is this place supposed to be in the first place? The Sahuagins had greater stats than the Glavras monsters despite being lower-leveled, the whole deal with the castle on Floor 6, that Machinerz-commanding mustache-guy, and not to mention that monsters born in a Dungeon should be loyal to their Dungeon Master. Even Gust was shocked over that part.

Knowing that won't probably change anything. Let's focus on that Dungeon Master for now.

So, I'm baaaaack! Floor 9!!

And what a welcome committee! Tons of Glavras monsters standing guard before the entrance to the floor. Oi, a Monster House right in front of the entrance is against the rules!

Not that they're listing to me, damn it! Time to [Sky Jump] up to the walls! 

I escaped the blasts of [Torrent]-based water cannons from the tortoises and the water magic by the smaller cobras and ran across the good ol' labyrinth walls. Ah, this reminds me of when I was just bo---oi! Stop firing at me while I'm reminiscing! 

Damn, I've got no time for this. Black Fog! And [Chaotic Concurrence]! 

The Glavras forces were covered in the smokescreen-like darkness magic that was used twice due to the skill. That should give me some room to hide with [Stealth]. Then, up with the old Floor 9 map and straight to the last Floor!

---

There it was. The entrance to the final Floor. And just like back then, there are tortoises around the entrance camouflaged as rocks. And there are many of them! More than the two back when I first entered this Floor.

I did meet many enemies that followed me over the walls, but do these guys think I'm not being suspicious of an empty corridor right before the goal? Better just climb over them. Getting into a brawl now would just be a loss of time.

The tortoises were too busy acting like rocks to even think about keeping an eye on the walls. If they could see me with all my stealth skills on is a different story.

I jumped down from the wall and...stopped just before the entrance.

Wait, why do I have to complete some "urgent Quest"? Especially against something that's the boss over this whole hellhole of a Dungeon? I'm not even sure if there's a reward for this job. 

With that in mind, let's go back. It's better digging stone than having to face some super-boss. The Sahuagins will see things my way, especially when they've seen the strength of the King Cobra. 

Mhm. Your own life is always more important than whatever that Dungeon Master stole. Then-*BONK!*-!?

M-my heeeaaaad!!! What was that!? Which f*cking idiot is throwing stones on people? I swear I'm gonna give that guy a taste of his real medicine!

I couldn't identify the culprit, but their weapon is a different story. A big, ink-black rock, bigger than my fist. Oi, you shouldn't throw stuff that big on people. Seriously.

Attached to the rock with a string was a piece of paper...wait, is this some "rock letter"? Like an arrow letter? While in doubt, and making sure not to be seen by anyone wanting to check the entrance, I read the letter...WHAT!?

Stupid Champion of mine, get that power-hungry snake already. I warn you, I still can send over another ore even with that place's barrier up and running, even if that is all I can do.

...This threatening attitude and how she refers to me as "her Champion"...is the person who wrote this letter...

If you act like a good demon, I will tell you those requirements to reach your masterpiece. And you can take that Blackiron ore as a prepayment.

 !?!? My masterpiece, as in-?! 

That's something I could agree to that being a worthy reward...eh. I'll scout the area for now. If the Dungeon Master lives in that underground lake, then it's automatically my victory.

Since there's no reason not to accept a gift, let's take this ore with me as well. Blackiron, where have I heard...oh? Isn't that the big rock from when I escaped the snake back then? 

...Hehe. That's some karma. Time to see if I've graduated from someone that could only run away from anything.

---

'This place's as gloomy as I left it,' is my only comment on the tunnels that lead to the bottom floor. Dark and damp, without even candlelights to light up the path. Kinda feels like a tunnel leading to the abyss.

I made my process as silent as possible, in the hope of not alarming the Dungeon Master. Hope he's not paid for his security system...

Despite my worries, I reached the bottom floor without any problems. There were some changes done to the floor since I left the place.

One of them is the lack of that eerie feeling. Now I know that was from the Dread Spirits that flocked to this floor. As for why they've left, I can only attribute it to the death of the Wild Hunt Lord in the castle.

The second and more obvious change is the lighting. Unlike before, there is some sort of powerful light source located somewhere on the lake, illuminating the cave with its blue light. First time in my second life that I want sunglasses.

The light source is kinda weird. Pulsating like a heart or something... Is that the all-famous Dungeon Core? I read that it acted as the Dungeon's heart and brain, but nothing about it being a real heart... 

Eh, I'll take a look at it after this mess' done. The important thing is the Master...where is he? I didn't see him the day I left this cave either... maybe he's a chameleon? No, that can't be it. According to the Kigal-Note and the few books from the castle library about Dungeons, you can create monsters based on your race, but there were close to no monsters with camouflaging abilities except for the tortoises of Floor 9, and those seem to be because they're trained for that.

Then he's really in the water then? I can't locate him with [Magic Sight], but that's probably because of the Dungeon Core's light being all-magical, serving as a cover for anything else in the underground cave.

I foresaw that one. My eyes are hurting for the first time in my life due to using the skill. Just how much mana is stored in that thing?

Back to the point, how do I lure a UMA out of their lake......fishing with dynamite? Nah, too wasteful. Let's go with poison instead.

I opened up the lid for the bottle of Lavellan Poison, then threw the whole thing into the lake. Some seconds later, the lake started to turn a little purplish-oi! Just one bottle was enough to affect the whole lake!? That's freaking scary...

While I was freaking out by the surprising potency of the poison, bubbles started to appear from the bottom of the lake. Here he comes!

*Splash!!*

A gigantic snake appeared from the bottom of the lake. Or rather, compared to the King Cobra, this guy looks lankier. There's no "aura" coming from him like the King Cobra or even the spider Queen.

On the other hand, this snake looks more like the personification of the beauty of a lake in the moonlight. Its body was covered in light-blue scales and a group of horns formed a crown on top of its head, decorated with some kinda blue jewel in the middle.

The fact that its eyes look like those of a dead fish's busting the impression though. All the evidence points to this guy being the Dungeon Master, but let's double-check just to be safe.

I've got the right...guy, but what's up with these strange stats? And only three skills? No, if there's something this strange, then the titles are a bigger candidate for being the culprit.

Or... maybe not. And I thought it was some kinda clone or scapegoat or whatever. Are the skills to blame?

Ah...uh-oh. Ehm...I didn't see anything. Nothing at all. So don't come charging at me like some freakin' zombie-snake while ignoring all my stealth skills!!