Time has ceased to pass, and before me, Anaphiel and the Abysmal Shaman seem to be negotiating a challenge that I can complete. I'm not strong enough to defeat the Abysmal Shaman in a fight to the death, but if I fail my quest, I'll end up dying in the end anyway!

Anaphiel's annoyed pitch drags out, "She clearly isn't strong enough to beat you in a fight, so I'll drag that off the table now." 

The Shaman chuckles, nodding in response. "I suppose it's only fair, I suppose a battle of knowledge is to be expected!" But, Anaphiel snaps her finger at this. "Enough jokes, monster. You know that your knowledge is greater than any human's." Considering I was warned of his wisdom when I first found him, it only makes sense not to do anything brain-related.

Both of these powerhouses stare at each other like they're trying to butcher one another with their gazes alone. They're at a complete standstill, unable to come to an agreement on what challenge I will partake in.

I can't stand being left in the dark any further than this, "Anaphiel, what's going on?" Finally asking her, Anaphiel turns her head in my direction. She'd probably forgotten that I was here too, given the intense battle of words she's been having.

"I can't tell you all of the details without getting in trouble, but another [Guardian] has interfered in this world. I've never seen anything like this, though. We [Moderators] usually keep track of humans and their activities in their world, [Administrators] rarely ever come down but they're in charge of monsters too when other Moderators aren't present. It's primarily because in this world there are certain entities that not even we can keep under our jurisdiction. Administrators are the only things that can manage this place properly."

Consuming at least the important bits of the information given to me, the most I'm able to understand from this is that the Administrators are doing things that they shouldn't be doing. Scrunching my fingers against the corner of my brows, this is becoming more stressful than before. "So, you'd be in trouble if you just fought this thing for me? It's obviously way out of my league." I've never seen anything move in Anaphiel's stopped time. Maybe she's letting it move like how she does with me, but that's doubtful.

Shaking her head, the Moderator doesn't need to say much to make it known that there isn't a lot we can do. "If I were to act against him directly, it'd be an act against an Administrator. Even if I disagree with them, it can't be helped." So what the hell are we going to do about this then? I'm faced with a hopeless situation where my only choice is to die. Maybe I can try talking myself out of this situation. "How did you end up as a quest monster?" I ask him. Lulu is frozen in time so I can't ask her for further clarification, but quests aren't common. This guy has to be special!

"A quest monster? That's not something I thought I'd hear. You humans really do have a lot of fun games, huh?" The Shaman doesn't even bother to answer my question directly. I can't force him to either, and neither can Anaphiel, evidently.

Anaphiel and I share a brief glance, an idea snapping into my head. "I'd like to make a contract." This is a gamble, and I'm gonna have to be lucky. But an idea has come to my mind. What if you make a contract with a monster? An agreement of sorts, what if it was possible for you to make a monster your ally? This monster has intelligence much greater than a human's, maybe we can come to some sort of agreement.

"You, the one who has been given the task of slaying me, are seeking a compromise with me?" The Shaman's head tilts to the side as he speaks. I can feel my face brightening in embarrassment, but I continue, "There's clearly no way for me to kill you right now, so I'd like to make a compromise that you kill yourself if I accomplish something." Yeah, the only agreement that I can think of is if this thing is dead. I won't be safe otherwise.

So long as Anaphiel remains close to me, I don't think I have to worry about this thing killing me. She's in charge of watching me, but right now I think that she's going out of her way to protect me from this guy.

This feeling of helplessness is frustrating, but I need to make the most of anything that I can grasp. "Those trees in the forest, you created them, didn't you?" I ask the Shaman suspiciously. I couldn't comment on it during the chase, but the fact that those things could appear around us without so much as a sound and even catch Lulu off guard meant that their abilities had to be greater than ours. My daggers definitely had something to do with how effortlessly I cut through the tree monsters. I didn't check their stats and abilities, but it was obvious how powerful they were.

"If I can defeat one of your most powerful creatures, then you will have no choice but to offer up your life so that I can complete my quest." A bold assertion, one that I'd be proud of if it weren't for the fact that my life was on the line here.

"Hmm..." The Shaman places his hand on where I'd believe his chin is, appearing to think. During this time, I hear a voice speaking to me in my head... Anaphiel.

"Listen well, Roshia... I have an idea, and I need you to play all of your cards right. Now, listen..." I'm stunned by the idea and how reckless it is, but I'm out of options here. If all things go well, Lulu and I should be able to make it out of this encounter alive. I dragged her into this, after all.

. . . . . 

"I've finished thinking!" The Shaman announces happily after a bit of thinking. His arms spread out to either side of him, almost like a king exposing his 'greatness' to his followers. As much as I'd hate to admit it, there is only one way that I can even deal with this guy. "Woman, resume time." The Shaman demands, speaking harshly to Anaphiel who bites down on her fingertip in return. 

"Fine. Roshia, be safe." And without further warning, the coloring of the surrounding space returns. Time has resumed, a heavy breeze flowing by as I turn to look in Lulu's direction, seeing her trembling. Reaching in front of me, in the eyes of those around me, I begin to swipe my hand quickly through the air as the Shaman starts to speak.

"I've decided that you will fight for 60 consecutive minutes, nonstop, against my most powerful summons. If you can last for 60 minutes, I will allow you and that child to leave." If only I could see his damn face! I'd bet he has the most condescending expression! Lulu's tensed up quite a bit, looking down at the ground. "I accept." Without hesitation, I accept the challenge. This is the best offer that I'll be able to squeeze out of this bastard.

In both of my hands, I hold a tight grip on the [Twin Daggers], feeling them vibrating violently as the power of the Shaman begins to flow throughout the forest in a not-so-subtle fashion. I'd bet if we were in a city, it'd have set off a disaster warning for even those living in the countryside. "I don't want to overwhelm you too quickly, girly, so I'll have you face off against the [Decrepit Golems]." So these are the kinds of monsters you'll find in the higher dungeons... Golems, Mages, Tree Monsters, and other unordinary things lurk around every corner. Though I hadn't said anything about it, that massive worm from when we'd entered probably belonged to the Shaman as well.

A dark red fog begins to gather around various points around us. Surfacing from the fogs were massive, rough arms of stone. No, if I were to say they were made of stone, it would be leaving out major details. Massive golems whose bodies were primarily composed of square shapes stood towering over us, half the size of the large trees surrounding the clearing. The textures of stone, grass, dirt, and even flesh were visible as each golem turned its attention our way. Can you imagine a human body wrapped around a rock like a suit? This best describes what I've just witnessed.

"You've got a fucked up head, you know that?" With a half-assed grin, I try to hide the obvious nervousness overtaking every cell in my body. Tightening the clench on my weapons, I figured that now is the best time to act. 

Dashing forward, I attack the golem closest to me, and just as you'd expect, it punched at me with incredible speed. Thankfully, it seems now my [Danger Sense] skill is working properly, now that its level has gone up it may even inform me of incoming dangers in the form of attacks, instead of only the source of the danger. Using my mobility and its massive size to my advantage, I'm able to just barely dart off to the side of the monster's attack, leaping onto its arm. I can feel both of my daggers vibrating just like before as I run up its arm.

"Oh~ You're quite nimble, aren't you?" The Shaman spectates, clearly enjoying the sight of my struggles.

Striking down into the arm of the monster, my theory from before is made true! My dagger cleanly stabs into the arm of the Golem as I run up its arm, creating a great gash until I reach its shoulder. As quickly as I can, I use my dagger to sever the head of the giant golem, its body crumbling the moment that it was confirmed to be deceased, or at least destroyed.

Somehow, after successfully cutting this beast down, I feel something different about myself — now is not the time to look into it though.

Another fist descends down on me, leaving me with a thin window to leap and dodge out of the way. Behind me, Lulu is continuing to stare at the ground, her body shaking in fear. "Tsk," 60 minutes of this? The Shaman hasn't even begun to take this seriously yet. I should find a more effective way of taking these guys down.

Instead of leaping onto its arm, I dash beneath its approaching fist, going in and using my daggers to cut through both of its legs. From there, it becomes easier for me to handle. As the golem collapses to the ground, I leap onto its back and rush up its falling body, using my daggers to repeat the decapitation process. "I've got to hold on...!"

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It's only been 20 minutes and my body is feeling utterly exhausted. I've definitely been leveling up from fighting, but I can't tell by how much. Every so often, my fatigue will disappear and I'll recover my energy, but I'm not given enough furlough to appreciate it. 

The Golems from before have long since been replaced by smaller, demon-like monsters. Their skin was red, and their bodies were muscular and bulkier than an athlete's. They're each wielding a large weapon, but typically they have an axe in hand. Fighting them is a lot harder than fighting the golems, even if I feel stronger after leveling up. My tracksuit has become considerably torn and dirtied, I'm not offered a lot of protection.

Specifically, this freak has been aiming for my breasts the whole time, leaving half of my torso exposed despite my embarrassment. "You've got nice breasts, girl." The Shaman has responded repeatedly. He's beginning to appear less and less wise and more like a high school delinquent. Under no circumstance would I expect a wise mage to repeatedly comment on my appearance. "Has anyone told you about how pink your nipples are?" If not for the fact that I've grown used to these remarks, I'd have been thrown off guard by that comment. 

I have to admit, my breasts have been moving about due to all of this fighting and it's actually made me uncomfortable. Funny, right? In my previous body, I was a man who could walk around his home without his shirt on, chest out... Now here I am, fretting over my breasts being free. Well, I guess it can be called modesty.

"You must be tired, girl. Why not just give up and let yourself be cut down? It'll be a quick, and painful end." Aren't the bad guys supposed to say 'painless'?

But he's right. I'm getting more exhausted, the level-up isn't enough to completely recover my stamina anymore. I'll run out of juice eventually. The only thing that I have going for me is the fact that my daggers can effectively cut through all of these foes with little resistance. "I'll pass." Maintaining my focus, I feel that my abilities have improved enough to fight a lot more of these things. "Your loss." The Shaman declares.

"But I have to say, have you noticed how powerful you've become in such a short amount of time? This isn't natural at all. Though, I must admit, neither are you..." He's right, I've certainly been feeling more powerful as the fight goes on. Did I gain a new skill? That might actually be it... Anaphiel gave me a class to help disguise the fact that I'm a [Returner], meaning it should be within her ability to grant me skills as well. A skill that increases my ability to level up? "I should check what level I am once I make it out of here."

"You think you're going to make it out of here?" The Shaman asks, amused by my question. He must think that I'm insane, but, now should be the time...

After 20 minutes, Lulu lifts her head up and shouts something out into the air. Yeah, it's definitely time! 

"Alice!" Lulu's voice screams out louder than anything I'd have imagined her to be capable of. But, it's all for the sake of our plan...

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The plan that Anaphiel came up with was brilliant but risky. I'd use the [AAS]'s Party Chat to contact Lulu and have her use her ability to lead Alice in our direction, assuming that she was still in the dungeon. From there, I'd need to make sure that Lulu wasn't targeted, so I'd fight for as long as possible until Alice reaches us. It was a gamble to assume that Lulu's ability can even create a path that leads to us, or make it so that other people can follow that path. But as an A-Rank Pathfinder, I could only hope that she could perform such a basic feat.

And there, as the ground begins to rumble, the air became heavy to the point that I could no longer stand. The Abysmal Shaman was thrown off of his throne! His back crashes down against the ground for only a moment, then he levitates into the air, fixing his posture. "Oh...? What just hit me?" So I wasn't mistaken, the Shaman was thrown without so much as a speck of dust touching him!

I feel a hand touch down on my head, feeling an unspeakable warmth overtake my fatigued body. All of a sudden, it's all gone! All of the fatigue that'd been stacking up until this moment disappeared with the wind! "Good work, Qinlen." Looking up, I can see Alice standing over me, a vein sticking out of the side of her head. A dreadful aura loomed around her, her eyes locked on the Abysmal Shaman who hovered in the air. "Is he the one responsible for this?" Alice points a finger behind her.

When I turn around, I can see everyone else! Zaiden and Jade were completely covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises. Tulod's shield seemed to be pretty banged up, he must've been working hard to protect everyone! Leopold looked like even he had a harsh time. But, standing flawlessly beside me was our team leader, Alice, waiting for my response. "Y-Yes... He can summon and create different types of monsters. He hasn't even been using a portion of his power, I believe." I explain to Alice. "I think it'd be best if we retreat, his skills easily surpass B-Rank."

For this doubt, I receive a harsh slap on the back of my head, rattling my brain. As I recover from my dizziness, I make out Alice's scolding. "Watch who you look down upon, girl. Do you think I'd lose to someone of this caliber?" Alice's eyes become cold all of a sudden, making me very aware of the anger brewing within her. But even with this anger, will it be enough to defeat something like that? Not even Anaphiel could deal with him— no, maybe that isn't it...

"I don't like being ignored, child!" Suddenly, a heavy rain of shards was unleashed upon us. They were widespread, taking no time to charge up like most other magical attacks! These shards did not look like they were ice or anything either, they were just... shards. Fragments of what might be the air around us. Their entire structure consisted of mana and mana alone.

"You're fucking loud." Alice turns her attention toward the shards, and before we know it, they've suddenly stopped in the air. My eyes go wide for a moment, what just happened? Without explanation, the shards that were released completely stopped in motion. "W-What the hell?!" The Shaman shouts out, just as surprised as we all were.

Before I knew it, I was on the ground beside Lulu, further away from Alice. I'd never moved, though. Now that I think about it, Alice's ability was the most unordinary thing I've ever seen. There were a lot of strong abilities out there like the ability to cut through anything, but hers didn't make much sense to me in the slightest... 

Cause and Effect. Cause and Effect. Cause and Effect. This phrase ran through my head nonstop since the first time that she told me about it. I'd thought of many different things, especially when I see the different ways she toys with us. 

"You've enjoyed fucking with my subordinates, haven't you?" Alice spoke, loud enough for all of us to hear it from afar. Swiping her hand through the air, the shards suddenly began to explode into minor fragments, like microscopic fragments of broken glass that you can never gather. "Do you understand how much pain you're going to cause me when I explain this to Miss Cesta?!" 

As the power behind her voice raises, the Shaman is suddenly thrown back by the pressure, spiraling further back into the air in a manner so helpless I hadn't expected it from him. "Is she seriously... This strong?" I hadn't even noticed that I was speaking out loud until Leopold answers the question for me. "The Boss, Toy, arrived with Alice one day. Not even the higher-ups know where she came from, but her ability is [unbeatable]. Only during one instance have I ever seen her and Toy face off against each other. It caused a calamity greater than that of a dungeon appearing." This leaves me surprised. Are the rankings seriously that far off?  

"It was only a spar, but it was the first time that I'd ever seen the Boss use a different skill... And before the two of them could clash, Alice forfeited." A B-Rank with the power to clash with an A-Rank? The last I'd heard, the gap between the two of them was like night and day. It just doesn't seem possible for that to be accurate unless there was a mistake in their ranking.

Alice is standing in the air above the Shaman, her nails scraping against her shoulder in frustration. "You're holding something back, aren't you?" She asks the Shaman, moving her hand to bite down on her fingertips. "I hate people that hold back, you know? You need to take this seriously, or else," Alice's hand raises into the air above us. I can't wrap my head around what comes next.

The sky darkens like it's becoming night. This power... "You'll die." Alice finishes, lightning beginning to pour down as the weather completely changes. This is unlike anything I'd ever witnessed up until now. The power showcased by Mind... this felt superior to even that! Bolts of lightning begin to repeatedly strike down against the Abysmal Shaman, coaxing groans of agony to come out. The rapid sound of the explosions has begun to hurt all of our ears, the wind frantically retreating with every strike. 

Alice Slater — this girl is undoubtedly capable of achieving [S-Rank]!