Nope... Not here... Not again...

We've been inside the hideout for about an hour now, and so far, we've only taken paths which lead to dead ends.

Haah... If only we can destroy this maze...

「Ah, Grey-dono, look.」Kurt

When we took a right turn, what greeted us was not a dead end, rather a large chamber which is easily more than 200 meters in both length and width, with the height exceeding 20 meters. And in the middle of the chamber was a large building which looked like a laboratory.

This must be the center of the hideout. We finally made itー

Hm? Is that...

【【Yuna's Perspective】】

Every time we aren't facing an enemy, Vanessa-neechan would always bombard me with questions. She probably knows just almost as much as Grey does about me by now.

「Yuna-chan, what's your favorite food?」Vanessa

「Food...?」Yuna

Uuu... That's a hard question...

Most of the foods Grey makes are so delicious, I can't decide... There's hamburg steak, tonkantsu, puddingー Ah!

「It's curry!」Yuna

「Curry? What's that?」Vanessa

「Umm... It's a meat dish made with a mix of various spices, and... um... um... it's delicious! I can't explain but it's delicious!」Yuna

「Say, where can you eat that?」Vanessa

「I don't know... but Grey always cooks it for me if I ask him to.」Yuna

「Hm... Maybe I'll have Grey-kun cook some for me after thisー Oh, we're out of the maze!」Vanessa

In front of us, a large room covered in glass and steel came into view. Inside of it, there were various machines and apparatuses.

「Wow～ Yuna-chan sure is amazing! We didn't even get into a dead end!」Vanessa

「Not really, I just used my 『Detection』ability to locate a spot where there are a lot of people gathering, and worked my way there.」Yuna

「Even so, Yuna-chan is still amazing!」Vanessa

Vanessa-neechan praised me as she hugged me and buried my face in her large bosoms.

「Va... nessa... nee... san... I... can't... breathe...」Yuna

「Ah, sorry, sorry. I got carried away.」Vanessa

「It's alright... Anyway, are we going to wait for them here?」Yuna

「Yeah, let's do that.」Vanessa

【【Kris' Perspective】】

「Hm... We should be nearing the main room.」Kris

「How can you tell?」Aria

「I mean, the enemies are increasing as we go along this path, so we've gotta be near it.」Kris

In order to get to the main room, Aria and I has been following the path with the most enemies. Because of that, we have been avoiding all dead ends and has been smoothly walking towards wherever the main room is.

「Ah, a left turn.」Kris

When we took another turn, we were greeted by a wide space with a large room in the center of it.

Hm... That must be it...

「Looks like someone's already here.」Aria

Hm?

「Kris-san! Aria-san!」Yuna

「I'm glad to see you safe, Yuna-chan, Vanessa-sama.」Aria

「Same here.」Vanessa

「Un.」Yuna

Unsurprisingly, some of our raid members are already there.

「How long have you been here?」Kris

「Not long ago, maybe about 3 minutes?」Yuna

「You sure are early.」Kris

「Yep, Yuna-chan's ability was really helpful!」Vanesss

Hm? We're they always this close? I know Vanessa-sama is very clingy, but I did not expect Yuna to go along with her.

Well, it's none of my concern. Though, I'm really curious, but Aria will probably scold me again if I meddle with their business.

「Hm... Grey and Kurt-sama sure are taking their time.」Kris

「Yeah... but they should be here soon.」Yuna

「I guess we'll be waiting for them.」Kris

【【Demiol's Perspective】】

「Boss! The type III Deimons have all been killed! We can't detect their lifeforces anymore!」

「What!?」Demiol

All 9 of them!? Even if they're the weakest amongst my creations, they're still at B-rank! Just what kind of raid team did the government send!?

I need to escape, but to leave my greatest creation...

Ugh... What should I doー

Wait, even if they defeated it, they must have suffered a large loss in their numbers. That means this is the best time to strike, while they're still weak!

「Release the type II Deimons! And I don't want to here any complaints!」Demiol

「Y-Yes boss!」

Hahaha, let's see if you can still survive after this! Hahaha!

【【Grey's Perspective】】

「Oh, everyone! Sorry to have kept you waiting.」Grey

When we arrived, all the other members of the raid team were already there. It seems like they have been waiting for us.

「What took you so long?」Vanessa

「We just happen to run into a number of dead ends. Aslo, by any chance, did you happen to engage in a fight with some unknown creatures?」Kurt

「You two as well, huh.」Vanessa

「I see... so everyone has encountered them.」Kurt

「Do you what they were?」Vanessa

「No idea.」Kurt

No matter how I look, I really can't understand how the carefree Vanessa-sama is the older sister of the serious Kurt-sama. They just don't have any similarities.

「How about you, Grey?」Yuna

Yuna asked, knowing that I must have appraised them. And in response, I shook my head slightly.

Haah... Just what are those creatures...

Because their category shows as "〔???〕", I still can't figure it out. Although they were once beasts, I don't think they classify as one anymore.

「Haah... We won't get anything thinking too hard about it. How about we start investigating the main room.」Vanessa

「I agree.」Kurt

We were about to bust open the door from the main room, when it suddenly opened, and three unknown creatures came out from it.

The creatures were about 5 meters in height and are obviously stronger than the ones before. Although they are different from the ones we've fought before, they were similar in the manner that they were created from multiple creatures.

『Appraisal』

-----------------------------------

【〔???〕】

【Species】???

【Sex】???

【Age】???

【Status】Unstable

【Mana Capacity】1,251 【Mana Quality】B

【Combat Power】2,108 【Threat Level】B

【Attribute】Null 【Magic Control】95%

【Physical Enhancement】99%

【Intelligence】49

【Description】

A manmade creature which is made for the sole purpose of serving the wishes of its creator.

-----------------------------------

Hey, you've got to be kidding me!

「Be careful everyone! They're about seven to eight times stronger than the ones we've fought before!」Grey

「Understood!... Listen up! Everyone below A-rank, pull back and attack using long-range magic while the others become vanguards draw out their attention. 」Vanessa

「「「Roger!」」」

Heeding my warning, Vanessa-sama issued an order which everyone followed suit without asking a question. Me, Yuna, and Kris-san braced ourselves as vanguards while Aria-san, Kurt-sama, and Vanessa-sama prepared to cast spells from the rear.

Dammit, if only the mountain wouldn't collapse, I could have finished them in one go.

「Make sure they don't get past us!」Grey

「If that's the case, then why don't we just barricade them!」Kris

Kris-san poured his mana into his hammer and threw it midair. He then jumped after it and when he got a hold of its handle, he twisted his body and threw it to the ground headfirst with all his might.

「《Stone Forest》!」Kris

As the hammer struck the ground, the earth rumbled and multiple pillars of earth started emerging from the ground, connecting to the walls and the ceiling of the hideout. The resulting formation limited the movements of the creatures while creating a system which prevents the mountain from collapsing.

The only downfall to it was that it will make it harder for the B-rankers to land an attack at their targets, or so I thought, but...

「《Blue Phoenix》!」Vanessa

「《Blue Phoenix》!」Kurt

「《Twin Spiral》!」Aria

... they increased their control over the spells they launched and manipulated how it moved, leading to a direct hit towards their targets.

Although it costs more mana to control something that has already been fired, it's still worth it since you can control the spell like a part of your body.

As expected of professionals, they know how to adapt quickly.

Kruwaaaakkkkk

Two of the creatures screeched with rage as they received the attacks from the B-rankers, and turned their attention towards them.

The creatures ran towards the B-rankers while trying to dodge the barrage of attacks coming towards them. Too bad for them, those attacks were controlled with great precision and has a very low chance on missing.

Noticing that all the B-rankers' attacks were always hitting them, the creatures stopped trying to dodge the attacks and charged straight towards the B-rankers.

Not so fast!

「《Binding Ivy》!」Grey

A multitude of thorn-filled vines emerged out of the ground and got a hold of the creatures trying to run towards the B-rankers. Not only did it restrict them from moving, it also drained their mana as time passed.

With this, the B-rankers should be safe.

Kruwaaaaakkkk

Not being able to move, all the creatures could do was screech loudly in pain.

Seeing the predicament the creatures were in, Yuna took the chance and leaped high up in the air and landed in between of the two creatures. She then leaped once again and when she was at the same height as their heads...

「《Icicle Shotgun》!」Yuna

... using both of her hands, she released an 《Icicle Shotgun》towards both flanks and destroyed the creatures' heads.

With their heads decapitated, both creatures fell to the ground with a loud thud with blood spraying from their necks like a fountain.

Now, there's only one more left...

「Stop moving!」Kris

Kris-san controlled the Earth and bound the creature's feet to the ground. Giving an opportunity for the B-rankers to strike it down.

「《Blue Phoenix》!」Vanessa

「《Blue Phoenix》!」Kurt

「《Twin Spiral》!」Aria

Kruwaaaakkkkkk

Having received all three attacks, the creature screeched and fell to the ground. But it didn't die. After falling to the ground, the creature mustered all its strength and tried to stand up, but before it could do so...

「As if I'd let you!《Sundering Mountain》!」Kris

... Kris-san dealt the final blow by crushing the creature's whole body using an art which projected a giant version of his hammer.

Not only the creature's body, but the whole mountain also received the impact from Kris-san's attack. Luckily, Kris-san's《Stone Forest》prevented the mountain from collapsing on us.

Receiving Kris-san's attack, the creature stopped moving, and the flames of its life ceased to exist.

「Haah... That was tough... I was glad we managed to finish them off quickly. If that were to drag on any longer, I would have exhausted my mana.」Kris

Kris-san commented as his legs collapsed to the ground due to fatigue.

Although Kris-san only attacked twice, the rate at which he depleted his mana was too quick, causing his body to suffer from fatigue.

And it wasn't only Kris-san. Vanessa-sama, Kurt-sama, and Aria-san were also in the same situation after firing high-level spells in succession, on top of controlling it from far away.

「How about you guys take a break.」Grey

「Yeah, we could use one... Haah.. Haah...」Kris

After resting for a couple of minutes, the fatigue in their bodies were almost gone so we decided to continue heading towards the laboratory-looking building.

Luckily, Kris-san's《Stone Forest》only affected the front of the building, and the building itself was untouched.

When we went inside, we noticed the different manners of machineries. Though I say machineries, they're nothing in comparison to Earth's.

Seeing that there was nothing on the ground floor, we went further down using an elevator like machine. When we arrived at the deepest floor, what greeted us was a blood bath. Corpses everywhere, machineries destroyed, and broken glasses. It was a massacre.

「There's someone still alive! Over there!」Yuna

Yuna pointed towards a wounded man, covered in blood, and even struggling just to breath.

「What happened here?」Kurt

「Haha... Hahaha... You all are foolish... you came here... just to die... Hahaha... you're no match for it... Hahahaー」Demiol

Before the man could even finish his last words, a gigantic creature appeared out of nowhere and devoured his head whole.

It was a cruel scene, but what I'm more worried about is the one before us...

Kuruuwaaaakkkkkkk

... it was the strongest opponent I've ever faced...

CHAPTER 23 END