{A/N: As most of Yue's dialogue starts with (...) so will most of Riveria's dialogue end with it. Its to characterize her cool or 'kuu' nature of talking less.}
With no suspense whatever, Ken and his party passed through the labyrinth's natural barrier and are now climbing the Volcano while looking for Stillstones and the labyrinth's entrance.
"Nothing! [Material Probing] isn't picking up anything with the characteristics of Stillstones anywhere here"
"So does my Synergist Analysis skills"
"Then let's head up, maybe the entrance is there..."
"...Nn, the stillstones might be inside the Volcano"
"I can't imagine how it will be the more we climb"
This random thought triggers Yue who casts every weak cooling spells she knew before accelerating to the top in a bid to shorten time spent in the heat. The temperature on the Volcano made the cooling effects imbued in their clothing non-existent as only Ken, Hagime and Tio didn't sweat, with the latter having extreme heat resist.
At the top; a little closer to the crater, the party saw a rectangular opening on the ground with stairs leading into the Volcano. And when they reached the end of the stairway, they saw one of the most amazing things –floating laccoliths and magma pipes that flowed like a river. Of course, the extended space with floating platforms in Miledi's Labyrinth, Oscar's abode and Ken's Light of Apocalypse were among these amazing sights.
But even roses has thorns, and the same could be said for this place with occasional dripping and gushing of magma and the unbelievable heat that could kill most.
"I was prepared for this but it's still hot"
"...Not even my cooling spells work. if this goes on I might ice myself"
"Not even a single beast to take our minds off this heat"
Ken speaks his mind before the party use whatever gear gimmick or skills to cross a wide valley at which they meet their first monster –a large bull on drugs.
"Jinx..." (Hagime)
The fiery monster with rocks for skin didn't wait for any conversation to start as it fired a stream of flames which was blocked by a wall of solidified lava and Yue countered with a [Crimson Spear] which dealt no damage.
With weak magical attacks being ineffective and the party unwilling to waste mana on the first beast, Riveria took the challenge by Air Stepping and with a BOOOM! the bull monster was pinned down with the Spear of Slaughter as it's flames died down.
The rest checked on the corpse of the monster with intrigue before voicing their thoughts.
"Your ability to accurately strike the heart of the huge body always gives me goosebumps"
"From you, it's a compliment I gladly accept..." said Riveria with a smile directed at Ken which begs the question "what happened between them?" in the minds of the party.
"Ahem... but how can a simple throw impale this level of defense"
"Well, basically the spear head can cause disunion between matter particles, for now" said Ken as he pictures the spear Odin wields.
"For now? you should know the implications of this weapon right?"
"One step at a time, Hagime."
With such a vague but clear answer, the party dive deeper whiles they battle different monsters with the same fire element attacks and sedimentary rock defenses but take iced rests once in while.
Not thinking he could be as lucky as MC Hagime to sail to the deepest floor, Ken takes the long route with his party and reach within a day when he decided to take charge as the vanguard.
"I never thought this labyrinth will be equally troublesome to the extent of losing my cool... I almost died, thanks guys"
"...Nn" "We reached as expected anyway"(Hag)
"This might be just a guess but I think it's meant to teach us something" said Tio who manages to draws all ears as she continues.
"From the story I've heard about 'Great Orcus Labyrinth' filled with monsters, the anti-magic nature of 'Miledi's Labyrinth' filled with traps, and this place using the heat to lessen our concentration and calmness; I think that these labyrinths are trials meant to foster judgemental skills and also build experience "
"Interesting"
'I knew about it from personal experience and the OG story but really going through them pulls thoughts away as one fight to survive '
"So the labyrinths themselves are 'knowledge' for those that traverse them" (Hagime)
"...I rarely thought about it after the conquest. Your thinking is really flexible, Tio"
The bottom floor of this labyrinth was a large space in both width and height with a viscous pool of magma, in the middle was a large cylindrical structure with a magma dome at the top and the whole structure surrounded by tall rock platforms.
----------
GRRRRR!! BOOOOMM!! DOPAWW!! SPLASH!!
Sounds of quick succession battles was the only thing that could be heard in the last floor of this Volcano labyrinth as six odd individuals fight a group of large magma serpents that seem to regenerate forever until these individuals figured the clear conditions.
But unbeknownst to them, their every action since entering this boss room has been monitored and analyzed to great degrees. This spy was none other than Freid Bagwa who hide above with the only concept that our protagonist's cannot sense; Spatial Magic.
He rode on a white pseudo-dragon, alone with a flock of wyverns that were subordinate to his ride as he appeared to be in deep thoughts.
'It was a really good idea to erase any signs of my battle and stalk them out here. They're really abnormal, being able fight these magma constructs head-on while I had to use air supremacy is a testament to the gap. And they're doing so like it's a day's work with laughter.
...With these battle prowess and numbers, I have only one chance to strike before I lose the element of surprise and this becomes a head on confrontation'
Freid starts an accelerated analysis on each of them before he loses his chance.
'The two guys are a piece of cake from my stand point since the sky blue haired one stands on a single platform and accurately provides support with that weird projectile device whiles the white haired guy seems to be only adept in CQC skills along with that weird projectile device.
The girls on the other hand are monsters in their own right with the small girl and the black haired girl on destructive levels...
But why is my guts pointing at the dude who is only providing support?
Is there something I'm not seeing apart from the fact that everything seem to revolve around him?
It doesn't matter, it will be foolish of me to ignore my instinct honed from many battles'
------------
From the moment the clear conditions here were discovered, Ken's party have been battling every construct that appear after one is killed for the 99th time. The hundredth construct appeared behind Ken for a surprise attack which really wasn't as it was dead with a single shot which signaled the end of the battl---
TZZZZZ!! ZIINGGG!!!
'I've been expecting you bastards' thought Ken as sheaths Vahn Helsing and stretch his right hand.
"Twisted Fate!!"
The beam attack almost comparable to Tio's Dragon breath missed as it seemed to weirdly twist away into the magma pool. The attack that kept on never reached its target when Ken himself has twisted the gravitational forces in a circular motion to create the illusion of spacial manipulation.
But the smugness in his face disappeared when eight portals surrounded him with multiple breath attacks from each while he was on the defense from the beam attack.
' I'm fucked, I thought my plans would go perfectly... ...[Steel Skin] [Vajra] [Devour] [Self-regeneration] '
In a split of a nanosecond, Ken activated four different skills before squeezing himself in a defensive fetus position to protect his head and heart.
Within the five seconds these sequence of events took place, the rest of the party were surprised of a surprise attack that escaped their senses as well as being shocked of Ken's downfall with Yue and Riveria being the first to accept reality.
""Kenshiro!!!""
-----------::::
{A/N: Most might be confused about the sudden 'dere' mode of Riveria but stay with me, yeah?}