As I and Ophelia approached the final floor of the labyrinth, we were awestruck by the sight that greeted us. The room was illuminated by an overflowing magical energy, a stark contrast to the murky darkness of the previous floors. I scanned the vast area, my eyes darting from one end to the other, noting the sheer size of the room.
"Wow, this room is amazing," I said, my eyes wide with wonder.
"Yes, it's quite impressive," Ophelia added, still taking in the sight.
Suddenly, a voice reverberated across the room, informing us that this was indeed the final stage of our challenge and if conquered, would be our ticket out of the labyrinth.
"So this is it, the final challenge," I said, a mix of excitement and nervousness creeping over me.
"Yes, and we're going to ace it!" Ophelia exclaimed confidently.
However, our excitement was short-lived as we noticed that the room was oddly devoid of any treasures or adversaries; it was completely empty.
"Uh, what's going on?" Ophelia asked impatiently, her tone laced with annoyance.
The voice, clearly miffed by the interruption, retorted sharply, ordering Ophelia to keep quiet.
"Excuse me, but I don't appreciate your tone," Ophelia snapped back, her pride wounded.
I could feel the tension rising between them and decided to interject, "Hey, can we focus on the task at hand?"
As if on cue, the voice directed our attention to her ultimate treasure. Suddenly, the ground beneath use began to shake and split, accompanied by a low rumble.
"What's happening?" I cried out in alarm.
The trembling continued until a large golem emerged from the gaping ground, standing at a towering fifteen feet.
"Oh my, what is that thing?!" Ophelia yelped, fear evident in her voice.
"I wish I knew.." (Lumiere)
The golem was a towering monstrosity and also a technological masterpiece. It was made entirely of gleaming metal and larger than any man could ever hope to be. Its body was built like a hulking fortress, its limbs thick as tree trunks and its head a solid block of metal, devoid of any facial features. Its eyes glowed with a piercing red light, and steam constantly hissed from its joints.
As we charged towards the golem, we noticed that its limbs were covered with a variety of magical weapons.
Its right arm was a spiked mace, which crackled with electricity, while its left was a massive cannon that glowed with an ominous green light.
Its chest was emblazoned with a magical barrier, which shimmered with a protective aura, and its legs were fitted with retractable blades that gleamed like razor-sharp ice.
Now, it made sense she called it her "Ultimate Treasure."
The golem sent several busts of magic energy at us, I used 「Magic Barrier」, to shield us from the impact. We decided to build some distance between us and the golem again. The busts of magic energy proved its potency when one of the busts bounced off my barrier and collided with the wall. The resounding explosion, followed by a large crater on the wall were enough to make me croak.
"Okay, that thingʼs dangerous," Ophelia held out her longsword.
"The golem is a creation made entirely of metal, with no organic components, making it impervious to the effects of [Plant magic]. [Lightning Magic] also won't work on it, as electricity doesn't conduct well through this type of metal and I'm guessing... the golem has a built-in system to protect it from electrical attacks. [Earth Magic] won't be effective, as the golem can withstand immense amounts of pressure and weight on its metal exterior. Finally, [Water Magic] won't work on it as the golem is unaffected by water since it has no organic components that could absorb or react to the water. Is that right?" (Lumiere)
"W-w-wait! How did you know that?!" (Voice)
I scratched my head with a calm smile, "Lucky guesses, am I right?"
"Wow, go Lumiere." (Ophelia)
I couldn't tell if she was mocking me or not. Usually, when she addressed me as "Lord Lumiere" there was a safe sense of assurance that she wouldn't make fun of me. On the flip side, when she referred to me as "Lumiere" she was indubitably mocking me.
Women... impossible to comprehend.
As the voice in the labyrinth continued to boast about the golem's imperviousness, I contemplated my next move.
"(Hmmm... what to do)" (Lumiere)
The scene before me was daunting, but I had to try something. Looking for any weakness in the seemingly invincible golem, I decided to use my best spell - a compound magic spell, a combination of fire and wind that I had spent months perfecting.
My fiancée, Serena, deserved all the thanks for this.
Summoning a small sphere of oxygen using my [Wind Magic], I concentrated hard and conjured up a small flame inside the sphere. The oxygen provided by the wind magic acted as a fuel for the fire to create a blazing inferno. Gently, I hurled the sphere at the golem, watching with keen eyes as it approached the seemingly impenetrable monster.
As the sphere reached the golem, it exploded in a burst of searing flames, burning everything inside its radius. The explosion was contained within a barrier, with no shock wave emanating from it. The heat inside was unbearable, and there was no hope of survival for anything trapped within the boundary. The golem was completely eradicated, reduced to molten metal and from molten to nothingness.
「Inferno Hall」, that was the name.
It zapped around 2,000 mana points. Of course, it was a bit confusing as to how I was able to use such a powerful spell with strained mana but that was where two factors came in.
(1) The dense mana in the room.
(2) The title - Meld Master.
In truth, the damage that 「Inferno Hall」 caused was meant to be much larger, but I was barely getting through with my thin mana reserves.
Potentially, this spell could wipe out an entire village.
"Wait a minute! How did you ev— You didn't even s—" Ophelia spoke in disbelief.
I rubbed my chin, trying to decipher what had happened.
I was surprised to see that my spell had worked, and it was the first time I had ever used it successfully.
Meanwhile, the voice in the labyrinth screamed in frustration, as I had destroyed her ultimate treasure. The voice made the entire labyrinth tremble, causing Ophelia to feel a little annoyed.
"I should really thank Serena when I get out of here," I said with a grin.
"This can't be possible! That's the final boss of this labyrinth! And y— You just defeated it like it was nothing—!" The voice sounded more and more provoked. Honestly, it was getting annoying.
『 --- Status Update ---
You've unlocked [Spirit Magic], chain combination has resulted in the acquisition of the following— 「[Fire Spirit Magic] (Rank D), [Wind Spirit Magic] (Rank D), [Water Spirit Magic] (Rank D), [Earth Spirit Magic] (Rank D), [Lightning Spirit Magic] (Rank D), [Plant Spirit Magic] (Rank D)」
New Magic Skill unlocked— Unique Skill: [Creator]
[Creator] will be used to enact the creation of artificial elemental spirits.
In progress...』
I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face as I gazed at my boosted stats. It was like all my hard work was finally paying off, but for the worst. My abilities had increased tremendously.
"I blame you All-Father! Damn it! Should people even be able to create spirits?!" (Lumiere)
"What's wrong with you, Lumiere? You're a strange guy," she said, looking at me quizzically.
"Strange? How dare you!" I protested, wiping my face and getting up. "I'm just shedding a few tears of sorrow because my suffering has increased."
At that moment, Ophelia didn't seem to understand my emotions, but I knew what was going through my mind. As my power increased, so did the chances of me becoming a target in the future, and I didn't want that. I didn't want to be the subject of another battle where I had to defend myself.
But for now, it was better to focus on the voice of the labyrinth...