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Alex didn't bother with small talk. With a casual wave, he projected two long spears and shot them straight through the monsters, killing them instantly.
He didn't even bother collecting the keys.
Instead, he raised his finger like a sword and slashed directly at the stone gate.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, the defensive magic array and the gate itself shattered at once.
Alex stepped inside, greeted by pitch darkness.
At the far end of the blackness, a rotating cube emitted a pure golden light.
Moments later, the darkness faded, revealing a stone chamber.
Magic lamps lit up along the walls, and above the chamber, sealed within that glowing cube, was a stunning girl with golden hair and red eyes.
"Yue?" Alex called out.
"Alex?" she replied.
They looked at each other and smiled.
Alex was delighted. He had found Yue so easily and completed his mission.
Yue was overjoyed too. At last, she could leave this place.
Immortal and undying, she had been sealed here for centuries, her heart long drowned in loneliness.
She wanted to talk to someone. She wanted to see the outside world again.
Alex stepped up to the cube sealing Yue and placed his hand against it, divine power flowing in.
In the next instant, the seemingly indestructible cube shattered into dust.
Yue's naked body fell straight into Alex's arms.
She didn't blush at all. Instead, she excitedly wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "You're so warm!"
Alex couldn't help but smile.
This was simply Yue's nature.
After being sealed for hundreds of years, whoever rescued her first was bound to become the one she loved.
In the original story, it had been the same with Hajime Nagumo. When they first met, they barely interacted. When Yue was controlled by monsters, Hajime even shot at her without hesitation. And yet, she still fell for him.
Her love was like a raging tide, intense and overwhelming, with a hint of dangerous obsession. She would do almost anything for the one she loved.
Just then, several stone spikes suddenly shot down from above the chamber.
Alex's eyes sharpened. Divine power erupted.
The stone spikes shattered into dust.
They looked toward the source and saw an enormous crab.
Its entire body was made of stone, its massive claws clacking together with sharp cracking sounds.
"Alex, we need to leave now! This is a mechanism meant to stop me from escaping!" Yue said urgently.
"It's fine. Leave it to me," Alex said, glancing down at Yue and giving her a reassuring look.
Seeing his confidence, Yue chose to trust him and nodded firmly.
The crab leapt down from above. Only now did Alex notice that it had a scorpion's tail growing from its back.
Its claws could attack, its tail could fire poison needles and stone spikes, and it could even shoot beams from its mouth.
In short, it had countless attack methods and terrifying defense.
But no matter how strong it was, it was nothing before a godslayer like Alex.
He raised his finger like a sword and slashed three times, sword energy flashing through the air.
In the next moment, the crab's claws and scorpion tail were severed.
"So strong!" Yue exclaimed in delight.
Alex smiled faintly and followed up with two more slashes, crossing them into an X that split the crab's body into four pieces.
In just a few seconds, the monster was completely slain.
Carrying Yue, Alex approached the corpse and discovered that despite its stone shell, it still contained flesh and blood inside.
He collected the crab roe, claw meat, and scorpion tail meat, then left the chamber.
The two continued deeper into the labyrinth.
Along the way, countless monsters fell before them, until they finally reached the 100th floor.
Here, they encountered a final boss resembling the legendary Yamata no Orochi (Hydra).
It had multiple serpent heads, each with different abilities. One white head possessed healing powers. As long as that head remained, no matter how severe the injuries, the monster would not die.
To the people of this world, it was a ceiling-level existence.
To Alex, it was still far too weak.
Killing it would be perfect for boosting his Level 9 stats.
Just like before, he raised his finger like a sword and activated his authority, "Rending Silver Hand."
Slash!
In an instant, all of the monster's heads were severed. It died completely.
Alex collected its body and then, together with Yue, entered the final floor of the labyrinth.
Stepping inside felt like entering an isolated, untouched world.
At the center of this small realm stood a white castle.
This was the dwelling of the so-called rebels.
In truth, these "rebels" were people who had opposed the gods of this world.
They knew the god had gone mad, endlessly waging wars and treating them like games.
So they rebelled, hoping to save the world.
They failed.
Before their end, they built countless labyrinths across the world.
Anyone who cleared a labyrinth would learn the truth and inherit their power.
They were not rebels.
They were liberators.
Alex and Yue entered the castle and found everything they could possibly need inside.
Alex picked out a set of clothes for Yue.
Yes, the same outfit from the original story.
After that, Alex went to the castle hall, where he found the remains of the labyrinth's creator, Oscar Orcus, and inherited his Age of Gods magic: Creation Magic.
Creation Magic allowed the user to infuse magic power into minerals, granting them special properties and turning them into unique metals.
This magic was extremely important to Alex.
Combined with Alchemy and Divine Forging Techniques, he would never lack materials again.
Any material could be created with Creation Magic.
In the original story, Hajime Nagumo had started as the most ordinary alchemist. After obtaining Creation Magic, his profession underwent a complete transformation.
Using Oscar Orcus's research notes and his memories from a past life, he created weapons based on modern technology.
He even forged science-fiction weapons beyond modern science.
Alex wasn't an alchemist, but he knew Alchemy.
"..."
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