The sigh of relief didn't even have time to leave their lungs before the rattling of bones echoed across the cavern. From the shadows, dozens of Traum Soldiers—heavily armed labyrinth skeletons—begin pouring onto the bridge.
"Suzuki-kun!"
The rest of the class panicked, and they subconsiously looked at Suzuki as they knew that they had a way to lead them out unscathed, yet before Suzuki was even able to say anything, Kouki stepped forward to take the lead once again!
"We have to stop the cowardly method of fighting! Heroes don't win by making monsters slip! We will stand our ground! We fight with honor! If we fight like that... we're no better than the monsters!
"NOW, FOLLOW ME, EVERYONE!"
Kouki's figure shone brightly as he charged forward.
"....." Everyone.
"Oh, god, what a stupid guy..."
Nana, who couldn't even keep her mouth shut or choose her wise words, couldn't help but bluntly say what she felt.
Suzuki didn't even say anything, as he felt his head was throbbing, but fortunately, this feeling wasn't just his; many of them felt the same.
The victory they had previously was easy and safe, so why should they do something dangerous, right?
"CELESTIAL SLASH!"
Kouki was a protagonist; that was what he had always thought, so, using that honor, he would fight bravely!
Only as he was alone, no one followed him, he was quickly surrounded.
"EVERYONE FOLLOW ME!"
Dead silence. The entire backline—the mages who cast the ice and wind spells—stared at Kouki with cold, flat eyes. He essentially just called them cowards for surviving without taking damage. In that one outburst, Kouki lost the respect of half the class.
Still, even if Kouki was a liability, he was a good lightning rod, someone who could take away all of the attention.
Though after this, Suzuki had made up his mind to get away from Kouki, as this guy was really exhausting to be around.
"Mizushima, Miyazaki, grease the floor again. Do not let it thaw."
Suzuki ordered, his voice cutting through the panic with flat authority.
The water and ice mages instantly re-coat the bridge.
This time, unlike before, Nana and Shiori weren't so nervous, and they followed his order faithfully.
Still, among all his classmates, he undoubtedly liked her the most: Suzu Taniguchi, the Barrier Master.
No, he didn't like her romantically, but he liked how useful her job was, and he also understood her skills better than anyone, as he had the Barrier Master, too, as a job.
"Suzu.
"Aye! Aye! Should I trip it again?"
Suzu was ready to follow Suzuki's order.
"No, I need a snowplow. Spawn a barrier across the entire width of the bridge and just walk forward."
"Ah!"
Suzu got it immediately and grinned. She summoned a massive, flat wall of mana spanning edge to edge. Because the floor was frictionless ice, the skeletons couldn't brace themselves.
Suzu simply walked forward, her barrier acting like a magical bulldozer, casually sweeping dozens of flailing Traum Soldiers straight off the cliff like dust off a desk.
"....." Everyone.
It was so easy that they were speechless.
"Kaori, heal Amanogawa."
"Y-Yes."
Kouki, who charged alone to the front, sat on the ground in a daze. Naturally, he was hurt, and no one helped him. So Suzuki asked Kaori to heal this guy's wounds, but Kaori's healing couldn't mend Kouki's wounded heart.
"So... it's over?" Shizuku asked in a daze.
"....."
Suzuki looked at his girlfriend speechlessly, rubbing his forehead, as he knew that it was far from over. Still, considering everyone's situation, he could only ask one person.
"Nagumo."
"Ah, yes?"
Nagumo was startled as he was called so suddenly, but Suzuki pointed in a certain direction and said, "Go and transmute bedrock over there."
"Eh?"
Nagumo was confused, and the others were even more so, but the labyrinth always gave everyone a surprise.
BOOOOM!
A massive, bloodied claw suddenly slammed onto the edge of the bridge.
Behemoth didn't fall all the way; it caught the lower structural supports and hauled its multi-ton body back up, roaring with absolute fury.
"RAAAAAA!"
Suzuki didn't let his guard down, yet he had to admit that Behemoth seemed stronger, since in the original story it just fell and died; now?
Yet, Nagumo was Nagumo.
Even though Nagumo was stunned previously, he quickly stepped up. Driven by pure adrenaline and his readiness due to Suzuki's reminder, Nagumo slammed his hands onto the stone beneath the ice. Using his Synergist abilities at maximum output, he forcefully transmuted the bedrock, wrapping thick pillars of stone around the Behemoth's limbs, fusing the monster directly to the bridge.
"SHOOT IT! NOW!"
Nagumo screamed, holding the transmutation steady, and desperately, while the vanguard mages unleashed a barrage of spells into the trapped boss.
"GO!"
No one held back as they gave their all, unleashing their strongest magics to shoot down the Behemoth!
BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
Yet Suzuki's perception wasn't focused on the Behemoth. Instead, he could feel the buzzing of an annoying fly from behind.
Yes, similar to the original plot, the stupid guy, who had caused all the mess, would cause trouble once again.
Suzuki turned his head around and just in time saw Hiyama—petty, terrified, and fundamentally stupid—launch a condensed fireball. But it wasn't aimed at the boss.
It's aimed squarely at Nagumo's exposed back!
"HIYAMA, YOU IDIOT!"
Suzuki barked, his voice echoing over the spells, ensuring every single person on that bridge saw exactly what Hiyama just did.
But the warning wasn't enough to stop physics. The fireball detonated against the stone right next to Nagumo. The explosion shattered the transmuted restraints and crumbled the edge of the bridge. Nagumo, completely off-balance and out of mana, began to tip backward into the abyss.
"Eh?"
"....."
Suzuki was at a loss for a moment, sighed, then said, "Shizuku, Kaori, let's talk later."
"Eh?" 2x
Suzuki activated his Shadow Step, the skill he got from his Assassin job, closing the distance instantly. He didn't have time to secure his own footing. As the stone broke away beneath them both, he grabbed Nagumo by the collar. Using the fluid, redirective momentum of a Pencak Silat throw, he violently hurled Nagumo backward, safely over his own head and onto the solid, unbroken section of the bridge.
There was part of him who thought that Nagumo was really a burden sometimes, yet he also had to admit that Nagumo was a genuinely good boy, so he just couldn't help but save him.
At the same time, Suzuki was just exhausted, and felt like it was better for him to take a quiet moment, since he had to admit while he could control the group, some liabilities were just annoying, and with his disappearence for a moment, it would be good for them to realize how important he was for the team, and how useless those liabilities were.
Still, as he began to plummet into the pitch-black maw of the abyss, he didn't scream. He didn't curse the gods. He just looked back up at the bridge, his deadpan eyes locking directly onto a horrified, trembling Hiyama.
If he had to leave for a while, he had to erase this burden from the party, so he could be at ease, so for the first time in his life, he used his last merchant skill, which he had never used, as its usage was little troublesome, but without a doubt, as all the requirments were met, he could use this ability for the first time.
Mid-freefall, he extended his hand toward Hiyama and activated his skill at absolute maximum capacity.
"Hostile Takeover."
He didn't just steal Hiyama's mana. He ripped the conceptual foundation of Hiyama's system status right out of his soul. An invisible, violent tether of energy yanked from Hiyama's chest, diving straight down into his hand.
In that single second, he stole Hiyama's base stats, his elemental affinities, his skill proficiencies, and most devastatingly—his growth limit. He left Hiyama as a stagnant, empty husk.
By this point, Hiyama would never level up again. He would never learn a new spell. He was permanently, biologically capped as the weakest person in Tortus, a complete waste of space trapped in a world of monsters.
Falling into the true depths of the Orcus Labyrinth, Suzuki casually slipped his hands into his pockets as he sighed. The sheer exhaustion of micromanaging Kouki's hero complex, Hiyama's stupidity, and the Kingdom's politics washed away, replaced by the quiet, comforting darkness of the abyss.
He felt his stolen stats permanently integrated into his body, a small, comfortable smirk finally crossing his face.
Finally, he thought, adjusting his posture for the landing.
A solo project. No dead weight.
Yet at the same time, he also changed the plot, exposing Hiyama as a traitor immediately and effectively ruining his life, while Suzuki descended into the abyss not as a victim but as an apex predator who actively chose to leave a toxic workplace.
Still, he needed to talk with Shizuku and Kaori later.
"SUZUKI!" 2x
Despite the distance between them that grew even further, Suzuki could hear their sadness.
'Don't worry. I'm going on a holiday trip for a bit.'
Leaving those words, he vanished into the darkness.