Chapter 51: The Price of Arrogance and an Unlikely Alliance

……

Meanwhile, Larkin.

“I’m absolutely exasperated!”

“Kid, if you’ve got the guts, come out here! Don’t hide inside like some delicate maiden!”

“Exactly! Are you just showing off your wealth in there?!”

The raid members had successfully bypassed Larkin’s scroll barrage, launching a surprise attack.

However, what they hadn’t anticipated was the remarkably high quality of Larkin’s magic armor. Their sneak attack failed to incapacitate him.

Seeing that he could no longer prevent the raid members from closing in, Larkin began to frantically unleash defensive scrolls upon himself.

In just ten short minutes, Larkin had deployed more scrolls on his person than they had witnessed in their entire lives.

The raid members surrounded Larkin, unleashing a torrent of skills, practically throwing their very clothes into the fray.

Yet, Larkin’s speed in crushing scrolls was even faster than theirs. For every three layers they shattered, Larkin would replenish five.

Facing the menacing glares of a group of burly men, Larkin curled up, a cold sneer playing on his lips. “What, does having money not count as strength? Then go work for the Most Evil Dragon for free! If you’re so capable, you should also be spamming scrolls. It’s not like I’m stopping you.”

“But do you have the financial means? You don’t! Hit me, go on, hit me! I, Larkin, stand tall and proud. I’ll lie right here today, hit me all you want! If I so much as whimper, I’ll be your grandson!”

Larkin’s triumphant expression infuriated everyone, but soon, a tremendous crash echoed through the air. They all turned to look, only to see a colossal dragon and a giant burst through the wall, charging straight towards them.

Everyone scattered like frightened birds, leaving a bewildered Larkin standing alone. He was then swept up in the impact of the two behemoths.

His defensive barrier, despite the violent collision, stubbornly protected Larkin. Still, after being tossed several times through the air and rolling repeatedly on the ground, Larkin’s mind felt utterly muddled.

When Larkin finally regained his senses, he found that someone had seized the opportunity, stealthily crept up, and torn open his defensive barrier.

Then, with a swift move, they pinned his hands, tied him up, and sprinkled a strange powder over him.

Larkin tried to resist, as he still had his magic armor on. But for some inexplicable reason, his magic armor felt as if it had frozen, transforming from a protective shell into a restrictive bind.

Larkin stared in horror at the person’s triumphant expression. However, contrary to the expected beating, the individual hoisted Larkin onto their shoulder and ran towards the gaping hole the giant had created.

With his head dangling backward, Larkin caught sight of a massive demonic lizard rapidly scuttling on two legs towards them. Clearly, the dragon and giant had been sent flying by it.

Larkin, grateful that his captor remembered to bring him along even while fleeing, muttered, “Grumble, thanks, brother.”

A raid member chuckled sinisterly, “Heh, you’re welcome.”

The other raid members, still running, chimed in:

“Wait, why are you taking him? To extort him?”

The first raid member sneered, “How shallow. Don’t you think this kid’s arrogance earlier was utterly detestable? Letting him die there would be too easy. Don’t tell me you don’t want to beat him up thoroughly later.”

“Hiss, what a brilliant idea. I didn’t think of that.”

“You’re so thoughtful. Once we’re out of danger, let me kick him a few times. I’ll buy you drinks when we get to the surface.”

“Me too! I can treat you to…”

Everyone began to offer bids for the privilege of beating Larkin.

“No problem, no problem at all.”

The raid member smiled at Larkin. “You’re quite popular, kid. But this is just fulfilling your wish from earlier, isn’t it? You told us to hit you, right? The magic powder I sprinkled on you took a lot of effort to make. Since it’s on you now, I’ll recoup my investment from you!”

“Grumble.”

Larkin was terrified, shouting, “Brosurface, I’ll book the best tavern and let you all celebrate for three days!”

The raid member laughed, “Don’t worry, those three days on the surface you’ll treat us to, but the beating underground, you won’t escape!”

Larkin indignantly retorted, “Then I won’t treat you!”

The raid member’s voice instantly turned cold, “Then we’ll beat you to death.”

“What if I do treat you?”

“Then we’ll beat you moderately.”

Larkin: “…Is there no third option? Look, I’m very rich…”

The raid member declared with conviction, “Some things cannot be replaced by money. If we don’t beat you, we won’t be able to eat our meals in peace!”

“Exactly!”thers, there’s no need, really. I was just joking earlier! You are all heroes and paragons, I’ve admired you for ages. When we return to the

This statement received unanimous agreement from the raid members. It was clear that when it came to beating Larkin, they were all on the same page.

To make profit-driven adventurers forgo the temptation of money, it had to be said that Larkin’s taunting ability was truly well-deserved.

Larkin: “…”

****

Lola and Samuel.

Lola, relying on elven magic, continued to struggle under Samuel’s playful hands. However, Samuel’s calm demeanor made it seem as though he were merely toying with a small hamster.

Suddenly, they both paused.

Lola and Samuel sensed an abnormal surge of magic. The wall they were against had been broken through, and the voices of Theodore and Theresia appeared before them.

The crashing impact that sent them flying finally ceased.

Lola stared wide-eyed at the giant and dragon, now crumpled into a heap on the ground.

A large number of raid members emerged from the breach. The moment they saw Lola, they immediately informed her, “There’s a difficult behemoth behind us. Our hastily set traps had no effect on it.”

“Also, we don’t know what happened to this giant and the black dragon.”

Lola casually explained, “The giant was the one who provoked the Most Evil Dragon earlier, and the black dragon *is* the Most Evil Dragon.”

“My goodness, the Most Evil Dragon really is the rumored evil dragon!”

“I knew a title with ‘dragon’ in it had to be related to a dragon somehow.”

Larkin, however, was more focused on another crucial point: “Whoa, Theodore is that giant? Not a dragon? How did he do that?”

Alicia, too, looked at Theodore and Theresia with wonder. More than Theresia being a dragon, Alicia was curious about how Theodore achieved such complete giant transformation. After all, their barbarian tribe could only enlarge specific body parts.

Aesop: “…”

He had yet to awaken from his unconsciousness.

Lola watched Promen slowly emerge from behind the wall-hole, and her entire elven body trembled uncontrollably.

The unfathomable magic emanating from him gave her a feeling of utter helplessness.

“Lola, I will send you all to the 99th floor. You must immediately run out of the labyrinth.”

Samuel stepped out from beside Lola, positioning himself in front of everyone. This time, he brought not fear, but a sense of profound reassurance.

Lola frowned, asking, “What about you?”

Samuel teased, “Oh, my dear little Lola knows how to care for her master now. How touching. My spirit body has fully merged with the 100th-floor castle; that’s why I can animate the entire labyrinth. It’s too late to detach now, and it’s only a part of my spiritual energy, so it doesn’t matter. Besides, I need to hold it back.”

“This is an information stone. Crush it immediately when you reach the 50th floor, and my main body will rush to the labyrinth to rendezvous with you. Once you reach the 99th floor, hurry to the upper levels. It can still reach the 99th floor.”

“I…”

Lola had barely uttered a word when Samuel gently waved his hand. The door to the 99th floor actively rushed towards them, sweeping her, all the raid members, Theodore’s squad, and even Theresia and Theodore himself into the 99th floor.

This miraculous feat left Lola stunned for what felt like an eternity. She hadn’t even fully processed it by the time they arrived on the 99th floor.

After all that, Samuel had truly just been playing around earlier!

****

This all happened in the blink of an eye.

Promen descended before Samuel. He was not in a hurry to find Theodore and Theresia; it would be pointless. The door leading to the 99th floor had already been hidden by Samuel.

However, Promen understood this labyrinth; the door would not simply vanish.

“Interesting. Since when could humans use divine arts? No, what kind of strange divine art is this?”

Samuel’s mind stirred. She used alchemy, that was beyond doubt. But why did Promen refer to it as divine art?

Carefully observing Promen, Samuel’s pupils gradually widened. She had discovered an astonishing fact: Promen, this intelligent race, seemed to be a creation of alchemy!

Moreover, she could not sense the presence of a soul. But if there was no soul, and it wasn’t a spirit body attachment, then why was this alchemical creation so remarkably lively?

She composed herself and replied, “Divine art? In our era, we call it alchemy. You are not a naturally born creature, are you?”

Promen chuckled softly, puffing out his chest in a display of pride. “Heh, excellent perception. I am Promen, the great creation of the Dark Overlord, a Darkkin. Human, no, perhaps calling you human would be a disservice. You can barely be considered my kin. Surrender to me, and I shall bestow upon you knowledge of divine arts from the age of gods, far superior to this inferior version worn down by time.”

“Calling my alchemy an inferior version is quite rude.” Samuel felt a pang of regret; she couldn’t transmit the information she gained from Promen to her main body.

“By the way, within this labyrinth, I’ve constantly felt a peculiar energy permeating the air. And the deeper the labyrinth, the denser this energy becomes.”

Samuel observed Promen, who was surrounded by purple energy, and narrowed her eyes as she asked, “The purity of that energy far surpasses magic, yet I can’t seem to utilize it at all. Do you know why?”

Samuel’s astonished and curious gaze, along with her insightful question, greatly pleased Promen. Finally, he had encountered a cultured individual; he had been thoroughly exasperated by two low-intelligence children earlier.

Only such a person could truly comprehend his greatness. Thus, Promen decided to display his benevolence. “Heh, merely being fortunate enough to come into contact with divine arts is an immense blessing for you humans. Yet you even dare to covet divine power; what a greedy and audacious thought. Do you wish to learn? Become my servant, and teaching you these things would not be impossible.”

Samuel regrettably shook her head. “Oh dear, what a pity. I much prefer others to be my slaves, so I’ll have to decline.”

“Are you truly not reconsidering? This would be an immense opportunity for you.”

Having finally met a cultured individual, Promen was somewhat reluctant to kill her.

Samuel continued to refuse, “I greatly appreciate your kind offer. Perhaps another time; my main body will come to find you personally.”

“Ah, well, alright then.”

The negotiation failed, leaving Promen quite dejected. He wasted no more words and began his assault on Samuel.

With just a simple probe, Samuel understood the demon’s strength. Although divine arts and alchemy had gradually evolved into two distinct systems over time, the fact that her opponent could use divine power to activate divine arts meant that even if her main body’s alchemical mastery stood at the pinnacle of the world, she might not be able to easily contend with him.

This spirit body wouldn’t be able to stall for long. She could only hope that her main body would arrive soon to assist Lola and the others.

Moreover, an alchemical creation from the hand of a god—this was a treasure capable of driving any alchemist to madness!

The group, flung to the 99th floor by Samuel, was still somewhat dazed. Although they had sensed the terrifying power unleashed by Promen, they hadn’t had time to investigate its cause before Samuel had tossed them to the 99th floor.

What shocked them even more, however, was the sight of the giant and the dragon, now embracing in a rather undignified posture.

What was this?! It was an eyesore.

“Hiss~”

Perhaps the larger the body, the greater the force with which Samuel threw it. When Theresia was flung to the 99th floor, she smashed through dozens of rooms, utterly destroying them. The innocent furniture and wild monsters in those rooms had no time to react before being crushed into fragments by the black dragon.

Theresia opened her dragon eyes, and a three-legged chair perfectly entered her field of vision. The monster, which usually terrified others, was now sweating profusely. Don’t ask where a wooden chair would sweat from; just assume it’s a magical creation, where anything is possible.

It shrieked and ran away.

But Theresia paid it no mind. The space on the 99th floor was too cramped. This level seemed specifically designed to counter creatures of immense size. While the rooms might appear slightly too large for humans, they were quite small for dragons.

Theresia couldn’t even roll over, so she wanted to transform into her human form, but she couldn’t… because a giant was pressing down on her!

“Pervert! Lecher! Scumbag! How long do you plan to keep pressing on me?!”

Theodore was a little bewildered because he, too, had been flung, and due to his immense size, the force with which he was thrown was astonishing. And then, he found himself in a miserable situation.

It seemed as though he had used Theresia as a cushion.

However, the characteristic of dragon scales was that when subjected to a certain level of impact, they would become extremely hard, comparable to the toughest metals in the world, while also retaining immense toughness.

So, Theodore was a little stunned by the hardness of Theresia’s dragon-form chest armor.

It wasn’t until Theresia’s indignant roar reached his ears that he snapped back to reality. No, if impact made them extremely hard, how did dragons on Dragon Isle reproduce? They wouldn’t specifically transform into human form for mating.

Theodore decided to investigate this upon returning to Dragon Isle, purely to satisfy his curiosity, with no other intentions. Absolutely none!

Both of them reverted to their human forms.

Then, they decisively retreated to opposite sides, eyeing each other warily. The stance suggested they might brawl at any moment.

Looking at Theodore before her, Theresia’s emotions were incredibly complex. On one hand, there was guilt; no matter what, she had indeed betrayed their three years of camaraderie for convenience. But on the other hand, there was also the shame and anger at his audacious desire to ‘sample’ her.

However, now was not the time to dwell on such matters. An unexpected incident had occurred with the 100th-floor raid. Theresia was now conflicted about whether to return to the surface to strategize for the long term or to recuperate on the 99th floor and continue the raid.

Theodore was also contemplating whether to continue trying to completely subdue Theresia now or to plan for it later. His success in suppressing Theresia this time was largely due to her unfamiliarity with his combat technique. If Theresia were given time, with the Black Dragon’s combat talent, it would be much harder to pin her down again.

His ‘Drifting Dragon’ plan might very well collapse midway.

Just then, Lola rushed over with a large group of people, shouting as she ran:

“Theresia, Samuel told us to immediately flee to the upper levels of the labyrinth! She said that monster below will very likely break through the labyrinth’s restrictions and pursue us!”

Theresia’s and Theodore’s pupils contracted sharply. The terrifying combat power that entity unleashed was definitely not something they could handle in their current state. Perhaps in another thousand years, it might be a different story.

Theodore asked in a low voice, “Where is Samuel?”

Lola replied, panting, “Below, but that’s just her spirit clone. Her main body is still on the surface. When we reach the 50th floor, I’ll contact her to come and assist.”

Even just a spirit clone possessed such strength; Theodore was quite surprised. Throughout the labyrinth raid, Samuel had consistently shown considerable reserve. Her true body’s power must be formidable indeed.

“A truce then!”

Theresia looked at Theodore, and facing his intense gaze, she forced herself to suppress her embarrassment, speaking with a stiff upper lip, “Whatever entanglements we’ve had in the past, those are matters for later. Only by surviving can we figure out who was right and wrong back then, don’t you agree?”

“Agreed, let’s temporarily join forces.” Theodore extended his hand towards Theresia, signaling a handshake alliance.

Theresia hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and clasped Theodore’s hand. His hand was so large that it looked as if she had placed her hand entirely within his palm.

She wanted to withdraw her hand immediately; physical contact with Theodore was a tremendous psychological test for her. Although she usually appeared quite unrestrained, she was very sensitive when it came to matters of men and women. If not for her genuine uncertainty about how to face Theodore in the future, she would never have thought of resetting his memory to three years ago and only planning to meet him at his grave.

Despite her seemingly carefree demeanor, she was actually very emotional.

However, her attempt to pull her hand away had no effect; her small hand remained motionless in Theodore’s palm.

Theresia: “…”

She tried to exert more force, failing again.

She tried to exert even more force, failing yet again.

Theresia looked at Theodore with a hint of annoyance. That had been her maximum strength without revealing any abnormality, but it was clear Theodore had no intention of letting her go. If that was the case, she wouldn’t hold back either!

Just as Theresia was about to erupt, Theodore suddenly raised their clasped hands high, addressing the assembled crowd. “Distinguished heroes, we are currently facing a grave crisis. Although a minor misunderstanding occurred between us, now is the time for us to stand united against a common foe.”

“According to reliable intelligence, that monster from below will pursue us. We know very little about it, and there’s no need to confront it head-on. Theresia, no, the Most Evil Dragon and I have reached an agreement to form a temporary alliance. Any grievances will be settled once we return to the surface.”

Lola watched their tightly clasped hands, which refused to separate, and sighed heavily. Was there truly no chance? They truly were soulmates, to have come all the way to the 100th floor just for Theresia. She had lost, utterly lost.

Lola sighed to herself.

Theodore’s team naturally had no objections, and Theresia’s raid team, after a brief silence, also agreed. Compared to the Most Evil Dragon, who had previously exuded a terrifying aura while clad in armor, the current Theresia, though still radiating an intimidating presence, appeared to be a stunning, aloof raven-haired, brown-eyed beauty. This created a stark contrast with her previous image, leaving them somewhat unaccustomed.

The raid members immediately shook their heads vigorously. Under the command of the two leaders, a plan for returning through the labyrinth was quickly formulated. Raiding the labyrinth and returning from it were naturally not of the same difficulty. The path back had no traps or mechanisms; they simply needed to reach the previous entrance to directly return to the upper floor.

Theresia’s raid team was well-versed in such matters, and soon everyone began to move. As they proceeded, Theresia smiled at Theodore. “My dear Theodore, could you please stop being so bothersome? You won’t let go, nor will you perish on the spot. You’re making things quite difficult for me.”

Saying this, Theresia began to exert considerable force, the veins on her arm clearly visible. Theodore narrowed his eyes, refusing to yield, and also increased his grip, forcing Theresia to relax.

“My dear Theresia, I’m just worried you’ll vanish in the blink of an eye. This labyrinth is far too dangerous; it’s better if you just stay with me. Or, how about we sign a ‘free ride’ contract? Then I’d feel at ease letting go, wouldn’t I?”

“Hehehehehe.”

The human and the dragon simultaneously let out chilling laughs. Despite everyone else frantically running and sweating, a cold dread pierced their hearts.

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