This Isn’t an E*otic Game?

Almost the instant the Saint lost consciousness, the portal to the Labyrinth slammed shut.
The majority of the expedition had successfully escaped to safety.

The problem was that their most vital asset—the Saint—had not.
Worse still, Old Ban, several Hunter Guild leaders, and Captain Jerome were also still trapped on the seventh floor.
The situation was catastrophic.

Even if the entire expedition had perished, the Saint should have been the one to survive. But now, the one person who mattered most had been left behind.
Valram and the Bicorn moved toward the unconscious Saint with a casual air, preparing to lift him.
That was when Lucifer roared in a terrifying voice.

[VALRAM!!]
The deafening sound echoed across the entire seventh floor, and Valram flinched reflexively.
[Do not touch the Saint. Under no circumstances!!]
Valram froze mid-motion, half-bent, then cautiously backed away.

And all of it was witnessed by the ten remaining members of the expedition.
“We’re changing the plan!”
There was no longer any expedition left to protect—even if they sacrificed themselves.

“We’re going to rescue the Saint! MOVE!”
There was no reason to throw their lives away charging Lucifer anymore.
Under Old Ban’s command, the remaining ten expedition members began shooting while retreating in formation.

Lucifer’s face twisted into a grimace.
[Still clinging to life, even now.]
He raised his hand.

Instantly, the ten remaining members of the expedition were locked in place, as if something had fused them to the stone floor.
“Father? You’re sparing them?”
Valram asked, startled. Lucifer nodded slowly.

[They have value. Our goal is still the Saint’s corruption.]
Valram gave a knowing smile.
“Ripping them apart in front of him will break his spirit much faster. An excellent plan.”

[You’ll escort them to the sixth floor, Valram. My body is—]
Lucifer’s words cut off mid-sentence.
His form rippled with an unstable wave of energy.

Valram moved toward him, concern etched into his features.
“You’ve pushed yourself too far.”
[…I know. But it had to be done.]
Lucifer shifted his massive body and stepped toward the Saint, still collapsed before the Crystal Forest.

“Kardak. You’re in charge of transporting the expedition members.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting my cut too, right? After all this trouble?”
“Of course.”

The Bicorn—Kardak—snickered, licking the air with a long, wet tongue.
His horns glowed, lifting the ten expedition members effortlessly with telekinesis.
“Don’t try anything stupid. I could fold your bodies like paper.”

The expedition members could do nothing in the face of his mockery.
Meanwhile, Lucifer gently cradled the unconscious Saint in his arms.
A twisted, gloomy laugh echoed from his grotesque goat face.

[Ahh… Asmodeus. I’ve finally reclaimed you. Finally. Do you know how long I searched for you?]
Like a child reunited with a lost treasure, Lucifer ran his hand softly over the Saint’s body.
Valram spoke toward his rapturous father.

“Father. We don’t have time to dawdle. We need to move to the sixth floor immediately. We made too much noise too close to danger.”
Valram glanced warily at the Crystal Forest before continuing.
“He’s probably noticed.”

[Yes… You’re right.]
Lucifer began to rise—
[Let’s go—]

And almost in the same breath, his words were cut short.
Something shot out of the Crystal Forest at a terrifying speed.
A towering figure, nearly two meters tall.

An ancient suit of armor no one could possibly imagine had been crafted in this era.
A greatsword as large as its body.
A missing arm.

And eyes.
Piercing blue light radiating through the helm, burning with the clarity of a soul that saw through all things.
Old Ban’s eyes locked onto the figure like he was under a spell.

So did Priest Mathieu’s.
And the other Hunter Guild leaders.
They all went utterly silent.
“…Karim…?”
Old Ban whispered it like a prayer, entranced.

[Ponemkin!! Still a persistent insect, I see!!]
[Lucifer!! At last, you’ve come this far!!]
Lucifer and the armored giant let out furious roars at the same time.

Blade met divine magic, and the sound was like a cannon blast.
 
****

“Goddamn it!!”
Valram howled.
This was a nightmare.

This should have ended on the sixth floor.
That bastard had no business showing up here on the seventh.
But because the Saint had overexerted himself bringing the Immovable Dragon Alcassas to their side, the plan to crush the expedition and capture the Saint on the sixth floor had completely fallen apart.

And now they were paying the price.
“Kardak! Restrain them!!”
“Got it!”

While the Bicorn held the ten expedition members in place—
Valram surged toward Lucifer, dark magic radiating from his form.
Lucifer’s condition was clearly not normal.

The Grand Labyrinth was never meant to host a true divine incarnation.
To suppress the Flame Dragon on the sixth floor—
And now to annihilate the expedition on the seventh—
Lucifer had drawn on power he shouldn’t have used.
And his body was unstable.

This was a body forged on short notice after the plan went awry on the sixth floor—a makeshift vessel.
They needed to avoid a direct battle with that monster at all costs.
[Ponemkin! You irritating cur!!]

Power clashed with the massive sword, cracking the stone floor of the seventh level.
The crystals in the Crystal Forest vibrated violently, letting out tremors that sounded like screams.
This couldn’t be allowed to continue.

The mana stone around Valram’s neck glowed as he activated his dark magic.
His amplifier—crafted from multiple unicorn horns—guaranteed enough magical output to work even within the restrictions of the Grand Labyrinth.
A powerful spell flew toward the towering armored giant—slamming into him as he dueled Lucifer.

The armored giant effortlessly deflected the spell, and the blue light blazing from between the slits in his helmet suddenly flared with rage.
[You filthy traitor! You bastard—I never forgot! Not for a single day in three hundred years!! Valram!! You damn betrayer!!]
The divine blue aura surging along his greatsword grew even more intense, and Valram responded with a smirk.

“It’s been a long time, Captain Karim. How was it—rotting away in the Crystal Forest all these years?”
[I’ll kill you! I swear it—I’ll never let you live!!]
Valram calmly parried the titan’s vicious sword strikes.

His face was composed, even amused—but inside, he was anything but.
“Father! Now is not the time to fight!”
Lucifer responded instantly to Valram’s call and began retreating.

As the titan’s attacks focused entirely on Valram, Lucifer began casting a spell on himself.
Under normal circumstances, the spell would allow him to cross continents—but due to the unique properties of the Grand Labyrinth, he could only teleport between its floors.
As promised, Lucifer most likely returned to the Berserker Flame Dragon’s lair on the sixth floor.

The moment Lucifer vanished, a roar of fury erupted from the titan’s helmet.
[No! You bastard!!]
As soon as he confirmed Lucifer’s escape, Valram turned his body to flee.

He couldn’t win against the monster standing before him.
Three hundred years ago—
That man had descended alone with only a single blade, all the way to the bottom of the seventh floor, to rescue his fallen god.

His swordsmanship had long surpassed the realm of human ability.
This was not someone he could defeat.
“I hope we never meet again, Captain Karim.”

Valram began a rapid retreat, casting short-range teleportation spells in quick succession as he slipped away like a ghost.
The titan—Karim—did not chase him.
He stood still, seemingly bound by some invisible force, unable to cross beyond the perimeter of the Crystal Forest.

But then, with a sudden roar, he hurled his greatsword with terrifying force.
“Shit! Kardak!!”
Valram shouted in alarm, thinking the blade had been thrown at him.

But the sword was flying straight toward the Bicorn—Kardak.
Startled, Kardak immediately released the telekinetic bindings holding the expedition members and wrapped himself in psychic energy instead.
Barely—
barely—the greatsword missed piercing through him.

“Fucking hell!”
Kardak had survived, but the spell restraining the ten expedition members had been broken.
“Leave them! We need to escape to the sixth floor!”

The look in Karim’s eyes made it clear—if they didn’t flee now, he might break through the divine constraint of his own incarnation just to chase them down.
Valram rushed toward Kardak and began casting a teleportation spell.
“Fire!! Don’t let them escape!!”

Old Ban raised his shotgun and fired, but a heartbeat too late—Valram and the Bicorn vanished from the seventh floor.
Just like that.
“Get up to the sixth floor right now—we’ll head for the Flame Dragon’s lair and—”

“You think we can fight the Demon Lord of Arrogance while he’s incarnated? We go when we’ve got a chance of winning.”
Old Ban cut off Captain Jerome.
Instead of rushing after them, he walked over to the greatsword embedded deep in the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ ground, dragged it out, and began slowly making his way toward the Crystal Forest.

The other expedition members followed—entranced.
All of them walked beside him, carrying the sword back together.
They approached the towering armored figure, who stood before the Crystal Forest with a hollow expression.

As they gently laid the greatsword on the ground before him, the giant finally moved. Slowly, he stepped forward and picked it up.
“Who… are you?”
Priest Mathieu’s voice trembled.

The titan’s glowing blue eyes shone even brighter.
[You are one of my followers… After three hundred years… I’ve finally arrived.]
A smile broke across his face.

[It’s good to see you, my child.]
“Ah…”
Priest Mathieu collapsed.

Tears streamed down his face.
Finally.
Finally, they had found him.
The one the Hero Order had been searching for in desperate hope for three centuries.

But there was no time to bask in emotion.
“L-Lord Ponemkin. Please—you must rescue the Saint! If the Saint falls into Hell’s hands, everything ends!”
Mathieu quickly explained the situation.

But Ponemkin didn’t move.
[I cannot leave this forest.]
“Why…?”

Ponemkin reached out and touched one of the crystals, smiling bitterly.
[They are raw mana stones. And… my divinity is bound to them.]
With a somber face, Ponemkin thrust the greatsword into the ground once more.

[For three hundred years, I searched for a monster with a mana core large enough to pull me from this floor. But none existed.]
Mathieu asked:
“Even with Dragon Hearts, it’s impossible?”

[Impossible. I would need to defeat at least two dragons to bear the strain of my divine form. But the moment a few dragons were hunted near this forest, they all retreated to the sixth floor. None dared approach again. I’ve been isolated ever since.]
Ponemkin looked down at his hand.
[Karim and I… We’ve been here too long. Karim’s body long ago surpassed the limits of life. If this continues, his flesh will collapse completely. And I… will become a prisoner of this forest forever.]

At that, Priest Mathieu smiled faintly.
“To incarnate divinity, two things are needed.
One: a vessel large enough to hold it.”
He gestured to the Crystal Forest.
“And if not that—
Then two: a human soul suited to housing it. Like the Saint.”

Mathieu looked at Ponemkin directly.
“What about me? I’ve served you my entire life, Lord Ponemkin. Could I not… hold your divinity within my soul?”
Ponemkin rested a hand on Mathieu’s head.

He closed his eyes, concentrating.
After a moment, he opened them again—and shook his head.
[Your soul is unfit to contain my divinity. You lack the qualities of a Hero.]

As the words left him, Old Ban stepped forward.
“What about me? Lord Ponemkin… I am… a descendant of Hero Karim. Could I house your divinity?”
His voice trembled.

This was the moment that would reveal the truth of three hundred years.
Ponemkin closed his eyes, then opened them again.
His blue gaze glowed deeper now.

[Old one.]
A voice slightly different from Ponemkin’s resonated.
[I had no descendants.]

Ban’s hands went slack.
The shotgun his grandson had built for him slipped from his fingers and clattered emptily to the stone floor.