Kurena had defeated the boss so quickly that they headed straight for the next gate.
Each floor of each gate was harder than the previous one, and Allen had to balance time for Kurena and Haku to Level Up too. He was also trying to keep an eye on the Demon King's Army, but there was no information from them.
The Demon King was an excellent strategist, so it was obvious he was planning something, but at least that gave Allen time to continue clearing dungeons.
"This looks normal enough."
"I know, Cecile. But don't lower your guard, everyone."
'So only the Gate of Judgement will be left after this. I really want to visit the Spirit Paradise.'
Only the Great Spirit replied, while the Spirit God and Spirit King remained silent.
"I'd also like to meet the Great Spirit God, so we should visit that place."
Allen had asked Mouton why he wanted to go to the divine realm.
He explained that the divine realm was split into various islands, and spirits gathered in one.
That place was known as the Spirit Paradise, governed by the Great Spirit God Easley.
There was little information available, but apparently Sophie and Luck could get stronger there.
Now that Mouton was an ally, wanted Sophie and Rosen to get there as well.
But that was going to be hard, as Easley despised the war between elves and dark elves.
Another reason was that Sophie and Luck did not have enough Talent Stars.
Spirits could form pacts with whoever they wanted, irrelevant of Talent Stars, but it was rare for someone like Mouton to willingly form pacts. They needed to really like someone first.
There was also Garm's [Primeval Beast Paradise]. They had planned on taking Shea there.
Maybe they could also find Sacred Beasts there.
(I'll make sure to get those.)
Allen was already dreaming of throwing Sacred Beast Stones at them.
He was filled with expectations for the divine realm.
The group headed to the last ancient ruin in the Dragon God's Village.
'This is the Gate of Scale. Will you enter, Challenger of the Gate of Judgement?'
"...Yes."
Allen thought for a short moment before replying to the painted dragon.
"Allen, is something wrong?"
Kurena moved closer to examine Allen's face as she asked that.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking how this is going to be the last Gatekeeper."
(We really should be prepared for anything here.)
"Gatekeeper, we'll challenge your gate."
'Then enter the last Gate of Trial.'
The entire group was teleported to the dungeon.
"Ohh! It's a deadend."
'Gau! A deadend!!'
"Kurena, try to stay back a bit with Haku. You're both Level 1 right now."
Allen did not want them on the front, as the enemies in the last gate had to be the strongest.
"I wonder what we're supposed to do though?"
Sophie was also confused. There was no corridor leading out there, just an enclosed space.
"I'll investigate. Hawks, look from above."
'Piii!'
4 Bird E summons took off.
The space was 1 kilometer long, tall, and wide, with no exit.
(A floorplate with a different color, and three magic circles, hmm.)
He spotted that with the Bird E summon's Awakened Skill [Clairvoyance].
"Hmhmm."
"So?"
Allen was already planning what to do.
"If my assumption is correct, I think we can do this Cecile."
"What do you mean?"
Cecile did not seem convinced, so Allen sent a Wraith A summon to one of the magic circles, where it vanished.
"It's gone."
"I think that's supposed to happen."
"Really?"
Kurena looked confused, wondering why only Allen understood what had happened.
'What's he saying? Has your leader been here before?'
"I don't think so. Allen came from a different world to defeat the Demon King here."
Luck took over Allen to answer Mouton's question.
'Really? Is he some sort of hero then?!'
"Pretty much."
Luck told various other things to Mouton.
Allen confirmed that the Wraith A summon was in a different location, with a similar magic circle to the first a few steps in front.
(So that really leads to a different place. Hawk go there too.)
That space was also 1 kilometer long, wide and tall, but the floor was a different color.
[Clairvoyance] revealed 4 magic circles in random locations.
The Wraith A summon stepped on the magic circle a few steps ahead, which led back to the first space.
"It seems the magic circles serve to go between floors. There's no endless loops, and there's always a way back. This is easy."
(I don't know how many branching paths there are, but it'll be a matter of time.)
"I knew Master Allen could solve it!!"
"How can you even think of that so fast?"
"I've done this before."
(And this is a relatively easy one. Pretty easy for the first level.)
"Ugh whatever."
Cecile did not like how quickly Allen replied, and decided there was no point in saying anything more. Allen had thought of the solution so quickly because he had been in a similar dungeon.
That one did not look like a bunch of boxes, but was a maze.
He also took note of the differently colored tiles on the floor, his Intelligence allowing him to see through more than a 100 different viewpoints.
The games Allen played in the past were essentially built out of dungeons.
Even the castle of the last boss was a dungeon, and the underground roads over the continents.
Some dungeons were so dark almost nothing was visible, others had teleporters.
It was like developers believed that the players would be satisfied as long as dungeons existed.
The majority of Allen's past memories were from clearing dungeons.
'Is all of that really true, Allen?! Why didn't you mention it before!!'
"H-h-hold on, Digragni. Calm down!"
Digragni had also been listening through the Magic Cube. He had tagged along with Merle because he wanted to study other dungeons.
The party was still moving as a single unit to be safe, even though no enemies had appeared yet.
He made five groups with a Bird E, Bird A, and Wraith A summons, which mapped out the dungeon at the same time.
Allen's group traveled for an entire hour, moving through two dozen spaces, making them seem endless.
"Hmm, maybe the layout is more complex than I thought. Wait, enter battle formation!!"
As they moved ahead, Allen felt something in the space they just reached.
Monsters that looked like ghosts with large scythes were looking at Allen's group.
They were all around the group in that space.
Before they could get too close, Haku's flames kept them at bay, while Mouton's acid destroyed their weapons.
"Inferno!!"
Fire was a good element against ghost monsters, so Cecile also used her magic.
'You've defeated a Lych. You've obtained 4000'000 Experience Points.'
(That's an A Rank monster. I was hoping for S Rank ones.)
The hundreds of monsters were just A Rank, and were easily defeated.
Meanwhile Kurena and Haku's Levels shot up.
Both needed Extra Mode amounts of Experience to Level Up, but they quickly reached Level 50.
Allen had hoped to find S Rank monsters though, as a single one could fetch 100'000'000 Experience Points.
Half a day passed after that.
"Allen, I think we should go back soon."
"Just one more and we'll go back."
"That's what you said earlier!!"
Allen always felt like the next space would be the last one. But having a [Nest] allowed them to resume the search at any moment, so Cecile was getting angry by Allen's insistence to keep going.
"Just one more, I promise."
"Really? I'll only go for one more then."
Everyone was listening to their argument, already aware of Allen's tendencies.
Allen stepped into the next magic circle on the floor, and noticed something in the next space.
"An…enemy?!"
Everyone assumed battle formations the moment they noticed it.
It was a weird bird, with a red crest, rainbow tail, and yellow plumage.
"Wait, this bird…"
Those features seemed familiar to Allen.
He carefully took out a Sacred Beast Stone from his Grimoire and lowered his stance.
He was gripping the Sacred Beast Stone with far more strength than ever before.
