"This would have taken forever if we didn't know Spiritual Core… it is really a lifesaver," Icarus said when he saw the enemies decreasing in number. "Even with my speed, I can only do so much."
Billy could have made things end a lot faster if he had used ice magic on the entire floor, but that would only make him level up a couple of skills. In order to maximize the effects of his powers, he used as many skills as possible. He didn't have to hurry since he wasn't alone, after all. Also, Billy was observing those three in order to learn the quirks of their skills. He hadn't been making much progress so far, though.
In any case, since they hurried up, the group managed to clear that level after fifteen hours. They had gotten a bit tired, but since the tyrants were spawning in groups of twelve every thirty seconds, they couldn't slack off.
"We should split into groups and rest before we clear this level completely," Meryl declared. "Most likely, we will find only the guardian in the last level, but we don't know the conditions we will be in after defeating the creature, so we should clean up things here completely."
"Billy and I are kind of used to hunting together," Lucyna declared. "Our powers also can work well in a team. I guess the same could be said to you two if Meryl focuses on using bones for support."
"I guess that is fine… Icarus seems a bit tired, so we will rest first. Is that fine?" Meryl asked.
Lucyna nodded. While Icarus sure looked tired of running around, he looked more surprised by Lucina's idea than anything. Billy had suspected that he had feelings for her, but for someone whose main weapon is speed, he sure was slow when it came to any progress regarding romance.
In any case, Billy and Lucyna took the first turn while the other west to rest on the zone between floors. It has been a while since Billy used his glaive, but he had no other choice if he wanted to keep things going while working alone with Lucyna.
"Should I focus on decreasing their endurance or buffing your strength?" Lucyna asked.
"Decrease their endurance. I don't like anyone pointing their hands at me when they are about to use magic," Billy said.
"What about your wives?" Lucyna asked.
"I am the one who buffs everyone when we work together," Billy replied. "It has been like that since the very beginning."
"Come to think of it, your party has known each other for a long time, right?" Lucyna asked. "Don't take me wrong. You don't seem the patient type with kids."
"I am only patient with my kids, but while I do have my flaws, I am old enough to know and act like I was the oldest of the group," Billy explained. "I indeed worked to make sure that they wouldn't be in trouble, but I got some benefits from it as well. I had many chances to learn more about the world thanks to them."
Billy sighed after saying that. He wasn't telling anything really important, but that still was troublesome. He had to keep his guard up all the time after he had come this far and not because of the tyrants. So, he decided to speed up his hunting speed. Thanks to that, Lucyna had a hard time keeping up with him, but at least the conversation ended.
Thanks to that, three hours later, when Icarus and Meryl came to take their place, around eighty percent of the monsters had been killed. Both Lucyna and Billy needed to rest, so they stayed silent once they returned to the spot between levels, and two hours later, they joined the others to go down to the next level.
In the end, the group found a massive door that was made of the same materials as the scales of the tyrants. It was at least one hundred meters tall and fifty wide. It didn't show any sign of opening when they got close. However, Billy saw some sort of marks on the door, as for that was some sort of sublime or image, he couldn't say. It was too chaotic.
"It seems this one has some sort of gimmick to be opened…" Meryl said. "This is a pain in the ass."
"The marks are too irregular, so they probably don't mean anything… Still, they must have some use," Billy said while checking the borders of the doors, and then he found some tubes that were connected to the door. "I guess we need to put something in here…"
"There is something here as well," Icarus said.
Billy looked at him and then found another tube. It couldn't be a coincidence… Still, Billy couldn't sense any smell coming from the tubes, so it was hard to say what they had to put it there. It had been a while since he had seen that kind of troublesome gimmick… Nevertheless, Billy considered his options. What could they pull there? Dust? It seemed like a waste of time… after thinking logically, one could only think of blood, but the blood of four humans wouldn't be enough to fill those tubes and the walls.
"I guess we need the tyrant's blood…" Billy said. "These tubes and marks must represent the veins of a body."
"Is this kind of thing common?" Icarus asked. "This is kind of… Bloody."
"Putting his stupid humor aside… Maybe this is a test to confirm that we can get the blood while the enemies spawn," Lucyna said. "This is only possible after almost all of the tyrants have been eliminated, after all."
She had a point… Some people, mostly reincarnated individuals, would have some type of trick to escape the fight and come to the final part of the dungeon. But that would be a weird defense mechanism since someone who needs to escape from the monsters wouldn't have any chances against the guardian…
