Hollow Echoes.

The northernmost depths of the eighth floor.

The space before the stairs—where the iron bars remained lowered—opened up into a gaping clearing. The pillar-like giant trees suddenly cut off before this area, leaving only an expanse of ground covered in undergrowth.

At the center of the plaza sat an exceptionally large wolf with black fur. Its height reached easily to my chest; if it stood up, it would likely rival a Branch-Horn Deer. Three other wolves lay nearby, snuggling against the giant beast. Since they were the familiar size I’d seen elsewhere, the scene almost looked like a mother with her pups.

As we prepared to swarm the four of them with our large group, we felt a bit like a gang of heartless poachers. It was a setup that made it quite difficult to go through with.

Despite those unnecessary thoughts, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

“Phew… I’m glad the boss wasn’t a Branch-Horn Deer.”

If it had been, I might have faced a boycott from the fifteen fairies, which would have been a pain. After scanning the surroundings, I looked back at the fluttering fairies, and they nodded in unison. It seemed there were no hidden reinforcements like Forest Crows.

“Shall we begin, my Lord?”

“Alright, let’s go exactly as planned. If we keep our cool, we should win this handily.”

A boss monster’s level is a fixed value of the floor number plus fifteen, meaning that massive wolf would be Level 23. Currently, Kuu and Yoru are Level 24, while Paula and Mia are Level 23. Even the blue slimes are Level 22—there was almost no level gap between them and the boss. Of course, as a boss, its HP and other stats would be buffed, but even so, it wasn’t an opponent we needed to fear.

“To battle—!”

Yoru, perched atop the slime Sue, let out a high-pitched cry that served as the signal for war.

“Koo!”

Following her lead, Kuu—riding the slime Rah—cried out energetically. Mounted on the bouncing blue slimes, the two closed the distance to the giant wolf in an instant.

The subordinate wolves stood up immediately, but they were met by a barrage of arrows piercing through the air. One had its leg struck by Ethan’s and collapsed to the ground instantly. The remaining two bared their fangs at the troublesome archer, but the sharp crack of a whip blocked their path. Furthermore, precisely aimed skillfully disrupted the wolves’ movements.

“Hehe! How’s that? Haven’t I gotten pretty good at hitting the mark, Paula-sama?”

“Yes, you’re doing wonderfully, Mia.”

With their support, Ethan had plenty of time to draw his bowstring tight.

—.

The released arrow flew true, piercing the brow of a wolf that had been immobilized by paralytic poison. At this rate, the other two would be finished in no time.

In the middle of the plaza, the small Yoru and her team were putting up a fierce fight against the giant wolf. The beast-child darted around while the blue slimes bounced and rolled. Above them, the bird-child glided effortlessly through the air. Faced with a flurry of moving furballs, the giant boss wolf seemed to be struggling to fix its aim.

Furthermore, a group of fairies quickly circled behind the boss, unleashing <Fairy’s Kiss> one after another. Since wolves have such keen noses, is less effective against them. Therefore, I had asked the fairies to continuously shower the boss with <Fairy’s Kiss> to inflict Confusion.

Bosses are resistant to status ailments, but they aren’t completely immune. Besides, fairies have exceptionally high Magic Attack. Their mana consumption is intense, but since they’d taken Mana-Vitality Potions beforehand, they were fine. I could see the boss wolf occasionally stopping in its tracks or biting at thin air, so the effect was clearly working.

The trademark of Black-Fur Wolves is their coordinated wave attacks, but this boss wolf, now on the receiving end of such a tactic, could do nothing but watch as the wounds on its body multiplied. Even with its thick, flexible black fur, there was nothing it could do against such a high volume of attacks.

It looked like Paula and the others had finished off the three subordinates.

“Alright, let’s wrap this up!”

“Leave it to us, my Lord.”

“Got it!”

“Yeah, just one more push.”

The giant wolf, bleeding and deprived of its guards, decided to play its trump card. Digging its paws into the ground and arching its back, the wolf opened its mouth wide toward the sky. Simultaneously, a powerful cry erupted from deep within its throat.

—.

A specialty learned by Black-Fur Wolves that reach Level 20, it is a skill used to summon allies to their side. The giant wolf howled again and again with all its might. The sound echoed through the trees, vibrating across every corner of the floor.

…………However, that was it.

Not a single black shadow came rushing to the boss’s aid. Well, we’d already killed every single subordinate wolf on our way here.

“Heh. We’ve won.”

I made a meaningless declaration of victory, but within minutes, it became a reality. Finally, standing atop the exhausted, poisoned wolf, Yoru retracted her tail and shouted her usual cry.

“Victory—!”

“Koo!”

“Kee-hee-hee!”

“Good work, everyone. You did great.”

As I approached while taking out some hidden Blue Currants as a reward, the fairies swarmed me like pigeons in a park being fed breadcrumbs. Yoru and Kuu also changed the look in their eyes and scrambled up my body. Under an onslaught that easily exceeded the boss fight, the fruit vanished in an instant.

Unable to believe the food was gone, Yoru and Kuu peeked into my palms repeatedly and started licking them. It was a ticklish, cute gesture, but no matter how much they begged, there was none left. I set the two on the ground and walked over to Ethan, who was looking at the wolf’s carcass.

“Good job, Ethan-san. Yeah, we should get a fine pelt from this one.”

“Yes. Even though it is winter above, these wolves haven’t thinned out at all, and the out-of-season Blue Currants are in full bloom. This is truly a strange place…”

Ethan paused and looked up at me before continuing.

“It is a truly fascinating place. I feel as if… I’d like to stay here forever.”

“Well, if you like, why don’t we explore together from now on?”

“…Is that alright?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

The Treant youth met my eyes and gave a quiet nod. I firmly shook the slender hand he offered. Judging by the strength with which he squeezed back, it seemed he had completely regained his lost confidence.

From the boss wolf, we collected a large pelt, fangs, and a Red Magic Cluster. After collecting materials from the subordinates as well, we headed toward the descending stairs where the iron bars had lifted. I said goodbye to the majority of the fairies here, though I decided to keep one with us through to serve as a scout and a light source.

“Shall we proceed to the ninth floor?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Phew, my heart is pounding.”

“What kind of place is next? I’m excited!”

“Proceeding—!”

“Koo!”

We each enjoyed the labyrinth exploration in our own way. However, around that time, a certain commotion was brewing on the upper floors.</Fairy’s></Fairy’s>