Published: September 9, 2025
Correction of typos on 11/3.
Partial revision on 1/2.
This is Satou. It seems that in this world there is no level cap, but because the experience points required to reach the next level rise sharply, many people mistakenly believe there is a growth limit.
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We headed not to our usual 74th district, but to three areas: the 69th district where the cockatrices are, the adjacent 109th district known as the Insect Paradise, and the 104th district, which is a nest for aquatic monsters.
The first stop was the 69th district. By the way, I wonder what happened to the “Fangs of the Inferno” group that said they would defeat the cockatrices?
Carrying Mia, we moved from the 74th district almost without any combat. When I tried to put down Mia, whom I was carrying princess-style, she was reluctant to let go—maybe she was scared of moving.
“You’re fast, you know? Too fast. Speeding leads to accidents; it’s dangerous,” Mia said, raising her index finger, talking rapidly like she does when drunk. She must have been really scared. My sincere apology seemed to help, and she forgave me in her usual tone, saying “It’s okay.”
“Statues.”
“Ah, judging by their appearance, they must be explorers.”
Small chicken-sized creatures pecked at the statues. According to the AR display, they were petrification chicks (cockatrice pups). They must be the children of the cockatrices, around level 20 or so.
The cockatrices seem to petrify their prey before eating; the hall was littered with petrified trees and monsters. In this room were cockatrice children around level 10 to 20, adult cockatrices from level 25 to 35, and a massive cockatrice pair in the level 50 range guarding the area.
Before starting Mia’s level-up, I used stun-type magic to scatter the cockatrice children and collected the petrified statues.
“Mia, do you have any spells that can deal damage over a wide area?”
“Hm, Storm.”
I handed Mia the World Tree Staff and had her cast the spell. This staff is the best among my equipment for expanding the area of effect. Mia’s spirit magic filled the clearing, dealing damage to the cockatrices. Just a single spell consumed about 30% of Mia’s magic power.
More than half of the cockatrice children died from Mia’s magic, and almost all the rest were barely alive. I used my Flexible Sword to decapitate the cockatrices and stored them in the storage. Cockatrices are soft, so even the fragile Flexible Sword could slice them easily. While storing the cockatrices, I saw flea-like creatures flying away.
With heavy footsteps, the huge great petrifying rooster (cockatrice king) and majestic petrifying cockatrice queen approached.
“Satou.”
“Yeah, I’ll finish them off right away.”
I decapitated the angry cockatrice couple with the Flexible Sword. After storing the couple in the storage, fleas the size of kittens that were hiding in their feathers scattered around, so I wiped them out with a firestorm. Flames reached near the ceiling, then an explosion occurred.
What was that?
Instinctively, I shielded Mia with my cloak and retreated to the entrance.
“Ow, it’s hot.”
“Sorry. I tried to reduce the power, but it seems flammable gas had accumulated near the ceiling.”
Another kind of trap, perhaps?
In a corner, there was a tar-like swamp with bubbling on its surface, so gas probably bubbled up from there and accumulated near the ceiling.
There was also a giant cockatrice egg in the room, but it had cracked in the explosion.
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A treasure chest appeared where we defeated the giant cockatrice.
I had heard that treasure chests sometimes appear when monsters are defeated in the labyrinth, but this was my first time seeing one in person. In the Demon's Labyrinth, the only ones I saw were mimics.
Since the treasure chest was rigged with a petrification gas trap, I evacuated Mia before disarming it. After disarming, I realized I could have used the Magic Hand to open it from afar, but that was too late.
Inside the chest were coins, jewels, and some magical items. Only one weapon was among them—a silver dagger that also functioned as a magical focus. Its metal alone was worth about eight to nine gold coins. The magical items included an insect-repelling bell and three fire starters. They were well-used, so they must have belonged to explorers who died in the labyrinth.