My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

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The food Commander Saran had prepared would last about thirty days. I usually roast demonic beasts’ meat and eat that in case my supplies get lost for some reason, but when I crave carbs like bread I take some out and eat it. Still, in a way demonic meat is far tastier than beef, pork, or chicken. I still can't bring myself to eat humanoid demonic beasts like goblins, but if my food ever ran out and there were no more beast-type monsters left, I’d probably eat them too. Humans are like that.

"Well then, let's move."

I finished my break, stood, and moved forward.

It had already been ten days since I dove into the labyrinth after being falsely accused of killing Commander Saran. Of course, inside the labyrinth there’s no sun, so you can’t tell when a day begins or ends, but by my internal clock it’s been ten days. I’d progressed thirty floors in that time. I was now on the 60th floor.

There’s a boss fight every ten floors, and I'd already cleared five boss fights — each one a real pain. The huge door towering before me was the boss room for the 60th floor. The bosses up to now had been: goblin general, orc, red wolf, goblin king, and fenrir.

I’d fought the goblin general and the orc before, so I knew their weaknesses and they were easier to beat. They’re the kinds of monsters that are typically taken down by a party, so they gave me some trouble, but in the end I won.

The red wolf was a wolf with red fur, and of course it used fire magic when I observed it. I managed to avoid it thanks to presence detection; without that skill I would’ve been turned into a char. It was tough, so I didn’t want to use a sneak approach, but I disappeared with presence concealment and slit its throat from behind. As an Assassin, attacking from behind is the correct tactic, but I’m the sort of man who likes to fight honorably. Still, I couldn’t risk my life, so I kept a safe margin.

The goblin king was an extremely fat goblin, but surprisingly quick for his size. Being a king, he had other goblins under him, so dealing with him alone was rough. I quickly took down the king, then used shadow magic to consume the remaining goblins.

Fenrir felt like a sudden step up in difficulty. Up to the goblin king, the monsters, though challenging, were ones I could handle solo. But fenrir was brutal. It was five against one — fenrir plus four red wolves — and on top of that fenrir coordinated traps and strategies that required thinking ahead.

Monsters I could once beat with even a little slack by the 49th floor now demanded constant nerves. I nearly died more than once.

I had no choice but to slit fenrir’s throat from behind with presence concealment, but I needed to come up with countermeasures fast. If my magic and skills were sealed and I had to rely only on my swordsmanship to defeat an opponent, I needed to make sure I wouldn't die.

Until the 59th floor I’d advanced without using shadow magic or skills. I could spot the ever-stronger traps on each floor just by looking at them even without skills. I kept presence detection active because I wanted to level that skill, but I no longer met other adventurers.

I wondered what kind of monster the 60th floor boss would be. I felt a little excited.

I pressed my hand to the door and it opened as if it had no weight. When I entered, it closed behind me.

Boof.

A lamp on the wall lit up and bathed the room in red light. Boss rooms are generally the same: an arena about two hundred meters in diameter. There are only two doors; the one you enter closes, and the other below only opens if you defeat the boss. In other words, only one of us can die here — me or the boss.

The boss was seated in the center of the room.

"A chimera…?"

A lion's head, a sheep's body, and a venomous snake for a tail. Its length was roughly five meters. This seemed to be a one-on-one fight; no other monsters were around. I drew the Night Blade God, took a ready stance, and it struck.

'Guaooooooo!!!!!!!!!'