Ugh… Can’t this line go any faster? I think we’ve been waiting here for at least ten to fifteen minutes already…
It seems like this is normal for popular dungeons, which is why we have those groups taking this time to rest and do maintenance on their gear while they are waiting for their turn.
If a team decided to take a break here and then decide to challenge the boss after their break is over, it’s also apparently common courtesy to let them go ahead of you if they have arrived there before you.
The good thing was that we only had one more group ahead of us and it would be our turn next so it shouldn’t take much longer than a few more minutes at most.
Katsuki seemed to be standing out a lot due to the maid clothes she was wearing and I heard some hushed whispers from a few of the Dungeoneers around us. Most of them had just concluded that I was probably a noble from another city here to explore the Dungeon.
Of course there were some who were thinking I was just here to tag along for sight seeing while leaving everything to my companions, but I didn’t bother to correct them since the chances of me running into them again were almost non existent anyway.
It’s not like I don’t understand why they would think that way considering we were the only group that weren’t wearing some sort of armour but were in what appeared to be simple, casual clothes. It really looked like we had just mistakenly wandered in here or something.
Just as I was considering if I should take out one of the cookies that Katsuki had made for me, the magician of the party ahead of us turned to me.
“Forgive me, but could I ask you a few questions?”
I tilted my head at him, “I suppose?”
“Is this your first time in this dungeon?”
“Mmm… Yes it is. Is there a problem?”
“Umm… You might want to know that the minotaur up ahead has a nickname for it. Within some groups, it’s known as the Newbie Killer because it’s significantly stronger than the monsters in the maze above. You may be able to defeat the monsters above but that does not mean you are able to defeat this boss monster.”
I smiled at him, “Ehehe, you’re nice, but there’s no need to worry. We can handle a minotaur, no problem.”
“Umm… You do know that once you go inside a boss room, you can’t just escape without… Ah… I suppose you have an escape item, right?”
Eh? Escape item? Wait a minute, that’s the first time I heard of that! What is that?!
“What is an escape item?” I asked, intrigued by this new information.
He blinked at me and even his teammates were looking at me with wide eyes, as though they could not believe what I had just said.
“Are you not aware of what an Escape Crystal is?” He asked, his face turning into one of worry.
I shook my head.
He looked back at his team who was sharing the same look of concern with him, clearly wondering if they should stop us from going further.
I looked at Katsuki and my maid bowed her head, “Mistress, an Escape Crystal does exactly what its name might suggest. It allows you to escape from a Dungeon regardless of where you are even if you are in a boss fight. It’s a rather rare item that you might find being spawned on monsters and sometimes even as Dungeon clear rewards. We don’t have one of those because we have yet to enter one that requires us to have one.”
Oooh~ That’s news to me. I guess I haven’t been active enough in my Dungeon diving to know things like this. But Katsuki must have learned about it while accompanying me! How reliable!
The mage in front of me spoke again, “Umm… If you do not have an Escape Crystal on you… I sincerely urge you to turn back before it’s too late. The Minotaur boss really is a lot stronger than the monsters that you have faced in this dungeon so far…”
I smiled at him and let my wings sprout out from behind my back, revealing myself to be a Meslatar to him.
“I have fought and beaten Frost Wyverns on my own before. I believe a minotaur would not be a challenge though I thank you for your concern~”
“Oh.”
That was all he said before he turned back to his team while trying to hide his face from embarrassment.
His teammates chuckled and clapped his shoulder right as the door to the boss room opened and they strolled right in.
My reveal also made the others who heard it look at me with a different sort of gaze than before but again, I didn’t really care about them.
The three of us just continued to wait for our turn for the boss fight.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long before the door opened once again and it was our turn to step in, revealing the boss monster in front of us.
[Name: Dungeon Minotaur
Race: Monster
Stats:
80 Strength𝒐𝑣𝗅xt.𝑐𝑜𝐌
20 Dexterity
80 Endurance
40 Magic]
Oh, that’s quite a large jump in stats compared to the wolves that were on the floor above, no wonder it got that nickname.
The minotaur has, as you might have expected, a bull head, a Mahun torso and bull legs. In its hands was also a large double bladed axe that it was waving in our direction threateningly.
Truthfully speaking, any one of us could have taken out this minotaur without a problem. Heck, even my [Shadow Summon] could have handled this guy no problem, except there was just one problem right now.
“I will take down the boss, just watch me, Aster!”
“Please do not get in my way, Miss Lisa. You have been working hard the past few floors so this beast should be left for me.”
“No, no, you should just stay behind Aster as her maid! Let me do it!”
“In the Dungeon I act as Mistress’s vanguard, so it’s natural for me to be in front instead.”
“Please, I insist that you let me handle this.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that Miss Lisa.”
…
And here I thought they actually got along while I was gone, but it seems like they now have some kind of rivalry between them for some reason?
Speaking of which… We have a boss monster in front of us, you know? Don’t you think we should deal with that first since it’s not going to wait around and–
“ROOOAARR!!”
The minotaur started charging towards us as I had expected, its axe raised in the air.
Katsuki and Lisa moved from where they had been standing and leapt past the monster, their hands swinging out in an arc.
Lisa’s daggers sliced through the sides of the minotaurs neck while Katsuki’s throwing knives embedded itself in the minotaur’s chest as they moved past the monster.
Unfortunately, it seems like their attacks were too shallow to kill it instantly and it only served to make the Minotaur even more enraged.
It even completely ignored me so that it could turn around to attack the two of them again.
That made Lisa and Katsuki stop their bickering to attack the Minotaur together for the moment.
It raised its axe and swung it in a horizontal arc in an attempt to cleave the two of them in a single swipe.
Lisa chose to leap over it while Katsuki slid underneath the attack, both of them taking advantage in the short time where the monster was unable to defend itself to deliver another blow on the larger sized target.
Katsuki aimed for the tendons in its legs this time, slicing both of them in one go while Lisa stabbed her knife into the side of the minotaur’s neck before pulling the blade out.
The monster fell on its knees while its axe clattered away noisily to the side. It was definitely hurt but it was still alive.
It tried to turn its head, only to have a throwing knife pierce straight through its eye while Lisa leapt over it to slash at its neck again.
This time, the blade cut through the muscle and most likely sliced an artery as blood spurted freely from its neck.
The minotaur opened its mouth to roar out in pain, only for another knife to fly straight into its throat thanks to Katsuki.
It gagged and clawed at its neck before toppling over on its back, dead.
I was just standing there feeling a little bit awkward since I didn’t even get to do anything.
Katsuki straightened out her maid dress, “Hmph… As you can see, I dealt the last blow and it was clearly my kill.”
Lisa puffed up her chest, “Excuse me, can’t you see it was me that sliced open its neck, it was clearly my kill!”
“If it wasn’t for me distracting it, you would not have been able to even land a hit on it as cleanly as you have.”
“Oh please! Your throwing knives barely got its attention! I could have done the same even without your help! Don’t you think so, Aster?”
“No, no, it’s obvious that I did not need your help in defeating the boss, isn’t that right, Mistress?”
Ehh… Why are they being so competitive? Like seriously, both of you weren’t even this competitive before this yet now you’re trying to one up each other… Did something really happen?