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Despite its massive physique, the giant three-headed dog—Cerberus, if I remembered its name correctly—sprinted toward me with alarming agility.

Its razor-sharp jaws, which seemed capable of snapping my body like a twig in a single bite, loomed dangerously close.

A wave of primal fear coursed through me as the acrid stench of its saliva, dripping between its fangs, assaulted my senses. Realizing that a direct confrontation was futile, I swiftly rolled across the polished stone floor, narrowly evading its snapping jaws.

CRASH!!

The resounding collision echoed as the beast’s momentum carried its jaws into a nearby stone pillar, roughly three times the girth of my arms wrapped together. The surface of the pillar was gouged out with alarming ease, as though it were made of soft clay. Squinting, I noticed that the ashen-gray rock where its fangs had bitten had turned black and crumbled into rust-like fragments. A sharp, acrid smell wafted toward me from the debris.

—Damn it! Just as I suspected—poisonous.

Worse still, the poison was undoubtedly lethal. My instincts screamed at me to avoid even the slightest graze. A direct melee confrontation was clearly out of the question. I resolved to maneuver around its flank, beyond the reach of its fangs. But this was no ordinary beast—it had three heads, each perpetually alert, leaving no blind spot. To make matters worse, its reflexes were razor-sharp, always forcing the fight back into close quarters.

—What an infuriating monster.

Clenching my teeth, I locked eyes with the beast and leapt backward, attempting to create some distance. But as if sensing my desperation, Cerberus lunged toward me in the same instant.

“Crap!” I was now caught mid-air, with no escape from its incoming lunge!

In a split-second decision, I channeled mana into my spiral-shaped magic sword, «Caladbolg», and swung at Cerberus’ right head. The blade unfurled like a ribbon under my command, wrapping around the head and clamping its jaws shut.

At the same time, I extended my left hand toward its middle head, preparing to release a flame burst spell I had been channeling. At the last moment, I changed my target and directed the spell at the ground beneath me instead.

The recoil from the explosion propelled me upward, allowing me to twist my body mid-air and narrowly avoid the snapping jaws of its two remaining heads. Using Cerberus’ passing head as a makeshift springboard, I landed on its back, securing my position by gripping its mane tightly with my toes. With both hands gripping «Caladbolg», I poured more mana into the blade.

“ “Grrraaa—!!!” ”

The two remaining heads howled in fury, but it was too late. The spinning blade of «Caladbolg» tore through its right neck, severing it cleanly. For the finishing blow, I infused flame magic into a spell, reducing its brain to smoldering ash from the inside.

“ “Grraa—screeeeeeeee!!” ”

Sensing its impending death, the beast thrashed wildly, slamming its massive body against the floor. Unable to maintain my footing, I leapt off its back, but just as I landed, the left head swelled grotesquely before releasing a torrent of poisonous spit.

“Tsk—aaaargh!!”

I twisted my body desperately, narrowly avoiding a direct hit. However, scattered droplets of the venom splattered onto my skin, causing angry blisters to form almost instantly. Even the lightest contact made blood ooze from the wounds.

“You wretched beast!”

I shouted in fury, pouring mana into my blade. The spinning sword deflected the remaining spray of venom, dispersing it harmlessly into the air.

“Take this, you b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲—!!”

The spinning blade extended with a razor-sharp trajectory, slicing through the air before plunging into Cerberus’ mouth. It tore through flesh and bone, piercing directly into its brain.

“Screeeee!!”

The central head let out an ear-splitting screech. I prepared to fire off another spell, but before I could act, its body was enveloped in a bright glow and disappeared.

“……What?”

Standing there in confusion, I turned toward the lady who had been observing my battle from the sidelines. She let out a cryptic sigh before addressing me in a calm, resonant voice.

“It’s your victory. The beast was forcefully teleported back to the castle after taking over 90% damage—that’s the condition I set. It should be healing now. But I must say, I’m impressed. You managed to take down the 30th-floor boss nearly unscathed. Just how far out of the norm have you become?”

Huh? Nearly unscathed? I was bleeding all over, for crying out loud.

“In my book, being alive with all your limbs intact qualifies as unhurt.”

A follow-up remark came, this time laced with astonishment. Mentor Nyanco, observing from a distance alongside my comrades—primarily the elite unit led by Ninomae—nodded fervently in agreement with the lady’s words.

“Well… I’m not so sure about that,” I muttered.

Nevertheless, it was declared my victory. I reverted «Caladbolg» to its original form and sheathed it with a triumphant sigh. Letting out a celebratory cheer, I made my way toward my waiting comrades.

◆◇◆◇

It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? But here I am once more—I, Ichijiku.

Ever since I evolved from a goblin into the Oni race the other day, hunting has become an absolute pleasure. The lizardmen I once struggled against now fall effortlessly to my blade, as if I were using a mere flick of a skill.

Our newfound strength brought many comrades to our side. In what felt like the blink of an eye, our numbers swelled to a massive 2,000. We claimed the 3rd floor of the labyrinth as our personal hunting grounds, and my comrades went so far as to establish the “Great Ichijiku Empire,” declaring me their Sovereign.

—For some incomprehensible reason, Mentor Nyanco got strangely giddy when he heard about our newly founded nation and its name. When he finally snapped out of his stupor, he muttered something like, “I don’t know them. I have nothing to do with them. I’m an innocent refugee,” before retreating into a large cave just outside our group’s gathering point.

I figured his final moment was near—I mean, cats tend to vanish when death is approaching, right?

Anyway, it wasn’t long before a massive crowd of humans—so-called adventurers—descended upon us, aiming to exterminate our group. However, the 3rd floor was practically our home turf, and they had no chance against us.

With my newfound strength as Ichijiku the Ogre, alongside the evolved goblins like Ushi-Oni and Uma-Oni, we stood invincible. Adding to our might were monsters from various other species who had chosen to obey us. Against our overwhelming force, the humans were mercilessly slaughtered.

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