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A vast stone chamber, comparable to a theater in size, lay before the open door, and a crouched Metal Golem sat at its center. With a fluidity that belied its size, the Golem rose to its feet, reacting to Joey’s approach. It’s worth noting that one can still escape from the boss room on this floor and the 30th even after entering. However, from the 40th floor onward, retreat is not an option until the fight concludes.

The golem’s head, resembling a puppet with ball-joint limbs of dark steel, tracked Joey. A fist-sized ruby, embedded into its otherwise plain head, reflected the bright light from above, casting an ethereal glow.

As Joey moved to the room’s center, he groaned while glancing at the ruby, which was positioned slightly above his eye level, and unsheathed his magical sword.

“So, this is the Metal Golem, huh. They mentioned a weak spot, but where could it be?”

“Can’t you see it for yourself?!”

The four observing from a distance nearly tripped in surprise as they all responded simultaneously.

“Huh?”

“It’s the head! The ruby! That’s its weak point!” Noting Joey’s continued confusion, Hiyuki directly pointed out the answer.

“…Doesn’t spending time with him wear you out, sis?” The situation was so pitiful that even Schmit felt compelled to express his sympathy to Hiyuki.

“Indeed. I’m beginning to feel the need to limit my interactions with him.” Hiyuki agreed, massaging her temple with her hand.

Meanwhile, Joey charged, brandishing his sword at the Golem’s feet with a battle cry.

Clang!

The clash resounded like a hammer striking an anvil, leaving only a minor mark on the golem.

Unaffected by the concept of pain, the golem counterattacked with a sweep of its right hand. Joey narrowly avoided the strikes that tore into the ground and cracked the wall. His sword slashes were futile against the golem, resulting in a stalemate that only agitated the three ex-members of the «Crimson Cloth Brigade».

Noting the battle’s lack of progression, Schmit pressed his sword point forcefully into Hiyuki’s chest, feeling a firm resistance.

“Quit wasting time! Finish it off already!”

Hiyuki sighed. While her dress was not quite as powerful as «Anne of Geierstein», it was still a Lv99 equipment. There was no chance for such a substandard sword to cause any harm.

But Joey, oblivious to this, got distracted and took a direct hit from the Golem, sending his small body ricocheting across the room.

“…!”

Hiyuki instantly tried to break away from her captors and rush towards Joey but sighed in relief when she saw him clumsily rising to his feet.

“Can’t that rookie just die quietly!”

In response to the trio’s bitter comments, Hiyuki fixed them with an icy stare.

“You’re the ones causing trouble. Can’t you keep quiet.”

Upon hearing her icy words, the trio stiffened as if impaled.

“Kokuyou, could you please dispose of these nuisances by feeding them to any carnivorous creature in the area?”

At Hiyuki’s command, her shadow squirmed and morphed into a towering dark knight.

The dark knight bowed, scooped up the trio with one hand, and casually dragged them out of the chamber.

Just as Hiyuki was about to assist Joey, she noticed the growing glow of his magical sword.

—Has he unlocked a skill? If that’s the case…!

“Joey! Brace yourself and strike with your sword as if you’re channeling all your strength into the blade!”

“Alright!”

As per her directive, Joey, without hesitation, swung his sword with all his might.

Immediately, the glow of the magic sword intensified, and a streak of light shot from the blade, striking the Metal Golem’s head, hitting the ruby weak point and brilliantly shattering it.

The impact forced Joey to reel backward, and as he managed to raise his head, he saw the Metal Golem crumble into pieces like a shattered doll. A triumphant fanfare rang out, and a typical treasure chest appeared where the Golem had once stood.

“Whoever thought of this really killed the mood.”

While complaining, Hiyuki moved towards Joey, who was lying on the floor, and healed him.

“T, Thank you. —Wait, where did those three go?”
“Oh, they got scared and ran away when they saw your victory. —Basically to hell.”
“Hmm? Where did they run to?”
“Never mind that. You’ve finally earned a treasure chest after all your efforts. Why not open it?”

Joey got up, checking himself for injuries, then approached the treasure chest.

“What’s inside, I wonder?”
“Who knows? It’s all luck of the draw.”

With a growing sense of anticipation, Joey opened the chest to find a metal upper body armor piece.

“Oh, armor! Just what I needed!”

To Hiyuki, it was just a plain iron armor piece, not a jackpot by any means, but if Joey was happy with it, that’s what mattered. He was even tearfully overjoyed.

As Hiyuki watched Joey quickly discard his leather armor and don the metal one, her shadow began to squirm.

“Thank you for your efforts… Flesh-eating spiders’ nest, huh? …So, that must be the main team, I suppose.”

To an onlooker, Hiyuki appeared to be muttering to herself. Joey looked at Hiyuki, puzzled.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. I sense your team approaching the entrance. What do you want to do? The boss here will respawn in 15 minutes. If you plan to join them and fight it again, you might want to register yourself at the teleportation circle in the back first.”

“I see. I’ll do that and then go back. What about you?”

A bit late to question her presence, Joey asked Hiyuki while examining the fit and feel of his new armor.

“I have something to do on the lower floor, so I’ll head down there. This is where we part ways.”

Hiyuki shrugged lightly.

“Alright, stay safe.”
“You too.”

Exchanging casual farewells, they both moved toward the passage ahead.

At the end of the passage, Joey placed his hand on the central crystal of the teleportation circle in a small room, verifying his mana registration. Hiyuki then turned towards the stairs leading to the next floor.

“I’m going back before the boss respawns.”
“Be careful.”

Thinking that Joey should be fine now that he knows how to wield the magic sword, Hiyuki waved goodbye as Joey sprinted off.

“See you later!”

Joey returned the wave and retraced his steps with a bounce in his step.

“Joey is proving himself more and more. Now, how much have the others developed, I wonder?”

Intrigued by the progress of the others, Hiyuki also made her way down the dungeon with a spring in her step.

Coincidentally, Joey, who had exhausted his MP in his earlier attack, left himself defenseless when he attempted to reuse the same skill and failed. This left him vulnerable to the Metal Golem’s attack, teaching him a valuable lesson.