The wooden floor was still making creaking noises that scared me when I walked on it, as if it might break at any moment.

The corridor is a single path with no visible end, and there are no doors in the vicinity, so we have to go straight ahead… What on earth is the purpose of this hidden passage?

Ugh, I feel like my throat is starting to get irritated. I’m trying to cover my nose with my clothes, but it doesn’t make any sense at all because the smell of mold is generally upsetting to my nose.

「 Hey, are there any people in this country who are sorcerers? 」

I asked Virgilio-san who was behind me as I walked, and I could feel him nodding.

「 Yes, but it’s probably not a human. Most likely there’s an undead lurking around that is the boss of the other undead. 」

「 You could tell? 」

「 It’s not that they are not capable of thinking, I should say. If you enter a magical domain, you should be able to communicate with the sorcerer, but there were few Undead that were clearly targeting us, and there was no one giving instructions to the Undead. So it is reasonable to assume that there is a higher-ranking monster that is capable of casting boundaries. 」

「 I see 」

「 It’s not impossible to consider the possibility that only a barrier mechanism exists, but in that case, some kind of guardian would be present, so a battle would be inevitable. 」

When I heard the word “Guardian,” I couldn’t help but think of a golem, but I don’t think we have one of those here, do we?

「 More importantly, you didn’t meet anyone alive before you got here? I’m sure there was a pair of adventurers who got here before us. 」

「 I didn’t meet anyone, I only came rushing in after all 」

「 No, you’re right 」

Virgilio-san replied, however, and continued.

「 It seems that the ones who entered before were D-rank adventurers. I entered later but never met them, so it’s unlikely that they’re still alive. Either way, it’s not a good idea to search around in this large area, we should prioritize destroying the field area. 」

「 Got it 」

The air seemed to get heavier and heavier as we went straight ahead. The candles were still evenly spaced, but it was dimmer than before, and the strange warmth created by the candles stuck to my skin, making me feel uncomfortable.

「 It’s about time to take precautions. 」

「 Nn 」

A little further on, I felt a tingling of killing intent and a sense of being watched, so I lowered my center of gravity to be able to react immediately.

Immediately afterwards, a blue human-like being suddenly appeared in front of me, floating. I was surprised, but it didn’t come at me or run away, it just stayed there.

Looking closely, I could see not only the human soul in front of me, but also other human souls popping up from further away.

「 Get back! Get out of there! 」

Virgilio-san shouted from behind me, and as I quickly back stepped and did a backflip to distance myself from him, the human spirit that had just appeared in front of me exploded with a roar.

「 Waaah! 」

The explosion was horrific, but the floor and walls were intact, no signs of being caught in the blast.

There were vibrations that made the ground shake, but the walls and floor remained intact as if nothing had happened, without the slightest damage.

「 A Ruin Specter! 」

Reacting to the shadow he saw after the blast, Virgilio-san shouted the name of the enemy.

While the Ghosts were in white hooded robes, the Ruin Specter was a monster in jet-black hooded robes, floating in the air just like the Ghosts, and all visible parts such as the face and hands were that of a skeleton.

「 Toto, be careful, it’s an A-rank monster, and it uses magic! The blue flames will explode if you get too close! 」

「 Nn, Okay! 」

I dug into my tool bag and pulled out marble-sized steel balls, just in case.

『 Mu, oi 』

I put the steel ball in my left palm, aimed, flicked it with my right hand and it flew out. I hadn’t had a chance to use it, but I had practiced, and it probably took less than a second from the time I put it in my palm to the time I shot it.

But the ball I shot out slipped through the Ruin Specter and flew far away, as if it had been shot at an illusion.

『 The Specter is an Advanced Class monster, and unlike the Ghost, it is completely immune to physical attacks. In your case, you can’t do any damage unless you use your usual close-range attack that contains enough magic power to repel magic, not a long-range attack. 』

As I was wondering what I should do to avoid that human spirit, Virgilio-san walked up to me and lined up beside me.

「 I’ll finish them off with a magic sword. Cover me. 」

「 Yeah, but I can’t hit anything. 」

「 Shoot the blue flames. They’re inherently reactive only to living things, but if you stimulate them directly, they’ll explode on the spot. 」

「 Got it 」

I immediately took out steel balls and shot the spirits in our path. Some of the spirits that were still more than fifteen meters away exploded and disappeared as the steel balls passed through them.

「 Nice shooting. Next time we fight, I’ll have to be careful of long range attacks. 」

As he said this, Virgilio-san pulled out his magic sword from its scabbard on his back and held it in front of him.

……When are we going to fight again? Are you going to come to the festival again next year?

「 Let’s go. If it moves suspiciously, shoot it with balls. If we can distract it even a little, that should be good enough. 」

「 Nn 」

Virgilio-san swings his magic sword once with one hand, aiming the tip of the blade at the ground, and starts running towards the Ruin Specter. He is fast for his giant stature and it looked like he would reach the enemy’s front in no time.

Perhaps reacting to this, the Ruin Specter began to open and close the jaws of its skull, making a rattling sound, so I quickly unleashed a steel ball.

However, it did not react at all to the steel ball passing through, and its jaws were still moving as before.

「 Sorry, no reaction! 」

「 Don’t worry about it!　《 Magic Sword 》 activate! 」

As he shouted, his sword glowed a pale green in response, and Virgilio-san lifted it to his shoulder, preparing to jump up and shouting as he stomped through the floor to slash the floating Ruin Specter.

「 Eat my magic sword, Oooooh!!? 」

The floor was literally trampled through. The impact may have been the starting point, but the hole in the floor kept expanding, making a terrible crunching sound, and Virgilio-san was swallowed by the floor.

「 Eh, eeeh…… 」

The Ruin Specter’s jaw stopped twitching, perhaps because of the unexpected disappearance of his target.

From the sound, it seems that Virgilio-san is surrounded by monsters in the place where he fell. I can only imagine the details of the situation from the sound, but he doesn’t seem to be in much trouble, so I’m sure the monsters are all the same level as those we encountered before.

Ruin Specter froze for a while looking at the hole in the floor, but eventually turned its head to face me with a grin, as if it had just noticed me.

「 Um, now how do I fight it 」

『 Hmmm, it’s the same as before, just run and hit it, and it’s over. Just watch out for the floor, so you don’t end up like him in the end. 』

「 Ah……un 」

As I kicked the floor and started running, I stopped dead in my tracks as blue human spirits softly floated around me again.

『 What are you doing? Oh, are you worried about the explosion? 』

「 If I get too close, it will explode 」

『 If you were to compare the amount of magic power alone, that little kid Vanil Mirth who we fought in the arena before was more powerful.』

「 Eh? Then, won’t they do no damage to me? 」

『 Most likely, it’ll just reduce your visibility for a bit. 』

「 Eh, what? 」

While I was standing still, The Ruin Specter’s chanting jaw finished and a chilling sensation appeared under my feet, but I ignored it and started running forward.

The sharp icicles are chasing after me. Even if they hit me, I don’t think I’ll get pierced, but equipment will be damaged, so I want to avoid them if I can.

Also, it seems that the explosion of the human shaped soul is not as precise as I thought it would be, because it exploded moments after I ran through it, so it didn’t seem to matter whether I could withstand the explosion or not.

Immediately after the icicle chase ended, I jumped to the wall with a ton and ton, avoided the hole Virgilio-san had made, and punched towards the Ruin Specter.

The Ruin Specter lets out a screeching scream while the sensation from the hit felt like punching a thin cloth.

『 Just in time, Toto. Hit it with the magic stone, and it’ll take all the magic it can get. 』

「 Okay! 」

I pulled out the magic stone that I had hidden under my clothes, quickly removed it from my neck and hit the Ruin Specter, which was about to disappear, and then it disappeared as if it had been sucked into the magic stone.