Chapter 45 - The Guardian of the Last Floor (First)

Orange, red, and crimson color flooded their entire view. Hell Scape. It was truly a fitting name for what they were witnessing. Liselotte and Aletia were struck dumb as they witnessed the scorching, blazing flame incinerated everything outside of the barrier. And thanks to Rio's barrier, they didn't feel the hellish temperature of the outside of the barrier.

"Even though I've heard it, but witnessing it with my own eyes feels really different."

"...Agreed."

Liselotte and Aletia commented in awe, but Rio ignored their comment. He kept feeding his inexhaustible mana to keep the hot flame outside of his barrier. He continued for a while. Finally, he lowered his hand slowly. The blazing flame outside of the barrier soon died out due to the lack of fuel that kept it ablaze.

Finally, the three could see the state of the entire floor. The thick jungles had disappeared. Everything was incinerated into gas. Even the floor had become a molten magma. Only the small space protected by Rio's barrier was safe.

"Why you did that?" Aletia finally questioned Rio's motive.

Rio delayed his response for a second, but his mind worked fast in that mere second. His actual reason was that he remembered what happened to Hajime and Aletia in the canon timeline. In this floor, there was a humanoid plant monster that could control other monsters by sticking a part of its body on the other monster's head. Indeed, it was the sunflower-like plant that grew out of the Tyrannosaurus Rex's head.

In the canon timeline, Aletia, or Yue in that case, was controlled by this Alaurne-like monster and was forced to attack Hajime. Of course, Hajime who was still in his lowest shot Aletia without the second thought, turning such a beautiful girl bald. Although there wasn't any further complication, it still left the scar. He didn't fear of being controlled because of his Anti-Possession skill. However, the girls were different. They didn't have the same protection as him. Rio didn't want his girls to be controlled by a mere cannon fodder monster.

Although he could deal with that problem quickly and easily, it would still leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. And so, Rio was basically nipping the bud of the trouble before it came to them.

Of course, Rio wouldn't tell them the real reason behind his sudden outrageous action. He didn't know why he kept the secret about this world being a mere fictional story in his original world close to his heart. He would ponder about it later, but for the time being, he must say something to appease his girls' curiosity.

"Well, I have been feeling very restless since I entered this floor. My restlessness became stronger when I saw those lizards with flowers on top of their heads. I then remembered that there is a type of monster, a plant monster, a kind of Alraune, that can control others by planting a part of its body on other's head. From here, you can guess the rest, right?"

Liselotte and Aletia became thoughtful for a brief moment. They soon realized what Rio meant. They stared at him warmly and lovingly before holding his hands, one for each girl, tightly.

"Thank you for worrying about us, Rio."

"...Agreed."

Liselotte and Aletia spoke with a heartfelt tone and warm gaze. When Rio saw their gazes and sensed their sincerity, Rio felt an unknown feeling in his c.h.e.s.t. It was a new and unfamiliar feeling, but it wasn't a bad thing. In fact, he felt warmth he couldn't describe in words for fearing it would cheapen this precious feeling.

"Of course I am always worried about you two. After all, you two are my girls. My precious girls." Rio commented bashfully as he averted his eyes from them. It was the first time in his life he felt the weird bashful feeling when facing the opposite s.e.x of his.

Since the whole floor had been turned into a hellish landscape by Rio, he decided to bring them to the stair to the next floor direction, suing spatial teleportation magic. He flooded the entire floor with his mana, not as much as before, only enough for him to sense the whole floor like utilizing the divine sense in some Chinese Immortal Hero Novels he'd read in his previous life. After discovering the stairs, he teleported them all into the next floor.

And so, their venture continued on.

★★★| BREAK_LINE|★★★

The next floor would mark the hundredth from the one Rio and Liselotte had started in and the fiftieth floor after Aletia's sealing chamber.

Before they delved into it, they decided to make sure everyone was ready. Liselotte and Aletia were confused when Rio suddenly stated they would have a good night rest before entering the next floor. When they inquired about his reason, he explained that the next floor was the last floor of the depth of Great Orcus Labyrinth. He also told them about his 'assumption' on the last guardian monster which was probably more stronger than any monsters they had faced on the upper floors.

They agreed with his judgment and stayed the night on the ninety-ninth floor in a hidden cave Rio created as usual. That night, Liselotte also helped Rio to have a good night sleep. Since Aletia joined them, they hadn't done the real things and could only relieve each other with the other's hand. In the meantime, Rio hadn't received his first blowjob from Liselotte yet. But, he understood why they couldn't do it openly in Aletia's presence.

Speaking of Aletia, she'd been showing them that relaxed expression quite often recently. She'd clearly gotten used to being around them and being a part of them. Especially when they were resting in their temporary bases, she always stuck to Rio like glue. When they were sleeping she clung to his arm as they slept, and when they were sitting she always sat on his l.a.p and rubbed her soft rear on his groin. And when she was s.u.c.k.i.n.g his blood she'd just hug him from the front. Even when she finished she'd cling to him for a long time after. She particularly enjoyed burying her face in his c.h.e.s.t and rubbing against him.

But see, the problem was, Rio was still a guy. Fortunately, Aletia's childish appearance made her look more cute than s.e.xy, but the fact remained that she was actually quite old. He normally couldn't tell due to the way she acted, but the few times her age shone through she looked so alluring that he had a hard time holding himself back. He was able to control himself only because he had Liselotte with him and he always reminded that he wouldn't touch Loli despite being legal. He had his own bottom line that he wanted to preserve at all cost. Sinking his claws into Loli despite being a legal one was one of his many self-imposed rules.

All that aside, back to their current situation. Liselotte and Aletia had become stronger than ever. Liselotte acquired many skills and status value from ingesting new monster meats. However, as she grew stronger, the effect of consuming monster's meat slowly diminished until it gave an insignificant boost for her status. For Aletia, she had polished and refined her fighting style that had become rusted from her long sealing. It could be said that they were very formidable.

However, the truly scary thing about this labyrinth was that even with their strength, it might still throw something at them that could kill them without breaking a sweat. Which was why Rio prepared them as he could before descending. Of course, if it was Rio, he could decimate this whole Labyrinth and its monstrous denizen in contemptuous ease. However, he wanted his girls to be formidable too.

With their preparations finally complete, they descended the stairs to the floor below.