The magic item, which was named Mark of Daedalus by Natsumi, could sense the hidden entrance's location. The closer they got to the entrance, the more heated it became. Asahi waved the round ornament around until it guided him to a protruding segment of a wall.

"Behind it?"??

Before Ren could nod his head, Asahi shattered the part of the cave with a kick and resumed his relaxed stance. The roaring shockwave passed through the layer of quartz crystals blocking their path. The glittering crystals turned into sparkling powder.

"What the hell dude?" Ren asked, giving Asahi a blank stare. His assessment of Asahi being a level 4 turned into ashes like the quartz crystals before his eyes.

'I underestimated them. I still don't believe they can destroy the adamantite gate mixed with some orichalcum,' Ren thought.

The magic item in their hand couldn't open the adamantite gate. Dix had kept a guardsman to open the gate for them with a password, which he wasn't going to reveal. The descendant of Daedalus wasn't dumb enough to give the entrance key to an adventurer.

Oblivious to Ren's schemes, Asahi peered ahead, his golden eyes glowing in the dim.

Nao cleared the dust with her wind spell.

A tunnel was revealed before them, wide enough for medium-size monsters to pass without hiccups. Not too far, Asahi could see a towering metallic gate standing in his path with a demon statue looking down from its sides.

"How do we open it?"

Ren suppressed the smirk on his face and shrugged. "I don't have the key."

If they waited some months, the gate would be entirely made from orichalcum. A metal blended with several metals using the finest techniques of human and demi-human smiths. It was the core item for creating indestructible Durandal-class items such as Ais's sword forged by Goibniu Familia.

historical

"Well, we can smash our way through."

"Smash it? Are you stupid?" Ren snarled. "Look at that. It's adamantite. The second strongest metal with a coating of Orichalcum."

Rini clawed at the air with a feral growl. If he wasn't a prisoner, Rini would've ripped his head off without a doubt.

Asahi snorted. "We will see."

The utter confidence gave a bad premonition to Ren. Natsumi slapped the back of his head.

"You just had to provoke my master," Natsumi said and grinned. "You should've told me if you craved those thick penises. I'll treat you a lot after this trip~."

Ren shivered and bowed as low as a human could. "I'm sorry. Anything but that, woman. Don't forget about our deal."

"That deal can go fuck itself." Natsumi snickered and pointed at Asahi. "Watch my master. This adamantite and orichalcum can do jack before his absolute power."

Asahi sighed at Natsumi's unwavering trust in him. Was the slave spell too effective on her? Shaking his head, he narrowed his eyes on the door. The path beyond this could be filled with traps. His instinct told him so. This very gate was also a massive trap waiting for them with wide jaws.

"Wait a moment."

Asahi pulled out his mana and cast Storm Fort in succession. The wind barriers surrounded every girl in the room. Natsumi touched the almost solid wind around her and looked at Asahi with glistening eyes.

"Master.."

"Woah. It's a strong barrier." Alise broke her romantic mood as she tried punching the barrier to no result. "I like it."

Asahi confirmed everyone's safety once again, making the girls warm with his overprotective nature. Even Alise decided not to break the bubble of hectic emotions in her chest.

'Klyscha dear, how much punishment can this gate take?'

(Let's bet.. if you break it in one punch without any magic, I win. If you don't, then you win.)

'Isn't that a loss for me?'

He already knew a punch laced with almost 200 stats was more than enough.

(Sometimes a loss can bring more results than victory.)

'Fine, you win. You get my heart as the reward.'

(Happy to take it.)

While he was fooling around with the goddess, Kaguya almost forgot to breathe. The only man to ever destroy an adamantite door was Zald, the deceased level 7 executive of Zeus Familia. The only person to toy around with Ottar when he was level 6.

'A level 2 rivaling a level 7 adventurer.'

Kaguya found the words absurd and unbelievable. Yet, it was proven true when Asahi blasted the adamantite door open with a punch.

The gate flew several meters.

As the clouds of dust settled, Asahi saw the floor blanketed with scarlet stones.

Blood drained from Ryuu's face. "Inferno Stones."

The explosives made from this very stone haunted Ryuu's nightmares. The face of her deceased friend flashed before her eyes. The friend who exploded into meat pieces after an explosion.

"G-Get back!"

She tried to warn Asahi. However, it was too late. Sparks crackled around the stones before a burning red enveloped the blanket of stones.

A massive rumble shook the dungeon.

***

Another cliff!