In a rather comfortable room at a luxurious hotel, the Primordial was dressed in white.
He sat on the bed, gazing at a tablet that displayed a control panel featuring images of some of the golems found in the dungeon.
[Floor 70]
[Difficulty: C++]
[Imperial General (Golem): Floor 70 Boss (Rank C+++)]
The plus symbol (+) indicated the golem's power as well as the amount of mana it could hold.
One could say the Imperial General was effectively "Pseudo-Rank B-."
[Number of Golems:...]
"Hahaha, I think my disciple is ready for this," a smile played across the Primordial's face, which was partially concealed by a golden mask.
"Do you intend to kill the women accompanying him?" asked a beautiful female voice that seemed to emerge from nowhere.
"Obviously not; this will be a great experience for those women, too. Hahaha. Besides, do you think he'd let anything happen to them?"
[Floor 71...]
After configuring the dungeon's 70th floor, the Primordial changed the image on the tablet, bringing up the configuration panel for the subsequent floors.
...
"Margie!" Liam charged with a determined look toward the dozen Crab Princes.
The beautiful witch conjured a stunning black staff topped with a purple gem; she had understood exactly what Liam wanted.
Margaret erected several magical barriers to prevent the dozen Crab Princes—and the golems they commanded—from getting close to Sirem and Vivian.
The three women had to deal with the rest of the numerous golems.
Liam attacked swiftly, knowing that the Crab Princes he had previously defeated could regenerate after a short time as long as the three blue-black crab golems kept generating those bubbles.
The sound of Liam's battle against the crab princes echoed through the fog-shrouded surroundings.
The arachnid golems fired their white projectiles, while the Rank C+ crab golems unleashed blasts of pressurized water.
Sirem was locked in an arduous battle against hundreds of the thousands of golems present.
She kept her distance; her body ached, but one potion helped her regain her physical stamina, while the other restored some of her depleted mana.
She used that mana to maintain her martial aura, allowing her to fight on without pause.
However, the sheer number of enemies meant she was occasionally struck by humanoid golems or hit by blasts of pressurized water.
She did her best to avoid fatal blows while continuing the fight; still, this was the first time she had ever faced such an exhausting and perilous situation.
"Will we make it out of here alive?" Sirem wondered, never letting her guard down. She did not know the extent of Liam's strength; all she knew at that moment was that he was battling countless golems that were even more dangerous.
And most grueling of all was the mist—a fog that fed on mana and steadily increased the force of gravity, affecting only the intruders.
The long minutes dragged on.
An hour passed.
Margaret was impaling the arachnid golems with magical purple spears.
She also drove her spears into hundreds of crab golems and humanoid golems, yet throughout it all, she kept her eyes on the "wooded area" at the edge of the dungeon floor.
At times, she watched Liam fighting those golems.
With his power voluntarily suppressed to Rank C+, Liam could anticipate the crab princes' movements; however, since there were more than a dozen of them—thanks to those that had regenerated—they could coordinate almost perfectly to defend one another whenever he launched a counterattack.
Liam was at a stalemate in the battle, but while searching for a weak point in the crab princes' defense, he managed to destroy the lower-ranked golems using spell-infused strikes.
The spells Liam used left a mana trail that slowed the golems' regeneration.
Liam did not look in the direction where the three beautiful women were; he had decided to trust them.
He wanted to overcome this challenge to further hone his skills.
Liam tried several more times to destroy the crab princes, but he soon realized that unless he created an opening, the golems would simply continue their coordinated defense, as the environment played to their advantage.
In part, Sirem and Vivian were safe from mortal danger thanks to Margaret keeping watch.
The beautiful witch was keenly aware of her surroundings, but suddenly, her attention shifted to Liam.
Boom!
The dungeon floor shook; Liam had been hurled against the trees of the "wooded zone" by the powerful punches of two Crab Princes.
The beautiful witch had witnessed it all through her magic-enhanced vision.
Four C+-rank arachnid golems leapt from the trees, striking at Liam with their razor-sharp legs.
Lacerations appeared all over Liam's body; he could barely dodge the attacks, and blood was even streaming from his mouth.
Five Crab Princes came rushing through the trees, ready to finish Liam off.
"They're just golems, after all." Liam cloaked his hands in mana and cutting spells, while other enchantments empowered his body.
Dozens upon dozens of slashes cut through the mist, slicing both the arachnid golems and the Crab Princes to pieces.
But Liam did not run toward the other crab princes; instead, he seized the opening and fought his way to a position near one of the three bluish-black Crab Golems, slicing it in two with an upward magical slash.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!...
Blows and pressurized water bullets rained down on Liam's body, but he didn't stop. He merely avoided what could have been fatal, and with two horizontal magical slashes, he passed between the two remaining bluish-black Golem Crabs, cutting them in two.
The mist shifted at that moment; the three final bosses had been defeated.
Liam, having voluntarily suppressed his Rank, felt his body ache; he was exhausted.
He could recover by releasing the suppression, but that wasn't his goal.
"Come, I'm waiting for you," Liam said, his body covered in wounds, as he watched the many golems approaching, intent on killing him.
...
Seeing that Liam seemed to have the situation under control, Margaret turned her attention to Sirem and Vivian.
The two women appeared to be nearing their limits, yet many golems were still waiting to kill them.
"Vivian, cover me!" Sirem moved closer to Vivian.
Vivian nodded, sweat trickling down her beautiful face—now pale from the immense exertion.
Sirem fought on, supported by the golems Vivian was manipulating.
In this way, Sirem kept the golems from getting too close to Vivian, while Vivian ensured Sirem didn't leave too many openings in her defense.
Margaret nodded as she watched them; given the situation they were in, it was a sound strategic decision.