The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

Bryan woke up in the second week. The doctors checked his body first before he was discharged on the second day. As soon as he woke up, his body's recovery speeded up.

"I'm relieved that you have recovered, Bryan. Huu~ you're giving this princess too much trouble..." Alea sighed as she dropped her shoulders.

"I'm sorry about it..." Bryan smiled wryly while scratching his cheeks. He thought that he could do it alone, but he only became a burden to other people.

"Ufufu, it's fine. It's true that the forces of evil gave me some trouble, but they were nothing compared to this princess, as I, Princess of the Bloodmoon, will always win." Alea stood up and said with a weird pose.

"Princess, be careful when you are speaking that way. What if other people heard you?" Lumilia said to Alea.

"Hmph, do you think that I, Princess of the Bloodmoon, wouldn't know if some stranger is eavesdropping on me? You are underestimating me, minions of the Dark Lord!"

"It's fine, Mila. We're in a private room rented by Princess Alea. Other people wouldn't dare approach this room." Lynn said to her friend.

"Just ignore the princess... Isn't this a celebration for Brother Bryan's recovery? So don't focus on that double-faced princess, right, Brother Bryan?" Eunice said with a smile as she turned to Bryan.

"Err..." Bryan just scratched his cheeks with an awkward face.

Lumilia smiled while looking at the scene, where everyone was chatting happily. She thought that it was time that she contacted Brando and Yujin, who were studying at the Military Academy of the Hebrei Kingdom.

She wondered how strong those had gotten. It seems that they've already reached A-rank like Bryan. It means that their legion was growing, as they had Yanagi Shina, who had the power level of an SS-rank expert. Also, Jeanne was an A-rank, and some of her subordinates were C-rank and close to achieving B-rank.

The Dark Oculus Legion had three main groups. One was the founding member, which consisted of Souta, Alice, Bryan, Brando, Yujin, Lumilia, and Lynn. The second group was led by Yanagi Shina, and judging from their capabilities, this group was stronger than the founding members. It's all thanks to Yanagi, who reached SS-rank and is currently the strongest member of the Dark Oculus Legion.

Lastly, the people from the Lanny Corp. Souta had a contract with Jimmy, so the Lanny Corp sent some of their people into the legion, and they became the third strongest group in the legion.

The other members were just normal adventurers who always finished their tasks. They sometimes formed a party of ten people to take on some high-level quests.

"Hmm...? Do you have something on your mind, Lumilia?" Princess Alea asked when she saw Lumilia in deep thought.

"Yes, I think that it's time that we establish a second headquarters for our legion. I will contact Commander Souta to get his authorization so that everything will proceed well." Lumilia said.

"Expansion, huh? Does this mean that the second headquarters will be here in the Eternal Empire?" Eunice asked as she slightly tilted her head.

"Yes, I'm planning to establish it in this place." Lumilia nodded. "To establish a second headquarters, I need three things. The legion commander's permission, the Adventurers Guild's permission, and the leader of this land's permission."

"Leader of the Eternal Empire...?" Lynn opened her eyes widely.

"Yes, but it's fine if I get permission from another high-ranking person in this country. It doesn't have to be the emperor himself," Lumilia assured Lynn.

"Then, it's easy. I'm sure that your leader, Souta, would give you his permission, so you have one. Then, you have the princess here, and that's two. Finally, the Adventurers Guild, I'm sure that they will approve this as you have enough force to expand your legion." Eunice said.

"Yeah, but we don't have enough budget. That's the only problem that I have. Our sponsor, the Lanny Corp., didn't have any money because they used it to rebuild their building in Ladros City. That's the same for our legion. The attack of the deadly sins at that time destroyed ninety percent of the city," Lumilia sighed. "I guess that we would have to take some high-level quests."

"Then, it's not a problem at all. I'm a member of the Giniver family, so do you think that I can be your sponsor? No, to be exact, I want to sponsor Brother Bryan." Eunice smiled as she turned her head toward Bryan.

"Really? You will give me tons of money!" Bryan's eyes lit up.

"Yes, I will give you anything that you want," Eunice said with a smile.

...

In the living labyrinth on Planet Eidin...

Souta's group has finished clearing the 90th floor. The effort that they put in just to clear everything was hard to imagine. The training that they've undergone in Saya's inner consciousness was extreme.

Souta and Alice piled up combat arts and spells in their bodies just to improve their battle powers. And they were successful.

Everyone grew stronger until they cleared the 90th floor of the living labyrinth. In clearing this floor, Yuko was forced to use both of her blessings and her release state. Doranjan also used his release state, and Isabella didn't even hide her blessing.

The guardian of the 90th floor was so powerful that it took all of them nine hours just to take down this monster. Franklin, Torkez, Alice, Isabella, Yuko, Doranjan, and Souta worked together.

Also, the number of times that they tried to clear this floor was more than fifty. Every time they suffered a defeat, they would retreat and train themselves inside Saya's inner consciousness.

For them, the monsters in this labyrinth were more fearsome than the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire. With their current strength, they could even wreck the empire several times.

The training doesn't just improve their power levels but also their combat style. Their battle instinct was honed to a higher level, making them more dangerous than people at the same level.

"Hu~ we've finally cleared this floor," Torkez said with a deep breath.

"Haha, this is so fun. How long are we fighting here? Two months? Maybe three..." Franklin laughed.

"I don't know... I've lost my sense of time after a few weeks of battling here nonstop." Torkez shook his head.

"Hmm... I've been living for hundreds of years, yet this is the first time that I've grown stronger in such a short amount of time." Doranjan, the dragon, said as he moved his huge body and laid down on the ground.

He's a dragon, a natural, third evolution monster, so his life span was more than two hundred years.

'This guy will reach his fourth evolution soon,' Souta said inwardly as he narrowed his brows while looking at this green dragon.

In the last battle, he already felt that Doranjan's power level was close to reaching the limit of the third evolution. And once he reaches that limit, he will naturally evolve into a higher level of species. A dragon will evolve into the fourth evolution as long as they are in the right environment.

The only reason Doranjan didn't reach the fourth evolution was because the mana density of the sub-world was too low for him. But even in that kind of place, Doranjan would still reach the fourth evolution after fifty or more years.

His thoughts were interrupted by Alice's voice.

"So what should we do now? The 91st floor is just in front of us. Do we need to train again before challenging it or not?" Alice asked him.

"Hmm...?" Souta rubbed his chin as he glanced at Isabella, who was busy making potions for them, and then at Yuko, who was sleeping on his lap. "...we'll try it, and I don't know what's waiting for us there, but the 91st floor is quite different."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Sometimes the god who created the living labyrinth has questions waiting on the 91st floor up to the 100th floor. We don't need to fight, and those who can answer all the questions will pass the test," Alice nodded and said.

"Sometimes they even put up restrictions. Only elves could enter; only people at a higher level could enter; only people below a certain level could enter... Well, it depends on the god that created it." Souta said as he recalled that the reason he couldn't get the legacy of the God of Hunt was because of these restrictions.

He just hoped that this living labyrinth didn't have those types of restrictions.

"Should we try it now?" Alice asked him.

"Oh, you're quite eager to enter the 91st floor. Do you want to know what sort of god left this legacy in this sub-world? Or maybe do you want to get the god's legacy?" Souta grinned while looking at Alice.

"Am I showing it on my face?" Alice sighed before she opened her mouth and said, "...yes... who wouldn't get excited when you are this close to a god's legacy? I'm eager to know what kind of things the god left in this place."

"Haha, well yeah, me too. But don't think that you can take it when I'm here. I will grab the god's legacy before you take it," Souta laughed.