"Wh-what the hell is that thing?!"

Arthur could barely get those words out, his drawn bowstring trembling immensely. As one who had never missed a target in his life ever since picking up a bow, he would surely miss if he loosened his arrow at that moment.

"Helena!"

Julius barked another order, and his wife’s body twitched as she spread out her arms to cast a spell:

■■ Brave Heart! ■■

A semi-golden light engulfed them and with it, their fear was alleviated.

[A buff spell?]

Kaelen steadied his breathing and glared daggers at the bipedal insectoid a short distance away.

"What an interesting spell..."

The Roach’s mandibles snapped at the sight of Helena’s spell and its effects. And soon after, the hairs on its face stood on end as it felt a bloodlust of equal magnitude, opposing its own.

"You’re the one who directed your bloodlust at me earlier."

Julius’s words were not a question but rather a statement, and he couldn’t help but glance at Kaelen before returning his glare back to the creature that stood boldly before them.

"That is indeed so."

The Roach said, undoing the sleeve buttons of his two-piece tuxedo.

"Is this some sort of a joke? Why is an insect wearing such garments?"

Igor grimaced at the sight.

"I’m not an expert, but that’s the highest quality fabric I’ve ever seen."

Hank analyzed the Roach, wiping the sweat from his palms on his upper wear, before gripping the hilts of his twin daggers.

"More than that..."

Before concluding his words, Julius gestured at Arthur, and the archer immediately knew what his leader wanted.

Swosh!

He loosened an arrow at the Roach, and it flew steadily even as it tore through the air.

Tink!

The Roach didn’t even bother to evade and the arrow struck the left side of his breast—Where the Human heart is located.

"... As I thought, that’s an armour type magical item."

Julius Vanger concluded upon hearing the metallic sound produced by Arthur’s arrow striking the suit.

"He must be the Boss of this floor, I can’t even sense his Life Essence."

Julius made yet another conclusion. You see, one cannot sense the Life Essence of one equal to or greater than their level.

This is how veterans gauge one another, a sure-fire way to estimate the strength of another.

The others nodded in agreement.

[Ah...]

Hearing Julius’s deductive words, Kaelen spiraled into a quiet despair.

"My... flattered as I am. I dare not receive such a title. I am merely a dog sent on a hunt."

The Roach shook its head, the long antennae attached to it, whipping the air as it folded the sleeves of its garments, revealing its forearms as it prepared to engage.

"What?!"

"That’s not possible!"

Of course they would refute that utter nonsense. If even Julius Vanger, the strongest A-rank Adventurer in Alexandria, couldn’t sense the creature’s Life Essence, then surely they must be the Boss of this floor.

This is merely the first floor! There is absolutely now way that a mere "dog" would rival or exceed their Leader’s prowess.

If this was true, then they might as well slit their own throats because there is no way they could conquer this floor, let alone the fifth.

"Hm... The truth is often hard to accept, that much I understand."

"However, I had heard that Humans are quite intelligent and civilized. But seeing your lack of courtesy and your delusions, I see now that you merely possess the reasoning capacity of an amoeba."

The Roach tilted its chin mockingly, in a gesture that suggested it believed Humans to be lower lifeforms compared to itself.

"Do not let its words get to you, we need to quickly defeat it."

Julius muttered to his party members. He genuinely hoped that they had trimmed down the number of Orcs and cockroaches to an extent that they would not get swarmed.

Nay. This was his biggest fear, the worst-case scenario, a war of attrition against an overwhelming number of enemies.

[But the fact that the Boss is here on its own...]

His feet sank deep into the earth as he raised his heavy blade.

[...We must have done considerable damage to its forces that it saw fit to personally come and eliminate us...]

[No... This could be a trap.]

Julius surveyed the surroundings, on alert for any sneak-attacks.

[... It doesn’t matter, what remains true is that we must defeat him.]

■■■ Summon High Intrusion: Serrata Blatta.■■■

■■■Summon High Intrusion: Falx Periplaneta.■■■

Julius’s musings were interrupted by the Roach casting two spells simultaneously. Two dark-purple, third-circle magic circles appeared on either side of the menacing insectoid and shimmered intensely before four large insects crawled out and burst forth from them.

On the magic circle to his right spawned two large insects that seemed to have the upper body of a praying mantis and the lower body of a cockroach consisting of six legs. The scythes on their upper bodies were nearly as long as their bodies and had a metallic luster. These were the Falx Periplaneta.

To his left were an equal number of insects that closely resembled the Armored Blatta, however, these were not as bulky or sluggish despite being adorned by a similar exoskeleton. Another distinguishing feature they boasted were their chitin limbs lined with jagged, notched blades like a saw’s edge. These were known as the Serrata Blatta.

"Humans. I present to you an opportunity —Mercy, in fact."

"Lower your heads and surrender my Master’s asset, or perish in the slowest, most grueling manner imaginable by my hand."

At his words, his summons began buzzing their wings as though raring to tear the humans to shreds.

"Your Master’s... asset?"

Igor turned a blood-shot glare at the pale-skinned child, which was met with a pair of guilt-filled, watery, cherry-pink eyes.

"It’s talking about you isn’t it?! You little Monster!!"

Igor roared and lifted his heavy shield, intending to thrust it with all of his might and bash the boy’s skull.

Kaelen’s sorrow-filled expression merely watched in silence even as his life was threatened. Was it the guilt he bore as the creator of this world that convinced him that he deserved to die?

"Igor, wait —"

Margaret’s plea was abducted by a gust of wind, one generated by the almost instantaneous movement of the Roach, his sharp fingers already aiming to impale Igor’s neck.

Fwosh! Clang!

Julius, being the only one who could track the Roach’s movements with his naked eye, quickly swung his broadsword and parried the Roach, the result of their clash being vibrant sparks and shockwaves that scattered deep into the jungle like seismic tremors.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The duo exchanged blows again in a blur, creating secondary shockwaves that blew the others away as though they had been dragged away by an invisible force.

"Ugh!"

Igor, despite his short stature, quickly recovered as he rolled on the ground and immediately charged at kaelen, completely disregarding his surroundings.

"How dare you infiltrate our party?! Nothing has gone well ever since we met you!"

He directed his rage toward the boy who was slowly standing up, once again attacking with the intention to kill, but...

Once again blinded by his rage, he failed to notice the imminent threat to his life as a Falx Periplaneta threatened to cleave his head clean off his shoulders.

Clang!

"Snap out of it Igor! Now is not the time!"

He was fortunately saved once again, but this time by twin blades that had the fluidity and skill of a seasoned sashimi chef.

"Didn’t you hear what that Monster said? we need to kill this boy if he is that important to this floor’s Boss."

Igor bickered with veins on his neck.

"Hank is right Igor, we don’t know the full story yet, you can’t just kill the kid!"

Arthur drew and loosened an arrow, giving Hank the edge against the swift insect.

[This is bad...]

Margaret’s staff began to glow as she too prepared to join the fight.

"Kaelen, come stand behind m —"

[Huh? Where did he go?]

He was just there, just where could he have gone?

As she desperately scanned with her eyes, she finally saw him in the distance, under the right armpit of the gentlemanly Roach, who was currently without his left arm, dripping hemolymph. The two Serrata Blatta stood guard in front of them.

She could not possibly fathom what happened in the mere seconds she had averted her eyes from Kaelen, and naturally, she began to look for Julius next.

[Lead...]

She heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that Julius only bled from the shallow wound on the right side of his face.