The 37th Floor of the Dungeon.
Unlike the upper levels, this floor was shrouded in darkness. The ceiling stretched tens of meters high, giving the entire area a vast and hollow feeling. The only sources of illumination were the faintly flickering candles embedded along the walls.
As Su Mo stepped onto the floor, he raised his right hand, palm facing upward. A golden magic circle bloomed into existence over his hand, radiating a soft, glowing light that immediately chased away the darkness and bathed the cavern in brilliance.
Light-element magic—excellent for illumination.
With the shadows banished, Su Mo took in the full view of the floor. To his surprise, there wasn't a single monster in sight.
"Too early?" he murmured, frowning slightly.
Under normal circumstances, every floor of the Dungeon spawned a set number of monsters. If they were hunted excessively, the Dungeon would regenerate them over time, birthing them anew from the walls. Standard monsters typically respawned within a day.
But there were exceptions.
Some monsters did not respawn immediately. These special creatures required a longer regeneration period and only one would appear per floor. These were known as floor bosses—essentially, the Dungeon's equivalent of a raid boss.
And the one Su Mo had come for was precisely the floor boss of the 37th level—Udaeus.
With strength equivalent to Level 6, Udaeus was the perfect target for Su Mo to test his experimental magic on.
Yet now, there was no sign of the monster.
"If I remember correctly… the reports said the Loki Familia took it down during their expedition three months ago. It should've respawned by now."
That kind of intel wasn't a secret. After all, there were only a handful of groups in Orario capable of defeating a Level 6 floor boss. Judging by the timeline, today should've been just right for the respawn.
So why was the boss missing?
"Could the intel have been off?"
Just as Su Mo was entertaining the thought—
The ground beneath his feet began to tremble.
"…What's this?"
He raised an eyebrow, the realization dawning on him.
"It's respawning… now?"
As if answering his musing, the center of the wide plaza ahead of him began to bulge upward, forming a mound in the stone floor.
And then, the ground split open.
A massive form burst forth from the earth, flinging aside stone and debris as it emerged.
Skull, clavicles, ribs, pelvis—
A gigantic black skeleton rose from the ground, its monstrous frame exposed bit by bit as it ascended into the open space. The tremors intensified until it felt like the entire 37th floor was shaking.
"GEYAAAAHHHH—!"
A bestial, bone-chilling roar echoed through the Dungeon, reaching up to the unseen sky above.
The creature let out a deafening howl, towering over twenty meters tall. Its skeletal body, cloaked in pitch-black bone, remained partially embedded in the earth. Two curved horns jutted from its head, and within its hollow eye sockets flickered ominous crimson flames, like burning embers.
In its ribcage, a massive core floated suspended in the air—its magic stone, encased in a natural cage of ribs and sternum.
A monstrous skeletal figure that radiated pure death—Udaeus, the Lonely King of the Labyrinth—had awakened.
Its blazing red gaze locked onto Su Mo, the only intruder in its domain.
"…You're not even a cute girl. Why are you looking at me like that? Gross."
Su Mo grimaced at the intense, fiery stare.
Clearly, Udaeus didn't understand sarcasm. Or human speech, for that matter.
The moment the floor guardian of this level—classified as a Level 6 monster—appeared, it launched a direct assault on Su Mo.
The creature's massive, pitch-black skeletal blade was nearly ten meters long, easily capable of carving a deep trench into the earth with a single swing. If a hill had stood in its path, it would have been sliced clean through.
Yet Su Mo didn't dodge.
In fact, he took a step forward.
As the roaring winds whipped toward him, carried by the swing of the giant blade, Su Mo gave a faint, amused smile.
"Speed is power. Ever been kicked… at the speed of light?"
BOOM!
The skeletal blade cleaved through the space where Su Mo had just been—only to strike empty air. All that remained was an afterimage.
Without anyone noticing, Su Mo had already appeared right in front of Udaeus.
Brilliant golden light surged at the tip of his foot.
The next instant—
KRA-KOOM!
A massive beam of light, thick as a pillar, exploded point-blank into Udaeus's body.
When the blinding radiance faded, the monster's enormous skeletal frame crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud, kicking up a storm of dust.
Udaeus's left arm had been completely shattered by that single kick.
And it didn't stop there.
Light-based magic was especially effective against undead or skeletal monsters.
Despite having no flesh or nerves, Udaeus let out a guttural roar of pain. The soul flame flickering deep within its eye sockets flared with manic fury.
But as a Level 6 monster, Udaeus wasn't just about brute strength—it wielded powerful magical abilities as well.
A low, ominous hum began to rise as the scattered bones on the ground started to shiver violently.
Su Mo didn't know exactly what spell Udaeus was trying to cast, but it was clear it was preparing something big.
Still, in a battle where he had both the elemental and strategic advantage, Su Mo didn't think this floor boss could pull off anything surprising.
But that didn't mean he was going to stand around and wait for the spell to go off.
"Would be a shame if I accidentally killed you before the test," he muttered.
"I still need you… for this."
With that, Su Mo ignored whatever Udaeus was about to unleash. He brought his hands together, and in the blink of an eye, magic flared across his entire body.
A brilliant golden sphere formed between his palms, shooting radiant beams in all directions. The entire floor lit up as if a miniature sun had descended into the dungeon.
The sheer presence of this magic caused a shift in the atmosphere, as if the very laws of nature were reacting to its might.
Sensing the overwhelming threat, Udaeus immediately halted its spellcasting and instinctively raised its guard.
Just then—
A massive magic circle materialized in the air above Udaeus's head.
The array, etched with countless intricate runes and glowing with golden light, spanned dozens of meters in diameter. The intense luminescence enveloped Udaeus's colossal body entirely.
This was no ordinary spell.
It was one of the legendary magics known only to the most powerful of mages—passed down in secret by the Fairy Tail Guild.
An ultimate spell that judged all enemies and reduced them to nothing:
"Fairy Law!"
The moment of judgment had arrived.