Time passed quickly. The more colorful the flag symbolizing the Fire Water Council became, the more species gathered under it. The development occurred so fast that the Hunters and I could only watch with awe, with Anastasha being the most excited. She shouted, “Wait, wait! Slow down for a second! Another species has challenged the council chairman!” “What species is it this time?” “It’s a Shellmount! If you look at her clothes, she[1]’s a miner! A Shellmount miner challenged the council chairman to a duel!” The Black Witch pointed to one side of the hologram. “Are your eyes just for decoration? Enhance your vision and take a closer look!” Oh, right. The Shellmount had seven tentacles. She originally seemed to have eight tentacles, but lost one of them in some sort of accident. However, damage to one of her tentacles didn’t seem to affect her negatively. Like a soldier who wore a scar as a medal, the miner with one missing tentacle had a very solemn look on her face. A red carpet was laid on the ground with Terras lined up on both sides. Emanating a ferocious aura, the enormous Terras looked down at the tiny Shellmount. The Shellmount spat on the ground. Her phlegm was squishy, resembling the slime toys I used to play with as a child. This was probably her way of saying “I’ll play with you like you’re my toys.” —First of all, on behalf of all Shellmounts, I salute you, fungi bastards! If it weren’t for you, my people would have gone extinct long ago. The few who escaped extinction would have become slaves and worked until their shells cracked and their skin melted and oozed. Laimu. But we live decent lives with a moderate amount of pickaxing. It’s all thanks to you all, especially Legendary Chairman Uburka! She sounded friendly, but her expression was belligerent. —Thank you! But that’s enough. We, the Shellmounts, can live on our own. No bastards are trying to kill us for something that happened hundreds of years ago. We find it shameful and embarrassing to live under your protection forever! The council chairman laughed softly. —Ugor. Those who know shame are great because shame makes them brave. I understand why you feel shame. Now tell me about your bravery. —I am the strongest among the Shellmounts. The Shellmount raised her seven tentacles. The weapons she chose were neither swords nor spears, but pickaxes—tools, not fancy weapons. Each tentacle gripped a pickaxe tightly. The Terra warriors burst out laughing. Except for the chairman sitting on the huge rock, dozens of Terras warriors sneered. —I was wondering what kind of special agent the Shellmounts sent! —Do you really think you can beat us with pickaxes? —If you are a miner, go back to where you came from and dig up rock salt! Who knows? You may come across a piece of silver or gold if you keep going. Consider that your life’s fortune and sell it! Uger! Keep pickaxes out of sacred duels! The Shellmount didn’t reply. She didn’t even glare at the Terras. However, from beginning to end, her eyes were on the chairman, who nodded at her. —Those who just sneered at the Shellmounts, I order you to duel her one by one. The Terra warriors were shocked. —We had no weapons when we were still trapped in Slimepolis, the Shellmounts’ huge cave. Spears? Swords? Don’t be ridiculous. All we had were water buckets and hammers. We had our dear White Lion by our side, but we used hammers to bring down the Slime Empire. The chairman went on. —The hammer was the weapon that brought down the empire. It’s the weapon of our ancestors, compatriots, and ours, too. What makes a pickaxe any different? A warrior who does not recognize the true nature of a weapon has no right to boast their rank at the council. If you lose the duel against the Shellmount, then you shall give up their ranks and return to Goru! The Terras went pale. However, the chairman, the ruler of fire and water, did not withdraw his order. Five Terras hesitantly came out to the duel arena. The Shellmount was still unfazed, but when she waved her tentacles, the pickaxes sharply swept across a three-meter wide area. —Take turns or come at me all at once. Do whatever you want. The five Terras were pulverized before they could even do anything. The real duels began afterward. Warriors who had sneered inwardly earlier stepped forward, but they were also defeated. Next were the warriors who stopped caring about stereotypes surrounding other species long ago. They were defeated, too. The warriors who also carefully observed the Shellmount's aura came forward. Their outcome wasn’t any different. A warrior found the aura that dwelt within all things was beautiful. In his eyes, the world was nothing but an eternally burning fire. Nevertheless, he also lost. However, four of the Shellmount’s seven tentacles were cut off, and one tentacle was crushed, leaving only two functional tentacles. —Huff... huff. Ha, huff... This is easier than mining... Lime. She was covered in blood, and her shell was dented like a car bumper after an accident. Blood and mucus dripped from all over her. The chairman looked down at the Shellmount from the rock throne that only the strongest warrior of this era could use. He guffawed. —Saimeslam. I’m the heir of the Spiral Four Swords and the last descendant of the Lekamulaim family. My family was one of the seven families that ruled the now destroyed Valley City. The Shellmount groaned, dripping mucus. The Terra chairman bared his huge fangs. —Great. From now on, you are the vice-chairman of the Fire Water Council, Saimeslam.” Time continued to pass quickly. For the first time in the history of Terra, a Shellmount became the council vice-chairman. Considering that the Shellmounts had colonized the Terras in the past, it was safe to say that an enemy was now entrusted with a key position in the council. Unable to understand this, numerous Terra challenged her to duels. Each time, Saimeslam defeated them. She never once refused a duel. —She knows what pride is. The Terras decided to tear down the grudge accumulated over a long history. They buried the sorrow of the past in the beauty of reality. Thus, the Shellmounts were officially granted memberships to the council. When one was strong enough to be ranked in the council, they were no longer ridiculed or disregarded wherever they went. If one was strong, that was enough to be respected. This was the only principle that had been upheld since the days the White Lion had led the Terras to Goru. Anastasha muttered, “Amazing.” Saimslam was greeted politely by the lower-rank warriors. “They are less developed than us, their society is much more crude than ours, they can’t do as many things as us, and they certainly don’t know much more than we do.” The corners of Anastasha’s mouth curled up slightly. “They’re just as strong as us—no, they are stronger than us. These children live with pride. The Shellmounts work in the salt mines, the Fingills swim in the water, the Sylvans take care of the economy and occasionally go on stage for Cavefire plays, and the Skians always send duelists so they wouldn’t start a war with Terras. All of them are really strong.” This made me feel really good. “Yes, the kids are stronger than us.” A strange feeling arose in the center of my heart. I recognized it, though it didn’t cling onto me like toxic glue. From the bottom of my heart, the sensation spread little by little. I looked to the side and saw that Anastasha and the Paladin had similar expressions. I see. This is what it’s like to be proud of someone. I didn’t know if this was what a parent felt for their child. However, humans could be proud of people other than themselves. That made me feel better. [Starting the thirty-seventh floor’s stage.] A snowy field of the frozen north was reflected in the hologram. The red dragon that had been sleeping in the Everlasting Snowland for ten thousand years had awakened a long time ago. All the Hunters gathered nearby knew where the volcano was and how much hot lava it spewed out at the time. We couldn’t participate in the stage, but thanks to the Mirage-Walking Princess’ considerate gesture, we could read the quest description. Anastasha frowned at the system message. “That dragon made the volcano in the primordial forest go off on the thirty-first floor.” The Inquisitor glanced at the hologram and smoothed his chin. “Hmm. It’s obvious that the dragon is as strong as a Constellation! Mr. Uburka is there, so we can interfere if necessary—” “No,” I said. “The Fire Water Council will try to solve this issue on their own. Just watch.” The army of the council gathered. The council had started out as a small group of Terras, but the organization became more than that. Fingills, Sylvans, Shellmounts, Bloodborne—numerous warriors gathered under the flag. Terras still accounted for more than half of the warriors. However, all those present had achieved their rank through fair duels. No Shellmounts complained about the Terras still making up the majority. There were no Bloodborns who had problems with Sylvans being present. They were all warriors. At the chairman’s question, tens of thousands of warriors stomped their feet in unison. The chairman nodded. On the road to the icy north, they encountered an army of giants with a single horn—Skians. Not even one hundred years had passed since the Viper descended and waged war with the Skians. There was still a strange rivalry between the Terras and the Skians. The two armies faced each other across the tundra plain. From the Terras’ side, the council chairman approached alone, riding a lion. The Skian high priest approached with the help of his staff. The chairman had a single question. —Do you want to fight? —Damn well we do, but we didn’t come to fight you guys.” —Then are you here about the red dragon? —They say that if we leave it alone, a disaster from the legends will happen again. Mother Nature’s wrath will strike the mountains and make them explode with lava. All rivers will burn red, and the continent will become a barren land where no one can live. —I’d like to see that at least once. Ugor. —I agree with that, but young people think differently. The chairman and high priest chuckled. —What does the snake god you worship say? Does he wish to descend? —Our god thought about the matter, but he announced that he wouldn’t intervene after all. The high priest slowly shook his head. The Viper probably wanted to take care of the Skians from the forefront, but he had decided to give them a chance to overcome this crisis on their own. —When the red dragon spread its wings the other day, the god protected us, but a lot of time has passed. Our god said he believes in us. We are strong, and we’ll become stronger in the future. Seeing the high priest’s gentle smile, the chairman smirked. —Though you’re weaker than us, ugor. The chairman held out his hand. —Our dear parents and friends are watching us from above. Let’s show them how strong we have become. —Kr... Let’s fight together. We watched the development of the quest in silence. In the middle of a snowy field, a giant red dragon roared. A snowstorm raged from all directions, but it was not enough to hide the dragon’s bright red skin. Although heavy snow fell from the sky, it did next to nothing to bury the red dragon’s scorching scales. Frozen for thousands of years, the ground was torn apart under the dragon’s claws every time it moved, making the land scream. The Skian high priest died in the first battle. Caught up in the red dragon’s fiery breath, he disappeared into the snow, not even leaving his old staff. In the second fight, the chairman of the Fire Water Council was killed. Someone had to buy some time—one minute—for the warriors to perform the Demonic Heaven Formula Arts, and that someone was him. His people only needed about thirty seconds to concentrate, exchange their aura, project the same image in their mind, and bring this image into the world. The chairman lasted one minute and twenty-three seconds. The ax he swung tore into the red dragon’s skin, and the punch he struck ruptured the red dragon’s left eyeball. The lone warrior swung his ax at the mythical monster whose mere presence caused earthquakes and erupted volcanoes. Just as he was about to swing his ax again, the red dragon’s teeth ended him. In the third fight, the red dragon’s head fell off. Its skin was thick, and its flesh and bones were even thicker. One pickaxe strike scratched the dragon’s skin. The scratches became deeper after another strike from the pickaxe. Only after three strikes did the scratches become cuts. Four strikes revealed flesh, and five strikes tore it apart. Six strikes scratched the bones before they finally gave in after the seventh blow. A Shellmount stood on the red dragon’s neck, wrapping her only remaining tentacle around a pickaxe. —Lime. This is easier than mining. She struck the final blow. Even though the head of the red dragon, as huge as a hill, fell from its body, the creature still screamed as it fell. Even as its head rolled off the ice cliff, the screaming continued. At some point, a splash was heard, and only then did the screams slowly fade away; the dragon’s head sank into the ice sea. On the cliff, the Shellmount shook her head, throwing mucus all around. Looking back, she saw a slightly smaller number of warriors than when she first came to the north. One, two, three—in total, seventy-four warriors had died, including the Skian high priest and the council chairman. The day before, the Shellmount had been the second strongest warrior on this continent, but today, she became the strongest one. She smiled bitterly. —Let’s go back to our home, lime. Saimeslam became the six hundred and twenty-ninth chairwoman of the Fire River Council. It was the first time in history that a Shellmount had this position. [The thirty-seventh floor has been cleared!] It was also the first time a floor was cleared without any help from Hunters. The Guardian had something to say to me. —Aren’t you forgetting about a certain old man and the species he looks after? I stood corrected. Perhaps this wasn’t the first time a floor was cleared without the Hunters’ involvement after all. Something doesn't really add up... Anyway, it didn’t matter. Right next to me, Anastasha shouted, “Yippeeeeeeee!” She gripped my arm and jumped around, excited. The OJP Sect Master and Sword Star would work out their problems somehow. I smiled and decided to just cheer for the people I saw in the hologram. Congratulations on your victory, kids. It’s yours. Our children couldn’t have made us prouder. 1. Something seems to have happened, and the Shellmounts have genders now. ☜