I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

"Ten thousand, four hundred and ninety. If you add the ten of us, it will be a total of ten thousand, five hundred. Ten thousand will be from Lower Class, and only a small amount of our actual soldiers will be mobilized." Heshu resumed speaking, answering Adu's question.

The maxed out Mid-Demons who heard this appeared surprised by the number presented before them. They couldn't believe their ears.

Why?

"Ten thousand? And they mostly consist of Lower Class dregs? That's smaller than I thought. Oh well, it's the human territory we're talking about here." Adu grinned.

"True. In any case, everything should be done in ten days or so. We'll all be staying in this military compound before that time arrives, so we don't attract much attention to us by moving around.

"We're Middle Class Demons. No one expects much from us anyway..." Adu murmured, looking away.

Unfortunately for him, everyone heard this statement. This time, no one bothered keeping quiet. They all bombarded him with their genuine thoughts.

"Speak for yourself."

*************

[Day 1 After Arrival In Dulum]

"Alrighty!" I gave a very positive smile, looking directly ahead.

What stood before me was a gaping hole—entrance to Dulum's Labyrinth. It was my primary goal for this round, and a major element in executing my plan.

'We have about twelve more days before the destruction of Dulum. If I'm counting the first invasion, then we have about ten days. I have to hurry...'

The Labyrinth of Dulum was the City's major source of livelihood, and the Adventurers existed mostly because of that reason.

Sure, Adventurers took many quests that didn't involve the Labyrinth—like escort or delivery jobs. Sometimes being hired as tools of conflict between two forces, the Adventurers did just about anything for money.

However, the single existence of the Labyrinth made certain the Adventurer's job was occupied.

Why?

Because there were always quests readily available that required venturing into the naturally formed structure.

"That's the Great Helios Labyrinth for you." I smiled, appreciating the structure once more.

The glimmering rocks, like mountains, that intersected in slanted positions, clustered to form a cave-like entrance.

The bent, thin mountains glimmered in the sun, like glass, and they weren't too tall, so I could see their peak quite easily.

'As always, it's such a pleasure.'

I proceeded to walk ahead, venturing into the Great Helios Labyrinth with a single goal. As I moved, I heard footsteps behind me. They belonged to the ones who would be venturing into this place with me.

'Sarah, Byron, Lucy, Zabdel, Asa, Gu, and Liebert, and Gerund. I handpicked these guys because I am most familiar with them...'

To be frank, I only brought them along to serve as spectators for the grand show I was about to show them.

If I displayed my might in front of a sufficient crowd, then they would even respect and adore me more.

'They'll give me their unfettered loyalty.' A smile formed on my face.

That was simply a means to an end, though. The true reason I wanted to explore the Labyrinth rather than rigorously preparing for battle was because doing this was essential for preparation.

In fact, it was an integral part of it.

After I had a meeting with Zabdel concerning the imminent invasion of the Demons, he believed me and asked for my solution. I told him to keep working on the Dragon-Corpse weapons for everyone, but I needed their cooperation.

Fortunately, they all trusted the Legendary Dragon Slayer and we're succeptable to my words.

It turned out I really had no reason to worry, in the first place.

And so, while the intended people were working on the weapons, I decided to enact my plan of gathering resources within the Great Helios Labyrinth.

"Mana Chalk, Mercury, Special Ores, and then..." My lips curled up in excitement as my eyes gleamed with excitement.

My heart raced uncontrollably as I just imagined the end result of what I was going to achieve today.

'I'm prepared to spend all day here so long as I can achieve my goals!'

"Now then..." I glanced behind me, meeting the gaze of everyone who followed me.

Their expressions slightly differed from one another, but the common emotion I sensed there was adoration.

"There's no need to do anything. I'll take care of them all by myself."

With that, I resumed facing forward, hearing squeals and excited murmurs from the spectators—stating how cool and amazing I was.

'The mood has been set. Now, hehe...' I stepped into the cave-like entrance and stared into the chasm that led to the first floor.

Apparently, since its discovery, no one had ever passed the 17th Layer of the Great Helios Labyrinth. In fact, the ones who succeeded in beating the 17th Floor were the strongest party, comprised of all the S Class Adventurers of the time, with Dulum's Guildmaster leading the charge.

It was an intense conquest, and they succeeded after going at it for days. The 17th Floor was that tough!

'... I can't wait to see for myself.'

Of course, I knew just what kind of monsters awaited us there. It was one of the things mentioned in the Novel.

'I've always wanted to fight one before...'

Stepping into the chasm, I initiated my adventure into the Labyrinth, my goals in mind and my target completely decided.

'... Minotaurs'

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>BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<

In a single strike, I destroyed the barrier of earth that protected the 17th Floor from outside interference.

After the previous conquest, the Guildmaster and the surviving Adventurers took their spoil, sealing the 17th Floor with the toughest rocks formed by the strongest Mages using Earth Magic.

This was to prevent the surviving monsters within from ever coming out, and also to ensure not Adventurer was foolish enough to risk their lives to challenge it.

However, for me—

"Let us proceed.".

—An earth barrier of that caliber was nothing short of paper thin.

I could hear squeals of delight from the people behind me as I cooly stepped into the hallowed 17th Floor.

"The time has come..." I smiled, looking at the illuminated space spread before me.

"... Let the culling begin."