Arnaud and his men's crushing defeat proved just how severe the gap truly was.
"So," Ramiris continued, "Arnaud and his friends finally accepted reality and re-evaluated their strength, but…"
They swallowed their pride.
They returned to the Dungeon as beginners and began again from Floor 1.
That resolve alone deserved respect.
However, on Floor 60, their advance came to a complete stop.
Standing in their way was Death Paladin Albert—the trusted confidant of the Immortal King Adalmann, and the strongest paladin of his era even hundreds of years ago.
"And ever since then," Ramiris said casually, "Albert's been beating them into the ground every time they challenge that floor."
Atem listened in silence.
After defeating Arnaud's entire squad alone, Albert had spoken coldly:
"I heard you rebranded yourselves as Holy Knights.
I did not expect your quality to decline as well."
That single sentence ignited Arnaud's fury.
He unleashed his full power, pouring everything into his strongest Art—Aether Break.
It didn't matter.
Albert parried it cleanly.
He wielded his sword with the same mastery he possessed in life, enhanced further by his monster evolution. Arnaud never stood a chance.
Albert's body never tired.
Broken limbs regenerated instantly.
Pain meant nothing.
Unless one could exploit his rare weaknesses, defeating him was impossible.
And on top of that, Adalmann possessed the Skill "Holy-Demonic Reversal," amplifying his faction's strength even further.
Of course they lost, Atem concluded.
Adalmann's forces had been absorbing dense magicules from the Labyrinth for an extended period, evolving into high-class monsters.
Arnaud's timing could not have been worse.
Yet, viewed differently—
He was fortunate.
To be trained by the strongest knight of a bygone age was an opportunity most warriors would never receive.
Now, Arnaud and the entire Holy Knight Order trained under Albert's instruction, rotating schedules to endure his merciless tutelage.
As a result, Floor 60 had become a lethal zone.
But—
"That answers one floor," Atem said calmly. "What about the rest?"
At this point, he understood the larger picture.
Adalmann and Zegion were not isolated cases.
Ramiris nodded.
"You're right. Inside the Dungeon exists a group now known as the Dungeon's Elite Ten."
Atem's eyes narrowed.
If Ramiris was correct, their combat ability rivaled that of his own top executives.
Naturally, Adalmann was among them.
So was Albert.
Apito, due to her abnormal evolution, earned her place under the alias "Insect Queen."
Zegion, however—
"He's basically the leader now," Ramiris admitted.
Then there was Kumara.
By absorbing the power of her tail beasts, she could manifest her true adult form—an overwhelming existence.
"Alright!" Ramiris declared. "I'll give you the full lineup, starting from the bottom!"
Under Milim's guidance, Ramiris had raised four elemental dragons within the Labyrinth. Prolonged exposure to Veldora's overwhelming magicules caused them to evolve into Dragon Lords.
Fire Dragon Lord
Ice Dragon Lord
Wind Dragon Lord
Earth Dragon Lord
Together, they were known as the Four Dragon Lords.
Atem remained composed, but even he acknowledged their presence was absurd.
And that still wasn't all.
90th Floor Guardian — Nine-Heads Kumara
80th Floor Guardian — Insect Kaiser Zegion
79th Floor Boss — Insect Queen Apito
70th Floor Guardian — Immortal King Adalmann
70th Floor Vanguard — Death Paladin Albert
Additionally, Gozer and Mezer guarded the 50th Floor, though Ramiris admitted they didn't quite qualify for the Elite Ten.
The final member—
Beretta, who also served as the group's administrator.
"I would very much like to pass this… honor… to someone else," Beretta muttered, glancing at Treyni and Charys.
"Ara~ I must remain by Ramiris-sama's side," Treyni said gently.
"And I am devoted solely to Lord Veldora," Charys added. "That alone keeps me busy."
Veldora was clearly being indulged, but Charys seemed satisfied enough.
Atem exhaled quietly.
They really do resemble that butler, he thought.
"Seems you're carrying quite the burden, Beretta," Atem said.
"You understand, Atem-sama!" Beretta replied instantly.
Through this discussion, several facts became clear.
The Dungeon existed because of Ramiris's design and Veldora's magicules. Naturally, the question arose—who did the Elite Ten serve?
By hierarchy, it should have been Ramiris.
"Oh! I already asked them!" Ramiris said cheerfully.
Beretta remained with Ramiris.
The Four Dragon Lords formally became her subordinates—contracts signed with full consent.
As for the rest—
Kumara adored the children living in Eterna and expressed deep gratitude. She had even declared she wished to belong to Atem personally, disregarding the existence of Ranga entirely.
Zegion and Apito openly declared loyalty to Atem out of admiration.
Adalmann… worshipped him.
Quite literally.
Albert followed Adalmann, which made his allegiance automatic.
Thus, five became Atem's direct subordinates.
Gozer and Mezer, despite working in the Labyrinth, rejected Ramiris and requested to serve Atem instead.
"Wrong!" Ramiris corrected quickly. "They were named by you, Atem. That mattered more to them than payment."
That explained everything.
Atem made a mental note to reward them properly.
In the end, what he discovered during this inspection shocked him.
The guardians had grown far stronger than anticipated.
It was reassuring—but also dangerous if left unchecked.
Still, with the Elite Ten in place, even the Imperial Army would fail to breach the Labyrinth.
Atem issued a clear command:
"Hold back against normal challengers."
Otherwise, survival would be impossible.
Only Floor 100 required absolute defense—and that responsibility belonged to Veldora.
For the remaining floors, especially up to Floor 80, Atem wanted challengers to struggle, to fight, and to witness the true magnificence of the Labyrinth.
It had been built with care.
It deserved to be challenged.
But all of that—
Would have to wait for peaceful times.
After personally traversing the Labyrinth to confirm its condition, I visited each guardian one by one.
This was not a formality.
I wanted to witness their evolution with my own eyes.
Their growth was beyond expectations—no, beyond reason. Within the Labyrinth, their current strength bordered on absolute dominance. With forces like these, I could not envision the Empire achieving victory through military means alone.
After several days had passed—
I turned my attention to a project I had refined in silence.
It was time to test the observation magic I had finally completed.
The location was the Strategic Military Control Battle Command Center—commonly referred to as the Control Room.
The name carried a certain martial gravitas. Veldora and Ramiris had approved it instantly, so it became official. In hindsight, it was unnecessarily long. Unsurprisingly, Benimaru and the others shortened it to simply Control Room, and few even remembered its full designation.
The facility had been constructed adjacent to Veldora's private chamber on the 100th Floor of the Labyrinth and was connected directly to the standard war room. If Eterna were ever isolated underground, this chamber would become the true heart of command.
We were prepared.
Utterly.
And if war never came—if all this effort proved unnecessary—I would still consider it a victory.
The observation magic exceeded even my expectations.
Massive screens—identical to those used during the tournament—displayed live images from countless locations. Large sections of the Great Jura Forest, trade routes near the Dwarven Kingdom, and other strategic points were visible at all times.
From the sea route bordering Farmenas to the peaks of the Canaat Mountains—everything appeared in precise, living detail.
The principle was deceptively simple.
Lens-shaped water droplets—originally designed for the physical magic Megiddo—were now controlled by spirits. Massive lenses deployed near the stratosphere reflected and magnified distant locations, transmitting high-resolution images through chained reflections.
Borrowing a concept from Moss, I had dispersed countless microscopic Clones, using them as anchors to activate the magic directly on-site. Through Spatial Domination, every feed linked back to my main body, creating an instant, zero-latency data stream.
The clones were too small to act independently, which meant they required no magicules unless I consciously commanded them. Transporting them was effortless using my Pharaoh Authority.
Efficient. Elegant. Absolute.
I named the system:
Anubis — The Watcher of Fate
The visual data was processed and refined by Solarys, Sovereign of Wisdom, producing flawless clarity on every screen. From the safety of the Control Room, distant lands could be observed as if they lay directly before us.
The system's completion was met with universal approval.
Especially from Diablo, who was—regrettably—far too enthusiastic about it. That, however, was irrelevant.
Then came the discovery.
Once operational, the surveillance system revealed an unexpected secondary function.
Megiddo could now be activated directly through the screens.
Curious, I conducted a test.
While Gobta trained in a forest clearing, I targeted the ground near his feet and fired a beam.
The result was instantaneous.
Gobta leapt backward in terror, eyes wide with shock.
"Fool," I said calmly. "That is what happens when you let your guard down."
To be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault.
Megiddo itself had evolved.
Originally, the spell had already been optimized. Yet Solarys deemed it insufficient. After extensive recalculations, we refined the system further—deploying a permanent network of floating lenses, suspended like satellites across the sky.
By linking them with Anubis, Megiddo could now be used even at night.
To achieve this, I stored sunlight within my personal space. Solarys replicated the sun's properties, allowing us to converge and refract light across multiple satellite lenses before firing.
Yes—I may have gone too far.
But the results justified the effort.
The lenses were formed and maintained by powerful spirits. I merely supplied the magicules. Solarys handled every calculation, rendering the system effortless to operate.
If I chose to face a human army now—
I could reduce it to ash without taking a single step forward.
With these refinements, that was no exaggeration.
Not even close.