Another World’s Highest Guild Leader ~I’m the weakest in the guild, but I can’t quit the guild because of the heavy love of all the guild members~

“Ah, damn it. Are these the only kinds of monsters around?”

Ghoul, slime, ghoul, slime… It’s like only inedible monsters are left.

“Heh, what’s so maze-like about this ‘Labyrinth of the Ruined Marsh’? It’s surprisingly easy.”

Pandy complained while slicing through slimes.

He then remembered that his team, the Devil’s Triumphant Return, possessed a magical item capable of healing severe wounds.

“Well, if I reach the goal first, I win.”

“Ooo… Ooh…”

“Outta my way!”

Swinging his giant sword, Pandy scattered the approaching ghouls, leaving scars on the walls as he went.

“This place… I haven’t been here before.”

He emerged into a space large enough for three people to walk side by side.

“Is this the goal?”

With no branching paths, he came to a dead-end.

Screee… Screee…

“What the—?”

An unsettling noise accompanied the sudden appearance of a magical circle before him. Something emerged from the magic process.

Dog-like ears, eyes so sharp they could make you wither under their gaze, exposed fangs, and big, sharp claws on both its hands and feet. Most notably, it had three heads.

—It’s a Cerberus.

“So, this is the monster of the ‘Labyrinth of the Ruined Marsh’…”

This was on a different level from the monsters he’d been fighting.

Cerberus inhaled profoundly and then—roared.

“Shut up!!”

Though he covered his ears, he was still blown away by the force of the roar, crashing into a wall.

Cerberus didn’t wait for him to recover.

Pandy, pinned between Cerberus and the wall, felt his insides crushed.

“Damn it…”

He clenched his greatsword and stabbed. But it was effortlessly dodged.

“Haa, haa…”

Damn, it’s intense… There’s no time to rest.

“Take this attack from the man who will eventually be the strongest, Lord Pandy!”

Pandy’s all-out attack.

Up until now, he had been able to easily defeat monsters.

However, the swung greatsword was caught by the wide-open mouth and fangs of the Cerberus.

Crack

“Huh?”

The sound of something being crushed.

He looked to see that his prized greatsword had broken…

A sharp pain shot through his left arm while he was distracted by his broken sword.

Squish, crunch

Sounds of flesh being devoured accompanied by splatters of blood.

Just hearing it was enough to know his arm’s terrible state.

“AAAAAAAH! No, no, no, no!!!”

He writhed and struggled, but it wouldn’t let go.

This was different from when he was caught by slime.

By the time it let go, my arm was gone.

“Die, you bastard!”

“RAWR!?”

As a final act of resistance, while his left arm was being devoured, he grabbed the broken greatsword with his free right hand and thrust it into one of its eyes.

The Cerberus’ mouth released his devoured left arm.

“Heh, heh… Don’t underestimate me, you piece of crap.”

Pandy started thinking about his next attack without worrying about his lost left arm.

While he was in pain, attack—

Growl, growl…

—What?

A howl came from behind him. Another Cerberus appeared before him. There were two howls.

Fearfully, he turned around to see another Cerberus…

No, it was different.

With black fur and two heads, this was Orthrus, known as the older brother of Cerberus.

—There were two of them.

His lost left arm, his battered body. All he had managed to do was inflict a single blow to one eye.

“Aah… Ahh…”

He felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

His strength left him, and he dropped to his knees. He had no energy left to hold the greatsword.

“…St-Stop, please….okay? Huh?”

Pandy begs for mercy from the monster, not knowing if it understands his words.

With each step back, its eyes lock onto him, unyielding.

“Growl…”

“Growl, growl…”

In front of him is Cerberus, and behind him is Orthrus. Trapped between them is a battered human missing his left arm.

“…Hey?”

“ROOOAR!”

“RAAAR!”

“AHHHH! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!”

Cerberus and Orthrus ferociously pounce on him.

Pandy had no choice but to fight.

He collapses to his knees as if to prostrate himself, prepared to be devoured.

Ah, it’s over. I’m going to die—

Bang

A gunshot.

“Lu-Lulu…!”

He lifts his blood and tear-streaked face.

What he sees is a savior.

That visage and the demonic triumphant Knights of Nightmare look at him coldly.

“ROAR! ROAR!”

Even though a bullet has pierced its head, Cerberus seems unharmed.

Orthrus also shifts its gaze towards Lulu and the others.

“———Gleipnir”

“———Boa”

“——Gungnir”

Fel’s chains restrain the legs of Cerberus and Orthrus, halting their movements.

Ali’s fireball scorches each of their faces, blinding them.

And then Alma’s spear delivers the killing blows to Cerberus and Orthrus.

A splendid coordinated attack.

It might as well be called an instant kill.

Defeated, Cerberus and Orthrus dissipated into particles.

Pandy, who had been dazed, finally snaps out of it.

“Hurry up and heal me! My left arm is gone! Use that ring!”

“…What shall we do, Lulu-sama?”

“You did reach the goal, so I may heal you later.”

This is the goal, after all. Then Pandy was the first to arrive.

Grinning from ear to ear, Pandy declares,

“I got to the goal before you all! Remember this, one by one, when we get back!”

“We’re on our third lap, though?”

“…Huh?”

…Third lap?

With a dumbfounded look, Pandy listens as Lulu explains.

“In the ‘Labyrinth of the Abandoned Marsh,’ once you defeat Cerberus and Orthrus, a magic circle that lets you leave appears. And once the circle is activated, Cerberus and Orthrus revive. It’s a loop.”

“By the way, we’ve each done three laps.”

“Oh, I think I’m on my fourth lap!”

“I might be on my fourth lap, too.”

“Anyway, we all reached the goal before you. We were just looping around because we had time.”

Pandy is laughed at by the four of them.

…Is it because I’m weak? No, that’s not it. I am…I am…

“I AM destined to become the strongest!”

Even though he was near death moments ago, where did this energy come from?

With his broken greatsword, he furiously swings down at Lulu.

“How naive.”

“Eh?”

He indeed swings down.