Who the voice belonged to was obvious to everyone present without needing to think about it.
Among the members who had dived into the Dungeon this time, Yohanna was the only one obsessed with Set to that degree.
Of course, that was setting Rei aside.
At any rate, the first thing Yohanna saw upon entering the room was, naturally, the massive Silver Lion... then Rei and the others gathered around it, and above all, Set, purring happily at Rei's side.
If that had been all, there wouldn't have been any particular problem—but the moment she saw that Set was bleeding all over its body, there was no way Yohanna could stay silent.
After ordering the men to lay the Vihera she had been carrying on a cloth spread across the floor, she rushed toward Set.
"Hey, Set-chan. Are you okay!?"
"Grrrru."
At Yohanna's words, Set purred to indicate it was fine.
Even hearing Set's voice, Yohanna couldn't feel reassured and began examining Set's body directly.
Ara dodged out of Yohanna's way as she charged in, but Yohanna was too focused to even notice.
She thoroughly checked Set's body... and once she confirmed that Set truly had no wounds that could be called serious, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew... thank goodness. It looks like almost no wounds are left. Set-chan, are you okay? Did it hurt?"
"Grrrru!"
In response to Yohanna's worried questions, Set purred energetically, as if to say it was fine.
The Silver Lion had high defensive power, but its offensive power wasn't as great—of course, that was compared to other S-Rank monsters—which was why its wounds weren't all that deep.
However, while most of those listening nearby simply thought Set still had plenty of energy based on its cry, Yohanna gently stroked Set's head.
"I see. You're tired, aren't you?"
"Eh? It's tired? I thought it sounded like it was full of energy."
One of Yohanna's companions muttered, tilting his head.
The others likely felt the same way.
Yohanna's companions... and even Elk and Min wore expressions of surprise.
For Min, who was usually calm and composed, to show such an overt expression was a rare occurrence.
In that sense, it could be said that most of the people present were fortunate—but almost none of them understood that.
"Well, Set fought a monster of higher rank than itself, like the Silver Lion. Of course it's tired."
At Rei's words, several people turned surprised looks toward Set.
Those were the people who hadn't seen the battle against the Silver Lion.
Conversely, those who had fought through the battle against the Silver Lion together nodded in understanding at the fact that Set was tired.
Once Rei, Set, Elk, and Ara's wounds were healed with potions, everyone's attention finally turned to the Silver Lion.
"...Rei, isn't it about time? The heart loses its effectiveness the more time passes, right?"
Prompted by Marina, and subjected to the equally intense gazes of Elk and Min, Rei stood up from the Silver Lion he had been leaning against, even as his body still ached.
The reason Elk and Min's gazes were especially intense was, as expected, because the plan was to restore Vihera's consciousness first, and then Rhodos's.
In other words, to restore Rhodos's consciousness, they needed to extract the heart from the Silver Lion as quickly as possible and have Grimm take action.
"Grimm, can you hear me? Grimm?"
Rei called out to Grimm using the Paired Orbs.
Most of the wounds on his face had healed, but the damage he had taken from the Silver Lion's attacks through his Dragon Robe wasn't the kind of visible injury that could be easily healed with potions.
No, if he drank a potion, he could recover internally as well, but doing so came with the drawback of temporarily paralyzing his sense of taste.
For Rei, who looked forward to meals, that was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible.
Of course, if there were still battles ahead... or if they had to escape the Dungeon by their own power, he would have forced himself to drink a potion.
But the reason they had reached the Deepest Layer was thanks to Grimm's power.
And returning to the surface... or more precisely, back to near the Dungeon's entrance, was also something they planned to have Grimm do.
They hadn't made an explicit promise, but even so, judging from Rei's past experiences, he could predict that Grimm would do it.
Even if that fell through, the combat power besides Rei was more than sufficient.
(Once Vihera regains consciousness, she'll definitely want to fight.)
While thinking this, he waited for a response from the Paired Orbs...
"Hm? Oh, Rei. The fact that you've contacted me like this means you won, yes?"
"Yeah, we struggled quite a bit, but we managed somehow."
"Struggled, hmm. I see. The Silver Lion is a reasonably powerful monster, but Zephy..."
If it were Lord Zephyle, he could have defeated it easily without struggling this much.
Rei hurriedly cut off Grimm's words before he could say that out loud.
The only ones here who knew the details about him were Elena and Marina.
Strictly speaking, Vihera also knew, but she was currently unconscious.
He had no intention whatsoever of revealing his secret to anyone else.
"More importantly, we defeated the Silver Lion as promised. Come here and restore Vihera and Rhodos's consciousness."
"I understand."
"!?"
The voice that reached him didn't come from the Paired Orbs, but from right beside Rei.
He turned around instinctively, and there was Grimm's figure, which Rei was well familiar with.
Just seconds ago they had been conversing through the Paired Orbs, and before he knew it, Grimm was standing right next to him.
Rei could well understand that some form of Teleportation Magic had been used, but even so, being told not to be surprised would be impossible.
The others were equally startled by Grimm's sudden appearance.
For those meeting Grimm for the first time today, this was only their second encounter.
Because of that, while nearly buckling to the floor under Grimm's intimidation—a presence he couldn't fully conceal even if he tried—they somehow managed to hold their ground.
Without so much as a glance at his surroundings, Grimm's skull turned toward the Silver Lion lying on the floor, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Hoh, a Silver Lion of considerable size."
"Considerable? ...Is this just 'considerable'?"
Given that the Silver Lion was roughly six meters in total length, Rei hadn't expected it to be described as merely "considerable."
He directed a dumbfounded gaze at Grimm.
"Umu. Slightly above average... that's about the size, I'd say."
"I see. ...Hm?"
He just said something strange.
That thought crossed Rei's mind, and he tilted his head slightly.
After thinking for a moment... he understood the reason.
"Wait a second. By 'average'... are there really that many Silver Lions?"
"Umu. Not enough to form packs, but there are a fair number of them."
Grimm answered Rei's question readily... and those who heard it—especially those who had actually participated in the battle—felt their cheeks twitch.
The thought that the Silver Lion, which they had barely managed to defeat with this much combat power, existed in considerable numbers elsewhere was unbelievable.
Seeing Rei and the others' reactions, Grimm let out an amused laugh.
"Foh foh foh. The world is far vaster than you all imagine. It's good that you've realized at least that much, no? ...Now then, shall we get to the main topic?"
Pausing there, Grimm turned his gaze back to the Silver Lion.
Then, with a casual... truly casual flick of his hand, the Silver Lion's massive body floated into the air and was repositioned on the floor on its back.
But that wasn't the only surprise. When Grimm lightly flicked his hand again, a gash appeared across the Silver Lion's abdomen.
During the battle, Rei and the others had experienced firsthand just how hard the Silver Lion's fur was. To them, the sight before their eyes was unbelievable.
"No way..."
Elk muttered almost involuntarily as he watched the abdomen being split open without a single tool.
Having fought the Silver Lion directly, Elk knew full well how tough the creature being so effortlessly disassembled before his eyes had been... and above all, that its fur could not be cut with a blade.
That was precisely why the weapons needed to fight a Silver Lion weren't those boasting sharp cutting edges like longswords or spears, but rather weapons like Elk's Axe of the Thunder God or Ara's Power Axe—and the other effective options were things like clubs and hammers.
But what was happening before Elk's eyes right now was the disassembly of the Silver Lion without so much as a hand laid on it.
Of course, it was predictable that the effectiveness of the Silver Lion's fur had diminished compared to when it was alive, but even so, seeing the Silver Lion's corpse being so easily disassembled was something truly hard to believe.
"Hmm, do you not have something like barrels? The blood of a Silver Lion is a reasonably rare material, you know?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. I have barrels."
Snapped back to his senses by Grimm's words, Rei took barrels out of his Misty Ring.
Not just one, but two, three, four, one after another.
Naturally, the amount of blood flowing through the body of a Silver Lion roughly six meters in length was considerable.
To store it all without waste, this many barrels were necessary.
Granted, during the battle... when finally defeating the Silver Lion, they had pierced its eyeball with the Twilight Spear and driven Death Scythe through its upper jaw or skull, so blood had already been flowing from there.
Even after pulling the weapons out, blood naturally continued to pour from those wounds.
Because of that, they couldn't obtain every last drop, but they still managed to extract almost all of it.
It must have been due to the Necromancy controlled by Grimm. Blood floated up from the split wound in the abdomen, forming spheres that appeared before Rei and the others.
Many of those watching were dumbfounded, but among them were some wearing expressions of envy.
When dismantling a monster, the first step was always draining the blood.
Fundamentally, one would make cuts at thick blood vessels in areas like the neck or legs, then hang the creature from a tree or similar structure to drain it.
But that bleeding process took a fair amount of time.
Compared to that, Grimm's method extracted the blood directly from the subject, and honestly, the ability to use this magic alone would make one extremely valued within a party—more than that, one could make a living off this skill alone.
To use such a convenient magic so casually was naturally worthy of wide-eyed amazement.
At the same time, it was indeed worthy of a Lich Lord.
Such thoughts also crossed the minds of those watching the scene.
The spheres of blood were poured into the barrels one after another, disappearing from the air.
After the blood was dealt with, the next thing Grimm turned to was the internal organs.
Here too, Grimm merely flicked his hand lightly, and organs flew out one after another from within the Silver Lion's split abdomen, floating into the air.
"Rei."
"I know."
Understanding what he was being prompted to do without Grimm needing to finish, Rei took out preservation containers from his Misty Ring one after another.
For an ordinary... lower-ranked monster, the usable parts of the internal organs would be limited, and the rest would need to be discarded or otherwise disposed of.
But when it came to the internal organs of an S-Rank monster like the Silver Lion, there were essentially no parts to throw away.
And among the organs, the most important... the heart.
The entire reason they had fought the Silver Lion was to obtain this heart, and seeing it appear before them, everyone present was captivated.
The Silver Lion was already dead, and furthermore, the heart had been extracted from its body.
Despite that, the Silver Lion's heart had not stopped pulsing in midair.
(Hey, don't tell me this means... the Silver Lion wasn't actually dead?)
Seeing the heart that hadn't stopped pulsing—in other words, was still moving—a chill ran down Rei's spine.
It was a good thing he had called Grimm early, but if he had been late in calling him, could the Silver Lion have been revived?
Of course, since its brain had been destroyed by Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, he thought it would probably be fine... but an S-Rank monster was still a being that exceeded Rei's expectations.
Even so, seeing the heart still moving after having judged the creature dead was nothing short of astonishing for Rei.
The others were no exception.
Their eyes were glued to the pulsing heart, staring in blank amazement.
"Hmm... here."
Along with Grimm's words, the Magic Stone embedded in the heart was extracted and flew toward Rei.
The Magic Stone of an S-Rank monster—an object that alone could be called a fortune—Rei carefully received it.
Though for Rei, a Magic Stone wasn't something to be converted into money, but something to use for growing Set and Death Scythe.
(The Silver Lion's Magic Stone. And...)
Storing the received Magic Stone in his Misty Ring, Rei turned his gaze toward the other room continuing from this one—the room where the Dungeon's core likely resided.
(This Dungeon ends today, huh.)
Thinking this, Rei watched over what Grimm would do next as he kept the Silver Lion's heart floating in the air.