Orario's sewer system was different from that of an ordinary city and did not appear filthy or foul-smelling at all.
Not only had the place been constructed in an orderly manner, but the wastewater flowing through the channels was also far cleaner than Riezel had imagined. Aside from the air being somewhat turbid, there was not even a trace of stench.
As for why, it was mainly because Orario's underground sewers had been fitted with numerous magic stone devices.
Within the narrow branch channels, crystal pillars emitting a royal purple glow had been installed along the gutters. Shaped like iron grates, these pillars purified the water whenever a current passed through them, converting it into clean, clear water.
As a result, the flow inside the gutters appeared transparent and pristine, making it difficult to imagine that it had once been discharged as sewage.
At regular intervals, magic stone lamps were also embedded into the sewer walls, illuminating the surroundings.
Thanks to that, Orario's sewers were neither dirty nor malodorous.
Instead, they gave off an almost excessively clean impression, evoking the sense of walking through a modern tunnel buried deep underground rather than a place meant for draining wastewater that people would instinctively avoid.
Of course, while walking through these underground sewers, Riezel's group of three did not escape trouble altogether.
The greatest problem lay in the monsters active in this place.
Yes.
Monsters existed within Orario's underground sewers.
They were creatures that once surged to the surface in ancient times and multiplied on land. Even though they were not as threatening as the monsters found in the Dungeon, caution was still necessary.
Orario's underground sewers led to the sea to the southwest of the city, passing through a brackish lake connected to the ocean, where purified wastewater was discharged.
Both the ocean and the brackish lake were long-standing habitats for aquatic monsters, and these aquatic monsters would sometimes follow the flow of the water into major cities, moving freely through sewers connected to the sea.
All the monsters that appeared in Orario's sewers belonged precisely to this category.
As a result, when Riezel's group walked forward along the paths built on either side of the gutters, aquatic monsters would occasionally leap out of the water to attack them.
Among them, the monster that appeared most frequently was one known as Raider Fish—a giant fish measuring nearly 160 centimeters in length.
Although this type of fish monster was incapable of moving on land, it could shoot out of the water like a torpedo, scattering droplets as it emerged and baring its sharp fangs as it launched a sudden attack on prey near the water's edge.
It primarily appeared on the 25th Floor to the 27th Floor of the Dungeon, within the area known as the 'Water City.'
Its overall combat strength was not particularly high, and once it left the water, it would immediately become nothing more than meat on a chopping board, easily dissected. However, its initial ambush from the water could still deal fatal damage to a careless High-Class Adventurer if it were not detected in advance.
Because of this, adventurers passing through the Water City were invariably on high alert, carefully watching the movement of the water as they explored—even Level 4 Second Class Adventurers were no exception.
At the very beginning, Lefiya had nearly been bitten by one of the ambushing monsters that burst out of the water, frightening this elf to the point that she almost screamed.
Fortunately, accompanying this Level 4 elf mage were two Level 6 swordsmen.
*Swish!*
As a silver blade flashed through the dim sewer space, the Raider Fish that had shot out of the water did not even have time to bare its fangs before it was cleaved cleanly in two by the sharp arc of light, split straight down the middle.
Ais's golden hair swayed as she stood resolutely in front of Lefiya, cutting down the ambushing monsters that continuously launched themselves from the water.
Riezel, meanwhile, shot forward like an arrow, charging toward another group of aquatic monsters that had climbed onto the bank.
They were a group of crabs known as Blue Crabs, creatures whose left or right claws were abnormally developed and capable of delivering heavy blows like the swing of a war hammer, while their entire bodies were encased within metallic steel shells.
The steel shells covering these Blue Crabs possessed exceptional hardness, far surpassing that of the Killer Ants found on the Dungeon's Upper Floors and the Deadly Hornets that appeared on the Middle Floors.
If an adventurer's weapon did not possess attack power meeting Second-Class Equipment standards, it would be deflected the moment it struck the crab's shell, scattering sparks into the air.
However, for Riezel, who wielded First-Class Special Equipment that, although reduced in power due to the Durandal attribute, still maintained superior attack power and sharpness among weapons of the same tier, these monsters posed no challenge at all.
*Swish!*
Fool swept through the air like a frigid arc of light, effortlessly cleaving through the steel shell of a Blue Crab.
Riezel unfolded his footwork and sword dance amid the cluster of gigantic crab monsters.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
As his figure wove back and forth, the thin crystal sword in his hand moved as if dancing, cutting down one monster after another around him, killing them one by one.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
For reasons unknown, the scale of this monster attack encountered by Riezel's group appeared unusually large. Even as Riezel and Ais cut through the monsters as though moving through empty ground, water continued to erupt from the nearby gutters.
One Raider Fish after another shot out like torpedoes, launching themselves at the two.
"W-Why are there so many monsters?"
Lefiya was stunned.
While it was true that aquatic monsters could travel upstream through wastewater channels and enter Orario's underground sewers, their numbers should never have reached this level.
If threats of this scale frequently existed within the sewers, the technical staff who came here periodically for maintenance would have perished long ago, and the Guild would have immediately issued a compulsory quest, dispatching capable familia to carry out a cleanup.
Information about this place would inevitably have leaked, becoming known to the major exploration-type familia.
Yet Lefiya had never heard of Orario's underground sewers being like this.
Something was clearly abnormal.
Riezel, on the other hand, continued cutting down monsters as he spoke in a calm voice.
"I'm guessing it's because those Violas have been active around here. I mean, those monsters that even devour their own kind and crave magic stones? They're basically the natural enemies of aquatic monsters that live underwater."
"So yeah, when the Violas showed up in the sewers, the aquatic monsters down here were definitely stirred up."
"To deal with that sudden threat, they just followed their instincts and grouped up, planning to use their numbers to go up against those Violas that were messing with their survival."
"And that's the kind of monster group we ran into down here. They came straight at us."
At the same time, this also proved that the route chosen by Riezel had indeed been the correct one.
Violas had been active in this area, and these monsters themselves were the proof.
"Let's wipe them out," Riezel said decisively. "If we just leave them alone, then next time someone from the Guild comes down here to fix the sewer facilities, they're definitely gonna get jumped by these monsters."
As he spoke, he unleashed a status that had already been adjusted to Level 6 and charged forward at extreme speed toward another group of Blue Crabs that had crawled up onto the shore.
*BOOM!*
Riezel's speed was truly astonishing.
As he ran, he kicked up a shockwave of compressed air, which crashed straight into the monster group and sent a dense cluster of metal-blue crabs flying in all directions.
Seeing this scene, Ais's eyes sharpened, and she likewise intensified her attacks.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
As slashes were unleashed, one after another, the ambushing monsters that leapt out of the water slammed into what seemed like an invisible net of sword blades—the very moment they touched it, they were cut into countless pieces, spraying blood everywhere.
The two strikingly similar swordsmen were, as always, ruthless and decisive in battle—their valiant, dignified figures once again gave courage to the elf girl who admired them.
"I'll join in too!"
Now that she had regained her composure, Lefiya raised her staff and began chanting magic.
"I wish upon the name of Wishe."
"Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren."
"Answer my call and come to the plains."
"Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise."
"Turn the circle and dance around."
"Come, ring of fairies. Please - give me strength."
Beneath Lefiya's feet, a special magic circle unfolded.
"Elf Ring!"
As this name fell out of Lefiya's mouth, a magic circle began to rise, transforming into a ring that wrapped itself around her body.
Needless to say, this was the magic that she was famous for.
A summoning magic limited to the same elf race: as long as she fully understood the effects and chant of another elf's magic, she could make it her own—Elf Ring.
It was precisely because of this magic that she had earned the alias Thousand Elf.
At the very moment she activated the magic, Riezel, who had already charged in and out of the horde of Blue Crabs several times, suddenly called out.
"Lefiya, don't use fire magic! This place won't hold up!"
Riezel's single sentence made Lefiya freeze just as she was about to unleash a large-scale magic.
Indeed, if she used fire-attribute magic and caused a massive explosion here, the sewer would definitely collapse.
With that realization, Lefiya immediately altered the chant that was just about to leave her lips.
"Frozen skies, heavenly rain. White ice that colors the forest, shoot the shameful barbarians."
Like Riveria's Wynn Fimbulvetr, this was a magic Lefiya had learned from Alicia, an ice-attribute, wide-area annihilation magic.
"Freeze, binding chains of winter."
Following the guidance of the one she admired, Lefiya activated the magic that had been taught to her by her same-race senior.
"Hail Dust!"
In an instant, the ring around Lefiya shattered, turning into a surging mass of rising magical energy that rushed straight above her head.
In the next second, the magical energy condensed into a glowing sphere that spun above her, before countless hailstone projectiles emerged from the sphere, tracing different trajectories and carrying terrifying cold as they shot violently in all directions.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Instantly, the hailstone projectiles slammed down one by one onto the ground or onto the monsters, freezing the earth into ice and turning the monsters into frozen blocks before shattering them apart with a thunderous crash.
Hail Dust was characterized by its three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, no-dead-angle, all-directional assault, able to sweep across any direction.
Although its power and range were inferior to Lefiya's own Fusillade Fallarica and also inferior to Riveria's Wynn Fimbulvetr and Rea Laevateinn, its coverage within its effective area was extremely high, giving it considerable practical value.
While casting this magic, Lefiya immediately began chanting another one.
"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow."
"Shoot, sniper of the fairies."
"Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy."
"Arcs Ray!"
With that, the single-shot magic with tracking capability was completed at extreme speed.
However, when Lefiya finished chanting, the magic was not fired, but instead, together with its magic circle, transformed into a small crystal sword that floated beside her.
In the next moment, Lefiya silently recited in her heart.
'Sword Canon—activate.'
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next chapters early at: patreon.com/VALRRR]