Chapter 232: Opening with Excalibur—How Are You Supposed to Respond?
Bang!
A flash of sword light swept past, and the final monster collapsed to the ground.
Monster corpses were scattered everywhere around them, while the stench of decay from the dead bodies filled the entire area.
At the center of those corpses stood an enormous flower-like monster.
Tentacle-like vines extending from its body grabbed monster corpses one after another and stuffed them into its mouth.
A Titan Alm.
And just like the monster that had once been parasitized by a [Jewel Fetus], this Titan Alm had also been infected.
Right now, it was feeding while simultaneously accumulating magical energy.
"What is that?"
Looking at the parasitized monster before her, Ais's emotions became slightly unstable.
The blood of the spirits flowing within her caused her to feel something unusual toward the grotesque creature.
That twisted, deeply uncomfortable instinct made her reject it subconsciously.
Suddenly, the parasitized Titan Alm stopped eating.
Then it "looked" toward Ais.
After staring at her for three seconds, the surroundings abruptly began to change.
The sky darkened, and a strange oppressive force swept across the entire area.
"Aah—!"
A piercing sound rang out.
Ais felt a sharp pain stab through her head and instinctively covered it while taking two steps backward.
At the same time, the Titan Alm's body began undergoing a massive transformation.
Its cocoon-like shell slowly shattered apart, revealing a form resembling a woman.
"Aria—"
"What did you just call me?"
The instant Ais heard that name, her expression froze.
She stared blankly at the corrupted spirit before her.
Swish!
"All right, Ais. Step back."
"Ethan, I—"
"Step back."
His unquestionable tone made Ais swallow the words she had been about to say.
She had experienced this same strange sensation during the Monster Feria.
And now it had appeared again.
Worse still, this creature had spoken her mother's name.
How could Ais possibly remain calm?
Yet after Ethan spoke, she found herself suppressing every question almost instinctively.
"Revis."
"Master."
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
Short red hair.
A cold expression.
A strikingly voluptuous figure.
And in her hand was a massive greatsword.
Ais froze when she saw the woman suddenly appear.
Where had this woman come from?
And judging from Ethan's reaction, he had clearly known she was there all along.
"Where is its main body?"
"Deeper. At the deepest part of the Dungeon."
Revis looked toward Ethan.
During this period, she had been active in the Dungeon's deepest floors, searching for the corrupted spirit's true body.
However, she still had not found it.
That made her somewhat afraid Ethan would punish her.
"The deepest part of the Dungeon, huh…"
Ethan's gaze shifted slightly.
The reason he had come this far in the first place was precisely because of the corrupted spirit.
"Aria—"
Rumble!
At that moment, caterpillar monsters and man-eating flowers suddenly emerged from the ground all around them.
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to waste time with you."
Ethan glanced toward the corrupted spirit in the distance.
This one was still merely a clone.
And Ethan had already lost most of his interest in clones.
Some things were worth seeing once.
There was no need to waste time on them a second time.
Boom!
Magical energy began to boil.
Excalibur trembled in Ethan's hand.
His magical energy poured into the holy sword as if it cost him nothing, flowing endlessly into the blade.
Golden light began to blaze.
"Excalibur—!!!"
BOOM!
A surging golden torrent erupted like a massive tidal wave.
In an instant, it swallowed everything before him.
Corrupted spirit?
Caterpillars?
Man-eating flowers?
All of them were nothing but trash before the blast.
Ais, who witnessed everything firsthand, stood frozen in place.
The question was simple.
If someone opened the fight with Excalibur, how exactly were you supposed to respond?
The corrupted spirit could only say:
'That was unfair. I let my guard down. I didn't dodge.'
A short while later, everything finally became quiet.
The 59th floor, which had once resembled a tropical jungle, had now turned into barren wasteland.
Especially in the central area, where an enormous ravine had been carved into the ground.
At Ethan's current level, both the quantity and quality of his magical energy had surpassed his former self by countless times.
Especially after obtaining [Another Cosmology], his magical energy grew larger and purer with every passing day.
It was as if some invisible machine operated twenty-four hours a day, constantly refining his magical energy.
In other words, even if Ethan did absolutely nothing, he would still continue growing stronger.
"It's already over?"
Ais found it difficult to believe.
Judging from the situation just moments ago, it had clearly looked like they were about to face a difficult battle.
Yet it had ended immediately?
"What else did you expect?"
"No… I… this…"
For a moment, even Ais did not know what to say.
"Ais, let me teach you another lesson."
"Before absolute power, everything else is meaningless."
"Oh."
Ais nodded somewhat blankly.
Ethan did not waste any more time explaining.
The area had practically been destroyed by the battle just now.
Who knew how long the Dungeon would need to restore it?
Ais stared absentmindedly at the wasteland before her.
Ethan's attack just now had been even more destructive than Riveria's strongest Magic.
Was that sword the "holy sword" Loki had mentioned before?
A holy sword that could only be wielded by someone it acknowledged.
A legendary weapon that only a true "hero" could control.
If nothing else, merely seeing that overwhelming destructive power made Ais yearn for it.
If she also possessed a holy sword, could she gain power like that?
"Wait. I got a little carried away just now and forgot to test my new Magic."
Ethan suddenly remembered the third Magic he had awakened during his level-up.
[Judgment of Good and Evil]
· Judgment-type Magic
· Delivers judgment based on the target's "good" and "evil."
· [Judgment of Good]: Causes the target to lose the ability to act.
· [Judgment of Evil]: Inflicts punishment based on the degree of "evil" carried by the target.
The power of this Magic clearly could not be underestimated.
In fact, it could be considered terrifying.
Whether the target was judged as "good" or "evil," the result of the judgment was dangerous.
And ever since awakening this Magic, Ethan still had not tested how powerful it truly was.
…
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