Chapter 79: Rules That No Longer Apply!
In the Dungeon, where sunrise and sunset did not exist, only the pocket watch in one's hand could tell the time.
Finn closed the watch with a soft snap.
"Move out."
Under the watchful eyes of the Loki Familia members, a small team made up of more than a dozen high-class adventurers left the camp.
From the 51st Floor to the 57th Floor, the deep floors had a rare maze-like structure.
It almost felt as if they had returned to the first few floors of the Dungeon.
Dark lead-colored caves crossed and branched in every direction, forming one narrow passage after another.
To avoid wasting supplies, Finn directed the group to rush through the Dungeon at high speed while avoiding any unnecessary battles.
"Ais, Bete, monsters are about to spawn. Take them out before the next batch appears."
"Lefiya, don't start charging your magic yet. Those new-type monsters will be drawn over."
Finn calmly gave several orders, and the team's advance went very smoothly.
Rumble—!!!
The sound of stone walls breaking rang in their ears.
It was the sign that the new-type monsters had arrived.
Soon, yellow-green monsters flooded the entire passage.
The Loki Familia had finally encountered the monsters they had been guarding against this whole time.
"Riveria! Get ready! Shiro, open the path!"
Finn shouted to Shiro and Riveria.
"—Omen of the end, white snow. At the coming of twilight, let the wind rise."
As Riveria began chanting her magic, Shiro charged toward the army of worms.
"Roooaaaaaarrrr!!!"
Dodging the corrosive liquid the monsters sprayed from their mouths, Shiro quickly cut them into pieces.
After clearing away the worms blocking the front of the passage, he retreated and shouted to the blonde swordswoman.
"Ais!"
"Awaken!"
A blade wrapped in wind swept away the worms deeper inside.
At the same time, Ais's wind protected the companions around her from being splashed by the corrosive liquid.
Seizing that chance, the other adventurers also raised their unbreakable weapons and rushed into battle against the worms.
Against these new-type monsters, the Loki Familia had made full preparations.
The monsters were sent flying one after another, piling up into a mountain of flesh at the cave's exit.
"Sealed light, frozen earth. Blow forth, snowstorm of the sky. Threefold severe winter—my name is Alf."
At this moment, Riveria's chant was complete.
The adventurers still fighting the worms retreated to the left and right, opening a path for her.
The staff known as Magna Alfs pointed toward the swarm of worms.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
A pale blast froze the entire room together with the maze itself.
From Riveria's position to the end of their sight, everything had turned into a frozen world.
"As expected of Orario's greatest mage. Magic on this level is ridiculous. I wonder when I'll be able to make a magic sword with this much power."
Tsubaki looked at the frozen ground and sighed in admiration.
Inside the frozen Dungeon, Finn chose to be cautious.
Only after ordering the adventurers to shatter every ice statue did he continue the advance.
Because the walls were covered by Riveria's magic, monsters could no longer spawn from them.
Shiro and the others quickly found the stairs leading down to the next floor.
"Does anyone need to recover their condition? I'll say this ahead of time. If you don't recover now, there won't be another chance later."
Finn looked at everyone as he spoke.
Aside from Tsubaki, who looked somewhat confused, everyone else knew what they were about to face.
Seeing that no one requested supplies, Finn nodded and looked at the stairs leading downward.
"We'll run through the next path at full speed!"
Under Finn's command, the team advanced through the 52nd Floor even faster than before.
Along the way, Tsubaki saw rare materials by the roadside several times and wanted to collect them.
Each time, Raul stopped her with cold sweat on his face.
"Don't stop. We'll get sniped."
"Sniped?"
Hearing Raul's words, Tsubaki began observing her surroundings.
Dim phosphorescent light, crossing paths, approaching monsters.
No matter how she looked, she could not find any monster capable of sniping them.
Rumble—
The ground beneath Shiro's feet began to shake.
Including Shiro, the Loki Familia members raised their speed to the limit like madmen.
Just as Tsubaki was about to ask a question, the roar that reached her ears gave her the answer.
"This is... the voice of a dragon-type monsters?"
But where exactly was it hiding?
Even in the Dungeon, dragons were a symbol of overwhelming strength.
Among monsters on the same floor, dragon-type monsters were clearly stronger than other kinds by a large margin, and their bodies were usually enormous as well.
"Bete! Prepare to take a detour!"
Finn gave an order to Bete, who was at the front.
The entire team quickly deviated from the planned route and turned into a side path.
While Tsubaki searched everywhere for where the dragon species could be hiding, Shiro suddenly shouted in a low voice.
"It's coming!"
"Where?"
"Below us!"
As if answering Shiro's words, the ground split open.
A burning crimson pillar of light erupted right behind the team and shot all the way up toward the 51st Floor.
The adventurers' vision was completely swallowed by crimson fireballs like blooming red lotuses.
"That's way too much..."
After diving into a tunnel to avoid the snipe, Tsubaki felt the scorching crimson flames before her and swallowed hard.
"Don't stop! Continue along the northwest route! Riveria, use defensive magic!"
Finn guided the team with an excited voice.
The adventurers left the regular path and sprinted through the wide maze-like roads.
"Tch."
As they ran, Shiro gritted his teeth.
Although he had already heard the information, seeing it with his own eyes was a completely different shock.
This was bombardment from the 58th Floor, fired upward from below.
The rules of the upper floors did not apply here at all.
The monsters ignored the difference between floors and erased every living thing they sensed.
For a moment, Shiro even felt the urge to charge back down through the hole created by the bombardment.
But when he saw the supporters desperately dodging the snipes in such a miserable state, he suppressed that thought.
Along with Riveria's chant, a thin veil of magic covered everyone.
Once again, tremors came from beneath their feet.
"It's coming again! This time, there are at least seven!"
Against this kind of ultra-long-range sniping, Shiro's intuition allowed him to sense it a few seconds in advance.
Because of that, he temporarily became the scout observing the monsters' movements.
Several bombardments occurred at the same time.
Finn shouted out commands one after another, and before long, the terrifying roars of dragons shook the entire floor.
An indescribable sense of danger appeared in Shiro's heart.
"Raul! Watch behind you!"
Under the cover of the dragons' roars, spider-type monsters launched a deadly ambush on the team.
Shiro instantly cut through the spider silk stuck to his wrist.
Raul, however, clearly failed to react in time.
At the critical moment, Lefiya pushed Raul aside with one hand.
The price was that she, now without her weapon, was bound by the spider silk.
Still wrapped in the spider silk, Lefiya fell headfirst into the hole created by the bombardment.
…
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